Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Blind Derek: Toronto Mike'd #166

Episode Date: April 7, 2016

Mike chats with radio veteran Blind Derek Welsman about his years at 102.1 the Edge producing the Dean Blundell Show, the jury incident, and landing on his feet at Booom and The Move.

Welcome to episode 166 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. I'm Mike from TorontoMic.com and joining me this week is the radio veteran, veteran,, sure. Derek Welsman, also known as Blind Derek. I've seen a lot of things. Is that a politically incorrect term for you, Blind Derek? You know, it's funny because up until my second go-around to Chorus, I was always known as Derek the Blind Movie Reviewer. Right.

And then the only reason that Blind Derek came around is because they gave me that Twitter handle when I started on with the Dean Blundell show. Why did you lose that Twitter handle? Because, you know, when I left the show, I had another account. I had the one that I have now, the Derek at Derek Welsman one. And suddenly it was just dropping off. I had like 17,600 followers or whatever. And then I realized after I left the show,

no one really cared anything about what I was talking about anymore. And I thought, let's just ditch this. So as soon as I, you know, when you stop the account and it gives you 20 days to decide if you want to start up again. So I let that time elapse. And some Russian guy picked up the... That sucks. Yeah.

I guess he saw that. I don't know why they do that, but I guess he... I don't know why. I guess there's... I'm surprised you let it lapse. Like, it just seems like... Even if you're not going to use it,

you want to have it in your control. So some guy is not just sending Viagra ads or whatever. Yeah, and I think that's what he's doing, actually. But no, you know, it just it was I don't even do Twitter very much anymore now anyways. It was very much just because of the show that I had that account. And I think people were just adding me because I was part of the show. And then once that was over with and I wasn't really tweeting out very much anymore, I think I just said,

it was dropping steadily, like incrementally. I think I was down like a thousand by the time I, when I let that go. I am still shocked. I'm shocked that the Russians now have control at Blind Eric. Yep, yep. I am the Ukraine.

Am I allowed to, when I was thinking Derek's coming over, I wasn't thinking Derek Welsman's coming over. My brain was saying, hey, Blind Derek is coming over. You're cool with that? Like being called Blind Derek? That's fine. Because I kind of am.

So that's fine. Well, that's... Maybe we'll start... Well, first of all, when I mentioned you're coming on, a Peter Robinson on Twitter said, he'll always be the voice of Eastview to me. Yes, Pete. So you were the voice of Eastview.

I did announcements. Is that where Edna Garrett, she was, is that the same Eastview? Is that where the Facts of Life girls were rooming? Was that Eastview? I think that was Eastland or something like that. That was my high school in Barrie. So Edna Garrett wasn't there.

Yeah, Tootie was there and Blair. Do you remember Tootie's real name? No. Dorothy. Oh, really? Yeah, it was in an episode. I watched that show. I loved that show.

I loved Blair Warner and Joe. Joe was the hottest one of them all. They were like the Betty and Veronica. Were you a Joe or a Blair? I went back and forth because Blair, I thought, was very pretty. Joe was really cool. I liked Joe because she because Blair, I thought, was very pretty. Joe was really cool. I like Joe because she was hot and she could probably fix your car. That's true, but can she tune up my bike?

That's what I want to know. I bet you she could. The guy who played the dad, Joe's dad, he was in The Godfather. He just passed away. He was green, right? Mo Green? Oh, really? Yeah, that's the same actor.

Abe? No, no, no. Abe passed away, too. Finally. Like that's the same actor. Abe? No, no, no. Abe passed away too. Finally. He was 96 or something. Yeah. He had a good run considering they had him dead in the seventies or something. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. All right. So how blind are you? I am, well, I'd say I'm pretty blind. I'm, I have 10% vision approximately. I was born with it. My optic nerve didn't form properly in the womb. So I've had it all my life. And what happens is my eyes, they shake so much involuntarily that they can't focus on anything.

And over time, unfortunately, this was explained to me not too long ago, that a lot of the vision cells in my brain are actually atrophying because they're not being used. Right. So, because I asked, I said, if there was a, you know, will there come a time when stem cells can fix what ails me? And they said, yes. But he said, but it's not just going to be your eyes that have to be regenerated. It's going to have to be the lower part of the back of your head in their brain. And I thought, I don't know. Let's do one eye at a time then, if that's the case.

Okay. So for those of us, so first of all, born this way, so it wasn't your fault. It's not like he just stared at the sun one day. No, no. This is not Derek's fault. He was born this way. Yeah. 10%. I'm trying to, so you arrived on your own today like you got from your home yes like the east end to this like southwest part of Toronto which you probably rarely get to you know it's a really interesting it felt

like I was on a commuter train being on line to going all the way from Coxwell station to Islington and I love your crazy accents over here oh that's just the drunken Lakeshore crew. Oh, that's what it is. Okay. All right. It's not an accident at all. Okay.

Yeah, go ahead. I just, you know, in terms of getting, you sent me directions to get here. And what I do in these situations is I study. I go on Google and I study. I study how to get here. I study where I need to go once I get off the bus and all that kind of stuff. And it was easy. The most awkward part was when I was coming down your street, going up to houses to get the numbers. Oh, right. Yeah, I had to go up and say, oh, I'm at 106.

It's these things we don't consider. No. Us sighted people, we take it for granted. Yeah. So I got to 106 and then I just counted. You're not supposed to reveal the exact location. That's not where you live. You live far away from there.

Far away from there. But anyways, I just started counting houses down to where you are. And that's how I... Those are those little cheats that you have to do in my world. I'm still impressed because when Kelly Cotrera was on this show, so she is a friend of yours?

Yes. Is that fair to say? Yep. I like to consider her a friend of mine as well. I quite like Kelly. So Kelly comes over. She said she was going to come in with you. This is how our Twitter DMs and email convos went. Right. So I thought, oh, she's going to bring Derek.

I was thinking she's going to bring Derek because Derek's blind. This is good. And then she came without you, and then you had to come here on your own. Well, I finally had a week off. I haven't had a week off since August. So I think originally Kelly and I were going to try and come on a Saturday or a Sunday. But when you have a family and stuff, I can't just leave for a space of time. You know how it is. You've got way more kids than I do.

How many kids do you have? Just two. That's not bad. But one woman, right? What? Like there's one woman that produced your two children. But one woman, right? What?

Like there's one woman that produced your two children. Yes. So I guess what I'm saying is since world statistics on children always goes how many children per woman, that's how statistics work. So I guess what I'm saying is I have four children divided. Two women had two each. Okay. So we're actually theoretically in the's statistics, we're tied. I somehow feel like I need to catch up with you. Well, you'll need to introduce a second woman.

Okay. So you'll have to talk to the first woman about how to arrange that. Nah, nah, it's too much hassle. How old are your kids? Eight and five. And these are boys, girls? Yeah, two boys. Ian.

Oh, nice. Ian, I used to feature on the show, on Dean's show all the time. He was my little badass son. And he used to do songs and stuff like that. But yeah, he's a great kid. And Owen's a great kid too, the youngest. Ian is all into music. He can play.

He can write music now. Oh, nice. Yeah, he's amazing. And these are all fully sighted children. They are fully sighted, yeah. I think if this was hereditary, I think it came from my mom's side of the family. And since these things tend to go through the female,

apparently, if it's genetic, I think they're okay. Okay, last question on my visual imparity and then we'll move on. Right now, so what do you see when you look at me? Do you just see that there's a person there or can you say there's a handsome person there? Like how clear is it? I just assume everyone's handsome or gorgeous or whatever.

But no, I can see you. I can see you moving your hand around when you were talking to me just then. But your face is, I can see where your eyes are, but there's no detail. You didn't see, like you can see my hands moving, but you couldn't see my middle finger. No, no. People do that to me all the time. Now I just assume everyone's giving me the finger and it just makes it hurt less. Back to Kelly Kutcher. I have a question for you. So, Kelly has been like, it's not so quiet, I don't think, but she's been sort of filling in the,

the Bill Carroll spot on 640. So, Bill Carroll leaves for Ottawa. Yeah. And Kelly, I mean, it hasn't just been Kelly, but primarily Kelly, I believe, has been doing this pretty awesome slot on 640. I know she wants that spot, and I can tell you I'm a little biased, but I believe she deserves this spot.

Have you heard anything from Kelly? Is she going to get that permanent role? I don't think she knows. I really don't. I think she wants it, but this is just me and this is my speculation on this, but she'll take it.

I think the company needs to commit to her a little bit more because she's a very talented person and there's a lot of avenues that she can go. This one's fun, but it's exhausting. It's exhausting to fill talk radio for four hours or whatever she does. Well, I would guess, and this is all speculation,

but I would guess because she's doing the fill-in, she probably is receiving some kind of like an hourly rate or something. Like this isn't some contract she's on. She's obviously not a permanent member. She's filling in. So I guess what you're saying is to show her love is she needs a fair uh contract so she's not on this like week to week nonsense like how do you how do you budget for the future and i keep hearing all these weird rumors about 640 going all traffic and stuff so i hope this isn't just they're just

holding her over until they do something silly wouldn Wouldn't that be suicide considering the Heritage 680 station that's been there since my wonderful Top 40 CFTR bit the dust back in, I would say, the 90s, early 90s? I think they should go back to the Hog. Yeah, I remember the Hog. I used to work the C&E for three years and I remember the Hog was always at the X. Oh yeah, that

was the best. I remember when I was at Ryerson we had to do these monitors for radio stations and the hog had just signed on. And I wasn't sure if they'd go between songs, and you'd just hear between songs. I thought, do I write that as a station ID? I guess I do. No, I totally remember

the hog. Are you kidding me? Did Tarzan Dan come to the... Was he on the hog, or was that another iteration of 640? I don't think so. I'm not sure. You know what? I don't know. I remember some of the jocks that were on there. I remember the big controversy about that one of the traffic people said roadkill. Do you remember that?

No, tell me. There was something where they just completely denied it. But I think it really happened. But this is the days before social media and SoundCloud and stuff like that. But this is the days before social media and SoundCloud and stuff like that. But during a traffic report early on, somebody referred to a fatality on the roads as a roadkill. Oh, that's insensitive. Yeah.

Well, I think Carbecue is funny. Carbecue, like a car fire, that's a funny thing to say. As long as no one died in the car fire. Exactly. But roadkill, and I thought, I don't know if they drummed that one up for a little bit of publicity or if that was true. But I just thought, yeah. Yeah, I don't know if they drummed that one up for a little bit of publicity or if that was true, but I just thought, yeah. Yeah, that's not cool. Since you're just a general observer of all media in Toronto, did you hear that Jennifer Valentine is no longer on Breakfast Television? I saw that on your site, and I didn't follow up.

Was it an April Fool's joke? No, it was real. So initially, actually actually somebody put i have an open mic okay like once a week and anyone puts anything and somebody put in there hey mike did you did you see the facebook joke is that isn't that a mean april fool's day joke considering rod and they're rightly so that rogers media like let go like 200 plus people in 2016 and i and i went to the facebook and the way i read it is the way I read everything the morning of April 1st which is I read it

so much like just going in not believing it and I read it and it just said oh we you know this long

she's been there forever like she's no longer we eliminated her spot and now we need no and we couldn't find anything else that fit to do fit her

her talent her skill set or whatever they said when I read this the tone and everything to me is like, that's just a terrible April Fool's Day joke. Yeah. And I was thinking,

and so I wrote something on the open mic, just a comment like, yeah, that's tasteless. Like it just seemed tasteless because so many people are worried about their livelihoods and losing their jobs. Like it's tasteless. And then I think I was tweeting, I tweeted something like,

well, that's a bad April Fool's Day joke. And then a couple of people are like, I don't think it's a joke. And then I started reading it with different tones in my head. Like I read it differently. Right. And then I went and did a little corroboration,

as they say. Right. And realized pretty quickly that, nah, she was canned. She was fired. Does that sound good when you say fired? That noise that they wouldn't pick up on these wonderful mics

tells me that we are going to start recording in 10 minutes. Oh. So you're ahead of schedule. All right. Excellent. I didn't think I was going to get here so fast, but your directions were excellent. Yeah, I'm sorry.

Sometimes I'm too efficient. So Jennifer Valentine, who has been there at the company anyway since the late 80s. I think she's been on breakfast television since 92. Long time, by the way. Yeah. She's gone. And I don't know.

What do you think? Do you have an opinion on this important burning topic in Toronto media? I think. I mean, it's part of a bigger picture of a lot of people who are very talented who are probably making big salaries getting ditched by these big companies

like Rogers 3.0 or whatever that program's called. Did you put that... I don't know if it was you or if it was another website that put up their press release when they announced they were going to let go of the 200 people.

And they said they... It actually said at one point that we have to... Something about lower our headcount or something like that. I did read the press release. I don't know if I posted it. Okay. Anyways, I just thought, how would a brutal thing to say?

What a terrible example of how they just don't care about what people can offer them. It's just about, you know what? We have our shareholders, blah, blah, blah, profit margins, blah, blah, blah. Who can we get rid of? I noticed even in the Jennifer Valentine press release, which I have an interesting tidbit about this in a minute, but in that press release, I even noticed the way they spin every departure is to better serve you. Have you noticed that new thing? And when you break that down for a second, in what way is getting rid of the live eye going to serve me better? Like, you've already got the news and traffic and weather up the Wahoo.

Like, I guess you're going to do more of that because it's cheaper than, like, the crew and the people and the Jennifer Valentines who go on location and do these live eyes. I don't even watch breakfast television. I don't watch any TV in the morning. But my mom watches BT and I hear a little bit from her, you know, whenever they change a host, like, oh, this new Dean is on or whatever. Yeah. But I got to say,

I don't have any skin in this game. I don't watch it, but I don't see any possibility that removing the live eye completely, which sounds like

a neat little, fun little thing in the community or whatever, serves the viewer better. And maybe this is all stuff because it was born out of the previous regimes,

what they thought that the morning show should be compared to what Rogers thinks. And you know what I mean? Like it's, I think that stuff is invaluable that you feel like you're not just watching a generic broadcast from Could Be Anywhere. Like having those live-by things. I think that's so key.

What is it, like a Brampton store's grand opening at some flea market in Brampton and she'll be there, right? That's what we're talking about. She'll be live on location. And she was good at, from what I, I didn't watch her a lot,

but when I did watch, she was good at handling people and finding the right people to interview. And there's interesting people out there that just do, you know, quote unquote mundane things. And that's the joy of that stuff sometimes. That makes it folksy.

And I think folksy is good. Let me ask you this as a radio guy. So, and we're going to dive into your NuCap experience. Of course, we already know you worked for a chorus station. We're going to dive into that. Does any part of your brain, when we talk about like Rogers Media, do you ever have this part of your brain that says,

Derek, don't say anything negative about Rogers Media because they're like one third of my potential job opportunities. Like, is that at all in your head? No, because I don't think I'll ever work there because this sounds sort of, I don't know if this sounds pigheaded or whatever, but I don't think that based on what I do for a living, I don't think they can afford me. It's not pigheaded. That's a big problem. I'm not in the industry, but I talk to a lot of people in the industry. And a big problem now,

and I think this is the Jennifer Valentine problem, if she has been there since the late 80s, even with incremental raises every year, just do the math. You're now making, I'm going to say, X. Let's make it a nice, let's make it a round number because we're not bright people.

Let's make it a nice even 100,000. Let's just make it up. So if she's making 100,000 and Rogers knows they can get somebody to do the i know they eliminate the position but in theory they could replace her for somebody like a half her age who's going to do it for i'm going to make up this number as well yeah for 40 000 a year okay uh for rogers they're all everyone's a number uh these are you mentioned the shareholders and all this so basically they say okay we can sever this person

who's now making a hundred and then this will cost us X to sever her fairly because of course you have to sever her because you're Rogers and by the way don't let me forget

the tidbit about this I'm going to tell you don't let me forget and then pick it up and to me this is happening a lot whether it be and I'm

again speculation whether it be a Barb DiGiulio on the Fan 590 or whether it be a Jennifer Valentine at speculation whether it be a barb de julio on the fan 590 or whether it be a jennifer valentine at some point you're making too much money and they don't want to they no longer want to pay what we used to regard as like honest adult wages to live in this expensive city of toronto so that you can own a home in the beaches is that where you're living upper beaches upper beaches he's clarifying There's a reason. You know why

I'm here and not the beaches? I don't have blind Eric money. Oh, please. I have a double income. Trust me. It's not just because of my income. Yeah. You know, the one thing that I will say is that, and this is coming from someone I know who is currently in the industry, who's looking to get out of the industry and do the same thing they do right now in the industry. They're realizing when they look at the listings and in terms of what they're qualified for, that out of broadcasting, they can make, like their starting salary in other industries is higher than their salary after being there for 15 years. Right. And I'm surprised, to be honest with you. And I think the love of the medium keeps people there.

And it's kind of an abusive relationship a little bit. Yeah. But I honestly predict there's going to be a brain drain. And I mean, maybe it's already happening. But I mean, people that are going to voluntarily start getting out of the industry and getting other jobs. Because why be treated this way? Why always work being afraid that, that your job's going to, going to be gone for no particular reason.

Like, it's just ridiculous. I mean, and maybe this goes on in other, in other industries as well, but it just seems so rampant in ours. And it, and it's, in ours. And it's frustrating. Because we do things for passion. And the thing that kills me is that back when I first started at Chorus in 2002, it was a fresh company. And it was well-armed. They had people for everything.

And the station was doing so well. I mean, people still grumbled about salaries and stuff like that. But the station was doing so well. I mean, people still grumbled about salaries and stuff like that, but the station was running on all cylinders. The Edge was still relatively edgy. Q was doing much better at that time. But I don't understand how they can look back on those days as being glory days and then go, I know what we should do. Let's cut everybody. Let's usher in the new glory day. And it doesn't make any sense to me. I don't understand it.

It's really a damn shame. I can't imagine being in the industry like you are and having to see it when it's kind of tough to watch it from where I'm sitting, which is just media consumer Mike. But the thing is that you're picking, which is just media consumer Mike, you know? But the thing is that you're picking up on it as media consumer Mike, which I think is... Well, media consumer Mike is not quite the average Joe, only because I've had 140... I've had dozens and dozens of people in the industry come sit where you're sitting now and have a heart-to-heart.

And sometimes the best part of the convo is after i stop recording right and i so i mean and that stuff stays you know what happens in mike's basement stays in my basement but a lot of that it's just i'm so ultra aware and then one of the on the record stories speaking of kelly katura because this is on the record she put it on the podcast right you know back at edge 102 yeah she had a a highly rated midday show and i think she said she had a 14 or something and apparently this is excellent in your books when you get a 14 and she was making x and again for fun we'll say let's make it like 35 000 a year or something with speculation there but she's making like 35 000

a year and she's got a 14 and she feels she deserves more and she says to her bosses i should have more and her bosses at edge 102 say basically we don't think it's you we think it's the station and the time slot and she kelly makes a decision to go to another station simply because edge 102 wasn't going to give her any bump. Yep. So this is commonplace. Even when you have successful shows on huge stations in a big market like Toronto, I think the average Joe would be shocked to find out.

And I'm not talking about the Derringers and the Aaron Davises and the Bobcats. That's the 1%. I think the average Joe would be blown away by how small the compensation is for your favorite radio DJ and your favorite CP24 person. I think it would blow their minds. Absolutely. You know, I used to work with Rick Hodge

when he was at News Talk 1010. And he would tell me stories about when the waters ran chum. And I remember growing up, and I loved Chum FM when I was growing up, and I wanted to work there. And I always kind of kept tabs on, you know, I was young and idealistic at the time, but it was airtight. People very rarely left and people very rarely were new there. They had like, you know, Ingrid Schumacher and Roger and Marilyn are the only ones that are left from those days really on air. And the reason was because the waters spent to get returns. That was their thing. They invested in their people.

And even if their margin of return wasn't as high as it could be, the product was still excellent. And that's gone. That's just gone. So, yeah. And we're going to talk because you're at NuCap now, which is, I want to say indie. And you use the word indie a lot lately. But essentially, I think that's now code for you're not Bell, Rogers, Chorus, or CBC. You know what I mean?

No, that's right. So we're going gonna dive into that sure um my little tidbit that i keep reminding myself i'll just spit it out let's get it okay so i wrote this entry on toronto mic.com jennifer valentine fired from live eye on breakfast television yeah okay and i based that not on some inside source but based on a facebook post by breakfast television okay that's this is my top secret source okay so i get an email nicely written email from a pr person i won't name at rogers media okay basically they've seen the entry because it got a lot of traffic because reddit linked to it yeah

and if you google to this moment i believe if you google jennifer valentine you're probably ending up on this page okay so they're ultra aware of it and they don't like my use of the word fired. This is their issue because they, to clarify, ready for this? Yep. Jennifer was offered another position. Oh, right. But she turned it down because she didn't feel it was comparable. So it was all on her so apparently and this is a

pr person right this is not a lawyer yeah but uh so so fired is not true because so so of course i uh work in a different industry uh b2b software land where people get fired all the time and uh a lot of what i've seen firsthand hasn't happened to me, but I have seen it. It's called constructive dismissal. It's all the time. Let's say you take a marketing manager and you say, how would you like to start outbound calling prospects, sort of like a telemarketing type position, right? Yeah.

This is what that job pays and this is what you would be doing and how would you like to do that and basically that is called constructive dismissal you can't go to the cfo and say hey we're not going to fire you because then we have to sever you right we're going to give you a job in the mail room so hey you got a job it's not it's not the same stuff yeah it's not our fault if you decide to leave because i mean you're still working for this terrific company. Yeah. So this is called constructive dismissal, which is just basically firing.

So you've got employment land. You still have to be severed fairly because you basically fired the person by constructive dismissal. So I wrote back the PR person and I just very nicely said, when somebody's offered a job that's not comparable to their current job, isn't that constructive dismissal? That was my question. And I never heard back. So, and I left, and I'm a fair guy. Like if it really wasn't fired, I don't want to put fired out there if somebody quit or whatever.

I still don't know what happened with Gord Martineau, okay? I didn't use the word fired with Gord Martineau because I don't know he was fired. I just know it smells like he was fired. Well, because it was so sudden. Like you look at, I don't know if you listen to News Talk 1010, but you look at Dave Agar. He just retired. He's been there for years and years and years. And whether it was them saying, maybe we should retire you a little earlier,

or maybe it was his decision. They made it sound like it was his decision, and maybe it was. But if nothing else, even if it wasn't his decision, they did it right where they counted down to his last day and they honored him and they had a staff party for him and all that kind of stuff. I mean, that's what we as listeners want. Derek, Rogers Media has an exceptional example of exactly what you're describing. If we just look at Mike Cooper. Mike Cooper, yeah. Yeah. We had a countdown.

Yeah. We had, there was cake. Yep. He got to say goodbye. There was cake. There was cake. He got to say goodbye to his view,

to the listeners. Yep. They made a huge thing out of, and this is another Rogers Media property where they made a huge thing about what this legendary

broadcaster is retiring. Yeah. I guess, you know, maybe they just, maybe they just weigh what the kickback's going to be and they go, you know, we can't just, you know, maybe they just weigh what the kickback's going to be and they go, you know, we can't just cut him because people are going to get angry.

But maybe they felt that... Oh, with Gord? Well, with Mike Cooper they were saying that, you know, we can't just cut him because people are going to be upset. But maybe the Gord Martinos and they didn't have the same opinion of them. It's entirely possible Mike did want to retire, right?

Yeah. Like Mike Cooper, that one, I don't have the same smell to that one. That one could be Mike wanting to spend more time with his wife and thinking it's time, right? Yeah. Because that show was just doing very well. I don't think they would fire Mike Cooper,

but what do I know? Yeah. But Gord Martineau stinks of, you know, you're being cut or your contract's not being renewed or we're cutting you because you're making too much. I don't know what the severance would be of a Gord Martineau. I don't want to think about that. But it just smells like he wasn't in control of his own destiny. Yeah.

I mean, I don't know the situation there, obviously. But I think if anybody was deserving of a send-off, it would be him. Because just think of all the things that he's covered over the last 30 or 40 years. Remember, originally he was called Gorgeous Gord Martin. Was he? Yeah. I know that other than a brief period where he went to Global, like a brief period where he goes to Global and comes back,

he was there since the 70s. Yeah. That's the face of the station since the 70s. If that guy doesn't get your countdown... You know the weather guy on CTV, was it Duvall? Dave Duvall since the 70s. If that guy doesn't get your countdown... You know the weather guy on CTV? Was it Duvall? Dave Duvall, yeah. Yeah.

Like, if that doesn't get the Dave Duvall treatment, what does? Absolutely. Something's rotten in the state of Denmark. Yeah. And when Mark... What's his name from City Everywhere? Oh, Daly. Mark Daly.

Like, I know he died. He died. That's different. That's not even constructive dismissal. No, but it's different. By God. He's the voice. We call him the voice.

But I mean, I would have expected the same kind of looking back on his career the same way. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, anyway. All right. That's a long... That was just my pre-episode ramble with you. Because now I just want to say important things in front of you. You can't see it because you're blind.

Okay, that's fine. But there is Great Lakes beer. Now, will this be a pain in the butt for you to bring to the beaches on the public transit? Oh, no. You're going to drink it because you're not driving, so you can drink. And I'm off again today, so I'll take the streetcar. I'll go all the way back to... Oh, yeah.

That's actually because you get data. So when you're in the subways, you lose your data. That's true. Although I have the... You know how some of the stations have Wi-Fi now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I don't remember which ones in the West End have it. So I just kept trying every one.

But streetcar, you don't have to worry about it. So you get data all the way in the streetcar if you want it. And it's longer, but it's kind of more chill. You just kind of sit there and it takes you there. But yeah, the beer is yours. Thank you. Enjoy it's longer, but it's kind of more chill. You just kind of sit there and it takes you there. But yeah, the beer is yours. Thank you. Enjoy it.

That's from Great Lakes Brewery. I love them. They are great if you are, especially for us Southwestern Toronto folks. I don't know what the equivalent is out in the East, but it's worth the drive

to Great Lakes Brewery. We have the, what's it called? Leftfield? Is it Leftfield Brewery? It's on Greenwood. It's all baseball names. Oh, cool. Yeah. It's big. Actually, they're opening a brewery

right at my intersection, apparently, in the next couple of years. So I won't have to leave ever. Not that you're a pompous ass, but there's some pompous ass in there for you. Also, I must remind everybody listening to this,

I have so many great questions for Blind Ericic i can't wait to dive in all right by the way that intro was like a half an hour i don't think i've ever done that this podcast will be exactly three minutes or three hours and 30 minutes right right yeah yeah just break it up into parts sure so uh patreon.com slash toronto mike that's where awesome people go. Even a dollar a month. That's how low it can start. Dollar US, I must point out. But a dollar a month, you can be a patron.

It's like ownership of this. There's not a lot of this going on out there. How many broadcasting entities have been trying to get the great Blind Eric on their program. Okay. I'm filling a very important void. I got questions for Blind Eric. Only Blind Eric can answer these questions. Where else is this happening? Nowhere else. Right here. Yep. This is it. I want Ron McLean. Yep. And I want Blind Eric. Wow. And to me, they're equals. I love Ron McLean. He came in. I was in broadcast journalism with Keith Pelley. Oh, yeah. I know that name.

Yeah. And he came in, and he was there for an hour. And the only thing I remember is he goes, you have to understand how my mind works. I was driving here, and I saw a truck in front of me that said delivery. And I thought, wouldn't that be great if you had a deli called the Very Deli? You could have Very Deli delivery. And I went, this man is a genius. He has like a gift.

He's never met a pun he didn't like. No. He was amazing, too. No pressure. You're already amazing. He's so well-read. By any chance did you listen to this video? I did.

I listened to the whole thing. That's great. I went, oh, man. I got to quote some books. He was smart. Not that I was surprised by that. but he very well, but very, you know, when I ask him straight out about, for example, Ron, you were a host of Hockey Night in Canada since like 86 or something.

Yeah. Two years ago, you're booted from that prestigious role. They put Strombo in, who I also like. Yep. But nothing was broken with Ron McLean hosting Hockey Night in Canada. He's great. He's great. And he's removed. And I'm like, people suspect

it's because of your treatment of Gary Bettman. Gary wants this partnership of Rodgers. Rodgers, by the way, is going to hate this episode. You know, we're just shitting on Rodgers the whole time. But, you know, you play with fire, you're going to get burned. Rodgers has the hockey and this is a partnership with the NHL. But, you know, you play with fire, you're going to get burned. Rogers has the hockey and this is a partnership

with the NHL and it seems like that means being nicer to Gary Bettman than you would be otherwise. I suppose. And Ron has, he's so ethical,

I suppose, is the term, but he grapples with all these ethics and these different properties. Yes, ethics came up a lot. Yeah. It's a big thing to him

and he reads a lot. So he essentially can't really, he can't live with himself if he's giving a pass to Gary Bettman because of the business deal between the NHL and Rodgers. And this has cost him his role as host of Hockey Night in Canada.

So you believe that? He believes that. He believes that. He believes that. We don't know anything because nothing ever gets written down anymore, right? No. Yeah.

But he believes that to be true. And he's probably right. And that's sad. Yeah, it is. And, you know, you were talking about how Mike Willner was suspended for being critical of the Jays. Of Cito, yeah. And I guess, is this the new normal? Well, that's the other thing, too.

That was, you know, that's never been explicitly stated by Rodgers. And Rodgers didn is this the new normal? Well, that's the other thing too. That's never been explicitly stated by Rogers. And Rogers didn't even tell that to Mike Willner. They just said, go home for a while. And you ask Mike, because Mike's an honorable guy too. He sat there twice. And then you ask him straight out. And he believes, rightly so, because connect the dots,

his comments about Cito led to him being suspended. Wouldn't he, if you were suspended, well, we're going to get to you. Your suspension is epic, okay? You're a Toronto legend when it comes to radio suspensions. But, you know, once bit and twice shy. The second time, are you going to be critical of Blue Jay's manager when you remember what happened the first time?

I don't know. I think it just depends how brave he is, I guess. He knows that how many jobs are there in this country that do what he does? It's true. You know, only one company is covering the game. So he's actually got his dream job right now. He would love Jerry Howard's job,

but Jerry is going to have to retire on his own volition and then Mike would love that job. But otherwise, it's not like the equivalent job is at TSN. No. I always think of people like, I don't know, like Eric Smith, for example. How many jobs are there in this country covering the Raptors? Like how many?

You can count them on one hand, I think. Yeah, for sure. Between the radio and the TV, and then a couple of newspaper reporters, I guess, or something. Yeah, and the ones that do exactly what he does, you really have two options. You can either work for TSN or Sportsnet. You know, I'm always amazed, though, that in the States especially, I mean, it kind of happens here with the Leafs between TSN 1050 and The Fan, is that they have stations that cover the football teams in the States who do their own pregame show

and their own halftime show and their own after show. And they're higher rated than the... Than the rights holder. Yeah, exactly. So I don't know. Maybe it doesn't... We don't have enough resources here

for that to be the case. But I think you could be the critic on, let's just say, TSN 1050 of the Blue Jays. And maybe that's the wrong example because they just don't have a lot of listeners. But you know what I mean? It's time we pick on Bell a little bit. Yeah, sure.

But maybe he's not as handcuffed as he thinks he is. It is a great gig. And actually, just really quickly, do you remember the end of last year when Jerry Howarth was off for a long time? Was he really sick? Because I heard that he had done a really wicked interview. I have not heard anything.

I don't even remember him being off very long. He has... Is this when... Who's the Raptors guy? Who's the Raptors voice? Why? I can't hear it. I watched... I thought Eric Smith was the Raptors voice? Why? I can't hear it. I watched...

I thought Eric Smith was the Raptors voice. No, I mean on the television side. Oh, I don't know. Yeah, because you're blind. You only listen to the radio. Yeah. I only remember Chuck Swirsky. He's got the onions, the onions, baby.

The Devlin, Matt Devlin. Okay. Yeah, so Matt Devlin, I believelin i believe filled in this year there's a whole different deal going on because dan shulman's back to take on some games i believe dan shulman has the home opener on tomorrow good i believe which is yeah he's amazing but you can see why he went to the states right yep uh no brainer if you're in the media and you can go to the states go to the freaking states absolutely but yeah uh lots more opportunity there but devlin was filling in but i thought it was filling in, but I thought it

was, for some reason, I thought it was a pre-scheduled vacation for Jerry, so I don't know. Or he was sick. I thought they kept saying that.

I never heard this. Because they were saying, oh, Jerry is here, but he hasn't got his voice back. And I went, really? That's what you do in sitcoms when an

actress leaves. That's right. Like Chrissy. Chrissy Snow. And they brought their cousin in. Also, on 90210, Brenda went to like

Europe or something to take like dance or something I don't know and they just once in a while she would phone or like Richie

joining the army on happy days or Chuck Richie's older brother the basketball player he went upstairs and then he's still there

didn't the Fonz move into his hey he was in the garage hey sit on it I was if you watch the really old episodes of happy days it's always disconcerting when the

Fonz is not wearing the leather jacket that's right like a blue denim thing or something yeah and that was a that was apparently a sensor thing isn't amazing because this is not actually

being recorded in the 50s despite what the kids today think this is the 70s okay the thing is amazing? Because this is not actually being recorded in the 50s despite what the kids today think. This is the 70s, okay? The thing is, the Happy Days, two millennials, right?

The 70s might as well be the 50s. Honestly. So when you're watching Happy Days as a millennial, not that we'll ever know, but as a millennial watching Happy Days,

why wouldn't you just assume it was actually filmed in the 50s? Like, you know what I mean? Exactly. Exactly. It's always like a fun fact i always i'm full of you would love to be one of my kids the two that actually understand

all of the words i say love my constant fun facts it's like this thing dad's gonna tell us more about how the happy days is a show set in the 50s but filmed in the 70s however did you see the martian yes did you see the fact that the one astronaut had Happy Days episodes on her computer? Yes, I did see that. Yes, yes, yes. So it does have a long shelf life. Henry Winkler is fantastic. Come on.

Arrested Development. Oh my gosh. Amazing. Ron Howard. Like, that's amazing. Yeah. But they're making a new season, right? Yes, they are.

Apparently a fifth season and the movie. I love it. Yeah. I love it. Holy smokes. Let's start the episode. Let's actually burn... Parts of this we're going to burn through. I'm sorry. This is like 40 minutes in. I love it. Yeah. I love it. Holy smokes. Let's start the episode. Let's actually burn through. Parts of this we're going to burn through.

I'm sorry. This is like 40 minutes in. That's okay. This chemistry is off the hook. I do tend to go on. No, it's my fault. I'm going on this time. Commercial producer at Chorus from 2002 to 2007.

Yes. So this is like you're producing commercials. Yeah. I was in Barry before that for 12 years. So you know how I skipped producing commercials. Yeah. I was in Barrie before that for 12 years. So you know how I skipped the Barrie? Yeah, I know. But I have to. Yeah, I know.

It's important. It puts in. And I turned 30, and I'd given up because I wasn't going anywhere. I actually had a general manager when I was there that accidentally, I don't know why, sent me everybody's pay. So accidentally? Yeah, on an Excel sheet. And I found out that I was, after being there for 11 or 12 years, I was the second lowest paid person in the whole world. Is that the worst feeling in the world?

Oh my gosh, it was awful. And I was ready to give up. I just said, enough is enough. I got to do something that's a career because I'm just in purgatory right now. And on my birthday in 2002, the job posting for the job at The Edge came up. And this is right after I pretty much said, forget it. And so I thought, I got to go for this. I'm qualified for this. And Rob Johnson, who was on here a few podcasts ago, who was my labby at Ryerson when I was there at Radio and Television. And he's a beaches guy too. He is. Yep. He actually probably is the one that warmed me up to living in the East End

because we were at Queen and Bathurst when we first got married. So anyway, and so he knew what I was capable of. So it was a perfect storm, and I got the job. Yeah, I was commercial producer, and I was the country mouse in the big city and all that kind of stuff. It was great. It was an amazing time. I refer to Chorus in 2002 as just running on all cylinders. That's the Chorus I'm loyal to still. So let's say, so some of the people, um, so Alan Cross, is he the pro, who's the program director at this time? Uh, I believe the program director was Dave Farrow when I first got there. He's actually,

he, he and Rob hired me, which was great. Um, and then JJ Johnson was a GM and he was a big deal. Um, and then, so it was Dean and Todd and Jason in the morning, and then Kelly and then Brother Bill and then Bookie and Martin and all those other, and Barry was there. Like, it was just cool. It was just a cool time. That's Barry interesting.

That's you, right? Barry interesting. Yes, that was me. That's, I gotta start a sound effect when these things that mean very little to the average Joe, but mean a big deal to me. Because he's been on the show too, Barry Taylor. And I found out, you told me, right?

After? Yeah, I wrote it in the comments. I did not know. Yeah. I had no idea that was you. Yeah. Can you do it again? That's very interesting.

Hey, now. Do I have it? Do I have it still? Still have it, man. Good, good, good. Yeah, that is, I'm trying to think of my history of the station. I believe I'm still listening quite a bit. Because I listened to a lot of 102 when I had a commute.

I used to actually have to do this thing where I drove to work and back. And I used to listen to a lot of radio. And then when my commute, and this has nothing to do with your wonderful history, but when my commute dried up and I stopped commuting, a lot of my radio disappeared. I guess that happens. It does happen. So any commercials like, you didn't do that scream that the Spence Diamond guy,

that wasn't your idea, was it? No, no, no. That's an agency spot. No, that wasn't me. The ones that we really enjoyed doing, and I had a great team to work with, Peter Wildman, who's still there. He's a writer there.

He used to be in a group, a comedy group called The Frantics. Dude, was that the Four on the Floor guys? Yeah. Are you kidding me?

Yeah. Real quick, aside, because that's what I do. They had a bit. I watched this show, Four on the Floor, and I hope I have the right group.

I believe, is this Mark McKinney's brother in this one? No, that's a different one. I hope I'm not confusing those two troops. Okay. That's possible.

Yeah. But they were, someone was stopped at a red light in a car. Okay. And they could see that beside them was a car of people lip syncing to a song on the radio. Okay. So this is back in the day when if you're listening to something in your car, it's on the radio. Yeah. And they're like, oh man, let's try to find out what station they're listening to to hear what they're listening what they're singing along to right so now these guys are flipping the stations to find out what

matches their lip syncing obviously the syncing to the sign so the joke here the punch line here is they're they're lip syncing in in time with the news report okay so and then and then they're doing weather and news and that's what everyone in the car okay and i this is like i don't know early 90s because i was a big kids in the hall guy so i was like anything if cbc put on a comedy troupe it could be like you and three kittens but i was gonna tune in and check it out okay i used to go when i was because i was at ryerson uh from 91 to 94 and i went to all like as many Kids in the Hall tapings as possible. Oh, beautiful.

So that's me in the audience going, woo. I actually did one crowd shot, I think, one crowd shot, and I was there. There's me with my little RTA shirt on. Oh, get out of here. That's amazing. Yeah. It was actually cool because I was in, my friend lives down in Washington, D.C., and there was a time when CBS used to play Kids in the Hall after Letterman was over, and it happened to be that episode. I'm like, I'm watching myself on CBS. That's amazing.S. used to play Kids in the Hall after Letterman was over. And it happened to be that episode. I'm like, I'm watching myself on CBS. That's amazing. Yeah.

That's amazing. So what was the Mark McKinney brother troupe called? What the heck were they called? And are they... They're the ones that did that Blinded by the Light skit. Yeah, yes. Which was like the first skit of their debut. Yeah, which was really funny.

Racked up like a douche. Yeah, that was great. So that's not the frantics. No. What do they call it? Something... So who did Mr. Canoe Head? Or something? Who does Mr. Canoe Head? Mr. Canoe Head that's not the frantics. No. What do they call it? Something. So who did Mr. Canoe Head? Or something.

Who does Mr. Canoe Head? Mr. Canoe Head. That's the frantics. Got it. So I'm pretty sure that my lip syncing, but now your buddy can tell us.

I wonder because early 90s would have been actually later because they were very much mid to late 80s. They're four on the floor. Well, I could be off here. This could be an 80s reference.

It might not because I could be off. That's a great bit though. The bits. And I, so I'm pretty young. I don't know know what i am but i'm like 14 and i'm watching this and i it was so funny that to this day sometimes when i'm stuck in traffic and somebody's singing to something i remember that maybe there's their lip-syncing the weather report or something they're right and saying and you have to see how it was filmed. It's like,

and in other news, whatever, and they're all doing it in real time. That is so funny. Yeah, I know. Oh my gosh. So we have to find out. We need closure.

At some point, maybe in the comments or something, can you talk to this guy and find out that this was a frantic spit? Okay, I will. One of the funniest bits

I've ever seen. It's just funny. We digress. Yes. So anyways, Peter was my, sort of the writer for me and for the Edge spots

because I primarily just did Edge commercials. I did some for Q and 640 as well, but we did like Captain EHR. Do you remember those? They were fun. I don't know.

It's, you know, it's been so long. It probably doesn't matter anymore anyways, but we did a lot of fun stuff. Did you like a lot of that? Is this when Jonathan Sinden was the Inside Edge guy

or is that? Sinden's a Sinden was the Inside Edge guy? Sinden's a good guy because he hooked me up with some TFC tickets and TFC stars. He's a big promoter guy now, isn't he? He was at MLSC for a while. Oh, was he? Yeah, because he actually got me This episode's all about me. He got me a media pass

to a Leafs game at the ACC, which made me feel like I meant something to the world. And he hooked that up. Got a lanyard. Yeah. Nice. And I had my own spot. I had seat 67, which I thought was very appropriate.

Oh, yes. Wow. And I hooked up my laptop, and I'm in the ACC press box. I watched Joey Bowen go to get an ice cream bar. Okay. You call him Joey Bowen? Yeah, now. That's awesome.

We had that moment. Holy mackinac. So this is like my story of John Sinden. So yeah, the Edge was a great place to work at, it sounds like, in 2002 to 2007. It was fun. So why did you leave? I left because my station in life was changing. I was married halfway through my stint there, and we bought a house.

And suddenly I went, I don't think I can live on what I'm making. So there's a guy at Standard, a producer named John Massacar, and he was the shit, as they would say. I call him the godfather of production. And he was leaving. He was going shit, as they would say. I call him the godfather of production. And he was leaving. He was going out west.

And the job opening there at Mix was there. And I thought, I should just go for it and just see. And my wife worked up there, too, which is kind of cool. And so I went for it. And I got the job. And the weird thing was that things were really starting to happen at Chorus. I won like the initial Creative Spark Award and just, there was a lot of fun things going on.

The blind movie reviewer stuff was going in full swing. And I just felt I had momentum and I thought this is probably a good time to see what else is out there. So I did and I moved up. So it wasn't anything that Chorus did or anything like that. It was just, I just felt that, the one thing I learned, let me just say this, and this is why I brought up the Barry part,

is because I was in Barry for 12 years, second lowest paid employee. I went to Chorus. I started a very low salary there too. And then I got a job offer at Jack when Jack started up. And I was going to take it. And then Cora said, oh, no, hey, we'll match what they're offering you. So it started to dawn on me.

I think you got to move around in order to make it. That's not even a radio-specific thing. That's just, yeah, that is absolutely right. If you want to jump, otherwise you're stuck with like 2% raises. If you want to see like a 30% raise, you know, you got to jump around. And the thing is, too, when you come into a new situation, you don't have, not that it's baggage, but, you know, like somebody would, if you got a promotion within your company, they're like, oh, that's Derek. Remember when he used to, you know, light fires? Yeah, you're right.

It's right. It's true. light fires and yeah yeah you're right it's right it's true and then uh you're you're never seen if you would come in cold to that position you would have been seen with more you have more I don't know if respect or expectations or or just it's just a clean you'd have more authority in some respect like yeah instead of yeah you're right instead of the guy who hey that guy was in the mail room I always always wonder like when these stories about the CEO who started in the mail room like there's still some chumps who think he's the mail guy. Yeah. And I think the mistake that a lot of people that are sort of in radio and are bitter are the ones that would do still what I used to do and just going,

it's going to get better. I just got to hang in there. What's scary to jump. That's the biggest reason people stay where they are is comfort. Yeah. And I remember actually Rob and I went for beers after I left and he's just like, I don't know how you do that, man. That's pretty ballsy. But, you know, it's the little bit of uncomfortableness or feeling discomfort in adjusting to a new job. I mean, that's maybe two months and then you're into it and then you're going. And there's something to be said, and I've learned this in my later my later life my later years but there's something to be said about leaving your comfort zone like i now will sometimes like basically create opportunities to leave my comfort zone just it's because you're

right you can become stagnant and yeah well i mean i know we're gonna get around to this eventually but not being out of work it is is can be awesome if you let it be awesome you know what i mean like just in terms of of of suddenly going okay what what am i good at exactly and trying to figure it all out and you know i mean i was lucky enough that i fell back into a radio position but i was pretty prepared to i was really starting to open my mind to being in other industries again and stuff like that. Do you think that's where Rob Johnson is right now? Because he was there 25 years.

Yeah. I think, you know, Rob, anybody, anybody that I know that has been let go from radio. Which is everybody. Pretty much. It will be eventually. Have landed on their feet and gone on to do something that's been way more fulfilling. It's uncanny. Whether they've gone off and started their own pizza place or whatever they've done,

they're much happier because they're in control of their life. They generally make way more money than they did in radio. And sometimes they miss radio, but more often than not, they're like, it was a great part of my life, but I've moved on to something that's even more fulfilling. No, that's great. Well, let's get there. So right now, you're brand manager at News Talk 1010, I guess, like 2007 to 2010. Yeah. I started off as being brand manager for the mix and it just, that wasn't such a great time. For those who don't know, there's three stations in that building, right?

There were, yeah. There were, I mean, sorry. This is, this is when it was standard, right? Yeah, standard. Actually, it was standard for about the last two weeks I started, and then it became Astral. Okay, so it was the three were 1010, Easy Rock, and then it became Boom.

I don't know when. 2010. Yeah, so, okay. And Virgin. No, but it was Mix 99.9. And I know this because I sat in on the Easy Rock Morning Show once and watched Rick Hodge run back and forth from the 1010 studio.

See, I would have been, my studio was right across the hall from you. See, I don't know how we missed each other. I know. It was only one morning. Oh, chances are I wasn't there that early. Rick and I bonded, well, Rick and I bonded that morning because I told a story, apparently, that he didn't think was the fairest story. But that's all on the episode with Rick Hodge.

I love Rick Hodge, by the way. Yeah, he's a great guy. He's nice enough to come here from his Niagara gig. So why did you leave Astral? I left Astral because I got a phone call from Dean. Dean Blundell himself. Dean Blundell called me and said, Derek, do you want to join us on the morning show?

And just as a little background, before I left to go to Astral, Dean was trying to sort of get the management on board with bringing me onto the show in kind of the capacity that I ended up being on the show when I came back. So it was a little bit of sort of unfinished business for him, and it was unfinished business for him. And it was unfinished business for me because what, what, you know, back in my, again, back in the Ryerson days, what radio student doesn't want to dream of being on a morning show in Toronto, right? Especially one that has that many ears in the Target demo. And so to be asked to join that show was, I mean, I had to sort of figure out that, you know, that I'd have to get up early and it was going to be a lot different.

And, you know, and there was an on-air component to it, which I hadn't really done in a long time either. So, but it was, again, being Mr. Risk-Taker that I was, that I am, I mean, I thought, this is kind of a no-brainer. I got to, I am. I mean, I thought, this is kind of a no-brainer. I have to try. And I had a lot, we had started a lot of fun things the first time around, sort of 2006, 2007. And I thought, I think there's more, I have more in my tank to contribute to this show. So anyway, and so it was a real honor to be asked. Okay, remind me though, because the original lineup of the Dean Blundell show that for many years was Dean Blundell, Todd Shapiro, and Jason Barr.

With Sandra Plagakis in there. Oh, for a very, but not too long, right? When I started, she was still there. Okay, yeah, because she was the holdover from, well, so was Jason Barr, I guess, but the Humble and Fred show left Sandra Plagakis and Jason Barr, who no longer spoke in a Scottish accent.

That's right. Jason's been on the show, too. So has Todd, actually. So actually, if you're having like if you collect cards, let's say you collect you want the whole set. Right. So Dean's the only card I'm missing now because just I've had Danny Stover on. Yep.

Who we're going to talk to in a minute. I've listened to a lot of these, you know. Yeah. OK. So you probably listen to all the Edge ones because you work with these people. All right. So I've had Danny Stover on. Yep. Who we're going to talk to in a minute. I've listened to a lot of these, you know. Yeah? Okay. So you probably listened to all the Edge ones because you worked with these people, right? All right. So I've had Todd Shapiro. I've had Jason Barr.

I've had Danny Stover. I've had, what's, Billy Holiday. Yep. And am I missing anybody from this morning show? You didn't have Metis. See, I don't even, yeah. What's, yeah, I didn't have Metis. That is very, very true. I did not have Metis. But I didn't have Blind Eric. But I had been't even... Yeah, I didn't have Midas. That is very, very true.

I did not have Midas. But I didn't have Blind Derek. But I had been working on Blind Derek for a long time. Yeah. And Kelly was supposed to deliver me Blind Derek. Yeah. She failed me. But the only guy...

And I have asked... But for the record, I have asked Dean to come on. And Dean has... I don't think this is his thing. He wasn't an asshole about it. He was simply, I'm going to pass. Thank you. Yeah. I just don't know if this is his kind of forum

to be answering. Because the seat is so warm. The seat is so hot. Dean's pants could go on fire. I think he'd do really well if he decided to do it. I think it would be actually a podcast I'd want to listen to. It's not going to happen.

You know what? He's busy. He is a very busy person. Like, that's the one thing I'll say about him is he's, I mean, he lives way out in the east. Yeah. Way out in the Markham town. And I don't know. I think it would be, he should consider doing it because I think it would be kind of cool.

So when you're invited by Dean Blundell to come on the, to become the producer of the Dean Blundell show, this is like 2010. Yep. This is basically because, and Danny told this story when she was on. I always want to call her Danny Gray because that's her... I want to call her Danny Glover. Danny Glover is a great name. But Danny Gray

is the Twitter handle she uses and she's Danny Stover. Okay. So Danny uses and I hope she's Danny Stover okay so Danny Stover I have a Danny Stover story too but you replaced her was she a producer of the show before you

well she was she had left long before I started I think she was gone in 2008 wasn't she yeah maybe you're right for some reason in my head

maybe because I didn't listen that much but I had Danny was there Danny was gone and then Derek came in but I could be you're right maybe there's a gap there yeah I didn't listen that much. Danny was there. Danny was gone. And then Derek came in. But I could be... You're right.

Maybe there's a gap there. Yeah. I don't... I know Jason was let go in August, I guess. And I got to tell you a really awkward story. And I actually talked to Jason about this last year or this spring. Is that... So Jason got let go. and I knew, I hadn't

told anybody that I knew that Dean wanted me and they were kind of working on, on getting me on the show. And in the meantime, Chris Biggs had also been let go from Virgin and I was still there working there while he, after he'd left, but they were, they were very good to him and they were letting him go in and record the podcast that he and Jason started to do. So the most awkward moment of my life was when Jason was there and we all went out to Swiss Chalet. And Jason was still in shock from being let go. And I couldn't say anything. And I had a friend there who did know what the situation was.

And after we'd had this meal and I was listening to him, you know, about talking about the show and all that kind of stuff. And just, it felt like I was with somebody who had lost a relative, you know? And, and then afterwards my friend goes,

was that the most awkward situation ever? Yes, it was. And I, and I honestly, I didn't, I saw Jason at the canadian music week and i talked i said jason i have to apologize because i just felt so terrible so did

but did did jason know you were gonna take nope the third mic or whatever we call that uh did you give him a heads up before it was in the public domain no see i know if i'm in that this is a tough spot you're right that's awkward but yeah if i i know if i'm in that this is a tough spot you're right that's awkward but yeah if i you know if i'm friendly at all with jason bar what i do is maybe email or depends how closely i'm gonna be a phone call or email but just something to say here's exactly what's happening yeah i i this is what exactly what's happening and here's what i'm going to do and just to let them know you know yeah you know, I don't know. It's just, it's not a, I think that, but that's the right track to take.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I, but he knows the business better than anybody. He would understand. I really had nothing wrong. No,

you didn't, you didn't get Jason Barr fired. No, no, no. That's the key. Yeah. Yeah.

That's important. I mean, that's, so Jason Barr tells this story on his episode, which is by the way, much shorter than your episode. Oh, but you can't, you have permission to cut this one up.

I don't. I refuse. Only Kelly Kachura gets me to edit episodes after we're done. But you can ask her for the details on that one. So what are you doing? You're producing show IDs, and you're doing this parody song. Parody show. Yeah.

And booking guests. Oh, yeah. You're getting big names, right? That was like... How did you book... Here's a question for you. How did you book Don Cherry? Because I would like to book Don Cherry.

Honestly, the Don Cherry ones came when he was pushing a product. I think it was Cold Effects. So you just have to... Oh, yeah, there's like a PR layer or something? It was a total PR thing. Oh, yeah, yeah. And so, but the great thing was,

I thought, oh, this is going to be a waste and Dean's not going to like it because he's going to be pushing a product. He didn't talk about cold effects at all. I would get him on through the cold effects and I'd refuse to ask him about cold effects. Yeah. Or just let them get their spiel out of the way first. Because the one thing I would say, Dean was so awesome at just getting the greatest interviews out of people.

And even the most, the people that would come in that were dry and you know that they were having a bad day because they'd done four stations before, would always leave saying, that was the funnest I've had all day. I love that. You know, Dean, I'm going to say this. I've never met, I've been in the same room as Dean,

but I've never met Dean. We've never had a conversation. But we know each other exist. And I actually have no, zero ill feelings towards Dean or anything. I've never met Dean. Like we've never had a conversation, but like we, we know each other exist. And I actually have no, zero ill feelings towards Dean or anything. Like I've heard some stories, but I haven't, I don't know anything. I just know I've heard some stories that maybe,

maybe he hasn't been the greatest gentleman sometimes with his colleagues, potentially. You know, the thing with him, the thing I think you need to know about Dean, and I think if you sort of know personality types and that sort of thing, he's a driver personality. He wants to win, right? He wants to win, and it's a battle in his world, I think.

But he wants to be greater than he was the day before. And I think that, but the, I think sometimes the, the offshoot of that is that you can be critical of things. If it's not, if you don't think that it's leading towards you getting to your goal. And I think Dean is that type of person. I think Derringer is the same way. And, and Chris Biggs is the same way too, is that they, they want to win. And that the type of people that even if they weren't in radio, they'd be up at 430 trying to figure out how to win in whatever capacity they're doing in their life. And as my kind of personality, I love those people. I just think those are the movers and the shakers.

I just think those are the people that motivate me to do other things. So that's why I really, you know, it wasn't great. It wasn't always great. It had its ups and downs. And Dean is such a strong personality that if he's having a great day, the room's having a great day. And if he's not having a great day, then we all feel it too, right? And, you know, I knew that going in because I'd worked with him sort of off and on for two years before I came back the second time. So, you know, it's just you just have to kind of work around that.

Would you say Dean Blundell is misunderstood? Because I feel like now I'm going to ask McLean about Batman or whatever. But there is a perception out there. And I can't speak to specifics only because right now at this moment, talking to you, Levin, I refuse to edit this program. I can't remember which of my stories were on the record and which are off. So I'm not going to tell any of them right now. Because I do have, I can't remember which of my stories were on the record and which are off. So I don't, I'm not going to tell any of them right now.

Cause I, that's cause I do have, I can't remember. I know that there's, there's a bunch in each column. Yeah. So all I can say is there's a perception that he, I don't want to say workplace.

Well, I've said it before, but workplace bully. No question mark. No, I don't think so. Well, he hired you.

Yeah. So clearly he hired you. Yeah. So clearly he likes you, and there's a mutual respect there. Yeah. So since... Let me hold this next question. I'm going to ask a question, but I got to get there chronologically here. This is very important here. I'm Brian Lineham here.

So, I mean, you remember Brian Lineham, right? Yes. I hate it when I drop that reference on a millennial. But I also remember Martin Short putting him on. Sometimes when I'm thinking of Brian Lineham, I see I hate it when I drop that reference on a millennial. I remember Martin Short putting him on. Sometimes when I'm thinking of Brian Lineham, I see Martin Short in my head. 1973. Yes.

Men in Ville. So Danny Stover, a quick tidbit, is that she starts Monday on the air at Indy 88. Interesting. Starts Monday. Good. So there you go.

That's good. Yeah, I don't know. Good for her. I'm happy for her. She seems like a nice gal. She left Peterborough for no job because she wanted to be in Toronto. Is she the main person on there? I know that it'll be a night time type, I don't believe. Oh, she's not doing the mornings. No, the new morning show is Reina.

Because I guess a woman's on mat leave now. Okay. I'm not intimately familiar with the Indie 88 morning show, but there's a woman that went on mat leave. I know this much. Okay. And there was a guy named Carlin who's now going to do like 7 p.m. Okay. And there was another guy whose name is escaping me right now, but he's going to join the legendary Reina.

Wow. Reina worked with you she was yeah she was a content person and promotion i think promotions she was lovely she now goes by one name which is a good symbol like yeah that'll be the next thing okay so rain is going to do mornings and she's quite good i've had her here she's great and um another edge one 102 flashback if you're familiar with the old humble and fred show this is before your time but lana gay oh i love lana gay i saw her last time i saw her was at a shopper's drug mart yeah she was at cbc yeah she was at cbc that's right and she's been doing some spot work on indie 88 for a while but she's gonna have a show i believe she gets the drive home show so i think it's like Bookie in between.

So I think it's like Raina and then Bookie and then Lana Gay and then this Carlin. And then maybe, I don't know exactly where Danny fills in, but she's going to be at some point she's on the air. Cool. Starting Monday. That's great. I always used to think that Lana was the star that never,

that the edge didn't quite build properly. Because I always thought she was alternative rock. Because she used to do the new music show on The Edge, I think. And she just had such a great sound. And she was what I... I didn't listen to CFNY slash The Edge until I worked there.

I knew what was going on there. But she, to me, was what that station should have sounded like. I've told her this. I'm trying to get her on the show because I've told her this and I've been public about this that I think she's fantastic.

Yeah. She's got passion for the music. Oh, yeah. She's great. She's what you'd want in a radio personality. Absolutely. And she's just sort of

beautifully different than what you'd say the generic kind of announcers and stuff like that. She just is personality, whether it's her name, whether it's her voice, or what the content that she says. She's interesting. Bingo Bob Willett, who used to produce the Humble and Fred show, tells a story that I guess she got her start before she was on the air or anything. I guess she did some stunt for the Humble and Fred show, some real tough contest they had.

And I can't see, she did something. I think it was something like maybe she had a bath in a pool of beans. Of course, of course that's what it was. Something like that. Like I know she did. She's not the one who licked the pig's anus.

That's not Lana Gay, but she did something with maybe a baked beans bath or something like that. I got to get those. Okay. But yeah, so that'sus. That's not Lana Gay. But she did something with maybe a baked beans bath or something like that. I got to get those details. But yeah, so that's good. That's our Indy 88 update. Good. So Dean Blundell,

sort of the type A driven competitive guy and sometimes that results in maybe not being the warmest, friendliest colleague? I don't know. You know, it's a person-to-person opinion, and I honestly think it's based on the person

that's dealing with him and their personality type. They could be easily bowed over by the strength of his character, or they can handle him. He's a divisive, polarizing figure, maybe. I would say so. You love him or hate him. Yep, I'd say so.

But there's a lot of guys like that, like even Derringer. I mean, people will tell me stories about how awesome Derringer is and then a guy will tell me a story about

what a supreme asshole Derringer is. Yeah. So they're out there, these guys. The great thing, the thing with Dean too is that, you know,

he has his battle armor on to win, but there's been times where he and I have just sat and the armor's been off in the corner and we've just had these terrific conversations and stuff. That's good to hear. And, you know, apparently they brought me on board the show

to temper him or something like that. You're the Dean Wrangler? Yes, I was the moral guy who could temper his opinion and also shorten his breaks. And soon we'll learn why... Soon we'll learn how miserably you failed. Yes, absolutely.

So that's Dean. And then Jason Barr. Sounds like you were close with him. He was a good guy. No one's got anything bad to say about Jason. Nope, he's great. What about...

Yeah, go ahead. No, I was just saying there's just so many people say about Jason. Nope. He's great. What about, yeah, go ahead. No, I was just saying that there's just so many people that I really, really like in this industry. There's very few that I don't. And how was it working with Todd Shapiro all those years? During the time, it was great.

Todd and I, Todd is, is he's the most interesting character I've ever met. And, you know, when I say that, I mean, that's, that's good, in that he's this one part all about Todd, like the brand, the Todd brand.

But the other part is this really warm-hearted guy. And he's the only person I've ever met in my life that can balance those two things really well. Like, he is his brand. He is the Todd Shapiro brand, but he, he'll do anything for you. I, you know what I mean? Like he's, I, I, I really, I value my relationship with him. And part of the Todd Shapiro brand is wearing a winter hat, even when it's nice out. Yes. Yes. That's, that is true. And dressing like you're homeless. some that's a thing it's like

a hipster thing you know what i mean it's just it's it's it's the brand i that's i remember when he came on what was he on ctv or something and he was talking about who's the scott wyland yeah stone temple pilot singer yeah after he died because he had the last interview with him okay okay okay yeah on his show and uh right because he's the one that died, right? Yeah, and if you die on your way home today, I'll be on shows. I had the last interview with Blunt Derek. Make sure you wear your winter coat and your winter hat.

Anyways, it was so funny seeing him on TV in that getup. I'm like, that's so Todd. That is so Todd. Yeah, yeah. I had the pleasure of being part of the launch of his SiriusXM show, which was also a podcast. We were following the Humble and Fred blueprint,

so to speak. Yes, actually I listened to the very first episode of that. And he was here. My wife was taking the photos of him for the new... I did the website. Right. Although that's not the current website, but I did the original website.

Okay. And my wife was taking photos of him outside in the snow. And yeah, it was fun to be a part of the birth of Todd's own show. Yeah. And he's done very well for himself. And he's a very hard worker. So I actually went to his Christmas show that he did, like the live Christmas show he did. Oh, cool.

That was, I was just, I just thought, good for him. You know, I imagine you were going to bring up as to why Todd left. Was that going to come up? Well, tell, why did Todd leave? I don't know exactly, but I think, but from my opinion, I think that there was a point where I think Todd was, again, he is his brand. And I think that it got to a point where he was,

he was needed to have his own vehicle. I think that he'd been, he'd been doing this with Dean for 12 years and, and it had worked, but I think he started to get, I think he wanted just to spread his wings. Except he didn't, clearly he did not quit.

No, it was weird. And I honestly, honest to God, I have no idea what happened there. It's interesting that the day, the day that it all went down, I, I have no idea what happened there. It's interesting that the day that it all went down, I was up on the sixth floor rooftop patio drinking coffee. So I have no idea what happened.

I just know that sort of that stuff had happened. And I don't know if Todd talked about it with you or whatever. He was careful. Because I got criticism that people wanted more from him with like the Dean versus Todd. And Dean was, sorry, Todd was careful. But he was very honest that basically he was told his services were no longer required. But he was careful. And I got criticism. with my buddy Elvis to this day is that I was supposed to grab Todd by his shirt collar and lift him up against the wall and start shaking him

until he reveals the truth of what happened between him and Dean. I needed to rough him up on my show in order to avoid criticism. And I failed Canada. Oh, darn. I couldn't extract that nugget. But something went down

and Todd's services were no longer required and he was not welcome back. Oh, darn. I couldn't extract that nugget. But something went down, something went down, and Todd's services were no longer required, and he was not welcome back. Yeah. They canceled his pass card. I think that's how they do it, isn't it? Yeah. Which, you know, it's funny,

because in this industry, that doesn't really mean anything, because Kelly Contrera got let go from Fresh, and then they took her, you know, her pass card away. And then they gave her her pass card for Toronto to fill in for Bill. That's why when you're out,

you got to be careful you don't burn the... Well, Humble is a good example. Humble and Fred were both... Not at the same time, but they were both fired from Standard Broadcasting, Mix 99.9. And it wasn't long, a few years before Howard was back on Easy Rock,

which was a standard station. So the guy who fired him, hired him for a different radio gig. Yeah, it's a funny little industry. And some people would criticize that they just keep burning through the same talent over and over again, and they're not giving new people. But I think that's starting to happen now where the old talent are getting old. They're moving to podcasts. They're moving to podcasts.

Billy Holiday. Yes. What was it like working with... You know, moving to podcasts. Billy Holiday. Yes. What was it like working with... You know, it's not the Billy Holiday. I made this mistake. She is not the jazz singer. No. No, she's not.

She's still alive. That's true. And doesn't have as much substance abuse problems as the original one. Well, that's undetermined at this point. I love Billy. I just want to hug her every day. I feel sorry for her because her tenure on the show was so short. She has bad luck.

Yeah, she does. And the thing is, the show really was starting to go in a different direction. And I don't even know if in six months the show would have even existed anyways, unfortunately. I just think Chorus was on this move to whatever. But correct me, but Chorus targets young men with this station. At least they were when you were there. Yeah. And they still do, I believe.

But Young Men is the target demo. Correct me if I'm wrong. Okay. Wasn't the Dean Blundell show extremely popular with young men? But Young Men is the target demo. Correct me if I'm wrong. Wasn't the Dean Blundell show extremely popular with young men? Or am I wrong? It was, but I think we skewed, if I may use the lingo, older than what they wanted. But I think we hit that demographic enough. But we had a lot of females. They kept telling us we didn't, but a lot of our callers

were female. I don't know. From my understanding, because you sell advertising based on a male demo, females, it just doesn't matter if you have females. Tell me I'm wrong. I don't know. I don't know. Honestly,

I have been through so many spin meetings of ratings and why we're number one with one-legged pirates and stuff like that. I don't even know. I was very interested that people who I did not expect to listen to the show, and I don't think it was just because I was on it, would say, that was really funny, that break that Dean did about blah, blah, blah. I'm like, come on, mid-40s housewife. I can't believe you just said that. And so I think it was a guilty pleasure for a lot of people. Yeah, it sure was different.

Most radio shows at the time would be doing, I don't know, a 30-second quick banter about whatever, last night's Oscars or whatever, and then on to the Katy Perry song or whatever. And you guys could talk. Like you guys could, they let you go. There was some long Well, they didn't let us go. Well, how long would you go sometimes? Oh, 12

minute breaks. And what should what were they supposed, what were you supposed to be doing? Oh, I think if we did exactly what we were told, I think the longest break that they'd ever want us to do was like maybe two and a half minutes. It's funny. Today,

sometimes at like approximately five o'clock, I'll be in my car taking my kids somewhere or something and I'll put on 590 and I'll listen to some primetime sports, okay?

Yeah. So he starts at five and it's pretty interesting at that time. Typically, I'm interested in what they're talking about and then they'll have a guest on or whatever and talk whatever and sometimes it'll

i'll look at the clock and it'll be something like 525 526 and there was no commercials yeah okay yeah and i'm like am i listening to a podcast like i don't even have bluetooth in my uh 99 protege but i other than this i don't even know how Bobcat does it. Like, you don't hear this anywhere. Yeah. It's just, you don't hear it. I think, you know, I think that they were more afraid of, they wanted to wrap the brakes up because they were more sort of terrified

that it was going to go somewhere south. And because I, believe me, as much as they put me in there to shorten the breaks, I can't stop that runaway train. But the thing is that we would have such, I think we had, you know, there were occasionally breaks where it had gone on too long and the joke was five minutes ago and we were milking it to death. But most of the time it was very compelling, I thought, and very funny. Especially sometimes if I would listen back to the podcast, I'd go, oh my gosh, who else in town is doing this? And if you're there to temper Blundell to make sure he doesn't cross that line... It wasn't so much the crossing the line.

They were more worried about time. Okay, so let's talk about the infamous jury comment. They were more worried about time. Okay. So, yeah. Okay. So, let's talk about the infamous jury comments. Okay. You're talking to a guy who pretty recently was foreman of a jury on a... The gentleman was accused of a murder. And this is a trial for first... Sorry.

Second degree murder. Yeah. And I was the foreman of a jury. And so I just experienced this like every day going, going through this as a member, not only a member of the jury, but you know, you know how it works. You come in as a member of the jury. I was jury number three. And at some point near the end, they say, okay, you need to choose a foreman. And I didn't say a word. The last thing I was going to do is ask to be a foreman. I didn't say a word. And everybody looked at me and said, there's our foreman. Like it was like this, like they all said there's our foreman. And then I'm like, I guess I'm the foreman. So tell me you're on a jury. Yep. I don't know how much I can say to be honest. Okay. Well, I don't want you to get in

trouble like legally or whatever, but you're on it. Defense lawyers lurk everywhere. I know the rules. Like you can't talk about, I know what you can and cannot talk about, but you can tell me you're on a jury. Yes. And there's some stuff that's been in like you know the newspapers like the toronto star and stuff which is that uh the gentleman who was accused of the crime was openly gay and on the dean blundell show you were when you came back from jury duty, there was a conversation about some of these details and that the guy was gay and jokes were made about him being homosexual and going to jail. And maybe something about how he might not mind being in jail because he's gay.

And there will be some man on man things will happen that he might enjoy something like that. Right. What the hell are you thinking, first of all? So how did this get away from you? Like, I don't know, you probably relived this episode in your head a million times. But tell me, tell me. You know, I mean, I don't want to go into it too much, to be honest with you.

But the thing is that I was under the impression, honestly, that if you stick to the public record, and this is what I was planning to do when the break started, is if you stick to the public record, like what is on the public, that anybody could go look up, you're fine. it at all in the first place should have just just let it go but the the thing is that you know it's a station that that wants to be entertaining and edgy and stuff like that so i thought i wonder if i can just skirt around without getting you know with just say without saying and i i had no intention of going in and telling gay jokes at all i i think i think um it just it was one of those things that was meant to be a quick break because it was right at the end of the show and it just went on way too long and the thing that I actually got sort of in the legal gray area about was that I said somebody was acting like a bonehead

that's where they got me apparently because that's conjecture, right? that's not, that's the legal, that's where they got me, apparently. Because that's not, that's conjecture, right? That's not on the record. Right. So that's, and then the other thing, there was the other sort of the mind. There's so many layers of trouble here. I'm trying to track it all. Well, yeah.

I can see you grabbing your head now. This is not your brightest moment. No, it was not. Absolutely not. And the thing is that that afterwards it just after it sort of was revealed in the next few days as to the deep weeds that i was in i'm just like oh my gosh how did i get here how did i get to this spot where where i am over here where i'm you know i'm supposed to be this guy and i'm supposed to be the smart one and the moral one

and stuff and suddenly i'm over here and and here. And this all happened in October, right? So this is phase one of all of this stuff where, you know, I'm being from in October and November, I'm being called up during the show to chorus lawyers and they're talking to me about all the scenarios and scaring the crap out of me. lawyers and they're talking to me about all the scenarios and scaring the crap out of me. Wow. Toronto Star start to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. And they share the audio. Yes. Oh, well, not yet.

See, this all happened in October, November. Okay. And there's two reporters that were assigned to this case and they were calling me and they were coming to my doorstep and knocking on my door and trying to get quotes out of me. Actually, the funniest part was one of them called. And I never returned their calls, but they just kept leaving messages. They're like, yeah, hi, Derek. We're probably going to do this publisher's article probably next Friday.

This is in mid-November. But we noticed there's not really any good pictures of you online. So wondering if you'd come in and do a photo shoot with us i'm like give me a wow that's that takes a takes a pair some balls uh so anyway so this was hanging over my head and and uh you know the what had happened was there was going to be the the launch the defense had launched an appeal uh based to look at my conduct as a juror and all that stuff and so what happened was the appeal date was uh the where they were going to go and ask the judge if they could get this was on december the 13th and the article came out on

december the 8th and that was the you know leading up to that point everybody was sort of it this could blow over or you know um you know we as company, Derek, are going to get you through this. And, you know, we'll get through this and we'll, you know, we'll see what we can do. And then once the article came out on the 8th of December 2013, suddenly it was a PR nightmare. And they didn't have any, of course, had no choice but to let. Well, now you're a liability, right? Absolutely. Well, I know some people I've talked to and they say, oh, of course they weren't very brave through all this. And, and, you know, part of me wants to say yes, but at the same time,

I put myself in their shoes and I'm like, you just no way that, I mean, even maybe the only possibility was taking me off the air and putting me behind the scenes for good or something like that. But it didn't, didn't work out that way obviously so they okay so let's firstly okay so the whole show is canceled like it's not like derrick is fired or whatever tell me what happens this is the puzzling thing to me because i i i have a feeling that this was a green light to do some stuff that the company potentially already was planning on doing anyways. And they just needed they needed an accelerant. And I was it. That's again, that's completely my opinion.

But, you know, I don't I said that to Dean. I talked to him not too, too long ago. And I said, you know, if this was on the up and up, they would have just fired me and let you continue on. You'd apologized already. And I don't think anybody thought he was homophobic. If anybody watched or listened to the show and got what the show was about, that we were equal opportunity offenders, I don't think like what Dean did. It was me. That's just basically it comes down to that. It was my mistake. And it shouldn't have... It was just weird

because the spotlight initially after that first article was on me. And everything that I did was being watched and stuff. And then I think they... It was very funny because the picture they ended up putting on the front cover of the star

was this tranquil picture of me in front of Emerald Lake in Alberta. Because that's the only one they could find that was any because yeah i take terrible pictures that's just the way it is so i i think suddenly it became less about you know this this guy isn't a villain even though the torontoist gave dean and me the uh co-villains of the year for 2013 just so so you know. This is a very PC environment we live in right now. I know Gibbons is in trouble for his dresses comment. He made John Gibbons the Blue Jays manager. So if you can imagine,

even the suggestion that a homosexual man would enjoy being anally raped in prison, it's kind of... I'm not as uptight as people think. I actually have a good laugh and I'm whatever. But like I would never,

I would know enough not to put that in the public domain if you know what I mean. Like that one's pretty clear. Yeah, yeah. And again, there's nobody

that I'm pointing a finger at except for myself in that situation. So do you feel responsible that even like Billy and Dean and everybody's kind of out of a gig? No, I don't.

Because I think there were, I honestly believe there were other forces at work in this situation. And that, let me just, I will say that the name Dominic Diamond was coming up in 2012. And this happened at the end of 2013. So there was a plan deep down somewhere. Okay, wow. So at the time, it was surprising to some of us because we thought that the Dean Blundell show was a revenue generator for Chorus

and that we thought at the end of the day, maybe there'd be a... Like maybe Derek would get fired, but the show would survive because it made money. And it's hard to replace. It's hard to keep those listeners that you have on the Dean Blundell Show when you cancel the Dean Blundell Show. And I think the numbers show that.

There's a big drop-off. Absolutely. But I think I get the feeling that they were ready to take that dive and reestablish themselves as the kinder, gentler Edge, or not quite as close to the Edge 102. Although, you know, they've been through a lot of morning shows. Well, I mean, that Dominic Diamond show with Diamond and Die and Beheral, that didn't last particularly long.

And I know now it's Fearless Fred and Mel. Yeah, I think Fred was the heir apparent for that show anyways, I think. That was my guess. Always, yeah. But I was surprised. I thought they'd stick with Dean as long as the money flowed. Yeah. I don't know.

Honestly, I don't understand how those decisions are made sometimes. And maybe it was just the liability. Like, was it worth the effort to constantly be dealing with CBSC? What are they called? Yeah, those guys. Yeah, like those kind of things. And I don't know, maybe they thought,

let's just cut our losses and pay people less or something. Have you heard any of the new Dean Blundell show on 590? Yeah, bits and pieces. Blundell and Company. Yeah. Have you heard any of the new Dean Blundell show on 590? Yep, bits and pieces. Blundell and Company. Yeah. Do you think that's,

they said that he was, not muzzled, what's the term I'm looking for, but this is a kinder, gentler version of Blundell? So he's learned his lesson, so to speak, and he's being more careful

for Rogers Media? I guess so. I think so. I think, I'm sure he got the crap scared out of him a little bit through the whole or so. I think so. I think, I'm sure he got the crap scared out of him a little bit through the whole ordeal.

He must have. But I think it's a very edgy show still. It's just, you know, maybe they just are more strict about, the thing about Rogers

is they have, there are so many stars in their universe between the McCowens and the Tim and Sids and stuff that deems just one of them, you know? And so maybe that there's a lot less to lose, you know what I mean? Like if he messes up, then they just replace him.

I don't know. But I think he's doing a great job. I just, it sounds really good. It's not my bag. I'm not a big sports radio guy. So I listen every so often. Like if I have the Jays game on the night before and I'll... I think that helps them a lot. Yeah. really good it's not my bag i'm not a big sports radio guy so i listen every so often like if i have the jays game on the night before and i'll i think that helps them a lot yeah i caught myself

yesterday i watched in my and it's funny because i kind of talk a lot about sports media and stuff with people but i had never seen the tim and sid show on television no i don't i don't have uh cable so i never so since it used to be a radio show, and I had heard that, but then it went to TV only. But yesterday, I watched the 1 p.m. afternoon Jays game, and then I was on Sportsnet, and the game ended, and right away they go to Tim and Sid. And before you knew it, I had watched a half an hour of Tim and Sid.

So that's how they get you, the Rogers properties. You come in for the Jays game, and you stick around. Yeah, that's exactly it. All right, let's move to bigger and brighter and happier things. You get fired from your chorus gig because of this jury fiasco. But you land at New Cap, which for people who don't know, owns Boom and a station that's now called The Move, but used to be called Flow.

And we'll talk about that in a minute. So basically, what was it like being unemployed? And how long were you out of work before this opportunity arose? I was out for six months, so from January to June. The interesting thing is that the beginning of 2013, I had started to say, decide to myself, I think I need to move on and do something else other than the Dean Blundell show. Because it just, I think it was starting to wear on me and my kids were young, and I wasn't seeing them very much. And I was tired all the time. And a constant jet lag,

as Humble Howard once warned me before I started mourning, because that's what it feels like. And so I had started going around in January of 2013. And I sort of said to myself, by the end of this year, I hopefully will have a new job, not knowing what lay ahead. So it kind of came true. But I had actually been offered the job that I have now at Boom in January of that year. and they were going through the whole breaking up and going to Bell and Divesco, which was what float and boom or move and boom became once the other stations left. And it just seemed too many eggs in one basket because I didn't know how volatile, like how many people were going to get laid off and stuff like that. So I said no.

So there was still a seed there. And as soon as all the stuff went down and it's suddenly January, Troy McCallum, who was my boss, got back in touch with me and said, Derek, start sending me some demo stuff. Just do some stuff so I can play it for all the management for NuCap. Because he wanted me. He said I was part of his dream team. And, uh, so I did cause I had nothing else to do. Um, and, uh, so basically it was kind of building through February and March. They were just kind

of dragging their heels. Like I thought I'd be in there by, by April, but it didn't happen until the beginning of June. So, yeah, so I was, I was off. I was sort of comforted in that I was off. That chorus was very good to me. They could have released me with cause and I could have had nothing, but they were very good. That's good to hear. Yeah.

Because I wasn't sure because you're right. They probably could have easily put that under cause. Well, you know, I just, I mean, I hadn't done anything like this ever in my life, you know? And I think they knew that. And I was like Mr. Golden Child, you know, when it came to, well, I mean, they were, you know, the one thing is every time I get a compliment now from, you know, upper management, I just, I smile and nod. whereas because I know that honestly up until even after the incident happened on the air I was

getting these you know let's hear it for Derek or the great thing and they'd send it to all the stations and blah blah blah and suddenly they just turned on me it felt like anyways and again not for not completely well it's like what have you done for me lately yeah yeah so anyway so

the fact that they gave me a severance and they took care of me in a couple other avenues, it was great. So I didn't have, thankfully, the pressure until I got right about off because I knew that there was potentially something on the horizon and I was constantly in communication with them. And so I finally got the job and it was a happy time. I have spoken to Troy a little bit through Twitter DM, basically, is our main channel of communication. And he used that same term with me that you're a part of his dream team. So that must feel good to go basically to be desired. Yeah. That must feel pretty damn good.

It does. It totally does. Like the same way when Dean called me up and asked me to be on the morning show. Like when you get to that point in your career, like that's awesome. As opposed to being the guy that sends the resume in the cold like I used to do back in the 90s, where I'm like,

I'd like to work at your station. I think I can be very helpful. But now you're basically going on what they already know you can do. And that's such a great position to be in. Yeah, for sure. I'm very grateful for that. Boom. So previous boomers that have been on the show are May Potts.

Yep. And Stu. And Stu Jeffries. And I'm guessing you listened to those two. Oh, yeah, absolutely. They're both pretty fun to do, actually. May, I listened to quite a bit when she was at 102.1. Loved her.

Still sounds great, but I just don't hear as much Boom during the day. But Stu Jeffries was a surprisingly emotionally charged chat we had. He's awesome. He's Mr. Emotions. He's a very emotional person. Oh, yeah, because he cried a couple times, and I was like, and he's like, oh, that's nothing special, he tells me. This is nothing special.

I was thinking, oh, because I'm like Oprah here or whatever, like Barbara Walters. But he's number two. He's number two. So who's number one? I think it's still Roger and Marilyn. Roger and Marilyn. And yeah.

Yeah, Boom is doing, that must feel good too to see the success Boom's having. Oh, it's like when Boom was in with Virgin and News Talk, they were sort of the redheaded stepchild. And suddenly those big trees were gone and suddenly Boom was able to grow and be its own entity. Like boom hasn't changed that much over the last six years or five and a bit years, but people are, it's finally, it's, it's grown. It's, it's healthily grown with strong roots.

And now, now it's paying off is like when I first started, even two years ago, when I started there, I would tell people, I said, I work at boom. They're like, and I'd be like 97.3 used to be easy rock? Oh, okay. Now, you say Boom, and everybody knows what Boom is. And I just think that's awesome. And I'm so happy to be a part of that. And I think it's kind of happening a bit with the move, too. Yeah, I want to talk about the switch, because there's a big, big change there. But Boom, There's a big, big change there. But Boom, which is fun to say, too.

It's fun to say Boom. What was I going to say about Boom? Just that doing fantastic and, I guess, taking, I want to say, the Q audience, like a lot of the Q people coming over, if you will. Yeah. I think Boom is this great station that has great personality. Like if it's not the amazing on-air people, it's the funny guy we have, our voice guy, Joe Cipriano,

who does all the stuff in between the songs. That's the stuff I produce. And the greatest music director in radio, Wayne Webster. Do you know anything about Wayne Webster? No. He is, he's a winner. Just wherever he goes, the station.

I like his name though, Wayne Webster. It's great. He used to be, when the mix was kind of in its heydays in the 90s, he was responsible for that too. But he's, we have so many, imaging is what I do, like all the station IDs. We have so much imaging that is pertinent to, like if it's raining outside, they'll put imaging about raining nice like stuff like that's the stuff that you go this is this is so important in your life

because you're listening to it and it's happening while you're happening it's your life like you know what i mean like it's it's representing what you're doing i just remembered what i was gonna ask so what is it like working for a company that's just a radio company? Awesome. Because Chorus has all this stuff going on beyond radio. And of course, was it Bell Media? Where were you? Wherever you were.

Now it's Bell Media. So now Bell Media and Rogers Media have a million things going on, literally a million things going on from magazines to sports teams to television, whatever. NuCap, just radio. Just radio, yeah. You know, honestly, it's the closest. Rob Johnson's going to laugh his head off because I've brought Barry up so many times. He always makes fun of me for that.

But it's the closest I've ever felt of working in Barry, just in terms of it's small. We're now on the 20th floor of the building at Young and St. Clair. We used to be on the second floor and we were there after all the other stations had moved out and we felt like squatters because there were all these empty studios everywhere. So we finally moved up into our own digs on the 20th floor and it was just,

it's just, we're in close quarters so we get to see each other all the time. It's not like when, even with Chorus, when they moved down to Chorus Quay, everything was so spread out that you just didn't have that sense of community that you have when you're when you're a little bit closer together like we had that at chorus when we were at dundas because we were all together close by um and so you get this really everybody's on the same page management's on the

same page because you bump into them in the hallways and you talk to them it's not that they're they're not on a different floor way up high making decisions that you that you can't understand you know what i mean right right so i mean it is a challenge because the other like in from sales because the other stations can can sell on different platforms like they can say we'll give you radio and we'll give you television and we'll give you like a bundles yeah exactly so clients would generally be drawn to that. So every victory we have when we get those clients away from Bell or from Rogers

is a big deal. And the thing is that having a station that is number one and a station that's flashy right now with the move, it helps. It really does. We are reaching the same amount of people as these other stations, just that we don't have mobile.

The 93.5 was for a very long time known as Flow. Yep. And then very, very recently became the Move. So first of all, how busy were you during the rebranding? February. That's like a whole new imaging, right? Yes, it was a busy time. New voices, new imaging voices and all that kind of thing. So yeah, February

was a very busy time but it was fun. It was exciting and it was kind of a secret for, it was a secret right up until the very end so it was kind of,

you know, cloak and dagger. Yeah, you guys did a pretty good job. I think I tried to get something out of you at some point and I was shut down

so I can tell Troy that Derek is a good secret keeper. I can keep a secret so I can tell Troy that Derek is a good secret keeper. I can keep a secret. I can confirm that. One thing, though, is it's all good. I mean, I will listen to some of the move in my car to kind of get a vibe for it.

And half the time it is the Fugees, but that's okay because I love to hear the Fugees. So that's fine. Bring me some more Fugees. That's fine. And it is really the only station in town that's playing Maestro Fresh West's Let Your Backbone Slide.

Well, we were looking at the stations and the average year music-wise that they play. And the 90s is completely underserviced. Like Q and Boom are sort of around average 1982 and all the stations like Kiss and Virgin are sort of 2013 to 2015 so there's this big gap of 90s stuff like the like boom says 70s 80s 90s but their their focus is still the 80s right that's kind of where they're they're at with their yeah their listenership so it was a it was a pretty

prudent move i think on their part to to to shape the music that way and i think that the from what i understand that this whole pure hip-hop and pure like hardcore rap stuff just it just never tests well doesn't test well even even with the people like the age group that they would because there was a rumor you guys we knew you were rebranding we didn't know what it was going to be but one of the rumors was all drake all the time and i know where those rumors come from because i think he felt he owned the station at some point. That's funny. Yeah.

But only because it's good CanCon do we play Drake now. No, it is, you know, it's the great thing about a station like that. And speaking of sort of the redheaded stepchild, like when it was with the chums or with the Bell stations, like it got no love at all. It was underdeveloped. And suddenly it's getting equal time that boom is getting in the hallways and it's paying off. Like we're looking at some of the ratings

and they're doing really well. Like it's obviously there's an initial spike when a station starts and it's fresh and new and there's lots of advertisement and stuff. But I think it's a good sounding station. No, it sounds good and it's almost all good. But I got to ask you one quick question, which is that my understanding is that when you were Flow,

there was some on-air female talent. And please correct me if I'm wrong, because I hope I'm wrong. But it sounds like all, not just females, but all female talent on the air was dismissed before the rebranding. You know what? I don't know exactly the reasons for that. I wasn't in for those meetings. So I honestly can't sort of say why or whatever, or if it was just a coincidence.

The one thing I'll say about NuCap is that every decision they have made since they started has been a good decision. It's been based on logic and based on a plan. So the only thing I can say is that I'm going to go with the fact that those people weren't let go because they're female at all. There must have been a really particularly good reason. I don't know if it was ratings or what it was. But, I mean, it was sad. It was sad to see Mel gone and Miss Ange because I thought they're really good broadcasters,

but maybe it's just not part of the plan. So even if we buy the, you know, I accept your premise that the fact that they're female is a coincidence. It's like they're not being fired because they're female. Yeah. So I accept that premise that the fact that they're female is a coincidence. Like they're not being fired because they're female. Yeah. So I accept that.

Sounds fair. But you would admit, I suppose, the optics are bad. I think it was an unintentional PR debacle. Although because no real, the mainstream media does not cover this fact. I don't believe it was picked up anywhere. No. So the fact is, except for my loyal followers and people in TorontoMic.com, the masses are probably completely unaware that all-female talent was dismissed before the rebranding.

Yeah. Well, I mean, and unfortunately, I think that kind of says volumes as to where the station was, like on terms of the public conscious and stuff like that was is where people didn't notice and and i think that's that was that's probably why one of the main reasons why they had to change the brand and just and just sort of start from sort of start from scratch because mastermind's still on there and jj's still on there yeah that's part of the optic problem yeah yeah so i because if everyone's fired okay fine everyone's fired yeah's fired. Yeah. Well, yeah, I guess they won't. And I know you're the imaging guy.

I have the imaging guy on the hot seat about personnel decisions. No, and I cannot, I honestly cannot answer with any authority. You have the right to a lawyer. I think that's your right. Not again. All right.

So good luck with the move, which I thought should have been called the movement, but the move works as well. Less is more. Sounds a little potty to me. That's true. That is true. So good in the success of Boom.

So we've gone way over time. But I never met you. I was standing beside you for a period of time once because I took my oldest son to an Argo game. Oh. And we walked. After the Argo game, we came to King Street. You know the old Brownstones? Yeah. And then there's a Tim Hortgo game. Oh. And we walked, after the Argo game, we came to King Street. You know the old Brownstones?

Yeah. And then there's a Tim Hortons there. Yep. And we went in to get, I believe, it might have been an Argo donut.

That's what we do after Argo games. Okay. Tim Hortons at John and King and get an Argo donut. Yeah. I'm in there to get an Argo donut for my boy,

James. Yep. And I'm not going to bother you because I'm not that, if I meet people in public, I don't say anything or whatever, but I'm not going to bother you because I'm not that good. I meet people in public. I don't say anything or whatever. But I'm like, oh, Derek,

the blind movie reviewer is beside me. And you were like in line beside me. Because I had my jersey that said Welsman on the back of it probably too, right? So there you go. That's my blind Derek story. So you're a big Argos fan. I am.

And they're moving to BMO. And I'm excited about that. Do you go to TFC games a lot? Only when my buddy Elvis gives me... He has seats in the supporter section, and he will give me tickets he can't use. I went on the Argoscent, that sort of virtual thing where you can see where your seat is. And I'm looking, because they have the new roof over the seats. And I'm looking around, and I scan up, and right where we sit is where the one roof ends and the other roof starts. We have this, there's this sea of blue sky above me.

So I think I'm getting the rain regardless of what happens. I don't know if I'm, I got to figure out if I'm tough enough to watch football outdoors on a regular basis. Because we were pretty cozy in the dome there on those cold November days and nights or whatever. Yeah, it's all like, it's all, I'm very interested to watch all of it because I believe you guys belong in a place like BMO. Yes. Like I think it'll be good for you.

It looks perfect. I had Don Landry on recently and he's the voice, like the PA guy. He is. Although at the time he wasn't sure he was,

I hope he has received the news he's going to be the PA guy for next year, but I don't know. That's always fun because he and I,

he worked in Barry with me. Oh yeah, he's a great guy. Yeah. Yeah, great guys come out of Barrie. That's what I understand.

It's true. CKBB. Actually, when I started at CKBB when I was just green, Dan Schulman was still there for like a month and then he left. Yeah.

I wonder why he left and then he left the whole country but he's back. He is. In some capacity. He is. Which is cool because he's one of the best out there.

Yes. So how are the Argos, they will survive. I mean, there's, I believe, and I mean this of all due respect, that there's a, you talk about how flow was under the radar and people went, the Argos. Well, last year was a disaster. So last year, is this a, because is that an outlier or is that sort of, has it been building to that?

Because I personally have watched less and less football every year. And the Argos, it seems only because I am tapped into the zeitgeist. I hear a lot of chatter about, a lot of chatter, especially about the 2015 Blue Jays, like that just went to a whole new level. There's always Leafs chatter, even when we suck.

It's like, hey, we're going to finish last, yes. And then there's a lot of We The North Raptor buzz going on, especially now we're waiting for the playoffs because we don't care about the regular season anymore. But there's not a lot of Argos anything anywhere. You know what? I have been a season ticket holder

since 1996. And in that time, I've seen ebbs and flows. I think I even commented on your site once where when NHL was on strike, was that 2005? ebbs and flows. Like, do you... I think I even commented on your site once where in the... when the NHL was on strike, was that 2005?

Yeah. Argos were getting 38,000 to 44,000 people a game. Is that right? Yep. Is this the Flutie years? No, this is Damon Allen. Oh, yeah.

We're way past the Flutie. Yeah, this is Damon Allen. Damon Allen, right. And that... And it's happened before. It happened, again, when Rocket... See, in my lifetime,

I remember the Rocket surge with John Candy and Wayne Gretzky. And I remember Bruce McMillan. I remember that. Yes. And then I remember the Doug Flutie era. Yeah, 96, 97. Where there was a bump with that, 96, 97. Yeah.

And then a buzz, at least a buzz, when Ricky Williams. There's like a Ricky Williams period. Yeah. I saw a Ricky Williams jersey for like seven bucks in a store i would buy that for seven bucks i would pay seven bucks no when when they got their ownership in 2004 and they went and they won the great cup in ottawa that was that was actually the highest rate of great cup ever and that was big that was a big deal there was just you know it's but it's been a while it's been a while and it's not and unfortunately you can have buzz.

But honestly, the Rogers Center was just death for them because they had to work around the J schedule. And it's a cavernous. If you get over 22,000, it starts to get interesting and warm because they're good fans. They're loud fans. I've been to more Blue Jay games where the fans have puked on seats. Argos fans are like this dedicated bunch

of really good people. And the people I sit with in my section are awesome too. Like, you know what I mean? It's just, it's such a good thing. But it must be a different experience. Like if you go to see the Argos versus the Rough Riders, that like more than half the crowd is wearing green. In the dip times for the Argos.

You'll get it. It'll be, it'll definitely fill the stadium. Which is most of the time. Well, yeah. I'm not even trying to crap on the Argos, you'll get it. It'll definitely fill the stadium. Which is most of the time. Well, yeah. I'm not even trying to crap on the Argos. No, no, that's okay. I'm real about it, man. That's why I love BMO.

Because if you have a core group of 19,000 fans and it ebbs and flows and that's kind of the lower mark, then it'll look great on TV if the place holds 30,000. So come join me. What does it cost for a decent ticket at BMO? 40 bucks. That's reasonable. Yeah. Bring the family. I might bring the kids to an Argos game.

And we're going to tear up the soccer field. That's it. Elvis, I mentioned a couple of times, but he's got the seasons for the supporters section. He hates, he passionately hates that you're going to F up his field. Suck it up. Can't we all just get along?

I think the Argos will be around when TFC's gone. Wow. And that, that's fighting words. They're the cockroach of the sports world.

And that brings us to the end of our 166th show. It was 166 hours. Actually, you don't even have the record. Strombo went longer, Merrick went longer, and Eric Smith went longer.

And they're all buddies. Thank you. And that, I did that part already. Where am I at? You can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike, and Derek is at Derek Welsman. W-E-L-S-M-A-N. See you all next week.