Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Jay Douglas: Toronto Mike'd #717

Episode Date: September 8, 2020

Mike chats with Jay Douglas about his amazing career in music, singing with The Cougars, making Rob Ford dance, and the history of reggae music.

Welcome to episode 717 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Pumpkins After Dark. Save 10% with the promo code MICED. M-I-K-E-D. CDN Technologies. Your outsourced IT department. Call Barb at 905-542-9759.

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I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week is the man now described as a treasure trove of Toronto Jamaican musical history, Jay Douglas. Welcome, Jay. Hey, it's good to be here. It's good to meet you in person. We had a virtual meeting.

Yes, yes, yes. You, me, and my rabbi, Ralph Ben-Murgy. But not that kind of rabbi. Good teacher, good teacher. Truth. That combo's different than this one, so. Oh, man, I love this. Did you enjoy your, because that was a deep spiritual dive with Ralph Ben-Murgy.

Did you enjoy it? Very much so. And I hope that I was able to, you know, hold my own as I, you know, because Ralph is pretty deep. He's a good teacher. And, you know, we touched some very truthful base. Now, speaking of truthful base,

just if you could just make sure you're projecting into the mic, because I don't want to lose a syllable. I got Jay Douglas in my backyard. Yes, that's better. Okay. Okay. You know, being a singer, we tend to be conscious of mic techniques. Well, that's your first mistake. There are no techniques in this studio. Take a high note, you back up. Okay, thanks for the freedom, bro. Thank you for this. AJ, I heard you tell Ralph Ben-Murray. Again, if I haven't been clear, let me just tell the people

that there's a great episode of Ralph Ben-Murray's podcast, Not That Kind of Rabbi, that features you. And we're not going to do that this episode, but you talk a lot about you're a Rastafarian. You can say that. You said it on Ralph's podcast. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. This is not the religious podcast. There's no, you seem, and I'm not going to dive into spirituality because I want to talk about music here. But it's interesting how you're sheepish about that, which I would be very proud. Well, I am proud. When you say Rastafarian,

it's unfortunate that many of us tend to prejudge. And there's a certain stigma, especially... Is it the marijuana? Well, violence with the marijuana, you know. It's so unfortunate because here's something that many of us need to learn about. For example, you're talking about a rabbi or an Orthodox Jewish or rabbi person. Right. The first thing that comes to mind is that diet.

The diet and the spirituality. Now, where most of us are making a mistake about Rastafarians, it's very hard to find a real, true Rastafarian outside of Jamaica. Are you one?

I'm a spiritualist. See, I feel like now I'm on Ralph's turf. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Because this is important because now there's a difference between a Rastafarian and a dreadlocks. The guy who wears that here, you know,

it's not necessarily that he's mostly a dreadlocks, a fashion. Okay. A Rastafarian, mostly a dreadlocks, a fashion. Okay. A Rastafarian, like a Marley, lives by the land, the diet, and the truth. So this is something that many of us need to know. You see a dude out there wearing a salacia button and doing some of the wrong things. That's not favorable to what Rastafarian is true about.

Right. The diet comes into place first, you know. Certain things in that diet is not allowed or not acceptable. Like what? Like just, are there some good foods on that list? What's not allowed? Well, most, salt is not allowed. Salt's in everything.

No? How do you eat? Okay, good question. No, you didn't want to get heavy, but you did. You're just like Ralph. I need to know because I'm not a cutthroat. These things are important because you said salt is allowed. The land.

The riches is in the land. Celery. That's the most natural salt now i have to be careful because a lot of people don't want to hear me talk like this right because they want to hear about the music right right and they're saying that i'm going into territory but the most natural form of sodium is celery that you plant in your garden see what i'm saying yeah so oh okay it's deep man because certain salt that okay you understand what i'm saying there's some loopholes with the salt like not all salt is banned right maybe some organic salts okay i'm glad you're saying okay because we gotta be careful here because we don't want to be stepping in and toes. And that's, you know, so the music, you know, I hope you understand.

So Rastafarian, it's not because you see a guy wearing dreadlocks, but no, no, that's a fashion. You've got to live the true Rastafarian life. That's right. And I'm not saying that I'm so perfect and everybody else is wrong. And because of that, there's a stigma there, which is so unfortunate Right. And I'm not saying that I'm so perfect and everybody else is wrong. Right. And because of that, there's a stigma there, which is so unfortunate. Because when you listen to Bob Marley's stuff, he's not telling you to do wrong things,

shoot up a bank under the name of, none of that. But it's the world we live in today. We're going to hear some Bob Marley. Oh. Later in this program. Oh. Later in this program. Oh. And I heard you tell Ralph, like, you've been on stage performing music

since you were conceived. Yes. And you're from Montego Bay, right? Yes. So maybe before I get you to Canada here, like, tell me a little bit about, like, first appearing

on stage in Montego Bay when you were, like, a very young man, very young. Very, very young. Well, as you know, in the early years, Jamaica was part of the British Commonwealth, and so the British, they were in control. We were not independent. You're a colony, right?

Right, colonized. But some of the good things came out of that. Penmanship, discipline, respect, especially to the elders. Those days, a child was raised by the neighborhood, not just by the biological appearance. We had to be respectful of ourselves. And learn to spell properly and all that stuff and so music was part of this curriculum so I was raised a Methodist and right and early Sunday school we had to sing, recite poems, school, music.

And in the afternoon after lunch, they would take us outside under the mango tree in the schoolyard, sing. And the teacher would put her ear at my mouth when I'm singing, and she could tell if I was singing out of tune or key, and she could tell if I had the out of tune or key and she could tell if I had the ability the potential to be a singer so if I didn't she would take us aside who had it stays in one side and that's where it started then we went into talent show pick a star you talking about American Idol give me a chance give. Give me a break. You want to see real... Jamaican Idol.

And they would come to the show 8 o'clock tonight for that contest and they would let you know if you had it. And you had it. Thank God. You had to sing, be polite,

be accountable. If the band made a a mistake i was not allowed to turn around and look at the band right you know they taught us stage stagemanship you know and i mean you're really young because uh like how old are you when you come to Canada? A young teenager. And am I right that your mother came here first? Domestic worker. I was a domestic worker in the 50s. And as soon as I got here, she made it known. She said, young man, you're going to need an education.

And knowledge is power when it's used effectively. So I went straight to Central Technical School at Bathurst and Harvard. Oh, yes. That's where I went to school. And you were, I guess you're in high school, Central Tech. Yeah. When you first, you make your, I guess you can say your Canadian performing debut. How'd you know that? I have done my homework. Well, listen, I do my homework. No one's going to say I don't do my homework. Yeah, yeah. Because being a student there, every year we had a school anniversary celebration. So there was a school anniversary celebration, and they asked me to perform. Those of us who would like to perform, and I performed with a guitar player. And I sung,

You're my love, you're my angel, you're the girl of my dreams. But I'd like to thank you for waiting patiently. Daddy's home. Daddy's home to stay. Sheps and the Limelights. Daddy's home. Daddy's home to stay. Sheps and the Limelights. Daddy's home.

Anytime you want to do that during this hour, please, listen, honestly, I will shut up, and I will, anytime you want to sing on that microphone. Start it right there. Start it right there at Central Tech, doing Daddy's Home. Now, a lot of people thought Jermaine Jackson from the Jackson Five. No, it was Sheps and the Limelights, a doo-wop group. Look them up online. Sheps and the Limelights.

No, I will. And let me tell the listeners, yes, I'm going to have some Jay Douglas on this show. Although you just heard some Jay Douglas, but I'm going to have more. But also, if time permits, and I hope it does, I'm going to make it happen. We're going to play five of your favorite songs of all time, just so I can hear you tell me why you love the song and what it means to you it happen. We're going to play five of your favorite songs of all time just so I can hear you tell me why you love this song and what it means to you. Sure. But I'm going to first take us back. Here's a jam.

I'm going to start playing it and then I'm going to ask you about it. You ready? Oh yeah. Oh my goodness. I told you I'd do my homework. Whoa. Ay yi yi. Woo. Oh my goodness I told you I'd do my homework Sooner or later you're gonna want me Oh my goodness Where did you find that? I have my sources Jay please

I know people But tell me about Okay that's the Cougars That's right First band that I Tell me that's the Cougars. That's right. First band that I... Tell me everything about the Cougars. Just fill my head with this knowledge. Cougars, while I was

a student at Central Technical School, largest technical school in the Commonwealth, I was out one day doing phys ed, and the play field is still there, right? Lines with Bathurst Street and Harvard. And there was a while i'm playing soccer out there with fellow students i heard a voice hey you come down to the whiff club

on sunday at 12 a.m now the whiff club is the west indian federation club where all the black people or people from the islands would meet for dinner and hang out. That was the only club at the time until they had Club Jamaica, Tropics, Club Trinidad. But the whiff, it was at Brunswick and College. Okay, yeah. West Indies Federation. And unfortunately, there was a fire and it was burnt down. Yeah.

And I report at 12 o'clock that following Sunday to the Whiff Club upstairs, and there was the band there, not knowing that I was going for an audition. The Cougars. You know, God bless Dizzy Barker, Everton Pablo Paul, Bobby Gineer, Roland Prince, Jojo Bennett from Satellites he was a part member of the Cougar Jackie Richardson

was a member here I'm going to bring in more I realized that I thought I had the full song and then I saw quickly I had like

25 seconds so I faded it down but I thought here's the back to the full song so I'll just keep it in the background so like

who's on vocals here Jay Douglas and that's one of the first song that I wrote comes sooner or later okay let me hear a bit more of this hold on J. Douglas, and that's one of the first songs that I wrote. Come Sooner or Later. Okay, let me hear a bit more of this then. Hold on. It's a great jam, my friend.

I see here, like I see the original 45 here, where you're credited, by the way, as your birth name, not J. Douglas, on the original 45. Yeah. Clive Pinnock. Pinnock, yeah. Yes. And distributed by Caravan Record Sales, Scarborough, Ontario. Yeah, yeah.

Amazing. Yeah, yeah. Full song. You sure got, you don't mess around, bro. Whoa, you're a sharp shooter. Once in a while, Jay. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then. That's what I always say.

But early 60s, you're fronting the Cougars. And like, tell me me first you go off to Montreal right like tell me about Montreal and what brings you back to Toronto and then you need

to fill my head with stories about like what were the young street nightclubs that you would be playing back in like into the 70s

but please well I must bring to your attention those backup singers you're hearing right there they're called the Tiaras

and Jackie Richardson who's one of our top female singers in Canada. And Brenda Russell, who's out in L.A. She wrote a lot of hit songs, even for Earth, Wind & Fire. And Betty Richardson. And they were known as the Tiaras. And that musical arrangement that they're known as the Tiaras. And that musical arrangement that they're doing, the background, was arranged by Doug Riley,

the great Doug Riley. And this was recorded at Sound Canada. Yeah. And Jojo Bennett from the Satellites playing trumpet, Roland Prince in guitar. Wow. Every time Pablo Paul on drums. A lot of history right there. Dizzy Barker, the leader,

Nicky Nars. How proud are you that you wrote this thing? Oh. Unbelievable. If I could write a song sooner or later, that would be it for me. I'd retire, I would just be like, this is my song, enjoy.

Yeah, I wrote retire. I would just be like, this is my song. Enjoy. Yeah. Yeah. I wrote it, yeah, wrote it with my band leader at the time, Dizzy Barker. Yeah.

Wow. Yeah. Wow. So, Montreal calls first? Like, well, what happened,

there wasn't much happening in Toronto because those days, Toronto was still controlled a lot by the church. Very Protestant, right? Yeah, a lot of conservatism. And there was not much happening, so we decided to go on the road.

So we went up through Barry, up through Northern Ontario. Thank Mr. Guthrie for taking us up on the road. you know thank Mr. Guthrie for taking us up on the road you know we couldn't afford a van so we took

two or three cars and went to Canadian time we bought roof racks put it on top of the roof of the car and tie the stuff down and Barry

Gravenhurst all those places yeah Muskoka yeah right up Huntsville didn't go into Huntsville we bypassed and then we went up Grave and Hearst, all those places. Yeah, Muskoka. Yeah, right up. Huntsville? Didn't go into Huntsville.

We bypassed and then we went up to North Bay. Wow. Sudbury. And then we would cross over into northern Quebec. To Miskamee. You know, Ville Marie, Valdez, Rouen, Naranda. And that's where the captain of the Toronto Maple Leaf, David Keon. He's from the French side of Rwanda.

We did our first TV show there in Rwanda. Wow. Yeah, and then we ended up in Val d'Or, met a lot of hockey players at the time, you know, Marcel Dion and all them cats. Yes. And then we were at the Shadow Inn in Val d'Or, Quebec. We got a call from Montreal, the Esquire Show Bar.

That was one of the number one nightclubs in Canada. Because like you said, Toronto being very Protestant and Toronto the good, not a fun place to live back then.

It was fun, but not like going to Quebec. But not like Montreal. No, you go to anywhere in Quebec, they go, where are you from?

From the moment they look at you, you're either a sports player or in music. They say, my friend, where are you from? I said moment they look at you, you're either a sports player or in music. They say, my friend, where are you from? I said, Toronto. Oh, give him a drink. He need it.

Oh, no. Give him a double drink. Give him a shot. But we end up, you know, getting called to go to the Esquire show bar. That's 500 miles away from Montreal. Montreal. And we went into Montreal. Drove all night.

Got there. They wanted us to open up for Fats Domino. Whoa! Nice. You know. That's a big deal. The great Fats Domino, one of the contributors to reggae music.

Do you define it as reggae? I was trying to figure out, like, I know a lot of artists don't want to be put into these boxes. Like, who wants to be, you know, put into a genre box?

But would you define reggae? Because it's soul, it's funky. Like, how would you define your music? Reggae? Oh, man. The J. Douglas reggae. Well, you have some songs. Yeah, okay, yeah, we're going to get to that.

That'll help tell the story. Yeah. Well, the good thing about the J. Douglas reggae and reggae music, hey, man, it's an awakening. It's truth. It's the journey. Life. You know?

Tell it the way it is. What brings you, I mean, Montreal sounds like a fun place there, man. Ooh! You had some good times there? Quebec. Quebec. I got it. You're right.

I'm saying Montreal. Montreal, man, it. You're right. I'm saying Montreal. Montreal, man. It was going back to school. We saw Sammy Davis, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson. Oh, man. And some great French talent like Jeanette Renaud. Yes. You know, Patsy Gallant.

You know, a lot of great artists, man. Great artists. And they didn't have to go anywhere to be a star. They made them a star in Quebec. But this is where all the American artists, Joe Tex, Arthur Conley, you know, Simon Dave, name it. Solomon Burke. Oh, don't get me started. A preacher, man.

It's my job to get you started. But that's a soul star right there. You backed up Solomon Burke. Oh, don't get me started. A preacher, man. It's my job to get you started. But that's a soul star right there. You backed up Solomon Burke. Oh, yeah. But we backed him up here in Toronto. Okay, so let's get you to Toronto. What brings you back to Toronto? Because we went to school in Montreal, in Quebec, learned a lot.

Oh, by the way, in Montreal, that's where i met sissy houston witness mom with the sweet inspiration well you know what now i think i need to get to these jams quicker here let me speed up but you continue so when we spent so much time there learning the art of the business and get educated and shopping dining everything fun it was time to come back to Toronto now because things were changing. They had a, you know, FLQ crisis in Quebec and things started to change. But God bless Quebec.

God bless this great country. Special shout out to Quebec, man. Can you name check some, at least some of the young street nightclubs that you can remember? Oh. I'm trying to document the history of this friars oh there's a museum now there music museum it's the shopper's building but that's where the fries is that's where bob dylan all them cats hang out

you know club jamaica club trinidad club jamaica was a 248 young right across where the eating center is across the street was club trinidad then you have the colonial down on queen street right queen and young that's where you go and see miles davis all them cats around the corner you had town tavern on queen street and then you would come up to the brass rails the Brown Derby, La Cocteau, the Seoul capital. Right. You know, and there was Zanzibar. Right. Oh, Piccadilly, Tube, so many places, man. Bras Rios, you know, on and on and on. And the Club Blue Note was just up the street.

You know, the news this weekend was that possibly Sneaky D's was going to close. This up the street. It's, you know, the news this weekend was that possibly Sneaky D's was going to close. And then, of course, that gets us all nostalgic for all these great Toronto clubs that have disappeared over the years. Well, I understand the El Macombo

is supposed to be opening soon. Yeah, like this week, maybe? Yeah, thank God for that, because I opened it. I was an opening act for Toots and the Maytals. Oh, my God, yeah. At the El Macombo. Wow. Oh, man, thank God that, you know, Elmo's coming back.

Right. And I do hope Shoes Room, Lula's, all of them stay open, you know, and the others that are out there. But, you know, Toronto's known for, you know, good nightlife and entertainment. This is one of the cities that the whole world is looking at, you know. And we're so blessed to be in this great country, in this great city. Well, we're so blessed that you chose to settle in this city. We've had you as this.

No, seriously, like you're such a core part of the city's musical history. Well, thank you. I hope you understand the respect the city has for you and your talents. I appreciate it, and I thank you and all the great people who just keep the music going. Thanks to this great country. And I'm blessed. I'm really, really, really blessed

because I was blessed to be born in Paradise, Jamaica and living in Paradise, Canada. Hey, man, look at this beautiful view. How often do you get back? Like how often would you go back to Jamaica? Sometimes two, three times a year because I do shows down there. Sure. Yeah. But with the challenge that we have right now, it's a little toned down. But that too shall pass. Some good things are coming out of all of this. Let me share some audio

from what I would call maybe Jay Douglas' most viral moment, okay? So you remember Mayor Rob Ford. So let me just play a little bit of this and just ask you about this, okay? Oh! So this is Toronto City Council. 2013.

And this video went viral, especially in this market, because, of course, you got City Council moving. You got Rob Ford dancing. Yeah, and the gentleman that worked there and helped to set up the sound, he says, my God, something's changed here. I've worked here for 32 years, never seen anything like this. And it was down in, even in the States, and one of the talk show guys, he says,

everybody up there is a crack. But you know, it was the moment because when I was asked to come down to do a performance, they said, Mr. Douglas, what you going to do for it? I said, I'm going to do One Love by my other guy. He said, bring it on. We all need it, man.

Yes, no, I mean, I've lived to do one love, Bob Marley. The guy said, bring it on. We all need it, man. Yes. No, I mean, I've lived in Toronto my whole life. In 2013, yes, we needed this moment right here. That was, needed it. And after the performance, you could just feel the magic and the love in that assembly. It's like everybody just, you know, but it's the love and the spirit and the vibes of the music well that's the power of music right?

that's right and the power of love really the essence of you is to spread the love right? essentially spread

truth even Toronto City Council in 2013 could have some love in the room yes with Jay Douglas on the microphone greatest power there is, love power. It's as simple as that.

And great. I'm surprised you dig this. I get a question about local radio, okay? Particularly G98.7. Are you at all aware, like, have you followed, I know it's for sale. That's what I heard. I heard. It fits where it passed away.

Yeah, he did. Because that station, I mean, you, if I go back, only back to like 2012, you won the, I think it was 2012, the G98.7 Entertainment Award at the Harry Jerome Awards set. Yes. In 2012. And that's also the same year, by the way. You were nominated for Reggae Recording of the Year at the Junos. That's right.

So it was a big year for you. Yes. What's your hope? Do you have any thoughts or hopes for the future of 98.7? Well, Fitzroy, you know, we dearly miss Fitzroy because he worked with all his supporting cast so hard with CRTC and everyone for us to receive this station. And it's the voice of the community, the radio,

and also that's the only available frequency there is. And it would be so unfortunate for us to lose that station and that frequency. So I'm do hoping with the power of prayer and love that we can still have G98 going because it's very special. It's good for all of us, the entertainers here, and it's a connection to the world. And we do need G98, so we're calling all the support, any support that we can garner out there

to make this journey continue in a very positive way. Yeah, I mean, Toronto has such a large and vibrant Caribbean community, not just Jamaican, but also Jamaican. Like, to me, absolutely. That is the, you know, if they have a mandate, let's find an owner who will deliver on the mandate. Please, please, because this one, this station, G98, it serves the community very well.

And we got the Soca music, you know, which is, I love Calypso Soca. R&B, funk, soul, reggae, ska, everything, you know. And so much good things that they talk about on a daily basis. So please, let's just come together and make it last. Amen. Bless. Here's what we're going to do, Jay. We're going to play a new song from you,

chat about that. I'm going to give you some gifts and thank some partners and then I'm going to start kicking out these five jams you sent me because I can't wait to hear you talk about them. So here's the latest. You'll tell me if I'm wrong.

I believe this is the latest Jay Douglas. It's not the latest. How close am I? Close. It was the latest up until Up until two months ago Oh my I'm going to fire my crack research staff This is an unacceptable misstep

This is General Trees Okay so yeah Tell me a bit about what I'm listening to here And then if it's on YouTube I'll dig it up real quick but tell me what I'm listening to right now Ja Children Featuring General Trees out of Jamaica and

it was produced by Dub Maddox I know his dad Bill yeah good part of the foundation good buddies with Bill King

it was produced by Bernie Pithers who toured with Toots and the Maidles for 13 years God bless his soul he's in the institution here now

he's not well and pablo paul who's original drummer for cougars he's from side door records and jesse king they produced the song and i'd like to thank them so much for a great job this got me nominated recently for the juno just just this past Juno Awards. Ja Children. Okay, what is the name of your latest song? Must Change. M-U-S-C-H-A-N-G-E.

Say no more. Featuring Sassafras. So here, let me fade this guy down. That's it. Sly and Robbie. Yeah. You're a sharp shooter, man. Second time's the charm.

Yeah. That's the latest. Woo. So Sly Robbie, that's Robbie Shakespeare. Yeah. And there's another one. Sly Dunbar that's Robbie Shakespeare. Yeah. And there's another one. Sly Dunbar is on this. Yeah, but there's one with Sasa Frass that you want to eat with the wrap in it.

You know? Yes. Sasa Frass. A lovely day. An inelegant switch, but here we go. Let's hear it. There's no escape from the universe. There you are.

That's it. So let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Ah. Ginoglass. Chug, say. Slots and saffron. Chug, say. Drink it.

Oh, man. Everything must change. Everything's got to be rearranged. Nothing that no one says. Well, I'm glad you told me about the Lord Sassafras version. This is fantastic. Okay, great stuff. So, if someone listening wanted to hear new Jay Douglas, like this track,

where would you direct them to? Your website? Slammin' Media they have all of that Slammin' Media and my publisher Eric Alper

Eric's an FOTM FOTM is Friend of Toronto Mike you're an FOTM now but Eric is an FOTM as well yes so all

they Slammin' Me is my digital label. You got a whole, it takes a village, man. Right? You got to have an entire team behind you.

Yeah, Bruce and the team, man, and Eric, they just do a great job. That song with DJ General Trees that was remixed by Dub Maddox. Dub Maddox.

Jesse Dub Maddox. Yeah, yeah. Jesse King. Yeah. Who's got a show on Jazz FM with his dad, Bill King. Yes, yes. And Bill King, great guy. Please say hello to them for me.

Well, Bill's listening right now. And you, me, and Bill King are all hurting this morning because that beating we got from the Celtics last night, that was painful. I couldn't watch it. I didn't make it to the halftime. And my son, my six-year-old, he lives and dies by every basket. So you're down by, let's say you're down by like 9, 11 early. And I'm like, don't worry, son.

Ebbs and flows. It's a long game, first quarter. By the end of the second quarter, I'm like, forget what I said. We're not winning tonight They're coming They're coming man Tomorrow Okay I want to

You got a guarantee Because They're coming It's do or die Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh man

Oh yeah I'm worried now that You can't eat What I'm going to give you But I'm giving it to you anyways Because if you won't eat it You have a neighbor Or a family member

Or somebody who would love it But I have in my freezer for you a large meat lasagna from Palma Pasta. It's frozen. It's all yours. I'm taking it. I'm worried. I was reading the label. There may be some salt in there. I'm taking it. No, no, no.

No, that don't say I don't eat sauce. Good sea sauce. No, no, no, no. It's all yours, my friend. And also, I have some fresh craft beer brewed right here in southern Etobicoke by Great Lakes Brewery. Thank you.

You're taking that home too, so it's worth the drive. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. And before we kick out, in fact, it's going to start, I can't wait to get to these

because you mentioned Sissy Houston and Fats Domino. They're all coming up here. Let me just it's going to start. I can't wait to get to these because you mentioned Sissy Houston and Fats Domino. They're all coming up here. Let me just thank a few other sponsors. I want to thank Austin Keitner because it's his birthday today. So happy birthday Austin. The Keitner Group, if you are looking to buy

and or sell, they know everything about GTA real estate. This song is funky as hell. I'm digging this jam in the background. This is great. I urge you to text Toronto Mike to 59559 to contact Austin. Pumpkins After Dark, it's a drive-through event this year. Now is the time. Now is the time to book your slot.

You pick a day and time to drive through this large park in Milton, Ontario. And again, thousands of sculptures illuminating the night sky. It's going to save Halloween for the kids, but you got to use the promo code MIKED. M-I-K-E-D. That's a new promo code. So use the promo code MIKED because you save 10% if you do that. Go to

pumpkinsafterdark.com. CDN Technologies. Love CDN Technologies. They're there if you have any computer or network issues or questions. They're your outsourced IT department. Barb is always available at 905-542-9759. Or you can write her. Barb at CDNTechnologies.com.

And last but not least, thank you, StickerU.com. That's where you go to order your stickers and decals and temporary tattoos and badges. They're amazing. I got to get you a Toronto Mike sticker, Jay. Make sure I get you the pasta. Bring it on. And the sticker, Toronto Mike sticker.

You're going to need that. But thank you to all the Toronto Mike partners. And I'm going to bring down the fantastic new Jay Douglas. Must change because we're going to listen to some other jams and hear Jay tell us about the significance. This is going to be awesome here. Let's start

with Alfie. What's it all about? Sweet. Alfie. What's it all about? Sweet. Out here. Is it just for the moment we live? What's it all about? When you started out our fears Are we meant to take more than we give

Or are we meant to be kind and easy Bring it on. Mmm. Sweet. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, God. There's a heaven above our feet Something much more Something even Non-believing Non-believing Can't believe Recorded from vinyl, you can hear the pops. Organic.

So the, yes, exactly, the way it was meant to be heard, right? The Sweet Inspirations featuring Sissy Houston. This song's called Alfie. It's beautiful. But tell me, tell me how you know Sissy Houston. Well, first, let's not forget to bring up Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Because it doesn't matter how good a singer can sing if you don't have the right material. So we shout them out.

But while we were in Montreal with the Cougars and myself, just waiting for things to happen. We're just craving, thirsty for music and learning the business. You know what I'm saying? even thirsty for music and learning the business, you know what I'm saying? And we happened to get this opportunity to open for the Sweet Inspiration. And they came straight from Jamaica to Montreal.

Wow. And the lead singer there was Sissy. That's Whitney's mom. Whitney's mom, right? Yeah. And Dionne Warwick's cousin? Yeah, that's right. Okay, yeah.

And there's the Burt Bacharach connection. And also Aretha Franklin. Right? Wow. Because Sissy used to sing backup for Aretha. Right? And that old thing. We can, so is, what's his name?

The owner of the labor there. Al Davis? No, Clive Davis. Sorry. Yeah, you're one Clive to another. He grew up with them. Because when he was a young boy, he worked at Atlantic, where Aretha and all of them, so they grew up.

So we got the job, the opportunity to open for the Sweet Inspiration. That was a big call in Montreal, man, you know, great. So I'm getting ready, and six nights, you know, those days, six nights a week. So I'm getting ready to go on with my shop looking good. Young man, come here. Come here. Yes, Mr. Houston. What are you going to do?

I'm getting ready to go out there and start the show. Is that all? What are you going to do? I'm getting ready to go out there and start the show. Is that all? Now, listen, when you go out there, you work. Kick some ass. You hear me?

And be smart out there. And when you get back off, when you come off the stage, you're going to come back down to earth. Kick some ass up there, you know? And you did what you were told yeah and it stayed with me be accountable right when you get on that stage man you don't have too many friends with your audience be accountable work it's one of the best advice and you're a hard worker man oh thank you and i'm still trying to get it right because if i knew it all there's nothing more for me to learn i gotta learn till i die well you're not gonna retire yeah so be careful i'm learning from you right now no no i ain't retiring we're gonna learn yeah we're learning from each other man uh no retirement no retire

means retreading you know in jamaica when you retire the tire, they used to retread it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Right, right, right. That's, you know, so that's my kind of retire. Oh, man. You must, I mean, we're all struggling with this pandemic. Mm-hmm. But as a performer, it must be a special breed of pain, right? Like, I know you want to be out there singing. Mm-hmm.

Live. Can't beat that. Love our fans, our audience, and thankful for the club owner or whoever owned the establishment to give us a chance to express ourselves. But, you know, with corona, some good will come out of it.

Times have changed, some new norms. It's making me know who I am in the struggle, where I'm going, where I'm from, and there are some good things that will come. Some sad things, but, you know, good and bad, you know, create a balance because we're starting to face reality of who we are and respect the land more, you know, respect what is there for us to respect.

Definitely gives you a perspective that's right some things are bigger than us that's right that's right well here's you ready for some

wailing wailers oh yeah listen to higher listen to higher Listen to the higher. Listen to the higher. And you hear what I say Say my God Oh, I want you, I want you, I want you to see me now Love the people that used to say What sweet nanny goes by the running days Say my God Oh, come to your temple

Say my God Oh, the party will be hotter Say my God And you hear what I say Simmer down. That's a scat. Do you remember what year this is from? Simmer down is, I would say, 62, 63. It's about the same time Jamaica got their independence from Great Britain. Yeah, 62, 63. Listen to the Scatterlights. You know who was in that band? Jackie Matu. He's the piano player. Listen to my band. Hop and near.

Hop and near. So what kind of influence does this music have on the career of Jay Douglas? Well, you hear the young Bob Marley. Right. Listen to how happy. Those are good, happy times. Happy music. And the guy who, Studio One, Coxon,

he put that music out. He said he wanted music that the people could be dancing to, like how he produced his sound system music. But this, it was such great inspiration because it came from the blues the blues that scan the dance that went with it the scan it's just great great great you can't listen to that and not smile right that's uh impossible and listen to the musicians you know, like Brevett and bass, nibs, Lloyd nibs and drums. That's where Sly and Robbie got their motivation from. Bass and drums for reggae.

Those are the foundation guys. Tommy McCook, Jackie Matu, Roland Alfonso, Lester Sterling. Come on. Is that Jerry? All of those. Those are foundation dudes. Tommy McCook, you know. Wow. All of those. Those are foundation dudes. Tommy McCook, you know.

Wow. Dizzy Johnny, you know. Listen to the band. And guess what? They all read and write music. Because they came from Alpha Boy School, which was a home reform school. So it was run by the sisters, the Catholics, and they had to learn

how to read and write music. Not all of them, Giacomo II did not go to Alpha, but most of those cats. Right. So they got that jazz touch to them. Listen to the music. They got the fundamentals.

Right. I'm thinking of Hoosiers now, man. Learn the fundamentals first. Right. Man. Oh, man. You ready for your third jam? Bring it on bro oh

Yeah Now listen to the blues in it Listen to the blues in it It's a blues Yeah Listen to the blues in it. Listen to the blues in it. It's a blues. Yeah. And who's singing this song? T. Alpha Las Beckford. Now listen to that.

That came out before Simmer Down. That's the first, that's one of the first Scare songs that was recorded in Jamaica. Because he got that influence from the blues, from B.B. King and all those cats. Right. Yeah. You know what? I love having you on just for the musical education. I feel like you need to come back at some point and play more songs and tell me about it.

Yeah. All that you hear, that's when Jamaica decided to make their own music. And that was one of the first, I mean, their first scalp. Right. Because of the blues influence. And say Beckford's first name again. Theophilus. Theophilus. Yes. Nice. I knew I'd butcher that.

That's why I had you say it. And then after that, he moved to England and helped to contribute to the blue beat in England. Nice. And nice and obscure, too. I don't think a lot of people know this song. He played the piano in that song. And if anybody wants to know at home, this is called Easy Snapping. That's right.

One of the first scale music recorded in Jamaica. That's what this episode's missing. I need more Jay singing. Oh, the mic. Beautiful. Yeah, you got, that all came from the blues. Man.

The American blues. You ready for another one? Hey, you know. Only two more to go. Because normally, you know, I make guests do ten of these.

Yeah, and this song, man, it started a big trend in Jamaica. Easy Snappin'. Okay, tell me about that. It sounds like it was... It was a big hit because this was the first attempt now. Because what happened in Jamaica, they have the sound system culture. Studio One was Sir Coxon's downbeat. You had Treasure Isle, which was Duke Reed, King Edwards.

And this is where Sound Clash started. This is serious stuff because in the city all over, you would wear the T-shirt of the sound that you support. Right. And they took their sound class very serious. Yeah. So they were beating up on each other with the music out of the United States, the blues. All these music coming in from New Orleans to Kingston by the ship.

So that's how they get these vinyls are 78. They were beating up in Egypt, but after a while they didn't have enough. So they decided to start make their own music. And this was, this easy snapping was one of the first attempt that was given. Wow. Yeah. All right, man.

The rest is history, man. The rest is history. Thank goodness we have that history like oh imagine here we go your second last jam for today

hmm oh Rascal surely surely surely surely ah ah Oh, Roscoe. Surely. Surely. Surely. Surely. Ah.

Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, sing it bro rock your department come rain come snow come come sunshine your love will stop the rain

it will melt the snow cause you're mine mine and all I want to say when I feel this way Is just ah

Surely I love you By Roscoe Gordon Listen how he's strummed up this little piano Listen how he He's playing the piano, listen Darling, you are so real You show this heart of mine He's playing the piano, listen Listen to that piano scan That's modern day reggae Hear it? Indeed That's modern day reggae.

Hear it? Indeed. Indeed. Listen to that piano I love you because Honey, you are so real You show my aching heart I will do love loving on the field. Whoa, surely, surely, surely, surely. Ah, ah, ah, ah.

Listen to that tenor saxophone. Five. Five. Amazing, man. Sweet. Now we got one more to go. Can I tell you something about this? Amazing man Amazing Now we got one more to go Can I tell you something about this? Tell me

Please tell me something about this This song Roscoe Gordon Big time blues singer Colin Hunter covered this song Some years ago He's from Vancouver But

He Roscoe In his early years Was with Elvis Presley And Son Labor Called Per Gonzalo's Cat Oh the Million Dollar Quartet Yes And He, Roscoe, in his early years, was with Elvis Presley and Sun Labor, called Per Gonzalo's Cat. Oh, the Million Dollar Quartet.

Yes. And because of the way he played the piano, those days at Sun Labor, Elvis, all of them, Cats were his. Jerry Lee Lewis? Yes. This song came into Jamaica, and a lot of his stuff, because of the way he played the piano. And that's where they got that. That's what led us to reggae today.

Skiah, rocksteady, then reggae. What history. Now, you know your history, because you lived it, man. So, okay, after you play this song. Well, I'm going to play this last one. And then I'll put it in. But just before, because I was, you know, I respect the curation skills of a man named Errol Nazareth.

Great man. Yeah, I've tried several times to get Errol Nazareth. I had Chuck D on this program, and even Chuck D shouts out Errol Nazareth. Man, he's always, he always so good for the community. Yeah, I'm not going to give up. For the music. Don't give up.

I won't give up. And tell him, Jay Douglas, say a special shout out. Well, I'm bringing him up now because of a quote of his, and I'm going to ask you for your opinion on it. You know, in 2012, when Light in the Attic Records put out that retrospective on the arrival of reggae to North America, you were like, you're a key part of that, right? Like this is a Seattle-based label. Yes.

Giving proper props to Jay Douglas, Toronto-based musician in my backyard right now. I'm so honored. And Errol correctly points out that it took it took producers from seattle to fully recognize the significance of douglas's musical contributions so straight up i know you're a i know you're a a good man and i know you're you're you're a positive man very positive but do you think you thank you do you think you've got your uh proper due from this country for what you've contributed to music that you think you've got your proper do? Yeah. Yeah. And there's more. I don't. I don't. There are more

coming, you know, and there are more coming. And what's coming, I'm ready to accept it before I move on to the next life. And today is part of it. I am tired. As a Canadian, I'm born and raised in this city, actually.

I'm just tired of the fact that when an American label says, hey, this Jay Douglas, he's a bonafide. He's the real deal. And he's, you know, look at his contributions to Jamaican music on this continent. And all of a sudden, we're like, oh, yeah, like this guy living in our backyard is a, I'm not going to swear, but a BFD.

You can figure out what that stands for. Okay. It took, and it pisses me off. It's like the American saying, oh, this show, Schitt's Creek,

and that's not a swear word. That's their last name. This Schitt's Creek is a really great show. And then suddenly we're all like, yeah, that's a good show. Okay. Why do we eat our young?

Like why, why don't we celebrate our successes? Sometimes, sometimes it's because of lack of vision and and i believe in the book of proverbs it says where there's no vision the people will perish sometimes it's lack of vision sometimes we're too busy but you know what ja the most i connects the dot and you know modern age is a great teacher and it we're connecting because look at today. It's not by coincidence that we're doing this.

You know, it's all Ralph's fault. And I have to tell you this. I'm so blessed to be in this great country. I just want to say this. Yeah. I believe in living truth and just, I just want to do more for the young generation.

You know. I'm with you. They are the gem of the future. I meet so much great talent in a given week or day. And I just wish I could do more. You could nurture it. You know, because great talent in this great country, in this city. You know, because great talent in this great country, in this city.

And I know something good is happening right now that we can do a lot more for the young generation. Because they need to be taught properly. Can you work on a COVID vaccine? I feel like the vaccine will help. Love. Love? Okay. Stay six feet apart of that love. So, okay, Jay, you ready for the final jam?

You've already dropped this guy's name, so I can't wait to hear you talk about him. But here we go. Okay. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen to that piano. Yes. Yes, tonight. We're going to dance in the rock and roll.

We're going to keep it to the stroke. Listen to the piano. Yes. And the guitar. Here. You hear it? I hear it, man. There it is. Okay, so if you slow it down now,

take the volume down. Let me hear it. Yeah. Okay. Now, what's so good about your show? We didn't do it. We did it the way you felt it and gave it to me.

So let's put it in order now. Oh, I thought that was the order because you put numbers beside it. Yeah. So let's put it in order now. Oh, I thought that was the order. Because you put numbers beside it. Yeah. Okay. So that's great. 1959, Jamaica. When this hit the airwave in Jamaica,

that's why we need G98. Because the one radio station at the time in Jamaica, RJR, Radio Jamaica, Radio Fusion. When this hit the wave, it was... Party, fun. And the top bands in Jamaica, they wanted to put out their own recording. So they copied this. Right.

And I'll give you an example if you slow it down a little. Turn your volume down a little, please. Okay. They start out with this, which is a scale. Simmer down, scale. Right? Then, they had rock steady. They slow it down.

Doom, doom, doom, doom, doom. Ah. Doom, doom, doom, doom, doom. Girl, I've got a day. Ah. And that's, I'll Take You There. Staples. Right. Right.

Yes. Rock steady. Right. Then you have one love, one heart. Let's get. It's the same beat they slow down to reggae. let's get it's the same beat they slow down to reggae so the blues

has such a strong influence so you have from the blues you have the ska which is simmer down rocksteady which I'll take you there

or Girl I've Got a Date by Alton Ellis right and then they slow the reggae down. They slow the rocksteady down to One Love. And don't forget, One Love, part of that is people get ready. From Curtis Meafield and the Impressions.

And that's where we are today. You throw in the hip-hop. You throw in the dancehall. It's still from those three foundations. We cannot forget with reggae, rocksteady, you cannot forget

the bass and the drums, which is Sly and Robbie. That's the only true part is Jamaica. The bass and the drums because it represents the brains and the heartbeat.

Amazing. And they are the rest of our influences. So I hope I break it down clear for you. So this, Fats Domino. Yeah, oh yeah.

We should point out that song, of course. Be My Guest Tonight. Be My Guest Tonight, Fats Domino. And you opened for him in Montreal. Yeah. Unbelievable, man. Yeah. That's a dream come true.

Yeah. All right, Jay. This is my dream come true. At some point, I'm going to trick you into coming back. At some point. We'll do that. Tomorrow, it's okay for you? Ooh.

I'm kidding. Don't worry. I'll give you a Tomorrow, it's okay for you? Ooh! I'm kidding, don't worry. I'll give you a little break. A little break. Thanks so much for this, man. Thank you, and I don't mean to interrupt. I'd like to thank you so much.

Thanks for having me. You made the day. It's a nice way to start a cool Tuesday. You make it so positive, and all of you are your supporting cast, and we want to

thank the team of Slamming Media and also Mr. Eric Alper my publicist and you know

and there's a good friend down in New Orleans Chris Butcher you must have heard of Trombone Player

of Toronto he used to play with the Everweight Brass Band and he's doing very well down

there I want to thank my good friend every time Pablo Paul Nick Nicky Norris. These are all Cougars people, and great Cougars, Trevor Bailey, Terry Lewis. Oh, and thank this great country.

God bless Canada. And shout out to Jesse Dub Maddox, Bernie Peters, and Bill King, and the rest of the gang. God bless you. And thank you for this, man. Thanks for taking the time and educating us. And I will get you back here.

And Errol Nazareth, if you're listening, I'm coming for you, buddy. Go get him, Errol. Go get him. Go get him. Go get him, Errol. I'm going to get him. Yeah.

And most of all, my fans out there, thank you. And that brings us to the end of our 717th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Jay Douglas is at Jay Douglas Music. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta

is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U. The Keitner Group are at The Keitner Group. CDN Technologies are at CDN Technologies. And Pumpkins After group are at the Kytner group CDN technologies are at CDN technologies and pumpkins after dark are at pumpkins dark see you all tomorrow when

my guest is sports nets Rob faults this podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Rome Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.