Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Billie Holiday: Toronto Mike'd #121

Episode Date: May 6, 2015

Mike chats with broadcaster Billie Holiday about getting fired from the Maddog and Billie show, what Maddog said about that, working with Dean Blundell and whether she has any regrets.

Welcome to episode 121 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 broadcaster Billie Holiday. Hey, hey, is that you singing? Yes, that was me singing. No, it's not me. It's a local rapper, Ill Vibe. Is that you singing? Yes, that was me singing. No, it's not me. It's a local rapper, Ill Vibe. Oh, okay.

I thought you might be a rapper. You look like one. Do I? Is that true? Come on. I couldn't look further from rapping. I wish. You had for one moment, like a millisecond there, I was so happy.

I was like, really? I look like a rapper? First of all, we're meeting for the first time. Yes. And it's lovely to meet you. Yeah, nice to meet you too. Because I heard your voice for a very long time, but not too long. Yeah, just long enough. The perfect length.

Yeah, yeah. So my first question, and I got to start with this because I bet you get asked this one the most. But yeah, you're wondering what the hell am I doing with this like old, old audio, but where does the name Billie Holiday come from? It's from, it's from Kiss when I first started in broadcasting because everybody had kitschy names. And my dad actually originally wanted to call me either Billie or Toby because I think he secretly wanted a boy. So I kind of got the nickname Billie when I was younger. And then the holiday we just stuck on because it sounded cool. And back in the old ages, no one had Google.

So you couldn't even Google to see that there was a jazz singer called Billie Holiday. Like that's what I would wonder. I'm thinking the demo, like the Kiss demo has no idea. Exactly. You're right. And this is years ago before Google because it's, you know, we're archaic. So no one really caught on. They had to hunt down a library with Alta Vista.

Right. Yes, I remember those days. Yeah, and I always get things like, hey, you were a trivia question on Jeopardy last night. And I'm like, thanks. I'll bet. And there must be smartasses who every time somebody says, oh, Billie Holiday is coming, they're like, I thought she was dead.

Oh, yeah. You get that every day, right? All the time. I was at the airport even the other day and they were like, oh, Billie Holiday, like you're the singer? I'm like, yes, I am the dead black jazz singer. That's right.

That's right. Yeah. So anyways, it just kind of, I kind of just went, go by Billie now and just kind of dropped the holiday situation. So you're, are we allowed to say your real name? I'm sure. You buried that.

No. Well, I did bury it. So I guess what is it? Does anyone call you amanda no nobody nobody nobody because you know at one time we we have just you know we just talked a couple of times to arrange this uh visit and i think one time the first time i phoned you i wasn't sure like is this billy or a man like i don't know how people with these stage names right it'd be awkward to talk to somebody and say hey tarzan dan or whatever yeah well i don't even

turn around i mean sometimes if i'm using my visa card or whatever. Yeah. Well, I don't even turn around. I mean, sometimes if I'm using my Visa card or whatever and they say Amanda, I won't even turn my head. Right, right, right. I'm like, who's Amanda? It must be my assistant that I don't have because I don't work. Oh, that's funny. Yeah. By the way, anyone wondering, this is Billie Holiday.

I think it's her signature track. It's Strange Fruit. Yeah. For you kids out there who want to dig out the 1940s jazz standards. This is not me singing. Great dive. Right there. It's not creepy at all that you have a Jason mask on your wall, by the way, in the basement. Except it's the real deal. That's a real hockey mask. That's like the real deal. You know,

I'm not going to get too heavy off the bat here, but that's the only thing I have for my father. This is a true story. I know. See, you already get the tears flowing early. That's sweet. Not that he's dead, by the way. Okay. Well, why doesn't he give sweet. Not that he's dead, by the way. I should point out. Okay. Well, why doesn't he give you more stuff? I haven't seen him in forever, but I kept that because I always,

I wear it every Halloween. It's like a Jason mask, but it's, it's an actual, like authentic, like that is old goaltender. Who is Aaron Davis's husband was fascinated with that mask because, uh,

he was into like old hockey mask stuff. That is wild. What would that even protect? You know, for a while, goaltenders had no mask. Really? If you find old footage, I know you spend a lot of time on Leafs TV. I do, yeah. When you're watching the Leafs in the 1930s or whatever, no mask.

Really? Yeah. Just pucks flying out of their face. Yeah, and some Jacques Plante, I think, one day he came out with a mask like this and it was like, he's just had enough of taking a puck to the teeth. Puck to the face. Yeah, yeah. And some Jacques Plante, I think, one day he came out with a mask like this and it was like, he's just had enough of taking a puck to the teeth. Puck to the face. Yeah. So crazy.

So why, you talked about, and already you've mentioned Kiss 92.5. So why did you want to get into radio? Um, gosh, I, you know, I've always, I was just always fascinated by the medium and I found that it was the most intimate of the broadcasting situations and the most real and a way to do something different and to create something that's not there like

create something in air is kind of cool and have a different day and a different show each time as opposed to the medium of television where you're using a teleprompter and you don't really get to show much of your personality and I just always thought it was really cool to connect with people in that way and you're in their car and you're in their bathroom and you're in their bedroom and, you know, they have an intimate relationship with you. I really liked that aspect of radio. I'm going to ask you, like, I know you're too young for this, but maybe in syndication you saw, did you ever see WKRP in Cincinnati? Yes. Did you? Because that's when I decided I wanted to be in radio and I never worked a day in radio in my life. That was when

I decided I wanted to be in radio. You know, funny day in radio in my life. That was when I decided I wanted to be in radio. You know, funny story, because I know you just had Roz Weston on, but we've been best friends since college. And he and I went to college together. And I was in TV and film production at the time and I lived in residence with Roz. And he told me to switch to radio. And I was taking film and TV.

I always loved radio, but I didn't think that I would ever be a host on radio. So I switched to radio thinking I'll do radio production. And then I kind of just got caught up in this as well. Do you know they named a street after Roz in Acton, Ontario? Yes, I do. I remember going to visit Acton back in the day when Roz was my producer. It was worth the drive. It was because I did a TV show with Roz and I also did, you know, he's my producer for years on Kiss and on CHFI. Okay. So let's, okay. So I'm going to take us back here, but there was a, I think there was a mad dog and Darren Jones.

Yes, there was. And this was like the kiss 92.5 morning show. And Darren leaves. He pops up everywhere now. Like I see he's on global's morning, like on the television, he's on global.

He's all over the place, right? He gots to work now. He gots to, he went to U of T with me. So there's our connection. I went to school of Darren Jones. You went to school of Ross. Yeah.

So how did you come in to replace Darren Jones at Kiss? When he left, they were looking for another guy to take Darren's place because they liked the idea of the two guys thing. And I was doing weekends. And I just happened to have been able to get Grammy tickets. And I said, listen, if you fly me down there and fly me to the Grammys, I'll go and get some interviews for you guys and, you know, we'll go. It'll be

great. And nobody was doing that back then because it was radio and, you know, nothing was instant because it was back in the day before I had to go down and tape stuff, edit it, and then three days later you'd hear about the Grammy Awards, right? Now everything's just instant. When are we talking here? So long ago

like long time ago you mean approximate like 2009 maybe 99 around there okay so i went to the grammys long story short i got all these uh interviews i got in a fight with uh donny osmond on the red carpet which was all on tape he fights well yeah because like i i i had uh told him i had hamsters when I was little called Donnie and Marie. And I told them that they suffocated in the sleeping bag. And then he got, that was when he was not going all squirrely. I don't know if you remember, but he had like a mental meltdown and he, uh, he was saying, what are you saying? I'm a rodent. And I was like, no. And it was just, anyways, this push happened and it was just ridiculous.

You hit a button. Yeah. So I got all this like great kind of impromptu audio from celebrities and I was saying stuff to them that was ridiculous and whatever. Then I flew back, played it on Mad Dog Show because at the time it was just Mad Dog Show and they liked it. And that morning they called me up and asked if I wanted to be the co-host. So that was a good score. Now, Mad Dog's actually been on this show. So tell me how the chemistry was with Mad Dog at the beginning. It was good. I mean, like anything, you've got to work on chemistry, obviously. But I think we were so opposite of people that worked. We had such different views on things that it worked. And we were so young. I mean, we're basically growing up together. We were really young when

we started that show. Because, you know, when they talk about, I think it was Danny, Danny was on this show. She worked at 102.1 and used to produce the Dean Blundell before you were there, but we'll get to that because we have to. The many firings of Billie Holiday. You're contractually obligated to answer all of my Dean questions. But she mentioned that she got advice from Fred Patterson from Humble and Fred that never take a gig unless your name is part of the show's name.

Like if it's just like the breakfast club, he says, don't do it. But if it's Mad Dog and Billy, I guess my point is they, they did a pretty good job of branding that show. They did a really good job of branding the show. I mean,

I'm still like, people still think I'm on air, which is amazing. I had Rick Hodge in here and seriously, Rick, they still think it's Roger Rick and Marilyn and he's still there. He hasn't been there. Cause if you drilled that enough,

you know, through people's heads and you know, they don't stop thinking of it and you're always associated with the other person's name. So yeah, it works well. How do you answer that question when somebody thinks you're still on Mad Dog?

Well, we'll get, we'll get, actually let's stick to chronological order. So initially you and Mad Dog, when you're recording and you're on the air, there is the chemistry was such that you made a good team. Yes. And they decided to, you know, brand this team and do some advertising. So guys like me who might not listen to that station,

we know about Mad Dog and Billy. Yeah. They did a really good subway kind of situation where they put, you know, subways with our faces on them and there was vans and there was billboards and all that stuff. They did a very good, Rogers did a very good job with that. Right. And, uh,

by the way, I keep dropping names, but Aaron Davis was here also. So Aaron Davis was at CHFI, right? Well, you're at KISS 92.5. Uh-huh.

And yeah. It's so confusing. I know. And Aaron Davis is, Aaron Davis is fired. Yeah. Wow.5. Uh-huh. And yeah. It's so confusing. I know. And Aaron Davis is fired. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And I even know who did it.

Julie Adam. Yeah. Fires Aaron Davis. Yeah. The Aaron Davis. Yeah. And they decide to move Mad Dog and Billy from 92.5 to CHFI. Yes.

So tell me how they approached you with that and tell me all about this move. Well, we were devastated. I mean, it was such a shock when they took Kiss off the air because the station was actually doing quite well and we were just blown away. We were brought in and told that Kiss was no longer there and they were flipping and going to, you know,

moments later there's Jack on everything and Jack just starts and we were like, what is going on? And Jack's got like no announcers, right? Right. It's just some slacker dude on imaging or whatever, like, Oh Jack, you know, it's Friday. Enjoy Jack. Yeah. So I was devastated because I loved, I loved Kiss and we had built it together and I grew up there, you know? And so they said, don't worry, we have a place for you. Just take a little vacation. And I remember I had to go to a wedding or something. So I was away at a wedding in Boston.

And then that's when Julie came up with the idea of wanting to keep us, but putting us on CHFI. And I was like, what? Like I was just very, like everybody in the world, very confused about the move. And that's why they changed Mad Dog to Jay, I guess, to make it more friendly. Yeah, so when it comes to demographics and stuff,

people love hearing about demographics. But Kiss 92.5, it's skewed younger than CHFI, right? Well, yeah, it's bizarre because we went from doing the whole up in here, up in here, to being like, here's Lana Richie. Yeah, that's right. I even had a voice coach come to my house to work with me on talking like a 40 year old and wow a 40 year old van driving mississauga mom is basically what i was supposed to sound like all

the time and everything is we call those soccer moms awesome how are you mike it's so nice to see look at the sun today you're eerily good at that though i know it's weird so this billy though this billy on this the billy on this podcast is the real billy i'm not getting any any personas here no it's the real deal. One of my personalities. Cool. I have pills for that. I wish I had more than one. Yeah, well.

Because then I wouldn't use this. But I do keep doing this. The whole back and off. Yeah, I warned you though. You said I know. Before we pressed record, we had a nice long chat about this. I know.

I didn't listen to a thing you said. Because professional broadcasters like yourself are used to billion dollar microphones. Right. I learned this. They pick everything up. And I don't,

see I've never known anything about mics. I worked in radio i my friend andrew stokely recommended these and i i bought them and they weren't cheap but apparently they aren't a billion dollars right so you there i don't know what the word is unilateral i don't know the words but you need to be like in front of them close to them and if you wander off it you become like the alan cross interview and then i get mad when i hear it back right because you're like you're not on mic yeah no and then i tweet about you that billy but it's just like you're so close to do you watch these at all because i feel like i'm sanitizing out with ross but have you ever done that that's for a different show that's for this show that's a whole different that's episode one he's very handsome i almost made out with him did

you almost close to a handsome guy he's a very handsome guy he's a great guy and he's very handsome. I almost made out with him. Did you almost? Because he's a handsome guy. He's a very handsome guy. He's a great guy. And he's got great hair. He has amazing hair. And he can't stand up down here. He's six foot three, I think it is. He keeps changing it. One day he's six five, then he's six three. Yeah, I think he's at least six three.

And you're not. You had no problem. No, I'm fine. I'm a midget. Oh, I can't say midget. Sorry, little person. You're a tall little person. Yeah. Okay, where the hell was I? Oh, yeah, moving to CHFI. What firing. Little person. You're a tall little person. Yeah.

Okay, where the hell was I? What firing are we at? You're going to CHFI. Am I fired yet? Not yet. Soon, don't worry. Soon you will be. So how was it at CHFI? Terrible. Just terrible. Because we got a lot of hate, right?

Because everyone was just... Everyone wanted Aaron Davis, right? Yeah, we had this a lot. Are you guys American? We got a lot of hate, right? Because everyone was just... Everyone wanted Aaron Davis, right? Yeah, we had this a lot. Are you guys American? We got a lot of phone calls like that from old people that were very upset that we were playing Dancing on the Ceiling by Lionel Richie. Sure.

You know, and just, it was just, it did not work. It was painful going into work. You know, that's one of those, you know, hindsight's 20-20. So looking back, we should have seen all this coming. But at the time, right? I don't know. But did you know it would be, like, you know, hindsight's 2020. So looking back, we should have seen all this coming. But at the time, right? I don't know. But did you know it would be,

like, tell the truth. Did you know it was going to be a disaster before you started at CHFI? I felt it might not go so well. You had no leverage, right? Because you were told,

it was basically CHFI or nothing, right? Well, yeah, because we were under contract. And you had no, we were still under contract. So we couldn't,

we couldn't work anyways. You can't balk or whatever. Right. Right. So, and I think at the beginning too, we were kind of like, this is not going to work.

