Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Craig Venn: Toronto Mike'd #218

Episode Date: February 16, 2017

Mike chats with Craig Venn about his years at CFNY, being Lobster Boy on the John Derringer show and hosting the morning show at 94.9 The Rock.

Welcome to episode 218 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. And Chef's Plate, delivering delicious and locally sourced farm fresh ingredients in refrigerated kits directly to your door. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com, and joining me this week is Craig Venn. Some of you know him better as Lobster Boy, but he's Craig Venn to me. Yeah, thank you.

Welcome, Craig. Excellent. Thank you for having me. I've been listening to Toronto Mike, and it's funny because I've heard so many people in here with you describing this room and the son's bedroom behind us. That's right. And I'm getting to be a part of it. You know what it's like when people say they go to see Letterman or something or Saturday Night Live and they say,

Oh, it's a lot smaller than I thought. Right. So in my mind, this was like a big room. Oh, I wish. I mean, it's very nice and all of that. It's perfect. Instead, it's like a broom closet. Very much.

But it's perfect. Instead, it's like a broom closet. Very much. But it's good. You were prepared because I gave you the low ceiling speech, but you didn't need that speech. You've heard it all before. Well, yeah, I've heard everybody talk about the low ceiling, and I'm not the tallest guy in the world, so there was no risk of me cracking my head against that. You'd be surprised. You'd be surprised. And actually, we were short a bedroom in this house, so I recently had a contractor just come and quote a bunch of stuff

which is like buying the house again. I actually can't afford it but just to even lower the floor here to give you adult sized ceilings, forget about it.

It's not in my budget right now. It's very expensive. The house we just bought when we moved back to the GTA from Windsor, we searched high and low for a place and we lost

out on a bunch of homes and with bidding wars and such, but we did a whole bunch of renovations. I mean, it's worth it when you look at the cost of the house. When we bought two years ago, and now we're out in Oshawa with The Rock, and the cost of homes in the last two years have gone up like a couple of hundred grand. So in my area, so even if you dump 30, 40, 50, $60,000 into a house, around the GTA, that's nothing. I mean, people going in and knocking homes down, right?

Well, listen, if it was only that much, I think I would have signed on the dotted line. You should see these quotes I got back. Six figures and plus. But we wanted to push it back. We got like a long backyard. Okay. And like, so an extra bedroom, and then on the main floor, the kitchen goes back, and got like a long backyard. Okay. And like, so an extra bedroom and then on the main floor

the kitchen goes back and there's a powder room. So there is some significant framing and stuff, I guess. I don't know. Again, to go buy a house big enough for your family,

you'd be, you know, in excess of a million dollars. Yeah, that's right. So maybe it is the idea to rebuild. We'll see. Right now, there's not enough

Patreon money right now for the renovations to raise the ceiling. So right now, almost all of you, I won't say their names to protect their identities, but there's only a handful of guests who didn't have to duck for this part. I'm touching right now. I'm one of them. No, actually, you would hit that. By the way, Maureen Holloway says hi. I love Maureen.

Auntie Mo. It's so funny. I went on to Toronto Mike to listen to, and I listen to so many of your podcasts, and her photo with you and your baby. Yeah. It's so CHFI Mo. That's right.

Because the Q107 Mo would have had a scotch and a cigar in her hand. That's right. She's Aunt Auntie Mo so much now. She's Mom Mo. Although she didotch and a cigar in her hand. That's right. She's anti-Moe so much now. She's Mom Moe. Although she did make a zucchini joke. You know, it's funny when I was listening to that. Because it's interesting with different radio stations and what you're allowed to get away with and what you're not.

And so, you know, for CHFI, making that zucchini joke is very risky. That's what I thought. Soccer moms would not, you know, like that. That's what I thought. Because Aaron Davis never would have referred to anything. No chance. I don't know. Maybe broccoli would have been Aaron's favorite vegetable.

I'm thinking maybe that was digital only, that campaign. Maybe that never aired. The same crowd that would object to such an innocent, over-your-head type zucchini joke, that same crowd, if they don't hear it over the terrestrial radio, it doesn't exist, I think. I think. And funny, too, she mentioned how they're not allowed to mention

porn movies and such. They had to call it adult movies or something. We do a bit on The Rock called Porn Star Birthdays. Two different worlds, yeah. We're going to get into that because that's a real rock station. I would like to say, if I may, it's probably the only legitimate rock station in the gta now i think okay let me ask you this so on the other end of the city uh so the uh far east yes where jason bar lives right all far west west way west yeah is it so when i think of that when i think of like

real rock the stuff we used to get on Q and stuff before it was boomified. Boom light or whatever they call it. I know I got The Rock in Oshawa. Yeah. And I got Hits FM in St. Catharines. St. Catharines, yeah. And Hits FM has been a great rock station for a very, very long time. I mean, I guess you would say they're more southwestern Ontario.

They're Niagara. But I mean, their signal is massive. So it does come clear booming into the city. How far east can I go and still get that station? I think you can get it out into Oshawa. Is that right? Yeah, and maybe a little beyond. It's got a very, very strong signal.

So, yeah, I would say if you're going to say Ontario, then Hits and The Rock are probably the only two real kind of playing new rock and classic rock and grunge and everything in between, whereas everybody else has gone completely light or alternative or... Or added Duran Duran. Yes.

You know? Yes, yeah. I was... Honestly, I look at your playlist, and that's like, you know, I can hear like Faith No More's Epic, and I can hear, you know, Guns N' Roses, and you can still hear Nirvana, you know,

and New Rock too, of course. Well, the theory behind that is that the grunge stuff from the 90s, if you were into grunge in the 90s, you know, you were probably a teenager in high school. That's me. That's you. So now you're in your 30s and that's your classic rock. And, you know, you are in the key demographic. You're the people we're trying to sell beer to and cars and furniture. And so when you look at a guy who's 35 to 40,

Nirvana and Pearl Jam are your Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyds. You're right. That's exactly right. You're right. And as you know, everybody's like, what's the best music in the world? The answer is whatever you loved

when you were a teenager. Exactly. And that's me too. I still slap on my Pearl Jam or Rage Against the Machine, right, for example. Yeah. Because that's the shit I was listening to

when I was 18 years old. That's what you were listening to, getting high and partying with your friends and all that. That's right. Now we're going to go deeper into the Oshawa, the rock station in Oshawa

and everything. But we got to start on a somber note because there was a radio death, if you will, yesterday. Yes, yeah. So here, I'll tell you, I'm going to play a clip just to give a taste. And I am a, I'm going to tell you, Craig, that I'm a big like CBC radio listener.

And this is where you and I completely divide because I don't know that I've spent two seconds listening to CBC radio. I love when I have a commute, for example, I wanted to rock out and I tune in The Rock and different stations like that. But nowadays, it's mainly I go to CBC Radio 1. I do a lot of podcasting too. But one of the shows I would never appointment listen, but I would stumble

upon it many, many times over the decades is Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe. Let's get a taste of what he did and then I'll tell you my controversial opinion on this great Canadian here. Stuart McLean's Christmas present. Just a minute. I'm Stuart McLean and this is the Vinyl Cafe. One night at dinner, a Sunday night, Sunday night in September, late September, Morley said, I've

been thinking about Christmas. Me too, said Sam. Dave gasped. And I was thinking, said Morley, that it would be fun this year. Dave was shaking his head slowly back and forth now, unconsciously, Dave was shaking his head slowly back and forth now, unconsciously, staring at his wife while a confliction of emotions flicked across his face like playing cards. Despair, hope, confusion, and finally the last card, horror. I was thinking, said Morley,

it would be fun if we made presents for each other. Dead silence. So that's a taste. Yeah, and that's where you lose me. I understand so many people praise the man and he is very Canadian and great storyteller from what I understand. That's the most I've

ever heard of him. It just reminds me of that old kind of CBC stuff my parents would watch. You know, the stand-up comics that weren't funny in my mind when I was young. Did you get a Ron James vibe? Yeah, yeah, that kind of thing. There's a few guys off the top of my head

I can't quite place them now. But yeah, just that CBC down home. And it's just not me. I got to say all i gotta preface this because the man passed tragically from cancer and everyone had great experiences with him and he's very talented and good at what he does and i actually will admit i i liked knowing he was out there i think it's a weird thing i i never stuck around very long because it was never i never did it for me it was never my cup of tea. I found it a little cornball folksy, small towny. And not that I love small towns. It's not my fault I was born in Toronto.

If I was born in a small town, I'd be shitting all over Toronto, I'm sure. You'd probably be glad you're out of that small town. Who knows? Who knows? But I liked knowing he was there and he was great at what he did. But I never got it. In fact, early days of this podcast, but I never got it. In fact, early days of this podcast when I was just shooting

this shit with my friend Rosie, I think I told the story about how I don't get the Vinyl Cafe and people love it, right? They go and they go to it and they have like this folksy,

it's like a, I guess like a warm blanket on a cold winter day. Wasn't Randy Bachman doing it as well at one point? No, that's a different show. Oh, okay. That's called,

that's called Vinyl Tap. That's what that was. Okay. Yeah, and you're right. I actually thought it was strange

those names had to be so similar because a lot of guys like you who don't know. Yeah, I was shocked when I

heard vinyl and I just assumed and then I thought Randy Bachman had died. No, man. By the way, that Bachman show is

very good. I like it. Yes. Because dude knows, I just like hearing the inside story. It was like when you used to listen

to Kim Mitchell on Q. Same thing, right? Yes. Yeah. And I like that shit. Yeah. That's the inside baseball I went for. So you used to listen to Kim Mitchell on cue. Same thing, right? Yes. Yeah. And I like that shit. That's the inside baseball I live for. So Stuart McLean,

sorry he's gone. Man, that's terrible disease, that cancer, man. Yeah, it's not good. In the category of not good. I'm going to file that under shitty. But man, I never got it. I don't.

And I saw the raves coming. Oh, man, it was awesome. And I can't be that guy. When someone dies, I can't be like, oh, that show was awesome. I don't. And I saw the raves coming. Oh, man, it was awesome. And I can't be that guy. Like when someone dies, I can't be like, oh, that show was awesome. That guy was pretty awesome. And he was good at what he did. And I would say this about him, because I'm a huge fan of anybody that's on the radio and storytelling, because there's just so few of them now. Most radio is a jukebox during the day, and you really don't get to hear people, especially on FM.

I mean, AM is still, you know, you've got your talk and you've got your Staffords and all these guys who are terrific, but, you know, for the most part, it's just jukeboxes, and so when you have somebody who's considered one of the great storytellers, that's a real compliment to the man. Yeah, and it had its folksy charm. It just wasn't for me, but hey, sorry that Stuart McLean

has left us. 68 feels young, I know, but I think if we had this conversation like 40 years ago, we'd be like, oh, that's a good age, you know, but it doesn't feel good anymore. No, I think, you know, as I'm aging, I keep thinking, you've got to at least hit 85. Is that

the target now? I think if you don't make it past 85, you've fallen short somewhere. You've screwed up something. You know what? Just avoid that big C, I think, and then take short somewhere. You've screwed up something. You know what? Just avoid that big C, I think, and then take care of yourself to avoid the heart attacks

and you have a good chance at 85. Get your prostate checked. Get your colonoscopies done. Have you done it? Because I do regular doctor appointments, but I am maybe

a tiny bit younger than you. What age do you deserve? I'm 50. Well, I'm 50 now. I had an issue with diverticulitis a couple of years ago. Came out of nowhere and just started having some stomach problems.

And next thing I knew, it went from stomach ache to just horrible pain. And ended up in the hospital for a week or two. And it was diverticulitis and then diverticulosis. I get it all confused. So anyhow, you have to go and have a colonoscopy because of that to go make sure everything's working properly. So I've been through that and I can tell you, as I'm sure Freddie P and others have mentioned,

the prep is the worst part of it. The colonoscopy is really nothing. It really is. It's easier than going to the dentist. I mean, you know, I slept through it and of course you should. You want to. And I remember waking up and I know they make you stay until you've passed gas.

You know, you've got to clear out the colon, I guess, from whatever air and stuff. Sure. And so I wake up, and I say to the nurse, oh, wow, I guess I can't leave yet because I have to pass gas. And she goes, oh, no, no, you slept 45 minutes past the thing, and you passed enough gas for everybody. So I didn't even know that was happening. That's funny.

So you can actually get through it if you haven't had one. What age do doctors recommend this? Because my doctor has not yet recommended this. I go once a year. Every doctor seems to do different things. Like you'll have some doctors who still do the finger test. You'll have other doctors who just do the PSA test now. I would say when I hit 40, I started going for physicals every year.

I don't have a big, I think I have a couple of family members who passed from cancer, like great grandparents and such. But so around 45, I think I started having the PSA blood test. That again, I haven't got there yet. Yeah. And then 50 is when you should started having the PSA blood test. I haven't got there yet. And then 50 is when you should start having the colonoscopies. You have one, and if you're clear, I think you're good for 10 years or something. I have so much to look forward to. Oh, it's good fun.

Colonoscopies and erectile dysfunction, it's excellent, Mike. And I have no idea how to segue to this. Not that I'm suffering from erectile dysfunction. I'm just using it as a joke. For the record, he's not erectile dysfunctional. Write that down. Yeah, I can't segue to this. I'm no pro.

But Terrence Ross was traded. All right. And my very brief story, I don't know if you're a basketball fan. Not a little bit. I'm a bandwagon jumper. That's okay. A lot of people in Toronto jump on that bandwagon in playoff time. But just real quick, really quick math story is that i i did some math

recently so i was at a game with my daughter where terrence ross had 51 points okay this tied the franchise record because vince carter had 51 points in 2000 i was also at that game with my buddy mark so i realized at that point i had been to only in my life 12 raptor games okay so at the time i had been live to 12 raptor games, and two of those games included the only two 51-point games in franchise history. Oh, there's something. Right. So I'm no math guy, Craig, okay? But

my wife works with a mathematician, believe it or not, and she provided these details. So I won't... It's a little nerdy, and I won't go too deep into it, except that basically I have all these neat metrics. He does a lot of math like probability that if you've been to 12 games and at that time there had been like 1600 in franchise history. So you do this math. It worked out the odds of me being at both

51 point games was 0.0045 percent. So look at you. I just just saying that since Terrence Ross was was traded that was an opportunity for me to share a little math with the audience. No, it's very good. And people who go to Raptor games all the time would not... That's right. If you went to every home game, your odds were much higher. But if you only bid to 12, the odds are that. All right.

So patreon.com slash Toronto Mike. I mentioned it earlier. If people out there want to help crowdfund this effort, you go there. Give what you can. Kevin Shea, who was recently on the show,

he's a hockey historian. He's a great guy, yes. Yeah, fantastic guy. Yes. I know he's fantastic because this morning I had an Interact email transfer. He didn't want to do Patreon,

but he wanted to give $25 to the microphones and to the server and to everything. Oh, that's excellent. I know, and I'm like, you didn't have to do this, he wanted to give $25 to the microphones and to the server and to everything I know and I'm like you didn't have to do this but he said it was the least he could do he had a great time and he wants to keep this thing going so thank you very much Kevin, no pressure

Craig, I don't need you to rip out the wallet right now No, I don't have it on me as you know it's a debit world but I'll tell you what's going to happen honestly, I'm going to what's going to happen, Mike, honestly. I'm going to drink a couple of these tonight. I'll get home after this. These, what are those?

Great Lakes Brewery, a six-pack. Thank you so much to the good people at Great Lakes Brewery. What's going to happen is I'm going to go home and I'll have a nap this afternoon. I'll get up, I'll start preparing dinner. I will put back two or three of these and I will feel very warm and glowing to you

and then probably end up on your site donating. Wow. Then I have to give you more beer. This is a great deal. Keep me drinking. So that's a variety pack, if you will. Yes, yes. So I saw you pulled out the Lake Effect, which... I would like them all, I think. I'm more of a...

I must say I'm a bit of a lightweight in that I like a Pilsner or a Lager. I guess I'm not a dark-beard guy. I don't know. I pulled out the wrong one. But there should be... I'll give the dark beard of my oldest son. Well, that's the thing about it.

You can make your neighbors happy. How old is your son? I have a 20... Before I go to Bob Callahan. He's seven. No, I have a 22-year-old and a 19-year-old. That's okay. Give him some beer.

He'll like the beer. He's coming to see us this weekend. So we'll drink him this weekend. Man, my daughter yesterday hit, my youngest hit 11 months. So I'm done, right? So now I'm done. But I'm thinking, we're going to have this first birthday party soon. My last ever first birthday.

Those are the fun... You can say they're fun. I found them to be a bit trying. I've had this discussion with my co-host on the air because he's got two young boys. And I've realized about myself, I'm a much better dad now that they're older. I wasn't a great baby dad. I mean, I love them. I raised them. I did all the things I had to do. But I'm much better with kids when they get to be about 16, 17 and beyond. You can converse.

Treat them as an adult and have those conversations. It's such a one-sided affair when they're young. You know, you're right. It's all them, you know. Yeah.

There's no give and take at all. They're just greedy little bloodsuckers. You're right. I have noticed recently, I've noticed my conversations with,

he's almost three, he's almost three, they've changed a little bit. But you're right, when I talk to my almost 13-year-old and my 15-year-old, we talk like I talk to you.

There's almost nothing off. It's great. Real deep and heavy stuff, whatever it is. Watch movies together. Hell or High Water is a movie we just watched, my son and I. Great Oscar-nominated film. Haven't seen it. You've got to see this one. It's Jeff Bridges, and

it's excellent. I remember when my kids were little, my wife used to work Friday nights, and so we got into this routine of ordering pizza and renting movies, back when you used to go to a blockbuster and rent movies. So if you do that every Friday, you start to run out of movies for kids.

I think I saw Aladdin enough times that I should have just bought a copy, but I just was stupid and kept renting it. But I remember one time, we're going through the movies, and I'm trying desperately to find something. So I think we had done all the Indiana Jones, we had done a bunch of John Candy movies,

trying to find anything that worked. And I stumbled upon White Men Can't Jump. Remember Woody Harrelson? What's his name? Wesley Snipes. Wesley Snipes, yeah. So in my mind, I just remember funny movie basketball. This will be great.

Now we can swear a little bit on here, right? I've heard people swear a little bit. So we get it home. And now at this point, I think my oldest was about eight or nine. My youngest was like five. So we get the home, we get the pizza out, we get the movie in, and it's like motherfucker

this and that. Out of the gate, Rosie Perez gets naked at some point. Oh, that's the best. And I just remember looking at my oldest, and he's got a look on his face like, I know these words are not words I'm supposed to be hearing, and I'm thinking to myself, well, don't make a big deal out of it, because if you do, it's just going to accentuate.

And the youngest one had no idea. So if I can give any advice moving forward with your younger ones, don't show them white men can't jump. It's funny because I don't think there's a parent alive who hasn't had that experience where they remember a movie being more innocent than it is, and it's on, and they, oh, I forgot about this scene. You know what I mean? It's like I showed my kids Slapshot.

I thought I remembered it just being a funny hockey movie with fights. But you forget the things that go on. Yeah. It's not the mighty ducks. You don't get confused. By the way, the beer you're going, but I'm going to send you two meals too.

This is, this is, uh, yeah, this is from chefs plate.com. Everyone listening. You got to try chef's plate. Uh,

you know, the deal by now, locally sourced pre-portioned meal kits, and it gets delivered to your door in a refrigerated kit. So even if you're not home for eight hours, it doesn't matter. It's going to be cold when you get it. You go to chefsplate.com

and you use the promo code Toronto Mike. You get two free plates if you use the promo code Toronto Mike. But you, Craig, I'm going to make your life even easier. I'm just going to send you a link of the current menu. You're going to say,

I want these two and you're going to give me a shipping address. Beautiful. And they're going to send it to you. Wow, that's great. I look forward to say, I want these two, and you're going to give me a shipping address. Beautiful. And they're going to send it to you. Oh, that's great. I look forward to that because I hear these type of things, and I've never tried them, so I might get hooked. You've got to try them because I don't know if you're like a culinary expert at all.

I love cooking because I have the time, but it's just mostly my wife and I at home now, so to get something just delivered is terrific. Yeah, and you don't have to measure anything. So this cheat sheet, like how to put it together, I was able to follow it, and I'm not a very culinary guy, so you're going to have an easy time. All right, let's dive in to Craig Venn's

radio career. You've got a cool career because you're at a lot of stations I dig. Can we talk about how you end up at CFNY? Yeah, we can start there, sure, because that's kind of where it started. I must tell you, though, it's funny, listening to the podcast, everybody's stories are pretty like,

well, I don't know if I wanted to get into radio. I was kind of doing this, that, or the other thing, and somebody I knew, or I went to school, and I interned, and the next thing I know, I'm the morning guy in New York City. My story is, Mike, I'll be honest, my story is one misstep and screw-up after another. Let's hear it, Mike.

I'm lucky I'm actually still in this business that I love so much because it has been a train wreck after a train wreck. I started in the early 80s, 1983, 84, as a co-op student at a station called CKMW out in Brampton, which was the AM to CFNY. And so every day I'd go there. You know, at co-op in grade 12, I think I went to school one day and the radio station one day, because I had wanted to be in radio forever. So I can't remember a time when I didn't think that would be a cool career. So when I got the chance to do the co-op education, they got me that spot. And I did that for a year, just going in and hanging out and doing whatever interns would do. And then at the end of grade 12,

when I graduated, I think they needed someone to write the traffic reports. Now back then in 83, the only way you could get the traffic was to steal it from CFRB or CFTR. So I would tape it. I would tape... What were their names? Daryl Dahmer and Russ Holden. Those guys. I would tape them and then rewind it and type out verbatim what they had said and hand it to the morning guy. That's great. So I did that for

quite a while. But I was down the hall from CFNY and it just seemed like the cool place to be. I didn't know a lot about CFNY. I was really always a Q107 guy. But it just seemed like down the hall they were having so much fun. Because the AM station was kind of this middle-of-the-road, AC kind of... That's not the Foster Hewitt station.

No, that was CJCL. That was 1430. Wasn't there a Chick? Chick. It was Chick Radio originally, 790. Okay, so okay. When I got there, it was CKMW. Gotcha.

Yeah, Metro West, I think, was what the MW stood for. So what happened there? Well, so I hung in there for a while, and I really wanted to be on the air, and so I kept doing demos of myself and trying to be a radio announcer. And the overnight guy, I think, quit or got another job or got fired or whatever it was. And so all of a sudden, they said, hey, Craig, you want a shot? You can do the overnight show. So I got to go on the air doing the overnight show and still

writing the morning show traffic. And then a gentleman that you've had in here, Scott Turner, he was the morning guy at that point at CKMW. And he decided, because this would have been 84, 85, that it would be really cool if the station became

a dance station. Hip-hop was huge at this point, 1984, 85. Run DMC and the stuff where you could break. Yeah, Fat Boys and all that stuff. Because Prince's Purple Rain soundtrack had just come out and was massive. So he turned it to Rhythm Radio 790.

You know, Scott was always into that stuff, even way back then. Right. So him and I became very good friends. And I ended up doing the overnight show and the morning show traffic on air for him, I believe. And I did that for a long time. And for the grand total of $90 a week, I might add. So if anybody thinks radio is a high-paying gig, I think for doing midnight to 6 a.m.

and then 6 a.m. till 10 a.m., I got $90 a week. It doesn't pay much more now. No, but when you're 18 or 17, just the fact that you're getting to do it was amazing. Yeah, absolutely. So I kept going down the hall to CFNY to try to see if I could become a board op or one of these guys who pushed the buttons. And I finally, I guess Marsden, I finally got to meet David Marsden.

That was tough in itself. Like, he had a secretary, I remember. Leslie Cross. You couldn't, it was like Fort Knox. The gatekeeper, yeah. Oh, she was the gatekeeper. You had to be somebody to see Marsden, and I was nobody. She was the gatekeeper, yeah.

Oh, she was the gatekeeper. You had to be somebody to see Marsden, and I was nobody. So I think one day he was sitting in his office having a smoke like you could back then, and I just popped in and introduced myself. And eventually I ended up getting to board op on the weekends on CFNY. So I can tell you a quick little story about that if you'd like. Let's hear it. Because this is one of the beginning of a few disasters.

So for weeks leading up to my first opportunity to be a board op, I had to get trained. And they took it very seriously. CFNY was, you know, Marsden ran that place. Everybody was very dedicated to it and you had to take it very seriously and there was all these rules about how things ran on the air and even though it was free form,

there was real, you know, certain things had to occur. Organized chaos. Yeah, that's exactly what it is. So I get trained for weeks and weeks, and finally my first big opportunity to work the board at CFNY is a Sunday morning at like 6 a.m.,

and my first song is playing. I remember it was like an extended version of a Spoons song, like Nova Heart or something. Sure, sure. Some 12-minute dance remix of it. And it's playing, and I got my next record all queued up and I'm all ready to go. I hit fire on the board, and everything shuts down.

Like the whole board, except for that one turntable playing the Spoons. That's the only thing that'll stay on the air. Now I'm in full panic. So the song ends. I pick up the needle, and I drop it back at the beginning. Sure. What else am I going to do?

I'm playing it again. Now I notice the phone line's lighting up like crazy. I'm like, well, what the hell's going on? And then I realize that just that week, CFNY had started a promotion. If you hear the same song in 24 hours, you get $102, right? Well, not only did they hear it in the same 24 hours, they

heard it back to back. So now I got the phones ringing off the hook. I got the song playing twice, and I finally get a hold of Geet's Romo, David Haydu, who lived out, I think, in Willowdale or something, and he barrels out to the station, and I ended up having a way of getting one

record off and another one on, and we carried on. But what an absolute disaster that was. And so I carried on doing that, and Ted Wallachian arrived with the Comedy Bowl. Did you hear me butcher his name yesterday? No, I didn't. Say it again.

Wallishan, right? Ted Wallishan, yeah. And I think I called him Ted Wallishan. Well, yeah, you might. He'd be a great guy to have on, actually. He was very talented. Well, now that I butchered his name, I might have burnt that bridge. No, you'll be fine.

So, yeah, tell me. Because I know the Wallishan story. Brother Bill shared this story. Let me hear it. Yeah, okay. You want to hear my side of it? Yeah, let's hear your side of it. So, Ted did a thing called the Comedy Bowl, which ran on Sunday nights.

It was like Rick Hodge's Sunday Funnies, right? Same idea. And Rick did it on Chum, and Ted did it on Q, and then brought it over to CFNY. So what happened was Ted was brought to CFNY to do a talk show after Pete and Geet's every morning between 9 and 10, because back then you had to have so much talk content, right? Foreground programming or whatever they called it.

So he used to do this talk show 9 to 10, and so I would produce that. So on top of doing the overnights on the AM, I'd do that, I'd do the morning show traffic, and then I'd walk down the hall to CFNY and do this 9 to 10 show that I would produce. And then on Wednesdays, we would pre-record the Comedy Bowl, which ran Sunday nights.

So this particular Wednesday, we record the show, it's Bowl, which ran Sunday nights. So this particular Wednesday, we record the show. It's all on reel-to-reel tape. And normally I would do all the editing and fixing of it on the Wednesday, but I guess that day I was just tired. I'd had enough. I'd been up all night. So I threw it in my locker and I said, ah, screw it. I'll fix it

tomorrow or whenever. I had until Sunday night anyhow. So Saturday, God, I've told this story a thousand times. Oh, I love it. So Saturday, I'm going somewhere and I realize, oh shit, I got to edit the comedy bowl. So I race up to the station, I throw the tape on the machine, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, edit it all up and throw it into the control room.

So Sunday night comes around, it's 11 o'clock and the comedy bowl is on and I'm going to be on the air again at midnight on the AM station. So I sit down at my little desk that I had and I'm prepping my show. Now Ted used to always say at the end of every Comedy Bowl, the Comedy Bowl was produced by Craig Venn or whoever, I used to just be thrilled to hear my name. So I would tune in at the end

just to hear him say my name. But I was prepping the show and I thought, oh, I'll listen to some of the Comedy Bowl. So I turn over to the Comedy Bowl, and the language I'm about to use is the most extreme, if that's okay. No, go nuts. Okay. So Ted's doing the Comedy Bowl, and he says, I can't even remember who he was, because every show was about a different comic, and there would be an hour on that.

So I don't remember who it was. But he says, so-and-so has been in a ton of movies, such as, and then he goes, he pauses, and he says, fuck, edit. Cocksucker, motherfucker, cunt, cunt, cunt, cunt, cunt. He says it just like that. Just like that. Those are the worst words. It doesn't get any worse. So I'm sitting there, and I hear, fuck, edit.

And I'm like, oh, no, because I know what's coming. There's that beat pause, and then the rest of it comes out. Now, I go hauling down to the FM control room, and the kid, I can't remember who it was that was opping, he's just gone white. Like, he's in shock. I'm in shock. I don't know what to do.

I start calling Ted at home. His line is busy already. Everybody must be calling him that heard it. And I finally get through to him and to his credit, he was so good about it. He really, he said, listen, Craig, yes, you screwed up by not editing it, but there is a golden rule in radio that you should never talk like that in front of a live mic. You just don't know where it's going. Just in case.

Just in case. In case Craig misses it. Yeah. Now, we're all guilty in control rooms. You've been around Howard and Fred. I mean, you know, the language can get pretty spicy when they're off the air. So we don't all follow that rule as well as we should. but anyhow, so the next day, I came into the station, and Marsden calls me into his office. I remember Earl Jive walking in, live Earl Jive, and he says, hey, motherfucker, cocksucker, how are you?

Which felt nice. So Marsden calls me into his office, and he says, look, here's the deal. If we don't take any heat on this, then you're safe. You made a mistake. I was so apologetic. I felt horrible. He said, but if we take too much heat and this goes to the CRTC or anybody files a complaint, the best way for us to get off the hook on this is to fire you.

And I went, okay, well, let's see how things go. So there was one father who had been in his car with his twin daughters, who were about seven at the time, and he was furious, and rightfully so. I mean, he's listening to the Comedy Bowl at 11. I don't know what the hell he's doing driving around with his seven-year-old daughter.

So this aired at 11? 11 o'clock on a Sunday night. Oh, you could have got away with that. Now, to make matters worse, that particular Sunday was Mother's Day. Oh. So you don't want to be using motherfucker on the air. Forget motherfucker. It's the C word, right? It's the C word that women appreciate so much.

It's the worst. So they fired me. And I was booted. I think in that time period, I had also lost the job on the AM side because they had gone multicultural. Okay. So since my Spanish and Greek and Italian isn't great, I was out of two radio gigs within a month. And yeah, so that was that for a while. I ended up going and parking cars at a place called Park and Fly out by the airport because I had just happened to buy a car.

I had a car loan, so I had to keep meeting those payments. Sure, sure. Now, a nice little side note, I guess, to that is that I met my wife of today, was a cashier at that Park and Fly, and that's how we met. Maureen had a similar, like, how she met her spouse story, like at Rogers or whatever back in the day.

Yeah. No, that's great. So you're still with her. That's cool. Yeah, yeah. So there you go. Parking the cars worked day. No, that's great. So you're still with her. That's cool. Yeah, 25 years. Parking the cars worked out. Oh, yeah, very romantic. Park and fly.

She was very impressed with my jumpsuit from Park and Fly. So David Marsden had to fire you. He sacked me, yeah. And it was tough. I'll tell you, when I was working at Park and Fly, I missed it so much. And so I would be in people's cars parking them, and I would tune into Wallachian Show,

and there would be another producer, and they'd be live at the Royal York doing something, and I'd be so full of rage and jealousy. But working with Ted was excellent. I learned so much from him. And he had been an original morning guy in Q107, and of course CFRB. He replaced Wally Crowder.

I mean, that's big shoes to fill. It's funny, because he leaves there to go to see KFM, where He replaced Wally Crowder. That's big shoes to fill. It's funny because he leaves there to go to see KFM where Maureen Holliday was. They worked together for a while. Ted, I remember, he was a huge Letterman fan. This was around the mid-80s when David Letterman was at the height of his fame.

It was, I think, around April Fool's or something. And we decided, or it was ratings, and Ted decided that we should try to get a hold of David Letterman, see if we get a phone interview with him. So I went through all these people in New York City to try to get to David Letterman. I finally got to his receptionist or his secretary, and I said, I explained who I was, and she says, okay, I'll leave the message for him. So I'm like, holy crap. So I said to her, I said, well, when could I expect to hear back from him. So I'm like, holy crap. So I said to her, I said, well, you know, when could I expect to hear back from Mr. Letterman?

Because we'd really love to book him for an interview. And she said, well, I wouldn't hold your breath. He's got about four years of messages he hasn't gotten back to yet. So then we ended up, so, you know, Wallachian was, he was pretty smart back, you know, quick. And he decided, okay, well, we can't get the real David Letterman, so we'll find a D Letterman in the phone book. And so we found a David Letterman in Toronto,

and for weeks we were talking to David Letterman, and it turned out to be this guy, this David Letterman in Toronto. That reminds me of the Scruff Connors thing where he said they were all going to Miami or something. Yes, Super Bowl. Yeah. We're going to peg Manitoba. Yeah.

Or Miami. Yeah, Miami, Manitoba, I guess. But they're all in their bathing suits. Winnipeg, Manitoba? Yeah. Or Miami? Yeah, Miami, Manitoba, I guess. But they're all spading states. He was my, growing up in the 80s, he was, Scruff was in. I was so sad to hear of his passing, and I went to the memorial.

I saw Humble and Fred there, and his son T.J. Connors. Right, that was in Brooklyn, right? Yeah, it was excellent. Another quick, if I can, Wallachian story. When he was at Q107 doing the morning show, he used to... Now, this story I've heard through other people, so it might be a little... It might have been embellished over the years.

Yeah, there's the word we're looking for, embellished. Supposedly, he used to have comics in every Friday to co-host the morning show with him from, I guess, Yuck Yucks or something like this. So one Friday morning, he's got this comic in, and he's on the air with him. And Gary Slate, who was running Q107 then, kept phoning into the control room, and he'd say to Ted, supposedly,

get that guy off the air. He's not funny. I don't want him on my morning show. But Ted, I guess, really liked him and thought he was great, so he carried on. So Gary must have, I guess, supposedly, called in two or three times to say, I fucking told you enough. Get him out of there.

And finally, Gary arrives at work before the morning show is over. He goes into the control room and escorts David Letterman out of the building. To kick the David Letterman. The David Letterman, not the Toronto David Letterman. No, the real David Letterman while he was still... Oh, and he was doing weather or something? Weather, just a stand-up comic. So the story is he didn't know David Letterman would be that, or... Oh, and he was doing weather or something? Just a stand-up comic. So the story is he didn't know David Letterman would be that,

or that he wasn't funny and kicked him out. No, that's great, because I was going to think, oh, that was Ron James. Right. But no, this is way better. The real David Letterman, he kicked him out. That's great. So the story goes.

I hope that's true. Yeah, and if Gary hears this, and it's completely false, then I'm sorry, but it is a great story. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story. So Marsden fires you, but you get rehired, right? You get rehired by... Yeah, Neil Mann was working there. Neil and I had kind of started together at the same time,

and we had become good friends along the way, and so we kept in touch, and Don Burns had become the PD by then. So Don, I'd gone to Humber. I think I had finally decided, well, what am I going to do? I really wanted to be in radio. I didn't know what to do. So I decided, well, I'll just go back to school.

I hadn't gone to college yet, so I applied to Humber, and I took the radio program there. And I think Neil went to Don Burns and said, you know, Craig Venn is a great guy, and you know, he's at Humber now, he's taking the radio program, and we, you know, I guess they needed a new board op, and so they hired me back, and that would have been like 88 or 89, or something like 1990, somewhere in there, or something like 1990, somewhere in there. And from there, I stayed until 95, I guess. So maybe 88 to 95.

So you were there when the music went from being cool to being awful pop, and then they tried to bring back some cool and then eventually settle on grunge. Yeah, I was there through all of that. You know, that ownership stuff, I guess, McLean Hunter and all that. All those meetings and everybody screaming at one another and humble and coming in and being a part of the one wave and everybody disliking him because they thought he was...

It was such a weird building at that time. And it's funny when you look back on it now, and if you were to have conversations with some of the people who were so ultimately passionate about the music, if you were to say to them now, you know, would you have been willing to play Mariah Carey? We used to have this conversation.

I was always on the other side of the camp that whatever paid. I just loved radio. It didn't really matter to me what the music was. But we used to have these debates in the hallways. I would hear guys say at CFNY, oh, I wouldn't, I could never play Foreigner or Mariah Carey or whatever it was.

Sure. Whatever the most popular. Madonna or whatever. Yeah. And I used to say to them, are you telling me that if Chum FM called you tomorrow and offered you a huge salary, you would say no just because you're in love with the music? You're a moron. Right.

You know, everybody's got bills to pay and responsibilities. But there was some there who, that was it. You know, they, oh my my god they were so passionate about it they couldn't see past it and you know and I think if you were to talk to them today especially even if they're out of radio you know they'd probably say yeah maybe I was a little too over the top about

my passion for it. Well I'm trying to think I mean I know the infamous Danny Elwell story where she resigns on air. Yeah I was there then. Yeah, and by the way, I've been chatting with her because she's at the jazz station now. Yeah, Danny's an amazing woman.

She will come in. It's a question of logistics, like her coming here, but she is going to come on and I'll find out what that was about. You know, see, Reiner Schwartz was the program director then, and I, listen, I loved Reiner.

He gave me my shot to be on the air. I mean, he let me do the overnight show on CFNY for a while. Brother Billy and I actually competed for that job. And rightfully so, Brother Billy beat me out of it because he really knew the music much better than I did. But he got a shot at it and I got a shot at it. And Danny was doing that. It was Alternative Bedtime Hour, I think is what it was called.

And, you know, the station was, it was such an odd place then. Like, Reiner was taking it back to being the spirit of radio, but it just didn't have that same thing, I don't think, anymore. And it was, it seemed, I think, a tad confused as to what it was supposed to be. Well, yeah, sure.

Because one day it was like, yeah, the kind of, the cool music. But then over, I don't know if it was overnight, maybe it was overnight. All of a sudden now Madonna's on the playlist and things, right? And then I guess it was Reiner Schwartz who tries to bring it back a bit. You're right, not fully. And then my memory, and I'm a little younger than you, but I remember, I guess, when Smells Like Teen Spirit hits, right? Yeah.

Suddenly it's like it all crystallized like what they will play, which is this. Well, when Stu Myers and Vince DiMaggio arrived, they really, to their credit, turned it into the success of the 90s that it was. Stu really got it focused. And there's some good luck there, too, in that the grunge scene hit, and it really gave them something to play off of. But yeah, there was just years and years of confusion there about what it should be and what it wasn't.

They would try to change the music and make it more top 40, and people would be freaking out. It's so funny. People were so passionate about that radio. Who else was so passionate about the music that they couldn't stomach this program's playlist? I remember Scott Turner being very passionate about it. I remember Neil Mann being incredibly passionate about it.

Yeah, this would have been in that confusing time. I guess Chris Shepard would have been... He was later. Maybe the Liz Janiks. Was she even there anymore? I don't know. It's so long ago now. No doubt.

I do remember Neil and Scott Turner being particularly very, very, very passionate about what the station did. I mean, the whole building. It was weird for me, honestly, because when I worked there, as much as I appreciated being there, I was always looking to Q107. I always thought they were at Yonge and Bloor,

at the top of this high rise, and I had been born and raised basically in Brampton. So this little station across from the stinky chicken plant, it just didn't seem to me to be the big time, even though I knew it was. Right, right. But you know, it was my hometown and I just saw, I had stars in my eyes for the city. Right.

You know, and so when I'd be at the station and Live Earl Jive and Beverly Hills would have like members of the psychedelic furs in the control room with them. Right. But then I'd hear like Diamond David Lee Roth was at Q107. I would far rather have been meeting Diamond Dave at Q107 than any member of the Psychedelic Furs. So I was really removed

from a lot of what went on at that station. Hey, you mentioned Live Earl Jive. Can I ask you, there's a story about you and him having a fight. Can you talk about that

or is this something we can discuss? Oh, well, I guess. Yeah, there was a screaming match we had over. No fisticuffs? No, I don't think it came to fisticuffs, but I think I went home after we had the screaming match. He might have even kicked me out of the studio.

We were doing some 102 countdown or something, I think, and he was the music director at this point, I believe, him and Beverly. And the countdown was all over the map. It it was anything from The Cure and The Psychedelic First to Bob Seger and Black Sabbath. It was Kiss. I think the fight was over Kiss. If I remember correctly, it was a rock and roll all night and party every day. Oh, look at you. Look at you. That's actually just a strange coincidence. Wow. I think this was it.

And I guess I was offing the countdown and Earl was hosting it and he had put it together and maybe there was music that was missing. And then I guess Kiss was coming up in the next hour or something and he realized he didn't have it. And what happened? I guess I think I might have mentioned I had it at home and he was like, well, go have it. And what happened? I guess I think I might have mentioned I had it at home. And he was like, well, go get it. And I'm like, I'm not going to racing home to get a record for a countdown that you were producing that you should have had. I think this is how the fight went.

No, it's okay. You know what? As soon as we stop recording, I'll tell you the story I heard. Okay. All right. I don't know if I should put it on there. Well, if I'm telling this side of it, you could probably tell your side of it, I would think. So I think he kicked me out

or got mad at me and told me to go home. Or I left. And I phoned I want to think it was Earl Veal or Alternative Earl was his name, I believe they used to nickname. And I think I just told Earl, I'm never working with Live Earl Jive again. Like, we don't get along. And he had other producers,

people he liked working with at the time. It was Nicholas Pickless I think was one of them. Who's in Buffalo now. So I think Earl and I, as much as I, listen, I talk to Earl online now. We're good. Him and I just

didn't get along all that well. And that's fair. You can't get along with everybody. I heard you might have pummeled them to the floor. Nothing this exciting? No, no. My sources. No, they're a liar.

I never fought anybody ever. I fought a girl named Diane when I was in grade four, and she beat the hell out of me. Dirty Diana. Yeah, that was my last fight. No, no. Earl and I never came to fisticuffs. Okay, I've got to ask you about another gent you worked with at CFNY, Martin Streak.

Yes, sir. Tell me about working with Martin Streak. Well, Martin and I, I guess he was there probably the same time I was, early 80s, and he was working with Ivor Hamilton in the Video Roadshow, and he did that for a very long time. We didn't know each other really well, only because we kept such different hours. He was always on the road with the Video Roadshow, and he did that for a very long time. We didn't know each other really well, only because we kept such different hours. He was always on the road with the Video Roadshow. I will say probably a lot of the same things that everybody else said.

You know, charisma up the ass. Like, I remember there was a time that either MTV or Much Music, I think it was MTV, for some reason they came up to Toronto to do auditions for possible VJs. And for some reason they did the auditions in the boardroom at CFNY out in Brampton. And I remember we could all sign up if we wanted

to do an audition. And I did it, I'm sure. And a bunch of us did it. And Martin did it as well, I remember. And if I have the story correct, he was the only one out of all of us that even got a sniff. Like they actually showed some interest in him, I believe, so the story goes. How far that went or not, I don't know.

But it does show, and he wasn't even on the air back then. He was just, I think, the video roadshow guy still. So he always had a ton of charisma. It's interesting with Martin, I, you know, I, uh, I liked Martin a lot. He, he really got a great shot when Vince DiMaggio and Stu Myers arrived. Cause he, like me had been around and floating and doing this and that, but really not locked into anything. You know, it was part of my problem at CFNY really was that I would start doing something

and then a new program director would come in or new management, and I'd be right back to ground zero trying to prove myself again. It was constantly spinning my wheels and not getting anywhere there. And Martin, I think, maybe on some level, might have been the same way, or things just weren't moving along like he would have liked them to, I think.

Again, he never shared this with me, just my perception of that time. And then when Vince and Stu arrived from out west, Martin just screamed cool to them. He was, if they had to have a poster boy for that radio station, he would have been it. And I think Stu and Vince fell in love with him. They just thought he had, rightfully so, all this style.

So they gave him a shot on the air. And, you know, I think Martin loved, I know he loved CFNY. I don't know that he loved radio. I think he loved CFNY. And, you know, if he had always wanted to be on the air, you know, he probably could have

packed his bags and gone to another market and become a radio announcer. But that's not what Martin wanted. Martin wanted to be on the air at CFNY. I think it was Howard or somebody on one of your podcasts made the interesting, I thought, very interesting comment about Martin and that maybe the legend's a little overblown now. Did he make some reference to that?

Yeah, no, he definitely did. I tend to agree with Howard. I think he said, and it might have been on his show, though. Wasn't here? Maybe. You know what? It's all blurring to me now. I think you guys referred, yeah. But he did have the remark show, though. I don't... Wasn't here? Maybe. You know what? It's all blurring to me now. I think you guys referred...

Yeah. But he did have the remark that, yeah, like, I guess, you know what it's like in death, you become larger than, you know? And that happens with, you know, James Dean, everybody, Marilyn Monroe, whatever. That his point is that Martin Streak did live to airs in Thursday 30, but he never had an actual, like, revenue generation. One of those, like, he spoke... Live to Airs and Thursday 30, but he never had an actual revenue generation. Why is it that Martin Streak never had an actual, even middays or anything during the day or a proper shift? Why is it Thursday 30s and Live to Airs only?

Well, I would think, okay. You know, the Live to Airs were an interesting thing. Chris Shepard was really kind of the start of that, right? And I remember when Stu Myers arrived and he really got the station focused. I was, I think, producing the Nooner at that point, and I remember May Potts, I think, was hosting it still. And I remember playing a Dire Straits song one day, and Stu comes racing into the control room

with all the Dire Straits CDs, and he plunks them down beside me, and he says, listen, dude, call everybody dude. He goes, dude, you want to listen to fucking Dire Straits? Listen to them at home, but not on my radio station. I'm like, I'm sorry. We just used to always play Dire Straits. And he goes, well, not anymore.

He really had that station focused. Chris, on the other hand, was still caught in that period of I can do what I want, and I'm the club DJ. And so they ended up letting Chris go, right? And I remember Stu saying in a meeting when he told all of us that he had let Chris go, he said, you know, no one person is bigger than the station. The station has to be the focus. You know, it's like the fast food thing, right? If you're McDonald's, you serve Big Macs all day. That's what we do.

Right. You can't just randomly start serving sushi in the evening because you think it would be a good idea. And so that was the Chris thing. And so I don't know what I was getting to with all that. But anyhow, so okay. They let Martin go. Chris got let go and then Martin got his job. I think Marsden, Shepard, then Streak

when it came to this live-to-air stuff. Was it? Did Marsden do live-to-airs? I thought it was Marsden. Then it? I think that's the story. Did Marston do live-to-airs? I thought it was Marston, then Shepard took over for Marston. I don't remember Marston ever doing live-to-airs. We know Shepard for sure, and then Streak takes over for Shepard.

Yeah. And I don't know if you know this, but somebody once told me that Shepard's often imitated, never duplicated, was a shot at Martin. Did you ever hear that? No, I don't know that. That's what I heard.

And I can't say that's true, but I've been told that. Yeah, that might very well have been the case. And look, being a club DJ, it takes stamina, I'm sure. And Martin was, what, up to two or three nights a week at one point in these clubs? Yeah, yeah. And he did it for a long time, and I never take away what

he did. Here's the thing. When Howard, I think, speaks of him not... Maybe the legend's a little bigger. I mentioned this to you earlier. I'm a big fan of people on the air being storytellers. And it's one of the things that Humble and Fred are very, very good at. Well, it's long form.

They have time to do it, but go ahead. Derringer's that way. So many radio, especially morning show guys, if given the opportunity, are really good storytellers. So the club DJ thing, although I'm sure challenging for its own reasons, on air, there wasn't a whole lot to it. I mean, Martin was very good at it,

but beyond kind of just yelling random phrases and, you know... Keep it locked, keep it loaded. Yeah, you know, I don't know. Cranked. And please, I don't say this with any disrespect, because I know a lot of people love Martin and would never say it. moment or revealed himself on any level or could have any kind of real insight into current events. I don't know this of Martin. My perception, though, is he was just a great, fun party guy on the air.

That's what he did. Does it take a ton of talent to do that? I don't know. I hate, you know, I don't want anybody because i know that's it this is a you're right you're on tricky territory here because he's uh he took his own life uh two i want to get the right two months after being fired yes lifelong cfny yes gig if you will so it's very touchy to even go where you're going but you're right howard went there and i almost think it almost doesn't matter like because because we all remember him as lover of music like it's the passion for the

music that exuded but now that you mention it we don't have any experience hearing him do long form discussions or whatever it was a lot of catchphrases yeah and you know you know tool coming to town or whatever and like and yelling fuck on the air uh yeah pete fowler right? So Pete Fowler brought me the memo from Stu Myers. Which was great. I heard Pete read that to you. And Brother Bill sent me the clip. So it all came together beautifully. Yeah, perfect.

You're right. A lot of passion for the music. But yeah, you're on tricky territory. You're right. It's almost like I almost felt bad. I didn't want to open up the show and say, I never loved the Vinyl Cafe. It just feels like the day after,

you can't be talking about not loving the Vinyl Cafe. You should be honest about people, though, a little bit. You know, I mean, I, you know, again, I don't, I liked Martin. We got along. He never, you know, him and I, although not buddies, there was a very funny story of him and me and a guy named Nick Charles,

who used to do the Overnight Show years and years ago. We had to take a bunch of records one day down to Yorkville for a TV commercial that's being shot around Pete and Geetz. And I had been up all night, and then I had to do this. I'll take all these records from Brampton to Yorkville for this video commercial shoot. And so in the process, we smoked some pot in the van on the way. And I got just very, very high and paranoid and ended up lying in the back of the van, freaking out while Martin and Nick continued to tell me that the cops were chasing us. And I was freaking out because I thought, oh my God, if I get caught in the back of this van, hi, I'm going to jail.

And they ended up pulling off the side of the road on the 401 and telling me, just stay there. The cops are behind us. And they got out of the van and stayed out of the van for a few minutes, and I was peaking. Oh, my God. And then they both got in. They went, ah, just a joke, whatever. And, oh, my God, we laughed so hard after that.

But I did like Martin very much. Sometimes I hear the praise for him. And again, a great guy. Just from a radio standpoint, I don't know if it's... It goes back to what we started with, with the best music is the music you loved as a teenager. Those live airs when you're young, and he's the voice, the host, the guide for these live airs,

it's nostalgia, right? Just hearing his voice brings you back to that. We all like have this, there's a scene in Mad Men where they talk about nostalgia, like a painful remembering. Like it's almost like you want to go back, but you can't.

And there's like a pain to it. Yeah. And I've been accused of being a nostalgist probably for good reason. Here I am a maestro fresh West 12-inch here. Come on, 1989. But I think that just even if I play a clip of Martin Streak, a whole bunch of people are like,

damn, those live-to-airs of the 90s, man, those were the best. Because we were young, we didn't have kids, we didn't have the mortgage. Yep. Those were the times. Those were your times. And bingo, Bob.

Bob Ouellette and I talk about this a lot because he's the midday and music director now at 94.9 The Rock. And so he worked closely with Martin. And bingo, Bob. Bob Ouellette and I talk about this a lot because he's the midday music director now at 94.9 The Rock. And so he worked closely with Martin. And we have these discussions. And I told Bob, I said, you know, I tend to just agree with Howard that maybe the legend is a bit bigger

than actually what went on with Martin. But to wrap up any thought on Martin, charisma out the ass. You know, there's no doubt. He controlled a room. And he was the alpha male. Yeah. Because you know who else

I've been told has to be the alpha male? John Derringer. You ever heard of this guy? I worked with him for a couple of years. I hear he's doing mornings at Q.

Seems to be doing quite well there. It's funny to have you and Maureen back to back because John Derringer will come up. We work there together. Okay, so can you tell me

how you end up at... First of all, you end up with John Derringer at the up. We work there together. Okay, so can you tell me how you end up at... First of all, you end up with John Derringer at the fan, right? Yeah, well, so when Stu and Vince arrived... Well, here's kind of a funny story with Vince. So Vince arrives, and the story about him, supposedly, was that he was a bit of a black knight, that he would roll in and clean house. And so there was a day that

my wife Maria and I, we had just put an offer in on a house and I think it had been accepted that day. So I was going in to work production that afternoon or work with Alan Cross. I can't remember. Oh, here's something I need to

clear up. Let's do it. Alan Cross on this show commented how Robbie Jay was the only producer of the ongoing history of new music. I produced the first hundred or so. Holy smokes. Yes. I'm glad you cleared that up. Yes, Alan. How dare you forget me?

Technical production by Rob Johnston. Yeah, well, it was technical production by Craig Vann originally. Although, I think Rob might have re-recorded all of them because my production was probably shit anyhow. I'm glad you cleared that up, though, because he did make that claim. What's wrong with Alan's memory? I know, he doesn't remember me. He took a cold during our episode. I heard that, too.

Alan's a very busy man. Very busy. So anyhow, Vince is going to clean house. So I arrive at the station, and Earl Veal, again the alternate Earl, he's sitting at the station and Earl Veal again the alternate Earl he's sitting at the reception desk and he's if I remember correctly

like he's upset and all the doors are shut and there's nobody around and it's like 2 in the afternoon or something and I said Earl what the hell's going on and he goes

just go wait in the jock lounge you know you might get called so I go in there and literally there's like, I can't remember what staff members were sitting there, but we're all sitting there waiting to see if we're being fired or not. And this guy, the general manager, Vince DiMaggio, has literally got a stack of envelopes,

and he's just walking people out the door. Tough, tough day, right? And I've seen that a few times now on radio. So anyhow, I'm sitting, and I'm sitting, and I'm waiting, and I'm waiting. And finally, I say, well, I can't wait anymore. I just got offered, I just got accepted a house, a mortgage. I, you know, I need a job. So I go down the hall and I knock on his door and I say, hello, Mr. DiMaggio. My name's Craig Venn. You don't know me at all, but I just got to tell you, I need to know if I'm in that stack because I have to try to get out of a house deal if I am.

And he looked at me and he looked down and he up at me, and he went, no, you're clear. And luckily, I kept my job. I realize now I kept my job because I was part-time, and I wasn't making a ton of dough. You weren't making enough. I wasn't a problem. I wasn't a full-time employee that had to go. No target on your back.

No, not at that point. So anyhow, so Vince and Stu were running it, and Stu got me working with Alan. So I guess that wasn't the same time. It must have been a little farther along that I started working with Alan and producing the ongoing history. Stu got me doing that. And then Key 590, or C-K-E-Y, was shutting down. They had become Country 59.

Right. So Stu and Vince sent me down to the Toronto Star Building to do production for them for the final six months or so that they were open. And then, of course, the fan 590, or the fan 1430 sold that signal and telemedia bought 590 off of whoever it was, McLean Hunter. I don't even remember the company that owned us at that time. Selkirk, maybe, whoever it was. And so Bob Makowitz was working at CFNY then. He was doing something called That's Rock and Roll,

which was like a daily commentary. Right. And I produced that for Bob. So that was a dream come true. When Stu came to me and said, hey, do you want to- Just senior for people listening. Bob Makowitz Senior, that's right. Hosted the 6 O'Clock Rock Report on Q107 with Derringer,

and I was such a fan, you know there's a few people in this industry that I consider to be idols of mine, Scruff was one of them certainly and Bob Makowitz was another he was coming to CFNY to do this Fast Rock and Roll thing

so Stu had me produce that as well so I got to be very friendly with Bob and we became pretty close and he had a thing on the that as well. So I got to be very friendly with Bob, and we became pretty close, and he had a thing on the go as well called, I think it was called CAPS, Canadian Artists and Producers on Satellite, where basically it was a McLean-Hunter thing where you could do your own syndicated show,

and they would give you money to produce it and stuff. That's where I ended up meeting Mike Richards because he had the comedy syndication thing he was doing. Right. Headline comedy or something like that it was called.

So anyhow, Mako ends up being hired to be the program director for The Fan. And he comes to me one day and he says, I'm bringing John Derringer back from Montreal

to host this morning show. And it's going to be like a guy talk morning show. It's not going to be just sports. The fan is sports. I see it more as business and entertainment and Maxim. He didn't say Maxim Magazine. That would end up being Mojo. But I think, looking back, Bob Mackiewicz Sr.

had that Maxim Magazine idea for the fan. I think he wanted to turn that station into more of an all-guy thing because sports was struggling. I think the Leafs... There was a lockout. Yeah, there was a baseball. There was nothing. Perfect storm of shit.

Yes. Who is the program director forever? Nelson Millman was on the show, and he talks about that. It was a horrible time. Yeah, and so Macko says to me, do you want to be the board op for the morning show, for Derringer in the Morning on the fan? He goes, it's full-time benefits.

I said, oh my God, this is amazing, because I was married. We had a baby by then. I said, this is incredible. Of course I'll take it. And it gave me the opportunity to also work with John Derringer, who I had been a huge fan of, had listened to him do the afternoon show on cue for so long and really thought he was one of the best talents I had ever heard on the air. So I get this opportunity to go to the fan and be his board op, and he brings Jimmy Lang along with him from Montreal to be his producer. And so for the first, I don't know what it was, year or so, maybe not even a year, it was John, Mike Richards,

Mike was brought aboard to do the comedy stuff, Jimmy producing and me board hopping. And I remember Mako saying, you know, this is a long-term thing. We're committed to it. I think we got a couple of books in. And then it was like, uh-oh, if we don't pull up our socks, you know, in six months we're all going to be out of a job. It's because the management above Bob

for telemedia weren't buying into his ideas. You know, he wanted to move it in a direction they wanted to say sports-focused. And they were just, I think, butting heads the entire time. So, Macco ends up leaving, I think, and then Nelson Millman

becomes the PD again, and then they decide to bring in Pat Marsden. So Pat arrives, and it's like oil and water at first between him and John. Because John, again, being the alpha male, that was his show, and I think he felt like he was being knocked down to second banana, or second fiddle, and

that Pat was being brought in as the star to save the day, you know? And so at first there was some serious friction between the two of them, but it mellowed out and they became amazing together. Very, very funny. Pat would rile John up. He would get him so upset on the air. And then the mics would turn off and he'd look at him with that big, fat, bald head as is, and he'd go, ah, come on, Pally, relax. And then the mics would turn off and he'd look at them with that big fat bald head as his and he'd go, ah, come on, Pally, relax. And John would start laughing and he was

just, he was the guy who I think I learned that you should get on the air and just say stuff. Don't sit there and agree with one another. You're not getting anywhere with that. That's just boring if everybody's sitting around saying yes you're right

so he would deliberately go whatever way John went he'd go the opposite it was great radio that was the invention of hot takes so that was terrific and that lasted for I guess I don't know when Marsden arrived

but anyhow we got to the fan in like January of 95 and stayed there until 2000 or 2001, I guess. And Derringer must have liked your work, right? Because he keeps you with him. Yeah, him and I, I stayed on as the board op. Jimmy Lang moved on, I think at one point. We ended up with another producer. And it was me and John and a guy named Brian Angus we called Mumbles.

He was the producer for quite a while in Marsden and John. And then John came to me one day and he says, listen, you're not going to believe this, but Q's called, and they want to talk. And I'm like, oh, that's amazing. And he said, well, you know, if I go, would you want to come with me? So in my mind, I'm thinking, well, if they want John and John wants me,

then that means big dough coming in for Craigie. Because you think you can make whatever demand you want if the talent they hire wants. So I'm like, okay, yeah, no, of course, I'd love to come to Q107. And I think we thought at the time it was going to be the morning show, perhaps. But it turned out to be afternoon drive. Right. Because they were syndicating Stern. Stern was on at that point.

That's right. And so we ended up doing afternoons. And I remember him setting up a meeting with Pat Cardinal, who was the PD at that point. And Pat and I go to lunch. And Pat says, well, John would really love for you to be his producer. And we'd love to have you. And I'm like, well, sure, I'd love to do that. That would be great. And I'm being a tad

cocky because I think, if John needs me, I'm in. He goes, well, what kind of money are you looking at? And I think I threw him some stupid number. Like not, you know, I'm sure it wasn't six figures. I know I never asked for six figures. I knew there was a limit. But I'm like, I asked, you know, probably close to it. And he goes,

this job doesn't even pay close to that. And I went, oh, okay. Oh, what does this job pay? Okay, I'll take it anyhow. And I did. And we had a great time. And, you know, we did afternoons up until 9-11, because shortly thereafter they got rid of Stern.

And it was John and I in the afternoon. And from there, because I was on the air a bit at the fan, I would host a pre-recorded thing on the weekends of The Best of Derringer and Marsden, so I was doing some on-air at the fan, but then it was just John and I in the studio and he would start turning to me a lot on the air and just talking and over time,

I became, I guess, his on-air sidekick. Never officially co-host. It was never Derringer and Craig. It was always the Derringer show. But I ended up with a lot of on-air presence with him. And that was great. I mean, when I look back at that time, he was very, very good in that he's one of these guys on the air who isn't afraid of anybody else outshining him. And as a matter of fact, if you're being funny or you're doing something interesting, he spurs that on. He wants to put the spotlight on you if you're bringing something to the table.

And so he gave me a lot of confidence in that area. He would always be very, say what you want, and if you disagree with me to the table. And so he gave me a lot of confidence in that area. He would always be very, you know, say what you want, and if you disagree with me, then do so. And, you know, it was good. We had a lot of fun doing that afternoon show. Where does the nickname Lobster Boy come from? Well, when I go back to my life, my radio story being one misstep after another,

I don't know how I ever got hired to be an op for anything because I'm one of the worst board ops that ever existed. I'm still not that good at it, but I still do it to this day. So when we were at the fan, if I would hit the wrong button or play the wrong element, John started off, I think, saying that I

had goalie gloves on and that I couldn't work the equipment because I had goalie. And then I think, if I remember correctly, my wife and I went on a vacation down south, and I got sunburnt to hell. And so when I came back, I think he called me Lobster Boy because I was so red. And then from there, it went to that I was born with pincers, and that's why I couldn't work the equipment.

And then it just stuck. And then Lobster Boy. But it's funny with the Lobster Boy handle, because I only really remember it at the fan. I think it happened a bit at Q in the afternoons, but at some point, he stopped calling me Lobster Boy handle, because I only really remember it at the fan. I think it happened a bit at Q in the afternoons, but at some point he stopped calling me Lobster Boy. I might have actually said, can we drop the Lobster Boy handle? I don't blame you, by the way. Yeah, I had enough of it.

And I think he just started calling me Craigie most of the time. But people to this day, it sticks. You know what, that's why I wanted to introduce you as Craig Van, of course. That's who you are, Craig Van. That's how you're billed at The Rock. But I had to throw in Noah also as Lobster Boy because so many people...

Oh, I know. I remember Lobster Boy. I remember Lobster Boy. Yeah. It's almost like you can't shake it. Yeah. No, it's a label. And listen, it is what it is.

I don't get necessarily angry about it, but I certainly don't refer to it. No, you're not going to use it. No, it's like Jason Barr in Danger Boy. That's a good example. Oh, yeah, the one I always remember is Retod. Well, yeah. Getting rid of Retod, which was a horrible nickname.

Yes, it was. Well, I think there was a time in the, I guess, 80s and 90s with morning guys where there would be the morning guy, he would be the host, the star, there would be some people below him, and then usually there would be some kind of peon, right? The intern or whatever, you'd send them out to do stupid, crazy things and those people always got some kind of boy handy. The stuttering John

type role? Yes, yeah. Let me ask you, and you said some great things about Derringer and it sounds like, you know, you owe a lot to Derringer in your career. A ton. So, just a comment yesterday appeared on, I guess Jennifer Holliday was named new co-host for John Derringer in your career. A ton. So just a comment yesterday appeared on, I guess Jennifer Holliday was named

new co-host for John Derringer's show on Q. Yeah. And I'm going to just read Doug's quote here and just ask you to comment. But Doug writes, Derringer has never played well with others, especially if they try to upstage him in any way. Craig Venn comes to mind.

Craigie got tired of being the perennial beta male to Derringer, and they ended up getting into it on air a few times. Anyone remember the boxing match between Craigie and Ryan, when Ryan was the young upstart nipping at his heels, where Derringer was pushing a reluctant Craigie into a pointless boxing match, or the time they got into

it about leaving a marriage if the partner cheated? Oh, yeah. I'm just going to ask the question, if there's any challenges working with an alpha male like John Derringer that he needs to be the star, can that be difficult in any regards?

Here's the thing. When you have the star being John and then someone below him being the producer or the sidekick, of course there's some unevenness there, right? He's the star. When it's like a Humble and Fred, there's an evenness to that. You're both equal

within the show. So even if Howard is, say, more of the alpha male than Fred, there's still an equal partnership on that radio show. When it's just the Dean Blondell or the John Derringer, then yeah, it can be tough being the underling. But, that being said, was it Doug who brought it up? Yeah, that was Doug. The argument

about should you end a marriage over an affair, and there was a couple of good screaming matches, when those microphones turned off, we were smiling and laughing because John loved that. Right. And it was clearly memorable. He's still referencing it now.

And let me tell you, it would take some courage for me because I was, again, just the producer, the psychic. You know, when you get into a heated screaming match on the air with John Derringer, it can be intimidating. Sure. But I can tell you this, in the midst of it, John would look at me and wink, and he'd give me thumbs up. He loved it.

Because you didn't know as a listener, you didn't hear that anywhere else. What afternoon show had two people just randomly screaming at one another? So that was that. The boxing match, I think, was more me in a lot of ways, because I don't know how it came up. The boxing match, I think, was more me in a lot of ways because I don't know how it came up. Probably Ryan was on the air with us and something came up and I made some off-the-cuff comment that I could beat the hell out of Ryan. But behind the scenes, it was all me.

I booked the trainers. I got us our medicals. I got the ring set up. I arranged, basically produced the whole thing. So I have a DVD of it still that every now and then I'll show to people. I was very proud of it. It was some terrific radio. And Ryan and I, not that I see Ryan much anymore,

but that's just par for the course in this business. If we were to see each other today, we'd go, oh, remember the boxing match? And we'd look back on it fondly. Good. So why do you end up leaving Q107? Well, I was heading for 40 years of age. I had been in radio since the early 80s.

I had always wanted to be on the air. I had done so many silly behind-the-scenes jobs and all sorts of stuff, but had never gotten to where I truly wanted to be. And that was to host a morning show. You know, growing up around Toronto, it's tough because all the best radio is right here, you know, and so you don't want to leave that. And when you get a job in that, you kind of get overtaken with it all. Sure. The fun of it, the glamour of it, the excitement, the parties, this and that.

overtaken with it all. The fun of it, the glamour of it, the excitement, the parties, the this and that. So the idea of packing up and moving to Fort McNowhere doesn't seem like that exciting of an idea. In retrospect, when I look back on my career, and I say this to a lot of people, I should have

packed up. Out of Humber, I shouldn't have stuck around CFNY as long as I did. I should have made demos, and I should have gone out and tried to be in an episode. The great question is, is it better to be the small fish in the big pond or the big fish? Yes, I poured that for you. Thank you. Or the big fish in the small pond. Right.

That's always the thing. Right. You're never going to be, if you want to be a big fish in the big pond, sometimes you have to go swim, become the big fish in a small pond. It's sort of like a feeder system or whatever. That's right. Like minor leagues or whatever. And I was married. We had, even prior to being married, Maria and I had been dating a long time.

You know, your life just gets comfortable with what you know and the years slide by. Right. And, you know, I think back to, again, just going back a bit to CFNY, like some of the stuff I had to do. They had a boombox. Remember those old boombox radios? Those big ones they pulled around on a trailer? Of course. At the C&E we had it.

The big massive ones, right? So Darren Waslick, who was the promotions manager at the time, he came up with this idea. One day he says to me in the summer, he says, Craig, I want you to take the Grand Cherokee, this old piece of crap Grand Cherokee to the station. He says, I want you to go get the boombox and I want you to haul it

down the 410 across the 401. I want you to get on the Gardner. I want you to go downtown. I want you to go get the boom box and I want you to haul it down the 410 across the 401. I want you to get on the Gardner. I want you to go downtown. I want you to drive it across Lakeshore Boulevard. I want you to go up Yonge Street and I want it turned on and cranked up and it'll be like a moving billboard.

Right. Well, Mike, I can't tell you the times that I got it stuck going in and out of the parking lot of the beaches on the Lakeshore where I was backing people up, where the doors blew off on the 401. I pissed off more people than I actually attracted to CFNY. So I had done all these jobs and all these things,

but I kept moving along and moving along. And when I got to work with John at Q, and I got to be on the air with him, I really fell in love with being on the air. It just was so much fun to do that with him and to finally get a chance to have some of the spotlight and all of that. Right. So, okay, so I'm heading towards 40.

I'm the producer of Derringer's Morning Show. And the show's evolving. I think we brought Ross McCloud aboard. And so, it's funny, I heard Maureen say on her podcast that she was starting to get a bit bored or wondering what was next. I don't know that I was getting bored in any her podcast that she was starting to get a bit bored or wondering what was next. I don't know that I was getting bored in any way, but I was starting to question what's next. Like, you know, John, what if John decided he was done and wanted to move on to something else?

Or what if the station decided John was done? Because these morning shows don't last forever. Now, he has gone on for a very long time. And don't tell that to Marilyn and Roger. Right, right. But you just start gone on for a very long time. And don't tell that to Marilyn and Roger. Right, right. But you just start to think as the producer, I'm attached to this guy. His fate

is my fate. You're right. And so I thought, I want to kind of maybe take my own fate in my own hands. So I started talking to my wife about that, and you know, our kids were like 11 or 12, or whatever they were, 10 and 8. And I just And, you know, our kids were like 11 or 12 or whatever they were, 10 and 8. And I just said, you know, I'm almost 40. And if I don't try to do this now, maybe never.

And like I said, you know, the show had evolved a bit. I wasn't on the air as much anymore. So I thought, okay, you know, maybe it's time to sniff around a bit. And so I did. I started putting the word out that I wanted to maybe do my own morning show. And I got a call from a guy named Doug Elliott, who's now my boss at The Rock in Oshawa. And he was in Thunder Bay, but he didn't tell me this. He just left me a message at home and he said, somebody's told me that you're looking for your own morning show,

and why don't you give me a call? And I can't remember the area code, but he gave me the area code, and I looked it up, and it was Thunder Bay, and I just thought, oh, for the love of God, I can't move my family to Thunder Bay. So I held on, and I said no to that. And then he called me back again a couple of months later, and he said, listen, I was programming in Windsor, and I know the management there is looking for a new morning host, and they're going to be spending some money and doing some stuff. Why don't you reach out to him?

So it turns out that I knew Windsor a little bit because my brother-in-law had worked down there. And that was only three hours away as compared to 13 hours away in Thunder Bay. No, it's a big difference. So I said, okay, let's look into that. So I reached out to the Windsor station, and they made me an offer. And so we packed up. We left Brampton, kind of the town we had only known. I say this to my wife every now and then.

I say, wow, I took you from Brampton to Windsor to Oshawa. Only the hot spots. That's right. A lot like Manhattan. That's amazing. So, yeah, we ended up down in Windsor to Oshawa. Only the hot spots. A lot like Manhattan. That's amazing. So yeah, we ended up down in Windsor for six years. Well, my wife and kids stayed there for eight, but I was on the air there for six.

And it was the most fun in radio. And that's a 95.1 The Rock. It was 95.1 in Chatham 100.7 in Windsor. Okay, good. Yeah, I didn't know that. So Doug Elliott... Now, let me briefly tell you a quick Doug Elliott story, which is my kids love Mario Kart on the Wii, okay?

Okay. The Nintendo Wii, which is now... That's eight years old, that technology, which is amazing. And our Wii broke. And they just wanted to play. And it's fine. My kids want to play Mario Kart, so I want to play them. And I just put out the word.

Does anyone have an old Wii collecting dust somewhere? Because everybody's replaced their Wii by now. Yeah. Doug Elliott jumps on the Gardner in his convertible, comes to my house, knocks on the door, and gives me his Wii. Come on. Yeah. That's my Doug Elliott story. He's a great guy.

He really is. He has been a terrific program director for me, and certainly the confidence he's shown in me, and just the fact that he called me and offered me a morning show when I had never done it. I mean, the only demo I had to send out to people was stuff I had done with John. So I had never been the quarterback of a morning show. So the fact that he heard my tape and believed, uh, heard my tape and believe that,

uh, was terrific. And then, so, uh, yeah, we ended up down in, in Windsor. Now, funny enough, when we moved down to Windsor, it's a big risk because you go, Oh God, what if my wife and kids absolutely hate this? You know, what have I done? I've left this great job and to, to, to follow this whim of, you know, cause maybe I'm not even a good morning guy. Maybe I'm going to be shit at it. And then what have I, you know, I've I'm not even a good morning guy. Maybe I'm going to be shit at it. And then what have I, you know, I've screwed myself. So I remember we got down to Windsor and the radio station was in this shitty strip plaza

and like a Max Milk. And I literally bought, Mike, I almost started crying in the parking lot. I'm like, how did I leave Young and Dundas? Buyer's remorse. For this. What have I done? But when you finally get it, and it's your show, and you're the boss, you're kind of your own destiny.

Yeah, and it's okay to suck at first because you get better, right? And the more you do it, you get better. Yeah, and you're in a smaller market, and so that's all good. So, yeah, so we got to Windsor. I mean, it was a competitive market, though, because I'm dealing with Detroit radio. Right. You know, I'd get in my car after the show, and I'd be driving home, and we had had, like, the mayor of Windsor on or something boring like that. And I'm listening to Detroit radio, and they're like, oh, you know, Vince Vaughn was on with us this morning.

And I'm like, oh, my God, how do you compete against that? Right, right. But anyhow. But so you're putting some reps at Windsor. And then, so tell me, because Doug Elliott brings you to Oshawa. So is it just that he likes your work and wanted you to come to his news station, 94.9 The Rock? Well, we had kept in touch. When I was in Windsor, he ended up leaving Thunder Bay and going to Kingston, to K-Rock.

And he called me at one point and said, hey, do you want to come and do mornings for me here at K-Rock. Right. And he called me at one point and said, hey, do you want to come and do mornings for me here at K-Rock in Kingston? And I think we had just bought the house in Tecumseh, and that was a little town next to Windsor. And we got the kids into their school, and I was like, oh, I don't want to uproot them again. And he was offering more money and all of that,

but I just thought, eh, we're comfortable here, and we'll stick it out. So we always kept in touch. And then six years in at The Rock, it had done very well. It was below CBC French when I got there. The ratings were so bad. I've got to clarify, The Rock and Windsor. It's also The Rock and Oshawa, right?

Yes, The Rock and Windsor was just a horrible situation. This tiny little, because all it had was 95.1 out of Chatham. It really didn't have a signal in Windsor. But then they got this 100.7 and so they boosted it a bit. So in the six years that I was there, the morning show itself really went from like, you know, dash marks

on the ratings to like a six share. It grew. It did very well. I was very proud of myself and my co-host down there, a fella by the name of Matt Dumachel, him and I hosted the show. He was just terrific to work with. We had a lot of fun. And so there was this weird shift in Windsor where there was a couple of big morning shows.

There was the AM800, which was like the CFRB. They had a massive morning show. It was like a 16-share or something. Then there was Dave and Chuck the Freak on 89X, which was Dean Blundell's original station. Right. And they were like a Dean Blundell show. And they were hugely popular, not only in Windsor, but in Detroit. And then in Detroit, there was a station called WRIF, which was like

Q107. And they had a couple of guys called Drew and Mike who were Heritage Morning Show guys in Detroit. So I was competing against all this big money talent. But it was a weird thing where all of a sudden I think Drew and Mike in Detroit got fired or something, and then Dave and Chuck the Freak were off the air for whatever reason. So there was this wide open, all of a sudden the landscape was ours. And yet, for some stupid reason, management ended up firing the general manager who had been there for like 30 years. The owner fired him.

And they bring in this other guy. And within like two months, he fires all of us. So I remember that morning, I was on the air. And everybody's coming in. And again, another bloodletting that I have to witness. And I call my wife and I say, holy shit, everybody's being fired here today. I just never assumed I'd be fired. I just thought, oh, I just thought

I'm far too important around here to be fired. So I barely have the microphone button off and the general manager comes in and goes, Craig, come with me. I'm like, oh, for Christ's sake. And I go, two seconds. If I can give a tip to anybody getting into radio, when you get fired, say nothing.

Don't sign anything. Just give them the old... Forget radio. That's good advice. My lawyer will be in touch. That's good advice no matter what field you're in. Walk away. Don't say anything and talk to a lawyer.

That's all you can do. Because they always lowball you. And as soon as you get a lawyer to even send a letter saying this isn't fair, they'll always give you more, right? So anyhow, I was fired. And now I'm at home, and I'm out of work, and I got like six months severance, and I'm wondering what the hell I'm going to do, and a guy comes along and says, you know, you got a pretty good name in Windsor.

People know who you are. Why don't you come and sell cars for a while? So I went, okay, I'll do that. So I sold cars, and then my wife says, well, why don't you send some demos to Detroit Radio? Who knows? I said, I don't have a green card. How the hell would that ever work? And I said, there's a ton of guys

out of work in the States. I'm sure Detroit would be a market that doesn't need help. So I sent a bunch of demos just on a whim to a few stations in Detroit. And doesn't this WRIF? No, W... Oh, I can't remember what the hell it was called, but it was like a classic hit station with big boss jocks, you know, those American, and there I sound like a 17-year-old schoolgirl next to these guys.

But I sent a demo over and I get a call from this guy and he says, you want to come over and audition for us? WOMC, that's what it was called. And so I said, okay. So long story there, I had so many problems with the border guards. They didn't want to let me in because I should have just lied and said I was going to the casino in Detroit. But I told him I got this job interview and they said, well, you're not American. You can't work over here. It was a whole shit show every time. And I had to go back and forth about three times and interview. And I got to do an overnight. I was so excited. I even, I took photos and selfies of myself in the control room with the WOMC Detroit sign

behind me. And so I got to go on the air and try to be this big boss jock. And so they ended up not hiring me. That didn't work out. But I just thought at that time, I thought, boy, if I get this, I could maybe get a green card and maybe we can move to the States, you know. Anyhow, so I didn't get that gig. The clock was ticking.

Maybe we can move to the States, you know. Anyhow, so I didn't get that gig, and the clock was ticking. Came to be, I think, almost my final paycheck, my final severance check. Right. And I'm like, holy shit, I've been out of work six months. What are we going to do? And I had contacted everybody I knew, and a lot of people, like Julie Adams was really good about talking to me every time I reached out to her. Dave Farrow, who was running CFNY, he was really good about sending my stuff out to all the PDs and chorus.

So it was all great. But I kept in touch with Doug Elliott. And literally, getting down to my last severance check, he sends me an email. He says, get your demo to me right now. His morning guy had just up and quit. just decided to randomly, I'm done. I don't want to do radio anymore. So I ship my demo off to Dougie Fast, and he says, okay, the general manager wants to meet you.

So I hop in my car, and I booted up to Toronto to see this guy. And we had lunch, and I turned around and drove right back to Windsor. And the next morning or that afternoon, I think I got a call, and I said, okay, the gig is yours. Nice. The clock was ticking, and I landed it.

So you're in Oshawa. By the way, the station is being billed now as GTA's rock station, which makes sense because why target Oshawa when you can target Toronto? Signal's massive. Yeah. It covers the entire GTA. And look, there's a lot of stations in other markets, certainly in the States, that aren't actually in the city, but still broadcast to the city. You know, like in Detroit, none of the stations are downtown.

They're all out in Birmingham or Dearborn. You know, a lot of stations like CFNY, for example, God knows how many years they were in Brampton and licensed as a Brampton station, but they continue to paint themselves as a Toronto station. Well, probably still technically licensed as a Brampton station. Yeah, they probably are. So, yeah, the signal's big, and we don't call ourselves Toronto's best rock or anything like that.

We're the GTA's rock station because we know the signal. And for us, really, when we think of the GTA, although you've got Toronto as the base, we think of all the surrounding areas where the signal booms, like up to Newmarket and Thornhill and Unionville and right across the top of the city and out to Brampton and Mississauga. So that's really who we... And then out towards the east through

Bowmanville and beyond. And really, like I said, it's because we are, I think, along with HITS, the only Toronto radio station that plays rock and roll. So, of course, Q107 Forever was classic rock.

And then, lately, we talked about this Marine Holloway, but the boom effect has really hit a lot of the stations where now they're changing their playlist to kind of... You can see it in Q. You can definitely see it in Q. Yeah. So I would say it's fair to say Q has softened their sound somewhat and popified it a bit with some, you know,

whether it be Duran Duran. I always use that as the example. Well, you know, the thing with classic rock is a lot of the stuff that we consider classic rock now in the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin, that's not classic. It's oldies now. Right. It's oldies, you know. And they're not playing the Beach Boys or Elvis, which was always considered the oldies stuff, right? This is classic rock now.

Nirvana and Pearl Jam are classic rock. If it's over 25 years old, it's classic rock. And the thing for Q was they couldn't kind of get past, I don't think, playing that Led Zeppelin deep purple. That stuff that was falling dangerously into the oldies category.

So you guys play rock and anyone can just go to the rock website and check out the playlist and see. This is some good heavy stuff. And it's you and Lucky at 5 playlist and see. This is some good, heavy stuff. And it's you and Lucky at 5.30 a.m. Yeah. Yeah, we're on the air at 5 a.m. But 5.30, right?

What do you mean 5.30? No, what time do you start your broadcast? We're on at 5. Is that right? Our first break is 5.10. Yeah. Yeah, we start gabbing at 5, just after 5 in the morning. They haven't changed that on the website, have they? No.

No. Nah. And you know what? Who's listening at 5 a.m. to call out the website? Turns out, I guess, quite a few. Maureen made the point that she didn't know the CHFI show started at 5. And it was the earliest show in the market or whatever.

No, we're on the same time as Maureen. That's fine. So your website says 5. So 5 o'clock, it's Craig, Van, and Lucky. That's early. What time do you wake up? I'm up at 4. That's not bad. No, I'm out of the house by 4.20ish or so and at the station by quarter to 22.

We used to call him Bingo Bob, although now he's billing himself as Bob Willett. Another nickname gone. That's right. That was a humble nickname. Humble gave him that. That's right. I think Humble gave the retod one too. Endangered Boy and all of that. He loved those nicknames. Lobster Boy is a John Derringer.

That's all. That's all JD. Yes. Yeah. And Bob, uh, he got kind of, I didn't like the Bob.

I mean, I like Bob a lot. Uh, we talk a lot. He's like the East End version of me. Right. Yes. He told me to say hello to you.

Yeah. And we both love our Pearl Jam and stuff. Yeah. We have similar stuff we like. but he left, like he was forever with the Evanoff group. And then he left for a verge, uh,

a Bell Media job that they pulled from him. He was part of CUT six months later. That's terrible. I felt horrible for him because you leave, you got this secure gig as a program director for Pride. Pride or Proud? Proud.

Proud FM. He was doing well at that, but he got to move over, and then it lasted six months or whatever it was, and now he's with us, and we're very happy to have him. He's a good radio guy. He knows his stuff. And he only plays Pearl Jam. Is that right?

That's it. That's all he'll play. He's like Johnny Fever. He will not follow the playlist, even though he's the music director. Yeah, no, it's a great station. You know, it's funny with all the big guys that you have with Bell and Rogers, and we're owned by Durham Radio, which is a smaller company, a family kind of more run business,

and there's pros and cons to all of that, right? But they're very loyal. They've been terrific to me in the four years I've been there now, I guess. And Lucky and I, Mike Luck, are having a terrific time. You know, we were brought together by Doug Elliott. Mike had been working on our sister station, CKDO, for some time. And he also wanted a shot at doing morning radio. So they moved him over.

And we just, I don't know how much of the show you've ever heard, but we're having a terrific time. It's kind of like a couple of guys drinking beer and eating chicken wings and just bullshitting about stuff all, you know, whatever's on our mind that morning, current events, and just everyday stories about our life. And Lee Eckley's on this

station, too. Lee is excellent. Yes, beef. He's, yeah, he's been around. Yeah, Q and Chem FM. Up and down that aisle. Yeah, terrific, terrific guy. Lee is excellent. Okay, so it's Craig Venn in the mornings, then Bob Willett, then Doug Elliott himself comes in, and then Lee Eckley. Lee Eckley, and then we have

Mattel on the air doing some swing shift, and yeah, but it's Craig and Lucky in the morning. Is Rob Johnston doing some work for you guys now? Doing some sales, I think. You know, Rob and I started off together way back. I guess he came in a few years after me, but yeah, he's doing some sales I think for us now in the city.

Because we, you know, with the main office being out in Oshawa, a lot of our sales people and such, they are out there. But Rob's in the city so he's doing a lot of that for us. You know, there's a rumor out there that if Derringer ever

quit or said he was done or whatever that you would be a sensible heir apparent have you ever heard this room I've never heard that rumor but from you I'm starting it for you from your lips to programmers ears I I don't you're happy at the rock and you'd love it there of course you know sometimes you get as I learned yesterday from Mo sometimes you get an offer you can't refuse well yes yeah no I've never heard that but that well that would be lovely. Who knows?

Johnny is locked in there. He's got Jennifer and Ryan and all of them now, so they carry on. And you sound like you're doing well in Oshawa. GTA's rock station. Yes, sir. And, yeah, many more years of success there. Thank you. This was a great chat, man.

Oh, Mike, thank you for having me in. I appreciate it. I've heard so many of the other interviews, so I hope mine lived up to some of the good ones you've had. This is one of the top-tier episodes, I promise you. Thank you, Pally. Listen back and let me know how the audio sounds. You're an old board... Yeah, you're a terrible board op.

Terrible. Terrible. Terrible. I wouldn't even be able to know how to turn your mics on here. But, yeah, I know... You know what? If it wasn't for my friend Andrew Stokely, I wouldn't know how to turn these mics on either.

Well, my son, my oldest son, bought us a Sonus system over Christmas. So I now listen to you at home through my phone on this Sonus thing and you sound beautiful, clear as a bell. Oh, that's music to my ears. And that brings us to the end of our 218th show. You can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike

and Craig is at Craig R Ven. Some son of a gun took at Craig Ven. Yeah. That's nice. Yeah. I'm going to put the R in there. Craig R Ven and two N's in Ven by the way. And our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer and Chef's Plate is at Chef's Plate CA.

See you all next week. 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. But I'm a much better man for having known you Oh, you know that's true because Everything is coming up