Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Douglas John Cameron and Banjo Duncan Fremlin: Toronto Mike'd #1602

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

In this 1602nd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Douglas John Cameron and Banjo Duncan Fremlin from Whiskey Jack about Mona With the Children, Whiskey Jack and O L D. And yes, they perform live! Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, The Yes We Are Open podcast from Moneris and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

Welcome to episode 1602 of Toronto Miked! 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. Palma Pasta Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Season 7 of Yes We Are Open, an award-winning podcast from Monaris, hosted by FOTM Al Greggo. Recyclemyelectronics.ca, committing to our planet's future

means properly recycling our electronics of the past. And Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Joining me today, making his Toronto Mike debut, is Douglas Cameron, alongside FOTM Banjo Dunk. This is Whiskey Jack. Welcome gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Good to be here.

At your age, it's good to be anywhere. I see you haven't dug out the basement since I was here last. Well, you're shrinking, so I feel it's perfect. Good to see you. This is, you've been in the basement a few times now because you've been a co-host for some episodes of Toronto Mic'd. Yes, and I must say I was on your website yesterday just looking at the at the alumni, the list of people. The guest link.

I see there were musicians, There were print people there were they were there even had a category for miscellaneous and But nowhere was my name to be seen so I had to go down to the bottom at the bottom There was sponsorship and there I was so I paid to get my name on that Goddamn list by any means necessary You did pay to get on the list, but I will just make sure I'm crystal clear to the listenership, the FOTM's, to Tyler Stewart listening right now. I need to be crystal clear. You did not give me even one red cent, not a penny for this appearance right now. This is completely authentic and organic that I have a whiskey jack on the program. Correct. I did not pony up a penny.

You did not pony up a penny. This is. Well, I didn't say I didn't pony up a penny, but you definitely did not. And I want to just be transparent because I got this email from a Karen wrote me and I don't need a Karen in the defamatory sense. I received an email from a Karen and this Karen had two complaints. This email arrives in my inbox this morning from a Karen. this Karen had two complaints.

This email arrives in my inbox this morning from a Karen and I take these emails very seriously. It's like, why is, why, why is Banjo Duncan, Duncan Fremlin the great, why is he under sponsors instead of under musicians where he'll be for this episode? And then why did it take so long to get Douglas and Douglas, do you prefer I use your middle name Douglas John Cameron? Well, that's sort of how I'm going these days Douglas John Cameron. Okay, I can adapt here. Okay, so Douglas John Cameron

Why did it take so long so? Dunk who is this Karen that is harassing me via email. Well, obviously a fan of she listens to her program I can I can flesh out this story. Yes, please you want to know yes, please you want to know the truth I want the real talk well, I get this text this morning with a suggestion that I coerce my spouse my sweetheart to send it the part about why haven't you had me on your show before. And Lily is a high-powered lawyer and she just gave me a withering look.

I'm not doing that. And said, no. Don't always up to something, eh? No, it's too much. It's way too much. It's like every single thing that can happen, he's looking for an opportunity to do something to make it outrageous, to attract attention. It was a wrong that had to be righted. And I couldn't think of any other way to do it. I didn't want to be, I didn't want to come here and say to you, Mike, this is real talk and this is the way it is. What the hell's going on with that?

But I would have appreciated that. Like I would have actually, you said to you, Mike, this is real talk and this is the way it is. What the hell's going on with that? But I would have appreciated that. Like I would have actually moved. You said to me, Mike, I'm worthy of being under musicians, not under sponsors, because that did that was recording was during your brief period pre pandemic when you were sponsoring the program. No, I would have moved. No, I wouldn't want to get it that way. I would. It's like me calling.

It's like me calling the Ontario Country Music Association and saying, hey guys, why don't you nominate Whiskey Jackets for the Hall of Fame? It would be like me doing that. And I would never do that, Mike. You've never done that. No. Give me the, I would say a stack of Bibles.

I want you to swear on the Ridley funeral home measuring tape. However, I may get my wife to do this. This is why the word Karen is used so negatively. It's because you keep using your wife's email account. Can I talk to the manager? All these angry emails coming from a Karen in the GTA. Okay, so Dunk, you're a great friend of the program,

been on many times, but am I right that this is the first time in the history of a 1600 plus episodes of Toronto Mike that Douglas John Cameron's voice has been on the the mics? It's taking that long. It's true. It's very true. Although I did come here once to pick either pick Duncan up or drop something. I don't know. I don't't remember oh maybe you were dropping off books I had yes maybe I had some occasion Stomp and Tom book to come here can you still buy that book yeah I have a few left 16 have sold 1600 of these books by the way so tell people quickly it would get back to this story about his parents copulating on my street but where how

exactly can someone pick up the book what is it called do it do it off the top we'll... Yeah, it's called My Good Times with Stomp and Tom. It's still available on, I, I mail it out on, on the whiskeyjackmusic.com. You can buy it there. I have it at most of my shows and I'm working on a second book right now that will sort of piggyback onto this book. It's called Stories um, stories not fit for the stage. It's an anthology of stories that I've accumulated over the years from, you know, being on the road and hanging out with Tom and Tommy Hunter and all those other characters.

Wow. I've also gotten stories from FOTM's, uh, Brian and Bruce Good gave me a story for the book. Uh, Andy Kern from, uh, Coney Hatch gave me a story for the book. Andy Kern from Coney Hatch gave me a story for his encounter with Paul McCartney. I have a really it's going to be very it's a very exciting program project. At first I was just going to do I just needed some new products so I thought you know over the course of the winter I'll write another book and get it published and for the tour next 2025 I'll have some some books some some new books to sell. And then I was talking

to my friends and next thing you know they're all sending me stories and I thought well I'm going to make this into something a little bigger so because we all have stories. I'm sure, I'm sure Toronto Mike has a story about some bizarre encounter that happened down here in this weird little basement of yours. I have been approached to write a book because yeah over 12 years, 1600 episodes, I've got a story too like this guy who keeps using his wife's email account to harass me. I got a story for that. So, Dunk, we're gonna get back to you of course. I got some music here. Okay, before we do that, do you mind Mike if I just take a little bit of time? So, the very first

guitar player, this is serious Douglas, the very first guitar player for Whiskey Jack, his name is Paul Wickham and he died a couple of days ago. I just found out from his brother yesterday. Sorry. Yeah and so I can say easily here that there would be no Whiskey Jack today had it not been for Paul Wickham. So he was an incredible guitar player, worked at Cosmo Music up in Richmond Hill for most of his life, toured with us for a year and a half, and was just instrumental in us getting this thing off the ground.

