Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Bob Wiseman: Toronto Mike'd #1300

Episode Date: July 31, 2023

In this 1300th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Bob Wiseman about his career making and producing music for Blue Rodeo, Ron Sexsmith, Bruce McCulloch, Lowest of the Low, Robert Priest, and others. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, The Moment Lab, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1,300, that's 1,300 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees Thank you. for the Downey Wenjack Fund. The Moment Lab. Brand marketing and strategy. PR, advertising, and production. You need The Moment Lab

and Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. Today, making his Toronto Mike debut is Bob Wiseman. Welcome, Bob. Hi. I was hoping you'd say something more interesting for Ridley's funeral home. Like, that's funny. For selling death or something.

Well, may you not encounter them anytime soon, Bob. There's my blessing for you. May it be many decades to go. How are you doing, Bob? Good, thanks. I had, like, an instinct to call you Bobby, but is anyone allowed to call you Bobby? Sure, some people do. Am I allowed to call you Bobby? Sure, some people do. Am I allowed to call you Bobby? Well, you know...

Not yet. It's too soon. I can't control how you talk, you know? Okay. But I remember when I was much younger, I met someone who was older, and he was introduced to me as Billy, and I remember thinking i'm not going to be billy as when i get like i just just felt right to start saying bob at a certain point but at some point i should become a michael is what you're telling me well uh i guess it's a comment on what you like

or don't like you know so i mean some people call me bobby i don't it's it's interesting to me when like people feel compelled to who know me well. I get it. It's affectionate. Well, absolutely. When I thought I should call him Bobby, it was meant with affection because I just think Bobby's a guy I want to hang with. Bobs, you never know. They come in different shades. You think so?

Yeah. I don't know Bobby. Hey, Bobby, how's it going, Bobby? It just seems warm and fuzzy. Are you a warm and fuzzy guy, Bob? I think Michael's pretty good. I mean, I guess I think anything can be anything. That's sort of the thing I realized long ago.

Is that the kids I hear? They shouldn't be home yet. I'm picking them up at camp. And if you hear kids, they're someone else's kids. Oh, I have four kids. Oh, that's awesome. But only two are, like, going to camp. The other two are working and adults, basically.

So yeah, the two little ones, I got to pick them up. Are they all musical? No, you know what? Are none of them? A couple of them are into playing the piano. Really? Their mom plays some piano and they're kind of digging it. And I can tell you, do you know David Quinton Steinberg?

No. Okay, so he was in... Well, if you just said david steinberg i would have said yes oh david steinberg yeah i you know he goes he's like bob bobby you know he throws in that quinton once in a while when he's trying to be fancy i think but my son was very very interested in the drums when he was he gave my son like a little mini drum lesson at one of my events and my son jarvis was very keen to learn more about drumming. He's kind of got this bug. That's great.

You play yourself? No, I don't play. I press play on my CD player, but I don't play any musical instruments. And all the gear you have here, are your kids into playing on these things? Do they play with the electronics and stuff like that? Not too much, to be honest. So the 21 and 19-year 19 year old they haven't shown much of an interest in this stuff I think the most

interested one of all is the 9 year old I mentioned who's into the drums Jarvis I think he's the curious cat of the four like he's always

trying to do editing on this and he's learning how to use this and he's like a curious cat and you said the mum's a musician too she plays piano

so my wife played piano as a young person and has recently got back into it. So there's a keyboard upstairs and I often hear her kind of teaching the kids keyboard. Yeah.

Nice. Very cool. Now, okay, I'm going to take you way back here, Bob, a lot of ground to cover again. People are used to these things rambling on for 90 minutes,

whatever, but I'm going to try to do this in an hour. And if you have to barge out because I took too long, I'm not going to take that personally because you gave me a heads up. But Bob, I want to go way back because I got a note from a listener named Judy Cole. And by the way, once in a while, there'll be music in here

that you might need the headphones for just to give you a heads up. But there's a woman who listens. She's lovely. I met her at a Jays game once and at a TMLX event. And her name is Judy Cole. And Judy wants me to know that you were in her grade nine class.

She says it was River Heights Junior High in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Did you go to this school? Yeah, I was there. I was there in grade nine. I don't remember her name, though. She says hello. I don't know. Cole might be a married name.

She might have been Judy something else back at that time. But Judy says hello. Thank you. Yeah, no, I had, there was a guy at that time yeah in grade nine at river heights there was a guy in my class and his name was brian has it and he was a big fan of kiss it was kind of a it was a big distinction to me uh kids my age at the time who were into things like kiss because i i have older brothers and i had their record collections and and it was very diverse the things that they listened to um and it was of the 60s what what they were into and so that's what i was into and the stuff in

the 70s that people were playing uh or that was popular a lot of it didn't, was unappealing to me. Right. So, but I also was, I was, I was a, I was kind of an outsider. I came, I went to different schools every year during junior high and senior high. And so nobody really knew me well there. But this guy, Brian Hassett,

the story wasn't about him being into kiss but this is very interesting yeah prior when the playoffs started at that year he started taking bets like early on on montreal winning montreal did win this is the kendryden era and he but he started taking bets like you know before they were before the end of it was Montreal and whoever. And so naturally, many people got involved because they just thought the odds were very good for them to win. I don't know how much money he made off that, being a 15- or a 16-year-old at that point,

but it was mind-blowing. And I met him again later in life. He ended up doing some work at Rolling Stone and doing some other stuff. He became kind of plugged into people who witness or occupy or write about some of the kind of post-hippie culture things, like particularly the Grateful Dead

and in some ways what became of the beatnik people. So that was, in fact, in Toronto, you, I know, I'm sorry. No, you know what? I'm devolving from the, whatever questions you plan, but in Toronto, there's a, there's a, there's a very high end art gallery on a street called Moro run by a guy named Christopher cuts. It's the gallery's called Christopher Cutts Gallery.

He was older than me and Brian, but they are pals, and he's a guy from Winnipeg, and he was a drummer. He played drums, so it comes full circle to your son's interest in drums. And Judy Cole.

