Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Jay Douglas: Toronto Mike'd #1442

Episode Date: March 1, 2024

In this 1442nd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike catches up with musician Jay Douglas. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, The Advantaged Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada, The Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Team and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

Welcome to episode 1442 of Toronto Mike. 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. Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball. A Christie Pitts tradition since 1969.

RecycleMyElectronics.ca, committing to our planet's future, means properly recycling our electronics of the past. The Advantage Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada, valuable perspective for Canadian investors who want to remain knowledgeable, informed, and focused on long-term success. And Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today returning to Toronto mic'd is the legend himself, Jay Douglas. Welcome back, Jay. Thank you for having me back.

It's a great day, great day for music and business of music. It's listen, I know the calendar says March 1st, but when I saw J. Douglas in the calendar, I said, oh, it's springtime already and the sun came out and it's spring. You brought that man. That's you. Thank you. Beautiful day out there and the nice cool breeze coming up from the Great Lake of Ontario. It's sunny and wonderful. It's a great day. It's one of those days, sunny, unseasonably warm. And it's a day. I don't wish it would rain on a day like this. Do you know what I mean?

No, you got you cut. Okay. You cut it. Yeah. Okay. Farthest. Okay. Jay, I know we talked about the cougars your first visit,

but I want to listen to a little of this. Revisit it with you. Please go away. Is that you Jay? Yeah. I know it's you. Jay? Yeah. I know it's you. This is you. What year are we listening to here? Approximately.

I'm putting on the spot here. That's 50s. No, no, no. 60s. 60s. Jackie. Well, when Jackie kicks in, he's going to ask you about Jackie Richardson, but we're going to revisit the cougars.

Let's let it simmer a little bit. Wow. Man. There's Jackie. There's Jackie, yeah. Mmm. Damn! There is Jackie! There is Jackie, yeah! Wow! Cause crying eases my pain Wow Alright

This hurt I feel inside Oh my goodness Words could never explain I wish it would rain I wish that it would rain Jay, it is summertime now, but I don't wish it would rain, but I love this song, man. Let's go back. Now, I'm going to tell the listenership. Our first chat was episode 717, and we talked about the Cougars.

We talked about you making Rob Ford dance. We talked about the history of reggae music and then you came back to kick out the jams and we remembered Tony Bennett and we played your 10 favorite songs. That was episode 1295. But let's just before we play current Jay Douglas, let's talk a little bit more about for the younger crowd, the Cougars. Cause I've talked to the old, you know, my older friends who I respect and they tell me that the Cougars. Because I've talked to my older friends who I respect, and they tell me that the Cougars were tearing up Yonge Street in the 60s and 70s.

Remind us about the Cougars from Montreal, I guess. No, actually, while I was a student at Central Tech, Harvard and Bathurst. Yes. We were doing phys ed one day outside in the play field because I love soccer. And a car drove by and shout, hey!

You must report to the WIF Club, the West Indian Federation Club. You must report to the whiff club Next Sunday at 12 noon Don't be late now the West Indian Federation Club was a Club where all the people From the islands could gather for their favorite meal and it was owned by two brothers Lynn Kinkley and Kermit also the one of the Geary

you know if you check up about the Geary family what they did in the early years. So I got there before 12 noon and when I got there unbeknown that I was going there for an audition and the band was the Cougars. And the voice who shouted at me that day while I was on the play field at Central Tech was Everton Pablo Paul, the drummer who still plays with me till this day from the Cougars. And that's how I became the lead singer for the Cougars. And here I am giving, why am I giving credit to Montreal for a great Toronto band? Because when we did so well in Toronto, there's nothing more for us to hang around in Toronto for.

So we went up through the North Country, Barrie, Gravenhurst, all those. Oh yeah, Huntsville? Yeah, North Bay. Okay, way up there, yeah. Yeah, and Kirkland then we cross over into Quebec. Going into Rwanda, that's where David Keon, the captain of the Maple Leaf, that's where he was born, in the English side,

which was Naranda. And we went into Val-d'Or, all those places. Then we got called from Montreal, the great Esqu which was Naranda, and we went into Valdeur, all those places. Then we got called from Montreal, the great Esquire Show Bar. The owner, Mr. Silver, said, we hear about you guys up in the North Country, please come to Montreal so we can get you the hope for Fats Domino.

Wow. And that's how we ended up in Montreal. So yes, Montreal really played a big part of the Cougars' life. Then we came back to Toronto. What could you tell me about that other voice? So that's a duet. What can you tell me about Jackie Richardson? Oh, a lot of great things. Of course, you know,

she's originally from the United States or family came from Pennsylvania. They moved to Richmond Hill, and there was a great family, the Richardson's family, and this song that you're hearing, this is true, now in those early years, when we played our cover song, those days we had to work six nights a week in the bars,

Monday to Saturday, sometimes throwing a Saturday afternoon, cover song. Those days we had to work six nights a week in the bars, Monday to Saturday, sometimes throwing a Saturday afternoon, matinee, play Saturday night. So we played these songs so much, like we owned them, so what happened then, we started to put our own interpretation to these songs, like I wish it would rain, it's a temptation. But we played it so much and we started to put

that reggae feel and that African drum style and we made it our own. So it got so good that the people requested it all the time so we said why don't we go and record it. Now those days for you to record man. You have to be signed by a Mega label or you know, but it so happened We had a few bucks put away and we went to a little labor was called Ark sound and

Ark sound those days You remember the song put your hands in the hands of the man who sent the road, the group called Ocean. Right. That was their label. And we went there. The name of the president at the time was Bill Gilliland, the gentleman. And we recorded this track. Sounds even here listening to it now in 2024 with it. And we recorded this track. Sounds amazing.

Even here listening to it now in 2024 with you. And I was listening to it, you know, anticipating your visit. I've been listening to it all week. Just sounds so fresh and amazing in the headphones in 2024. Like you sound great. Jackie sounds great. It's got a great, you know, fresh beat there. I am digging it today.

Thank you. Because when we did the Jamaica, the Toronto, this song was on the compilation. And when it got into the States, one journalist from out the West Coast, they said they didn't know such kind of soul music would come from the Northlands When they heard this song and you said well, it's coming from Montego Bay is what you said there So tell me about this compilation Jamaica to Toronto like tell me how that came to be and what that is for those who may be having Jamaica to Toronto came about because of a young man who's from Montego Bay We did talent shows from Montego Bay.

We did talent shows in Montego Bay, Wayne McGee. And he came to Canada. He was a member of a Jojo Bennett's band at the time, was called Fugitive. That's the band. And after a while he went and changed the name to the satellites with Fergus Hamilton. Of course.

So one evening as I was getting ready for having my supper, the phone rang, it was a call from Seattle. And it was, can I speak to Jay Douglas? I say, yeah, this is Jay. Well, we're trying to, is this Jay? I say, yeah, well, we're trying to find, I'm Matt Sullivan from Light in the Attic music. And we've been trying for quite a while to find Wayne McGee.

And we're not having any success, but we were directed to find you. This is our last chance to find Wayne McGee and we're not having any success, but we were directed to find you This is our last chance to find Wayne McGee. So I I got I Said Wayne Is he okay? He said well, we don't know we're trying to find it now. Here's a brother We grew up together Italian shows haven't seen him for a while. So I got a little concerned. Anyway took me about shows I haven't seen him for a while. So I got a little concerned. Anyway, took me about three or four months to find

he was in an apartment over in East York. And when I spoke to him, he was not the same. He didn't have no interest in the music. He wasn't talking about the old days when, so I found out that he has some challenges. But anyway, how I found him, I found him through his sister and some other help that I got from Montego Bay.

So I called Lightning Attic and said, hey guys, I found it. And they go, oh Jay, I hope you're not pulling our legs, hey guys, I found it. And they go, oh Jay, I hope you're not pulling our legs now, man, this is serious. I said, by the way, what's wrong? Why you all went? In the early years, there was a studio called Sound Canada.

For whatever reason, he got in there, without any much money or funds and got an album out of them. Those days nobody did, unless you saw him on Motown. But he did, because he was a shop shooter. And Wayne, the album was called Wayne McGee and the Sounds of Joy. And on that track, there was a track called Dirty Funk.

Now listen to me my brother we did not and that track the drummer was Everton Pablo Paul he did not know he was creating hip-hop so this track got the studio caught fire few of those albums got out this one end up on the West Coast if you own a copy of that Sounds of Joy you're sitting on a lot of money. And the hip hop kids out there heard the track and they wanted to cover the track, but you know they have to get permission from the owner, which was Wayne McGee. We found him and I said, look guys, I found him.

What are you going to do? So what do you suggest? I said, you need to I found them. What are you gonna do? So what do you suggest? I said, you need to get to Toronto now, right away. So they booked the next flight into Toronto and what do you know? They got here, it's a worst snowstorm. I was so embarrassed for these kids, but it didn't stop them.

They got their map, they rent a SUV. I introduced them to Wayne McGee's sister and family. And then that's how we got the Jamaica to Toronto. But this was like a concert series? Or it's the, this is just, because light in the attic, they wanted to put out like a compilation or was it? Then, after they reissued at Sounds of Joy, then they created the Jamaica, the Toronto compilation.

OK, and they were smart. They included that Cougars song on it. When that appeared on the compilation, did you find people rediscovering the Cougars and kind of trying to do what I'm trying to do right now, which is shine a light on this scene, this band that was tearing up the young street strip in the late 60s, the early 70s. But guys like me too young to appreciate, to understand, try to educate the people. Did you find there was a rediscovery of the Cougars after that issue? Yes, but more than that. At the time when that album came out, reggae was in a low ebb.

No kidding. No because you had early guys like Sibyls, Bernie Peters, all those early reggae artists who did well, but for some reason there was a break and Reggae wasn't doing well. And this is what this album did for Reggae music and for all artists in Canada. Why I say that, I think I told you this story before. When I went to London, England, I went to HMV there, introduced myself that I'm Jay Douglas,

and I'm one of the artists in the compilation Jamaica the Toronto. Oh man, they treated me royally. They gave me everything, the best discount and they said, you guys don't understand what you have over there. If we had the opportunity, this is exactly what, if we had the opportunity here in London, England, to do that CD release that you all have over there

and took for granted, we would have put it in Wimbley Stadium. That's what we, I go, wait a minute. And they were serious. They would put it in Wimbley Stadium. What does that say about us? Like, why aren't we appreciative of what we have in our own backyard? It's a tradition from a long time that you have to be a king in some other palace or whatever.

It's just that, and it's a very good, because it's a great country. Natural resources on top, talent, minerals, fresh water, everything. But sometimes when we get a little too busy, we forget what we really have. And I tell you this much, when I go abroad, Hong Kong, all these places, and I said, ladies and gentlemen, greetings to you from Canada.

They applaud, they love Canada, they respect us. I'm telling you the truth. And then, on top of that, I'll go and say, well, I was born in Jamaica. More joy, you know? And it's starting to change because the younger generation, they're eager to learn. When I do shows, they ask me questions. They ask me about vinyl.

They tell me how much they love the vinyl. They ask me about the music, you know. How do I feel about, and music, you know, how do I feel about and how, you know, I said, please, you love the music, go and play an instrument. Play an instrument, sing a happy song, you know, and just do the best you can. Yeah. Well, here, I'm a curious cat myself, Jay. So I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind

shouting out some of the nightclubs that the Cougars would have been playing on Yonge Street back in the late 60s, early 70s. Let me know the nightclub and then let me know, is it still here, is it gone? So many of those great Yonge Street nightclubs are gone, sadly. Okay, we played the Colonial.

Of course, that was a jazz place. That's where Miles and all those great jazz players, Cannonball, Adley, all those, you know? And we played, of course, Le Coq d'Or. Of course. Oh man. Ooh! That's where you, it was going to school. The Cock-a-Dor. Of course. Oh man. Ooh. That's where you, it was going to school.

Six nights a week, King Curtis, Commodores, Little Charles and the Sidewriters, Teddy Penegras with the Blue Note, Parliament Funkadelics, oh, goes on and on and you know, they would play there and then they would hang around town for another two or three weeks, name it. And we would play, we would play the Soul Palace

across the street, Club Jamaica, Club club Trinidad these are all in young street man we would play the Latin quarters Zanzibar yeah that's where the Blackburn family started up Bobby Dean the block burns today their dad and his band, and guess what, look at this. Every day, Monday to Friday, there's a jam, live jam from noon to five in the evening. So when a big name artist from the States, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, any name that comes to town to play, they would come up to the Zanzibar in the afternoon and be a part of the jam and they would discover beautiful, great musicians

and take them back to the stage like Roland Prince, other guys, yeah, we don't have that anymore. Those days, man, you dressed up to go downtown Young Street Today you dress up go down there. You look how the place what kind of stuff is that? I know times have changed but the music the magic There's a gentleman named Johnny Dover court who has these great walking tours and he will kind of you'll walk Yonge Street and he'll be telling you about the defunct nightclubs in the history and I had him on and it was fascinating to learn about this scene

that I missed. I mean what happened like what happened Jay like we just Toronto became a little less cool? First talking about the gentleman you mentioned Johnny Dovercourt. Also Nicholas Jennings. Okay. He does those tours too. Also, he's in charge of that museum down in Young Street.

Fryers Museum? Yeah. Okay, because J Ho, shout out to Jeremy Hopkins on the live stream, who said it's very cool that the Fryers Museum pays tribute to that Young Street history. Yes, and also the question you just asked me, what happened? Yeah. Did Toronto become less cool, more, I don't know, more business oriented?

Like what happened to Toronto that we had this really cool Youngstreet strip? You just named all those names that we could catch. And you know, Cockdore, we hear about the Romp and Ronnie Hawkins, right? And the Hawks and the history that becomes the band. And you hear about this history, but today it's a look at what we got the, you got some, some stuff going on, uh, on other streets, you got, you still have your, um, horseshoe tavern. You got your lease palace, right?

But these are few and far between. You still have the Elma combo, but it's a different Elma combo. Really? Like what happened to that? It all changed when Eaton's centers Eaton centers came the whole picture change young and done to us. Yeah from coming up from Queen all of that change and

Different becomes more of a business, but here's the deal. In any society, the kids are the gem of the future, and we have to teach them, and teach them well. And that makes a big difference, because when we were kids, our young folks here, in the early years, you know, as young kids, you had the little daily chores you have to do at home, especially on a Saturday, vacuum and all that stuff. In the background, you could hear Motown music playing.

Nobody was beating us over the head, but you could hear Stevie Wonder, all of that, funk, Motown, all of that, and it grows, the subconscious. It's registered. So what it comes down to is just teaching the children. And don't forget, a generation lasts 35, 40 years. We've got to get the kids ready for the future with good substance.

Good advice. Good advice to everybody listening now, Jay, I got to congratulate you.. So you know, I always keep tabs on what's going on with FOTMs. FOTMs are friends of Toronto Mike. Jay, you've been a FOTM for several years. You're a legend. I love it when you're in my calendar. I'm like, Jay is going to come over. It's summertime in March. But you were recognized very recently with the Bob Marley Day Humanitarian Lifetime Award.

Now that's a mouthful, but that's impressive. Congratulations. Thank you, man. You sure. When do you sleep? I'm doing my homework. I'm telling you, the Bob Marley Day Humanitarian Lifetime Award. Yes. We got a short in that maybe, maybe not, but, uh, you honored for what to be recognized as such. Now I can't pretend I understand completely the legacy of that award, except it's very impressive

to hear and to put on the biography. Like I'm impressed. Thank you. And that's given to me by Courtney Berry, who's in charge of this association, that gave it to me with the mayor of Toronto, Mayor Chow. And this award, it's been established now for a little over 30 years.

You know, every February Bob Marley's birthday, they have a celebration at City Hall. And it's the Bob Marley Day. And once in so many years, they will give someone the Bob Marley lifetime achievement award and this year I was the recipient which I appreciate and I accept on behalf of the young generation because I have to pass the baton to these young kids but what's so very interesting about this award? Plus another one I got.

Don't steal my thunder. OK, it's coming. It's coming. All right. So it's OK. I will. What's so beautiful about this award? It was given with love. And that means a lot. No politics, just pure love, brother. Well, speaking of politics

You you famously made Former mayor the late Rob Ford dance. We talked about that your first time. So the question is Have you made Olivia Chow dance? She danced. Okay. See this is your role man. Love right? This is you're not there to be political. You don't care You're there to make people political. You don't care. You're there to make people dance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you.

I love what you're saying, brother, because you respect yourself and others and what you're doing. No, we don't need the politics. And another thing, too, I'm a spiritualist. And let me say this. I'm not ashamed or afraid to say the spirit has no color. It has no color.

It's all for us, we're all one. The gentleman sang it, Bob Marley, one love, one art, let's get together. We need to pay attention. When Mayor Ford was there, and I went to the council, and we sang it, they danced, and after it was there, and I went to the council, and we sang it. They danced, and after it was over, everybody was so calm and cool,

because you know, the vibes was quite heavy at this time. And I was thinking, again, Mayor Chao, and last night again, I was at a function with my council, Mike Cole, and she showed up and we were singing one love again, everybody, because that's what it's meant to be. One love, one art. That's what it's meant to be. We need to put politics aside and just live this beautiful life and planet earth.

One love. Yes, one love, my brother. Did John Tory dance for you? Because you know we did Rob Ford dance, Olivia Chow, you got John Torrey in the middle there. Did you make him dance? I didn't make him dance but he would try to sing with me. Well, get those earplugs. Okay, how was he as a singer? Can he sing? He's cool. He's cool. He's cool. You know, everybody's got a part to play in this big stage, man.

All the world's a stage. And a trio said that. Yeah. And we have a part to play. That's right. Beautiful. OK, now the other award I wanted to congratulate you on the Helen Mabel Rose Foundation Stone Award. And this award recognizes individuals whose work and ideas build community and lift consciousness.

You're gonna have to build a bigger trophy shelf, I think, Jay, you're winning these prestigious awards. Congratulations on the Helen Mabel, another title we might have to shorten, okay? Helen Mabel Rose Foundation Stone Award. Yes, and to shorten it, there's a reverend from the United States, her name is Rose Lester and she came north to Toronto and founded a church that's called the Verity Center and it's in Vaughan Road, you know a lot of spiritual positive teaching and

because she was the first of the Church of Better Living to to form a church here and it's called the Verity Center Church of Better Living the award is in her name and that's the award that I receive. Okay, well congrats again. Thank you. Like I said, I'm watching all the FOTMs all the time for making sure they're contributing positive things to our community, to our society.

And the minister there, sorry. No, please. The minister there now is Reverend Lemitra Hall, and she's from Chicago, and doing such a wonderful job, hoping up to the community, a lot of beautiful minds. It's at 449 Vaughan Road, a lot of positive affirmation,

how to make her days much better. Jay, do you like baseball? Oh yeah, I love sports, man. Okay, here, and I'm just spitballing here, so don't hold me to it. I'm just thinking on my feet here. But I'm wondering, you love to make people dance, you love to spread love.

I'm wondering if maybe we gotta get you to Christie Pitts for a Toronto Maple Leafs baseball game one day this summer. Jay Douglas spreading the love, singing maybe some reggae. I think that's something we would all love in this city. Oh, I grew up at Christie Pitts. Did you go to many Maple Leafs games at Christie Pitts? I think they've been there since 69, I wanna say.

Yeah, I've been to a few sitting on the hillside. It's great, right? Yeah, it's changing over there, but it's good to see it's still going. And there you go, that's foundation. In the sports baseball, they've done so much, so much for the community, and still carrying that banner. While I was a student at Central Tech,

I just lived up the road from Christi Piddle, 166 and a half Christy Street, because my mom came as a domestic worker and both of us live in a, at those days they call it upstairs. It was just duplex. No, not duplex. I'll tell you anyway, it was a two bedroom. Okay. Yeah.

And that's so I was able to go to Christopher all the time. And the Clinton Tavern was just, right. Am I going too fast? No, it's funny. Cause last night I was meeting a couple of other FOTMs for drinks at the cafe Diplomatico. So I was at college.

I used to sing there. You know, I used to sing at cafe Diplomatico. He used to do the street festival, little Italy. Oh man. Rico Rocco is the owner. I've used to sing there in the lean green years. Okay, it's just too much. My wires are overloaded here and everything. Everything's connected. But you know that Jay, so you're talking about Italian food here. So I'm just going to tell you, you've been here. It's your third time here.

Yeah. Did you get the famous delicious Palma pasta lasagna the last couple of times? I am starting to get worried about you. It's like you're reading my mind. I'm doing this. You look hungry. Check it out. I'm doing this interview with you talking and I'm going behind myself, my mind. I said, I hope he's gonna offer me that pasta. I wouldn't tease you with that empty box there. Listen, I have one in my freezer right now. I wouldn't do that.

That's cruel and unusual punishment. I just want you to know Italian foods, cause I'm gonna get back to that Maple Leafs baseball in a second. You're not leaving here without the lasagna from Paul. Goodness, I was questioning. Delicious. No, listen, every time you visit, I got a lasagna for you. But also you're leaving here with fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery.

It's funny, just this morning, the gang from Great Lakes was in this basement. We recorded another episode of Between Two Fermenters, which is the new Great Lakes beer podcast. And that's a great independent craft brewery man. So you got the great Italian food, you got the great fresh craft beer, we got the great memories from Cafe Diplomatico, and of course we were talking about Christy Pitts. And I just want everybody listening to know there's a new Toronto Maple Leafs baseball season at Christy Pitts starting May 12.

So stay tuned for more info about this on Toronto Mike, but I just want to put that in the, the, the ears and the minds and the hearts of everybody listening Maple Leafs baseball, Christie Pitts, May 12 that's coming soon. But another sponsor of this show, Jay is Ridley funeral home. And they're just wonderful people at Ridley funeral home. You know, they're dealing with people in their most vulnerable time, right? Having lost a loved one. So I'm going to just segue to somebody we just lost. Okay. I'm going to play a little music because I've been reading a lot about this woman. I feel

like regret because I only really dove into her career and started to appreciate, you know what she brought to Canada After she passed away and I I just got us that's a bad habit I have Jay's like why didn't I appreciate this person when they were here and we could like share the love with them So let's play a little music and see if we can talk about This person Whoa, actually, that's you. That's you Jay. Yeah wrong jam. We're coming. That's a teaser that's you. That's you, Jay. Wrong jam. That's a teaser for later. That's okay.

This is who I want to play. I want to play. Now keep in mind that I'm an artist. Let's keep it going. Let's keep it going. Let this simmer for a little bit. And then I want to talk to you about Carol Brown. Let this simmer for a little bit.

And then I want to talk to you about Carol Brown. Carol Brown. Awesome. I'm reaching out for your love Awesome Don't you touch me baby All my life I'm starved for love But behind my mask of pride

That I'm hiding from the one I truly love Afraid to let go I just suffered from the pain And just when I'm in need Oh for real, true friend Boy, I look around And you were gone Suddenly I felt all alone

And I find that I Sweet voice. I saw you in the ice house all alone And I find that I Sweet voice. Sweet voice. I learned that Carol passed away on January 31st. Yeah. And she was also from Jamaica, but she's been living in Canada since 1972. And I've been kind of diving into her catalog. You know, it says, touch me baby. And then there's I won't hurt your feelings and feel so good.

And I'm wondering, you know, much like yourself, she's won many an award as a top reggae artist in this country. But I'm wondering if you had any words to say about the late great Carol Brown? Yes. And very, very blessed, talented lady. Of course, she's from Jamaica. Came here and she contributed so much to reggae. If you were to go up to Eglinton, Little Jamaica, that mural there that was created by Councillor Josh Cole, Michael and myself. You'll see her picture is in that.

She's a Titan of Toronto reggae. Yes. Also, she passed away the end of January. And also, just a little before that, we lost Bernie Peters too. Yeah, he's on the mural too. No, please pay respect to all we've lost here. Bernie Peters is one of my producer, reggae producer, and he toured with Toots in the Mettles for 13 years. And Carl and Bernie and Bernie are very good

friends and I must say Carol, her last child, her daughter was fathered by the late Jackie Me Too. Yes and that's Crystal Me me too I just got a message from her two days ago and we've lost an icon in the industry and may she rest in power and thank you so much for you just keep blowing my mind all day man you cover I don't know when you sleep or when you go for vacation. Because I feel awful. I feel I have these blind spots, Jay. Like, why do I not know Carol Brown?

Like, where am I? What's wrong with me? No, it's not anything wrong with you. You have to remember my good brother. These things and time, when you, what we're doing here is not by coincidence. It's the, it's time is the master of everything. Nothing happens before the time.

And that's exactly, don't, don't be hard on yourself. I'm going to shout out another FOTM, Mark Wiseblood, who turned me on to this jam right here. Looks like the end, looks like the end of the world Awesome, awesome Where is my man? So much love to Carol Brown's family, Crystal, everybody who loved her and music fans around the world because we lost a good one here. And if I may add to it, her funeral will be March 12th. Okay. At Meadowvale Funeral Home. I just got that info yesterday. Oh thanks for thanks for that update. Okay thank you so much. All right Jay I'm gonna play a little bit of something different. I teased it earlier here today

But I gotta I gotta find out what's going on with these these jams here Everywhere you turn, I'll be a disruption, I want Fire, blood, farming for the land, you don't see what I want Wars after wars, that's what I want I want to go on J-W For the world is trouble We need to fix it And leave it in even Go take it, dammi quit World is trouble

We are gonna fix it You got to believe it The world is trouble We can fix it And live it ain't easy Said the world is trouble Fear from afar You got to believe it

Global warning, ramping destruction Threaten like a fire star, money just can't come Hungry bellies in the sea Impact the water, the air quality can't even breathe So father, we call on you Only you know what to do True, true, tell them now Cast away your evil spell Fire burn you cast away

you've got your troubles together and make things right gotta be sure of all things we do things we feel and see were meant to be We're listening to here. We're listening to The World Is Trouble. It was a song written by the late and great Dennis Brown, the crown prince of reggae. Bob Marley gave him that name.

I've been a fan of this young man, he died very young, at the age of 40, something like that. But I've been studying his lyrics, the way how he sits in this reggae rhythm. He's a master at it. And then I studied more about it, he's very articulate. Not only that, he loves soul music. He's got soul music out there, but he stayed the reggae course. So the blues and the R&B has influence on us. And what I discovered, he left a lot of good messages, wolves and leopards, all these things.

So I studied him, and for some reason I was in doing something when they said let me call Jamaica I'm gonna call Sly Dunbar and I sang it over the phone while I'm in a shopping mall the people looking at me the world is trouble I said Sly and and Garfield is engineer I said I got to do the song something is telling me and Sly said okay we'll roll with it but I want you to know this I did the original track with Dennis Brown he and the bass player and he said we're gonna do it for you but what's so good about it we're gonna do with the same guys who did the original track in the 70s 80s I said whoa wow we did it and there was a young

lady for 12 years she's been saying to me every time I would see her mr. Douglas when are we gonna do something I said I don't know when but one day I'll call you it's so happened I called her and I sent her to Sly Dunbar in Jamaica. And that's what we get. And this is one of the best feedback, because when you look around, see what's happening around us, we're living in challenging times, but if you notice,

I said, the world is troubled and living ain't easy and she goes we gonna fix it So if I'm not part of the problem, I'm part of the solution. It's our responsibility To make this a better world for the grandchildren So Jay you have hope. Yes Yes, and if we could only Get the IR up. Sorry the people who are in charge, let's take positive message into the institutions, to the kids, the young people, positive messages.

We're not here to, you know, we're here for positive change. That's not here to cause any problems. One love. Yes, you got it. But surely, you know, people are like Mr. Douglas, there's a climate emergency. People are so bipartisanship in politics. It's like there's no crossing the aisle and working things out and compromise.

It's like my way or the highway. You've got rampant anti-Semitism. There's a Israel versus Hamas. You've got Russia's in Ukraine and Putin murdering his rivals. There's, you know, we got what's going on in China. There's still North Korea. There's all, you know, all these spots.

Yeah. Say it, brother. Trump, Pierre Poliev, we are troubled and I'm wondering when these people say you know Mr. Douglas, the world is troubled. You know it's not as simple right? It's not as simple as just smile and dance right? So being part of the solution is yeah, beautiful music, smiling, loving one another but you've got to be like you said, you've got to be a part of the solution. Yeah So there is hope there's hope we need to spread that's the message we need to spread in 2024 that there's hope

The world is troubled, but we're not all you know screwed. There's hope there's hope and not only that we must be careful of super ego My brother I've never talked like this because I have to be careful, you have to be careful because we're not here to create enemies. So check this out, we got to check that super ego. And one thing I'm gonna say, karma knows everybody's address. We ought to speak well, because the mastermind is the universe. And if we don't speak well, do well, live well, it come back at us.

But karma knows everybody's address. And so we have to be careful of the super ego. That's as far as I'll go. This is a safe space, Jay. You can, you know, don't worry about it. You share what's in your heart, what's on your mind. But you know, it's so, the truth can always be an offense when it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be.

John Lennon wrote a song called Imagine. Look at the price. The truth. Let's be realistic. The truth goes a long way. To thine own self be true. The truth will make you free. Ah.

God bless you. I'm gonna play another song. I feel like more music. Okay, so who is the woman? What's her name? You kind of referenced, you know, what was her name that we hear on that? The world is troubled song. Tasha T. Tasha T. Yes.

Young, bright talent. And she's been in the community for quite a while. Tasha T. And I thank you for giving her, cause she's a wonderful soul. Living here, work very hard, and it's been 12 years, 12 years. And I finally. What took you so long, Jay?

Come on, this talent is right there in our backyard and you waited 12 years to. Cause it was not my all doing, the mind. Well, Karma knows where you live. Carmen knows where Tasha T lives too. So Carmen's got a lot of stuff going on too. Busy, busy, busy, busy. All right. There's another song I want to play and then I want to have a conversation about Canada's reggae scene in 2024. But before I press play right here right now, I want to let you know, Jay, there's a podcast

you should subscribe to. It's called the Advantage Investor podcast. Whether you already work with a trusted financial advisor or if you currently manage your own investment plans, the Advantage Investor provides the engaging wealth management information you value as you, Jay Douglas, pursue your most important goals. And I think that's spreading love, that's spreading happiness, that's bringing the people the music. So while you can focus on that and you can get your info from the advantaged investor

so you can afford to live that life right there right now. Okay, Jay. Yes, sir. I'm thinking at home, you probably have a drawer full of cables Maybe you got old tech old electronic stuff that you haven't used in years. It probably doesn't even work. Maybe it's obsolete technology My fear is you're gonna throw that in the garbage one day and then those chemicals will end up in our landfill So I'm just gonna give you a pro tip go to recycle my electronics dot ca and then you could put in your postal code and it'll spit out a

accredited low Location near you or you can drop that stuff off and it gets properly recycled So the chemicals don't end up in our landfill that's being part of the solution. It's all full circle here. It's all full circle And you know what is respect. No, I love what you're doing and say no kid is respecting planet Earth We only have one. Exactly. Because I'm not trusting Elon Musk to live on Mars, okay? We got one, I love one planet here.

The planet that we lived on. Man, we ought to respect it, love it. That's where all the riches are. That's why you're not flying a private jet everywhere. I'm not even going to say. You're a brave, you know what happened. Why did you ask if I had a helicopter pad in the backyard? Come on, come on. You don't need to fly everywhere. Okay. Jay, I want to play another song here. I'm enjoying this. You want to kick out another one? Sure. Wow. You get that.

Get happy. Mmm. Mmm. And not mother blues Won't you meet me? Oh won't you meet me? Won't you meet me? Meet me at Grandma's joint

Across the track where grandma stays we have a very nice time every Saturday grandma's joint stays open all night long oh man jump a jump till the break of dawn won't you meet me meet me at Grandma's Charter Awesome. What are we listening to? I can't reveal my sources, Jay.

If I tell you, I have to kill you, so I don't want to do that here. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. But what am I listening to? Oh, Grandma's, meet me at Grandma's. You know who's playing guitar in there? Let me at Grand. You know who's playing guitar in that? Let me... No. I'll tell you. That's Danny Marks. Hey, yeah. From the blues? Sure.

He's playing the guitar. This song was produced by Eddie Bullion. A great put up in Markham. Thunderdome music. And all local players, you know.ucky Berger, Danny Marks and the bass player Andrew Stewart he plays a lot with Lionel Lewis and Eddie Bullen playing keyboards, sax, Bobby Shoe oh oh man, just so many, it's all local people. And when I was a kid in Jamaica, before I came here, I heard this song

coming from the radio in Miami, double INZ, and it stayed with me until I came to Canada. Until this day, couldn't find a vinyl for it, but I found it online. And this song was recorded by Stevenson, George Stevenson. And Danny Marks, he knows a lot about the blues. We can't, seems like this was the only recording by that gentleman. An incredible piece of work. Dave Deloni plays keyboard. Yeah, this is, oh, where'd you get this? You know, I wanted to let people know because we kind of focus on reggae. At least I gravitate towards the reggae.

And the fact is, okay, there's a blues song. There's a, you got jazz, you know, West Indian rhythms. I mean, you're a multi-talented guy. Thank you. But guess what? No, I tell you this. It all came from the blues. Everything comes out of the blues.

And we have to respect the blues. Everything comes out of the blues. And we have to respect the foundation. It all came from the blues. Southern United States, New Orleans, up into Chicago. That's how it goes, brother. And then, you know, I could keep going up the genres. You got your soul funk, you got just, could keep going up the genres. You got your your soul funk. You got to get just. So many genres spilling out of that, but reggae being one.

And I'm just before we say goodbye here. Jake, would you mind sharing with me your your your two cents on the state, the current state of Canada's reggae scene? So as we speak here on March 1st, 2024, what's Canada's reggae scene like today? Thanks for asking me. What's the scene? What's the state? For example, God bless you for doing what you're doing. Don't stop because you're making a difference. We have great talents in this country. talent in this country. No kid. Reggae, lovers rock. Did you know Canada is known for number one? Lovers rock, reggae. No kidding. And here's the deal, it's true but guess what, we don't have any outlet as such for the music.

We don't have enough station, TV station, radio station, so whatever you're doing, we're blessed. And also, a lot of the young reggae artists, they need good management. The artist needs proper direction. And that's one big thing that's missing, not proper management. Yes, sorry, go ahead.

But there's still hope, because beautiful people like you, and we wanna thank all the beautiful people that are making it happen. Promoters who still, you know, RastaFest, the CNE, Harborfront, all the different festivals, Jamaica Day, they're all pushing and working with reggae and the DJs out there, you know, people like DJ Chocolate yourself, you know, Kerry Mullins, a lot of people, you know, you know, Tanya and, you know, a lot of reggae people who are still working with reggae

and a lot of people and promoters. So we still keep on doing it, but we just need to have more exposure, distribution for the reggae. So you mentioned, you know, there's not many outlets where we're going to hear, you know, Canadian reggae music. I mean, there's a lot of outlets where you're going to hear Bob Marley, but what outlets are there in this city? Like, I'm just thinking what stations will play Jay Douglas, for example? Not enough is the answer.

Um, cause you believe jazz nine one, guys like jazz FM. Yeah. And, uh, Ron little John, you know, jazz, no kid and CBC, CBC, CBC, CBC. And there's some station in Ottawa, Montreal, you know, CFR, UNGWELF, you know, there's some stations, but there's room, more room for improvement. Do you get nervous if you hear from certain people that they'd like to defund the CBC? Like, it sounds like the CBC is a

very important outlet, particularly for giving exposure to great music like yours. It would be a shame to lose that unifying broadcast medium. Big time. Big time. Big time. Would be a shame. Here you go again with a very, very strong statement and question.

My brother, I'll say this to you. There's an old saying, experience teaches wisdom. We are the, put it this way, a wise man faces reality. A thought becomes a reality, a spoken word is powerful. We ought to respect the foundations. It's good you get a young person who comes out of a university or whatever with degrees and whatever, that's fine.

They're the gem of the future. But we're the wise mind. Because you have to educate these young people about the foundations of anything. Whatever you do, I know you still will respect where it's coming from. And sometimes when these decisions are being made, these decisions, it's not only based on money alone,

because time is more important than money. Time is of the essence. So we need to guide the young minds about the foundation of anything, where it's coming from, and to protect and respect the boundaries and borders of foundation. Music, science, whatever. It's more than just academic skills.

When can we next see J Douglas perform for us? Thank you again. Good question. I got the good questions today. Jay, I love you as a guest because you're good for my ego. I know you said be careful of the big super ego, so it's dangerous that you're inflating my ego by, you know, praising my questions. It's going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Well, thank you. This ego has got substance. Substance. And thank you for asking. I'll be performing at the Old Mill March 15th. You know, that's my daughter's eighth birthday. March 15th? Yes, yes sir. And I love the Old Mill. As you know, I'm a West End guy. I love the Old Mill.

I bike by it all the time. And that's a great venue for you. So people can get tickets and see Jay Douglas on March 15th at the Old Mill. Yes, and let me know if you would like to be there. Oh, my goodness. I got to expose my eight year old to more reggae anyways. I think this will be killing all the birds of one stone.

Yeah, it will not be just reggae. It's just a very rounded repertoire. The Old Mill, it's a beautiful room. Beautiful. Because and with me being a Rotarian we go to the old middle for lunch sometimes, you know and same being a rotarian again Their motto is service above self so Listen full circle here

Love the old mill, love Jay Douglas, you're a valued FOTM and this won't be your last visit here because you're going to need more lasagna at some point. Oh, you know that. You know that. Listen, let me just say this, okay, because you've pumped my tires quite a bit this episode. I meant to pump your tires, but you keep doing what you're doing. Honestly, whenever you show up and you're playing, I'm like, there's a living legend.

Even now, it's like I look at my calendar, oh, a living legend is gonna visit. I hope you know that you're appreciated and I just hope people have given you your flowers. Thank you and I love coming here because you do your homework so well, you make it so easy for me and I feed off your energy. And I wanna thank-

I feed off your energy. I wanna thank thank you. I feed off your energy. I want to thank my publicist, Eric Alper, the best. What a gentleman. Yeah, he's a good guy. Also, Greg Gooden, my manager for my social media and everything. Please know that I love you all out there and the fans and this great country and this great city. God bless Canada. God bless Toronto. And that brings us to the end of our 1442nd show.

You can follow me on Twitter and Blue Sky. I'm at Toronto Mike. Jay, where's the best place to go to, like, just find out what the new music, where the new music is, where you're playing as you got a Jay Douglas website? Oh, yes. Jay Douglas website oh yes Jay Douglas music that come okay Jay Douglas music calm their Instagram Instagram and all those other outlets Jay Douglas music yeah much love to all who made this possible that is Great Lakes Brewery palm-aposta recycle my.ca, Raymond James Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Club, and Ridley Funeral Home.

You got a measuring tape there courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home right here Jay. I meant to give you that earlier, but just another little present for you here. That's nice, thank you. I'll see everybody next week when my special guest is a gentleman making his Toronto Mike debut. On Monday we will have James Clark in the basement. I'm looking forward to that one. See you all then. Yeah, I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of gray Cause I know that's true, yes I do

I know it's true, yeah I know it's true, how much, yeah I've been 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 I'm not and maybe I am I guess the time 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 It won't go away Because 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 Shakna Kur But I like it much better going down on you, yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up rosy and gray 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 Cause everything is rosy now

Everything is rosy and Everything is rosy and grey Yeah, yeah, yeah