Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - David McPherson: Toronto Mike'd #1326

Episode Date: September 15, 2023

In this 1326th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with David McPherson about his new book 101 Fascinating Canadian Music Facts. Choice jams are played while 7 of these facts are discussed in detail. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Pumpkins After Dark, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1326 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Alma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta

in Mississauga and Oakville. RecycleMyElectronics.ca Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. The Advantantage Investor Podcast from Raymond James Canada. Valuable perspective for Canadian investors who want to remain knowledgeable, informed, and focused on long-term success. Pumpkins After Dark. Use the promo code TOMIKE15

and save 15% at pumpkinsafterdark.com and Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today, returning to Toronto Mike for the third time is the author of 101 Fascinating Canadian Music Facts. It's David McPherson. Happy to be here, Mike.

Third time's a charm, right, David? Always. I can't believe it's three times already. Who would have thought? Well, every time you pump out a book, you're back here. Yeah, and I appreciate you having me back. It's always a fun time. Yesterday night, I biked to the Roxy Hotel. Is that what it's called? The Roxy Hotel? Anyway, right near Horseshoe Tavern.

So I was biking by Horseshoe Tavern. I thought about your book. So you visited the first time because you wrote a book about the Horseshoe Tavern. And then you returned because you wrote a book about Massey Hall. And now that you have a new book, 101 Fascinating Canadian Music Facts, I'm wondering, David, why you didn't name it 101 Fun Facts? I really didn't have much choice in this matter. The way this book came about, actually, I had finished my Massey Hall book and doing

some promotion for that. I was considering what the next project might be and had a call with my publisher. And I threw out a few ideas, you know, was brainstorming a little bit. And then they approached me and said, hey, we wonder if this is something you might be interested in doing or taking on. They had already done a book with Brian McFarlane,

the famous. He's an FOTM. Yeah, there you go. Famous hockey writer, as you know, broadcaster. Peter Puck. Yeah, I had those books when I was a kid, for sure. And so, yeah, they wanted to make this a series. And so, yeah, this was going to be the second one in the series of, you know, these 101

fascinating fact books. Only FOTMs can write these books is that the deal so the next one's going to be uh let me think who will it be alan cross maybe but so they told you this is the title 101 fascinating canadian music facts and you came up with all 101 like like how easy was it for you to come up with 101 fascinating Canadian music facts? I mean, I'd say it was easy and also hard at the same time because... Well, that's not possible, David, please. Let's be realistic here.

Yeah, no, realistically, the challenge was not coming up with the facts. It was curating a diversity of facts, right? And that was from the outset. a diversity of facts, right? And that was from the outset. I wanted to make sure I had diversity in both regional representation, genre, you know, era, what have you. So it was, that to me, I think,

was the more challenging aspect of it. I mean, I could have written 101 Fascinating Facts on Neil Young alone, probably, as an example, right? So you had to leave your comfort zone, go to some genres and styles of music that maybe you're less fluent in. For sure, yeah.

And that's part of writing this book that I really enjoyed, because myself, I did learn quite a few fascinating facts about Canadian artists I was not aware of as much, or at least some of the stories behind their success. So let me tell the listenership that there's 101 stories in this book, and this book's available now?

You can buy this right now? More or less. You're not sure? Yeah, you can pre-order it right now. The official publication date's October 3rd, so less than a few weeks now. We're ahead of. Yeah. You can pre-order it right now at the official publication dates, October 3rd. So less than a few weeks. We're ahead of the game here.

I like it. Is this your first piece of promotion for the book? It is. I actually, I did a interview over the phone earlier this week with my hometown newspaper, the Waterloo region record. But still around. I don't know.

Were they owned by, is it a Metroland paper? Yeah, I think it is Metroland now. Okay. Well, you know around? I don't know. Were they owned by, is it a Metroland paper? Yeah, I think it is Metroland now. Okay. Well, you know that, maybe you don't know because you were in transit, but literally I just read, I think within the last half hour, a bunch of Metroland. I think some of the key ones, maybe that one's still in play, but all the community papers are no longer going to print.

They're going to declare bankruptcy. Like this is breaking news. Yeah, it is really sad. I mean, here I am an author. You're going to declare bankruptcy. This is breaking news. It is really sad. I mean, here I am an author. You're out of work now, David. Yeah, but obviously I believe strongly in print and there's still a big place for it. And we can touch on it later,

but I'm doing my Toronto book launch in a few weeks. Tell us now. Yeah, well, it's going to be with Dave Bedini in the West End Phoenix. See, only FOTMs. He's another FOTM. Love that guy. So, you know, and it ties into the local journalism.

I mean, he's doing great stuff there to try and preserve and save, you know, local journalism. And it's a sad fact that more and more it's getting eroded. So you're in Southern Etobicoke right now. I would say it's worth the drive, but that's to be debated. But our community paper,

which for some reason I stopped getting like five years ago and I didn't complain. So I just stopped arriving. But the Etobicoke Guardian was the community paper and published by Metroland. And that's one of the papers

that will no longer be printed. So shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Tobacco Guardian is gone. But you're right. Bedini's one of those guys fighting the fight for newspapers, like printed media. And I mean, that's where I got my start. I mean, I started my journalism career per se

at University of Western Ontario as an undergraduate student there and volunteered for the student newspaper. And we were fortunate. We had a newspaper called the Gazette that published three days a week. So it was the best training ground for me. Wow. The good old days.

Okay. So to be clear, so there's 101 facts in here. And what day is that launch party with the West End Phoenix? It's on October 26th, I believe, Thursday night. All right. So maybe everybody make it a double header, go to Pumpkins After Dark and go to the launch party, learn more West End Phoenix. We love the West End Phoenix here.

So I cherry picked seven of the 101. So if my math is correct, and you can tell me, you're a smarter guy than I am, but that's like, what, 94 facts. You got to buy the book. So you get 94 in the book. We will cover seven of them on this program. And, you know, I strategically picked seven that I thought might apply to the listenership of Toronto Mic'd because of recurring themes we have on this program.

