Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Joanne Wilder: Toronto Mike'd #198

Episode Date: October 18, 2016

Mike chats with Q107 deejay Joanne Wilder about her years at Q, her appearance in Playboy and how it feels getting to play Duran Duran.

Welcome to episode 198 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. And Chef's Plate, delivering delicious and locally sourced farm fresh ingredients in refrigerated kits, directly to your door. fresh ingredients in refrigerated kits directly to your door. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week is Q107 DJ Joanne Wilder. Welcome Joanne. Hi. Who was episode 107?

Because I really feel like you should have called me and said, Joanne, guess what? You're right. I actually, George Strombolopoulos was demanding episode 102. Of course. But the timing messed up. It actually went to Scott Turner. Oh, well, that worked out. Yeah. Except George was upset. And then I said, well, he had 103 and I actually rebranded 103, 102.1. That's good. Perfect. So this is like 107.4 thousand or something. Yeah. It's nice to meet you. But right off the bat, really quick, this name Joanne Wilder is too perfect for a radio DJ.

It's not. It can't be real. It's not real. No. That was back in the days when you came up with a fake name. People don't do that anymore. Yeah. Well, I had Ann Roszkowski on recently and I joked with her that she's like the first person who kind of had an ethnic name and kept it that I remember.

There might have been more before her. Yeah, absolutely. Mine wasn't a name change because of an ethnicity. Mine was because my real name was really lame, like boring. Not that it's lame, but I was going from The Mix, the mix 99.9 back then to hits FM. So they wanted like something rock. Yeah. Of course.

Something to make a play off of. So, uh, the PD, Randy Taylor told me, go home, think about what you want your name to be. And we just,

I remember one summer that we just all sat around my pool and we were like throwing out names. And my friend said, what about Joe Wilder? I'm like, well, that's cool. I like that.

And then the PD is like, well, we can't call you Joe. Cause we already have Joe Cahill on the morning show. So we'll call you Joanne and we'll make it more feminine. And like, well, that's cool. I like that. And then the PD's like, well, we can't call you Joe because we already have Joe Cahill on the morning show, so we'll call you Joanne and we'll make it more feminine. Yeah, it works. That's it. But do people believe that's your real name? I've had people say

my last name is Wilder. I think we might be related. Are you related to Gene Wilder? Or I get just Joan Wilder all the time from Romancing the Stone. But yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's funny. I assumed it was fake, but you never know because yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's funny. I assumed it was fake, but you never know because a lot of,

like, for example, Roger Ashby, that's a real name. Like, that's on his birth certificate, but it always sounds so kind of 1050. You think so? I think Ashby. Roger Ashby. Yeah, yeah, that's true. And all the other guys he was on,

they were all fake names. Like, Jim Van Horn, he's not a Jim or a Van Horn. Like, he's completely like, you know what I mean? He's not even a Jim? No. He's not even a Jim. Wow, it's not even a Jim.

Wow. But you're, you're a, I am Joanne. You're a Joanne. My maiden name is McGrath. So, when I was on the mix,

it was, I remember when I did the all night, all request, it was like all request, all night. I was so excited when I got my first opener ID and it was like, with Joanne McGrath.

And then it was like, okay. But it hits FM. Yeah. You couldn't play off McGrath. And then it was like, okay. But Hits FM, yeah, you couldn't play off McGrath. No, and, you know, in cue, and we'll get to all this. But yeah, you're a rock chick. Like, you're like, you got to be Joanne Wilder. Yes. And it's just, it does sound great.

It sounds great. And we'll, yeah, we'll get to that. Some topical things, though. Is it hot enough for you? This is like the warmest. This is crazy hot. I'm not going to complain because I love the heat. I'm probably, of all my friends, the one who loves the hotter the better.

I'm not going to ever complain about a 40-degree humid X. Me neither. I love it. Yeah. So, yeah, this is great for me. And I just think, you know, give it a month and we're all going to be going, No, a week. I bet you there's a point next week.

It could snow. You're right. That's funny because my wife was just in Edmonton this past weekend. I picked her up at the airport last night. They were shut down due to blizzard. They couldn't drive two blocks. I know. And I was like, oh, you know, it's 24 degrees here.

Sorry. Yeah, I know. I love it. I love it. The longer, the better. Just holds off winter just a little bit longer. And I don't want to say too much on this topic, except you can hear people jumping off the Blue Jays bandwagon.

Like, you can actually hear it if you get quiet for a moment. Mike, let me just say, I have been a Blue Jays fan forever. I am not a bandwagoner. I went to the Blue Jays when they sucked so badly. I remember I went one game, this is years ago, and the Red Sox fans, there were Boston Red Sox fans, and they turned around and they said, we're really sorry. There were some bad years.

There were some really bad years, but I love the Jays. I'm a baseball fan. That's my sport. But are you, I mean, for example, we're recording this Tuesday afternoon. The game's on in one hour. Wrap this up? No, I'm kidding. I'm good. But I'm thinking, okay, I was clinging to every pitch, but down 3-0 And I'm like, can we wrap this up? No, I'm kidding. I'm good. But I'm thinking, okay, I'm,

I was clinging to every pitch, but down three, nothing. I feel like, Oh, I'll tune in in the fourth inning. Like I don't have this. It's weird.

The sensation I have, which is basically like, I've come to accept the reality of that. We are not advancing. I, I am hopeful. Yes, I am hope. Cause I was giving trouble to one of my coworkers and he's like,

Oh, they're done. And I was like hitting him. And he's like, what? You really think they have a chance? I said, well, no, but I have hope, yes. I am hopeful because I was giving trouble to one of my coworkers, and he's like, oh, they're done. And I was like hitting him, and he's like, what, you really think they have a chance? I said, well, no, but I have hope. Yeah. There's still hope. There is still hope. It's slim to none.

I'll be listening in my car on the way home and cheering. Yeah. Hopefully. You have to win four games, so we're not done. It's just, you know how you have the websites that say Hillary has a 90% chance of winning, Trump has a 10%? If you did that for the series, you would have it at, I would say, 99 to 1? So we're Trump right now in this situation.

Well, I think Trump has a better chance of winning the presidency than the Jays do. Not that it was this many games, but if you'll recall, last year when Texas was up 2-0 and we came back and won the series. True. It ain't over till it's over. It ain't over till it's over. Otherwise, you're a Leafs fan? I am a Leafs fan. I'm more of a playoff hockey fan.

So you are not a Leafs fan? I am not. Well, I'm not. Let me say, I mean, I was certainly excited about Austin Matthews. And I will say I'm one of the many who tuned in on Saturday night just to see if he would do it again. Yeah, yeah. But I'm not watching every week religiously.

I'll wait to see how they do. And if they do well, then yeah, I'll be a part of it. Fair enough. I haven't recorded since the Austin Matthews debut. I just wanted to say that you couldn't have scripted that any better. For your number one draft pick in his debut to score four goals is unreal. So now that the Jays are toast after today, which is possible, we have something to tap into in this city. That's kind of exciting.

That was me knocking on wood, by the way. Is this wood? I don't know. No, this is a wood chair. Yeah. You never know what's wood when it comes from Ikea. You can't tell. Your mother, is anyone trick-or-treating in your house? Yes, both my kids still trick-or-treat. I think this is probably my last year for my oldest. She's 12.

Okay, I have a 12-year-old. So I'm in this transition. So I have the 14-year-old doesn't trick-or-treat anymore. No. So that's done. The 12-year-old is going out with her girlfriends, but daddy's not invited. So I've been told that she's going out with her girlfriends and I'm not invited. But there's a

two and a half year old who is going to make his debut. Like, I don't know how many houses a two and a half year old does. It's really for daddy to get the candy. Let's be honest. That's just a good reason. So pimping out your kid for candy. So I'm transitioning. This is my transition year where the goodbye to the older set and now the young set come in. That'll be fun. And I'm not going to put you on the spot here. I know you have to keep abreast of the current issues

when you're on the air live on cue. Do you know in one sentence what's going on with the creepy clown thing? It's so stupid. It's ridiculous. My daughter's scared of clowns. My 12-year-old is scared of clowns. Well, those clowns, though,

have you seen them? It's not like your regular bozo clown. It's made to look even scarier, the creepy clowns. My 12-year-old is scared of clowns. Well, those clowns, though, have you seen them? Like, they are, like, there's not, like, your regular bozo clown. It's made to look even scarier, the creepy clown costume. Are they juggalos by any chance? Is this like a,

you know, the juggalos, the, I can never remember their name. Who are the white rappers with clown makeup? Oh, clown insane posse? Insane clown posse. Insane clown posse.