And everybody was like, well, it's going to take some time. And then I think the idea at first was that they might kind of try to hip up the music a bit, but that never really came to fruition. Although they've done it now, I've noticed. They've done it now, but they didn't do it back then.

Right. They didn't do it back then. Right. So, or fast enough. Right. And then I think they got a lot of hate mail from Aaron Davis, who was very close to people and for years so

yeah that was just a bad move and then we ended up getting canned so you were and this is something I don't think it's happened since I don't think but they fired you to bring in Aaron Davis is that right? yeah you know hindsight we'll leave hindsight

out of it but that's unfortunate for you guys because you guys couldn't have succeeded. I don't think you could have done anything to be successful coming in there when coming in for Aaron Davis on that station. It was a bad mix.

It reminds me of when Humble and Fred went to Mix 99.9. To me, it was the wrong fit and it was just a shitstorm from the beginning and then eventually it just... God, I've worked in a lot of places. Every time you mentioned something, I'm like, yep, check,

check, check. Okay, let's go. So now you're, uh, you're, uh, fired from CHFI.

Aaron Davis comes back and everyone in the world is happy now. Everyone's happy. And we're off work for a year because we had to sit out for a year because of our contract. And, I got married cause I was bored and, uh, all that kind of stuff.

Are you still married? Uh, no, not so much. Okay. That's a different episode as well, Mike. So then we started talking to Gary Slate, who is the owner of Mix 99. Yeah, because he owns Standard.

Yes. Yes. We got into talks. Oh, it's funny. That's right. It's all coming back to me now because my good friends, Humble and Fred, went from Mojo Radio to 99.9. And like and like I said this was a bad fit bad idea from the get-go but they you know they got a good contract and they were seduced and they went over and Fred was fired pretty quickly

and then Humble lingered a little bit and then he was fired and then Mad Dog and Billy come in to be the new Mix 99.9 morning show. So tell me about that. Well, I don't even remember how long it was, Mix 99, to be honest. Not long at all. So many stations. I don't think it was very long. But we were excited because we signed another big contract and we were ready to play some of our current music because we were, of course, coming from CH5 and playing a lot of Lionel

Richie. So I was happy to be on a station that didn't play him. God bless him, though. He's a good guy. So Mix 99 was interesting. It was a very different way of doing things. And then shortly after, they flipped

to Virgin. Can you give me some detail on its very different way of doing things? You're just saying that Rogers was different. Rogers was just a lot more corporate, I think. Gary Slate was very hands-on. And I love Gary Slate, but it was very different. It was more family-oriented, I guess, and more hands-on stuff.

Yeah, because usually those ultra-rich owner guys don't get their hands dirty. Right. But he loves the medium of radio and was very, very into it. So that was a good thing. So he sells it to Astral. Yeah. While you're there? Mm-hmm.

Okay. And before the Virgin rebranding? No, I don't think so. I think it was after. I think it was after. Yeah, it was after the Virgin rebrand. No, no, no, no. I don't.

No, no, it was before. Okay, okay. I don't remember. So long ago. I never would have rebranded a Virgin. Never. I have no idea. I've never met Gary Slade. Right, right.

Okay, so you're at Mix 99.9. You're now playing like Avril Lavigne instead of Lionel Richie. Right, yeah. Big up step there. Yeah. And you're now, they say, okay, we're going to do this. I don't fully understand it myself, but you're basically licensing this logo and name

from like the Rich Branson guy. Right. It's like buying a franchise, right? We're buying a Tim Hortons, and that's what we're going to do. And we're all of a sudden Virgin Radio. And this is kind of like speaking to Roz Weston, but when they did ET Canada, he said basically they bought the song and the name.

Yeah. That's what you do these days. Yeah. And then you're, you do the rest. Yeah, that's it. Yeah.

So, uh, yeah, we switched it over. I think I, I was launched it from the CN tower. I remember being up at the CN tower and going, now we're Virgin radio and blah,

blah, blah. And I love Virgin radio, that kind of stuff. And what did you, uh, you don't, you blocked all this out of your memory, blah. I love Virgin Radio. That kind of stuff. And what did you... You blocked all this out of your memory, but how...

So Virgin, essentially, to you, it's the same as Mixed Line 9.9. You just say different things? Yeah, a little tighter. I think it was a bit more... Yeah, it was a bit more top 40. We got rid of a lot of CanCon that wasn't needed, that kind of stuff,

and started playing more. A lot more like Rihanna or whatever. Yeah, a lot more rhythmic. I guess we went more rhythmic than, uh, than before. Cause before I was sort of rock leaned, you know?

Interesting. And you're, so it's still Mad Dog and Billy and, uh, you're, you're a virgin 99.99 or whatever the hell they call it. Yeah. Yeah.

And before we get to what happens to you there, let's just chat. Just go like a sidestep. Okay. So you mentioned off the beginning you wanted to go into TV and then you decided to go into radio. But you have a number of pretty cool TV credits

and they're all going on at this time, right? Yeah, I mean, I was pop stars, I guess. And then I did a late night talk show called Last Call that was with Roz. Oh, that was Roz's show. Yeah, yeah. Roz says it was his show. It was really my show that Roz was on,

just to clarify. I didn't trust him because he kind of he had a twitch when he would say that yeah and he doesn't look at you in the eye that's right

but pop stars okay I remember pop stars this is because in Britain in the UK they have like pop idol

and this is unaffiliated this is like is this this is unaffiliated to pop because American Idol yeah and it's just like it's just like a rip off.

Like the kind of the first Canadian kind of reality show like that. So it's like, it was like Canadian Idol, except you didn't license that brand. Right. And it was before Canadian Idol. Yeah, definitely.

Yes. And you were good on that show. It was fun. It was a lot of fun. I did that. That was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed doing that. Putting together Sugar Jones.

Where are they now? I don't know. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So where are they now? I don't know. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So where are they now? I don't know. I mean, I think they all went on to different solo projects. I have such a faint memory of this. I didn't watch it like appointment viewing, but I caught enough.

Do you remember that song? Oh, yes, I do. Much music played that. All the time. Yeah, constant. That was when they used to play videos and stuff. Yeah, back in the day when they were actually a music channel. Yeah, and i used to actually care about what was on there yeah and they had vjs i'm trying to get master t to come on the show oh master t he's so nice we're gonna save much music i can help him he's ready for this okay i had a i wrote him a facebook message okay i got a reply from Master T's team.

I've never actually expected that. He has a team? Yeah. I just talked to Steve Anthony this week. He's coming on later this month, Steve Anthony. Steve Anthony doesn't have a team. I speak directly to Steve Anthony. I didn't talk to your team.

No. You should have a team, though. I should have a team. Master T's got a team. That's amazing. Yeah. What's that about? I can't even get to Master T. What does he do? I don't know. You think it's just him pretending he's a team. That's amazing. What's that about? I can't even get to master team.

What does he do? I don't know. You think it's just him pretending he's a team? Maybe he's like, excuse me a moment. I'll get my assistant. Hi, master team's assistant. As a gag, once in a while, I'll say the good people at Toronto Mike want to wish you a happy whatever. I'll pretend like I'm a team. Like a gag.

