Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Andy Frost: Toronto Mike'd #291

Episode Date: December 12, 2017

Mike chats with Andy Frost about his years at Q107, Psychedelic Psunday, being the PA announcer at Leafs games and his son Morgan being drafted in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft.

Welcome to episode 291 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent brewery celebrating 30 years in the craft beer business. Visit GLB at 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard for $5 beers. And propertyinthesix.com. Toronto real estate done right. And Paytm, an app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. Download the app today from paytm.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week is Andy Frost. Welcome, Andy.

Thank you, Mike. Great to finally meet you. Episode 291, man. But I did try to get you for like episode 9, I think. Well, hey, first of all, it's great to meet you and I'm glad we could finally put this together, and it's great to be on with you today. This might be the record for the longest length of time between the first invitation and the arrival of the and busy. And nonetheless, hey, I've never once doubted the quality of your podcasts. And I'm glad to be on with you. And I'm really glad we could put it together, especially during the festive season. Well, here's the thing.

When you have a gentleman named Frost coming over, is there a better day than today? The frosty winter has arrived. It's perfect. Well, hey, I'm a Winnipeg boy. This is nothing unusual. We're going to get to that Winnipeg, as I call it, Winterpeg. So you would know a thing or two. Let me ask you something.

Let me read this question from Yerouge right off the bat. It ties in nicely with what I think of when I think of Andy Frost. But Yerouge says this. Who from Yerouge right off the bat. And it ties in nicely with what I think of when I think of Andy Frost. But Yerouge says this. Who is Yerouge? He left a comment on Toronto Mike on an open mic. That's his first name, I believe. Yerouge Islam or something?

This is just a... Maybe Afro, I don't know. He's just a fan. And he says, You have to ask Andy Frost about what it's like to be the Christopher Walken of Toronto, where he eventually became that token impression that everyone at a certain point uses for whatever reason. So let me ask you, do you have a good sense of humor about the fact that so many people will do an Andy Frost impersonation? Well, I guess so, yeah. destination well i guess so yeah and i think doing mike the the leaf games for as long as i did it's not that unlike when we were kids and we used to imitate paul morris or we used to imitate kids

that used to work on the radio growing up in winnipeg you know it's just uh may i like the territory i don't mind at all do you let me do you mind if I do my Paul Morris for you real quick? Because you're right. I grew up with Paul Morris, and it would be something like this. Hold on. I'm not very good at this, by the way, but here we go. Goal scored by number 93, Doug Gilmore. Time of the goal.

Assisted by number 17, Wendell Clark. So that's my Paul Morris. Can I do an Andy Frost for you? Of course. That's my Paul Morris. Can I do an Andy Frost for you? Of course. Goal scored by number 13, Matt Sundin.

Not very good. Very nice. I don't have the depth. You know, the thing that stands out about Paul Morris to me was name specifically. And of course, you know, as a little kid. And then as you get a little bit older and you hear names like of course, you know, as a little kid. And then as you get a little bit older and you hear names like Tom Fergus, you know, Boreas Salming. His intonation was on the second syllable

of the last name. Boreas, maybe not, but it just, Boreas Salming. You know, opposing players too, Terry Harper. Yeah, yeah. A bunch of guys. We're going to get to this because that voice, Paul Morris, like all throughout at least my lifetime at Maple Leaf Gardens,

there was a guy before Paul Morris, but of course way before my time, Red something, Red Barber. Okay. Correct. So there's Red Barber. Then there's Paul Morris who, you know, the voice of Maple Leaf Gardens

throughout my lifetime, and then we'll get to this later in the episode, but then you are the voice of the ACC as far as I'm concerned. Even today, when I'm watching a game in Austin Matthews scores, I hear your voice regardless of who's doing the PA announcing. I still hear Andy Frost in my head.

That is the signature sound. That's very nice of you to think that. Yeah, it would have been nice to be able to announce a goal or an assist. The name Austin Matthews would have been great to do, but hey, that's

how it goes. Exactly. We'll get to that. Nothing lasts forever, unfortunately, but we will definitely get to that. I want to urge everybody listening to help crowdfund this passion project so we can have interesting people like Andy Frost on.

Please go to patreon.com slash Toronto Mike. Pledge what you wish. A dollar a month is great. Everything helps. So please go to patreon.com slash Toronto Mike. Andy, do you enjoy an alcoholic beverage or two when you're watching the hockey game at night?

Not necessarily hockey games, but at this point, Mike, you end up picking your spots a little bit more. Whereas before, we just used to go nuts all the time. The good old days, you mean. Well, right. And it's just not like that anymore. But, you know, sure, in the summer or if there's a festive occasion or if there's a reason

to maybe put back a few cold beers, sure, I'm right into it. You'll partake. So there's a six-pack there of Great Lakes beer. That's courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery. I can't wait to get into them. And you're coming at a good time because usually I have six cans for the guest. But I just got a big, I got a package of bottles. The bottles have a greater quantity, like maybe twice as much as the cans.

I have to check it out. So you're getting more beer than any other guest has ever received on the show. Well, that's very kind of you. And yes, you're right. The bottles look like they hold significantly more than the cans. They're like super tall boys. That's exactly right. So, Cher,

maybe your son could enjoy the Great Lakes beer, please. Well, he's not 19 yet, but we'll see what happens. He's going to be home next week. enjoy the Great Lakes beer, please. Well, he's not 19 yet, but... He's close enough, though, right? We'll see what happens. Hey, he's going to be home next week.

We're going to get to that, because my youngest child is named Morgan, but she's a girl. And Morgan's one of those names where you've got your Morgan Frost or Morgan Riley. It's a good guy's name, but it's also a good girl's name. Yeah.

Solid name. Yeah. But we'll dive name. Solid name. Yeah. But we'll dive into that also later. Good. While you're pouring the beer, while you're drinking the beer, you're going to want to pour it into the pint glass, which you put it down, but you have a pint glass there. That's from propertyinthesix.com. Oh, I get this too. Yeah, absolutely.

Fantastic. Thank you. You don't want to drink the beer out of the bottle or the can anymore. You want to pour it into the pint glass and break down that carbon there. Lovely. That's courtesy of Brian Gerstein. I can see that. He left a message for you. Are you ready for your

personalized message from Brian? Brian Gerstein left me a message? Here it is. Property in the six dot com. from Brian. Brian Gerstein left me a message. Here it is. Hi, Andy. Brian Gerstein here, sales representative with PSR Brokerage and proud sponsor of Toronto Mike. If you or any of Mike's listeners have any real estate questions about the market, feel free to give me a call at 416-873-0292, and I will be happy to break it down for you. Andy, I hope you enjoy your Great Lakes beer in my pint glass,

and I'm just wondering if you and Herbie Kuhn, the voice of the Raptors, were close as you worked in the same arena, but on different days. Well, to answer Brian's question, you want that now, Mike? Yeah, go ahead. Herbie Kuhn, I have never met Herbie Kuhn,

at least, you know, as far as I know, I've never met Herbie Kuhn. Maybe I did. But, you know, as Brian says, we were there at different times different games and different sports clearly

I was maybe you're right because I would think he'd be one of the last people you'd meet considering you're never at the same place

at the same time because if it's a Raptors night why would you be there but maybe he's thinking at like some holiday party or something well and there was

you know Mike there was lots of events that I was a part of, but they would strictly be Leafs or hockey events. They wouldn't mix the two sports or the two announcers or the two games or, you know. No, that makes sense to me. Yeah. Here's a jam you've probably heard a few times

on a psychedelic Sunday. But I'm just going to play the instrumental. Don't get excited. But I'm playing this because of Paytm. Paytm is an app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. You don't have to visit each separate website to make a payment. All of your bills are on the Paytm app.

You visit Paytm. You download the Paytm app for free on your smartphone. And when you make that first bill payment, you use the promo code Toronto Mike. That's all one word. If you use the promo code Toronto Mike with Paytm, you get $10. $10 is yours. And you can thank me later. Nice to hear money. I knew you'd appreciate that. That's one of the staples, right? One of the standards. How many times do you think in your career you played that jam? Played Pink Floyd's Money?

Right. Over or under a million? Under, but not by much. That's right. Maybe 30,000. Wow, okay. That's quite a bit. Of course, under a million, but you get the drift. I get the drift.

So let's get you there. So you mentioned Winnipeg. So how does a guy from Winnipeg find his way to the mighty Q in the center of the universe here? Well, I worked radio in Winnipeg for, I guess, seven years or so. And Q107 in Toronto offered me a position. And to be honest with you, Mike, I really had no interest in coming to Toronto to work. I'd been to Toronto, you know, when I was a kid, I used to come here all the time and stay with my aunt and uncle that was just up Islington.

uncle that was just up hislington and it just you know sure I felt as if I could probably handle the job but you know hey I was in my hometown I was working Winnipeg Jets games back in the early 80s I was on the top rock station in Winnipeg, I really had no interest to leave. But it got to the point, I guess, about the mid-80s, where at City FM in Winnipeg, they cleaned house and they got rid of myself and a bunch of other people. And at that point, I thought, sure, let's see what's going on with Toronto. And they had asked me to come to Toronto on a few occasions, and I continued to say no thanks, appreciate the offer, and being as polite as I always try to be. And it got to the point where, sure, let's give it a shot.

And I got here, honestly. Within the first week, I thought, well, I can do this. This is, you know, the people are relatively the same. And yeah, I can handle this. And I've been at Q, well, essentially ever since. I left in the late 80s for maybe about a year and a half, couple of years. Went and worked at a friend of mine's record company.

You know, I didn't know this. In my mind, and I'm sure a lot of people don't know this, in my mind, you get to Q in like 85 or so, and you've been there ever since. Yeah. It's like one of those, like, so you're saying there was a period in the late 80s where you actually were not working at Q. Correct.

And then I went back to Q, as you may remember, maybe not, we did a syndicated all-night show that ran across the country and they asked me to come back and host that. And at that point I thought, sure, let's give this a shot. So no, we'd be on in Newfoundland and out east in the Maritimes. And then it was all, everything had to be timed out correctly. At midnight, we'd come on all the Ontario stations, including Q107 in Toronto,

and London, and Brockville, and Sudbury, and wherever else. Then at one in the morning, our time, Eastern time, we would come on in Winnipeg, and two in the morning, Eastern time, we would come on in Alberta. And then three in the morning, Eastern time, we would come on in Vancouver, where of course, it was only midnight. Right. Now, so back in Winnipeg, is it true you worked, this is in Winnipeg, you worked with Brother Jake Edwards in Winnipeg? Oh, yes. So what station was that?

92 City FM. Jake was the morning man. And it was a real eye-opener for me. And it was a real eye-opener for me. Here I had been a volunteer at the University of Manitoba FM station, which was broadcast throughout the city. And so I volunteered. You know, I was a professional waiter. I was serving, you know, Steak Diane and steaks

and making Caesar salads table side and volunteering on the side at a radio station. And then they offered to pay me to do something I was volunteering for. It was a pretty easy call. And that's where I worked with Jake Edwards was at that first paying radio station. Well, it's funny. You know, I mean, very recently I had Andy Mays from the Sky Diggers on. And I mentioned to him that Jill Deacon was coming on the next week.

And then Andy told me about how he used to play with Jill Deacon back in Montreal and then here as well at the Horseshoe. And I was basically telling Andy what a small world it is. And he was telling me, this is Canada. In Canada, everybody's connected to everybody else. Forget Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Everybody's pretty connected in Canada. And hearing you tell me that you're with brother Jake Edwards in Winnipeg, in my mind, goes to a chat I just had with John Gallagher, where John's out east, like New Brunswick or something. And brother Jake calls, gets him to queue. So he's

connected to brother Jake too. And of course, now that I'm thinking of John Gallagher, I'm thinking about John Gallagher's book, which I read, in which he talks about you guys living together. So is that a coincidence that you have the Brother Jake background, and then Brother Jake is the reason John Gallagher ends up in Toronto? Well, I don't know necessarily, Mike, if it's a coincidence, but don't forget, I worked with Jake here in Toronto at Key 107, I believe, on two separate occasions. So Jake and I ran into each other at various stages of our respective broadcasting careers.

And even if today, if I went and saw Jake, no, he and I both have good memories when we were, you know, young broadcasters. And he was really, really good. And that City FM in Winnipeg was a very powerful radio station. And I know one of the splitters that they ran was the most powerful FM station in North America. 360,000 watts. And it was, you know, there was a bunch of people that worked on there. Jake and Terry DeMonte was the afternoon guy. And I think I started there doing evenings.

And then I became the music director when Terry DeMonte left the station to work with a management company that managed Street Heart and the queen city kids and some other bands like that and uh then i was a music director like right through most of the 1980s which was a very exciting time certainly well it still is a very exciting time but it's just different you know it's 35 years ago well yeah i can imagine it's different we'll get to that for sure but uh is it was brother j Brother Jake doing the champ in Winnipeg? Can you

do the champ? Hey, everybody. People think that I do the champ. I've run into people over the years they think that I am the champ. I know better. Hey, everybody, it's me. No, to answer your question, Mike, no, Jake was not doing the

champ at that time in Winnipeg. However, many years later in Toronto, he was doing the Champ. And the Champ, I don't know if you know this or not, the Champ originated on, there was two brothers who I both believe are deceased now, McLean and McLean. You know this? You know who told this story, but you tell it again. But Steve Anthony told this story. He'd know.

Yeah. He'd know. He seemed a little bit jealous that Brother Jake made so much money off this character. I don't know if there's any rivalry there.

Well, McLean and McLean, I believe, had on one of their many albums a character known as The Champ. And Jake started running it. And I believe it became like a lawsuit and there was some kind of transaction. And Jake had to pay to use The Champ. And I don't know how it worked out, but it was very successful.

And it went on for a long, long time. And he went for it. Yeah. I still remember like. He loses it. I hit him in the solar plexus and he went for it. Yeah. Just.

Well, you know how he did that. And I don't know if Anthony may have told you this or not, but I believe it like Jake would record it in a normal speaking voice and then he'd slow down the tape. You know, John Gallagher told me that, I think, because I think maybe Gallagher might have done some at some point or maybe that might be a missed memory. Was it always Jake or at some point Gallagher did a bit? Well, you know what may have happened is if Jake was maybe recording it, he would maybe incorporate Gallagher in his episodes of The Champ because Gallagher has, as you know, a history of boxing and that may be the tie-in

right there. Maybe. It's a small world. Hebsey, do you know Mark Hebseyer? I do. He has a question. Ask Andy about the table hockey tournaments they used to have in Winnipeg with all your favorite DJs.

He saved a sample of what they smoked, taped to the score sheet. What's this story, Andy? Well, we didn't really have table hockey tournaments. The guy I lived with who was a musician, we were in a table hockey league. And we would have various musicians to come. They didn't play, but they would officiate, and they would drop the puck, and we had a timer, and it was, no, I kept stats of table hockey.

It's a long time ago, but I always kept stats, goals, and assists, and not necessarily shots on goal. Right. Corsi? Was there any Corsi there? No, sir. No advanced stats. None of that.

But I still, I believe, have some of those books. That's funny. And sheets. And, you know, it was all very detailed. We took it really seriously. It sounds hardcore. And you don't want to comment on this sample of what they smoked. I don't know if it's taped to a score sheet.

Maybe that's framed in your living room right now. Oh, yeah. No, no. Well, hey, you know, back then, we would, sure, we'd tape what we maybe had ingested prior to the game at the top of the score sheet. And off it went. Alice Cooper. I got to play this because you mentioned it earlier, but we'll get you now that you got the call from the mighty Q

and you're going to go to Q107 in Toronto, 1985. You said you were the music director at the Q. Is that right? I was a music director at City FM in Winnipeg, but when I was hired to work at Q, it was to be... I was taken over for John Derringer actually as the music director.

Never heard of him. And to start this new show that they called Psychedelic Sunday. Because I think what had happened, Mike, is being a music director in my hometown, my new Toronto feels like a hometown now.

I've been here long enough. But the national promotion people would come through Winnipeg. And I think that eventually the word got to Toronto that there's this Frost guy in Winnipeg and, you know, whatever. But hey, I made those record company people work hard to get records on the radio there. And apparently, City FM in Winnipeg was a key station. If you got a record on there, the record companies could use that as future fuel to say to other stations, well, City FM in Winnipeg is on it.

Any payola going on over there? No. No? Good. Psychedelic Sunday. So did you start Psychedelic Sunday right away, like in 85? Is this a... Well, yes.

It was one of the first things I did. And back then, we would have been playing vinyl. It was what was played. And whose idea was it to spell Sunday with the P? I always... Thank you for asking. Whose idea was it? That's a really good question.

I'm not sure. It may have been in place when I started hosting Psychedelic Sunday. I get it, of course. It's always been there. Yeah, that's right. It's right. I wonder how many people even realize, but it's funny when you see it in print. But yeah, Psychedelic Sunday has always had Sundays starting with a P.

So Psychedelic Sunday, I mean, a lot of people, if you don't want to associate Andy Frost with Leaf games at the ACC and whatnot, but it's Psychedelic Sunday that's top of mind, I think, when we think of Andy Frost on Q107. That show has been going on forever. By the way, who did the show when you left for a couple of years in the late 80s? Well, even in the late 80s and even when i was doing the syndicated all night show which would have ran from 91 to i don't know 97 maybe i wouldn't have done psychedelic

sunday at that time either so there was a variety of hosts r Rory O'Shea would have been one. Bob Pritchard was one. I'm not sure who else would have been there. But, you know, Psychedelic Sunday, I loved doing the show then, and I still love doing the show now. And, you know, it's different now, but a lot of things are different. On that note, so, okay, well, I better tell the people that you're still doing Psychedelic Sunday. So it starts with Al Joins.

He does the first shift, and then you come in and close out the Sunday. Well, for a long time, Al Joins did start off Psychedelic Sunday when it was a 12-hour show. But Al just does regular Q107 playlists now from 6 in the morning until noon. Then I do Psychedelic Sunday from noon to 6. And we just start playing a bunch of tunes at 6 o'clock, regular Q107 playlists. But, you know, the show previously was 12 hours from 9 in the morning until 9 at night. Now it's 6 and that's probably sufficient. Do you still

play Riffer Madness? No, sir. I gotta catch up here. When did Riffer Madness disappear? Because that was always, what, 120 and 320? No, I think we played Riffer Madness at...

Good question. I'll light my fire. Maybe 120 and 420. I don't know. There's something about 420. That's Riffer Madness. Yeah, so that would make sense, right? 420, of course.

That would make complete sense. Riffer Madness was... We did it for a long time, and there's only so many songs you can take riffs out of, and we had a lot of fun doing that. Now we just run something to give away. We like to give our listeners a prize and a chance to win something, and that's at about the aforementioned 420.

And it's at this point it's, you know, texting to win because so many people are texting and using their phones, and we always try to make it fairly simple, because you've got to consider people driving as well, and you don't want to cause any issues. Sorry, I'm having a hard time speaking over Jim Morrison. I'll bring him down. It's okay.

I'm trying to, yeah, get this. We're almost trained to not speak over vocals. On that note, so Michael R. tweeted at me that you, Andy Frost, are the best post-hitter he's ever heard. Well, he hasn't. Michael, that's very kind. Thank you. But he hasn't heard some of the top 40 AM radio jocks

that we grew up with. Those guys were great at hitting the posts. Who's the best post hitter in your humble opinion? Oh, I don't know. Some of the greats, maybe. I don't know. There was a bunch of great AM guys, you know, jocks, you know, radio jocks.

And they were, I don't know, they wouldn't have had a computer, of course, but. Well, OK, let me ask you this. So today there's like, as you know, they have a, they have a, they tell you how many seconds until vocals come in, right? Like when this song is playing, you, I mean, I've been in a studio, not Q107 studio, but I've been in a studio where q107 studio but i've been in a studio or i could see okay they're playing this song and you can see 17 seconds and it counts down until the vocals come in so the dj uh the talent knows exactly how much time they have to say hey you know it's cold out there wear your your snow pants whatever and then they can it seems to me like it's much easier to hit the post when you have the countdown. Did you ever need such a crutch?

No, and I still don't use one and I don't have a counter. And, you know, maybe the producers that I work with, they probably have a counter. But no, I just go by instinct and ears and experience and have a good idea what sounds right and what songs would sound like. But, you know, I'll have the producer play for me the beginning of a song before we play it or before I talk, so it's really fresh in the mind. And when the first post is, well, you don't necessarily have to hit a vocal. It could be a drum sound.

It could be a guitar, whatever. There are multiple posts, essentially. The final post being the vocals. Correct. Have you ever, I'm going to guess, since you've been doing this for decades now, you ever miss the post and you're trampling on the lyrics and then you're like, damn it.

Has that ever happened? Tell the truth, Andy. Has it ever happened? Well, I, yeah, I know we had a, there was a producer I was working with that just hit the song at the wrong time and it was a cold vocal right off the top and it's not really an issue. I can imagine, in my mind, and I've never worked in radio, but I can see, okay, we always play this studio cut of this song

and then there's some alternate single release or maybe there's a live version or something and it's different and you're using your instincts and you're trained with the one version you've heard a thousand times and this version is different and then you kind of screw up.

And my great radio fantasies were raised on WKRP in Cincinnati, you understand, so I could just see Dr. Johnny Fever doing that. Well, you just got to be on your toes and concentrate and focus, and you should be able to get it. Dale's a big fan, and he wrote me an email, a lovely email, about his memories of Andy Frost and how much he loves your voice. But Dale writes, Andy being a music icon, what are his favorite songs and bands of all time? And does he do his own song selections on Psychedelic Sunday? By the way, Andy, before you

answer, Dale did not spell Sunday with a P. I just want to point that out. Well, some people don't, and I receive emails from a lot of people that still don't, they don't spell Sunday with a P, and I understand that. You know, Sunday's one of the days of the week, and it's not spelled typically with a P.

It's only us that would spell it the same way that Psychedelic is spelled with a P-S. What are your, like, you don't have to give me the full list, but maybe a couple of your favorite songs of all time? Oh my goodness. And you know, people come back... Wouldn't that be included on Kick Out the Jams? Yes, okay, on that note,

thank you for mentioning that. You just reminded me. You wanted to Kick Out the Jams today. Because, how many songs do I need, first of all, for kicking out the jams? Ten. I've got about 150 on the top of my head. But 150 is easy. The hard part is getting that down to 10.

Very true. Narrowing it down to 10 would be really difficult. Would you, by the way, on that note, since you mentioned that, would you be willing at way, on that note, since you mentioned that, would you be willing at some point later in 2018, would you be willing to come back here to kick out the jams with me? Certainly, I'd love to. But again, it's a bit of a challenge getting it down to 10. I don't know what the criteria specifically of kick out the Jams is? You want 10 favorites or... Your 10 favorite songs of all time, and then we play all 10 of them. And while we're playing this, this is going to be tough for you

because you'll have to speak over lyrics. It's going to be very difficult for you. I'll bring it down as low as I can. But while the song is playing, let's pretend you picked The Beatles' Revolution or whatever. While that song is playing, you'll tell us, the audience, why you love that jam. And we do it for 10 songs.

And I mean, I think you'd be fantastic at it. Well, hey, here's a lot of experience in music, and I've got a lot of favorite songs, and certainly more than 10, but I'll do my best to accommodate you, Michael, because you're a good man. Oh, thank you. That feels good to hear that. And because I don't want spoilers. I want people to tune in to your next episode to hear the jams. But do you want to give us maybe one of the songs on your 150 that's on the top of your head? Tell us one of those songs that you just Andy Frost love. Oh, my goodness. Any of those 150.

Anything from, well, almost anything from Zeppelin, Little Feet. How about Springsteen Candy's Room? Springsteen is played, I mean, next to the Beatles, I think we've had more Springsteen songs on Kick Out the Jams than anybody else. Very popular jam artist. Well, I've got to think that maybe the people that you've had on previous episodes have seen Springsteen live.

Like live, Springsteen is like nobody else. I've never seen anybody that good or that went on for that long or threw that much energy into a live show. Springsteen live is an incredible experience. You know, I like Springsteen on record. You know, he's really good. I like Springsteen songs.

I wouldn't say he's my favorite, but that guy live is in a league of his own. That's what I hear. Are you familiar with Sportsnet's Brad Fay? Oh, yeah. Yeah, so Brad, he came and kicked out the jams. He had a Springsteen jam. And he tells us he has seen Springsteen live 96 times.

Well, I know. That's a lot, right? That's for sure. I know some people like that as well. Brad Fay, to his credit. But other guys I know that just, they, it's like almost Springsteen's following has, it's different, but it's almost become like a Grateful Dead thing where they follow Bruce around and they go to so many shows. And as I say, I know people like that, that, you know, they say they've seen

Springsteen so many times and he did this song and this was his encore. He is, he, Bruce is at that level where, you know, people have grown up with the guy. And he's the man who does the three hour sets, which. Oh, it's unbelievable. And it goes on and on and on and it'll come out for an encore and then another encore and then another encore and then another encore and. Amazing. encore, and then another encore, and... Amazing. Then the lights go on.

Amazing. Let's answer Dale's question here. He wants to know, do you do your own song selections on Psychedelic Sunday? There's songs that we'll incorporate. There's songs that maybe will change. But, you know, there's also some time issues too where if we have to hit a specific time to get on the interactive album side there's even a

little bit of a christmas note in this song by the chambers brothers there's a little bit of a little drummer boy in the middle of it 11 minutes and five seconds i think think. 11.07? I have the wrong version then. This version's less than 5 minutes. So this is a single edit. To get some top 40 airplay, they of course wouldn't have an 11-minute song. It would have never gotten any airplay whatsoever. So that was probably the single edit of time has come today.

And I'm sensitive now to your passionate homage to the music where you will not speak over the lyrics, so I had to shut that down. Because I don't want you trampling. I don't want you to pick up any bad habits, is what I'm telling you there. All right, thanks for answering Dale's questions. I'm going to ask you about a few legendary Q personalities

that you've worked with. But I want to start with the guy. I think when we think of Q107 for the past 30 years or whatnot, we think of two people in particular. Not just two people, but the two top people we think of are Andy Frost and John Derringer. What's your relationship like with John Derringer? Well, our relationship is really good. We both live in Aurora. We've known each other for a long time,

and we're excellent friends and always have been. I can tell you the first time that I met John Derringer, which we were in Edmonton, Alberta. Derringer was working in Edmonton, and we were flown there by the record company for a listening party of the new Rush release at that time, which I believe was Signals. And I met Derringer first on that occasion,

and then we ended up working together at Key 107 a few years later, and we've been friends ever since. I can tell you something else. Tell me. About, well, you know, this goes back a ways, but Scruff Connors, a little before your time? No, absolutely not, actually. Right.

So I actually was going to ask you later, so this is a good time to talk about Scruff, because, well, I talked to, just talked to Gallagher about Scruff, but we just lost Scruff fairly recently, within the last year, I think. Well, Scruff is, you know, he and I were great friends as well, but Scruff is from the same area of Winnipeg as myself, south end of Winnipeg. And we were in the same junior high school. and he was even in junior high school i wouldn't say he was necessarily legendary but everybody seemed to know his real name was jeff newfield and everybody seemed to know who jeff newfield

was he would have been in grade nine and his younger brother and sister that were twins were in the same grade i was in in in grade seven. And I remember one, and if I had made it to Scruff Connor's wake, which I believe I was working that day, I would have said this story. But there was one specific instance at our junior high school in Winnipeg, River Heights, that some guy, well, we thought it was the vice principal. There was a vice principal at this school that everybody was like afraid of. He was an old school.

He's deceased now. His name was Cam Connell and everybody was afraid of this guy. He was a scary vice principal. Everybody was afraid of this guy. He was a scary vice principal. And in the middle of an afternoon, I remember it distinctly. And again, we were in grade seven and we all thought it was Ken Connell. Got on the PA system. All right, all classes dismissed.

And we were wondering, okay, that's odd. So all classes left. And what it turned out to be was Scruff Connors. He snuck into the office, got onto the PA system, and he did a Cam Connell impersonation. Sounds like Scruff, though, all the stories you hear. Totally, the whole school emptied out.

It was great. And even, although I do recall his tour of duty at Q107, was it Q Morning Zoo? Is that what it was called back then? And I remember that. Because didn't, is that back when Q would play that syndicated Chicken Man?

Remember, he's everywhere. He's everywhere. You know, Chicken Man. Before my time, I remember Chicken Man running. I know Scruff used to run something about broccoli. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Scruff was, he was just a beauty. He had a, so some guys my age or a little younger

will remember his resurgence at Mojo Radio. Scruff had a show in Mojo when they launched Mojo. Correct. Which is like 2000 or whatever. Right. And he did some Q107 shifts, I believe, at that time as well. And, you know, Scruff was, you know, clearly in this market.

He has a name. And, yeah, he did some Mojo shifts and some Q107 shifts. Right. But then I will say, once Mojo parted ways with Scruff, Scruff, who was, now that I look back, he was kind of still a young guy. Like, I don't think we heard from him again. I know he was in Peterborough, and I don't think Scruff resurfaced on the air. I hope I'm wrong, but that's my recollection anyways. I always felt maybe Scruff was a bit of a wild card,

like he's one of those risky guys in the sense that you're not quite sure what he'll do next. You know what I mean? Well, this is true. And yeah, he was unpredictable, and you weren't sure really what you're getting. But I think one of the keys in radio as well is not necessarily credibility, but reliability as well. Oh, I heard John told these stories.

So don't worry, I'll let you off the hook. But John mentioned there was many a morning when you couldn't quite bank on him necessarily. Scruff showing up. Well, that was John's story, not Andy Frost's story. But some mornings it was a wild card. Will he show up for work? I never did mornings with Scruff. I don't know what it was like and who knows.

But Scruff's son is now the morning guy at Hits FM in St. Catharines. Correct. TJ. TJ Connors. Yeah, who I know. Scruff's son is now the morning guy at Hits FM in St. Catharines. Correct. TJ. TJ Connors. Yeah, who I know. Great. No, great. And yes, I know that Wake, I didn't know Scruff. I wasn't going to show up at the Wake, but I have friends who went in Peterborough, right? And apparently

it was well attended and saying goodbye to Scruff. So we lost Scruff far too soon. A past guest on this show has been at Q for a long time. Ever heard of her? Her name's Joanne Wilder. Oh, yes. Lives in Newmarket.

So, by the way, you're in Aurora. So you came here from Aurora. Yes, sir. I'm honoured. Like, that's a long trek in the snow. Thank you. Well, thank you for inviting me on the show. And as I said off the

top, I'm glad that we could put it together. And hey, you know, driving in this city is, it's just a part of life. Some days you have to go a little bit further than you do otherwise. Well, because John, I mentioned John Gallagher. So actually, should I do Joanne Wilder

first? Let's do Joanne Wilder and I'm going to come back to Gallagher and you living in Aurora, which is different, I guess, than the Forest Hill Village area, which is in Johnson's book. Oh, yeah. He mentions that? I haven't read his book yet. I'll do that sometime in the winter months when it's good reading time. You need to read the book to know whether you need to have your lawyer send a cease and desist or not. It's important. I'm just kidding. There's some crazy stories in there, but I think you come off okay. Don't worry. Yeah, it was a crazy time. So tell me about Joanne Wilder. Here's my question.

I hope this is not insensitive in this day and age, and I'll try to be careful here, but when you learn your colleague is in Playboy magazine? Are you allowed to tell her you've seen it? Like, is this cool? Like to tell Joanne, like this must have been a, this magazine must have been passed around. No, it wasn't passed around. And to be honest with you, Mike, I never saw it. I heard about it, but no, she's just, Joanne is a pro.

And hey, talk about reliable. She is very reliable. And she does a really good job. And she's a pleasure to work with. Great voice. And like yourself, a good soul made the trek to my basement here. So Joanne's in the good way. And the fact you've never seen that picture speaks a lot about, you know, that's pretty good because it's tough to, you know, I think you have a natural curiosity if you're colleagues

in Playboy. I would think that would be right. Well, I never saw the magazine, but, you know, the picture was posted and I saw a picture of her in a negligee or whatever it was.

I don't know. Right, right. So in addition to Joanne Wilder, one of the great women of Q over the last few decades is Shirley McQueen. Right, right. So in addition to Joanne Wilder, one of the great women of Q over the last few decades is Shirley McQueen. Oh, yeah. Tell me about working with Shirley and are you still in touch with her? Well, we had a, I'll tell you, I saw Shirley earlier on this year. We had a Q107 Young and Bluer reunion and Shirley was, of course, there and saw a lot of people like Derringer and I went together. And, uh, I, you know, we both saw a lot of people we haven't seen in like years and

years and years, but I know Shirley was a great and, uh, you know, she was really good on the air and a really nice person. And, uh, she's a Western girl as well. And, uh, you know, Shirley and I became good pals and, uh, we hung out together and did a few things together. And,

you know, she, I used to love listening to her top 10 at 10 and, uh, staple for me was top 10 at 10. Totally. And that's where I would, that's where I was introduced.

For example, uh, you'll see, I have a guns and roses' Roses flag here. What, to November rain? Well, no, the Appetite for Destruction stuff. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's where I would tune in to hear Paradise City or whatnot.

But I remember Shirley McQueen just always on the air at Q. And I remember she showed up on the television for a little while. I can't remember if it was a CFMT show or something, but I distinctly remember, oh, that's what she looks like. She's on the TV right now, Shirley McQueen. Well, I think even, I could be wrong, maybe before Shirley worked in radio, she had some

TV experience, then to radio, then back to TV, and I believe now she is back to radio in Alberta. How about, well, that's great. So she's, yeah, my wife's from Alberta. So I blamed her for the Alberta clipper we got yesterday.

Tell me about Jesse and Jean. So now, of course, they're both out west, like they're both now in like the Vancouver area. But what was it like with Jesse and Jean at Q107? Well, they're, you know, again, very professional and really excellent broadcasters and good people. And, you know, I wouldn't say I ever hung out with them. Valaitis and I were maybe a little bit closer just because I saw him more. But no, they were really good and a pleasure to work with,

and I enjoyed every minute of it. And they flew the coop for 680, as I recall. That was the big Toronto radio news was Jesse and Gene were leaving FM for 680 CFTR. Is that what they did? Yeah, that's what they did. I remember. And they came back to Q, but not for very long. But another guy who's been here, and he wrote a book as well, but I don't think you have to worry about calling your lawyer on this book,

but Jeff Woods. Oh, yeah. What was it like? First of all. I wouldn't have to. Let's just clarify. I wouldn't have to call my lawyer about John Gallagher. You got to read it closer.

Maybe you do, but I think you're okay, actually. You come off okay. I think Gallagher's got other people to worry about ahead of you. He's a big Andy Frost pal, so you come off clean. But Jeff Woods also wrote a book. It's somewhere. I have it somewhere. It's pretty good.

But what was it like with Jeff and that voice? Because you've got great pipes, but Jeff Woods has that, like, I've been drinking whiskey and smoking since I was six years old. And swallowing some gravel. Not grav-all, but gravel. Right. And Jeff Woods, when he started,

I believe I hired Jeff Woods to start. And, no, he's always been around, and, again, an excellent broadcaster, and great great contacts and just really good at what he does. And, yeah, he's... Can you do that voice at all? Could you do Jeff Woods? No. No.

Don't even try if you can't do it. I think he does an Andy Frost. That's the joke. That could be. I think he does an Andy Frost. That's the joke. That could be. Maureen Holloway, a longtime Q107 personality, now took the nice and warm Aaron Davis chair over at CHFI.

But what about working with Moe? She's been here as well. I had a good time. But how was it working with her at Q? Well, I didn't really see Maureen a lot because, you know, clearly we'd be working different shifts, and she was part of the morning show. And for a long time she did it remotely, right?

So there's a long time where she doesn't even come into the office, right? Like she does it through ISDN line or whatever the heck was set up there. I'm not sure how she did it. You know, I'd see her, you know, if we'd have staff meetings or if I had to go into the radio station to record some commercials or something, and she was still around, but, hey, she worked at a morning show, so I don't know what time she'd be out of there, but quite often she'd be gone when maybe I'd arrive in the afternoon or something.

But, no, Maureen was very good, and I think everybody that worked with her enjoyed it. And, you know, very reliable again. Kim Mitchell. And this is the last one before we get back to Gallagher. But Kim Mitchell, who, I mean, come on, Canadian rock god anyway, before he even shows up on Q107. But then he was at Q107 many years. And here's how it ties to John Gallagher. So in the book, John Gallagher talks about living with you in the Forest Hill Village area. And Kim Mitchell, correct me if I'm wrong, but he's like a neighbor, right?

Is he a neighbor of yours? Is he from that hood? Do you ever bump into Kim in the Forest Hill? No. What about Drake? You ever bump into Drake in Forest Hill? No. No, you know, where Gallagher and I lived,

I know what he's referring to, Forest Hill Village. We did live in Forest Hill, but the Forest Hill Village is, I believe, just north of St. Clair on Spadina. We lived north of Eglinton on Spadina. So it was, you know know it was still Forest Hill but it wasn't per se the Forest Hill Village but no Kim Mitchell was I have no recollection of Kim Mitchell being around us or living around us or being a part of that period of our lives John Gallagher talks about being your roommate. Can you just share with us how does that end up being?

So is he crashing on your couch? How do you guys end up living together? How do we end up living together? Well, Gallagher lived with me, I believe, on two occasions. Once when he was just working on the radio and then

on another occasion after he had started working at City TV. How did it happen? I required a roommate because we were renting that house and I needed someone to help pay the rent and help pay the heat bill and whatever else. And Gallagher was looking for a place to live. So we made it happen. Because he's kind of a, he's a wild guy. He's got some great stories back in those days. Did you guys have good ground rules?

Like maybe he'd hang a bra on the doorknob or something and that meant to go out for a drink? No, there were no rules. Only I can tell you about Gallagher. He was a Montreal and still probably is a Montreal Canadiens fan. And I remember throwing out our front door one time his Montreal Canadiens jersey.

Oh, that's great. Saying I didn't want this in the house. Good for you, man. Thank you. Standing up for what's right. I love it. Well, yeah. You know, hey, the Habs are a Canadian team. Good for you, man. Thank you. Standing up for what's right. I love it. Well, yeah. You know, hey, the Habs are a Canadian team.

Good for them. And Habs fans, good for them as well. They're supporting a Canadian team. But when it got to the point with Gallagher, his Habs jersey just had to go. And he was really upset. That's great. Michael Coffey is a fan of yours.

And he wants me to ask you about, he says, ask him about his hockey and baseball careers at Forest Hills. Superstar shortstop. Is that right, Andy? I wouldn't say superstar. Mike Coffey, I recall he was, Mike Coffey played baseball with us.

He was a first baseman. And yeah, I was always at short and I played a lot of shortstop over the years and for a lot of different teams and various leagues and men's leagues and mixed leagues and the old Winnipeg Jets at the NHL slow pitch tournament. I played shortstop there for the Jets and yeah, you know, I love playing baseball. Baseball is a great game. Now I realize if your name's Mike Coffey, it's going to sound like my coffee, right? Hey, Mike Coffey's a pretty good player himself.

That's great. No relation to Paul, though, or is there? Not as far as I'm aware of, no. During the late 80s and 90s at Q107, there was this feud, right, with Chum FM. during the late 80s and 90s at Q107, that there was this feud, right, with Chum FM. I hear that Chum would, you guys would refer to Chum FM as Scum FM,

and they would refer to you guys as Screw 107. Is that true, or is that one of those stories that's kind of gained a little legend as time went on? Do you have any recollection of this? No, I have no recollection of that. It may have been before my time at Q, maybe early 80s, not late 80s have no recollection of that. It may have been before my time at Q, maybe early 80s, not late 80s. I don't recall that. No. That's one of those stories that grows, those legends that grow as time goes on. I don't recall that whatsoever.

Jason from Sudbury has a question. He wants to know, I'll read his note. He says, I'm assuming Andy is more into the psychedelic stuff, but what else is he into? Is he into anything new? Is there any new bands you'll listen to, or are you strictly going back to the old favorites? Well, no, I love old favorites, but no,

they're not necessarily new, but you know, everything from, well, you know, certainly past the Led Zeppelin era into everything like, you know, it'd be like back into the 90s. You know, people say, what do you, people say to me, what are you playing all this new stuff for? Well, you know, people have to realize that Pearl Jam

and Soundgarden is like 25 years old. To me, once you're 25 years old, you're classic rock. Pretty much. No, at that time, in the 90s, Rage Against the Machine and Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden and Pearl Jam and all of that stuff,

no, they became a factor as well. Are there any, he had a lot of questions, but one more I'll just read from his is, any band or artist that you had to play but you absolutely hated? Not really. You know, music is music.

Some I like more than others and nothing I really hated. No, by no means. Share some insight perhaps on Q107s. I won't call it, it's image as like, how would I say, so in the 80s, it's like a heavy metal station. And then it softens up and then it goes back to kind of heavy metal.

And then there's, it gets like, then it becomes a classic rock. And now I call it the, I call it the boomification of Q, which is that there seems to be a response to some competition from Boom in that now I can go to Q107 and I can hear you introduce a Duran Duran song,

which would be unimaginable if you've been listening to Q for decades. Is this just evolving with the times or has Q107 struggled at some times to identify itself? Like, what is it? No, I don't think Q is really struggled with itself, but,

uh, more accurately, as you pointed out, evolving with the times and, uh, make no mistake that, uh, you know,

the people that we work for do a lot of research and this is what people want to hear. And, uh, you know, what management decides to do is, uh, is cool with us. People want, uh, people want to hear. And, you know, what management decides to do is cool with us. People want Glass Tiger.

Well, I mean, Glass Tiger, because it's Canadian content, might not be a good example, but... Well, Duran Duran's the one I look at. I know what you're saying. Duran Duran, I listened, like I said, that's where I heard Appetite for Destruction for the first time, like Welcome to the Jungle. The first time I heard the song Welcome to the Jungle was on Q107, and I would tune in all the time.

And that's the kind of stuff you would hear when it was current, like 87. But it's just interesting. If I could tell, you know, 2017 Mike that he would hear Andy Frost introduce a Duran Duran song, I don't think I'd believe him. Well, it's, you know, it's, it's different. And as you pointed out, it's, you know, there, there's some competitors now, but it's also, uh, competitors. Whereas for years, Mike competitors of key one Oh seven or other radio stations would be other radio stations. Well, it's different now, you know, competitors are not just other radio stations would be other radio stations. Well, it's different now. You know, competitors are not just other radio stations,

but it's also digital formats and online. And that's where some of the advertising dollars would go to. And that's just, it changes the course of the game. No, absolutely. I mean, talk about disruption. I mean, you guys, newspapers, radio, there's a whole bunch of industries that have been disrupted, if you will, by the digital revolution. Well, hey, all media, it's different for, as you point newspapers television radio it's fragmented is i think that's a good term for it like i always think about the old days when you had

like four networks of television like you guys could be cbs or nbc or uh abc or maybe fox when fox showed up in the 80s with like married of children and stuff but you had like these four places and now it's like i sometimes there's a show i like and it's like on the amazon like what's the amazon how do i get that and then you'll hear of course there's netflix which is the behemoth but you've got like you've literally got like hundreds of like uh it's so fragmented there's hundreds of places where you can get original content like it's everything forget the days of the mashASH finale, like where every, you know what I mean? Nowadays, the only thing I think, the only thing

people in television land where you can get the whole, pretty much the whole country to tune in is something like the gold medal game at the Olympics where like Sidney Crosby is going to score the golden goal. So that's it. Yeah, it's very different. And I think all, not just radio stations, but everybody has to be adaptable and they have to understand the situation and what their competition is, whether it's a magazine or a newspaper or, you know, some of them just give up and fold.

Others continue the good fight and hope that things improve. But things are just different, you know? Absolutely, man. Absolutely. Something I look back at with great fondness, this is a personal memory, but in the early 90s, I was really into grunge. And what I would do every Monday, almost every Monday night,

I would make the trek to the Phoenix, okay? Strange Paradise. For Strange Paradise in the big room. And I'd get there, I'd try to get there like 10 p.m. or whatever because I liked how it always opened with the Day in the Life by the Beatles. I believe it would always be like

Sgt. Pepper would go into Day in the Life and then that's how it would begin. And you were the voice of those nights. And I never saw you. Like, I never, I just would, your voice would be there. Andy Frost, voice of Monday nights at Strange Paradise. And man, I'm telling you, I had some fantastic times going to Strange Paradise. Well, as did I.

Surprising that it was a Monday night and it was so successful. I would think to this day that a lot of people got up Tuesday morning, maybe not feeling that well, but it was, it was really enjoyable and met a lot of great people and people that are still friends of mine to this day. And, uh, and it was a, it was a really good time and a good night in downtown Toronto. And we were humming along. I don't know how long we did that for, but, uh, a significant period of time. And how, so is it just, they approached you as a personality at Q to, to host? Is that just how that works?

I'm not sure where that, uh, really started or how it started. I remember we had our first meeting in that front room at the Phoenix, the parlor, and we just kind of took it from there. Man, that was back, so this was a period of time where a lot of the big songs would have like a mosh pit component to it,

I would have called it, like so Rage Against the Machine, for example, or even if it was like, there would be these grunge songs were built so there was this mosh part. And I still remember the bouncers, they were cracking down on the moshing, like no more tolerance.

And so some Monday nights, you know, you'd be out on your ass at 1130 because you couldn't help yourself. Like it was difficult not to mosh. Well, it was difficult not to mosh. We were up in the DJ booth playing music for everybody. But let's make it clear that our timing was really good. There was a whole new, as you point out, all the grunge was starting

and people wanted to hear blasting in a club. They wanted to hear Soundgarden. Smells like teen spirit. They wanted to hear Rage Against the Machine. They wanted to hear Nirvana. They wanted to hear Soundgarden. Smells like teen spirit. They wanted to hear Rage Against the Machine. They wanted to hear Nirvana. They wanted to hear Pearl Jam. And we were happy to deliver it. But we would also throw in classics in the middle.

And between the aforementioned bands, we would play everything from Zeppelin to Cat Stevens to whatever. But it all seemed to work. and it was a lot of fun. The best memories from Strange Paradise. Didn't you have a, you had a reunion of some sorts recently? We had a Strange Paradise reunion at the Velvet Underground back in September. And a lot of the same people that were involved with Strange Paradise

were out that night and that was a good time. It was good to see everybody again, and people I've not had a lot of contact with or seen them a lot over the years, but hey, I used to see them every Monday, and it's just kind of different now for everybody. Leifer1984, there's a good Twitter handle. Leifer1984 asks, please ask him about his days hosting at Club 107.

He was the best. So was this a different night, Club 107? Club 107 was at the northwest corner of Dixie and Eglinton in Mississauga. And it was, yeah, it was kind of different than the Phoenix. We, you know, but again, our timing was good for that as well. And we'd play a lot of the same stuff that we'd play at the Phoenix. But, you know, it was suburban and not necessarily, Mississauga is no longer suburbia.

But, you know, to tell you something, what always blew me away about Club 107 is the beer was cheap and there was very little violence, you know, like, I don't know how long we were there, but there was very little violence and we just kept on playing tunes and there was a DJ with me and a light guy up in the booth and we would just keep on playing and I'd go on the microphone and try to cause a bit of a riot and see if I could get people going a little bit and it was really enjoyable. You know, that whole era, like this was a very, when I was a young man, this was a very common thing that you had, like, you know, I don't know when they became your sister station. Whenever you ended up owned by the same company that owns 102.1, I'm not sure when that happened. But you had, you know, Martin Streak, for example, had his live to airs. And this is like, so like for people my age, like this is, this was a big part of our like teenage years and 20s where these things, and they seem to be gone.

Like, do these exist anymore? These whole, the whole notion of the live to air, like the live to airs are pretty much gone and the whole idea of the DJ hosting the night at the popular club. Yeah, it's quite true. It's a different era now. Doesn't it? Well, even back when we used to do the Phoenix on

Monday nights, there would be cut-ins twice an hour for 60 seconds each and I believe be cut-ins twice an hour for 60 seconds each. And I believe those cut-ins went from probably 8 p.m. until midnight. And that's what the client would pay our sales department was for those cut-ins. I guess once the revenue dries up,

the shows dry up. I guess it's as simple as that, but it's really a product of its time. That was a big deal in the 90s anyway. For sure. A lot of live tears, and that's just how it was. Matt, he writes, I'm surprised he doesn't have a midday or drive show. It seems weird that a long-term guy like Andy is still working weekends,

or is it a love of psychedelic Sundays that keeps him on weekends? So he wants to know why you don't have a weekday, you know, during the day slot at Q107. Weekday during the day? I don't know. You know, I've done those shifts and enjoyed doing the shifts. But there's still Saturday and Sunday, noon to six, Monday to Friday. I'm down there, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., maybe not daytime. But, you know, personally, I enjoy radio. I've always felt music sounds better when it's dark out.

You know, there's something to your imagination, mind you. You know, Saturday and Sunday, noon to six, would be contradictory of that, but clearly it's not dark out between noon and six. But there's something about working weekends and playing that psychedelic music. No, it's great. Love doing it. Awesome. Now, right off the top, we talked about you taking over for Paul Morris.

So obviously none of us remember Red Barber, so we don't do a Red Barber impression. I did my awful Paul Morris and then I did my equally awful Andy Frost. So I won't do that again, I promise. But can you tell us how did you get the gig as Leafs PA announcer when they moved to the Air Canada Centre? when they moved to the Air Canada Centre. Well, let me just preface that by telling you, like when I first came here, I thought, to Toronto, I thought, well, there goes my NHL career because I was working Winnipeg Jet Games.

And little did I know, like 10 years later, I guess thereabouts, no longer. 15 years. Yeah, 14, 15, something like that, I would be back working in the NHL. But to answer your question, how did it start? And, you know, I had a full plate as it was, but I remember distinctly, and I thanked her

even a couple of years ago for it as well, Cliff Fletcher's daughter, Christy. The Leafs were having their training camp up in Barrie that year. It would have been probably, I don't know, 98 maybe, 99, something like that. something like that. And Christy Fletcher approached me saying that I might be their guy to be the PA announcer at Air Canada Centre. They were building a new rink, etc. Would I mind submitting a demo tape? So I said, sure. I didn't really think by any means that I would get the job. And as I said, I was already busy enough. I didn't really have that much interest in the job.

But as it went on, I put together a demo tape and they whittled it down and they whittled it down and whittled it down and got it down to, I think, a final five or a final ten. Do you remember any of the candidates that were in the running with you? No. In fact, I don't even think I was told who the candidates were in the running with myself. But then we had to go do a live audition for Ken Dryden.

And Ken was sitting up in the nosebleeds at Air Canada Centre and he being the deep thinker that he is, I remember seeing him up there and he was just listening. He just wanted to make sure that, because, you know, hey, big shoes to fill, covering for Paul Morris. So nonetheless, I got the job. Ken Dryden phoned and said that you're going to be the new announcer at Air Canada Centre. And so Paul Morris would have finished the end of the last year at Maple Leaf Gardens,

which would have been the 98-99 season. And that would have been only like February, March, April at ACC. And then to start the 99 season, my good pal Dennis Bayak started, I think, the preseason. And then my first night at ACC was the first night of the regular season. I believe that was the case. Do you remember who scored the first Leaf goal that you called at all?

No. No. By the way, thank goodness Ken Dryden didn't decide he should do the PA announcement because it would take like 20 minutes to announce the goal. Well, that's... Very bright gentleman, but let's just call

that a slow talker. Can we call him that? Well, you're right. And, you know, it comes down, there's a lot of timing issues. And a lot of people think that when it comes to a Leaf game or an NHL game, that it's just, you know, goals and announcements.

And it's got to be tight. You know, these people are paying good money to get in there and it's got to be good and tight and what I always wanted to do and what I was instructed to do was, you know, if there was a goal scored or a penalty, as soon as the puck is dropped on the ensuing faceoff as you make the announcement.

Because what you don't want to have happen is another goal or another penalty and you haven't made the announcement yet. Which you do hear that happen, you get a backlog. Right, you get a backlog and then it just, you know. But I think it did a good job and Hay was there for a long time, like 17 years. 17 years, which is, I mean, that's 17 years. So, so many Leaf fans grew up with you

know your voice being the voice of uh you know goals at your canada center so i definitely definitely uh a lot of people missed you when you weren't there but we'll get to that but i was just thinking um i'm sure a lot of people uh don't miss me in the slightest well i'm pretty sure a lot do but uh when when when i want to know if when visiting teams are coming and there's a player you're not that familiar with, maybe there's a new Russian player or something with that crazy kunetsov, whatever weird pronunciation, did somebody have it spelled out phonetically for you?

No, what I would do typically, being a radio guy, I would go into the radio booth of the visiting team. How do you pronounce this guy's name? And, uh, you got over the years, you know, I, they knew my name and I knew their name and I'd walk into their radio booth, whether it was Philadelphia or whether it was New York or, you know, they wouldn't be surprised. And I'd go in there and get the correct pronunciation. And that's how it would work. The Czech names are the ones that became difficult because they are pronounced not the way they look. And a former Leaf, Karl Pilasch, spelled P-I-L-A-R, is a good example.

There was another Ottawa senator, a defenseman by the name of Stanislav Netskash. His last name was spelled N-E-C-K-A-R, but it's Netskash and Pilash. So you had to be careful with those. And again, because they didn't get a pronunciation anyway, close to the way it was spelled. Well, you know, I'm thinking like as time evolves and then, you know, at the end of your run at the ACC, you know, everyone's got a smartphone in their pocket

and can, you know, so if you flub somebody, they're going to be tweeting it. You know what I mean? Like it's not like back in the late 90s, early 2000s, you could kind of hide. You maybe. Quite true. But you know, luckily and hopefully I didn't flub too many and that's why I would go into

the visiting radio booth to make sure that we had it right. And I think in all the years that I was there, um, I believe only, well, you know, I'm sure I made other mistakes, but one that I'm aware of, I missed a last minute of play in the period because I was defending Winnipeg. I, like, I worked in a booth with, like, seven or eight other guys, and these guys were giving me the business about Winnipeg and, you know, mosquitoes the size of Honda Civics. Right, right. And, you know, I was defending Winnipeg and saying that, you know, Winnipeg has got, you know, it's a great place

and it got a high temperature range. And then I looked at the clock, I recall, and it was like, oh my God, it's at 53 seconds and I still hadn't done the last minute of the play in the period. But at that point, you better just skip it completely? No, what you say is you go on and say

we are in the last minute of play of this period. They're very good. And that never happened again. Yeah, I bet you that didn't happen again. John Gallagher, there's a last time I'll mention his name, but he says he was offered the role that Herbie Kuhn got

for the Raptors. John Gallagher in his book says he was offered that position. This is Gallagher. And Gallagher said they offered him $50 a night to do it, and then Gallagher said, no, this is Gallagher in the book. So I'm just quoting him. So you don't have to tell me what you get paid, but now I've got this whole different thought on what people are making being a PA announcer.

$50 a night, he said. Could that be true? You don't have to give me a... It may be. For him? Basketball may be different than hockey. No, I was on the receiving end of more than 50 bucks, I can assure you. Well, I'm glad to hear that.

Because I think that's less than minimum wage by the time you do the math on that. But I always was curious about that. Leifer1984, he's back with another question. Please ask him how much he drank when he hosted Leaf Talk on AM640 after Leaf Games. Now, before you answer that, though, I'm going to... It's how much I would drink after Leaf Talk, not before. Well, give everyone a taste. I'm going to play.

I found this on YouTube, just a random caller to Leaf Talk. But let's listen to Frank as he calls into Leaf Talk. And we will begin with a caller that was here at the game tonight, and that's you, Frank. You're kicking off Leaf Talk. Go ahead. How are you doing, Andy? Good, Frank.

You okay? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm a big diehard Leaf fan. But what a big embarrassment tonight for Matt Sundin and all the old Leaf players that were there. Yeah, it was. It was disgusting.

They didn't let me show up tonight. Any solutions in your opinion, Frank? The only solution is that Brian Burke's got to make a trade. I don't know what the hell is he waiting for.

We have teams chasing us. Frank, what the hell is he waiting for? The deal's not there. I've been hearing you the last three, four, five, six years, and you have no solution. I want to state my mind because I'm a die-hard Leaf fan. Frank was on for a while, so I won't play it all and bring him down.

I guess you had to deal with that a lot. Andy, why is this team so awful, since the lockout especially? Why haven't you fixed things? You're right. I did deal with it a lot. But that phone-in show after,

which we did for a long time when we were the rights holders, which would have started in the mid-90s up until a few years ago. And, you know, when we started, I don't know if you even remember this, Mike. The first year we had the rights, it was on Q107. I remember. And we would, there'd be no post-game show, no phone-in show.

We'd go right back into playing Zeppelin, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Stones, whatever, when the game was over. I remember. I remember. I think there were even like stickers. I had like some kind of stickers that were given out, like Leafs on Q or something. Yeah. I don't I remember. I think there were even like stickers. I had like some kind of stickers that were given out like Leafs on cue or something. Yeah. I don't remember those. Yeah. It only lasted one year, but then

the sensible decision was made to put the Leaf games on our AM station, AM 640, and we were on AM 640 for a long time. Yeah, that call was funny. It just reminds me of like basically pre, I'll say pre-Austin Matthews,

because that's about when the kids kind of came together, like Marner and Nylander. But before that and after the lockout, just how awful it was. Like, you must have drank a lot, like, just to get through that. Like, that really, I mean, there's no playoff, the one playoff appearance when we blew game seven in Boston, of course. We won't talk about that,

because I'm still having, like, post-traumatic stress symptoms. Disorder Of course, we won't talk about that because I'm still having like post-traumatic stress. Disorder. Yeah, we won't talk about that. Because when Kadri, I think Kadri, I think it was Kadri. No, Fratton, I think. Somebody scored the goal to put us up four to one and asked my wife.

I leapt four feet in the air. So we were at four one in game seven on the road in Boston. And I leapt four feet. Third period. Yeah, it was like 10 minutes left or something. I don't know. But Fratton, I think Kadri had a goal and Fratton scored. I swear

to you, Andy, I would have lost everything. I would have bet my first born, my second born, my third born, my fourth born. I would have bet everything on the Leafs are beating Boston in this first round. But I've already said too much. I'm getting upset. I need to calm down here. So, please tell us why MLSE decided in their infinite wisdom not to renew your contract.

Because you weren't doing it for 50 bucks a night. Is that the reason? No, no, no, not at all. But from what I've been able to ascertain over the last couple of seasons is, and I understand it, hey, you know, they want to remove, and let's be honest, I was the announcer for a lot of mediocre teams and a lot of losing games. What it looks like from the outside is

MLSC is trying to remove anything to do with the past. New logo. You're right. Including myself. You're right. This is like the Shanna Plan thing. Yeah, you're right. Your voice, when we hear your voice, we think of, yeah, we're thinking of, I almost went back to Jonas Hoagland.

But we're thinking of like, yeah, we're thinking of Jonas Hoagland when we hear Andy Frost's voice. And we shouldn't be thinking that. Jonas Hoagland. Jonas Hoagland when we hear Andy Frost's voice. And we shouldn't be thinking of Andy. Jonas Hoagland. He should be Jonas, right? What's he doing with the J? I don't know how that works or how they break it down. Or Robert Reichel. He's fine.

How about Ricard Wallin? Aki Berg. Aki Berg was the whipping boy for a long time. Dimitri Khristich. Or when your best player was Antropov, and he turned out to be a fine player. It took him a while to get there. But your best player should not be Antropov.

This is not a team that's going to be a Stanley Cup contender. So I think you're a victim of being the voice of some really bad years and just wanting a fresh start. Is that a clean slate? Well, yeah. Maybe they just wanted to get a whole new generation of people. And, you know, as I've told other people as

well, Mike, that, you know, if I had been their announcer for two or three years, I maybe would have asked some questions. You know, why would you do this? But, you know, 17 years. It was a good run. Right. It was like, fine.

Thanks very much. Much appreciated. But you don't even need to comment on this. But let me just say, we all did. I grew up, we all did Paul Morris impressions in my schoolyard. I know they were doing Andy Frost impressions. I've done many on this show. I don't think, and this is no disrespect to him.

I'm sure he's doing a serviceable, fine job, I'm sure. But Mike Ross, there's nobody doing a Mike Ross impression. There's nothing particularly memorable about the Mike Ross presentation. You don't have to comment, actually. Maybe that's what they wanted. I don't know. Don't know. Maybe

you were just too entertaining. Bad, bad, bad. Just like that guy, Frank, who blamed you for those shitty Leafs team. Where are your solutions, Andy? Make a trade. Those are the guys who used to call in and say, hey, can't we ship Cabriolet to Pittsburgh for Crosby? Did you get any of those calls? Of course.

And I got calls to make Domi captain. I'm surprised they didn't do that. He's a great leader and there was endless. But what I found, and I don't know how many phone calls, they took thousands and thousands of phone calls after Leaf games. But after a Leaf game, some of the fans or people that would, you know,

choose to call and come on the radio and be a part of Leaf talk, that maybe their common sense may not have been there. The next day they'd wake up and they'd be common sense again. Right. Well, they're very passionate. Well, very passionate. And it would get out of control sometimes. And people saying things like Frank did.

It was almost essentially as if he was blaming me because they haven't made a trade. That's ridiculous. But I'm sure the next day Frank was fine. No, he probably called back. Wondering again why Andy hasn't fixed this. Would you consider, this is Matt who wants to know,

would you consider being the public address announcer for any other Toronto franchises, teams, if the opportunity came along? Would you be willing to do that again for somebody else? Probably not. William Dunlap, who I actually met at the Argos, what's that called? The division finals, whatever, that final game where you win it, you go to the Great Cup. I don't think that's a conference.

I think it's a division. I always get confused in CFL. But I met him there. This guy had a question's a conference. I think it's a division. I always get confused in CFL. I met him there. This guy had a question. It's a division, right? That's not a conference. There are only four teams or whatever. East-West. I don't know whether they're divisions or conferences. The Eastern Final,

I met William Dunlap there. William has a question. You have to ask him about playing K. Billy in Reservoir Dogs Live. You were in Reservoir Dogs Live. So you were in Reservoir Dogs Live? This is a William Dunlap question. I haven't vetted it. Because you don't look like you remember. Reservoir Dogs Live?

K. Billy? No. Mr. Dunlap is mistaken. That's interesting. I didn't bother to research it. I figured Dunlap knew his shit. But okay. K. K. B. I. N. Okay. it. I figured Dunlap knew his shit, but okay. Okay, KBI. Okay. That was a Stephen Wright in the movie. That was Stephen Wright, I believe,

who was the KBI. Okay. So, William, you got the wrong guy. I don't know who you're mistaking Andy Frost for, but that's somebody else. All right, Andy, earlier I shared that memory of when Fratton scored and I leapt four feet. But let me just tell you, earlier this year, maybe about a month ago. So this is a house league midget hockey, house league midget. My 15 and a half year old scores the winning goal of like less than a minute left. He scores the winning goal. And I was right behind the net.

I was right there and he scored. And I honestly leapt six feet. I couldn't tell you how proud and excited I was. My son, James, scored the winning goal in house league midget. Did I mention it's House League Midget? Okay. So I can't imagine. I can't imagine. Here, let me play some clips and let me ask you what it's like to be a father of Morgan Frost. But here's a little bit of Morgan here, just to get a taste here. And there's no audio. Okay. Oh, there is audio. Bear with me, Andy. This is coming here. It's worth a taste here. And there's no audio. Okay. Oh, there is audio.

Bear with me, Andy. This is coming here. It's worth the wait here. What is it? Morgan scoring a goal for the Green? Oh, here we go. Might not be the clip I thought it was. It might not be the clip I thought it was.

There's a little taste of Morgan Frost. So let me ask you this. A lot of questions here, because this is fantastic, man. First of all, you must be a very proud papa. Well, of course. Yeah, very proud, but you know, he deserves it. And he's worked really hard. And I was just in the Sioux last week and I saw the Greyhounds play three home games. And tell you one thing I've really, well, there's a few things I've noticed, but you know, Morgan was always a really good minor hockey player when he was, you know, nine, 10, 11, 12,

whatever, but going and playing my opinion, going and playing in that league with the Greyhounds, with the coaching and the other players and practicing with those players and playing with those players and playing against really good players all the time. He has really increased his ability, but you could see, you know, I could, I'm sure other people could as well, but even as a young kid, he was just, he would make some decisions or some moves or he'd see a guy and I would wonder, how did he see that guy? But no's he's taken advantage of it and uh it's it's been a real good run for him and I think he knows you know the price he has to pay and there's certainly some sacrifices and you know the family he's living with in Sault Ste. Marie

have been great and uh his team is great and they're on a great run this year and uh looking forward to having him home next week it'll be fun for him. Mike Farwell says he saw your kids score a beauty last night versus Kitchener in the Sioux. Talented family. But Scott M has the question I want to ask. So Scott M says, when Philadelphia traded up in the draft, did you have any idea that Morgan would be picked by the Flyers. Yes. I'll tell you what happened. The Blackhawks, who Morgan has always been a huge fan of, the Blackhawks, well, let me say before that, I'll preface this by saying earlier on that week, the week of the draft in Chicago,

Morgan had said to me, we were sitting around the fire up at the lake. He had said, Dad, I think it's going to be Philly. I didn't say anything, none of my business. I just kind of kept it in my head. Well, however, as that week, so that would have been like earlier on that week, we went to Chicago for the draft on the Thursday of that week. And Morgan was called in for a meeting with the Blackhawks that afternoon on the Thursday. So I thought, my goodness, these guys are serious.

They want to meet with a player the day before the first round? They're serious. They want to meet with a player the day before the first round. They're serious. So I went to that meeting, and by the time the first round came around, which was on the Friday night, the rest of the draft, rounds two through the rest of the draft were on the Saturday morning, right? So on the Friday night, Chicago, who picked 26th, made a trade with Dallas. They traded with Dallas. Oh, right, it was 29th pick.

So they got Dallas' 29th pick and a 70th overall pick, and Dallas got to pick 26th. I'm assuming, could be wrong, but I'm assuming if Chicago liked this Frost kid of Sue St. Marie, they thought that they could get him at 29, right? Because it wouldn't have been that trade if they felt otherwise. Well, shortly thereafter, like within Mike, honestly, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes. I don't know. It was just bang, bang.

Chicago made that trade with Dallas. And then we were notified or Gary Bettman got up on the stage. Oh, we have another trade to announce. Philadelphia made a trade with St. Louis to move up. And right then and there is when I had an idea it was probably going to happen. And at that point, I recalled what Morgan had said to me a few days previously, that he thought it was going to be Philly. And Philly made the trade. And I know Morgan was right next to me. And I said, here we go. And sure enough, here we went. What number was it again overall? He went 27th overall.

That's incredible, man. And I didn't even really see him go up on stage. You know, he got up out of the seat and he hugged his mother, he hugged his sister, hugged me, and off he went. And all of a sudden, my friend Jeff Merrick is in front of me with a microphone. And it was like I didn't even see Morgan go up on stage. But, you know, I was happy for him. And it was an exciting time.

And Philadelphia has been great. And they're a really good young organization. And he seems to be really happy. And he's taken advantage of it. Well, congratulations to you and Morgan because the odds are so stacked against you. There's so many great junior players in Canada that are not going to be drafted in the first round of the NHL entry draft. That's incredible.

Yes, it's good for him. And, you know, I can, regardless of his, you know, offensive attributes, which are fairly evident. He's a great passer and always has been. I think, Mike, that Morgan must have been a really good interview. And, you know, because of that combine, the teams meet with the players.

And something, Sean, about him that made him go that early and go in the first round. You know, and he doesn't get hurt. I shouldn't say that. Touch wood. Jinxes don't exist. It's okay. Good.

Thank you. But no, he's been very healthy, and I hope he remains healthy. But he'll be back in Sault Ste. Marie, I'm sure, next year. But hey, I could be wrong. Now, because you were the voice of Leaf games at the Air Canada Centre for 17 years, he grew up around in this environment, right? Because they asked him this question after. I'm going to play him.

This is about 30 seconds of your son talking about that. That is one proud papa, your dad, Andy. You grew up around the game. You really enjoyed seeing the guys back outside of the dressing rooms. What did you like most about just being around it? Yeah, I think, you know, all those times when I was younger, it was such a great experience for me. And, you know, just kind of to get a visual of what it's like to be a pro and just kind of see that guys, see those guys, sorry. You know, it was so great for me and so crucial for me. I have to say, you look a little taken aback. Is this not something

you expected to happen tonight? I don't know. I wouldn't say that. look a little taken aback. Is this not something you expected to happen tonight? I don't know. I wouldn't say that. I'm just really excited to go to Philly. Man, I'm having secondhand pride right now. I think that's just so amazing. Like I said, I get really excited when my son scores a big goal in House League Midget. I can't even imagine.

Wow, that's amazing. Good luck to Morgan. It's good to hear his voice. So when does he come home? He comes home for Christmas, that entire league. The OHL shuts down for, I don't know, I believe a week, maybe eight days. And, you know, they're kids. When does he turn 19?

When's his birthday? He will be 19 in May of next year. So you can hold on to that Great Lakes beer until May. He's not getting any of it. It'll be gone. Oh, man, that's awesome here. That's fantastic. I mean, like I said, you were the voice of Strange Paradise. We've been hearing you on cue since the mid-'80s.

You're a PA guy at the Air Canada Centre. Your son was drafted in the first round by the mid 80s. You PA guy at the Air Canada Centre. Your son was drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers. I really enjoyed this conversation. Well, thank you, Mike, and I enjoyed it as well. And you brought back some great memories and

some names that I'm happy to hear about. And thanks very much for having me. And I can't wait to come back and kick out the jams with you i'm gonna count they're gonna make one of those advent calendars uh every day i'm gonna count down the days because that'll be incredible so we will kick out the jams in 2018 i can't wait that they're gonna be a tough decision i'll tell you right now narrowing it down to 10 songs that'll require some homework.

I get emails like some great jocks have done in the past, like Larry Fedorek and Jim Van Horn and guys like that have done it. And it's not easy, man. It's really tough, especially when you get down to like 13 or 15. Then it's like, which five do I have to kill here?

It's like Sophie's Choice. But I can't wait to do that 2018. Thanks for having me. Merry Christmas absolutely and thank you for not naming your son Jack could you imagine Jack Frost on the ice maybe that's perfect I wouldn't do that

got a lot of Jacks when I was a kid especially growing up in Winnipeg there was a lot of Jacks directed my way but Morgan was down at the rink quite a few times and it was a pleasure to have him, and I'm happy for him, and I'm happy to be working at Kew, and

it's going to be going on for a while longer, I'm sure. Good stuff. And that brings us to the end of our 291st show. You can follow me on Twitter, I'm at TorontoMike, and Andy is at Andy Frost. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at andy frost our friends at great legs brewery are at

great lakes beer property in the six is at brian gerstein and pay tm is at pay tm canada see you all next week Well, you've been under my skin for more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears