Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Adam Ricard: Toronto Mike'd #138

Episode Date: October 23, 2015

Mike chats with 102.1 the Edge host Adam Ricard about his decade at the Edge, his feud with Alexisonfire, the Blue Jays, the Casby Awards, job security in radio and lots more.

Welcome to episode 138 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, often with a distinctly Toronto flavour. I'm Mike from TorontoMic.com and joining me this week is 102.1 The Edge host, Adam Ricard. Hello. Welcome. Thanks for having me. Hello. Welcome. Thanks for having me. You're like in an exclusive club I mentioned with Roz Weston and James Myrtle as the club is for men who are too tall for this basement. Yeah, it's a little compact, but we're making it work. And you told me you're 6'5"? 6'5", yeah. You can't hear 6'5 on the radio. No, a lot of people say that. We had the Caspys

last night and a lot of people were like, you're way taller than i expected you to be so yeah i don't know it's like when people hear a voice they they picture the person i always did this like i had i had a vision this is way before your time but i used to hear tom rivers on cftr and i could see him in my head and then i saw a picture of him in the newspaper and he didn't look anything like yeah it's weird like i often find myself apologizing like oh i didn't they're always like oh i didn't expect this like... Yeah, it's weird. I often find myself apologizing. Like, oh, I didn't... They're always like, oh, I didn't expect this to be what you look like. I was like, ah, sorry, I guess.

I mean, this is the only face I have. I hope it's all right. No, it's funny. So how were the Caspys last night? It was a lot of fun. Yeah, it was my 10th Caspy Awards since I started working there. And yeah, it was good.

USS were kicking ass and everybody... There's a bunch of really good bands. Monster Truck surprised us and played. Yukukon uh blonde yeah empires it was great it was really a lot of fun you know uss is a fantastic band they are great they are really good do you know ash has been on this show i did know that actually yes you just you just shocked me right there he uh i talked i got a chance to chat with him last night he laid the greatest line ever on me uh we were talking about uh how they they won a casby again it was like their fourth casby award and how he was going to give this one to his mom because he felt like he owed her and i was like oh is your mom oh a little uss

yeah uh is your mom a big like fan of the casby's like why does she want and he was like no i just feel like i owe her something you can only crawl home from failed bands in your 20s so many times before you got to give mom something. You know, I just like how he turns a phrase. He sees things differently. I'm playing this tune because this is the first USS song I ever heard, and I heard it on your station. Yeah, we started playing this song, actually.

The guys came in the studio with their three-song, four-song EP, and it was myself, Barry Taylor, and Martin Street were working in the studio. And they were just really good dudes. And we started listening to the Barry listen to the record that night. And the next day it was like, everyone has to hear this immediately. And yeah, everyone just loved it so much that old school style. We just were like, I don't care who the label is. They don't even have one.

There's guys off the street who are roofers. We're start playing. No, good call. Good call. Because now they play every edge thing ever right like they play all the edge things yeah they're the edge house band yeah yeah oh that's funny uh i think they're i mean i saw them at it i think okay so my quick casby story and then i'm gonna segue over to the you knows and you know the you knows but um so i i was that like, okay, so I used to have a hookup for Caspi tickets. It was Jason Barr. Oh, yeah.

Okay. Because the way it worked was Jason was really tight with Freddie P from the old Humble and Friends show. Right. That makes sense. And I was tight with Freddie P. So I wasn't necessarily like directly connected to Jason, although he's been on the show and now we're friendly. But it was like Freddie P would put in the call to Jason Barr and say, you know, uh, Toronto Mike needs tickets. And then Barr would drop them off at Fred's house. Cause they were like almost neighbors in Brampton.

And then I would pick them up from Fred. Anyway. So I got to a lot of these gigs back in the day. Nice. And, uh, I remember the last time I was at a Caspian awards was oh nine and USS one for that song. Yes. It was their first one. And Strombo and Martin Streak gave them that award at the end of the night together. And they had the cardboard cutouts of all of us on the stage with their performance. Right, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, the Caspys are great

because you get quick hits of up-and-coming Canadian bands. Yeah, there were a couple of really good ones too, like Ivory Hours, who won our Next Big Thing search. They're very cool. But the Zolas, i'm obsessed with the zolas right now i think a lot of people will start to fall in love with them we're playing molotov girls but there's a couple of tunes that worth listening to they're great yeah yeah that one i hear all the time in your station so uh do you just quick uh since i have this clip and i never have a reason to play it okay so i have uh before the casbys uh cf and y had the you knows yes so i'm

gonna play it's like a minute 15 seconds but i gotta i gotta play this clip because it's like if i don't play it now when the heck am i gonna play it here we go ladies and gentlemen we proudly present the cf and yfm you know awards 82 the CFNY-FM UNO Awards 82. Tonight, Long John Baldry, Martha Johnson, Carol Pope and Kevin Staples, The Spoons, B.B. Gabor,

Bruce Colbert, Mick Karn of Japan. Ladies and gentlemen, we proudly present the CFNY-FM UNO Awards 83. Jonathan Gross, Ivan from Men Without Hats, Murray McLaughlin, Carol Pope and Kevin Staples, Robert Priest, Vladimir Rogoff,

The Spoons, The Tenants, and of course, Lenya Lovitch. All appearing at the You Know Awards. Monday, April 2nd, Royal York Hotel. CFNYFM presents the You Know Awards 84. The listener's choice. A night with the stars. In honor of the Canadian music industry. UNO Awards 84.

Register your votes now. You'll find the ballot every Thursday in NOW Magazine. UNO Awards 84. Tickets go on sale March 1st at all BATS outlets. A night with the stars. The listener's choice. The UNO Awards 84. April 2nd at the Royal York Hotel.

A presentation of CFNY-FM. 102. The Spirit. Wow. There you go. So there's a little history. Ivan from Men Without Hats in 83. What a get.

Yeah. And I was going to say, are you old enough to remember bass outlets? I am not because literally all of that happened before I was born. No, that's right. Actually, you and I, we had a brief Twitter convo. Like I think it was a couple of days ago. So Estrada had an amazing start. Yeah. And I was tweeting about Marco Estrada, like one of the five best starts in Jay's history. Up there with Dave Stewart and somebody, Juan Guzman.

And you're like, don't forget Dave Steve forget Dave Steve I was six months old when that happened yeah I stepped I wanted to make sure nobody forgets 1985 because it was a big year for me and you're like I wasn't alive and you're a baby and then I'm like oh yeah I forget like people are like younger than me if it helps that's starting to happen to me Alan Cross

and I had a conversation last night about how now everyone is younger than me at the station for the most part um and i've sort of become the elder statesman despite despite of the fact when i started there i was a teenager that's hilarious and now there's teenagers working there and they're saying things like i wasn't alive when joe carter hit that home run and i'm going oh no this is what it feels like you're right we gotta be careful though you're gonna hurt josie's feelings because i know you've uh she's got a few years on you yeah she's got she's on matley right now she doesn't count she doesn't count okay cool no so about the jays um you're a big fan oh like monstrous they're they're they're everything

so they tell me though because you were like i i was like when i was a kid jays were competitive like there were pennant races when i was like eight nine ten years old see i didn't really understand because when they won in 92 i was like seven years old right but you started playing baseball like little you know t-ball or whatever it was and then i i started to get it a little bit more when i was like eight and they won in 93 and Paul Molitor was my hero. And I never played hockey. I just, I played basketball and lots of baseball.

