Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Holly Cole: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1655

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

In this 1655th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with jazz singer Holly Cole about her career, the Queen Street scene of the 1980s, being big in Japan, Lilith Fair and more. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

Welcome to episode 1655 of Toronto Miked! Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma pasta, enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Recyclemyelectronics.ca, committing to our planet's future, means properly

recycling our electronics of the past. Building Toronto Skyline, a podcast and book from Nick Aienes, sponsored by Fusion Corp Construction Management Inc. and Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. Joining me today making her Toronto mic debut is Holly Cole. Welcome Holly. Thanks for having me. Toronto Mike debut is Holly Cole. Welcome Holly. Thanks for having me.

Thanks for being here and joining us because I think he's going to keep his good eye on me to make sure I don't ask you anything too difficult. But your manager is in the room. That's right. Tom Berry is here too. And I found out a moment ago, Tom. Yes. Yeah.

Say hello to everybody. I say hello. Hello. And I just found out Tom Berry manages Kim Mitchell as well. Well, I did for years. Oh, but you currently not currently, but still go for a soda, Tom. OK, we're going to be talking here, Holly. Holly, what a pleasure it is to meet you.

Thanks for making the time for me. It's my pleasure. Alan's Wig is listening to us right now, and he says, ask her if she still has that car. I don't still have that car. What are we talking about? Hello Alan. I had an I used to have a 1968 Gran Torino convertible and I had it for a long time and but it became Well Alan, I'll tell you hello Alan. I haven't seen you in a long time. I It became impossible. I had to have two parking spots for every parking for every time I had to park it So it became kind of unwieldy to drive it around.

Yeah. Okay. I didn't know. Cause he sent that cause you were scheduled earlier. Then you went to Japan or maybe, or maybe yes. Yeah. We went, we went to Japan just a little while ago.

We got back about a week and a half ago. Yeah. What was a Japan like? How was that? Well, it was great. We hadn't been there. We we'd been there a lot of times, but we hadn't been there for quite a while. We were there actually during the earthquake, the huge earthquake that was there. And we've been back once since then, but it

was great. I mean, it's, it's a, we have a lot of fans there and friends there too. And so it was, it was great to go back. We had great shows that we play at this. There's clubs there. They have clubs there that unlike any club I've ever been in even Europe, but, but also North America. Like the sight lines are brilliant. There's no bad seats. They're big but not too big and the sound is impeccable absolutely. And the whole focus is on the band. They don't serve any food or drinks during the show for the whole thing. No distractions.

No distractions. They don't use their cash registers. They all just stand there. It's really about the show And so there's nothing like it here and it's it's a great intimate way to like intimate venue for for music from like mine It's perfect. Is it fair to say Holly Cole is big in Japan? I guess so All right, so again so I kind of announced this was happening and then it got postponed but here you are but back in the back Whenever I promoted it initially, there's a gentleman named Mike from Kdub and Mike from Kdub says ice We sorry we saw her a few months ago Love her voice. So hello to Mike from Kdub. Hi Mike. Thank you Ken chase said I've been revisiting her catalog

Lately, I love Holly what great timing so Ken thinks I I booked this because he's been revisiting her catalog lately. I love Holly. What great timing. So Ken thinks I book this because he's been revisiting your catalog. That is why. That is why. Yeah, you know what? He's a, Ken Chase is a powerful person here. And ignorance of me. So I had a guest on yesterday who's from Halifax and he's in Sloan, in Sloan, big freaking deals. And I said, you know, Holly Cole. And he goes, no, but I know, big freaking deals. And I said, do you know Holly Cole? And he goes, no, but I know Holly McNarland.

And I'm thinking, yeah, those are the two great Canadian like Holly singers or whatever. But then I was thinking, oh, Toronto ignorance. I think everybody from Halifax knows each other. Like, I just assume, of course, you're both from Halifax, you're similar vintage, of course you know each other. But he didn't know you. But I'm just curious if you could tell us a little bit about, you know, coming from

Halifax and a little bit about your father, because I was reading into your father who was a, you know, a famous radio guy at CBC. Yeah, well coming from Halifax, I mean you hear a lot of music about the ocean, a lot of music of the sea, and I love that. And my dad used to play that kind of music for me, but he was a classical guy. He had a national radio show on CBC, two different ones, and he played a lot of music for us as kids. But I want to talk a little bit about Holly McNarland for a moment. Yeah, I love Holly McNarland.

Because I think that it's not so much that everyone from Nova Scotia knows each other, it's that everyone who's named Holly knowsarling. Because I think that it's not so much that everyone from Nova Scotia knows each other, it's that everyone who's named Holly knows each other. And so I met Holly, and we hit it off at, what's it called, Lilith Fair. And we were both playing Lilith Fair a long time ago. Of course. And we ended up, am I allowed to swear? You can swear, yeah.

I swear, okay. And I'm gonna blame Holly McNyllen for the swearing. Is that she would play her set every night. We would do our set, she would do her set, and we would hear her, and as the band we would go and listen to her. And she had this tune that went that, you know, her music's quite different than mine. And it was, you couldn't really hear the words sometimes. And so she'd go, every night she'd go,

la la la la la la, but I fucked him anyway. And then, and so, and so, so every night, so every night, every night we would all fill in the blank. Well, he was a, well, whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but I fucked him anyway. And so every night after her show, we would, we would say, Holly, and she'd go, what did you fill in the blank with tonight? Because we didn't know what she ever said. And anyway, I thought I'd share that story. Well, that's great, as I mean, I listened to a lot of CF and why in the 90s. And Numb was a big song.

But there are a few of Holly McGarland's songs, Numb being a really big one. But she fit right in. Funny, because I had funny that the guy from Sloan knew Holly because they were neighbors for years. This guy, Patrick Pent Pentland but they were side by side on CF and why but we weren't hearing any callie Holly Cole on CF and why well yeah that's too bad but I mean that just didn't fit right the alt rock not really but Holly McNarland I think is from actually from BC not not from Maritimes I think no no yeah it's no she yeah because they live together in

Toronto so like the Sloan guys moved to Toronto and then Patrick was a neighbor DC, not from the Maritimes. I think. No, no, yeah, yeah, she, yeah, because they live together in Toronto. So like the Sloan guys moved to Toronto, and then Patrick was a neighbour of Holly McNarland in Toronto, and I think Holly's still in Toronto now. And you're here too. Like you all end up here eventually. One thing just to interrupt for a second. Okay, Tom, get right on that mic, buddy. One very kind of interesting thing.

Yeah. In 89, when I ran into the Holly Cole T trio, it was in places like the Rivoli or the bamboo. It was like alternative Queen West Street where you'd walk in, the audience, it'd be a full house. There'd be punks sitting at the lip of the stage at the front and university profs at the back. It was really me not being able to pull CFNY really bothered me after a while because our

audience was seriously right up there. Yeah. You know, I'm glad you spoke up on that because I'm always cause you know, it's kind of jazzy and it maybe it doesn't fit, but why not? Right? Like, you're right. Skydiggers. Like I'm just thinking like that scene there, let Ron Jay, I just had a, yeah. I remember you know, Charlie Angus is making the rounds these days and Andrew cash and all this. That's also blue rodeo. Like this whole, yeah. Queen street. Shout out to Charlie Angus is making the rounds these days and Andrew Cash and all this.

This whole Blue Rodeo, like this whole Queen Street. Shout out to Charlie Angus. Yeah. He was just here a few weeks ago and I asked him about Wayne Gretzky and he had a great sound bite so I cut out the video and I shared it. It went kind of viral or whatever and then I saw it was on this hour has 22 minutes. Like they just drop in and then no credit. Tom, what do you think as my manager, my new manager? Like they should put like Toronto mic on the screen

when they show, they steal something from my YouTube account, right Holly? I agree. Okay. Yeah. Man, I'm mad at the CBC now. But one further interesting thing is like these kids would come up to us after the show and say,

Holly, I really love that song. Man, I love, how did you write that? Yeah. Well, I, so I'm gonna start playing some Holly Cole and get through this quick and I got a lot of new Holly Cole I want to talk about the new stuff in depth here but along the way there's I have a like a fun fact about one of your big jams here where I think a lot of people my age think it's a Holly Cole song like they think you wrote this song but we'll get to that

but let me just actually because Hollylly to me when I think of the name holly I Think Christmas time like holly like deck the hall sure like holly is a very Christmas Name and so is the last name Cole like a lump of coal and you're stalking or and this is your real name Yes, it is. Yeah, that's right. Show me your birth certificate But here let's start here. The children will sing, he'll be back at Christmas time In these frozen silent nights, sometimes in a dream, you appear Outside under the purple sky, diamonds in the snow sparkle

Our hearts were singing, it felt like Christmas time. Now I know it's March, but it's feeling like Christmas time in here now. So maybe, so of course your father noted radio broadcaster on CBC growing up in Halifax there, but this is the sort of the Holly Cole coming out party here is like Christmas Blues right? Well that yeah that's exactly right and that was right after I met Tom here and and he suggested we go in we didn't have a whole album with the material or anything but he suggested we go in and and make a Christmas recording because of what time of year your name's Holly Cole. Well that reason and also also because we already, I was doing Christmas shows already anyway

and so we had a lot of Christmas, interesting kind of Christmas material that we did. We've been, I mean we do Christmas shows now still and it's interesting to me because I have, my feelings about Christmas are sort of mixed and I think that's why the Christmas shows became so popular is because I think a lot of people feel the Christmas is great and awful at once Well me she wrote in when when she heard that you were coming on Toronto mic making your highly anticipated Debut wanted some memories of these Christmas concerts like Holly Cole Christmas where this is the the four song Ep Christmas blues is of course a great preters song, but this is where it all begins in the late 80s.

That's right. So do you have any memories that you could share with Miesh of your Christmas concerts? Oh, well, many. They're a different breed than the regular concerts that we do. Because people come in, people are dying to relax kind of thing, you know, because of the time of year that it is. And so people come into the show with a different, they want to relax, they want to celebrate, and they also want to do what I'm doing,

which is like poke a stick at Christmas kind of. And so, and also, I'll tell you this much, I'm working hard up there keeping Santa Claus sexy. I mean, that's a tall order. So, but anyway, the show is the those shows are fun to do because everybody's dying to relax and have fun and everybody's kind of loving to make fun of Christmas a little bit. I feel like Santa is like a hundred pushups away from being sexy. He's just got to work on that beer guy. Right. He's that he's been

drinking too much Great Lakes beer. Yeah. You might be right. OK. On that note since I mentioned Great Lakes beer, do you drink beer? Yeah, yeah. Fresh craft beer brewed right here in southern Etobicoke because I got Great Lakes beer for you here. Oh, do I get to drink it now? Yeah, do you want to? Well, you know, it's funny.

Today they launched the the sunny side session IPA. So this one's cold because it was right. I mean, if I check it was like brood like I'm so thirsty and that one. Yeah, crack that open here on the mic though, Holly. This is an exciting moment Okay, it's a sunny side session IPA and it's my summer beer of choice and I just gave Holly Mike my cold can so that's how Much I like you my goodness gracious. Okay, really good. Okay. So while you're slurping that by the way, do you enjoy Italian food? Mm-hmm. Okay. I have in my freezer a large lasagna from Palma pasta Wow

You didn't know you were gonna get this way. I did not just Tom my freezer a large lasagna from Palma Pasta. Wow. You didn't know you were going to get this way. I did not. Does Tom get any of that lasagna or no? I guess so. I guess you know, he wasn't on. He's on the gun. It's too early for me presently. All right, so we're going to cook with gas here. Is it good? Really good. Yeah, and you can really really good. It's only like 3.9%, so you can kind of, on a summer day, a hot summer day, you can have a couple and not tip over. Taste, it's really fresh tasting. I think they booed that yesterday or something, like this is fresh for the season here. Vegas to nowhere Someplace better than where you've been A coffee machine needs some fixing

Little cafe just around the bend I am calling you A hot dry wind blowin' me Earlier I said you were big in Japan, but I wasn't foolin' around. Like this, this calling you, and again, we're gonna cook with gas till we get to the new stuff, but of course there's Get Girl Talk in 1990,

and then there's Blame It On My Youth, and then this song goes to number one in Japan, right? Calling You. Well, this song, yeah, this song goes to number one in Japan, right? Calling You. Well, yeah, this song is the sole reason why we're well known there. In Japan, people sometimes call me this. They call me Calling You. Hi Calling You. That song was such a big song there that that's become my name.

But I'll tell you though how that happened is so great because it's so grassroots We we had it We had a first record out blame it on my youth and for the world and I figured out at the time that what they do Is they they shop it around and they decide which market just is gonna release it And so they go to Australia and they go to Japan they go to Europe and everything and they say yes or no and Japan Said no no and but this is also what they always say is if they they say no, they say, we love it, but it's just not right for our market. And so they said, and then so we released it, you know, everywhere else. And what happened was the US started noticing that there were lots and lots of units leaving

the US, you know, like being exported. And what had happened was in Japan, there was a DJ there who was actually allowed to play what he wanted, and he was a national in Japan, and he had gone into a listening booth, when they had those Tower Records listening booths, and he heard this song and bought the record and then played it on his show, and he got deluged with requests and questions and everything, so he kept playing it, and then played it on his show and he got deluged with with requests and questions everything so he kept playing it and then people started buying it and so I had and then then before I knew it I had a hit record and I had no record out like a hit single with no record out and so the

Japanese record company went we meant to actually release it. And then it became the biggest record on, on, Tokyo FM. No, no, on the record label. Um, on Toshiba EMI. Yeah. Toshiba EMI. So it became big, their biggest record that year. That story's wild to me. You know, similar, similar story I've had on this DJ from Cleveland named Donna Halper. And Bob Roper sent her this. Tom knows this story, but Bob Roper sends her this. There's a new trio out of Toronto named Rush, and they have this new album.

And he sends it to her and she's playing the album and she hears this song called Working Man. And she's like, oh, you know, Cleveland's kind of a working man town. And she starts playing Working Man and everybody's requesting it. And next thing you know, they don't have anything for sale. It's all of a sudden man town like and she starts playing working man and everybody's requesting it and next thing you know like they don't have like anything for sale like it's all of a sudden rush breaks like yeah yeah so this is your story calling yeah and from now on I'm gonna call you calling you okay it's a middle name well this is this is it's interesting doing this interview because this is the only interview

I've done in North America where they do this all the time in Japan Where's they play your music in the background while you're talking? Oh, so I didn't know Japan got this idea from me. I did CBC steals my stuff Japan stealing my style. Well, you know what maybe the last show I went on Not this last tour, but the tour but the tour before, they did that. In Japan. In Japan, yeah. And the name of the show. Let me guess, Tokyo Mic'd. No, it's called Midnight Fingers. Okay, I might change my name now. So you mentioned, I think before we start recording, because I'm about to get to that song,

I think there's a lot of people my age who think, oh, that's a Holly Cole song. But you don't do you don't typically do the hour interview. I mean, you said how long is this going to be? I'm like, it was like an hour. And you're like, that's a long time. Like, so what's a typical length for a Holly Cole interview? Well, it depends if it's radio or what kind of interview is, but maybe 15 minutes. So like that.

OK, yeah. But your game for your game to go at least an hour here. I've got a beer and everything here. You've got a beer and there's a bathroom over there and I got Tom here. I'll ask him Kim Mitchell questions. Go for Soda should have been a huge hit in the States. I said this to Kim. Well, he came.

This is quick aside here, but I had, so I zoomed with Kim and he tells me that the label was preferring twisted sister like this is the story Kim's telling is all right, he said Atlantic records and it was the Was the 80s and it was hair bands, right? And So yeah that mean and they didn't quite get what go for soda. What you talking about soda? Nobody goes for soda and But the track was just so great that it's just okay so when he when he seems to think this is kim talking to me that the label was preferring uh we're not going to take it by twisted sister and therefore sort of didn't push gopher soda by kim mitchell and he kind of if you listen back he's kind of basically that's the moment he feels where he got screwed over by this US label and that he ends

up coming back focusing on his home in native land here. Tom say Tom's like why is Kim why is he spilling all this tea on Toronto Mike? That's what you're thinking. No no I mean that that that song got us a a full special guest slot on Brian Adams tour when Adams had heaven and it was just, he was huge. That's a US tour? Yeah. Okay, that's a big deal.

Yeah. So, you know, I mean, it was the 90s, it was hairband time and it was crazy out there. There was Atlantic Records, which was, you know, a big rock label and they obviously preferred American Rock Acts. So. And soda was too, Soda was not edgy enough. Well I mean exactly. I mean not too many people go for Soda, especially not rockers that listen to MMS in Cleveland. Well listen, Kim Mitchell has to be in the basement for his next appearance.

No more Zooms for him. But Holly Cole, you mentioned the 90s. Let's get to this one right now. I can see clearly now rain is gone I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds, head me blind. It's gonna be a bright, it's gonna be bright, sunshiney day. You can talk over it if you want. Like it's, you know, it's not the CBC here. I'm mad at them.

So, okay. Holly Cold Trio. So multiple questions here, but before I get to the questions, but I can see clearly now, uh, is there any truth to the rumor I heard Holly Cole that you were possibly asked to be a Kim Mitchell's background singer at some point? Well, the reality is this when Tom Berry first saw me, I had, I had my trio that I was working in clubs and stuff on Queen street west with all the bands that you mentioned earlier. And when Queen Street West was a really big vibrant scene and stuff with burgeoning acts

and stuff, Tom Berry, who I knew as Kim Mitchell's manager, phoned me and said he wanted me to come into his office for a meeting and I thought, oh my God, The usual background singer for Peter Ferdette, a great, brilliant singer, who sings with Kim Mitchell, he's quit the band or something or whatever, and they need a new Peter Ferdette. And Tom Berry's phoning me and he wants me to go, you know, don't ask me if I'm still in love and all that stuff. And I was like, that's the bomb. Oh my God, I can't believe that I'm so excited. And so I went down there all excited and he said, and he said he wanted to record and be my manager

and record my trio. And I was like, oh, oh, I thought you wanted me to. And then later, later as you'll remember, as you, you know, you put a drum kit in your living room and became, uh, uh, became on your way to being a drummer as opposed to a singer. You wanted to, uh, you wanted to perform on all we are in some way as a drummer. I can't remember.

Oh my God. I forgot about that part. I forgot about that part. Jogging some memories here. At one point, Holly had a drum kit in her living room downstairs, upstairs in her bedroom. Yeah. It was like three drum kits in the house for a jazz singer. That was pretty, it was always pretty interesting. Oh, that's amazing. Okay. So anytime a Kim Mitchell story crosses your mind, Holly, just spit it into that microphone here. But, uh,

okay. Good advice to all listeners. So good advice is to never just don't smoke in bed. That's my advice to all the listeners. Okay. So quick question. Holly Cole trio is how I first came to know you. Holly Cole trio. Now it's Holly Cole. So like, what's the distinction there? Holly Cole trio, Holly Cole. What's the deal there? Well, it's not a trio anymore. Essentially. We added drums and horns and a number of other players and there was this core trio that we had with David Pilch and Aaron Davis was really about being a trio. It was a triangle. It was a whole, it was like that. And then

as time went on, I decided to add, expand the sound of the band. So that's how it happened. Okay. So Holly Cole Trio is credited with I Can See Clearly Now, which to me, this was in least from my vantage point in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, this was when Holly Cole became a household name. Yeah. This was just huge. And absolutely, I feel there's a lot of Gen Xers listening to us right now from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who

either didn't find out this was like a Johnny Nash song until years later or never found out and they're finding out right now that this is a this is a cover But tell me about I can see clearly now if you don't mind. Well, it's funny You should say that because that's the Johnny Nash Album LP that's the Johnny Nash album LP. That's the first piece of recorded music I ever owned and it was an LP. And so yeah, I think I was 10 and my dad gave it to me for Christmas. And so that's funny that that song became actually the biggest song for us in Canada.

And it was just, well, you know, the thing is people nowadays, kids have, usually have tons of CDs, you know, and also just the ability to listen to whatever they want. Well, now they just call for it. If it comes out into the air, it's a whole different ball game. Well, it's totally, you're right. It's a totally different ball game

when you save every bit of your allowance for weeks and weeks on end to buy one thing, and then you buy it and do you ever listen to it? Holly, you know what I always say because I'm thinking now of like in excess is kick, okay? Which is a cassette I bought with my own money when I didn't have much money and it was a big deal. But in that, let me give this bad example

because that actually is a play through. But there are albums you'd buy where they had the single you heard on the radio, 680 CFTR, and there was another song that might be pretty good, but then there was a lot of filler that wasn't very good, but you worked your ass off to like that whole album because you paid your hard-earned money for that you made at McDonald's or whatever. It's true, and also, even if, I mean, hopefully it'd be better if it was like, it was a really

good record through and through, but even if it isn't, there's something, especially for budding musicians and stuff, you learn more from really learning one thing, even if it's not the best thing in the world, hopefully it's a good thing, but you learn more from really analyzing one thing than you do from listening to a million things for a little while. You know? Absolutely. Absolutely.

So I can see clearly now, how important is much music in this country for breaking Holly Cole? Well then it was pretty important. It was pretty important. And the funny thing about it is that I didn't like videos very much. Videos to me were things that replace your imagination kind of, you know? I liked listening to songs and creating my own imagery. And the thing, videos are so powerful that you could hear a song for your whole life and then watch a video of it and it will replace your images, the images that you've made.

And so that made me not happy about videos. But the thing is, videos were there. And so if they're gonna be part of it, then make a good one. Well, you know, video killed the radio star. There you go. You heard that. But what, that video, like I can, here I am 50 years old and I can still see that video for I can see clearly now.

It was what I'm telling you, we went to Costa Rica to make that video and it was an absolutely wild experience that we had there. And I was sitting in some of the scenes and stuff. I was in this volcanic, we were in an active volcano and there was the steam baths, the places where people go to get healed or something. But the thing is that when there's too much, on certain days there's too many minerals in it and people aren't allowed in, but we had a deadline. Whatever it takes, right? You're willing to risk your life. Where it's like, I look all fabulous, but I remember going, oh, somebody.

No wonder it was such a good, but it was such a good video that it got a Juno nom for best video. It's true. What video do I, maybe do you remember Tom, do you remember what video won that award in whatever that was? 93, I guess it was.

No, no, you don't remember. I need to know what video won that award in whatever that was? 93? I guess it was. No. No, you don't remember. I need to know what video beat you out for that Juno award. I don't know. I'm still resentful about that though. Well, you did win a Juno though, we should point out. So how many, you got one for best contemporary jazz album in 1994.

Where would you, where would I find that Juno award today? Is it on display proudly somewhere? It's in my living room. It really is. There's a couple of them. Yeah, there's a couple of them. Jazz of the year. Okay, so how many Juneaus you got in that living room? Two. Two Juneaus, yeah.

Two more than I got. And I also, I was nominated this one year, this is a bizarre thing. Early on, for this record, Don't Smoke in Bed, this one year they had a category for most promising female vocal. I don't even know if they have that anymore. But I guess they had, sometimes they'll just invent a category because there's a whole bunch of people in that category. And so I went out and sang, I remember it was the first time I went on national television and it was live. And I chose to go out and sing unaccompanied. So I just sang this song, Don't Smoke in Bed, just standing there with a microphone.

But you have a beautiful voice and you can you can do that. Oh, thank you. You know you have a beautiful voice. Oh, thank you. It's not nice for you, right? I want to make sure you're not just learning that here. Okay. But okay, amazing.

So you got a couple of Junos proudly on. I asked that question of everybody with a Juno and then sometimes you find out they're like in a box in an attic or in a basement or something like that. I'm like, get those Junos. If you're not going to display them, I'll put them in the studio here. My Junos. And every time somebody says, oh, you want a Juno, I'll go, well, actually Holly Cole won this Juno and then we'll just start talking about it. And you get links. But so don't spy. Wait, so did you, you said you were nominated for best new female, best new woman recording artist or something like that? And is that for Don't Smoke in Bed?

Well, that doesn't, I know that's why it doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. You're right. But this, oh, maybe because I sang the song Don't Smoke in Bed is why. Yeah. So that would have been an earlier record. Yeah. Okay okay I was gonna say come on but they did I think Alanis Morissette was like nominated for

like her second like she had already had a career as a pop like a Tiffany kind of style that's right and it's like we what we get it restart you can just do that well that's her she's talk about reinventing yourself I mean that she's really an example of that because that other music was unrelated ever too hot never too cold You take your best shot too hot to hold. Oh, no much music. I watched a lot of freaking much music It was played all the time. Yeah, well we needed a Debbie Gibson, too Needed a Tiffany. She's great

Come back of the year. Oh, by the way, I was chatting with Blair Packham on another matter And he says I wonder if Holly Cole remembers me. So definitively for the record, Holly Cole, do you remember Blair Packham? Did he work in a paint store near Earth tones on Queen Street West? Well, he was a member of the jitters. Oh, no, that's the wrong Blair. He's going to hear this and he's going to be tick pink that you think, maybe he had a side hustle, Canadian rock stars need a side hustle.

But I do remember him. I do remember him. Yeah. Okay. He's still out there too doing really well. Yeah. He's got a new outlet. He's in the calendar to come back because he's got new music.

Yeah. He's out there doing that. He was married to Arlene Bishop. Oh. Speaking of your scene there. Yeah. Yeah. That's a great episode actually, Arlene Bishop.

Okay. So you mentioned Lilith Fair about a half an hour ago so how do you become a part of this is 98 how do you become a part of Lilith Fair does Sarah McLaughlin just tap you on the shoulder and say Holly it's time or does Tom have anything to do with this tell me tell us what's going on here well an agent calls me and says why would you like to do which Holly like maybe they were collecting all the Hollies I think they were just collecting all the women that sang well you got Well, an agent calls me and says, why would you like to do, would Holly like to do a little thing? Maybe they were collecting all the Hollies. I think they were just collecting all the women that sang. Well, you got one right here.

Well, that's, but that whole thing, that was wild. And there was no, I mean, we'd played festivals before, but this festival was nothing like any festival I've ever done before. It was well, maybe because it was run by women, it was so well organized. I mean, you could, you had free massages. You had, you know, like you, there was it was run by women. It was so well organized. I mean, you had free massages. You had, you know, like there was a chiropractor, you could get your back cracked. And they had vegetarian food and everything.

Like, I mean, it was so happening and everything. And we were on the leg of it that was in Texas. And it was so hot. It was unbelievable. And people were passing out and ambulances were coming, like it was too hot. But they totally took over and were giving out anti-heat drugs and stuff like that for people to take so they would be alright. It's called water.

It's called water, yeah. It's called being organized too. But it was such a great festival. And you know what, I got to meet Bonnie Raitt there and got to know her and she's kind of one of my idols and and I ended up when I saw her there I I didn't want to bother her you know I didn't want to bother her she's a famous person and stuff and she said Holly she comes up and I didn't and she said I loved your second record blame it on my youth and I went oh my god I had no idea and stuff she said look what are you doing later

Sarah's meeting me in my dressing room and we're gonna rehearse them and she's coming up to do My encore of angel from Montgomery. Do you want to do it? It was like no, I'm too busy You know, I said yeah, I would love to do that So I so I meet with and Sarah's there and we the three of us go over the background vocals and so each night I came out and did the encore with Sarah McLaughlin at Bonnie Raitt's encore. And then we ended up bicycling to the museum and stuff. And then I even, get this, I even helped dye her, she travels with her own hair dye. And you know she has that gray swoopy. Yes I do.

Well I helped her dye her hair and we did the gray swoopy thing. And then, so that was, we were both in the same leg of the tour and everything. And I, what a person she is, like what a great musician and everything. And then she phoned, so then we said goodbye and left our numbers and about six months later, she phones me in Toronto.

She goes, look, I'm playing with, I'm playing at at the Sky Dome tonight. Do you want to come down and do Angel from Montgomery? I said, sure. And so we went did that and that that the whole experience of Willis Faire and meeting Bonnie Raitt and with Sarah and all the artists there was was amazing. It really was. Well, amazing. Bonnie Raitt.

So that that's a John Prine song and she's got that great version. But one of her biggest hits was written by a Toronto gal. Let's give him some to talk about. Oh, yeah. So there's some more Toronto connection to bunny rat. Couple of names. And so a gentleman named Joe Bogan, uh, Bogan, am I saying that right? Joe, I think so. Joe Bogan wants me to tell you that your Tom Waits tribute album is the most, one of the most beautiful pieces of music he's ever heard and has ever been recorded.

Nice. Thank you. And Joe, Joe knows what he's talking about. Okay. Obviously. That's amazing, right? So shout out to Tom Waits, who wrote the theme song to The Wire. Speaking of The Wire, Molly Johnson's brother directed the first four episodes of The Wire.

Do you know this fun fact? And I know him too. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to ask you about a couple of FOTMs, that means Friends of Toronto, Mike. You're now an FOTM, so welcome to the club. And Tommy, you went too, why not? I'm giving him away today, okay. Two great FOTMs. Please tell me about your experiences with Molly Johnson, if you don't mind. Sure, I mean, Molly was here and on the scene and stuff. When I moved to Toronto, she was already on the scene and in a When I moved to Toronto, she was already on

the scene and in a very happening way and stuff. And she was playing with Aaron Davis and David Pilch. And she played with that trio for a while. And I think she's like a staple of Toronto pop and jazz scene, you know? Yeah, still heavily involved in the Kensington Jazz Festival. Absolutely. Yeah. And Kumbaya, when you remember the Kumbaya festival? Much music, yeah. The Tragically Hip played there, yeah. Oh my god, yeah, that's right. And are they not the greatest success story of all time? Are they the biggest rock band that Canada's ever had within Canada? Within Canada, I think, yes. I think so. Tom, do you agree? Tragically Hip, in Canada, biggest rock band, right? Yeah right between them and rush I guess yeah

See Russia be globally globally. Yeah, then you got any getting with in Canada right? I think it's a good Qualifier would be and rightly so be the biggest Road apples right here, so shut out there Jake gold Shut out to Jake gold here in the Tragically Hipped. Hi Jake. Jake's a good egg. He brought, he brought, so you got Tom to drive you here but Paul Langlois was here last summer and Jake drove Paul Langlois

from Tragically Hipped down here to talk about the hip stuff. So Jake, you're A-OK in my books buddy. So one more name though, so that's Molly, legendary FOTM and legendary Toronto Mike episode by the way. But another often discussed episode of Toronto Mic'd was Jane Sibary's Toronto Mic debut. Any thoughts on Jane Sibary?

Sure, I've sung with Jane a bunch of times on her records and on this record that we did with all these five women. The Tom, it's a good thing you're here, the Tom put together and it was based on a concert that we all did at the Glenn Gould Theatre. But Jane is also, I mean, she's in terms of carving her own niche, she's the poster child for that. You know, she's really one of a kind artist. Absolutely. And because she's got in earlier than you, she got to be a part of, uh, tears are not enough, I believe.

I believe she's in the room for tears are not enough. Oh, yeah? Yeah, I think so. I can see her in the dock talking about cows. She always had this thing with cows. How did she? Yeah. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention. So yeah, we talked about your two Junos because you've been nominated eight times. You won two. You should have won eight as far as I'm concerned. Come on, that's bullshit. I'm bitter about this. I would be too I would be too but it's

worth mentioning you have a couple of Gemini awards so what are the Gemini awards for? Oh this is a while back we did two um right back to back almost we did two television specials um and they were all record the tape filmed in uh Ontario and uh but uh the the live concert portions were. But then we went around to Nova Scotia and different places and filmed people that I know and my family and stuff. It was a while back that we did that, but those are interesting things for me to look at now

because I, well, there's interviews with people who aren't alive any longer, and it's a trip down memory lanes. And they don't even have Geminis anymore. They don't even, don't they? It's called Canadian Screen Awards. They merged Geminis with, what were the other ones called?

The Junos? No, Junos? No. No, Junos are music. Yeah. Why am I blanking on- The Film Awards. Yeah.

You must, Tom, you must know what the Canadian film awards were called. This is how popular they were. Adam Maguire won them all, didn't he? Like, that's the deal with those. Year after year. Yeah, yeah. So so he presented to himself. You know what? I have to think during the next song I play, which will be new music. I'm actually going to Google what these are called because I'm personally embarrassed.

I can't remember the name of these damn things, but they merged basically. So they're called Canadian Screen Awards. The movies and the TV are kind of together. No more Gemini Awards. So those are collectors items. the name of these damn things but they was this is like early 2000s blog, Toronto Mike dot com, and I met somebody, this is like early 2000s when blogging was the big thing and I was helping this guy, he was a camera guy and I was helping him with his blog, like just consultancy stuff, and he had a Gemini from something he filmed for CBC,

and I said, can I take a photo of the Gemini? And I took a nice photo of myself with the Gemini and then I posted on my blog like, oh, I just want a Gemini for best blog, okay, which I thought was funny because no one's going to believe it. If I told you how many people sincerely reached out to congratulate me and then they'll again, oh now I feel like it's too late to say I was just joking, like I just let it go, but like I mean people want to celebrate your success to a point where they'll believe there was a Gemini award for best blog. Or maybe it's

because it was such a nice award they really wanted to thank you for winning such a nice looking award. Nice. I don't know who posed for that. Maybe it was you, Holly, but that profile. But it's a testament to how much people love you, though. So right. Well, no, no. I was on CNN last week. That's a humble break. I just slip it in. Thank you. I just see that. I didn't see it, but I heard.

OK, I got a call from Ann Romer yesterday to tell me how brilliant it was. I was speaking for this entire country. And I'm like, yeah, I guess I am speaking for the damn country, you know? So- Did you go there? Did it get political?

Well, that's what it was for. Like the, I was on to talk about, they had heard Toronto mic'd and we were discussing the 51st state bullshit from the president. And then they said, would you come on and talk on the morning show about it? And I said, yeah, okay.

And I, yeah, so it was all about that. What did you say? Oh, I think I talked about, it's funny, what did I say? Five minutes live on CNN. If you go to YouTube and goes like CNN, Toronto Mike, you can find it and check it out. But I'm trying to remember what the hell I said,

but I just told what's in my heart and mind, which is that we take this very seriously. Our, we're not, you know, which is that we take this very seriously. Our sovereignty is not up for discussion here. Like this is a non-negotiable thing. Some stuff I was thinking but didn't say because I didn't want Meg to come after me too hard and I was talking to Americans or whatever. But it's like, you know, if you really want this, you're going to have to call in your military. Like that's what it would take. And then I was thinking in my mind, I'm thinking, okay, because you know, nothing's off the table now with a lunatic running the show

down there. You don't want to put ideas in his head. It seems to be very easy. Someone else is doing that. Yeah. And then I was thinking, oh, like, what I would me and my family go to Europe and get refugee status. Yeah, like, you know, we accept, you know, Ukrainians come in and refugees says, of course, because they're under attack by a dictator next door. And that would be the same thing here. So Trump invades. Now I'm in Europe as with my family for for for safety as a refugee.

Like, these are the thoughts I'd never thought I'd be having in twenty twenty five. Agreed. Agreed indeed. I almost I'll tell you, speaking of mega, I almost wore here today. I almost wore my T-shirtshirt which says Canada is already great. Yeah Yes, and and then it not to get too political I'm only speaking for myself here but we have a You know the Conservative Party of Canada leader who's pretty much been working on this whole Canada's a shithole and needs fixing like this has been his big move like Canada sucks guys and we're gonna fix it.

Like the liberals have made your country terrible, which never worked on me because I love this country. Like I mean, we got problems like anyone else. We got things we gotta repair, but my country is not a shithole. Like we always get improved. But like I feel like that move might've worked for a while, like with a tired government

that had been there for 10 years and everything. And now that messaging is gone. And there's nothing fresh and new that the dude's offering on any level at all. No, he's played his, you know, even his slogans don't work anymore. But don't you think it's great in a way though that, like I'm really not a fan of the conservative party and it would be very strange for me to vote Conservative. But I don't care anymore. Like it seems like a lot of people don't care anymore about their, whether they're liberals or NDPs or Conservative or whatever they are, because they're all, it's all just like the big enemies over there, you know? Funny you said that, and I hope I'm not speaking out of school, but I got this call from Anne

Romer yesterday and we're talking about main thing, including the fact that her father, General Romer, who's 101 years old is on his way soon. It's the 80th anniversary of Canada helping to liberate the Netherlands from the Nazis. Okay. And this guy, Oh, that's a see some, this is an accidental press of some exciting music. It's like, what an accident that was. What a timing. But here I'm here to say that like this 101 year old guy is going to fly to the Netherlands for the ceremonies 80 years since the liberation of... That's amazing. I know.

Yeah, yeah. And wonderful. But she was telling me that she says, and she told me she typically votes conservative, right? And she said, no, not this time. Like she's switched provincially, federally. So you're right. I feel like in this country, I feel most of us, it's fluid.

Like we aren't married to, like down, I feel like in America, you're either Republican or Democrat and you always vote that way on the ticket. Maybe there's a few people in the mushy middle that voted for Clinton and also maybe voted for W or something like that. I know it's like, yeah, probably Trump. But anyway, so here I feel it's different. Well it is, I think it is, the important thing is that it is now different. Because this is really the big guns. What are you talking about amalgamating Canada into the United States? And so

everybody... I don't like hearing you say that. Well I know, so nobody cares anymore about those things. Because the big issue is that common enemy. Yeah. Nothing unites a people like a common enemy. Kumbaya, right? Yeah. And a smart guy. Yeah. Mark Carney. You mean Carney is a time of meat.

Well, that's obvious. CNN. Oh, so the last thing on the CNN thing, I finished my humble break. It's almost guys. It's been one week exactly. And it's going to be gone soon, But the Chiron that was on the screen, cause I don't see the Chiron in real time. Like to me, I'm on this, what is it again?

WebEx, okay, so I'm here, but I only hear the audio. I don't see anything when I'm doing this conversation with the CNN woman, Audie Cornish. And then I watch it later on YouTube, I watch it. And I see the Chiron, it says, new PM sworn in today or something. And then I'm it later on YouTube, I watch it, and I see the Chiron makes says, new PM sworn in today or something, and then I'm talking, and it really looks like I'm the new Prime Minister of Canada.

And you guys are like, oh, that's great. Yeah, that's pretty good. And then one last thing is they cook up a thumbnail for YouTube to get people to view it, like it was viewed almost 400,000 times or something on YouTube, and the thumbnail has Trump on one side looking like he's angry and talking.

And then me on the other side in my Canada jersey, angrily, and it really looks like Toronto Mike has a real time one-on-one convo with Donald Trump. You have to save that forever. You must save that forever. I think it'll be around forever. Until then, yeah, until. You won't see it again.

Well, goodness gracious. Okay, so we're going to get to new music now. Okay. Dying to talk about Dark Moon. And I pulled a few songs because one I think was written about me. We'll find out in a moment here. But first I'm going to shout out Ridley Funeral Home because Brad Jones at Ridley Funeral Home, he has a podcast called Life's Undertaking. And I got a note yesterday, I'm going to read it. I typically do these live reads off the top of my head, but it says, I think this is important as we talk about Canada here. Ridley Funeral Home only sell Canadian caskets. They're proud to have Northern casket to offer their families.

Northern caskets are proudly Canadian and Ridley Funeral Home is proud to support them. And a note from Ridley Funeral Home is to, you know, if you need a funeral home, check and see if they're going to use Canadian products and if they're Canadian owned. So two check marks for Ridley Funeral Home and they have sent over a measuring tape for you, Holly. Oh, thank you. You can measure what you wish with your Ridley funeral home measuring tape last note here before I get to the new music from Holly Cole is recycle my electronics dot CA another Canadian company, but if you have old Cables divide old phones devices old electronics Don't throw it in the garbage because the chemicals end up at our landfill

Go to recycle my electronics dot CA put in your poster code and find out where you drop it off to be properly recycled no moon at all what a night even lightning bugs have dimmed their light stars have disappeared from sight and there's no moon at all Don't make a sound, it's so dark Even Fido is afraid to bark What a perfect chance to park and there's no moon at all Should we want atmosphere? For inspiration dear, one kiss will make it clear. Tonight is right and bright moonlight might interfere.

No moon at all. Up above of this is nothing like they told us of. Just to think we fell in love and there's no moon at all No moon at all Originally recorded by Peggy Lee Breaking news, it was genies and Geminis So the Geminis and the Genie, it was the Genie Wars Come on, Tom, you're supposed to know this stuff, man

I'm a little disappointed. I'm a music man. Not a music, okay. Only music for, only judo. Okay. Please tell me, tell me all about Dark Moon and this first single that I'm digging here,

No Moon at All. Well, this song is a song that, a bunch of the songs are about moon, about the moon. And the moon has been a muse for me since I was really young. And this song, I like that I was attracted to this song because the function of the moon in this song is really different than it is in most songs. In most songs, the moon is there to try and entice young lovers to become feeling romantic and stuff.

And this song, the moon is, they want the moon to go away because they want to have sex in the dark. So that's a very different role for the moon. That's sexy stuff here, Holly. Holy smokes, move over Christmas songs. Although you made the Christmas songs pretty sexy, as I recall. So, geez. I tried. Okay, now I'm thinking, what is it? It's a Wonderful Life when George Bailey is lassoing, lassoing. How do you say that word? Lassoing the moon. Yeah. As I recall here. Love it. There's a song on this. So I listened to this entire album, which is called Dark Moon, available now. Very good. I love that there's new, new Holly Cole. This is your 13th studio album. That's a lucky

number, you know. Oh, is it? I feel like we gotta take it back, okay? Did you know this was number one jazz album in Canada? Who's calling me? I'm talking to Holly Cole here, goodness gracious. The number one jazz album in Canada on both the SoundScan and the iTunes charts. Are you aware of that, Holly?

I had no idea, and that's really good news to me. Tom, you gotta tell her this stuff. Like, that's important information for Holly. That was a couple of weeks ago, and was pre-Japan, and I don't think you're's really good news to me. Tell me, you gotta tell her this stuff. Like that's important information for Holly. That was a couple of weeks ago and was pre-Japan and I don't think you're remembering anything pre-Japan at this point. Well, I'm happy about it anyway. Well, you had four nights at the Blue Note. Yeah, two shows.

It's brutal there. The work ethic, the myth of the work ethic is not a myth. The work ethic there is very high. We never do this in North America ever or even even in Europe. Two shows a night, back to back. And that's what we did there. Night after night. Well, you're big in Japan. And the Tokyo Mike had you in for like an hour deep dive, I'm sure. Okay. So I promised that I would play the song, because I want to ask you if this is about me. Okay? Be honest with me.

Okay. Here we go. Sure. you if this is about me okay be honest okay here we go So Spread your wings for New Orleans Kentucky Bluebird Fly away And take a message to Michael Message to Michael He sings each night in some cafe In his search to find wealth and fame

I hear Michael has gone and changed his name Well, it's been a year since he was here Kentucky Bluebird Fly away and take a message to Michael, a message to Michael. Tell him I'm a message to Michael. Yes. How apropos. It was all about you. I thought so.

It always has been. You're confirming my suspicions. When I first saw that video for I Can See Clearly Now, I said, I think one day she'll write a song for me. Well, that song, actually, to tell you the truth, that song I've wanted to sing since I was a kid. And there's a few songs on this record that I've wanted to sing for a long time, and I didn't feel I had the exact right band or the right timing for some of the songs until to this record. So who is on this record? Aaron Davis, my long-standing piano player and friend.

George Kohler, who's also played with me for a long time. On bass, yes. Kevin Bright on guitars, Davide Di Renzo on drums, Johnny Johnson on saxophone, Howard Levy, wonderful musician from Chicago on harmonica, and The Good Lovelies, The Good Lovelies who are a band from Canada who are beautiful, very nuanced singers and they sing on dark moon. It was a pleasure to work with everybody and but they were new to me so I so it was really a breath of fresh air you know. Quite the ensemble. Yeah for sure. Okay amazing. If you could like alive or dead if you could record with anyone who's ever existed that you know. If I'm

alive or in fact dead. No you're always alive You've got to be alive. No Ridley funeral home required for Holly Cole. But if you could record of anyone who be they alive or dead. And why is it Burt Bacharach? Well, I would love to record with Burt Bacharach. But it's, I mean, my mind, it's difficult to pick somebody. I'd like to record with Tom Waitsach but it's I mean there's my mind it's real it's difficult to pick pick somebody I'd like to record with Tom Waits and he's alive yeah you can still do that so I could do that um but why did you say why why Bert Bacharach? I don't know I just I feel like you would be into Bert Bacharach. I am totally into Bert Bacharach and I saw him like Kurt Swinghammer another guy from the Queen Street scene.

Oh my god, I could tell you stories about Kurt Swinghammer. That Sam the Record Man print was a gift from my 50th from Rob Pruss from Spoons. That's Kurt Swinghammer. I have a Kurt Swinghammer painting in my living room. Yeah, he's very good. He's great. And he's a friend from the Queen Street days. And we would go do Sonny and Cher impersonations and stuff together at the Cameron House.

What about Ron Sexsmith? Oh yeah, Ron Sexsmith. I'm just gonna start naming all the... And I'll tell you a story about each one of them. But, and well, Ron and I have known him forever and he, what a brilliant songwriter, great singer and performer. But he, and we do a bunch of, we've done a bunch of his

tunes before, but he, we met up in England and I remember years ago when we played in London, remember that Tom? And we convened at this little club and hung out and stuff. He really is a staple of Queen Street too, like a bunch of us from that time period. I mean, it's something that younger people now can't imagine because there's nothing like that anymore. It's just not at all like that. I'm pretty sure. So, Charlie Angus had been over a couple of times, but he was on fairly recently. He's got a new book, I believe, about the 80s Queen Street scene or whatever.

And his next visit, because he's kind of busy right now, he's following my lead on CNN, he's trying to save this country. Charlie and I are working our asses off on this. But his next visit is going to be all about the 1980s Queen Street scene. So you'll come up again in that one for sure here. Well, you know the thing about that time period that is so unique and amazing is that it was its own kind of little star system, you know? And people were, it was all different kinds of music.

There would be like a reggae band next to a jazz band, next to a rock band, next to a funk band, next to a country band, and all these characters, you know, Handsome Ned and all these characters. Jim Cuddy tells me handsome Ned was was everything for Blue Rodeo when they were well and the thing is we were all supporting each other to I'm like you'd see people who would it wasn't like now where it's more like the rock people go to the rock shows and the jazz people go to the jazz shows and the people were just interested in interesting music and they would I have a theory on this

to you. Okay. were just interested in interesting music and they would. I have a theory on this. Yeah, okay. So in the eighties, we listened to the radio. Like the radio was everything. And in the eighties, if you were listening, I'm gonna pick on top 40, 680 CFTR, because that was like my go-to station at the time. But it was common, you'd have like a Def Leppard song, would be right beside a Madonna song,

that would be right beside, I don't know, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince or whatever and then like everything was yes there was no genre streaming or whatever that's it and now that we live in an age of on-demand you only listen to what you want to listen to like I have a 20 check at the ages where I have a 23 year old and I have a daughter who's about to turn 21 and they only purposefully listen to the music they hear. Like my son will be like, I want to hear Neil Young and then he will call for Neil Young and his Apple music account and he will listen to Neil Young. But he can't really like, he won't be just listening to talk.

So I feel like back in the day, it wasn't so genre streamed because it was like, it was all mixed up on these top 40 stations. For and I and the thing is how you How do you know what you want to listen to if you haven't been exposed to you can't say no to something if you haven't Heard it yet. 100% and I it's the same premise You know what I used to do is when I was going to Humber College to study music I I didn't have access to all kinds of music like you do now So I had to go to the library and so I would go to the music library on Queen and like Young and Bloor And I would listen to music and I'd be looking for something

I'd going I want to hear Sarah Vaughn sing I left my heart in San Francisco or something So I you couldn't just go online YouTube or whatever find it I had to go to the library so I go to the library and I and it would be hard to find that but you know What along the way it's like about the journey along the way it was like oh, there's that that wow that's great, and that's great, and that's great, great and that's great and I had to listen to all these things and Basically in the end maybe I liked what I found along the way more than even what I was looking for Same with movies by the way because back in the day you had your local video store Like I remember my local video store and the guy I remember the day he said you'd love this movie and he's got in his hand

He's got reservoir dogs from my 1010 I never heard of Quentin Tarantino as our. Today if you have turned around the corner behind the curtain you'll see a Pulp Fiction poster as like my favorite movie of all time. But like literally like you had these like curators like these people were like oh you should you might like you should try this. It's really cool. Same with bookstores. You go into a bookstore and go I feel like this and some 65 year old woman would come up and go, okay, I have about four or five ideas for you. You know?

You know, now that everything is, you call it on demand, it's just, and again, we do sound a little bit like Abe Simpson, like we're yelling at the clouds. Absolutely. There's just the difference between an algorithm deciding for you versus a real human being. No algorithm on Toronto mic here.

No AI, no algorithm. Okay, just, I just want Tom and Holly to tell like it is in the mic. So you were in Tokyo, but you're next. I'm going to just shout out a few upcoming things. So you got, you're in Peterborough, the Market Hall Performance Arts Center, and that's April 27th. That's right.

We're recording here in late. I feel like Huxley Workman lives in Peterborough. Oh, I think he lives in Peterborough now. Okay. Shout out to Hawk. Okay. Hi Hawk. Yeah. And then you're at, my daughter's there now because she's at, she's at McGill, but you're going to be in Montreal on July 2nd. Montreal Jazz Festival. Theatre Jean Doucep. That was my accent there. Okay. Place de Haut. I won't even pretend. I have grade nine French, but that's July 2nd, Montreal. And then you're, you don't, we don't have the

specifics, but there's going to be a Canadian summer festival appearances that are coming up and you're going to head out to Germany in a, at some point, maybe in the fall. Maybe we're working on it. Yeah. This is all topsy. You don't even know this stuff yet. Me and Tom are cooking up your, uh, your schedule.

Okay. So we're winding down now, but I am going to just play it out with a bit. So we're winding down now, but I am gonna just play it out with a bit. If I seem to scintillate, it's because I've got a date. I date with a package of the good things that come with love. It's getting warm in here, my goodness gracious. We'll call this voice a soul treat. I'll take that. You'll take that. All right.

Okay. Holly, how was this for you? You know, you're like, I don't do many of these one hour things, unless you're in Japan apparently, but how was this for you? It was eye-opening and enjoyable. I love the beer, I appreciate the lasagna and the tape measure, and I was really interested to hear you talk about CNN and to revisit Queen Street and Kim Mitchell and all that. Kim Mitchell, gotta get Kim Mitchell in the basement. He got the one Zoom because I'm

like I gotta talk to this guy, you know, patio lanterns speaking of much music. And it just, there was a, there was a song that was, there was just seemed everywhere when I was growing up. Yeah. Yeah. Everywhere. What's up with that, Tom?

Patio, patio lanterns. Canadian. Just a huge summertime hit that just hit at the right time. Again, video. It's just, it was the, It was the late 80s and Patio Landren's video just blew it up. Give me that. Give me a, I'm an adult now by pursuit of happiness. I'm going to start running down the list. Absolutely. Well, and Patio Landren's, Kim Mitchell was, it's so Canadian, you know, like that,

like all the imagery and stuff. Whose idea was that the OPP hat for goodness sakes? Oh, and oh. Whose idea was that? The OPP hat. This is it. Tom's not taking credit for that one. No, no, no. Holly Cole, as far as I'm concerned, give me a nice summer day. Give me my Sunnyside Session IPA from Great Lakes and let me listen to some Holly Cole. That's what I want to hear. And I'm sorry about your father's passing.

I know now it's about six years ago or so, but we did pay tribute. I used to do this show. It was from Ridley funeral, like memorial episodes. And we paid tribute. And I have the name because I missed it. I'm not cultured, but Leon Cole, your father's name. It was called RSVP. That's right.

And I'm sure Andrew Ward, who was listening, was listening to RSVP, you know. So you grew up with this music, and I'm sure that played a role in you becoming such a jazz singer. For sure. I mean, my dad was a classical musician, and he played classical music on RSVP.

And so we grew up playing piano, playing classical piano. And as a teenager and stuff, classical piano didn't, classical music didn't really appeal to me so much. It does now, but it didn't then. And I think when I went to Boston, my brother Alan Cole, who's the single person responsible for me getting into jazz, is my brother. And he went to study jazz piano at Berklee College of Music in Boston. And I, at 20 years old, or sorry, 15 years old, I hitchhiked to Boston. My parents were not really happy about that.

And I arrived at his door and then I heard jazz music and I think, and I got immersed in the jazz culture there. He was living at the dorm. And I would sneak in and save them. And he, what happened was I heard jazz and I think I, my ears had been being educated all these years by listening to classical music unbeknownst to me. And so when I heard jazz, it was like all the complexity of and harmony and warmth and stuff of classical music, but it had a kind of a subversive edge, I thought. It was like classical

music for people who were bad. It's funny you said subversive because Subversives is a great Lois De La Lo song and this is a cover of a great Lois De La Lo song, Rosie and Grey from Shakespeare, My Butt. What a segue! And that brings us to the end of our 1655th show. Go to torontomike.com for all your Toronto Mike needs. Much love to all who made this possible. That's Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, don't leave without your lasagna's in my freezer, RecycleMyElectronics.ca, Building Toronto Skyline from Nick Ines, and Ridley Funeral Home. Okay, Mike, get to the calendar. We're gonna try to hit the post here.

Let me see if I can get to my calendar to see. Okay, so Monday night, I'm recording with a great singer named Andrea Romolo. So Andrea Romolo is Monday night. And then Wednesday, it's Stu Stone, FOTM Hall of Famer. See you all then. The So Music