Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Brian Vollmer from Helix: Toronto Mike'd #988

Episode Date: January 25, 2022

In this episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Helix founder and lead singer Brian Vollmer about the rise of the band, Heavy Metal Love, Rock You, getting mugged working at a Hasty Market, members who have passed, real estate, Bel canto, and being a rock 'n roll survivor. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Patrons like you.

Welcome to episode 988 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. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta.

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prices on cannabis. Guaranteed. Over 100 stores across the country. Learn more at cannacabana.com Joining me this week on Toronto Mic'd is the founder and lead singer of Helix, Brian Vollmer.

You're a living legend, my friend. You're a survivor. Because I know that Helix is about the same age as me, and that means it's pushing 50. So you're a survivor because I know that Helix is about the same age as me, and that means it's pushing 50. So you're a survivor. I'm 66, actually. No, the band. The band's almost 50.

Right. Can you share with us just a little bit about how Helix was formed back in 1974? Helix was formed in 1974 after the Battle of the Bands at the COE, which was the Central Ontario Exhibition. We didn't do well the first time we entered, and then the next year we won it.

We signed with DRAM Agency, so the booking agency out of Waterloo, Ontario, and they sent us out to uh northern ontario which was the birth of fire for bands and usually a lot of guys that quit after that but uh we had a few members um left and then we replaced them and then they sent us out to the maritimes they'd always send us in the middle of winter when the weather was the shittiest. It's brutal out there in the winter. Right. And then if you did well out there, then they'd send you out west.

And our first trip out west, we touched the Pacific Ocean on the same day Mount St. Helens blew up. Wow. And we were in acid. What's that like? You don't know? I can only imagine, actually. No, I don't know. I should know, but

that's bananas. And that original name, right? You were originally the Helix Field Band, right? That's correct. Your manager got us to shorten the name. Which was probably a smart move. No regrets there. Hey, I got a question about a fact that is all over the internet

and I need you to confirm or deny this, but is it true that Michael J. Fox auditioned to be a member of Helix? I don't really know. I know there was someone came out that I should say that we saw an interview once where he was on some talk show like Letterman or whatever. And he said he tried out for Helix and they turned him down. Then he became an actor.

So I don't know if it was us or a band out in Vancouver, because I believe he was from British Columbia. I tried to find out about that, but I could never get through to his management. But we did have Jim Carrey back us up once. Wow. Well, that's almost better. But it's not too late. We've got to confirm this with Michael J.,

because the claim is that he auditioned to replace bassist Keith Zerbrigg, which is amazing. Yeah, that was true. We had auditions up in around Niagara Falls. I wasn't there for a lot of the auditions. And I picked Michael Usilak, and he looked like a real clean-cut kid, and then we found out after he got in the band he was

you know a lot of drugs in fact he told me the first time he did amphetamines he did 28 i said what the hell would you do 28 amphetamines for he goes because the guy that gave him to me told me that's how many you needed to do to get off that was dr feel good That was Dr. Feelgood. Perhaps. All right, tell me this. I know that Helix, of course, famously gets signed to Capitol Records, but you were rejected a few times. How did you finally make that happen for the band? We got rejected more than a few times. We released two albums on our own label, H&S Records.

First album did very well for us, especially in the state of Texas, with a DJ by the name of Joe Anthony out of Kiskemak out of San Antonio. And we did our first ever tour of the United States on that album. And that song still gets played to this day. We played San Antonio, Hellotus,

and we backed up Y&T, Dave Menchete. And then we played Amarillo College and then in Houston and Dallas at the Bijou Clubs, I believe. I think it was just the tenacity of the band and the realization of the record companies that we weren't going to go away. We rose to be the highest paid band of the Canadian bar circuit and they couldn't ignore the band.

We had all sorts of labels come and see us and it came down between Capitol and Aquarius Records managed by Terry Flood and we gave an ultimatum to Aquarius and Capitol. We said, look, either shit or get off the pot because we're releasing this album. We had the album already recorded by that point and Kappa ended up signing us.

And then Dean Cameron, who was the president of Kappa Records, he didn't believe that the record company would put the full force of their power behind the band unless we were assigned to the american label so we got assigned to capital emi out of los angeles we were never ever signed to a canadian label a lot of canadians would probably be surprised when they hear that but we were with capital emi out of la until i think 1989. And then we licensed, actually we switched to Aquarius for a while. And then we licensed albums after that.

Let's fast forward a bit to No Rest for the Wicked because that's got heavy metal love on it. And I still love that jam. I still love that jam. I still love that song. Yes. Any stories you can share about the video and your first taste of success, I suppose, with Heavy Metal Love?

The song was written about Joan Jett. A lot of people don't realize that. We wrote it in a little club in Seaforth, Ontario. On a Friday night, we put it on stage Saturday and it's been on stage with the band ever since. The video was done in Toronto at the Massey Ferguson plant. The girl that was the heavy metal love in the video actually committed suicide a few years later.

She was a bodybuilder. The video went to heavy rotation on MTV, which is unheard of today. And we were playing in the United States at that time and rolling into places like Washington, D.C. and experiencing lineups two blocks long. And we were just blown away, and it was happening very quickly at that point in our career,

so it was hard to absorb it all, but it was a great time for the band, and I have a lot of fond memories of touring on that song and the bands we played. We started off in the United States in Malahatch and Blackfoot, and that tour fell apart after about three days. And then we were put on the Another Perfect Day tour with Motorhead.

In fact, you were just listening to Motorhead at the gym this morning. And that was fantastic. We'll be right back. But I found she's my Heaven and love And the lights go up She can't stand She's my Heaven and love I'm like the Cadeso steel

And the hurt is All I feel Heaven and love She's my Heaven and love Oh yeah Heaven and love Heavy metal love, she's like heavy metal love Oh yeah, heavy metal love, she's like heavy metal love She's like the kind you throw your brain off the bone She's like heavy metal love

She's 13 million punches Lots of fun she's like I like to confess her still That's how hurt and sad I feel Every day I look She's my every day I look Every day I look She's my heavy metal Oh yeah Heavy metal

She's my heavy metal Yeah electric guitar solo Hello, oh yeah Hello, she's my Hello, hello She's my Hello, oh yeah Hello, she's my Hello, oh yeah hot, hot She's a hot, hot, hot, hot Lundy was a great guy.

First time I talked to Lundy was at the Penny Arcade in Rochester, New York. We ended up getting our meals at the bar, and we're sitting there side by side. He turned to me and goes, do you believe in God? And do you believe in God yeah he goes I don't believe in God he's my father was a preacher but money for my first step and he wouldn't give it to me told told the fuck off and you know I don't believe in God then he went on to tell me about being a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, playing with Hawkwind and all sorts of things. And Lemmy was a great guy. He was a, what you see is what you got.

And that's why I think everybody loved him so much. I really felt that when he died, we lost a real original there. Well, Brian, whenever you have a story like that, just share it because I love those stories. And you've been around some legends yourself. With Heavy Metal Love, I'm curious, does Joan Jett know

that that song is about her? I don't know. You'll have to ask her when you interview her, I guess. I'm going to make that my 2022 goal to get. I love Joan Jett. She's still around and she's still rocking out. Oh yeah love Joan Jeff. She's still around and she's still rocking out.

Oh yeah, for sure. She's still kicking ass. So 83, that's when heavy metal love breaks. And then you mentioned it all happens very quickly. It really does because in 1984, Walkin' the Razor's Edge comes out. And I'll tell you

because I'm the same age as your band. And Rock You was everywhere. Give me an R, R, O, G, K, A What you got? Rock! And what you gonna do? Rock you! My hand's a pistol loaded like a gun Ready for action, gotta have my fun

Don't just sit there, come on get up and move If you want to, tell you what we're gonna do Rock you, rock you Rock you, rock you I've been waiting, for so long Gonna play it loud, gonna play it strong Oh don't just sit there Come on, get up and move

If you want to, tell you what we're gonna do Rock you Rock you Rock you Rock you Rock you! Rock you! Rock you! Rock you! Rock you! Rock you!

Rock you! Give me an R! R! O! O! C! C! P! P!

What you got? Rock! And what you gonna do? Rock you! Give me an R! R-O-C-K What you got? Rock!

And what you gonna do? Rock you! Tell me! Rock you Baby, you You're gonna get me down Down Down Down

Down Don't just sit there Come on, get up and move If you want to Tell you what we're gonna do Rock you Rock you, rock you Rock you, rock you Rock you, rock you

Rock you, rock you Rock you Rock you Rock you Rock you Rock you Rock you Rock you Yes, and that song was written by Bob Halligan. I wrote the verses, but I never ever got credit.

We went back to the management. We said we wanted to have credit on the song. They said, look, this is Bob's song. It doesn't matter what the verse is. And take it or leave it. So we knew the song was a hit, so we took the song and swallowed our pride a little bit. But I'm still in great...

I have a great relationship with Barry Bergman, who managed Bob Halligan, and Bob himself, he's a fantastic guy. The song took that album to double platinum eventually. We were in, at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island. Is that where the Nassau Coliseum is? Or Meadowlands? One of the two.

We were playing with Rush. And three concerts here, all 20,000 seaters sold out. And we got the news backstage. We had just gone gold in Canada. And I have it on my Super 8 sound camera. And someone in the background goes, yeah, and in a couple of weeks we're going to go platinum. And we did. Wow. going to go plotting them. And we did. Wow.

We finished off that year. We toured the United States that year with White Snake and Quiet Riot, all 20,000 seat halls. And then we went over to Europe. And I think we did another Motorhead tour across Europe. We actually did several Motorhead tours. Amazing. You mentioned Rush. So I'm just going to jump out of order for a quick moment here because I'm going to play a clip. So bear with me for a minute here, but I'm going to play a clip from Trailer Park Boys

that I think might be a bit relevant. So here, let's listen together. Rush, you're coming to the Metro Center. No way. Yes, sir. That's awesome. Your favorite band. I know. I need you're coming to the Metro Center. No way. Yes, sir, Evo. That's awesome. Your favorite band. I know.

I need you to go down there and get in line and get me a ticket. They're going to sell out, Ricky. This is all the money I have right here. Just enough for one ticket. Okay. Can you do that for me, please? Calm down. It's not like it's Helix or something. Helix was a wicked concert.

Fuck, I sold a lot of dope at that concert. I mean, they had good lyrics. Like, give me an R, O, C, K, and then the crowd yells rock really loud. Now that's a fucking concert. I'm not giving anyone a fucking R. Russians don't do stuff like that. They got these lyrics about how trees are talking to each other, how different sides of your brain works, or outer space bullshit.

Give me a fucking R. Remember closer to the Earth? Remember how good the fucking concert was in 87? It was awesome, man. Remember we kicked out there and I liked the rock? Then we wrecked the dirt and fared. That was fucking wicked. That was fucking 8 for 1, Ricky. That was a good fucking concert.

Ricky. Ricky. Ricky Ricky You're from Rush Yeah, it's Alex Lyson Alex, this is It's Gord Downey This is Alex Hey, play I Like to Rock That's April Wine

Well, play that Diane Sawyer song Just fucking play something That's why you're here. Ricky. What's he doing here? I was bored home for a couple hours in a hotel. I was gonna put a little conch in the box. You kidnapped him, Ricky. It's not kidnapped.

You don't borrow people. It's totally cool, man. We worked it all out. You can't do that. I mean, I could see Ricky stealing some of Rush's equipment or something and trying to make some money off it, but you can't steal one of the members of Rush. You know, I like Rush just as much as the next guy. That song, Gypsy Queen, is fucking awesome. I listen to it all the time. Hey, Brian, what are your thoughts when the Trailer Park Boys

did the Rush versus Helix bit? That was the start of our relationship with those guys. I phoned Mike Klatenberg, who is the director of the show, and I asked him if I could come out and watch him film. I'd never seen a TV show being filmed before, and he said, sure, come on out. And I flew out my own dime.

They picked me up at the airport in a limousine and drove me to the set, and the guys were as excited to meet me as I was to meet them, and we started to have a great relationship with one another I ended up touring with them out in western Canada them and swollen members in 2008 and it was a fantastic tour and then I ended up in Countdown to Liquor Day which was uh mostly the product of of John Dundorth,

who has since passed away. He was Mr. Lahey in the show. But I still stay in contact with Rob, and I actually have a lot of film from that tour that I've promised now for five years to send them. I never seem to get around to it. So maybe with COVID shutting everything down, I'll get a chance uh this spring

to actually get that film out to them but uh they're great guys they just did a promo for my patreon site which is called the golden age of the canadian bar circle they did a little commercial for me they're always there to help me out and take care of me and i i can't say enough about them the greatest guys in the world and they're. And they give a lot of money to charity. And they're down-to-earth people. I don't know what else I can say about that. But I keep touch with them, and they're fantastic people. Great to hear.

And, of course, Bubbles is himself a musician. He came from the band Sandbox, and he plays guitar. In the live show, he plays Liquor and Horrors, which I think is a great song. We used to come up at the end of the night, and we'd play Rock You, and they'd all be up there with us. I got tons of footage of them playing the song on stage with the band. In that clip, Ricky talks about how he sold a lot of weed at a Helix show.

What's your thoughts that here we are in 2022 chatting, and cannabis in this country is 100% legal. Did you ever think you'd see the day? Not really, but I think it's a good thing at first i was a little bit skeptical because i think anything the government lays their hands on it they manage to fuck up it takes uh gambling for instance right gambling's been around since the pharaohs and yet somehow the government gets a hold of uh lotters and stuff and they end up losing money. Explain how that happens.

But here we are now. I think it's a good thing. And one thing that's never discussed is that I think a lot of people that are alcoholics have a problem with booze. Switch over to pot. from being in the bars for almost 50 years now that on a nightly occurrence, you run across violent drinkers. But I've never met a violent pot smoker in my life unless they were fighting over the potato chips. That's right. They get the munchies.

But you never hear that. And I think that's a valid point because people can function on weed where they can't function on booze. No, great point, Brian. Great point. Before we leave, walk in the razor's edge.

And again, I appreciate you making some time for me today because I really relate when Ricky says, you know, like all these guys, everybody's screaming, give me an R. Like, it takes me back to the last time I saw Helix.

Helix, you, Brian, played a park nearby my place called Colonel Samuel Smith Park. This is going back a few years. But that night, I mean, I might have had a couple of Great Lakes beers in me, but I wandered over to the park to see Helix. And I was... You didn't smoke pot. Well, it was a good time. Let's put it that way.

And I was screaming at the top of my lungs with you. And it was a great fucking show. Helix is just a great live band. So I know how Ricky feels. The bars come in. All those years we played in bars, we were honing our craft. And when I went out to interview people for my book and my Patreon site,

once again called The Golden Age of Canadian Bar Circuit, that was a point we touched on many times, how it improved your musicianship, it improved your showmanship, and also you were allowed to mature in a natural way as a person too. A lot of these kids nowadays, they get instant stardom. Maybe they're on a singing show or something like that, and they can't handle it. It's a lot coming at you all at once.

Whereas we had a gradual climb to fame, and so we were able to police ourselves, and maybe if that's the right phrase to use, because when people started to get out of hand, you could pull them back in, rein them back in quickly before they got totally out of hand. But nowadays, it's just bang, it all happens at once, and everybody just freaks out.

And a lot of people, like I said, can't handle it. That's a great point because you were allowed to, you know, improve and iron things out without the spotlight being on you already. It's like you had a chance to put in your reps and improve as a band and figure shit out before everybody was paying attention. I think it makes better music too because there's that old saying, you have to suffer for your art well what does that mean well you have a different perspective on the world

when you're starving to put food on the table than when you're sitting by the swimming pool sipping on a margarita right let's let's say thank you to Jake the Snake okay because Jake the Snake who's a big Tycats fan, by the way,

he hooked us up. I've sang the national anthem at Iverwind Stadium a couple of times. Well, he was probably there in attendance. But later I have a question from Jake. Some listeners of the program have sent in questions for you. But a quick question from me is, like, how do you decide? When you do a cover like how do you decide when you do a cover how do you decide what cover you're going to do i'm asking specifically about

a foot in cold waters uh make me do anything you want which is a great cover on that same uh you know rock you album walk in the razor's edge that you put out in 84 did you just dig the song like how did that how do you decide what covers to record? That particular song I used to sing at practice whenever we got together because I always loved the song and I always loved Alex Macon's voice. That's who sang in that song and we did it. The rule

of thumb with doing cover songs is that you shouldn't touch the song if you can't do a better job. We didn't apply that when we did Make Me Do because I think the original version is great. But other songs, when you do the cover, you want to do them your own way. When I was interviewing Al Harlow from Prism in August,

one of the things he told me was that bands back in 1965, they just didn't do cover songs. If they did do a cover song, it was as an homage to someone that they looked up to, but they always did it their own way. They didn't do the song exactly as you heard it on the radio or record. So that's the rule of thumb for doing a cover song.

You got to like it first off, and secondly, I think you have to to like it first off, and secondly, I think you have to improve on it or make a different version, approach from a different perspective. I mentioned I had some questions from FOTMs. FOTM, by the way, Brian, is a friend of Toronto Mic'd, and you, Brian, are now an FOTM, so welcome to the club. Nice to know.

Chris tweeted at me that Helix was a part of one of the best shows I have ever seen. The rock and roll hurricane show at the C&E with Kick-Ax, Quiet Riot, and the Scorpions in 1984. They were outstanding.

So some nice words from Chris for you. Well, thank you. That was a pivotal show in the band's career, and a lot of fans over the years have brought up that particular show. I think there was like 70,000 people there, so that covers a lot of fans.

We had a lot of great shows back then. We played with Ronnie James Deal, I think at the C&E too. We played with Ronnie James Dio, I think, at the C&E, too. We played Maple Leaf Gardens with Kim Mitchell. I'll never forget that because I'm a big Leaf fan. We played the Forum with Triumph. I remember jogging around the top of the Forum. We also played the Philadelphia Spectrum with Aerosmith.

And as I said before, we played with Rush at the Meadowlands Coliseum and Nassau Coliseum. We played the Salt Palace in Utah with the Whitesnake Quiet Riot. So we played a lot of big venues. We played Wembley Arena with Kiss all across Europe in 1983 on the Lick It Up Tour. A lot of big stadiums on that tour. So we were very lucky.

But the venues I really like are actually the ones around 2500 soft seat because those are the ones where you really get good sound in. But obviously a huge stage is what everyone aspires to if they don't say they don't aspire to their line. What's the best band you've ever played with? There's been a lot, but I love Motorhead. I love Lemmy. It was

a great thrill touring all across Europe with Kiss, but we played with so many people. We played with Meatloaf, who just passed away. Played with him in Denver at the Rainbow Theater. Did several heart tours. Quiet Ryan Whitesnake. We played with Accept and Kiel. And I'm still friends with Ron Kiel.

Just so many. And then all the Canadian acts, of course. The Headpins, Harlequin, Honeymoon Suite, Kick-Ass. Geez, I'm probably leaving people out there. What about Killer Dwarves? You're going to shout out the Dwarves? Yeah. Shout out the Killer Dwarves, yeah.

They're all friends of ours. There's been so many bands. We're easygoing guys, too, so we pretty much get along with anybody, you know what I mean? Love it. I don't think there's anybody I don't like. The only person that I really got in a clash with

was Brian Robertson from Motorhead. I nearly got in a fight with him one day at the House of Guitars in Rochester because he was so fucked up, didn't know what he was doing. I was going to ask you, was it over a woman, or what are these fights about?

We were there early and he showed up drunk. I happened to make the mistake of saying, Hey, having a bad day, Robbo? He grabbed me by the throat. In front of 200 shocked kids. What did you do? Did you have mercy on him? I didn't know what to do.

I was so startled by the whole thing. And then he started going on about some chick. You'd be pissed off too if you found your old lady was screwing around on you. It's always a woman. And then I just stood there. I thought if I hit this guy, that'll be us off the tour. So I just stood there and he eventually let go. I think you made the right call there.

Let's take care of Jake the Snake's question now so I don't forget because he's a good man. He always wondered why the title track from Wild in the Streets was the first single release and was produced by Neil Kernan and not Mike Stone.

Well, we started off with Neil Kernan, and I can't really remember the order of things back then, but we decided that Neil Kernan wasn't the guy for us, and we went on to make one of the biggest mistakes of our career, and that was we had a choice between Mutt Lang and Mike Stone, and we picked Mike Stone. And Mike Stone did a great job, don't get me

wrong, but I think that Mutt Lang might have done an even better job and we recorded three tracks then in Toronto at Phase One and then we completed the album over at Richard Branson's studio The Manor in England

and we were over there for a couple months and it's a story we were over there for a couple of months. And also it's a story about being over there too. Once again, just part of the healing story. And I look back with a lot of fond memories in that time of my life. Amazing. Now let's just talk briefly here about, and I'm trying to kind of understand it all,

but I guess you, you kind of dipped your toes in, I guess you'd call this softcore porn land I guess, with Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' and can you maybe share a little bit

because the question I got specifically was from DJ Dream Doctor and he says, what's the story behind filming the X-rated versions of the Gimme Gimme, Good Lovin' and Rock You videos? It wasn't our idea. It was capital EMI. The first was for the Playboy channel,

which had just come into being at the same time almost as MTV, so they figured it was going to be the next big thing. And so they did two versions. In the case of Rock U, the girls had their tops out the first day, and when we came back the second day to shoot, they'd fired a whole whack of guys that couldn't keep their hands off the girls. So they had to, for continuity's sake, film around the people that weren't there anymore. In the case of Gimme Good Love, and we just kind of showed up in Hollywood, we filmed that

particular video at Francis Ford Coppola's old studio. And while we were filming, there were so many, there was girls from We Magazine, Playboy, Solid Gold Dancers, Hustler. There were so many naked women that Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, and Rip Taylor all came over, and Robin Williams did a skit for my Super 8 sound camera that I still have. He goes, this is for all you Canadians sneaking into the United States, otherwise known as Frostbacks. And you can always tell what religion a woman is by the clothes she wears,

because they were all wearing leather. And God save the Queen, whoever he may be. And Rip Taylor actually appears in the video, right? He's in the video. I'll tell you the truth, Rip Taylor was the in the video, right? He's in the video. I'll tell you the theory. Rip Taylor was the funniest of the three guys. Richard Pryor had just been through his Coke blowing up in his face episode, and so he was really quiet.

He was like, he sounded like Michael Jackson, really. He's going, can somebody please get me a Gillis Elm sign? We had somebody run up to the store, and I'm thinking to myself, come on, Richard, say something funny. Right. Rob Williams is really funny off the cuff, as he always was, impromptu. And Rip Taylor, though, he was hilarious. He invited us all over to his house and was very friendly.

He got in the video, and I don't think they ever got permission to use that clip. They just kind of went with it. You're supposed to get release papers and things like that, but they never did. I told my wife to just walk by, by the way. Oh, hello. Hello, hello. Hi, nice to meet you. And your wife probably is glad that you, in 2022, you probably wouldn't go that route.

I mean, I know there was some controversy because Tracy Lords is there and not quite 18 yet. I think she was 15. We didn't know. We didn't cast anybody for that. Ironically, they pulled every porn video that she ever did, but they never ever pulled that one. Yeah, she was there as Miss Georgia. No getting ideas. No, I'm not going to go Google this one, don't worry.

But looking back on it, probably a heavy dose of misogyny, as was in style at the time for some reason. Well, because sex and rock and roll go together hand in hand. Right. No matter how much you want to say it doesn't, they're lying. That's right. Shout out to Motley Crue. So tell me, I'm curious how you got a song on the Iron Eagle soundtrack.

This is, of course, It's Too Late. That's probably the record company going to bat for us. That song was written by Paul and John Dexter, I believe. And we only did it a couple times on stage. Ironically, we had another song that was written by Brent that was on the second independent album by the same title. Interesting. Yeah, so no confusion there

amongst the Helix fanatics. Lots of confusion. Yeah, you're probably better to give songs unique titles going forward there. I'm curious. Okay, actually, let me address Basement Dweller

because we're welcoming back Basement Dweller to the FOTM community. He's had a rough time during COVID and I just want to let Basement Dweller to the FOTM community. He's had a rough time during COVID and I just want to let Basement Dweller know that we're all here for him and we're thinking about him. And this is a long one, but I'm going to read it because he's a good man.

He says, I'm sure the questions and music are all lined up for the Brian Vollmer episode tomorrow, but if possible, can you ask him about their great sci-fi 1979 jam Billy Oxygen, which

starts off somewhat with a rip-off drum intro from the Sweet's Ballroom Blitz and turns into a song unlike any other in their glorious catalog. Well, first off, I'm not sure if he's accurate there with the drumbeat. I'd have to go check that.

The song was written by Brent Durner and Paul Hackman. We recorded it at Maxim Studios outside of Stratford, and it became a big hit for us on the west coast of the United States and also down in Texas once again with Joe Anthony at KISKAMAC and also at Emerald College with Chris Johnson. We played the song for quite a long time on stage, and then when Brent left the band, we dropped it. Time went on.

We've got 176 songs in our catalog now, so obviously we can't play them all. No, you can't. He also goes on to say that he met you and your drummer Fitz at a Toronto Rocks taping at the Banshell in 1987. He says a young Jeff Healy was also on the show, and it was hosted by the legendary Brad Giffen. So it's always... By the way, Toronto Rocks... Jeff Healy was also on the show, and it was hosted by the legendary Brad Giffen. So it's always, by the way, Toronto Rocks.

Jeff Healy was on that show? That's what Basement Dweller says. Yeah, a young Jeff Healy was there. Wow, that's amazing. We were the last band to play at his club the night he died. Oh, my God. I saved the contract and the ticket from that show. He was great.

I met Jeff Healy once at Lulu's. Okay. So talented. Gone way too soon. But I do bike. I go on these bike rides and I go through Park Lawn Cemetery. That happens to be where Harold Ballard is buried, by the way. But I also see in that cemetery...

I'm not worried about him. Jeff Healy's in that cemetery and I always think about him when I'm riding by, gone way too soon. My memory might be faulty. Absolutely. Now my memory might be faulty here, but Toronto Rocks,

as I remember, I used to tune in to Toronto Rocks and it feels like they played, you know, rock you every week. Like I would, it was a high rotation jam on Toronto Rocks and it feels like they played Rock You every week. It was a high rotation jam on Toronto Rocks. I'm not sure there's any song they played more often than yours. Well, that's nice. You want to comment? Yeah. What's your reaction to that? No. Shout out to Toronto Rocks

here. Okay. So many great questions here, but I want to ask you about what happened to you in, I believe it was in Kitchener. My son happens to be right now living in Waterloo because he's going to university there, so shout out to my son, James. But what happened when you were,

like, give me, what happened when you were mugged? Can you share that story? Life. After my first divorce, I moved to London, and I basically had all my belongings in a suitcase. And rather than go on the dole, because I think my dad would have shot me if I would have been on mall fare, I went to Manpower, and I was working the worst jobs in the world at minimum wage

and I had no vehicle. So in winter hit, I got a job at the Hastie Market, which is right up the entranceway to the apartments I was living in with my buddy Randy. And I was working one night and people used to come in and it was pretty degrading because people would ask me and say hey aren't you the singer for Helix and I'd be in like an apron with my hairnet on right and they'd say I want and I go yeah under my breath and then they'd say well show us prove it show us your driver's license I'm not gonna pull out your driver's license. I'm not going to pull out my driver's license. Are you joking?

Anyway, some guy come in one night and he's giving me a hassle. And we got up to the counter and he paid for whatever he bought. And then I could hear him on the other side going, you fucking asshole or something, right? And so on the way to the door, I give him a shove. He said, there's the freaking door. We turn around, we start scrapping.

And I got him down and i was holding him and suddenly his buddy and girlfriend came in from the cab and they started kicking the living shit out of me and uh he was holding me down on the floor and his girlfriend was kicking me in the head like my head was a football and by this time he'd been fighting so long that he was pretty tired he was trying to somebody used to pile coke bottles up like pyramids yes on the story yeah well he had a 750 liter of coke uh glass bottle and he was trying to to smash it on my face and he was too tired to raise the bottle up and get it up and it was at that moment that the cab driver come in and said look at

either you leave right now i'm calling the cops so they left and they called the cops and i went to emergency got stitched up and then the next week i was back in the store somebody tried to break in i just went straight to the front and i buzzed the cops they came and as i was standing there having a cigarette because because I smoked back then, I'm standing at the front of the store waiting for the cops. I showed up at the canine unit. I'm still in the middle of the winter. And they walked up towards me,

and the German shepherd jumped up and bit me right in the tit. Wow. So my luck wasn't going so good at that period of my life. You know what, though? Good on you for... That makes people stronger, though. Yeah. so my luck wasn't going so good at that period of my life. You know what, though? Good on you for... That makes people stronger, though. Yeah. What people don't realize is that you've got to keep fighting,

you've got to keep in the game and just keep going forward, and eventually things turn around. We're in a bad period in human history right now, but it's all going to be gone. period in human history right now, but it's all going to be gone. To me, that's a great sign of your character that instead of going on welfare, you would work at a hasty market because I'm sure that somewhere inside you is a rock star ego because you've been playing in front of 70,000 people who are just singing along to your songs. because you've been playing in front of 70,000 people who are just singing along to your songs.

So I actually see that as a great moment of maximum respect for you, and it pisses me off that some assholes would look at that as like you were slumming it or somehow that was beneath you, but that's an honest word. A lot of people looked down on me and made nefarious comments and put me down and things like that and said, you know, why don't you just pack it in? And another terrible job I had was working for Bice Construction

and one of 20 people showed up with manpower to take out this place called the Brass Rail. It was an old club in London, famous club actually. And we were working with asbestos and stuff wrapped around the furnace. The next day I was the only one stupid enough to show up. But I used to go down the street to eat at a place called Mary's Lunch. And I'd be black from the dirt in the basement. And I went to eat one day because they had a $5 lasagna special.

And I looked over and here's this tattooed guy. So I walked over and I said, look, if I make a video, will you be in it? And he says, yeah. I said, what's your name? He goes, Snake. His real name was Bill Pulley. And he ended up being in the Running Wild

in the 21st Century video. And we won a video award, or the producer, Phil Cates, did for that particular video. So out of bad things, a lot of times good things will happen. And attitudes everywhere. You've got to keep your head up and keep moving forward. Go ahead. Work is a character builder. And a lot of people look with disdain at work.

I don't even use the term work when I describe what I do. I call it the biggest hobby and most expensive hobby I've ever had. Wow. I mean, I have so many thoughts on that because, again, I think there was a story recently about an NHL player who was working at Tim Hortons and people were kind of bullying him. And my instinct was, that's amazing. Everybody deserves a right to work a job and there's no shame in that game. My thoughts were, what kind of asshole would belittle somebody for an honest day's work? So, hey, Steve Marquette was lucky to have you. Well, a winner, in my opinion, realizes that you get to their goal. If you were to put on a graph your progression towards winning. A loser would have like a straight-up curve,

whereas someone that's a winner realizes that you reach a lot of obstacles in your life. You have down periods, then you go up. Then you have down periods, then you go up. But as long as you're over time going up, eventually you'll get to your goal. And I've always followed that. I had a very good singing coach by the name of Edward Johnson. He used to preach to me about positive thinking. He was a member of the, well, he was a tenor soloist

for Norman Vincent Peale down in New York City. And Norman Vincent Peale wrote The Power of Positive Thinking. And my voice coach was the youngest member ever at the New York City. And Norman Vincent Peale wrote The Power of Positive Thinking. And my voice coach was the youngest member ever at the New York Metropolitan Opera. And he was one of the few Canadians to sing at all three major U.S. opera houses, including Carnegie Hall. And Ed was like a second father to me.

I was with him when he passed away in the hospital. And I learned a lot from him. And he always used to say to me, don't worry about money. When you need money, money will fall out of the sky. And when I recorded the Heavy Mental Christmas album in around 2008, about a year later after Ed had died, I was a couple thousand dollars short for finishing that album and i came home and i picked up the mail at the front door and i went into the kitchen i sat down with my wife and started opening up the mail and i'm telling my wife well you know we need a couple thousand dollars i think i'm gonna have to ask my parents and i was upset about that because

i was about 40 something years old by this time thought, here I am at the age 40. I'm still bumming money off my parents. And the first letter I opened was from Ed's widow, Barb. And she said, Ed really appreciated everything that you did for him, like cleaning out his apartment and things like that. And that's why he'd like to have this check for 2000 bucks. Wow. Wow. And the hair stood up on my arms because he always used to say,

don't worry about money. When you need money, money will fall out of the sky and money fell out of the sky. And I'm sure it was from Ed. Wow. Wow. I love, love that story. But deep inside, like a bullet in a chamber On a one-way ride

But I just wanna find out Do you even care? You're made up for me That I'm still living But it's too late It's time to burn out the fire. Too late. I'm running on a lost desire.

It's too late. Yes, it is. We'll return to Brian from Helix in just a moment. He's making his Toronto Mic'd debut. And this week, Canna Cabana made their Toronto Mic'd debut. What a pleasure having a partnership with Canna Cabana. Canna Cabana was created by and for people who love weed. Love to smoke it, buy it, chat about it, and share it with friends.

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Delicious, authentic Italian food. Stickeru.com. They make the stickers, the Toronto Mike stickers I love to give to guests. They also make the decals that are on the back wall of my studio. Good people. Great value. Ultra safe. Go to stickerU.com.

And last but not least, Great Lakes Brewery. Delicious, fresh craft beer brewed right here in southern Etobicoke. You can find GLB in LCBO stores across this fine province. Much love to the good people at Great Lakes Brewery. Can't wait to get back on their patio this spring. But now, back to Brian Vollmer from Helix.

Now let me just take you back a bit to 1992 because of a tragic story here, of course, but can you tell us a little bit about Paul Hackman? And I know he was killed in a tour bus accident in Vancouver back in 92. I think about Paul every day. He was a great guy.

Everybody loved him. He had an infectious smile. And he was a very unique songwriter. I don't think I realized until after he died but uh he had a very unique way of looking at songs and he was also very tuned into what was happening with other successful bands and he could capture those bands and take what he got out of that music and make it his own. And he's messed up.

But once Paul passed away, I had to go looking for different writers. And it was hard at that time because the band was definitely on the downswing during the 90s with music changing. We were all having midlife crises and all that shit. And it was hard to find people to even write with me. And a lot of people were saying, pack it in. Why are you dragging the band's name through the mud? And then in, I believe it was 2006, I met Gordy Pryor and Steve George of Copopolis.

And we wrote Power of Rock and Roll. And Gord was shopping around, and we got turned down by Sanctuary in California. And then Gord got us a deal over in England with Sanctuary over there. And they not only signed us for the Power of Rock and Roll album, but they also bought, I think, about five or six titles that I'd made, albums for $10,000, $15,000 that people said, ah, why are you doing this? And so I made enough money that I went and bought my first rental unit. Real estate is really where I've made my money now that I'm 66,

and it all started right there. Wow. Okay, so we've got to talk about real estate, particularly one home that I I've been hearing about forever, but quickly before we wrap on the tragic loss of Paul Hackman, you wrote that day is going to come as a tribute to Hackman. That's true. We were sitting around in the basement of a club we were playing in Tonawanda, New York, and there was all these posters on the wall of bands we'd never heard of. And Paul and I were talking about whatever happens to these people.

Do they get straight jobs? Do they go on to other successful bands? Or do they just grow old playing the circuit? And we thought that was a great idea for a song, but it wasn't until after he died that I wrote the song and Mark Ribbler, who I actually just talked to the other day, uh, because he's going to play in two tracks.

We wrote around that same time period. Um, one's called a hungover, but still hanging in. So there'll be the secondix song with the same title right and um but we wrote that song first and just so you know and the other one's called still got that look in your eyes and they were written for the business doing pleasure album that particular album was really never ever supposed to be a helix album but we hadn't written anything for

the helix album at that point of our career when Paul died. And so that material got made into a Helix album, which in retrospect, I think was a mistake, should have been a Vollmer album. And so I'm going to re-release that album on vinyl. We're going to take a few songs off and add a few, perhaps some songs that I wrote with Sean Kelly like Best

Mistake I Never Made which I think is a great song it actually we released at the Country Radio and it did quite well I'm glad you mentioned Sean Kelly because he recently had a high profile article written about him

so Sean if I got this right, Sean was in Helix, and then he left to go play with Nelly Furtado. Is that right? Yes, he was with us briefly. But it was long enough to develop a writing relationship, and we wrote Vagabond Bones, and we wrote Bastard of the Blues together, quite a few other songs. We hit it off really quick.

Just like Gordon, Steve, and I, when we write, we'll turn out four songs in one session. Same thing with Sean. I'll go down to his place in Toronto and we'll sit down and two hours later we've got enough material to work on for the next six months. Well, now that I've mentioned Sean, I just need to shout out Midtown Gord, because Midtown Gord is a big fan of this podcast

and a big fan of Helix, and I know Midtown Gord is listening. But Midtown Gord, in addition to loving Helix, adores Lee Aaron, and I know that Sean Kelly played with Lee Aaron, and Lee Aaron's also an FFL player. He still does. Yeah, he still does, right. So may I ask, because when I with Lee Aaron. Lee Aaron's also an FFL star. Yeah, still does, right.

May I ask, because when I had Lee Aaron on my show, I confirmed that Lee Aaron is a Karen. Lee Aaron was her band's name. Sort of like another act that you toured with, Alice Cooper, right? Just took on the band name. What's Lee like?

She's a great person. She lives out in BC. I don't know what else I can say about that. We play a lot together. Right. We're at the same book in the UNC, which is Canadian Classic Rock, the Bernie Oppen. And so we actually have a show next summer that we're doing at Rock River, I believe it is, in Saskatoon.

Cool. It's us, Lee Aaron, Kim Mitchell, and Little River Band. Wow. It's worth the trip. Worth the trip. Now, I want to get to that real estate. But first, just to address, Jerry the Garbage Man wanted to know if you have any memories, and I can't imagine you wouldn't, but do you have any memories of playing the Mike Bullard show in 2002 because he thought you put on an amazing show?

Well, I don't know if I would have worn that hat again. It looked like the rug out of a 65 Corvette or something. I remember they let us drink in the green room, which was probably a big mistake. I had a double Ryan Coke in my glass when I was sitting with Mike Bullard talking to him on the show, and I remember when it went to commercial break,

he went, what the hell are you drinking in that? I give him a sip, and he goes, oh, my God. And that's one memory I had of that show. I could say that if you remember that show, you weren't there. All right, let's talk about this. Let's talk about Planet Helix just for a moment. First, I'll read the question from Dan Jeffrey. Dan Jeffrey writes,

I used to deliver to him 20 or so years ago on my courier run. He had an awesome house in East London, sold it not too long ago. So please tell me, is this Planet Helix? That was Planet Helix. That's correct. And I mean, Planet Helix, which I've been, you know, I've been hearing the legend of Planet Helix.

So it was featured on MTV Cribs, right? That's correct. They came to the house and spent a whole day shooting. So tell me what you can about Planet Helix, and why'd you sell it, just for the money? It came a lot to upkeep the money, too. It needed a lot to upkeep the money too. It needed a lot of repairs. The people that bought it, I think, just spent a lot of money on it.

I only lived next door. I had another place I owned right next door, so I just moved in there, a smaller place. Linda and I were downsizing, but the house itself, it was born out of convenience because at that time in my life, we had very little money linda and i i couldn't get enough work if i could have worked seven days a week at that point in my life i probably would have and so i noticed a lot of people in the neighborhood in east london were throwing out these architectural antiques and and I thought they were beautiful. Gingerbreading and you name it, baseboard and all sorts of things. So I used to drag it home, and I'd clean it up,

and I'd incorporate it into the house. And I had a worker who was an ex-store neighbor, and he'd come over Saturday morning, and, you know, we'd have a drink and smoke a joint and go nuts and just get creative and work all this stuff into the house eventually we renovated the whole house and it ended up just being talked about and even on tours we noticed in the paper one day we're opening up and they had one of these

mystery tours and it ended at our house. Planet Helix. The legend was born. Amazing. Very cool. And you mentioned Linda a few times now. We saw her briefly there but Linda, big asset, right? I want to make sure you heard that right. Big asset

helping you out with the business that is, you that is Helix. Don't say my wife is a big ass. Come on. You've got to be careful when you tell someone they're a big asset. Linda worked at the Hard Rock Cafe. We're both rock and roll people. I don't think that too many people could live with me and vice versa.

It's a very unique lifestyle, but it's also a lifestyle with benefits. A lot of times you don't make money, but the trade-off is the people you meet, the places you go, the experiences. And that's what life's all about, in my opinion, more so than money. Amazing. Although it's been a lucrative career for me now that I'm older and I'm 66 years old. Eventually, you do run into music money if you stay with it long enough. Oh, I'm sure that the nostalgia, I think we had to wait a little bit maybe for like, I would call it,

and please don't take offense to this but for 80s nostalgia to sort of really sink in like once once it grabs you it holds on tight somebody sent me a email yesterday that said that 75 of all music sold nowadays is old music only 25 of it is new stuff i don't think it's because there isn't any good new music around because there's lots of bands. Danko Jones, Monster Truck, all sorts of bands that are great bands. The Darkness from Europe.

You just got to look for them. Right. And I think we're all yearning for that. When we were a teenager watching Toronto Rocks and then the Rock You video would come on. We just like that feeling. think we're all yearning for that you know when we were a teenager watching uh toronto rocks and then the rocky video would come on like we just like that feeling and you were limited with entertainment at that point of history though too right back when we started tv went off the air 11 12 o'clock there wasn't video video games. There wasn't cell phones.

There wasn't computers. So the only place you really could go to get entertained at night was to go to a bar. Nowadays, there's so many more forms of entertainment. I think that's really hurt the bar scene. Back in 1975, another contributing factor, the explosion of the bar scene too,

which many people overlooked, was the fact that almost right across the country, they lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18. And so in 1965, for instance, bands would play one-nighters, high schools, universities, colleges, dance halls, roller rinks, and they were unlicensed. They were more like concerts are nowadays, only on a smaller scale. dance halls, roller rinks, and they were unlicensed. They were more like concerts are nowadays, only on a smaller scale. And then when bars came in, the whole facade of music changed because bands were going into bars, flanking glasses, alcohol, smoky,

and it changed the sound of music as well. Good point. Do you remember? That's what my Patreon site is about, people. Well, remind us again here. Just remind us again how we can support you on Patreon. It's patreon.com forward slash the golden age of the Canadian bar circuit. The golden age of the Canadian bar circuit.

You'll find it and support Brian. Just really, we're almost done here, Brian. You've been doing amazing here. We talked about, of course, the Paul Hackman passing away suddenly in 1992 from that accident. And I mentioned off the top that you are the constant. So for almost 50 years, you're that one constant in Helix. But I just want to recognize that in 2019, Ron Watson passed away, and in 2021, you lost Don Simmons.

Yes. Both were friends of mine. Ron I saw about a month before, well, actually a couple months before he died. He came out to see us. It was the night that I thought Fritz was going to die from his fall off the ladder. And we were playing at Maxwell's,

which is a showcase club in Kitchener, or is it Waterloo, Ontario? They're twin cities, one or the other. And Ron had come out early. I had gotten in contact with him. We went over to the Tim Hortons next door, and we sat down. We had a nice conversation with each other, and he'd been through a lot by this point.

They removed part of his spine because of the disease he had, and he was still smiling, laughing, up spirits, and he had a great time that night. And I'm so happy that I reconnected because I hadn't seen him for like 15, 20 years before that. And it was nice to reconnect with Ron and to see him before he passed away. And he was a real strong person.

Don I didn't see very regularly. I saw Don when we did the 30th anniversary concert the Sanderson Center we had a practice and and things like that and he was from my hometown of Lyftsville, Ontario so I knew Don the longest of all the guys. I knew him before Helix was formed. And we were in the little high school band called Homegrown when we didn't even know what a joint was. And Don, you know, that was a shock as well. When he passed away, he didn't look sick. And it just goes to show you that you never know what's around the corner. Well, my condolences, Brian.

I know it's difficult. I'm sorry. And in conclusion here, I just want to ask you what Bel Canto is because I learned in my research, I learned you were teaching this classical vocal technique. And what is that, and are you still doing that? I'm still doing it. Eventually, I want to have a site dedicated to teaching Bel Canto. I'm one of the last teachers in the world of true Bel Canto. I say true Bel Canto because voice teachers

nowadays realize that Bel Canto is a secret word to get students through the front door, but most of them don't really have a clue what they're doing. And true Bel Canto is a secret word to get students through the front door, but most of them don't really have a clue what they're doing. And true Belcanto is based around the act of inhalation, which is taking breath into your head as you sing. And that sounds pretty impossible, but that's what you got to do. And I was taught once again by Edward Johnson. And the thing about Belcanto and the reason it's so maligned over the years is that very little was written down about the technique and inhalation in particular,

if you find anything written down about it at all, the only thing it'll say is sing as if you're continuing to breathe inward. It doesn't tell you why you're doing it. It doesn't tell you how to do it and it sure as hell doesn't tell you how to do it. And it sure as hell doesn't tell you how to teach it. But it's based on Bernoulli's principle, which is that high pressure flows to low pressure. So most singers nowadays, like Adele or Lenny Kravitz, all these people that get throat problems, notes, by the way, are just a callus in your vocal cord from overuse.

Those people get those calluses or nodes because of pushing or too much tension around the thyroid cartilage. Inhalation draws breath up out of your lungs across your vocal cords by creating a vacuum, which doesn't require any muscular effort. And that's the difference between bel canto and any other technique that I've ever come across. That's the key. Amazing. And is it true that, you know, you might sing classical music at, for example, a funeral? Because we have a sponsor of this program, Ridley Funeral Home. Much love to the good people at Ridley Funeral Home. Is it possible Brian could be belting out some bel canto

at a funeral home near me? Well, I haven't sang at any funerals or weddings lately, but when we were struggling for money, when we first bought the house, I used to sing quite regularly at weddings. Wow. In fact, I advertised myself as the wedding guy, and I still sing classical music,

and I think I sing it fairly well. Nice. Right? Now, I was going to close with a line from Neil Young, but first let me set the stage here by saying, Neil made some news yesterday by saying, I think he said, either he or Joe Rogan will be found on the

Spotify platform, and he didn't like the COVID-19 misinformation on Joe Rogan's podcast. And I'm curious, have you ever received any money of note from a streaming service for streaming Helix songs, like from Spotify?

I imagine I do. I'm always curious if there's any money in it for a band like Helix. Well, I have songs up on Spotify. In fact, I have a new song coming out in less than two weeks called Not My Circus, Not My Clowns. The whole thing we're going through right now with COVID. Which is, you know, a lot of bullshit. Well, what's your take on it? I'm curious, what is your take on all this when you say bullshit?

Thank God. You want to get me attacked here by everybody? Well, land of real talk. But are you, I guess this could be a personal question you could tell me to fuck off, but are you vaccinated? I'm definitely vaccinated. It was a no-brainer for me because right now I'm talking to you from North Fort Myers, Florida.

And there was no way I was going to go to, you know, I could go to Florida without being vaccinated, so I never even thought about it. I actually just got my third shot the other day. However, I don't think anybody should be forced to take the shot. I got friends that don't have it, and I think that's their choice. And I actually let some people go in the band and I'm hoping there's no hard feelings.

But I had four other guys, five other guys want to work, so. So just so I understand though, as we speak, and again, we'll timestamp it because anything could change quickly, but on January 25th, 2022, at this moment, getting vaccinated is still optional, but of course there are restrictions if you don't like you wouldn't be able to go to Florida

so it's bullshit I'll tell you like I got people that are coming back get this yeah my brother told me because my brother was just down here with his wife the people were with him got the test again 72 hours to get to the border okay so we got the test. They got 72 hours to get to the border, okay?

Right. So they got the test. She was positive. She had COVID. He didn't. They get to the border. They let her in. They let him in.

They quarantine her for five days and him for 10 days. Now, does that make any freaking sense to you? Things that make you go, hmm. And here's another thing. I got screwed out of flights with swoop, swoop, swoop. Did I say that often enough? When this all went down in 2020, Trudeau let the airlines give me credits instead of my money back. The plane never left the tarmac, okay?

And yet they were allowed to give me money, credits back, okay? Fast forward to last year i rebooked the flights and at the last minute one week before we were supposed to go to winnipeg and then alberta jason kenney shut down alberta so obviously there's no point of going to alberta so i had a rebook i had to book some more flights back from winnipeg and the flights from Winnipeg, and the flights from Winnipeg to Edmonton back to Hamilton were no good. So I went to Swoop, and they said, oh, the flight left, so screw you. Now, how fair is that? That's very, very unfair. But all these problems, and I'm with you, man, I empathize, but they

sure are better problems to have than getting the shit kicked out of you in a hasty market. That's right. Alright, Brian, I'm going to leave you with, I promise I'd leave you with a line from a Neil Young song that I love. My last blessing to you is

long may you run. How long will Helix be performing live? As long as I can sing. As long as we've got gigs. I've always been in good shape. That's one thing about Belcanto. Belcanto prevents sore throats.

So if you've got a sore throat from singing, I'm your guy. Because the whole premise of Belcantha was to take tension off the vocal cords. Well, you sound great. Like, I'll be honest, you sound like a man half your age. And thanks for making time for me today.

Well, you mentioned wedding songs. Do you want a wedding song? Yes. To take you out here? Okay. Because you come to me with not same love and hold my hand and lift my eyes above a wider world of hope and joy i see because you come to me see because you'll come to me because you speak to me in accents sweet i find the roses waking around my feet and i am led through tears and joy to see because you'll speak to me

And that brings us to the end of our 988th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Follow Brian's band, Helix, at Helix the Band. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U.

Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley FH. StickerU is at StickerU. Ridley Funeral Home is at RidleyFH. And Canna Cabana are at CannaCabana underscore. See you all Thursday when in the TMDS studio is the return of Tom Wilson. And your smile is fine and it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and green Well you've been under my skin for more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears

And I don't know what the future can hold or will do for me and you. But I'm a much better man for having known you. Oh, you know that's true because everything is coming up rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Wants me today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away

Cause everything is Rosie and Gray Well, I've been told That there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who Yeah, I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of gray

Cause I know that's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true How about you? I'm picking up trash and then putting down ropes And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can Maybe I'm not and maybe I am

But who gives a damn Because everything is coming up rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold but the smell of snow warms me today And your smile is fine and it's just like mine Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today. And your smile is fine, it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and gray. Well, I've kissed you in France, and I've kissed you in Spain. And I've kissed you in places I better not name

And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour But I like it much better going down on you Yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up rosy and green. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms us today.

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