And so baseball just always kind of made sense. And so I ran through, like, I was like, I've just been the ultimate optimist for the last 20 years. Like every year. Yeah. I'm sure we're going to win the world.

Every April. It's like a hope springs eternal. Yeah. I'm one. I'm that guy though. Who's like, this is it. Everything. And they're like, well, what about the question marks here? No, it's like uh hope springs eternal yeah i'm i'm that guy though who's like this is it everything they're like well what about the question marks here and here no it's all gonna work out yeah yeah so i can't believe like they're in the american league championship series it's actually happening i can't believe because if you had if we had had

this chat in mid-july let's say i would have been like forget it like you know forget it like we'll be lucky to finish third in the division. Forget it. That's actually kind of a perfect example of what an optimist I am. I was in Vegas in June, and I put $50 on the Jays to win the World Series. Get out of here. Before they made all the trades. You're going to be driving up in Rolls Royce next time.

I'm going to have to head down to Vegas to collect my money. The problem is I can't find the ticket right now. I have it, but I just can't find it. Well, it's only 50 bucks. Thank goodness. Cause that, I don't know what odds they gave you, but that would have been. The payout is it's yeah. It's like a thousand bucks.

So American. Yeah. It'd be worth the trip. No, for sure. You got to do that. No, that's awesome. Yeah. This team, it's like on a dime.

We, I had Wilner on two episodes ago. I had Mike Wilner in and we were talking like it's a tale of two seasons. Like on a dime, it turned, it was like with the too low trade and the price and then bring Two episodes ago, I had Mike Wilner in, and we were talking. It's a tale of two seasons. On a dime, it turned. It was with the too-low trade and the price and then bringing over Mark Lowe and Revere and everything. We went from no chance to we're going to win the pennant. Forget the wild card. And just the fact that AA had the balls to be like,

hey, we're seven games back, and that's fine. We're still going to make all these moves, where a lot of other teams in the same spot would have just sold off. And a lot of mainstream media guys I follow on Twitter were like, you got to sell.

I know like Sid Sixero. Is that? No, Alex? Who's the one from Tim and Sid? Sid. Sid's in the name. That makes sense, yeah. So Sid Sixero

and I think Bobcat are a couple of fan 590 guys who are like, you got to sell. Yeah. You know, even like my buddies, I won't let them live it down who are like, uh, you got to sell. Yeah. You know, even like my buddies, I won't let them live it down.

Cause they all kept saying, you got to trade Edwin. You got to trade Edwin for a pitcher. Trade him, trade him, trade him. And now, yeah.

You know, so that going, so, uh, because this is not live, I should point out like we're hours away from game six. Yeah. So we,

as we speak, the Jays are alive. Yes. Cause there's a small chance because i already bought my world series ticket did you yes i did oh that's wicked yeah that again my optimism it's pretty much for you know how it's when people do that whole like comparison thing like they do it with uh jfk and lincoln and they have that whole like okay so they're doing it now with the 1985 Royals

and then the 2015 Jays and it's like there's a lot of eerie interesting coincidences so we have of course to continue that trend we win tonight with David Price on the mound and then game 7 is tomorrow I mean they win tonight and then anything anything could happen in game

7 which is but really if someone had told you in april that we would be going into game six of the american i hear this a lot because of course i would have given my right nut for that of course of course of course but i don't like this argument because we're not living in april like to me at this because i was i'm one of the guys who didn't who thought we didn't care enough about home field advantage like it didn't seem like see that yeah i that didn't bother me. Except, and then everybody's retort was,

well, it only matters if we play the Royals in the second round. I didn't think we were going to have to do. And we have to go seven against the Royals for this to make a difference. Yeah. But let's face it, we're like a whisker away

from going seven against the Royals. But at the same time, how much has our home field advantage really mattered to this point? No, I mean, the first two games... Against Texas.xas texas we're yeah i know and we lost one like we're below 500 i know so i know i uh i hear you so anyway it doesn't matter because that's ancient history but i'm uh yeah i'm so pumped like we're all gonna watch this tonight with some pizza and it's like uh this is huge man it's and october's flying by because of this like yeah it's awesome and i typically at this time of year

i'm watching a whole lot of maple leaf hockey like a whole lot i didn't even realize how deep into the season they already are i can tell you was it there was a game after the jays game is at four o'clock and i think the leafs played that night and I watched the bulk of that game but it's the only game I've watched more than five minutes of yeah we went we went to a shootout we're the only team who can't seem to uh end games with the three on three overtime I even I haven't even seen three on three overtime yet like that like they were they were talking about how they fired John Tortorella or they brought in John Tortorella in Columbus I was like they're already firing people that's yeah they're're, they're already. Oh, and eight. And like, sorry, like a record for, uh,

uh, since post expansion record for futility. Unreal Columbus. It's the David Clarkson, uh, effect. Oh, who I love.

Mimico boy. Yeah. Uh, okay. So Jays were jazzed about that. The other big thing going on is there's a, there's a federal election. So,

uh, you went to that, you hint there was right when was that last monday yeah but at some point it's still fresh i think it's still fresh yeah do you have any thoughts on that or no you know i mean i'm not really a political did you vote though i did of course absolutely i'm like and that's a big like i i tried to on the show to like drive home to people how important it is yeah to go out and vote i'm all about that but i mean the liberals it seems to make sense, right?

Yeah, I mean, we don't have to get... This is not a political show. We don't have to get too deep, except I feel like it's a refreshing change. Like, I feel optimistic about the future. Yeah, and I think that's kind of the thing. Like, the Conservatives run stuff for a while, and then we bring the Liberals in to spend a bunch of money, and then the Conservatives come back to...

Yeah, I know. That's what the Conservatives want you to think. That's right. Come on, with Paul Martin and Kretsch Yeah, I know. That's what the conservatives want you to think. That's right. Come on, with Paul Martin and Kretschian, I mean, the bottom line is, anyways, it's not the economic disaster the conservatives want you to think it is. Yeah, I agree.

