Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Dave Hodge's 100 Songs of 2023: Toronto Mike'd #1377

Episode Date: November 30, 2023

In this 1377th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike catches up with Dave Hodge before Dave unveils his 100 favourite songs of 2023. Learn more at hodge100.com. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Electronic Products Recycling Association, Raymond James Canada and Moneris. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

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An award-winning podcast from Moneris, hosted by FOTML Grego. And Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. Today, making his return to Toronto, Mike, to unveil his 100 songs of 2023 is Dave Hodge. Welcome back, Dave Hodge. Well, welcome back for how many times now? Welcome back, Dave Hodge. Well, welcome back for how many times now?

This is our sixth year in a row in which you've unveiled your 100 songs of the year on Toronto Mic. Let me tell you again what an honour it is to host this. I love our annual tradition. Well, I do too. And your listeners and viewers should know that. I'm guessing they wonder why I do it. You've got so many more regular listeners now with each passing year, so maybe I should restate my favorite 100 recordings

of the past year by 100 different artists, mind you. One through 10 are ranked accordingly. 90 others are listed alphabetically. Here we mention all of them. We discuss some of them. We play a few of them in their entirety. And the original idea is to introduce music lovers to singers and bands they might not know

and just might like. And as I say, it's fun for me. The top 100 happen to have been selected from the list four times longer. So you don't have to enjoy my musical tastes to find something here because my musical tastes are so varied. It'd be something for everybody, I hope. And if you're a regular listener, then you know that my home base is sort of Americana,

extended to rock, punk, folk, country, ballads, soul, blues. And this year, a first, I think, jazz with more to say, more to hear about that later on. So if we needed an intro, that's it. I'm guessing you got a lot of other questions before we start the process of listing song by song. Well, right off the top, I'll let listeners know that the full list will also be available on hodge100.com. So hodge and then the numeric 100.com. And I have a letter from Tyler Campbell, who helps maintain hodge100.com for us. And I will share that with you shortly before we get to the hundred. But since we last

spoke, which was the day we learned Gordon Lightfoot had passed away, and on a side note, if anyone listening hasn't heard my chat with Dave Hodge about Dave's friend Gordon, I urge you to pause this and go listen to that heartfelt tribute to one of Canada's all-time great musicians. But since then, Dave, you've suffered a personal loss, and I just want to offer my sincere condolences on the passing of your sister, Judy Hodgkinson. I'm so sorry for your loss. Well, I thank you for that. And I just spoke via Zoom because of COVID at a celebration of life for Ron Harrison, who was my Hockey Night in Canada director for basically all of my 16 years there.

So, yeah, we're living in a time, or I am anyway, where a lot of my contemporaries near my age or above it are starting to leave this earth. And I've received two emails from my friend Paul Henderson of International Olympic Committee fame, who has lost two friends, George Kohan, founder of McDonald's Canada, and now Henry Kissinger, who died at the age of 100. So unfortunately, we have to get used to this sort of thing. But I thank you for that mention of my sister, whose life we celebrated this past June.

And while we're talking about loss here, before we get to some sports talk and some music talk, of course, but we learned this morning, this very morning that we're recording, that Shane McGowan from the Pogues has passed away. Yes, and I will have more to say. We will have more to hear about Shane McGowan and the Pogues I'll just leave it there for now because I think it is bitterly

ironic that we have this news to attach to something later when we get close to the top of my music list so yes Shane McGowan passed away at the age of 65

and if anybody knows anything about the Pogues, they know about a song that we, well, I won't give it away. We might play it. But yes, that's every day now you wake up and you read that the world has lost somebody that you know or know of. And it's not a good way to start the day. No. Now, we will be getting to the music, but I have questions that come flooding in when I let people know Dave Hodge is coming on. I will close the questions

with a really interesting email from Tyler Campbell, which I've already teased, but I'll do it again. The other day, Dave, I posted about the anniversary of the live reporters reunion at Paradise Theatre, which was a great day with Brendan Shanahan, and it got me wondering

if there's any chance we'll see another live reporters reunion. I keep thinking it's a good idea. Others suggest we should do it again, but it was a large undertaking. The theater, actually, that was the first ever event held at the Paradise Theater. And it's a little harder to find a night. It's harder to plan everything. Unfortunately, my answer is probably not.

A better idea would be to launch a reporter show every Sunday morning somewhere. it would be to launch a reporter show every Sunday morning somewhere. But these days, sports television is reducing and not adding, and I don't think I'm in a position to fight that trend. Craig M. writes in, I'd like to know if Dave considers himself more of a baseball fan today than a hockey fan and how that came about. Also, his great love of music and year-long lists. How did that come about and how much of his time does that occupy?

Craig M. Yes, second part first. It occupies a lot of my time. I'm on websites. a lot of my time. I'm on websites. I think I count 25 websites that I probably check every day just to basically see what's new. I want to be ahead of the curve. I'm almost 79 years old. I don't mind admitting. And if I can find a band of 21-year-olds that is going to be huge when they hit the age of 31, that's what I want to be doing. So there'll be some of that in the list. So, yes, very much a fan and quite happy to try to be as informed as I can be

and as now people expect me to be. As for baseball versus hockey, I worked around the game of hockey for so long that I needed something to occupy my time and my love of sports when I wasn't at work, per se. Not that I didn't love my work, but I believe that work and play or work and time away from work must be separate. work must be separate. And so when I was working at hockey, I was less a fan of the game than I was of my work. And when I wasn't consumed with hockey, I allowed myself to be a baseball fan and admit that, yes, I was more a baseball fan than a hockey fan, if that explanation makes any sense.

And now more of my time is spent watching and talking about and learning about what's going on in baseball than in hockey, which isn't to say that I'm not watching hockey every night these days when there's no baseball. But during the world series shall we say um i was watching baseball and nothing else and maybe this is a good time to shout out a listener named steve cole who has a twitter account expos in the wild and he's always tickled pink when you uh don your montreal expos cap and I'm just going to let Steve know our photo that will accompany this episode

will indeed have Dave Hodge in an Expos hat. Yes, that's part of the tradition perhaps because I've heard from other people who say hooray that I'm wearing it. I actually wear it to every Blue Jays game that I go to, and I'm not the only one in the stands with an Expos hat. I have another hat I'm going to wear later too

to tie into our music discussion. I won't give that away yet. Feel free to show me in a hat. Any and all times if you wish. Recently, the San Antonio Spurs fans were showering Kawhi Leonard with booze. And then Greg Popovich literally got on the microphone, the public address announcement mic there for in-house, and asked them to stop.

I'm just curious, Dave, what are your thoughts on that? This is fans who paid the ticket to be there who were booing Kawhi. What do you think of Greg's request there? I think he's free to make it, as free as the fans are to boo. And then how they react to Greg Popovich's request is again up to them. I'm guessing there are fewer boos after he speaks than there were before. But I have this expression that one of the worst wastes of time is to boo the art of booing. One of the worst wastes of time is to boo the art of booing. Like just let it happen and try to ignore it and attach little or no meaning to it. It's just one of those things that,

it's not quite like the wave at a game, but, you know, nevermind. What are your thoughts on the wave? I'm curious. It's a very polarizing event that happens at the Dome. Yeah, usually in the seventh or eighth innings, which tells me that the fans are bored. If they love the wave that much,

they ought to do it right after the national anthem. But they love the wave that much, they ought to do it, you know, right after the national anthem. But I hate the wave. That's a quick, quick answer. And I'm never out of my seat. Love it. Okay. Toronto Boris writes in, if I'm not mistaken, Dave Hodge started working life in southwestern Ontario. How is the sport scene there back then?

And does he keep up with it now? A very interesting question, timely, in fact. I started in Chatham, Ontario, home of Fergie Jenkins and the Chatham Maroons in 1965, and was recently back there for a sort of an unofficial reunion with some of the junior hockey players who were there during my time. And my time, a lot of my time was spent with the team, shall we say, helping to manage it. So these players were, you know, not much younger than I was, or I wasn't much older than they were. And there are a few of them that are still around in Chatham. And I walked

into the room and I recognized every one of them. After all these years, I left Chatham in 1968. And I also made the trip for another reason, a more important reason, really, to see the widow of the coach of the Chatham Maroons during my time there. He was George Aiken, and she, at the age of 89, is Doreen Aiken. They were my surrogate parents, really, away from home. I was for the first time. And I used to spend a lot of time with the Akens, lots of time at dinner. The joke was I said, yes, I'll come for dinner, but I'll bring the dinner. And then the further joke was I always brought Kentucky Fried Chicken.

So I didn't go really out of my way other than one quick stop along the way. But we ate it and nobody had to cook it. Anyway, Doreen and I speak about George, about our time there. And we hadn't seen each other since his funeral. So I made two trips, in fact, to Chatham. And to answer the question about the sports scene, by the time I was in Chatham, I was in Detroit an awful lot to see the Tigers, to see the Red Wings, occasionally to see the Lions.

When I left in 1968, the last thing I said on the radio in Chatham was, I'm really happy to be going to a terrific job opportunity in Toronto, CFRB, then the largest radio station in the country. But I said, I'm a little sad that I'll miss the Detroit Tigers World Series victory. And I said that in the middle of the summer as I left. And sure enough, in 1968, the Detroit Tigers, Mickey Lulich, Denny McClain, et cetera, won the World Series. Not many of my predictions are that accurate, but I did watch that World Series saying to myself,

were I still in Chatham, I'd have been in Detroit for the games played between the Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. And yes, the Detroit Olympia, I was at that I wasn't before, but made me a huge fan of the Motown sound. And I'll never forget the night I saw The Temptations live at a club called The 20 Grand. Then I think The Temptations were the band that I would have wanted to see the most in the entire world. And I had a chance to do that once. All the original members. It was fantastic. So, yeah, thanks for leading me to a Chatham discussion.

Love it. Now, Monty F has a question which tells me, Monty F has not heard the micumentary on the pen flip. So, Monty, go listen to the micumentary on the pen flip. But his quick question is, Dave, where is that famous pen that you flipped on the air on Hockey Night in Canada, your last appearance? Well, you had a comeback recently, but your last appearance as a regular.

Everybody, uh, everybody asked that, uh, the pen was, uh, um, auctioned for charity and,

um, um, got a fair chunk of, uh, of money from the winner and sat or hung, uh, in the, in the lobby of in the lobby of a hotel in Vancouver for a number of years. Where it went after that, I don't know, but once it left my hands for a nice charitable donation, I had no more control over my pen. So it served uh it served that purpose and uh i guess it

served the purpose of sending me off in a different direction in my life so um and it was a pen not a pencil that's another debate that goes on forever andrew ward uh this is going to bring you back to the uh the the awful end of the 2023 Toronto Blue Jays season, but he says, Ross Atkins says the strategy to pull Berrios was unique and was effective because we only allowed two runs.

Andrew says, nonsense. The strategy to pull him was ridiculous and was disastrous because it led immediately to those two runs. What does Dave Hodge think about that decision? He was cooking there. I list it as one of the dumbest baseball decisions ever made. The decision to remove Blake Snell from a World Series game

in somewhat similar fashion, though later than the fourth inning, would probably still rank ahead of it because he was in the World Series. But this made no sense on any level. And yes, it led directly to two runs, only two runs. Well, they were the only two runs scored in the game. Right. Those two runs could have been 10, what does it matter how many there were because the Jays didn't score

but no the idea was to get the Twins to take left handed batters out of their lineup and that happened but they were left handed batters that the Jays should have wanted to stay in the Twins lineup

because they hadn't done anything in the first game. They hadn't done anything in their first at-bats in the second game. And in fact, in the next series the Twins played, they didn't have a hit either one of them. So the strategy worked because it made Rocco baldelli uh do things that he wouldn't otherwise have done it didn't work any other way and it backfired in every way on the jays and it made everybody from ross atkins to john schneider to mark shapiro uh look uh like they were trying to reinvent the game of baseball management. And I don't think there was a player in the dugout

that didn't leave cursing under or over his breath and might still be. So, yeah, they are under great pressure, I think, because of that and because of the way they exited the year before to make a big splash of some sort in the offseason and to make sure that next season starts positively because everybody's going to be paying more for their tickets. They're going to want to see more on the field.

I don't think there's been more pressure on a Blue Jays executive or team than there will be entering the 2024 season. This is a question for me, Dave. Any chance in your mind that Otani could become a Blue Jay? any chance in your mind that Otani could become a Blue Jay? You know, there are surprises in free agency all the time. I have said I think it's too easy just to say he's going to be a Dodger and leave it at that. Yes, I think there could be a sleeper team, if you will.

Well, it's going to be Dodgers versus Giants, for starters. And then if you want to add a sleeper team or teams, yes, that's possible. I think it's probably could be damaging if there's too much talk about the Jays signing them and they don't, then there's one more reason for the Jays fans to be disappointed or to wonder why it couldn't happen,

because apparently you say Kikuchi is doing everything he can behind the scenes to bring Otani to Toronto. But I think it's unlikely, but I'm not in a position to say it couldn't happen. It's unlikely, but I'm not in a position to say it couldn't happen. This guy's going to get $500 million or more from somewhere, and if he wants the most money he can get, and it happens to come from Rogers, maybe he comes here, but he first of all chose Southern California, and I don't think he's staying with the Angels,

but he's got another choice in Southern California too, really, if you want to put San Diego there, and Northern California, San Francisco. So I'm guessing he stays on the West Coast. You've seen a lot of baseball in your day, Dave, going back decades. Did you ever think we'd see a player like this, like somebody who could be this effective as a pitcher and an offensive threat? Well, nobody saw it.

And even when the DH came in, I don't think anybody ever expected there would be a rule change to allow a pitcher to be a DH pitch and hit in the same game, the Otani rule, as it were. Now I'm waiting for the next two-way player, and I think there will be one. Why wouldn't somebody try to be the next Shohei Otani? Not that it's easy to do, but, you know, there are baseball players all over the place in high school and college

who can pitch and hit. And traditionally, you pick one or the other, whatever you do best. But there will be players. There's a guy in the San Francisco system named Bryce Eldridge who vows to be the next Shohei Otani. Nobody thinks he's nearly good enough, but he's out there trying, and his name is one on a list of others that I think will join.

Maybe Dave Steeb could have been that guy. You know, we've seen pitchers who can hit. And, you know, Don Drysdale comes to mind going way back. But the opportunity was never provided. And it took Otani to, you know, to open everybody's eyes to the possibility and then watch, look what he could do. Why wouldn't you let him do both?

And no team, other than next year when he's not going to be able to pitch, but no team is going to say, we'd like to give you $500 million, but we'd like you to stop hitting and just be a pitcher. $500 million, but we'd like you to stop hitting and just be a pitcher. He is going to say no. He will want and demand and will need to do both eventually, starting in 2025, assuming his Tommy John surgery is successful and allows that. But I've seen him live a few times,

and just watching him in the on-deck circle is enough to, you know, and the pictures that are snapped people close to him when he's waiting to bat everybody needs an Otani picture and he's a specimen to watch standing and doing nothing or doing all he does on the field. Diamond Dog, once he chimes in, he says, where does Dave see Don Mattingly's role with the Blue Jays

after the DeMarlo Hale hire? Is he now the next one waiting in the wings? Well, I think you could have speculated that when he first came, but not to pile on the Blue Jays, but they have a manager, John Schneider. They have a bench coach, Don Mattingly, who is now also assuming the title of offensive coordinator. I think he beat out Ken Dorsey from the Buffalo Bills for that.

And DeMarlo Hale, who is known as the associate manager. It only leads me to ask the question, how would you feel if you're John Schneider? Like, what is there left for him to do after all these other people have whatever duties they have? I have said said maybe he brings in tim mazer to face a lefty and otherwise sits and and watches and if you're not a john snyder fan maybe that's all you want him to do i i think it's uh i think it's ludicrous that

all these titles and all these um additional uh coaches are added to added to a dugout that everybody's got a manager and a bench coach, but nobody else has got an offensive coordinator or an associate manager or both. So I don't know what they're thinking or what they're doing other than letting John Schneider know that he needs help. Wow. Okay. And you just said not to pile on the Blue Jays, but here's one last Blue Jays question, but it actually has nothing to do with what's happening on the field. I'm curious about your thoughts. Ben Wagner's contract was not renewed.

We learned this yesterday. He's called his last Blue Jays game on the radio. What do you think of the way Ben Wagner was treated by this organization during the last few years? Well, it wasn't easy to broadcast some of the games. He made it sound easy. He was easy to listen to no matter what. He was smooth. He was informed. I do not know Ben, but everybody who does says he's a terrific person and was great to work with.

I know a little something about what's happening next. I think his successor will be a young man named Ben Shulman. You may have heard that rumor. Oh, yeah, that was my first thought, actually. Yeah. That would be Dan's son.

So Dan on TV, Ben on radio. And I'll just, this is a rumor in this week of rumors that shouldn't be spread, a la Corey Perry, I heard a rumor, it was a couple months old, that linked Ben Wagner's future with the Buffalo Bills. And it's kind of a delicate subject because the regular longtime play-by-play announcer for the Bills, John Murphy, suffered a stroke. There is now

an interim play-by-play announcer named Chris Brown, who I think does a good job. I'm not telling you that I think Ben Wagner will be the next play-by-play voice of the Bills, but I know there was a meeting between the team and Ben I know there was a meeting between the team and Ben while Ben was in the employment of, of Rogers, but while Ben realized that that wasn't going to last beyond the season.

So whatever that's worth, Ben Wagner and the Buffalo bills, I'm calling it a rumor that came to me and has stuck with me. All right, look at this. Okay, last sports question, and then it's music, and then we get your 100 songs, which I know people are very eager to hear. Don wrote in and wanted to know,

what do you think, Dave Hodge, was the best NHL team of the 1970s that did not win a Stanley Cup? Oh, boy. First, I have to think of who did. Is this leading in any way to a Leafs answer? Maybe that's what he's calling for. I know that a good chunk of those 70s years were won by the Montreal

Canadians, and I know that Philadelphia got in there those 70s years were won by the Montreal Canadiens, and I know that Philadelphia got in there and Boston got in there. Yeah, I honestly don't have a recollection of a team that should have won, but it didn't. There ought to be one question I can't answer here i think don's hoping it's the maple leafs that's my guess he's hoping that wouldn't be my guess and i'm i'm afraid i can't you know i can't right simply to accommodate him give him uh uh give him uh that answer all right let's segue here to music for the rest of the show. One bald guy, great handle on

Twitter, says, ask him what he thinks about Lucinda Williams' stroke recovery. She sounds awesome and even plucking her guitar a bit now. Well, we're, you know, ask a bunch of questions like this and I'm going to have to tell you that somebody

like Lucinda Williams appears on this list. We'll get to her alphabetically when we get to the Ws. I think the record is amazing that she has made, and I think the recovery is even more amazing. She's always been one of my favorites on any list we have here. She's been on it. I met her once.

I was hosting a festival in Toronto, and it poured rain for about two hours and delayed her performance. And I asked if she had already said that she didn't want to be intro'd. She just wanted to appear on stage. I guess didn't know me or what I might say or how many mistakes I might make in introducing her. The answer would have been none. But because of the wait and because of the people who had spent all this time in the rain waiting for Lucinda, I asked her manager if I could speak with her. And I said, I think I need to thank these people for their patience and congratulate them for being such big Lucinda Williams fans.

Would you mind if I did that and then brought you on? And she said, no, I wouldn't mind. That was my discussion with Lucinda Williams. And that was good enough. I'm happy to say I had a brief discussion with one of my musical heroes. So good that she's back. And the album that she gave us gave me a tough time picking

one song, but I did and you'll find out which one later. Okay, we're closing two more. By the way, I realize I need to get Dave Hodge on Toronto Mike more often because once I find out we're here to kick out the songs from 2023, I realize, oh my goodness, I need an hour with you before we get there. Okay, so we're going to close with Tyler Campbell,

but this is a note that came in from Jim Romanco. So bear with me. It's a little long, but it's very good. Dave, I'm looking forward to your list of favorite songs of 2023. It's great to see that someone who's almost 79 years young is still willing to be open-minded

about the fantastic new music that's being made today. I know many 40, 50, or 60-somethings that believe music stopped being great in the 1990s or 80s or 70s. It's amazing to see that you're still young at heart for new music. My favorite three songs of 2023 are Honey by Samia, Raw Naked Monday by Art Bergman, and So Far by the Prince Brothers. The latter one is a shout out to a Toronto indie band. If these three songs are not on your list, maybe you can add them as 101, 102, and 103. Just kidding. 101, 102, and 103.

Just kidding. It seems audio streaming services are a very controversial subject and many musical artists are receiving very low royalty percentages. I'm wondering how easy have these types of services made it for you, Dave, to discover new music? Have you gone to shows or purchased items from an artist only after discovering their music on a streaming service? How detailed or expansive do you think your list would have been in 1993 without these services compared to 2023? Dave.

There's a lot there. I know what's there on the streaming services before I go there. So just the other day, everybody who's on Spotify knows what Spotify wrapped means. You get a full accounting of all of your listening on Spotify at the end of the year. And I don't need it to tell me what I listen to. Right. And I don't need to go there to find new stuff. Now, my kids, kids, I say kids, they're both in their mid-40s.

They like the idea of discovering music via Spotify. But I've been finding it my own way for long enough that that's almost too easy. That takes some of the fun out of it. If I sit there and just listen to new stuff, I want to find it first and then go and listen to it myself. Those three, no, I don't know, but I will know. I've jotted them down and good for you for finding, especially indie stuff and local stuff. Absolutely.

And again, a reminder to everybody, we're about to get to the Hodge 100 for 2023. If you go to the website, hodge100.com, it's being updated. Literally, it'll be updated so that it's got the 2023 list as soon as we drop this episode, which will be in literally in mere minutes. Shout out to Tyler Campbell.

He sent in this note, Dave. I thought you might want to list some fun facts about Dave and his lists, at least the six years that he did this on toronto mic of the 100 artists 44 this is this year's list so a little like teaser for what's about to come of these 100 artists we're about to kick out 44 are appearing for the first time and i don't even want to spoil it but there there's a few very big, big acts that are actually making their Hodge 100 debut here today. The artist that has appeared the most is Skinny Lister, who has appeared eight times.

Dave changed the rules in 2021 and had repeat songs from a few artists. That's how you got more plays than you actually have years. Now you do one song per artist, obviously. Quick facts here. So Skinny Lister has been you do one song per artist, obviously. Quick facts here. So Skinny Lister's been kicked out eight times by you, Dave. Then it's Brandi Carlile, seven. The Hold Steady, five. Willie Nile, Rustin Kelly, Fruitbats, Frank Turner, and the Arkells. Those are your most popular bands for this. And one last fun fact from Tyler. The most top 10 appearances. Top 10.

Skinny Lister's been on your top 10 four times in the past six years. Frank Turner's been on your top 10 four times. And Brandy Carlisle has been on three times. But wink, wink, that might be four in a few minutes here. Tyler says, looking forward to hearing number six with Dave Hodge. The floor is yours, Dave. That's my Tyler Campbell-wrapped report.

There's somebody who's done more research than I have, but fully, fully accurate. I can't, I can't, I can't differ with any of that. So here we go. And again, I will list 10 from the alphabetical group, starting at A, and then we'll reveal the first of the top 10, starting with number 10, if you get the idea of moving through the list that way. We'll have a few start-to-finish listens until we get to some of my favorite songs of the year, including number one, Naturally. So here are the first 10, starting at A.

naturally. So here are the first 10 starting at A. Interestingly, with a very young band called RC Drive from Northport, New York. I had to look it up. It's a Long Island village. Listen to these guys. It's good. The song is Time Shrinks. Arkells, they're here every year, I think. Skin is the song Mile Marker 29 is by the Bad Ends who were high on last year's list

Bahamas, I'm Still Rachel Bayman, Some Strange Notion she is from Nashville and that's not the only time I'll say that Heartless Year by Band of Heathens from Austin, Texas and that's not the only time I'll say that. Heartless Year by Band of Heathens from Austin, Texas, and that's not the last time I'll say that. The Baseball Project featuring members of Dream Syndicate and REM, among other bands. Nothing but baseball songs from these people

who I spent one great day and night with years ago. This song from the Baseball Project is called Journeyman, celebrates the players who move around and wear a bunch of different uniforms. Now we've come to a band called The Beatles, a new, old, unearthed gem, presumably the last Beatles song we'll ever know. And it belongs to the year 2023. Fittingly, it is called Now and Then.

Dave, I have grown to quite enjoy this song, but it's a little controversial. There's some pundits out there who feel this is an abomination because it's uh ai improved vocals from the 1970s it's a guitar part from the 90s and then of course there's you got ringo and you got uh paul mccartney in this day and age adding to it i'm curious what you think of songs that are assembled from multiple decades like this and using ai to clean up vocals. What are your thoughts on that? It's on my list, which should be the only answer you need. You dig it.

If somebody's going to release a Beatles song and I listen to it and I like it, and I do, and what better title than now and then? So I'm not going to quibble. If it's not as authentic as it should be, it's the Beatles, and I don't have any problem with anything associated with the Beatles. I agree 100%. Good. Okay, on we go then. We'll still be to Dwayne Betts, the son of

Allman Brothers founding member Dickie Betts. Dwayne Betts with Saints to Sinners and Black Pumas from Austin. A funky song with two titles, Ice Cream and in brackets, Payphone, whatever. You just have to listen to understand or not. Now to number 10 on the ranked list, Justin Rutledge is one of my very best friends who writes, plays, and sings songs. He had the number one song on this list in 2019.

Better Man is my favorite Justin Rutledge song ever, and this year I am fond of a tune called Head for the Hills. Now back to the alphabet and back to Austin, Texas. Briscoe is the group. The Well is the song. Zach Bryan, need I say more about one of the hottest country acts of these days. Hay Driver

with help from the voices of The War and Treaty. Eva Cassidy, the late Eva Cassidy, died far too young, was virtually unknown except for all the music she left behind. I believe one of the greatest female voices ever.

And this is, was her version. I don't know if anybody's done anything to it, but it's her version of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time with the London Symphony Orchestra, perhaps added later. I don't know, but released this year. The Eva Cassidy story, if you don't know it, is heartbreaking, but the music is heartwarming. Grian Chattin is the lead singer of the Irish band Fontaine's D.C.

His solo record is great. The song is Fairleys. Margot Silker, Keep It On A Burner. Sled Cleaves, Austin again, song title is Second Hand, Bruce Coburn, No Intro Necessary, When You Arrive, Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast, she is solo here with Natural Disaster, The Cowboy Junkies, if they make a record, it makes this list, Mike, automatic, hard to build, easy to break is the song.

I love me some Cowboy Junkies. And I'd like to just chime in and say Michael Timmons from the Cowboy Junkies has been doing production work lately with a singer songwriter named Jerry Legere. And Jerry was here a couple of weeks ago, played live. I think he's fantastic. His new album literally comes out this week. It's called The Dawnlands, and it's, again, produced by Michael Timmons. And we had a conversation during his visit where I said, we got to get Dave Hodge to hear this album.

It could appear on the 2024 list. So I'm just putting on your radar, Jerry Legere, great singer-songwriter from these parts. So my Cowboy Junkie story will will be i'll try to make it short but uh i was invited to uh to a show and said could i meet margo uh timmons and i was told that the best way to meet her was to uh bring her fresh pineapple uh prior to the show which uh helped her voice along with a hot cup of tea I was seated in the front row the Cowboy Junkies came out and Margot looked down and said thanks for the pineapple and the show ended and 50 people came to me and said, what in the world was the pineapple mention all about?

And I said, it's too long a story to tell. But at the very same time, Margo was leaving the theater. And in her possession, among other things, was the remaining chunks of pineapple that I had delivered. And I did another show with her years after that, and pineapple was delivered to her dressing room. So a great story, including Michael, and I will always be a fan of the band and especially the voice of Margot Timmons.

One more on our second list of 10 is by Rodney Crowell with the help of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Everything at Once. Back now to the top 10 for number nine, and this takes me straight to my first love, which is anything and everything related in any way to Bob Dylan. The real thing is always preferred, of course,

but this comes close. A wonderful reenactment of Dylan's 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert by the artist known as Cat Power. Any rendition from this album would qualify. I chose Ballad of a Thin Man. I love hearing Cat Power, Dave, because when I married my wife, Monica, 10 years ago, in June 2013,

we got married at the distillery district, and one of our songs in the wedding ceremony was Cat Power's cover of Sea of Love, and it's a beautiful cover of a beautiful song. So when I hear Cat Power, I think of that wonderful day. And her cover songs really kind of explain her success. But this is remarkable for any fan of Bob Dylan. Do not miss her version of the 1966 Royal Albert Hall

concert. Okay, ten more and then we get to hear something special, I think, at number eight. But before that, the artist named Max Clark uses the stage name Cut Worms. The song is Ballad of the Texas King. Thank goodness for more Gord Downey. He shared billing with Bob Rock and this song is The Moment is a Wild Place. Elliot Brood appearing at the Horseshoe Tavern. Plug, plug. February 15th singing about their Windsor roots. Rose City.

Foo Fighters. All Time Greats of the Rock World. Rescued. Free Range is interesting firefighters, all-time greats of the rock world, rescued. Free Range is interesting, folky stuff. The stage name of Sophia Jensen. And the song is called Want to Know. Fust rhymes with rust or must, spelled the same way. And it's country folk too, called Genevieve. That's the song.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds with Open the Door, See What You Find. Gaslight Anthem with help from Bruce Springsteen. History Books. Dylan Gossett, young singer-songwriter, again from Austin, To Be Free. And another Texan, Jamie Harris. She is singing about Boomerang Town. Okay, number eight. Whenever I have been asked if I'm a fan of jazz, I have had trouble saying yes, even saying sort of. Now I can say I'm a fan of jazz pianist Brad Meldow, well known in his field, not in mine, until he recorded stunning interpretations of Beatles classics. They require concentration. It is anything but background music. It is a maestro at the keyboard, and one cut stands above the rest. For me, we decided to ask for the listener's full attention

and play it, because how can I praise it like this with words only? So here is Brad Meldow's piano treatment of the Beatles song, Here, There, and Everywhere. Thank you. piano plays softly Thank you. piano plays softly Terima kasih telah menonton Thank you. piano plays softly I hope you stayed with that and enjoyed it. The Beatles, Here, There and Everywhere, as interpreted by Brad Meldow. Back to the list. Dave Hawes from, not Hodge, Dave Hawes, H-A-a-u-s-e from philly kind of punk kind of rock hazard lights is the song the hello darlings from calgary with lay down loco hiss golden messenger the song is called new grape the hives they played quite the show at lee's palace

best sweetest show this side of will Nylander, let's say. The Hives with Bogus Operandi. The Hold Steady is on every list, as you said. Every year, Mike. Sideways Skull is the song from Craig Finn and company. Ian Hunter.

I will always say I was lucky enough to see Ian Hunter perform All the Young Dudes when he was 73 years old. Now at the age of 84, he records Bed of Roses. The memory of Martha Hoople lives on. Sarah DeRose, a favorite folk artist for many years, will be in Toronto at the Horseshoe on April 28th. Her song on this list is Jealous Moon. the horseshoe on April 28th. Her song on this list is Jealous Moon. My friend Danko Jones

rocks hard always with a song How High with a question mark attached to it. Rustin Kelly, who I mentioned, was at the top of this list, the very top in 2020 with Radio Cloud and is here with The Weakness. And L.A. Edwards from California, you would guess, L.A. Edwards, Let It Out. Back we go to number seven, and I would like to play When You Miss Someone by William Prince. Now, I have never enjoyed a concert more while dripping with a steady rain than I did at Jackson Triggs Winery listening to this marvelous voice,

a Canadian treasure who is gaining international acclaim, much deserved. The rain was cold. William Prince's voice makes you feel warm. Here is number seven, When You Miss Someone. Is the moon shining bright where you are? Is it even shining at all? Running like a white line down the middle of some old memory Does the evening unfold in waves The desire to be nowhere or to go out in rage

Like a time when it was more than just some old memory When you miss someone Tears you apart and then some When you miss someone Someone you love Is the silence quiet or loud? A lifetime of questions, lost and profound Professing to a silhouette of trees on the ground here in front of me

when you miss someone tears you apart and then some when you miss someone When you miss someone, someone you love Now it's here in your absence, my mind doing bad Flips reserve tank running on air Intergalactic, into the stad Searching for a memory When you miss someone Oh, when you miss someone

Tears you apart and then some When you miss someone Someone you love When you miss someone, someone you love When you miss someone, someone you love. When you miss someone, someone you love. That was William Prince. When you miss someone, don't miss him if you get a chance to see him.

Back to the list, we're at Elle. Alex Leahy is from Australia. She sings Congratulations. Ray Lamontagne, It Takes Me Back. Logan Ledger, another attention-getting, attention getting smooth sounding voice, There Goes My Mind. Gabe Lee, Nashville, Drink the River. Jenny Lewis, Born on My Birthday, January the 8th, along with Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Ron Sexsmith, Devin Cuddy. Jenny Lewis

sings Psychos, Tara Lightfoot, sorry I had to miss her wedding, but not her new record. From it, here's Come Back Around, Lydia Loveless, Sex and Money, Lowest of the Low with Cheer Up

Charlie, and I shall pause for some words from you, Toronto Mike. Well, there's a gentleman named Simon Head who directed a great new documentary about Lowest of the Low. The documentary is called Subversives. I was at the premiere viewing

at the Rivoli and I urge any Lowest of the Low fans to check it out. I think you can find it on Simon Head's website. You can stream it, but it is tremendous. And since we're talking Lowest of the Low, it just so happens

my next guest on Toronto Mic'd is Stephen Stanley, who's visiting tomorrow. He's got new music. He's a founding member of Lowest of the Low, but he's not on that song that you just listed there, Dave.

But I will shout out Stephen Stanley as a founding member of Lowest of the Low, and I will let listeners know that Stephen's bringing his guitar tomorrow. So he promises me a live performance here in the TMDS basement, and I can't wait for that. And are we not just a day or two after Ron Hawkins' birthday? That is absolutely correct. Yes, I think his birthday was yesterday.

So there we go we're up to date uh with everything again uh cheer up charlie is the lowest of the low song on this year's list ashley mcbride her uh her country star rising as fast as anybody's these days made for this and laurie mckenna i was glad to see her live a few years ago. This is The Town in Your Heart. Back to the top ten for number six, and I get to talk about another Jackson Triggs concert by Rural Alberta Advantage. It's so much easier to say R-A-A-A.

Somewhat easier. Three band members who had the energy and the sound of twice that many. Adoring fans who follow the ebbs and flows of the songs with real joy. Number six on the list is Can Do C-A-N-D-U by R-A-A. Still at M on the list, Metallica. What can I say? Metallica's on the list.

72 Seasons is the song. Mipso, not quite as famous as Metallica. Mipso is from North Carolina and sings about Louise. Luke Morley sounds country western, and he is. I Want to See the Light. Mount Joy has been here before. This is an acoustic version of a song about Jenny Jenkins. The National, with the help of Roseanne Cash, the song is Crumble.

Now, not to confuse you, but next is The Natural. But natural is spelled with a V where you would expect to see the U. So you will easily Google the natural N-A-T-V-R-A-L and find a song called The Stillness. The natural's been here before, so I've done all that, but you needed it again. N-A-T-V-R-A-L. Israel Nash, great album from an Ozark Mountains native.

Song selection here is Roman Candle. Lucas Nelson, son of Willie and his band Promise of the Real with Sticks and Stones and New Pornographers. I think they have made it here every year possible. I particularly like another acoustic version, so you might have to search for firework in the falling snow. Getting closer to the top of the best 10, Fruitbats are at number five with Russian River Valley. I have been a Fruitbats fan from the beginning, and lead singer Eric D.

Johnson divides his time with the group Bonnie Light Horseman, who placed a song called California at number one last year. So I'm a fan twice of Eric D. Johnson. Fruit Bats at number five. To the Alphabet, still with N, but no ones, so maybe there's no intro.

Phil Oakes is Dead is the song title. That's memorable. NQ Arbuckle, longtime fan here. The song is Funny Bone. Nude Party, you've got to love the name, with Ride On. Athey O'Donovan, wonderful voice. Age of Apathy from the album The Apathy Sessions. Toronto native Doug Paisley, Sometimes It's So Easy.

Pretender, still around with an album that stands with anything else they've done, I believe. The song is a great one, Let the Sun Come In. A song called Strays belongs to an artist called Margo Price. Another checkmark from my punk side comes from Rancid, Devil in Disguise, The Record Company is the name of an LA band, Talk to Me is the song,

and Revivalists from New Orleans, one word title, Kid. Now we swing back to number four, and Jason Isbell in the 400 unit. I am a Jason Isbell fan from his days with Drive-By Truckers. He is as big as it gets in the Americana field. Great show at Massey Hall. Another flawless album called Weather Veins.

I had trouble picking one song we were going to listen to, When We Were Close. This was the opener at the Massey Hall show and it's number four here. Let's play When We Were Close. I got a picture of us back when we were close Before we had somebody picking out our clothes But you always dressed in your Sunday best Even when we didn't have nowhere to go I got a picture of us playing in a bar And your shirt cost more than your guitar

But you played so heavy And you always let me sing A couple even though you were the star I was the worst of the two of us The Rex's blues wasn't through with us You were bound for glory and grown to die Oh, then why wasn't I? Why wasn't I?

I saw a picture of you laughing with your child And I hope you will remember how you smile But she probably wasn't old enough The night somebody sold you stuff That left you on the bathroom tiles Got a picture of you dying in my mind With the thoughts you couldn't bear to leave behind But I can hear your voice ring

As you snap another B-string And you finish off the set with only five And for a minute there you're still alive I was the worst of the two of us The Rex's blues wasn't true with us We're bound for glory and gonna die Oh, but why wasn't I? Why wasn't I? Why wasn't I? It's not up to me to forgive you

For the nights that your love had to live through Now you'll never need to look me in the eye Now you don't ever need to look me in the eye I am the last of the two of us But the port work blues isn't through with us You've traveled beyond the grave divide Oh, then why haven't I? Why haven't I? That is Jason Isbell with the 400 unit and the song When We Were Close, number four.

More titles now. We're still at R. Josh Ritter with For Your Soul. The Sam Roberts Band. I was happy to note and to hear that Sam paid you a visit, Mike. So tell me about that as I put his song Picture of Love on the list.

Just an absolute sweetheart and he lives in Montreal, born and raised in Montreal, and he says he no longer does what he did here which is a long conversation with people. He only does it when he has a new album out. So I feel like there's that very short window where you can actually get Sam Roberts

to visit your basement and have a lengthy conversation. I mean, if you're not Dave Hodge, that is. So what an honor it was to chat with Sam Roberts about his long career and his new music. And I'm pleased to report he's absolutely the sweetheart you'd hope he'd hoped he'd be so Sam Roberts one of the good guys yes I uh I don't know if I should add this but um I saw him at Jackson Triggs uh I do every year and for some reason uh sitting I don't know, maybe 10 rows back, looking straight at him at the microphone.

And he looked straight at Sharon, my wife, sitting next to me and decided on two or three occasions during the show to have a conversation with her, as if to snub me. And we laughed about it afterwards. as if to snub me. And we laughed about it afterwards. And Sharon will never forget the time that she was part of a Sam Roberts band show at Jackson Triggs. And sweetheart would be one of many ways that she would describe Sam.

many ways that she would describe Sam. He's very high on my list of people in music as much or more than people who play music. So great. I was really glad to see that you got him or that he chose you. That's terrific. So where was I? R. Roberts, yeah. The Rolling Stones are on the list.

If the Beatles are releasing a song, the Stones have to stay strong, I guess, with another album. And the first single was Angry. Esther Rose is from New Orleans. The song is about and is called Chet Baker. My birthday mate, Ron Sexsmith, has never sounded better, has written a song that I believe matches his many other best offerings. Ron Sexsmith with What I Had in Mind. Sunvolt with an album called Day of the Doug, dedicated to Doug Sam.

The song is called What About Tomorrow. Sparkle Horse, a posthumous album, recorded in 2010. A song called Evening Star Supercharger. Chris Stapleton has risen to the top of the country charts as fast as you can with the song White Horse. Strum Bellas, consistently entertaining on stage and on recordings. My Home is You and Susto, their home base is Charleston, South Carolina. You've got to like a song called Rock On.

Now back to near the top with number three. It comes from Montreal-born Alison Russell. She tours through these parts in March. My show will be Hamilton, Can't Miss. Alison Russell is a versatile, passionate performer with heartbreaking yet inspirational life story messages in her songs. She, along with many others, owes a great deal to the support given her by Brandi Carlile. And you will hear Brandi's name again shortly.

But here's the beautiful and the bilingual Alison Russell with number three. Stay right here. Maybe I'm swimming in happiness But it's an ocean of tears in my mind Oh, that my body can never forget Why do good things make me cry? Ooh, they make me want to fly on back Through that hole in the sky Something that I learn when I'm back through that hole in the sky. Something that I learned when I was three.

Had to leave my body. Voices, they come back and say, go on, let go. You don't have to say goodbye. It was love, a dream. You don't have to say goodbye It was all a dream You don't have to wonder why No, no, I'll stay right here Wanna hear my daughter laughing She can hear her daughter laughing

When we die, we die One day When we die, we die Baby, if it hasn't killed me yet It'll make me stronger in time Oh, that my body can never forget why do good things make me cry Oh, they make me wanna fly on back through that hole in the sky Something that I learned when I was three Had to leave my body Yeah

Voices they come back and take the world Let go You don't ever say goodbye It was all a dream You don't have to wonder why No, no, I'll stay right here

Wanna hear my daughter laughin' She can hear her daughter laughin' When we're down, down, down Hey! Oh, let's go Don't let go, you don't have to say goodbye It was all a dream, you don't have to wonder why No, no, I'll stay right right here Wanna hear my daughter laughing She can hear her daughter laughing When we dance the dance

Friday Friday Sonny That was Alison Russell with Stay Right Here, number three. Ten more titles to go now. Sonny Sweeney and several others on the record with a Dylan cover done differently you will find. My favorite Dylan song though, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright.

Ethan Tash, not a household name. Short song, sometimes you like that for a change. This is less than two minutes long. The song is present. The Third Mind is a project headed by Dave Alvin. And this is an electric flag cover. Groovin' is Easy.

Turnpike Troubadours, Chipping Mill. Kurt Vile, Always Interesting and Offbeat. The song is Another Good Year for the Rosens. M. Ward, the song is Supernatural Thing. White Horse, not White Horse. White Horse is a country album from Luke Doucette and Melissa McClelland, husband and wife. If the loneliness don't kill me. And as I mentioned, Melissa, and I list some of my favorite 2023 concerts, I must salute her guest role with Blue Rodeo on their Five Days in July tour, which arrives at Massey Hall December the 13th.

I saw this particular show in Hamilton, and I call it a match for the many best of Blue Rodeo shows. Don't miss it if you can get in. Wilco is on the list, naturally. Evicted is the song. Almost done, but previewed earlier, still room in the W's for Lucinda Williams. Rock and Roll Heart. And finally, another horseshoe plug for Jess Williamson's show on February 28th, and she closes our list of 90 others with Hunter.

That leaves us two at the top. Now, I struggle with the right words to describe my admiration for my friends from the UK called Skinny Lister, who will be happy to know that they're on the all-time list, and so am I. It is the friendship with husband and wife Dan and Lorna, and now meeting their young daughter Bonnie and the band members. That means the most to me, never mind the incredible show, the albums, the songs. It is punk, rock, folk at its very best at a level with their mentor, I might say, Frank Turner.

No higher praise for me. And I'm going to offer a cut from their recently released album, Shanty Punk. My number two song is called Company of the Bar. And I want you to think back to the pandemic and how you longed to be with your friends at the local bar. This says that wonderfully. Here is how good it is to have the company of the bar. Here's Skinny Lister. So long to my pretty, I'll be gone long and far And the thing I'll miss the most of all The company of the bar

The seeing calls, hey Johnny, tomorrow calls me on From a stinking drunken farewell cheer I'll wait to find me gone It's so long to my pretty, I'll be gone running far And the thing I'll miss the most of all, the company of my bar Yeah! My feet are getting restless, I'll shackle to the ground So between the water and the wind, that's where I'll be found

It's on to my grave, I'll be gone long and far And the thing I'll miss the most of all, the company of my father We're chasing the horizon, facing the unknown The century won't shackle me, the journey is my home It's all up to my pretty, I'll be gone running far And the thing I'll miss the most of all, the company of a car Hey Johnny, come back to me Hey Johnny, come home

Hey Johnny, come back to me Hey Johnny, come home Hey Johnny, come back to me Hey Johnny, come back to me Hey Johnny, come home Hey Johnny, come back to me Hey Johnny, come home It's all up to my brain I'm being a ruffer And I think I'm miserable The company of the bar

It's all up to my brain I'm being a ruffer And I think I'm miserable The company of the past Now, Skinny Lister is often compared to the Pogues, whose lead singer Shane McGowan died today at the age of 65. I think it's only fitting that we now play a Pogues song, the Pogues song, which, you know,

has become a Christmas classic, but can be played 12 months of the year. Shane McGowan died on this day, November 30th at age 65. He was born December 25th, 1957. Here's Fairytale of New York.

There was Christmas Eve, babe In the drunk tank An old man said to me Won't see another one And then he sang a song The rare old mountain dew I turned my face away And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one Came in 18 to 1 I've got a feeling This year is for me and you So happy Christmas I love you baby I can see a better time When all our dreams come true They got cars big as bars, they got rivers of gold But the windows right through you, it's no place for the old

When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve You promised me Broadway was waiting for me You were handsome, you were pretty, queen of New York City When the band finished playing, they held on for more Sinatra was swinging, all the drunk play were singing We kissed on a corner, then danced through the night The boys of the NYPD choir were singing, go away, play And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day You're a bum, you're a punk, you're an old slut

And jump right there on the stand on a trippin' light bulb You scumbag, you mugger, chitchy, blousy, faggot Happy Christmas, you're all so great, God, it's our love The boys of the NYPD chorus still singing Going back when the bells are ringing on the Christmas day I could have been someone Well, so could anyone You took my dreams from me

When I first found you I kept them with me, babe I put them with my own Can't make it all alone I built my dreams around you The boys in the M.I.P.D. chorus will soon go away And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day The The Okay. I need a bit of time to recover from that. Hopefully you think it fits,

and hopefully you share in my high praise for Skinny Lister. And for those who like to see me wearing a hat, there's a shot of me with a Skinny Lister hat. But now, of course, you're wondering what's ahead of him on this list. If there's a way to put Brandi Carlile at the top, you know I will look for it. There was the odd single released by her this year, and of course the stunning Newport celebration with Joni Mitchell.

But the song I listened to the most this year featured two Brandys. Brandy Clark, a song featuring Brandy Carlisle, and nothing is going to beat two Brandys, those two Brandys. So my number one song of 2023 is Brandy Clark featuring Brand brandy carlisle dear insecurity © transcript Emily Beynon Dear insecurity All we meet again Don't try to flirt with me You're not really my friend But you take up half this bed Living rent-free in my head

All insecurity You show up in my mirror, point out the worst in me You whisper in my ear that my lips are way too thin Too many miles on my skin If I can't find a way to get you gone? Can we find a way to get along, along, along? You're careless and you're cruel and oh, you're mindless. Maybe you could try a little kindness instead of hurting me Oh, insecurity

Now where did you come from, your immaturity? There's a thing I can't outrun You're a mean girl, you're a bully And I hope you're having fun Hey insecurity, try on all my clothes It just occurred to me That you may live in my phone You tell me I don't fit in Push me close to quitting If I can't find a way to get you gone Can we find a way to get along, along, along?

Careless and you're cruel in all your madness. Maybe you could try a little kindness instead of hurting me. Instead of hurting me Cause insecurity This time feels like love She's really sure of me So please don't fuck this up If you cut in on this dance I may never get another chance

I'll never find a way to get you gone Wish I could find a way to know you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong Careless and you're cruel and oh, you're mindless Maybe you could try a little kindness Instead of hurting me Why are you hurting me? Insecurity Insecurity There you go.

Brandi Clark, Brandi Carlile, Dear Insecurity. There you go. Brandy Clark, Brandy Carlisle, Dear Insecurity, another number one for the Hodge 100 list for 2023. And let me close by saying I don't have much interest in the Grammys. I'm not big on Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, I'm sorry. But three of the five finalists in all of the Americana categories, Best Album, song, performance,

happen to be Brandy Clark, Alison Russell, and Jason Isbell. So I will pay attention to that portion of the Grammys, if any of it gets on TV. Maybe they each get a Grammy, but if not, there are three of the top four here. Have I missed anything? Should I be wearing a hat or have I worn another hat? How many hats you got there? Right.

We take requests for what hats Dave will wear during these pictures. I will just reiterate something I kind of took out of the Tyler Campbell message off the top because I didn't want to spoil anything, but these three bands made their Hodge 100 debut this year, Dave. It's the Beatles, Metallica, and the Pretenders. Those are three globally monster bands that have finally accomplished something a few acts get to, and they made a Hodge 100.

Well, as we say, the Beatles had to release something and whether they did or they didn't, we know that they didn't in the earlier years. So there wasn't any way I could put the Beatles there. I probably could have put Metallica there before and or the Preters, but good. More research and I'm happy to, now I'm figuring people are going to go rancid,

really. When Danko Jones visited me for his podcast, he came to me, Mike. Is that a hint? I mean, nothing, but I just thought I'd say it. And he had to look through my ridiculously large collection of CDs just to get an idea of what he was dealing with. And he came upon Rancid and kind of had a fit

to try to recover from the knowledge that I had probably 10 or 11 or 12 Rancid CDs. So, yeah, punk rock. Could have put the Dropkick Murphys on. They had an album that didn didn't thrill me uh this year but um my my punk uh roots and love will begin and always with uh with skinny lister uh and today uh with uh with with the pogues um what what did you say you could play fairy tale of new york in the middle of the summer yeah i could listen to that song in the middle of July and love it.

That's just a tremendous song. Well, and, uh, anyway, nobody needs, uh, me to tout,

uh, uh, Brandy Carlisle, but, the, the Brandy Clark collaboration, uh, I highly recommend,

and I'll just beat the drums one more time for a skinny lister. They've only been, they've only been in Canada twice in the last four years, and now they're touring after the UK. They're all the way through Europe. If you get to see them, great. If you get to know them, even better. great if you get to know them even better. It's just, you know, one of my favorite things is to listen to,

see, and talk about Skinny Lister. And to you, Mike, as we continue the tradition, hopefully it is maintained for as long as possible. And I love doing it. I hope people can stay with it as we talk a long time and for some of the songs listened for a long time. But that's what is being advertised, and hopefully you've got a large part of your audience that has decided to join in. My only regret, and I have one regret over your shoulder,

I don't get a poma pasta lasagna when I sit here and you're there. So this is a, well, it's a plug for anybody else. And I can go and buy my own and I do. So hooray for at least one of those prominently displayed sponsors. Well, Dave, let me just say, I absolutely love this too. And I'm so glad we've done this six years in a row. And here's my idea for 2024. Let's do it a seventh time and i

will come to you and i will bring you some fresh craft beer from great lakes brewery and i will bring you a large lasagna from palma pasta let's do it at your home base next time one or the other one of us will uh will will drive to the other uh that of us will drive to the other. That remains to be negotiated. But thanks for that offer, and especially for the palm of pasta. So we've talked enough. And again, who needs to wake up and hear that a music icon, really, for all fans of the Pogues has died. But that becomes part of this show.

And Hodge100.com, I hope people do go and listen to some of the stuff that I have only mentioned here because there's a lot that we could have played and obviously not all of it could be played. So anyway, Mike, thank you for the invitation and I will listen to us as soon as I can. And that brings us to the end of our 1,377th show. You can follow me on Twitter and Blue Sky. I'm at Toronto Mike. Dave Hodge is at DaveHodge20 on Twitter. And much love and respect and thank you to all who made this possible. That's Great Lakes Brewery.

That's Palma Pasta. They're hosting us on December 9th from noon to 3 p.m. at Palma's Kitchen. Everyone is invited. That's Raymond James Canada. That's Moneris. That's Recycle My Electronics and Ridley Funeral Home. See you all tomorrow

when my special guest is Stephen Stanley. Well, I want to take a streetcar downtown is Stephen Stanley. Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold but the snow won't stay today And your smile is fine and it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is rose and green Well you've been under my skin for more than eight years

It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears And I don't know what the future can hold or do For me and you But I'm a much better man for having known you Oh, you know that's true because Everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold

But the smell of snow Wants me today And your smile is fine Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow won't speed the day And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and gray Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who Yeah, I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of gray

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

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

But I like it much better going down on you Yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold but the smell of snow warms us today And your smile is fine and it's just like mine and it won't go away Cause everything is rosy now, everything is rosy Yeah, everything is rosy and everything is rosy and gray. you