Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Fromage 2021: Toronto Mike'd #975

Episode Date: December 28, 2021

Marc Weisblott from 12:36 shares the stinkiest cheese of 2021 in this year's Fromage episode of Toronto Mike'd.

The following much music presentation is so bad, we can't find a sponsor. So roll the tape. What up, Miami? Toronto VK on the beat I'm in Toronto where you wanna get the city love I'm from Toronto where you wanna get the city love I'm in Toronto where you wanna get the city love So my city love me back for my city love Welcome to episode 975 of Toronto Mic'd.

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Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. And Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. I'm Mike from Torontoontomike.com and joining me for Fromage 2021 is Mark Weisblot from 1236. I bet that you find our programming too serious. May we make a suggestion? This is for emergency use only.

If symptoms persist, watch something else. Thank you. Circle, circle, dot, dot I got my cootie shot You think that girl is hot I think I'd rather not Okay, okay I'll fuck her anyway Circle, circle, dot, dot

I got my cootie shot I think that booty's hot. I give it booty sauce. That booty's so hot. Make it drop to the drop, drop to the drop, drop to the make it drop to the floor. Home without a vaccination. We initiated the kidnapping of Fromage 2020, a tradition that used to run on Much Music, hosted by Christopher Ward. The idea that I had was if I was going to make the effort to be here in the last days of last year, that I would try and find something different to talk about than our usual ranting about the state of media, along with the obituaries of the Ridley Funeral Home

Memorial segment, which we'll have later on this episode anyway. But what could I do to contribute to the end-of-year festivities after the traumatic experiences that we had gone through one year ago? And watching as you establish Dave Hodge as a tradition to do the Hodge 100, Hodge100.com, counting down his favorite songs of the year, the least I could do was come up with a counterpoint, and that is bringing Toronto Mike the songs that you might never want to hear again, but are worth reviewing even just one more time before we send them into the dustbin of history. And what better name for this exercise than what they called it on Much Music back in

the day, Fromage. That jam, of course, we're listening to is Circle Circle Dot Dot, and that's the first cut from the album Blowing Up by Jamie Kennedy and FOTM, Stew Stone. Now, you are looking at a physical compact disc that I obtained out of someone's trash heap about, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago. Wow. I salvaged know, 10, 15 years ago. Wow. I salvaged it, put it aside. I said, someday I got to get this thing out of my house. So you're gifting this to me. Like I now own this copy of Blowing Up.

It's yours forever. And here listening to the hip-hop stylings of Stu Stone with Jamie Kennedy. This is what year is this from? What's the copyright? This is what? 2006? 2007? Glasses anywhere nearby here. We're talking like 15 years ago.

Seriously, was I ever able to read this? Look, I know I'm pushing 50 here, but was this ever legible, this font size? Because to me, it might as well be just blank space here. But I do want to remind everybody including you mr wise blood that uh stew stone will be on monthly like yourself except he's got the third thursday of the month you've got the first thursday of the month and uh although i don't think you get the first thursday of january because to be quite honest we're sick of you this is two

times in a week but stew stone is back for pandemic fr, which have returned under the new moniker Toast. Two times in a month, Mike. It was two weeks ago that we did the November-December 2021 recap. And during that episode, I feel like we have to have an editorial meeting here. Let's talk. meeting here. Let's talk. Because after everything we went through in that episode, recapping the revolving door going on at these AM FM talk radio stations, I came away wondering, is this really the most interesting topic in the world?

The whole concept of me schlepping my way all the way out here to South Etobicoke, New Toronto on the border of Mimico. Do you really think the current state of employment at a commercial terrestrial radio station is the best use of this podcasting time we have together. Just something to consider going into 2022. Mark, who's the boss? Is it Tony Danza? Is it Angela? It's me. I'm the boss. That's what you ordered up.

Okay. So just because I wanted to stir things up on Twitter on Boxing Day, I thought I would tune into an old standby in Toronto, 102.1 The Edge, the old CFNY, and listening to their hard drive programming here. Hey, can I crack open at Great Lakes before you get into this? Yeah, go for it. Because I got my popcorn and witnessed all this happen in real time on Twitter. I've got to settle in here, too. So thank you, Great Lakes.

You're going to help fuel the real talk, and you are going to be the delicious fresh craft beer that I enjoy while we enjoy some stinky cheese. Please continue. Edge 102, you're on Twitter. I just thought, okay, I'll take a critical listen to what's going on this radio station. And here you have this young woman doing these deadpan quips in between the songs.

She comes on, I don't know, once every 20, 30 minutes, identifies herself as MK. Okay. And I couldn't even find out who this person was. There was nothing about her on the website. Mysterious person. Identify her through Twitter bio, figure out who she was, do a little bit of Googling.

And my observation right there is, what's the point of this entire exercise, right? We're hearing that what commercial radio has going for it, that it's going to somehow survive into the 2020s, is that this programming is live and local. You're hearing a curated selection of music that's supposed to inspire you and motivate you to stay tuned in a way that's meant to be competitive with podcasting. That's what the people who are still left in this industry will say.

And when the product that I'm hearing on the air can't even be bothered to explain to me who is this person speaking between the songs? How am I supposed to have a relationship with this radio station when I can't even figure out who's talking to me over these airwaves? You know it's all pre-recorded,

and it was canned, it was banked. Maybe she did this in her basement, wherever she's living, seems to be in Vancouver. Look, you and me are in the same boat when it comes to this stuff. It's not our place to dump on the people who are given these opportunities, but what about the management of these radio stations? Do they actually want anyone to stay tuned to care about what's going on over the air? Well, the best place to start is explain to me who this person is talking between the songs.

When I brought this up on Twitter then, bingo Bob, Bob Ouellette, the host of the great podcast Bob's Basement. FOTM Bob Ouellette, the host of the great podcast Bob's Basement. FOTM, Bob Ouellette. Super FOTM, destined for the FOTM Hall of Fame. One day. He intervened, and he was wondering, what is the point of this trolling, this exercise on Twitter? What are you trying to say? Bob is gainfully employed by a terrestrial Radio Station, if you will, and he looks at his age and

says, I need 20 more years out of this Terrestrial Radio gig. So when you attack radio, he takes it very personally, I think. I think Bob takes it very personally. And it behooves Bob to do the best job that he can. As far as I'm concerned, he should be running the whole radio

division of Chorus Entertainment. Because you hear it in this podcast that he does. That he has a passion to bring this into the future. And there he is standing by on Twitter. Waiting to go toe-to-toe. He's ready. The only person who's online raising the issues about what they're hearing on the air and asking for it to somehow be better.

And when this is the current state of what we're hearing on this old school AM FM radio mic, I'm starting to wonder if it's worth bothering picking it apart here anymore. Like, can we move on? Is there maybe something else to discuss? Can we find a different angle for something to obsess about in the monthly recap?

Mike, I am leaving this with you. Okay, well, all I know is I'm giving you three hours a month. So when you visit, I know I'm going to record up to three hours. Three hours or less, we'll call it, but know I'm going to record up to three hours, three hours or less, we'll call it, but typically three hours. And what goes in there, you know, we'll keep doing what we're doing, which is you send me some notes, I get a heads up on what you're keen to talk about.

And then I do my pruning on the fly and I try to hit my target. Okay. Well, then I also want to make a correction from a couple of weeks ago, because here we spout off hundreds of thousands of facts in every basement session here at TMDS. And that was in the last episode, cringing when I heard myself so confidently assert that the Heaven Disco, which came up on your episode with Tish Eyston, that that was the name of the disco in the CN Tower. But it turned out I wasn't even listening closely enough to the episode

because you did mention the fact. I'm hurt. That subsequently became a Fabricland, and now it's a Dollarama. So the history there was the Heaven Disco was in the Hudson's Bay Center at the foot of the building where Q107 used to be located at the top to Bloor Street East. And that nightclub heaven became rock and roll heaven. And that was Toronto's hairband headquarters.

So I regret the era. The error. The history there was, in fact, was, in fact, that the guy that ran Rock and Roll Heaven had previously worked at the Sparkles Disco. You know, when you do three hours of mind blows and fun facts and you get the odd tidbit a little incorrect, we forgive. We're very forgivable.

Okay, we're just getting started. Crack open your Great Lakes. I already need a Great Lakes beer. You enjoy the Great Lakes. I already need a Great Lakes beer. I want to thank, you enjoy the Great Lakes. I want to thank Palma Pasta for catering my Christmas Eve party. Honestly, what delicious food. The chicken parm, the penne with rosé sauce, the meat lasagna. Honestly, delicious.

And much love to Palma Pasta. Everybody should try the good food at palma pasta hey you talked about the uh like the hair the metal there and it's a good segue but before we play the first series of fromage 2021 jams can you once again succinctly and elegantly describe the the premise the true premise of fromage 2021 well mike the true premise is you on the Toronto Mike podcast, especially in the past pandemic year, and this pandemic year has now gone on for going on 22 months as we speak. And counting.

and counting. That here you have created the canvas that allows certain FOTMs who grew up obsessed with particular segments of the Toronto media to follow through and fulfill their adolescent fantasy of bringing these ideas back to life. Right. That's why it relates to the topic of wondering

why we're so obsessed with the old media. Much Music did these fromage specials starting in the mid-1980s, I don't know, the first year or two that Much Music was around. Right. And specifically set aside videos that were deemed too cheesy for regular rotation. They were put in some kind of category. They kept a list all year long and did a special segment at the end of each year, hosted by Christopher Ward.

Christopher Ward, his alter ego character of Charles de Camembert, would go through these cheesy videos. And as far as I'm concerned, this was appointment viewing each and every year because there was no other way to see these videos. There's no YouTube back then, kids. That had been rejected from regular rotation on Much Music. And at the time, it got a little bit of press coverage. You can find a Toronto Star article from that period somewhere in the 1980s where Christopher Ward clarified that he himself was a struggling Canadian singer-songwriter.

He himself was a struggling Canadian singer-songwriter. He took this job at Much Music after his ambitions to be a yacht rock star didn't really work out. He got into comedy at Second City. You've had Christopher Ward on the podcast a couple of times. Yep. A legendary FOTM. But he was not in the business of disparaging canadian acts like he was very careful never to uh shed a negative light upon his peers in the music business and christopher ward himself legendarily moved on to write the debut album

by Alana Miles, had number one American hit Black Velvet and in pretty short order he was done with much music I mean he was already into his 40s, no longer interested in being a poorly paid Canadian television celebrity

anymore, look this guy had a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Right. But they kept doing the fromage special every year, and Christopher Ward would don his beret, his striped shirt. There is, in fact, a fromage episode on YouTube, courtesy of an FOTM who posted it to his account. Liam.

Liam Savage. Liam Savage, who recently dusted off a VHS tape, and you can see evidence of what Christopher Ward used to do all through the 90s. You sent me a YouTube link, and you said, Hey, check out this old Fromage episode. And we saw it was hosted by some guy named liam savage and that name resonated immediately because i i put together these f-o-t-m-k-o-t-j holiday editions i think four went out and on one of them a liam savage who claimed he was a you

know a diehard listener uh submitted a song like some some hard rock christmas song or whatever and i'm like wow okay that okay, that same Liam Savage. And then the rest is history. King Diamond. There you go. That's the one. That was a heavy metal Christmas song. Okay, flash forward like 15 years.

Right. And Much Music ain't what it used to be, but they continued to do the Fromage special and handed it off to Ed the Sock. F-O-T-N, Ed the Sock. And what is your beef beef with uh ed's version of fromage well all of a sudden it was no longer in the spirit of the specials that were originally hosted by christopher ward the premise changed to this idea of having this sock puppet making these snarky comments making fun ofy comments over videos that were already in heavy rotation on Much Music.

And it clashed with the original spirit of Christopher Ward and Moses Neimer. They weren't into the idea of going negative on the air. That's all well documented there. And instead, you got this whole sock puppet routine that I think in hindsight you recognize that this was the end of the air. That's all well documented there. And instead you got this whole sock puppet routine that I think in hindsight you recognize that this was the end of the line for the original energy of the nation's music station. And there are some YouTube uploads

of these Ed the Sock fromage bits. And much like Stuart stewart stone and jamie kennedy uh doing circle circle dot dot i guess you could say it was of the time uh a coarser approach to popular culture that today would possibly get you in trouble with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council. I don't know if the perspective of what was considered fair to make fun of would pass muster today. But ultimately, these fromage specials, and if I was a preteen boy in the early 2000s, I would think this was the greatest thing I've ever seen.

Sure. Here's a sock puppet making fun of all these prefab pop videos that I've been forced fed all year long. But, Mike, we belong to a prior generation that can look at the stinkers that have been released over the previous year from a certain critical point of view. doing some old-fashioned rock criticism, a counterpoint to the sage sanctimony put across by Dave Hodge in doing the Hodge 100. But in reviewing these tunes and assessing where they fell flat,

I think, in turn, we can also get some perspective on where pop culture has been in the past 12 months and what lies ahead for the future. Look, I can't wait to get into it because I will confess, I'm going to be hearing most of these jams for the first time when I play them.

So you sent me a list, you sent me YouTube links, I've got them loaded up. We also have them, again, and this is a Fromage 2021, in the spirit of Christopher Ward, who thankfully is still alive and well. We don't want to suggest he's only a spirit now.

But by the way, also, as you pointed out, when he first visited a yacht rocker, that early, that Christopher Ward music from the late 70s or whatever, that's a yacht rock. That's a yacht rock flavor of music. Stew Stone would approve, I would think. It's all part of the fun. Okay. And I think that preamble was way too long.

Well, that's it. I want to get to the jam. It's your fault for letting me inside this time. I learned years ago, once you get rolling, I'm basically just going to wait it out. A year ago there, I was being pelted with freezing rain. That's right. But you got your, we played circle, circle, dot, dot.

We shouldn't bury the lead here. Did you get your booster? I got my booster shot. Yeah, me too. This is the first in-person basement episode of Toronto Mike. We're still terrified, right? You know what? I'm not terrified. A year ago, we thought we would be entering a new messianic age in 2021, right?

The vaccines were on the way. All we had to do was sit at home for four or five, six more months. Right. And then we would be liberated into the roaring 20s summer this is the roaring 20s coming up and i think some of these songs uh reflect a lot of the frustration that we we've all experienced here in the past year so we're gonna dive into the classic rock the covid class around but mike it's as far as you're concerned like you're saying bring it on omicron right like you are ready to get infected.

Here's where I'm at. This Omicron variant of COVID-19 is doubling every two to three days. I don't need to be Dr. Roberta Bondar to do the math on this. And shout out to Roberta, who's my guest tomorrow. And then after that's Kim Clark-Champness if his voice will allow him to do it, which is

kind of cool in the spirit of this Fromage episode. But here, I digress. It's doubling every two to three days. I personally am of the opinion that lockdowns and masking, this isn't going to prevent you from getting it. I believe we're all going to be getting this in the next couple of weeks. A number of

FOTMs we know and love are already kind of been through it the last week. So imagine in next couple of weeks. A number of FOTMs we know and love are already kind of been through it the last week. Okay. So imagine in a couple of weeks, it'll be more like who doesn't have it will be a much shorter list than who's got it. So I'm just, I got my triple vax. My son, who's turning 20, got his, my wife got hers. My mom got hers. As soon as my 17 year old can get a triple, we're going to rock and roll on that. And then when the kids are eligible for their second shot, which is coming up, we're going to bang that off.

And we're just going to be sensible. Be careful. But you're still in my basement. If I were truly locked down, do you think I would open my door to you? Mike, do you think Fromage 2021 is worth getting infected for? Can I kick out that first jam and find out?

Let's see. Let's go. Was a grim reaper Stood round by bricks Stiffened out by lips Yeah Pacing in the yard You're trying to take the thing you must take Don't really care Looking at the drawers Through the light that my heart calls Cancel all the tours

Footposts make applause Yeah No more travel brochures Virtual permits I've got nothing left to wear Looking out from these prison walls Bye. All right, all the night. Soon it'll be a memory you're trying to remember to forget. Easy Sleazy was the first song in 2021 when it was released back in April 13th. I added this to my own personal playlist,

and I thought, okay, game on. This song is going to make it to Fromage 2021. Mick Jagger, to this day, a brand outside of the Rolling Stones? Solo albums that got five stars in Rolling Stone magazine could not get people to buy a solo album released under the name Mick Jagger. But look, after a year in lockdown, you gotta figure he would give it one more try and record with Dave Grohl a song called Easy Sleazy, which was dedicated in the style of We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel. Right.

Of rattling off all the experiences of living in lockdown. Cancel all the tours. Football's fake applause. No more travel brochures, virtual premieres, I've got nothing left to wear, looking out from these prison walls as if Mick Jagger was living in some kind of jail. You've got to rob Peter if you're paying Paul. But it's easy, sleazy.

Everything's going to get really freaky. All right on the night. Soon it'll be a memory you're trying to remember to forget. That's a pretty mask, but never take a chance. Tick-to TikTok, stupid dance. Look at Mick Jagger, all right? He feels that no one can take his place when it comes to the art of dancing by yourself,

that all these kids on TikTok are a bunch of wannabes. Took a samba class. Yeah, I landed on my ass. You'll know the answer to this question. What happened to the two guys I used to see on Speaker's Corner, the devil's advocates? Do you know what happened to those guys by any chance off the top of your head? Or you're like, where the hell are the devil's advocates?

I think they tried to make it in comedy. All right. But much like Ed the Sock, there was an inconsistency to that shtick. On one hand, the whole idea was that they were speaking in these pompous English accents. Is that what Mick Jagger reminds you of? I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say that this guy, at the time this song is released, Mick Jagger is 77 years old. It would be so fucking easy easy just stick to the playbook play the hits play the rolling stones jams everybody could print money go on tour you and

a bunch of corpses would would sell out every arena in the in every stadium in the fucking world but instead he's actually trying to create something like i'm giving some props to uh to i mean i admit it's cheesy but god bless m Mick Jagger for making an effort and trying to create some new content in 2021. Well, a few months later, his drummer died. Right. Charlie Watts. Right. And Charlie Watts himself objected to the idea that his job in life was to play the drums behind Mick Jagger.

And the Rolling Stones did go on tour across America, summer 2021. They played outdoor unmasked shows, and everybody survived, but left behind in 2021. Easy sleazy. This has got to stop, enough is enough I can't take this BS any longer It's gone far enough, don't want to claim my soul You'll have to come and break down this door I knew that something was going on wrong When you started laying down the law

I can't move my hands I break out in sweat I wanna cry, can't take it anymore This has gotta stop Enough is enough I can't take this BS any longer It's gone far enough You want to claim my soul

You'll have to come and break down this door Okay, making a return appearance on the Fromage end of year special on Toronto Mic'd. Last year we had No More Lockdowns. Remember No More Lockdowns by Van Morrison? I've been trying to forget. Featuring Eric Clapton. Right.

Talked about that song 12 months ago and staying on brand. Here was Eric Clapton with another protest song. Not to be confused with Gino Vannelli's Great Jam, I Just Wanna Stop, This Has Gotta Stop by Eric Clapton. In the process of releasing these anti-lockdown tunes, all kinds of historical rants

from Eric Clapton have resurfaced. And in fact, if cancel culture had come around in the 1970s, I don't think we would have ever had the unplugged version of Layla.

Oh, I want to live in that alternate universe. Eric Clapton would have been sent packing long ago, like going back to 1976. There he was on the stage in the UK talking about how England is a white country. We don't want any immigrants here getting in our way. And this rant from Eric Clapton inspired the organization Rock Against Racism. So I don't know. Does this mean that if some sports media personality comes by to kick out the jams, might have to boot him off the premises. But if it's a classic Clapton, I'll allow it,

because I still am adamant to this day that the Ignition remix is a great fucking jam by R. Kelly, even though he's a son of a bitch. At the same time, though, don't you think that Eric Clapton has a little bit of a point when it comes to the whole idea of protesting against all these political public health measures? Like, are you on the side of the strictest possible controls? Mike, I mean, do you want to walk down right now here in this age of omicron if we're told once again that we should spend listen the entire winter of 2022 not leaving our house what would

not you be cranking up eric clapton am i still on the bike this has gotta stop my greatest fear uh ask monica is every morning i wake up and i say Monica, please tell me they haven't canceled school for January 4th yet, have they? I would love to see my kids in school on January 4th. And as we speak, again, we're recording this December 28th. So far, they haven't said otherwise, but knowing this government, it'll be a last-minute surprise. But Eric Clapton was asked about what motivated here, going back to the source of doing yet another anti-lockdown protest song.

And it was the fact that he got an AstraZeneca vaccine at the beginning of 2021. As did we, yep. And he had to deal with severe reactions. Like he got two shots, talked about his hands and his feet. They were frozen or numb or burning. That he spent like two weeks in a state of paralysis, genuinely wondering if he would ever be able to play the guitar again.

Here, well, before I kick out this third classic rock uh fromage jam uh again by one of my musical heroes so i'm bracing myself for this one oh my goodness you know fuck eric clapton but this next guy i totally dig but uh while we're talking covid and while i'm getting myself canceled with all my controversial opinions i will say omicron such a fucking game changer because pre-icron, before Omicron, I had a very, I had a feeling like if you were fully vaxxed, you can visit the basement. Okay.

Cause it's unlikely you're going to get COVID and then spread it if you're fully vaxxed. But Omicron is such a game changer where it seems like it doesn't matter if you're vaccinated or not, you can get it and spread it just as easily. So now I'm of the opinion where it's like now being unvaccinated is only fucking yourself. Like it's like, being unvaccinated is only fucking yourself. Like it's like you're not. I used to think, oh, getting getting vaccinated, get sorry, not getting vaccinated was super fucking selfish because now you can get it and spread it where I'm fully vaxxed.

I'm going to be unlikely to get and spread it. But if you're just as likely to get this and spread it, if you're vaccinated or not, really, it's you. You're fucking by not getting vaccinated because you're going to you could be hospitalized with covid and maybe you will die so eric clapton was taking a stand against the follow-up questions for my uh the concept that you needed a vaccine passport right to to go to a stadium concert now for the time being all these things have been called off. No one is booking Eric Clapton or anyone else to play an arena anywhere this winter. It was fun while it lasted. There was a little bit of a summer concert scene, but Eric Clapton said, I'm sitting this thing out. I'm not making a valid vaccination certification part of a condition of being able to see me live in concert.

So let's see on the other end which venues are open to Eric Clapton again. And just think, there was that whole Beatles Get Back documentary. Of course. Eric Clapton, they drop his name, about the whole idea that he could step in, but this was the reality of being Eric Clapton in 2021. Now, here is another return command performance from the Fromage 2020 list with an album that came out in 2021. Alice Cooper. It's alright Alright Okay, I'm bracing myself.

Now you may shit on Vincent Furnier, the great Alice Cooper. Detroit Stories was the name of an album that Alice Cooper released in 2021, marking his reunion with Bob Ezra. was the name of an album that Alice Cooper released in 2021, marking his reunion with Bob Ezrin, Toronto native. Probably straight from Bob hooking Alice Cooper up with FOTM Splashin' Boots. Yeah, that was last year that we played long-distance Alice Cooper doing some remote recording, a cameo appearance.

What was the name of that song? Appearing on this Canadian children's record, and that it was part of Alice Cooper being a good Christian, showing the fact that kids could be safe listening to the voice of Alice Cooper here in the 2020s, that he's not the menace to society that he was seen as when he first came on the scene 50 years ago. But I got to say, this Detroit Stories album, this is a real stinker. And I think largely because when you try and listen to this thing, you can tell that it was created by people who were not working together in the same room.

There is just this processed feeling about it all just this processed feeling about it all uh that that just comes out of everybody in a restless situation living under lockdown and having to do their best and look how old is alice cooper at this point in time he's got to be 70 right he doesn't want to risk a situation where he would be susceptible of getting COVID ending up in the ICU. He turned 73 in 2021. And still golfing on the daily. And so we were stuck with this style of recording

when it came to Alice Cooper harking back to his early days in Detroit. Where he was originally from even though he grew up in Arizona. I think I've got that right. Well, I'm just going to hope that when Alice Cooper turns 80 that he does sort of a remix of his wonderful song, I'm 18, maybe I'm 80.

I'm 18 and I like it love it what a jam that was heart parade was the name of the song that alice cooper did last year with splash and boots okay so here in this detroit stories album it kicks off with this cover version of rock and Roll by The Velvet Underground. And this song is considered a classic, I think, for the fact that it represented Lou Reed in his legendary deadpan vocal style singing here about the influence of discovering rock and roll on his transistor radio. And whatever that song originally had going for it,

Alice Cooper just sucking it all dry. I don't even, I don't know. I mean, the song was covered by Mitch Ryder and Detroit. They did at the time, the Velvet Underground was not the most popular band around. You know, everybody who bought Velvet Underground started a band of their own, but never a lot of record sales. And the Alice Cooper group were contemporaries of the Velvet Underground at the time.

So I'm not sure what that song was trying to say as far as a statement was concerned, what it's supposed to tell you about Detroit, but that was a song that Alice Cooper claimed as his very own anthem. Rock and Roll, produced by Bob Asrin as part of a socially distanced album called Detroit Stories, released in 2021.

Around the clock tonight We're gonna rock, rock, rock till broad daylight We're gonna rock, rock, rock around the clock tonight Is this by a hooray for everything or up with people? And honestly, this one is bonafide cheese. Oh, my goodness. Fit for the pit. Fromage 2021.

Bill Haley is rolling over in his grave. This is Ringo fucking Starr. Peace and love. Peace and love. This is Richard Starkey We're gonna rock, rock, rock Till the broad daylight We're gonna rock, rock, rock Till the broad daylight

We're gonna rock, rock, it's funny you mentioned the whole concept of Alice Cooper recording a song called I'm 80. Right, I hope so. I'm counting it down. Because Richard Starkey is already an octogenarian. Wow. He turned 80 in 2020. So here he is in 2021 once again releasing music that sounds like it was produced on Zoom. And he said he's retired from making full albums, that he's only going to release a series of EPs. And did that tribute to Bill Haley and the Comets

with his brother-in-law, Joe Walsh. Last time you were here, which was very recently, two weeks ago, I think we talked about Chuck went up the stairs. Chuck Cunningham went up the stairs with his basketball and never came back. And one of the Chucks died, and that's why we were talking about this individual in the Ridley Funeral Home, who I'm paying a visit,

not because anyone passed in my life, luckily, but I'm paying a visit to Ridley Funeral Home right after our recording, by the way, so I'll see you soon, Brad. But where was I going with that? Oh yeah, the original theme song of Happy Days was Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around the Clock. Now, I understand that their ringo was recognizing one of his early influences that inspired him to uh enter into uh the recording industry and become a member of a band called the Beatles but uh here in this year of 2021 when the legend and the legacy of let it

be has been rehabilitated by the miniseries put together by Peter Jackson there we have the reality of today's Ringo Starr that that a guy who was involved in so much legendary music can put together a song like that and sit back and say, yeah, this is good enough to put out there under my own name. And of course, there are people who are charmed by the fact that Ringo is still determined, just like you were saying about Mick Jagger all these years later, still wants to stay in the game.

But at least Mick, that was an original composition by Mick Jagger. This guy, Ringo, is just rehashing old standards. But you know what? I think hypothetically, if you imagined, what would rock and roll sound like recorded by somebody in their 80s? This is a whole new frontier, right? There were no rock stars who made it to 80 at any time before.

And I think Rock Around the Clock by Ringo Starr is a reflection of that modern day reality in that if somebody is still at it, they still want to keep releasing music, that in their mind, that is the sound of staying relevant. And who are we to argue? Actually, Leonard Cohen, I'm going to take back something I said a moment ago, but Leonard Cohen was recording into his 80s, because I just quickly

googled, how old was Leonard Cohen when he died? And he was 82, so he's a rare example of a guy who was producing music in his 80s. For Homage 2021, we couldn't do this without Ringo Starr. Rock around the clock. I'm trying

to keep tabs on who will be the oldest rock star to make the most credible sounding music. And at one point, I nominated Paul McCartney and that song he did with Kanye West and Rihanna. Six minutes or?

Four or five seconds. Right, close enough. What was a genuine top five American hit. But he just strummed a little guitar on that. No, no. I maintain he had more to do with the song. I know. Great jam.

And to this day, that to me is artistically the most successful song by the oldest recording artist around, but right now we've got Elton John with a big hit with Dua Lipa doing a duet on a medley of four old Elton John songs woven together. Does that count as staying relevant? No, well, again, it's not original. It's not a new jam. I'd like to see some new material from these oldies. These moldy oldies before we give them

this kind of credit. The contest continues. I don't think Ringo's going to win it. Of course you remember Oh Brother Where Art Thou? Great Coen Brothers movie. Love it. Just revisited it with my 17 year old who didn't love it as much as

me. What's wrong with you, Michelle? But O Death is a jam in there. O Death by, I think, Ralph Staley. I think he was in his 80s. I have a question for you, man who picked all the jams for Fromage 2021. I'm about to kick out a jam from a legendary

Canadian artist. You've got him in the classic rock segment. And I'm wondering, is that because he's a good gateway to the CanCon segment, or could he be one of those like bridges? He could be like a linchpin. Well, not only that, but his name kept coming up here in 2021 and 2020

when it came to headlines about COVID-19. And for some reason, the coronavirus picked an interesting enemy in a guy named Brian Adams. Let's kick ass with Canadian legend Brian Adams.

Let the beat get down! We totally blew that one, didn't we? Drums. Woo. Bass. El Stinko. Piano. Let there be a kick-ass, kick-ass rock and bass.

Let's go If you're looking for fun, turn the music on Let's light a real big fire If you want a blast, let's kick some ass There's a roof a little bit higher We'll see you next time. If you like some kick-ass rockin' music, we're a kick-ass rockin' band. If you can't play your lick, just play anything. Raise hell and clap your hands. Spread the word, bring your friends. The whole wide world is joinin' in.

If you like some kick-ass rockin' music, we're a kick-ass rockold Brian Adams. Wow. Who I think will also have to knock off that list of acts that were standing by to hear make the greatest song of their career in their advanced age. Partly because his legendary co-writer Jim Valance, I think, he saved his money and has no interest in coming to the aid of his old friend ever again, and we're left with lyrics like, kick-ass rockin' music, Kick-ass rockin' band. And this song, ironically, does not kick ass.

Well, your mileage may vary. Now, Brian Adams versus COVID-19 started in May of 2020 when he posted on Instagram the fact that like pretty much all of us he was losing his mind in lockdown and captioned Instagram post with a rant about about Wuhan

China here was a country that was bat eating virus making people's republic and speaking as That was bat-eating, virus-making People's Republic. And speaking as a militant vegan, there he was taking a stand against these wet markets of China, which, based on a certain amount of evidence,

were at least partly responsible for getting us in this mess. And the fury that followed suggested that we were going to be throwing Bryan Adams into the cancellation column. And he followed it up with what was framed as an apology in headlines, like Brian Adams is sorry that he called China a country full of bat eaters. But I don't think he apologized at all. And I don't know that he necessarily had to, because the point that he was trying to make,

had to because the point that he was trying to make, I'm not saying he did it as expertly as he could have, but we're talking about a caption on Instagram posted by somebody who probably didn't even graduate high school, and maybe he didn't do the most graceful job of expressing the point that he wanted to make, because he was trying to say that if we were all vegan in this world, none of this would have happened. See, Paul McCartney would have been more elegant, eloquent in his... And he was. And in fact, Paul McCartney did make this same point. Okay, so subsequently in 2020,

Bryan Adams was booked to play what was supposed to be the first big return to doing a live stadium rock concert. It was going to happen in Dusseldorf, Germany. And it was scheduled for September of 2020. And needless to say, there was an uptick of cases, and Bryan Adams did not get to bask in his glory 2020, and needless to say, there was an uptick of cases, and Bryan Adams did not get to bask in his glory of being the first corporate rock star back in action. And he was booked for things in the States and stuff,

and I would read, oh, he couldn't get over the border because of a positive test or something like that. Yeah, so Bryan Adams, he in fact has a whole side hustle going on as a photographer. Right. And he did the Pirelli calendar for 2022. You know, this is a legendary Italian calendar. I'm tapping out here.

Sponsored by Pirelli. Okay. It should be sponsored by the Mineris podcast. Yes, we are open. But more on that in a moment. In this case, by the Mineris podcast. Yes, we are open. But more on that in a moment. In this case, it's the Italian tire company. Oh, sure. I now know the logo.

That puts this calendar out every year. And they were going to have a launch event this fall in Milan. Right. And Brian Adams could not attend the launch party because he tested positive for COVID-19. And it was, in fact, the second time that he tested positive during a brief period of time. For something was going down in New York, some tribute to somebody he had a duet with or something.

Something was going down in New York. You won't believe what happened next. Vancouver, British Columbia. Yes. Vancouver, British Columbia. Yes. Bryan Adams Breeding Ground, where it all began, booked a New Year's Eve arena show.

Right. At the Rogers Arena. Is that what it's called in Vancouver? I've seen it. All ready to go with a big New Year's Eve party. We would lift the middle finger to 2020 and 2021. And of course, that concert was canceled as the Omicron variant crept into Canada. And the idea of doing something like that on December 31st, 2021 became an impossibility.

But somewhere along the way, we got some new Brian Adams music with a tune called Kick Ass. And on the YouTube version, there's a spoken word introduction courtesy of john cleese hey uh somebody else who has uh tweeted more more than a few things that wait just to be clear to his uh cancellation okay but just to be clear to differentiate called into action. Now, these gentlemen we're referring to, Brian Adams and John Cleese, these are not anti-vax people. These are anti-lockdown

people, right? Because there's a significant difference there. It's the anti-vaxxers I've lost all patience with. I'm just sort of like, at this point I had an exchange with an FOTM who's an anti-vaxxer uh you might remember the episode with michelle sterino and we went back and forth yesterday because she refuses to get vaccinated and feels that it's her like her right of course it gets something to do with

like body autonomy meanwhile public health measure be damned apparently but i could go on and on and on forever for this but just to differentiate if you're anti lockdown we can have a conversation if you're anti-vax i just think you're being awfully selfish particularly pre-omicron when getting vaccinated meant you were far less likely to contract covid and spread covid and uh that canadian jam is fit for the pit You're playing it here on Fromage 2021. We have some more Canadian jams coming up. So brace yourselves. But really briefly before we play the next Canadian Fromage 2021 jam, I just want to urge the listenership, the FOTMs, to subscribe to Yes We Are Open.

This is a podcast hosted by FOTM Al Grego. Hello, Al. Al's been traveling the country when it was safe to do so, interviewing small Canadian businesses, and then he tells the story of their origin, their struggles, their future outlook. If you're a small business owner or entrepreneur like myself, you'll find this podcast both helpful and motivational.

Go to YesWeAreopenpodcast.com. You, Mark, already have a Moneris-branded Bluetooth speaker, so you can listen to the Yes We Are Open podcast in style. And while you listen, I'm sure you fantasize about cuddling with Al Grego because he's a cuddly guy. I have it on good authority that FOTM Ian Service will be a guest of Al's in season two of Yes, We Are Open. So subscribe to hear the dulcet tones of Ian Service, whose company is hosting this very audiophile you're listening to right now. Are you ready for another Canadian from Oz jam? Yeah,

here we are going where the original from Oz with Christopher Ward feared to tread. And that was stomping all over the Canadian artists who released some stinkers in the past year. And now it's over I say what you wanna say You lied and I got played You threw it all away And now it's over Just face it, we didn't make it

You bit off more than you could chew Can you taste it? Ayo! It shouldn't have been a better to fuck with someone like me Ayo! Oh, our sweet Avril Lavigne. I'm sorry, Mike. Napanese own. Bite me. Woo!

By the twice-divorced Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. Derek Wibley from Sum 41 and Chad Kroger from Nickelback. Listen, she's lived the life. And the fact that she was married twice isn't as fascinating as the fact that she was married twice to two different Canadian rock stars. And big fucking deals. We're not talking Ken from Rusty here, right? These are fucking American stars. I don't know.

They worked out so well for Sum 41 in the end. stars. I don't know. They worked out so well for some 41 in the end, but Chad Kroger tried to resuscitate Avril Lavigne's career. They made a couple of albums together, but they failed to catch on in

the spirit of complicating. But the aforementioned Ian Service is watching live at the Pirate Stream, live.torontomic.com, which, don't worry, is unrecorded. But, and you're not on camera, but he says he digs this tune. He's fucking digging this.

But, you know, one man's cheese is another man's treasure. At age 37, Avril Lavigne certainly has built up the equity. People are familiar with her name and reputation. I don't know that they were standing by waiting to hear anything new from her, but I got to say, she got some big backers who believed in the whole idea of an Avril Lavigne comeback.

And, in fact, the producer, drummer on the song, Travis Barker. Hey, no. Who has become ubiquitous for the right price. He'll come in there and pound the skins on your song, Travis Barker. Hey, no. Who has become ubiquitous for the right price. He'll come in there and pound the skins on your song. He was on a Willow Smith track that I played on a Pandemic Friday recently. And don't you think, then, that this game is better left to people who were born in the 21st century? Like when Avril Lavigne first came out,

the whole idea was that she was a teenager singing about a skater boy. Does that translate then into middle age? Should she maybe be thinking of a new route for her career? Maybe a new career entirely.

Something away from music. Look, we've now got a new Avril Lavigne, a young woman named Gayle, G-A-Y-L-E, and she has a current top 10 American hit, A-B-C-D-E-F-U. Woo! And she's the one brandishing this Avril Lavigne attitude. So move over, Avril.

Gail's there. Well, at some point, you've got to accept that you had your time. Well, she's 37. She's not 67. Like, 37, I mean, maybe because I'm pushing 50 here, but 37 seems very young. But it might be a little too old to be recording punk rock songs called Bite Me. Well, like I said, Travis Barker of Blink-182 has done well for himself.

John Feldman, a middle-aged man, the frontman of the band Goldfinger, he co-wrote and co-produced that song. singer yeah uh he co-wrote co-produced that song uh so he's he's a believer that you can be a true punk into middle age but i love travis barker i don't know if the travis i would like to hear more travis barker here's there's another song affiliated with travis barker yeah yeah i want a sip and then i'll be done I don't wanna drink but I have to I've been walking close to the sun Now these toxins are falling from my mouth Sometimes I swear under my breath

Cause I don't want anyone knowing I'm upset Sometimes I fall too deeply And this time I'm not sure if I'm making it up There's no fault covering the guns and trenches If we don't see the ruins then I hope we'll forget it I can see you're hurt, you don't have to lie I'm seeing through those emerald eyes I can see your hurt. You don't have to lie. I'm seeing through those emerald eyes. I feel you can audit how much money was spent

on each pounding of the skins by Travis Barker. He's the best in the business at that, I'd say. Just raking it in. I mean, this guy is just raking it in. And, of course, he's adjacent to the whole world of reality television. Most recently, hooking up with Kourtney Kardashian. Wow. And while the Travis Barker signature has worked for some, it was less successful in 2021.

For someone we've talked about here before on Toronto Mic, a young guy named Paufu. His real name is Isaiah Faber, and whose dad led a group called Faber Drive. Right. So here we're talking about like second generation CanCon

royalty? I'm not sure about the royalties. You used the term loosely. I would like to poll like 100 random people on the TTC and ask them if they know Faber Drive. Well, Faber Drive... Faber Drive came out in the

mid-2000s. They were of the same generation as Simple Plan. Yeah, but people know Simple Plan. Mariana's Trench. Or Hedley. We're still waiting for... What's his name? The guy from

Hedley to go on trial. Jacob Hoggart. Jacob Hoggart. Didn't you watch Canadian Idol? Shout out to FOT and Farley Flex. And Jake Gold. Dave Faber of Faber Drive had a son who was making these bedroom recordings

and a single called Deathbed. In parentheses, coffee for your head uh which he originally released on soundcloud and youtube and and thanks to tiktok here in the 2020s uh that was uh do you know that song like that was one of the first uh no like i'm not tiktok savvy first hit hit records that people were crediting to TikTok. So he must have figured along with his dad, like that was easy. We can just release like record after record. And this thing will just catch on and we'll be rolling in the dough until the end of time. And that song there, Mario Kart.

Which I thoroughly enjoyed in many iterations. One of my all-time favorite Nintendo games. Now, Pao Fu, I only know everything I learned about Pao... Is that how you say it? Pao Fu? Pao Fu? Am I right? Pao Fu? How would you say that? I have no idea. Okay, because everything I know about Pao Fu, I learned from you, Mr. Wise Blat. Now, quick

shout-outs, really, really, really briefly. Firstly, did you listen to the Festivus episode of Toronto Mic'd with Elvis? Oh, Elvis! Your buddy Elvis! Did you listen? You mean the guy who comes over here once every few months to brag about... I don't even think of that often. He never listens to the show that he's appearing on.

I've glossed... I just skipped that part now. I don't ask him if he'd listen because I know he doesn't listen. But he was on for Festivus and a lot of people seem to enjoy the Elvis appearance. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. And I want to shout out a few people

who are on the live stream right now listening to us live, which is exciting. So hello to Dan J who also wants to shout out Ridley Funeral Home. Again, I'm literally going there after you leave. I have a meeting with Brad there. YYZGord is here, and he's traveling because I guess he's retired,

even though he might be younger than us. Who knows? But he enjoyed the Festivus episode. Ian Service is here, as I mentioned, and he said the Festivus episode was great. Brought him back to the toast feeling. I love how Ian's calling it toast because I was worried Pandemic Friday's brand

was so strong, nobody would call it toast. But this is happening in January. Toast debuts on January 20, which is also my son's 20th birthday. Also want to say hi to Beck, who's on the live stream, and everyone else, the brother, who is surprised Avril's only 37, because, of course, she looks, according to the brother, she looks 16.

I don't know about that, but still very much younger than you'd guess. And Moose Grumpy, who says Omicron is going to sort out all the anti-vaxxers. So what's that old expression? Shoot them all and let God sort it out? I don't know if that's what Moose Grumpy means. But I have another CanCon fromage jam I'm dying to play. Well, no one in this band is an FOTM because the only FOTM who was in this band

quit this band long before this jam. You ready, buddy? You mean he didn't quit being an FOTM? You can't. Once you're in, it's like the mafia. Okay, well then, while you were doing that romper room segment there, didn't quit being an FOTM. You can't. Once you're in, it's like the mafia. You're into life. While you were doing that romper room segment there, you might as well

say hi to Jeremy Taggart, who is not responsible for this song. He's off the hook. By Our Lady Peace. I got the feeling we were dreaming when the panic attacked When the panic attacks And we keep making stupid people famous Now we're paying for that We look for meaning on the ceiling

While we lie in our beds We blame our parents and our therapists For cloud in our heads Oh yeah I know you got it We're working hard on a dream I know you want it We're working hard on a dream

I know you got it And ceremoniously But we're working hard on a dream Hey, hey, hey It's as if Rain Maida is mimicking, sort of doing like a killer's thing, right? This has got a killer's vibe to it. What do you think about this Our Lady Peace jam? I'm willing to put this in the category of songs that fit fromage 2021. But with some consideration, I'm willing to concede aren't all that bad. So you're digging it on this.

It's because you got the beer. You got good company. I guess. I like shitty music. Maybe as we go along here, I'm going to be more generous. Give me some Fresh Craft beer and good company and put on good headphones and I will like a shitty song. I'm not going to lie.

This thing I don't hate, but it does sound very Killers-esque. It doesn't sound like Our Lady of Peace. And we went over it before here in a 2021 episode of Toronto Mic'd. I think, I don't remember any of the episodes that we do after they're done, but didn't we talk about making people famous?

Maybe a ghost in the machine doesn't want us to dunk on this song anymore. You know, Chantel Kravyshek, I recently put her on Humble and Fred, and I think in 2022 she'll be making her Toronto mic debut. Shout out to Chantel, who's still with them. So give, you know, and Rain made as a mic, you know, so I feel like I need to like,

look out for my fellow mics. And that's about one third of the, the males listening to me right now. But so I don't, I always liked the, the classic Our Lady piece. I liked quite a bit. I still love like,

like 4am and Clumsy and clumsy and superman's dead is that what it's called superman's dead yeah anyway uh okay well then what's your verdict on stop making stupid people famous not bad you know he's like like other bands we're gonna hear from later i'm thinking of like a cold play or whatever, U2 or whatever, you really kind of have to change your sound a bit if you want to have some traction in 2021. Like you can't just spit out the same old, same old because you don't, for some reason, Top 40 doesn't play that anymore.

Like we're kind of dinosaurs here, Mr. Weisblatt. Vocals on this song were contributed by Nadia, a member of the feminist Russian group called Pussy Riot. Sure. So the credit on this song is, in fact, Our Lady Peace featuring Pussy Riot. Okay. Okay. Maybe I'm being a little too harsh.

No, I'm glad you included it. I like the debate. Here's someone, Rain Maida, someone of our generation. Yeah. Right? Jeremy Taggart, the other members of that original grunge era. Yeah, Mike. Our Lady Peace.

There's another Mike in that band. They've all moved on. He inherited the name. Sure. He must have some ownership over it all. And our Lady Peace, in fact, did return to the concert circuit in 2021 across Canada. That they got to play these festival shows, which, by the way, as I spent all those months in lockdown, I said, as soon as I have the first available opportunity

after all these months of being forced to stay inside my apartment, as soon as I am able, I will go to any concert, any music festival, right? No quality control, no hating, no discrimination, just any opportunity to be hanging out with other people in the fresh summertime air.

Did you get out? Guess what happened, Mike? You never went to anything. I didn't go anywhere at all. Hot vac summer didn't quite happen for me. But Our Lady Peace did play for crowds, and they did a show that was billed as the official opening night of the Elma Combo in Toronto.

That was back around October. So OLP still at it. Look, here's Rain Maida, fellow Gen Xer still trying to make it happen. But I don't think we could not mention his effort with Pussy Riot here on Fromage

2021. Now this song is another story. Here's another 90s alt-rock band that many FOTMs adore. People, it's the summertime So come along, cause I know now There's a cabin by the lake Where we all get together with some friends

And we all celebrate Hey, listen, DJ, come on now Bring the party to the room. Play some lads and T-Rex or give me Neil's Hollis room. Cause that'll do, it's the summertime. Is this The Doors? Who is this? Mike, do you think anyone was standing by waiting for a song by the Tea Party that sounded like it could be a Canadian beer commercial

because that's what they seem to be writing a jingle for in the form of this song, Summertime. Big catalog, the fucking Tea Party, right? A lot of big hits, especially on alt-rock radio in this country, like 102.1 The Edge. But my favorite Tea Party is still the very first Tea Party I ever heard. This happens with some bands. They'll have like 10, 15 hits. And my favorite jam will very first Tea Party I ever heard. This happens with some bands. They'll have like 10, 15 hits,

and my favorite jam will be the first one I ever heard. I still love the river. I want the Tea Party to sound like the river. And instead, you've got... What's happening here? Turn it up a little bit. What can we make out of this idea of how the Tea Party wanted to sound in 2021? What's this song called?

Summertime. Summertime? No. Not a cover version of DJ Jazzy Jeff in the Fresh Prince Summertime. Or like Sublime doing Summertime and the living is easy. You know what? I think I'm getting softer in my old years because it would be easy to shit all over this.

But I'm kind of happy to hear some new Tea Party. I don't know. Am I getting soft? Maybe I'm too soft for fromage. Maybe I don't have the Christopher Ward killer instinct. Or maybe this is why he avoided going at the Canadian bands, because he knew he might, you know, be hanging with them one day soon. Well, Jeff Martin, the guy from the Tea Party, moved to Australia.

Oh. And the fact that he was down under might have complicated the fact that he was supposed to go on tour this fall, a cross-Canada tour. Did they ever sell TeaParty.com? Do you know? Because that was the big story, right? They got a big fat offer to sell TeaParty.com in the heyday

of the Tea Party movement, which was not that long ago, but pre-Trump. And I think they held on to it. And I wonder if Jeff Martin regrets not selling when the value was at his highest. Go to TeaParty.com and you can catch up on the latest music from that Canadian band. Temptation.

Who were supposed to have a cross-Canada fall tour, okay? Yeah. Mike, you were the target audience for this four-band bill. Well, Michael Lang is, but yes, continue. The Tea Party. Who are, continue. The Tea Party. The Tea Party. Yeah. Sloan.

Love Sloan. Fucking love him. The Headstones. Yeah, I love the Headstones. And the worst-named Canadian band of all time. The Waltons. I don't know. Tell me.

Who's this band? Moist. And then you played with my wings till you're done And you fell on my heart for silver and gold Left me for dead, now it's gone And if I could always love you If I could have found one way to If I could have solved your sins No, nothing in the world

I can't expect to love you Okay, pushing just a little too late. A song with this title, Tarantino. Love that director. In parentheses, bullet, kill, sex, love, thrill. This band called Moist. Once again, trying to play to the aging Gen Xers trying to stay relevant

somehow with a song they wrote in tribute to the legendary film director Quentin Tarantino it's the same demo this is smart the same dudes and dudettes who were listening to

We Are Silver and Push which by the way, again, I think the first song I ever heard from Moist was Push. And it's my favorite Moist song, just like Tea Party. It's like, I like the first one I heard. Push, just a little too late. What a fucking jam. All that shit is in the same fucking Venn diagram

with Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs and all the Tarantino. It's me. Okay, but Mike, did you hear about Moist doing a song dedicated to Quentin Tarantino? No, I never missed it. Before we unveiled it here on Formage 2021. That's a great question, though. Do you think there was anything you missed at all? I missed everything in 2021, but here's a great question I have for you.

Where was I supposed to hear Tarantino? Like, I actually don't know anymore where I'm going to pick up Tarantino. Like, unless you say, Mike, unless you play it on the fucking podcast and say, listen to it, or you kick out the jams and say, this is a great new jam I love from Moist.

I don't know where I'm going to hear new Moist. Like, I'm not in their club. I'm not in the Moist club. Do I need to enroll in the Moist club?, I'm not in their club. I'm not in the Moist Club. Do I need to enroll in the Moist Club and then I get, like, an email every month and it's like, here's New Moist. Does David Usher need to become an FOTM? Because I think he does. One way or the other, they are stuck with the name Moist.

No real way around. Remember, Bit Naked is in the video for Silver. She's just sitting at the table there. Look, I feel this is a problem to be solved. And that is, how do you market Generation X nostalgia? Because I'm not impressed with what I've been seeing so far. Okay? Like, the boomers had their time in the sun. Right. Most of what we talk about here is essentially the culture of baby.

Beach Boys, Marcella. By the way, I want to thank you for a pretty Marcella free 2021. I'm just wanted to thank you for that. Oh, I think we'll talk about chair girl here in a little bit. here in a little bit. But before we get there, don't you think, Mike, that the whole Generation X media thing has yet to be developed? I think this is it. I think this is it right now.

This is it. This is it? You and me sitting in your basement reviewing a moist song that nobody wanted to hear? Maybe we throw in like a FOTM Hall of Fame or Ed Conroy or whatever, but pretty much I think that's the thing.

I think this is it. Like the more it's starting to crystallize for me. That's our role in all this. After 30 or 40 years of nostalgia for the Baby Boomers and with the millennials right around the corner here hurtling into middle age right they're all on tiktok uh is is it only the toronto miked podcast that leaves leave space

where was i gonna hear tarantino or gen x nostalgia did indie 88 play Tarantino? Like, did 102.1 play Tarantino? Well, how would you have known? You're right, I know, but you would know, right? You would know, you listen. Well, just like the Tea Party trying to contrive an anthem for summertime. So is it just songs for your fan base?

Like, is it literally like, you're already a diehard Moist fan, therefore this is for you? Like, are they just sowing their own garden? Is that the deal now? Like, you're not growing the garden. The garden is what the garden... Humble and Fred are a bit like this,

and I'm very, you know, close to that show. I'm their producer. And it's sort of like, okay, we have our Humble and Fred fans now, and we sort of service, no pun intended to Ian who's watching live, but we sort of service no pun intended to ian who's watching live but we sort of service them we aren't necessarily looking to you know find 10 000 new humble and fred fans like that's not even the goal anymore we're not even pretending anymore it's like this you are like so you are a humble and fred fan here you go you are a moist fan here you go like you're just literally marketing to your your own uh flock

in the end look there's a crowd out there that just wants to hear the old songs and and you break out a new track like tarantino and it's like you know a cue to buy another beer go to the snack bar uh take a break because you could listen to Spotify do you subscribe are you a premium Spotify user by any chance no I haven't figured that out yet those who love music are right

we have a premium so I literally talk to my Google speaker if a song is in my head I ask for it I'm sad to discover customs fast is not available on spotify that's a whole separate story for another day when you do a ridley funeral home segment but i'm like i'll just a song will pop my head i'll be like okay google and i'll say play this or whatever but if i i would be literally i could listen forever and never hear tarantino by moist even though i

might have at some point asked spotify to play push or silver or all the, the vintage, you know, gasoline, whatever they are, all the vintage. So all this is to say, I don't know how moist gets new ears to discover a song like Tarantino.

I don't know. Maybe Quentin himself will listen out of curiosity and maybe he'll, I don't know, blog about it. Yeah, that wasn't happening. But as part of this next example here from Osh 2021, just because people know your name

doesn't necessarily mean they want to hear you singing a song. Walking down Blueish street I make the right on young In this old town And I've gone round for round But this is where I'm from I can feel the wind Coming off the lake

it cut right to the bone a crooked smile rose on my face cause now I know I'm home she whispers baby baby

walk slow baby baby Baby, baby, walk slow. Baby, baby, don't grow. Oh, no. Her skyline is a friend of mine. Do you think he was looking for that Harvey's at Young & Bloor? It's not there anymore, buddy. Sorry, Keith. Keep looking. And that is

Kiefer Sutherland. Kiefer Sutherland. What did I call it? I'm thinking Keith Richards. Yeah, Kiefer Sutherland, which is surprising. I did not know he had new music in 2021. Okay, speaking of aging Gen Xer dreams, Kiefer Sutherland still trying to get attention

for his music, and he landed on this idea that the best way to have people in your hometown, Toronto, pay attention to the music that you're trying to make is to write a song about your hometown. Sure, under the Carlisle Bridge. There are not a lot of great songs about toronto right ambulance blues by neil young yeah there's not very many you're right as you mentioned some references from lowest of the low or drake jane and weston and a few other bare naked ladies the old jane st claire yeah and uh dan forth on the old apartment but keifer Sutherland seeing some

niche that he could fill here by writing a tribute song to Bloor Street. Okay, here's my problem with some of your selection for Fromage 2021 is I actually am digging this jam here by Kiefer

Sutherland. Like, it's not cheesy enough. It's not stinky enough. I mean, there's different types of cheese. So you're picking this because Kiefer should stop trying to have a music career, right? Except you're an actor. Fucking great in Stand By Me. But let's leave the singing to the professionals. I'm not telling him to stop.

And in fact, I think he's an inspiration to us all. People in their 50s who are trying to take on a new career and reinvent themselves through music. What I think has happened here is Kiefer Sutherland cannot be taken seriously. Like, no matter how hard he tries, no matter how sullen he wants to sound, nobody is buying that this privileged actor should somehow be taken seriously for writing some songs. Have we ever kicked out the Toronto reference jams? I'm thinking of the Pucca Orchestra with the Cherry Beach Express.

And there's so many great jams that do name check Toronto. We should do that at some point. And yet do you see Bloor Street by Kiefer Sutherland ever making it to that kind of list? That's the point I'm trying to make. And well made. But this is the guy who's going to be on the list for sure. Many a Toronto reference in some of these fucking huge jams.

And not only that, unanimously around the world, this song is the cheesiest of 2021. El Stinko. Shadow to Right Said Fred. Too sexy for your game, too sexy for this fame, yeah, yeah I'm too sexy for the trap, too sexy for that cap Too sexy for that jack, yeah, yeah Okay, alright, that's fine, okay I'm feeling too sexy to accept requests And I'm way too sexy to go unprotected

And she popped a Tesla, now she gonna let you. Okay. All right. That's fine. Okay. Think we got too sexy for that Metro housing. Way too sexy. Diamond popped out, almost swallowed 60,000.

60 pieces. Sexy need more tings in here. I like it crowded. Whoa. Whoa. Yeah, this one is way up there. Anybody who bothered to compile a list of the worst songs of 2021, they made space for Way Too Sexy by Drake featuring Future and Young Thug.

Wow. Rappers who have done good work. Right. But they just mailed this one in. Way Too Sexy, the number one single from the album Certified Lover Boy. Yeah, this was the big breakthrough, if you will, right? This was the big hit off that album, right? And it was this and a few other tracks from Drake's 2021 album.

from Drake's 2021 album. Another one we talked about here was Girls, what was it called? Girls Want Girls. I've already forgotten. Drake featuring Lil Baby. Remember we kicked that one out? How could I forget? Earlier this fall, talking about Drake.

And he made it out like he was putting together his masterpiece, the certified lover boy album. Right. Because there's a line of demarcation between what constitutes a mixtape, which is a more casual release from a rapper, and what he considers to be a genuine studio album. Expectations were high around Certified Loverboy,

which was delayed for the better part of a year. And when this thing dropped, as these albums do these days, at the stroke of midnight, Labor Day weekend, all the critics listening to this wondering what is going through Drake's mind is this

what Drake considers quality control what kind of payday is this for the what is he doing attaching his name to a song that interpolates I'm too sexyxy by Right Said Fred. What kind of payday for Right Said Fred?

I feel like they were due for it. Not really making any effort at all. Well, they were also in the anti-lockdown crowd. That's right. And so I guess Aubrey Graham made them a little bit richer. I'm this close to joining them in the anti-lockdown. Omicron is game changer here. I'm this close. Don't spread the news.

But get vaccinated, FOTMs. Get fucking vaccinated. Just like Avril Levine. I mean, at some point, Drake has to come up with a new act or just leave the stage. And I realize Drake has become a

meta celebrity on a much higher level. I mean, there are like tens of millions of people are familiar with Drake who have never heard a Drake song. You know, that's the kind of star that he is. Well, they're just Degrassi fans. They're just huge fans of Degrassi, those guys. Shout out to Jimmy. But the reality of

listening to Drake got a little bit brutal on the album. Certified lover boy. Fit for the pit. The worst album by any measure of 2021. Now, here's a song that is making new news in the final week of the year. Is that because he shot somebody? Well, that too. But also

the fact that a certain singer has come calling out this artist for the fact that she was sampled without permission. Now we're going to find out who. Oh, wrong song. You got the wrong song. Do I? Yeah, you got the wrong song. You got the wrong song.

Do I? Yeah, you got the wrong one. The one we want to find is called Pluto's Last Comet by Tory Lanez. Okay, but you know this is the... I just copied your link. Well, I had a different idea before. Okay, here's what we're going to do. So this is not it. So I'm going to fade this one out,

and I'm going to go to YouTube, and tell me what the name of the song is you want me to play right now. Okay, I apologize for originally pointing to the wrong Tory Lanez song. What's the name of the song? The one we were trying to set up was Pluto's Last Comet. Okay. Pluto, no longer a planet, but now a jam. This is it.

Yeah, okay. Well, you know, I could have listened to the intros last time. Oh, it's Phil Collins. No, not Phil Collins. Shoot, shoot, shoot, shootio. I call her my baby with love in my eyes. She tends to call me crazy. That's no surprise. Surprise. She's on my radar. Madonna, get into the groove.

I hear it now. Get into the groove, boy. Shout out to Dana Levinson. I feel it, want it, need it. Oh, I feel it, want it, need it. So did he think he could get away with that? Like, don't these guys know that Madonna's listening? Not only that, Madonna wants to talk to the guy and left a comment on his Instagram saying, check your messages.

She DM'd him. I've been asking you to cease and desist. Pay up here for using my song. And look, Tory Lanez does not have a lot of establishment fans at this point in time relating to his alleged shooting of Megan Thee Stallion in an incident that happened in summer 2020. Remind me, he's a Toronto guy, right? This is a Toronto guy, born and raised.

Yeah, from Brampton, in fact. Well, that's not Toronto, so he's a Brampton guy. We've got to be specific here. Close enough. Close enough. Born in Montreal. He tells the Americans he's from Toronto, but we know better.

Brampton is its own city. Patrick Brown, I believe, is the mayor of that city. Yeah, born in Brampton, raised in Montreal before he moved to Miami. Okay, Tory Lanez, look. We're going to claim him. He's bad news. Okay, we won't claim him. We had him on Fromage 2020 for the fact that he had a hip-hop video.

And one of the only women that he could get to appear with him in the video was Chair Girl, Marcella Zoya. There she is, everybody. Shout out to Chair Girl. And this year, Alone at Prom, the name of his latest release, which is his tribute to the 1980s. And more people have heard of this record than ever before because it didn't get a whole lot of press. He is perhaps being presumed guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion, even though this has not been proven in court. Has he said, he said, I didn't do it? Good press has been hard

to find. I thought he was owning that one. It sounds a little complicated. And Madonna has now called him out for stealing this sample. Now, the song that you hit by accident,

can you go back to that one? Enchanted Waterfall? That was the one I originally lined up for fromage before we heard about Madonna. And the reason that one was on the list is because it's a total ripoff of

Careless Whisper by George Michael. See where I was going with this?off of Careless Whisper by George Michael. See where I was going with this? I love Careless Whisper. And remember, last Christmas is Elvis' favorite holiday song. Shout out to Elvis. I left my love at your place today Went so young for these incidents Put my heart on my sleeve too long

Going through heartbreak won't be too long She's got my name tatted on her wrist I don't know why something's wrong with this This burning love I ain't seen before And I don't know if I can handle it anymore Would you let me know? Can't take a break for so long. I hear it.

Maybe won't you let me know? It's obvious. I'm still stuck on you. Yeah, I'm sorry to be giving Tory Lanez this much air time, but look, Mike, I screwed up the song. Does he think he's girl talk? He can just sort of like mash up these hits of folk. But here's what happened.

Even though there was a media blackout on paying any respect to Tory Lanez because of what went down, the album still was doing okay on the charts, racking up millions of online listens. And Madonna calling him out means even more. That, in fact, Madonna has turned out to be his greatest publicist. We'll see if the song

survives on the streaming services due to the fact that nobody wants to be associated with the guy who allegedly, still allegedly, put in a whole album professing his innocence. But he shot her in the foot, right? Shot her in the foot.

You know how many times I wanted to shoot Stu Stone in the foot? I feel like that's okay. According to the initial police report, shouted, dance, bitch. Like Goodfellas. That's Goodfellas. Shout out to Marty Scorsese. Where the fuck is the SCTV doc? Do you have any update on that real quick?

Where's that SCTV doc? I've been waiting. Mike, we stopped asking questions and nobody really cared anymore. I'm going to call Bill Brio. Oh, it's Toronto Mike. Where the hell is Marty Scorsese's SCTV doc? Okay, we got to do some more Fromage 2021. This concludes our Canadian corner.

And now we're going to move into the extremely online segment of our Fromage 2021 episode with Mark Weisblatt from 1236. 21 episode with Mark Weisblatt from 1236 go to 1236.ca and subscribe to his daily news burrito you ready for the extremely online

of the first jam from this segment okay looking forward to this because I know the original of this song it's Rebecca Black Dorian the Extra 3RD and Big Freedia the original of this song. It's the fucking weekend! This is cheese. Okay, now we're back in the spirit of fromage.

This is a stinky piece of cheese. And yet at the same time, we were told that we should take very seriously the artistic journey of Rebecca Black, 10 years earlier, responsible for the viral vanity video called Friday, which exposed the whole universe out there

of a production company that would help rich kids in Hollywood produce their own music videos with these derivatively original songs. I will help rich kids in Hollywood start their own podcast. Reach out. Mike at TorontoMike.com And Rebecca Black

could not have relaunched her career without paying homage to what made her famous in the first place. It took the form of doing this ironic re-recording of Friday. But at the same time, there's Rebecca Black doing these interviews, making pronouncements about how her new music reflects her inner self. her inner self. And in the process, we learn that Rebecca Black, like so many of her generation, has taken

on a queer identity. That this non-binary or bisexual or poly... A generation ago, the move would have been to pose naked in Playboy magazine. Right? That would be the way

you would assert yourself as entering adulthood. Madonna would kiss Britney Spears. Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, when they wanted to be taken seriously as adults, they went in all in, right? Sure. Did the whole like Photoshop. Alyssa Milano would do a movie and would get topless. I know what you're talking about.

Carney Wilson even made an appearance in Playboy. Molly Ringwald did a nude scene, I believe. But this is like the symptom of 20 or 25 years ago. What's left for Rebecca Black? Well, I guess it's to talk about how she's discovering herself like never before. But this is not a Rebecca, this is someone else just remixing Friday, right? This is not a Rebecca Black release, right?

This is just some producer who decided to fuck with her. No, no, no, this was an authorized remake of Rebecca Black's Friday. Okay, because it's like, it's objectively awful. Which was set up to be be the gateway to her musical career where you were supposed to take her seriously. You know what it reminds me of? My young, young kids like a song called,

I'm a gummy bear. I'm a gummy bear. I'm a gummy, gummy, gummy, gummy, gummy bear. Literally, that's a song. And then I hear it. The five-year-old is obsessed with it. And this is what that sounds like. I think, though, that's the song. And then I hear it, like, all the five-year-olds just, like, obsessed with it. And this is what that sounds like. I think, though, she also missed out on a payday

because this was at the time that Friday from Rebecca Black came out. Right. It was absolutely the number one song in the universe. Oh, the streaming. For that week in time. But the methodology on the Billboard Hot 100 hadn't caught up to that new style of consumption yet. So you're saying that Rebecca Black missed out on her number one on the Billboard Hot 100 hadn't caught up to that new style of consumption yet.

So you're saying that Rebecca Black missed out on her number one on the Billboard Hot 100. She was also slated to play the Velvet Underground Club in Toronto in mid-January. I don't think that's happening anymore. I thought she was going to play not the Danforth Music Hall, but the Velvet Underground. Yeah, not expecting to sell more than a few dozen tickets. And even though I don't think the lockdown laws prevent that from happening, I mean, wouldn't it be great if Rebecca Black was defiant in needing to play a show for her Toronto fans

and announce her reemergence again? Some classic fromage 2021 courtesy of Rebecca Black. That I got them under a spell Baby, baby, I'm the damsel I'm just too hard to handle P.O.V. you're trying really hard to get me cancelled And I might be a handful Because I got my hands full Industry plan, I love my fans And I love a good scandal My crown, my crown

Everybody wants a piece of my crown You need to calm down Tear me down You sound jealous, that's sweet But you'll never get a piece of my crown Oh-oh, oh-oh You'll never get a piece Oh-oh

You sound jealous, that's sweet But you'll never get a piece of my heart. I'm in a castle with my ring light and my makeup. Kings in my line, but I will never have that fake kind of love. Come get your man, it sounds like you're about to break up. Ooh. Baby, baby, I'm no damsel. I'm just too hot to handle.

POV, you're trying really hard to get me canceled. We've come a long way since Rebecca Black and Friday because I don't think as many people will be familiar with My Crown by Brooklyn Webb, a 17-year-old from Vancouver, British Columbia. So we're not done with the Canadian content quite yet, Mike. She's got over 10 million followers on TikTok. The Toronto Star was bragging the other day

they've got 18,000 TikTok followers. We've got a long way to catch up to XO Brooklyn. How many do you have? How many does 1236 have on TikTok? Absolutely none. Oh, you're tied with me. Never say never. In the meantime, TikTok belongs to teenagers of 36 have on TikTok? Absolutely none. Oh, you're tied with me. Never say never. In the meantime, TikTok belongs to teenagers

like XO Brooklyn, spelled B-R-O- O-K-L-Y N-N-E Very Gen Z spelling of the name. And when people reacted to her attempt to make some records,

it was XO Brooklyn saying, in fact, you have all been pranked. You've been punked. My music is deliberately terrible. But listening to this song. That's like just her thing, man. I'm not sure. I hear some

sincerity there that initially this was created with the idea that people wouldn't care. Well, that to me, my ears, my 47 year old ears, that sounds like every other pop song I heard in 2021. I can't even distinguish anymore. It's one big lump and that one fits right in. Okay, so that's who

Rebecca Black is now up against and she's also up against the drama that happens online here 10 years after Friday. That if you want to be an online personality

known for doing a little bit of singing, you gotta fight with people like Gabby Hanna. Cause the love that you gave that we made wasn't able to make it enough for you to be open wide No And every time you speak her name does she know how you told me to hold me Until you die, until you die, well you're still alive And I have to remind you of the mess you left when you went away.

It's not fair to deny me of the cross I bear that you gave to me. You, you, you, I don't know. You. Gabby has been around for quite a while,

but have you ever heard her name? Say the name again. Gabby Hanna. No, I only know Gabby has been around for quite a while, but have you ever heard her name? Say the name again. Gabby Hanna. No, I only know Gabby Hoffman. Gabby Hanna, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, native of Pennsylvania. If you spell Hanna backwards, is it also Hanna? No, Hanna without an H. Oh, that ruins everything.

Why is everyone so mad at Gabby Hanna? Read the June 2021 headline on BuzzFeed. Tell me. Because she covered Alanis Morissette, and she didn't change it enough. I feel like if you're going to cover a big jam like this, you've got to put your own spin on it. Well, you can refer to cover a big jam like this, you've got to put your own spin on it.

Well, you can refer to this BuzzFeed profile written by Sachi who became well known for getting into online drama. Sure, I know. And I would say that when it came to trying to write about Gabby Hanna, that she

met her match. Like, here was somebody who's got a whole internet army ready to unleash upon anyone who criticizes their way of doing things. And so Gabbie Hanna writing controversy after controversy, writing controversy after controversy, writing it to something that resembles celebrity in 2021. But I got to say, after trying to read this article,

why is everyone so mad at Gabby Hanna? You're still trying to figure it out. Yeah, maybe I'm showing my age. I have absolutely no clue. How dare she cover essentially our national anthem, You Oughta Know, Come On. You know what? This is reminding me

how good Jagged Little Pill was. What a solid fucking album that is. Did you ever see that documentary? The one that's on Crave right now? Not there yet. But I guess... I gotta see that. Alanis' legacy is safe. Because...

Gabby was not able to claim. You ought to know it's an anthem of her own. Shout out to You Can't Do That on Television, where we all first saw Alanis. Anyone so bad it's making me go wild This guy feels like a jaguar And all I want is just to drive him

But I don't know where to start Cause I'm low-key, low-key in love with her I keep biting my tongue So what I'm saying in front of her Yeah, I'm low-key, low-key in love I'll keep on doing what I'm doing and just hope it's enough i'm in love but i'm keeping it low-key i'm in love but i'm keeping it low-key i'm in love but i'm keeping love but i'm keeping love but i'm keeping it low, but I'm keeping it low, but I'm keeping it low key.

Okay, not the worst song here by a band called The Struts. No, it sounds like it could be like a Chainsmokers jam or something. Well, this is like one of those English bands that comes along with a front man who professes to be the next Freddie Mercury. And there have been a whole bunch of these. And they never quite figure out how to recapture the magic. And then they realize there is only one Freddie Mercury and we should stop trying to be Freddie Mercury.

The reason I made it to Formage 2021 is because this is a duet that the Struts recorded with Paris Jackson. Wow. The middle child of the king of pop. Trying to make it with a music career of her own. And thanks to following the legendary publicist Elliot Mintz. Most famous for working with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. And then who managed to become this kind of zealot figure all around Hollywood, like anything to do with the O.J. Simpson trial.

When when Paris Hilton was in the news, there was there was Elliot Mintz always walking two steps behind her. And he's embedded with the Real Housewives, the Kardashians. housewives, the Kardashians, and I guess because the estate of the King of Pop is currently paying for Elliot Mintz's mansion, he can't stop talking about the brilliance

of Paris Jackson. Wow. No one has really been feeling it, but this was her trying to have a hit. Her voice, this might be the first time i've heard her voice on anything uh you know i will say that uh is there any relation elliot mince you're talking about any relation with fotm noah mince not not not that i know of thorne lee

graduate i want to promote that next month i don't know thorne lee from Adam, except Cam and Stu went there, and they talk about it all the time. Noah Mintz went there. Some guy who had a show on CBC called Q, I forget his name. He had a show. He went to Thornley. And another guy who went to Thornley is my guest next month on Toronto Mic'd, Bill Wolichka.

Another Canadian one here for Formage 2021. And this song got a fair bit of advance attention because it represented the comeback for Grimes. Will you forget? La la la la Baby How can I compare To the adventure out there?

Sail away To the cold expanse of space Even I couldn't keep you in your place But can you love me like that? Can you love me like that? Are you tired of these songs yet? Here's one called Player of Games, which was a response. It's just the old sound of like,

is it me or am I going to sound like Abe Simpson shaking his fist at a cloud? And I fear I will actually, but the new style of music doesn't have a lot of like differentiation. Did I say that word right? I've got a couple of beers in here, but like they all sound

kind of off the same template and very similar. Am I Abe Simpson? Call me Abe. Okay, but how many of the songs are written about what it's like to be the girlfriend of the richest man in the world? I actually blew Monica's mind.

Let me finish that sentence. Blew Monica's mind the other day by telling her that Grimes was Canadian. She did not believe me. We had to go to Wikipedia for me to be proven correct once again with my fun facts and mind blows. And Grimes became well known doing songs

that sound a lot more credible than this. I don't know what was going on. This one's pretty stinky. I guess she stinky trying to show that she left elon musk behind and had had the freedom to make cryptic comments about living with him i mean elon musk is is another one of those anti-woke guys right like but he can't be canceled people people aren't aren't leaving leaving their Teslas on the side of the road

in protest what's that documentary about WorldCom called Too Big to Fail is that the documentary Too Big to Fail everyone was standing by waiting to hear what the new Grimes music

would be like. And this is the best that she could deliver. But don't you think if you and I went into a studio for a weekend with our N95 masks, we'd emerge with something that could sound like this. Am I crazy? Am I nuts? You want to try? There's not a lot of like

musicianship at play it's not like when we watch you get back and then Paul's noodling away on a guitar and next thing you know what he's got a he's got the bones of a big fucking Beatles hit yeah I feel this should have been good but she kind of squandered the opportunity. But look, they had a kid, their son,

the best anyone could tell, pronounced X-A-I-12 Musk. And that's it for HomZ2021 from Grimes. Okay, here's somebody else who, again, ended up on the shelf with all the canceled people trying to make a chance. I've been kind of crazy ever since it went down. I got kind of lost and baby, this is what I found. Girls like you just want to take me around, around and around. There's two things that you're going to find out. They don't love you and they only love you right now.

If I was smarter, I'd have stayed my ass at home and leave them brown-haired girls alone. Morgan Wallen. What do you know about Morgan Wallen? Nothing, but my beautiful daughter is named Morgan, so I kind of want to like this guy. And, you know, Morgan Wallen had the biggest selling American record of 2021. Really? And it sold

even more, even more after all the radio stations banned him from airplay. Is he the SNL guy? He was completely cancelled. First, supposed to be on Saturday Night Live in 2020. A country music artist? Yeah, a country music artist. Okay, I remember this. In 2020. Country music artist?

Yeah, country music artist. Off my radar. Definitely, though, a hip-hop influence there. And it was that hip-hop influence, maybe, that led him to feel that he could just kind of throw around the N-word. Oh, really? Not disparagingly, but in a situation

where he was inebriated enough to be caught on camera. And that was the end of the line for him with the Nashville establishment. Question about the N-word. They wanted to show they were zero tolerance. Zero tolerance. I understand zero tolerance. But was he singing along to songs that dropped the N-word? Or was he using the N-word in his own speech?

This has been caught on camera shouting back and forth with his buddies. Because you can get caught in the car. You can be listening to a song you dig and slip. I'm not saying I've done it, but I have friends who have done it. But here's the thing. They couldn't stop the streams for Morgan Wallen. So here this guy had the number one album week after week after week. The most popular artist in America.

It was someone who they tried to stop. It is quite the blend. And did everything possible to make sure he wouldn't be promoted anymore. It is a hip hop. There's definitely a hip hop flavor and there's a country music flavor. They're really colliding there. I haven't heard such collisions since Cowboy by the Great Kid Rock. Okay, well, here was Broadway Girls, one that he released at the end of 2021,

along with the rapper known as Lil Durk. Lil Durk and Morgan Waller. Shout out to Lil Durk. That he's not the racist that you think he is, but deserved a place on our fromage list. Before we do the final three, they're coming up now. We're leaving the internet segment there. Let's do a couple of jams related to a great artist

who's still with us, which I think is against all odds. And it's not Phil Collins. It's not Phil Collins, okay? It is this gentleman. I want to be a slave. I it's not Phil Collins. It's not Phil Collins, okay? It is this gentleman. I wanna be a slave. I wanna be your master. I wanna make your heartbeat run like roller coaster. I wanna be a good boy.

I wanna be a gangster. Cause you can be the beauty and I could be the monster. I love you since this morning, not just for aesthetic. I wanna touch your body so fucking electric. I know you're scared of me. Well, this guy was really from Detroit. Not a carpetbagger like Alice Cooper was. Iggy Pop picking up a check there for a remix of I Wanna Be Your Slave by Maniskin. Yeah, you like Maniskin.

I think you've played it a few times. We introduced Began, a Four Seasons cover version by Maniskin. I don't even know if I knew how to pronounce it at the time, but that's the name of that Italian group that was in the Eurovision Song Contest that brought rock and roll back to the top 40. And here they are going for a follow-up and, I guess, looking for a little authenticity. Called on the legendary James Osterberg Iggy Pop to add some lyrics and turn that into a duet. Iggy Pop is a guy I feel,

I think we all expected to die young. This is not a guy we thought we'd see as an old man. Yeah, he's made it all the way to age 74. Wow. Let's hope we don't discuss Iggy Pop on any of our Ridley Funeral Home segments in 2022. I once saw Iggy Pop performing for what was maybe 100 people at Canada's Wonderland.

Oh, wow. There was a music festival there in 1997, a big fiasco. See, I'm surprised. Barely anyone showed up. I feel like Trainspotting brought back, like brought Iggy Pop back to the zeitgeist. Lust for life.

Yeah, but before that, he had a pop hit, Candy with B-52s. And the one that was in the movie, what's the movie, I want to say Avengers and Babysitting. There's a song Iggy Pop had. He had a hit with a song on a soundtrack. Wild One. I'm a wild one.

Real wild one. Yeah, real wild child. What movie was that in the mid-80s that I enjoyed? I want to say Avengers and Babysitting, but something like that. Anyways, here we are, homestretch. Yeah, Iggy Pop. Okay, so Iggy Pop doing kind of like what Alice Cooper was doing with Splashin' Boots. Trying to make a song sound a little bit more real.

Okay, and that ties into this one. This is like low-hanging fruit for fromage. But where else would anyone acknowledge David Hasselhoff? Let's dedicate this to the late, great Norm MacDonald, who will remind you that Germans love David Hasselhoff. Too easy. Oh! Get that fromage stench out of here, wise bloke.

Do you think this is too self-aware, however many decades into the night rider trying to be known for making music? This song is like the poster known for making music. This song is the poster child for fromage. This is a stinky as all hell cover by a lame artist.

To be honest, I'm a big Iggy Pop fan. I just like the whole spirit of Iggy. Let's try and make a couple points before we're done here. Then we have the big three. About Gen X nostalgia. And Mike, whether or not you and me and all of our peers have a place here in the post-pandemic.

There's a lot of us, you know. There's a lot of Gen Xers. So I'm curious to hear where you're going with this. Okay, well then there was only one Gen X rock band that figured out how to have a number one hit. But they couldn't do it alone. They had to do it as a collaboration

with the K-pop band BTS. You are my universe and I just want to put you first And you, you are my universe and I In the night I lie and look up at you When the morning comes I watch you rise I don't care how much I secretly like this song. And in fact, I was digging it all year long, listening to top 40 radio stations on repeat. The fact is Coldplay featuring BTS is the essence of Fromage 2021. Now, do I got this right, Mike?

You were having a debate here with the FOTMs. It was Elvis whether we can still consider Coldplay a rock band. I think Cam Gordon started that. I think it's a ridiculous discussion. Of course, Coldplay is a rock band. You know, you might not like their newer stuff like this because it's such a departure from if you were listening to Don't Panic

or Yellow or something, right? Or Scientist or whatever. But Cole plays a rock band, but they've clearly gone the Imagine Dragons route or the Maroon 5 route of song modification in order to try to stay relevant in the day of

R&B and hip-hop. And we dissected this earlier in the year on Toronto Mic'd. I noticed Chris Martin of Coldplay was doing these interviews of people like Darren Jones on KISS 92.5 in Toronto. Almost FOTM Darren Jones. You could tell that they were going for it. They were trying to

put a new shine on their pop stardom. They were trying to be the new shine on their pop stardom. They were trying to be the last Gen X rock band standing. Coldplay. And maybe they are. I don't know. Is Green Day done? I always think Green Day kind of held on a long time.

I was like, this is impressive. But I can't imagine Billy Joe of Green Day translating his songs into Korean. What about Foo Fighters? This is a band that comes out of the ashes of Nirvana. Nirvana's done in 94. Therefore, I would say... Well, that's where we started.

The ubiquitous Dave Grohl with Mick Jagger, Easy Sleazy. Okay, what about, shout out to Coldplay, who I think are remaining more relevant than these other guys from a generation before. And maybe this is the worst song of 2021. It's by U2, Your Song Saved My Life. That's not Bono's voice, is it? Is that Bono's voice?

Oh, yeah, maybe. What's going on? Voice has changed a bit. you there you know your song saved my life I don't sing it just so I can get by won't you hear me when I say I weep for anyone

who ever thought that you two were cool knowing that it all ends here with you two doing, I guess, the closing credit theme song to animated movie Sing To. And if you've got Matthew McConaughey and Scarlett Johansson and Reese Witherspoon all picking up checks. Bono got right in there voicing one of the characters, and part of that package deal meant that they would do a song from Sing To called Your Song Saved My Life.

Mike, what are we going gonna do about you two first they force everyone who who owns an iphone to download their album they spent seven years trying to figure out how And here this Irish musical legacy takes a turn with the best they can offer here. Going into their 60s, over 40 legendary years from U2. It all ends here. Your song saved my life. Yeah, I have so many things to say. Like, you know, again, sort of like the Mick Jagger, like,

these guys could just say, fuck it, we're living off our catalog and, like, just tour for the rest of their lives. It's like a legacy rock band. Everybody just wants to hear where the streets have no name or one or whatever, but here they are giving it a go, like a song for... My kids are excited about Sing

Too. I choose not to use the G in sing. I just want to point that out. I know you like to say sing and you are probably correct, but I refuse. Okay. It's Sing Too, but I, uh, I think it's an awful song, but I don't like blame them for trying or am i again i might be too soft for fromage i might be too much of a wussy let's do one more one more and then we'll say goodbye here is a jam you already know. Shadow 2, Leona Boyd and her remix of Popcorn. Okay, no Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment. No, because this is Fromage 2021.

We save the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment for your next appearance, which, by the way, do we now? Because this is late December, I guess you show up in early Feb, the first Thursday of February to kind of bring us up to speed on everything. I do want to, before I pass the mic and, you know, I thank you immensely for this fromage 2021, all this effort and these great jams, some of which were stinky and some of which might be what I would call guilty pleasure. I want to thank sticker you.com. They were here all year,

all of 2021 supporting Toronto Mike and, uh, helping to fuel the real talk. And I urge all FOTMs to pay it forward, go to sticker you.com, get all your stickers and, uh, decals and badges and everything.

They're good people and they know a good podcast when they hear it. Get all your stickers and decals and badges and everything there. Good people. And they know a good podcast when they hear it. And I'm excited to say they'll be back for January 2022. Thank you, Mark. Yeah, how did we do? I mean, Leona Boyd at the end, did you have anything more to say? I thought you were going to acknowledge the

remix update version of Popcorn. I'm just going to assume that you were being funny because of course that is the most wonderful song released in 2021. So I know you're just being a little having a little snarky fun with

everybody. But straight up, what do you, sincerely, because Leona's listening, you know that, what do you think of the wonderful version of Popcorn, the Popcorn remix by Leona Boyd, who is now in FOTM, of course? Mike, I'm completely exhausted after all that stinky cheese that we recapped here. Stinky Omicron cheese.

Okay, trying to live up there to the legacy of that much music year-ender. stinky cheese that we recapped here. Stinky Omicron cheese. Okay. Trying to live up there to the legacy of that much music year end. Or how did we do? Well, I just want to make sure, cause I know Leona's listening. She's become a big fan of the podcast. Tell Leona,

Leona, we're just joking. We're just kidding. We fucking love this song and we love everything you do. And wise blood. I love everything you do. Honestly. I love this new annual tradition i can't wait till i would say i can't wait to see you again next december for fromage 2022 but i

will probably be seeing you in uh i would guess five weeks time as we recap everything that happened since your last appearance on toronto mic and we will have a very sad death that has struck me rather personally uh last night i was waking up in the middle of the night with custom songs in my head. I'm a little surprised how affected I am by the premature passing of my friend custom, but we will discuss that on your next appearance on Toronto Mike. Mike, thank you for letting me in the house this time. And that, in the house this time.

And that... That brings us to the end of our 975th show. You can follow me on Twitter on that Toronto mic. You should know that Mark Weisblot is at 1236. That's 1-2-3-6 on Twitter. And you can go to 1236.ca.

Subscribe to his daily news burrito it drops in your inbox Monday through Friday at 1236pm Eastern Time of course our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer

I'll be under the Bentway I guess they don't call it under the Bentway I'm under the Gardner at the Bentway tomorrow to enjoy some Great Lakes Beer. I'll be under the Bentway. I'll be, I guess they don't call it under the Bentway. I'm under the Gardner at the Bentway tomorrow to enjoy some Great Lakes Beer with Cam Gordon and some other FOTMs. Whoever wants to show up at 1145. Chef Drop is at Get Chef Drop. Moneris is at Moneris. McKay's CEO Forums. They're at McKay's CEO Forums. Palmapasta is at Palmapasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley FH. I'm on my way there now. Mark, remember to pose for the photo with

Blown Up, the Jamie Kennedy Stu Stone CD. You should hold this up for the photo. See you all tomorrow when I speak with an astronaut, Dr. Roberta Bondar. I go straight from a space cadet to an astronaut. See you then. Thank you.