And as I told you before I pressed record, I have showed great restraint. I did not pick Tears Are Not Enough. So that might disappoint FOTM Hall of Famer Cam Gordon. But we're going to focus on seven other topics. And I have taken songs from my vast digital library that I will play to introduce each of the seven facts. So we're going to cover seven. There's 101 in the books, the book. You can pre-order the book now. I think you're my third guest in a row who just

released a book or is releasing a book. It's interesting how the release of a book makes guests want to come on Toronto Mic. Not a coincidence, right, David? Okay, but it's third time's a charm. Good to see you. You're looking good. Oh, thanks. So are you. Wow. Thank you for throwing that compliment right back to me. Typically, when you come here, you get a Palma Pasta lasagna. Do you enjoy the Palma Pasta lasagna? Oh, definitely. I know when I've had it before, I've shared it with my whole family. I think the challenge is since I live in Waterloo

and today is one of those examples, I figured I'm coming to town, I'm going to a concert tonight. So keeping it cold in the car all day long might be a challenge. Okay, so I didn't know this till right now because I was going to, this is where I tell you,

I do have a frozen lasagna for you. But okay when like so now we're talking it is 2 p.m on this friday when will you next be at a refrigerator or slash freezer like how when will that happen tomorrow yeah probably not till i'd say after midnight tonight because i'm going to a concert uh at 888 young uh black country new road tonight and they're apparently they go on at nine but i'm guessing it will be done at least by 10 30 so i'm gonna see who am i gonna see there the tea party and i'm mother earth i'm gonna see there like in october i think okay yeah no i'm looking forward to it i always great to see uh venues with see venues. That's another one with a long history. You're going to do a book on that one?

Yeah. Because, you know, DJ Ron Nelson tells great stories about bringing hip-hop artists, the first hip-hop concerts in Canada, taking place at that venue. Oh, for sure. And, I mean, everyone knows, like, the stories of Led Zeppelin playing there back in the day.

And, yep, who knows? I mean, that's never a shortage of, you know, venues to talk about. Do you know your next book? Actually, I do. I can announce. It's an exclusive. Where's my sound effect? You had joked earlier, but I mean, for those that know me,

know one of my other passions is golf. So I'm actually going to continue this 101 series and do 101 Fascinating Golf Facts next. Love it. Okay. If you want the contribution of humble Howard Glassman, he lives and breathes this sport. So let me know if you want to get him involved in there.

For sure. He might have a fact or two for you. Okay. So without further ado, let's get to a jam that introduces the first, you know, you call it fascinating Canadian music facts because it's got to fit the branding for the series. But can I call it fun facts?

Because you're on Toronto, Mike. Can I just say they're fun facts? Of course. Okay. Thank you. I just wanted your blessing on that. So here's a song for the Gen Xers listening. for the Gen Xers listening.

An anthem of sorts. I think a Gen Xer in this country hears these opening chords and already feels drunk. You have to excuse me I'm not at my best I've been gone for a month I've been drunk since I left These so-called vacations

Will soon be my death I'm so sick from the drink I need home for a rest We arrived in December And London was cold We stayed in the bars Along Charing Cross Road We never saw nothing

But grass tops and oak Kept a shine on the bar With the sleaze of our coats You'll have to excuse me I'm not at my best. I've been gone for a week. I've been drunk since I left. And these so-called vacations

will soon be my death. I'm so sick from that drink. I need home for a rest. Take me home. I won't play that much of every song, but I could not fade down until we got to this part. What a jam.

Hopefully smokes. Okay. Oh a jam. Holy smokes. Oh, yeah. Now, you wrote the book, so I don't want to steal your thunder here, but what can you tell us about Spirit of the West? Well, Spirit of the West is one of those

bands from the West Coast, from Vancouver that, as you mentioned, more Gen Xers like ourselves, we recall first time hearing some of these songs. For me, it was probably my early university days, and I know that... Well, that's a party university you went to. I went to U of T.

We all looked at you, Western guy. That was party U. I know, yeah. And now my daughter's... Did you learn anything there? I did, well, I learned a few. Your daughters are there? My daughter, yeah.

Oh, your daughter. She's in second year. She's partying all the time. Well, I don't know about all the time, but lately I've told her, maybe hit the books a bit more. She is enjoying the social side of Western for sure, which I did as well. And this song, yeah, definitely part of that. It has that party vibe, like you said.

I heard you singing along there, Mike. Oh, my God. You know, it's funny. Yesterday, I was with, who was I with? Bill Wilichka, and he's got a connection to the song Lightning Crashes by Live, okay? So I'm playing it. We have headphones on in this hotel,

and the door's open because it's hot in there, and I made him turn off the AC because it was messing with my audio. But we're singing along to Lightning Crashes, but no one can hear what's in in there, and I made him turn off the AC because it was messing with my audio. But we're singing along to Lightning Crashes, but no one can hear what's in our headphones, right? So it's just sound in this hotel. It sounds like we're just singing along there. So yeah, you were singing too, buddy.

I was hearing you there. You were singing Home for a Rest. Oh, yeah. The thing with this song is, like you mentioned, for people of a certain generation, it's one of those really unique songs, and I always loved Song Origins, This song is, like you mentioned, for people of a certain generation. It's one of those really unique songs. And I always loved song origins and hearing about how they kind of came about.

But this is one of those songs that really didn't get huge radio airplay. But it just developed a life of its own because you mentioned an anthem. It really is an anthem. And it became a party anthem, if you will. And the band is really grateful for that. But, yeah, I remember back in my drinking days, many a wedding where I was, me and my buddies, this song would come on, and, yeah, you just went crazy on the dance floor.

Shout out to Great Lakes Beer. The radio single I remember is Save This House. That was all over the radio, as I recall. Mm-hmm, the title track from that record. Right. And again, we're going to focus on the FOTMs involved here. We're going to just quickly shout out that the drummer for Spirit of the West, Vince Dittrich, is an FOTM and there is a great

episode with Vince all about Spirit of the West, so people should hunt that down. But there's another FOTM involved in this story. Let's shout out FOTM Barney Bentall becauseM involved in this story. Let's shout out FOTM Barney Bentall, because he figures into this story. Yeah, well, Save This House, the record was recorded at Barney's Vancouver studio.