And a great man. The family itself is renowned. Darcy Wickham is his brother. He's a famous teacher in the city guitar teacher it's in the family the you know the music's in the family but it's a great loss that happened very quickly and I just wanted to you know salute shout out to Paul Wickham. Okay that you know what I was gonna get on you for interrupting my Douglas John Cameron intro here but that was actually really tender and sweet so I can gonna get on you for interrupting my douglas john cameron intro here But that was actually really uh tender and sweet so I can't get on you for that one

But douglas i'm sure there'll be more opportunities but john douglas john cameron I'm gonna ask so so maybe we set the table by you telling me now when and how you met banjo Duncan freamlin. Okay, so that's a great story. I was living on Eaton Avenue, just up from the Eaton Tavern, the famous Eaton Tavern on the Danforth.

And I have a dear friend who at one time lived in Peterborough in Ottawa, he was a guitar builder, instrument maker. He now lives in Denver. And he created this instrument called a banjola, which is a kind of hybrid mandola banjo. Anyway, he made me his Canadian representative to try to flog these. And so I had a little event at my house and my friend Edward came up and we were playing banjola and I sent out emails to everyone I know and a bunch of people came over to

the house and we were going to have a little performance and try to sell these banjolas. And I look at it in the audience, and there's only one person I don't know, and it's this weird little guy sitting there, kind of hunched over with a kind of a sour look on his face as everything's going on. I think, oh, I don't know that guy.

That guy disappears at some point, and I think, oh, I never think about him again. Next thing he shows up and he buys two banjo lists so suddenly there the number of banjo the players in Canada has doubled Because I'm the only other one and and I have fulfilled my obligation to try to sell banjo you met your quota And so then Duncan was at that time Shortly afterwards was was putting on, it was just after Stomp and Tom had died,

and he was putting on his sort of annual birthday party show. And we ended up doing it at the Eaton Tavern, and Duncan asked me to help him. And we became friends. And I started- So what year approximately? Oh God, when was that? 2014. 2014. Okay, so 10 years ago. Tavern and Duncan asked me to help him and we became friends and I started what year approximately? Oh god

2014 2014 okay, so ten years you're in your ten year anniversary Yeah, okay, so so then I started hanging around whiskey jack and they'd be playing at the Cadillac Lounge or you know someplace and I'd hang around and I'd bring my mandolin and Duncan would ask me to come up and play and the other members would look at me with scowls on their faces like, who are you? What are you doing here? Right. And I don't know what it was, but I thought to myself, I really want to be in this band. And eventually, I weaseled my way in and I became the guitar player, initially because

Bob, who the wonderful guitar player and singer, was having medical issues and couldn't play guitar, so I started doing the guitar parts. And then I took over singing when Bob finally had to retire from the band. And this is an interesting thing now. I'm obviously, as a guitar player in Whiskey Jack, I'm following in great footsteps. And I'm, you know, this story about Paul and Bob and all these guys. Keeps going. Well, since you're fresh meat, Douglas, I'm going to take you pre-Banjo Dunk.

Yes. Because when I first met, and Dunk, am I right that it was Tyler Stewart who turned you on to what was going on in this space? Yeah, dressing, I was sitting in the dressing room and I asked him one day after a game, what's your favorite podcast? Because I kind of just started to explore the nice little Toronto mic. I think he might have just been on your show not long before. Well, Tyler Stewart, I love that guy and we correspond. I've been trying for like almost a decade to get him back in the basement, but glad we had the long first episode. And I'm glad he introduced me to you. So we got to know each other. You came over, you'd come to events.

I definitely saw a Douglas John Cameron at a TMLX event at Great Lakes Brewery. Yes, yes. Yeah, and I remember thinking, I can't believe like Dunk is playing in Whiskey Jack with Douglas John Cameron, and that Douglas John Cameron is responsible for this song that I heard as a kid, not trying to date you here, but I heard it as a,

I don't know, a 10 year old or something. Can I play the song and can you give us the definitive music, sorry, the definitive story of this song and then we'll find out who the heck were you pre-dunk, if you will, I kind of like that expression, pre-dunk here. So here is the song. So it's, you know, you know your song. So it's going to take a bit here, but let's drink it in.

And then we'll talk about it. I'm gonna be a man. Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey A sixteen year old girl living in a land so cruel She said, this is where I've got to be Taken in the night, her heart full of light She said, this is where I've got to be

How can I tell you, how could she be So young to know the truth in all her dreams To stand before them, to hear them say Save your life and throw your faith away Mother, I bet you'll send your love to me All around the world we'll go dancing Mother, I bet you'll send your love to me Douglas, please tell me everything you can about this song that I feel like I've been hearing it for 40 years now and it's been in my head for 40 years.

Please tell me about Mona with the Children. Wow, hearing it like that with the headphones on is amazing. I haven't listened to it like that for years. It is 40 years next year that it was released. Well as I'm listening to it I'm thinking about the musicians who were playing on it. Kevin McKenzie on drums. I don't know if you know Kevin McKenzie. In the 80s there were two or three, maybe three or four studio drummers that played in Toronto. Kevin was one of them. Dave Pilch on bass. Dave who now lives in California and has toured with you know everybody on earth

and recorded. So and Michael Francis, Pepe Francis playing electric guitar. I can't think of else. I find it so thrilling to hear it like that, the way it builds. So what had happened? In the 80s, I was a member of the Baha'i Faith and I had started working on musical projects that had to do with the Baha'i Faith, mostly to do with kids and youth, mostly kids and youth, mostly recordings that were not going out to the general public necessarily, just sort of distributed amongst the Baha'i communities worldwide. And this story emerged of this young woman in Iran who had been executed along with nine

other women in 1983, I believe. And I was working on some music for a youth conference, a Baha'i youth conference. And I was asked to write a song about Mona. And I'll tell one story that sort of puts it in perspective. I thought to myself, not possible. Can't write a song about this. This is too horrible a thing.

How can you write a pop song? And I was living in Peterborough at the time and I was walking to go to my girlfriend's house when I think it was a Sunday night just to go over and I don't know have a dinner and watch TV or something. And uh okay the guys are giving me the eye. That's terrible. Anyway, I was walking off the curb in front of the police station in Peterborough, and I got the idea of dancing. And I thought, oh, dancing? Well, that, okay. Maybe you could write a song about that. I went home. I did not stay over at my girlfriend's that night.

I went home to where I was living, and I started to fool around with the guitar and started to make up this song. Long story short, I did a version of this song that's different than this version that was originally released to the Bahia community. And about two years later in 1985, I was sort of deciding not to be a pop star. I had tried for a couple of years.

I wasn't really getting anywhere. And I thought, okay, I'm gonna go to university, become a teacher. And around the same time, I was, the person who had asked me to write the song called me and said, you know, we've got some people together. We wanna tell the story of Mona.

We're gonna make a music video. Music videos were brand new. much music was just around. Yeah, launched in 84, we just did the 40th anniversary. Yeah, and music videos were a big deal because they were becoming the way in which music was being promoted but they were also a way in which the artist kind of became available to the listener. So this video was made and on the day that the video was being shot, the very first day, it was shot over three days in Toronto and around Toronto,

Bernie Finkelstein from True North Records phoned up and said, he knew Jack, we had presented all my demos to him, Jack Lenz who was the producer. Bernie phoned up and said, I want to put this out, there has to be an artist, there has to be an album. So in very short order, I had a record that was being put out by True North Records, which was a lifetime dream of mine from when I was a kid. But here's the funny

story. So I had to rewrite the lyrics for the song when we were doing the video because the original song didn't really tell the story in the same way. And that was a little bit of a feisty process because I didn't really want to rewrite it, but I ended up rewriting it. And the only thing that was left from the original song was the idea of dancing. And as I was singing the lead vocal, which is the vocal you heard there, there was some discussion in the control room by all the people involved saying that they wanted to change this idea of dancing. And I remember it this way,

and I at that point didn't really care, I changed a lot of it, but I thought to myself, no, I'm not gonna change the dancing idea. And they said, I said, look, if you wanna change it, that's fine with me, but you'll have to get someone else to sing it. And the next, so they said, go ahead, sing it.

If we need to change it, we will. Don't worry about it, blah, blah, blah. Next day, Jack comes to me with a letter in his hand that he had received overnight from Mona's sister who had escaped with her mother, I think, to Yemen out of Iran. Mona and her father were both executed and her mother and sister

escaped and the sister went to visit Mona in the prison and just before these women were executed and Mona said to her sister, please pray we go to our execution dancing. And I said to Jack, good thing we didn't change that lyric. Wow. Wow. And I said to Jack, good thing we didn't change that lyric. Wow. Because to me, and to me that encapsulates the whole story. This young woman wanted to say something to the world and my little bit and getting this idea of dancing, which so obviously connects to what she wanted.

And that's how I feel about the whole thing, to be perfectly frank. It's wonderful. It's a wonderful thing to have had that experience. Well, it's a wonderful song. Like I literally, I heard it in 85, I guess. I saw the video. So I'm trying to think of where I would have seen it.

It would have been either like, I don't know, where would they have played it? Video hits? Oh yeah. Toronto, Toronto Rocks? Toronto Rocks, video hits. Yeah, I watched both. I was on both those shows and interviewed on those shows.

It was video hits, CBC, Toronto Rocks was CBC. Samantha Taylor on CBC was video hits. And then on City TV was John Major. John Major. Toronto Rocks, the late great John Major. That's right. And, you know, it was fascinating to see how people responded to the video. Incredible response to the story. Part of the video, it's so funny because I live in Riverdale, part of the video was shot at the Don jail because the the Don jail was built the same year as the jail in Iran that these women had been imprisoned in.

What else? Oh and Kevin McKenzie the drummer lives right around the corner from here. I see him walking our dogs all the time. Well you know Banjo Duncan attest to this when I learned that you guys were performing together in Well whiskey jack and any other projects that might have it may or may not have existed I can't confirm or deny there was ever a doogie and dunk. I don't know but I can tell you I Said to I couldn't believe you were they one in the same like the Douglas John Can't be Douglas John Cameron who performed Mona with the children like it's like it was like I discovered some archaeology Logical relic or something. It was like oh my god, and you had yeah It's like it's like I couldn't believe that you that you're that guy and even when I was promoting this episode somebody

multiple people through various channels would say like the Douglas John Cameron who sang Mona with the children like so how like I know it was played on video hits and it was played on Toronto Rocks and that's where I would have heard it would you got radio airplay with that song tons okay so what stations if you remember what stations would play like what I'm thinking at that time like would because they had already they'd gone top 40 at that point like 104.5 would 680 CFTR play that like where would you hear Mona with well I I don't really remember but it it it hit top 10 in Toronto top 20 in Canada wow if I remember

correctly. Wow. It was on everywhere yeah the radio I remember you know I don't remember the radio stations particular and it but it but it was probably all the great pop stations I mean the top 40 we got yeah. Yeah, I Eventually was deemed to be adult contemporary and that In some ways was the death nail. Oh, that's my tender Next question is so there must have been pressure like and Bernie's like, you know, I need another hit or something. I don't know how it works out. Bernie's been in the basement. He's an FOTM. You're now an FOTM Douglas John Cameron. So you join esteemed

greats like Tyler Stewart and Banjo Dunk on the Bernie Finkelstein and Bernie Finkelstein. Absolutely. Who I've been trying to get Bruce Coburn on Toronto Mike for so long. I've stopped asking Bernie's like, Oh, maybe soon, maybe soon, maybe soon. I'm still waiting. But I've got Douglas John Cameron here. So was there any pressure to follow that up with another top 10 hit? Well, here's the great irony of the whole business is that just before Mona with the Children, I had shopped demos to every record company that you can imagine and been turned down by every record company, including True North. When Mona with the Children got put out, all the demos that I had shopped,

those were the songs that were on the album. The thing about Mona with the Children and my career, because then I was Doug Cameron and I was, you know, Motel with the Children. It was what was called a perceived hit. It was a hit on the radio, it was a hit on the video channels, it did not sell. And it only sold 15,000 copies, the album. So at that point, as a commercial venture,

and in terms of the record companies, it wasn't gonna work. And I tried to do another album and I took demos and shopped them to all the record companies, it wasn't gonna work. And I tried to do another album and I took demos and shopped them to all the record companies, Drew North, everybody, and everybody turned them down. And at that point, and it took a couple of years, and I got the message and I said,

okay, I'm gonna try something else. Cause I was already 30 and I couldn't see myself without an income, without some, you know, meaningful employment. So I went to university and I studied singing at York University and after I graduated I did not get a job as a teacher as I'd hoped. I ended up writing music for television which I did for about 20 years. That's interesting. So any shows I know? I worked on a show, well I worked on a bunch of shows. One of the first shows I worked on that had any notoriety was called Ants in Your Pants on Treehouse TV.

And I was in a bunch of the episodes and I wrote a bunch of songs for them. I wrote a bunch of songs for shows on Treehouse. They were great, I loved working for them. I worked on a show called Doc that starred Billy Ray Cyrus. Of course, yes, of course. And that's why Miley Cyrus spent so much time here as a kid. That's right, I met Miley Cyrus as a kid.

And I also did a bunch of recording with Billy Ray Cyrus, which was a total, was total fun and wacky, totally wacky. You know, we can, we can no longer call that gentleman a one hit wonder because he had a smash hit with little Naz X, old town road. So you can no longer refer to the Billy Ray Cyrus as a one hit wonder, but we can refer the Billy Ray Cyrus as a one-hit wonder. Well we can refer to Douglas John Cameron as a one-hit wonder. No no no no no not really because because of Whiskey Jack. No no not at all. We got a Juno nomination for the Monish song but he just mentioned a song a few minutes ago called Ants in Your Pants and that was a hit as well.

It's just that it wasn't a hit amongst the adult crowd. If you were five years old between the years of 1995 and 2005 you knew ants in your pants. Okay because I have a 23, he'll be 23 next month and I think I just miss that because he was a big treehouse guy but he arrives on the planet in 2002. And then by the time he's probably absorbing that content, maybe it's a little post ants in your pants. Like I think I missed it. Maybe I missed it by this much. Well, he's like, maybe I shouldn't have missed it, but I had to, you know, put on my blinders.

Well, no, it I think they went on the air in 95. I can't remember exactly. And it was on for 10 years when when ants in your so ants in your pants was a video show for preschool kids, half hour of song videos with a little bit of puppet stuff going on. And I, there, I think the first season was 52 episodes, I was in 50 of them. It went on the air, four times a day, seven days a week. And if you were anywhere near a television and you were under the age of five,

you watched Ants in Your Pants. And I started going out doing live shows for kids. And the first one I did, I remember, I can't remember, it was somewhere up near Richmond Hill where I was living. And I didn't wear the hat that I'd worn in the video. And the crowd was angry, like visibly angry that I didn't have my hat on. Where's your hat?

And so I learned my lesson very quickly. I used to go out west because, oh, this was the most popular ants in your pants song with the fathers Would you rather have tea and little oatcakes? Ah, that's my buddy we love. Ah, that's my buddy we love. Do your socks get soggy? Steps in the puddle. Is your wee head so big? Do your socks get soggy? So it sounds to me like this show which I now regret missing was like much music for kids.

It was. And it was incredibly popular and incredibly successful. I'll tell you a funny story about that song. I got the job to write the songs for Ants in Your Pants in the last week of August. They were going on the air in November. I had to write 10 songs in a week and a half and supply them. And I was going like stink trying to write all these songs and record them because they were shooting the videos one a day. They were shooting a video every day when they started. They came to me and said we need something Celtic.

started. They came to me and said, we need something Celtic. And so I said, okay, so I did all this, I did this track of kind of like a fiddle tune, like what you're hearing there. And there were no lyrics and no singing. I thought they wanted Celtic tune, it's instrumental. And I gave it to them and they said, well, this is great, but we need lyrics. And I said, okay, so I went in the little room and I said okay I'm coming out a half an hour later with the lyrics and these were the lyrics about your socks getting soggy. Your socks get soggy. And then they said okay now you have to find somebody with a Scottish accent to sing it because you can't sing it you've been in too many of these videos. They couldn't find anybody so I did it myself.

many of these videos. They couldn't had to laugh because I'm no wee busy, that's for sure. The truth is I fell in a puddle and my socks got soggy. Do your socks get soggy when you step in a puddle? If Mike Myers can put on a Scottish accent for Shrek, you can do this for well that and your pants that song I Have it up on my my youtube channel, and it has hundreds of thousands of views Yeah And so many people that say that they really enjoyed it and when I used to perform The Fathers would all come to me after the show and say that's the song we like the soggy sock song We like that one it was so it was so much fun, I'll tell you I I used to do shows in Ontario place

Yeah, the forum it we know in the children's in the children's section Well, I did play once at the forum which was an amazing treat that was with Mona No, and I and so I do like three shows in an afternoon and to be there for two weeks or something and and I'd do like three shows in an afternoon, and I'd be there for two weeks or something. And I remember once, I'm singing Ants in Your Pants, I'm looking out at about 200 people, they're all singing along and doing the actions. And I thought, Douglas, you wrote two hit songs.

One was called Mona with the Children, and one was called Ants in Your Pants, because what's a hit song? It's a song everybody knows and that they love. And I thought, well, at least for this demographic, this is a hit song. Well, as it turns knows and that they love and I thought well at least for this demographic this is a hit song. Well as it turns out let's fast forward Douglas so this past summer we started including Ants in Your Pants we played provincial parks all summer we played 10 last year and this is a family they're there they're everybody's in a good mood it's really the ideal. Yeah I

go to a provincial park every summer. Yeah, that's our check I see that so you to play the pinery. Well as soon as they could pony up the bucks. It's Down it's by God or rich if you did God or rich and Sarnia is in the middle on Lake Huron So we've been playing the grand band We've been playing this song at all of our summer shows and it we were I think it was at Kalani the first time We love this learning and so in we combine it with a Stompin Tom song called the bug song okay it's very fun anyway we get them we get the we start doing the dance with

the audience and it was so funny the first time it happened we had to start the song we were laughing so hard everybody in the audience was was it was we weren't expecting this at all there's something contagious about this song that okay so now I take back the one hit everybody in the audience was, we weren't expecting this at all. There's something contagious about this song that... Okay, so now I take back the one hit wonder snark, okay? No, no, no, no. Please, please.

Absolutely. I was unaware of this chapter. That's why you're here, man. We're learning so much about you because we're going to get it back to Whiskey Jack in a moment here. But I had all these questions for decades about Mona with the Children and I didn't even realize you had this fantastic Children you're sort of like the Fred Penner. You're like a Fred Penner ask figure is better looking well, well it it it also showed the power of television and Kids television because that you know as soon as it was taken off the air that all disappeared it all went away and I do still do some kids performing, but not like I used to but did you ever consider leaning in? Raffi style or something like just this will be this is my new brand

I did and I and and for that period of time I pursued it fairly diligently I recorded Another I recorded a couple of kids' albums, which I don't know if they're even available in any way. But it is a tough... It's a tough... Well, there was a lot of competition and there were already some very established stars. I think I did pretty good considering what I did. Tell them the story of you walking into the dressing room

That time with the with the other kids stars. Well It's not a very nice story. I was this is real talk It's when I was when I was starting out doing kids music. Yeah, it happened accidentally I wrote some songs with somebody who who sort of wrote little songs and we, and I started playing them here and there. It was no big deal. And then I got the Ants in Your Pants job, which really kind of threw it into gear. And very early on, someone asked me to sing at a telethon in Hamilton. I think it's called, it was for a hospital, I can't remember. And I thought, oh, this is great. What a great opportunity, be on TV and sing.

So I go to Hamilton, it was a Sunday morning, and I thought, oh, I'm going to meet a lot of other kids entertainers. Won't this be fun? I'll enjoy this. And I walk into the dressing room and not a soul said hello. Wow, you're the competition. Well, at a limited market, and the new guy on the block, and I think this was before Ants in Your Pants, actually.

So I didn't really have any notoriety, but. You'd think they'd be so, oh, welcome, you know, great to see you, but no, they want you to just disappear from their space. They go do some Stompin' Tom songs or something with Banjo Dunk. Yeah, I think the thing that I never really understood, or certainly even around the Mona with the children time, was that it's a highly competitive market and world.

And you've got to have the goods, and you've got to have the gumption. You've got to really want it. You really want to you know Go for it kind of thing. You have to be prepared to be exploited Yes Absolutely, you have to be a little you have to you have to be a little mean I had an entertainment lawyer here yesterday wild episode Paul Farberman. His name is He was like working closely with Celine Dion, but he he's got you got to listen to this guy's episode

He was at the tears are not enough recording. I still think banjo dunk should have been on tears are not enough But thank you Mike you're just making up for your Well, I got some more don't worry We're getting whiskey Jack and I'm excited to to dive into what's new of whiskey Jack but this guy yesterday was talking about how he had an opportunity to Represent somebody in the Bieber camp some up-and-coming young star who has great potential. But he actually walked away from the deal because he thinks the game is so rigged now, he doesn't even want to spend the three years of loss to find out.

It's just a terrible, terrible industry. I always think, oh my God, good luck if you're trying to make it. They can make a living as a musician in this country. Is it safe to say that maybe that there was an element of that all along, but it's a little more prominent today than it was perhaps 25, 30 years ago? Well you would know better than me because you've had experience in the business, but you always- Well that's why I don't have a Hall of Famers.

It's rigged Mike, I'm sure. The game is rigged. Hey, I'm going to turn the channel here. I just want to play this because I, you know, joke with Mike Apple all the time. My back still aches when I hear that word. So I'm always talking to Mike Apple about... Way down southern Ontario, never had a nickel or a dime to show. A fella beeps up in an automobile, says you wanna go work on the tobacco field. He said I only give you seven bucks a day. If you're any good, you get a raise and pay.

Your bed's already on the bug house floor. If he gets a little tilly, just close the door. Tilsonburg. Tilsonburg. Oh, Tilsonburg. Tilsonburg. My back still aches when I hear that word. So we figure of course comes to worse at Roger's media and Mike Apple can always go back to Tilson Berg but every time we joke about him going back to Tilson Berg I think that I remind

him that my back still hurts when I hear that word. Alright so this is some Whiskey Jack right? That's it. Okay so what is new, so much I want to ask you about with Whiskey Jack, right? That's it. Okay, so what is new? So much I wanna ask you about with Whiskey Jack, but you guys have been kinda together for 10 years now, and Douglas got his way into Whiskey Jack. We've established that, and we've had a episode,

I wanna shout out episode 565. So write that down, everybody. And it was January, 2020. So we got in pre-pandemic here. I remember that feeling was just before the pandemic hit. Not good for you guys, but okay. Not good for anybody. In this 565th episode we recorded in January 2020, I chatted with Banjo Dunk about his work with Whiskey Jack and more, and then we kicked out the jams. So if you want a good 100 minutes with the great Banjo Dunk, Banjo Dunk and

Framelin, that's episode 565. All right, catch us up here. So a few things I know. One is that you should just promote this right now because people are all hooked. They want to know how can I see these wonderful gentlemen? How do I see Whiskey Jack? You guys have a December 22nd Christmas show. No, we had to postpone that. Travel interrupted our schedule so we've rescheduled that for I think it's the 26th of January at Freetime's Cafe and we're also, last night I went to the Cameron house to see our one of our new bass players perform and we're gonna be playing there at the end of February for

the very first time. We're gonna bring the Stompin' Tom show. So we're gonna be playing there at the end of February for the very first time we're gonna bring the Stompin' Tom show so we're two shows really Douglas and I do our thing as a you know just our material and then we go on the road and we use Tom's audience I always say we've borrowed Tom's audience for ten years and I couldn't begin to thank him because it gave us an opportunity to play for many hundreds and thousands of people over the last 10 years that we wouldn't otherwise have had so but you know the audience is dying rather rapidly so we're it's is demeaning well as this that's a fact and you know you ask you ask the kids today that are 30 or 40 unless you live in you know in

Maritimes or something they don't even know who Stomp and Tom is so that's the reality but doesn't doesn't matter to us because we're still here we are we're still going I mean we're you know Whiskey Jack's 48 years yeah but just about 48 years happening and hey that's pretty darn good and we're still that's fantastic we're still making you know you listen to the the song we I called you to promote a song the song probably the most popular song Whiskey Jack has had since 1979 it's a song that Douglas wrote and that's really why I called you to beg you for if I could come on one more time okay so I cuz I cuz as I have some more Whiskey Jack questions here and this won't be the last time you come on Toronto mic

I promise you that but what is the name of the... so you're gonna play live. What is the name of the song you're gonna play live? O-L-D. O-L-D. Okay what does that spell? My goodness gracious. Because I'm gonna play a different song just to set the table. Oh this is lovely. Great song. No bias there. It's a little slower than we normally planned. Yeah. I was on Quaaludes that day. Ha ha! This was recorded during COVID. Okay. Oh, let's smile again

For a while again For a while a smile It might be in style again When the style again is to smile again We might learn to sing a song of love and laugh again Oh, let's smile again For a while again For a while a smile it might be in style again When the style again is to smile again

We might learn to sing a song of love and laugh again Whatever happened to the friendly smile? I haven't seen a good one for a while. Lately when I'm walking down the street, people look like they just haven't got a friend to meet. Oh, let's smile again. There are four members of Whiskey Jack, am I right? Correct.

So I have two members in this basement right now. So I have 50% of Whiskey Jack, am I right? Correct. So I have two members in this basement right now. I have 50% of Whiskey Jack down here. Name the two people that are not in the basement right now. Billy McGinnis from Brockville, Ontario, originally from Prince Edward Island, toured with Stompin' Tom's fiddle player, keyboard player, guitar player, very super talented, terrific young man, great singer as well, originally from Prince Edward Island, toured with Tom for 13 years and we have a couple of bass players, we have

James Micheleni from here in the city and Chris Adrienz, who I went to see last night at the Cameron House. So I love this Mike, here we are, we're kind of aging musicians and we've been doing this a long time. And these bass players, these young kind of young kids come in and they add an energy and a perspective to this music that is, I think, given Douglas and I hold new breath in this and we're more enthused about the music today. I'm more enthused today than I've been in a long time. How's that you're seeing me. Partially because I get to I get to be on this program every once in a while. I'm not on the web page but I'm on the program and it's pretty cool. You're on the web page. I'm now on this program. I'm an FOTM. I'm very excited. Absolutely. So you are

an FOTM. You're also OLD and we're gonna hear OLD in a moment but I did get an email. I'm on your email distribution list So a couple of things so firstly, I apologize I had old notes that says you were playing on December 22nd at the free time's cafe that got bumped to January But you will be at the free times cafe. Did they I can't remember Did they name the Cameron house after Douglas John Cameron? Is that true or false? Oh, they should have Love that the Cameron I love the Cameron house. Okay, that is amazing. Now, we're going to hear OLD in a minute, but I want to ask you about another radio, like a terrestrial radio

show. Okay, so this is Tuesday morning, you're going to perform OLD. Two days from now on Thursday morning at about 9am. Are you going to play OLD on the morning Zoom? Yes. To the radio show? Yes. Andy and Jane. So there's a backstory to this. Yeah because I will can I have a little fun fact about Andy and of course Jane Brown a legend so let's hear. Yeah so a few weeks ago I get an email from Leanne who's Moses you know personal assistant and you know I've worked with Moses we've done Idea City I've been on the show many times they've been very supportive of Whiskey Jack and so and I've done many

shows at the Zumer Hall with Gordon Lightfoot and the Good Brothers and Prairie Oyster and all that so we've had a pretty good you know he calls me family and I'm pretty pleased about that. So I get a call a few weeks ago from Leanne saying that Moses would like to speak to me, you know, oh that's a mysterious thing. What would you know, what's that all about? That's exciting! Yeah, for sure. So Moses wants to speak to you.

Yeah, so I go in one afternoon and the, I mean, this is the power house. We've got Paul, the program director, we've got Leanne, we've got Moses, I'm in his big office and it's very playful world was this this was what a month month and a half ago and it's so much fun I mean we're just you know we're so comfortable with each other so anyway he wanted he's over he's starting he bought a radio station in on sound and he had this idea that Tom song around the bay and back again would be kind of a good song because it mentioned some of the, some of the towns around there. And so we discussed the,

you know, using that, the likelihood of that and, and the possibilities. So I suggested our version's better than Tom's version. He might want to use that one instead, but that was, and then, then, then I said, um, you know, really what you need is a brand new song. And his eyes lit up. He, he is, he got pretty excited. So Douglas and I got together and we sent him

another song about what two weeks ago, three weeks ago, we wrote one sort of along the same line, send it in to him. And so on Thursday, when I see Leanne and Andy in the game, I'll find out what the status. So the idea, Mike, is for that song to be the signature song for the new radio station in Owen Sound, which I think goes on the air January 1st, if the CRTC approves all this. So, and the other... Hold on. So slow your roll there. So Perry sound where you can actually visit Owen sound sorry Owen sound Okay, not Harry said no. Okay. Well

Different sounds pal Thanks Perry sound which is not Owen sound I'll get back to one sound in a minute because I want to make a point about Moses and like like commissioning songs for his media Properties, but Perry sound has a bookstore called Barely Used Books. And I just want to shout out this wonderful bookstore because I understand, because I've received emails from a Karen who's letting me know that you can still,

we can walk into Barely Used Books and Perry Sound and buy a copy of My Good Times of Stompin' Tom. And you could, it's a beautiful stocking stuffer, like tis the season to buy a copy for the music fan in your life. Absolutely. If I can just do also, anybody who's in that Muskoka area that's in the Perry Sound area,

there used to be a used bookstore in the village in New York City that was two or three stories and you walk in this place and billions of books, you'd go dizzy trying to, I forget what it's called but anyway this is here in Perry Sound they have a store just like that and this Melissa Henderson is the is the or not Henderson what's her last anyway Melissa's owns the place and this is the easily the best used bookstore in Canada so if you're in the Perry's I know dad about it and you can trade your books in and get credit for them.

So people up there, and I spent a bit of time in the summertime up there, you just constantly are taking books to barely used books. How long a drive is it from Perrysand to Owens Sound? Oh, Owens Sound? It's a bit of a hike. Yeah, that's about an hour and a half. You have to go around the Bay.

I still get my ports mixed up, like my Port Hope and my Port Perry mixed up. Yeah. My buddy retro Ontario lives in port Perry but I think Ziggy from speaking of Zoomer, Ziggy. Do you have a learning disability Mike? Probably. I got multiple. I got I famously got port Colburn and port Stanley mixed up. Oh because I get a Colp I get there's a Colburn and a Colburn there's two similar sounding names off the 401 Is that the is that when you took your wife to the wrong town? for for it was When we were first dating and I took her on a weekend getaway to the wrong

What was it a nice town no But I got them mixed up and I went to the one, not the other. Well, don't get your sounds mixed up. So Owen sounds just back to that real quick. And then I want to hear more from from Duncan. Then I want to hear you guys perform a lot. But I got to bring out a fun fact about Andy from the Andy and Jane show on the morning zoom, which is when city TV launched, Moses commissioned Tommy Ambrose to record a song

called People City and he envisioned that being like that's the anthem and and for a period of time in the early 70s I guess it was but People City there's an interesting documentary about People City and Tommy Ambrose that was made by Ed retro Ontario Conroy who lives in Perry no which one he lives in Port Perry but he is actually my guest I just gonna shut us out on Thursday when you guys are on the morning Zoom with Andy and Jane, uh, we'll be dropping Christmas crackers, volume six with ed retro Ontario, Conroy, and don't miss that.

But I wanted to give you the fun fact about Andy really, really quickly here, which is when I started producing the humble and Fred podcast in 2006, it's because humble and Fred were fired from Mix 99.9. Well, the producer at some point Howard, I know it's a boring story as I hear it in my head, but he re-emerges on Easy Rock. I love Easy Rock. And then it becomes Boom 97.3. Anyway, the producer of that show was Andy Wilson. and I'm going to see Andy Wilson on December 22nd at Kelsey's in Burlington for a Humble and Fred Live recording. So Andy Wilson, who was producing that show for Humble Howard and Colleen Rusholme, if

you know Colleen, is now the morning show host of this morning Zoom with Jane Brown, the legend, and you guys are going to be there Thursday to perform OLD. That's it. So I'm basically the two big stops in this promotional tour of OLD. You're the first. I'm the first. But then you're going to close up big with like actual terrestrial radio appearance. Can we just tell the backstory to this as well? We've been playing this song. One of the reasons that we've gone to so much trouble to do all as well? We've been playing this song, one of the reasons that we've gone to so much trouble to do all this is that we've been playing this song since he wrote it in the spring at all of our shows, including the Stompin' Tom shows. And never in the last 40 years or so have we seen a reaction to a song that we got from

this one. The timing is perfect given the demographic of our audience, but even the kids who have senior parents at home are running up to us and saying, where can we get this song? Dad would love this song. Right. So we know, you know, we know a hit when we see one and, and hopefully. Is it possible that this will be the third hit song I've written? Is that, is that in the realm? Wow, that then you can go on nostalgia tours and you can like retire on that if you have three hits like OLD could be the third hit not not to say my that Dave Hodges gonna

acknowledge this at all is come on I mean what's it take to get on the top 100 for crane especially with 99 of the songs that he he advertises I've never even heard of so what what what the hell I just wanted to pick up on something you said there Mike no I like it okay yes but I like it when dunk goes off on Dave Hodge who's just the biggest lover of music on the planet but he's not loving band well I love in Whiskey Jack I didn't see him at the Cameron host last night he moved too far away he's's missing out. Okay. Don't hold a grudge.

Please. He's in Grimsby now. Grimsby. Yeah, he's in Grimsby. No, you were saying that, you know, I could go on the nostalgia tour. I feel that I'm already on the nostalgia tour. I think if you really want to be honest about things. So here's what I would like to do.

So you need to get some stuff ready here. Like I'm going to give you gifts while you get your guitars and stuff. Remember your tether just so you know, you got headphones on. So do your thing. So while, so Banjo Dunk is gonna grab, I guess there's some instruments

and he's putting on the hat and this is all happening. Don't hit your head, Douglas. I am giving you guys fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. You're taking home fresh craft beer. There's Brewery. You're taking home fresh craft beer there's a couple of packs on the table here for you. Great Lakes Brewery that's where I first, well maybe not first, because you'll be a come by to celebrate the fact that you were conceived on my street. We didn't tell

that story but no no that's a good story. That's a good story. We won't name the street but let's just say there was some screwing going on back in the day and the next thing you know it there's a Douglas John Cameron okay so fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery I met you at the Great Lakes Brewery at a TML X event I hope you guys come out to the next one which will probably be in June 2025 you guys should come out and play well we should that would be so I have to do to get that action and what instrument is that dunk before that's the banjola we're that's the banjola we're talking about it's beautiful okay what were you gonna

say there i wanted to say that that event that you had that i was at i was supposed to play with blair packham that night what happened so what happened was blair had a had a band he had a bass player and a drummer and the drummer couldn't make it and david quentin steinberg and he got me to come to play drums but the other guy quit they all quit on oh that was a big yes he told me his band quit on him that day they all quit on him I was actually there the night they quit it was it was a terrible experience but I was supposed to come and play drums with Blair and when it when it didn't work out I came

anyway and I had a great time I loved. I play hockey with one of the guys he fired and or the one of the guys that quit. So I know the backstory. Which one was it fired or quit? Was he getting it? They quit. Interesting, because since then, of course, Blair got the jitters back together and they had a reunion. The jitters. I wonder if how's that going related? At Hughes Room. Yes. Yes. Yes. OK.

So you got the beer I have in my freezer. I have fresh. I have. It's not related? That Hughes Room, yeah. Yes, yes, yes, okay. So you got the beer. I have in my freezer, I have fresh, I have, it's not fresh, it's frozen actually. The beer's fresh. The lasagna is frozen and it is from Palma Pasta. That's, wow, that's amazing. If you came to that TMLX event, you would have had a meal. I did have some, I did. Palma Pasta Fettas.

Yes. Blair, Blair has been on the show so many times, he's got a freezer full of these things and he sells these things at his shows. Did you know that Douglas? Blair was at Palmer's Kitchen for TMLX 17 a month ago. I could see him selling those. I also, you guys, I've already mentioned that Ridley Funeral Home has sent over the measuring tapes for you.

You guys can measure anything you like. They can. Are they going to measure me? Measure me for the box? The banjola? They're going to put me like. They can. And they're going to measure the measure for the box. The banjoa. Yeah, they're going to put me in. They can help you. They can help you for a good.

Well, that's this one. Yeah, I need one of those. Oh, but the first so that because we're looking forward to this live performance of OLD. Yeah, you got a measuring tape. You got lasagna. You got beer. You have a. Yeah, it's a wireless speaker from an heiress so you can listen to season seven of Yes,

We Are Open, which is an award winning podcast from Monaris hosted by FOTM Al Gregor, who went to Winnipeg. And I believe Fred Penner splits his time between Toronto and Winnipeg. He spends like half the year in Winnipeg, half the year in Toronto, because you're the aspiring Fred Penner, I know. And I will just let people know these are great stories

in this podcast, Yes, We Are Open, and you guys should subscribe and listen. Last but not least, recyclemyelectronics.ca is where you guys go if you have old banjolas. No, I don't know if that's an electrical inch. That's not really electrical, is it? Okay, if you had old tech, old electronics, old cables, don't throw it in the garbage. Go to recycle my old vibrators. Go to recyclemyelectronics.ca and then put in your postal code and find out where you can drop it off

to be properly recycled so those chemicals do not end up in our landfill. Got it, Douglas. What a great idea. That's an amazing thing. Well, in 2025, they renewed for, see, I had a sponsor once, Banjo Dunk, and then the pandemic hit,

but Recycle My Electronics are back for all of 2025 and we're happy to have them. All right, you guys can take over. Do you guys need another mic set up or is this okay? I think it'll work. Yeah, it's fine. Okay, so yeah, you know those mics, you gotta be right on them.

So I'm gonna just be quiet and listen to you guys. So I'm excited. A little bit of an intro. Yeah, you know, I've recently had a lot of medical tests done, all the various poking and prodding and the taking of fluids and- The camera.

The camera, all that business. And I went in to get the results and meet my doctor and it kind of went like this. this. I went to see my doctor, she said, son, I'm afraid to say you got a serious condition and it ain't gonna go away I can't write you a prescription cause there ain't no remedy in the end it will be fatal I got the OLD, I got the OLD Well I never would have guessed I'd be in this mess And it's bound to get the best of me

The runway's getting shorter Can't see the forest or the trees I kinda look the same I'm losing the game I got the OLD She said it's actually quite common And the early symptoms, they're not so bad You'll have occasional discomfort. You might want to purchase a heating pad. Folks will say that you don't look any different, but they are only being kind, because pretty soon your keys, your wallet, and your glasses are impossible to find You got the OLD, you got the OLD You better find a place to save some face Cause this'll be a tragedy You might think that you won't catch it

But it's gonna get you Wait and see So chin up dude Get over it soon You got the OLD You ready for the bridge? Oh here it comes I probably won't survive another fall

Does anybody here know anything about playing the pickleball? The younger generation, they're all full of them and verve. They'll come seeking explanation when time throws them that mighty curve. And we should offer explanation. Say hey man check out my brand new knees. It ain't completely wretched, no We all get the OLD We get the OLD We got the OLD Well, it ain't so bad, so don't feel so sad

And retain your dignity There is one consolation, it's pretty plain to see It's just our fate, nobody escapes. We all get the OLD. Hey Duncan, did I come here with a sweater? I swear I did I was I think I had a I had a did I it's in the fridge I got the OLD fantastic honestly I think you have a third hit on your hand. Honestly, that's great.

That's a sing along. Everybody's going to love it. Young and old. Amazing. Take that. Andy and Jane that premiered here. I'm not premiered here, but that would that I got it first. And this is excellent. Thank you so much for that live performance. Yeah, we got to get you guys to a TML X event to play. Maybe I should commission a song where you guys write a Toronto mic'd... Ooh. Ooh. The Whiskey Jack write and perform a Toronto mic'd song. So if somebody wanted to purchase

that for... It's the holiday season, right? Everybody's got to buy a gift for their... Not just their gramps and their grandma, but of course their dad and mom and everybody who's got the OLD I feel it coming on here too I think I got a little taste of the OLD how do we get our mitts on that we're having a I can't say we're duking it out over this but um you know it is on the streaming platforms which is all well and good who doesn't like those bloodsuckers? But you can also get downloaded for free and on our website. You do have the option to leave us a few bucks if you want to do that, but you can download it for free. We're giving it sort of a pay what you can and we're having

some success with that. So if they get on our website, whiskyjackmusic.com, it's under music and there's a whole series of songs there that, but at the one of them is OLD and we encourage people to download it rather than do it through the streaming services and you know fact is if you have headphones on like we have today, boy there's no comparison that the quality of the production is so much better on on your when you do it from a hard drive as opposed to streaming. So yeah. And, uh, that's best to buy directly from the artist. Yeah.

Cause those streamers are out the screw. Yeah. Yeah. They're not doing us any favors really. Wow. Okay. And, and so it's been, it's been a while that it's been 40 over 40 years of whiskey Jack and in many regards, just like sensing the, uh, the aura in the room,

the energy in the room, it feels like you guys are kind of just getting started am I right like no thanks a lot but no I'm serious I can't tell you the energy that we put into this and I can sense it like I mean the audience reaction we get I easily say we every night is a standing ovation I don't care whether it's a beautiful theater in in Quebec or a You know or well we did we got a standing ovation in Quebec or or the you know the provincial park shows there You know here we got it. You know sometime there was one I think Three or four hundred people one of these parks and at the end of it first of all they're out there Dancing to ants in your pants and at the end of it. They're standing up asking us to sing more

It's so come on we got something going here. I think as well, you know, have Duncan's, you know, almost 50 years experience, my own experience going back to, you know, at least 40 years ago. I'm gonna do it anyway. I'm gonna play music whether or not there's an audience, whether or not there's an opportunity. And so it's so much fun and it's such a wonderful thing to be able to do as we go into our twilight years as it is. It's just entirely gratifying. So yeah, we're having a blast.

And Douglas, how was this Toronto Mic debut for you? Like, how was this experience? Oh my God, I think this has been, I've sometimes, and it's not that I've been skeptical, but I've sometimes wondered, like, what's the big deal? And I now know. While Blair keeps coming back? Well, it's not just that. There's, you know, the interesting thing is

I feel connected. I feel connected to all these people that we know in common, the histories that seem to intersect, you know, all the stuff that goes on and all the various people. I mean, I have listened to some of your episodes. Well, we did play some Mona with the children for when Bernie was on. Ah, yeah, absolutely came up. play some Mona with the Children for when Bernie was on. Yeah, absolutely came up. So yeah, and hearing Mona with the Children today

in the headphones and like that, that was amazing. I'm really impressed by that. Well, I'll give you a few more minutes now that I hear this praise heaped on me because when you first came, you know, I'll make room for that, okay? But you did have comments about the space and then I said shut your pie hole and save it for the recording, but this space is not too cramped, it's not too small a space to

record such a monster podcast production? Well, I mean, so those recordings that you played of some of the Whiskey Jack Stomp and Tom stuff, some of that stuff was recorded in a bedroom at my cottage during COVID. We've been, you know, we've been sort of downsizing the whole recording aspect of what we do. Right. And it's very much like what you've got on the go here, which I find quite remarkable, watching you twiddle the dials and push the levers.

It's got a WKRP kind of feel to this place, you know, it's pretty unsophisticated. It's also like what radio was, certainly for decades and decades. And I have to say that the other thing about this is that I'm on the street that my mother grew up on in New Toronto. She would never talk about her experiences growing up in New Toronto. Very, very, very small stories that she would tell. She worked at

Maharaj shoe store. She quit school in grade 10. She met my dad. They ran away from New Toronto to Midland, Ontario where I grew up. And I used to know the number of the house and it's a little bit further down the street from here, where my grandparents lived. So I feel like this is amazing. You came home. You're home, buddy. You're home here in New Toronto. And, Donk, on a personal note here, before we hear some Rob Pruss covering Lois DeVille. God, he's been on the show a dozen times too. He must have a freezer full of these things. Anyway, sorry Mike, I got a little distracted.

No, he comes up, well his mom does live in Burlington, but he does make a trip every month from New York City because he's a member of the Toast Team and we record monthly. So, Bruce is a great supporter. But I want to thank you because you wrote, am I remembering correctly, you did write a letter of recommendation for my secondborn to McGill. Did this happen? Or am I missing something? No, no, no, because she did some work for me. She was a bit of a consultant because I needed help solving some of the issues I had with my recording set up and she knew all of this, all of this stuff like, like the back of her hand. So she was very helpful. So all I did was put a letter together saying that Michelle

is pretty skilled in. And then the thing is that what she demonstrated was her ability and this will, this will get her a long way in life is she's a problem solver. You know, something, I gave her a couple of problems that were unsolvable as far as I was concerned, but she knew how to figure it out. So I wore this hoodie because I knew you were coming over and she's in her third year at McGill right now.

Amazing. And thank you for writing that and thank you for the kind words. And she's actually just in a couple of days, she'll be back in Toronto for the Christmas break and I haven't seen her since Thanksgiving. So looking forward to seeing Michelle. And I really, really, really am glad we finally got Douglas John Cameron on Toronto mic. We've been working on this for years.

Thank you. Tell Karen we worked on this for years, okay? Just... Great to be here. Karen, giving me a hard time. Does Karen know that you're coming home with lasagna? Hey... I know it wasn't really Karen, but it's fine if you're not. If Lily knew that I was coming home with a lasagna, that...

That's mine. Oh, okay. You guys are going to have to share it. No, I do have a two in the freezer. Okay. And you guys, yeah, you each get some fresh craft beer. You guys, I took care of you guys. I'm a big Whis the freezer. Okay. And you guys, yeah, you get some fresh beer. You guys, I took care of you guys. I'm a big Whiskey Jack fan here. I love OLD. Love the song. Thank you. And I hope you're

not nearly as good on the Zoomer morning show in two days. Like I hope I like I hope I listen and I'm completely underwhelmed by the the four minutes where they didn't get these great stories about and I'm completely underwhelmed by the four minutes where they didn't get these great stories about John... Sorry. What's your name? How many names you got over there? Douglas, John, Cameron? Just call me Dougie.

Yeah, there's a lot of names you threw in there, but hopefully they don't get the story about your parents banging on my street here. So I hope those stories left on the cutting room floor. But thank you guys for making the trek and we're going to take our photo by the Toronto tree and then I think that'll be your third hit maybe if OLD is not your third hit. Thank you guys for making the trek and we're going to take our photo by the Toronto tree. And then I think that'll be your third hit maybe if OLD is not your third hit. We'll take a great photo, but love this so much. Everybody get OLD. In January, you guys can see Whiskey Jack at the Free Times Cafe. When's this Cameron House thing?

February 28th, I think it's the 28th. it's Friday, Friday, 6 o'clock show. And the whole band's gonna be there, we're bringing Billy in from Brockville and the whole thing. And I'm gonna see, when I see Andy Wilson on Sunday, I'm gonna, we're gonna chat about you guys. Great. And who had your best, so we'll compare notes here. Thank you. And that brings us to the end of our 1,602nd show. Go to torontomike.com for all your Toronto Mike needs. I'm on Blue Sky at Toronto Mike.

Much love to all who made this possible. Again, that's Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, RecycleMyElectronics.ca, Monaris, and Ridley Funeral Home. Tomorrow I'm dropping a Christmas special with Ron Sexsmith. Look for that in your Toronto Mic'd feed. Drop in tomorrow morning. See you all then. So So So So Thank you.