And that is Toronto Mike's election talk for 2015. We're moving on. But yeah, I was surprised at the majority for what that's, because I had a... Yes. The night before, I felt the majority. But even as recent as the Fridayiday before i was thinking minority like over the weekend i changed from like i felt the majority and then it happened but i was pretty sure it was a minority liberal government

and it's i guess it's preferable to have the majority at least it seems it seems like more gets done well at least we don't have to go back to the pools in like six months or whatever keep doing that all right now your name i uh didn't even know you had a last name like i know i never use it so you just you're you're adam i'm just adam yeah it's like madonna i mean ricard does rhyme with p card right like captain picard uh it's ricard yeah so i mean whatever it's french canadian you can say it over you want. I just wondered if you were intentionally branding yourself as the one-name guy. A lot of DJs are doing that. Like Reina. No one knows her last name.

I know Reina's last name because I actually know Reina. I do too, actually. That's because she was here too. But it seems to be the thing to do these days. Mel? I don't think Mel has a last name. No. Yeah, I know. I mean, she's Mel Mariani, but I don't think it comes up. Yeah. I mean, Fred, they don't really say

Kennedy ever, either. No, because he decided to go old school of like... Fearless Fred. Honestly, like, I just kind of... I never had any intention of being on the air, so when I just started being on the air, I was just like, oh, I'll just be Adam. But growing up, there was a guy I used to listen to out of

Buffalo who was Adam 12. And I just always thought that was like the coolest name of all time. And then I don't know, it was just Adam. At least you didn't go with something like Adam Baum or something. Yeah, no, no, nothing like that. I just thought Adam 12 was so cool. No, that's cool. Now tell me though, you just said you'd never wanted to be on the air. So how that, give me a little, like a little story here about how you end up in radio and then on the air and on one of the biggest stations in the damn country i it's absurd i i when i was in high school um i wanted to do production uh i i just we knew i knew a guy who was like friends with my dad who worked at a radio station like a little tiny radio station in the middle of nowhere and he did production and i just

i went one day and i got to see the station i saw what he did and i thought it was like the coolest thing of all time and uh i applied for an internship in high school at cd 106.7 fm norfolk's perfect music mix which i don't think even exists anymore out in simcoe ontario and uh yeah i got to sort of dabble in a bunch of stuff and i learned some production uh and i did that for the first semester of grade 12 and then second semester uh i applied to intern at y108 and i already had a little bit of production background i already knew how to do some stuff so there was actually some use for me as opposed to just some high school kid coming in and alan cross saw some potential in that idea and let me intern on the morning show

and then uh darren laidman who's big d from he's with colleen rush home rush home yeah it was jay and big d um and uh yeah they were great with me and they let me be sort of their stunt boy for a while and one night uh i was doing a bunch of production stuff for the show the night before. And I was just there a lot coming out of high school. I couldn't get into college. And then one night, the guy who was supposed to do the overnight show got snowed in and he couldn't come in. And I was already there. So I was like, just back sell the songs and that's it. Just do really basic stuff.

Just we just need a voice on the air for the night. And then he saw something in that and gave me weekend overnights. And I just started doing that. You know, I think based on guys like Eric Smith being here and Strombo even, and they talk about how they get their chance. I think 90% of getting into radio is being there. Yes. Yeah. And that's what I keep... We have college kids come in all the time. Like, what's good advice just be around like just don't get a girlfriend don't get a job and don't get it don't go to school yes well i mean i don't i don't want to tell anybody not to go to school but like but tell it tell like it is like some i don't know tell like it is you tell it like it is is that

i applied to like every radio program you could possibly get and even with these internships they had no desire for me to come to those schools and so i just literally lived at the radio station and worked at mcdonald's like for a couple of years until they started paying me and i just did everything that they wanted me to do and eventually it kind of worked out yeah that's funny that's funny. That's funny. So you even tried the old, the Humber College. Did they have that going on?

Humber, Mohawk, you name it. And then Mohawk. But they'll accept anyone with a pulse. I thought I had a pulse. I'm pretty sure of it, man. I was pretty sure too. And you still got rejected from those places. Yeah. And now you're like 10 to 3 every day on the edge.

Yes. Yeah. And then Mohawk even asked me a few years later to come back and talk to the kids. I was like, about what? Right. Not going here and how great it worked out for me? That's what you should do, man. Just go in there, tell it like it is, and never get asked back.

I guess. I guess. But yeah, and then Alan moved up to the edge. And again, it's sort of who you know and stuff. And they just needed someone to do background production. Like, I was doing evenings at Y. And it was a foot in the door at the edge to produce Bookie's show. Bookie was doing Drive.

You know, Bookie won't come on this show. Bookie doesn't like to go out in the world. Is that it? Because I'm trying to figure it out. I'm taking it personally because it's like a very rare no. He's very polite about it, though. And I'm a big fan. He's a beauty.

He's just the best guy. And I don't know. I mean, he and I are good friends, and I rarely see him. So if that helps. I saw him at the hockey draft recently. I know he's at the Horseshoe every once in a while for like a New Music Night. Yeah, he does New Music Nights on Tuesdays and such. Yeah.

But anyway, so that was it. I started. I produced Bookie's show. And it was just a foot in the door because that was the ultimate goal was to work at the Edge. And I was 19, and I started working there. And what year, what calendar year was that? It was January 2005. Okay. So just so I have a frame of reference for all my, all my tough, hard-hitting questions that are coming to that. So yeah, 10 years. That's great. Yeah. That's a long time at one station. It is a long time. Yeah. And I mean, in retrospect,

moving on at some point probably i mean it's worked out great now especially in the last like two years but there was a pretty uh long stale part of my career there where i was doing overnights on the weekends yeah i know and then you don't have to reveal any actual numbers but i mean i've had enough radio guys in here now to know like overnights and weekends doesn't pay big bucks no it doesn't but i i never i'm just not one of those people you're not motivated by dollars i'm really i mean i am more so but you live in the city i do yeah yeah um in like a nice whereabouts you don't have to give me an exact i live by maple leaf gardens okay yeah carlton yeah yeah yeah yeah it's all right i

mean i but that's just it like i have enough you know, I do well enough that it gets me to, you know, what I need to do. And I can go on vacations and such. No, no, cool. That's cool. So you were, how long were you like a swing host? Like, what's that like to be a, like, how long do you have to put in time as a swing host before you finally get your own show? Well, I mean, there was, like, I did it for, I don't know, I produced Bookie Show for a couple of years. And I did some fill-in stuff and then i officially became swing like maybe 2008 i think so i did it from 08 until 2013 maybe like five years ago it's a nightmare man it's crazy like

working weekends and you work in the morning and then you work the overnight like that was my regular shifts were saturday morning sunday morning and then i come back and work the overnight into monday into tuesday into wednesday and i and then if like josie was sick or bookie was sick or whoever i had to go in and fill for them too and it caught up to me after a while yeah you know it's something you certainly shouldn't do for as long as I did it for. But I loved it. Like, I just, I love working on one of 2.1 on the edge. Like, that was always my dream. I used to sit in my basement and listen to, when I was like a kid, listening to like AJ and Barry and Martin and all of, and I just,

that's all I wanted to do is be one of those voices on the radio in between the songs on the edge. Are you still in contact with Barry Taylor? Oh, yeah. He's done some stand-up and stuff like what's he up to he does stand-up stuff still he has sort of a stand-up comedy label thing uh he does some really cool stuff with the raptors like he runs the raptors he does his own podcast and stuff for that oh cool yeah barry's awesome no i mean i always he had the 420 thought and i

always felt like i this is just a fan guy listening but I felt he was kind of that had that slacker thing going, that kind of chill slacker thing. He got let go same day as Martin Street. Same as Martin, yeah. And then they go to Edmonton and bring over the fearless one and Fred's schtick

seemed very similar to Barry Taylor's to a guy just listening to the radio who doesn't know either of these guys. Yeah, I mean I guess I could see that a little bit because Fred's got the yo man like he's got kind of a I don't know how to put it but like kind of like a chill kind of slacker thing going on you know yeah I don't know I mean Barry yeah go ahead I can see the slacker thing for sure like that was his vibe he did the 420 thing and but I just I mean that's just Barry like he's just like he's the best like he was But I just, I mean, that was just Barry. Like, Barry's just like, he's the best.

Like, he was just comedically a genius, I always thought. And yeah, I don't know. I mean, Fred's laid back, certainly. I mean, maybe early on he might have been sort of the same.

Yeah, maybe. I just, because you know what? He might have changed since then, actually, because what I only knew from him is what he had. He had this, like, website, which was like a,

like, frat boy type thing going on in Edmonton. Oh, yeah, I did. And I think maybe he might have changed that up when he came to the edge. Yeah, he always gives us words I don't know or understand. So I don't know. That's Fred. We know he likes comic books. Yes, he does.

That's all good. You know, the music you play on 102.1.1 nowadays how far removed are you from that like do you have any input at all or is it literally like a list these are this is the songs and they hand it over and you know you get to say it all anymore not really so it's not like wkrp have been misled it's not you know what it was it was for a long time and we had a lot of fun playing whatever we wanted. But no one was listening and that's not good. So we had to change that. So,

and I just, the inner mechanics of the, like how it all works. It's sort of like watching sausages get made. Yes, it is. I'm curious. And since you're in my bed and you can't leave because you're too tall to get out of here. So you're kept made. Yes, it is. I'm curious, and since you're in my base,

and you can't leave because you're too tall to get out of here, so you're kept hostage. So the playlist, here's the playlist, Adam, and there's going to be songs on there that you probably passionately dislike. This is possible, right? Yeah, absolutely. Do you just hold your nose and play it,

or are you not shy to share your feelings on songs? Well, the sort of process to get those songs onto the playlist, I believe in. Because it's like Tara Giuseppe, who runs our music department, she just gets it. And for the most part, she picks songs that I either enjoy immediately or eventually come to fall in love with. They grow on you.

Yeah, absolutely. The way that they pick them and the way they go through stuff, I think they do a really good job with that. So I believe in that system to get them. And yeah, I don't know. There's some stuff that I don't particularly love. Fine.

But, and I used to think it was cool to be like, you know, I don't like that song. You know, I can't believe anybody, but anyone who just listened to that song, like anyone who's listening at that moment, just listen that song so they must join at least a little bit so i look like an ass so i just and then they wonder why the hell you're playing a shitty song exactly so i just focus on the things i enjoy and sort of ignore the things that i don't with you didn't get any memos or anything you didn't get like a little memo like hey maybe you can stop

trashing the song you just played no No, not really. They give us pretty solid creative license to do whatever we want. Although, it's probably Dave Farrow who pointed that out to me like, do you see what you're doing? That makes a lot of sense, actually. It's okay. He's gone now. You don't have to worry about him.

I like Dave Farrow a lot. I don't know him at all, except he made a big stink because Chorus owned the trademark for Humble and Fred Radio. They owned a trademark on that. And Humble and Fred were podcasting independently and they wanted $5,000 to transfer it over.

Oh, really? Yeah. And this whole episode, which I was close to, because at the time I was really involved in the Humble and Fred podcast, which is nothing to do with Chorus or Rogers or Bell or anything.

It was completely independent. I just felt that was kind of uncool. It felt like when Microsoft sued that kid. Do you remember the 17-year-old kid who had Mike Ro Soft, the Vancouver kid? And Microsoft sued him. And it felt like, what's this multi-billion dollar corporation doing

going after the 17-year-old kid with a personal web page? His name is Mike Ro. It felt like that. So I don't know, Dave. He might be the greatest guy ever. But I didn't think that was a cool move. You name is Mike Rowe. Yeah. It felt like that. Yeah. So I don't know. Dave Farrell might be the greatest guy ever, but I didn't think that was a cool move. You're not the first person

to express maybe displeasure with Dave, but any interaction I ever had with him, he's always been awesome. And he was super helpful in my career and stuff. Well, that's good to hear.

There's nothing I can say poorly about that gentleman. No, that's good. And that's my only negative Dave Farrell story. There you go. That's not too bad. Okay. So I got to ask you about a beef you might have had,

and you can tell me if I got my facts wrong here. So your seat should be getting warmer right now. Oh, is it? Is it in the hot seat? Yeah. All right, here we go. All right, so Alexis on fire. You're going to ask me about Alexis on fire.

I knew it. Come on. I knew it. Come on. If you didn't have anything like this, it would be pretty boring. It would be like having Roger Lajoie in here. Come on. You need to have something, it. Come on. I knew it. Come on. If you didn't have anything like this, then it would be pretty boring. It would be like having Roger Lajoie in here. Come on. You need to have something, right? Come on.

Okay, so let me go to my notes here. My investigative journalist, my staff has come up with some interesting things. They say, okay, what did you say? You might have said something like this on the air. You said you were going to play an Alexis on fire track and you might have said something like, and then later you can retort here, but let's not play that.

We're not playing Alexis on fire anymore. Apparently some of the guys had some things to say about us, despite the fact we've been big supporters of theirs over the years. Let's play something by a band that actually likes us. This is ubiquitous synergy seeker friends of the station. Like that might be a little paraphrase, but is that sentiment? Essentially? Yes. That's it's pretty much, it was Billy talent. i played billy town oh billy town yeah and okay there's a lot going on at the time and uh we were at wake stock and it was triple

shot weekend and we were playing triple shots of bands and And we got, I don't know, the guys, the Alexis guys said they had just gone their own ways. Dallas had gone to do City in Color. And so one of George, probably, he had a new band. And he got up there and he said some things about the edge. And I was standing there and he just settled his stuff. And I was just, I don't know. He said some stuff that i didn't particularly care for which i'm sure at this moment he probably doesn't even remember but he just had some things

to say and used his platform to say them and then i you know used my platform all right i thought uh there's also a tweet from you we're uh done with alexis on fire hashtag pricks well they're being pricks i don't know i mean i like real talk so like if this is how you felt and then i'm all for that yeah at the time it was it was definitely uh yeah it wasn't great and actually what's really cool now is that wade from alexis does the evening right and couldn't possibly be a better dude like he is the coolest and we talked about this actually it's funny you bring it up because he and i talked about it and he was like yeah you know stuff was going on what are you gonna do and uh yeah and that's

literally how all of us felt it was just like stuff was going on what are you gonna do okay now that's because i was gonna ask you so a a you got uh wade mcneil hosting evening so i was gonna ask what that's like if there's any friction there oh no not at all like literally it was nothing but you do know it's because you're six'5". A lot of people are going to be very forgiving. Way to kick my ass in a second. He knows it. We all know it. But Alan Cross could not kick your ass. That would explain it.

I guess that makes sense. I mean, maybe. He's been here. He's not kicking your ass. I appreciate that. I'll take that one. It was nothing that wasn't resolved within a 45-second conversation. Okay, good, it was nothing that wasn't resolved within like a 45 second conversation. Okay, good.

Because there's another one, another interesting dynamic to your brief feud with Alexis on Fire, which is that Josie Dye, okay, she's hosting Afternoon Drive and she came in here and told us about how her husband represents Alexis on Fire. Yes, Joel. Right. Yes. So that's interesting too, no? Am I dreaming up a controversy here i guess but it's just that my sort of i guess feud quote unquote yeah you're

literally one afternoon versus the like stuff where like alexis and like the old blundell show and how much they there was friction there and stuff so it really had very little yeah but the old blundell show had friction with lots of people. But that's just it, right? So, I mean, I had friction one time because they were being pricks. I don't know what you want. No, I don't.

I'm trying. Come on. I'm trying to get the real story here. But really, like, I mean, Wade is awesome, and I see Wade, and I saw Dallas recently, and he's super cool. But literally any of the other members

of Lex is on Fire would walk by me a billion times out of a billion times. And I have no idea who I was. So I'm sure they don't even have a second thought about any of this, nor should they. But they're back together now, right? They played some shows. Yeah. And I think they're going to do some more stuff in the new year, which is cool because they're a great band.

I've seen them at an Edge Fest or two. And yeah, they're great. Riot Fest. Yeah. And I love I happen to love how Dallas can do both sides. Like he can go do this like sweet, like melodic acoustic thing and kick ass there and then kind of jump on with the Alexis on Fire guys. And it's just ear bleeding. But there's a hook in there, but it's like loud. Yeah.

And it's cool that they were able to sort of explore their own different things outside of that band and then bring it back together the way they have. It's cool. And I think it will only make them better going forward cool did you uh take did you take over for josie die when she went on mat leave is that this so or josie died was on evenings no remind me how this went all right uh josie was on mat leave and then the whole station blew up and fred and mel were doing god i don't even remember fred and mel eventually ended up on the morning show carlos benedict has came back right he was doing middays right carlos that's the guy i forgot he went to kitchen back to kitchen it was carlos no but it was uh it was

dominic and josie were doing the morning show dominic and i dominic and yes and then it was carlos and then fred and mel and then me okay in the evening and then carlos left right they moved fred and mel up to the morning show they moved me into middays and they moved josie down to do drive not down did you drive but in the day schedule and then they brought wade in to do evenings who was doing overnight all right that kind of blows my narrative because i was was thinking out loud to myself that if you took over for Josie Dye, then I was thinking on this show, because I had May Potts on this show, and then I've had Kelly Cotrera on this show, and then I've had Josie Dye, and now yourself.

I was wondering if I had a string going back to pre-May Potts. Pretty close. But I missed out on Carlos. Carlos and I did it for three months. So I don't know how much of that string. And he's in Kitchener. That close. But I missed out on Carlos. Carlos, I did it for three months. So I don't know how much that string. And he's in Kitchener. That's not that far a drive.

What is that? Two hours? He'd come out too. Yeah. He'll fill in your string. He's a Twitter friend. I could hook that up. Yeah.

I think you can make it happen. And you know what they said? There'd never be a guy doing middays on the edge. And I made it happen. I'm living that dream. And this is a good slot, right? Cause you don't have to wake up at like 4am. No, it's the best. It's the best job ever. Yeah. I get in at like 930 and I'm it happen. I'm living that dream. And this is a good slot, right? Because you don't have to wake up at like 4 a.m.

No, it's the best. It's the best job ever. I get in at like 9.30 and I'm out of there. I was here at 4 o'clock across the other side of the city. So, okay. So let's go back to Dean Blundell for a minute. So when you start at The Edge, the Blundell show is rocking and rolling

and it's still Dean, Todd, and Jason. Yeah, it's early days. Yeah. Because you're like 05, right? Yeah, yeah yeah so that's like the first five years because i know they took over for humble and fred and i they went to mojo and i think i think that was early 2001 i think yeah maybe 2000 but i think 2001 i think 2001 yeah something like that i just listened on my way to school so yes yeah so so dean so Dean, Todd, and Jason are doing mornings, and they have like a long run, man.

I think that they had like, I'm going to say 14 years. Yeah, I was going to say 13, 14 years. Yeah, it's just crazy. Yeah, a really long run. And they did, like, I mean, if you're talking ratings, they delivered some big fat books, right? Monster numbers. Because your demo is what matters in radio.

I know most people know this, but not everybody. Some people think it's like all ears or whatever but you like uh he sounds funny when i say it you like young men but your station desires the ears of young men is that right 1834 that's males 1834 especially 1824 i mean it's a little more we focus on adults 18 to 34 is sort of more where the key is but yeah it's because i know that that might have been the case but i think that's changed because uh i talked to scott turner uh the day that he did his last spirit of radio show and he was a little pissed to be honest but he knew he knew he was on the record when we had this chat and he was sober as far as i know as far as i

know and he said and i think i think he drinks like beet juice like i don't think i think he's always sober he seems like the healthiest he's the planet. He's got a $6,000 bicycle. Really? Yeah. Wow. I bike every day, and I can't believe how much this bike costs, and it's nothing like that. Wow.

Anyway, so Scott Turner was saying they've decided to skew younger, and basically Spirited Radio Sunday had a lot of ears, but they were older ears. Guys like me were listening, and the station didn't care for that. So they were going to target younger, and they didn't care about all-male ears anymore. They only cared about young male ears. Hmm. I mean, I—

This is him talking. I'm kind of paraphrasing, but he knew that was on the record because— Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, fair enough. I don't know. I mean, I know what i'm targeted at in the 10 to 3 and that's adults 1834 okay and i think well again so 1834 right adults

1834 adults 1834 yeah so i don't know i mean like spirit of radio sunday i was super cool but i think i think the argument they would make for making that change is that if you turn on on sunday and that's what you get and then you turn on a monday and it's not what you get then you're confused or even uh even simpler quite simple and the argument i think is valid from a business standpoint but if if everything if all the advertising is based on let's say 18 to 34 yeah and spirit of radio sunday has guy has like 34 to 54 or whatever the hell it is. It's the wrong demo. Yeah.

Like it's just the same thing you're saying except business standpoint. Like those ears aren't helping us make revenue. Yeah, to be 18 to 34 six days a week. Yeah. Six and a half days a week. So I get it. They did spin some nonsense about digitizing it,

but they can't really do. It never happened. And I just wish they would just be straight up and say we're canceling it. Move on. And that's just it. Old people. Sometimes you would just wish they would just be straight up and say, we're canceling it. Move on. And that's just it. Old people. Sometimes you would just wish

they would just be like, you know what? Here's how it is. Go back and spin your Smith's record. Just move on. Dust off your needles and get it out there. Seriously. I meant record needles for the record.

Of course. Of course. Needle in the damage. Done. So Dean Blundell, they were suspended. So they were suspended. This is all,

everyone knows this story now, but this is way after Jason's been let go and Todd's been let go. And they were suspended. So they were suspended. Everyone knows this story now, but this is way after Jason's been let go and Todd's been let go. And actually, I think it's Billy. So it's like Dean and Billy are basically the morning show. And I'm sitting there pushing the buttons. So you're the one pushing the buttons. Yeah.

Right, because Dani's gone. She's in Peterborough now. Yep. And she's a nice lady, by the way. Lovely young lady. Very talented. Very smart young lady. She's very smart. She's doing something for, lady, by the way. Lovely young lady. Very talented. Very smart young lady. She's very smart.

She's doing something for like women's products. Like that's the best I can put it, man. Something sanitary woman stuff. She does something for that. Well, good for her. You know, it's a good cause. It's important for the other gender. So when Dean, when they just,

they suspend the show because of the comments Blind Eric made and they all talked about. Right. And you're the guy who did the morning show during the suspension? Probably. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. And certainly after when they were let go, I had to do it for a while.

So you basically are like the bridge between Dean Blundell's show and Dominic and Die. Are you the bridge? I did a bunch of it. And then Fred did some stuff. They sort of had us both. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Fred did it first. You're right.

Because I thought he would be the permanent morning guy. That's what I thought, too, right away. I once wrote an entry, like, five possibilities of the Dean Blundell suspension. Like, one being that they bring him back. But, you know, one of them actually I had was, like, you doing the morning show, but Fred was the one I had my money on fred yeah fearless fred getting the morning show yeah i

think that's sort of what we all thought initially would happen and it's cool that it's worked out that way and you know uh but fred was doing evening or drive for a long time and i knew that he had aspirations to be a morning guy like that's what he always wanted and uh yeah yeah so he's taking the ball so when you had the mornings for a while there uh what time do you wake up for that like 3 30 it was a nightmare i hated every second of doing it all right i'm just not a morning guy i had to get up early and be there and then lay it all out you just gotta tell yourself that's not morning that's late night yeah but it's like it's like the pressure of trying to follow that and be anything when all anyone wants is dean like they're like where is dean yeah so how does yeah that's a good point so

you basically got an audience that likes the style that dean had and i'm not like that like at all yeah so it was really it was but even is that still an issue like uh like i mean now we're we're kind of, I don't know if it's been a year or whatever it's been. It's been a while now. But is that still an issue? Like, trying to take this, like, big audience that was tuning in for a certain style of humor that's simply, like, Fearless Fred's not that either.

No, he's not. It's different. But the entire landscape of the station and the vibe of the station, I think, has changed since the departure of the Blundell show. So it's... Those numbers seem like an impossible feat to get back

to, to be honest with you. They're a monster. You know what? The guys at the fan are thinking the same thing. Yeah, absolutely. Those numbers were insane. And sometimes you just strike gold and you you know you run with it but it's uh i don't know uh i certainly didn't enjoy doing that uh and how was your

relationship like with dean oh awesome i like do you wish and this kind of a weird question but do you wish they had not fired dean like you just wish they kept going because it seemed to be working and maybe he'll clean up his act with regards to some of these controversial subjects i mean that's a that's a tough question because personally i'm here to ask the tough questions you're doing it right now um like i don't know i mean you never want to see anybody get fired obviously but well that's not true there's always somebody you want us to get fired but please continue please continue i know but like with dean like he was always awesome to me. Like he he's been instrumental in my career and has been just I got nothing but great things to say about Dean.

But some things people think about him fine. I think he's great. You can only speak for you. Yeah, absolutely. And he I don't know, like they that's what the show was. And there was a new regime and it just all sort of i don't want to say made sense but it all seemed like the perfect storm for things to change so i i guess if it was going to happen that's when it needed to happen if they brought them back who knows i might have done it for another 10 years i i really don't know but um i know he seems to be doing well at the fan this seems like you know yeah that one depends on who you ask, though.

But, you know, that's a different, that's a different, that's completely, to me, that's a different animal. Like, you can't drop the Blundell that was doing that 102 show, drop him on 590 and expect it to be the same. Like, first of all, it's in all sports. It's AM.

There's a whole bunch of different stuff. And he's, in his own words, he's reprogrammed or whatever, like a kinder, gentler dean or whatever yeah but i think that's like when you go and like if i got canned tomorrow i went to go work at virgin like i mean they're kind of similar we're direct competitors essentially um if i went to go work there i would have to redo so much of what i do to make it work within that format so it's a challenge so i'm sure that dean sees it as that, as a challenge to something different.

And again, the main thing is Dean didn't jump to the fan. Dean was an unrestricted free agent, so to speak. You know what I mean? Like he got another good morning gig at a big Toronto station. Yeah, absolutely.

He's going to jump at that. Who wouldn't? Why wouldn't you? Well, I wouldn't because I hated doing mornings. You wouldn't do it. That's for sure. And Dean,

Todd and Jason, they were good guys too oh yeah i'm especially jason like todd was great whatever but especially jason he was always super super cool because i would do overnights before so he would be there prepping the news and stuff so we hang out a little bit and i still talk to him working at 97.7 and such yeah yeah jason's awesome bigs and bar thing going over there he does yeah which was a very clever move by him when he got let go. Sure, he started podcasting. A podcast is genius. I know.

I told him. You're doing it, man. Yeah, I'm waiting for that phone call, man. The next midday guy. You'll finish the string. I don't know if I could handle the pay cut, though. That would be difficult. That's a good point.

I joke, I joke. You're not wrong. I have never applied for a radio job. I figure if they don't want to pursue me and recruit me aggressively, then forget it. You want the perks. You got to come at me and say, we want you. Yeah, we want the World Series tickets to get me. Oh, lure me.

I get it. Absolutely. That would be great. I have a buddy. He works out of Chicago. And he promised me if it was a Cubs-Jays World Series, he promised he'd pay whatever it was. He'd fly out here and take me to a game.

Like, this was a promise. And I was rooting so hard for Cubs and Jays because this man doesn't lie and this was going to happen not going to happen that was the one thing i was terrified of honestly like if we were the team to beat the cubs in the world series like no even better world would hate us f them who cares they already hate us come on come on adam that's a good point actually they already hate us all right now, real brief. So you mentioned 05 is when you come to the edge. And you mentioned you were working with Martin Streak.

So tell me what it was like working with Martin. I mean, where do you even start, really? Like, the number one thing that I will say, I mean, the best way to sort of describe it is I felt like I got to learn a lot from him because I was just around. And I was like 19 years old and i didn't really know what i was doing i was just doing stuff and martin always had time i mean you know me me to tell you this he always had time for everyone and i've tried so hard to always remember that and everyone but kelly catrera who's the only one who felt like she worked alongside him and never knew him that was oh really yes she's like the only one so maybe but everyone else like from uh uh crap she's in the on she's in oshawa now she's on the air in oshawa lorianne lorianne people like that say the same thing yeah bingo bob people yeah it's

just like you could walk into the phoenix any night and he would be there playing pool with somebody like and i still remember like my friends and stuff but we would take them out to the phoenix and and whatever and you'd find them in the in the parlor room playing pool with martin and they'd be talking about it for weeks and weeks and weeks and i just i never forgot like how instrumental that was to people to really like shake hands and kiss babies and do that kind of but he never made it seem like he was working ever like he was just always having fun, and everyone else needed to be having fun with him.

He was the best. Larger than life, maybe? He really was larger than life, yeah. He was the best. And how did you find out the terrible news that night in 2009? Woof. I found out Don Mitchell, who was the music director at the time, called me, and I was filling in on evenings.

And he called me to tell me. And then my next call was to Laurieann, who we just mentioned, because she was supposed to do the overnight. And I knew how close her and Martin were. So I called her boyfriend, whose husband now Dylan. And I told him, I was like, dude, here's what happened or whatever. I'll stay and do the overnight because I'm sure she'll be able to do it. So that's what we did. And she.

Yeah, so she stay and I continued and worked right through the overnight. Were you told don't mention this on the air? No, no, none of that. Did you mention on the air? I didn't because I didn't feel like it was my place to do that. So I do remember I played Tool at about 2 o'clock in the morning and I remember vividly saying,

this one's for Marty, you're locked, cranked, and listening to 102.1 The Edge. There you go. So that was my own little tribute, but I didn't feel it was my place because, I mean, really, especially then, like, who was I?

Right. So they sort of left it for the next day for Dean and them to do. but I didn't feel it was my place because I mean, really, especially then like who was I right. So they sort of left it for the next day for, for Dean and them to do. Yeah. Which, and I, who told me this story? Maybe it was somebody, maybe it was, I can't remember now who told me this story, but apparently they asked the Dean show not to talk about it. And I could be merging, but, but maybe they, I don't, if anything, I think it's, it was probably because they weren't sure what had happened.

Sure. Like, we knew that he had passed away, but we didn't know what the circumstance was. So I think they wanted to make sure the family knew and stuff. I mean, that's a fucked up time. Just emotionally. And everything's all mixed up. There's emotional stuff. He's a friend.

He's a former colleague. And then there's that whole... I mean, I got my butt spanked for this from stafford first i know he's at your sister's brother's station i guess not sister's yeah brother's station brother's station and then josie gave me a spanking too but uh like from a fan perspective we see him fired and two months later he takes his own life and we have trouble like you know it gets all bleeds in together. And then there's a blame game. And then you're pissed and hurt.

And this is a fan. And it's just so fucked up. Yeah, it really was fucked. And even us, working with him and being friends with him and things, what do you do with that? How do you handle or react to that no matter how you connect to martin right it was for everyone

it was just i mean an absolute nightmare he was seemingly uh healthy and young and vibrant and i know he had things on the go because i've got footage of him filming new pilot tv shows of uss like backstage past type things like the man had a future yeah he had a face for tv if you will yeah absolutely and infinitely talented like and friends in high places like the strombos of the world would go through walls for this guy you know absolutely like absolutely like if i if he had called strombo that day that he got fired and said hey do you need a correspondent george would have hired him in a second like i i don't know it. But I mean, how can you ever figure it out, right? It'll drive you crazy if you go, you know,

think what ifs or look, you know, we need a time machine for that shit. It's been like six years, right? Yeah, yeah. Crazy, crazy. All right. Now, I got to ask you about radio and situation, everything. So recently at Q107 there was a

bunch of dismissals like pretty recent yeah and chorus in general so yeah yeah because kelly got it too and she's not in she's not at q so and uh yeah so a bunch of people and even people like rob johnston for example who no one people don't know him because he's not on technical production by rob johnson right i. Ongoing history in new music. That's right. So basically there's a big purge. And I have spoken to people who work for Bell Media radio stations who

and I'm not going to reveal anything except to say that there's huge concerns over there that there's a purge that's coming there imminently. My question is how do you build a career and stay focused when the job security in your line of work is a little frightening, I would think? It's honestly, you just kind of have to treat it like skydiving.

I could go in and get fired any day. I mean, I think I'm in a pretty good spot right now, but I genuinely have no idea. You never really know with radio. And these purges come and they happen. And I remember being 18 years old the first time it happened. I was working at Y and they came in and they fired a bunch of people

and I didn't know what to do or how to react. And I just remember Darren Layman, Big D, just saying, this happened. It's just part of the animal that is this and you got to get used to it it's part of the deal yeah if you want to be in it it's just it's going to continue to happen because this is just how radio is and it's and it could happen anytime like it's like a thursday and they just you know can't a bunch of people and it's i've been super super lucky to have my head down yeah you got 10 years 10 years on your belt. I mean, 13 at Chorus total with working at Y before.

Right, right, right. It's been a long time, but I, you know, inevitably, I'm sure. But it's got to be tough. You know what? And I know what you mean. You can't think about it. It's almost like you're a high wire. You're walking a high wire.

You just don't look down. Yeah, exactly. You got to get to the other side. Don't look down or whatever. But, I mean, I feel like this person i talked to at bell media like i just feel bad because it's like uh they they know something's coming and i don't have any details more than that some people who work there think something's coming like i don't know and that's just it though like it really is like that where you sort of develop this sixth sense where you like did you know that did you feel something

was coming with this recent wave totally yeah and do you feel that's over uh for now i mean it feels like it's settled although when rob was sort of like a week yeah that was later that was that was kind of a freak out because it was like oh we kind of thought was and is he is he a product of being there too long like is that maybe because i mean that i know that in the real real world but i don't you know i'm non-radio world, you know, you gather raises every year, and sometimes 25-year veterans are just making, like, twice what somebody would make in that position if they came in. And I don't know.

It's totally possible. I'm speculating. I mean, yeah, I really don't know. I wouldn't imagine it has anything to do with his specific job performance because Rob Johnson is the pinnacle of production. That's what I hear. Yeah, I mean, he's the king. Maybe I'll hire him to produce this podcast.

