Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Bruce Barker: Toronto Mike'd #1024

Episode Date: March 30, 2022

In this 1024th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike is joined by radio veteran Bruce "Barks" Barker as they discuss his career in radio, being the voice of Lacrosse in Canada, his weight loss and recovery from a stroke in 2016. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and RYOBI Tools.

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And Ryobi Join the cordless revolution with Ryobi's 18-volt 1-plus system There are 260 tools in the system Join the cordless revolution with Ryobi's 18-volt OnePlus system. There are 260 tools in the system, and it's available at Home Depot. Joining me this week, making his Toronto mic debut, is Bruce Barker. Glad to be here. Took a while, but we're here. Better late than never, Bruce.

Exactly. It's good to see your face, for those wondering what we're alluding to. This was in my calendar, I don't know how many times, at least one other time it was in the calendar. And then work beckoned, right? You couldn't make it. Yeah, and the part of, you know, when they call you, you have to go. So thanks for understanding, and that's why I told them I was booking today off. No matter ice storm, ice pellets freezing rain i'll get here from guelph so i'm here bruce i'm a forgiving man because initially i know it was a very late very late cancellation right because i

guess work called you late and uh i had that initial like i'm all set i've got my song queued up which i'm going to play in a moment here for you. Like, I got the Bruce song. I'm ready to get into it. Bruce is in here. Darn that guy. Screw him. And then, you know, a little time passes, and I'm like, oh, let's try it again, Bruce. And here you are. So thanks so much for, again, that was a treacherous drive for you, right? Well, my pleasure, and, you know, I'll

put my life on the line for you for the third time. Since I cancelled once, so, yeah, we're good. I'm going to play a jam for you, and then I got some nice comments, and then we're going to bring you back to Barry. It's just going to be fun, actually. But here is the Bruce Barker song.

Where's my Bruce Barker song? Okay, this is awful. We're going to try that again here. I'm not even going to fix that in post because this is raw. I realize now it was way low in the mix. But here, we're going to try that again. I'll cue it up, okay? Okay.

Here is the Bruce Barker song. Here we go. Do you know this jam, Bruce? Life is a rock, and the radio rolled me by reunion. Love it. Okay, tell me, why is this your jam? Because that's my philosophy of radio. I've always been a big fan of radio and when I got into it, I always say the day it becomes a job, the day is the day I move on

and they'll probably carry me out of the station in a pine box when this life of barks is over shout out to ridley funeral home exactly that's what it's called cross promotion you know that well hopefully that's not going to happen anytime too soon because we're going to get to this because we're going to talk about your career in radio and i know uh i would hear you talking to humble and fred for example on the radio and we'll get to that and i now produce their show so there's some crossover there. But you also had health struggles recently we're going to get into. But here's a note off the top from Gear Joyce. Okay.

Old school pull, beloved by all. That's a great writer with a great line about you, Bruce. Wow. Old school pull, beloved by all. Very touched on that one. Yeah, no, you care.

Doesn't mince words. This guy, he's sharp as a tag. Um, beloved by all. Uh, do you think that's true? Do you,

is there anybody you can think of in your career who, uh, doesn't love Bruce Burke? Yeah, there's a couple. I won't name them, but I know who they are. Who are they?

Is one of them, John Gallagher? I need to know the names. We've kind of had our outs. I'll still say hi to him. He's in Halifax now. I know. You won't bump into him at the Cadillac Lounge.

You know, the radio business kind of ego-fueled. And I've always said I don't have an ego. I just love doing it and i went to the freddie patterson school of loving it loving it loving it sorry jim lang i stole you i stole your line but well jim stole it from fred yeah it's a history line you can take it back yeah so i mentioned barry but we can go back further if you're like whereabouts did you grow up where are you from i'm from willowdale. I'm from Leslie and Finch in North York, and

ironically, going from junior high to high school, I went to Don Valley Junior High, and I wanted to be a chef. And then I went to high school, and they had a radio station. We had one of the only high school radio stations in Toronto, and it was Radio A.Y. Jackson, because we went to A.Y. Jackson Secondary

School, and what it was, was partY. Jackson because we went to A.Y. Jackson Secondary School and what it was was part of the theater arts program that was a little room off the side of the English office with two turntables so you had to cue up the records. Kids today taking broadcasting courses you don't even see a record and

cueing up the record. We had two turntables a microphone and it shows you how long ago it was, 1976. We played only in the hallways and the smoking area at the school. But that's amazing. My high school didn't have a radio station. We were RAYJ, Radio AY Jackson. And I'm going to go deep now.

My name then was Biff Barker. And it was the old top 40. It was Biff Barker, and it was the old top 40. It was Biff Barker with all the action on Radio Jackson. Love it. Any other radio people come out of that high school that you know of? Not that I know of. We had fun doing it.

A couple of guys got into radio sales, so I guess they were in the business. But one thing that was neat about it was the record companies actually serviced us. We got 45s every week from CBS, from GRT, from Warner. So we were playing songs. I remember one of our announcers, who will remain nameless, played the wrong side of Boston more than a feeling.

The flip side of the single was, Can I Take You Home Tonight? Right. And I'm saying, ah, no, the hit is the other side. Play the other side. But the cool jocks would flip it over and play the non-hit. That would be a move, I'd say. Well, see, in being a high school stage,

we didn't have hit or non-hit or can-cons. We could play the whole side of 2112 because Alex Lason from Rush went to the same high school. Yeah, right there. Rush is a Willowdale band. Alex went to the same school. A couple of years ahead of me, but ended up later in life, we'll talk about it too,

he and Getty played on my baseball team. Well, do that now because I'm afraid we'll forget. We had a team in the late 80s, early 90s called Those Darn Fish. And we played in the Hillcrest Village Softball Association. And what we got was a bunch of radio guys mixed with a couple of local athletes who could play baseball in Getty and Alex. And we had John Derringer, Andy Frost. Andy Frost was on the team.

Excellent. Excellent guy. And, you know, it was funny, though, seeing guys slide into Getty playing second base and after the game bring out an album for him to sign in the park. Wow. Wow. And Getty's a big baseball guy. Oh, yes. He's still at all the Jays games. So this team

was, you know, and Alex designed the jerseys and I stewed back because I gave most of my jerseys away. Did you get a picture? Yeah, I've got pictures that I put on Facebook. I'll send you. I've got one of Alex with seven bats in his hand. Was Derringer a good ball player? Yes. Yes. Derringer and Frost were. You know, Frost, you know, he's passed on some good genes in his hand. Was Derringer a good ball player? Yes. Yes. Derringer and Frost were.

Yeah. You know, Frost, you know, he's passed on some good genes to his boy. Oh. Morgan. Well, Morgan, when he played his last ever game for the Sioux Greyhounds in Guelph, we went to the game. Wow. And Morgan comes up to me and goes, I haven't seen you since I was two.

And I said, yeah, but now you're a Philadelphia Flyer draft pick, so go get them. Yeah, like, does that blow your mind sometimes when you realize that this guy used to play ball with and was on the radio with, that this guy, Andy Frost, his kid is now not just an NHL, but a solid, great player, NHL player. That's amazing, right? That's a good one. And then also when a player, when you're, you know,

because you're covering the Leafs for all the years that I did, a player comes up to me and calls me Mr. Barker. Wow. And it was a goaltender by the name of Rob Zepp. And he said, you gave me a puck when you were the announcer for the New Market Saints. Wow. And he's an NHL. And at the time, he was a Hartford Whaler goaltender.

