Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - James Duthie Kicks Out the Jams: Toronto Mike'd #767

Episode Date: December 10, 2020

Mike catches up with James Duthie before he kicks out the jams.

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week to kick out the jams is tsn's james duthie the site for sore eyes james duthie welcome back to torontomike uh it's been a long time buddy what five six years? Yeah I actually took a note because it has been a long time it was before I took a photo with every guest so that's so you have no photo of me? This is your second appearance and I've yet to get a photo with the elusive James Duthie so one day maybe next time. I do remember it well I remember your little house Etobicoke was that you I don't really know the areas of Toronto. South Etobicoke, yeah.

Okay, South Etobicoke. Yeah, and it's a cool setup. Is that the same setup you have in the basement, like basically the same location? Well, it's exactly the same address. And then I reconfigured the basement studio because Hebsey wanted video. So a couple of years ago, I had to reconfigure everything for video. And now it's like, you know know now i'm just trying to have hebs he gets what hebs he wants let's be honest right you know he so he got to redecorate and reconfigure your entire basement like yourself he's a tv star so he's you know he's gotta have the video but i'll read the description so people who are maybe they didn't hear your first visit which by the way was was February 2016. So, almost five years ago, which is hard to believe. But that was episode 158.

Mike chats with TSN's James Duthie about his years at TSN being recruited by Rogers Sportsnet. That was a great chat. Whether he'd follow Jay and Dan to the US. So, this was long ago that I was asking you whether you were also going to leave us like Jay and Dan

left us. Nobody would take me. Right. And then Jay and Dan said, we're coming back to be with Duffy. That's right. And I apologize for if I completely ducked your question. I don't remember on the whole Rogers thing, but I was still pretty fresh

back then. Yeah, well, you were caught by surprise because you were really candid about about it in fact like as you know you know i've had darren drager and bob mckenzie on the show bob just made his second appearance and uh i think darren's gonna kick out the jams too but basically they kind of corroborated the story like uh just to remind people and people should go back to episode 158 but you were the guy you were the one guy who was are we are really going to do this again well we don't it's it's all good because you guys are locked up for like 100 years apparently yeah yeah you're right you're right yeah go ahead i didn't mean to interrupt that's okay it's okay it's the real talk aspect but basically you were the one

guy who was recruited and it was it's the best thing that ever happened to dreger and uh bob because uh i guess tsn wanted to lock you guys up because they were trying to get you and i think you were strombo ended up with your gig and then of course they went back to mclean but it's kind of uh must be like nice to know that uh the competition wanted you that's how good you are like that that must have felt pretty damn good yeah i guess it did but i always think and uh uh first of all two things i think strombo got a hard time there that people judging you know because he wore different suits than the typical host like ron and i wore was just ridiculous and but secondly in the first place

i think they should have just kept ron from the beginning which is validated by what they did when they went back to him and that was probably part of the reason besides, you know, the majority of the fact that I just wanted to stay at TSN. I love the people I work with, but I just didn't think it made sense to replace Ron McLean, who everybody loved. That just seemed like a dumb idea in general. Agreed, agreed.

And for what it's worth, I think every single TSN, and this goes pretty much the same for Sportsnet. This is not to trash the competition, but you're all sweethearts. We're going to talk about beauties in a moment, but you're all beauties at TSN. It's really a nice group of people. I just enjoy interacting with all of you, and that includes yourself. You're just a gentleman and a scholar. Well, thank you, buddy. But I think that goes the way for most canadian broadcasters and most canadians right like you're just just same i could say for you people are nice and uh all the guys on

the other side i'm i'm really good friends with david amber's one of my best friends in the world you should have in sometime because he's hilarious he made his debut uh just before this pandemic hit so he's been down here was did he do the tunes because it would have been all been 90s like jump around no but you know what david did i i reserve that for your second appearance so like the first appearance is your deep dive so that's what we did in 158 and then it only took me five years to get you back for example to kick out the jam i think i've been working on you to kick out the jams for a long time i think i and you know what it's more about honestly it's the drive i just i live in aurora

and i'm a hermit and And now I have no excuse. I do this every day with you, basically. I have nothing else going on. So you're my new co-host, you're telling me. Yeah, I want to knock off the Hebs. I want to co-host the show, the other show you have. But I want it to be called, what is it called? Hebsey on Sports?

Yeah, we're going to have Duffy on Sports. No, I want it to be called Hebsey on Sports, but I want to host it. I think you'd be agreeable to that. You got to keep the brand going. You still have the, of course, you still have the Rubber Boots podcast. I do. The Rubber Boots.

We have three podcasts right now. Actually, they've kind of, this is how, we don't have the arrangement that you have. Christoph, who is this brilliant producer that produces my podcast and Jay and Dan's, his laptop, he does everything on his laptop and his laptop died a couple of weeks ago. And with it, the Rubber Boots podcast, the Beauties podcast, which is based on my book, and the Rubber Beauties podcast, which is like an after show to Beauties, all died as his laptop

died. And for two weeks weeks they were dead we're just getting up and going now so oh my goodness i rely on no person more in the world besides my wife than that's christoph the producer of all the podcasts and his laptop i have a sponsor for christoph to speak to who would help with the the backup uh procedures and processes so we can use that but i i know we talked a lot about the rubber boots podcast and the origin of that name and i'm curious so it was it was a guy somebody called in to your show in ottawa and would talk about right but there's no way that that's the same guy who walks around toronto with the i hate rubber boots right there's no correlation there i it's very strange because

uh yeah and i i don't want to tell that in full story again. I've done it a million times, but for the listeners that never heard the real quick version is when I used to work sports in Ottawa, CJOH in the days pre-internet, when people had to call in to get scores, a guy would call me every night and say, Hey, how are you? Are you well in your rubber boots tonight? And then he'd follow up with, uh, uh you like the dunk tank the dunk tank i

don't know why and this guy would call me every night and we would have conversations and uh i now get sent pictures all the time of this guy who says i hate rubber boots and wears walking around toronto so i don't think it's the same guy but i will tell you that uh in the years since i told that story on your show and a bunch of others and put it in my last book, that numerous people have contacted me to say that this guy was legendary in calling call centers like the Bell Call Center and the TELUS Call Center. So I was not, it kind of hurt me because I thought it was a special relationship we had. But every single operator at like Bell and TELUS and any, this guy would call everyone

all night and ask them if they were wearing the rubber boots. So if you're out there, buddy, I miss you. Now for the Toronto listeners, of which there are many in the GTA, this would be an interesting experiment, if you will. If we could get the I hate rubber boots guy to speak, just get him to talk, because I don't know if he ever talks. He's spotted everywhere. But if he talks, if he sounds like that imitation you do, like imagine it's the guy from Ottawa who finds out you've relocated or you're working in Toronto now. It would be the greatest thing in my life, Frank. We have sort of been trying but not really trying

because we never try to get him on the Rubber Boots podcast. But you're right. I don't know if there's always, you know, I don't know what the deal is with the guy. I really want to know. But you're always hesitant to approach. Maybe he has real anger towards Rubber Boots. Yeah, you're safe to trust me.

Keep your distance. I think that's good advice. Now, speaking of beauties, we're going to talk about the book in just a moment. Then we're going to kick out the jams. There are jams coming, James. Hang in there. But you did something kind of wonderful and inspiring. And don't worry about your dogs. If we're going to kick out the jams. There are jams coming, James. Hang in there. But you did something kind of wonderful

and inspiring. And don't worry about your dogs. If they're in the background, I just think that adds to the charm. I think it's... Well, I'm going to try and shut the door. I have three. So one of our COVID thing,

I have a Boston Terrier and a French Bulldog. And we got bored during COVID and my wife started looking on the internet and we ended up with the third dog who's the one you're hearing barking because he's a puppy and I forgot how puppies are insane so he will interrupt this multiple times it's okay actually I just think it's part of this great charm of a pandemic zoom recordings with James Douthy so it's all good but earlier this year before hard to believe it was 2020 actually because of how this year has unfolded

and you're now you know locked down and zooming here but you were in Ethiopia earlier this year, hard to believe it was 2020, actually, because of how this year has unfolded. And you're now locked down and Zoom in here. But you were in Ethiopia earlier this year with, is it Children Believe? Can you just share with us the work you're doing? Because I think that's just super inspirational. And it's got my mind thinking of what things I can do. So please tell us what you did there. Yeah, well, I was having those same thoughts. can do. So please tell us what you did there. Yeah, well, I was having those same thoughts.

Probably, it's probably got to be seven, eight years ago now, where I have a very good life. I'm very lucky and, you know, donate to charities and such, but didn't feel like I wanted to do something more. And they happened to approach me. And I was hesitant at first, frankly, because Mike, I, you know, the commercials that everybody knows, the tug at your heartstrings with the, you know, the babies in Africa or wherever it may be. And they look so sick. And I didn't want to be a part of that. Nothing wrong with that. All those causes are worthy. But I told them right away, I didn't I didn't want to do that.

I wanted to do something more positive. And so they said, fine, we'll go, we'll do these trips, but we'll show what we've done. So let's show the schools that we've built and the, you know, the wells that we've created for, to get running water for people. So that's what appealed to me. And very selfishly, I wanted to expose my children who've grown up in Aurora, you know, and about the most idyllic lifestyle you could possibly have in Canada and show them what a large part of the world is like. So I did three trips with each one of my children when they were in grade 10. And I went to Paraguay with my son. We sponsor a child there named Jose, who we got to meet.

And then I went with my eldest daughter to Nicaragua. And then my youngest daughter, we went to Africa. And that's the one you're talking about last January, where we met the little girl that we also sponsored there. And it's honestly life-changing, I think, for me and certainly for them, because you see this poverty on a level that you could never imagine, even though you've seen it, we see it on our screens, but to see it in person and for them to see it, I think was really, it accomplished exactly what

I wanted. You can see that it changed them to an extent, like to see this family that we sponsor in africa you know there there's a single mom with five kids and they are in a room like your studio they're about nine feet by nine feet mud floor have nothing in the world uh we we gave them two goats and a couple of chickens and that provides a lifeline right the chickens they sell the eggs the goats breed more goats and suddenly they have an existence and the kids can go to school and everything. So it was really everything and children believes a great organization. I hate appealing and trying to sell charities because I know money is tight for everybody. But they do great work. And I've witnessed their work. So if somebody has extra money, or yourself is looking to get into something like that, I can vouch for the fact they do. They do really good

things. And it's probably guilt, you guilt, Canadian guilt for what we have. But I don't care what the inspiration is as long as it has an impact. Well, good on you because I think it's easy to think about doing these things. And maybe you're going for a walk and you're thinking, I should do more. But to step up and actually do it and set that example for your children and for others because whether you like to admit it or not, cause you're a humble guy, you're a famous Canadian, uh,

national presence and you, you're, you can be inspirational. So your actions actually, you know, are resonate across the country. So good on you, man.

That's awesome. Thank you, buddy. I appreciate you saying that, but, uh, like I said, it's,

uh, I think that, you know, in many ways I get as much out of it or more out of it than than i than i give back so this is hugo the new puppy who's i'm trying to hold him so he won't uh bark relentlessly he's famous now because he uh he's on a magazine cover they they made me pose with him for a magazine cover that when we were promoting the book so hugo is uh he's getting all the ladies right now he was fixed this week so he doesn't get any ladies anymore

i'm getting fixed next week. No joke. Next Thursday, I get fixed. So I have a lot in common. Congratulations. Thank you. What magazine cover? It's called Faces Magazine.

It's an Ottawa magazine. It's not GQ or anything, buddy. But it's a very nice little magazine they do in the nation's capital. Yeah, you're still Ottawa at heart there. That's good stuff. Okay, now you went to Ethiopia in January after the juniors. Are you going to Edmonton this year for the juniors? We are.

You know, obviously, knock on the fake wood here on my desk. We still have to get there. And the next few days are... You put this out right away? How quickly does this go out? This is going to go out like 10 minutes after you hang up yeah oh okay so the right until sunday is the key period really because that's all the teams have to get to edmonton and get to the bubble by sunday and there's been

positive tests sweden's had a hard time some swiss players tested positive today canada's lost some players for sure but i think if all the teams can get to the bubble, the NHL has proven that there's safety in the bubble. So we are going, we start doing, I think first of three tests comes up in a couple of days for us. And then we have to quarantine for four days in our room, which I'm still trying to wrap my head around,

not leaving your, your hotel room for four straight days, which is sounds a little like paradise for maybe the first day or so when you have three dogs and three children. But I don't know about four days. Well, you have Wi-Fi, right? I think that's the, as long as you have Wi-Fi, I think you can do four days. Yeah, exactly. Okay, awesome.

So I know Bob's going as well. We chatted about that. But yeah, hopefully that all works out because I feel like Canadians need that television escape. Like I know I'm not a big NFL guy. i know you're a big nfl guy but i'm not so i'm kind of like like i really could use like a nice you know canada versus russia you know what i mean like give me i agree and i and i know by the way there are some people saying why are you having a world juniors in the middle of a pandemic uh particularly in alberta where things aren't well and you know, I get that.

But like I said, if you can get all the players there safely, I think the bubble might be as safe a place as any. And I do think that we all need something like this over the holidays, perhaps this year more than ever. Canada always loves the world juniors. But I think this year, even without the fans, we might need that kind of break over the holidays more than anything else. So as long as it can be put on safely, and right now I believe it can, then

why not? Yeah. And especially with yesterday's news that Health Canada had approved the first vaccine, like it just, for the first time in many, many months, I see the light, like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And it sort of fills you with this, like, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it sort of fills you with this like we can get there we can hang on we're it's you know there is an end to this i just feel very hopeful and i'm the same way i it's it's the first this sort of darkness of not knowing what's ahead now you can kind of see now it the numbers i got that they said about only three million can canadians will be vaccinated by april sort of me a little bit. I'm hoping it goes much faster than that. But, and that's, we'll all get impatient now, right?

Let's all get 20 million vaccinated by March or something. But I don't think that's probably reasonable, but I'm with you. At least if we know, you know, six months or eight months or 10 months or whatever it is that, that we'll be mostly through this thing,

then that at least gives us a finish line. Well, James, I'm at a point now where I'm tearing up watching elderly Brits. There's been these interviews of these, the first, yeah, like I see these people and they get the shot in the arm and they're like, oh, that didn't hurt at all, right? Because it's like a flu shot, right? And I'm like, I'm starting to cry because it's like, this year has been so difficult for so many of us and there's a finish line and I feel it's all we, this year has been so difficult for so many of us and we're, there's a finish line and I feel it's, it's all going to get better. So it'd be nice while we wait for these

shots in the arm, most of us anyway, uh, us lucky guys like you and I were lucky enough to be healthy and, you know, not quite geriatric yet. We're getting there, but not quite yet that, you know, I just think that, uh, some Canada junior action is just what the doctor ordered. I agree. My mom is 87. My dad passed away about three years ago. And she still lives by herself at the cottage. We drove up on the weekend just to give her Christmas presents.

And she's got to stay inside the veranda. We stay outside on the deck for a couple of hours. And that's what she says she just misses hugging people and i'm sure that's what the whole country feels like right right i can't wait we all deserve i can't wait for that when this is all done we all need a james duthie hug i'm gonna i'm gonna drive down and hug you as soon as we're both back oh then i get a photo i can finally see i will not hug i don't care how many doses he has. I will never hug him.

Okay, we got to kick out these jams. But you have a great new book out that people should buy right now for the hockey fan in their life who needs a holiday gift. Okay, so I know Hanukkah starts... I'm at the point where I just feel shame about the promotion of the book

mostly because O-Dog has just been ripping me constantly it's one of the one of the parts that like you say when you're a shy polite canadian it's not you don't feel like right selling selling selling but you kind of make a deal with a publisher that you know that's what you're going to do they they want to publish your book then you owe it to them to try to sell the book and i'm sick of myself selling the book now but i do i am proud because I do think it's a great book. Yeah, it's for, let me name it here. So it's called Beauties, colon, Hockey's Greatest Untold Stories. Now, this is your opportunity to sell the listening people on the book. It's got great story. Oh, you do the sell job and then I'll contribute. But yeah, please

tell us about this book, Beauties. So, I mean, I only write books that I'd want to read. And I think all those years sitting on the panel, sitting next to all these great characters, I heard these awesome stories that most of them wouldn't tell on TV. And so I said, if I could just put all of them together. And, you know, there's a million hockey biographies out there that are great. But, and you'll get good stories in the biographies, but you have to kind of all go through the, hey, I grew up in small town, Saskatchewan stuff. And I said, what if we cut

all that out and just had great stories? So if it was me and Mike in a bar with whoever, uh, you know, Jamie McClendon, one of the guys I work with, or a Kelly chase or a Sydney Crosby or a Wayne Gretzky, what do we want to hear? We want to hear, tell us some great stories. And that's basically what the book is. I asked 57 guys to tell me their favorite hockey story. And I'm really, really proud of it. There's great stories from men. There's great stories from women, coaches, referees, players.

Some are pretty hilarious. Some are kind of serious and touching. And yeah, so I'm not too ashamed to shill because I think anybody who likes hockey or anybody who likes good stories will love the book now here's a question i always wonder because you know from my perspective so i talk to people like you but i don't talk to i want to talk to james duthie regardless of whether james has a book out or not like i just want to talk to james duthie right but what i noticed of course having done this now for eight or nine years is that

when someone has a book out suddenly you hear hear from the publishing house or whatever, the publisher will reach out and I'll get these emails. And they, hey, would you, I got this email. Hey, would you have Nick Kiprios on your show? And you know, oh, would you have Bob McKenzie and Jim Lang on and all these things like that? And it's like, well, yeah, yes, but not because I'd have him on anyways. And it's like, well, yeah, yes, but not because I'd have them on anyways. But is there any rivalry at all? Like when you, Bob McKenzie, Nick Kiprios, when you all kind of put out a book for the holiday season, do you guys compare like sales figures at all?

Like, are you and Bob comparing sales figures? Okay, a couple of things there. Now, first of all, I want to make it clear that you, I think you reached out to me to come on this a couple of years ago, but I haven't heard from you in a long time. And if you'd have reached out during the pandemic, I know you're not saying this, but I would have come out if I had a book or not, I would have come on the show. But so I wasn't just coming on the show to sell the book. I promise you that. I believe that. Secondly, I, you know, we joke about it a lot. Berkey. So Berkey, when the top 10 list, you know, the Globe and Mail or the Toronto Star does their top 10 bestsellers yeah and I think when it when our Berkey my book came out

he was number two and I was number three or something and he just sends me a text that has that photo just to rub it in that he's ahead of me and uh so then I sent him one when I got ahead of him and uh oh yeah but but but not really he's uh and bob and i you know bob and i've been through this we've each written four books and uh we we we joke non-stop all the time about it and uh try to one-up each other like we go into the stores and try to put his book behind my book or whatever or mine higher in a place but uh it's all pretty friendly as far as the book sales like it's kind of it's kind of a top secret thing in Canada besides those bestseller lists.

I hope they all do great. And there's a bunch of other hockey books out there that I hope do. If people support whoever they support, Kipper's got great stories in his book. Bobby and Jim Lange are awesome writers. And Berkey's story with Stephen Brunt, you can't beat.

So all I can say is, uh, uh, buy mine first and then buy Duffy's first. And then by the rest, I have any money left over. All right. Shameless self-promotion.

Uh, next week on Toronto Mike is Rick Vive, who just another, another book. Yeah. Another, another. So there's a lot of great hockey books,

but beauties is the one you're to buy today. Buy beauties. And then if you have chains left over, that's a side on one of the others. James Duthie, are you ready to kick out the jams? I am so,

so ready for this. I should have told you there was a minute and a half intro to this song. You should be hitting the post. Does the video stay on for this? Do people see me like grooving here? Did you want your video seen? Because normally I just do audio. It's okay, just audio. Señorita, I'm in trouble again and I can't get free Señorita, you're exactly what the doctor ordered Come on, talk to me

Can't grow before I'm out of the woods But there's exceptions to the rules Señorita, do you need a friend? Can't crow before I'm out of the woods, but there's exceptions to the law. Sing your anthem to your little friend, I'll be right with you. Catch us, catch, catch us, catch, got anybody in there right now. Let's see, it's you and me. Ooh. It's you and me Ooh Oh, quick drop there, but James Duthie, great first selection, Van Halen. Well, so I forgot there was a two-minute intro to that song.

But that's the beauty of podcasting is I don't care if there's a two-minute, like, that's all good. Let it breathe. Now talk to us. Why did you pick Little Guitars? And I think that's if there's a two minute, like that's all good. Let it breathe. Now talk to us. Why did you pick Little Guitars? And I think that's kind of why I fell in love with that song. So that's my favorite Van Halen song ever. And when you approached me with this, I said, I thought we'd do this musical voyage chronologically through my life.

So I will, first of all, I want to admit that I am nowhere near the musical connoisseur of many of the people you've had on here you know the Dave Hodges and the Jay Onwrights know so much more and their depth of knowledge and depth of taste is so different than me I'm a very uh you know superficial sort of musical guy but in grade the first three I remember my parents the first 345s I owned were the village people uh macho man uh in the, and YMCA that my dad bought me for my birthday or Christmas. That's where I was in grade 5 or 6 or whatever I was. My very first three singles I owned.

We had no even knowledge of what those songs were about and meant. We just thought it was really cool that guys dressed up. In fact, my buddies all went to the Village People concert in Ottawa dressed as the band with no sense of irony. And I did not go to that. So there are no pictures of that. But my buddy Scott was the cop. Anyway, so but when I got into early high school, like I think I grade nine, it was sort of like, you know, your typical cliquey high school where the stoners

of Gloucester High School sat at the back of the bus with their ghetto blaster and they would jam Black Sabbath and ACDC. And I wasn't really into all that too much, but they'd throw in some Van Halen and I really liked Van Halen and that was the first band I really got into in my early years of high school. And Little Guitars is

my all-time, not as often played a Van Halen song, but that's my all-time not as often played a Van Halen song but that's my uh that's my all-time favorite Van Halen song. James Dethy thoughts on the recent passing of Eddie Van Halen? Yeah that one hurt because he was just a genius and it takes you back to that span of a you know it probably lasted a few years like I was probably most passionate about Van Halen in grade nine and ten but I always loved him even you know jump and some of the poppy stuff uh I still thought it was great and he's one of the great guitarists ever so I always whenever you lose somebody like that who I mean we'll get

to Gord Downie later in this and that was probably the one that hit me hardest in my life but whenever you lose someone that was automatically takes you to a part of your life, I think it's really difficult. So RIP, Eddie. Now, before we kick out your next jam, which I am going to dedicate to Mark Hebbshire because it's one of his favorite artists of all time and also a genius. You mentioned Eddie Van Halen's a genius. This guy's a genius. We're going to play next. But much like yourself, James.

But I just want to say don't apologize for not having the knowledge of a Dave Hodge, because that man is insane. Like, there's nobody on the... He's on Monday. So this coming Monday, he's back on Toronto, Mike, to kick out his top 100 of 2020.

He's amazing. And Jay is the same way. They're both unbelievable, and I bow to them. Mine will be much more mainstream stuff for the most part, except perhaps this one. Except this one. Yeah, go ahead.

All right, let's kick it. We take you now to a garage in Tupac, America. It wasn't very large There was just enough room to cram the drums In the corner over by the Dodge It was a 54 with a mashed up door And a cheesy little lamp With a sign on the front said Fender Champ

And a second hand guitar It was a Stratocaster with a whammy bar. We could jam in Joe's garage. His mama was screaming and his dad was mad. We was playing the same old song in the afternoon. And sometimes we wouldn't play it all night long. It was all we knew and easy to do so we wouldn't get it wrong. All we did was bend the string like...

Hey, down in Joe's Garage. Joe's Garage. Wow. We didn't have no dope or LSD but a couple of... Anyway. Frank Zappa, James Douthy. That's not obscure at all, but it's non-mainstream. Yeah. So I was trying to think of who got me on.

I believe it was my sister's boyfriend who became my sister's husband. They had one of those rare couples that met and started dating in grade 10 and are still married 30-some years later. And I think it was Dave who said to me, you've got to check out Zappa. And I didn't even know anything about Frank Zappa. And went out and bought that album for $3.99 or whatever at the record store at Saint Laurent Shopping Centre.

You don't remember? No. Whatever it was back then. You don't remember? No. Whatever it was back then. It wasn't Virgin for sure. Music World? Something like that. A&E? Sam the record man? One of those for sure in Ottawa. I know I bought it all at one record

store in the Saint Laurent Shopping Centre. Zappa just kind of rocked my world. Again, I'm probably, even though I think that was 1980 when that came out, I might have gone into it a couple years later but I was in grade 10 or something like that and and we just never heard music like that and never heard a guy that was just like some of the songs on there was so offside and I would sit with my Sony Walkman and if my mom you know or plug I think I had headphones plugged into a stereo back then but if my mom had heard like songs on that album like catholic girls that are so offside even today uh but zappa and that song

in particular is still a great song uh but zappa was the first guy that sort of opened my ears to wow music can be all these different things he must have been so high because it was just his songs would go in completely weird directions and have these bizarre changes and turns and i just found it fascinating and he was probably my baptism for real real music i will say joe's garage is one of the more uh i would call accessible zappa songs like it's one of the few really yeah Like it's structured like a typical song, and it's got the melody and the hook and everything. Meanwhile, I've heard, mainly because I know Hebsey's introduced me to some, but I listen to some Zappa stuff, and it's like,

I don't think I'm smart enough to appreciate this. It's like classical music. No, and some of it's just weird and crazy. But, again, I think when you're at that age, when you're 14 or 15 and you're just, you want to hear neat stuff. And that, that's what appealed to me about Zappa and Joe's garage. And like I said,

a very conservative upbringing. My dad was a strict RCMP guy. And I grew up listening to Roger Whitaker on the eight track. I know every Roger Whitaker song because I remember my parents and I would take these long drives to Halifax or BC. We drove across the country a lot in our station wagon and that's the one A-track he had with Roger Whittaker.

And so like every song is entrenched into my head. I've lived over half my life. And she's only just 19. And someday she's gonna wake up and find she's not in love with me. That was, I know all of them. And so Zappa was a bit of a game changer for me. But you're not kicking out any Roger Whittaker today. Did you think, did you consider it?

I wanted to spare your listeners Roger Whittaker, although it's a big part of my youth. Oh, fantastic. Now, one thing about frank zappa if uh for those who maybe were too young to remember when he was around uh if you go into youtube and you kind of catch up on some zappa like there's a crossfire clip where he's arguing about you know you know music and and uh censorship etc uh he's extremely well spoken and very bright and i often wonder, like, what would it

be like if we had his perspective today? Like, we're lesser off for not having Frank Zappa in 2020. I think you're bang on. I think he was quietly brilliant, comedic, brilliant. There's no comparable I have in music, but he kind of reminds me of, like, a Sacha

Baron Cohen in that kind of way, right? I think he was he was really brilliant not all his music was great but uh i appreciate frank for opening my ears and eyes with some crazy ass stuff okay we'll let frank finish then we'll go right into your third jam which is something a little more uh much more standard but one of the awesomest songs of all time. This is the central scrowdenizer. That was Joe's first confrontation

with the law. Naturally, we were easy on him. One of our friendly counselors gave him a donut and told him to stick closer to church

oriented social equity. This guy promised to the entire album. Ha ha. A little ditty about Jack and Diane Two American kids growing up in the heartland Jackie gonna be a football star Diane's debutante backseat of Jackie's car. Suckin' on a chilly dog, outside tastes freeze. Diane's sittin' on Jackie's lap, got his hands between her knees.

Jackie say, hey Diane, let's run off behind the shady trees Dribble off those Bobby Brooks, let me do what I please Oh yeah, life goes on Long after the thrill of living is gone Oh yeah, life goes on. Long after the thrill of living is gone. They're all gone. Just awesome still. And, you know, the reason I was thinking of jack and diane recently for two reasons uh we went to augusta to the masters and our crew took a bus down there and on the way home um we jammed the 80s tunes pretty hard it was a very stressful week with covid tests and so on and so forth and

a lot of work to be done and 18 hour bus ride on the way home and uh puffy and jamie riddle and my crew and uh laddie and all the cameramen ryan bardy nicole we just busted out the essential ladies and uh jack and diane had the whole bus going so i thought of that and also my daughter who is now um 19 is obsessed with the 80s a little bit. You know, all of them watch Friends now on Netflix like crazy. And I think from Stranger Things kind of had an 80s theme. So she loves the 80s songs. And we were driving up to my mom's on the weekend, as I was telling you about.

This was one of the songs I was playing. So someone's about to knock on my door. He'll be part of each arm as well of this. So you can all listen to me on my door he'll part of each arm as well of uh of this so i will you can all listen to me answer the door tell my friend lisa how i'm doing hey lise so i'm in the middle of a podcast so i'm gonna take this and drop it off at your house later okay okay honey can you get the dogs back in so that's uh speaking of beauties plug uh i have a lot of my neighbors who are timing up to buy the book and are asking me to sign it for their uh their husbands children or oh that's fantastic

one of my next door neighbors who purchased the book and uh was dropping by to sign it so apologies for the interruption i see what you did there you snuck in another plug for the book very clever no that was brilliant i actually planned it so she would ring the doorbell in the middle of the podcast. So, yeah. So now that I'm sort of out of my Zappa phase, I think most of my high school was dominated by, you know, typical mainstream stuff. But a lot of Mellencamp and my favorite Mellencamp story is we went to a show. I probably was 20 by this time. I think it was like his cherry bomb days and had front row tickets. I had a friend who worked for Ticketmaster in Ottawa who always got me great tickets for shows.

Thank you, Molly. And me and my buddy Mike Thibodeau were at the front of the show. And it was all seats and people were pretty mellow. It was an older crowd. And we were going crazy because I love Johnny Cougar. and people were pretty mellow. It was an older crowd and we were going crazy because I love Johnny Cougar.

And we were going so crazy and we probably had a few that he was watching us and he lost track of where he was in a song and actually had to stop and start the song over again because these two idiots were going so crazy in the front row.

So that was my claim to Mellencamp fame. Oh, great jam. Yeah. I wanted to, I actually, I know you like me talking out of these songs, but the next one, if,

if I know where you're going to play, I should probably talk beforehand. Okay, go ahead. Yeah. So high school was dominated by Mellencamp and, and I like Triumph too. I should have mentioned Triumph back when I liked Van Halen,

but I started to get into Tom Crocker and Red Rider. And and I like Triumph, too. I should mention Triumph back when I like Van Halen. But I started to get into Tom Cochran and Red Ryder. And this is before Life is a Highway and they got really popular. But I love Tom Cochran and Red Ryder, a lot of the the older stuff. And that was constantly in my Walkman. And but the song we're going to play is the acoustic version of Big League. And if I thought if I was going to play one Tom Cocker song, I'd break it. I'm worried I have the wrong version. Did you?

Oh, okay. Well, do you have the normal Big League? I think so, yeah. It's okay. Is it on YouTube, though? Why don't you play Big League? I'm pretty nimble. Is it on YouTube, the acoustic version?

Like, is it a specific version? It would be on Apple, but it might be too quick for you. Yeah, try it was for Humt, and that's why. Try Tom Cochran, but I don't want you to derail your entire podcast. No, remember, this is not Bell Media here. I'm very, very nimble. I can turn in a dime here. Okay, I have it here for Humboldt.

Okay, so hang on, and I'll, so first of all, I was a huge Tom Cochran fan. One of the thrills and perks of my career, we were at either an all-star game or a draft in Vancouver, and they had one of these big glitzy NHL parties. And I'm really terrible at schmoozing and socializing. I'm not good in those formats. And so I was just sitting at the bar by myself, and Tom Cochran just sat down next to me at the bar, and we talked for a couple of hours.

And I wouldn't say became friends, but became acquaintances. And that was one of the great thrills of my life, really, because I'd, you know, I'd loved this guy for years and had seen him a bunch of times in concert. So when Humboldt happened three years ago, it was a very strange time in my life. I'd been at the Masters. Jonathan Pitcher, the butterfly child who was a big part of my life this young man who had a skin disease passed away on uh the wednesday of the masters my dad was very sick in hospital humboldt happened on friday night the bus crash and then on the monday we were supposed to do our and i came flew back from the masters and was supposed to do our nhl playoff preview show and we were trying to figure out how to honor Humboldt properly. And that song, the song Big League just came into my mind, which of course is about

a young hockey player who dies in an accident and is one of Tom's best songs. And so I called Tom and I said, you know, would you do an acoustic version of Big League to open our show that night for the playoffs in a tribute to the Humboldt guys. And Tom was hesitant at first only because he didn't want to, he's a very humble guy who didn't want to take away, but, um, I had mentioned it to a couple of the Humboldt parents who I knew and they, they, you know, were really thought it would be a great tribute. And so that's what convinced Tom to come in and he came into our studio and taped it on the, I guess it's the Tuesday morning now. And as Tom was about to tape this version of the song, I got a call from my sister that said, you need to get to Ottawa because dad's not going to make it too much longer. And so it was all this

weird, you know, horrible stuff happening in my life. And Tom did this unbelievable version in one take of the song, changed some of the lyrics to honor the Humboldt guys. Maybe we can save it to that second verse where he does that. And then afterwards, I was like, Tom, I think I don't know what to do here. I have a show I'm supposed to do in a few hours, but I'm not sure if my dad will make it till tomorrow or whatever. And he was the one who said to me, you got to get it, get the hell out of here. You have to go. Right. Because this party is saying you can't let the crew down.

Maybe I'll do the show and then I'll run to Ottawa. And he's like, you know, get out of here and get on a plane. And I made it to Ottawa at five o'clock that night. My dad passed away basically as Tom was on the air at seven doing this performance. And so I've always very thankful to him for, for those words and, and for this,

which was an acoustic version of big league. He did to dedicate to the humble Broncos. James, my condolences firstly, and if you're okay, I'm going to play this whole thing. Okay. And then we'll just,

yeah, it's a, for sure. We'll come out of this and then go into your next jam but uh yeah let's play this in its entirety here He was a kid, he'd be up at five Take shots till eight And make the thing drive Out of school and back on ice. That was his life. He was going to play in the big league. Oh, oh, the big league. The Big Leagues Now many ways out of this cold northern town

You work in the mill and get laid in the ground And if you're gonna jump, it'll be worth the game Real fast and tough is the only clear lane to the big league my boy's gonna play in the big league. My boy's gonna turn some heads. My boy's gonna play in the big league. My boy's gonna knock them dead. Oh, the big league. The Big League All the right moves when he turned 18 Riding to the game, riding with his team

Riding with his friends and riding for the dreams. Riding off to immortality in the big league. Oh, my boy's gonna play in the big league. My boy's gonna play in the big league My boy's gonna turn some heads My boy's gonna play in the big league My boy's gonna knock them dead Oh, oh You never can tell when I come down You never can tell when you're my checkout

You just don't know, no, you never can tell Sometimes at night I can hear the ice crack It sounds like thunder as it rips through my back Sometimes in the morning I'll still hear the sound Ice meets metal Can't you drive me down to the big league my boy's gonna play in the big league my boy's gonna turn some heads my boy's gonna play in the big league my boy's gonna knock them down you never can tell when my calm down you never can tell when you might come down You never can tell when you might check out

You just don't know, no, you never can tell So do right to others like you do to yourself in the big league Oh, Big League. Oh, Big League. Yeah, so that was... Sorry, James, I had a trigger figure there. Sorry, what were you saying about the Tom Cox? That was honestly, watching the visuals with the YouTube video, that's just so tragic. And so it's so emotional and wow.

Yeah. One take in our studio. And so I always think about those kids and I think about my dad and, uh, you can let Don, Don Henley roll. Here's your next jam, James.

Nobody on the road. Nobody on the beach. I feel it in the air. the summer's out of reach. Empty lake can't shine in the sun You got your hair combed out And your sunglasses on, baby I can tell you My love for you will still be strong After the boys of summer have gone Dawn Henley.

So if somebody asked me the other day that old thing about if you're stuck on a desert island with one song, play over and over. And I don't know that there's a good answer to that question because I think you'd get sick of any song. But if I was to list my all-time favorite songs, that might be number one, just because I never get sick of any song but i if i was to list my all-time favorite songs that might be number one just because i never get tired of it i think i uh we when i was about 23 or something we went on a camping trip to grand bend and i fell in love with this girl who i've met on the beach and so i always thought of that song that was about this time the song came out christine wherever you are uh i fell in love with my wife after that now she's replaced her as the

meaning of that song but anyway yeah so Don Henley, Boys of Summer greatest song ever shout out to the lake here on Sunsets there's nothing else like it in this province that Grand Bend spot's perfect for that yeah

Grand Bend is an awesome awesome place were you camping at Pinery or in Grand Bend spot's perfect for that. Yeah. Grand Bend is an awesome, awesome place. Were you camping at Pinery or in Grand Bend? Yes. Okay, yeah. Pinery, 100%. That's so nice. You can't see this now, but I'm staring at a picture. My now 16-year-old, who's upstairs doing virtual learning,

she drew this photo of her favorite memory of her childhood. She drew this picture of her favorite memory of her childhood. She drew this picture of her favorite memory of her childhood. And it's her and I on the sand dunes of Pinery. We went there last summer, actually. She went with her little brother and sister. But that's her favorite childhood memory is camping at Pinery. I have some real idiot friends. And when sometimes people ask me

about the origins of, you know, some of the stuff that we do on TSN, those silly stories that we do are those songs like puck over glass and such. I think I owe it much to the idiocy of my, I grew up with a bunch of very funny friends. I was by far the least funny of them. And, uh, I can remember that trip to grand band. There was about eight of us, and one of them bought a copy of, like, Teen Magazine, okay? I think it was the time that, like, Beverly Hills 902 and O was popular, and they went around and nailed to the trees

on our campsite at spots where anybody driving by could see it, all the other campers, like pictures of Luke Perry and Jason Priestley, you know, in sexy poses all to the trees driving by could see it all the other campers like pictures of luke perry and uh and jason priestly you know in sexy poses all to the trees all around her campsite which made no sense whatsoever but all the people driving by was like what is with this crew of guys here that's funny and they're in their teenage boy pinups so uh yeah my friends are idiots it could have been worse

though it could have been the the cory. You would have the Corey Haim, Corey Feldman photos everywhere. I think it was more the Corey Hart. There was probably a couple of pictures of him up there, too. There's some CanCon. By the way, shout out to you choosing the Tom and Cochran.

Not that it matters. There's no such regulations here, but it was good to hear some CanCon, although there's a couple more coming. Yeah, I think the next song you have is... And so again, where we are in my life now is sort of end of high school. And I go to Carleton University. And one night my buddy says to me, there's this band from Kingston that we got to go see.

And they're called the Tragically Hip. And I'd never heard of them. They were still a new band that i'm not sure if they'd even put a record out yet maybe that first record that had about six tracks on it right and went to see this band and i'm not gonna lie and say i fell in love with them that night i thought they were pretty cool but you know no idea but enough that when their first album came out i was all over it and i would say that even though we'll do some other songs here, most of the rest of my adult life was like many Canadians defined by the tragically hip. And this song, I don't think they play much in concert.

I don't think that they love this song afterwards because I saw them play 28 times. And I'm not sure that I heard this song more than once or twice, but it was one of the first hip songs I loved. sure that I heard this song more than once or twice, but it was one of the first hip songs I loved. I always loved the stories in songs as much as the rhythm and the music of it. And this story always entranced me. It's a personal favorite from my favorite band of all time. And I will say that I've seen them not as many times as you, but I've seen them about 10 or 11 times, the Tragically Hip, and only once. And I was so happy when I heard it. I was at Fort York to see them. I think the Sadie's opened. It was actually a fantastic night at Fort York, and they played this song, and it's the only time I've heard them play it. So for whatever reason,

you're absolutely correct. The band did not play this live very much after Up To Here was released, but let's hear it, and then we'll talk a little more about it. So men broke loose in 73 From Mill Haven, maximum security 12 pictures lined up across the front page Seems the mountains had a summertime of long wait Well, the cheap don't be believed nothing to

feed the last thing they want to do is hang around here most of

came down from long fringe name for one

other dozen words the hometown shame same pattern

on the table same clock on the table same clock on the wall been one seat empty eighteen years in all freezing slow time away from the world he's thirty-eight years old

never kissed a girl he's thirty-eight years old never kissed a girl He's 38 years old Never kissed a girl Apparently not a true story, which I always thought it was. There was some prison break sometime in Canada, and obviously prison influenced, because Kingston was such a prison town influenced the hip and a lot of their early work the luxury is a great song

and in in my time at when I was a news reporter in Ottawa in my early years I uh I would often do prisons would have these open days where they'd invite the media down for whatever reason and so I toured most of those prisons um and so I guess i don't know there's that song with mill haven and i've been to joyceville and kingston penn and uh for whatever reason i think that that's just a great story in that song and i do wish they would have played it more part of the reason possibly this is a little speculation but i've thought about this over the years james because that's what i do i think about these things but i think maybe because he does drop you know his brother mike's name in it on this not true story but he actually has a brother mike so maybe yeah there's something to it being

something there maybe that caused them not to play because it is a fantastic song and it sounds like you were a little ahead of me at the hip because i went out and bought this album when I heard Q107 play Blow It High Doe, and I'm like, what is that? Like, what is that? And then you got New Orleans is Sinking, and the whole album's fantastic, as you know, but it sounds like you were just ahead of that. If you were on board after the EP,

then you're in that club of Canadians who knew before. Well, I think it's because they came to Carleton and played a few times in those early years, right, that I got to see them early. My favorite hip shows, I got to see the last one in Toronto, which will always be incredibly special. Sat with Bob McKenzie and his two boys, Sean and Mike, for that show, which was incredibly emotional. But I think my favorite all-time hip show was, I think when they released Trouble at the Hen House. They would do, you know how these bands would do

small shows just to practice, basically? Yes. I once saw Tom Cochran, by the way, at Carleton University in Res Commons with 100 people, which would be my favorite Tom Cochran show. And I just couldn't believe I was there. People were walking in and out of their residences,

basically, who's this guy playing? And I was just so in love with Tom Cochran. And the hit played at Barrymore's in Ottawa to about 200 people, I think when they launched Trouble at the Hen House. And I was able to score tickets with that. And that was an unbelievable one. My one other one I would say would be,

there used to be this great New Year's Eve party in Ottawa. Any of your Ottawa listeners would know, at the Congress Centre, which is sort of the convention center downtown or was. And it would be this massive party with two or three thousand people. And there'd be a DJ on one floor and then a live band on another floor. And then, you know, piano bar on the other floor. And everybody dressed up like it was the prom.

And the hit played one night. And it was would have been early in their time. But maybe Road App apples was out yet. Like they were kind of fairly big and, but most people were so drunk and doing their own thing that there weren't a lot of people at like the act when the hip was playing, there was, you know,

some people dancing and I just stood by the stage by myself basically. Wow. And when Gord finished the show, his last number, he said, stay gold pony boy and walked off the stage. And The Outsiders was always one of my favorite books and movies. And the great line from The Outsiders is stay gold, Ponyboy.

And I used to sign all my high school yearbooks with stay gold, Ponyboy. And so that was the moment where I felt like Gord and I had this inseparable bond. Love it. That we used the same line to sign off. I'll save my other tragically hip questions for you. Next time we hear them in this list, but here let's do something different and then we'll come back to the, yeah, we went,

let's go sideways because during, I know all these songs so far have been pretty typical Canadian rock that a lot of fans would listen to, but. My life is a stereo. How loud does it go? What songs do I know? Whatever happened to my past?

Whatever happened to life I thought I had? My life is a stereo, kind of cheaply made though How bad does it show Whatever did become of all my friends Whatever happened to the likes of all of them My life is a stereo Turn me on and let's go Turn me up louder I'll scream as loud and clear as I can scream Not one of Duffy's jams, but a great jam nonetheless. The drummer on that jam is Sammy Cohn. And this month we welcomed Sammy Cohn to the family.

Here's a fantastic offer, particularly for music fans. Sammy Cohn will throw in a free drum lesson for any real estate inquiry. You can go to drummingupresults.com for more information, or send Sammy an email. Tell him Toronto Mike sent you. Sammy at SammyCohn.com. Cohn is K-O-H-N Great Lakes Brewery.

Delicious, fresh craft beer brewed right here in Southern Etobicoke. Find them online, GreatLakesBeer.com Visit their retail store on Queen Elizabeth Boulevard just down the street from the Costco, or as Troy likes to say,

Costco's right down the street from Great Lakes Brewery. Much love to Palma Pasta, authentic Italian food that'll leave you wondering why you waited so long to give it a try. palmapasta.com is where you go. StickerU.com, that's where you go for stickers and such. Our StickerU partnership has been most excellent. Quality stickers delivered in a timely fashion.

Great Toronto company. CDN Technologies. They're there if you have any computer or network issues or questions. They're your outsourced IT department. Write Barb right now and tell her Toronto Mike suggests that you get a network assessment. She's Barb at cdntechnologies.com. And Ridley Funeral Home.

They're at 3080 Lakeshore at 14th Street. Brad Jones is a great FOTM. He was at the most recent TMLX in a public park during the pandemic from six feet away. He was also at TMLX5 at Palmer's Kitchen. Pay tribute without paying a fortune. Learn more at Ridleyfuneralhome.com

And now let's get back to James Duffy's Jams. I had a lot of different music I was into, like all over the place. And rap I was into from a very young age. Rapper's Delight, I memorized every word of that song in grade six or something. And had all the lyrics written out by hand. And I had a couple of my, two of best friends were were are Jamaican uh Kennedy and Dave Shaw shout out to both those guys who had me into rap very early in Ottawa and uh this band in the 90s uh I loved for about three years and uh this was one of their hardcore tracks which I still love. Nurse Johnson, is the mother still in the recovery room?

Yes, Dr. Blair. Okay, I'll go to the waiting room and inform the father it's a boy. I'm afraid there is no father, sir. Another ghetto bastard, huh? I'm afraid so. Well, put him with the rest of the porn losers. All right, doctor. A shame, isn't it?

Not a shame. A problem. Dr. Blair. Dr. Blair. Dr. J. Hamilton. Dr. J. Hamilton. Smooth it out. All right. This is a story about the drifter Who waited for the worst Cause the best live cross town

Who never planned on having so dick Some get a little And some get none Some catch a bad one We'll be right back. I couldn't get a job, nappy hair was not allowed My mother couldn't afford a saw, she had to tow me out I walked the strip, with just a click, who wanna hit? They got him quick, I had to eat this money, could've spent I threw in braids, I wasn't paid enough I kept them on cause I couldn't afford a haircut I got laughed at, I got chumped, I got dissed I got upset, I got a check and a banana clip Was down to throw the lead to any deal in Tat-Tan

I still haven't broke, so a lot of good and what it did Or done, if not for bad luck, I wouldn't have none. Why did I have to live a life of such a bad one? Why when I was a kid and played, I was a sad one and always wanted to live like just a sad one. James, I love it. I had this album too. Love

the song, love the album and like yourself, I always felt sorry for my rock and roll loving friends who used to call this crap and I'd be like you're missing out on such a fantastic genre of music it's fantastic I agree 100% and I think

even in these times if you think about it probably as a typical kid of white privilege growing up in Canada I think in some ways I was big into lyrics and the lyrics of naughty by nature probably helped me understand, you know, the plight of black people growing up in situations like that. Maybe that song more than anything else. It's a real hardcore of what is light life is like there.

And I probably learned more from, from that album than a lot of things. And, you know, Ron McClain or Dave Hodge, I bet you they can't do, I mean, I bet you they can't do Ghetto Bastard. Like, Ghetto Bastard, one X of the projects, living in the slums with bums. I say, now why, Tretch? Do I have to be like this? Mama said I'm priceless, so I am. I'm worthless, starving, and just for being a nice kid.

Sometimes I wish I could afford a pistol and so. Stop the hell I would have ended things a while ago. I ain't got jack but a black hat and knapsack, wore scars, stolen cars, and a black hat. Drop that, and now you want me to rap and give? Say something positive, we're positive in where I live. Anyway, still can do it. Dude, I love it.

The way you talked about how you learn that perspective from the rap lyrics, right? That's essentially poetry. That's my public enemy story. I mean, I was obsessed with public enemy still am actually but it was the lyrics the that chuck d what the the lyrics and the perspective was drenched in the in the songs and it was like you're right i'm a white man of privilege and it's just uh poetry man it's beautiful yeah i i think that uh treacherous mc here treach is uh he was he was a brilliant guy and there's so many uh what jay-z will get to a little bit later on but you're

right chucky all those guys uh and i think it was great music and you're right i was surrounded by people uh who say this is crap you know and that was sort of the trendy thing for white people who like rock and roll to say, I think, in the early days of rap. I can remember someone who's related to me, so I won't say, saying, this will never last. This rap stuff will never last. Why are you into this fad, James? It'll be gone in a couple of years. You sounded, that's like what Dave Chappelle sounds like when he imitates a white guy. Is that impressive?

Eddie Murphy used to do the white guys as well. One of the great skits ever when Eddie Murphy dresses up as the white guy and learns that all the privileges that they have, like when the last black person gets off the bus and all the white people start partying and stuff. I thought that was one of the great satirical looks at white privilege from way before his time, the way Eddie Murphy was. Oh, you're bang on there. So good on you for not also, also good on you for not marrying yourself to one genre.

I always thought that was strange. People who are like, I'm this genre and this is what I listen to. And I'm like, what about all this? Like there's some great reggae songs, there's fantastic rap songs, there's even the odd good country song. I mean, you know, there's a lot of genres out there.

Oh, 100%. I've gotten more into country in recent years. And also, you're influenced by, I don't think there's any, you could argue, I suppose, a couple of songs we'll get to at the end are kind of certainly poppy. But when you have kids and your kids turn, you know, 8, 9, 10 and get their own musical taste, you become, as you know, at the mercy of what they want to listen to. And, you know, there's stuff I didn't like, but I enjoyed Taylor Swift and a lot of the stuff that they would listen to

and make me listen to for hours on end in the car. So, yeah, I got no problem with Top 40 stuff at all. I've attended a Selena Gomez concert, okay? That's the things we do for our kids. But here's a band and like yourself i got to well i didn't i went solo i wanted to get a ticket for my oldest son to join me and i could only get one ticket but i got to say my farewell on the sunday show right they did three shows in toronto on the farewell tour and i was in the i guess i thought i was at the last one but then they added a third show like they did one of those here we're adding a third show so i ended up i was in the last one, but then they added a third show. They did one of those, here we're adding a third show, so it ended up I was in the middle show.

But I went solo to say goodbye to my favorite band of all time, and I'm telling you, what an... Let's play the song, unless you want to say something off the top. No, just that this is my favorite all-time hip song, and I don't know that it's a lot of people's

favorite, but it came later, and if there was one hip song I'd have to play over and over again for the rest of my life, it would be this one. សូវាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបាូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពី It's our third time in New York It's your fourth time in New York We were fifth and sixth on the bill We talk a little about our plans Sixth on the bill. Talk a little about our plans. Talk a little of our future plans. It's not like we were best friends. One, two, three.

The numbers scale. You can't respect a thing. But numbers scale, come respect to fame And times may all, all be We're hung around till the final band All the scapers at hand for the traveling man He yelled in my ear, this music speaks to me They launched in a lonely from rock and roll Followed by they checked out an hour ago

Closing with all desires Turned concrete And now the day Has come back to me Time's beyond our pay Guess I'm too slow Yes, I'm too Yes, I'm too

slow You said any time of the day was fine You said any time of the night was I've loved it, it was fine. He said anytime. I've loved that, it was all so fine. Woo!

So I always thought that song was about a girl, you know, a girl singer. Obviously, if you listen to the lyrics it's about uh you know bands bonding on the road and i think that's why the hip wrote the song about how you meet these bands on the road when you're playing shows together and uh and you know it's kind of fleeting uh they're gone and you're gone they're separate ways uh so i guess i sort of always thought it would be about a girl in another band that he met and then he goes to try to visit her the next day at the hotel and they've already checked out but uh and gordon gordon hip don't really talk about the meaning of their songs very much but i i came to understand afterwards that i know he dedicated it

to a guy named jim ellison who was the lead singer of a band called material issue and he died uh uh of i believe some carbon monoxide asphyxiation or something um and that perhaps somewhere along the way that hip had met them at a show and bonded and uh and uh you know never got to talk more beyond that i'm completely hypothesizing here but uh uh just a great great tune great lyrics great everything my uh so i'm gonna tell you two quick gourd stories as my dogs, all three of them are now in the room fighting relentlessly. So apologies for the background noise. But I think one of the first times I ever thought, holy crap, you know, you don't really get a perception of that people watch you on television. I live a very nomadic lifestyle with my family in Aurora, or nobody gives a cares about what you do really.

But early in my years with TSN, maybe five or six years in, I was invited to a premiere of a movie called the hockey nomad that Dave Bedini had done with Gord's brother. And I got late. I was arrived late at the premiere and sort of sat in one of the last seats and watch the movie, which was really good.

And, and I got up to leave and I got a tap on my shoulder and I turned around it was Gord and I this was one of the most like starstruck moments of my life because I'd already seen them 20 times they were the band of my life and and Gord just tapped me on the shoulder and said hey I just wanted to let you know that I really like your work and I was just stuttered and stumbled and said uh yeah yeah you I like your stuff too I didn't know it was just horrible I didn't know what to say and uh I I just drove home on on cloud nine from that meeting um and then when when we learned of Gord's diagnosis uh Bob and him had been friends.

I don't pretend to have had any relationship with him. I think I met him on one other occasion, but Bob was kind enough to give me his email. And I just I dropped him a note just to say kind of pour out my soul, a really hokey note about everything that he'd meant to me and the hip had meant to me in my life. And I didn't expect him to respond because, you know, he was going through this incredibly thing and I'm sure incredibly difficult thing. And I'm sure he was getting overwhelmed, but he, he responded to the email and, uh, probably the only email I've ever kept. Basically he remembered, uh, uh, something that I'd been through in my life that I don't talk about, uh, that somehow heard about involving a family member. And he,

he mentioned that, which I think was unbelievable that he somehow knew or remembered that maybe Bob had shared it with him and, and then just said, you know, lots of love, have a great life kind of thing. And I just, it was such a gourd note and something i'd always treasure because i don't think you know people have john lennon from our parents generation or kennedy or whoever but no death uh outside of family and friends has hit me harder in my life than than gourd passing same here same here and uh that jam you chose is uh i guess you could call that a hidden gem i guess

on phantom powers and you mentioned bob mckenzie he's a big thugs guy and i consider that another hidden gem and just before we move on to your next jam and leave the tragically hip i just want to let people know anyone who dropped off maybe you dropped off at after phantom power or something who knows a lot of hip fans stopped buying the albums at a certain point unfortunately but right i just want to shout out uh a jam from 2009 that I think was overlooked. It's unbelievable, James, and you know it,

but I want to shout out The Depression Suite from We Are The Same. And if anybody listening wants to pause this podcast, go to YouTube and listen to The Depression Suite. You can thank me later. Yeah, absolutely. There's a bunch of those. And it was, you know, a lot of people didn't like, I remember. And by the way,

I'm not sure if I was at the last concert in Toronto, I might've been at the same one you were at. I get the mix that I might've been at the first one. I don't know. But a lot of people weren't happy because they, they were playing, you know how they did it where they would take like three or four albums a night and play five songs off those albums and so I remember on the last concert in Kingston they didn't break that rule and I was actually in Bob Cajun at a cottage uh Friends of Ours the night that the last concert aired on TV in Kingston and the guy with me was not a huge hip fan he was sort of the mainstream hip fan, right? Right. He wants courage. Yeah. Yeah. And courage.

And he was upset that they were playing all these songs that he didn't know. And I'm like, well, that's the hip. They don't care. They're not just going to roll out all the hits on the last night. They're going to do exactly what they did, you know, throughout this entire concert tour. And I just thought that was fantastic. Oh man. We both miss Gord like many Canadians. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

All right. Let's turn the channel here and kick out your penultimate jam here, your second last. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it.

Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it.

Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it.

Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do Yeah, yeah, I'm out that Brooklyn now down in Tribeca right next to the narrow but I'll be hood forever I'm the new Sinatra and since I made it here I can

make it anywhere yeah they love me everywhere I used to cop in Harlem all of my damn inconnos right there up on Broadway pull me back to that McDonald's took it to my stash spot 560 State Street catch me in the kitchen like the Simmons whipping pastry cruisin down a A Street, off White Lexus, driving so slow, but VK is from Texas. Me, I'm out that bad style, home of that boy Biggie. Now I live on Billboard, and I brought my boys with me. Say what up to Tata, still sippin' my top. Sittin' courtside, nicks and nets, give me high five.

Nigga, I be spiked out, I could trip a referee. Tell by my attitude that I'm most definitely from New York Come pick your move with three tomatoes There's nothing you can't do Now you're in New York These streets will make you feel brand new These lights will inspire you Let's hear it

You're welcome, OG I made you hot, nigga Catch me at the X with OG at a Yankee game Shit, I made the Yankee have more famous than the Yankees So I picked that song for a couple of reasons. One, it's just awesome. My first concert i attended with my son was jay-z and justin timberlake at rogers center and uh but more so the fact that you know

this time my kids are getting older now i have a my boy's 21 my daughter's 19 my other daughter's 17 they're all kind of off to university and i'm gonna be an empty nester soon but when we do get together where it's a drive to the cottage to visit my mom or whatever, and we want to roll the tunes, that is one of the songs that the entire family just loves. That you will never get any disagreement on, right? And everybody just, it's one of the great driving, pump you up songs of all time. So, yeah. That's where you meet. You meet in the middle there i love those

jams that everyone likes you're right because it's tough you think like it's really tough i i find that really tough because uh the songs that you know the four-year-old and six-year-old will like and the uh the 18-year-old and 16-year-old will like and my wife will like who's a little bit younger than me and then i'll like it's like yeah you when you find a jam like that that's uh that's gonna be bluetooth on the road trips for sure yeah 100 and never gets old another candidate for if you had to listen to one over and over forever because it's just uh it's uh spectacular in all facets quick uh going back to the hip just for a quick moment because all roads lead back to the the tragically hip but uh so that and i was at that sunday show which was the middle show

and i couldn't go to the last show not that i could got a ticket anyway but the the final show because that was the morning we all all six of us were getting into a um a car i had to borrow because i didn't have a car that actually fitted fit fit six people. We all went on a road trip to Prince Edward Island the next, next day. And the memory, the memories I have, and actually even now I could cry now telling the stories. I'll try to tell it without crying here.

Cause this is your jam kicking, not mine, but we were, go for it. We were in Ganesh. So we, we, the road trip we go through,

we did the Cape Breton trail. Right. What do they call it? Cabot trail. That's right. Cabot trail. Right. Beautiful. Oh my goodness every canadian should do that it should be i go out there every summer to play golf i never you do the trail i just get as far as cabot's golf courses do you go with bob weeks i've not been with weeks yet uh usually david amber from sportsnet is on my crew uh sean mcken, Bob's son. This year, it's supposed to be

Bob and Sean and myself and my son. Okay, beautiful. Father-son sort of trip, yeah. And that's like Canada. That's probably the most beautiful golf course in Canada, probably. Right?

It's spectacular. I always say it's Canada's Pebble Beach, yeah. Okay, so to wrap up my quick story here is that August 20, I guess it was 2016, August 20th, I'll remember that day because it's my wife's birthday and we're in enganish and of course uh the olympics is going to pause for a

moment here because we're going to say we're going to watch the tragic clip for the very last time from kingston and just that night with my sick well i don't know how old she was at the time she was probably about 12 at the time but with my oldest daughter and just we were just just weeping uh and you know she's watching daddy cry and that makes her cry and what a night and like what an emotional night when you're i mean you remember just yeah i i uh i hey i'm with you buddy and i the day that i heard about him uh i cried at that concert i'm standing next to bob mckenzie so imagine you're trying you're trying to be strong next to you know next, next to Bob and cried again, pull over on the side of the, had to get off the DVP when the news of his death, but I had to go down early that morning or whatever. So yeah, like I said, it's when a guy has, you know, is the, the soundtrack of your entire adult life basically. Right. That's, that's the way it was. I, when,

when we talk about my different tastes in music, you're right. I'll go all over the map, but if you, if you were to do that little 25 most played song thing on Apple that they do, it always ends up being in about 12 hip songs. Okay. Your final jam. So let's, let's kick this one out and let me just tell you james this has been an absolute pleasure you gave me a lot of time today and it's been wonderful so thank you so much for this i'm sorry it took so long buddy i promise uh the next time i come on it will not

be a promotion of a book it'll just be because i want to hang out with you no i just want to have your dogs on next time uh all right here's your final jam. They have their own favorite jams. I'm swaggin', I'm swaggin', I'm swaggin' on you I'm ballin', I'm ballin', I have a song on you Watch out, oh, watch out, oh, watch out, yeah That smash out, that smash out, that smash out, yeah Spendin', I'm spendin' all my fuckin' pay I'm spending, I'm spending all my fucking pain I got me some braids and I got me some hoes Started rocking a sleeve I can't buy with no jaws You know how I do it, can't close up my toes

I ain't rich yet, but you know I ain't broke, ah So if I see it, I like it, but that from the start, ah I'm with some white girls and they love them, they'll coke, ah Like they OT, double OT Like I'm KD, smoking OG And you know me, in my two threes, in my goate Bet you're smiling, bet you see me from the nosebleed I'm the new three and I change out to my new D Why'd I ever song? When I started ballin', I was young You gon' think about me when I'm gone I need that money like the ring I never won I won Saucin', saucin', saucin' on you

I'm swaggin', I'm swaggin', I'm swaggin' on you So, really following up on the theme of how your life is taken over by your children, and I give full credit to my daughter Gracie, who was the one who introduced me to Post Malone and took the last concert I went to, and this is one who introduced me to Post Malone and took the last concert I went to. And this is why I wanted it to be the last song. The last concert I went to was with my daughter and her friend and my wife and I to Post Malone

at the, I guess, Scotiabank Arena. I forget all the sponsors' names now. It's been so long since I mentioned them. But that was the last concert we saw uh before the pandemic hit and a funny story my daughter is very uh you know very clean-cut kid a very studious child and uh the guys behind us were just smoking doobie after doobie after doobie like literally about 20 during the show and her friend friend is also, you know, very studious kind of nerdy kid. They kept dropping their frigging spliffs and behind the seats.

And my 16 year old daughter keep having to pick up the spliffs and hands it back to these guys. And I was, as a dad, I was like, you know, people can do whatever the hell they want. It's just at a point of like, buddy, could you just please stop dropping your spliff and making my daughter pick up.

I'll pick it up for you. I'm happy to pick it up for you. I don't want it to go to waste. But please don't make my daughter pick this thing up. And yeah, so and you know what? Post Malone again. And it's funny because I remember posting a bit of the concert on, I don't know, Twitter or Instagram or something. And some of the comments were, you know, I probably have a lot of followers that are your typical Canadian males and they're like why are you listening to this crap and again

same thing open your open your horizons there's great music everywhere yeah I love the hip and Tom Cochran and everything else but Post Malone is he puts out some awesome songs and I love that concert it's one of my favorite concerts I've seen. I mean, he's completely wrecked. I don't know how he performs because he's absolutely destroyed every single concert, but he's a hell of a performer. So I figured my youngest child

now influences my music more than anybody else. So I'd end up with her. I'm pro Post Malone ever since I saw the Into the Spider-Verse, which I don't know if you've caught that yet, but there's... I have not seen it. It's actually a rare movie that

my teenagers and my little ones can watch together and both all enjoy it. It's an amazing... It's probably the best Marvel movie I've ever seen. Anyway, Post Malone's got a jam on there, a fantastic jam. That's fantastic. But also, one quick, one last shout out before we say goodbye

to Post Malone, who's probably listening right now. I'm sure he does. He did this Nirvana cover I watched on YouTube. Yeah. He was in a dress or something. It was like the bizarrest thing. But honestly, he's a talented mofo. So Post Malone, you might not like the facial tattoos.

Maybe you have to warm up to that. But honestly, what a talented musician. And how can you, like, I chose that song uh which is one of my favorite post malone songs called white iverson and it's basically you know it sounds like a mellow love song and yes he talks about hoes and drugs like every other rap song but it's basically about basketball right most of the lyrics he's singing all this you know sounds like he's singing a love song. And it's basically about, the whole song is about Allen Iverson and the ring you never had and all this stuff. So it's, yeah, Posty's awesome. Well, James Duthie, again, thanks for doing this.

This was a great pleasure. I loved it. Thanks, buddy. And thanks for having me on. And it's good. It was good to go back through this. Like I hadn't heard Joe's garage or in a long time, I popped out a little guitars a few weeks ago for some reason.

I'm not sure why, but, and particularly Tom Cochran's version of big league, which I haven't listened to probably in two or three years. But like I said, that always takes me to the humble kids and to my, to my dad and yeah, those and talking about Gordon hip I could I could do all day long. So thank you for giving me the opportunity. And that brings us to the end of our 767th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. James is at TSN James Duthie.

Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U. CDN Technologies are at CDN Technologies. Sammy Cone is at Sammy Cone. And Ridley Funeral Home, they're at Ridley FH. See you all

next week. I want to take a street car downtown Read Andrew Miller and wander around And drink some Guinness from a tin Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been?

Because everything is kind of rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold, but the snow, it won't be the day. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is

rosy and green. Well, you've been under my skin for more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears And I don't know what the future can hold or will 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 green.

Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow won't stay today. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Roam Phone. Roam Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RoamPhone.ca to get started. I know that there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who Yeah, I wonder who

Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of grey Cause I know that's true Yes, I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true How about you? Are they picking up trash

And then putting down ropes? And they're brokering stocks the class struggle explodes and I'll play this guitar just the best that I can maybe I'm not and maybe I

am but who gives a damn because everything is coming up Rosy and gray Yeah the wind is cold But the smell of snow Warms me today And your smile is fine

And it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is Rosy and gray Well I've kissed you in France Cause everything is rosy and green Well, I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour

But I like it much better going down on you Yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Warms us today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away Thank you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah