Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - John Gallagher: Toronto Mike'd #181

Episode Date: June 28, 2016

Mike chats with John Gallagher about his years at Q107, CityTV and TSN, how he saved Mark Wahlberg's life, his time on Zoomer Radio and so much more.

Welcome to episode 181 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. I'm Mike from TorontoMic.com and joining me this week is broadcaster John Gallagher. Welcome Spike. I can call you Spike. Well, call me whatever you want. This is, hey, this is theme music. I could steal that. You like it?

I like it. It's like, girls, the girls, they love me. I'm the overweight, lovey Johnny G. I should use this. The late grade heavy D. I love the reference. You're a bit of a guinea pig. No offense, but I did 180 episodes on this MacBook Pro.

And I've heard them all. Huge fan. There's a pop quiz later. Be careful what you promise. Oh, boy. And my MacBook Pro died today. Like, I'm setting it up for your visit, and it's dead. And I'm quickly scrambling.

I found an old Mac Windows. Sorry, an old Mac. An old Windows laptop. Anyway, so I'm hoping this sounds as good as normal. I'm hoping my listeners will let me know whether it's A-OK or not. I will save you. These dulcet tones have saved several broadcasts, my friend. I'm here for you.

But I love the guinea pig that you set up to get the thing moving. That's, that's, that's, I love that little wheel. If you hear him in the background, don't be alarmed. Speaking of weasels and the other... No, I'm just kidding. But you came straight from... Tell me, you came straight from recording with Frank D'Angelo. It's called The Next Sports Star.

I haven't found one yet, Mike, because it's been on the air for four years. But I get to spend two hours with Phil Esposito, Frank D'Angelo, and Bill Waters. I mean, name the Hall of Famers in that group. But they're bouncing it around like an extra in a Tonight Show. It's a great show, but there's no holds barred. And Phil tells me this story, if I may indulge.

It's 1979. They beat the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final, first game 4-1. And it's funny because Ken Dryden was supposed to sit out the rest of the series, but someone hit Michelle Bunny-LaRock. It was Doug Risborough with a shot in the warm-ups, and they put Dryden back in. Rangers get a 2-0 lead. Anyway, long story longer,

Phil is awakened at 4 o'clock in the morning at a big hotel, the Rangers hotel in Montreal, and he looks out, and there's two New York Ranger players with four naked women just frolicking in the hallway. And I told them that the Canadians set that up. The Canadians sent call girls into the bars on Crescent Street to pick up these hot shot New York Rangers, right? And that's what happened, and they didn't win another game after that.

Oh, man, if this is any indication, this is going to be a great episode. So you've got to promise me that you'll try to stay on that microphone. Absolutely. Maybe even tilt it up or... Whatever you want, man. Pretend it's one of those attractive naked ladies from... From the New York Rangers. From the New York Rangers. Oh my goodness. And then I've got to... And with that,

I got a call one time at City TV. Gallagher, I'm at the Royal York. You've got to come down. I'm like, what? Pat Burns and Doug Gilmore, they've got these two naked women on a coat rack, and they're up at the penthouse suite. You've got to come down and cover this. I'm like, really? I don't know if he was making it up or not, but should I have called and asked for an invite?

I don't know. That's another good question. Nothing's more early 90s than Pat Burns and Doug Gilmore. They were thick as thieves, those two. Oh my goodness. Hey, can I just skip ahead? I'm going to play a clip of you and you're interviewing Doug Gilmore for City Pulse, I think.

City Pulse Sports. And this is all out of order, but whatever. I brought it up. You brought up Doug Gilmore, so I'm going to play this if you don't mind. Sure. Mr. Captain Fantastic. How's the homestand going? Don't you fuck off.

Suck my fucking dick, you fucking whiner. Okay, that was awful audio, but what that was is that was you interviewing Gilmore. And I don't know, I guess people heard it enough, but why don't you.... And I don't know. I guess people heard it enough. But why don't you do it? Doug and I are dear friends. Been to his wedding with the lovely Amy Gilmore.

And we're all Facebook friends. So he was just taking the, as they say in Ireland, taking the piss. So I go, how's the homestand going? Why don't you do this? And he's laughing. And I'm laughing. And some people thought it was serious. Got a Gilmore, a Creams Gallagher on the air.

It was a joke, and still is, because Doug and I are pretty good friends. Did Amy wear the cow legs? Wow, yeah. That's a reference, right? I've spent several a late night with Doug and Amy at their homely abode outside in the pool. They're not there anymore, but it used to be on the bridal path.

All right. Yeah. They sold that house to Drake, I think. I think you're right. What do the neighbors got a hold of the new basketball court that Drake's going to build and the pool? You know, I only own one leaf jersey with a living leaf. I have a Bill Borilko jersey because he's a legendary figure.

But I have a Doug Gilmore 93 hanging in my closet upstairs. That was my guy. Oh my goodness. And he's a good boy? He was whittled down to just blood, sweat, and tears at the end of that. I mean, they go 7 with Detroit. They win. This is 93. And then 7 with

St. Louis. Win 6-0 in the final game. And then go, of course, 3-2 game lead against Los Angeles. And then G with St. Louis. Win 6-0 in the final game. And then go, of course, have a 3-2 game lead against Los Angeles. And then Gretzky decides to, you know, pot a hat trick. The last one going off Dave Ellett's skate. Remember that? Oh, I know. I remember every minute of

that postseason. And I remember, yeah, and I remember that they said he had to eat so much pasta just to try to still be like 120 pounds at the end of the game. Caramel loading. But for the record, the Toronto Maple Leafs would have played the Montreal Canadiens in the championship final. And Felix Potvin would skate into his hometown rink of the Montreal Forum,

look at those 23 banners, and pee his pants. And it would be, what, the Habs in three. They wouldn't even complete the series. Trust me, the Habs were not going to be denied that year. I would have been fine to find out. It was all lined up. So, just to get back to Frank D'Angelo real quick.

So, you're doing this thing. I've seen Esposito. Esposito's done a lot of stuff with D'Angelo because I used to see him in those, I think it was the D'Angelo apple juice commercials. Remember those? Yeah, yeah. Frank's in goal. He's got the... Yeah, that's it. He's got the entire Hockey Hall of Fame In the dressing room with him And he's making saves left and right

Bobby Hull, Espo I'm not sure if Gordy was there How'd you get into that clique there? He called me Because you're not Italian No, and I find that Bill Waters is Irish In the show today So we've got to defend our

Side of the street Which was the situation Back in the early part, so we've got to keep up. We've got to defend our side of the street, which was the situation back in the early part of the last century, where the Italians and Irish had to stick up for themselves. In fact, it was because of St. Patrick's Day, and actually, Montreal has the longest St. Patrick's Day in history, but in New York back in the day, they'd go,

hey, you want to take a shot at us? Come on. It's that movie, right? A Scorsese movie, Gangs of New York? Oh, yeah. That's a great film. Yeah. Good one. Good one.

Yeah. And they canceled vinyl, by the way. Do you believe that? Speaking of Scorsese, because he directed that two-hour premiere. Yeah, which cost $30 million, the first episode. But that was a brilliant show. I watched. I watched, but I didn't think the lead guy.

I had an issue with the overacting of the lead character. Got it. Okay. All right, Bobby, count it down. Right, but I mean, I stuck around for 10 episodes. Me too. It's kind of cool when you see like Bowies up there singing like Suffragette City or whatever.

Yeah, a little overweight Bowie, but that's okay. Elvis was terrific. Elvis was good. Alice Cooper, say hi to your boss. I mean, what else could they have done? And they actually, Mike, you know, after the first couple of shows, they said, oh, yeah, this is immense. Are we going to have another season? Yeah.

Oh, it was just something. Yeah, well, they announced a renewal. Yeah. Absolutely. And then decided, no. They changed their mind. Ray Romano broke his heart. But who else could they go?

You know, the Stones easily because Mick Drago was executive producer. And his son was the Nasty Bits guy. Yeah, Elton John. They could have gone so many different avenues. Well, that's it. I wanted to see because there was like the birth of hip hop was happening. And I wanted to see what was coming up next. And we'll never know.

And I know you'd appreciate the show because I've been listening to a lot of the 180 shows up to this point. You're a radio fanatic. You just love the genre. The stuff in my wheelhouse, the stuff I grew up listening to, the stuff I listened to through the 90s, that's sort of my stuff. It sounded like,

after listening to the show, that CFNY was your go-to station. CFNY and the Fan 590, but there was a lot of Q107 time before. The Top 10 at 10 is how I kind of would pick up. You know, I have a Guns N' Roses banner back there. If I wanted to hear a new track or whatever, Top 10 at 10. That was my go-to thing on Q. We're going to get to that for sure.

That beer in front of you, that Great Lakes Brewery beer, that is yours. I've had this beer. Have you? Oh, yeah. And the fact is of the Great Lakes, thank goodness it's not from Lake Erie. And it's not from the big lake they call Gitche Gumee, which is superior, but it is a superior

beer, and I know the family quite well. Peter and the sisters in the family. Is D'Angelo still selling beer? I think so. Is there a conflict of interest here? He's not going to be upset D'Angelo still selling beer? I think so. Is there a conflict of interest here? He's not going to be upset that I gave you Grey Links beer? Not a problem.

