Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Ian Blurton from Change Of Heart: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1667

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

In this 1668th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Change of Heart founder Ian Blurton about the band, their first new album in almost three decades, and how Gord Downie picked him up when he was down. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Silverwax, Yes We Are Open, Nick Ainisand RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

We'd like to thank the good God damn Chee Lord. We'd like to thank the good God damn Chee Lord. 100 good God damn Chee Lord. 100 Chee Lord. 100 Chee this. Change your heart. Good God damn Chee Lord. 100.

We'd like to thank the good God damn Chee Lord. 100 Chee this. Change your heart. Toronto, Ontario. What up, my imp? Toronto. VK on the beat. Check. Welcome to episode 1668 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. Yes we are open an award-winning podcast hosted by FOTM Al Gregor. Silverwax.ca. Use promo code TRONOMIKE10 at checkout and save 10%. Recyclemylectronics.ca. Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. Building Toronto Skyline, a podcast and book from Nick Aynes, sponsored by Fusion Corp Construction Management Inc. and Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Joining me today, returning to Toronto Mic'd, it's Ian Blurton! Ian Blurton Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, You never know what you're gonna get asked right off. Yeah, I'd say probably 20 years 20 years Okay, and it there's no itchiness obviously like no Cuz I try once in a while like I don't I can't grow a nice beard like you but once a while

I think oh, let me try to be like Ian blurred and then let me go my Day five or six my neck particularly. It's so itchy. I'm like, yeah, forget it I'm gonna get past the point that you get past the itchy point and then it's just whatever you're saying I give up too easily you're giving up too easily okay so 20 years ago Wow you know what it saves you in blades right oh my I I've bought a home because I know I have it well blades are expensive blades are expensive and electric razors are hard to plug in in Europe and they're're not, oh you gotta buy it, yeah one of those adapters. Okay so right off the top though, that was off the top but now I want to say happy birthday to my son Jarvis. Today he is 11 years old.

Amazing. So now time to record the special birthday greeting to Jarvis from Ian Blurton. Happy birthday, is Jarvis or Jervis? Jarvis. Happy birthday, Jarvis. There you go. He's gonna hear this. Congratulations on 11. Yeah, 11. 11 was always my favorite number because I liked George Bell on the Toronto Blue Jays. So thank, yeah, George Bell. Who, if I just quickly find this, I can play this. Hi, I'm George Bell. You listen to Toronto Mike. That was a dream come true. Did you know here's a fun fact for you, Ian. Can't wait to get into it with you.

And I'm really glad to see you again. This is the first time in the history of this podcast and your episode number 1,668, this is the first time I've ever recorded on April 9th. Don't you think that's interesting? That's weird. So I was trying to figure out why. Like, it's not like I block it for my kid's birthday because he's in school. But I think maybe it's because often April 9 falls in the middle of like that four day, like you got like good Friday is a day off and then you got the weekend and then Easter Monday, the kids don't go to school.

So I feel like maybe it got blocked because of that. Interesting. Well, I'm honored to be the first April 9th. You better be good Ian, okay. I'll try. The only dates now, let's say I did this homework so I could present it. The only dates that remain empty in the archives

and I've never recorded on the following dates My birthday, I've never recorded on my birthday. Although I recorded with lowest of the low live at Great Lakes Brewery was a tmlx event in 2019 and I didn't really do an episode But I did record and I did put it in the Toronto Mike to feed so that might mean I didn't think that counts It counts. Yeah, I think that counts actually. You friendly with Rod Hawkins and the guys from Lois & Lois? Oh yeah, I've known those guys forever. You guys kind of run around the same circles. I don't know about the same circles, but definitely we've run into the same squares.

Okay, lots of mutual respect there? Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I have respect for any band that you know goes and keeps going. Okay. Well, as long as they're not, you know. There's some, like what about Bootsauce? Oh my god. Wow. That was unexpected. I guess I have respect for them. I did actually get into a fight with them once There was a I magazine not not the I think it was I they used to have this guest Reviewers, so they'd have like five records and then five reviewers and the bootstops record was in there And I didn't give it a bad review But somebody else gave it a bad review and the family Son, Sonny Greenwich's family, thought it was me.

And the mom came to the next Change of Heart show. And there was like a kerfuffle, and I was like, that it wasn't me. That's wild because the reason I picked on them is because many a great Canadian musician has sat in this basement and said, fuck boot sauce. Oh my god. You know what I mean? Trying to stir up some shit. Yeah, you are stirring up some shit quickly. You know what I have, you know, so you and I agree

and thank you to Andy for pointing this out that my birthday doesn't count. So here are the only four days left, okay? That I have never recorded on. I've never recorded on Christmas day. I've never recorded on boxing day. I've never recorded on New Year's Eve and I've never recorded on New Year's Eve and I've never recorded on New Year's Day. That's it Ian. Now I'm recording with you.

That's amazing. Isn't that wild? Wow. That is like, that's actually really incredible. Do you remember your Toronto Mic debut? Of course, yes. Yeah, it's uh, yeah. Is it a fond memory? It's a very fond memory. Yeah, yeah. Sitting out in the back. Yeah, sitting out in the backyard and I remember, was there a lot of birds? Yeah, there was like, there was a lot of birds. You're making me miss the backyard episodes. Maybe the summer of 2025, I bring back the backyard episode. I think it was really nice. It was very relaxed for an interview. You know, like, I'm sold. Like I'm going to, I am going to do this. I feel like it's pain in the ass because you got to tear it down and build it up. And then, you know, you, you know, in reverse that, but I think there is something to that on a nice day

anyways, when you're out there and it's relaxed and the bird song, I think I will bring back some backyard episodes in 2025. So this was July, 2022. Oh yeah. When you were in the backyard. So it was episode 1088 and here's what I wrote. I wrote Mike is joined in the backyard by musician Ian Blurden as they talk change of heart, Blurtonia future now, and so much more. We went for like 90 minutes. So this episode, I'm actually, if it's okay with you, I'm going to mainly with a few questions that'll take us off track but I will mainly focus on change of heart if that's okay with you. Yeah of course whatever you want. Okay I'm the boss around here right? Yeah you're the boss. But to get out the non change of

heart questions out of the way Todd B wants to know if there's any plans to get the albums you released under the name Blurtonia on Bandcamp. Oh. Todd B wants to know. Todd, I don't know. Yeah, I could probably wing that. Okay, you might do that for Todd. I might do that for Todd, yeah. Okay, Todd, you came to the right place. Okay, so I kind of tease this before we press record, but you're the third guest in a row, so this is only Wednesday. I had a guest Monday, Tuesday, and now you're here Wednesday. And as far as I know, all three of you, particularly you, by the way, contributed to Smile.

So can you please remind me, what was Glenn Milcham's contribution to Smile? Oh boy, Glenn really... Okay, well, the origin of Smile was that our drummer left the band. And we had all these songs and we sort of looked at each other and we were like, let's just figure out a way to record all these songs and we'll write a whole bunch of extra ones. And this was like, you know, three months sort of period and write a bunch of extra ones and make this a sprawling double album, which was kind of crazy. And Glenn, who was my neighbor at the time, offered to play drums on it and came in and just absolutely killed it. I think we only played

two shows before we recorded and, you know, I mean, the one thing about playing with Glenn is like he's you can count on him. And he's he's just always there and he's always present and does the best he can do and he's an incredible drummer. He's a great drummer. Yeah. So does he leave you basically to join Blue Rodeo because the timing kind of matches up it He does and in fact Unless I'm mistaken I believe one of the Blue Rodeo members came into the studio while we were recording smile and sort of offered him that gig

It's got to be Jim Cuddy. I believe it was Greg. Was it a handsome is a Greg. Okay, I think it was Greg gotta be Jim Cuddy. I believe it was Greg. Was it a handsome, is it Greg? Okay. I think it was Greg. Okay, very, very interesting. I mean, my memory isn't great as it used to be. Well then get the hell out of here.

I got questions, I need a good memory. So it's Ron Duffy leaves basically. Yes, Ron leaves. And then you record Smile. So I'm gonna get back to Smile. Since you were last here, Michael Philip, voy a vota has made his Toronto mic debut. Amazing.

I know, he's been involved in some of the greatest Canadian, in my opinion anyways, the greatest Canadian elms of all time. Unbelievable. And he produced Smile. Yes, he did. With a horrible tooth problem that I, if I remember correctly, and he was taking lots of pain medication. You know, maybe that's why it's so good.

But he also, okay, famously he produces Bare Naked Ladies Gordon. And there was a question that came in from Brent Arnold who says, I remember watching Change of Heart open for Bare Naked Ladies at Massey Hall. I think they were wearing dresses. Is this accurate? I couldn't, I don't, is he right? Yes. I had been talking to Tyler and drummer from Barenake Ladies.

Yeah, and I was like, you know, the only place we haven't played is Massey Hall or, you know, one of them. Maybe we hadn't played the concert hall by then, but no we hadn't actually. And lo and behold, you know a couple weeks later they put us on the bill or whatever it was a couple months and... Wow. Yes we were wearing dresses. Okay, it's wild. I don't know why it just feels wild to think that change of heart would play Massey Hall Like you just think all that's land of Gordon Lightfoot and blue rodeo, but there's change of heart. Uh-huh And the the I mean I totally understand why they did this because they had a big stage show And they didn't want to reveal it before

the show there was a curtain across the front of the stage and so basically we had like a couple of feet and like just the lip of the stage to and so we had to set up in a line and it was uh it was interesting to say the least uh because i don't think we ever really did that all right so i mentioned there was another guest he was on smile so yeah glenn Glenn Milcham, obviously. But then the very next day, which is only, which is only yesterday, Gilmore from triumph. Yes, he is on smile. Okay, so I'm, you know, I meant I kind of shooting myself right now because I meant to pull a damn clip of this. And I didn't because what an idiot I am. But basically, I set it up because I thought it was

a wild coincidence because this is all unrelated, you know. I didn't plan a smile week on Toronto Mike. Smile week on. You know, I would do that though. That sounds like I would do that, okay. But so coincidentally, Glenn was coming over anyways because he had heard Greg Keeler on Toronto Mike and then we worked out he would come by and he was amazing.

Do you plan to cry on this, because there's a camera on you. Glenn does a great job. I'm crying right now. In the inside. Glenn does a great, and I love it, because Glenn just sits there and he feels feels, and he's not ashamed or too proud or, you know, he just lets his feels out and it's so authentic.

Like, and I realized, oh oh this is what I'm craving is this it's not fake tears it's real it's genuine it's just it was so wonderful to witness mm-hmm so if you want to cry like I'll pinch you really okay oh shut out to bear naked ladies pinch you pinch me okay all right but but Gilmore is credited with playing the gongs yes and then I went to Jason Schneider before Gil was on and I said, hey, what song and smile is Gilmore on? And Jason said, I don't know, the one with gongs on it. And then I actually thought, okay, well,

I would pull it and play it for him. But then I just asked him straight out, Gil, do you remember contributing to Change of Heart Smile? And he has zero recollection of it. Like he had no idea. No idea. So you're here now and I'm actually wondering. That is amazing.

Yeah, he has no, actually here it is, I have it here. Okay, so I do have this clip. So I pulled it and put it on my YouTube channel and I'm going to now, I found it. This is an exciting moment. Let's listen to that moment on Toronto Mic'd yesterday. Tomorrow sitting in that chair is Ian Blurton, because Change of Heart has a new album. And here's the fun fact mind blow for you. And I think you might know where it's going. But

Glenn Milcham, obviously Ian Blurton and yourself, you all played on change of hearts classic album smile You're credited with playing the gong on this album. Do you remember playing on change of hearts? smile in 1992 stumped You're credited as playing the gong and then I asked Jason Snyder like what track is he playing the gong and Jason's like And then I asked Jason Snyder, like, what track is he playing the gong? And Jason's like, whatever track has gong on it. Okay, so I'll be asking Ian tomorrow, but you don't have any memory of contributing your gong plane to Smile.

No, but let's, let's face it, you know, gong is essential. And you got to have more gong. You got to have more gong. I mean, that's a certainty. There you go. That's amazing. So what like what do you remember? I hope you remember what was Gilmore from Triumph's contribution to smile? It was literally we were like we need a gong in this part of the song and who better to play the gong than Gilmore of triumph. Right. And somehow I think it was Michael got a hold of somebody at Metalworks and they were

like can you set up a gong and get Gil to hit it like you know five times or ten times or whatever and then we'll pick the best one and we'll fly it in. And so we got this tape back and I'm pretty sure he's talking on there too so always took because I was gonna say they probably had some intern hit the fucking gong no they said no no no no no they would not know rock and roll doesn't do that rock and roll would never lie like that okay so Gilmore hits a gut what song is it I couldn't even tell you actually at this point. So now Jason doesn't feel so bad because he couldn't tell me either. Okay, so there we are finally. I think this is the purpose of Toronto Mike. Just like let's

figure out was Gilmore on Smile? Like it's such a wild credit. Definitely on Smile. Like, yeah I'm almost a hundred percent like is that gong hit okay? Do you want another? Like there's some of that in between? The gongs, but you're not witnessing him hitting the gong. No, I'm not knowing no I'm not it's possible an intern hit that don't ruin Let's update your dogs or whatever Let's get this right. Okay, we're the truth is here the gong truthers. Okay? So fuck Bootsauce, the gong truthers. Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

I didn't say that. No, you were very kind. And in fact, John Lally, who was the drummer, or at least one of the drummers in Bootsauce, he's a very old friend and I still see him. Well, you know, when I say fuck Bootsauce, I hope they realize my tongue is in my cheek. I've never met the guys and I would totally have them

on Toronto Mic, then I might even like them. Who knows, right? Like, I literally, like, I hope they realize my tongue is in my cheek. I've never met the guys and I would totally have them on Toronto Mike. Then I might even like them. Who knows? Right. Like I literally like I've heard it from people like Lois de Lowe and Art Bergman. Oh, well, Art did that tour with them where they wouldn't let them. Well, they made them. They made them. They kicked them out. And that's when apparently not that so Lois de Lowe were driving on the same highway the other way, and they saw art on the side of the road like hitchhiking or something and that's when they wrote the song. What's an expression of art in it? What's the lowest a low song of art? But they wrote a song about him. So at least these

stories are kind of... I do believe that tour bankrupted Call the Office the first time it went under as well. I might be mistaken on that, but I think that that was like Sons of Freedom, Bootsauce, Art Borgman, and one other band, and the guarantee was insane. And it didn't do well well and I believe Call the Office shut down initially the first time. Okay well that'll do it. You know by the way Sons of Freedom is a band I hear that I feel I missed I don't think CFNY played them or something like I feel like I was getting all my music for a period of time from like 102.1 and much music and there was no Sons of Freedom

like I can there was a much there was a much video for sure. Do you remember the name of the song? I had died like it might have been gump or it was that the album title. Okay, that was the second album I'm like a huge fan of the first album. And in fact Change of heart and sons of freedom did a brave new waves live Simulcast from Club Soda in Montreal and they were spectacular that night. Okay, okay, well, Brent Bambery, I've got to find out if he's got that. I've got the name of the song, by the way.

It's Life Imitates Art. Oh, right. Thank you, VP. My brain isn't what it used to be here. You know, I've had brain damage since I last saw you. Okay, so now we're going to go back and I'm going to be here, you know, I've had brain damage since I last saw you. Okay, so now we're gonna go back and I'm gonna be very transparent here. I plan to play at least parts of four old change of heart songs and at least three new songs. Okay, so you're comfortable, Ian? Yeah, 100%. Okay. I'm going to be sending you home a fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. And if you don't

drink the craft beer yourself, I know you have somebody in the band or somebody who will enjoy it. I have somebody in the apartment who will drink it. Okay, good. And it's fresh, it's delicious, and they're going to host us, and Ian you're invited, what is it? June 26th from 6 to 9 p.m. free event at Great Lakes Brewery here in Southern Etobicoke. And Palma Pasta is gonna feed us.

And the good news for you, Ian, is that Palma Pasta sent over a lasagna. So you can bring home a frozen lasagna. Amazing. Did you get this when you were in the backyard? I did. Okay, so you know how it goes. You're gonna get more today though.

And I'm doing this now because we're gonna dive in and cook with gas here. So fresh craft beer, Pal Opasta, Lasagna. Right after you, I'm recording a new episode of Life's Undertaking with Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home and he sent over a measuring tape for you. So shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. And in fact, you sent me home with one of these last time and I measure the microphone position from the snare to the mics with this thing all the time. I'm so honored. Yeah. Like that's that to me is is wonderful.

It's used all the time. Okay. I feel like I'm a part of Canadian rock history. Finally, I did it. You are. That's why I am. Okay. I need that on. I need to record that. Okay. So I want to let the world know that season eight of Yes, We Are Open, which is an award-winning podcast from Monaris, hosted by fellow rock star Al Greggo, he's played some TMLX events, they're dropping now in the first episode is Al Greggo going to Regina, Saskatchewan. You've been to Regina, right? Oh. Many times. Yeah. What's the name of the venue there that you played? Oh, actually, well, I mean, the exchange was the last time I played there. But you know, like the Schnitzel

House. I mean, you want to go all the way back. Schnitzel House, which became the venue, I think, which became the exchange. No, no, became. Oh, I don't know. Lots of places. And there used to be shows at the, there used to be shows at the university that were always really good too. OK, well, Al was visiting Kevin Toth, who is the president of Prairie Flying Service, and they delved into the storied history and rich legacy of the company, which began in 1946, founded by four World War Two pilots. 36 founded by four World War II pilots. So you got to hear that story prairie. It's a tough sentence to say prairie flying service and the rest of season eight is going to drop and you're going to listen to it on your new wireless speaker from an heiress. That's for you. Oh, wow.

And I'm not done yet. I'm going to save going to save the rest for later because I need you to share with me the origin story of Change of Heart. So pretend this is your first time. We're gonna do a deep dive into Change of Heart here. Who's in the band? Why Change of Heart came to be? Give me the goods way back when. Okay, so we're looking at 1982. So far I think a lot of people would bet the band was formed later than that. Yes, and in fact, I was on a panel once at, I think it was North By, and a fellow musician, they were like, oh, give me, you know, a little bit of your origin story.

And I was like, well, in 1982, we started releasing cassettes. And he was like, no, you guys didn't form in 82. I'm pretty sure you formed in 88. And I'm like, I think I know when the band was formed. That's funny. So yeah, 1982, Rob moves in down the street. Rob Taylor. Rob Taylor, who's the bass player, original bass player, lyricist. He did the artwork, moves in down the street.

I used to live on Windermere at Bloor there. My kid plays soccer at Renny Park. Oh, well there you go. That's, yeah. So Rob moves in and he's got a buddy named Scratch who plays guitar and I'm still playing drums at that point. And we start this little jamming thing and then Scratch sort of moves into management.

And Rob and I continue the band and we try and find people, try and find people. And I start playing guitar and we try and find singers and we can't find a singer. So I start singing and Scratch becomes our manager. We go through a couple of drummers and then we end up with Ron Duffy and playing drums and Mike Armstrong playing percussion. He's got strong arms, got strong arms, incredibly great

presence. And yeah, we just started gigging, you know, I guess it took a couple of years for the lineup to kind of solidify. But around 84, I guess, we really started going. So I want to ask you about some of the, you know, inspirations for Change of Heart at the time. Can you shout some out? And then I'm hoping you'll talk about Letrange because, you know, Charlie Angus is making

a lot of noise lately as one of noise lately as a member of the resistance. Wonderful noise, wonderful, wonderful noise. I think it all started in this basement, Ian. Take it full fucking credit for that, okay? He comes by, it all started. And of course, Andrew Cash also was a- Andrew Cash, yep. Who we both, you know, like, yeah,

so like we're this little baby band. I'm like, I have to get a note to play shows because I'm 16. And I have to show a note to play shows because I'm 16 and I have to show the note you know like to the bartender and stuff. Rob Bruce had to do that with spoons. Yeah I'm sure he did but yeah you know bands like Laetrange have us opening for them Chalk Circle. Shout out to Chris Tate. Chris Tate, Sturm Group, Directive 17, which is Andy May's Skydiggers. So we're just sort of doing that whole post-punk scene. And then we put out a record in 86. Okay, I'm going to play our first song here. But later when Andrew Cash goes solo and he has a lot of success with Boomtown, who do

you think was banging on the drums for Boomtown? Mr. Glenn Milcham. I'm telling you. Well, it even goes deeper than that because the guy who replaced Glenn in that band was Randy Kernew and Randy Kernew ended up being the drummer in Come On. Come on. Come on. Come on. So it's a small, you know, I, well, that's what I'm trying to do.

Connect all these dots. Okay. So you're helping me fill in some cracks here today. Keep the fun facts and mind blows coming. Okay. Okay. Here's where we begin our journey. You ready in?

I am. I guess I'm supposed to talk this up and hit the post. That's why I never worked in radio. I'm driving halfway and I'd like to believe It's just a day that is making and breaking Silently hoping I could tell you It would be a different sort of hell without me Could you make your hell without me Was that thunder or backfire? Was she really lonely or just singing a song?

Was that thunder or backfire? Was she really lonely or just singing a song? Is it fair to say, Mr. Blurred, that this is the first single that, you know, the great unwashed, the normies like me discover, hey, change of heart, wow. Yeah, I would, yeah, either this or Mystery from the previous record would be, you know, maybe the first two kind of things. So that would be the previous record, 1987's Slow Dance. Yes. And this song, of course, Pat's Decline, this is from Soapbox, 1989.

But you get on much music with Pat's Decline. There's no video for Pat's Decline as far as I remember. Well, you would know. You're my authority here. Okay. So so okay so Pat's decline, no much music exposure? No, no it was mostly honestly it was like Brave New Wave, CKLN, College Radio, yeah a few places in the US like there was a magazine called The Big Takeover that's still going that gave us a great review

very early on. Right. Yeah, that guy came on my show last year. Jack Rabbit? Jack Rabbit, yeah. Oh, wow. Exactly. It was very cool.

Yeah, he loves Canadian music. He's got good taste. He's got good taste. He likes change of heart. Come on. You know, I'm telling you, I don't know if there's maybe I got to share this with Brent Bambury, but and I'm maybe you'll speak more to how Brave New Waves, what it meant to Canadians seeking cool new music back in the pre-internet days. But I'm going to say, I don't think anyone's celebrating Change of Heart like yours truly okay if there's ever a change of heart hall of fame yeah i want in okay

i want a first ballot i want in tell me what it was like i mean i was there but pre internet you know here in toronto we did have cfny playing some some cool new tracks but how important was the original the original cfny was like wow uh i mean that's the first place I ever heard Hawkwind. They used to play like Cure Faith all the time. But Brave New Waves is because it was national and also spilling into the US and I'm sure other places in the world as well. It was just amazing. Like it made such a difference. It was, you know, it was our John Peel sort of, you know, in a lot of ways, like, you know, even with the sessions and things like that. We were lucky to do two of them and just they were so positive and so, I mean, we were like nervous little, you know, nervous little kids. And they were just so positive about what we were doing. And it was, you know, when you're a young band,

you need all those little boosts to help you, you know, move up even just musically. And to have somebody offering a, you know, a step on a ladder like that was, you know, it's something I'll never forget, really. Now back to CF and Y now. Do you remember the shows or the personalities at CF and Y that you particularly listen to? Well, Marsden is the one I, you know,

that's the one I remember. Well, David Marsden is basically the man behind the spirit of radio. Uh huh. Yes. And you know, I think that's the closest thing that we got to like freeform FM radio, you know, like what was happening in the mid to late 60s in, you know, San Francisco, what's his name? Tom Donahahue I think his name is the father of freeform radio you know so just like having your mind blown like that just by turning on a radio is an incredible thing. It's one thing to like take a chance on a record and you know put it on and have your mind blown but just be sitting at the radio going like

wow. You know and I was the kind of kid that had like, you know, the AM radio under my pillow and the Chum AM, you know, the top 30, you know, the countdowns that I used to cut out. The Chum 30, absolutely. Yeah, all that stuff, so. Did you have a, so if we go pre-CFNY there, did you have a favorite Chum Jock? Wow, I can't even, I couldn't even tell you a Chum Jock,

but I just remember like the first time I ever heard Roxy music was on Chum AM and it was love is The drug and I'm just like thinking about that now. I'm like what the hell like Roxy music were on AM radio Well, that's shocking to hear it because you'd think it would be on Chum FM, right? Yeah, you wouldn't think it would make top 40 radio. No, but there it is. And yeah. Yeah. Oh. Let this brew in the background here, because I do want to,

I don't want to talk over this great song. Why not? Audiences have been doing it for 40 years. I'm going to be seeing you later this month. Are you? At the garage. Oh, amazing. I picked up a ticket.

You kidding me? It's worth the bike ride to Geary. I'd reach out to kiss, but I'd rid your breast of your jealous thought You think I'd drop masks over you, that you could be anyone of a crowd Truth is I'd put a crown much more than roots over your head Truth is I wanna be the wind and draw the day from your hair There you go, standing alone. Do you find there's no one home? And if I could tell you, and if I could find, I would know all the reasons why. There you go, Ian.

There you go. Here we are, Ian. There you go. Here we are, finally to SMILE. We talked earlier, the guy drumming Glenn Milcham. FOTM Glenn Milcham, let me be correct about this right now. Who else is in the band when you record SMILE in 1992? Oh my God, there's a lot of people. So there's Glenn, there's Rob Taylor,

Mike Armstrong playing percussion, Bernard playing keyboards. Shout out to Bernard Meza because since your visit, he's been down here and we had a fantastic chat. Anne Bourne, she's playing cello, Catherine Rose on backup vocals. born she's playing cello Katherine Rose on backup vocals oh man John Borah on backup vocals love John Borah that's two neon Rome members that I think you've shouted out yes Ron Anister played guitar on a couple of songs on that

record Michael White and Ernie Toller on horns boy Boy, I can't even, I don't know. This is a collective. Yeah, it was like as soon as we decided like, oh, we're not like a band, we're just gonna make this massive record. A lot of people got brought in and it really made it. Because it's all live too, like I don't know if you know that or not,

but it's like, there's no overdubs on that record. It's literally live. Geez, yeah, drop the science with defiance here, Ian. I need all these fun facts. Well, actually, and in that song, I say, breast, I'm supposed to say breath. And I said breast. And it was the best take. And we're like, ah, we'll just leave it. Love it. That's punk. Okay. So is it true that you were able to make this album for $5,000? $3,000. Okay, you know what? I got to get Rosie Gray, T.O. were able to make this album for $5,000? $3,000.

Okay, you know what? I gotta get Rosie Gray T.O. involved here to correct this. $3,000. Yeah, and that's why there's no overdubs and it's all live off the floor. And so if there was an overdub that was needed, we would just have somebody come in and play that, just that one part.

Like for example, Ron, who plays guitar on a couple songs, he doesn't play on the whole song he only comes in when required you know it's great album have I told you that again knowing you're coming in I've been listening to it again it was a really fun record to make yeah it's a cool okay it's $3,000 you got your money worth the money's worth that's been well the label got their money's worth especially because we never got paid a cent for it. Well, that's the real talk, right? Like, I feel like maybe we spent a moment on that.

I think people think, oh, I was grooving to smile. They think Ian is, you know, riding a top of the line bicycle. He must be able to afford a top of the line bicycle. But what do you mean you didn't like there's no cargo sort of went under and they moved their operations more or less to the US and England and like cargo Canada, which was the label went out of business. And yeah, I just never, never got anything. That sucks, man. That sucks. But at least Andrew Scott, who's in the calendar, so I want the listenership to know, I got 75% of Sloan are FOTMs. The holdout is Andrew Scott, but he is in the calendar. So I think in May or maybe later this month, Andrew Scott's gonna drop

by. And he's wearing a Change of Heart t-shirt. Yes, he is. In Underwhelmed. Yes. And we talked last time you were on, I think I spent way too much time on this, but I find it amazing that Glenn Milcham's wearing a change of heart t-shirt in Rain Down on me. Right. And Stephen Page in the video for Brian Wilson, which let's face it, that is the most Stephen Page

of the Bare Naked Ladies songs is Brian Wilson. Yes. That's what I think. And he said CKLN, he was playing that on CKL and way back in the day. Uh, Oh, maybe I'll say no. Are you part of this, uh, tribute to bookie where you, uh, I'm in the house band. You're in the house band. Okay. I just got like a, an email about this, uh, yesterday. I think it was, and I got to get the right date. I want to just tell the people listening

It is May 9th. Yes. Okay at the garrison So I just want to tell the listenership that Dave Bookman let's get friendship, right? The second annual tribute show is at the garrison May 9th with artists covering the tragically hip. So that's that sounds cool Yeah, and you're gonna be part of the house band. Yeah, I've got to learn 22 hip songs in two weeks. Okay. Well, you did open for the hip. Yes. In fact, I think they're the band I've seen the most in my life. Maybe them and Blue Rodeo. You know what? They're both up there for me as well. And you did open for Blue Rodeo. Yes, they both, both, both bands were very kind to Change of Heart. Took us on some incredible tours.

In fact, Blue Rodeo took us on this Highway 11 tour like Capis Casing, South Porcupine, like all these weird little small towns and that was still, I have such great memories of that tour. Now, lest we forget, shout out to Michael, Mike Treblecock from the Killjoys, and Gene Champagne, who is now drumming for Teenage Head. You know this?

It's amazing. Yes, I did know that, I've seen him, yeah. He gave me these drumsticks, okay. I had so many drummers on this week. Those are hot pink drumsticks. Hot pink drumsticks from Teenage Head. You'd think one of these many drummers would drop by, I like having something in my hand, right?

I get to, you know, whatever. But, you know, this is all important stuff here, but you won the CF and Y Discovery, the disc competition and you beat out treble charger and killjoys, a couple of heavyweights there. And yes. So you get a hundred grand for that? Yes. And how did you spend that money?

We took five grand each for new gear. Um, and most of the rest of it, we bought into a studio called chemical sound that our friend Darrell Smith was running at the time and sort of just like up the ante and the whole thing. And then Sloan recorded there and a whole bunch of, a whole bunch of bands, uh, did a lot of work there and then condos came in and ruined it. Condos do what condos do, right? Yeah.

Okay. Speaking of condos, and this is a quick side bar to say great condo developer, Nick Ienis has stepped up to sponsor Toronto Mic'd and I'm here to report that his fine podcast, Building Toronto's Skyline, is going to record in two days on Friday, an episode all about the CN Tower turning 50s. So there's going to be a lot of fun facts and mind blows about the CN Tower. I personally don't... Do you have any memory of the skyline before the CN Tower? Oh yeah yeah yeah I specifically remember because we moved from Montreal and came in on the train and so I have a very vivid memory of the skyline as we came in on the train and also my... I went to run to meet public and that's a little bit up on a hill.

And my desk overlooked like downtown Toronto. So I watched that school year. I watched the CN Tower basically go up. My kid plays soccer in that gym every Monday. Oh wow. Run & Meet Public, yeah, yeah, yeah. Gonna brew this in the background while I tell everybody about RecycleMyElectronics.ca

because Ian, if you have old cables, old electronics, old devices, don't throw it in the garbage, those chemicals end up in our landfill. Go to RecycleMyElectronics.ca, find out where you can drop that off to be properly recycled. Please do that. For all to see A child remains of what something can be So you figure it out for yourself The answer for you and no one else Secret gasoline, fuels and fire Spark the fuse and you'll find

The side of our fuel empire We're the kids and be alive I don't wanna know why You give it a name, try But you're giving back The only way I'll ever know you I don't wanna know You just drifted, Drift and strap and hold, yeah

Fucking love it, man. Seriously. Seriously. No, seriously, this is all I can just... I'll live in this era, man. This sounds so great. This is good because we're actually rehearsing all these songs right now, so I'm hearing all the little things that I'm missing, this era, man. This sounds so great. This is good because we're actually rehearsing all these songs right now, so I'm hearing all the little things that I'm missing, so it's good. You better be fucking perfect at the sound garage when I see you.

And you had one date, it was Friday, April 25, and I bought my ticket, and then you added the Saturday show later. Other way around, but yes. Is it the other way around? Yes. Because you don't want to sell out a Friday night and then put a weak Saturday on. Well you would know that's what you're here for I'm screwing all this up but I will I can tell you I have a ticket

for Friday April 25th so if you want to pull a Rusty and shout me out I'm there that day okay? Okay. You taking notes here? Yep. Does Rusty shout you out when you go see them? Yeah, I saw them at Sneaky D's fairly recently and during Empty Cell. I got a Toronto Mike shout out. Right on. Ken was awesome, yeah. Kam writes in, when you have Change of Heart over, that's you Ian, please ask if they've ever considered mobilizing, promoting Winters Over as shoulder programming for Canadians who talk about the Gandharvas every first day of spring. This is a great jam. Cam knows the score.

Winters Over! Yes, that actually happened this year on the Instagram. Somebody posted that video when everyone else was posting the first day of spring That's funny. And in fact the other guitar player at that hip thing on May 9th is the guitar player from that band I I love I love they had a couple of big hits a downtime Which was a big jam on like CF and why and this first day of spring which which holds up. I know it It's it's reminiscent of some other acts, but I would say it's killer can-con from the great 90s old rock era, and I love it, man.

But the main guy, he's like a super busy scientist or a geologist or something. Oh, I have no idea. I wanted to do a fucking now disclosers for the first time here, but I had a great idea for the first day of spring. Of course. A deep dive into the song, the Gandharvas,

and I was dealing with this gentleman whose name will come to me in a minute, his brother. But he's so busy with being this super geologist, he didn't have time for me. Can you believe it? Judd would do it. Well, okay, well then I promise my pledges I will do that episode with Judd then.

Okay, that's gonna happen here You go. All right here So I really want to get to the new stuff and well I need to end change of heart and then resurrect you and this is good perfect for Easter now that I guess So we're gonna just do a little trigger here What album is triggerigger on? Tummy Suckle. Just take it, such a dream that'll hold you to the end Don't be misguided, who is chosen when they really have a friend Pull the trigger, pull the trigger, by the bullet beneath the gun Hit the target, get it started, love is more than number one

You did it again Ian, okay, Tommy Suckle is from 1994. Don't even want to fade it down. So then you have one more album left in you until now. So you had Steel Teeth is 1997. So why in 1997 does it end for Change of Heart? I can only speak for myself, but I was just completely burnt out. I mean it'd been 15 years I'd been in the band since I was 16 and I mean Steel Tooth did not sell well at all and you know when you're assigned to a major

label you hope you sell a little bit more than the previous record and it's not like we weren't playing to tons of people we did roadside attraction that that that year right can't think of what else maybe that's what burned you out another roadside attraction yeah that was it all those steaks all that good food yeah no I was just it felt like I had been managing the band too for a bit of that and not a great idea like not a good idea you don't recommend that what's that you don't recommend and that level oh I don't think so because like we there was a lot of money involved inved in that record the last record and yeah, it was just it was a bit too much to deal with Okay. Well, it's so you're done. That's 97 then you got your your you better your

Contractual obligation. I have no idea but you do have a greatest hits package, which is a great collection There you go, which came out in 2012, right? Right. We did. We actually put that together. EMI did not, Virgin EMI did not put that together and then came out on Sonic Onion just because there was nothing really floating around. So off the top of this program, I played that cold open. Who is that? What is that? That is Gord. Do you want me to play it again or do you? No, I know exactly where it's Gord Downey in Chicago. We they actually write When Rob Taylor who is the original bass player quit and John Bora joined

we sort of lost our management our Original bass player and our record label all at the same time it was like a crappy time and I'm basically like sitting at home one day and the phone rings and uh this is when the phone used to ring and people would talk to you uh they're like the hit point want to take you on tour in the US and I was like I have no idea why we have nothing going for us right now but let's do this and it was a it was a you know again talking about you know like um people giving you a shot in the arm or like, you know, that really helped us. We played to, I mean, the tour was incredible. Some of the craziest shows I've ever been involved in in my life.

I mean, Trees in Dallas was, there was like a pregnant woman laying on the stage. There was a guy in a wheelchair up in the air. There was, as we walked, looked out over the venue, there was like these little cyclones and they were like actual little bar fights happening. And like, it was just nuts. Like, and... Yeah. Well, I can help with the why.

The hip were, they were good people. Great people. Yeah. And they respected the craftsmanship of your, your efforts and the great music you were making. Right. And same reason, you know, real statics, for example, you know, the hip would take them around or whatever. Yes. It's a game recognizing game. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. But you know know when you're I Mean I was younger so I always was like a little bit in awe of that So well now that you know in and it was obvious to me, but now that the listenership knows this is gourd I'm gonna play that 20 seconds again. So we open with a beer Here we go. We'd like to thank the good God damn T-Lord. We'd like to thank the good God damn T-Lord.

T-Land, Tundra, good God damn T-Lord. T-Land, T-Lord, Tundra and T-Land. Change your heart, good God damn T-Lord. T-Land, T-Lord, T-Land. We'd like to thank the good God damn T-Lord. T-Land, T-Lord, T-Land. Change your heart, good Toronto, Ontario. Man, okay, we lost a good one with Gord.

Holy smokes. Still feel it. You can take a moment. Did you see the documentary series made by Gord's brother? Honestly, I haven't been able to sit down and watch it. It is, I mean, it's heavy and it's very good. So yeah, brace yourself. But you know, we lost Gord far too soon. We

lost Dave Bookman far too soon. It's nice that you're involved with the second annual tribute where they the artists are going to be covering hip songs. It just seems that that's a good combo. It's a good combo. That's a good combo. I think Josie Dye is hosting that night. I believe actually. So I just got this. I just said, Holy smokes, how do I be a part of this? And big names on that bill. Okay. In the wreckage. So tell me like what happened. Did you feel like enough time had gone by that is like, Hey, let's get, let's get the band back together. Let's make some new change of heart. Cause you, you know, we're not talking about it today because you've been over and I only have limited time and everything, but

you, you know, Blurtonia or Future Now like there's so many different projects you work on and you've been producing other artists of course you do a lot of work so you're always active. I like music. Yeah. Why Change of Heart again? It actually started just very innocently I was had been thinking wow I wonder would be like to write a song with Rob Taylor, who is the original Change for Art guy again. Just thinking, wow, you know, it's been, I guess at that point, it was like 25 years or 24 years or whatever. And I, you know, called Rob and he's like, oh, I've sort of been having similar thoughts recently.

At the very least, I was going to be like, hey, do you want to just help me work on some of my music? And I was like, well, why don't we just try writing a song or two? And in three weeks, we had the whole record. There's one outtake that will never come to light because it's quite bad. Well I got it right here Ian, you ready? Yeah, but you know I mean people might say the record's bad to begin with but yeah we just, it just happened really fast and we had done a show when that the compilation that you were

talking about earlier came out. We did a show with every member of the band and Rob and I were like well what if we take that concept and I mean every band that every member that had been through the band or guest or anything. And what if we take that concept and have every member so there's like three drummers, three bass players, a horn section. Glenn Milcham is definitely part of this. Was Gilmore hitting a gong?

No, no, we should have maybe asked, God, I don't know, Getty to play the maracas or something, I don't know. Rick Emmett would do it. Rick Emmett, just keep with the triumph. Yeah, and it just ballooned into every member of the band. And that took quite a while actually to just sort of sort that all out. And yeah, it felt like the right time.

And everyone was very positive about it, which was really great because, I mean, again, I can only speak for myself, but I wasn't in the best head space at the end. And so it was nice to come back to it in a positive way. I think 15 years is a good run for a band. Yeah, like honestly, my favorite bands, like over three records,

four records maybe, but all my favorite bands are very short-lived, burn bright. It's better to burn out than fade away? I don't know if I was gonna say that but yeah I guess something along those lines, you know? And that's not saying that, you know, one of my favorite bands is that they're called Motorcycle and they're from Europe and they have literally, I don't know, 30 records and I like half of them. So yeah, and there are exceptions. There's always an exception.

I mean, the hip, for example, they form in like their early to mid 80s and go until until until Gore got sick. So, you know, and then, you know, Blue Rodeo, sure, they've had, you know, cast changes, but three founding members still including Jim and Greg, and they've been going since the mid 80s or late 80s there. So, yeah, so there are exceptions. Oh, yeah. I hear the Rolling Stones still play. And the who? I saw their I'm pretty sure I saw their final tour. Whenever that was early 80s. Do you think they lied to us? Or what's going on? They lied to

us. Holy crow here. One slayer now too. It's like they're they're like, well, we're done. And then they're announcing shows. Geez, you can't get rid of these guys uh i i can see you too has had the same lineup since the late 70s uh the same foursome no changes at all that's pretty uh well the drummer wasn't didn't play the last shows okay so is he unwell i don't i think his back i know i'm not like the biggest youtube fan okay it was easy top were like I mean they They put out the first single doesn't have the same lineup, but every record up until

Dusty died When was that three years ago? So like 69 to three years ago? I mean that's insane and they inspired your beard Yes, partially partially. Okay. I'm itching to get to some new music and I'm going to play some from In the Wreckage. Just one more piece of love to Silver Wax because Silver Wax makes pro grade auto care and cleaning technology easy for everyone to use. They have kits for beginners, experts or professionals, everything you need. So if you need a, if you want a clean car, experts or professionals, everything you need. So if you need a, if you want a clean car, interior, exterior, man, they've got everything at Silver Wax and I urge the listenership to support the show and to have a nice clean car by going to silverwax.ca. Use the promo code Toronto Mike 10. You save 10%. And remember Silver Wax has been proudly Canadian since 1999, and that's not about

to change. So thank you, Silver Wax, for helping to fuel the real talk so we can have Ian Blurden over here to talk for 60 to 90 minutes on Change of Heart. Just tip the iceberg stuff here. You want to hear some new music? And then I'll be the judge if it's any good, okay? You ready? Okay. I'll be the judge if it's any good, okay? You ready?

Okay, I'll be honest with you. What you said about me, what you said about you It's not bad And all the smiles that came through Cracked still the mind is You dreamt about me I've dreamt about me I've dreamt about you There's something In all of the years Of lies and tonight's pain

All the additions To your deductions The background noise of destruction The lessons I've spoken On an earth you never mentioned Overwhelming the viciousness Something that you never mentioned All the world in your restlessness All the games you always went wrong And the rules that still hold you Yeah! Well done Ian, 20 acres!

20 acres. What's 20 acres? What is it about? Is it the size of your ranch? What's going on here? It's the 20 acres of my heart. Your heart's bigger than that? Yeah, I didn't write it, Rob did.

Okay, so when you hear it in the headphones now, what are you thinking right now? Are you sitting there beaming with pride? You're like, that's my new baby, what's going on? Well, actually I was analyzing the mix, but I mean, for me, the drum beat that's right at the beginning of the song, it's when my

dad passed I was cleaning out his apartment and so the apartment was really empty and there was all this reflection in it and I'm like well that sounds crazy and so I set up these two huge boxes and I just played them played the beat in this room and so like I just think of my clearing out my dad's place. I'm sorry you lost your dad. Yeah it happens but yeah there's like lots of little things like that on the record too like you know there's a transit the streetcar on King Street passes by in one song just little Toronto things there's a lot there's a very Toronto centric record actually.

Very cool I just had a producer singer named Hill song, just little Toronto things. There's a lot, there's a very Toronto-centric record actually. Very cool. I just had a producer singer named Hill Karkutis over here and she was tasked with creating the official Toronto song for the upcoming World Cup because we're hosting games here. Whoa, nice gig. Yeah, yeah. And then she added those, the chimes you hear when the subway opens that's what's on there, okay Yeah, so it's like parallel thought. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, maybe she caught wind of what's going on here of change a heart It's off as usual. We're getting ripped off and we're not making the cash I'm here to get the real talk. Come on. He'll be better than that here. Hey, I'm diving into something else here. I can't believe it. Rise like the stars and then, deep in the dark All the words, before the summertime, before the summertime How like a dog they will

Set the night to cry One tear For the summertime For the summertime Come kiss my plastic heart with rain Come flower up the hurricane Drawn back from the dark Drawn to the fire

It was just for me when I'm sky-diving to the fire And that's what we, the Napskies, we define Here we are, it's what we are In the clear, glowing sparks and out in the light of song Here we are, it's what we are You and I, we're what we are Jackpot! So I'm just doing a scratching off a lottery ticket over here. Exactly. Who exactly is in Change of Heart for In the Wreckage?

Who's the personnel of Change of Heart for this album? Every single Change of Heart member. You did mention that, didn't you? Every single one. And Michael White, who's the trumpet player who's played with us, a bunch brought in his brother, this time Perry. So that's the only real difference. It's basically like everyone who was on Smile,

except for every drummer and every bass player. It's a big... I actually have the... So I have the Smile personnel here is what I actually have. So yeah, for fun, I'm running it down here, okay. So bass, vocals, Rob Taylor. Yep. Cello, vocals, and Born. Yes. Drums, some guy named Glenn Milcham. Glenn Milcham, Ron Duffy, and Damon Richardson.

Yes. On this record. On this one, right? Yeah, on Wreck-It-Champ. And there's no gong on this new album. No. No gill. I feel like we really missed our... See, timing's everything.

Yeah, timing is everything. Yeah, timing is everything. Ron, how do you say his name? Anasich. Anasich, yes. Easy for you to say. He's doing guitar and some keyboards on Smile. Bernard Meza, FOTM Bernard Meza. I loved my chat, Bernard.

Bernard, that chat meant a lot to me because he came in and was so open and honest about being diagnosed as ADHD in adulthood. And I just want to give a much love to Bernard Mesa. He's keyboards, et cetera. Okay, and then Don Christensen. Our ex manager, yep. Okay, and then you got another, well, okay, it says Gong produced by Bob C.

So there's- Oh, so somebody by Bob C. So, uh, so, so somebody named Bob C at, uh, metal works. Wild. I think it's wild. We're in, there's a dock in here somewhere. Okay. I know who it was. It was Bob Wiseman. That's Bob C. Sorry. No, no, don't be sorry. That's who it was. It was Bob Wiseman was working and Dawn managed. Thank you. That was great. Don was managing, Don Christensen was managing Bob Wiseman as well as Change of Heart.

Bob was producing a band at Metalworks. He was like, hey Gil, hit the gong. That was it. That's an unbelievable wrinkle to this story. Bob Wiseman, who I had an hour with down here, just the most interesting, artistic musician, like just fascinating. And of course, because I just had Glenn Milcham on, we did a bunch of Bob Wiseman talk because

you know, he quits the band. He quits Blue Rodeo. He's unbelievable. So that's Bobz. I don't know why it doesn't say Bob Wiseman actually. Okay. Bob Z produces... Bob Z. I don't know why it doesn't say Bob Wiseman, actually. Okay, so that's a... By the way, that was wonderful detail for you to recall here that it's Bob Wiseman who's directing Gilmore to play the gong on Smile.

Yes. Geez. Look at you. Okay. And then Mike Armstrong on percussion. Yes. Okay. And...

Who sadly passed before we could make Wreckage um and so we pilfered his uh tracks as they say in the biz that's i'm sorry to hear that uh you know i didn't know that i didn't know that and uh i'm sorry to hear that that's sad news uh ernie taller yeah on sax incredible and you mentioned uh michael white's brother is or so michael white or michael white's on the new record and his brother Perry Okay, sax player. Okay. Geez, and then you said there's John Borah on this new record Yep, John Borah Rob Higgins who is the who replaced John Borah in for steel teeth the last record John Borah is like glue like he sort of a Lot of these Queen Street bands and these cool Toronto bands have like there's you could kind of learn about them through the life and

times of John Bora. That's what I say we need a doc on John. Okay one last song here. Mirrors of layers, growing grayer Accreation, incompression In compression Dust shifting down the water We were wanting to taste nothing under Keep just out of our problem again We were swallowing the roof down to summer And wondering if he'd got anything He just might have something He just might have

Mood ring disorders Clark hanging heavy, dragging you under Black hearts on amber, just sifting down through water We were wanting a taste of thunder It teaches how to draw from within We were squatting on the touch of summer We were wondering why we became angels right back today Angels are good I'm back again, ready to just fall in love Amazing man, just like that.

Just like that. That's how you do it. So am I right? Is that 28 years between albums? Yeah, I think, yeah, either 28 or 27. 27 and a half, we'll cut the difference. Let's call it 27 and a half. That's pretty wild. I think, yeah, either 28 or 27. 27 and a half. We'll cut the difference. Let's call it 27 and a half. That's pretty wild. I think that's wild.

I know, it's funny. It's funny. They took a 28 year hiatus or whatever. Now, Change Your Heart is back. That's big news for all music fans. We were swallowing the real doctor's armor When the wonder of life began We were wanting a taste of the thunder It teaches how to crawl from the dead

We were swallowing a little thought to some Under the bright Angels are dancing, angels are dancing Angels are dancing, angels are dancing Great jam, man. Man, you should pull those drumsticks out for some of those swishy Daemon rolls. Honestly, teach me, teach me. 28 years in the wreckage is available now. So I told you I bought a ticket to see you at the Sound Garage on the Geary. I was on the Geary Street Art Crawl last summer and G.U.W. was performing. Oh, amazing.

And then I said I need a G.U.W. episode of Toronto Mike. I got a bunch of the, I mean there's a lot of them, but I got a bunch of the, I mean, there's a lot of them, but I got a bunch of the original members of guh. At least three of them are in this basement for the definitive guh episode. Amazing. Someone had to do it. Yeah.

Might as well be me. Was Blake. Was Blake. Yep. Amazing. Yep. So shout out to guh, shout out to Change of Heart. So I'm going to see you on Friday, April 25th.

I can't wait to see you at the Sound Garage. But what is the plan for live Change of Heart. So I'm gonna see you on Friday April 25th. I can't wait to see you at the Sound Garage. But what is the plan for live Change of Heart? Is there other plans? No, not really. Want me to help you plan something? Yeah. Do you want to play TMLX 18 on June 26th, Change of Heart? I wouldn't be opposed to that actually. You all eat for free. You all drink for free. That sounds good. I like it. Better than most gigs. We, our ex, oh my God, I'm just gonna say passed over and over again, but our ex sound man Al Miller passed a little while ago

and there's a big show for him at the Phoenix on May 25th. So that's the only other thing that we're doing as of right now, but that's just a little short set. And that's like all the bands he worked with, so that's the only other thing that we're doing as of right now, but that's just a little short set. And that's like all the bands he worked with, so... Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I mean, shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. I guess this is... Oh my god! I was waiting for that. I'm like looking at the funeral sign here. I guess this is the circle of life, right?

It is the circle of life, and you know, it does happen and Al was a wonderful guy and you know he kept us rolling for years. Darn it he checked out just before the Sound Garage comeback specials here. You're like Elvis. But he did do sound at the last change of art show previous to this so that was I'm really glad that that happened. Well I'm glad that happened and I'm glad you got to experience the basement because you had the backyard experience last time now you're in the basement but I feel like all these great things come in like trilogies so at some point I feel like we'll dive deep into the real Ian Blurden

in your third appearance so I'm going to start teasing that now, but thanks for coming by, man. You should bring some of the animals from your backyard and down here though, maybe some of the birds. I think some of them have snuck in anyway. Oh, I'm sure they have. You never know. You never know these old hundred year old homes. There's always ways to get in, but-

This house is a hundred years old. Over a hundred, yeah. Wow. This house was born, I don't know if houses are born, but in 1916, so over a hundred years ago. This house was born. I don't know if houses are born but in 1916 Wow over a hundred years. That's incredible. That's why they didn't know people would use basements That's why five foot five people hit their head in this damn basement. Mm-hmm Alright, my friend. Don't hit your head on the way out. We got a photo to take

I got a lasagna to get you but amazing Ian blurred and I'm just a big blurred in head So thank you so much for doing see you on the bike trail. See you. I'll see you on the bike train. That's right. I love it when I see Ian Blurden on the, on the Martin Goodman trailer or whatever. Love it. And I can't wait to see you on, uh, Friday, April 25th at the sound garage. Can't wait. And the 26th and the 26th cause you're going to put me on a list. I got five seconds for 26. Sold out.

Sold out, buddy. Good for you, man. By the way, have you ever played with Blair Packham? No. From The Jitters. No, I have not. But, you know, much over-respect for songwriting abilities. He's the last of the Red Hot Fools, you know.

He's my guest tomorrow. That's why I brought him. tomorrow. He's really amazing. Amazing. And that brings us to the end of our 1,668th show. Amazing. It's amazing, right? Congratulations. Thanks, man. That's really incredible. Thank you.

Go to torontomike.com for all your Toronto Mike needs. This is the Friendly Giant theme. Rob Pruss, recording the show. And we'll see you next time. incredible. Thank you. Go to torontomike.com for all your Toronto Mike needs. This is the friendly giant theme. Rob Pruss recorded this lowest of the low song from Shakespeare, My Bite and added these Easter eggs at the end. So this is the pizza Nova jingle. Yeah. Cause Alfie Zappa cost is an FOTM. And we just heard the friendly giant. You'll hear them in the background cause I'm going to just quickly give some love.

This is his song of Gore Depp, Romantic Trafford. My friend was in this video actually. That's an iconic Toronto video. Oh my God, Yonge Street. There's even a red rocket, they're in a subway station. Yep, I believe it's the Yonge subway. Amazing, okay. And this is Don Pyle, a shadowy man on a shadowy planet.

Oh my god, yes. Okay, I'm gonna burn through to say thank you to Great Lakes Brewery, thank you Palma Pasta, thank you Monaris, thank you Silver Wax, thank you RecycleMyElectronics.ca, building Toronto's skyline and Ridley Funeral Home. See you tomorrow at Blair Packham!