I got it backwards, but yeah, yeah, yeah. It was close. But that was a, yeah, I just thought I'd bring up... I just like to say the word juggalos. Juggalos? Yeah.

Q does not play Insane Clown Posse. No, we don't. And that's a good thing. Is it? Okay. I don't really know their music, but... It's pretty bad. What I've heard, it's pretty bad.

It's pretty bad to sum it up. They do have their fans. But we're in late October. It's a hot, hot, hot day. And this is a good night to have a cold beer. So yes, there's a six pack. I saw that. I was waiting for you to tell me that this is mine. My husband's going to be stoked about this. I'll have some, but he's, he's the beer drinker. Yeah. You have to have at least one. There's a pumpkin one in there. Cause like,

Oh, I'll have that. And I, you can, yeah. Is that the pumpkin one? What's it called? Pumpkin ale. Pumpkin ale ale pumpkin ale yeah it's got a jack-o'-lantern on the front look at that so that's great lakes beer they're uh local in this area they're like a southwest craft brewery they're good people and they want joanne wilder and her husband i'm gonna i'm gonna try this tonight i totally will yeah do it that's great uh and also this gets better look i feel like monty Hall here. But so chef's plate. Do I have to pull my purse out and see what's in there? You thought this was just a conversation.

You had no idea the stuff you'd be bringing home. Okay. All right. So if you want to eat healthy, you got the two kids. Two kids or one? How many kids you got? Two. What were they?

12 and what? 12 and 10. 12 and 10. Yeah. Two girls. Oh, cool. You want them to eat healthy, but you're a busy woman. And you got, you know, but chef's plate.

So they deliver to your door these like pre-portioned ingredients and like a dummy proof sheet on how to prepare the meals. So it's like you get the food and like you don't have to. And it's all fresh. Like it's not. Completely fresh and locally sourced and healthy and tasty, which is like the most important part. And they're good people too because they actually sponsor independent media like this, which is really awesome.

So they're going to send you a couple of meals. Are they really? I'm stoked about that. Yeah. And like if you like what you get for free and you want to like get two more for free, anyone can do this. Not just Joanne wilder use the promo code toronto mike when you go to chefsplate.ca to order your meals and you will get two plates for free it's like 22 bucks in savings so like there's no brainer you're getting the two for free from chef's plate i'll send you a link you tell me your two favorite meals because

they're all pretty good but that's great that'll come to your door and anyone can use Toronto Mic. Please use it so they know that this sponsorship works. I don't get paid when you use Toronto Mic as your code, but then they know, hey, somebody signed up because they heard it on Toronto Mic

and that's going to be good long term. Nice. Thank you. So good. All right. And also, if anybody wants to give money, just give money to me so I can upgrade mics and things,

patreon.com slash Toronto Mike. By the way, you do this every day, right? You got to do sponsor mentions and things like that. Like you got to do ads. Do you do live ads? No, not really. Not on my show.

Probably more so morning show. Right. Because I don't like, this is all new to me. And my brother, Steve, who listens to every episode, didn't like me doing it like in the middle of the episode because he thought it broke up the convo. So he wanted me to do it all at the beginning. That's why I've shifted things because Steve is so influential over me. So

that's why we're doing it all at once. Okay. So let's talk about Joanne Wilder. Let's go. So in the beginning, this is very biblical. First of all, you talked with a mix and hits FM. So how did you know you wanted to be on the radio? Well, it's funny because I didn't know that I wanted to be on the radio. But when I look back, you can see how it all came to be. Like it was almost like it was the path was there laid out for me. And but I was just like, la-da-da. But I look back, because I, in high school, in 1987, I think it was, or 1988, I won a contest with CFNY.

Cool. Now the Edge. And it was to have Steve Anthony come and broadcast from your home. So it's just very funny that Steve Anthony was there, and Fred Patterson, who I would go on to work with. Who's my episode 200. You're 198. He's episode 200. Oh, there and Fred Patterson, who I would go on to work with. Who's my episode 200. You're 198. He's episode 200.

I love Fred. I love Fred. So they came and broadcast. I was 17 years old and they came to my house and all these kids from my high school came. People I didn't even talk to. Neighbors came out. That's awesome. They had me read the traffic.

It was just an amazing moment. And after that, I was like, yeah, you know, radio and television sounds kind of interesting. I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do in high school. I just knew I didn't want to sit at a desk. So I applied for Seneca, but it was really late in the year. So I didn't get in. It was full. So I waited a year, kind of hung around with my friends. I think I went to York, I went to York University for a year, kind of wasted that. And then, and then, yeah, I went to school for radio and television. And so when I look back on it, it was, then, yeah, I went to school for radio and television. And so when I look back on it,

it was, it was all, I used to be, I used to be one of those people that called radio stations and said, can you play my song or vote for different songs

for their countdowns? And yeah, that was me. You know, Steve Anthony puts lots of sweetener in his coffee, like five whole packets of sweetener in a large cup.

It is disgusting because I tasted his coffee because he asked me to. It's the grossest thing. And it's fake. It's not, it's not like sugar. It's not sugar. It's sweetener in a large coffee. It is disgusting. Cause I tasted his coffee. Cause he asked me to. It's the grossest thing. And it's fake. It's not, it's not like sugar. It's not sugar.

It's sweetener. And that's like potent. Like it's not good. It's like, that's so sweet. No, I'm not a fan of sweeteners. Fake sugars.

I'd rather have the real thing. Yeah. I don't mind sweeter if it's like a third of a pack. I can't even do a full pack, but five. Yeah. This is no joke. He's been on the show.

Freddie P. I love Freddie. Uh, yeah. do a full pack. But five, yeah. This is no joke. He's been on the show. Freddie P. I love Freddie. Yeah, like I was, they have a new studio, Humble and Fred, at Queensway in Islington. Okay. This is like,

they haven't even broadcast from there yet. Isn't that right around here? Yeah. Yeah, like a little bit north of here. Okay. Super close.

And they're going to start broadcasting soon, like maybe even later this week or whatever. But I was there last Friday because Dan Duran was helping Humble & Fred move into the studio.

And I took photos. So if you're on my site, torontomic.com, photos of the new Humble & Fred studio, which is pretty cool. Speaking of the devils. So you, this convergence sort of, you ended up at Seneca? Is that what I mean?

I did. I ended up at Seneca. And how do you kind of go from Seneca to an actual real station like Mix 99.9? I graduated from college and there was a consultant who was one of my teachers, Andrew Forsyth. He's still in the business as far as I know. I saw him a few years ago and he was. And he called me up shortly after graduation and said, Joanne, there's a new radio station opening in Belleville. I think you'd be great. And I had never, I never thought I was going to be on the air. I always thought I was going to be one of those background people, um, working

in promotions, doing some sort of thing like that. And, um, I said, really, you think I should apply like on the air? And he said, yeah, yeah, yeah, you should do it. I think you'd be great. So I had to make up a tape from, from my college radio programs, which weren't the best. And I basically harassed this operations manager, the guy who was going to be doing all the hiring, until he finally hired me. Because it was brand new. It was a brand new radio station launching in Belleville. So they needed a morning show. They needed a midday show, an evening show, and a drive show.

Wait a minute. Yeah, because it was partly voice-tracked. It was one of the first radio stations to really be automated back then. And so, yeah, I went to Belleville. So you actually had to move to Belleville. I did. You didn't commute or anything. You know, I had to move, but I was one of those people. I had a really hard time adjusting because there's a lot more to do in Belleville now. But when I was there, 1994, I think it was, 93? 93. There was nothing to do for a 20-something single girl.

You know what? The only thing going on in Belleville in 93 is they had an OHL team called the Belleville Bulls. And I saw them play, actually. Yeah. My last episode was with this guy named Tim Thompson who puts together hockey montages for Hockey Night Canada and stuff. And he played hockey with my cousin, who I mentioned, Mark Gowan, as a goaltender. But Mark Gowan actually was a Belleville Bull. He was the goaltender for the Belleville Bull in the early 90s.

Possibly at the same time as you're at the station. Maybe I saw him. That's great. Maybe you reported his shutout or something. I could have. I could have. So that, yeah. So that was Belleville for a year.