So it's like, okay, flashback down memory lane there. You know what else is amazing, because we'll get to it later but you uh must have crossed paths with uh lou skeezes did you at 640 oh yeah like the fact that you know and and for whatever reason lou won't talk to me anymore that's a whole separate episode i actually don't know what's going on there's something with humble and fred probably but his daughter like seeing her excel at the olympics and figure skating is a mind blow. Yeah. And again, when you have that little, even if it's a little personal contact, it's kind

of cool when you cheer them on at the Olympics or the Stanley Cup or whatever. And we'll see if one day we're watching Rod Black's kid in the Major League Baseball or something like that. We got all these offspring. Oh my goodness. Okay. So I said back to Barry, but like basically i'm curious how you uh obviously you get a taste of radio at high school but what happens after high school do you go to

school for this uh yeah i went to a seneca college and the ironic thing i went to public school junior high high school and college all within a two mile radius of my house at leslie and finch so didn't cost my parents too much for um you know, room and board, and ended up getting a job at the Ponderosa Steakhouse at Leslie and Finch to help me pay through college. But, yeah, Seneca, and we even had a hockey team in the intramurals, and our course director was a gentleman by the name of Mike Motte, and unfortunately, I, well, not fortunately for me, unfortunately for the course, I got a job in my last semester.

So I technically didn't finish the course, but I still, so I didn't get a diploma, but I got a job. And I'm thinking to myself, that's more important. Well, where was the job? My job was at CKBB in Barrie. Yes. And I was all, so that, um, was a, was a great place to start. And then I went to the,

uh, the now defunct CKO radio network. And is that, they had the blue Jays, right? They had the Jays. They had, and they had the Leafs.

And, and also the reason I got the job, they had the 1994 Canada cup. So John McGillivray, who was the sports director had to go to Montreal and do the Canada Cup. So they had an opening in the sports department and I ended up getting it. And then I ran with it because I got to go to

spring training for the next four years. Wow. And it was three weeks a year in March. Like about this time of the year, I'd be down in Florida. So. Well, you know, I do, I do a show of Mark Hebbshire every Friday and I get these stories.

Like he actually went down for like, personally, he just went down for a trip obviously there were no games because of the labor dispute that postponed everything. I saw his golf photo. I saw his golf photo. But he tried to you know he went to the gates you know in Dunedin and said like do you know who I used to be basically

like you know trying to get in there because he spent many a spring. Well we all spent time together because we'd get one car instead of... Okay, name check the crew. I want to hear who was... Hebzer, myself, Freddie Patterson, Chris Mayberry, who at that time...

Who was also an FOTM. Yeah, so he was at CKEY. And we would drive, so we'd say they play in Sarasota. We'll take one car, four reporters. You're not getting a scoop in spring training. You're all getting the same sound bites, whatever. But it was really cool. And then one year, Chris and I ended up scoring tickets

for a Simple Minds concert in Tampa. So there's all sorts of little side things. And, of course, we go out early. Because we weren't making the money that Major League Baseball players were making, so we would go to the Florida early bird bird dinners you know the blue hair special sure so they're two for one so so i would treat one day and then another next day would be hebshire treating so everyone would pay for four dinners but they only technically pay for two unbelievable that crew you name check so chris mayberry who i've had on the program but uh freddie p and

hebsey i work with them today like i feel like you're a missing link here. I'm glad. And again, took a while to make it happen, but here you are. And I hear, did you sleep last night in anticipation of this? Oh, I was so excited about this. Okay. So I can't let you down. I feel some additional pressure.

I'm already feeling comfortable. I'm already loving it. Do you, do you enjoy lasagna? Yes. Okay. Can I send you home, make this trip worth your while? Can I send you home with a frozen meat lasagna from Palma Pasta? That would work.

Okay. Palma Pasta is taking care of Bruce Barker. And I also got some fresh craft beer for you from Great Lakes Brewery. That works as well. Take that home with you. And while I'm giving you gifts, quickly, a Toronto Mike sticker from StickerU.com. That can go on the car before you drive away. That's going to go on my car.

Exactly. And people always know when you're coming because you got that personalized license plate. There's a story behind that, too. Okay, let's hear that. My late grandmother, she wanted to give me something that I would remember her forever. Right. Well, that was the first year the vanity plates came out in the late 70s. And so I said, well, I'll get the license plate.

If you pay for it, I'll get the license plate, and then you'll be with me everywhere I go. That's a nice story. And it's funny because the amount of people who own dogs pull up beside me in the summertime and go, how much do you want for the plate? Because I'm a dog trainer. I love barks.

Sorry, it's a personal thing it's my nickname and also my grandmother gave it to me yeah because of the grandmother connection uh there's no you know just for fun you can say one million dollars or something ridiculous day and age i probably get it well you might want to reconsider that sentimentality for a million bucks but uh okay so you're at cko Radio Network, and you did some work, tell me, for CBS Radio Sports as well? Yeah, back then we, and I will tell you this, Howie Starkman, who was the Blue Jays media relations director, and he called out, hey, who wants to string for CBS?

And my hand went up, like I beat the guy by about an eighth of an inch with my hand going up. So I got, I did all my recording for CKO, and then also I'd send it down to New York. Well, towards the end when the Jays in 85 were going to the playoffs against Kansas City, I went on the road with the Jays to New York, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Boston. And Jim Hunter from CBS Radio, which was my main

contact. And then on a Saturday they had a live show called The Wide World of Baseball with Wynne Elliott and Johnny Bench. And I had to throw it back to Johnny Bench in the studio in New York from Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. That's amazing.

I needed a cold shower when I got home. Yeah, and there's a similar story out there about tony kubek uh once mentioned you on the air during a so what game was that and what was the context that was the same road trip okay um we were in milwaukee at county stadium now at county stadium they are famous for their bratwurst and what's called red sauce and you can only get this red sauce at county stadium, now, you know, Miller Field. So, and the press box was an indoor level and an outdoor, like a patio, out front of it.

Well, Chris Mayberry and I and all the Toronto guys were put out front. Well, there's Mr. Barker, mowing down on his eighth or ninth bratwurst with red sauce, and Tony Kubik on CTV says there's bruce barker from toronto and he just set the press box record for eating nine brats and red sauce and by the time i got home because of course i didn't see it i everybody was calling because we didn't have cell phones back then everybody's calling me going tony kubek mentioned you and how many hot dogs

hot dogs they were brought with there weren't hot dogs. They were a Broadway, please. When you're in Milwaukee, don't call it a hot dog. You know what I'm thinking of now? Was it when George Costanza was at the US Open and the camera lingers on him eating the strawberries and cream? Yeah. So this appetite, because we have mutual friends

and this is legendary. I mean, I've been hearing stories and some that I've been asked not to share because they don't know if it would embarrass you or not but you this is part of your brand like part of your identity this ferocious appetite that barks and you know some people drink to excess some people smoke marijuana to excess shout out to canada cabana see i'm good for your cost promotions um but i was an eater and right when i was out in alberta uh back in 2007 doing play by play i ended up being 605 pounds bruce yeah that's a big number yeah and since then i have lost 320 of those 605 pounds okay good for you because there's not a lot of like old men who are 600 pounds.

You know what I mean? Well, I was, you know, and you know, there's a couple of stories that I will share because I had to get weighed because the team doctor, I was in Camrose, Alberta with the Camrose Kodiaks of the Alberta Junior League. Okay. And the team doctor said, well, I got to know your weight. Well, the only place I could get weighed at was the post office on the freight scale. Oh.

Because none of the doctor's office scales went past 270. Right. So I had to call the postmaster in Camrose, Alberta, say who I was, and then he said, well, look, like staff usually leave about five 15. You come into the lobby at five o'clock and it'll only be me. So, but is that a moment where you realize maybe I need to, maybe this isn't good for me.

Like, is there any epiphany there? Is it just, this is just the deal with be having a ferocious appetite. You're going to weigh 600 pounds. At the time. It was just the way I was. Um,

but you know, you've been on a bus you don't fit you know when you're 605 pounds you don't fit in the bathrooms on the bus so you have to tap the bus because the play-by-play guy excuse me the play-by-play guy would be um right behind the bus driver that's your seat so i'd say uh next guest okay and then you know i'd have to you know because the coach understood but right he didn't want me taking five minutes to read a paper you know run in go and come back you know right less than two minutes would be appreciated right i hear you know i hear well that's a whole separate conversation for sure but yeah okay now uh what about flying i mean do you need to buy like i hear stories like I had to buy two seats.

No, never had to buy two seats. I played what I called the seat lottery. And I would always get to the gate early. Right. And I'd say, you know, talk to the gate agent. You know, when they opened, hey, you know, I'm kind of a big guy. And nine times out of ten, I'd get bumped up to business class if they hadn't sold out business class.

If they had, they might be the last row by the bathrooms and they'd block the middle seat off. So usually I could, you know, I could find room. There's only a couple of times I had a full flight and it was like sitting in a Volkswagen with 15 other people. My friend, now when about did you lose the 300 plus pounds? Like what part of your life was that? It started in 2012.

I moved back from Alberta to a job in Kincardine, Ontario. Worked for the MyFM network. And unfortunately, I lost the woman I was living with at the time. I'm sorry, man. And 61 days later, my mom died. I'm sorry. So I had two. This is 2012?

Yeah. What a shitty year. Yeah, I had two deaths in 61 days. And I said, you know, when I was on the, I was kicked in the stomach, then in the head at the same time. Right. So. And the heart, buddy.

That's a kick in the heart. So afterwards, an ex-girlfriend reached out to me, and now we are together. And so shout out to Wendy. And we say this is Wendy and Bruce 2.0. And she's helped me out because I would eat a steak and a half a pound of spaghetti and then go to bed. Right.

Well, firstly, again, no judgment here at all, but to maintain 600 pounds, the caloric intake has to be enormous. Well, I had my face on 15 wanted posters at Mandarin who wouldn't let me in again. Right. You go to a buffet, and I remember the owner of the Kitchener, Mandarin, coming up and going, it's not all-day buffet. It's all you can eat. Get out of here. Right. And I remember the owner of the Kitchener Manor coming up and going, it's not all day buffet.

It's all you can eat. Get out of here. Right. This is like I said, this is also, this is a Simpsons episode. I know we quoted Seinfeld earlier, but they, the all you can eat and they kicked out Homer and he tried to sue, as I recall, with Lionel

Hutt. He didn't try to sue anybody, but yeah. And in fact, you know, up until the early 2000s, like press box food was free. And the Jays always had a good buffet on. And then as soon as the Leafs were starting to move from the Gardens to the ACC, you started to pay for your dinner.

Okay. Because the newspaper guys were saying, well, it's checkbook journalism. You give us a free steak and lobster dinner and you expect good press. Bruce, I relate to this because, quick anecdote is, when did I leave the corporate world? I guess around the time you were having the worst year of your life.

I think 2011. Okay. When I leave the corporate world. But we used to have, the way they would get you to work through your lunch hour is they would have meetings at lunch with free pizza. Yep. Okay, this was the corporate move. Oh, the bastards. So free labor and it would cost them you know a little some lunch right off of pizza nova or whatever exactly but i'm telling you and this is me i guess we're going back to what 2011 me uh plus all you can eat free pizza is a terrible terrible like a formula like

it's a recipe for disaster. I don't have this governance that people have, this gauge that says, okay, I had two slices. I feel fine. Let's stop right now. I just go because it's delicious. I love it. You don't want to leave any in the box

because you don't know who, someone else will get it. No, I know. And I'm hearing your story where you shed, I mean, that's 300 plus pounds of beef you shed. Well, 150 before I had the stroke in 2016 and then 150 after the stroke, yes. story where you you shed i mean that's that's 300 plus pounds of beef you shed well 100 150 before i had the stroke in 2016 and then 150 after the stroke yeah so we're gonna get to that stroke man okay so let's get back to the chronological order here because cko radio of course you're there for the drive of 85 i'll just let you know that uh as a fan i didn't have to cover the team

i was rather young anyway but uh that was the year that like stole my heart like i absolutely loved that 1985 blue jays team and that drive of 85 like it must have been amazing to be there for that it was great to be part of it and we have you know back then we didn't have cell phone cameras but i have a picture of me interviewing willie upshaw in a champagne soap club i was both of us covered in champagne right i remember driving home that night yeah and i thought what if i get pulled over by the cops because I smell like booze? But I hadn't had any.

That's right. You'd have a good excuse. You were drenched in the Blue Jays. Yeah, that was Doyle Alexander who pitched that game. 5-2, I want to say, but something like that. But yeah, the George Bell on his knees

catching that pop-up, and then Tony Fernandez coming up to give him the high five. I hate to say it, the late Tony Fernandez. The late Tony tony fernandez away last year yeah we lost tony he was one of the good ones and we lost uh not that he was on this team actually he was gone by 85 but uh damaso garcia yeah we lost him as well it's tough to what's it like when you like these guys these young athletes you cover pass away like it just doesn't seem right. Think of your own mortality, definitely.

I mean, am I allowed to ask your age? How old are you now? I'm 61. I'll be 62 in October. Is this the weight you're going to maintain or are you still gunning a lower number? What I say is there's no end total because

and I like seeing people I haven't seen in a long time, because they look at me like, oh my God. Where's the rest of you? Yeah. And, you know, I'm healthy. Like, you know, some, one person said, you know, do you have the C word? Oh, really?

Oh, because, you know what? Though, when I lost, I lost 40 pounds in 2012. Yeah. Following all this, when I got rid of the all-you-can-eat pizza. And then I went to Berlin with my new job, where I worked from home. And I, all week, we just drank and ate meat. It was unbelievable. Every meal was unbelievable.

And I came home feeling so bloated. And I ended up just changing my lifestyle to lose 40 pounds. But humble Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson, when I would go in and see them as we started up the podcast, they would use that C word. They said I looked like a cancer patient. Yeah, yeah. Well, someone asked me that and I said no.

And end of story on that. Well, good to hear that you don't have the cancer. We'll get to your stroke later. But I want to get you to Rock 95 in Barrie. I have a message from Scott who wants me to tell you that he loved you on Rock 95 in Barrie. Is Rock 95, is that your stop after the CKO radio? Yes.

Well, I took a year off and worked for a sporting goods company. I was the NHL rep for Easton Sports. But I, you know, it's the old saying, you get back into it when you get out because I just loved radio so much. And I was part of the first ever morning show there. Amazing. And that has a story about when I got the audition, I didn't have a current demo tape because I had spent the last year working for a sporting goods company. Right. So Rick Halston, the programmer, and this is where Dave Charles comes in. Dave Charles was the consultant.

Yeah, FOTM Dave Charles, please. Was the consultant. And so I went up to Barry. Yeah. He said, do you have a demo? I said, no, but I can get you one. I went back down to Toronto, recorded a demo, and then went back up to barry that's what got me the job okay good for you and this is where you introduce uh barks bites yes the commentary it's not just an attitude it's a

commentary or sorry it's not just a commentary it's an attitude that's the way it said it on the t-shirts so although you already had the license plate uh really it's at rock 95 and barry that you become barks yeah and i give all the credit to dave charles because i went from bruce barker sportscaster to barks co-host you know and remote guy and concert mc and everything else so let's take it let's not breeze by the dave charles too quickly because dave charles who i had the pleasure of having on this program i didn't have to worry about hitting his head the way you did because we did it upstairs i had some work being done down way you did because we did it upstairs.

