Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Humble Howard Kicks Out the Jams: Toronto Mike'd #534

Episode Date: October 31, 2019

Mike catches up with Humble Howard Glassman before he kicks out the jams.

Welcome to episode 534 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, StickerU.com, Ryan Master from KW Realty, Capadia LLP CPAs, and Pumpkins After Dark. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week to kick out the jams is humble Howard Glassman.

Do they mention you in this theme? This theme was written for Toronto Mike. Yeah, it's really good. Ill Vibe is a local it's really good. Ill Vibe. Ill Vibe is a local Yeah, really good. I'm injured, just so

people know. That was really something. Tell everybody what they missed. It's all my fault. I walked down the stairs. We're talking about one of your clients, Laura from Sticker You, and that's cool. And you're showing me...

I'm showing you that StickerU made a sticker that says, check your head, and it's going to warn people not to bump their head. I'm sorry, do you want me to tell the story? You literally just said, why don't you tell the story? Do you want to tell the story? Sorry. I'm just trying to introduce some instant

conflict and drama. I can't tell if that was a bit or if that was real, but please continue, Mr. Glassman. Honestly, I'm reeling. As I play your theme. I'm just reeling. So Mike's explaining this to me as we're coming down the stairs, and he's showing me where people have hit their heads before,

saying that Laura's going to create a sticker. Right. The next second, I walked into it so hard, it put me on the ground. I wasn't faking. I was on the ground reeling. I could tell you were in pain.

Yeah, I went to the ground like a peaky blinder. But I literally, that's why I interjected. I literally was actually touching the duck thing there, and I said, hey, a sticker's going. I literally was actually touching the duct thing there. And I said, hey, a sticker is going to go here so people don't hit their head. And then you smashed right into it.

You know, I can tell you that's happened at my place. Because between where Fred sits in the studio, is it okay to talk about Fred? Because I don't know. Please. I have a brunch date with Fred next week. Nice. And with me too, by the way. I know.

But I got to cancel. Is that right? Yeah. I need to know. I just booked something after that. Yeah. I know I But I got to cancel. Is that right? Yeah, I got to cancel. I need to know. I just booked something after that. Yeah, I feel bad because it's the day Spencer's moving and I got to help her.

Okay, I'm glad you told me because I'm literally planning things around. Okay, well, I apologize. Is there more drama? Can Fred and I meet without you? So, yeah, of course. Well, no, well, because you and I will talk a little bit

about what we want to talk about. But anyway, right behind where Fred sits is a well, cause you and I'll talk a little bit about what we want to talk about, but anyway, right behind where Fred sits is a small door. And when I moved into my place, I was going to have the, and it's very small. And I'm going to tell you, I don't know why the door is so small,

except, and I'm not, this is no, it's just an observation. The place I, I bought was a Korean flower store. Listen, that's the truth. But there are very tall koreans i'm not saying uh south korea listen all i'm saying is these are the facts the door is too short right and it was owned by a korean family who operated a flower store when i got there i was gonna make the door larger so people didn't have to do what I

just did in your place. But I thought, no, it's quirky. It'll be fun. Like a hobbit house. It's like a small, and I have done that. I've literally been, I've been touching, touching it while someone banged into it. Like I've seen it before. You know how I feel. It's not your, no, you feel terrible, but it's not your fault. You literally warned me. We were talking about it. Anyway, I'm so happy to be back. And I just don't want to have any more hatred. I don't want to have any more Toronto Mike fans saying terrible things about me.

Let's address that off the top. So we met last week. We did an episode that resulted in a great deal of controversy. Yes. Controversy. Engagement. Yes. Controversy. Engagement. Yes. Maybe the third most messages regarding a single episode

in the history of this podcast, possibly. A strong third. Oh, that's... Because you can't really beat Molly Johnson. That's number one with a bullet. And then Gino Vannelli's number two. And I think this one is a strong third. But there's still time to get it past Gino.

But I want to let people know, people thought- That's what we do. What we should have done was you should have had your periscope feet up when you slammed my head into the roof. I actually wish I had it running, but I usually give you a warning

before I press record. Yeah, people said some horrible things about the Humble and Fred show, but I'm so used to it now. And about me. I got a lot of Humble and Fred loyalists telling me I should never, how dare I play that question at the end? got a lot of humble and fred loyalists telling me uh i should never how dare i play that question at the end because a lot of things went a lot of things happened in

that episode and you were both kind of ticked at different things but people who listen think the big thing that pissed everybody off was me playing that question at the two hour mark of the two hour in five minute uh podcast So I got a lot of people telling me, like, how dare I play that? That was inappropriate. Like I said, Jeremy Taggart said I was mean. So there were a lot of people. It wasn't all like anti-Humble and Fred.

It was just a lot of anti-everybody. I got mixed up in there too. I don't know what you heard, but. Well, listen, man, I'm ready to put it behind me. So are we friends? Because some people Were worried That we broke up

After that episode No Because you kind of Stormed off on the Well I was tired I had to go places And you had to pee I had to pee

You know I would just address it By saying that You know Ever since I had My gastric erosion Of 2019 Right

I get really hungry And I get hangry A little bit Because I'm supposed to eat every couple hours did you eat before this? I did eat one of the reasons I messaged you that I was going to be late and this is the truth is I wanted to make sure I had

full stomach so that I could come here and hit my head and then throw it up thank you I got nothing to add I'm happy. Of course, we're still friends. We're having, we're doing the jams.

Then we're going to have brunch. When I was talking to Fred in my driveway, we talked for like a half an hour after that. Just one-on-one. We were talking it out, okay? And then you phoned me because you were phoning Fred and Fred wasn't answering his phone. So I'm curious.

I know that he called you from the road on his way back to Brampton. Was it like, was the conversation after that episode like, fuck that guy? No, actually it was different. Well, look, I called you in the afternoon. You and I spoke for 45 minutes. No, the conversation was more like,

you know, that was weird. And it was. You know, there's no getting around the fact it's like you invite somebody to your home. Let's say it wasn't a podcast recording. It's a, you know, a tea or French fries and gravy. Right. And at the end of a fairly pleasant,

raucous two-hour conversation, you go, hey, just before you go, this isn't me saying it but somebody that i somebody wanted me to tell you that you're a bunch of fucking assholes or something right well like well why sort of well why would you do that now like what what what what is that what's what does that accomplish and you're saying it's not you right but see if it wasn't you you'd be like hey someone said this thing but i'm not going to play because that would be ridiculous anyway so what fred and i talked about was that and then we said you know literally i changed the subject that's why i called you because i was like you

know we have a great relationship with mike he's been our biggest fan and our biggest supporter but technically the you know i don't know how many more times, again, in answer to that question, do we give you enough credit? I don't know, like technically, if you went back and minute by minuteed the podcast for people that we celebrate, you've got to be in the top five. Like besides our family, who do we, and Phil,

there is really nobody that's had a more significant impact on whatever modicum of success we've had. So that's what I choose. And I will speak for Fred. That's what we choose to focus on. I see. The more we talk about this, the more we increase the likelihood I get those emails again that I'm mean. I did it twice.

So I'm not. And again, I am sorry if it was inappropriate to play the question. I had already loaded it up and told this person I'd play it and then I played it. Of course, I own this. I'm the one who presses these buttons. I don't have to press these buttons and I apologize. I'm curious. Now, why do you say buttons and not buttons?

I'm sorry, Toronto Mike fans. Howard Glassman, when does he have to be still? No, Howard. You know what? I'm just... No, you're right. Your colleague, your former colleague, Martin Streak, whenever he'd come up in conversation i would call him marty with a d like marty it's a it's a defect i am a defective not at all so that's what i would just say that you know what listen in the 45 some plus years i've been doing this i mean you know i've had lots of things i've said that as soon as I said them,

I'm like, maybe that wasn't the best. It could have been worse. When I look back, it's like, okay, it's kind of harmless. We're three big boys, and maybe we're too close. I was reviewing it in my mind. Maybe we're too close.

I know too much about you guys, and maybe that meant I had a different level of comfort because Taggart's like, who's going to kick out the jams if you do that? And I'm like, well, I actually feel like I felt comfortable playing it because of how tight we are and how far like i consider you guys buddies not we are buddies all right do you have any water or should i have asked for that let me be during a song

uh yeah during a song i will do that so let's get so i just found out that i have to sit here for the entire experience i would have chosen much shorter songs i'm shocked that's a joke i am shocked though no you shouldn't be that you never sampledpled even Freddie P's Kicking Out the Gems. Why would I do that? Just so you know how it goes. Here's how I know it'll go. You're going to guide me through it. It seems like a great experience.

And as I told you before we started recording, Mike, don't be surprised. I only think about my golf swing most of the time. If someone were to ask me at any point during the day, what are you thinking about? I'm telling you, it'll probably be golf or what of the time. If someone were to ask me at any point during the day, what are you thinking about? I'm telling you, it'll probably be golf or what's going on right now. I'm working on a new downswing move.

So I got that on my mind. This is an obsession of yours. And I have two questions about this really quickly, but I want to let you know. When do we jams? Yeah. When do we do the jams? You are the 73rd person to kick out the jam.

Can't wait. And I'm looking forward to it. Okay. Why don't we tease people? Here's the thing. My number one song is a Steely Dan song. Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert. I'll have to edit that out. What's this music now?

Just playing a little bit. You lived in Montreal for a little while. I did. Did you become an Expos fan when you lived there? To the only to the degree that they were the team that we talked about. And it was kind of cool. Last night, thinking back to those years of, hey, the Expos were playing last night. Gary Carter.

The kid. Yuppie, the stupid mascot. But I watched that game last night. It was cool. I watched most of it. I fell asleep somewhere in the late 5th or early 6th. I's two nothing i'm like oh this looks good i was getting tired then this morning because of the uh fabulous technology of the game in 10 minute thing yep i uh got to see how it finished it was great it was fantastic it's the first ever uh world series for that franchise

which of course was the expose although this is i mean i don't know i'm't know. I'm not an Expos guy. I'm a Jays guy. It's not the same team. I know it's a franchise. But you're so far removed now. I don't think Expos fans are parading in the street to celebrate. I love baseball for the deep, statistical, just everything.

At one point, Buck Martinez last night, because I was watching the Sportsnet feed, was saying, it's the first time that two former Cy Young winners have met each other in the final of a seventh game. And I was like, well, that's pretty cool.

That's a good stat. But who was like, how do they start that thread? Anyway, they have statisticians full time. So that was like apparently that was the Expos theme. That's mine. And-time. So that was like apparently, and it was news to me. So that was one of your questions? That was the Expos theme. That's mine. And the quick thing

before I read these two questions. Yes. One's from a mutual friend, Adam Groh. So these questions are coming up. But yesterday, did you watch any of the TFC match? I didn't. That was the conference final.

Yeah, Freddie was talking about it too. He said, here's a weird thing, and it happened toward the end of our show, and I didn't comment on it, but I wanted to, because Fred said, blah, blah, blah. about it too he said it was here's a weird thing and it happened toward the end of our show and i didn't comment on it but i wanted to because fred said uh blah blah blah i was watching the tfc game last night oh yeah he hates soccer but he was he made a point of watching it and then he watched the baseball game yeah i did the same and i wanted to say wow there's a sentence i'd never thought i'd hear from your mouth. And I like TFC.

I've been to some TFC games because my daughters were into soccer. But it was one of those things because I have a new girlfriend. New, relatively new. Is it new still? I feel like well over a year old. Two years. Two years. That's not new.

But last night was our first World Series game. Oh, wow. So we're on the couch. We've had dinner. And I was like, okay, what are we going to do for a couple hours before we go to bed and i said would you mind if i turn on the baseball game because i know i want to talk about it tomorrow not only did she not mind she sat there watching it with me nice reading on her phone she loves you eh yeah i think so good for you you you seem i want to say you seem happier but you you just bang my head i'm a little bit woozy well

we're all happy yeah it was great so we watched her she and i watched the game and then uh she went upstairs for a little bit before me i just got tired man my day started yesterday like 4 55 so by the time yeah 9 45 i'm like dozing on the couch like my dad so what are the questions uh don't we when do we play the adam grow right after adam grow says cash cab which they haven't actually filmed any new Cash Cabs in many, many years. But they just rerun the old ones and people think Adam's still getting a paycheck there. I wish he was. He's gotten a little paranoid, by the way, with end of the world preparations and like

dig in a bunker and like he's gone a little obsessive. Why not? Why do scratch golfers stop keeping score after they bogey so that they can keep their handicap lower so it's more quote-unquote accurate when entering a tournament. And with the climate crisis, isn't it time to start treading a little lighter on the planet and give up golf? And then he actually tags Greta Thunberg on this thing.

Does he want me to give up golf? This question's for you. All right. I don't know the the first question is really would be so complex and and boring to answer um what he's talking about is called is something called equitable esc it means basically that you can't i think what he's asking is again i'm I'm already bored of my answer, but basically it means that as you get better in golf, you're only allowed to have a maximum score.

So if you're an 18 handicap, I think your maximum score is three over par in every hole. It doesn't matter. For the higher handicaps, for a lower handicap player, if you were allowed to start putting in scores that were really higher than you were making, or you were, what it just says is that it's an anomaly when a good player makes a high

score. So we'll make it so that you can't fudge your handicap for a benefit in a tournament. As far as the planet goes, you know, people talk about that with golf courses all the time. Golf courses tend to be very mindful of conservation.

That's the short answer of it. I don't have the rest of it. You're already bored of it, I can tell. Yeah, I'm not a golf guy. The Millennial, this is his tag on Twitter. The Millennial says, I remember Howard from the National Golf Club. Good player. What's his current handicap

and where is he playing these days? Millennial, thank you very much. I played at the National Golf Club of Canada for 16 years. I'm very proud of the fact that amongst only a handful of players who they, you'll love this bone. So it's such a sort of old course

that they put the names of the club champions on the wall and there's only a handful there's like maybe 10 in the 50-year history and i'm one of them wow good for you um so that's cool my current i play at glenn cairn i'm a club link member now my current handicap i think before october was 1.4 it's currently about two. So I play around, you know, I shoot my average score is somewhere, you know, anywhere from one under par to,

you know, whatever. Well, we talked when you were here last week about how well you've done in some national championships. It's like your real deal.

Isn't that great? For me, it was an interesting thing about the sport. I'm my best year in the game in terms of my results when I was 59 years old. So what's jams, man? Okay, let me

give you a few things. How does it work? First of all, Palma Pasta. Palma Pasta, thank you for your support. I met with Anthony a couple of days ago and we're planning TMLX 5 for December 7th at noon. Everybody including you, Howard, is invited to Palma's kitchen. We're going to do a live recording.

We've got it all set up. They're going to feed everybody at the event. So there'll be is invited to Palma's Kitchen. We're going to do a live recording. We've got it all set up. They're going to feed everybody at the event. So there'll be fresh pasta from Palma Pasta. Thank you. I'm just looking here when I'm talking to him next week because we put a date on our little Humble and Fred Christmas thing. Is it okay if we still do that? It's not too much like Toronto Mike. Are you doing it on December 7th?

Do you hear what I'm saying? We don't want to be too derivative of what you're doing. I don't think we own the Christmas party. No, no, I know. I just don't want to step on any toes anymore. Oh, well just try not to do it December 7th at noon. No, we're not doing it. That way our mutual fans can attend both.

Okay. I'm seeing Anthony next week or the week after I think. Kiss the Godfather for me. Yeah, no kidding. He's a good man. So thank you, Anthony. Thank you very much. Great Lakes Brewery. I'm going to kill my phone here because it's part of me.

That's rude of me. If you had done that, I would have sneered at you. Would you? Yeah, maybe. My ringer is off. More bad blood? Yeah. Thank you.

Literally from when you hit your head. Yeah, I'm kind of woozy. You rest for a minute. I have a lump. Great Lakes Brewery, fantastic partners of Toronto Mike. Really appreciate their support. Can't wait to get another TMLX back there. Thank you, Great Lakes Brewery.

Sticker you. We mentioned the check your head sticker that's going to prevent that from happening in the future, that accident. I just talked to Laura. I'm going to pick up the sticker ASAP. But there is another. I know you're collecting the Toronto Mike stickers.

There's another one for you, Humble. Please, please enjoy. I want to thank Brian Master. He's a salesperson with Keller Williams Realty Solutions Brokerage. If you want to get on his fantastic snail mail newsletter that he sends once a month with great information, get on Brian's mailing list by emailing him at letsgetyouhome at kw.com. This is the end of October. This is Halloween. That means this is time to say goodbye to seasonal sponsor Pumpkins After Dark. The campaign went very well. I was talking to my contact there yesterday. People using the Pumpkin Mike promo code. Again, that's still valid. If you want to save 10%, go to pumpkinsafterdark.com and use the promo code Pumpkin Mike. I think they're going to do

the Pumpkins After Dark through November 3rd. So there actually is a little bit of time. And I want to play, I played a wonderful Rupesh Kapadia clip for you and Fred last week. But this time we're going to do it

with maybe fewer jokes over it. But let me play the Rupesh Cappadia conversation I just had. Sheila writes, Hi Rupesh, we've always been told you should keep receipts and tax documents for seven years. Is that correct? And is that literally the paper version of these receipts and statements, or are e-copies acceptable? Hi, Sheila. This is an excellent question. Again, this is one of the most common questions I guess every accountant gets and I certainly do. So the answer is pretty simple. Yes, you do require to keep each and every receipt of business-related expenses. Just a line item on your credit card statement is not good

enough. And also, you have to keep it in the paper format. However, recently, the CRA did make the changes and they say the digital copies are accepted as long as they're exactly identical to the paper copies and could not have been manipulated with in any shape or form. So thank you, Rupesh, for a free consultation with Rupesh, the rock star accountant who sees beyond the numbers. Hit me up on Twitter. You can DM me at Toronto Mike or send me an email to mike at torontomike.com. All right, my friend, we're about to kick out the jams. Are you ready? I'm sorry.

Yes. So I was just looking at a picture of a show I was on last week. That doesn't include me. Maybe you took the photo. No, uh, no, I left.

They cropped you out. That's, uh, that's offensive. You're going to be in my photo. By the way, of all the, of all the feedback that we got

from our appearance with you, the good and the bad and the weird. Some weird stuff. I think the weirdest one was somebody commented like I've never seen a picture of Humble Howard where he wasn't mugging for the camera. I saw that. I'm like, I'm sorry. I don't really, I hate having my picture

taken. I don't know what face to make. Usually you put up an eyebrow. I do an eyebrow. I thought the eyebrow years are mostly behind me. I don't know. So I just thought, you know, internet, fuck off. But now are you anxious? You know what I mean?

No, I'm not anxious. But I just think it's one of those things that's like, really of all the things you can hate about somebody, I'm sorry I don't make a face to the camera. Just, this is kind of funny. It's like, okay, let me just make a neutral face. I'm sorry, am I ready for what? No, I want to know if you,

oh, I was going to ask you if you're ready, but do you mind if I ask you about a member of your team at Humble and Fred who passed away? Can I, I heard that an intern of Humble and Fred sadly passed. Yes, but why don't we do that in between the jams or is that not allowed? Well, if you want to, if there's a jam appropriate,

you can say anything you want during the jams. Maybe there's one that reminds you of him. No, you know what? I want to get into it, really. Just go listen. Monday show basically covered this kid that worked for us. So very, very sad. About 15 days ago now, a couple weeks ago,

had an aneurysm, was on life support. We thought at the time that there might have been a chance he could pull through. Apparently, he was on life support because he had made a point of donating his organs. Nice. And so they kept him alive until they could find a donor that needed his heart, I think his lungs, and I don't know. But it was, yeah, really, really sad. And he was only 29

yeah terrible terrible now humble howard yeah are you ready to kick out the jams fuck i guess i guess the train pulling the pads like a rocket stations like a circus every face is a cartoon And everybody's stoned on pride and drunk on cheap champagne Tonight this water vape sure don't live up to its name Now all that I can say Is I'd give this world to you Every rock and every stone Every masterpiece and all

And if you asked me to Well, I'd steal them all, Lisa And tear it up in little pieces And lay them at your feet For all the world to see Tonight I can't give you Paris Paris. Gordy Samson, Paris. Yeah.

Beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. Tell us why you love this song. It's more about why I love Gordy Samson. Because he's one of those Canadian songwriters, singers, artists that I don't think gets as much credit as he deserves. And I didn't know anything about the guy. I remember at the mix in the Humble and Freddie mix years,

there was a Gordy Sampson song, and it didn't do that well. And I just thought it was another sort of can-con guy. But fast forward, I was working with Kim Stockwood who's from Newfoundland and she introduced me to a lot of different artists including Gordy Sampson. Now one night at Jackson Triggs Winery I was hosting a thing.

Kim was one of the artists and I emceed the thing and it was me and Seamus or Seamus the O'Regan. Yep. He's an MP. Yep. And at the time, he was the news guy. And it was Kim's husband, Alan Reid, who was like one of the big wigs in the music business.

Anyway, so I introduced Kim. I come back, introduce Gordy. And I was kind of going to leave. And Kim says, no, no, no. Just stick around. You'll like this. She knew what I liked. And I sat there with her and Seamus and Alan Reid.

And I was mesmerized. Like I had no idea. And then in typical Humble Howard Glassman fashion, I went and got every song by him. And I just started, it was like I rediscovered, I discovered him way after the fact. And this is just a great Gordy Sampson example. And again, I chose it because I love this song,

but also most people would have never maybe heard it. I play it once in a while on the show. And there's also a great story with this song. Tell me. It's about him and his friend going to Paris and his friend gets mugged instantly, like right when they land. And that's what it's about.

But he's sort of turning it into a love song. Well, Blake, what's his face is? Blake Shelton's first wife? Miranda? No, no. I was looking it up while you were playing it. Huge country star. Recorded it.

Made a big hit out of it. I can't remember her name. One night she gets a bunch of the people that have written songs for her. Because Gordy lives in Nashville now. Gets Gordy and a couple other guys on stage to tell the story of the song they wrote. And she had no idea that it was about Gordy's friend almost being killed in Paris. But anyway, if you don't know Gordy Sampson at all, he wrote Jesus Take the Wheel for Carrie Underwood.

Which was a massive hit. He wrote part of it. The part that he wrote, I've been told, has bought him several houses. So that's why I like Gordy Sampson. That's great. Now what do we do? We just listen to him.

We can chat a little bit. Are we going to reschedule this brunch? Yeah. I don't like to truncate the jams. I'm sorry. Well, you talk over the songs. I like it. Yeah, of course.

Yeah, we're going to reschedule the brunch. Okay, just want to make sure because I was... If it was anyone else but Spencer, I'd get in trouble. Listen, it's your daughter. I spent this morning, so what is it now? It's about 11.18 or something in the morning, but I've already been to the Halloween parade at my five-year-old's school, and then I also went to the Halloween parade at the daycare where my three-year-old is. Wow. So I've been out and about looking at cute kids.

So I totally respect the fatherhood vibe there. I really wish I could find the artist. She's a super famous country artist. All right, I'll start your next jam and you can keep Googling away. That's fine. Okay. ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത്ത� guitar solo

The Mississippi Delta Was shining like a national guitar I am following the river Down the highway We're shining like a national guitar. I am following the river down the highway through the cradle of the Civil War. I'm going to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee. I'm going to Graceland. Poor boys and pilgrims with families And we are going to Graceland And my traveling companion is nine years old

He is the child of my first marriage And I've reason to believe We both will be received in grace by She comes back to tell me she's gone As if I didn't know that As if I didn't know my own bed As if I'd never noticed The way she brushed her hair from afar And she said losing love

Is like a window in your heart Paul Simon, Graceland. Everybody sees you're blown apart So why this song? Why this jam? Graceland came out in 1986, which if there was ever sort of the epicenter, if there were the middle,

I don't even know if that's the right word, kind of where I was knee deep in doing stand-up comedy full time. Every week, 35 or 40 weeks a year, I was traveling. The other weeks, I was on stage somewhere all the time. And I remember,

I had a, I had a Walkman that played cassettes. Of course, 86. We all did. Absolutely. And I was living in LA and I came to Western Canada

to do like a three or four week stint and then go back to California. But the last gig I had, I did the Edmonton Yuck Yucks and then I had to get on a bus to someplace like four or five hours north of Edmonton in the middle of winter. And I'm on this bus, and all I can all I've got is Graceland. I'm listening to it, looking out the window thinking, well, this is who I am now.

I'm just this guy, traveling the land on my own. My family has no idea where I am. And it just puts me back in that space. I had other cassettes too but for some reason this kind of stuck with me I'm the quintessential road

warrior comedian guy so when you ask for 10 songs what songs sort of have some moments in my life that I think of whenever I hear this song I think of that plus the album again if you haven't listened moments in my life that I think of whenever I hear this song, I think of that. Plus, and it's a great song. The album,

if you've, again, if you haven't listened to Graceland in a long time, it's, it's one of the best ever made. By the way, Faith Hill is the artist that covered Gordy Sampson's song. And she's massive too.

That's a big deal. Yeah. It's funny how some artists are so talented and they just don't get the name recognition in this country. Like, I think 9 out of 10 people will be like, Gordy who? I think most people have heard of Paul Simon, though. I think so. I think you go 10 out of 10 on that one. It's funny, you know, I agree.

Like, Gordy Samson is just one of those guys, like, you can't believe what he's written. Written? Written. You can't believe what he's written. But I was going to say paul simon you know when i was a kid simon and garfunkel were big and bridge over to all the water mrs robinson etc and then they split up and then paul simon has a ridiculous career after not that garfunkel

wasn't talented but you see where the music was written was from Paul Simon. And I can't name a single Garfunkel hit without Simon. But I can name several massive hits of Simon if I'll Garfunkel. Excellent. And here's your third jam. Like the beat, beat, beat of the tum-tum When the jungle shadows fall Like the tick, tick, tock of the stately clock

As it stands against the wall Like the drip, drip, drip of the raindrops When the summer showers through So a voice within me keeps repeating you, you, you. Night and day, you are the one. You are the one Only you Beneath the moon Or under the sun

Frank Sinatra Weather near to me Okay, so the reason I like this song, well, partly because I like Frank Sinatra. Not, so the reason I like this song, well, partly because I like Frank Sinatra. Not everything by him. And partly because I like, one of the things, one of my presets on SiriusXM is 40s.

I have the Sinatra channel, and I have, I think it's called 40 something, 40 Junction, 40s Junction. But I have a, I have a sense, because my parents were born in the 1920s, 25 to 30, I think my mom and dad were. And sometimes when I hear this music, I think about my mother and father, and I think, well, this must have been their sound garden.

You know what I mean? Like, my parents must have been young people in the 40s. I was just looking up the year this was. This is from 1932. But it's part of what's called the Great American Songbook. And those songs, when I listen to the 40s channel,

I just have this sort of weird, I think about my parents, and they must have been in their teens when this was their like, Their Pearl Jam. Their Pearl Jam, their Backstreet Boys,

their whatever, just during their formative musical years right but there's a second part of this um i went through it because i've been playing piano and guitar since i was a kid and not very well but i can read music so about 15 years ago maybe even longer now i went through a jazz renaissance and um we had had this um piano at our house, but it was an electric piano called a teaching piano. Now it's got 88 keys, but it's got the same pressure down.

It doesn't matter. Why do you care? Well, I have one of those upstairs. Yeah, so nice. So I thought, oh, I'm going to take piano lessons. So I spent an entire winter with a teacher and all I wanted to learn were these songs so i only learned five or six over the course you know between golf season right and this was one of them i learned how to play it on the piano i can't play it anymore i mean i was i asked him i said i don't want it to be too

complicated but i want it to be a challenge um and that's why so there's two reasons why this song are there any right or wrong answers to this Why? So there's two reasons why this song. Are there any right or wrong answers to this? All right. See, if I were listening to this, I would have already been super bored. I'm by my own self. Come on. To get back homeward Once those away

To get back home Sleep pretty darling Do not cry And I will sing a lullaby Golden slumbers fill your eyes Smiles awake you when you rise Sleepy darling, do not cry You know, Lennon gets a lot of credit in the Beatles for being sort of the real rocker of the two. But when you hear McCartney do that, that thing, that screamy thing he does,

you just forget, like the guy, they were something else. I know that sounds stupid, but yeah, yeah, why do I like this song? To me, it's like the quintessential Beatles song. You know, it's got sort of a bittersweet feel to it. It's wonderful. But how do you even extract it from its grouping, if you will? Well, I really didn't. I mean, I gave you all.

I mean, really, this is part of those three song, you know, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, and The End. Right. And what happened? Well, I, you know, Golden Slumbers carry that weight in the end. Right. And what happened? Well, I only took out the Golden Slumbers part because it's... Oh, okay. Well, yeah. Well, the whole thing is what I like.

Oh, I'm sorry. That's okay. Including the end. I didn't mean to extract it. Yeah, I wanted you to play the whole thing. I didn't realize. I apologize. It's all right.

I apologize to you, Mr. Jam Kicker. I have messed it up. I thought you just wanted to go. No, no, no, no. Okay, okay. Anyway, the three of songs together, including the end, for me, it's like if you had,

you know, sometimes you go to the restaurants and they have like hors d'oeuvres or you can order a platter. Right. If you'd played all three, it's like a Beatles platter because you've got the rocker, you've got sort of the, you know,

the big, all the band playing. But the last part, the end, to me is like, it's just such a beautiful lyric. And it sort of, it sums up all the things I like about all Beatles songs. And remind me, this is the final album that they make together because the last album that's another reason that the melancholy the bittersweet but the end the lyrics of and in the end the love you make is equal to the love you the love you take is equal to the love you make that's like and fred and i talk

about this all the time they wrote that when they were in their 20s. Yep. I know. In my 20s, I was doing stand-up, taking a bus to Foam Lake, Alberta, wherever I went, and they were writing that. If I remember correctly,

I should have checked this, but I think Freddie P kicked out a Beatles song as well on his list, and I believe he went with, In My Life is what I believe he went with. You know, I would have chosen that too. I love, you know, there's something about the Beatles that they did that is what changed music. Part of what they did was they, it's the, it's the going to the minor chord.

And I, you know, again, this is, we'll bore the crap out of you, but. I think you're wrong. I think people like this detail. So prior to the Beatles, most rock music was three chords. You've heard all these songs are three chords. Right. They were basically three major chords, DCG.

And if you look up DCG in music, you can play a thousand songs. But rarely in rock music, it was around, but rarely did they go to a minor change. And what Beatles did is they brought in even on she loves you there's a minor key in it there's a minor change to the key that just changes the way it sounds completely so that's what drew me to it and again because i

can kind of play a lot of beatles songs shittily i can play the beginning of of that that little once there was a way part but it's it's like it was it was unlike the way rock music was constructed now um most rock music has that sometimes you'll hear it but very much a lot of popular songs go to the minor key in the bridge another thing the beat did. So that's why this song represents a lot of the things that I love about them, not just as a fan and a disc jockey, but it's just kind of like, oh, that's cool. I can hear that in there. When you were growing up in Moose Jaw,

what station would you listen to to hear the Beatles? C-H-A-B, which was also the first sort of station I worked at. I'm guessing, I only hesitated because I think there was a CBC radio station, but we could also get Regina radio. So probably C-K-C-K or C-J-M-E in Regina. Cool. Shout out to the Saskatchewaners or Saskatchewanites?

What are they called? I don't know. You're supposed to know that stuff. Saskatchewaners or Saskatchewanites. What are they called? I don't know. You're supposed to know that stuff. Saskatchewaners. No. You know, my first wife was from Saskatchewan. Oh, was she? All right, my friend.

Oh, that's funny. I've had a first wife. I've had a couple of wives. But she's from Montreal, right? Your wife is from Montreal. Well, my first wife is not from, my first wife is from California. Oh, yes, that's right. We did your first visit. We talked about this. There's a wife before Rand. Oh yes, that's right. We did your first visit.

We talked about this. There's a wife before Randy. Yes, that's right. A marriage of convenience, the rabbi said. You could probably win a lot of bar bets by having people guess how many times you've been married. Oh yeah, I'm betting people in bars. I guess you don't

spend much time in bars. Alright, let's kick out another jam. Yeah, let's jam it Drove downtown in the rain 9.30 on a Tuesday night Just to check out the late night Record shop Call it impulsive

Call it compulsive Call it insane When I'm surrounded I just can't stop It's a matter of instinct, it's a matter of conditioning, a matter of fact You can call me Pavlov's dog Ring a bell and I'll salivate. How'd you like that? Dr. Landy, tell me you're not just a pedagogue.

Cause right now I'm lying in bed just like Brian Wilson did. Well, I'm lying in into a lot of people when I was the morning guy at the Edge. I don't know if you remember that. You were the morning guy on the Edge, 102.1. I know, I know. I know you just think of the Edges, Martin Streak, and, you know, Strombo. But we had a spot there in the morning, the odd time people would tune in. Are you Peter Geats? Which one are you? you know, strombo, but we had a spot there in the morning the odd time people would tune in.

Are you Peter Gates? Which one are you? That's pretty funny. Who told you to ask that question, you prick? People had this idea that we would listen to the songs or that we were also, you know, going home and listening to the music. But in actual fact, you know, I mean, you play this music four hours a day, weekend and year after year, you don't really listen to it. But this particular band, because of our sort of association with them early on, I was a fan of them.

And this was a band I would go home and listen to their songs. So the reason I included it is because it's my favorite Barenaked Lady song. And once we started at Mojo Radio, the band, you know, we weren't playing music anymore, but in the fall of, I think, our first Christmas there, so 2003, Jack Layton came in with Stephen Page, because Stephen was helping Jack, you know, get the word out about the NDP and his run and blah, blah, blah.

And the joke was, they wanted us to join the NDP. And I said, oh, we'll join the NDP, Stephen Page, if you promise, I said this on the air, if you promise to play our Christmas party again this year. At that point, he was still with the band, but I think the band couldn't make it. So he said, yes, we became official NDP party members, which was hilarious because they wouldn't let us out for years. We literally would kept, I kept getting calls from the NDP five years later. Anyway, so here's the part. So I didn't realize these songs were some

of these songs i guess subconsciously they're songs i'm a fan of as a shitty musician so this was a song i used to always try and figure out now before the internet you had to like sit and listen to it and try and see if you could stumble upon the chords so not only so steven page agrees to play the mojo christmas party and I say to him, as an added bonus, we'll join the NDP if you let me play with you. And he agreed. And for the few weeks prior to the party, I was emailing him back and forth to get the actual lyrics.

I'm sorry, the chords. And I just want to tell you the last part of the story. So there's a couple hundred people at our party. We get to that part in the story. So there's a couple hundred people at our party. We get to that part in the show. You know, everyone's excited. Stephen comes out and I get the guitar. It's all tuned up.

And he let me play that first part. Just so I got to play the part where it's just the one guitar. Right. I got to tell you, Mike, I've had a lot of experiences. First of all, I was super nervous. Like in a way that I'm never nervous when I do stand-up or the radio or even TV. But I was super nervous. But I got to tell you, so soon as I played that first little,

and he starts singing Drove Downtown, the audience applause and you get that feeling of when a band plays their hits how you all that applause of recognition yes but i got it with steven page and i gotta tell you i've had a lot of great experiences in radio but very few gave me that kind of a thrill like i was trembling i really was it was something else well bare naked ladies are a big fucking deal well but that moment was a big deal to me like playing the so playing the song that they all knew but i was playing that part and then i just muddled my way through the rest of it but it was kind of cool having uh playing it and him singing it so now when i hear it i sort of relate to that moment of like yeah that was cool i love that you chose

that song because i'm full of nostalgia for that song because that song was on the yellow tape yeah well that was part of gordon gordon yeah yeah it also made gordon but yellow tape then gordon of course you know i've you know it's funny because i i remember corresponding with steven who we've become friendly with him over the years i mean ed ed and our relationship is different, but we definitely have a congenial, convivial relationship with Steven as well. And I remember going back and forth and him making sure I knew the chords

and how to play them. But I had another experience like that. I've told the story when Dave Grohl was on the show. So I used to have my guitar at the edge when I was a morning guy there. So I used to have my guitar in the studio because I would, during the songs, try and learn them.

And Grohl was in, I think this was the second time we'd met him. And I felt sort of comfortable enough to ask him if he could show me how to play the intro to Everlong. And the story goes, I gave him my guitar and he starts playing a couple of things. And I sort of, I meant to say, oh, that's cool. Or I meant more like, wow, or like, oh, that's interesting. I didn't like, I meant to say to say oh those are the chords but what it came out was are you sure no he starts playing everlong and i go are you sure like are you sure like wow and he goes yeah i'm pretty sure that's funny and dave growl's a good guy right he seems

like a really good guy yeah but that was when he was uh we were more excited about the drummer from nirvana being with us. That's right, that's right. If Everlong was already in your mind, then Foo Fighters was already a big time band. Hey, how's the jam kicking going? Is this a good one? It's wonderful.

I love hearing people tell me why they love songs that they love. This is why I invented Kick Out the Jam. Oh, no. I'm excited to have you here. Are you the one that invented people talking about songs? Yes, actually. Yes, I did.

So please don't copy me. So if we do anything about talking about music, it's again derivative. Let's play your next jam. Yeah, why don't you jam? Play this. Oh, my God. One of my favorite Christmas songs.

Oh, that's the hooker in Minneapolis is the Christmas song. Christmas card from a hooker. Yeah, it's great. It's a great Tom Waits song. It ain't what the moon did God, what I paid for now See you tomorrow Hey, Frank, can I borrow A couple of bucks from you To go

Walting Matilda Walting Matilda You Go Walting Matilda with me I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley And I'm tired of all these soldiers here No one speaks English and everything's broken And my stasis are soaking wet

Help me slip my wrists, Howard. I like the melancholy of this song. You're right, it's not an uplifting jam. Well, it's... I don't know what to say to that. I first fell in love with Tom Waits because I saw him on my favorite talk show's show. So I used to be a huge Letterman fan.

I was a Letterman fan when he had a morning show. Oh, wow. Yeah. And I was just a huge fan of his late night show because I was doing sort of, the 80s were my stand-up decade. And I knew about Letterman. I was living in L.A. And I remember the only thing I had was a VHS machine.

I used to tape Letterman. And I had all seven days marked. You know, days one through seven of Letterman. And all of a sudden, he introduced this Tom Waits guy. I'd never heard of him before. But I thought, oh, if Letterman likes him, I should like him too. And then I found out

my brothers were big fans. And I sort of, you know, started exploring more. Like this song isn't, when you say melancholy, it's just more like it's like a film. But this is going to be weird. I like this song because it reminds me of my kids when they were little.

Because I remember trying to learn... Everything today, the last four songs are all about piano. I remember trying to learn this on the piano. And my kids would be little. And we would sing this song. Both of my daughters, who are 25 and 21 now, know the chorus to this song. Know that Waltzing Matilda. Do you know the name of this song?

Yes. It's called tom trabert trabert's blues correct most people don't know you just passed the test what what did i send you and waltzing matilda which is close enough i knew what you meant but uh i do i actually i'm in the club too i really like tom waits his voice even though my kids probably think he sounds like cookie monster no he's exactly my my daughters when they first heard him burst out laughing too. I really like Tom Waits' voice, even though my kids probably think he sounds like Cookie Monster. No, exactly. My daughters, when they first heard him, burst out laughing. They thought it was a joke. And I don't do very many impressions,

and I certainly can't sing, but I can kind of do his voice. I won't do it for you. But, yeah, it's funny. Why I said it reminds me of Christmas Because it just reminds me of times around the holidays Where I would have time and I'd be sitting around the piano

Invariably trying to learn songs And playing this to my kids But it's really just a great example of how Some people are just born I think with an innate gift of something. And there's a guy that just has a grasp of, I don't know, words and a way of expressing emotion that, you know, like sometimes I used to listen to songs

and go, I could have written that. You know, it's like it's just okay. But then you hear certain things, you go, man, I couldn't. Why are you showing me The Wire? Because Tom Waits sings the theme song for The Wire. Wow. Down in a hole. So how excited were you when I threw in a Tom Waits tune?

And who's the name of the Australian guy who's no longer with us, sadly, but he played the Joker in The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger. I believe he based his performance

on Tom Waits' appearances on David Letterman. His performance in what? Like as a guest on David Letterman. No, but I'm saying in Batman.

The Joker. Oh, the Joker, yeah. Interesting. The Joker's mannerisms and the way he talks is very similar to Tom Waits when you would see him on David Letterman.

If you want, just Google it. It's something else. Like, he was just this unusual guy. And another thing I admire about him is just how, first of all,

he's a great musician. But how he, you know, carved out this as his lane that he was going to be in. He's got a couple of songs, Downtown Train, I think. Yes, that's his. That became hits for other people.

He can write a song, but his voice is so different. And not all of his songs does he put this voice on. His Cookie Monster voice? His Cookie Monster voice. There's a lot of characters. This guy's not going to be like Ed Sheeran. He's not mainstream.

The masses won't know a Tom Waits song or whatever. But music lovers like yourself will truly appreciate it. Sort of like Warren Zevon. kind of a... Another Letterman favorite, strangely enough. Because he liked those characters. He liked characters.

You know, there was another guy early on in the Letterman world, Harvey Pekar. American Splendor. American Splendor. Another guy that you would have never seen. Like the early Letterman show, there's nothing like it. You would have never seen a guy like Tom Waits,

Harvey P. Carr, Warren Zevon all those people you know. You're bang on. Late Night with David Letterman. You're bang on. You ready for another jam? Sure. You have to see it. Do you want me, by the way, do you want me to introduce one of these songs?

Like DJ style? Has anyone ever done that? Yeah, I'm sure someone has done it. Do you want me, by the way, do you want me to introduce one of these songs? Like DJ style? Oh yeah. Has anyone ever done that? If I ever hear the, yeah, I'm sure someone has done it. I think Vic Router might've did that. Oh,

Vic Router. Make the final. Was Vic Router the morning guy at the edge? I don't think so. I think he might've been, uh, just between Pete and Geetz and Humble and Fred. Sure.

Why not? Here's another jam. And yeah, yes. If you, I won't introduce this song. When I hear you talk, I'll bring it down. I don't know what song it is. I'll have to know how many seconds it is.

Oh, yeah. One of the great songs to introduce. I'll tell you, when I was at Easy Rock and we were changing over to this Boom 97.3 format, it was literally the first song I got to play in the new format.

Oh, sorry, I walked the vocal. You didn't hit the post. We're all disappointed. Okay, but here's why I love this song. Okay, so I was going to try and do that story over the intro. So Fred and I stopped working together in 2005, and we drift around,

and I get a job at Easy Rock, and I'm playing AC music, and I'm doing this fucking weird morning show. Listen, I got a family. I'm trying to make a living. I sort of resigned myself. This is who I'm going to be. Kim Stockwood, Colleen Rusholm, and Rick Hodge.

And me. And it was dreadful. I mean, they were really nice people, and we did the best we could, but I rarely hated my broadcast self more than I hated that guy. Listen, I was making money, and I had a family to feed,

and what are you going to do? It was the only job I was offered. So anyway, it all blows up, and two of those people get fired, and they come to me and call me and they say, we're going to change formats. This is the music we're playing. You guys will be perfect for this. And we would have been. But the point is, all of a sudden, after being on a radio and then playing all this AC music, this was one of the first songs. It might

not have been the first, but let's say it was. It'll make the story better. And when I was, this is true. So I introduced the song, boom, 97.3. And REM starts playing. And I put my headphones, I keep my headphones on. And I turn away from Andy Wilson, who is our operator, and Colleen, because I started to tear up a little bit. And the reason I did is I thought, you know, I never thought I was going to get a chance to play this again.

Because it meant so much to me to play something. Something cool. From my edge days. I'm getting emotional now even thinking about it because it was just such a snapshot of the edge that it's sort of, you know, there's a lot of songs that would have fit that bill, but this one, this is one again i remember i played two years of just dopey mopey radio music like jan arden that kind of which was fine

yeah right but it's just so this had a lot of emotion for me because i was like wow i'm back playing this so that's why i didn't try and figure it out on the guitar that's great it's funny you mentioned Andy and we mentioned Colleen I think they're both working out east now both working in Ottawa and Colleen's at a station in Ottawa I think a boom station in Ottawa and Andy man

Andy's all grown up and co-hosting a morning show in Montreal it's funny because he was a part of that Tucker and Mora. I know you're friends with Mora. And Tucker too. And Tucker. I was Tucker's consultant for a while.

Bet you didn't know that. No, I did not. That's why you're on for the deep dive here. Yeah, I went to a buddy of ours, Jim McCourty, who was the production manager at The Edge. You know, he was a morning guy there. And Jim had taken over a station in London, Tucker and Taz. And he called me up one day when I was not out. I couldn't work in radio station in London, Tucker and Taz. And he called

me up one day when I was not out. I couldn't work in radio. He says, I got this morning show. I think, would you mind listening to them? We'll pay you a little bit of money. Just have a listen. I don't, you know, I'm not a consultant, but I said, I want you to see what you think. And I ended up coming to London a couple of times and consulting them. And really it was more about how to get along in a room with a bunch of people but that's how I got to know Tucker It's funny that Tucker and Maura are now on the air in Hamilton

and they took basically that was Colleen Rush Holmes with Darren Laidman they had that morning show on there they did rebranded but it's funny how it's all interconnected they're doing it from Queens yeah Chorus Key but they're doing it more than just in Hamilton, right? I thought they were just in Hamilton.

I thought it was a network. News to me, but... Are you sure? I mean, I'm not 100% sure. I thought it was like energy radio. Because why would they just be in... Why wouldn't they have gone to Hamilton to do it? Because they live...

They live in Toronto. Okay. Right. Right. But Andy was not part of this Hamilton because he already left for a gig and it's good for him that he's co-hosting. No, no, he's doing great.

We saw him just before he went to Montreal and he was doing great. I don't know him that well, but I met him a few times at Humble and Fred things. And I remember he was a massive fan of Kid Rock. Oh, yeah. Like a massive fan. Because I've seen Kid Rock live a couple of times.

Not that I'm a big fan. I don't know how. I just, I don't know. I dug it. And Andy was like a diehard Kid Rock. Oh, yeah. Like a massive fan because I've seen Kid Rock live a couple times. Not that I'm a big fan. I don't know how. I just, I don't know. I dug it. And Andy was like a diehard Kid Rock guy. I found that interesting. That is interesting. Fantastic.

Here's another jam for Humble Howard who was a morning show man. A morning show guy. At Edge 102. This is what you found out today. Today I learned. That's right. Today's something new.

today I learned today something new I'm sorry all my songs are down I like sad songs no it's funny I had that conversation with Rachel when I first met her I was playing her some of my favorite songs and I realized realized after about a half an hour, I'm like, all my songs are pretty melancholy. There's a comfort in being sad.

Isn't it interesting that I lean into that? That's what I'm saying. We're analyzing you now. Think about that list. You know, Paris is melancholy. Waltzing Matilda. Even, you know, Brian Wilson. Yes. It's rainy rainy in that song.

Yeah. And this guy, I mean, we're listening to Randy Newman, but he's similar to, I would say he's similar to Tom Waits. Yeah, and he's got a unique delivery style, and he's not for everybody. Not for everybody. Hell of a songwriter. You know, I can tell you that overall,

I could have given you another hundred songs of similar artists that I love. And I think the reason I always gravitated toward them was that what I did for a living was play top 40 music. Long before the years, I was a top 40 disc jockey, you know, playing the top 40 hits of the day. Then I got to an FM station and played very, very popular, you know, Springsteen and all that stuff for a long time. So I think for me in the off hours of when I wasn't being a disc jockey six hours a day, I gravitated toward music that was different. Like I didn't do it on purpose.

I just think because your ear gets so attuned to hearing a certain kind of vibe that you naturally, when you're away from that, want something else. I imagine if you're a chef at a fine dining restaurant, maybe you want fast food, you know, type of thing. Like after Halloween, when the kids bring home chocolate, you eat it all night. You're just craving like celery or an apple or something. So I'm not sure what my music is,

but I got into Randy Newman for various reasons. I love how the fact he's become such a punchline on like Family Guy and stuff, which is great. Same with and it's fine, but he was somebody that, again, unique lyrics, very strange delivery. And when I was disc jockeying

in the 70s, all I ever knew he did was short people. Right. Which if you know him, as you look back on it he was just being ironic he's just kidding around basically and a lot of his music is very sort of fanciful and whimsical and strange and some of it's political and i mean he's the toy story guy but he's a really great musician and what people don't know about randy newman is how many movies you've watched that he scored or did the soundtracks so

many from like the naked gun to tons yeah dozens and dozens of films where you know toy story has got a song um another sad song i think the original toy story has the the one about uh when she used to be my doll or something no i know exactly what exactly what you're talking about. You know what I mean? Yes, it's, yes. When somebody loved me, everything was beautiful. Every now and then, that's how Randy Newman thinks. When she needs, what's that? It's for the kid. He doesn't play with his doll anymore. Right.

Okay. Right. Yes. When she loved me, somebody loved loved me and he's got you've got a friend and you got a friend in me you got a friend in me anyway so that's why we're like and i've seen randy newman in concert at a really wave summit varsity it was at the university um i don't know what they call that little it's varsity arena not varsity arena no is at the university. I don't even know what they call that little... It's Varsity Arena. Not Varsity Arena. No, it was at the university.

Hardhouse? Very small, like 600 people. But when I first moved to LA, I ran into him at LAX. I didn't say anything. I was too young. I love LA. Yeah. Take New York City.

It's cold. He's got, hey, New York City. It's cold and it's damp. And all the people dress like monkeys. But I saw him at the LAX and I was like, oh, it's cold and it's damp. And all the people dress like monkeys. But I saw him at the LAX and I was like, oh, that's Randy Newman. Randy Newman. That's cool. Do you like the Pogues?

Yes. Of course, Fairytale of New York, another sad song that I love. They've got a song. I mean, I like the Pogues. Because it's sort of similar. It's different delivery. Like, I feel like you dig the Pogues. And then there's a song called Body of an American, which is a fantastic song,

which is amazing part of The Wire. And you should watch The Wire. That's all I'm going to say. You should watch The Wire. And you can watch it in HD. It streams on Crave TV in high definition. You don't have to do the SD version that I have on DVD here.

Let me just tell you, there's a, in one of Randy Newman's early albums, there's a couple of political songs that are really funny but interesting and one is called uh drop the big one go and look that look that one up let's drop the big one and see what happens here's your penultimate how many uh we got two more to go ultimate yeah all right all right i know a big word of the day i know what penultimate means i'm? We got two more to go. Penultimate. All right. All right. I know a big word of the day. I know what penultimate means. I'm letting the listeners know.

They're not as smart as you. A lot of people think penultimate means the final group, but it means the second to the final group. And if the penultimate episode of a good series usually has a significant death in it.

Like The Wire. Oh yeah. There's five seasons. You're like Regis for The Wire. Watch The Wire. All right. Oh, geez, another sad song. We'll dedicate this to Jake Gold, who's listening at home. I bet.

I bet. I said I'm fabulously rich Come on, just let's go She kinda bit her lip Jeez, I don't know But I can guarantee I think I've got exactly 30% CanCon on my list. Gordy, Gordy, all the Gordys and Barenaked Ladies. Yeah. Yep. Three out of ten.

Now, I wouldn't have, I didn't realize that I mean I guess in a loose way I ranked And this wouldn't be my second favorite But this was You know Of all the bits I've done That I thought were Hey this is a good bit Not that I regret it

I just wish that I hadn't been So dismissive As a joke of the Tragically Hip. And this is going to sound strange. I became a bigger fan. I said this on the show the other day. I became a bigger fan after Gordy died. But it's not completely true.

I mean, I appreciated their music all along. I used to do this joke. I used to back sell a song and say, hey, there's a, because I was a disc jockey on the radio. I'd say, there's Tragically Hip Edge 102. I guess that's Courage. And Fred would go, no, no, Howard, that's Grace 2. I go, I don't know, Fred, they all sound the same. Oh. And the phones would

go crazy because as we know in the world of social media, sometimes having an opinion, even if you don't really believe it, it's fun to do to sort of stir things up. Right. You know. You know how you like to stir things up, Mike? Like when I play a question at the table. Yeah, yeah. You know, just something for fun. Give him something to

talk about. Exactly. And you know the story. Jake Gold tried to choke me. And I said, Jake, it's a joke. I'm just fucking around. But like a lot of music I played in those days, I just, as I explained earlier, I didn't take it home. I listened to enough Tragically Hip at work and blah, blah, blah.

But then when he died, I started to really kind of go back and listen to it like a fan. And this song just haunts me. Yeah. You know, I just find it, and it's, you know you like a song when you can, it's like,

you know the old thing when people say, when people would watch normal television and they'd come on and there'd be a movie or an episode and it's halfway through, you still stay with it? You watch it all over again, right? You know, you watch, if you see the Chinese food episode of Seinfeld, you'll watch it. Of course.

Same with me in this song. Like, I'll listen to it over and over again. This is from Day for Night, which also has Nautical Disaster, which I feel very similarly about. Like, I feel like it's one of those songs that you kind of, you immerse yourself in it, almost like you've been swallowed up

by the waves in a vast ocean. Oh, very good. If I may say, when Jake Gold was on Toronto Mic'd, I made sure to ask him about that choking. About choking me? Yes. And did he tell you the story?

Yep, he did. Yes, he did. He and I are buddies now. He's a friend. Yeah, I'm glad to hear that because he's a good guy. He wasn't mad at me when you asked him about it. No. No, he wasn't mad. You know, he was like childhood friends with Hebsey.

Like they were friends when they were five years old. Jake's a good boy. Yeah, he's good. Go and look up the story. Yeah, he's a good boy. Yeah, you can go and look up the story. Basically, he got mad at me. We were doing a live broadcast from Masonic Temple on Young and whatever that is. Young and... Davenport.

Yeah. And he came up to me and he started choking me against the lamppost or something. Because he couldn't believe I said all those horrible things about his band. The weird thing is, I ended up golfing with two of them, like quite a bit. Which two? Bass player. Rob Baker. And the drummer. Oh no, guitar player too.

Sometimes. But more Rob. Rob was more into it. Gotcha. And speaking of another reference, Taggart and I were old golf buddies. That's why he came to your defense so readily. That's right, man. The abuse you took at the hands of Trotter. I saw Taggart like three weeks ago.

Four weeks ago, we were at a golf tournament together. The thing, the knock against Taggart is he also blamed me fully for the Molly Johnson episode going south. So I would sort of take his word for it on the Humble and Fred one, which I can own responsibility there. But if you blame me fully for Molly Johnson going south,

I don't think you're being objective. All right. So now the number one song on my list is actually, I guess if I have a favorite song, this is it. And also I have a friend, by the way, one of my best buddies, Fraser, he's a huge hip fan. And for years he couldn't believe that I didn't go to their concerts. And I remember calling him up about a month after Gord died and went, I wish I had gone to some concerts. I really do. Anyway, so this is my favorite song. Okay. So let's just take some explaining. In 1977, I started working at a radio station

in Moose Jaw and there was a couple couple guys there from out west, from Vancouver, and they were older than me by a couple years, and I sort of looked up to them, and one of them was named Jeff Hamilton. Earlier this week, I talked about Jeff, who became one of my best friends, like Dan Duran-level best friend, and died. And he died when he was 26. Much like Idris, the intern, had an aneurysm.

Wow. But between the time that I met Jeff and his death, we ended up working together. He was from Vancouver. I got a job in Vancouver. We worked at the same radio station. And I'd never heard of this band. And he was another guy that liked to play guitar.

And we used to like smoking weed and trying to learn songs. And he introduced me to Steely Dan. So number one is Steely Dan. Always reminds me of my friend Jeff. Again, back to the musician part. This is way beyond anything I could ever imagine playing. But I've had the Steely Dan songbook with all the guitar charts and stuff.

I've had it my whole life. It's still somewhere in my house. And I've never been able to replicate any of it. So to me, it's like, sort of still is like one of these things I've always wanted to learn how to play. But why this song? I mean, part of it is because of Jeff

and because I've known it for so long. But if you listen to the lyrics, it's about somebody that wishes they, like they've sort of got this normal life. Like it's about the hero in the song is a guy that lives in the, that sort of has a normal existence. But what he dreams of

is playing the sax and, you know, drinking scotch whiskey. He dreams of a different life that he imagines that he could have had where he'd be this viper crawling through the streets and being somebody that lives a dangerous life. And is he a deacon? No.

No, I don't think he's a deacon. Because the name of the song is Deacon Blues. You know, I don't know about that. You know, it's funny. That's another thing about the song. And they call Alabama the Crimson Tide. They so call me Deacon Blues. I honestly don't know why.

But I just, you know, I love the idea. At the time, I also, I went through a saxophone stage. You know about that? No. I went through a couple years where I was going to be a sax player. I had a saxophone. I had a sax teacher. Played sax.

I loved stuff that had sax in it. So there's a part here he goes, you know, learn to play the saxophone. I'll play it just how I feel. But again, I sort of related to it because I wanted to learn all those things. And I wanted to be that guy. And I never really was. You know, it's something

it's like, you know, I sort of thought moving to LA and doing all that stuff. But I was really just a guy from Moose Jaw. You know? I don't want to die behind the wheel if you're asking me. We don't want you to either.

If you ask Mike, go ahead. Sonically, yes. Sonically, this is the kind of song... One of the greatest songs ever written. Yes, if you're testing your new stereo. Yes. Or if you're setting up a sound system for a live event,

play this to test things. Yeah, so they go through the song. He talks about this life he dreams of having. You know, he's a loser. They've got a name for the winners in the world. I want a name when I lose. But my favorite part of the song comes up toward the end when he talks about, you know,

it's also about, you know, toward the end he talks about this is the night of the expanding man. It's a song about expansion. He wants to be not just something that he's not, but he dreams of expanding his life. You know, I think we all do to a degree. And I remember when I really loved this, when I first sort of got into it, I was, again, going through my I'm a cool stand-up comic. I moved to, but in reality, we're all just where we're from we're all we all just in the end are who we are right you know we all want you know maybe to be different or learn the saxophone and be a cool person but in reality we end up just being you know kind of in the end we're just

ourselves so if i die when i leave here and my my funeral is sometime in the end, we're just ourselves. So, if I die when I leave here, and my funeral is sometime in the next couple of days, and you come to my funeral, you'll hear this song. Because both of my kids, my ex-wife doesn't want any part of it, but both of my kids know that at whatever I have, whether I'm cremated or whatever, but at some point, if it's just the four of them having dinner, someone's going to play this song.

Are you sad now? It's the ultimate melancholy jam kicking. So here's the part. And he says, I love this. He says, I cried when I wrote this song. He says, this brother is free. And finally he says, I'm free.

I can be whatever I want to be, which for me will just be the sweet relief of death. How's that for kicking out the jams, Boone? Dude, you brought your A game today. That's funny. Yeah. The other thing I like about this song is it's seven and a half minutes long,

which is another fuck you to radio, you know? Right. Yeah. Never got this on the radio. So again, imagine I had a career where I was playing three and a half minute songs. So all the stuff I like tends to be longer form, you know? Right. And also, I mean, if you needed a bathroom break or something,

you could throw this on and take care of business. You know, it's funny. I never worked at a radio station, even at CFOX in Vancouver. I've never worked at a station where I would ever have played this song, but yeah, I just think it's funny how I like some of the stuff I like,

like golden slumbers and they end like six and a half minutes. Well, there you go. So dude, how did it feel? I loved it. That was my favorite episode of Toronto Mic'd ever. I'm serious.

That's the most fun I've ever had. And it started with you bashing me in the fucking head. I'm just sorry we didn't capture that on the Parascript live stream. Yeah, what I like about kicking out the jams of people like yourself is I feel I learn more about you from a jam kicking than just a 90-minute chat. Like you start to open up. I'll do it again. Let's do it tomorrow.

You got 10 more jams? I got 10 more jams. Dude, I'd do it tomorrow. Are you kidding me? What do you got now? What's happening now? Well, I know you got an appointment because I heard you make it there with Wendy. I'm fine. Yeah, I'm getting a massage. Well, good for you got an appointment because I heard you make it there with Wendy. I'm fine.

Yeah, I'm getting a massage. Good for you. Yeah, man. What's this music? This is my closing theme. You've never heard an episode of Toronto Mike, I just realized, because every single episode closes with Rosie and Grave from Shakespeare in My Butt, my favorite Lawrenceville album.

Easy now. I like to end our episodes awkwardly, so I need to sort of do something right now to fuck this up. Why don't you punch me right in the face? And that brings us to the end of our 534th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at

Toronto Mike. Howard is at HumHow. HumHow on Twitter. HumHow on Twitter and at HumbleHowardComedy on Instagram. HumbleHowardComedy on Instagram. Yeah. And if that means anything to you, I'm at Burlington. Yuck Yucks.

Friday, tomorrow night and Saturday as well. This show is very popular in Burlington, so that's going to mean a great deal. Yeah. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Brian Master is at Let's Get You Home at KW.com.

That's where you write him to get on his awesome mailing list. Capadia LLP is at Capadia LLP. And Pumpkins After Dark are at PumpkinsAfterDark.com. I will see you all later this afternoon when I record the monthly synopsis with 1236's Mark Wise blogs. It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears

And I don't know what the future can hold or do For me and you But I'm a much better man for having known you Oh, you know that's true because Everything is coming up Rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow won't stay today.