Okay. I don't know if Ben Johnson is still involved, but I think he cheetahs all the time. That's right. Never that. Of course I do. He cheetahs all the time. I got a clip of you.

Speaking of beer, this is, of course, before City Pulse. This is before Q107. This is a commercial for a beer called, I hope I got it right, Oland? Oland's Explore Ale. Keeps on tasting great, Mike. This is shitty audio, too, but let's hear it anyway. This is great. This is classic.

I got number six, Night Zone. You sure about this? Hey, trust me. Paperboy and Night Zone goes down. Night Zone. The other one, Paperboy, is challenging and Nightsauce goes down. Nightsauce. The pipe's out. Paperboy is challenging and the winner is Nightsauce. Time for a cold one.

The first good tip you've given us. I can't believe it. We didn't even pick one winner. We picked one winner. To a shorter thing. Owen's like, Look at the ass on me. And there was short-ass jeans.

Woo! So what year is that? That was, I'm 22 years old. It's 1984, 85. And it was because of that, strangely conversely, that I didn't get a job on the big chum TV station out there, the CTV affiliate. The program director, the news director, was such a stickler.

I was doing mornings on CJCHC100 for five years. Great city, Halifax. Oh my goodness. If you haven't been, one of the great... You know what? I'm planning a trip there August. Go! My first time east of Quebec City. You'll love it. It's one of the greatest

undiscovered cities in North America. I'm there anyway for five years, and I'm going to do the television thing. They were going to hire me, but oh, you did that TV commercial. Sorry, kid. Really? Yeah. I'm shocked by that. Yeah, I know. So, did you do a lot of ads?

Just that one. I was the only one. And then, real quick, they're starting a union out there, right? So, it's the first union in chum radio television history. So they're locking out all the announcers. I'm like, holy smokes. So I see my buddies from Jake Edwards' former radio station,

Q104, playing softball. Because back then, remember back then when radio stations had really good softballs? I do, because I keep hearing about the Wankies, which are like the CFNY team. That's right. Freddie Patterson keeps telling me about them. Oh, the Q107.

We have the World Series at Molson Park in Berry, and it was serious. We won one year. Derringer hit a bases-loaded triple. Joey Vendetta was on the team. Andy Frost was on the team. We're going to get to him. I will get to him, unfortunately. Anyway, I'm playing softball in Halifax, and the station's in shambles.

And people are worried about their next paycheck. So I go to Doug Barron, and Doug Barron's a famous Halifax type of guy. He goes, I said, how's Jake Edwards doing at K107? They're going, great, terrific. I go, what are they doing for sports there? They go, they're looking for somebody. I go, how'd you know that? He goes, well, we both apply.

They turned us down. That's the origin story. So this is how you end up in Toronto. Earl McRae, the great sportscaster and writer, goes to Ottawa, freeing up a gig. Jake and I are buddies in Halifax. So I gave him a call. Gary Slate flew me in. And, oh, man.

Were you, Jeff Woods was here like a couple of weeks ago, and so he was working in Halifax with Brother Jake, and then Jake goes to Toronto. Right. And then eventually Woods ends up in Toronto too. Right. So did you know Woods at this time, or is this pre-Woods? Yeah, pre-Woods.

I, in fact, the first day when i saw jake edwards when i came to toronto august 8th 1986 we're doing the big high five oh my god we're finally working together he goes i'm leaving he's leaving the next day to go to winnipeg and then he he's almost like ali winning the championship three times because he had three different uh different different stops at q107 brother jake okay Yeah, because I remember waking up to the champ in high school. So in my head, I'm doing the math, and it was later than 86. So do you remember the three? Was it Wendell Clark had three tours of duty in Toronto?

Good for you. Or did he have four? Yes, he did. Oh, he had three. Okay, because Tony Fernandez, I think, had four. Might have been. Yeah, and those are the guys I always remember who kept coming back. They kept coming back.

So tell me, yeah. So I'm there, and all of a sudden, Gene Villanueva's still there, but it was like an all-star team back then. Think of the mid to late 80s. I had Jesse and Gene in the morning, and we were going to hire Monica Schnarr to be the traffic girl. You imagine waking up next to her, not waking up next to her, but waking up and coming to work and seeing her.

That's the goal. And then you've got Jimmy James and Shirley McQueen during mid-morning. Steve Anthony during afternoons. Derringer and Makowitz on the 6 o'clock rock report, and then Derringer would go to midnight. I mean, that's a freaking murderer's row of radio. Just the

talent alone, and we didn't give a you-know-what. I mean, we went after everybody. We accused Chum from stealing some of our DJs. I think Lee Eckley made the move over. And you called them Scum FM. That's right. Because I had Ingrid Schumacher in here, and I told her that, and she

had no idea. Yeah, yeah. And we went after a lot of people. I had to do a Q comment every morning, and it's tough to wake up and go, oh boy, what do I talk about now? I'll make this quick. J.I. Albrecht was a former GM of the Toronto Argos, but he was like a flim-flam man, a carnival barker out in Halifax, trying to get a team called the Atlantic Schooners to play in the CFL out there.

And he was a piece of work. We'd have him on the talk show, the morning show. He goes, someone will call up, you know what, I don't think CFL football is going to work out in this city. He goes, honey, why don't you go make me a pie? Why don't you make J.L. Bragg a pie? Anyway, I'm writing a commentary, and I go, whose ugly mug do I see staring at me in the Toronto sun today?

It's J.L. Bragg, the thing that wouldn't leave. I'm 12 days into the gig, Mike, and he hears it, and he sues me for $500,000. Wow. Yeah, me personally for $50,000, just, you know, chump change. So 12 days in to my gig in Toronto, you know, I packed up the house and moved to Beverly, right,

you know, from Halifax, and I'm being sued for half a million dollars. Wow. Oh, I don't know how I got out of it. He wanted more, and then we didn't settle, and he got nothing. And, of course, J.I. is no longer with us. And, well, I am. Okay, now I think I got a lot of Q questions. Okay, I got to start with Brother Jake Edwards.

So, well, maybe I'll start with Steve Anthony, actually. So, you jokingly told me you listened to 180 episodes of this podcast, but that's not true, is it, Mr. Gallagher? There was a bunch of them. No, I didn't know which way this, because, again, I'm doing the show with Frank D'Angelo and Phyllis Mazino and Bill Waters, and it's like, hey, I mean, every other word's an F-bomb. You can say those words, by the way.

I won't say that, because, you know, I said to Espo and Bill and D'Angelo, I go, hey, my mother's listening to this show. They go, blank your mother. So I'm going to take the high road, Mike, because I know it's a family show. No, explicit content allowed. It's only a family show when Aaron Davis is over. When you're here, you can just swear.

Aaron Davis. She's been in that seat. I'm going to call it the Aaron Davis seat. I got an Aaron Davis story. Yeah, let's hear it. Do you want to hear it? Yeah, right into that mic. Let's hear it.

Okay. Okay. Aaron's had some work done on her chin. You've seen her chin. It's pretty public knowledge, right? She had a pretty big chin, which is fine. Talented girl. I'll never be hired at CHFI, so I can tell this.

So I'm on the air. And I compared her, because she was doing a lot of commercials with Don Daynard. You know, listen to the morning show, CHFI, la, la, la, la. And that chin was, you know, this is like Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan size. This is, you know, this is... This is Jay Leno territory? This is a huge chin. She's had it augmented, so she looks a little different now.

I'm on the air. Remember Bob Neely of the Maple Leafs? Big, tough defenseman. Had a chin comparable to our friend Aaron Davis. Okay. And Jay. And Prime Minister Mr. Mulroney. So I'm on the air going,

did you see the size of the chin on that girl at CHF5? Talented girl, but boy, it's like Bob Neely. So Gary Dunford's listening, falls off his freaking chair, and writes the story. Gallagher nails Darren Davis, comparing her to former Maybelief Bob Neely and her big chin. But he puts a picture of Bob Ganey and says Bob Ganey, who looks nothing like Bob Neely or Jay Leno. So it comes out and there's Aaron Davis' photo and a picture of Bob Ganey. No, you ruined it. So I called Dunford up.

No, not Bob Ganey, Bob Neely. So the next day he does it again. He prints Aaron Davis' photo on page six next to Bob Neely and everyone gets the joke. And Aaron, bless her heart, I've seen her from time to time, is mortified. Mortified. In fact, when her and Don Nader did their last broadcast together, they had a story on the Toronto Star. And she goes, and she, this is what is written in the Star, oh, yeah, we get along with everybody. Everybody on radio.

We love everybody. Except for that captain hair transplant. I'm like, oh, my gosh, she's still harboring this years later? That's great. But I didn't do it. Dunford did it. You want to hear something? I actually had no idea about the chin.

I had a plea to ignorance. I had no idea she had work done on her chin. How long was she in? I mean, how long ago? I'm going to say two years ago. Okay, because it's... Yeah, it's been fixed. Let me see.

She's going to hate this. You know this. I think once she sees I interviewed John Gallagher, she's probably going to skip this one. That's what I'm thinking. And Bingo was his name. So the first episode you listened to of Toronto Mic'd was the Steve Anthony episode, right? 123. I heard it when it was aired because Steve's an ex-roommate of mine.

Yeah. Stories that we could tell. Oh, my goodness. I got to tell you, I really enjoyed my chat with Steve Anthony. Yeah, great guy. What a pro. Yeah, fantastic. And even to this day, if I got questions about Ann Romer,

I'll still write an email to Steve. He answers me. He tolerates my silliness. Yeah. Great. Quick Ann Romer story. Yeah, because I'm going

to ask you if you have any insight in the Ann Romer stuff, but go. She told me, as she's walking down the aisle at Faithful Day about to marry Steve Podborski,

she's in the arm of General Romer. And she told me, Johnny, and this is public knowledge, because I did it on Roger Rick and Marilyn show. And I thought, did I go too far? So I called her right away. I'm like, I told the story about Podborski. Anyway, she goes, Johnny, I'm walking down the aisle.

I'm going, this is the biggest mistake I'm ever going to make in my life. The marriage didn't last long, but, ah, Anne. Do you know, okay, so Ann retires from CP24. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Goes to be an airline stewardess. Yes, yes. For two weeks and decides, nope. I don't even know if she did the two

weeks. I think maybe she saw the compensation package and just said that's it and made some calls. I don't even think she did the two weeks. And then she comes back, you know, after all the big, you know, parades. Right. Cake. And then she comes back after all the big parades. Cake and presents. She comes back. It was bigger than when Dave Duvall resigned.

It was huge. She comes back and as if she had never left in the first place. No acknowledgement. Remember that? Unbelievable. It's not like, hey, you're back. They pretended like she had never left. But she retires a second time. More cake, more gifts.

Yes, saw that show too. It was almost like George Costanza. Remember? He quits, and then he goes back Monday to sit in on the meetings and fire you. You left. I fucking love Seinfeld.

But Anne's been cited again on CP24. I haven't seen her. There's people who are tweeting photos of themselves in front of the TV. She's definitely been back. Do you have any idea why she... Did she retire and change her mind?

I can't tell CP24 from City TV. I remember when they split the newsroom, people would be coming in, like friends of mine, and they wouldn't know who to give the tape to. We got this lead story. Well, Steve Anthony, people still think he works for Breakfast Television. People just don't know.

They still get confused. Right. I love those. I love filling in for Breakfast Television. And when Rick Hodge would go on vacation, I'd fill in with Roger and Marilyn. Those were, oh, my God, just the talent. You know, they're looking for a new third. You might want to apply.

They are not. They are. I heard, because Darren B. Lamb quit to go with Aaron Davis. That's right. I was going to apply for that job, but everyone would have no part of me. But you might really bug Aaron if you're on Chum FM going right against him.

You know what? I've applied. If I take one more program director or sports director or station manager out for freaking lunch, I'll be a very poor man. Right off the top, I should tell everybody, you're going to come back. You're going to come back. Because I'm not going to get all your stuff today because I realize I could do two hours now just talking about your

five years at Q or whatever. Oh, 10 at Q. 10 at Q? Oh, yeah. That's stupid. And probably about close to 20 at City TV. Yeah, so I'm going to start How about the TSN show? The Gallagher show. Yeah, for sure. I got Gallagher questions.

I got hair transplant. I got Roberto Alomar questions. I got a lot of questions. Okay. So, Brother Jake Edwards. Oh, but you know what? You're going to bring me back because I'm writing a book. Yes.

It's called Big League Babylon. It's just been picked up by a major publisher, thank God. And we're trying to get into a bidding war right now. That's cool. Yeah. That's what you want. It's like selling a house. You want the bidding war. Yeah. It's Big League Yeah. That's what you want. It's like selling a house. You want the bidding war.

Yeah. It's big league Babylon, not like Hollywood Babylon with a Y. It's B-A-B-B-L-E-O-N. That's clever. And Wayne Gretzky's agreed to write the foreword.

Is that right? Score! He also agreed to support Stephen Harper, so sometimes he agrees to things about understanding what he's selling. Thank you.

Nice, Carl. Yeah, nice, silky segue. But he is the great one. He is. He is. And even, well, yeah, when Gordie Howell died just a little while ago. Oh, I got a Gordie Nice, Carl. Yeah, nice, silky segue. But he is the great one. He is. He is. And even, well, yeah, when Gordie Howe died just a little while ago.

Oh, I got a Gordie Howe story. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I do this real quick? Yeah, yeah, of course. So, my God, where do we start? Five hours with Frank Mahavlich and Gordie Howe in the CBC studios

to do the, kind of the color commentary on the WHA Canada Russia series in 74. That was good. We went carousing one night with Bobby Hall and Marcel Dion. Bobby doesn't make it. No, misses his tea off time at a golf tournament in Kitchener-Waterloo by five hours,

much to the chagrin of the people who paid all the money to drink it. And then Gordy, I had a brand new chocolate lab. Tell me if you recognize this name. The lab's name is Ruben Kincaid. Yeah. Is it bringing anything else? Yeah, of course. It's the family, Purchase family.

Bingo! Nice. Dog's name's Reuben Kincaid. And all night long at the after-dinner freaking, you know, hotel party room, Gordie Howe is playing with my dog. Like, it's almost like annoying people. Wow. Yeah, he's throwing the ball.

He whispers about a half an hour later, John, you know I grew up on a farm in floral Saskatchewan. We had dogs everywhere. Do you mind if I have your dog for the night just to sleep in the bed? I'm like, oh, my goodness. And you can't say no to that. Go to my Facebook page. There's a shot of Kincaid.

He's looking going, huh? I get to spend the night with Mr. Hockey. See you later, pal. That's awesome. That's awesome. That's awesome. I hear nothing but good things about Gordy. And everyone says he was funny. He was a funny guy, right?

He had a dry wit or whatever. Nicest guy you ever met. And to have Wayne say he was the greatest hockey player of all time. Yeah. With the Gordy Howe hot trick. You know how many times he actually... Twice. You're amazing.

Do you know who has the... You're in the amazing business. I work on it. Twice he had a fight, a goal, and an assist. I know. It's a misnomer, if you will. Do you know who has the record for most... Actually, I used to...

They don't keep official records, so you have to go back and kind of retroactively add them up. But the guy I remember who had the record for most Cordy Howe hat tricks... Could be Wendell. No, definitely not Wendell. I bet he was up there. Brendan Shanahan.

With a Shani plan. Mimico boy. You're almost a Mimico right now. You're dangerously close. He could be listening. So be careful. Brother Jake. Brother Jake. I guess I want to know because when I mentioned to your friend Steve Anthony about Brother Jake and the champs,

Steve Anthony mentioned that he stole that bit from a Canadian duo. Bought the rights. Yeah, McLean and McLean, a Newfoundland duo. Yeah, and I think they did a goaltender who was kind of punched drunk, you know, who loses it and snaps. And Jake's always saying, are you telling anyone that you're the champ? I'm like, no. Were you ever the champ? No. Because it's slowed down, right? No.

I tell a little white lie once, because they're, hey, Gallagher, the champ. I'm like, once I filled in, but that's a lie. Because you could tell. I could tell. It was clearly you could tell. You're going to slow down. You're not stupid, right? You can map. You wouldn't believe the outtakes. You wouldn. You don't have to slow down. You're not stupid. You can map. You wouldn't believe the outtakes.

You wouldn't believe the ones that we couldn't. Do you have any of those? Because if they found their way to my inbox, I would find a home in the web and just share them with the universe. There's one with Mrs. Champ and Raul, the pool boy, and I drop them off at the Eaton Center. Can I tell this? Go. Okay. Yeah, yeah.

This is an explicit. I'm telling you, you could drop F-bomb after F-bomb. It's my favorite Champ episode. So I'll make the 30-second version. So I drop Mrs. Champ and Raul off at the Eaton Center, right? And Mrs. Champ forgot her purse in the back of the car,

unbeknownst to me. And so they get in there, and Mrs. Champ's buying some cosmetics, you know, some makeup and some lipstick, and discovers she forgot her wallet. So she asks Raul, you know, some makeup and some lipstick, and discovers she forgot her wallet. So she asks Raul, can I borrow some money? It's a long story. So they get back in the car after an hour at the Eaton Center.

I go, how was your day at the Eaton Center? Did you get enough makeup? Well, what's wrong, Raul? Well, Champ, I blew my wad on Mrs. Champ's face. Holy fuck. I said, pardon? I said, I blew my wad on Mrs. Champ's face. Well, you know the rest.

I don't know if that ever aired, but it always. Is your mind prepared to be blown? Please. I'm almost, like, shaking here. I know you said you listened to the Steve Anthony episode, but I think maybe you took a leak in the middle of it. You might have missed like five minutes. During the Steve Anthony episode 123,

I tell him my favorite champ episode. It is that episode. Come on! I swear. And I heard dozens and dozens of champs. That's my favorite. It did air. Of course, how else would I know?

Holy smokes. And I told it verbatim on that episode of Steve Anthony. That's my favorite. It did air. Of course, how else would I know? And I told it verbatim on that episode of Steve Anthony. And I'm listening. When you say blew a wad on your wife's face. And it's all recorded. Yeah. It's not like I can lie, right? Somebody can go to 123 right now and listen. It's in there.

I mean, he gets away with, well, can I dick her over the couch or can I come back to the computer store and see your wang? But that one, Mike, was the piece de la distance. You and I agree, this is going to be fun, because that is my favorite episode. That's a good one.

Definitely. So brother Jake Edwards, you're working with him. He's a cool cat. I just saw him in Vancouver. He's doing great. He's doing great. We saw him at the, he took me out to a hockey game. I was out there filming a TV commercial,

and I went to see Jesse, Jesse Dillon. Yeah, Jesse Dillon, because he's into like naturopathy or holistic healing. Oh, my gosh. The house is in West Van, and him and his beautiful wife, Jill, just took me around, like just the tour of the city. That was great. You know, it's good to keep connections like that.

Well, Jesse and Gene were a popular duo in this city. Q and then they bolt for CFTR, right? They go to CFTR. Right. And then they end up in like 640. I remember the day where they were going to CFTR.

So I'm making, I don't know, 40, 45 grand. It's 88, 89. Jesse and Gene are going to CFTR. So I'm making, I don't know, 40, 45 grand. It's 88, 89. Jesse and Gene are going to CFTR. The word from Ted Smith, who's the owner of WIC, Western International Communications, says, whatever you do. Because the word got out, and it's completely untrue, Mike, that they were taking me with them to do sports at CFTR.

And they're telling me, look, Johnny, this is amazing money. The contract was 15, 16 pages long. This is Roger's money. So the word came down that I was going to go with them. So they resigned at 9.01. I'm in Don Schaefer's office at 9.02. At 11 o'clock, we're into the wine, having some shots,

having a cigar. I walk out of there. I walked in making $40,000. I walked out of there making $95,000 plus a new BMW. Because they want to retain you because they need a piece of the old show or whatever. Yes, and I'm nowhere near that. And by the way, did I mention I'm 26 years old? Wow. So that was like, how was your day, honey?

That's amazing. And what's that new car? That's amazing. That's amazing. So Jesse and Gene, yeah's amazing that's amazing so jesse and gene yeah they and i remember because on their show on q107 which i listened to by the way they often trashed am radio like one of their bits i remember was like trashing am radio right because i remember when i heard the news they were going to cfdi my first thought was like hypocrisy of it all yes and i went to a prince show at Madison Square Gardens,

or sorry, Madison Square, Maple Leaf Gardens. And Prince was insane. I don't know what tour it was. He played Raspberry Berets. It was fantastic. He hits, Mike,

a 40-foot basketball shot. I don't know how he did it with strings. I'm on the air the next day talking about Prince and they're like, Prince, that's sissy. You're going to a Prince,

this is Jesse and Gene nailing me. And months later, who's their number one artist next to George Michael? I don't think there's any special effects because Dave Chappelle

showed, taught us that Prince is a damn good basketball player. He doesn't need the special effects to make that shot. By the way, who's next?

I mean, we've lost David Bowie this year, Prince, Gordie Howe, don't forget Gary Shandling. The Larry Sanders show is still the greatest show in the history of TV. Hey now.

Kingsley. Fantastic. Yeah. No arguments here. No arguments here. That's fantastic. Okay. Brother, so Jesse and Gene.

And Gene is still local, right? No, he's in L.A. Yes. Not local. Huntington Beach. Who is he with? He's with the lovely Lorraine Salgado's sister. Oh, I always forget her name.

I'm going to be in big trouble. They're good friends of mine. We talk all the time. Is there any chance of a Jesse and Jean reunion, or is that ship sailed? They talk about it. Because Humble and Fred are still together. I know.

They came out of that same late 80s, a bit later than Jesse and Gene. But, you know. And good for Humble and Fred pounding the streets, man, and getting all those sponsors for their podcast. Yeah, they got a... Guess where I'm going when the book comes out? Jesse and Gene. Jesse and Gene, that is breaking news. But they actually talked about it.

They go, hey, we're bringing the band back together. We're getting the band back together. We're going to get you. We're going to get Marianne. We're going to get Jesse and Gene. I'm like, you give me a call. But boy, if anyone could do it, those masterminds. Look, Humble and Fred did it.

So when you do their show, and then you're going to come back and do the show a second time, you're going to do a comparison, which appearance is more pleasant for you? But the thing I like about you is the fact that you're just such a radio fan. I remember growing up listening to just faint WK. What was the Boston station? Oh, WRKO in Boston. And then I'd listen. Of course, you've seen the Howard Stern movie.

And I'd listen to WNBC in the middle of the night, a little transistor radio going, oh, I've got to get into this. And then I'd call the stations to try to win tickets to a big UNICEF concert with the Bee Gees and Rod Stewart and ABBA, and I'm dialing. There's no way a 12-year-old boy could even make it down

there for that. But see, it's the love of radio that I appreciate with you. Yeah, there's something romantic about it, right? There's something just over the air, pulling it down. You're picking up a Cleveland station one night. You're just turning the dial slowly, and it's like it's just romantic about it, right? Like there's something just over the air, pulling it down. You're picking up a Cleveland station one night. Like you're just turning the dial slowly. And it's like, you know, it's just something about it. Coming up the Atlantic Ocean.

It's, oh man. I remember listening to the Ali Fraser fight from 1971. Yeah. Was that the thrill in Manila? That was the first one. The fight of the century. I mean, Ali. How could I not mention Ali in that list of people who have unfortunately departed this year, man?

There's someone out there whose favorite fighter was Ali, whose favorite hockey player was Gordie Howe, and whose favorite musician was either Prince or Bowie. You're right. All their favorites are dying. Right. Alan Rickman's another one. There's other guys.

Glenn Frey, he died. Glenn Frey. Jeez, Bowie dies. It's the number one news story on CBS. Glenn Frey dies, and he gets page 18 in the Toronto Star Entertainment section. You know how many more albums the Eagles sold than Bowie? Bowie, of course, head and tails. Yeah, he's more than just music.

He's like some kind of an artist or whatever, where the Eagles are just a band who sell a lot of fucking albums. Great band, though. Oh, yeah, great. I didn't appreciate them as... Well, I'm a little young for the Eagles' heyday, but then I watched the documentary that's on... There's a documentary... It's fantastic.

Yeah, and watching that documentary... It's called History, yeah. ...made me a much bigger fan. Fantastic. The day before Prince died, China died, and I saw... Yes.

In fact, it's pinned as your top tweet, that China threw you a 50th birthday party. She threw a birthday party for me in Los Angeles. So tell me, how do you end up buds with China? I don't know. She just came into the station all the time. And I had the Gallagher show. She'd come on there.

And oh, she was on the Gallagher show one time with one of the managers, but with Sable. And they can do a huge argument on the air. I'm one time with one of the managers, but with Sable, and they can do a huge argument on the air. I'm like, this is gold! And then I had to break him up, a fight in the limousine. And it was real? It was real! Real, real. So, China, her and I

just hit it off, and they're doing stories on City TV. George Lagajanis is doing a story about a budding romance between our very own John Gallagher in China. Wow. And her and I got really good friends. And all I wanted for my birthday was to see them.

Wow. Them. But they're not real, but that's okay. They're not real. In fact, once she was fighting a WWF match and one of them dissolved. It punctured? It punctured and the whole sailing went... That's no good, man. But she

turned out to be a real good buddy of mine. And then you know what she does? She invites me to the mid-Summer night's dream party at the Playboy Mansion on a Saturday night and I got to fly out the next morning. I had to get back. You've lived a life, man.

That's why you might have to come on every week for a while, because you've lived a life. My philosophy is, and God bless them all, God bless the sportscasters who have families and have done well and their kids are going to college. You know what? They went home to their kids. John Gallagher, I walked out of 299 Queen Street West.

I'm like, cars parked there. I can get home any time I want. And what kind of trouble am I going to get in tonight? I went out of 299 Queen Street West. I'm like, cars parked there. I can get home any time I want. And what kind of trouble am I going to get in tonight? I went out, man. I partied. What do you mean you went out and partied? You're talking like you picked up hot chicks. Thank you.

You can even swear. I just want to remind you, because I know you're trying very hard to make this safe. I'm not sure there's any point. After a show with Esposito and Frank. Swear, swear, swear. Should I have D'Angelo on? I haven't even asked him.

I have nothing to fear by having him over to my home in my basement. He's a huge character. Larger than life. If he didn't like how it went, would he have me put on cement shoes? I think Esposito would be more dangerous than Frank.

My fear of D'Angelo is irrational, is what you're telling me. Back to the chick part of it. I don't want to sound... How do I say this nicely? Some people get into the business for this reason or that reason. I get into it for girls.