I had some work being done down here. But then again, we did another like a Zoom chat for episode 1000 of Toronto Mike. There's like a conversation between me and Dave Charles. But when you talk to radio vets like yourself and different people here and there, Dave's name comes up often. Like he's just, he's just involved in so much of Toronto's radio history. Yeah, and he was one of the top consultants in Canadian radio, not just Toronto.

And, you know, and you said, I saw him a week ago, and first time I'd seen him in like 20 years. And he looks great for his age. I mean, I don't know if I told him this in person, but people don't believe his age when they look at our photo together. Yeah, well, he was an original member of the Q107 air team, you know, when they went on the air. Right.

Wow, and that's like, what is that, mid to late 70s, what is that? 77, because I was in high school, and I remember the Q107 starting. Right, and it's funny, I just did a well-received, it sounds like I'm patting myself on the back, but it's not really because of me,

it's because of my guests, but I had a CFNY panel discussion. I saw that. And that was episode 1021. And, you know, when you talk to Marsden, like Q107 arriving on the scene is significant in what direction CFNY will take, you know, and CFNY was born around that same time

because it was Chick FM. Yep, in Brampton. Right, and it's like 77, I think, is when it becomes CFNY. And it's just interesting how it all comes back to Dave Charles. See, and I had friends at CFNY in those days. Ivor Hamilton, a good friend of mine.

I've been friends with him for over 40 years. Okay, he was on that Zoom. May Potts. She was on that Zoom. Who ended up working with at Mojo. And of course, Freddie P. And of course, Freddie P. Absolutely. And we're going to get to all that. So, you're at Rock 95 in Barrie. And congrats to you because you were a finalist

for an ACTRA National Radio Award for Best Morning Show in Canada. Yes. And this was, it was basically, the way they do it is by market size. So for a market

under 50,000 listeners. Ironically, we went against two people I ended up working with in future times, Andre Mason, who was Andre Maisonneau, who I worked with at The Mix, and he is no longer

with us, and of course, Scruff Connors, and he's no longer with us, and Scruff, at that time, was at Hits FM, RDR. You know what, Scruff, the legend of Scruff, the stories I hear about Scruff that I'm told, don't say that on the air, don't say that. That's probably the guy I have the most stories told to me that's like, oh, you can't put that on the podcast.

But Scruff sounds like a movie needs to be made about his life. Oh, exactly. Or at least, yeah, exactly. He was a character. I worked with him towards the tail end at Mojo, but he was still a funny guy. And that was the one thing about, and the award show, 1990, the year,

that was the last year they did it, and we ended up not winning. But my partner at the time was, well, Jim Richards of CFRB now. Yeah, Jim, the show gram. I guess he's doing Afternoon Drive now. There's a whole, you know, 1010's had a lot of changes lately.

So he was overnights, and now he's back in Afternoon Drive. That was Jim, myself, and Ian McLennan doing the rock 95 morning show. Okay. Jim, you know, Jim Richards, a couple of times I've asked him nicely to come on. He doesn't seem to want to do this deep dive, but I'm glad Bruce that you're doing this. So, uh, we can capture all this because, you know, long after you're gone, this audio will be around like long after I'm gone, this audio will be around. That's good. So we've got to keep the barks bites, Bites memories here.

So, you're at Barrie. What happens after Rock 95 in Barrie? Rock 95, then I went out west for the first of two times to CJ92 in Calgary and worked with the legendary Jerry Forbes. Right. And we had a great morning show out there and, you know, an amount of

stuff that I remember from those days, you couldn't get away with it today on radio. You got any examples for me oh yeah we had a thing called cleats and cleavage it was two members of the calgary stampeder football team against two strippers from a nightclub called misty's with my friend spencer was a manager and of course you're talking radio right well the girls would come in topless. Perfect for radio. Sounds like the Howard Stern show. Well, this was the precursor. And, you know, that was some amazing stuff. Jerry got away with some great stuff.

They said the Eagles were going to come, and CJ was on the hill, called Broadcast Hill in Calgary. And he said, they're coming here at 5 o'clock. Yeah, five Jeep Eagles went up the hill, and Don Henley was so pissed off, he even mentioned that on that night on the stage that some local radio station tried to say we were coming, and the five Eagle cars showed up.

I feel like Scruff did something like this, right? Like, there's a story. Oh, Scruff's Super Bowl thing is legendary. That's it. Do you remember the details? Yeah, totally. He said, you're going to win a trip to Miami to the Super Bowl. And 20 people are lined up at the Winnipeg airport.

And a plane's there. And then they pull the plane away. And there's a school bus. And they're going to see the Super Bowl at a Legion in Miami, Manitoba. Yeah, OK. That was a classic. See, those stunts are fun until you realize how pissed off you made your most loyal listeners. Well, nowadays, now, the first thing,

how many would sue you? You've got to read the fine print. It's like, oh, you get 100 doll hairs. Or a toy Yoda. You can get a Yoda doll. Oh, yeah. My goodness. Okay, I love these radio stories,

so anytime you remember one, just spit it out there. Okay, so CJ, that's in Calgary you mentioned. Are you, no, Mike Richards isn't there yet. I'm trying to think of when Mike Richards is. No, Mike Richards was doing voices for Jerry when I was there. So we would call him up and say,

okay, we need a Robbie Alomar. And he'd go, catch your taste. He'd do an Alomar. Well, he loves to do like a Bob Cole. I know he's got a few go-to. He's a big on the, and I forget the actor's name. And then out, when he got out to Calgary,

he also did a good Peter Marr, who was the Flames play-by-play guy. Okay, okay. So all the Richards are going to get a shout out in this episode. Jim and Mike. Absolutely.

You know, and Mike Richards. I talk to him often. He's a good man, Mike Richards. So, lots of time for him. So,

how are you before you moved to calgary though and i guess you moved to calgary in 94 uh you were and i we kind of breezed over this but you were a part you were part of the blue jays wins the world series wins in 92 and 93 93 yep and uh when i was at rock 95 you know again you get a sponsor so i'd go to atlanta and to tor Toronto and that was magic to be part of that because throughout the years my good friend was Dave Steepe

so I'd go to concerts with Dave, we'd go out to dinner we'd do stuff at his place for FOTMs only so sometimes I'll talk coded, there's a lexicon here so Bruce you're excused for what the hell am I talking about? Many times, I think Pandemic Fridays and Toast,

we've alluded to the fact that there's an FOTM, a super listener named Canada Kev, whose sister used to babysit Dave Steeb's kids, I don't remember wherever it was, in Mimico by the waterfront or wherever the heck that condo was or whatever, while he would go to concerts and stuff. So, in theory, there's a possibility Canada Kev and his sister are watching Dave Steeb's kids while Dave Steeb is at a concert with you, Bruce Barker.

Exactly. Wow. We went to album release parties. I have a great picture of Steeb, Kelly Gruber and Boomer Wells backstage with Kiss and Ivor Hamilton at Gardens with no makeup on Kiss after the Jays beat Baltimore to win the pennant to go to the World Series.

Right, 89, I think. Yeah. Or 91. Who bet? Either way. But yeah, these stories are amazing. Dave Steeb as a player, because when I hear stories from the aforementioned Hebsey, Dave Steeb was a bit of a dink.

A dick? Yeah, to the media but you say he's actually a nice guy he just maybe to the media he wasn't the nicest guy of course I towed that strange line of being a friend and being media so I kind of avoided interviewing him

just because I just didn't want to lose a friend but on that note I feel like sports we shouldn't treat sports I just didn't want to lose a friend. But on that note, oh yeah, right, exactly. I feel like sports is, sports, like we shouldn't treat sports like we do things that are actually important. Like I always hear about this, like you can't, you know,

you shouldn't cheer in the press box, but I mean, we need to kind of check ourself here. I didn't, I got shit. Where did you get in trouble? Because Freddie P got in trouble for cheering at a Grey Cup, I guess, when the Argos, is that? Well, I have that on video for years of Freddie P when they were on the podium at the Grey Cup, I guess, when the Argos. Well, I have that on video for years of Freddie P

when they were on the podium at the Grey Cup in Vancouver, and he got behind them, and he photobombed them, but it wasn't called photobombing back in the 80s. Right. And Freddie had a few pops. Do you still have that video? I wish. Okay.

All my VHSs were lost in the move. Okay. But, yeah, that was the thing. But when I was in Seneca College Radio, we had a connection with the Jays because Bruce Prentice was our baseball manager and Bob Prentice was the head scout for the Jays. So I got a press pass, and Rick Bassetti was one of the guys who came to Seneca and came to clinics with us. Right. So I was sitting there in the press box, and Bassetti hit one of the guys who came to Seneca and, you know, came to clinics with us.

Right. So I was sitting there in the press box and Bassetti hit a triple. And I went, ah, right. And the old guy, like, Mil Dunnell gives you a death stare. Oh, no, no. This was a California Angels guy. And he goes, you know, it's Bush to cheer in the press box. And I'm like, sorry, no one told me.

And now when you get a pass, it says no cheering, no autographs, no farting, whatever you want. That's a good rule, the no farting rule. Yeah, the no cheering in the press box is fine. But I mean, we're in an era now where Mike Wilner, when he was doing Blue Jays talk or whatever, he would call John Gibbons, the man, he would say, Gibby said that, Gibby said that.

I'm sorry, but like when you've adopted the nickname for a, like, you know, I don't think these old school sports broadcasters would think it would be cool to call him Gibby. It's like being his buddy. Exactly. Or saying we. You know, we played well last night. Oh, did you?

How many shifts did you have for the Leafs first? I'm guilty of that one, but I don't cover the team. It's different. You don't cover the team. But if I was a Leaf reporter and say, we needed chances in the third period, I didn't see you with a jersey on. I didn't see.

Howard Berger wouldn't be saying we. No, definitely not. Shout out to Howard Berger. Okay, so I want to get you back to Toronto here. You return home to Howard Berger. So, okay, so I want to get you back to Toronto here. So you returned home to Toronto in 1995. What brings you back to the Big Smoke? Well, I was only in Calgary the first time for nine months because I got hired by the Mix 99.9, J.J. Johnson, who was the best program director I ever had,

and worked with Rob Christie, Maureen Holloway. And because I was in Calgary and I get a call from JJ going, can you go to Edmonton for lunch? And I'm like, okay. And he says, why are you hesitating? I said, well, it's a three-hour drive. Oh, no, no, there's a plane for you. And wanted me to go up to Edmonton because Rob Christie's partner at the time in Edmonton,

they signed a deal to be at the mix and then his partner didn't like what he was getting real estate-wise in Edmonton compared to downtown Toronto. Right. So he didn't come, so I ended up having to go meet Rob and then two days later, I'm moving back to Toronto after literally just unpacking from the move. So what was it like with Rob?

Because Rob Christie, as know, as your morning show host at Mix 99.9, you don't hear a lot about Rob. He's a bit of a forgotten figure, I feel, from my perspective. It was a great morning show because that was in the era that Q107 had Howard Stern. Right.

So Howard Stern was not a local morning show. No. So you couldn't say, I went to the Leaf game last night or I went to this restaurant on the queen's way last night you know like i could do that because we were a toronto station with a toronto morning show so jj actually called him howard storm because he wanted us to beat q in those ratings and we were we were trying it was a great show right except that um when they opened planet hollywood here yeah we had dav David Hasselhoff on the morning show,

but only Rob was invited to the grand opening of Planet Hollywood, not the two people who were the co-hosts. And who else was the co-host besides yourself? Myself and Maureen Holloway. Okay, well, whatever happened to her, right? Now, what an amazing talent. Maureen's been here a couple of times. She's fantastic.

Yeah, no, I love her. And, you know, so that was the thing. So then towards the end, you know, so that was the thing so then towards the end um you know i left i i made the worst career move ever oh wait before you because this is a big moment here but uh i just got to remind everybody that germans love david hasselhoff yes okay no so uh you felt you felt slighted like personally slighted that you weren't invited to the planet that's what happened in those days they went with the main person who who was in charge of the morning show because what was the

name of the show like what it was rob christie in the morning right and we were called the christie cast gotcha okay and back in those days the simpsons were hot so we were all given nicknames except you know but i was given the bark man the bart man no bark man the bar and it was so close to the bart man i was getting letters from people saying you know so i said you know jj can we change it to barks right and then he's sure no problem at all and i became barks the sports dog what was maureen holloway's nickname she was mo yeah that was you know really tough that's like saying my nickname is Mike. Yeah, it's my. My kid.

Yeah, it's my. Okay, so now I'm ready for this bomb. You say this is the worst professional? Yeah, professional move. Okay, let's hear it. I made the move across the hall from Mixed 999 to CFRB. And I thought replacing the legend that was Bill Stevenson, the sports director at CFRB, that was a job that was going to carry me into my 80s

and I don't have to worry about finding another job again. I'm going to be at St. Clair & Young. And eight months later, I quit with nothing to go to because it was a disaster. I just hated it. I just wasn't happy. And as I said earlier, the day it becomes a job is the day I move on. And that was the only time it's happened.

That was the day I moved on. Yeah, you know, radio is a funny business, right? Like, I mean, talk to Rick Hodge about decisions and, you know, regrets and stuff. But, you know, I'm sorry that that didn't work out. You should still be there today, right? that didn't work out, you should still be there today, right? Well, it's funny because the problem was that sports was five to the hour and 25 after the hour. Well, if it was a day like this where you had weather

that was causing traffic problems, traffic would eat into the sports time. And it would be like, hmm, okay. And like we told, you have 40 seconds to do a sports cast right now i was making 100 grand a year i walked away from that wow and that's the way that's back was that mid 90s where it was 99 2000 still like that's that's some real coin there yeah but they don't pay that now for morning show hosts you know that right yeah i get up i get up at three o'clock in the morning sit on the side of the bed and wonder how it didn't have to go to work that day wow so wow and i thought cfrb would be like the cadillac of call of dyers to work for because i grew up my my grandmother

used to listen to calling all britains with ray sonnen you know my gordon sinclair but even i typed on gordon sinclair's oldwriter, which was in our sports department office. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Okay. So what's next for you then after that? Well, after CFRB, I lived on my dad's inheritance for about six months.

Okay. And then I got a job at Mojo 640. Now, Mojo, this is where I think I hear you for the first time, to be quite honest. I didn't hear any, I wasn't a big mix 99. I was busy, you know, I liked Humble and Fred, but I also liked Howard Stern. And, you know, Howard Stern coming to town,

if you ask who was most affected, it would be Humble and Fred. I guess it took a big chunk out of their listenership. But, okay, then your old softball colleague there, your teammate, I guess, John Derringer gets the tap to replace Howard Stern. And he's still there. Yeah, good boy.

I'm glad he's still there. But yeah, Mojo was an interesting format because it was called Talk Radio for Guys. Right. And I ended up starting off hosting, co-hosting a show with May, May Potts, called Mojo Today. You know, it's funny, if you ask her what her worst professional decision was, it was going to, leaving CFNY for Mojo. Yeah, well, I could see that, because it,

but then I didn't last long on that show, because I ended up being the color commentator for Toronto Phantoms Arena Football with Jim Lang. Jim did the play-by-play the first year, and I did the color. And the second year, I did the play-by-play because Jim got a full-time job at Sportsnet TV. Right. And Rob Creefo, the former Toronto Argonaut, was my color guy. But that was a league that was destined to fail in Toronto

because all the games would be long weekend Saturdays. So you want to see football inside an arena on a July Saturday afternoon where you could be out of the cottage having a beer. Right. You know, I mean, I'm a big sports fan, a huge Toronto sports fan, and I'm having trouble remembering this team.

There were only two years. There were only two years. And Rob Godfrey, Paul Godfrey's son, was the main owner. And the reason they were called the Phantoms, because the money behind the team was the person who owned Phantom Pantyhose. Oh, wow. So that's why they were. And so they only lasted two years because the last year they played Nashville

in a playoff game and that was the one playoff game I went to. Okay. But yeah, it was. But the crowds, like you imagine the whole, you know, Scotiabank arena. Right. And there's 3,000 people there. It looked like it was friends and family day.

Right. Yeah, I can imagine. You got a 20,000 seat arena with 2,000 people in it. Yeah, you need to have them play at like Rico or something like that. And yeah, Rico back then was still the old C&E horse barn. Right. So. Right.

That's not going to fly. No. My friend. Okay. So the Phantoms. So you left. Did you leave Mojo for the Phantoms? No, it was part of the deal with Mojo.

Mojo had the play by playwright. So can we spend, just linger a little bit on Mojo because I've had, I had Ripken on the show. Oh, great guy. So yeah. So what's the story with Ripken losing his gig? Cause he leaves, I think Andrew Crystal takes over or

something. Yeah. I, I don't know what happened with that. I know he did suck. Cause I also helped out the promotion department and I, they had a deal.

They wanted to go to Cal Ripken's game where he set the record. So through some wheeling and dealing the bark style, um, So through some wheeling and dealing, the Bark style, I got the management of Rush to get Jeff Conine, who at that time was on a Baltimore Oriole, a Jeff Conine gold record for one of the Rush albums. I think it was a Farewell to Kings.

And then he, in exchange, gave Ripken and Johnny Bordingaw, his producer, and the two winners ended up getting four tickets in Baltimore for that game. Wow. Yeah, Rip, because you're just playing off the name Ripken and whatever. That's a good enough reason to have a promotional thing. So, yeah, and so I know, like. Okay, so I think the story, and again, I believe it's a hockey game. Like, I feel like it's a hockey game like i feel like um there's a hockey

game maybe howard glassman glassman is involved and maybe uh something was interpreted uh as anti-semitic well it could be with ripken okay so uh rip anybody who wants to hear this full story in ripken's own words uh please find the uh ripken is uh the ripken episode of Toronto Mic'd where we talk a lot about Mojo. But my guest, just coincidentally my guest next week is Spider Jones. Did you know Spider Jones? You're looking at the man who gave him his

debut on radio. Tell me that story because I got him on Monday. At Radio Seneca College. I needed someone who was in the fight game because there was a big fight coming up in Vegas. Right. And he needed someone to talk to me about it because I knew nothing about boxing.

So I got this guy in, you know, back then he was Chuck Jones to us. Okay. At Seneca. And I got him on and then boom, next thing you know, and every time, so he'll say, you know, my career started because Bruce Barker had me on Seneca College Radio talking about boxing. I'm pulling this clip for him. Okay. He's going to hear it in your own words.

Okay, so you definitely know Spider Jones. Yes. Okay, and I'm trying to, so was Spider Jones, was he on CFRB before 640 or was 640 his radio? After, gotcha. Okay, because the first time I heard Spider Jones was Mojo Radio 640 or was 640 his radio? After, gotcha. Okay. The first time I heard Spider Jones was Mojo Radio 640. Ripken tells a fun story, but he kind of,

he feels he was misled on what Mojo Radio was going to be about because when Spider Jones hit the air, his first, I think his first topic was tell me about your first boner. Yeah. Well, then after that,

because that first week was very, almost triple X rated. Right. Then management came in with a sign in the control room. Mojo Radio is Maxim Magazine, not Penthouse. Tone it down. So you can, you know, what Maxim was doing, we had the nice girls on the cover, but they were all covered up.

And what's the role of ken dryden and all this because um tell me because the blue jay the blue jays sorry the maple leaves were on 640 at the time yes yeah and they didn't like being on a station that was like you said a little risque yeah tell me about your first boner yeah bruce tell me about your first boner let's do an hour on that okay i was no no thank you that's a joke. Stick measurement, no. Well, actually, here. Ridley Funeral Home, I do have something for you on that note. So hold on, I'm going in.

All right, I do. I should have had this prepped for you, Bruce. Oh, my goodness. Back-to-back episodes. But measuring tape. Ah, perfect. Courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home. Oh, I could use that.

Subscribe to the excellent podcast, Life's Undertaking with Brad Jones, which is a TMDS production. So you've got that. And before we get back to Mojo, and then we've got to get you Toronto Rock. I see you're... Oh, and okay.

This is my Calgary Roughnecks ring. Okay, so... Okay, that's so much here to do. So I want to just... I've got all day, so don't worry. We can do a 12-hour podcast if we need to. Well, you know, we talked about cannabis earlier and we shouted out Canna Cabana,

but I want to remind the FOTMs listening that Canna Cabana was created by and for people who love weed, love to smoke it, buy it, chat about it, and share it with their friends. And by the way, Bruce, you don't have to smoke it. There's edibles. You can drink it. You know, there's many ways to consume it. I use a CBD cream on my arthritic way, Bruce, you don't have to smoke it. There's edibles. You can drink it. There's many ways to

consume it. I use a CBD cream on my arthritic knee. So there you go. This man knows. This man knows. And if you go to canacabana.com, you can sign up for the Cabana Club and be first in the know when there's a deal going on. Unbeatable prices on cannabis and smoking accessories. So shout out to Canacabana.

The aforementioned Canada Kev, whose sister was babysitting dave steve's kids uh man does he love his canna cabana he's a big fan of the cannabis so and last but not least here before we get you back to the mojo and beyond are the ryobi 18 volt one plus high capacity lithium plus battery that's a mouthful bruce but that's the Ryobi system. There's 260 tools in all, and they all work with Ryobi's 18-volt OnePlus tools and chargers. My wife was on an episode with Becky from Ryobi just a couple of weeks ago, and she talked about how she loves the Ryobi tools for her woodworking projects,

and we talked in great detail about that. So I encourage all FOTMs to support RYOBI and let them know that when you sponsor Toronto Mike, then you help fuel the real talk. It's beneficial for all. Okay, my friend. You know, you're talking about Calgary

Roughnecks and Edmonton Rush and all this stuff. But I guess we'll leave Mojo. I'm going to do more Mojo talk with Spider Jones on Monday. But I just found that whole thing kind of this stuff but uh i guess we'll leave mojo i'm gonna do more mojo talk with uh spider jones on monday but i just found that whole like thing kind of interesting and not just because my 90s morning show my cfny 90s morning show of humble and fred made the move and then uh cfny brought in a guy from windsor who i instantly disliked uh like not my cup of tea is how I'd put it. And then here, Humble and Fred are,

and where's my music? I just like things, as you know from radio fans, they like things as they are. And what are you doing messing with my formula? But tell me what's next after The Phantoms ends. What do you do? Do you end up with Toronto Rock? Yeah, and I got that because I was asked to audition for the Leaf PA job,

which of course went to Andy Frost. Right. And we all went up to Barrie because they were having their training camp there. And we all got to call a period of an inner squad scrimmage. And as I'm walking down the stairs from the press box at the Barrie Molson Center, Bill Waters goes over and says, Barks, if you don't get this, I want you to do the lacrosse. So when I didn't get it, I get a call from Bill saying,

we're having a press conference at the Hot Stove Club tomorrow. Come on down. And I got the gig with The Rock. And everybody in the world except for one person was happy for me. Who's that one person? My program director at CFRB, Steve Couch, because I didn't ask for his permission

and I said, well, it's a freelance gig and I don't have to ask for your permission. You know, I'm not CFRB's Bruce Barker, I'm just Bruce Barker

lacrosse guy. Right. And so, started with The Rock. That's an old school mentality, right? Because today, the,

you know, I mean, even way before that, you would think like, I'm going to think of like, I don't know, May Potts. Okay, so May Potts has a shift on CFNY, and she does a great job. But at night, she might make money. A bargain.

Yeah, she would, I don't know, DJ it or be, like, a presenter at some bar. At the Diamond Club. At the Diamond, yeah, sure, yes. And that was just part of, how you you know you could supplement your income and stuff and it didn't detract if anything it added more awareness of her and it was also promoting the station if right you know you got a microphone but steve coach did not like you uh because i didn't ask him i didn't ask did you think that was a power move i don't know i just because i put the press release from the rock up on the CFRB notice board, you know, and, and I got called into the office saying, you know, you didn't ask me about that.

Well, I didn't have, I said, that was my, my defense was I didn't have to ask you. Right. I thought you'd be proud that the guy's gotten, you know, extra publicity for CFRB. So, so yeah, so I did the rock for a couple of years. I had the pleasure doing the last ever pro sports game at Maple Leaf Gardens, which was in the Toronto Rock. One goal win over Rochester with Caleb Toth scoring the winning goal with one second left. And back then, I mentioned Rob Crefo before as my color guy with the Phantoms.

Yeah. And every year at a golf tournament, I would always borrow his gray cup ring. And I said, you know, one day I want one of these. Well, when Caleb scored that goal, I was getting ring number one. Nice. always borrow his gray cup ring and i said you know one day i want one of these well when caleb scored that goal i was getting ring number one nice and when i when and then about three months later we got the rings at bradwater's house and i had to go in the backyard and i lost it because i looked at the side and said you know barker and all this stuff and then i was there for a couple of years went out to calgary in 2004 and i first day with the Calgary Roughnecks, we win in 2004.

So I said, you know, hey, these rings are following me around. So I ended up with four rings from lacrosse and one from hockey. Yeah, three from the rock and then one from... I wore the Calgary one today. Let's not gloss over. You're essentially the voice of lacrosse in this country for this period here. Well, that's what someone named, uh, Justin Trudeau said. He, uh, I got a letter from the prime minister back in 2016.

Wow. Cause I had just done my 250th game in the national lacrosse league. So getting this letter from JT, that's a big deal, uh, calling you the voice of lacrosse. Uh, does that have anything to do with this terrible affliction, the stroke that strikes you down? No relation, right? No, no. Because you get the letter, you see that, you have a stroke.

Yeah, no, no. No, but it's funny. When you post it up on Facebook, a lot of people say, wow, congrats, and then, of course, you've got the other people who are, what an asshole. Well, this is what I'm saying. Politics is always like that. You know what?

It's from the prime minister to me. It's is always like that. You know what? Yeah. It's from the prime minister to me. Right. It's not a political letter. It's a recognition letter. Here's what I will say. So I was not personally a fan of prime minister Stephen Harper

and I wasn't going to vote for Stephen Harper. If Stephen Harper had sent me a note calling me the godfather of podcasts in this country and congratulating me on episode 1000,

I would frame it and put it up in the studio wall because that's a... What part of the wall would you have it on, Mike? That's right. And you see, I got some stuff ready to go on the wall over there. But I would be proud of the letter from the prime minister of my country

acknowledging my achievement regardless of his political stripe. Exactly. But there are exceptions, right? Because I felt like when... I felt like with Donald, and I'm not American, I'm Canadian,

so it's not going to apply to me, but I did feel like it was, what do you call it, a moral and sensible move when some sports teams didn't go to the White House to meet Donald Trump. So there are,

I would say there are exceptions, but with the specific example of Stephen Harper, because it's the most recent conservative PM I can think of, absolutely, I would be proud of that letter, even though I wasn't personally a fan of the man's politics. Exactly. And, you know, and that's it. Like, it's, I've got this nice letter. It's a nice, you know, nice. The Prime Minister of Canada.

Yeah. It's not, you know. Sorry it wasn't your party of choice. Yeah. So, you know, but that, and I was with Calgary, I was with Edmonton. Right. You know, I enjoyed the National Lacrosse League.

And then, as I said, 2012, the year of the nightmare. Right. I got the job in Kincardine because I had to come back to Ontario for my mom. And so I was working in Kincardine still, well, back then too, for two years, the rock flew me in when I was working in Concord and still, well, back then too, for two years, the rock flew me in when I was working in Edmonton. So I had got a lot of frequent flyer miles too.

I bet. And, but, you know, when I came back and then I had, I got a job. Well, I moved to Guelph. I got a job in Fergus and about two months into the job, the guy who hired me got let go. And I found the attitude and the atmosphere around the station after he was gone. I kind of had a target on my back. And then that's, I'm not going to correlate the stroke to that,

but I was at that station in Fergus. And I was driving home from Wendy's Mums in Burlington. And I started to feel, I felt tired. I was really, it was around Christmas time, and I felt really tired, and we were having soup, and I couldn't get the soup up to my mouth, and it was dropping onto the table. And her mom says, you know, you're probably pretty tired

from all this work you're doing. So I said, yeah, I think we better go. So I'm driving my van back up guelph line from burlington and i'm my right foot i can't feel it on the pedal on the gas pedal it keeps coming off the gas pedal well because the stroke was starting and my left my right the stroke was in the left side of my brain so the right side of my body was being paralyzed. Right. So Wendy got me to Guelph General, which thank God has the number one rated stroke floor in Ontario. Is that right?

Yes. That's a stroke. See what I did there? Yes. Yes. Well, and ironically, 10 days after I had mine, my neighbor up in Kincardine had his and he didn't make it. Oh my goodness.

Because in Kincardine, the hospital is so small, you either went to Owen Sound or London if you had a problem like a stroke he went to owen sound and two days later you know i don't you know what now that you bring up this i don't even consider oh what this could mean to somebody in a health crisis if you live in the wrong part of the province because i've always lived in a part of the province with many world-class hospitals like minutes away it's that's what happened so right you know my friend ron he didn't make it god bless him but uh and i and i was but the thing is when i had the stroke and i you know i'm in the guelph general hospital yeah taken in and the stroke room there you know

hospitals are stark white paint and all well this is a kind of a beigey it's it really soothes your nerves once you go in through the doors. And you have, it's one-on-one, you have one nurse, you have one doctor specifically to you. Okay. And so that first night, well, I couldn't talk. So, you know, the head is going a million miles a minute. Is the career over?

You know, I. Well, I know, I can't imagine what you're experiencing at this time. I was given a whiteboard to talk, to converse with people. Okay. So you could write. So I could write, you know, hi Mike,

you know, get me a coffee, you know, like that. And, but I couldn't talk for a day and a half. Yeah. Not good for a man in your profession.

Then I thought, is it over? I'm like, it's like a surgeon getting broken hand. Right. You know, like, but then slowly,

uh, they started, you know, they do rehab almost instantly. And this is 2016. Yeah. You know, like, but then slowly they started, you know, they do rehab almost instantaneously. And this is 2016. Yeah. So we're only going back six years. Yeah. And you, and they give you rehab literally within hours.

They had a guy come in with blocks and I'm, you know, keeping my dexterity of my fingers. Right. But I, then I, then when they discharged me, which was New Year's Eve of 2016, by the way, I ended up going to St. Joe's Rehab in Guelph. And I learned stuff because the hand not working was occupational therapy. The leg not working was physiotherapy.

And, of course, the voice not being 100% was speech therapy. So I go from my speech therapist, then I go into the gym to the physiotherapist, then finally to the occupational therapist. So the only thing about, I say I'm 97% healed because these three fingers on my right hand, the thumb works, the baby finger works, but these don't. So I can't grip a baseball bat, can't grip a hockey stick,

can't even grip a razor because I can't feel it. But you got 90. So we can rebuild you, Bruce. Yes. So how did the speech come up? I mean, you lose yours. I can't imagine. So you're a man who talks for a living, and suddenly you can't speak.

How do you learn to speak again? Well, Stefania, my speech therapist, living and suddenly you can't speak how do you how do you learn to speak again well stefania my uh my speech therapist she even had a tape of my first ever uh my first ever session and i had to put a pen in my mouth and i was in this you start off by doing t t t t you know just little things and then when i got back on the radio i called her and i said turn on the radio and she started to cry what year what year is this like how soon thereafter we a year and a half okay so it took so you're out so so i was out for a year and a half and while i was out unfortunately uh the station let me go and the rock let me go and part of my voice therapy rehab was reading toronto rock

scripts but i just you know i've let it go i was bitter for years because of it because i really love i don't blame you you got a stroke and you cost you your uh livelihood yeah so so then i started applying for jobs and cjly in Guelph was looking for a news guy. So I went and had the interview. Darren Baxter, the news director there, hired me. And since then, I've done a whole pile of stuff in Guelph because I do produce the Guelph Storm hockey games. I do a weekend DJ shift called Weekends with Barks on 1460 CJOY.

I'm the backup morning guy. I on the backup afternoon drive guy on magic one Oh six, um, you know, Will Menzies there and Brad Hume, they've, you know, take care of me and,

and Darren on the news side, like, and I, and I, I live seven minutes away from the station. So, you know, in hindsight,

it's all worked out. But so back, I do have a couple of wonderful fan messages regarding 1460 CJOY. But before I get to that, back, so this stroke, this stroke could have killed you. Exactly. So if you didn't, it was it, if you didn't get to the right hospital in time.

Well, the doctor also said two things that helped me where I didn't smoke and I didn't overuse alcohol. I'm a casual drinker. I got like a good Caesar. Right, like a social drinker. Yeah, but I'm not a, you know, give me a gallon of Jack and watch me fall down. So he said, because I didn't have,

I didn't have, you know, my lungs were good. I didn't have, you know, and I was taking the weight off at the time. That's what saved my life. Well, I'm glad. I mean, this episode is possible thanks to the good efforts of the, uh, the doctors there at the hospital.

Uh, and so you'd say 97%. So as we speak now, you get a few fingers that aren't functioning the way they used to, but that's, that's amazing, buddy. Well, can you tell them my voice? No, no, no, no. And when I first started, I had the John Crutchian face.

Okay, yes. Sure. It's like a Bell's Palsy almost, right? And I was like, you know, S's were bad. Like it was, but with all the work they've given me in Guelph on the air, I've got, you know, the muscles in the throat are working. So Will Menzies is a listener of the program. Yes. And Will, do you know the muscles in the throat are working so will menzies uh

is a listener of the program and will do you know this name will men's oh he's a super fan yes and he also works with me okay it's two for one he says uh i think i i think somebody tweeted at me this is this is by the way all these questions came from when you were going to be on the first time okay so it's all loaded up for them. But somebody tweeted like, what's Barks up to these days or something? And Will Menzies wrote, I can answer that for you. Weekends from noon to six on 1460 CJOY,

Barks has an incredible story. Happy he'll be able to share that story with the FOTMs. So thank you, Will, for that. But then I want to, Blair. Blair famously in FOTM, sorry, in Toronto Mike circles,

Blair's, I believe, maybe we, we do a monthly episode of Mark Weisblatt from 1236. And for not anymore, thankfully, but for a while he was covering a chair girl. You remember chair girl?

Okay. So the song we would play whenever Mark was going to do his Chair Girl update was Marcella by the Beach Boys because that's Chair Girl's name. Okay. So I'm going to read Blair's question with that context. He says,

ask him how CJOY decides their playlist. Who's got the fine young cannibals fetish over there? Regatta de Blanc deep cuts. Can they please play Marcella by the Beach Boys? So who does decide the playlist for CJOY? Well, it's on a computer. It's an algorithm. Yeah, exactly.

Because Mike Devine, who does the morning show there, he's a longtime veteran. He was at Q107 producing Andy Frost for a long time. Andy Frost. a long time. Andy Frost. And, um, you know, Mike, Mike's got great taste in music too, but there are, it's, it's, it's a different format because they do play live tracks and they do play deep album cuts for an AM station. So that's the only answer I have.

I'm sorry, but. No, but that's, that's, you know what, you know, and, uh, Blair, thanks for the, for the note here. So, so you took today off just so that you couldn't burn me twice in a row. Yes. So thank you for that. And don't eat, I know you've been shedding some beef and you're looking great, but I know you're not done yet.

So don't eat the lasagna from Palma Pasta on your own in one sitting. Don't eat it on the way home. You'll break your teeth. Not good on the own in one sitting. Don't eat it on the way home. You'll break your teeth. Not good on the 401 with broken teeth. Now, Bruce, before we play some Lois of the Low here, this is your opportunity. I don't want you to be driving home and have that moment.

This happens often, and I finally learned like, hey, let's make sure we do this before we wrap. You're going to be driving home and you're going to say, oh, darn, I forgot to tell the story about blah that you were thinking about last night that you wanted to share. Is there any story that you're going to regret not telling me that you could share right now?

It's a spring training story with Freddie P. And I love Fred Patterson to death. But, you know, again, you had free Labatt's beer. And they always took a day off towards the end of spring training. And I had to be Freddie's bodyguard for that whole night because it was like, Lloyd Moe's beer. I love you, mans. And that was great being Freddie's wingman

because I learned how to protect people from that. But he was great because we would go down there. We'd always pick the same two weeks to be in Florida. And then, of course, when I was at CKBB, I was doing the Leaf games, and I would send Fred some audio the next morning. I'd call CFNY at 5 a.m. You want some tape of the Leaf game? Oh, sure, yeah.

And we're friends to this day, and know, the Leaf game. I'm like, oh, sure. Yeah. And, you know, we're friends to this day and that's over 50 years. You know, I used to love the, the Freddie P sports commentaries on CFNY and he was doing those for Pete and Gates. Yeah. And then when I was at West at Q13 in Brooks, Alberta, Freddie had his Freddie P website.

Canadianthinker.com. Okay. You want me to blow your mind? Okay. Who do you think created Canadianthinker.com for Freddie P? MeThinker.com. Do you want me to blow your mind? Who do you think created CanadianThinker.com for Freddie P? Me. I had him on my show with Fred Patterson's View from the East. He did a bunch of radio hits

during the Canadian Thinker years. He was on with me in Alberta. Of course, then you get people at our station calling and saying, who's that guy from Ontario? He said, he's a legend. No, I'm glad that we got in the Freddie P story because I can

play that for them when I pop on their show every Thursday. I could play that clip for Freddie P. Absolutely. No, thanks so much. Bruce, what a pleasure it was finally doing the Bruce Barker deep dive. It was great. And you're not just saying that because I'm giving you some beer and some pasta to take on.

You validate parking here. You are now an FOTM. Congratulations to you. Glad to be part of it. You and Dave Charles can join the club there together. And that brings us to the end of our 1024th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike Bruce.

Are you on Twitter? No. Are you on any social media? Facebook. Okay. So Bruce Barks Barker. Okay. If you want to follow the happenings in Bruce's life,

Bruce Barks Barker on Facebook. 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, they're at Ridley FH. Canna Cabana are at

canna cabana underscore. And Ryobi are on Instagram at ryobi underscore Canada. See you all next week. 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 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 green 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 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 grey 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 roads And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes

And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can 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 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 gray.

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.