Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Dave Hodge KOTJ: Toronto Mike'd #302
Episode Date: January 18, 2018Dave Hodge names his 100 favourite songs of all-time....
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And right now, right now, right now it's time to...
Take out the jams, motherfuckers! I'm in Toronto where you wanna get the city love I'm from Toronto where you wanna get the city love
I'm a Toronto Mike, wanna get the city love
My city love me back, for my city love
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I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week to kick out the jams is sports broadcaster Dave Hodge.
How are you, sir?
I am well, Mike. Nice to be back.
I guess I was here somewhat in a different context before,
but this may be my favorite thing to talk about.
So that's why you got me back here.
Well, when I thought up this Kick Out the Jams concept,
I was thinking, imagine I could get Dave Hodge in here.
That was like one of the two guys, actually.
I thought Dave Hodge and Stephen Brunt.
Those are a couple of guys I'd like to get in.
Brunt has agreed to come on.
He's coming on soon.
You're here now, which is amazing.
So I'm super psyched about this episode 302.
For those listening, though, if they want to go back and listen to your first appearance here,
the deep dive,
that's episode 191,
and I'll read the description for everybody.
In this 191st episode,
Mike chats with TSN's Dave Hodge
about his years at Hockey Night in Canada,
the pen flip,
his work on TSN's The Reporters,
and his hope he'll never be labeled
a homer. And I gotta say, I loved that episode, but you hold your cards close to your chest.
Do you know this? I could not tell if you enjoyed it or if you hated it. I could not tell.
Usually, I could tell somebody's really enjoying themselves.
But for you, I loved the episode.
But I have to say, I couldn't read you.
Have you been told that before, that you're tough to read?
No, but maybe people think that.
I don't know. But in trying to get you to answer your dilemma, I'm here, I'm back. That must mean something.
No, that means a lot.
I mean, here you are.
Do you still get together with
Brian Williams regularly?
Oh, sure.
Brunt, it's interesting you mention because we're
at a lot of shows. I'm sure he mentioned this when
he was here before too, but we do
go to a lot of
shows, concerts, bars together, like mentioned this when he was here before too but we do go to a lot of of shows concerts bars
together like much of the same stuff so i hope i'm not beating him to the punch on any songs or
types of music that we're talking about i i feel as though i probably am but it'll be interesting interesting to see how his choices or how his musical selections differ from mine.
I always find that really exciting, like when somebody comes on and they have a jam that
somebody else had, and usually at the end I'll make a note, hey, by the way, you know,
this happened yesterday, Gare Joyce was here yesterday, and had a Warren Zevon tune and I'd be like
you know, because not a lot
of people pick Zevon in their top ten.
And I'd be like, you know, Mike
Stafford from 640, he also had
a Zevon tune and I kind of like to do that
comparison
or whatever and see who has similar
eclectic tastes. Well, maybe we'll explain
at this time what I
did and why I did it.
You asked for 10 and I've brought 100. And I don't want to scare anybody that
thinks that they don't have time to hear 100 songs because we're not playing 100 songs.
But I can't stop at 10. I'm sorry. You gave me an impossible task. And even the order that I put 100 songs shouldn't be taken too literally.
I got to 100 and stopped, basically, and the order doesn't really matter a whole lot to me.
So a lot of attention shouldn't be paid to that.
But in terms of comparing me to Brunt, I'm older than Stephen.
terms of comparing me to brunt i'm older than steven um so some of my selections will go um farther back than than some of his i'm sure i've been collecting music for um more than 60 years
and uh so i've got i'm a child of the 60s folk era you're gonna notice that. And Motown and hard rock and punk rock and singer-songwriter stuff
and country, alt-country, Americana, Canadiana, whatever. You're going to hear all of that.
I'm going to tell you now that I limited myself to one selection per artist. So why aren't there
five Beatles songs and four Rolling Stones songs? Because I made a rule that I could only pick one.
And I also tried specifically to stay away from what I'll call the obvious.
A lot of top tens have just, without thinking,
Hey Jude, Like a Rolling Stone, Stairway to Heaven,
all of those what I'll call obvious songs.
And while I love the three I mentioned and a whole lot of others that would fit into that category,
it doesn't excite me a whole lot to just recite the obvious.
So you're going to hear a Beatles song that isn't Hey Jude, etc. The only other thing I would mention is that some of my favorite songs
are that because of the way they start. A lot of people go to the chorus to say I love this song
and you know they recite the chorus and for me to start singing a song you need the opening line and
there are opening lines that I sing all the time
and never get to the second line.
It's just I feel like walking and getting a coffee
and singing something, and so an opening line will come out.
And opening lines say a whole lot to me about what follows them.
So it's also kind of a fun game to play to recite an opening line
and see if music lovers know, um, what, what the song is and who, who recorded it, who wrote it, who sang it.
Uh, some are, some are easy and some aren't.
So just as an example, I'm, I'm going to, you'll know this, I sure hope, or I'm leaving if you don't.
Uh oh.
Um, as an example, I keep a close watch on this heart of mine.
Yeah, because you're mine.
I walk the line by Johnny Cash.
Of course.
So that's, when we get to the top 10,
I think what I'll do is simply recite the opening line,
see if anybody's with me and grabs it right away.
And then we'll hear the song and then we'll talk about the song.
Is that the way?
Oh, yes.
I love this.
So people listening at home or in their car or on their walk or run or whatnot.
Yeah, you get a chance to scream out the answer before I dive into the tune.
And unlike previous episodes of Kick Out the Jams, I'm going to play the song in its entirety before we talk about it.
Because people are used to, this is I think the 30th or so jam
kicking.
So they're used to, I fade down and we talk
over the song.
Not today.
Today, we're going to get every note in there
before we talk to Dave about that.
And one, now that you're into this, let me see
if he can be two for two.
Oh, no.
Another easy one.
I pulled into Nazareth, was feeling about half
past dead. Oh, the weight, the band. Okay. So you got it.areth, was feeling about half past dead.
Oh, the wait, the bend.
Okay, so you got it.
Well, you gave me some softballs.
Thank you, because it's like Jeopardy.
I'm good at Jeopardy at home.
I just think if I'm actually on Jeopardy, I would have that stage fright, and I would be terrible.
Okay, again, I walk the line, and the wait are pretty easy selections for a top 10,
and they don't appear in my top 10. They
only appear in this explanation of why we're doing opening lines and why we're doing 100 songs, and
we should probably stop talking. So if we're clear, though, we're going to list all 100 songs,
but we're only going to play the top 10 and discuss those in detail. Awesome. Now, just to
loop back, though, I mentioned Brian Williams. Just bringing back to Brian briefly here, because I understand that you played a pivotal role in him making an appearance on this show. This is the story he tells me anyways, that he called you maybe and asked how your experience was? I would tell any, I think probably Stephen Brunt and I talked about it as well because I was here before he was.
I would recommend anybody come and enjoy this experience as long as they have things to talk about and time to do it and you express an interest.
So, yeah, he said, what is this all about?
I told him what it was about.
And I said, go do it and then tell me how much you enjoyed it, which he did after he was here.
So I'll be your agent.
I was going to say.
As often as you wish.
I'm going to put you on my reference list.
Thank you for that because, you know, once Brian heard from you that you had a good experience, he was all in and he was fantastic.
So thank you for that.
You're welcome. Speaking of Gear in and he was fantastic. So thank you for that. You're welcome.
Speaking of Gear Joyce, who was over yesterday. So I mentioned to him at the end
of the episode, he kicked out the jams. And at the
end I said, Dave Hodge
comes on tomorrow. And he goes,
Dave Hodge, he goes,
his sister was the B
on Live It Up. Like he just exclaims
his sister was the B on Live It Up.
And I went to YouTube because I couldn't Live It Up didn't resonate exclaims his sister was the B on Live It Up. I went to YouTube because
Live It Up didn't resonate with me until
I watched on YouTube
the opening to Live It Up.
I'm going to play it now.
All these memories came flushing back.
Let me play the Live It Up
intro. This is quite the jam.
Should have made my list, I guess.
Live It Up.
So Live It Up was a Canadian consumer show, basically.
I think it was on CTV.
I don't know.
Diane Buckner was on it and some people.
So tell me what that means, that your sister was the B on Live It Up.
Not a whole lot of people knew that because she was obviously in costume,
disguise, whatever you like.
And yeah, she was at CTV a whole lot of years before I was.
And I don't know what else to say about it.
I wish I could tell you I watched every episode.
But this is just, is it just the opening montage?
There's a quick shot of a bee.
As I said, I didn't watch all that often.
I'm not sure how much she has watched me over the years either, but no, good.
Good for you for unearthing that or Joyce for knowing it.
He's full of interesting trivial details.
And yeah, so there's a fun fact.
I think that's one of the, you one of those obscure pieces of Canadiana trivia.
Dave Hodge's sister is the B on Live It Up.
Well, I don't know if she wants it kept a secret.
I hope not.
I don't tell a whole lot of people.
Again, you've got to go back a long way to remember that show.
Because, well, you tell me if you've got dates when it began. I don't know.
I remember it as a theme song. 80s is what I think it is. Is when it began. I don't know I think it's I remember it as a theme song
80s is what I think it is. Is it before that?
I don't know.
Quick question because
I had this
again with Gary yesterday we talked about the
Cranberries briefly but did you ever see the Cranberries
live? I did not.
I certainly
enjoyed them
her Dolores I think the them, her, Dolores.
I think the story of her Canadianization, if you want to call it that, was interesting.
Not a lot of people perhaps knew that, but I guess she considered herself half Canadian
after being here, loving it, owning property.
being here, loving it,
owning property,
and obviously sad, and
music lovers have, in the last
two or three years, have had to endure
all sorts of shocking
death announcements that
we didn't expect, not at the time
anyway, so that's
another one, and hopefully
we can stop for a while.
Yes, I was just saying yesterday that so many of the bands in the 90s,
I listened to, you know, the 90s was my big decade for music
and a lot of the lead singers of my bands have passed.
In fact, I said yesterday, I said,
somebody make sure Ed Vedder's taking care of himself
because he's like last man standing
in a lot of those big rock bands I loved in the 90s.
It's very sad.
Well, it was to speak to that subject.
There was, you must know Dwayne Gretzky.
Everybody by now knows Dwayne Gretzky.
And in fact, I just saw the announcement yesterday
that they're going to play three nights
at the Horseshoe Tavern, February 22, 3, and 4,
and play 99 of the best songs ever, according to them.
And so I've got 100.
I'm topping them by one.
And maybe there's a chance that some of my 100 songs
will be played during their three-night stand at the Horseshoe
when they play 99 songs to match their namesake,
so to speak.
Right, they had to do 99.
So good for them, and it adds to the enjoyment of quantity as opposed to quality, because
I love the fact that I'm going to give you 100 song titles here.
No, I do too.
I do too.
And you mentioned the Horseshoe Tavern.
I'm glad you did, because I have David McPherson booked to come on this show. And he's going to talk about the top 10 concerts in the history of the Horseshoe Tavern. This is what the episode is going to be. And I can't wait for that. But he had a question for you. He wanted to know what's your first and favorite horseshoe memory?
I can't remember the first one, honestly.
But Ben Rayner and the Star had a wonderful column where, I don't know, 30 of us, I guess, listed our favorite horseshoe concert. So I'll stick with the answer I gave him.
It was, I believe, I don't even have the date in mind now, I think 2012.
I don't even have the date in mind now, I think 2012.
And it was a private show to celebrate the 50th birthday of the horseshoes owner, Jeff Cohen.
And the lineup included, you know, Jim Cuddy, Joel Plaskett, Ron Hawkins, etc., etc., with the theme of the night being the Peter Elkis band doing 30 Bruce Springsteen songs,
because Jeff Cohen is a Bruce Springsteen freak, if I can put it that way.
And the night was extraordinary in terms of what it celebrated, both the birthday and the songs of Bruce, and the way it was done with all of the guest artists
and the Pete Elkis Band, as I called it that night,
the Queen Street Band, doing a marvelous job.
And I didn't want to leave.
And the last thing I said when I left was,
I really feel sorry for anybody that wasn't here.
And there were a lot of people who weren't invited, obviously,
and who would have, I'm sure, paid lots of money to get there
if that was allowed.
So that stood out.
Now, the fact that I emceed that show
made it a little more personal for me,
but it was truly remarkable.
You mentioned Ron Hawkins.
So something I'll do is, after your top ten,
when we play the jam and then you talk about it,
I'll let you know other jam kickers who also had songs by that artist.
Okay.
So you're going to learn, by the end of today, you're going to learn a surprising,
more than one jam in your top 10 is shared by Ron Hawkins of Lowest of the Low.
Wow.
Which is kind of cool, I think. Because my top 10 is not by Ron Hawkins of lowest of the low. Wow. Which is kind of cool, I think.
Because my top 10 is not predictable.
Right, exactly.
And I set out to do just that,
to be something that maybe belonged to me and nobody else,
but I'll be quite happy to share any of these songs.
I hope he is with me as well.
That interests me.
I'll be interested to get to that point and find out which they are.
Sure.
And I have a quick question,
speak on the music topic
before we do a quick update,
and then we do some sponsor mentions,
and then we get to these jams.
But Tyler Campbell asks on Twitter,
he says,
would you ask Dave if he's seen
His Golden Messenger live?
Their show at the Drake a couple of years ago
was one of the best I've ever seen,
and I was happy to see them on his best of 2017 list.
Hiss Golden Messenger, I have not seen live.
I have everything they have recorded,
and it stands out for me this way.
Max Kerman of Arkells is a good friend.
We talk music all the time,
and he gives me his latest discovery, and I do the same. And very often I'm saying,
thanks, Max. I didn't know about that. And sometimes he's saying, thank you, Dave.
I wasn't aware of that. The last record that I told Max he had to listen to
was the latest record by Hiss Golden Messenger.
And his first reaction was, eh, eh, eh.
So I said, okay, I can't hit a home run every time.
The next time I talked to him, he said,
that Hiss Golden Messenger record you told me about?
Yes.
He said, I play it every morning.
It's the first thing I hear every,
every morning. Now, if that has lasted, uh, weeks or months, I don't know, but that's amazing at the
time. So that's what you get when you, uh, and I, I was standing at a war on drug show, uh, with
Max when I, when we were talking about his golden messenger and others. So, uh, yeah, there you go.
Can I beg, uh, of you that you and Max start a podcast
where you can just talk about recent discoveries
because this is what's lacking out there, right?
There's no one curating the lists for us anymore
in the radio land.
There's no DJ playing what he likes, et cetera, et cetera.
I'd have to be able to travel the world like he does
and have the energy that he has
and go back to
being 30 years old, um, to keep up with Max, but no, there's all, I mean, there's great ideas out
there and you know, yours is, is one of them. Um, whether I, uh, whether I venture into this on a
more regular basis and put my name to it, who knows, but, uh, Max Kerman would be the busiest, maybe the busiest guy I know
in the music business or any other. So you're asking a lot if I have to track him down to do
anything on a regular basis. But anyway, that's the Hiss golden messenger mention is interesting.
Great. Okay. Now let's get a quick update on you before we get to these jams.
So since the news came out
about the reporters being canceled,
Steve Simmons has been here
and David Schultz have been here,
both to kick out the jams.
So they both share their theories
as to what happens.
But now that you're here in the flesh
in front of me,
I ask you,
what happened with the reporters on TSN? Death by a thousand cuts,
in this case, budget cuts. Uh, we were on the air for 15 years and, uh, at, at the show's peak,
um, year eight, nine, whatever. Uh, I was immensely proud of what we were doing. At the end, I was so lacking in pride as to what we were doing or what we were able to do that I felt I couldn't continue doing the show.
And I made that decision with a lot of sadness.
Obviously, there's nothing else for me or that interested me at TSN any longer.
So I'm your favorite free agent now, Mike.
I'm available for radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, parties.
So you have no interest in retirement and just enjoying the music. You want to continue
working.
know, retirement and just enjoying the music. You want to continue working.
I needed the Christmas season and now we're into January. And so it's time to say that I can't put those decisions off any longer. What they'll be, I don't know. I'm sort of
trying to adjust to what the rest of life looks like. It will include music. It will
include sports, whether it includes a so-called job or not,
or just projects one after the other, we'll have to see. What about like a new venture like The
Athletic, which is digital only? Would you be open to contributing to something like The Athletic?
As I said, I'm open to anybody's idea that might interest me.
And at this point, before I say no to anything, I ask a bunch of questions and investigate.
And, you know, there have been some opportunities to get involved with things.
I am really looking forward to an event in Edmonton next month.
event in Edmonton next month. And the Oilers have hired me to emcee a gala event honoring the team that was picked on NHL.com as the greatest of all time, the 84-85 Stanley Cup champion Oilers.
What a team.
And it's going to be on February 11th in Edmonton in the arena. It'll be sold out.
There'll be music, there'll be some surprises, and there'll be every member of that team in attendance minus Dave Semenko, who is no longer living.
And all sorts of opponents of the owners in that era will be there to talk about how great they were and how difficult they were to beat.
So I'm working every day a little something on the script or on the ideas for that show,
and I'll be out in Edmonton a few days in advance of it.
And they've been very nice in the way they've treated me, so I'm honored to take part in that.
A once-in-a-lifetime event, as I'm going to tell the people in the arena.
The team of the next century will be picked, and none of us will be there to find out which it is.
So we better enjoy the team of the first century of the National Hockey League.
That's right. My wife is from Edmonton, by the way. So that's her hometown.
Great. Now I'm too psyched to get to these jams. So let's tell the people at home that if they
want to help crowdfund this passion project, it's patreon.com slash Toronto Mike. Even a dollar a month helps
keep this going, and I
appreciate every penny.
There's beer in front of you, Dave. There's a six-pack
of Great Lakes beer,
courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery.
Lovely. I remember
the first six I had.
See, there's
incentive right there to keep coming back.
You get a six-pack every time you show up. Well, I thank you see, there's incentive right there to keep coming back. You get a six pack every time you show up.
Well, I thank you and thank Great Lakes.
They just, just, just, they love to share the wealth, as they say.
And that's the great local craft beer.
So enjoy that.
You're going to need a pint glass to pour your beer into.
I don't think this was offered last time you were here,
but there is a pint glass
beside the six-pack there.
That is yours as well.
Courtesy of
Brian Gerstein, who is a sales representative
with PSR Brokerage.
Brian, actually, when he heard you
were coming on, he recorded a
special greeting for you.
Let's listen to
Brian from propertyinthesix.com.
Propertyinthesix.com
Hi Dave, Brian Gerstein here,
sales representative of PSR Brokerage
and proud sponsor of Toronto Mic.
Call or text me at 416-873-0292
and I will even throw in one of my awesome new pint glasses
if we meet in person for a real estate consultation.
All my listings come with a free home inspection floor plan,
photo and video shoot, and lots of marketing both print and online.
Dave, I was fortunate enough growing up in Montreal to have Michael Farber as my favorite
sportscaster whose work speaks for itself. This is just a thank you when you spoke out publicly to why, according to TSN management, he was no longer on The Reporters for so-called budget restrictions. You have always been a stand-up guy, my Walter Cronkite of sports media broadcasting.
That's the way it is.
That's high praise.
Thank you, Brian.
And to be in Montreal, to grow up there,
and to know Michael Farber is to love his work,
and that's succeeded only by what he does when he's not working
and he's just being Michael Farber, a great guy.
A big part of the reason that, that the show ended was that he was no longer
with it.
And he was no longer with it because of the budget restrictions that were, that were mentioned.
But I guess I should have known how valuable Michael was, but it's one of those cases where
till he's not there,
you don't realize all of the heart that he brought to the show, the humor, um, fit in
well and nobody else could replace him. And so we didn't try, not that we, not that they
didn't have the, uh, not that they had the budget to do that. Um, so yeah, we, we missed Michael
and, um, and the show didn't last a whole lot longer
than when he was there.
What did Joni say?
You don't know what you've got
until it's gone?
Now we're into lines again.
Now I like the game.
Now that you gave me the softballs,
I got confidence now.
Except that that wasn't the opening line.
No, that wasn't the opening line.
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All right, my friend, the rest of this show, it's all you and your jams.
So I think you're going to tell us about 100 to 90 on your list.
And then I'll give you the first line of number 10,
and you will play number 10,
and people can jump in with their title
and their artist as quickly as possible. Number 100, and please don't pay a whole lot of attention,
as I said, to the order. Just that they're on this list means that they're dear to me in one
way or another. So 100 to 90 goes like this. The Bells of Rimney, Chris Hillman. That's an old Pete Seeger song,
a redone. Willan, Little Feet, Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits. Laying Down to Perish, Alan Doyle.
From a Soon to Be Ghost Town, Fruit Bats. To Live is to Fly, Towns Van Zandt. Strawberry Blonde, Ron Sexsmith, Keep the Car Running, Arcade Fire,
What's the Frequency, Kenneth, REM, I'm Gonna Stay That Way, Lee, Harvey, Osmond, and number 90 is
Pride, In the Name of Love, U2, and now we finally get to hear some music and shut me up for at least two or three minutes as I give you the first line of my number 10 all-time song.
It is, I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had a girl
Or should I say
She once had me
She showed me her room
Isn't it good, Norwegian room
She asked me to stay and she told me to sit anywhere
So I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair
I sat on the rug, biding my time, drinking her wine.
We talked until two, and then she said, it's time to leave. She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh
I told her I didn't and crawled out to sleep in the bath.
And when I awoke, I was alone.
It's a perfect love.
So I lit a fire.
Isn't it good?
No, we jam Tell me why you love that jam.
I always thought it could be a Bob Dylan song,
and as I said, in the 60s,
any Bob Dylan song was going to be high on my list.
It resonated with me that way.
Obviously, it was a Lennon-McCartney song,
mostly Lennon.
George Harrison on sitar, by the way.
And the subject matter was uh an illicit affair that uh mr lennon wanted to
talk about um who knows who knows why um it it was obviously not the typical beatles song and
there were lots of other beatles songs i could picked, but that one always got to me,
I guess, more than any other.
The style of it and that opening line.
I don't know how many times I've said or sung, I once had a girl, etc.
So that was my Beatles selection, and obviously there had to be a Beatles song there, and that was it.
I should have started by letting people know.
I'm sure some people aren't aware that's Norwegian wood.
I probably should have given the title right off the bat.
And if they're wondering who sang it, we ended that mystery too.
That's right.
Yeah, that's my Beatles song.
Would you like me to pick up with number 89?
Not yet, because I have some notes.
Okay.
And that's the other thing.
So when you do like the, when you list the 10,
am I allowed to interject maybe and ask a question
or just say something about one of your jams that you list
so I can pop in maybe and...
You mean before we get to 10?
Like when you're doing like 100 to 90.
If one of those jams, I have a little quick...
Oh, yeah, I know.
Okay, so if I interrupt you, that's why.
You make the rules.
Yes, that's right.
I got to remind myself of that.
So the Beatles.
It won't surprise you, I don't think,
to learn that the Beatles is the most represented band
in Kick Out the Jam's history.
Sure.
So I'm going to just quickly run down
previous jam kickers and the Beatles songs
that they've chosen.
So Mark Hebbshire and Ed Keenan from the Toronto Star,
they both chose Revolution from the Beatles.
Steve Simmons, you ever heard of him?
Mm-hmm.
Hey Jude.
So easy, Steve.
Mike Wilner picked You Won't See Me.
Okay.
Freddie P. from Humble and Friendshow picked In My Life,
which is actually one of my personal favorites.
Top ten for sure.
Norm Wilner, who writes for Now Magazine,
chose I Want to Hold Your Hand.
Andrew Stokely, who helped put the studio together,
he chose A Day in the Life,
which might be my favorite Beatles song of all time.
Well, and that is on a lot of top ten lists.
If Hey Jude isn't there, then A Day in the Life is.
Larry Fedorek picked Rain.
And Ron Hawkins from Lowest of the Low picked
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey.
Wow.
That's a quirky Beatles song, and that's a pretty good cross-section.
I'll look at all of the selections that are still out there.
Yeah, exactly.
With the Beatles, one person's top ten can be completely different
than another person's top ten.
That's how vast that catalog is.
Okay, great.
Now let's hear a rundown of 89 to 80,
and I might interrupt you.
Okay, beginning with 89.
Tournament of Hearts, Weaker Thans.
Gotta love a curling song.
The House That Heaven Built, Japan Droids.
Don't Be Cruel, Elvis Presley.
American Pie, Don McLean.
High and Dry, Frankie Lee.
You may not know that.
Teen Angst, Cracker.
Taxi, Harry Chapin.
Radio Girl, Doug Paisley.
Running Down a Dream, the late Tom Petty.
And Four Strong Winds, Ian and Sylvia.
That song, The House That Heaven Built by the Japan Droids,
I adopted it as my theme
when I took this podcast
into my own home,
into my own studio.
I started the first episode from here,
which was episode 20,
with that song,
and then I recently replayed it
on episode 300,
as we looked back.
Can't get tired of that song.
Just completely love it.
Well, there you go.
We're sure to have some the same, you and I.
Oh, for sure.
There's been more than that, but I didn't want to...
Have you seen Japandroids live?
No.
Be prepared if you do, because loud, you need a new word.
Loud doesn't quite describe it.
Pulsating might be better.
And the crowd does things that make you wonder why half of them didn't end up in the hospital at the end of the show.
But well-behaved Japan Droids fans, to say the least.
It's remarkable how they toss themselves around and don't manage to cause any trouble.
So at least at the show I was at.
Are we ready for the first line of number nine?
Yes, sir.
Okay, this won't be as easy or as obvious as number 10 was,
but this might be, it's hard to say.
I have a favorite performer,
but if I go to New York for 24 hours to see somebody as I did to see this guy,
that probably makes it obvious that he's at or near the top of my list.
So here we go with a song that begins like this, if I can find it here.
Hold on, hold on, hold on. Here we go.
Hey, yay, hey, yay, hold on, here we go.
Hey, yay, hey, yay, friends and Romans, countrymen.
Hey, yay, hey, yay, punks and skins and journeymen.
Hey, yay, hey, yay, friends and Romans, countrymen.
Hey, yay, hey, yay, hey Punks and skins and journeymen, hey, hey, hey, hey My sisters and my brother and the time is coming near
Come, yay, come, yay, to soulless corporate circus tops
Come, yay, come, yay, to toilet circuit touring stops Come, yay, come, yay, to yay to toilet circuit tourist stops
Calm yay, calm yay to veterans bars and bunker squats
The sound is ringing clear
Now who'd have thought that after all
Something as simple as rock and roll would save us all
Now who'd have thought
That after all
It was rock and roll
Hey yeah, hey yeah
Now anybody can take the stage
Hey yeah, hey yeah make miracles for minimum wage
Hey, hey, hey, these folk songs of the modern age will hold us in their arms
Right here, right now, Elvis brings his children home
Right here, right now, you never have to feel alone
Right here, right now, teenage kinks and gramophones
We hold them in our hearts
Now who'd have thought that after all
Something as simple as rock and roll would save us all
Now who'd have thought that after all, it was rock and roll
And I still believe in the saints
Yeah, in Jerry Lee and in Johnny and all the greats
I still believe in the sound
That has the power to raise a temple and tear it down
I still believe in the need
For guitars and drums and desperate poetry And I still believe
That everyone
Can find a song for every time they've lost
And every time they've won
So just remember folks
We're not just saving lives
We're saving souls
And we're having fun
I still believe I would have thought
That after all
Something as simple as rock and roll would save us all
Now who'd have thought
That after all
Something so simple
Something so small
Who'd have thought? After all, it's rock and roll.
That's fantastic. I Still Believe by Frank Turner.
Yes. I'll quote Stephen Brunt. He won't mind, I don't think. I took him to a Frank Turner. Yes. I'll quote Stephen Brunt.
He won't mind, I don't think.
I took him to a Frank Turner show,
and he left by saying it might have been
the best live musical experience of his life.
That's saying something, man.
He's seen a few shows.
It was certainly high on the list.
So as I say, I went to New York for 24 hours
to see Frank Turner, who left London,
England when I left Toronto on a Saturday morning. Frank was opening for the Hold Steady, another
very favorite band of mine. And he was opening, and then he was turning around and going back
to London, England, as I turned around to go back to Toronto on Sunday,
took him 40 hours here and back.
And he said his love of that band, of the Hold Steady,
made him do it, and he probably wouldn't have done it for any other band, although very high on his list
of bands that he adores because he's toured with them
and will continue to do so in the UK in May,
I believe, is Arkells. Frank Turner opened two Massey Hall shows for Arkells, and Frank Turner
has toured Canada with Joel Plaskett, and Frank Turner has toured Canada by himself. Frank Turner's
very favorite songwriter in the world is John K. Sampson, formerly of the Weaker Thans.
And Frank Turner is as dynamic a performer as you could want to see in a bar, in a theater,
or in the case of the Arkell show in Hamilton, in an arena. And he's a fascinating guy.
And if you have a chance to see Frank Turner, see him.
You've sold me on Frank Turner.
Well, and you know, you, you'll hear in that song, rock and roll,
obviously folk punk the,
the writing of all of Frank Turner's songs,
and some of them are a lot more, I don't want to say slower,
but in a different style than that.
He's prolific.
He's writing all the time.
He's playing all the time.
And, yeah, and he's got more tattoos than anybody I know.
That was great.
I go on and on about Frank Turner, obviously.
Shall we revert to the list?
Yes, please.
I'm beginning at 79, I believe.
Pretzel Logic, Steely Dan, All the Young Dudes,
Mott the Hoople, that really should be higher.
I castigate myself.
If I may, we played it yesterday during the Gay or Joy episode
because he wrote a book called Young Leafs that was out for Christmas.
And I told him he should have called it All the Young Dudes.
And I played Mott the Hoople yesterday.
I never saw Mott the Hoople perform All the Young Dudes,
but I did see Ian Hunter at Lee's Palace.
And I went for the express purpose of hearing one song.
Obviously, I enjoyed all of them, but I needed to hear Ian Hunter sing All the Young Dudes,
so it shouldn't be as low as 78.
But anyway, outfit, Jason Isbell.
Beds are burning, midnight oil.
Beginnings, Chicago or Chicago Transit Authority at the time.
Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley.
Yes, I could have picked Leonard Cohen's version,
but I and others do prefer what Jeff Buckley did
with that classic Leonard Cohen song.
Werewolves of London, speaking of Warren Zevon,
there's my Warren Zevon song at 73.
Wild Horses, Rolling Stones, 16 Days by Whiskey Town,
and number 70 is among my favorite Motown songs,
I Can't Help Myself by The Four Tops.
And now we get to the opening line of song number eight.
As I check my notes, I don't need my notes for this one.
We've already talked too much about this
guy already, so we should hear him now. It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe.
Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, baby.
Even you don't know by now.
And it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, baby.
It'll never do somehow.
When your rooster crows at the break of dawn.
Look out your window and I'll be gone you're the
reason I'm a traveling on
but don't think
twice it's alright
and it ain't no use in turning on your light, baby
The light I never knowed
And it ain't no use in turning on your light, baby
I'm on the dark side of the road
But I wish there was something you would do or say to try and make me change my mind and state.
But we never did too much talking anyway, but don't think twice, it's all right.
So it ain't no use in calling out my name, gal Like you never done before
And it ain't no use in calling out my name, gal
I can't hear you anymore
I'm a-thinking and a-wondering
Walking down the road
I once loved a woman
A child, I'm told
I'd give her my heart
But she wanted my soul
But don't think twice
It's all right.
So long, honey, baby, where I'm bound, I can't tell.
Goodbye is too good a word, baby.
So I just say fare thee well.
I ain't saying you treated me unkind.
You could have done better, but I don't mind.
You just kind of wasted my precious time. But don't think twice, it's all right ¶¶ Bob Dylan, Don't Think Twice, It's All Right.
That meant more to me than any other Dylan song because, simple reason,
I heard him sing it, introduce it, and sing it as a new song, not yet released,
and that was at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village.
And the song, whether it was old, new, long, short, whatever,
was going to be with me no matter what,
because I loved the song, but I thought,
not a lot of Bob Dylan fans know this song yet, and I do,
so I'm going to kind of make it my Bob Dylan song and it's been
that way forever and that's that's incredible that uh so do you remember what year that was
uh 60 well I should I should know this maybe 63 um it was I think well I I well, I won't try and do that because I can't be accurate.
But yeah, I was 18.
That's incredible.
That's incredible.
So it's funny.
This is your second artist that you've had in common with Steve Simmons.
So he also had a Dylan track.
He picked It's Alright Ma.
David Schultz and Larry Fedorek also had Dylan track. He picked It's Alright Ma. David Schultz
and Larry Fedorek also had
Dylan tracks. They
picked Things Have Changed, which is
a more recent. It's from the
Wonder Boys soundtrack. It won an Oscar,
I believe, for best song
from a movie. And Stephen
Stanley, who's an original member
of Lois de la Lowe, and he
is now, of course, the frontman of the Stephen Stanley Band.
I was with him on the occasion of the Horseshoes 70th anniversary.
He's a great guy.
He's a great guy.
He picked Desolation Row from Bob Dylan.
Well, like the Beatles, you know, my list could have had how many Dylan songs.
I mean, it was really hard to pick one, except that I just told you it wasn't
because this is always my answer.
With a story like that, you have to go for this jam.
Okay, where were we?
I think I ended off with, boy, this is, I need a producer for this.
Oh, I hate producers.
No, I'm kidding.
I'm kidding.
69 would be Fortunate Son, Credence, Clearwater Revival.
Lovers in a Dangerous Time, Bruce Coburn.
Live by the Song, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Billy Joel.
I'm Shipping Up to Boston, Dropkick Murphys.
Marry Me, Archie, Always. The Urge for Going, Tom Rush,
again, 60s folk, Blue River, Eric Anderson, again, 60s folk,
Inside Out, Crash Vegas, we're going back a little bit for that.
I remember that one.
And number 60 is Run on the Banks by a great East Coast band
called The Stanfields.
For Lovers in a Dangerous Time, you picked, of course, the original Bruce Colburn.
Did you consider the Barenaked Ladies cover?
I picked Bruce Colburn.
And when we get to number one, maybe some others too, whenever there's a choice, although
I just broke that rule with Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah. Right, right. I think you always
should be preferring the original.
So, yeah, Bruce Coburn was
my choice. I bring up the Barenaked
Ladies only because today it was announced that
they're going in the Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
but they announced Stephen Page is going to join
them on stage. One time only
reunion, which would be
a nice occasion regardless, but that's
going to make it special.
And they haven't even actually, they have not confirmed if they'll even sing together.
Right now, they've only promised they will stand next to each other on stage so we can applaud them.
So here's hoping.
All right.
We'll follow that on TMZ or wherever.
I am at number seven, I believe, and the opening line of this song is,
first thing, we'd climb a tree
And maybe then we'd talk
Or sit silently
And listen to our thoughts
With illusions of someday And listen to our thoughts
Illusions of someday
Cast in a golden light
No dress rehearsal
This is our life
guitar solo And that's where the hornets stung me
And I had a feverish dream
With revenge and doubt
Tonight we smoke them out You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century guitar solo
Stare in the morning shroud
And then the day begins
I tilted your cloud
You tilted my hand
Rain falls in real time
The rain fell through the night
No dress rehearsal
This is our life.
But that's when the hornets got me.
Then I had a serious dream.
With revenge and doubt
Tonight we smoke them out
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
And disappointing news getting me down Ahead by a century, the Tragically Hip.
I used to say Little Bones was my favorite Tragically Hip song,
but then came the final tour, and for some reason
ahead by a century, hit me like a ton of bricks that night. It's always been my wife's favorite
hip song, and we were at a private party at Massey Hall to discuss the closing and revitalization and reopening of Massey Hall.
And there was one musical performer there that night, and it was Serena Ryder, who sang an acoustic version of Ahead by a Century, stating that it was always her favorite tragically hip song.
This came on the very day that we learned of Gord Downie's death.
And the impact of Serena's version of Ahead by a Century
left me a mess and everybody else in the audience.
So it has supplanted Little Bones
as my favorite Tragically Hip song on this list,
and I think forever.
I got chills when you told that story,
because that's my favorite band of all time,
the Tragically Hip.
And when I saw them,
I saw the three shows they did in Toronto
on that last tour,
I was in the middle one,
so I think that was Sunday,
I'm not sure anymore.
And I went alone because
i knew i would essentially i'd be i might be crying the whole night i just felt i needed to
be alone to watch my favorite band for the last time and that line and that song that resonated
with me that night was this is no dress rehearsal this is our life i think that might be the line
that punches that you mentioned uh and and and and yeah when, when I hear the song now,
when I hear that line,
it means so much more to me right now.
Well, I think that would be the...
Anybody else with hip songs on your list of previous...
In fact, next to the Beatles,
I believe this is number two.
Although Bruce makes a good run, actually,
Bruce Springsteen.
But I think this might be number two.
But Ed Keenan from The Star picked 50 Mission mission cap bingo bob willett from the rock picked grace 2 tim thompson
picked nautical disaster siobhan morris from news talk 10 10 picked wheat kings mark hebbshire
picked thugs and norm wilner picked My Music at Work.
So everyone's got a different favorite hip song, just sort of like the Beatles.
And I would be surprised that Bob Cajun hadn't been mentioned by any of those people.
Maybe the next person will go there because that would be very high on my list as well.
I was surprised nobody picked Ahead by a Century yet, actually,
because that's one of the standards too.
That's all mine then at this point, and my wife's, and Serena's.
So there you go.
Okay, we get into the middle of this list now.
As I go to, where did I end up here?
Sorry for this.
Picking it up at 59 with Plus Ones by Ockerville River,
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks, The National,
Shout Bama Lamina, this is obscure,
Detroit Cobras, Pride and Joy, Stevie Ray Vaughan,
Everybody's Talking, Fred Neal,
Sleeping in Toronto, my friend Jim Bryson, Cause Che cheap is how I feel. Cowboy Junkies.
Lover Call. Danko Jones. Speaking of podcasts, I enjoyed
doing Danko's podcast. Chickamauga Uncle Tupelo
and number 50. Right in the middle. This should be higher.
Tear Stained Eye by Sunvolt. And now we get
to number six.
The first line doesn't give it away.
I could go to the chorus and you might get more of a hint of what this is,
but I'm sticking with first lines here.
So, ooh, for a second there.
What am I doing here?
Ooh, for a second there, I felt peace and calm. I think I can read my writing, and why should I have to read my writing? Cue the song. guitar solo
Oh, for a second there
I felt peace and calm
The underpass
Will keep us from harm
And the wipers moved
Like some waving arms
We were flashing headlights
At coming cars
Put up in the distance
Even in the dead of night
We can make it to the morning
We can get things right
It's been a tough go lately
I hate choosing sides
What we do in the darkness
We'll come to light all around.
And in times of fear, you shelter me.
And you hold me close, so tenderly.
And when my headphones on, as I fall asleep.
You're my barricade, from intruding dreams.
Put up in the distance, even in the dead of night. If we could make it to the morning, we could get things right.
It's been a tough go lately.
I ain't choosing sides.
What we do in the darkness.
We'll come to light, all right.
It'll come to light, all right.
It'll come to light, all right. Ooh, and in silence fell
When I picked up
Those words hit me hard
Like a one-two punch
So I went home
To face a storm
And the thought of you keeps me warm
But up in the distance, even in the dead of night
If we could make it to the morning, we could get things right
It's been a tough go lately I hate choosing silence
What we do in the darkness
What we do in the darkness
Comes to life
When everything went wrong
You're keeping my head up
And it's time
The things that work today I don't know. Come to Light, the Arkells.
Again, I could have picked a lot of others,
maybe some that you would have predicted more than that,
but I think Come to Light showcases Arkells
in more ways than just a few,
better than any other song.
The writing, the arrangement, the performance.
Live, there's no crowd participation moment that I look forward to more
at any concert than what the crowd does with the line,
Hit Me Hard, like a one-two punch, because the fists are going in the air,
one-two punch,
everybody that's been to an Arkell show
knows what I'm talking about.
And from the time that that record came out,
Come to Light was, and still is,
my favorite Arkell song.
You're the second person to bring an Arkell jam
to the Kick Out the jams.
Uh,
Andrew Stokely brought,
Oh,
the boss is coming.
Uh-huh.
They're,
uh,
they have,
uh,
they're wonderful following that,
um,
a lot of people would have,
would have picked that obviously leather jacket lately knocking,
uh,
you know,
knocking at the door.
If I could say,
uh,
Tim Thompson,
who I mentioned earlier,
but Tim Thompson puts together these brilliant montages
set to music, and he's fantastic.
And he chose that jam for this season.
I guess the MLSE commissioned a Toronto Maple Leafs video montage
to that jam.
It's excellent.
If anybody hasn't seen it yet, find it.
Well, it was a great way to kick off the season, I must say.
And so, yeah, Max and all the boys are,
they work as hard as Frank Turner,
so it's no secret that they would be touring together
because nobody else but each other could keep up with these guys.
So good for their success,
and I'm real happy to know all of them very well
and would never miss a show unless it is absolutely necessary.
I'm picking it up now at 49 with Jolene Jeremy Fisher,
Sweet Home Alabama, I didn't pick Free Bird,
Leonard Skinner, I'm proud of myself,
My Girl, The Temptations, the Motown National Anthem,
Spirits,
Strumbelas,
Frankie's Gun, Felice Brothers,
Back to Me, Kathleen Edwards,
Oh My Sweet Carolina, Ryan Adams,
Deprestin, Courtney
Barnett, Escarpment Blues,
Sarah Harmer, and
number 40, had to be there somewhere,
Fire and Rain, James Taylor.
Just that Felice Brothers song, I heard it for the first time
when Ron Hawkins of Lowest to the Low introduced me to that song.
Although it may have been Lawrence Nichols from Lowest to the Low, actually.
They both came in together, and I can't remember whose jams were whose,
actually, at this point.
But what a great song.
So Frankie's Gun made a list?
Yes, Frankie's Gun made a list.
Top ten? Yeah. Oh's Gun made a list. Top 10?
Yeah.
Oh, well, poor me.
I'm way down.
Hey, they're on your top 100.
It's there.
I hope that everybody realized.
I don't know what 101 would have been, but it would be good too.
We're not going to deal with that, though.
As I get to number five, and this you probably are going to know before you hear the first
note, but I shouldn't prejudge.
I can see her lying back in her satin dress
In a room where you do what you don't confess
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you've been creepin' round my back stairs
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you've been creepin' round my back stairs
She's been lookin' like a queen in a sailor's dream
And she don't always say what she really means
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better when I'm feeling no pain
Sometimes I think it's a shame When I get feeling better when I'm feeling
okay
I can picture every move that a man could make
Getting lost in her lovin' is your first mistake
Sundown, you'd better take care
if I find you've been creepin' round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it's a sin
when I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again I can see her looking fast in her faded jeans
She's a hard-loving woman Got me feeling mean
Sometimes I think it's a shame
When I get feeling better
When I'm feeling no pain
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you've been
Creeping round my back stairs
Sundown, you better take care
If I find you've been creeping round my back stairs
Sometimes I think it's a sin
When I feel like I'm winning, when I'm losing again.
Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot.
I call it the thrill of a lifetime. I did a show this summer with Gordon Lightfoot and others,
the others being Dwayne Gretzky, Ron Sexsmith, Tara Lightfoot, and Justin Rutledge. The finale was Sundown. We all, we all
sang it on stage. Me standing near Gordon Lightfoot singing Sundown was a moment that I wish I had it on tape. I think somebody does.
But I rather emotionally told Gordon just recently
what that day meant to me
and what his friendship means to me.
And that song means to me.
And he's playing the last Massey Hall gig
before they shut it down for revitalization.
The last two shows, there was nobody else to ask.
He has played Massey Hall, I believe
150,
160 times, whatever
the number is, far more than
I believe Blue Rodeo might be second
on that list, well back
if you don't mind, Jim, but you got a chance
to catch up.
So, yeah.
Obviously, a Gordon Lightfoot song
had to be there.
And if that wasn't going to be it before I sang
on stage with Gordon the song Sundown,
then it certainly is now.
Now, Damien Cox also kicked out a Gordon Lightfoot jam.
He picked The Last Time I Saw Her.
And Tim Thompson has come up a few times today.
He did If You Could Read My Mind.
That is, for many, the Lightfoot choice.
But, you know, Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, whatever.
The Railroad Trilogy, everybody loves that.
But Sundown says something to me it did before I was able to sing it.
And I'd gone on about that day, by the way.
It's probably the best day of music I've ever had in my life,
ever witnessed and been a part of.
So on to our list before I go on too long.
I just saw Ron Sexsmith at Massey Hall because he opened for Barenaked Ladies.
This was like a month ago.
Wherever Gordon Lightfoot is, if you call Ron Sexsmith, he'll be there too. He's probably the
world's biggest Gordon Lightfoot fan and vice versa. So good for him, good for them. I am at
number 39 when I write my master's thesis, John K. Sampson, my fantasy baseball partner, by the way.
Continental Breakfast, Courtney Barnett and Kurt Weill.
I know I mentioned Courtney earlier, and I was only going to do one selection per artist,
but this doesn't count because she's doing a duet with Kurt Weill,
and you're going to hear his name a little later as well on its own.