What is that? Judy Cole. I just think it's wild that Judy, who comes to these events, I have an event coming up August 31st, and Judy hopefully will be there with her husband, Steve. And the fact that Judy remembers you from primary school in Winnipeg, Manitoba, all those years ago,

I think that's wild. Did you say you met her at a Jays game? Yeah. So I tweeted. What did you do at a Jays game that she would approach you? Well, my daughter and I went to a Jays game, my oldest daughter, and we did a selfie and I tweeted. What did you do at a Jays game that she would approach you? Well, my daughter and I went to a Jays game, my oldest daughter, and we did a selfie and I tweeted it

at the Jays game. And Judy follows me on Twitter and she saw that I was tweeting from the game. And then I got, I guess, a DM on Twitter saying, what section are you in? Okay, this is going to sound like I'm arrogant and I'm actually not. I'm just telling you that she told me.

Do you really trust someone who says I'm not arrogant, who announces that? It's true. Does anyone ever say that without saying something super arrogant? But it's going to sound ridiculous when I say this, except this is what she said to me. Her husband, Steve, arranged that they meet me, I don't know, section 323 or something,

after the sixth inning or something. So we go out. Hello, hi, Judy. Hi, Steve. And then I take a photo with judy steve says this is the most excited she's been to meet a celebrity and she met paul mccartney wow this is why it sounds arrogant like that's why i'm embarrassed i'm embarrassed to say it she was privileging you above paul mccartney right right right so you see why i'm hesitant

to tell you this story because even i'm feeling great like awkward like embarrassment to even say those words except i you know steve might have been blowing smoke up my ass what do i know but this is the story that was conveyed to me i'm one paul mccartney's two okay that's the story i was told okay bob yeah enjoy enjoy okay take that paul okay i want to because i have the hour with you and i have like three hours of content, I need to grab stories from you. Like, I'm archiving this history. The first story I just need to confirm with you is a story that was told on Toronto Mic

very recently when Vernon Reed was on the program. Can you please share the story of how you ended up with Vernon Reed's guitar? Or did Vernon Reed end up with your guitar? Can you please set the record straight here, Bob Wiseman? There was a guy who, for a little while, was a guitar tech for Blue Rodeo

who was based in Vancouver. I think his name was Martin Brown. And I forget how, but he, I think Vernon bought a guitar that Martin made for him. Like a custom job for Vernon Reed. Yeah, that's the story.

For somehow it fell apart, their deal um i don't know the ins and outs of how that fell apart but he was stuck with the guitar and and i and i met him and i was a fan of um uh kind of what he was doing because he was doing all the at that point modern guitar kind of you know like the the whammy bar could go much further than whammy bars would hysterically i was gonna say hysterically historically and um and i forget they were single coil pickups but they were i forget there was something uh peculiar about the design of the pickups and and the neck and it was you know it was more of like a Joe Satriani-looking kind of thing at that time. Right.

And I used it. I used it in the studio for many years. It's not really much of a payoff to the story, but he was very excited, Martin, that I would buy it and save his ass, basically, for when he was out because of however it ended up not. Well, I think it's a neat story that you know a custom-made guitar for vernon reed is in your possession you still own this guitar i don't no no the um that's

another story i um but i mean it's not really an interesting story but i don't have that guitar anymore but uh yeah it was great it was a great guitar the way the story we need to rewrite the story so it ends with vernon reed reaching out to you and saying i made a huge mistake bob name your price i need to buy that guitar from you uh that's for me that's how we need to end this story no no the story ends with me losing that guitar but oh that's i i'll leave it i'll leave it mysteriously so you uh yeah okay you lost it leaving this i find you to be i've lost some stuff over the years i i have there's a guitar that i i have no idea who has it there was a nine string framus that was awesome uh just like the uh just the the high three strings were doubled like a 12 string but the low strings weren't and this was a very cool

wackadoodle guitar um that i used for uh in the studio you know what if you if you get into recording you want to gather different kinds of types of sounds for different kinds of tricks and experimentation and it was a beauty and yeah I sometimes if you have too much stuff you have too much stuff and you lend things or you let people borrow stuff or whatever and you don't really care it's a friend of yours or whatever and before you know it you've totally forgotten about something in one day it's like oh where's that and you start asking other people nobody knows did i lend you my yeah you know there was a story in the news uh maybe three years ago that garth hudson had a storage locker somewhere and hadn't paid and

they were going through the stuff and there was a check for 30 grand or some of some things that you know they just like was some royalty check they told that as though they were making fun of him for not knowing stuff but i part of me felt like right i i know what it's like to be that dumb and so all right so that's the vernon reed guitar story we're gonna we gotta fix that ending but uh what i'm hoping you'll spend a moment doing now is remembering your friend mendelssohn joe we lost mendelsohn joe recently and i did watch on on youtube i watched the uh memorial and uh you do the you do the intro before you pass the baton to fotm james b so i want you if you don't mind spending a moment telling me about your relationship with mendelsohn joe but i do also need to tell you bob that, that you're now an FOTM. That means Friend of Toronto Mic'd. Welcome to this exclusive club.

Thanks. I knew Joe. Joe was one of my best friends. So yeah, he died in February of this year. And it was nice to, a lot of people needed that memorial. I'm actually going to visit his wife later this week. They live in Huntsville. And sorry, what was your question? I'm actually, yeah, there's nothing specific here. Tell me, I know

you were close and we lost anything. He was a real in a way he was like a patron um he or or like an old or like kind of a fantastic uncle um he was really interested in the things that i did and supported them i produced a lot of people over the years and and often people that interest me interest me first for their talent and a lot of people that are talented aren't necessarily wealthy or connected to the kind of uh luxurious

parts of whatever financial parts there are of the music industry and and i i kind of don't care if people really blow my mind uh that they're broke if i have the equipment if i've got the time i i i joe would had a similar kind of aesthetic and was very excited about the things that excited me too and many times out of the blue would ask if i needed help if he could if the people i was working with were were fans of art and if they were fans of his art he and his paintings sold for he would his prices were were high and at least from my point of view you know thousands of dollars and and he would offer recording studios or or engineers um or or guest artists uh some of his artwork in exchange for their participation in a project that i was doing that didn't benefit him as much as

he would like to benefit me it was was an awesome, beautiful thing about him. And a few times people took us up on that and it helped be the catalyst for completing certain projects for certain people. Well, I'm very sorry for your loss, Bob. Sure. I actually often remark on this show that I wish I had Joe on my podcast. I would love to have collected some of his stories and had a chance to chat up Mendelssohn Joe.

But I think by the time I got this going, he had left the city. And it just didn't happen. Well, you could talk to Karen if you want. That's his wife. And she's an art dealer in Huntsville. She is a interesting approachable person just you know oh yeah no good that's a yeah i am very interested of course on that note the reason i'm chatting with you right now is uh fotm blair packham passed on your contact

info so i want to shout out blair and if you have a moment uh blair a good? Give me the scoop on Blair. Blair is a good guy, yeah. I don't have much of a scoop on Blair. I mean, I know the band that he was in when I moved to Toronto. I moved to Toronto, or at least I... When did you move to Toronto? In 82. Okay. And I mean, I remember hearing of the band he had,

was called The Jitters. Of course. And I think I heard about them soon into Toronto. My older brother was friendlier with Blair, Ronnie. And he played with Robert Priest too then. But I didn't know The Jitters very well. And I remember they had a video, Last of the Red Hot Lovers.

Last of the Red Hot Fools. Oh, sorry. I can sing it for you, because it's catchy as heck. Yeah, go ahead. I've been a fool, played it dumb. Should have played it smart.

Used my head, but not my heart. Must have been crazy playing it hot. I should have played it cool. Now I'm just the last of the Red Hot Fools. Is that the first verse?

I don't know any more than that, really. I'd have to fake the rest of it. Go ahead, make it up. Okay, I shouldn't. Blair, watch out. I've got a new parody version coming. You mentioned the name Robert Priest.

We're not going in chronological order here. But I wanted to, in fact, this might be a chance. If you wanted to, you could stick on those headphones. If you want to hear what I'm listening to, that's up to you, Bob. Robert was over here a few weeks ago yeah can i request you play a bit of another one from that record sure i yeah i can move it to you scarborough okay uh of course i take requests here of course of course it's an amazing song i mean they're all they all are but um i mean since you're a Toronto, you're called Toronto Mike,

like check out the song that I don't want to go to Scarborough. It's amazing. Let me get this fixed here for us here. Here we go. It's a long bike ride, that's why. There were things we did on the beach by the fire When we thought we were thugs We thought the world would be swallowed entire If we did enough drugs But I was too young and I didn't quite fit So I had a lot to prove and now I've got to live with it

I don't wanna go, it's got me wrong I don't wanna go Robert Priest, great guy, great chat with him. We covered lots of ground. But tell me, I know the answer, but tell me what your involvement is with this jam we're listening to from Robert Priest. I produced that record. And one of the fun things on that record, and you asked me about Blair Packham seconds ago,

Blair teaches, I think, songwriting at Seneca College. And I'm involved in teaching songwriting too in different places. And so a bunch of my students are singing the background vocals on this record too. Wow. And it is really wow. Because they have beautiful, interesting voices. And they're not, and they don't usually sing on things that he's doing. And I just love the marriage of it all.

Also, I mean, for time you faded it out, but the drumming becomes so amazing in this song. It's a guy named Mark Hundovad, and he does this really cool thing in the outro. And as much as while he was doing it, I was enjoying it because he's like this really kind of super brilliant drummer to me. He pointed out to me that it was a Ginger Baker thing.

And that just added another layer of excitement for me every time I hear it. If you know who Ginger Baker was. Of course. Really? Cream? Yeah, that's right. And there's a great film that came out in like 10 years ago called Beware of Mr. Baker. He died since.

And the film is brilliant. You can see it online. It's on Vimeo for free now. It used to be on Netflix perhaps and he's doing this unreal kind of complex thing with his kick drum pattern in the outro of I Don't Want to Go Scarborough.

Okay, I'm going to turn it up. I still have it going here. Yeah. Yeah, just let this play out. Good, great, thanks. No, I aimed, please, you know that. Come on, great, thanks Please, you know that Come on Bob, please You can shout out requests anytime you want here But I'm going to play something Older

That I know you also produce Because it's for a band that I quite love And we play often on this program But let me play this Particular version So the version matters here everybody I quite love and we play often on this program, but let me play this particular version. So the version matters here, everybody. I'm going to jog your memory on this one. Your hips are swaying And your eyes are saying

That you need two gamblers For this game you're playing And I might want you But I don't need you And you won't sleep in my bed No, you won't sleep in my bed No, you won't sleep in my bed No, you won't sleep in my bed anymore

Soon like a dead end And just so you know, Bob, I actually don't want to fade down any of these songs. I'm fading down simply because I need more of your stories. Yeah, so this is the version from the New Music Search CD, the CFNY New Music Search. They should have won it.

Yeah, I know. Everybody knows they should have won it. It was almost like a political thing that they didn't give it to them. So why did it? Because Head won, right? This is Noah Mintz's band, Head. Two H's, everybody. And Canning's in that, too.

But I've had Noah Mintz in the show. We've talked about it. Happy. That was Happy, which actually I like happy from head for what it's worth but gamble should have won you produced this song for lowest of the low like how did you hook up with them and how did you end up producing this version of gamble i don't remember i think they just called me and asked me probably um your phone rings it's like it's ron hawkins and you're like romping ron hawkins you're like, no, the low is Ron Hawkins. Well, I knew them. And, you know, it wasn't a great session.

I wasn't very confident. And they were all kind of, you know, on fire. I liked them. I admired them. But, you know, Ron, yeah, there are a lot of things i didn't yet know how to do and i and i didn't let that stop me i was excited but i didn't feel like i could uh i i didn't feel like i could i i still was learning things and i learned many more things subsequently and i didn't feel i didn I don't think, telling them.