I'm only one guy. but I'll be the team at Toronto Mike. Right, the team here. There's the executive producer, the producer, there's the audio guy who edits. What about those four guys in the corner behind me? That's right. One day, Toronto Mike, you'll have a team. You don't worry. Pop Stars was

your show. How long did that go? Just one season with me and then Jay did a couple seasons. Because there was Popstars 1 and then there was 2-3. Why only one season? Did I only do one? I'm not really sure. I don't know. Who's responsible? Was it anyone I know?

What? Did Popstars went on without you? Yes, it did. Yeah. A lot of things go on without me. But not your choice, Popstars. No, I don't really actually know. So you didn't have like a dispute with anybody or you just, they decided to go in a different direction? Yeah. Not that I remember. Okay. Maybe I did. Maybe I punched somebody. I don't remember. And last call. So how long were you on last call for? That was on Toronto One? Yeah. I remember

Toronto One. I forgot. And then I remembered when I talked to Roz. I forget how long we were on. I don't know, like six months or something. And then it became Sun TV. So you were fired from that? No, when I moved to CH5, I was made to quit last call. I was asked to quit by Rogers because it didn't go in line with CH5's

whole thing. That's another interesting question. How does Roz get to do the, he got to do the ET Canada and the... Because it's in correlation with like what they do

on the show. Like it's, they both fit. Oh, they fit. I see. Yeah. I got you. Where his last call

was kind of edgy and then I was going in the morning playing, you know, Barry Manilow. Right. Right. So I'd be like,

I'm interviewing a stripper. Here's Barry Manilow. So it wasn't... It was all brand. Yeah, it was not connecting well. I gotcha. You were also on the soul food. I was.

Again, soul food. I remember the movie. Yeah. And there was a TV show. And it was filmed here. I take it. Yeah.

I was filming here. And what was your role? Um, I played, um, the producer of, Oh God, I don't remember.

The producer of the view. Like that. Oh yeah. Okay. The producer of the view. All right, cool. Yeah. And you had fun doing that? I was, yeah, it was of The View. Like that, yeah. Okay, cool. The producer of The View, yeah. All right, cool. Yeah.

And you had fun doing that? Yeah, it was a good time. I'm a terrible actress, but it was fun to do little things like that. That's when I had a lot more energy and I was like doing a lot of different things. Why were you fired from, actually, can I play a clip?

I gotta play a clip. So you got your headphones on, good. This is actually gonna run like two minutes and 30 seconds. So we'll just look at each other awkwardly while it runs. But you're going to listen to this? I guess so. Is it going to make me cry? No, no, no. Okay. So this is episode 92. This clip is 92. And I asked Mad Dog. I asked him why you're fired. Okay. So I hope he's not too uncomfortable. I'm going to play it. And then I just want to hear your response. I don't think it's fair that that lingers out on the internet without your response.

I don't think it's better that you get to reply to it. Okay. So I'm going to play it. It's already been out for like months. It's okay. I have to ask you straight out, why was Billy fired? I think it's kind of very similarly to whenever you make a change on a show like they did with Humble when they let Fred go.

It was that they wanted to evolve the show and they didn't feel that, that one part of it fit the new image of what they wanted to do. And, you know, I, again, I cautionary cautionarily say this, I don't want to give anybody else's story.

I think it's, you know, I think it's a question best, best ask of Billy, but I think at the time that she left, I think she had lost her love for it i don't think she was jumping out of bed every day to rush over to the radio station to put put on the best show she possibly could i think she was kind of done with it

and i think she was dealing with with a bunch of shit in her own life like many of us have had to do and i think that was more important she just had her daughter and i think she wanted to focus on that a little bit and when she was given that opportunity to maybe step away for a while, I think I don't think that she fought it too hard. So I think it was a pretty it was a pretty easy decision in retrospect to have made. Who initiated this change? Because this is a significant change considering there's a Mad Dog and Billy brand at this point, because it's been many years. Yeah. Like a decade or so. Oh, yeah, absolutely. many years yeah like a decade or so yeah absolutely long time absolutely uh so you know mad dog and billy is suddenly becoming mad dog and more like a lot of people raise their eyebrows and wonder

like okay is this management making a change or is it does mad dog go to management and say we need to make a change well you know what at the end of the day it's always management that has the final decision and the way it was presented to me was, you guys, your numbers haven't, they're not where we want them to be. And my contract was up. So they said, here's the new deal. Take it or leave it. And I said, I'm going to leave it. I'm going to quit.

I'm going to go somewhere else. And they said, well, why do you want to go? And I said, well, you know, I think Billy and I have gone as far as we can go. I don't think that we're growing. And shows need to grow or else they're done. And for shows to grow, both people have to be 100% invested. And at that point, I don't think Billy and I were really, we didn't have the chemistry that we once had. I think we'd sort of grown apart.

And what I said to them was, you know, in its current incarnation, this show is not going to grow. I said, so I'm giving you back your contract. And I'm going to go. And now your contract and I'm going to go. And now's the time I'm going to take my family and we're going to either go across town or across the country. Or I was talking to people in the States and we're going to make a fresh start. So they took all that away. And then they said, you know, we're thinking about rebranding this. What do you think of these different scenarios?

And I said, well, I would be willing to have a conversation at that point. And that's when they decided that they wanted to sort of blow it up and rebuild it. Okay. Episode 92 of Mad Dog. What do you think of that? Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of truth to that. I don't know what went on behind the scenes. I was, I did kind of lose my luster for that show, to be honest. I was dealing with a lot of personal stuff at the time. I was going through a divorce. I just had a baby. I did not get along with PD at all. I didn't like his vision for the show. I didn't like doing fake bits on the show. I didn't like doing things like War of the Roses and hiring actors to pretend they were real people. I wasn't enjoying that. I also didn't enjoy what management was making me do with my divorce and how they were pushing

me to talk about it on air as if it was some sort of contest. Like they made it, I made a divorce announcement. Like I remember a promo going, Hey, listen Monday, but big announcement from Billy. And then there was like eight o'clock and it was like,

okay, Billy, what's the big announcement? I was like, I'm getting a divorce. Like it was a contest. Like fodder. Yeah.

And then after that was done, I was told I didn't sob or cry enough. Like it was just, everything was just so fake. It was just so artificial Everything was artificial I know that reaction because I have the same reaction to things when they're not authentic I didn't like lying to our audience

Again, I didn't I was not in line with the vision of the show and I was too distracted. I was also going through some health problems as well. I was, there was so many things going on in my personal life that I was, I just wasn't into it anymore. So he's correct there. I wasn't because I didn't want to do the kind of show that the management

wanted us to do. I didn't feel like I was being the real me. I found that being made to cry is not something I was signing on for, you know, and hiring actors to play real people. And I didn't want to do that kind of show anymore, you know, and, and I had drifted apart with him and yeah, there was just, there was so many different issues that led to that. And he's right. I didn't, I didn't fight it. I was kind of like, all right, see ya. Like I really just needed a break. It had been too long and I needed a break. He seems to suggest there that he sounds like he's saying, I'm quitting unless you make a change. And then they decided,

they came to him and said, hey, what if we got rid of, really, would you stay? Yeah, that is what he said. I've never heard that before, so that's good to know. Is that, like, I should point out, I've only met Mad Dog once when he was here.

So you guys, I've met you each the same number of times now. Yeah. In the same place, the matter's in my in my basement uh so you know we're not pals who hang out or whatever although i quite enjoyed my two hours with him but uh and we do tweet back and forth now and then but uh you know we're not out going for like a beer on friday night or whatever so was there something like a falling out it sounds like there was a falling out like it just and i know i don't not that i recall really i don't think there was a falling out. It sounds like there was a falling out. Like it just, and I know. Not that I recall really. I don't think there was a falling out per se.

I mean, it's just not, not, not really. I mean, I know I wasn't into it at the end and I know I had a lot of problems with what the management was trying to do, but I didn't necessarily have problems with him per se.

But it does sound like he, you know, went and kind of did that. You know, it sounds like an ultimatum to me. Like it sounds like either she goes or I go. Yeah. So I didn't know that.

That's a very delicate. It's almost like the PR company wrote that. But that's a very soft, delicate way of saying she goes or I go because I'm not working with her anymore. Yeah. So I guess that's what they did. Does that hurt? Of course. I guess you didn't know that.

Yeah. I didn't know that. But of course it does. After you've gone through so much stuff with each other over the years. I think that kind of thing, like spending every morning together for 10 years is a pretty big thing to just blow up. But that's his decision and his call and whatever. Would you ever work with him again? I don't know.

I don't know. I can't even answer that. Okay, tell me this. Was there any... I'm going to speak German now. Okay, perfect. Was there any... My only German word.

Schodenfreude? Was that good? Schodenfreude? Schodenfreude. Say it again. Schodenfreude. That's the word I'm going for. When Mad Dog was fired earlier this year.

No, I mean, I don't wish anyone... Because anyway, I know that maybe you're above that or whatever. I could see somebody having like a little smile. Like a little smile.

Because he gets an old... I did buy a pinata. And I did... No, I mean, I don't know. I think it's been so long now that I mean, I don't wish anyone to get...

I mean, now that he said that he is pretty much got me fired, maybe I should be happier. Now you can have short on for delete. Now I can now. I did not know that he said that cause I try to not, I don't listen to the radio and whatever. Good. Cause I'm not on the radio.

Yeah, I know. No, but I mean, so I haven't listened to him since. So it was weird to hear his voice, but no, I mean,

I don't wish him bad luck or whatever. I mean, I am glad that he got to feel kind of how I felt, which was when they keep part of a show and get rid of the other part. Same thing happened. So basically Mad Dog and Billy became Mad Dog and Maura. And now Mad Dog and Maura is Maura and Tucker. Yeah, exactly.

It's the same thing. Yeah, it's the same thing. And that's all we're going to say about Mad Dog. Yeah. I'm rooting for you crazy kids. But okay, meanwhile, while you're on 99.9 and 92.5 with Mad Dog, all these names, Billy Mad,

all these fake names. Do you know Mad Dog's a fake name? Jay Michaels is a fake name. I know. He's got a fake name on a fake name. He's got these fake names. Do you know Mad Dog's a fake name? Jay Michaels is a fake name. I know. He's got a fake name on a fake name. He's got two fake names. Who does that? Bizarre. You don't need a fake name on a fake name. Maybe you do. You're just so damn famous, you need three fake names. That's crazy.

But meanwhile, there's a long time, I think it ran 14 years in total, but there's a long time morning show on 102.1. Yeah. Speaking of Humble and Friend, they were replaced by Dean Blundell and they called it the Dean Blundell Show. And for most of those 14 years, it featured Todd Shapiro,

who was a guest on the show, and Jason Barr, who was also a guest on the show. And then Jason Barr was let go. And then Todd Shapiro was let go. Yeah. A lot of people get fired in this. This is a terrible business.

It's a terrible, terrible business. Do you know why my little Toronto mic exists? To remind myself why I'm glad I didn't go into radio. Because all it's firing for no good reason. Exactly. All you're having is people that were fired on your show. That's what's happening. I know.

I feel bad if I have somebody like a Roz. That's doing well? Yeah. Steve Anthony's happening. I know. I feel bad if I have somebody like a Roz or if I have... That's doing well? Yeah. Or Steve Anthony's coming. I don't think he's hardly ever at a work with Steve Anthony. No, he was let go from Mix. Was he? Okay. Anyone in this business has been of course fired. What about Roger Ashby? I like to call myself the anti-Heather

Locklear. You bring me in to screw up a show as opposed to getting fired. No, there's a guy. He was on Happy Days and I can't remember his name now, Locklear. You bring me in to screw up a show as opposed to getting fired. He was on Happy Days and I can't remember his name now. Oh yeah, I know that guy. The teeth and the blonde hair. He's the show killer.

He was in Revenge of the Nerds, I think. Anyways, that guy. He's the opposite of your him. Bring me in. I'll screw everything up. I gotta find out his name. Yeah, that's, that's funny. Well, I would, if this was a real show of a real producer,

somebody would have the answer. So, okay. So, but Dean Blundell used to basically make fun of Mad Dog and Billy all the time on the air. Oh, constantly. Terrible,

like terrible things. Like terrible. I remember bawling my eyes out. True mean things about you. Terrible things about me Just awful Like to the point where I would like Have nightmares

I had stopped going to the Eaton Center Is that right? Because the show was taped there I didn't want to see him in person He was just so Cruel to me That I just hated him Like so much

And I don't hate people And like him But you hated Dean Glendale Oh god I So much Like just He was just so mean.

Do you remember the worst thing he ever said about you? Oh, God. Oh, yeah. The article. Yeah. He wrote an article about it. iWeekly, right? Yeah.

About how I looked like I was, I don't know, like hitting the face with a pitchfork or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He would just say all these terrible things about how I looked and all this. I know it was to get a rise out of us obviously which which worked but it was still like upsetting like even my parents read the article and they were upset like he made my whole family cry so having said all that yeah billy holiday yeah this guy you one of the few guys you hate he was mean made you cry You took a job as his co-host. You essentially got the Todd job, right? That's essentially the Todd Shapiro job.

Lady's got to work. So basically this is for a paycheck. Well, yeah, and you know, I mean, the very first show I was on was funny because I did think I was getting punked. I was like, something's going to happen. He's either going to smack me in the face or like,

you know, TV cameras, you know, Ashton Kutcher is going to come out. So I, then that's what I said to him. And I got, I got to kind of get it off my chest to him.

Like, this is what you said about me and how terrible. And he apologized profusely. This is off air. This is on air. On air. Yeah,

this is on air. And so he apologized and all that stuff. And so I kind of accepted his apology and for what it was or whatever. But before this had happened, I had, I had talked to him for the very first time ever at the Jay's home opener. So he was there and, uh, he came up to me and said, I just want you to know that they fired the wrong person. And I went, thanks. That means a lot, blah, blah. And then he was actually quite nice in person. So even though I was a little skeptical when he first called me and try out for called me in to try out for the show,

not try out for the show, but to be on a show, I was still a little hesitant, of course. But it was kind of a funny blend and we kind of worked for some reason. It just made guys like me just raise our eyebrow. But I totally, first of all, I totally get, I need a gig. You need a paycheck. You need to work. Yeah. You don't always get to, you know, cure cancer and save the whales at your job.

Sometimes you just got to go in and make your dollar. Yeah, exactly. I totally get that. So no. Single mom too. And also he ended up being quite a nice guy. I mean, you know. So tell me about that.

How long? How long? Until I got fired from there. How long were you there until the end? I was only there four months. Four months. Okay. Yeah. So yeah, until we got fired from there. How long were you there until the end? I was only there four months. Four months, okay. Yeah, until we got fired, yeah. So during that four months, how was it working with Dean Blundell?

With Dean, good. I mean, he's very much ran his own show, and he kind of ran the whole show over there, right? He was there so long that he was kind of, you know, the dictator over there in a lot of ways. But what I liked about him and talking to me was he was very open about me being myself as opposed to a character, which is very top

40 radio, which I was more of a compressed version of Billy when I was on the Mad Dog and Billy show. So then I was able to be more edgy, which I am in person more edgy than I was on CH5 and Mix and all that stuff so i liked the fact that i could talk to a different audience it was you could be less phony less phony yeah and it was like talking to a mostly male audience which i had always been

taught to talk to a female audience so that was really interesting to do and being able to talk for as long as we did because we would have 20 minute talk breaks and top 40 doesn't do that so there was lots of good things about being on that show the um i in my conversations with uh todd shapiro and uh you know i want to call her danny gray uh what's her last over yes because you know why her twitter handles danny gray oh is that tricks me right danny's over yeah jason bar todd shapiro have all been on the show and they all essentially say that it's very difficult to work with Dean Blundell. I didn't, I didn't find that because I don't think I was there long enough. And also there was a lot of problems going on at that time with management. And I got a really weird feeling about

the show not, not going to last. I felt like something was going on because, you know, so I didn't get that as much. I mean, he's very, you know, knows exactly what he's doing and what he wants and he's very assertive. But I was used to working with people like Mad Dog. So I was very used to working with men that are like him. Do you know what I mean?

But he was also very generous with me coming in. But I can see him being difficult to work with if you're not used to that kind of dictatorship kind of thing. The term I've heard for him was a workplace bully. Yeah. It sounds like... I didn't have that experience. It sounds like your experience was different in that four months.

Yeah. Again, I was there four months. And I'm a woman, which is very different too, I was there four months and I'm a woman, which is very different too, I guess, but I guess Danny is a woman. And maybe he had enough warning shots at that point. Like maybe he was trying to behave.

I know when he, cause he's on the air now. Did you hear he's got a new gig? Yeah. The sports, yeah. The sports net. Yeah.

Just saw him actually. I think he's supposed to be like a gentler. I mean, I don't know. Cause I haven't talked to anyone who works from now. I think he was told to come in as a kinder, gentler Dean. Well, I think that's supposed to be like a gentler. I mean, I, I don't know. Cause I haven't talked to anyone who works from now. I think he was told to come in as a kinder, gentler Dean. Well,

I think that, yeah, the, uh, I was talking to one of the writers from Rogers the other day. Uh, I think his handle or the handle or whatever was Dean Lundell reprogrammed. Yeah.

Is what, is that how they're advertising it? So, so I guess that's what, that's what they're doing. What did you say? He's got duct tape on his mouth. He did in this video promo. I thought you said something He's got duct tape on his mouth. Oh, does he?

He did in this video promo I saw. I thought you said something about wanting to duct tape his mouth. You know what? I asked him to come on the show. He said no, but he was like, polite? A polite no? Yeah. Okay.

I got a polite no. So how do you say that? But he blocked me on Twitter. No smiley face? Is that how the polite no? Thanks, but I'll pass or something like that. Okay, that's a polite no. Yeah.

Why did he block you on Twitter? I know. I think he's got such a hate on for Humble and Fred for some reason. He's lumped me in. I think I got lumped in. You got lumped in the Humble and Fred crowd? Yeah, I'm in this Humble and Fred bucket. It doesn't matter that I'm a different person.

I've never worked with them. They're friends and I help them with the podcast. But I got lumped in this anti-Dean. And I don't even, like I've never met Dean. I just talked to a lot of people who talk about dean and right yeah i know i know humble and fred and him to have a i know that i think it's i think the hate on is with howard to be honest right i think fred might have got smeared with a bit of that because i know fred was dean had fred on the dean blundell show after fred was fired from mix 99.9 right like that he reached out and had Fred on the Dean Blundell show after Fred was fired from Mix 99.9.

Right. Like that, he reached out and had him on the show. Did he? Dean would never have done that for Howard. There's a serious hate on there. Yeah, I don't know what's going on. Why are these radio people hating each other? The male egos in this business are just out of control.

They're all just sort of out of control. Dean hates Mad Dog. Dean hates Humble Howard. Does Dean hate Roger Ashby? I'm not sure if he has a hate on for Roger. He probably doesn't even know who he is. I don't know. I think that a lot of it, too, is very showy, right?

I think it's to get a rise out of people like, you know, he used to pick on me all the time. I think that's his shtick. And it gets under people's skin. And that's what he's trying to do, though. So, you know, that's what he was trying to do on The Edge. And it's called The Edge for a reason. You know, I mean, not anymore. It's called The Edge because they play a lot of lumineers.

Well, now they do, but it used to be, it used to be the edge. Oh, that was my station for forever. Mine too. When I got that job, that was another thing.

That was my college station. That was my dream job. So I, I now had gone from not wanting to do that other show I was on before and, and wanting to do this new edge thing, which lasted four months. I was in love with Mae Potts as a young man. I loved Mae Potts. I know.

And I had her on the show and it was sort of weird to have her. I remember calling Humble and Fred all the time from college, like, hey, we're like so excited. So I was like, oh my God, I'm here. Like, this is my dream job. So I finally get my dream job and then get fired. Were you, uh, well, we're going to get that. I have you for an hour, so I'm going to use every minute of it. But were you a big Martin streak? Oh, Martin. Loved him.

Loved him. Today in the club, 102.1. The chemicals brother. The edge. You know when he would talk like through a post? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And the post would be like nine minutes long.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. A post is where they don't. Yeah, yeah, no. There's no. I'm trying to tell the audience. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Tell the actual. Does anyone in this audience not know about the hit the post? I don't know where they don't, there's no, I'm trying to tell the audience. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Until the actual.

Does anyone in this audience not know about the hit the post? I don't know. I think it's mainstream. Is it hitting the post? Yeah, I think so. How do they, really? I just think it is. I don't think so.

Okay. Okay. Maybe it is. How about top of the hour? Coming up at the top of the hour. Is anyone saying that anymore? Anyway, so he would talk, he was so great at, you know, talking right up until the song started.

It was amazing. He would just, I was just always amazed by him. Anyway, so he was so great at talking right up until the song started. It was amazing. I was just always amazed by him. Chris Shepard, I was just amazed by those guys when I was little. I'd like to talk to Chris Shepard because he's apparently like some kind of a scientist. I don't know what he is. Some kind of a professor of some, you know what I mean? I have no idea what he's doing. I have no idea.

It's like crazy. It's a crazy thing? Okay, so you grew up like I did enjoying 102.1. And that is like, I loved, I just watched yesterday, the, the,

the sanctioned Kurt Cobain document. I want to see that so bad. It's a little long to be honest, but there's some footage there. Like there's footage I've never seen before. Like home video of him as a kid and him with Francis and Courtney at home and stuff like shit. I've never seen. Oh wow.

I can't wait to watch it. The soundtracks. Yeah. I'll send you a link actually oh yeah it's amazing oh i want to see it i remember where i was but those are my band like yeah yeah look let's no i can't talk i was actually a courtney love and my boyfriend was kurt cobain the dead court kurt cobain for halloween when you're in college very good you want to you want to sing All Apologies with me? Sure. Just a little bit. What else could it be? All apologies. You're a good singer. Yeah, thanks.

I bailed on that just so people can enjoy it. Yeah, sure. Okay, so Dean Blundell's show. When Blind Derek comes back from jury duty. Yeah. I was on jury duty, but that's a different story. Not this kind of jury duty. No, a different jury duty. I was on jury duty, but that's... Not this kind of jury duty. No, different jury duty. And the infamous conversation is happening.

You're in the room, so that conversation is blind Derek talking to you and Dean, right? Yeah. And I know there's some jokes about the fact that the guy who was found guilty was homosexual. Yeah.

So while... I guess my question is, because, you know, again, hindsight being 20-20, while this conversation is taking place, do you have any internal dialogue of yourself that I think we might be crossing a line here? You know, I didn't really, because I was kind of going by the fact that

we had had a conversation with Derek to ask if we were able to speak about this. And he said, after it's over. So we just assumed we were able to speak about this. And he said, after it's over. So we just assumed we were able to talk about anything. And I didn't feel when they were speaking that anybody was being homophobic. I mean, I think we were being stereotypical. I don't think we were being homophobic though, per se.

Like, I think I said something like, you know, if he goes to jail, it's like getting a wristband in an all-inclusive resort, you know, like you can drink for free, like that kind of thing. But that's not, that's stereotyping and not being, and I'm the last, it's just ridiculous that I was fired for those reasons because I don't even have a straight friend, I don't think. You know what I mean?

So anyways, while it's going on, I'm thinking it's kind of edgy because I'm still getting, and I'm also still getting used to being a different kind of person on the air. So I'm kind of like, oh, you know, a little bit off about a couple of things that were said that I thought like when they got into like anal stuff and whatever. There might've been, there might've been an insinuation and I don't have the transcript in front

of me or anything. I just heard it on a replay after it was all happening, the controversy. But maybe there is a suggestion that because he's gay, he will enjoy being anally raped. Am I off base here? Like it wasn't that he would enjoy male on male sex. It was that it was forced sex.

Right. That was it. Yeah. I'm sure that was probably, probably said. Um, and I, again,

it's called the edge for a reason. And I, I, I don't know. I guess you have to be careful about how you word things these days, of course. But I think the major thing with the lawsuit and all that stuff was because it was interfering with the case was why we got in the most trouble because

lawyers were brought in. Okay. That's a good question. So yeah, it's the bulk of this trouble because he was speaking out of school, if you will, as about. Yes.

And it would affect the sentencing because the guy had been sentenced. And it would suggest there might have been a bias against him by the jury. Right. Right. And so more of that, and even though you could argue that some of the comments were homophobic in nature,

even though, like you said, you don't have a straight friend or whatever, but the comments can still be homophobic even if you're not homophobic, like for the laugh. I guess so. I mean, you know, in normal conversations with my gay friends,

I would say worse than that. Sure, sure. But there is a friends, I would say worse than that. Like, you know, but there is a platform and there's a, I get all that as well. So were you, uh, shocked at the controversy that ensued over this? Right.

Yeah. So what happens is the Toronto Star reporter writes an article about it. And then that's how we got in trouble. Because after that show, we did, after we did that show, our bosses were actually like, that was hilarious.

Nothing was brought up to us that anything was remotely wrong. Because he's probably said far worse than that a hundred times. Exactly. No one mentioned it to us at all. So it was very bizarre when we got suspended. So that's what happened. We got suspended. Okay.

So you get suspended. And at this point, you're still getting paid. You're just not allowed on the radio. Is that what suspended means? Yeah. They're like, you know, you're being suspended. We can't speak to you. Yeah. We can't speak to you're still getting paid. You're just not allowed on the radio. Is that what suspending is? Yeah, they're like, you're being suspended. We can't speak to you until the new year. Have a nice Christmas.

Because I think this was like first week of December or something like that. So we were suspended. So I had figured, okay, we'll be back in January. That's what I had thought. I thought, well, we'll just wait till... Because I'm like, they're not going to pull a 14-year show off the air.

Sure. Because, I mean, these books, what matters is revenue, right? My understanding is that in that key demographic, Dean Blundell was extremely popular. Oh, huge. Therefore, he made revenue for the station. Exactly.

But I think he had a lot of people not liking him. That's for sure. Yeah, that's for sure. Yeah, especially in management. That's a pull. That guy, it's funny how he used to go off on Rob Ford all the time, but they're the only two guys in the city.

I can think of that polarizing. You see Rob Ford and some guy either Rob Ford, the greatest mayor ever, or Rob Ford is the worst mayor ever. There's no middle. Yeah. I love Dean Blundell or I hate Blundell. Yeah,

exactly. I mean, you know, you take him or leave him because that's exactly who he is and how he is. And you know, if you hate him, that's what he wants you to do. I mean, he's only trying to evoke an emotion, I think, by saying the things he does and doing what he does.

And he's just trying to do his job, which was to be controversial and get ratings and get people to listen. So, I mean, there's got to be respect for someone that can do that. And there's got to be respect for someone that has, you know, the kind of following that he has, you know. But so anyways, yeah. So I'm thinking, but there's no way they're taking someone that has, you know, the kind of following that he has, you know? But so anyways, yeah. So I'm thinking, but there's no way they're taking the show off the air. Sure. Right. Because it's doing well and it's been on here forever.

Yeah. And I just got here. God damn it. Four months ago. I've been out of work for like a year and a half. I need to like this gig. Yeah. Right.

I'm a single mom trying to feed my baby. Yeah. So I'm thinking, oh, we're going to be back on in no time. That's much. So how do they tell you? They called us in. I was in, I got called in first. So, you know, Dean was like, well, let me know what happens kind of thing. And it's funny because I

went up to my office. So I'm on the second floor and I get up there and I see the VP, Dave Farrow, in the hallway and he's like, how was your vacation? I'm like, great. You know, he's like, great. You look good. We'll talk. We'll talk right after your meeting upstairs. I hate that. And I'm like, okay. And I'm thinking everything's fine then. So I'm like, oh, well, he just talked to me. So clearly, you know, nothing's going to happen. Then I get pulled up and there's Blair and the lawyer and they're like, so we're not going to continue the show anymore. And here's two weeks pay and give me your phone and your card. And I'm like, what? I go, what did I do wrong? They said nothing.

We're just deciding to go in a different direction, which is what they say to everybody. Every time you've been fired is going in a different direction. I've been fired three times. That's exactly what was told to me each time. So yeah, so I remember getting downstairs and I called Dean and I said I was just fired. And he was like, I'm totally getting fired.

So when I was fired, he knew he was getting fired. So interesting. Yeah it sucks that you only had the four months there. I know. Give you dick severance because the only you know four months I guess two weeks I guess. Yeah. I fought that. I got a bit more than that. Meanwhile Dean I think

he would be I don't know how it works like is it you're not a salary. Are you on contract or salary? He was on contract. I wasn't salary. Because he had his own shtick going on. I'm sure he did very well. I'm sure they had to pay him off. I've heard. He did very well.

And now I have no idea what's going on there with the ratings. I have no idea. But it's unfortunate because we were in the process of having all these consultants and we had all these meetings and we were going to start launching this whole new Dean Blundell show in January, which was going to be very different. And so it's too bad that they put all this effort in and we put all this extra work in and then it never came to fruition.

But what are you going to do? That's our idea. So any regrets in hindsight going to Dean Blundell? No, I mean, I couldn't have done anything differently. Like, you know, that's kind of like baby with the bathwater kind of situation, I think. So no, because I learned a lot there too. And I learned, you know, how to speak to men. And I learned how to be raunchier.

Sorry, didn't mean to trample you there. But is that good for the resume or bad for the resume now that you have the Dean Blundell show on it? I don't think it matters so much, really. I mean, you know, who makes a resume anyway anymore? That's a good point. No, that's a freaking good point. But I think that it showed me in a different light because, you know, even I was up for a job

and I was talking back and forth with a rock station. So now I have different options. I can go to rock. I can go to AC. I can, you know, because I can do all those different formats. So I don't think it, I don't think it affected me. I mean, maybe it has cause I haven't worked since, but what do I know? But no, but it was a good experience to be able to, uh, be more myself on the air, talk to a male audience, uh, be able to watch Dean do his thing. I learned a lot from him. Um, so yeah, it was, it was, it was good.

I wouldn't change a thing about that Okay great, that's great now you mentioned you haven't worked since so does that include non-radio stuff? Do you need to work in radio or are you open to career changes? I'm open to a bunch of different stuff although my love and my main passion is radio

but these days it's just such a different game altogether and I'm running out of stations to work on, quite frankly. None of my friends can listen to any kind of station now in the car. They're like, I'm running out. Because every time I get fired from a station, I can't listen to it anymore. Were you fired by Astral or Bell? Astral.

Oh, too bad. Because then you could say you were fired by Rogers, Bell, and Chorus. Right. Well, I hope to be fired by Bell soon. Oh, right. Yeah. I hope to be hired by Bell and then fired. That's right. That's the goal. Well, I hope to be fired by Bell soon. Oh, right. Yeah. I hope to be hired by Bell and then fired. That's right.

That's the goal. Which would be good. So have you talked to Dean since? Are you friendly with Dean? Because when Jason was fired, he never heard from Dean again. When Todd was fired, he never heard from Dean. They never spoke again. I went to his house right when we got fired, like that night.

And we drank like a couple of wells of wine and talked and whatever. But yeah, I mean, I just saw him at the Jay's home opener. And once in a while, I'll go, hey, what's up? right when we got fired like that night and we drank like a couple of wells of wine and talked and whatever but yeah I mean I just saw him at the Jays home opener and once in a while I'll go hey what's up and you know and at the beginning

we're kind of talking about maybe doing something together if it ever came up that's my question like he's got a new gig right why aren't you the chick

on that show because it's dudes talking about sports but there's a woman I believe it's like a guy named George and there's a woman

whose name eludes me right now. Yeah, but it's all sports oriented. She knows a lot about sports. Okay, but Barb DiGiulio did a show forever on that station and she knows nothing. She knows nothing about sports. Well, I'm not sure. You'll have to ask him.

But I mean, you know. And you could argue Dean's sports knowledge is a little iffy itself. Yeah, maybe it's getting better though because now that he's got to do a sports show every day. I hope so. Yeah. iffy itself. Yeah, maybe it's getting better though because now that he's got to do a sports show every day.

I hope so. Yeah. So what is next for Billy? Just to find another radio gig? Would you leave the city? Yeah. I mean, you know, I would love to find another radio gig.

That'd be great because I think that I have some good years left in me, if you can say that. But also I'm taking my real estate license. Oh, cool. Okay, so you are open to a career. Yeah, yeah. And I started a little communications company on the side.

And, you know, I've got a couple things on the go in regards to podcasts, things like that. But, yeah, I'm just trying to do a little bit of everything because, you know, radio has changed so much. You can't just really do one thing anymore. You need to kind of do 19 different jobs in order for it to make one salary, right? You know, it sounds like the, I'm going to borrow a line that Aaron Davis told me, but it's like robbing a bank after the money's all gone.

Right. Like radio is a completely different beast now than it even was 10 years ago. Yeah. I mean, it's all about social media. It's nothing really to do

with anything else. So, okay, we spoke about Humble and Fred earlier. They got a podcast and they give it to Bell

and it airs on like CFRB, CFRB, CFRB, News Talk 1010 at midnight. Yeah. So would you be open to ideas like that? Yeah, for sure.

I mean, I have some really good concepts about doing that. It's just a matter of me just getting them done. Cause right now I'm doing the single mom thing and I have a five year old and it's, it's, you know, a lot of time is spent doing that.

Oh yeah. And I wanted to take some time and spend with her because I was working whenever. But I will be doing things like that as well. And the podcast situation is very exciting as well, as you know, and you never know what's going to happen with that. But you have to be able to change in this business, right? Because it's changing so rapidly. So you have to kind of stay on top of things like Twitter.

I don't even have Instagram yet. I should get that. That's what I hear. Kids love Instagram. My daughter, my 10-year-old, almost 11-year-old daughter, actually her and her circle, that's their thing is Instagram. Yeah. So you kind of have to keep...

They're not on Facebook. Yeah. They don't really use Twitter. Oh, really? They're not on Facebook? No. They don't seem to want to be there. Oh.

So that's past day now? I have to go home and erase my Facebook? I think it's for like you mentioned the soccer mom thing. I think it's because the parents took it over. It's all pictures of your kids, yeah. And I think the kids are like, it's not cool. I think they prefer Instagram and things like that. Yeah, right.

Yeah, something cooler. I got to get cool. Yeah, I can't help you with that one. Well, thanks. So, great. No, and any regrets doing Toronto Mike's here, episode 121? No, this has been great. It's been nice to finally meet you.

Absolutely. And maybe we'll meet again down the road and cover all those topics you mentioned were for another show. Those were the good topics. That'll be the other show. Now that we've gone through all my firings, we can get to real life. Which firing hurt the most?

Was it the one from Virgin? Yeah, for sure. Cause you were, that was the brand name that you got. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

If, if Mad Dog were here right now, would you kick him in the nuts? Well, now that I've heard that, I don't know. I'll have to think about that because I did not know about that. I'm here to share. You know what? The past is the past.

Business is business. Whatever. Right after that episode, 92, I sent you an email. I don't know if you ever got it because it was from this communications company you mentioned. Yeah. Online, I found that you had an email. And I sent it and I said, I just talked to Mad Dog. Here's what, like I found that you had an email and I sent it and I said,

I just talked to Mad Dog. Here's what he said. Would you like to come in and like respond? And I never heard back. I don't think I got that because I definitely didn't know

that he had said that. Now I'm not so hurt because at least Dean was nice enough when he said no. You just blew me off. I'm sure I would have replied because that

seems like something I'd listen to and want to reply to. No, it's been a pleasure meeting you. Yeah, it's been nice meeting you too. And that brings us

to the end of our 121st show. You can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike and Billy is at Billy Toronto. See you all next week. Thank you.