You're a single man and it's adult consensual fun. There's no shame in it, man. Why was I the disco champion in high school? Not proud of that. Why? Because that's where the girls were. The women were at the discos, man. And why was I one of two males in the typing class at Montreal West High School?

Because all the chicks are there. So I don't want to sound too, I don't know, off-putting. It was a business to pick up women, and it still is. And women I adore. They're smarter than us. They're funnier. They don't fight fair. They're going to keep guys like you and I around for the sperm like the Amazons.

Kill the rest off. I got four kids, man. And they're adorable. Two different women. The sperm has been shared. Sweet. And one's sitting on my lap right now. Hello, Junior.

Died on City. I got to go. The cute. Look at you pulling me in a different direction because you brought up the woman. died on City. I got to go, the cute, look at you pulling me in a different direction because you brought up the woman and I'm thinking

Roberto Alomar. Okay, so there's lots of stories out there about you and Robbie. We went out, we chased some skirt, man, down in Daytona, or not Daytona,

but in Dunedin. No one did anything in Dunedin. It was the blue herons capital of North America. So we went to St. Pete's and Clearwater. But we, yeah, it's strange, though. He got all the girls whenever we went out. Wow.

Even after the Toronto Sun, remember the page six, him in his bikini? That was demoralizing for Robbie. Poor Robbie. The legend was, I mean, he lived at the Dome, and the legend was, you know, after every game that he had his pick of the litter. Is that a terrible expression?

But he had a woman flocking to him. I've been at the hotel. He knocked down a couple of walls. He had like a jungle room where all the wallpaper was like leopard. Like, oh, Robbie. And then one day, I'm at spring training and I usually show up a week before

the pitchers and catchers and Robbie's there and he goes I'm interviewing him right and he says hey I got some news I said what's that I'm getting married I'm engaged I'm like oh great we'll use that so we use it on the air.

We send it back to City TV. And the next day, he goes, what the hell did you say on the television? I'm like, what? I've got 20 freaking girls calling me all going, what? You're getting married? What about me in Toronto? He broke so many hearts. I'm like, hey, you said it.

Yeah, but I didn't know you were going to air it. He's funny. Now, we spent some nights at... One time, I had him at Alice Fazuli's, and we were cocktailing and went to do the sports, and I said, listen, walk right over it. Anyone knows where Alice Fazuli's is on Adelaide.

You can hit City TV with a snowball. He wanted to take his private limo there. So I could just see the other news directors and sports directors. So Gallagher, ah, shite. Gallagher's got Robbie Alomar on the freaking 11 o'clock sports. Oh, and he kissed him. He kissed him. That's like a Don Cherry on Gilmore.

Yeah, that's the kind of relationship Alomar and I had. So you're still friends with Alomar? I think it got a little chilly after that when I busted him for getting married. And the fact is he never even married the woman that he was supposed to be telling the world about. What happened to the woman who you said he had

AIDS? I didn't say that. A woman though. His ex-wife. Yes. I don't know about that. This seems to be like you're not allowed to talk about this. But it was headlines where ex-wife accuses Robert Alomar of having AIDS, and then we never heard of it again. No, no, yeah, that's a slippery slope. I don't want to.

I don't know. It's okay, yeah. If you don't know, you don't know. I don't know the answer, no. I asked the tough questions here. It's one of those Toronto questions. What the heck happened to Robbie Alomar's AIDS?

There was a crazy woman. Maybe he pissed off this woman from Whitby who had a gun and this love letter and a box of Robbie Alomar cards. She goes crazy when she gets to SkyDome. The gun is loaded

and ready for bear, and she's going to kill him. Right. Maybe it was because of my sports cast. Robbie Alomar is getting married. Little microchip in her brain goes off. There's crazies out there.

She's being gunned down. Alright, so that's the Alomar detour, but while we're on the detour I'm going to ask you, Cecil Fielder chased you out of the clubhouse? Were you getting this? This is right. Crack research staff. Absolutely right. Cecil Fielder, father of another prince.

Prince! Look at all the princes! Unbelievable! So he had a baby named Prince. I'm at spring training, and I think it was even before stuttering John from Howard Stern. I'd be on the Jesse and Gene show and I'd be asking silly questions.

Streeters. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'd plant stuff in people's bags and like woman's lingerie was a Letterman gimmick, like what's in your bag? So I'd do this with Ed Sprague and Tom Henke

and it would be funny. One time Prince Fielder, or Cecil rather rather, he announces that he's got a son named Prince. I said, well, why is that? He says, well, my daddy's name is Prince, and my father's name was Prince, so now continuing on the line of young princes. So I look at him on the air. I go, so you didn't name him after the midget musician who dresses like a purple doily? He goes, what'd you say?

And chases me out of, chases me. I don't know. He's got a really big bat. I think it's a 38-ouncer bat. And he's chasing me with his Louisville slugger. It was just a joke. He's a big boy. That's a true story.

Wow. Mm-hmm. Whew. Okay, back to Q. And then I got to ask you about Globe and Mail, but here, that's a little teaser. So Jake Edward, here, let's do this. So yesterday, news comes down the wall.

Actually, Andy Frost himself got to break the news via Twitter that his contract was not going to be renewed. So for 17 years, he's been goal scored by number 13, Matt Sundin. Can I do it? Go ahead. Torello goal scored by number 13, Matt Sundin. Can I do it? Go ahead. Torello goals scored by number 13, Matt Sundin. Assist. Jonas Hoagland.

And Robert Reichel. I lived with Steve Anthony for several years, and Andy was my best friend and also a roommate for years and years. Andy Frost, Q107. That's pretty good. It's a little bit of like a, it's a cool, good rock voice,

but he's got a bit of Kermit in there, right? You add a little bit of Kermit. I broke an heart, and man, who else? I mean, there's only been three announcers to do what he did, a PA announcer job at Maple Leaf Gardens. Paul Morris did it for like 100 years. Yeah, that's the only other guy I know. And one guy before him.

Why would they do that? Shannon just fired Pat Park, who was the PR guy who was there for a million years. Yeah, that's the only other guy I know. And one guy before him. Why would they do that? Well, okay. Shannon just fired Pat Park, who was the PR guy who was there for a million years. Is it just that he needs out with the old so that it's a clean slate because it's a new era and he's going to just wash out all the old stuff? And do it the same day as officially, of course, Sportsnet officially announced that Ron McLean is in and 14 on air and behind the scenes people at Sportsnet are out, including Glenn Healy, who probably served better. I liked Glenn Healy. Yeah. Most, not most,

but a lot of vocal tweeters and commenters on TorontoMic.com hate Glenn Healy. And I don't understand because all he is is they think he's arrogant or... Oh, he's a funny guy. Yeah.

He was always my go-to guy at the clubhouse. Yeah, yeah. Glenn with two Ns. Hated the Montreal Canadiens, my team, because I think they were going to hire him to be their starting goalie after his contract. Ran out with the Islanders,

and they picked Andy Moog instead, so we always had this little thing for the Habs, and trust me, I heard him. And you would agree with me that you're better off with a Glenn Healy who might actually say, he'll say things that are interesting. Like, he's not just going to toe the line. Right, yeah. He actually had

opinions, and sometimes it was anti-Leafs because, you know, there's been a lot of that over the last couple of decades. I know, what's wrong with being uplifting and funny and thought-provoking? And he was, again, a really funny guy. Man. Okay, so yeah, that happens. A strombo, you have any thoughts on strombo? Yeah, I mean, this guy used to heat my coffee up

when I'd fill in for Fred at CFNY, and he was like, you know, I just love strombo. And you're telling me it was what, the suits, Mike? The skinny ties? The brown shoes? Oh, no, no, you know what it was? Oh, he had to concentrate on a CBC show on Sunday nights, the strombo show. That's why he was just so lost. Jesus, Murphy. It was the fact there's no Canadian teams in the playoffs.

100%. Oh, my goodness. 100%. Yeah, it's George's fault that all of Canada tuned out in January or February. Yeah, well, good. You're being facetious. He should have. No, I'm with you.

They try to be hip. They try to be, you know. That came up on the show today. And apparently when they were trying to look for a different demographic, a woman demographic, because now they've hit the 34 to 65 demographic with Ron McClain coming back, right? Right, right. But what I will say is Ron never should have lost the job in the first place because he only lost that job. And he sat there and I asked him straight out.

Ron has been here? Been here, yeah. And he said straight up, he said, it's because he refused, because he's a very ethical guy, like he's a thoughtful, ethical guy. He refused to give Gary Bettman a free pass. And basically, he was basically punished for that. He said that? McLean said that?

He's on the record on my podcast for saying that, yeah. Because they cut, and another thing, they cut Cherry and Coach's Corner down a minute. Although I think they added it back. They will now, but for the first couple of months, I'll tell you right there, you know, I only got four and a half minutes, I'll tell you, you know, he calls me Spike.

Spike boy, good guy from Quebec right there without the old visor, I'll tell you right now. You'd be his kind of guy because you had the Wendell Clark hair going in the mid-80s. Before the hair transplant. Yes. Oh, quickly. Yeah, go.

Because I can be, holy shit, you're going to have to spend three hours with me now, but please go. This is true. Because I think our hour is about to wrap up and I will come back. Okay. So can you, is that because can you give me like a 15 minute warning? Absolutely. Because then I can rapid fire some stuff. I'm missing some major stuff here.

Okay, go ahead. I'm backstage. This is part of the book. And I'm going on the air with Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs of 2020. Because they actually were filming my hair grow. Right. I want to ask you about this. Almost like a chia pet, Mike.

Right. During the years, they would take a still of my City TV sportscast. And they did a big story. And I was the guinea pig. I wasn't going, I was just, you know, going to connect the Gordie Howe Island to the mainland. You know, the Phil Collins little thing he had there? Right, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I was just going to have that done.

And all of a sudden, I get the call from the doctors. Well, we want to do a story on you. ABC is doing this big thing on baldness, and you'd be perfect. You're funny, irreverent, you know, you're from our hometown, Toronto. So I'm backstage with Barbara, about to go on the air, playing with her dogs in the green room,

and Barbara goes, this is 93 now, if you recall your history with Osama bin Laden. She goes, John can't be with us tonight because we have to go to a YVI. Someone has blown up the World Twain Center. It was the one where they were going to blow up the North Tower to knock down the South Tower. For sure. And I'm like, huh? What?

Oh, you know, I'm in makeup and everything. Oh, I guess that's a pretty big story. So they basically, as I understand it. To the ball, to the ball, to the ball. They bump you and they end up doing, they condense it to like two minutes or something. Well, the story ran. Yeah. They were going to have. Well, the story ran. Yeah, okay. They were going to have me come on the dais on the...

See, there's another victim of Osama bin Laden right there. You. I know. That's shit luck. But the hair looks great, and if you're good, I'll let your beautiful wife up there run her fingers through it. Oh, she'd love that, man. You just made her day. It should be a carnival act.

I always wondered like if that was you trying to get a job in the states or whatever like along with the free hair or whatever was that all part of like was there a bigger picture yeah i did i did but the money was stupid they i had a job offer in san jose and another one in washington they flew me down both times and they couldn't match the money because i'm making, good God, I don't want to say. Okay, it's big. It's over a half a million a year. Wow.

Which is stupid money because I'm doing the Q Morning Zoo in the morning and then City TV at night and all these, you know, gigs. The Barracuda. Remember the Barracuda on Scholar Street? I met my first wife there. How about that? 98-cent beer night on Thursday nights before 10, and we would hoard them at the table. Bingo. Yeah.

Yeah, 21 Scholar. That's it. I know it well. Yeah, it used to be the, oh, darn it, the Copa. It used to be the Copa. And it was, because they'd give me a grand every night, so there's 52 there every Saturday night. And then other bars, I mean, we'd walk in,

and it'd be 1,000 bucks. Wow. And the money was stupid. So, we'd walk in, I mean, it'd be a thousand bucks. And the money was stupid. So they'd wine and dine you in San Jose, you know, take you on the tour of the Napa Valley. And then at Sunday night, thanks guys, I'll have my agent call you in the next couple of days. Sorry, you can't match Gallagher's money.

Wow. But that would have been neat. San Jose, woo! So fuck Osama bin Laden, let's just say that. Okay, would have been neat. San Jose? Woo! So fuck Osama bin Laden. Let's just say that. Okay. So, and Andy Frost, just to wrap that up. He deserved way better. Have you talked to him since the... it or no? I

haven't. I talked to John Derringer a lot. Has he been in? There's a guy you want to get. You know what? I think maybe I got a bit of the Humble Howard stink on me, okay? Because I was working closely with those guys when they started their podcast five years ago. And Derringer, I don't know if you know this, maybe you do, but Glassman and Derringer dislike each other. I did not know that.

Yeah. And it's apparently at some serious level. Like Fred apparently is okay because Derringer even had Fred on his show like five years ago or whatever. I didn't know that. And I've asked a few times of Derringer, and I get nothing back. Not a no, but I get nothing back. And I think it's because he's put me

in this Humble Howard club or something. Well, I know you were a huge fan. And I'll tell you, remember there was a time when I was working for Q, and I love Q107, but CFNY, off the record, that was my go-to station too.

Oh my goodness. I mean, not only Pete and Gates, but Humble and Fred, but the music. Oh, my goodness. I mean, not only Pete and Gates, but Humble and Fred, but the music. Oh, that was my... I was a New Wave fanatic back in the 70s and early 80s. So you're like the Marsden era. Yeah.

The Marsden. I worked with him at 94.9 The Rock. He's been here. He's the best. The best. A legend. They're actually doing a movie on him. I was at the premiere.

I was at the premiere, too. But I was at the premiere that was at Queen Street. What was that? The Royal? Mine was at the Carlton Theater. I think that's not the premiere. I think you're at the second showing, and I'm at the premiere. Nice.

I met Erin Davis at the premiere. Love her. It's all fucking coming together. She led with her chin. The Marston Theater with David Marsden at the Oshawa Airport. And I'd go there at night, right? I'd do a dysfunction in Oshawa.

I had a great time at 94.9 The Rock. The commute was a little much. 50 kilometers door to door. But I had this function on a Friday and I stopped by the Marsden Theater.

And people were in the parking lot like a drive-in theater, watching Dave through the window with candles. Yeah, the Marsbar Theater, right? Yeah, the Marsbar Theater. Oh, what a talent. I love that guy. He's got an online streaming enterprise

called Spirit NY. Yeah, I think it's on CIUT Radio. And you can pay monthly to stream it, and it's all curated by guys like Ivor Hamilton and guys like this. Well, you should keep pressuring Mr. Derringer to be on the show.

If you could put in a word. I have to ask you about this guy, Jeff Woods. Jeff Woods was going to do a book signing at the Horseshoe with Derringer. And he said he'd put in a word, but I haven't followed up on that one yet. But yeah, Derringer needs to come in there. You've got to kidnap that guy. He's got stories.

Oh, my goodness. He's got to come in. It was almost a prerequisite back in the Gary Slate days to party. Thursday nights were a must at Rock and Roll Heaven, which is downstairs from Q107. And I'd have to get up the next morning at stupid o'clock in the morning. But everyone was there. It was The whole sales team. Oh, those were the golden years.

Alright, here's a... And I'm going to rush through because I don't want to lose you here, but this is Jeff Woods talking on my podcast. I can't remember what episode, but it was a few weeks ago here. So he's talking about Jesse Dillon off the top, if you're wondering. So I would often stay till... I would stay through the whole show and sit beside him and watch.

And he was such a gentleman. I would ask him silly questions about why he did that, how he did that, teach me. And he would. He was never bothered or annoyed that this upstart kid is asking too many questions. I love that about him. Conversely, you want one? Maybe he's on your list. John Gallagher,

great sports guy. Spike. Spike. Another guy with a photographic memory like a Derringer. I used to, the overnight guy would have to record

the sports line, the bat blue sports line. Right, right. You'd phone in and you'd get, imagine now, phoning in and getting the details

of last night's games. Totally remember doing that. But I recorded it for the first time, and I thought I did it right. You couldn't really check. You just hit record, yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda, last night's scores, that's the score thing. And did that come on like a wire, like a ticker or something?

I would rip and read, I would record it, and then you hit play, and then you walk away. Here comes the boom. I'm with Jesse in the control room. Jesse's on the microphone. I'm listening. The world's listening. And I hear screaming from the newsroom, and it's Gallagher,

screaming bloody murder. And I went in because Jesse goes, go check, see what the hell's wrong with him. I go in the room, and I go, what's wrong? I'd only known him for a couple of months. He goes, somebody didn't record this voice line for me. I go, well, you don't have to scream about it. Just show me how to do it properly since you're the sports director, you son of a bitch. And I just thought that's not a real nice way to treat a new employee.

We've never really had a meeting of the mind since. I think we have 785 mutual friends on Facebook. He's in the Gord Downie Club. Is that right, Theo? Well, Gord redeemed himself. I think we have literally 800 mutual friends and we're not friends. I don't remember that incident.

I don't remember that incident. I met him at a... Well, Pat Cardinal we lost a little while ago. He was the program director of The Hog. Maximum Grunt. And I was doing mornings on that show. And I saw Jeff. We were... Yeah. Had a great time. All right. because he knew I was recording that.

So that's as on record as it gets. Oh, that's fine. No, it sounds like something I would do. And again, you have to remember, and of course, maybe I was just a little off kilter there, but I would do City TV sports the night before. Right. All right.

So, I mean, and I'd be at the Kew Zoo just after 5 o'clock in the morning. Wow. And there could have been some cocktails involved the night before. Me chasing strange women. You and Alomar. That's right. So maybe I got two, three hours sleep. But, you know, that's old.

There's nothing as old as yesterday's news, Mike. Hey, wrapping up Q107, because I have to talk to you about City Pulse, too. We want to do it the next show? Because I think we're about to. Oh, so you were going to give me the 15 minute warning? You got 15 minutes. I'll go talk real fast. I'm having a great time, by the way.

So Hebsey comes in in mid-June 95 from Global. Is he the reason you were let go from the Q gig? I don't know. I honestly don't know. All the pieces matter. I had my whiteboard. I'm kind of mapping everything out. Yeah.

And it seems like it's possible. And Hepsey's been on the show three times. Nice. Record holder, actually. Yeah, I was with him at the George Cavallo Ali 50th anniversary party just a little while ago. I don't know how that ended. So, because why would they? I was still doing City TV at night.

Maybe it was, I don't know. Maybe it was wearing a little thin. But I don't know how that all fell into place. Okay. I'm just wondering if he pushed you out. Not him, but management. Again, you'll have to ask them. Okay. So back to City TV here.

Because a lot of people first saw you on City TV. Sure. Did you do two tours of duty there? How did it work with you at City TV here, because a lot of people first saw you on City TV. Sure. And did you do two tours of duty there? How did it work with you at City TV? Yes. Sunil Joshi had left to go to CFTO. And I was great friends in the business. There was one story.

Dave Barker, who was one of our top writers, he couldn't stay. How should I say this nicely? I'm trying to be nice after I've already pissed off Jeff Woods. And they wanted to get Russ Salzberg off Q107. They were paying him a dollar seven a morning or a sportscast.

And they went, hey, Russ, there's an opening at City TV. Why don't you go apply? And he got it. Russ Salzberg. So long, farewell, goodbye. That Russ Salzberg. So this Barker is the same thing. I don't know if he wanted to get me out of queue. It wasn't the case because I would have stayed anyway. He says, you know, Josh, he's left to go to CFTO.

So I went and applied. And Moses was just, every time a station opened, Moses would have John Gallagher do the MC duties. You know, space would come on the air. Bravo. CP24. I'd be on the microphone welcoming everyone. He always says, because you

talk louder than anyone, so you're the guy I wanted up there. You can project your voice. So from that, I guess, 89 to 99 or 98, I would appear on the Off the Record show with Michael Lansbury. Right. Has he been here?

You know, he promised to come on, and I can't seem to get him to actually physically come. Right. But he said he would come on. Right. And so Keith Pelley would watch me going, man, we may have something here. So they called it the Gallagher Show, and they needed someone named Gallagher to host it. Well, I'm going to play. Hey, on that note, don't even say another word.

Let's just listen to this. All right. All right, people, listen up. Starting this month, look for this face right here. On that thing right up there. Trust me, I'll show you the good viewership of the world according to me. Your new sports bell, John Gallagher.

It'll be about credibility, responsibility, and other big words ending with billity. That's me, Gallagher, this month right here on TSN. John Gallagher on Sports Desk starting this month on TSN. Ah, the salad years. That was a good run. And then Moses takes me aside before I go. He goes, Johnny, you know what's going to happen? And he's got his arm around me in the newsroom at City TV.

He goes, look around. This is your family. I brought you here. You've been here for 10 years, and I'd rather you wouldn't leave. Moses, my mother can watch me on TV. You know what he says? We're going to send a videotape of every show that you do and have it purulated overnight so she can watch it.

I'm like, I already kind of said yes. He was like, oh. So I went to City TV or to TSN. That was the Gallagher show. And then, you know, before that, he goes, you know what's going to happen? They're up for sale. CTV's going to buy Sportsnet. And guess who's going to be standing in the wind with his

dick in his hand? You. I suggest you don't go. Guess what happens? Six months later, CTV buys TSN, they fire everybody. Or not fire everybody, but just completely cut down, including The Gallagher Show, which was very expensive to produce, because we had to rent out Wayne

Gretzky's back room. Ticket takers, we had wardrobe, we had to rent out Wayne Gretzky's back room. You know, ticket takers, we had, you know, wardrobe, we had makeup. The Landsberg show was right there at TSN. It was like zero. You know, we had to rent the cameras from Dome Productions. It was an expensive little show. And the critics, Mike, hated it. Just, it was just, and Freddie Patterson, God bless him,

he would go on the air on CFNY going, what is with these people turning on Gallagher? It's a freaking talk show. You know, it's just, you know, you add things. It's like a nice stew, Freddie said. You know, sprinkle this in, sprinkle that in. He's really trying. I'm like, God bless Freddie for that.

He was in competition at the time. Right. And you both had, at the time, I believe you both had pretty good mustaches. Pretty good mustaches. I think. The old cookie dusters. Does Freddy still have his? I know.

Long gone. Long gone. But back then, he sure did. But I had a great time with the Gallagher show. And then they canceled me. And I went back to Moses. Right. And he hires me back the next week.

I'm like, nice friends to have, eh? And then I worked with him for the last nine years at Zoomer Radio on the classical 96.3 FM. And my story is, you want to hear my story? Yeah, let's hear it. I mean, he bought a magazine, and the magazine's like Zoomer Magazine. He's losing so much money. So he got rid of, Moses got rid of two of his music directors. And I'm walking out, and I get let go.

Like they say, not renewed. Let's put it that way, right? The same day with Conrad Black and Denise Donlan. So we're walking out of the parking lot. Hey, Conrad! Cocktails at your place? Come on! It's a beautiful day.

We'll get Barbara a meal and a nice bikini and have a hoot. Oh, okay. So that was the happy gang, right? The happy gang. And it didn't end so happy. I was going to retire there. It was just the best little show. We could talk for two, three, four, five minutes.

I remember talking to Steve Anthony a little while ago. He was at 99.9. I'm like, hey, how's it going? I've got 90 seconds to do traffic, weather, and a bit. 90 seconds. And just like the Howard Stern show, they all unplug your freaking microphone. Remember that part in that movie? Yeah, of course.

Yeah. Of course. But at AM 740, we had so much leeway. And it was, man. How long were you at 740? Nine years. Wow. Yeah.

And that's after The Rock in Oshawa, right? I loved doing The Rock. Yeah. So just chronologically. Okay. So, oh, by the way, real quick quote I have to read, because it's from Globe and Mail, and you'll remind me

who wrote it, but others have wondered about his wild man style. In fact, his hepped-up, motor-mouth approach has often led viewers to assume that he's either crazy on drugs or both. So is it crazy on drugs or both?

I have not done drugs in quite some time. There was a time there when... Define drugs. Cocaine, you know. Did you do Cocaine of Steve Anthony? Because he's on the record on my show talking about it. He didn't drop your name, of course. No, but it's been 17 years.

And I see it at parties all of a sudden. And you see it on vinyl and it's like, yo, I remember that. Yeah, and I'm just, you know what, I have vices. I stop smoking. I do dabble in some cocktails from time to time. I'm a white wine fan. Of course, your beer is going to be delicious on the back porch tomorrow. But, yeah,

I mean, it was kind of the... I don't want to just throw it around like just a sweeping generalization, but back when you're young, you're making, it's the late 80s and early 90s, making a shitload of money. That was kind of the thing to do, right? But it's just the dumbest drug.

You're up all night. Your little wanky won't freaking work. You're paranoid as hell. What's that? What's that? The cops? No, it's the Toronto Star. So it's been a long time since you've...

Yeah, I'm quite proud. I mean, I'm not proud. Was it Chase the Dragon? I don't even know. That was heroin. I never got that far. And who would? Oh, my goodness.

I mean, it was only white. It was green. And it was? Oh my goodness. I mean, it was only white, it was green, and it was brown hash. That was it. But it's been, again, 17 years, not a bad little winning streak. And you know what? It's funny because you say that cocaine is up like 22% in the

NHL the last year. What? What year is this? It's making a comeback. 1984? Yeah, it's making a comeback. Wow. Yeah, so speaking of... We talked about Osama bin Laden earlier. This is a deep podcast. I think he had something to do with that bombing in 92, 93. Oh, yeah, he did, for sure.

But in 2001, the story I read is one of those too-good-to-be-true stories. I know where this is going. I know where this is going. You know where this is going. I don't think people, some people know this because it's in the public newspaper, but you saved Mark Wahlberg's, Marky Mark Wahlberg's life. In no uncertain terms. So tell us that story. There was a huge party.

It was the night. The night. So it's past midnight. So it's 9-11. I'm frightened as hell because I was smoking cigarettes at the time and I went back to the smoking room and there's Harvey Keitel and

Richard Harris having a smoke and I'm too afraid to go ask for a freaking light. But David Pamer's there. William H. Macy. It's a party of the year. And I started cocktailing. I'm a huge Planet of the Apes fan because some people are star truckers and Trekkies. I was a Planet of the year. And I started cocktailing. I'm a huge Planet of the Apes fan because some people are star truckers and Trekkies.

I was a Planet of the Apes guy. And even the new movie, which got panned, the Tim Burton feature, I love the film. And Mark and I are getting pretty sloshed. And so he's going to wake up the next morning to take a flight from Toronto to Boston, which is the same one, Flight 77, that hit the North Tower. So he's going to take a flight from Toronto to Boston to board the flight that ends up... A connecting flight that's going to fly to Los Angeles, back home for him.

So if he's not getting sloshed with John Gallagher on the 10th of September 2001... Right, and not to correct you, but it's now the 11th, because it's past midnight. Oh, yeah, right. So it's really 9-11. Yeah, it's 9-11. And the jets are fueling at the time. We went bar hopping from bar to bar, and he never made it. They're pounding on his door.

They're pounding on his door at the Four Seasons Hotel, and they're like, Wake up. You've got to see this. He's so hungover. He missed made it. They're pounding on his door. They're pounding on his door at the Four Seasons Hotel. And they're like, wake up. You've got to see this. He's like, he's so hungover. He missed the flight. And the rest, they say, is history. Now, he did say something really off-color in Esquire magazine. Remember? He said, if I was on that flight, and I was supposed to, but I got drunk with some sportscasters in Toronto or something,

they wouldn't have made it through the cockpit with those box cutters. I would have taken them down. That's insensitive. Well, he had to apologize not long after that, but he was going to be on that side. It's not the only indiscretion in Mark Wahlberg's past. I know. I think.

Didn't he commit murder? Yeah, some Asian guy. It was a racially motivated attack. He pummeled some Asian man. Yeah, but we got so... Yeah, yeah. Wow. It was a racially motivated attack. He pummeled some Asian man. But we got so... He admits it. It's the Canadian beer, drinking all night with some... I think he mentioned sports

castor, but that's a true story. That's an amazing story. Did you listen to my chat with Jim Van Horn? Yes, I did. He wants me to make sure... He wants to make sure I ask you about the Canadian Winter Games in Corner Brook and your one-piece white snowsuit. What the hell is that?

I remember that. Yeah, we were in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. It was the Gallagher Show had just ended, and I was out there for two and a half weeks, and it was just terrific. I did have a, it was a Q107 white snowsuit. But not only that, I had to get into one of those speed skating outfits, right? With the long bladed skates.

And this thing, Mike, was so tight that you could tell what religion I was. Right. You know, I'm telling you. I thought he was going to ask about that. Not the pure white snowsuit. It was a ski outfit. Looked good. But that speed skating outfit.

Oh, I haven't lived that down. Jay and Dan on TSN. I could tell by some of your writings, you're not a big fan of Jay and Dan. Do I have that right? I love Dan. But I find that Jay on rights is kind of a failed stand-up comedian from Saskatchewan

who just thinks he's pretty well the funniest man known to sports broadcasting. And he was recently relieved from his duties in Los Angeles at Fox. Yeah. Because I thought maybe

they diminished the role, but that they were still there. Have you watched Jay Onwright? Have you watched his antics over the years? Some people love him. I mean, the years? Some people love him. I mean, more than a couple people love him. The guy's got two books out right now.

But it just wasn't part, it wasn't my cup of tea. I kind of let him know it on Facebook. We kind of cross paths briefly at TSN. He was an up-and-coming, but again, hey, the guy's got a freaking gerhattic gig with Dan in Los Angeles at Fox.

So he's doing all right, but he doesn't have the John Gallagher stamp of approval. You get... No, no. It was... The John Gallagher

stamp of approval plus $3.25 will get you to the corner of Young and Bloor, Mike. Trust me. Okay, and I know I've got like five minutes here, so last... Second last thing.25. We'll get you to the corner of Young and Bloor, Mike. Trust me. Okay. And I know I've got like five minutes here. So second last thing.

Sure. Speaking of Humble Howard and his feud with Derringer, but nothing to do with the Derringer feud. That's surprising. That's his problem. Yeah, he's been very vocal about it. And I've heard lots of stories. And they really dislike each other.

Well, explain your plight to Derringer. You sit him down for an hour. But how do I get to him? How do I get to Derringer? Because I wrote him emails and I went to... Which could be a good venue for you? Who else have you had in from Q? Yeah, I'm trying to think.

Not enough Q people. Well, I mean... All right, can you help me get... How about Andy Frost? Could you... I could try Andy Frost? You, yeah. Could you? I could try. Try?

Yeah, yeah. Cool, cool. Cool. Hey, so the question I have about Humble, though, is he told me a story once. I'm filming a movie with Paris Hilton, and I'm playing a floating head. That's right. And he goes, you won't believe who's playing the other floating head. And I go, who?

And he goes, John Gallagher. That's right. So what was that about? Because I don't even, what is this? It was called Repo the other floating head. And I go, who? And he goes, John Gallagher. That's right. So what was that about? Because I don't even, what is this? It was called Repo the Genetic Opera. And when you audition for these movies, these shows, in fact, I just finished a movie, Mike, with Jessica Chastain.

It's called Miss Sloan. I'm a Rush Limbaugh-type radio announcer from a fictitious station in Washington. But I spent most of the day with Sam Waterston and John Lithgow. It's the best. All three of those people you mentioned are great. Yeah. So when you go into these auditions, I mean, every washed up on-air radio announcer is

there looking for a gig. And I auditioned for Miss Sloan, but the most fun we had, and it's part of my book. This is one of the chapters in my book. So I'm looking over next to me, and who's sound asleep right next to me is Paris Hilton, as Joan Jett of the Runaways slash Blackhearts waits her turn. That's a chapter in the book. Yeah, I've got to read this book. So there's a bidding war, so we don't know yet when it's going to come out,

because you still have to wait until the bidding war. Yeah, and then I've got to sit down with an editor for most of the summer and figure that out. I'm quite thrilled with the process because I'm a voracious reader. I just read all the time. One thing that got me. I'm reading... Are you a big baseball fan? Yes, very much. Frank Robinson, Baltimore Royals.

I buy his book and I can't wait to get it home. He writes about the 71 World Series where Roberto Clemente hit 414 and hits a home run in Game 7. And I get to the part of Game 7. Frank Robinson, who had a wonderful slide the night before, the afternoon before, tied the series at 3-3. The caption in the chapter was, yeah, it was a tough Game 7. Steve Blass went a complete game and beat us 2-1.

We were very disappointed. That was it. This is not my book. Your book will be higher energy. And a lot of stories and I don't know if I have to sign anything beforehand because there's going to be some stories like, huh? If it's true, you can write anything

you want. It's all true. Is there going to be a stories like, huh? You know? If it's true, you can write anything you want. It's all true. It's all true. Is there going to be a chapter about your father? Yes. Because on Father's Day, on Facebook, on Father's Day, I'm going to just do a little quote from you, and then we can either chat about it or not. All right.

Okay. As I thought to myself, as the coffin was lowered during a blizzard on New Year's Day 1975, hmm, at least the beatings will stop. So it sounds like you had a tough go of your old man. Yeah, he was, well, I'm pretty tight. He was kind of one of those, he was an insurance salesman, a little bit of mutual, but think back to the Mad Men days of the early 60s and the competition that he had to go through.

And he lied about his age. He was in World War II at age 16. And, you know, some heavy smoker, Irish-Canadian, liked to drink. He got slapped around by his mother. His father died when he was eight years old. So I was the quintessential middle child. So it got pretty bad.

It got pretty bad. My family was mortified that I posted that. They were like, wow, what's next? Instagrams of you pissing on his grave? I'm like, you know what? But I talked to my agents, the book agent, the lit agent. He says, who's going to read this? Who was there?

Who can either sympathize with you or, you know, who was involved? All my family. So I tagged them with the post and yeah, I got a chilly reception, that is for sure. But it all happened. Well, that's the thing. And how much of the John Gallagher we know was shaped

by that relationship with your father? That's a good question. And would he have been proud of what I'm doing now with the TV show and the Gallagher show? My brother said, you've got a show called Gallagher. Do you know how freaking proud? Yeah, did the trick is get your called Gallagher. Do you know how freaking proud? The trick is get your name on the.

Yeah. You know how proud he'd be? It should have been a normal, normal upbringing, Mike. You know, I mean, we lived in the nicest houses, two car garages. I went to high school with suits and ties, you know, and it should have been quite normal. But man, I ran away from home. I tried to commit suicide at eight years old. It got, it got complicated. This is going to be a hell of a book. Hey at eight years old. It got complicated.

This is going to be a hell of a book. Hey, thanks, man. Thanks a lot. And you're definitely coming back. Well, yeah, we haven't even touched the surface. And thanks for having me in. And again, the thing that I heard from most of the people on your show is they, you know, just want to thank all the people that shaped their career.

I mean, working with talented people in this city and across the country has been an absolute blessing. God love them for that. By the way, this is the episode where I left the most on the table. But knowing you're coming back, because you're right, just chipping away at the surface here. So thank you very much. That was fantastic. You're a good man, Mike. And that brings us to the end of our 181st show.

You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at TorontoMike, and John is at John F.K. Gallagher. John, you're going to tweet some more because you tweeted a lot back in 2010 or so, and then you took a little hiatus. I hate Twitter, but my agent says, John, you can tweet. Well, you're good at Facebook.

Thanks, man. Lately, you've been lazy on the old Twitter. Hey, you just probably added thousands of Facebook followers. Sorry, Twitter followers. Follow John at, again, John F.K. Gallagher. And if he sees the follower count rise, he'll start writing more. I think that'll be the deal. Bravo!

See you all next week. Take some goodness from a tin Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold, but the sky is snow We'll be right back.