You know, at a certain point, producing records, you start to kind of challenge your taste and it becomes about doing the things that I want to do as a musician. And in the earlier days, I think I was more interested in trying to make sure everyone was happy which is still valuable and significant and important but um i didn't know how to i don't think i felt comfortable telling them standing by the different things that i wanted to get done and we still got it done it's fine it was good but i i don't feel like I really inspired everyone

or controlled things in ways to achieve. Maybe it was just the two songs. There was another song, Motel 6, I think, on that. Maybe I was only hired to do those two songs. And I think L. Stu Young, who would be an interesting person for you to interview, was the engineer who's an awesome artist to work with he won the juno for working with prince and and and i and i've worked with stew he stews one of those people that took artwork from mendelssohn joe to uh complete some

some projects for me in in past years but uh like the first time i met ron would have been a year or two prior to working with Lowest of the Low. What a great voice he has. And it's really interesting that time and place, his tonality and his, I mean, everything about him. It's really encapsulated right there as soon as that vocal starts. And he's a very beautiful guy and he's a great guy. But he also had, it could be my imagination, but he had a certain kind of chip on his shoulder meeting him as a young person. And I don't think I relaxed enough

into my own musical fantasies. I mean, yeah, it's hard to rewind the tape and remember everything so clearly. But yeah, I remember the first time i met ron too he was i mean the first time i met him you know he told me it's great to fuck to my record uh to my first record and it was like it was kind of like a odd thing to say you know i kind of didn't you know i kind of i i i know compliment i know a bit about being blunt as well and i kind of thought okay yeah yeah it's okay awesome but i mean he was also kind of like i think by saying that to me the way he did he was like kind of telling me about

who he is and how he how he is in the world and i don't think i was able to really uh uh i don't know hang out let my hair down with those guys exactly during those sessions and I also still was I don't think they really needed

or wanted someone who's still trying to find their way maybe at that time too but here it's interesting in hindsight now hindsight's 20-20 Bob but when you think about

where that was in the history of Los Alos because they're coming off of their very successful injury release Shakespeare in My Butt so that's all over speaking of CFNY that's all over CFNY what a huge album but the next album they produce Don Smith is the producer uh-huh horrible experience they I don't know who he is but at that time I was into the Pixies and that's a big part of what I wanted to do out of that song. Those kind of sounds is what I was wanting to get,

and I kind of felt like it had some of that color. But it is interesting, because you're producing that, and I thought, that sounds great to me, but then the producer they go with for their second album, Hallucigenia, it's, in their words, they've been on this program very open about it, horrific experience where they hate that album, they hate the production on it they hated working with the the late don smith so it's interesting to look hindsight that uh if bob wiseman had produced a lucigenia what would

that alternative history look like well i i don't know i don't know but i mean i think i think i've told you enough stuff to understand the kind of the people in the place of the time and the chemistry. And so, I mean, what I'm trying to say is it didn't feel like it was very relaxed and cool and it made me uncomfortable and I didn't feel comfortable. You know, so maybe it said something about the energy between those guys at that time and place, too. you know so maybe it said something about the energy between those guys at that time and place too so maybe it was inevitable that they would have that experience with someone like don smith because they were all still just trying to you know figure out life too and right and they were all there was a lot of testosterone you know like and not necessarily testosterone that was uh friendly i don't mean to say that we were like fighting because we weren't at all but i mean i

just meant there's a certain kind of guys can be really competitive kind of thing, you know? And I think I didn't know how to kind of stand by some of my aesthetic. I mean, it didn't matter, but I just knew personally that I couldn't really, you know, I achieved a lot of other things with people

where I just felt comfortable to speak my mind. And maybe it's me. Maybe it's me that I just hadn't figured out yet how to talk that talk. Or maybe it was just the chemistry. I don't know. I mean, it's not like it was a bitter experience, but I kind of, but I would have loved to have done a whole record. And I kind of, yeah, I didn't feel like I could really talk

and explain what I, how to get to where I wanted to take it. Okay. Yeah. No, fair enough. Thank you for sharing that. Now I'm going to take you back a little earlier because, of course, you're in Winnipeg, but then you come to Toronto in 1982.

In 1984, you joined Blue Rodeo. How do you end up, like, give me, like, help me go from, so what brings you to Toronto and how do you end up joining Blue Rodeo in 1984? They were just friends with my brother, that's all. And I moved to Toronto to study music. Okay. You know, around the same time of the Lowe's thing,

I produced Ron Sexsmith around that time too. And that was like, and there with Ron, I was able to control everything and do everything that I wanted to do. And it was really, it was super stimulating for me, you know, because I'm a big fan of open stages. That's a big part of everything for me in life. And I met Ron at an open stage that was a shitty open stage.

And I ended up saying to him, hey, you should come to this one instead. And he came and met me there and we became friends. And he became a really, a very much savored performer at Fat Albert's, which was in the basement of a church at Bloor and Turon. It was started as an outreach to the hippies across the street at Rochdale. Right. Yeah. And Ron had no money, and he was a courier downtown,

and he had gotten married young and had a baby young, and he's only one or two years younger than me, and I kind of felt sorry for him. He was a courier downtown, and I thought he was good, and I just was like, here, let me help make a record for you. And it was really great. Point, just throw those on for a second. Oh, yes.

Let me hear something. Point, just throw those on for a second. Oh, yes. We'll hear something. Oh, this is from Grand Opera League. Yep. Good for you. Speaking with the angels. Yeah, keep it on.

Don't you know anything? Leave him alone. Leave him alone, let him be Because he's speaking with the angel Speaking with the angel That only he can see and say Would you teach him about heaven? Would you show him how to love the earth?

Would you poison him with prejudice from the moment of his birth Gorgeous song. And Ron's amazing. He's been on the program. I love the guy. I've told him that.

Yeah, good, good, good. Your story with Ron Sexsmith is a key chapter in the Bob Wiseman history. It was so much fun making that. You know, you're a fan of Joni Mitchell, right? Yeah, absolutely. So I made that in a house, in a studio in someone's house on Concord Street,

like just up the street from where Longham and Quaid is, at Bloor and Ossington. And the guy who had that house, his name was Jay Blair. And he's an odd duck, as they say in life. I mean, perhaps, I don't know him anymore. He might be totally not such an odd duck, or he might be otter. That's an interesting pun.

But anyways, Jay was... Very good, otter. Just got it. I had a little delay there. Pardon me. He was in this other room with his friends or whatever, whenever I would be buying time to work in the part of his house where he had the recording equipment.

And one of his pals that was hanging out there all the time was, I forget her name, but Joni Mitchell's daughter. Prior to her knowing that Joni Mitchell was her mother. Right. Of course, yes, of course, wow it was really, I remember seeing her other people were like, hi, how are you doing and then we would go to work and what not, it was very funny

like years later to hear that story and realize, oh, somehow like, maybe it was Jay who told me Kilaran, I think is her name so but, yeah in fact, Jay was like a real kind of major pothead. So I recall that any, I didn't always, he had like, I think conspiracy theories galore.