37 is Dancehall Dominé.
Tough to pick one new pornographer song, but that's it.
Hindsight by the Long Winters.
I don't know who knows about the Long Winters except me,
but when they were together, when they were a band in their so-called heyday,
they might have been my favorite band.
heyday they might have been my favorite band um fronted by a guy named john roderick who's uh brilliant and um perhaps a little tough to pin down sometimes but anyway i'm
not stopping there bad to the bone george thorgood and the delaware destroyers i've been
watching them for all these years two angels by jay hawks monster hospital one of the great rock
songs just pure rock songs by Metric.
Keep Your Hands to Yourself, Georgia Satellites.
That's there because I used to sing it in a bar in Edmonton
every night after the Oilers would beat somebody.
Danko Manual, Drive-By Truckers,
or if you prefer Jason Isbell.
And you mentioned them earlier,
and this would not be yours
or anybody's first Pearl Jam choice, I don't think, but Crazy Mary by Pearl Jam.
Honestly, it's my favorite Pearl Jam song.
And that's my second favorite band of all time.
Wow.
And that's my favorite Pearl Jam song.
And I know it's a cover from the Sweet Liberty Leaf.
What's her name again?
Victoria Williams.
Victoria Williams.
In fact, I can show you.
I have a tab here of my jams.
I believe you.
My 10 jams.
It's there.
I absolutely adore Crazy Mary.
Great.
Now number four with an opening line.
And I will say that there were a couple of versions of this that I could have picked.
The other one, not the original, might do more for me now than this, but I'm sticking to the rule.
And we're going to play the original because that's the one I picked.
And it starts by saying, let us be lovers.
We'll marry our fortunes together. Let us be lovers
We'll marry our fortunes together
I've got some real estate here in my bag
So we bought a pack of cigarettes
And this is when we're pies
And walked off to look for America For America Caffeine acid as we bought
In the Greyhound in Pittsburgh
Michigan seems like a dream to me now
It took me four days to hitchhike
from Saginaw
I've come to look for
America
Laughing
on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man
in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said be careful, his bow tie is really a camera
Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat
We smoked the last one an hour ago
So I looked at the scenery
She read her magazine and the moon rose over an open field.
Kathy, I'm lost, I said, though I knew she was sleeping.
I'm sleeping.
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why.
Counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike.
They've all come to look for America.
All come to look for America. Welcome to the fall of America Welcome to the fall of America America, Simon and Garfunkel.
The other version is by First Aid Kit from Sweden.
Find it if you like America by Simon and Garfunkel
and don't know America by First Aid Kit.
Do find it.
Or there's a video of their performance of America
on one of the last David Letterman shows,
the pre-Netflix David Letterman shows.
That is really remarkable.
I love the song.
I would only say that they've all come looking for America.
They may not like what they find these days,
but that's a little politics thrown into
otherwise a music discussion.
That's a great song.
And, you know, politics and music go well together
some of the best tunes are
political, zombie there
that zombie that we played off the top by Cranberries
there's a kind of a political
protest song if you will
okay I am
where did we
we ended up at something
I got excited about Crazy Mary
thank you for finding my place
so 29 then is Down With The Shine by Avett Brothers I got excited about Crazy Mary. Thank you for finding my place.
So 29 then is Down with the Shine by Avett Brothers.
That could have been almost anything that they do,
but that's what I picked.
Bridge to Nowhere, Sam Roberts Band.
Wine Lips, Lydia Loveless.
Heroes, David Bowie,
and a long list of contenders for that selection.
Tall, Tall Shadow by Basha Bulat.
She knows how much I like this song. That's another song that I got to get a hold of myself before that's played because that
means a lot to me. Without Again by Elliot Brood. Crescent City by Lucinda Williams.
No Hurry, Tara Lightfoot. God bless you. Your Little Hoodrot Friend by The Hold Steady. I got to move
that up the next time I do this. And Hero by Family of the Year, which was featured in a great movie
called Boyhood and has always meant a lot to me when I hear it one way or the other. Number three for an opening line. It goes as follows.
Jesus, don't cry.
You can rely on me, honey. Jesus don't cry
You can rely on me honey
You can combine anything you want
I'll be around You can combine anything you want.
I'll be around.
You write about the stars.
Each one is a setting sun.
Towel building shape. Voices escape
Singing sad sad songs
Tuned to chords
Strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies
Turning your orbit around
Don't cry
You can rely on me honey
You can come by anytime you want
I'll be around
You were right about the stars
Each one is a setting sun
Towel buildings shake
Voices escape
Singing sad, sad songs
Tuned to chords
Strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies turning your orbit around
Voices whine
Skyscrapers are scraping together your voice
You're smoking less cigarettes
All you can get
Turning your moving around
Our love
Our love
Our love
Is all we have
Our love is all we have.
Our love.
Our love is all of God's money.
Everyone is a burning sun.
Tall buildings shake. escape singing sad sad songs tuned to chords strung down your cheeks bitter melodies turning your orbit around Voices whine Skyscrapers are scraping together
Your voice is smoking
Glass cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around
Glass cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your hood around
Glass cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your hood around
Jesus, etc. Wilco.
How many other Wilco selections did you get?
Zero.
Uh-oh. Something wrong with that.
I'm with you.
But there was no other Simon & Garfunkel selection either,
which I find very surprising as well.
You're just going to have to keep doing this
until you get 200 people here.
That's the plan.
And cover more material.
But I'm sure you do find a lot of interesting trends
in what you're seeing from other people.
And I'll leave here by saying nothing surprised me more than
you picked the same Pearl Jam song that I picked.
Because I wouldn't have thought, A, a lot of people knew it,
and B, I wouldn't think a lot of people would pick it.
Sometimes those moments I love because it's funny.
My brother, his favorite band of all time is Pearl Jam.
And we talked recently about our favorite jam songs.
And I told him, it's still Crazy Mary,
but it's because I heard it waking up my first day of university.
It came on the radio when I was waking up.
And now it's just sort of haunted me.
It sort of struck a chord at the right time. And now it's just sort of haunted me. Like it was sort of,
it sort of struck a chord at the right time.
And so much of music is like when you heard it.
I love Crazy Mary.
Anyway, Wilco has long been described by me
as my favorite band.
I've probably seen them more than anybody else.
You know, I see people at Wilco shows
that I call friends because I see them at so many Wilco shows and vice versa.
And, you know, they come from Uncle Tupelo roots to the fork in the road that produced Wilco on one side and Sunvolt on the other.
And Jeff Tweedy by himself is a remarkable artist.
And I would be as interested in seeing Jeff by himself
as with the band.
So I'm a huge Wilco fan.
And now we get to...
Do you have any idea how many times you've seen Wilco?
Like if you had to guess?
No, I mean, it's not a number that would knock you out,
but because I see so many people, I don't have a large number for them,
if in fact I've seen them more than anybody else.
But I go back, as I say, a long way with Wilco
and would try hard to see them whenever I can.
So these are the ones that are knocking on the door of the top 10,
and I wish most of them could have been there.
And I'll apologize to a few of these artists that aren't in the top 10.
But number 19 is Kathy by Skinny Lister, and you won't know that probably,
but if you like the Frank Turner song, find Skinny Lister and listen to Kathy,
which is the song that I sing in
the shower more than any other. Do you want to just do five now? List five now, because then we'll play
your second jam, and then you can do the final five before we play your top jam. Does that sound
cool? Okay. Yeah, that's, oh yeah. Yeah, we're running out of space here. Okay, so 19 is Kathy by Skinny Lister.
Trust me, especially if you like Frank Turner,
who introduced me to Skinny Lister.
18 is Pretty Pimpin' by Kurt Weill.
17, Red Eyes, War on Drugs.
16, Try, Blue Rodeo.
15, Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen.
Okay, and then save the 14 to 11 after this, Jay.
I gotcha, and I'll give you the first line of a song
that I told this performer when it was a new song
and I was hearing it for the first time
and he was playing it for one of the first few times,
that it would wind up being his most requested song.
And I don't think it has quite risen to that,
but it would certainly be very close to the top, and it begins with the words,
I'm the Berlin Wall, I'm a communist, you're a wrecking ball in a summer dress. Thank you. I got a purple heart from a bloody war. Can't take it anymore.
They say the good things come to those who wait.
If you snooze and you lose.
So don't hesitate.
Out of sight, out of mind, out of luck, out of wine.
Don't you say that I'm out of my mind.
I've been talking trash, but it ain't my fault
Every time I move, somebody's in my spot
They say that good things come to those who wait
If you snooze and you lose, so don't hesitate
You've got nowhere to go
I know, I know, I know
It's only you and me
All the good things coming
Free
You'll be April Stevens I'll be April Stevens
I'll be April Wine
You'll be Israel
I will be Palestine
Come on, teach me, tiger
Come on, show me tricks
Let me take my time
And take a couple lazy licks Lazy Licks
Oh, you're feeling blue Through and through and through Where do we find you now? Thank you. We'll see you next time. Good things come if you take the bait.
At a rummage sale, at the Sally Inn, everything is cheap.
Love should last a life, or at least a year, but it lasts a week.
But it lasts a week I'm the Berlin Wall
And that ain't all
I'm a total mess
You're a wrecking ball
I'm a wrecking ball
In a summer dress
Oh, you feel me
So I feel it See you next week. On the radio I can't take it anymore
More
More
Through and through and through, Joel Plaskett.
With a mention to the female voices, Anna Eggie and Rose Cousins,
who added a lot to that performance, as I saw it at Massey Hall,
and to the recording on the album Three by the great Joel Plaskett.
Yes, I pride myself on hearing a song once and
knowing immediately whether it goes anywhere or it doesn't, and I'm not always right, but
I'm really happy when I am right. And I just, I saw all sorts of potential in that song
and any Joel Plaskett audience always wants to hear it and probably reacts
I think as much or
more to that than any other.
We had
Joel Plaskett kicked out.
Siobhan Morris chose
Work Out Fine.
That's one of her jams.
All right, we're at 14
now is where you stopped me, right?
Yes. Guitar Town, Steve Earle.
13 is Come Summertime by Justin Rutledge,
who sang this at my daughter's wedding.
And so I'm sorry, Justin, it didn't make the top 10.
I have no idea why.
First of all, that's amazing, Justin Rutledge.
And I have to say he's a good friend of my brother, Steve.
They went to high school together at Bishop Allen Academy.
Yeah, I'll have to apologize to my daughter too.
But 13, lucky 13, Justin.
And 12 is one guitar by Willie Nile,
who is among those silly enough to invite me on stage to sing with him.
And this is the song that I do.
And so why the hell isn't it in the top 10 as well?
And this is just crazy that my top 10 doesn't include a Neil Young song.
But it doesn't.
Number 11 is Powderfinger.
And that takes us to number one, which requires an explanation that we'll have at the end.
Among the reasons that I picked this is that my love of first lines knows no greater love than this,
the first line of this song being, and I probably sing or say this every day of my life, at some point this
will come out of my mouth, sit by my side, come as close as the air. Thank you. Sit by my side
Come as close as the air
And share in a memory of grace
And wander in my world
Dream about the pictures that i play
of changes
green leaves of summer turn red in the fall
To brown and to yellow they fade And then they have to die
Trapped within the circle time parade
Of changes
Scenes of my young years
Were worn in my mind
Visions of shadows that shined
Till one day I returned
And found they were the victims of the vines of changes the world spinning madly
it drifts in the dark
swings through a hollow of hay
a race around the stars
journey through the universe ablaze with changes.
Moments of magic will glow in the night All fears of the forest are gone
But when the morning breaks
They're swept away by golden drops of dawn of changes.
Passions will part to a strange melody,
As fires will sometimes burn cold like petals in the wind
we're puppets
to the silver strings
of souls
of changes
your tears
will be trembling
now we're
somewhere else
one last cup of wine
We will pour
And I'll kiss you one more time
And leave you on the rolling river shore
Of changes of changes So sit by my side
Come as close as the air
And share in a memory of gray
And wander in my world
Dream about the pictures that I play
Of changes Changes by Phil Oakes.
Yep.
As excited as I was as a teenager to see Bob Dylan in New York, I was actually more excited as a teenager to see Phil Oakes in Toronto.
And for those who don't know Phil Oakes, he was a protest singer, perhaps even more, even better described that way than Dylan was. Maybe that's a dead heat.
But he wrote songs like I Ain't Marching Anymore and all sorts of things like that.
This wasn't one of those songs. But he was, let's call him a tortured soul,
eaten up by booze and drugs and all sorts of psychological problems.
He committed suicide far too young. But at his peak in the mid-60s, Phil Oakes was
among my folk heroes. And to see him in Toronto, then to talk to Gordon Lightfoot about his version of Changes,
which is more polished than what we just heard live by Phil Oakes.
And we could have played Gordon's version as well, but I asked him how he came to record Changes,
and he told me that Phil Oakes actually wrote the song in Toronto,
and on the steps of the riverboat shared it with Gordon Lightfoot and
either encouraged him to to record it himself or or not but Gordon did and sitting from here
to you at a small club in Toronto called the Purple Onion
and seeing Phil Oakes there at the time was a thrill for me
and this song was going in my favourite song
and coming out my favourite,
it was my favourite Phil Oakes song
and coming out it was my favourite song, period.
And it has remained that throughout.
I guess you've got to like 60s folk music,
but I hope everybody took the time to listen
to what that song said and the way it was delivered,
and I'll sing it on the way home.
You're in good company here,
because one of my favorite bands is Lowest of the Low,
and Ron Hawkins, he kicked out a Phil Oakes song.
He went with Love Me, I'm a Liberal.
There you go.
That's as protest as protest songs get.
And, well, isn't that something?
That is, yeah, maybe I shouldn't have to explain this stuff,
but, you know, the younger listeners are going to say Phil who,
and in other cases they might not quite know, uh,
who they're listening to or why I'm picking it, but that, uh, that was,
that was great. That was, you know,
the best part of this was hearing 10 of my favorite songs and being with you.
I can't tell you what a thrill that was for me. By the way, Ron Hawkins always,
uh, I,
it's a great segue because we close every episode
with Lois to the Lois, Rosie and Gray.
But Dave, I want to thank you so much
that you gave us a hundred,
we got a hundred jams
and I think a lot of people are going to be
searching for a lot of this stuff to hear more.
And thank you very much for sharing that.
This is a true pleasure and a personal highlight. So thank you very much for sharing that. This is a true pleasure and a personal highlight
so thank you very much. I'll go home and do 100 to 200
and come back and give you another different 100 songs because it's
not that hard as I say. It's hard to put them into what might be the
proper order and this wasn't the proper order but I got there
from 1 to 100.
I would love it.
And that brings us to the end of our 302nd show.
You can follow me on Twitter.
I'm at TorontoMike.
Dave is at DaveHodge20.
Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer.
Propertyinthe6.com is at Brian Gerstein. And Paytm is at Paytm Canada. See you all next week. And your smile is fine and it's just like mine And it won't go away
Cause everything is rosy and green
Well you've been under my skin for more than eight years
It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears
And I don't know what the future can hold or do It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears.
And I don't know what the future can hold or do for me and you.
But I'm a much better man for having known you.