There you go. Have you had him on here? He's waiting for some legal stuff to see its way out, and then he's coming in. He's the best. He's awesome. But he is coming in. He'll be great on this.

You know what? I had him on. I did a tribute to Martin Streak at the fifth year since his passing, and he appears on that. Oh, great. He didn't actually come in. It was a Skype thing, but he will come in

once the dust settles on some things. He might set the new record for tallest guy on the podcast. How tall is he? He's up there. He's taller than I am. Taller than...

So taller than you? Yeah. So Myrtle, I think, has the record and Roz Weston and you are like coming in right behind Myrtle. He might set a new one.

He might be 6'7". Rob Johnson's a tall man. Always slouching in his chair. Good to know. See, I didn't know. Might have to move this upstairs. And I don't even hear him on the radio. That's funny.

The emergence of 88.1, how do you think that's affected the erection of 102.1? Because you guys kind of had that arena to yourself for a long time. If you want new rock, if you want like an alt rock or whatever, you have one place to go.

Now there's theoretically, it's a little different, but very similar to the playlist. Two places you can go. Yeah, I mean, really, I think it's good. I mean, to have a monopoly on anything sort of breeds people laying back and doing things the way they've always done them

instead of being creative and trying to make sure you're pulling people your way i'll make the worst reference ever everyone's gonna hate this but professional wrestling was its absolute best in the 90s when wcw and the wwf are on at the same time pushing each other now one doesn't exist and it's terrible that's how i fell in the xfl folded there you go go, right? The XFL. You hate me. Anyway, yeah, it's great. And especially, they have some super talented people that work there, too. But all former.

I mean, Rain is great, and Bookie's great, and there's other great people. Those are the two that ring top of my mind. And they're former Edge. We all know them from your station. Yeah, and the thing is, I have to go in every day knowing that I'm head-to-head with Bookie. thing is like i have to go in every day knowing that i'm head to head with bookie like there's very few things that are more motivating to want to be good because i know how good what he does is so it's like so how come if bookie's so good and we all love bookie and no one has a bad word to say about bookie why does the station part part ways with bookie but i i i know i don't even know

why i'm asking you how would you how the hell would you know but yeah like i don't even know why I'm asking you. How the hell would you know? I don't know, but sometimes it just comes down literally to like, we get a new boss, any station gets a new boss, and they just have the people that they want, and the people that don't fit what they want the station to be. Luckily, I haven't been one of those people to this point. But eventually, I will be.

You're still young. When you're old like Bookie, maybe it changes. I don't know. Bookie's young in his soul. You're right. You're right. No, he sounds young because he knows his new music, and he's passionate young when you're old like bookie maybe it changes i don't know bookie's young in his soul you're right you're right no he sounds young because he knows his new music and he's passionate about the freaking music that's what makes him a great dj yeah you know he's like our last link to those those great days and the best interviewer ever like i genuinely feel like every time i do an interview i'm just somehow you're channeling your inner bookie i'm doing a cheap imitation of bookie like he is the best interviewer ever.

I had a dentist appointment today, like just a cleaning, and I heard the Adele song twice. And in between, I did hear, I think it was 104.5. I think that's what was playing. And this Adele song dropped today. And I heard it twice.

And then they made a promo in between saying we will play Adele every hour, all day long. Like it's Adele day. You guys going to add Adele to your playlist playlist i can't imagine that's gonna happen it dropped at midnight am i gonna hear it on 102.1 there was did you played rolling in the deep we did play rolling because i wrote about that yeah we did play rolling in the deep i remember that uh we also played m&m so who knows i don't know i played outcast yeah at some point you decided

to introduce things like because you always play beastie boys yeah and then you start playing m&em and i'm glad you added like hey yeah because it was like you were only gonna play white rappers for a while come on now i like uh we play uh miss jackson which i enjoy that so yeah i don't know i mean i'm sure we won't play i can't imagine to be honest there was a moment there i thought we were gonna start playing ed sheeran but i think we dodged that you dodged that bullet yeah yeah but you did you did play the mess out of Sam Smith, didn't you? No. Or was it 88.1 played the mess out of Sam Smith? Yeah, we didn't play Sam Smith at all.

I confused my old rock station. Well, get it straight, Mike. Come on. What kind of research team you got here? You're the one with the better signal. That's how I remember it. That's what it is. Yeah, there you go.

And Alan Cross, your buddy from Y108, what exactly is he doing at 102.1 these days? He is... People need to know. He's just the overseer of everything. Is he now a guidance counselor for CFNY? I mean, I guess, kind of.

Like, he's always... He runs a site and stuff like that. I mean, in addition to ongoing history and new music, which they're still doing. But who does production on that now?

That's a very good question. I don't know. I don't know. Freelance Rob, maybe? Somebody's curious. I know. Okay, cool. I don't know. I don't know. Freelance Rob, maybe? Somebody's curious. I know. Okay, cool. We love Alan.

I met him at the C&E in 1989. CFY had a boom box. It was like a giant boom box. And he was handing out stickers there. And I got a sticker. Yeah. I worked at the C&E that year. Oh, that's cool.

That's how old I am. And so Alan is like guys my age and younger and some older. Just love that guy. i'm the voice you know i literally owe him everything for my entire career so he might send you an invoice so be careful be careful uh and i know i gotta wrap this up because i gotta pick up this boy at daycare but um final question is what's your career goal like are are you now living the dream or do you have the goal to one day do something different in this? What is the end game?

You're knocking it out of the park here again. I had this exact conversation with Alan Cross last night. Let me know when Chorus recruits me for this one. That would, by the way, be the most amazing event if Chorus recruits me because I was told in 2009 or so, according to Josie Dye, I was quite hated in the walls, quite disliked in the walls of Chorus. Yeah, you definitely were.

So if I'm recruited by Chorus, it goes full circle. There it is. I have been very nice and apologetic lately to Chorus. I love the podcast with Josie. If anybody didn't hear the podcast with Josie, there's a free plug for you. Check that one out. Yes, thank you. No, the goal was to do middays at 102.1 The Edge.

So you're done. You're very young to be done. You need a new goal. That's just it. Run a marathon or something. I'm going to enjoy it and then we'll, I don't know. And then you're going to climb Mount Everest and record from the top of Mount Everest. That's exactly what I'm going to do. But train properly. Some people think they can just buy a Sherpa and you got to train.

We'll do the podcast together. We'll do this podcast together from the top of Mount Everest. And don't run out of oxygen to train. We'll do the podcast together. We'll do this podcast together from the top of Mount Everest. And don't run out of oxygen up there. I'll do my best. Listen, Adam, that was pretty freaking awesome. I enjoyed that. Hey, me too.

Thanks for having me. And it wasn't that hot, the hot seat. No. You handled yourself well. No, not at all. I thought it was interesting. Hopefully. No, good stuff.

And that brings us to the end of our 138th show. You can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike and Adam is at Adam1021. See you all next week. Thank you.