So I named the studio in the liner notes, Jay's Space Station. Love it. Okay. So shout out to Ron Sexsmith if you're listening. When I heard that song, sorry. Yeah, please. love it okay so shout out to ron sexsmith if you're listening uh when i heard that song sorry yeah like just like i i know you interviewed robert and he told you that his song 10 civilians is why i produced his record right which is which is true because it blew me away like the whole point of that song by robert priest that for every soldier we mourn 10 10 people that aren't soldiers were killed and it was like oh i just i really thought that was brilliant ron when i heard

speaking with the angels really that really blew my mind i i also misunderstood and that's fine it's totally just it's just as good as it is because he's talking about his son you know he's talking about an infant that he's speaking with the angels but for me personally when i first heard it the story that i assumed it was about was about someone who was like mentally handicapped, who was being kind of bullied or whatever. And people don't understand the legitimate kind of capacity they have to appreciate where they are and their connection to life and their position. And I thought, wow, that's genius. And which is a genius idea. They're both great,

but it's interesting listening to it back here now and thinking about that. And I don't know if the cello was Ron's drummer, Don Kerr, or if it was Ann Bourne. I think it was Ann Bourne, actually, who is an old friend that I went to music school with. Cool, cool. Now, I just,

we're not going to dwell on Blue Rodeo too much here. If people want to hear more Blue Rodeo chat, there's a long chat I had with Jim Cuddy at the Woodshed, and people can find that in the Toronto Mic Archives and get all the Blue Rodeo they want. But you just, you knew the guys, they needed a keyboardist. What was the deal?

They were looking for a keyboardist? No, no, no. Well, I guess. I mean, that's just how the band formed. I mean, Greg and Jim were both waiters in New York in the early 80s. And so was my brother. And Jim and my brother worked in the same restaurant. I forget the name of it. So when they had a band called The Hi-Fis, and then they had a band called Fly to France.

And then they, I think, packed to france and then uh they i think packed it in and decided to move back to toronto and and the house that i lived in in toronto i i just took it over that my brother was renting and he just when i moved to toronto he moved to new york and so uh you know he just said you could can or maybe he just asked if i would take it over so i had that house and i had different roommates there when I was at music school. And later I worked in social services. And so he just announced at one point to me, like the way older siblings might announce to a younger sibling that this guy is coming and you've got, you've got to like, let him stay there. And that was Greg. And so, uh,

you know, they were like 10 years older than me and it was really fun. And I, and being an outsider to Toronto, they, I had a piano in the house and they, I think, you know, I think Greg heard me playing the piano and I think he just made like a note to self that like once they had the other stuff, they were going to ask me to play with them. Um, and I didn't know that. And, and, you know, we were friendly and then they got a drummer and a bass player and then they asked me to come come play and i uh and i remember my way i remember thinking in the car in greg's car on my way to the first rehearsal because i had an organ that i had bought when i was a teenager

which is the organ i used later in blue rodeo um and for like a hundred dollars at long mcgrane winnipeg well i i remember thinking because, because I was studying more freely improvised music that's not necessarily with a tonal center. So if you're playing in the key of G, I might play in G, but I also might play in G sharp, which isn't what you do if you're in the key of G. And I remember thinking,

even though, I remember thinking that, oh shit, the way I play might not make any sense to these guys. I might actually not be any good at doing this thing that I've never done before, playing a rock band. But no, they loved it immediately and

it just kind of outgrew its clothes over and over again during those first months and years. And what's it like when try breaks in this country and suddenly Blue Rodeo are going concerned? Are you ready to be in a what's it like rock band like is this oh everybody is i mean who isn't ready to be in a big rock band

and especially when you're in your 20s it's like yeah right exactly this is what this is supposed to happen this yeah sure no it's really an incredible privilege you know suddenly like the whole thing like it every level of it becoming bigger was an amazing experience of uh of privilege and uh but that begs the question bob like in 1992 with blue rodeo still at the height of their powers uh you quit yeah so who i mean i'm obviously you're the answer is you but but who who quits a successful rock band? Why, I guess, is the biggest question. It wasn't fun.

I mean, it wasn't fun. They didn't want to divide the money in a way that was even anymore. I mean, it was like about us dividing everything evenly and being friends. And it just became about being, I think, for them, business people. And it just felt like,

it's like, oh, so I'm and it just felt like, it's like, oh, so I'm supposed to just like. Does it start to feel like a job? Like, does it start to feel more, like less like an, like art,

artistic expression and more like a job? Uh-huh. Okay. Yes. Okay. I only have one Blue Rodeo song loaded up, but I'm just going to play it in the background

while I ask you a great question from Kevin Gluh. And I want to ask you more about that organ. And then I have, again, we're going to cook here. We're cooking with gas, Bob, because I'm going to compress three hours into one hour, which I can do this. Okay. So here is the one song I thought of from Blue Rodeo

when I heard you were coming over. What's this one called? This is called Diamond Mine. Have you heard of it, Bob? Please. I will say, during the pandemic, Mike Boguski came over and played this on his keyboard in my backyard, and it was at a time when we couldn't see live music, and this beautiful sound

filled the air, and my neighbors were like, wow! And it was really cool. So shout out to Mike Boguski, who went to my high school. Yeah, I remember that. Hey, the party's over But like a drunken fool I never know when to leave It's just that in the eyes of this builder You mean everything to me I also love that this is like eight plus minutes.

Okay, I love it. Okay, now, if you said to me, Mike, what's your favorite Blue Rodeo song? My answer is Diamond Mine. That's no joke. This is actually my favorite Blue Rodeo song. But my question from Kevin Glue. Kevin Glue, if you're a Blue Jay fan,

Kevin Glue is a good follow on Twitter. He writes, just a comment about Bob. His masterful keyboard skills are what make Diamond Mine the best Blue Rodeo album, in my opinion. That's one of the only albums I listen to from absolute start to finish. And every time I hear it, I hear something new to marvel at. What can you share with Kevin at what can you share with Kevin

what can you share with me Bob about um the song the album Diamond Mine and is this that uh organ you picked up for 100 bucks in Winnipeg no it's actually uh yeah it is and it's also there's two keyboards that I play on that uh song um the other one is also um a cheap thing, like a two-octave Casio keyboard that people probably would have gotten at Radio Shack back in the day. I think that's fascinating to me, because I'm not a musician like yourself, but to hear you can make this kind of

beautiful music without spending huge bucks. Well, that's actually, that's sort of why I... Yeah, you're right. Well, that's actually, that's sort of why I, yeah, you're right. You're right. Yeah.

Well, I mean, it's about musicality, right? So, and maybe it's part of being a pianist that you don't travel with your piano and you adjust to whatever you get everywhere you go, which includes, you know, things that have notes that are missing or that are not in tune precisely. But you said earlier you went to the same high school as Mike. Which one was it? Yes, Michael Power High School here in Etobicoke. Oh, yeah?

But before it moved. Now, Mike's a bit younger than me, so he might have moved with it. But I was the last graduating class from the original location, and then they moved it near Centennial Park here in Etobicoke. I see. So you got Boguski, and you got Cynthia Dale, and you got Brendan Shanahan, shouting out some of the more famous people who went to my high school.

But I was friendly with Mike's brother, Mark Boguski, who was obviously my age. But yeah, Mike Boguski, good guy. So it wasn't fun anymore. So you left Blue Rodeo. And how's your relationship like with the guys? from the rodeo yeah i don't have one i mean i it just wasn't i went on to just do other things i don't you know i don't i mean uh yeah i mean yeah okay well let's move on because i have a again gonna compress a lot of stuff here but here's a song i wanted to play for you call Caller, go ahead. Yeah, I'm here with my girlfriend.

Hi. Do you want us to turn our radios down? We already did. Yeah. Okay, listen, will you play our song for us? Um, well, what is your song? In a gala de vida. Love, love, the supper we belong.

What? What is your love song? It's, uh... It's, um... These are the days I know, I know These are the days I know These are the days I know, I know It's, um... I know, I know, these are the Daves I know. These are the Daves I know, I know, these are the Daves I know. Dave Gore, I've known since I was six. Ingraded, he broke his leg, so we got drunk and sick. These are the Daves I know, I know, these are the Daves I know.

These are the Daves I know, I know, these are the Daves I know. Some of them are Davids, but most of us are Daves. They all have their own hands, but they come from different moms. Love this song, love Kids in the Hall, love Bruce McCullough. How did you end up on this? You know, I just finished playing on a record that Scott Thompson is making. I'm sorry, I wish I... It's not out yet, but it would have been nice to kind of bookend this for you, to bring that along. It's because it's sounding out yet, but it would have been nice to kind of bookend this for you to bring that along. It's because it's sounding really great, what Scott's doing.

And the woman on that record that I produced for Bruce that was on Atlantic Records, that was his girlfriend at the time. Her name was Tamara Gorski. Or no, I think she pronounces it like Tamada, like that Tamada Gorski. So not to bury the lead here, but you produced this album for Bruce.

Yeah, it's called Shame-Based Man. Yeah, it was awesome. And Terriers is on this too? I'm trying to think of the much music hits. I don't know, was that a hit? The Doors thing, song is on there? The Terriers in this one got lots of much music. Did it?

Yeah, Airplane, yeah. Yeah. Love it. 40 Housewives, the one in the airport where this guy has an affair with another guy and and the actor is like a famous older toronto jazz singer who died in recent years um uh i can't think of his last name don anyways uh yeah it was really quite a pleasure that was my my band uh we did were the a lot of the other musicians well there's a lot of different people that i knew it was really fun oops sorry that's

okay is that uh bruce is that scott by any chance scott would you would you in my ringtone i don't know if this is a crossing the boundary you say so right now bob but would you do it like a like a digital uh sounds dirty digital uh introduction for me and Scott Thompson to get Scott Thompson on Toronto Mike? Sure. I would love Scott. I've had Kevin MacDonald on, but I would love Scott Thompson on the program.

So just throw it out there. Maybe we can play the new Bob Wiseman track. Okay. That's cool. I like, I really do like that album. That's really cool. Yeah, it's a great record.

It was really a fun time. He used to live in the East End. He moved to the States after that. But yeah, he used to live by Withrow Park. And we got together actually. Maybe I missed your question, which was how I ended up doing that. Bruce called me to work with him on some songs for a theater festival that was on at the Tarragon Theater.

And so I went to his place a bunch of times and we wrote a bunch of songs together. And then he just kind of announced at some point that he's going to make a record, that he's got someone that would fund it from Atlantic Records and would I produce it. And I said, yeah, sure, of course. And uh so amazing it's really cool yeah it was really fun very cool and i will say the reboot of the uh kids in the hall and prime is excellent so is it yeah it's really good i haven't seen it yet check that out now i mean a reboot of all the stuff they did on cbc or do you know because you know the uh basically brought back the series for a new season so there's a like a new season of kids in the Hall that's sitting on Amazon Prime.

By new, I mean like in the last four years or something like that. And it's on now. Is that right? Yeah. Well, I mean, on demand, but it's been there. I don't know. I think it dropped during the pandemic. I'm trying to remember.

My timelines are all blurry with this pandemic, but it was like maybe a couple years ago they dropped on Amazon Prime. Very good, though. Very funny. I've been in academia the last five years and I'm kind of live under a rock. I'm just finishing a PhD right now. And I went back to school just prior to COVID and did my master's at York. And now I'm doing this PhD at a place called the International Institute for

Critical Studies in Improvisation. And so I knew Kids in the Hall was doing that, all that stuff, but I hadn't seen any. And when you say it's been on since the pandemic, I feel like, oh, right, I'm really out to lunch with stuff. But it's because I'm just under a mountain of books. Listen, there's worse places to be than under a mountain of books here. So I know you said, and again, you're the boss here.

You said what? I'm again? I didn't you said, and again, you're the boss here, but- You said what, him again? I missed, I didn't hear that word. No, you're the boss. I said, I know you said that you have a one hour here and how hard is that? Only because I have five songs and like I would play them

and just get, talk to you about them. And then other than these five songs and then kind of walking through some more Bob Wiseman through these five songs, I really kind of just want to hear the story of you changing your name to Prince when Prince changed his name to the symbol. So maybe, could I get the Prince story

and then start just playing these five songs and then we might leak over an hour. Like, will you be upset if we leaked over an hour? Well, let me just, I see it's 10 to 2. Let me just make a text. Okay, so let me start this song and we'll do the Prince thing later. Let me start this song.

I might still have to leave. Okay, that's fine. We're separated by our politics We're separated by our alphabets We're separated by our alphabet We're separated by demands for more We're separated by the love of war We're separated, look at how we fight Let's not be separated tonight We're separated by our religion We're separated

by the color of our skin We're separated by a border wall We're separated by anything at all We're separated Look at how we fight Let's not be separated tonight What the astronauts

Suggested Is that We're separated by our Guns and cars We're separated by our Faithful talk We're separated by our Vanity of greed We're separated by our vanity of greed

we're separated by the jealousy we keep we're separated look at how we fight let's not be separated tonight Bob, what did we just listen to?

Um you listened to a guy covering a song of mine called Separated Bob what did we just listen to um you listen to a guy covering a song of mine called Separated um his name is he has different names this guy I think he just prefers to be called Mac and uh and he has uh I think he's worked on

he loves that song I think he's worked on had a version of that going for a long time yeah he's uh I think based's worked on had a version of that going for a long time yeah he's I think based in Dundas, Ontario or Hamilton no I have to leave it too

I'm sorry okay so it's okay I can do this I can do this so check out put on those headphones

for a second here okay please yeah I know what it is so tell us what it is. So tell us what it is. It's We Got Time?

Yeah, it's great. Yeah, well, it's from my first record. Are you going to play anything from my last record? I have more things. I didn't know if you wanted me to spoil it here. But here, if you want me, I can just hear it. I'll bring down We Got Time. I just thought that was a great jam. I never know if you can hear this yeah sure you like it yeah so tell us what we're listening to here

um well you're listening to a song called she only wanted misery it's from a record from 2004 or 2006. And it's a heavy song, for me anyway. It's about a that's from a record called Theme and Variations. It was about my girlfriend and I breaking up. And the songs were all just kind of about different views

of a breakup that did me in basically. Man of Misery is the title, I think. Okay, right. Well, that's like a pun on the chorus, which is She Only Wanted Misery. Well, I'm sorry to hear the heartache there, but it did create some good art, right? She Didn't Only Want Misery, but I mean, that particular part of the breakup in my mind was to put it that way. Yeah, yeah, those things are significant.

I was watching Sleeper recently. Oops, sorry. That's okay. It's my phone. You know what it is? The ringtone? Well, I didn't hear it because I have the headphones on and I got used to doing it there. What was it?

It's just the harps from Wednesday, from She's Leaving Home by the Beatles. I was watching Sleeper a couple of nights ago because I'm planning a show about censorship, a show, a course that I'm teaching about censorship. And I was watching Sleeper by Woody Allen and there's a joke that Diane Keaton makes to him at a certain point. You know the premise of Sleeper?

Do you know the film? You know, I've never seen it. I've seen a lot of Woody Allen, but I haven't seen Sleeper. It's amazing. It's about a guy who had a health food store in the 70s who went into the hospital for an operation and something screwed up. And they put him to sleep, like cryogenically, like put him to sleep for the future.

And he's woken up 200 years later in a totalitarianistic, futuristic government. And Diane Keaton and him hook up at a certain point and she says to him uh what's it like like you haven't had sex in 200 years and he says well if you it's 204 if you include my marriage oh very good sorry it just comes to mind as you're talking talking about growing through relationships and the different and breakups and things like that happen i mean mean, whatever. Yeah, I was damaged and I wrote about it and it's good to write about. That's the great thing about making art, right? Therapeutic, right? Yeah, it heals. Cathartic maybe is the term I'm looking for. You're the academic around here, Bob. Catharsis.

Yeah. Whenever I find that if there's something, you know, chewing at me or something in my life, if I write about it, right, if I write about it, it does feel better. So there's a nice therapeutic quality there. And for you, it's the same thing, right? All right, here's a song of yours, Bob. Here, let me get to this one. Go ahead.

You got one. Go to the Robert J. Kansky one. All right. Stand by. I know because you did send me. Yes. Okay. So I kind of did do my own thing because that's kind of.

Yeah. But I just think it'll be more interesting and it's a quick one for your listeners. Thank you. Pension plans Life mission Julianna Marcina And the Oscars Playing Play the part

Of a prostitute Who wouldn't care hard Let men lie at loose Yeah, I'm on the fly here, but just tell me about the song, if you don't mind here. It's just a song about the guy from Poland who was tasered to death in the Vancouver airport

ten years ago, and I just thought it's short and quick and it's kind of interesting sonically Rashmi Nair who was a CBC news host makes a cameo also in FOTM by the way

cool it's just an interesting piece of ear candy I think. Okay, I like Rashmi very much, actually. Okay, don't worry. Done in five minutes here, Bob. That's my pledge to you.

I'm sorry that I should turn the volume off of that thing. Sorry about that. You're a busy guy. It's good to be busy, right? It's better than the alternative. So there's another gentleman who came over. I mentioned Robert Priest came over recently, and we had a good chat. So I'm going to play a song from another gentleman who came over very recently

and we played some of his music. And here's a song from him. He's a friendly guy. Rich, probably, huh? Thank you. I'm bringing her down because since we only have a couple minutes left, I see I actually have to rattle off some quick questions for you here. But just tell me what you were doing with Friendly Rich. I just produced a record 20 years ago for him. It's called We Need a New F Word.

We Need a New F Word. That's what we're listening to right now. All right. Rapid fire. DJ Dream Doctor says, Ask him if he remembers Ravi and having drinks with me in the late 90s, early 2000s. Time flies. I don't know exactly when that happened, but it did. No, never. I never met a guy named Ravi. Okay, DJ Dream Doctor.

Bob doesn't remember any Ravi drinks. No, I don't have any idea who that could be. The Miserable Curmudgeon writes in, Any comments or remembrances of the late great handsome Ned would be fascinating. That's for you, Bob. Sure. I wrote a song about Ned on one of my records.

It's called In Spite of the Danger, which is because he had a famous song called In Spite of the Danger. But yeah, well, Ned was also an artist. He used to... Yeah, well, Ned was also an artist. He used to... I played at the Cameron for many years with John Oswald, who was a really powerful musician in the kind of style of freely improvised music. And John hosted a jam session

specifically for improvisers on Saturday afternoons for many, many years. And it was called Pool, P-O-O-L. And Ned, you know, I think he lived at the Cameron. And so, and I knew Ned because of Blue Rodeo, but I would see him also when I had like this other identity of being an improviser. And he'd be sitting in the front room when I would be in the back room with these other wacky musicians. And he'd be working often on, or at least I have vivid memories of him

working on bandanas that he was painting or in some ways altering their texture. Right. And I remember having a conversation with him one time where he wanted to tell me about how he was into Wayne Shorter and how his musical world reached into some things that overlapped with my musical world too. There were a few people that I met at that time that took heroin,

and there was a look in their eye that was kind of, there was like a dead fish kind of look to the faces of people that were fucked up from heroin. And it was in Ned's face, too. It wasn't a big shock to hear that he died like that. But he was a very young guy. He was a very nice guy. He had a great hilarious voice and he had a he had a musical partner in a way um

which was the technician that worked with him um uh his name was dave and he'd be and he was called by everyone echo dave yeah and echo dave was a big part of ned's signature um uh just like there was kind of like i don't know if it was oops uh there was a delay or um or echo or echo on ned's voice but it was a big part of the signature ned would make a certain crazy kind of sound from his throat when he sung it was kind of like a sort of weird thing like that and it was you know drenched uh suitably in wetness by whatever uh dave's uh job was do you have time for even one more quick question here go ahead okay robin says regarding uh bob's commentary about selling out on lake michigan soda what does it mean for an artist to sell out in contemporary times integrity and purity were once hallmarks of some artists, but are those, uh, these values

in the age of influencer content, uh, with no separation between art and money? What, what, what would you say to Robin? Who's just wondering, like, what does that mean? Selling out in 2023? Okay. I got confused in the question. Yeah. Well, I got confused too reading it, but, uh, my, my second record was called presented

by Lake Michigan. So I think I'm understanding. I think what they mean by is I made a, it's a joke about the fact that the record is is sponsored by a corporation a fictitious corporation called like that and that actually came from mendelsohn joe i mean i remember calling joe and telling him that i wanted to get a corporate sponsor for my record because that would make no sense at all um because i was getting annoyed with seeing the prevalence of that you know i would buy a record and i would read that so-and-so only uses these drumsticks or whatever and it was like what's going on with musicians that they are doing that and and joe immediately sent me a list of 40 made-up corporate

names and one of them was lake michigan soda which was great because it was so polluted and i just was like yes and he in fact on the record he's the person who he's the president of lake michigan soda when the first song starts. So their question was my thoughts on Scorpio's sponsorship. Yeah, like how has it changed, I guess, since you made that joke? And then in 2023, what does that mean to sell out today? Like any thoughts on it, I suppose,

because now I'm actually going to try to sneak in one more question if you want to riff on that one, because Marcus T wants to know, he says, Bob, I love your music. I was just curious if you had plans to make any of your wonderful albums available on Spotify or if you're not a fan of streaming music. I am a fan of streaming music and two of them are available. The last one, Giulietta Messina at the Oscars crying and the one that you just played a song from Man of Misery.

Maybe you took it because it's on Spotify and that record's called Theme and Variations. There's like, whatever, another 10 and And I'm just busy with other stuff. I have to just put it. It was up in the past, but I used, what was the word? An aggregator, which is unfortunate if you work with an aggregator and you end up being in a position to pay a fee every year. Oh, no. And then I found these other guys through Friendly Rich.

Okay. I'm forgetting their name but uh indie indie indie pool here in toronto and they make it way more inexpensive to get all your stuff up streaming so it'll be up during the next few weeks the rest of the records so i'm gonna do the extra without you because i'll walk you out but do i get the prince story like do i get even if you could do in one sentence i'm sorry there's not much to it i mean basically i was in the kitchen with my girlfriend at the time and when Prince made that announcement and I remember I just suddenly, I turned to her

and I'm like, I'll be Prince, you know, like he's giving it up. And I, I called my manager at the time, Don Christensen. And I, I said to him, Hey, you know, put out a press release. I'll be Prince like, and since it's available. And he was like, I can't do that, Bob, you know, like no one will take me seriously. If you do stuff like that, I don't know what's wrong with you and i'm like don it's funny just like and then he was talking to a friend who was a publicist in the states who worked with blue rodeo who was like a big shot publicist malla amato was her name and she was like she loved but he kind of was like bemoaning to her like uh bob you wouldn't believe what he said now and she was like oh that's great and so she just put it out. And then CNN called me.

Right. And Prince's lawyers sent me a letter that they would beat me up. So whatever. Well, thanks for doing this, Bob. I enjoyed this. Thank you very much. Thank you. I have returned from saying goodbye to Bob Wiseman.

Bob has left the building. He gave me an hour. I took an hour six because that's how I roll. Be grateful, Mr. Wiseman. I didn't take three hours. Bob, of course, like all visitors to Toronto Mike, they get Great Lakes beer, tasty craft beer. You get a Palma pasta lasagna.

Speaking of delicious, I urge everyone listening to save 10% on their tickets for Getting Hip to the Hip. This is a wonderful night for the Downey Wenjack Fund fund and you can get your ticket at gettinghiptothehip.com. Again, the promo code FOTM10. It's September 1st at 7.30 at the rec room. So get your ticket or two and join me there. It's the day after TMLX 13, so do it!

Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of this community, of course, the Moment Lab. You need the Moment Lab, and I'm happy to introduce you to Jared or Matt at the Moment Lab. And RecycleMyElectronics.ca

if you have some old tech, some old electronics, maybe an old Casio keyboard that doesn't function anymore don't throw that in the garbage go to recycle my electronics.ca thank you for your support E-P-R-A and that

brings us to the end of our 1300th show. This is a milestone episode, 1300. Thank you, Bob Wiseman, for being my guest on episode 1300, an enigma wrapped in a riddle. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.

Getting Hip to the Hip is at Getting Hip Pod. Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada. The Moment Lab are at The Moment Lab and Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. Tomorrow, speaking of Ridley Funeral Home, tomorrow I'm dropping the Ridley Funeral Home episode of Toronto Mike, the memorial episode. I hear there is a significant death that sadly we need to discuss in that episode. I hear there is a significant death that sadly we need to discuss in that episode. Just that news breaking before I press record.

Sorry to hear it, but my next guest after the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial episode is with stand-up comic Glenn Foster. See you all then. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today.

And your smile is fine, it's just like mine, it won't go away. Cause everything is rosy and gray.