And it was difficult. But I was like Friday afternoon, as soon as my shift was over, I was in the I could have. So that was Belleville for a year. And it was difficult. But I was like Friday afternoon, as soon as my shift was over, I was in the car driving home. And I lucked out because J.J. Johnston, who turned out to be my mentor, he was fantastic and very well known in the industry. His mother lived in Picton. So as I said, we did a lot of voice tracking.

So I had voice tracked the weekend. He had gone home to visit his mother in Picton and was ice fishing and heard my voice track and thought, I got to call that girl. And he got back to work on Monday and he told me there was my demo tape sitting on his desk. Because the thing with Belleville, because it was a brand new radio station, there was no direction. There was really nobody that could tell me how to get better, what I was doing wrong, you know, really sort of coach me. So I knew that I had

to get out if I wanted to be anywhere, get anywhere. And so, um, so yeah, so I, I was lucky that JJ sort of took me under his wing and he brought me in to do shifts at the mix, like once in a while, he said, I'm going to bring you in, you do an overnight shift here and there. And, and that kind of was the starting point really. Is it, is it, said, I'm going to bring you in. You do an overnight shift here and there. And that kind of was the starting point, really. I'm trying to remember when it becomes Mix 99.9. It was Mix 99.9 then. So it was a freshly Mix 99.9. This was, I don't know how long it had been Mix,

but it had been Mix for a while because it was Rob Christie in the morning. And then it was Lee Marshall was there. Dan Williamson and Maureen Holloway were on in the afternoon. Bruce Barker was on with Rob Christie in the morning. I know Mo would eventually go to the morning show, but I can't remember who was with him in the beginning.

It's kind of a blur. It was a long time ago. A fun fact, and I'm only bringing it up because it's nice synergy here, but the first person who says Mix 99.9 on the air is Humble Howard, because he left the Humble and Fred show for like a year and a half or something, went to 99.9 on the air is Humble Howard because he left the Humble and Fred show for like a year and a half or something, went to 99.9 when they rebranded from whatever

they were. CKFM or whatever it was. Whatever, yeah. And then he's doing the morning show there and he's the first person who says Mix 99.9. Then, of course, he comes back to CFNY, of course. Right. And then they hired Rob Christie. Rob Christie.

Right. And then the rest is history. Yeah. Wow. There you go. And at some, I Christie. Rob Christie. And then the rest is history. Yeah. Wow. There you go. And at some, I don't know, I think Steve Anthony

ends up at 99.9 at some point, I think, but with, anyways, anyways, it all, it all,

what I've noticed, like, in 198 episodes is that all the pieces link together. Like, it's, you know,

everything kind of ties together if you step back. It all kind of fits. It does. It does. It does. Too funny. So you're at Mix 99.9. How do you end up at Hits FM?

Well, I was working sort of part-time at the Mix, and JJ said to me, he's like, I remember him saying, you know, you can stay here. I like you here, but you're never going to get any better doing an overnight shift here and there and opping on the weekends. So you need to be on the air five days a week so um he we explored a bunch of options calgary was one that didn't didn't happen and then he said well hits fm is looking for an evening person i was i was you know your typical mix 99.9 today's hits yesterday's classics you want me to go to this you know southern ontario's best you're right that's like jock rock right it's like it was like iron mike and everybody yeah christy knight like it was in like really rock so i was like i don't know jj he's like oh you can do it no problem so um so yeah i auditioned and um and i i think jj was part of the push like i think jj had a huge influence

and saying trust me she can do it just give her, trust me, she can do it, just give her some time to, but she can do it. And yeah, I got the even job. And it's so much closer than Calgary, you know what I mean?

Yes, it was. I still had to move, but, because I was living, I think I was living with my parents. No, I was living,

actually, I was living with a friend in the beaches. Oh yeah, that's too far, too far to go. Yeah,

I had to, I had to commute. Wrong end of the city. I had to, I had to do the move. So can you tell me, because I don't get, I will never have the chance to talk to him, but what kind of guy was Iron Mike like? I loved Iron Mike.

Honestly, he was one of the best ones. He was just funny, so sweet, just really, I can't say enough good things about Mike. Funny as hell. Such a smart ass. He had so many nicknames for me. Super Tramp was one of them. We got along really well.

And I was crushed when I heard that he was sick. I did reach out to him long before he passed away. And I just really enjoyed my time working with him. Guys my age who think back on Hits FM 97.7, we always think Iron Mike. That's like, that's the guy that comes. I know Christy Knight and everybody, that's great. But Iron Mike is the guy.

Iron Mike. So he had this, did you know about his notebook that he had? No, tell me. So he had like, you know, one of those flip paper notebook things. And he had just a list of names to call people. So, you know, when he those flip paper notebook things. And he had just a list of names to call people. So, you know, when he would do the two o'clock teaser and people would call in and go, you splooge meister. He had all of those written out so that he didn't ever have to think about it. He just, and he flipped the page and go to the next page and just rhyme them off.

Cool. Yeah. He's missed. He's missed. Yeah. So you end up at the mighty queue. And by the way, Yeah. So you end up at the mighty Q. And by the way, correct me if I'm wrong, this is like 1998? 1998, yes. April 2nd, no, April 6th, 1998, I think it was. That's why I gave you episode 198. Oh, see, it did work out after all. Let's pretend I did that on purpose.

So tell me how you end up at Q. Well, Hits FM was sold by Standard. They were selling them off,, um, I really wanted to stay with the company. I was worried about being with a company that was smaller. And if, if Hits FM was going to be sort of the top of the line and the company, where was I going to move up? How was I going to move on and hopefully come back to Toronto where I was from? So, um, I knew I had to get out and, um, I talked to JJ and he's like, oh, I'd love to bring you back. I just got nothing for you right now, but I'll keep you in mind for anything that came up, will come up.

So I reached out to Pat Cardinal, not realizing that Pat Cardinal and JJ Johnston were really good friends, but also very competitive with one another. Gotcha. So I think I kind of became a pawn in the situation. Which isn't a bad thing for you. But it worked out great for me. But it was, I will say, I was terrified because JJ, like I said, was a mentor to me and just a hell of a guy.

And I really made him mad because what happened was he, he called me up and said, I'm thinking, this was a quote, I'm thinking of bringing you back down the line, maybe. So I need you to come in and do an overnight shift for me on Sunday night. So I would have to do the overnight and then go home and sleep and then come in and do an overnight shift for me on Sunday night. So I would have to do the overnight and then go home and sleep and then get up and do the evening show at Hits FM. He's like, I need you to do Sunday night. So I had in the meantime, gone to visit Pat Cardinal and he said, I want to hire you, but I got some things I've got to do right now. So give me a couple weeks, couple months, maybe a months, and I'll get back to you. But I do want to hire you, but I can't right now.

So I was like, okay. So I was kind of in limbo. So when JJ said that, I called up Pat and I said, just want to give you the heads up. I'm going to be on the mix this weekend, so I just don't want you to turn on the mix and hear my voice and think that I'm going to work for the mix. I got a call back like that from Pat saying, come and see me tomorrow.

And I got hired. And so I called JJ up to let him know to say, I've been hired by Q107. If you still want me to do the show on Sunday, I can. But just so you know, I'm going to be working for Q. And he tore a strip off of me. He was so mad. I thought we were friends. How could you do this?

We made up long after that. But I was terrified for the longest time. It's not like you turned down a full-time position at Mitch for Q. At JJ, it was just really, because like I said, I think there was a little bit of rivalry between him and Pat. That's too funny. Now, Pat, of course, sadly passed away recently. He's no one in my circles for the guy who brought Howard Stern to Q7. So is Howard Stern doing mornings when you arrive at Q?

When I came, he was already there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, he was there. So is Howard Stern doing mornings when you arrive at Q? He was already there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, he was there. So I would come on. Actually, when I first got hired there, I was hired to do three overnights and two weekends because Shirley McQueen was doing middays at the time. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was just about to go into Pat's office and say, oh my God, you've got to cut one

of these overnight shifts. This is killing me because the turnaround was just hell. To go from a 6 a.m. to midnight shift and then somehow switch it around and do like noon to 6 on Saturday and 6 to noon. I can't imagine. It was hell. So I was just about to do that when Shirley McQueen announced that she was going to be moving out west. And Pat said, oh, I need you to fill in on middays until we figure out what we're going to do. And after my first shift at middays, he called me down and he said, you want the job?

And I said, of course I want the job. And he's like, it's yours. It's sweet. He said, I still have to post it, but it's yours. Yeah, but that's 1998. That was two months I was doing the overnights and weekends. So it wasn't long after I got hired by Q, I was doing Middays. What was it like at Q during the Howard Stern era? I know that the aforementioned Humble and Fred did not like this very much because it tore, I guess it took a good chunk of their audience.

Did it? They think so. They think they were pretty much, it cannibalized a lot of the Humble and Fred audience that they had built up because Howard Stern was appealing to the young male demographic. Oh, absolutely. I believe that. There was also a lot of backlash with Howard Stern. And there was also a lot of complaints about the commercial breaks.

From listeners? Okay, the commercial breaks. Because I know that most of the negativity around it are things that listeners didn't really care about, like anti-French stuff and language stuff. There was a lot of sex stuff that people had issues with. Yeah. Oh, and anything to do with that was politically incorrect around, you know, mental disabilities or anything like that. That was a very touchy subject.

Which you're right. And I do remember because I remember. Yeah, you're right. There's that and there's a lot of you can't in this country. You can't go on the air and say negative things about the French, for example. Like there's things we have a lot, we're a lot, we're stricter. Yeah, yeah. You know, reminds me of when they tried to stop Cleveland from using their nickname. Why is it always Toronto that does these things,

you know? Because it's because, because there's a border. Like that's where you can do it because there's an actual border. But on that note, real quick before it goes, I don't know what I feel.

I don't use the term Indians. I don't know if they should have to change it. But that mask, the logo, Chief Wahoo, is incredibly shameful. And he's red skin, a feather, looks like a racial caricature. To me, it's 2016. You've got to lose Chief Wahoo. Here's my thing on this because people have asked me that.

And I thought about it for a long time. And I thought, I don't have anything vested in this. I'm not Native Canadian or American. I don't know. But I tried to sort of make it something that I could relate to. So what if they had a logo of a woman from 1950s holding up like a roast beef or they had a girl on a stripper pole and they were called the Cleveland Strippers? Would I have an issue with that? In my opinion, they can do whatever they want. It's their team. But I wouldn't want my kids watching that. And I want my kids to think that that was okay.

So, yeah. I don't think I would petition it legally, but I just would. I hear you. They should do it because it's the right thing to do, not because a court says you have to do it. Yes. But it does feel like the right thing to do. 100%, you got a retired chief Wahoo. The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. But the does feel like the right thing to do. 100%, you got a retired chief Wahoo.

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. But the second best time to plant a tree is right now. Okay. This is Canada, though. This isn't the States. I know. I know. I know. It would never fly here. But the States, it's not quite the same. They're not nearly as sensitive. I hear you. And that's why Howard Stern would require less censorship in the States than they did on Q. And I guess there was a lot of delays. Oh, Nicole. I remember Nicole was the delay editor person. Okay. Hardest job in Canada.

What's that? Is that the hardest job in Canada? She just sat there and listened to the whole show with the headphones on, and it was her job to make sure that nothing, and she was well informed on what was acceptable and not acceptable. We caught on pretty quick that a Buffalo station, WBUF, I think, or something like that was broadcasting Howard Stern as well, and that if you listen to the syndication.

Yeah, there's a Buffalo. So if you listen to the Buffalo, if you could get the Buffalo station in your car or whatever and listen to the syndication. Yeah, there's a Buffalo. So if you listen to the Buffalo, if you could get the Buffalo station in your car or whatever and listen to Howard Stern there, you would hear a lot more of the show than if you listen on Q107. Of course.

So yeah, that word got out on that one at the time, I remember. All right, so you come into the Q107 during the Howard Stern era. I got to ask you, this is a question. I'm going to ask you this. Just go. Okay. You sound like you're afraid to ask. No, I'm this go okay you sound like you're like afraid i'm not

afraid to ask but you're a lovely person uh you got two kids but i'm still gonna ask you about playboy all right did you know that was coming yeah yeah so and i remember at the time and i don't remember if this is it before the mojo radio was around, I think the photo shoot was, I know it's all a blur, but I do know that it came, the issue came out when we were Mojo. Okay. Yes.

All right. So maybe I should talk a little, introduce Mojo and then ask you about the Playboy here. So Mojo, of course, on 640 was this, I guess Chorus owned 640 and they rebranded it Mojo Radio and it was talk radio for guys. Yeah, it was supposed to be like a radio version of Maxim Magazine.

Right, exactly. And Humble and Fred left 102.1 for 640, which is why Dean Blundell comes from Windsor, I think. And he takes over that show. But you were a co-host of Mojo Magazine on Mojo Radio. Not originally. Originally it was May Potts, right? And then May went on vacation.

It's one of those things that I got asked to fill in, and I filled in. And at the end, I was basically told, you're going to do this show moving forward. You're going to still have your midday show on cue, but we're going to ask you to come down the hall and host Mojo Magazine from noon to 1. And I was kind of, you know, you're always thinking about your coworkers, your friends, colleagues that you work with but I was basically, you know, do you like it?

I said, yeah, I like doing it. He's like, good because not so many words you're going to do it or you're not going to do it. May's been here

and we talked about this and she said it was a wrong fit from day one. Like, she was very open about how this, her mojo show

and change was not a good fit ever and it didn't end well for her but, which is, you is, I guess that's radio. She's great. And it did work out really well for her. And I remember talking to her after, and I was like, oh, Mae, I'm so sorry.

And she's like, oh, Joanne, this has nothing to do with you. But you always feel a little bit guilty, I think. And she is like the nicest person in the world. She's really nice, yeah. So you do end up as co-host of Mojo Magazine and mojo radio and i want to get into radio but mojo but first uh okay so i think this is called the playboy special editions girls of canada lingerie issue which is a mouthful by the way yeah it doesn't quite roll off the tongue all right i remember it at the time i remember this distinctly joanne wilder is going to be a playboy or something. Okay. But the fact, the fact is,

you only did like, I only ever find, when I'm looking for these pictures. You Googled it, didn't you? I might've at some point done some research. You wouldn't be alone, I'm sure.

But you're not naked. There's people Googling it right now. Yeah. You're not naked. No, I did not ever want to do anything that my mom would be like, oh my God, I didn't want to do anything that was not tasteful.

As far as I remember, you don't see anything that's not... But you weren't top... Oh no, I was topless. There's some full-on topless from the side. Yeah, there's topless shots, but there's nothing... You didn't find those ones?

Have you scrubbed them from the internet? How did you do that? This was before... I'm trying to think how long ago was this. 2001 or 2000? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's 2001. So, I mean, it just, if it was now, they'd be all over the place. You know, they would be.

But, yeah, they are hard. I think I do have a magazine still somewhere in the house, hidden. Did you bring it with you by any chance? No, I did not. I need to do more research. But I still get asked when I, like, i just did an event not too long ago and a guy said to me would you have signed it if i brought it you know what i mean wink wink wink and i'm like yeah of course i would have and do you find guys because i noticed yeah i wanted to talk about this but i felt like shy because you're here you're in the flesh if so to speak not you're not naked

why are people so uptight i don't know. Do you have any regrets about the Playboy thing? Absolutely not. They were great shots. And I never did anything like my legs were together the whole time. There was nothing. So breast only, nothing down below. I mean, I think the lingerie was see-through. Like you could kind of see, you could use your imagination and kind of see a little bit.

But for the most part, it wasn't like your typical Playboy spread. No. I would not have felt comfortable doing that. Hey, kudos to those ladies who do that. I have nothing against them. And, um, I just, people are really, they get so worked up about nakedness. Like you're right. No, you're right. You know why? Because what's titillating about it is that I can't name another like media person who did that in this market. You've never talked to anybody who sat across from you, you've seen naked before. No, I've never. Yeah, that's right. But, um, I gotta get my eyes checked. Cause I don't remember seeing

any parts that weren't covered by, uh, I saw like a lingerie, like sexy photos, but I don't remember seeing any. Well, there was one that was in the Toronto sun. I think that it was lingerie and they, yeah. Okay. maybe that's what I saw. But no, there... Like, I didn't spend an hour hunting. There was definitely... It was actually in two different issues. They released it in the one that got all the publicity that I did all the media for.

And then they did... They released another one, I can't remember how, so many months later, that I don't think was Girls of Canada. It was just pictures. But the photographer let me know, hey, by the way, you're in this issue. And again, it was... But did they ever ask you to do a proper issue,

like do a proper spread? Like a Playboy? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. And I wouldn't have done that. I wouldn't have felt comfortable doing that. It was just, it was fun. I enjoyed it.

I have no regrets whatsoever. I know there will come a time, because, you know, my kids, I hear all the time, Mommy come a time. Cause you know, my kids, I hear all the time, mommy, when they see, you know, like Beyonce on TV at doing the Superbowl, mommy, that is not appropriate at all. So I will have to sit them down and explain to them like, nudity is okay. You know, when you're a certain age, I was 31, I think 30, 30 at the time. And you were, you were confident. I was confident. I felt good. I wasn't like a young girl who was starting her career. That was another important thing.

Had I not been already where I was established in my business, I don't know that I would have done that. Because I always would have been the girl who did Playboy and not Joanne Wilder. But I always think of Marilyn Monroe. Like we all have these shots of Norma Jean before she was famous. You know, they're tasteful Playboy shots. She looked great.

Yeah, I have no regrets. No regrets. You Google away, not be. And I have to go on eBay now, buy an issue just to get you to sign it. I'm looking at Maestro Fresh West. He signed his 12-inch single. I now need you. Oh, that's cool.

Backbone slash. That's right. So I'll work on that. All right. So good. And by the way, it's not an easy picture to find, uh, via Google FYI. So if it's hiding out there, it's on the dark web. You know what? You're going to get flooded with emails.

I would love if somebody would send this to me. If anybody has naked pictures of Joanne Wilder, now that she's been in my basement, it's important to me. I see what's out there. It's more topless than naked, but yeah, for sure. Sold. Uh, how was, for sure. Sold. How was, so Stu Myers was your program director, right? He was one of many program directors I've had over the years. I'm only asking him specifically

because I mentioned Strombo. Strombo swears by Stu Myers and regards Stu Myers as like the greatest influence. Him and Nelson Millman at the Fan 590 are the two people who steered his career most. I just wondered what kind of a program

director Stu Myers was. He wasn't the program director for that long that I was there for. I'm trying to remember how long he was there. I would say, well, because JJ was,

you know, going back to my issues with JJ, he ended up becoming the GM. So I remember broadcasting, we were broadcasting outside the guest who was going

to be performing at the elmo combo and derringer came into the truck where we were broadcasting from and he's like did you hear jj johnson's our new gm and i swear i must have just gone completely pale and gone oh my god my job is toast well and we like it was all he came in and gave me a big hug and it was always forgotten so So it was great. Uh, so yeah, Stuart Myers was the PD then. Stuart, Stuart and I had an, he, he was great, great PD and he put me on Mojo and he certainly, he said some really nice things to me, but he, sorry, he said some really nice things about me, but he never really said them to me. I would always hear a third party. Oh, Stuart in the meeting, he raved about you today. And I'm like, he did? Oh, he said you were like a PD's disc jockey because you know, you don't have to be told anything. You just do it. And I

was like, really? He said all these nice things. But yeah, I always had a hard time having a conversation with Stuart, but I had tremendous respect for him. And yes, he's great. And at the Chorus Key, what do you call it? Chorus Key? Chorus Key. Yeah. You now work with his daughter, right? Carly. She's so cute. You now work with his daughter, right? Carly. She's so cute. Isn't that funny how things work out?

It's so funny. The generation gap though, because, you know, she's like, what is she in her, she 20, if that. And so when I see her in the morning, I say, oh, hey, Carly, how are you? Dude. That's what I get. Hey, dude. How's it going?

Have a great show. Those millennials. I know. And May Potts' daughter is there too, right? Yeah. You know, she's up on the second floor. I receive emails from Lauren, but I have not met her face-to-face. I saw her when she was little.

Right. I saw her here. She came in for mom when they did an episode. Oh, really? Okay, cool. Yeah. But it's too funny how these, like the second generation. You know, that's why you can't ever burn bridges.

It's my number one advice to people in the industry. Don't burn bridges because you will eventually work for them, with them. So you haven't burnt a bridge? I think JJ was probably the closest. But you fixed that. But we fixed that. I don't think so. A lot of radio people, obviously not yourself and not May Potts

and not a lot of the people we've mentioned, but there are a lot of radio people who have, I want to say, like almost a chip on their shoulder, like an arrogance, where they clash with others. Almost like they're an alpha male and then you're also an alpha male and they have to like have a feud or something. Do you know what?

Maybe I know the wrong radio people. I don't know that I've had to, I can't think of, I have worked with some really great talented people, so I would have a really hard time not getting along with them, you know? I hear you. Well, okay, of those people, I'm going to ask you a question. I see now I should have done this

earlier, but Il Duce, who is my buddy and makes good pasta. If you ever need pasta, go to Palma Pasta. Palma Pasta in Mississauga in Oakville. Fantastic. He wants to know why no one at Mojo was allowed to talk about your Playboy pics. This is his recollection. Is that true? They were. I'm pretty sure we did. I went on with Humble and Fred and we chatted about it. Yeah. Because I was on the Mike Bullard show and I'm pretty sure they promoted that

at the time that I was going to be on there for that. Was that called Open Mic? Yeah, it was called. I still have the mug from the show. He was let go this week from his, he had a gig at 1010. He was let go this week. Are you serious? There's budget cuts over there. He was funny.

I liked Mike. I like him. I still do. I like Mike too. Okay, we think you're wrong about that. So I did ask your question. I don't,

he was, I will say he is sort of right in saying that it could have been, made a bigger deal, but it was also at the same. It's funny because it was Mojo and that was what their shtick was. But it was also at a time where corporations were being very sensitive. We had a Mojo calendar, which I was also in. And we had them up through the office and they all came down.

Like, so it became, you know, you had to be sensitive and, you know, sexual harassment. I think Stafford told me that story. Yeah, that, yeah, you can't even have your own calendar. You can't. No, the calendars came down pretty fast. Is that because somebody complained? Probably. I don't know that anybody complained.

I think it just sort of became across the board corporate policy for companies all over the continent, really. Yeah, no bikini pics. You can't do that. Yeah. I hear you. So what do you think went wrong with Mojo looking back? Because the Mojo, it changes, I don't know how long it goes for. How long did Mojo really last?

AM's a tough thing anyway. I don't remember. A couple years, didn't it? It's such a blur to me. I don't know because... I remember I was, because Jeff Merrick and I hosted Mojo magazine, I don't even know how long it was for. I know it was while we were at Young & Norton.

And it carried on when we moved to Young & Dundas. Because I remember I had to do the show at Kew. And we hadn't moved all the studios. And I used to have to take the subway quickly down to record the next part of the show. Gotcha. So is it just that political correctness killed Mojo? And you couldn't commit to something in that climate? Is it just that political correctness killed Mojo and you couldn't commit to something in that climate? Like, is it possible?

Because you're talking for guys. Right off the bat, you're sort of... Maybe the guys were more interested in listening to sports. But Merrick could talk. Mayor Merrick's a sports guy. Like, there must have been a good healthy dose of sports. It wasn't like Leafs lunch or anything. No, no.

Well, poor Mojo. Because Freddie P swears that Mojo just wasn't given a chance. He thinks it would have been a big... You know, he's probably bang on with that. I think maybe if you give

it a little bit more time, because it is AM, you can't expect huge numbers and huge revenue to start when you do a change like that. You've got to let it build

and word of mouth is huge, right? And you're going against, you've got the Fan 590 doing, that's a, you know, guy sports talk and you have the Mighty 1010, which has been like a... 680, I mean, huge, right? Right, right.

Yeah, it's a tough call. But you know, I mean, Oakley and Stafford are still there. They just rebranded the station. But they keep chugging along. All right. Now I'm going to ask you about some people you work with at Q. The first guy, and I listened, I watched that Leafs game Saturday night. And prior to the game, there was a Jays game on. So I didn't see live this ceremony for the hundred. What was it? Yeah. They were retiring like a hundred. It wasn't that.

The jerseys. Yes. They were retiring numbers. But then I watched it on YouTube. And of course, it was strange to me not hearing Andy Frost because he's no longer public address announcer. They got a new guy, Mike Ross, and I'm sure he'll be fine, but he's not Andy Frost. What kind of guy? Because Andy has been at Q since like 86. You should have Andy on. He said he'd come on. Can you tell him, put some pressure on him to pick a date and time?

Because he's agreed to come on, but I can't get him to commit to a day and time to come on. Yeah. Okay. Well, just set it. You know what? You should send him an email. Say, I've got you booked in for this time. Let me know if that works for you.

Is that how it works with Andy? Maybe. Andy's fantastic. He's such a charming man. He really is. I love Andy. Good guy. All around.

He's a good guy. And I think he's your longest serving on-air person at Q. You see? Yeah, because Derringer left and came back, right? So that doesn't count. You have to reset his clock. Yeah. Andy's been there,

yeah, forever. And he is good. He's great. Since 86. Do you know that, I play this game sometimes, like who's made the station longest.

Do you know Ingrid Schumacher has been on Chum FM since the late 70s? Wow. And she was on the air the day Lennon was killed. But she's been on the same station

since the late 70s. She came into my college class and talked to us, but she's, she's had, she's been on the same station since the late seventies. She came into my college class and talked to us, gave us a little bit of a, um, just sort of a, a chat about, you know, on air performance and stuff like that. So that was like early nineties. Yeah. She's still there. That's crazy. Right. That's awesome.

And no one really compares because Ashby left, he was on 1050 chum and then he went to 104.5. So he doesn't count. That doesn't count either. No. But yeah, I'm glad to hear Andy Frost is a good guy because, uh, he's, he's a voice He was on 1050 Chum and then he went to 104.5. So he doesn't count. That doesn't count either. But yeah, I'm glad to hear Andy Frost is a good guy because he's a voice that we know in this city since the mid 80s. Hey, another great voice that was on cue and is no longer on cue is Jeff Woods.

What was it like working with Jeff? Jeff's great. He was my PD for a while too. Jeff's great. I mean, he's very good at what he has the voice. Ladies go crazy for his voice. I used to joke that you could read his gas bill and the girls would just be like, you're right, because I'm a heterosexual male and I was flushed. You like it? I was flushed. Yeah. Jeff's a good guy. Yeah. He was my PD for a while too. And he was actually the music director. He was the

assistant PD to Pat Cardinal when I got hired. So I remember him coming in because Pat was very, you know, suit and tie. And Jeff comes in. He's got like tattoos and t-shirt. And I was like, oh, he's scary. He wrote a book. I don't know. I just realized now. Yeah, he sent it to me. Did he send it to you? Are you in it? No, no, no, no, no.

All I mentioned is that the lineup, I was part of the lineup at Q. But there's no, we didn't have, I didn't have an affair with Jeff Woods or anything. Because that would be more exciting than the Playboy news. I didn't make it to that part of the book, yeah. Jeff Woods. But good for him for putting his life out there. Jeez.

Yeah, and he's got a podcast, I think, that he's doing now that kind of tells stories from the book. He is the type of person who should be doing a podcast. That's totally right up his demo. You know what I mean? Especially if the ladies just want to hear his voice. Exactly.

He doesn't have to have good content. You don't even have to care if he's talking about the Rolling Stones. Just listen to his voice. All right. Last guy I'm going to ask you about. Somebody else has a question about somebody else.

So John Derringer. Yeah. So I don't think there's a... I mean, Andy Frost and yourself, we associate with Q107, but Derringer is sort of like the flagship guy. He's the Q guy, yeah, for sure. Because after the Humble...

Sorry, Humble. After the Howard Stern experiment, Derringer comes in to do mornings and he's been there ever since. He was brought back to do Drive. When he got hired back, he was hired from the fan to come and do afternoon Drive because Howard was on in the morning.

I think... Tell me if I... I think Derringer leaves the fan for Montreal. Okay. And then Montreal to Q. Okay. Cause that could be, I could have missed that. And he's doing Drive while Howard Stern is doing mornings. And then he replaces Howard. Cause I know he's the morning guy after Howard Stern on Q.

Cause there's no one between them. Oh yeah. Yeah. No, he was, he was the one who was put in there. But I mean, I just, when he came back, he was afternoon drives with, was Colleen or was there somebody for Colleen? I can't remember, but I think Colleen, I was thinking it was him and Colleen in the afternoon and Craig. All right. Can I open up? I feel like I can be honest with you. I feel very relaxed and comfortable. Okay. Okay. So I like

John Derringer. I remember him from the first stint at Q. And I think he's a great broadcaster. Yeah, he is. I'd very much like to have John Derringer to sit in that chair so we can talk about John Derringer. I don't know if you'll ever do. He has like, I invited him. Okay. What did he say?

He politely declined. Okay. But I think, just you and I talking here. You think I could convince him? I wasn't, that I was, maybe. But I think he is saying no because he knows, I know he knows from Twitter because he's,

we're kind of Twitter friendly. I think he has me in the Humble and Fred group because I worked closely with Humble and Fred on their podcast. Okay. And I,

I believe he's aware of things Humble and Fred have said about him on their show, which are very negative. I see. They did not get along. Howard particularly. Fred is okay. I don. They did not get along. Howard particularly.

Fred is okay. I don't, you know what? I don't. Do you think I'm painted with that brush? I don't think that's what it is. I just don't think John really likes, wants to sit down and talk about himself and his career. I think one day he'll probably write a book

and that's what he should do. And that's probably what he will do. I'm just. So you don't think it has anything to do with the fact that I'm. I just think I, knowing John, I just think that he probably won't want to sit behind this mic and talk about himself see i feel a little better now because uh i just i wish i don't know if he'll ever hear this but i wish john derringer would know that all because somebody i'm friendly with has negative things

to say about him doesn't mean i share that i could see how somebody might yeah i could see how somebody might think that but i don't i don't Bible. Yeah, I could see how somebody might think that, but I don't think that's what it is. I wouldn't grill him on all these negative things I heard. I would actually just straight up do a respectful interview of John Derringer, who's a legend. He's a pretty busy guy, and he's got his family, and I just don't think

this is his thing. This is not his thing. No. If I ever see him on another podcast... Well, he has a podcast with his daughter. Oh, yes. Yes. Yeah. Which is, that's fine.

But if he ever appears on some competitor, we're very competitive. Do you have a competitor? Okay. Who could ever compete with this? Come on, Joanne. Exactly. Nobody. So, John Derringer, if you change your mind, the door is open.

Right. Come on, Toronto Mike. Let's talk. Andy, for sure, though. I got to get Andy in here. Hey, for a while, you were voicing rock 101 in vancouver yeah yeah so how did that come to be how did that go and then why is that no longer the case uh well alice cooper they had the alice cooper show in there and i from what i i don't

know 100 because most of the time you're not privy to these things i was told that it was costing a lot of money and the ratings just weren't there. So they, I think they were still trying to, at that time that rock one-on-one was in a huge transitional phase and they needed to figure out what they were going to do before they hired anybody. So they, um, um, Dunner,

uh, Chris Dunn come contact and he's like, Oh, you know, your name was thrown around to voice track the evening show. Would you do it? You know, we'll pay you this much money

and you can just lay down your voice tracks and send them to us. And I said, sure. Which is an easy gig, right? It was such an easy gig. And the best part was they flew me out to Vancouver and I got to spend like three days in Vancouver in the summertime and it was beautiful.

That was the best part. So yeah, of course. And I knew, I always knew that it was temporary. I always knew that eventually they were going to want to have a body in the studio because there were times we had done, um, there were times when you would, I'd lay down my voice tracks and send them. And I remember it was a Friday afternoon.

I was already at home. I was up in my neighborhood shopping and I got a call, uh, from, or I saw it was reading my emails and it was right around the same, I think it was the Sandy Hook, um, terrible, tragic shootings. And it was absolutely horrible. And all my voice tracks, we were doing this bit for the weekend. It was like the end of the world. What would you do? And I, I immediately called up Dunner and I said, you, you've got to delete those voice tracks. You can't run those VTs. It's completely insensitive. So I think that was sort of, I don't want to say that was the start of the thinking that this isn't going to happen, but it was kind of thinking, you know, we really need to have a live person in here. So I always knew it was going to come to an end. I knew it wasn't permanent.

I'm glad to hear they pay extra for that thing. I always wondered like when, when somebody, I know Fearless Fred is like on the air in Alberta somewhere. He voice tracks something. Okay. Well, yeah, for sure. So I always wondered though, like, yeah, they pay you extra for being on the station. I'm glad. I don't though. Yeah, they pay you, of course. Yeah, they pay you extra for being on another station? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'm glad. I don't know. Because radio stations are notoriously cheap. I just wondered if they just said,

you're a full-time employee. We'd like you to do this, do this. So that's good to hear. Rock 101 in Vancouver. You mentioned Alice Cooper. I just want to say that his greatest hits from 1974. I must have spun that a million times when I was a teenager. I loved every track on his 1984. And this is when Alice a million times when I was a teenager. Yeah. I loved every track

on his 1984, and this is when Alice Cooper was a band, not a guy, even though the guy was the band, but it was a band, yeah,

before he became a semi-pro golfer, and I think every track from Under My Wheels to Elected to... Only Women Bleed is like my favorite Alice Cooper song.

But that actually is Alice Cooper's solo. Oh, is that him, that solo? So that's not on this 1974. Sorry. But anyway. It's still a good song.

It is a great song. Teenage Lament 74, stuff like that. Okay. I just want to say Alice Cooper, underrated in my opinion, his early 70s stuff. Underrated. Okay. That's all I'm going to say. You can disagree if you like.

You can talk to Andy about that, about Psychic Alex Sunday. Get some of that on there. Andy Frost. When I was going to the Phoenix on Thursday nights, Andy Frost live from the Phoenix Concert Music Theater. Yeah. I might do my... Last call for alcohol.

I might do my Andy Frost conversation in my terrible impersonation of Andy Frost. I might do that. We'll see. We'll see. Okay. Let's talk about... Okay. So we mentioned... Okay. So here's. Okay, let's talk about, okay, so we mentioned,

okay, so here's a change, kind of a corporate thing, but chorus absorbs Shaw. You might have heard something about that. Yes, a few emails went through. I don't really read those emails, to be honest. I just go, oh, okay.

But okay, so, and again, you know, you were in Playboy, so you are... Yeah, that was so long ago. But you're an attractive person. Like some people are on the radio because they have a face for radio. That's not you. So um, yeah, that was so long ago, but you're attractive person. Like some people are on the radio because they have a face for radio. That's not you.

So my question is now that chorus owns television properties, is there any convergence there where you actually would consider, uh, being in front of a camera? Um, that's a well thought out question. That was really good. Uh, I don't know. I guess if the opportunity, I, I've always been more of a radio person. I've done TV and, um, I just, it's a lot of sitting around. What TV did you do? I did. Cause cable 10 doesn't count. I did Jim, this thing called Jim rock. It ran on TSN. Okay. So, uh, it was a competition for young girls and

it was a combination of gymnastics and dance. And I was the sideline reporter. And it was a competition for young girls and it was a combination of gymnastics and dance. And I was the sideline reporter. Well, that's something. And it was something, but it was a lot of sitting around. There was more sitting around waiting for them to set up the lighting than actually doing anything. And it was over an entire weekend and it was the shortest little... But you wouldn't consider anything like, I don't know, that global morning show, like being somebody... I would never do mornings. Mornings are off the table. You could not pay me enough to do... But you wouldn't consider anything like, I don't know, that global morning show, like being somebody who comes on and talks.

I would never do mornings. Mornings are off the table. You could not pay me enough to do. I did mornings for a short period years ago, years and years and years ago. And I hated every time that alarm clock went off. I swear I cried. So no convergence opportunities for you. It depends on what the opportunity was.

I don't know that the opportunity would ever present itself because I'm not, I'm not 20 years old anymore either. I'm pretty realistic. Speaking of not being 20 years old. So those, everyone knows this, I think, but Chorus owns three stations in this market. So 640,

Q107, and The Edge, 102.1. All the 20 year olds are at The Edge. So what is the interaction like? Like, just tell us people who just listen on the radio, like at the Chorus complex, like just, well, I guess that's on the waterfront, just east of

Yonge Street, sort of by the sugar. I see people more in the hallway than I see anywhere else because don't forget, like I'm there during the day. I'm in my studio, walked away for five hours. So the only time I see is if I come out of the studio to go get my tea in the morning and I'll run into Carly or I'll run into Mel, Fred and Mel. But other than that, yeah, I see Josie once in a while. But yeah, we don't, we don't. And, you know, we used to years ago, we used to have real chorus Christmas parties, like real parties where you sit down and have dinner. Those have been gone for years. They were lost in the budget cuts.

Well, there was a lot of budget cuts like years and years ago where people lost their jobs and it was really hard to justify throwing a big party after all these people were laid off. Maybe John Derringer should pay for it. Maybe he could host the parties.

No comment. Now he's never coming on. In John Derringer's defense, he has hosted Christmas parties at his house and I was invited and he invited most of the people from the radio station. He threw huge parties.

That's very cool. Very cool. For sure. All right. Now, let's talk about the Q107 format. Okay. Now, I know you don't pick the format. I have nothing.

Go ahead. I get all the time. What's this? You're playing. And it's just like, dude, I'm just doing my job. I'm just like you. I'm going to work, and I'm doing my job. I always say I will pass this on to the music,

the Q107 music department. I hear you. But you know what? It's been really positive. The most I've heard in the last little while is... What is that? Oh, I know. But I love this stuff.

Oh, it's fine. I'm not even a judge. This is what I've heard. What the hell is Q107 playing? Not that I have a problem with it. I'm not even a judge. This is what I've heard. What the hell is Q107 playing? Not that I have a problem with it. I like it. I'm just really surprised to hear it on Q107. That's what I hear.

This, I think if you have to pick to like a band that has now appeared in the playlist that sort of signifies the change, the recent change. Yeah. First of all, it's like I'm a fan of this album. Okay. I like this song. This is my childhood right here. Mine too.

First vinyl I ever bought was Duran Duran's Rio. I can't remember. No, mine was the Eagles, I think. But I did buy Duran. I cried the time my mom and dad would not let me go to the Duran Duran concert because I was too young. They wouldn't let me go. And that was when they filmed the Reflex video.

Yes, and my friends were in the video. Get out of here. And I remember when it came out, and they were like, there's Tracy and Linda. And I'm like, oh, that could have been me. I was so upset. And that would haunt me forever. Yeah, it does haunt me.

Okay, so maybe we'll start current and go back. So, okay, so let's stick. Forever, it was a mainstream rock station, Q107. Yeah. And at some point, I guess shortly after you get there, you can tell me, but they turned to classic rock. It wasn't shortly. It was a while. It was pure rock for you can tell me, but they turned to classic rock. It wasn't shortly. It was a while.

It was pure rock for a long time. When does it go to classic rock? Derringer was hired back by then, and he had been there for a while before it went classic rock. Yeah, it all blurs together for me. So, yeah, so it's mainstream rock. It was pure rock, and then it was classic rock. And it was classic rock until what? Like a year ago. Right.

And then you, uh, yeah, it become, okay. So I have notes here. Here we go. You probably know more than I do.

Cause I don't remember. I do know that that song we're listening to right now. Yeah. I was moving my brother recently and we were in a U-Haul and I put on Q and a seven and Andy Frost was introducing this song, which is just so unusual, right? Unless it was like a 80s lunch or something, but this was a

regular rotation. Oh, he was probably filling in. It wasn't obviously. It was a weekend. It was not psychedelic Sunday. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Saturday morning. Yeah, that would make sense. No, it gets played once in a while. For sure it does. For sure it does. So here, okay, so let me get this right. So you went back, you became Toronto's Rock Station.

This was when you left Classic Rock fairly recently. Toronto's Rock, Q107. But then it changed again. Now it's Great Hits and Real Classics. We have a little piece of paper to remind because I forget all the time. I can't believe you. Great Hits, Real Classics.

Q107, Great Hits, Real Classics. Yep. Right. And that's where Duran Duran shows up. So let me, speaking of Maypods, here's my, as a listener, this is what I think is happening. Go.

I think Boom. Boom is doing really well. And that's the reason you now will play things like Duran Duran. Probably. Absolutely. I wanted some more fight from you. No wonder everybody gets along with you.

Does everybody get along with me? I don't know. You said only JJ had an issue. You know, I probably, I mean, Boom is doing so well. But you have the same depth, like you, the demo world. The demo changes. But who do you target? Isn't it, isn't it older males? 25 to, no, it's men and women. We're going after men and women. We're doing really well with men. We're doing better with women. But yeah, I would say 25 to 54, I think, is the demo. And because Boom was doing very well in your targeted demo,

you need to, if you can't, you know, I'm not saying that's a terrible expression, if you can't beat them, join them, because you're Q107. But you needed to learn from what they're doing right in order to get back some of that audience you might've lost to boom. Absolutely. Like I, I, I, like I don't have any say in the programming and there have been many changes over the years, many, many changes in my 18 plus years that I've been at Q107. Um, and it may change again, but right now this seems to be working right now. And people want their Duran Duran.

Because nostalgia is the potent drug of 2016. Well, you know, here's the thing. I love rock, but I also love Depeche Mode and Duran Duran. And this is the music that I grew up with. And Forever Q wouldn't even play like a U2, for example. Like you would never hear U2 on Q. Oh, really? Not for the, yeah.

Well, maybe it changed with the Joshua Tree, maybe. Maybe in the late, I'm trying to remember, the late 80s, I think. I know that Rattle and Hum, for example, was played a lot on Q and that stuff. But there was a time before that where there was like an obnoxious term in Q107 for what they would think of U2. So CFNY would play it, but this is when you were not owned by the same company. No, no, no.

Okay, this is long. So it was a big rivalry, I think, and that Q would never play U2. But yeah, you evolve and you change, and now Q is playing stuff like Duran Duran. So you get to play this track. And, you know, great hits and real classics. So do you get complaints from guys who are looking for,

what are they looking for? They're looking for this all the time. They want to hear it every hour. Hold on here. Oh, but see, this is the best band of all time. How can you not love that music?

Especially Led Zeppelin 4, which is what this track is on. You know, I, we'd be playing a hell of a lot more Zeppelin and different album tracks if I got to program the music

I don't know that I would have a lot of listeners in the classic rock era the nickname Q1O Zeppelin Q1O Zeppelin yes

and you know what I came up with a thing for that it was we started doing Q1O Zeppelin and we started Respect the Zepp

where I used to have people call in and you had to respect the Ze, and we started Respect the Zepp, where I used to have people call in, and you had to respect the Zepp. And we did Respect the Zepp weekends. Nice. Because if you can't, people would complain, and we'd go, yeah, we are Q on a Zeppelin, and we're proud. But that's not the case anymore. And you still, I should point out, you still play Zeppelin, because you're doing real hits and real classics,

and this is a real classic. But it's not as much as I would like. No. Blair, FYI. He knows. I think it would get annoying if I were in your position and people would think I'm picking the songs.

I know there are people out there who think... I think most people know, but there are people who's like, Joanne, why are you playing that? It's like... I'm sure they are. And it's been a long time since DJs have been able to pick their own tunes.

I've never. Other than request shows. Right. And even then you have to pick from a playlist. I've never. Other than request shows. Right. And even then you have to pick from a playlist. Yeah. It's been a long time. Okay, Jason, I'm going to leave the last few questions to a longtime listener, Jason from Sudbury.

He asks, if Q107 were to flip back to a hard rock format, do you think it would work? I miss the pure rock days. So Jason misses the hard rock days when duran duran didn't get played we're just competing with with the edge then then we're just i mean we're just fighting our own you know against our own company our own well the edge is more of a adult alternative thing like they're going to play like the smells like teen spirit and they might because they're i think they're going to more of a hits fm i think i think and i don't want to read his mind but

maybe he's looking for more of like a black Sabbath or, you know what I mean? Is he looking for like, well, it would certainly, it would certainly affect my numbers because people just, when we were harder to rock, I had all the time people saying how they couldn't listen to this radio station at work.

Oh, I can't listen to QLM at work. Right. You know, but now that's totally changed. And you want to get that, like the dentist office audience and all that. You know, you can't leave all that for CHFI, right?

Well, anywhere the PPM can pick it up, right? That's right. That's right. All right. And his other question is, I'm playing this only because I have distinct memories in the like 1987 or something. Yeah, it's 87. The top 10 of 10 appointment listening for me where I would hear stuff like this

for the first time. Oh, okay. And it would be like top 10 of 10 was like I had to hear the top 10 of 10 because it was like those were like the best rock songs of the era.

And you might hear like I still remember like Copperhead Road hearing it for the first time and stuff like that. Or like this track. Like I ran out and got this Appetite for Destruction

cassette. Because it's a great album. Q played it and it was great. But are there any bands that you could make up a top ten with hard rock right now? Not getting radio play. You'd have to... Yeah, I don't know. You're right. Only the old

timers like the Foo Fighters and all that. Where is the guitar based rock bands that we need? It's funny because my son who's's 14, is all about rap. And I actually, I have the public enemy here. I like rap too. But my diet, like at his age, my diet was like 30% rap, 70% like guitar-based rock. And he listens to nothing with a guitar in it.

Unless it's sampling. Have you played some of the old stuff? I try once in a while. I try to, especially, we went on a road trip when the Tragically Hip was and less the sampling. Have you played some of the old stuff? I try once in a while. I try to, especially, we went on a road trip when the Tragically Hip was winning on the tour.

So I played a lot of Tragically Hip and I think they appreciate that Daddy loves these songs but he's never on his own gone and played a Tragically Hip track.

You know what I mean? Well, you know, the same situation for us. My kids love the Chainsmokers and you know, all those.

That's a big one for my daughter. But they love the Tragically Hip. And when Tragically Hip was doing their shows in the summertime, we watched up at our boat. We watched it at the dock, at the marina. And my kids knew all the words to the

songs because Daddy plays it in his car all the time. And they know Pearl Jam songs because Daddy plays them all the time. But for like Pearl Jam songs because daddy plays them all the time but for them to go into their room and listen to I don't think they're

downloading that on their iPad it's daddy's music daddy's music and mommy's mommy trained them at a very young age that Zeppelin

what's the best band and they would go let's Zeppelin we call that Joanne we call that brainwashing yes it kind of

it didn't work it only lasted a little while it always works for a while and then you get they get minds of their own, unfortunately. Don't you hate it when that happens? Yeah. Jason from Sudbury has one more question. So do you have any idea whatever happened to Gonzo?

I know he started off at Hitz, then went to Q for quite a few years, then went back to Hitz. And after that, I lost track. He's in Ottawa, I think. He's on Twitter. We follow each other on Twitter. Jason, he's... Go on Twitter. He made a bad joke that he's Gonzo. Get it that, I lost track. He's in Ottawa, I think. He's on Twitter. We follow each other on Twitter. Go on Twitter. He made a bad joke that he's

Gonzo. Get it? He's Gonzo. Bad joke. But you tell me that he's not hard to find. Didn't he used to say that was Gonzo's closing when he would finish his show. He said, I'm Gonzo. And he would leave. He would sign off at the end of his show, I'm pretty sure. I hear there was a lawsuit from Muppets that

Gonzo is... I'm making that up. Before that ends up on a pretty sure. I hear there was a lawsuit from Muppets that Gonzo is... I'm making that up. Before that ends up on a wiki. When you were coming on, I went to the Q107 Wikipedia page. I wanted to reference the format stuff. The aforementioned. It was cited as a source.

There's a number two beside it. I went to the bottom to see what the source was. Ready for this? I tweeted this. It was funny. The source was. Ready for this? I tweeted this. It was funny. The source was my blog, TorontoMic.com. So I'm on Wiki

to get info that is sourced from me. I'm the source of this, which I thought was... That's very funny. Yes, look for Gonzo on Twitter. I'm pretty sure he's out in Ottawa.

Are the Jays are going to win four in a row? Is that right, Joanna? Is it started? It started. Oh, it's starting in three minutes. That's why we're wrapping this up. Did you have a Jamie? Is it started? It's starting in three minutes. That's why we're wrapping this up.

Did you have a good time? I did. It was great. Thanks for the beer. I'm looking forward to the chef's plate. Right. And yeah, enjoy that.

And make sure you tell Andy Frost. He's got a, he's got a visit. Just set a date. Tell him how safe you felt and how harmless this was. You never seem to be in distress. Not in distress, Andy. You can do this.

He probably will. He's such a great guy. And I'm sure he has good stories, too. And I want him to say, goal scored by number 11, Toronto Mike. Can I just say this? When I was in college, I went to Seneca, and it was a teeny, teeny tiny plaza. And I mean, it wasn't a plaza. It was so small, the Seneca. Now it's at York University. But at the time, it was literally a strip mall that we were in. Brian Rodney, who was the Q music director for years, was in my class and he worked at Q part-time with Andy

and he got Andy to record Oh my gosh, do we have to do this? He got Andy to record our ID for our college radio station and it was CSEA College Rock, from the front doors to the cafeteria and all points in between. I love it. I'm going to have them do that.

I'm going to start sounding like a real station. Get them, get them to do some IDs for you. I will. I will. That's a great idea. And that brings us to the end of our 198th show. You can follow me on Twitter.

I'm at Toronto Mike and Joanne is at Joanne Wilder. Not her real name, but it's the name we're going to call her. And our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. And Chef's Plate is at Chef's Plate CA. See you next. Actually, see you later this week when I have Christine Bentley and Kate Wheeler. CFTO.

From CFTO coming on to talk about what they're up to these days. Yes. to talk about what they're up to these days. We'll see you next time.