And it was Danny Greenspoon, who lives in the Toronto area today, who produced the record. And the cool fact here, I think, is this is an example of one of those songs that might have not ended up on this record and become this anthem. Jeffrey Kelly, the main songwriter and singer for Spirit of the West, he basically, they'd been traveling across England and playing all the little pubs and carousing themselves a lot,

you know, traveling by train and car and taxi and every which way was available, crashing on friends' couches. And so basically, this song started, it was just his journal entries, you know, talking these these crazy days uh early on in the band's career and and playing and you know what it felt like right uh as we all know i just i need to get home for a rest because it was such a you know a hectic crazy time but at the same time it was a fun time and you know basically they were done almost all their pre-production and you know ready to Greenspoon was ready to leave and said,

Hey, you got anything more? We still need a song kind of thing. And, uh, you know, Jeff, Jeffrey said,

well, I got this, uh, you know, song home for a rest. Oh, his quote is it's in your book, half baked idea for a tune.

Yeah. I love it. Wow. And he's just, he has an acoustic guitar and he kind of plays a barebone version of home for a rest and uh wow that that song has uh become an anthem like i said for uh canadian gen xers you can spot a canadian gen xer if you start home for rest and if they join in singing for sure and i like another great quote by kelly there that that he mentions in talking about the song.

He said it basically was a passport for the band, and it was. And you see that with so many groups. I mean, I interviewed last week Moe Berg from... FOTM Moe Berg. Yeah, and it's the 30th year, I think it is, of their debut Love Junk. But a similar thing... Todd Rundgren produced. Yeah, but a similar idea with I'm an Adult Now.

Like he said, there was no rhyme or reason why they chose to make a video of that song. They had four demos that they had cut. They just picked that one. And then, you know, largely because of the video for that song, that became their first huge big single. And that parking lot became a mountain equipment co-op. Yep.

Shout out, yeah, this is, yeah, Spadina too. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so let's pick on another FOTM. So let's pick on this beloved FOTM. This is a throwdown, a showdown. Hell no, I can't slow down. It's going to go. First offense.

On the mix. Okay, party people now. May I have your attention, please? In a moment, the beat will be played in many parts. Very many parts. One, two, three. Go on and play. one two three this jam is amplified so just glide glide let your backbone slide okay talk to me david mcph, about Let Your Backbones Light.

I mean, there's a million fun facts for this song. For sure. I mean, it's appropriate. I got a picture of Maestro that he signed for you staring right at me. Just a coincidence, too. Awesome. And yeah, pretty cool. He played Riverfest, a great music festival in Elora, about a month ago that I was at and was able to see him. And he's just such a great guy. And he really was a trailblazer in Canadian hip hop.

And this was the song that kind of did it. Let your backbone slide. I mean, and it's another one of those stories that is about, you know, just how a song came together and right place, right time, I guess, and it resonated. He was working a security job at Parkway Mall in Scarborough, and he just kind of heard Billy Squire's song, The Stroke, and kind of that one idea in there

about letting your backbone slide, it really hit him, and he wrote this whole song around it. Yeah, that line, the exact line in The Stroke by Billy Squire is, you make my backbone slide. I think the first time Maestro visited, I pulled that sample, and yeah, we revisited it, but yeah, he kind of took that that line and the stroke and extrapolate it. For sure. And I mean, hard to believe that was,

you know, this single was released back in early 1990. It was kind of the lead single off his debut. I'm going to say 89, but yeah, it was kind of on the boss here. Only cause I have the 12 inch right here. I know when I bought that.

And yeah, I mean, it started to climb the charts. I mean, it was one of those, again, who would have known and why this song, but it was one of the, I think it was, you know, the first Canadian rap single to chart in the U.S.

Wow. Now, we won't revisit the fun facts that we beat to death on this program recently because Michael Williams came over and made his Toronto Mike debut. Michael Williams was, he claims, and I believe it, why not? It might be true. He was at Electric Circus at the time that he kind of introduced Stevie B to Maestro Fresh West at 299 Queen Street West.

By the way, are you going to be at this Much Music documentary by any chance? Do you know about this? I've heard about it, and I'd love to see it. I hope to find a way to fit it into my schedule. Okay, just curious if you'd be there. Okay, but anyway, it was Stevie B, who I guess his record label LMR, who got Maestro signed to his label, right?

Yeah, I mean, he was anestro signed to his label, right? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and he owned that small indie label. And I think, yeah, that's where it happened, much music. He heard Maestro when he was there, and the rest is really history. And that kind of leads to, you know, as you know, Maestro's famous quote, I always love,

he says, uh, you know, don't make records, make history. So he certainly did with this song. And this song is now enshrined in Canadian hip hop history. And it's getting,

it's, uh, it's due in your new, uh, your new book. Okay. So digging this. We're going to let Maestro finish up here

and then I'm going to roll right into the next song from Oakville? Burlington? No, Oakville band and a guy I actually met recently. Shout out to Rob Pruce. Rob Pruce, by the way, back here Sunday for a backyard episode of Fall Bluelet.

It's toast, everybody. We're kicking out Angel Jams. We'll be right back. Hey, Judy Hey, Judy You said to call you up And I was feeling moody Hey, little Donna Still wanna You said to ring you up

When I was in Toronto Ooh, they mentioned our name, okay. I have lots of friends that I could The reason I get confused, Oakville, Burlington, is Spoons are from Burlington, but the Kings formed in Oakville in 1977. All right, talk to me about the Kings, and particularly the Heat Wave tapes, right? Yeah, well, that's a fascinating fact here.

I mean, first off, the Kings, you know, again, another one of those bands that they were huge in the kind of late 1970s, early 80s. And largely it was due to this song that, you know, you talk about a banger. It just has that groove. It's a great song. It's two songs in one, two for the price of one, right? Yeah, I always love songs like that, right? It's a great song. It's two songs in one. Two for the price of one, right? Yeah, I always love songs like that, right? Like, The Guess Who's No Sugar Tonight, New Mother

Nature. Great example. I mentioned that later in the book as well. Queen's got one too, right? Because Queen's got a song, is it? We Are the Champions and don't they? Okay, we'll come back to it. I think Queen does. Okay. And Green Day too did this too.

They had Brain Stew and they had a two for one. Back to the Kings. Yeah, well the Kings basically they got huge. They even

they played Dick Clark's American Bandstand and they toured across North America opening for huge rock acts from the US

like Jeff Beck Bob Seger Clapton Beach Boys. Wow, those are big names. Yeah, really big names. And so the cool fact, though I included here, I mean, this song alone, I think, had the story been told.

So in talking to a couple members of the band... Who'd you talk to? Mr. Zero. Okay, so I always... Mr. X, I think I called him. Mr. Zero's the guy I met when I was watching Rob Pruse play a concert in Oakville recently. I saw Mr. Zero there, and we met each other, and cool. Yeah, and I mean, they're still going. That's the neat thing and what I always love with these bands.

I mean, a lot of people, they just know they're one hit, and yeah, that's what allowed them probably to have a career and have, you know, some seed money, if you will, to keep things going. But they're still playing and performing and got new records out. But going back to, you know, this song and the album, it was from the Kings Are Here, their debut. debut and it basically came out just a little bit before this massive uh heat wave festival that was put on august 23rd uh 1980 at mo sport park up in uh you know the uh bowmanville ontario area right the most poor raceway okay i hear so much about this heat wave festival i obviously was not there six-year-old mike didn't get out to Moe Sport Park for that one. No, seven-year-old Dave

didn't either, yeah. But tell me, like 50,000 people were there? Tell me about this. I keep hearing about all the bands that played. Yeah, 50,000 people, and it was really one of the first, I guess, of its kind in terms of that genre that was just exploding, right, in that

period of new wave and punk. So that's kind of, you know, I wouldn't consider the Kings here, you know, punk or new wave. Listening to them, I think they're a little more rock-oriented, but that's kind of what this festival was billed as because it did have, you know, talking heads on it, Elvis Costello and B-52. So some of the other bands were pretty big

and the Pretenders as well. And lest we forget, when they originally announced the Heat Wave Festival, The Clash were going to be the headliners, right? They were, yeah. And they were even put up on some of the promotional posters, but they never showed. But they just didn't show?

Did they have border issues? Do we know what happened there? Yeah, I think that's a whole other story in itself, probably, yeah. Okay, now, it's funny, another band was on this bill, but I'm going to talk about them with regards to a Ontario Place Forum concert, so we're going to talk about this Hamilton band in a moment. But great jam, great concert.

I did have on this program Doug McClement. He's an FOTM. And we talked about Doug McClement recording in his mobile truck this He-Way Festival. Yeah, so that is the other real neat fact about this, is that apparently all the bands that were there were asked, you know, hey, we're going to video, we're going to record it, can you give us your permission? And, you know, the Kings, I think, and Teenage Head,

the two Canadian acts were the only ones. Spoiler alert, we'll be back with the Teenage Head. Yeah, but they were the only ones who agreed. But this is one of those examples where, yeah, somewhere along the line, those tapes got lost. And, you know, Mr. Zero said, you know, he really wanted to find these. And he did some detective work of his own to find the original video. And it was in some warehouse somewhere. And luckily they were about to throw these tapes out.

Apparently they were doing a purge and, uh, but they were saved. And then, yeah, you mentioned Doug, he, uh, they got him to, uh, master, you know, he had the original audio, so he was able to, uh, put the two of them together. Um, so it's pretty cool frame by frame. And, uh, you know And now they've got that document of their great performance at the Heat Wave that they can share with fans. A couple of fun facts.

One I learned in your book, which is that tickets for this amazing festival, the Heat Wave Festival, 20 bucks a pop. And in 1980, 20 bucks. Still, like today, in 1980 dollars, if we were going to use today's pricing, it would have been $2,000. Yeah. No, it's still cheap, though.

Yeah. And that's what amazes, I mean, you are from that era, too. I mean, I've kept pretty much all my concert stubs. Yeah, me too. And it's amazing to go back and look at what the prices of some of these things were. And I remember thinking, I still remember my psychologically thinking, $30 was pricey for a concert, but look at all these great bands I'm going to see. It's going to be worthwhile.

And let's say today it's $60 in today's dollars. Try going to a big show anyways for less than $150. Good luck to you. Yeah. I mean, you can spend $ bucks on a hamburger these days uh some places right so yeah you know what uh back to wilichka because it was last night but he was in this um really tiny hotel that had no like there was no table it was just a little you know room but there was no toilet like he had to share a bathroom guess what he paid for one night at this hotel

200 bucks three hundred dollars okay if i could just go back in time five years and tell you oh you're gonna get a hotel in downtown toronto for 300 bucks you think you're at like the royal york penthouse or something for sure that's only five years ago what's going on here what's going on here okay don't get me started about what university costs these days. I'll be here all day here. But the other fun fact, this is not from your book, this is from the TMDS here, is that they say 50,000 people attended this festival,

but I have talked personally with 500,000 people who attended the Heat Wave Festival. Yeah, another one of those, I'm sure. We'll talk about that later, some of these other special gigs and where, yeah, everyone, looking back in history, oh, I always had that show.

Well, let's get to one of those because we teased it in that discussion about the Heat Wave Festival. So let's get to this Hamilton band. Woo! You know I need somebody How about you? I just need you Come on, Jay Go for the Jay Come on, Jay Go for the Jay

Funnily enough, this show we're going to talk about right now at the Forum is around the same time as the Heat Wave Festival, right? Yeah, it only happened a few months earlier in June of 1980. Okay, so we're referring to June 2nd, 1980, an infamous day in Toronto music history. What the hell happened that day? Neither of us, you and I, are both too young to have been there, but I've heard a million stories about this as well yeah well this is a another one where uh

you never know get the word out and what's gonna happen and uh you know back in the day too this was long before social media right or long before long long before and and then as you know the uh you know it's all about putting up posters and word of mouth. And basically, Hamilton's kind of favorite punk rockers, Teenage Head, they had their debut, or their album, Frantic City. And they decided they're going to do this free show at Ontario Place Forum. And next thing you know, I mean, they really pounded the pavement and I guess their

management had done a pretty good job promoting the hell out of the show and about 15,000 people showed up that day for a venue that only fit about 10,000 for a free show. Okay, so you can get 10,000 people at the forum

in Ontario Place, the now defunct forum. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. I love that. In fact, next week I have Chris Tate from Chalk Circle on the program. And Chalk Circle's the first band I ever saw live at the Ontario Place forum. So you can get 10,000 in there.

You're telling me now 15,000 showed up on that June day, even though I personally talked to 50,000 people who were at this teenage head gig, but that's okay. Yeah, the numbers probably grow every time it's told. That's the same joke I did in the last bit. See, I just like to tell the same jokes over and over again. So what happened, though?

I'm sure everyone behaved themselves, and nobody had a fight or broke anything. Yeah, of course, especially at a punk show. But the irony here is that apparently teenage head was on stage just rocking away and in his own and they really didn't have a clue of kind of all this side show going on that you know the police basically had to close the gates right because they couldn't fit anyone else in and you, people were so desperate to get in. They apparently jumped in the lake and in the water, you know, and tried to swim and swim into the venue to get in. They're all kayaking over.

Come on. But I mean, there's like a riot going on, right? Like police cars are overturned. Fences are torn down. Oh, yeah. It really turned into, you know, a full-blown riot for sure. They're pelting the cops with whatever they could find lying around, rocks, debris, whatever they could find.

There's a riot going on here. Oh my goodness. So they actually, I think they, well, I got this from your book, so it must be true. 58 charges were laid. Yep, apparently. And yeah, even some police officers were injured. And yeah, the biggest thing with this, though, was because of it,

I mean, the people who ran Ontario Place were kind of a little scared of, you know, not just punk rock, but anything that started to veer into hard rock, right? With fear that, you know, this might happen again, with fear that this might happen again, that like all fans of any genre that is rocking is going to follow and do the same thing. Anything this side of Jimmy Buffett is out of bounds now.

Well, rest in peace, Shadow of the Red-Eyed Phenomenon. That hit me pretty hard. Oh, you're a parrot head. I'm a parrot head. I saw him about seven times, so I discovered him through my father. I'm sorry'm a parrot. Oh, you're a parrot head. I'm a parrot head, and I saw him about seven times. So I discovered him through my father. I'm sorry for your loss.

A lot of people love that guy. Yeah, you discovered him through your dad, I was going to say, because we're similar vintage, and I felt way too young for Jimmy Buffett. But if you get it through your dad, that explains it. All right, so to put a bow on the teenage head um uh story here there is a benefit to having a riot at your concert which is that sales of your album will surge yeah i mean for them yeah apparently you know by about 10 000 you know i guess almost everyone who was at that show must have bought a copy, right? In just three days following the show, that's quite a bump.

Yeah, not too bad for sales. Make some noise. Cut through the noise there. Okay. So just to reset here, we've gone through four fun facts, and there's 101 in the book, so go get the book. We have three more to go. I do want to shout out recyclemyelectronics.ca

because that's where you go if you have old electronics, old tech, old devices that you need to throw away. You don't put in the garbage. You go to recyclemyelectronics.ca. There will be a place near you that is accredited by the EPRA

and they will properly and safely recycle your electronics so those chemicals don't end up in the landfill so thank you recycle my electronics dot c a pumpkins after dark uh of course if this this award-winning event is uh starting soon we're talking here on September 15 I believe it starts on the 23rd of September and it runs through Halloween. Buy your tickets now because you can save 15%

with the promo code TOMIKE15. PumpkinsAfterDark.com. Check out the award-winning Halloween event in Milton, Ontario. And I want to shout out an excellent podcast you should all subscribe to. It's called The Advantaged Investor by Raymond James Canada. Learn how to plan, invest, and live smarter.

Whether you already work with a trusted financial advisor or currently manage your own investment plans, The Advantaged Investor provides the engaging wealth management information you value as you pursue your most important goals. So you'll find the advantaged investor from Raymond James Canada, wherever you find this very podcast, Toronto Mike. Thank you for listening. Fun fact, TMLX 14 is at Palma Pasta on December 9 at noon. Palma's Kitchen, to be precise, and Great Lakes will be available there. Shout out to Great Lakes Beer. Let's get to another jam. piano plays

He's five foot two And he's six feet four He fights with missiles and with spears He's all of 31 and he's only 17 He's been a soldier for a thousand years He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew And he knows he shouldn't kill

And he knows he always will kill You for me, my friend, and me for you And he's fighting for Canada He's fighting for Canada He's fighting for France He's fighting for the USA And he's fighting for the Russians And he's fighting for Japan And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for democracy He's fighting for the reds He says it's for the peace of all He's the one who must decide Who's to live and who's to die And he never sees the writing on the wall But without him, how would Hitler have been? Doesn't feel right to fade down

Universal Soldier by Buffy St. Marie. I love this woman. David, I love this woman. She's fantastic. She's another one of those Canadian treasures, for sure. Still going strong. It was sad to read her post on social media the other week saying that she's not going to be performing anymore.

But I was fortunate to see her in my hometown a few years back. I think it was right after the pandemic with my father when she played center in the square with White Horse Opening. And that was a pretty special night. Remind us, what's your hometown? Waterloo. Shout out to Waterloo. Yeah, she's wonderful because I used to watch her on Sesame Street when I was a kid.

And I considered her my second mother there. Okay, so you tell me the fun facts that we can learn about in your wonderful book. And then I'll share a fun fact for the FOTMs and the listenership that has been discussed on this show several times. Yeah, I mean, when it comes to Buffy, I mean, she really was a woman of so many firsts. And I think for those who want to learn more about her, you can read Andrea Warner's a fantastic, uh, book she wrote a few years ago, um, that really gets into a lot of this, uh, you know, her life and her journey and a lot more history. Um, but yeah, she was a trailblazer both for, uh, you know, women's rights, indigenous rights. Uh, I mean, you mentioned, uh, you know, watching as a kid, uh, Sesame Street. And, and yeah, I mean, that was one of the things

that, uh, you know, apparently in the, in the, uh, the seventies, um, there was a time when, uh, you know, breastfeeding, uh, especially in the U S was, uh, not, uh, something that, uh, they thought, I think a lot of it probably went back to, you know, the companies that were selling all the formula and they didn't want to lose out on their sales. But yeah, basically Buffy breastfed her son on live television and she was the first one to do that, to talk about how it was safe and tell young mothers this is something that is probably better to do for your child. And just one of the many firsts that Buffy did throughout her incredible career.

All right. In 1969, when Buffy St. Marie is 28 years old, she releases her sixth record, Illuminations. What made that album significant? record, Illuminations. What made that album significant? With that one, I think a lot of it was

she always liked to experiment with music and sounds and even though she came out of more of that folk school, that's how she started playing in folk music and clubs. Let me insert my fun fact here since you're in folk music and clubs.

Let me insert my fun fact here since you're talking about the folk clubs. But listeners of this show know for many, many years we were sponsored by Sticker U. And the founder of Sticker U is a guy named Andrew Witkin. Well, as it turns out, and again, the listenership knows this because you listen to all the episodes, right? But Andrew's dad is barry whitkin and barry whitkin is one of the founders of the purple onion which was a uh like a coffee shop in yorkville where the folksies like joni mitchell would drop by and play and the story that uh i was told by barry whitkin is that Buffy St. Marie wrote universal soldier at the, at the purple onion in Yorkville in the early sixties.

So boom, take that fun fact, Jane Sibury. Yeah. Buffy didn't bail there. Buffy did not bail there. Okay. So it's the,

okay. I want to get this right. Cause I can't pronounce this word. Buckla B-U-C-H-l-a the buckla 100 synthesizer that's the first okay so the uh illuminations is the first record to feature vocals processed through a buckla and i'm going to find out later it's buckla or something but buckla 100 synthesizerizer is also the first album recorded using quadraphonic technology, an early cousin of surround sound. So the record, not a commercial success, but it's one of the earliest examples of electronic music. Like this woman was just ahead of her time.

Yes, she really was. I mean, that's one example. And another fascinating fact about her that I had, I had no idea. Because again, you think of Buffy and you think of the, you know, the bigger songs that she, you know, won Grammys or Oscars for, you know, like, you know, the one you played, Universal

Soldier or Up Where We Belong that she wrote and Joe Cocker, um, an officer and a gentleman. Yeah. It was from that film. And, and that,

so that was another first, I think she, she was the first, uh, indigenous woman, uh, to, to win an Oscar.

See, I think she was the first indigenous person. Like we could remove woman as a qualifier. Probably. Yeah, definitely. So she, so Buffy,

so just, I got to slow down and make sure people can process this, okay? Because some people are listening to us in two times. I think Wise Blot's listening in three times. But Buffy St. Marie is the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar because Up Where We Belong, which she co-wrote for Officer and a Gentleman,

won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Yeah, it's pretty incredible. And she, that example of using these new instruments and new recording techniques, you know, that was what she was all about. She just wanted to always, she wasn't content to just, you know, strum her guitar and, you know, sing folk songs or protest songs. She was always trying to create. Trailblazer. Yeah, Trailblazer for sure. Okay, love it. Long May She Run.

That's a teaser for the last song, actually. But let's get to a big band that I just adored as a teenager. Let's do it. I would like to go And if you wouldn't mind I would like to lose And if you wouldn't care I would like to leave And if you wouldn't mind I would like to breathe Is there another reason for you staying?

Could you believe it when you first stayed? If there's another, well then, rather shame And if you were a man, I would lie to you David, are you a Nirvana fan? Yeah, definitely. I really love Nirvana and the whole grunge scene that they came from. This is intentionally, I chose a jam from Bleach.

Now, I'm not cool enough to have bought Bleach before Nevermind. I went like this. I went Nevermind, Incesticide, and then Bleach. But all three kind of bang, bang, bang. And loved Bleach. Still love Bleach. I play Bleach all the time now. But when Nirvana

was promoting Bleach, their first album, they played Lee's Palace. Yeah. That was back April 16th, 1990. And this is taken from a little section story That I decided to include and grouped a few together About kind of these, you know, big acts, low attendance kind of idea

And I'm sure many of you can speak to a show you might have been at At some point where, and then you look back You're like, I can't believe that band played in this venue, and then also that, you know, it wasn't sold out or it wasn't... You know what, I bet you there's people listening right now where this is like one year apart. Like, there's that phenomenon where you see a band, an up-and-coming band in a small venue,

and it feels like you're there with 100 people, and the next year they're like, I don't know, they're headlining their Canada Centre or the Scotiabank Arena or something. Sometimes that ascent is very rapid. But how many people, do we know how many people were at Nirvana's 1990

concert at Lee's Palace? Which, by the way, I want to shout out. It was presented by Elliot Lefkoe, who, although he's a listener, not an FOTM quite yet, but his brother's an FOTM, so shout out to Perry Lefkoe, who, although he's a listener, not an FOTM quite yet, but his brother's an FOTM, so shout out to Perry Lefkoe. But how many people, do we know how many people were at this Lee's Palace show? Apparently only about a hundred people showed up. The band, according to Elliot, they were paid a thousand bucks. So, you know, they did all right for this early gig, but

it shows. Here's another example of a, you example of a band that played a small club in Toronto. You can't imagine that for how they exploded and where they went on to play, headlining festivals and large arenas. Oh my God, okay. We have a few more great examples, but we will say that that show at Lee's Palace is pre-Groll, so that's back when Chad Channing was the drummer for Nirvana. So early days. As you know, because you're a good FOTM,

you know the Garys have been on this program and you've been on yourself to discuss in great detail the history of the Horseshoe Tavern. And I love the story about when the police play the Horseshoe Tavern in November 1978. Yeah, I mean, I talked about that one in my Horseshoe book and got the firsthand stories from the Garys, as you mentioned, the legendary promoters from Toronto here that have brought so many acts to this city.

And many times they brought them here first, right? And they discovered them. And yeah, it's one of my favorites. And I figured it couldn't hurt to include it again here about the police, you know, playing the horseshoe tavern, you know, a couple nights back in 1978. Well, here's a couple of details I got from your book, which is amazing.

One is that I guess there was a $200 fee that the Garys were paying the police, but they felt so bad because the attendance was pitiful. Like I've heard again, every time I hear this story, it's a lower attendance. Like some people are saying like, oh, nine people showed up. So I don't know what the real number is, but the police felt so bad about the attendance at the horseshoe for their

shows that they gave the Garys back their $200 fee. Yeah. I mean, when do you think of a musician a struggling artist right at that? A, having the, you know, honesty or having, you know, to be so empathetic with a promoter that they would give the money back. And how amazing, because, you know,

the Gary secret was they had to like the artist. Like they had to legitimately like the artist's music before they would book them. They only booked artists they like, which is kind of a smart way to do business for them. But it means they get the police before the masses are ready for the police. But it was only six

months later that Roxanne breaks. And then Roxanne's all over the radio and the rest is history. The police become the police. Yeah. I mean, and it's one of those stories. They had their all over the radio. And the rest is history. The police become the police. Yeah. I mean, and it's one of those stories. They had their ear to the ground and kind of knew that there was something special with this band and had them in before everyone really discovered them. But the nice thing with that story, too, is that you hear this, you know, going back to Elliot Lefkoe, I think the same thing.

A lot of these promoters that develop these relationships with artists, when they come back to town, they use their services again, even though they could, you know, go with a bigger promoter, you know, the corporate live nation or whatever. But for a long time, they would say, hey, I want the Garys to promote our next show. And the police did that as long as they could for the next bunch of shows when they came back and played Massey Hall a few years later. Wow. Okay, so we talked about Nirvana playing Lee's Palace and then you got your Horseshoe Tavern gig for the police. But here's one I'm not as familiar with.

Tell me about Led Zeppelin at the Rockpile. Yeah, that one's another neat one because, again, it speaks to the promoter. And in this case, it was John Brower, who, you know, another local impresario in Toronto back in the kind of late 60s. And I don't know if you saw that documentary that came out. I mentioned it in my book as well about it was the Toronto, was it the Rock Festival or what was the name? But they put a movie out and this is the one

where John Lennon played. Okay, this just arrived on my crave. So I've been watching The Sopranos again because my wife hasn't seen it. Yeah, so I've been watching that with my wife and son because we've never watched it before. So I watched it in real time, loved it so much and it's and then uh i learned that my uh my my wife monica had never seen the sopranos so literally yesterday we watched the pine barons episode when paulie walnuts and

christopher lost in the woods and the russian guy and okay i'm just loving my rewatch of the sopranos but it means every night i pop on to Crave and I see it's there. So I'm going to be watching this documentary because this is like when they got, the promoter got John Lennon to appear at, well, I went to U of T, so it was at Varsity Arena. Yeah, so that's a fascinating

story and I was digressing there a bit but it was because it was... No, I'm glad you shouted it out because I just saw it and I want to see it. Yeah, it's definitely worthwhile and it's the same promoter. John Brower. Yeah, John Brower. So, I mean, he basically, he was behind both of those.

There was also the Toronto Pop Festival that happened later that same year. This was all in 1969. Big year for John. Yeah, big year for John. And so he basically brought Led Zeppelin into the rock pile February 2nd 1969 and same thing their self-titled debut had just been released a few weeks before south of the border

and you know initial reviews were coming in they were pretty good but you know the attendance was pretty low because I think again he was just ahead of that curve that people hadn't had a chance maybe to buy the record yet I mean those days those days, it wasn't the same, right, where people were releasing singles every week before the record or every month before the record comes out. So just before Zeppelin breaks, that's before the levy breaks. See what I did there? Okay. But let's be clear about something for the youngsters. Okay. So when we talk about the rock pile, because that name's kind of been co-opted a bit, but that was a club inside

the Masonic Temple at Yonge, the one with just 888 Yonge. Yeah, yeah, and that's actually where I'm going to see a concert. Was that on the recording or was that before the recording? I don't know, yeah. Okay, we chatted about it. Maybe it was on the recording. We talked about DJ Ron Nelson bringing the hip-hop acts there. Okay, that's your next book.

Yeah, and I'm going there tonight to see Black black country new road a band that my son turned me on to and yeah looking forward to it because i haven't haven't been to the venue but another one of those historic places that uh yeah it's had different names over the years right uh concert hall yeah concert hall rock pile and now it's 888 young but yeah but here's where i thought the confusion might come in, which is why I wanted to specify where the Rock Pile was. Because today, because you're right now in Southern Etobicoke, but in Southern Etobicoke, we have a venue called the Rock Pile now.

That's right. And that was a mother's pizzeria when I was growing up. And I loved mother's pizza. Do you remember mother's pizza? Yeah, we had one in Kitchener-Warlow too. Loved it. It was great. They had the Coke floats, right?

Just my whole memory of the mother's Pizza? Oh, yeah, we had one in Kitchener-Warlow, too. Loved it. It was great. They had the Coke floats, right? Just my whole memory of the Mother's Pizza is like, it's like, did that happen? It's just amazing. But Mother's long gone. But the Rock Pile is there now. So it's like, oh, they played the Rock Pile. It's like, oh, they played like Dundas Street and Etobicoke. It's like, no, this is actually 888 Young,

where you will be tonight. And I will be there recording from there when the Tea Party and I Mother Earth show up there. So exciting times. Okay, so I played Nirvana. That's the only non-Canadian act I'm playing on this program. That's a fun fact for you. And that includes the opening and closing themes here. We're closing with another Canadian artist.

Because, you know, we've got to pay our respects to the patron saint of all Canadian music. Here we go. Here we go. Old man, look at my life I'm a lot like you were Old man, look at my life I'm a lot like you were old man look at my life 24

and there's so much more live alone in a paradise that makes me think of two Love lost such a cost Give me things that don't get lost Like a coin that won't get tossed Rolling home to you

Oh man, take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you I need someone to love me the whole day through I want to look in my eyes and you can tell that's true David, I know you're a big Neil Young fan. Yeah, I'd say that's one way to put it. Yeah, I think I've seen him in concert more than anyone else. And yeah, I would say he is kind of my touchstone when it comes to musicians. He's your ride or die, your number one. Yeah, and I'm fortunate I'm going to go down to Indianapolis next weekend to Farm Aid, which I've been to many, many times,

and just looking forward to seeing Neil once again. So you write in the book here that this book is 101 fascinating Canadian music facts and you write that you could have written this whole book about fascinating facts regarding Neil Young. Is that the next book? Like maybe that's the next book. Yeah, it could be. Well, I mean, you think about it.

I mean, Neil's had so many books written about him. He's written several books himself and he's such an ornery, interesting guy, right? Think about it. I mean, Neil's had so many books written about him. He's written several books himself. And he's such an ornery, you know, interesting guy, right? So there is so much you could talk about when it comes to Neil outside of the songs, right? He's always been very opinionated on, you know, social and political matters. And, you know, he never holds back as well in terms of his opinion. Let's impeach the president. There's a lot of great stuff. For sure, right? Okay, so why don't we start

with the model train story. Yeah, that's what I decided to do here. I mean, people who really know Neil, they're probably aware of his fascination, maybe obsession, if you will, with trains. And so I thought that would be kind of a fun, different fact to include when I was trying to decide what story, fun story I would include about Mr. Young. And yeah, he basically started collecting Lionel trains uh kind of on a whim back in the the early 70s kind of early mid 1970s he was kind of just Christmas shopping uh you know out in LA and uh you know went in the store and you know found this kind of uh Lionel train and he said

that's kind of fun that's cool and uh you know he uh it just kind of that like neil and like a lot of musicians you know with guitars and other things especially when you've you earn the wealth that some of them do you've got all this disposable income and so when money's no object i mean yeah he took this to the extreme where he uh he even built a barn on his property you know his ranch out in out in L.A., in the hills there. And it was basically for his, you know, train set that was, you know, 2,000 square foot barn. And their inside was about 750 feet of track. Wow. Okay. Wow. Yeah.

And the, you know, you talk about Lionel trains. Okay. Wow. Yeah. And the, you know, you talk about Lionel trains. So for those who don't know, I guess this is a, like a brand of model trains, popular brand of model trains, I guess, because there's a, in your book, you mentioned the 1934 tagline for Lionel trains is a Lionel makes a boy feel like a man and a man feel like a boy. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously that's like looking back at all these ads, right? It's definitely a time and place and, you know, not as applicable in today's day of, you know, gender equality and everything else. But, you know, I think Neil kind of, he's always been a little kid at heart and he, you know, probably identified with that uh with that

slogan and that's that's part of the fascination why he loved trains but also it was something that allowed him to connect with uh you know his two sons um both of them that uh you know had you know had some uh physical and mental challenges so So, you know, the trains was something that for him, it was a way to connect with them on another level and enjoy some time with them out in this barn. And it was kind of peaceful, I guess, too, that it was also, you know, a time when he was away from the music. And that was part of, you know, what playing with the trains

and just hanging out was all about, I guess. David, you're three for three, buddy. I always enjoy it when you drop by. I enjoy your books. And I wish you much success with 101 fascinating Canadian music facts. We touched on seven of them today. But again, my math skills are impeccable. That tells me there's 94 more in this book.

Yeah, thanks, Mike. Pleasure as always. Great to be back here for a third time. And yeah, like you mentioned, buy the book and you can read about the rest of those fun facts. And tune into the West End Phoenix newsletters and tweets and everything from FOTM Dave Bedini. Because it sounds like you got a book launch in a couple of weeks.

So I'm going to try to be there. That sounds awesome. All right. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, stay tuned. More details to follow on that one. And that brings us to the end of our 1,326th show. You can follow me on Twitter.

Remind us, how can we follow you, David McPherson? On Twitter, whatever it's called now. Just call it Twitter, man. I will always call it. I'm not switching over. At McPherson.com, C-O-M-M. Same on Instagram as well. I think that's a

tell. If somebody were to call Twitter X, I think you now know what kind of person you're dealing with. I think that's a tell. I'm going to steer clear of that person. They are not a sane individual. It's a hard one, right? Like a lot of people, I think I've been contemplating leaving it. I've got a foot in, so i've dipped my toe into blue sky

yeah which is nice it's peaceful and quiet but it's also nice and peaceful and quiet like there's where are where have all the cowboys gone right i mean so uh we got to find a balance here but i always think the next move he makes if it if he's got to just next move he makes that pushes me out of twitter then i'll just i'll be taking my talents to blue sky like I'm LeBron James. I'm at Toronto Mike there, by the way. I'm also on Twitter though, but I haven't said the magic words yet.

Oh, did I? Have I said, and that? I probably have, but I'm going to do it again. And that brings us to the end of our 1,326th show. I did say this already. You can follow me on Twitter.

It's been a long day, David. I'm at Toronto Mike. David McPherson is McPhersonCom2Ms. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. You have to make a decision, David, whether you take that with you or not. I don't know the answer. I feel like that's a long time to keep it in your car.

Yeah, it might be. But it's not 40 degrees outside. Yeah, true enough. But I don't know. You've got to make a call in the next couple of minutes, though. Yeah, maybe I get hungry later tonight. You'll break your teeth on that frozen lasagna. Come on.

Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada. Pumpkins After Dark, they're at Pumpkins Dark. Remember, the promo code is TOMIKE15. Use it. Share it with friends

and family. It helps the show and keeps the show free and it's good for everybody. And Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. There's a new episode of Brad Jones'

excellent Life's Undertaking podcast. You can find that. You can find The Advantage Investor and of course, Toronto Mic'd wherever you get your podcasts. My next episode

is Sunday night at 8 o'clock. You can watch us live at torontomic.com. We're in the backyard. It is toast. We're kicking out angel jams and my guests as usual for toast are coy and vance i mean uh rob pruse from spoons and bob willett see you all then

and then monday royal wood drops by that's his real well it's on his birth certificate that's what i'll say royal wood is on he's a great songwriter yeah isn't, it's on his birth certificate. That's what I'll say. Royal Wood is on his birth certificate. He's a great songwriter, yeah. It's like, come on. I would have lost a bar bet that Royal Wood was not on his birth certificate. But we'll see you then. Peace and love.

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 and Everything is rosy and gray Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah