Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - John Scholes: Toronto Mike'd #339

Episode Date: May 25, 2018

Mike chats with John Scholes about his 19 years at Q107, why he left the station, the end of Andy Frost and Psychedelic Psunday and more.

Welcome to episode 339 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery located here in Etobicoke. Did you know that 99.9% of all Great Lakes beer remains here in Ontario? GLB. Brewed for you, Ontario. And Propertyinthe6.com. Toronto real estate done right. And Paytm,

an app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. Download the app today from paytm.ca and our newest sponsor, Camp Tournesol, the leading French summer camp provider in Ontario. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me is

broadcaster John Scholes. Hi Mikey. John, you just looked at my maple Leafs pennant on the wall, and you said in a terrible tone, you said, Leafs fan, my wife would hate it down here. She's a Flyers fan, so every time I see this stuff, I cringe for her. I personally have no stock in it.

I have no skin in the game. I'm okay with it, but if Shelly saw this, I'd be like, oh, no. Shelly, is she from Philadelphia? No, and she was a Leaf fan back in the game, I'm okay with it. But if Shelly saw this, I'd be like, oh, no. Is she from Philadelphia? No, and she was a Leaf fan back in the day when Palmatier and Sittler and that whole era, she was a Leaf fan. Then she just turned into a Broad Street Bullies fan some time ago. I don't

know. It's sports. I know nothing. Dave the Hammer Schultz and all that stuff. All right. Well, she's not allowed down here then. No, it's okay. But you can. We can talk about different things.

You know who was down here a few weeks ago? Judge it by the look of this low basement I'm saying, Buffalo Bill possibly, maybe. You're closer than you think, actually. I would say Al Joins was down here recently. My buddy Alvin. Al Joins, what a nice guy. Jury's out on you. I'm going to let you know at the end of this episode if you're a nice guy.

But Al Joines, sweetheart. Yeah, one of my early mentors when I first started in radio, actually. And Al, I don't know if you heard this yet, but Al was, he was walked out of the building. Al is no longer on Q107. Have you heard that? Yeah, correct. Yeah, that would be correct. It's. Al is no longer on Q107. Have you heard that? Yeah, correct. Yeah, that would be correct. It's amazing how I know that.

I got questions. I almost, right off the bat, want to clear up some of this stuff. Sure. But just before we do that, look at that tease there. Before you ever worked at Q107, you were like a Q listener. Is that right? Oh, yeah. Lifelong.

Yeah. I was born and raised here, so I've always listened to Q. And I mean, way back Jesse and Gene days and Brother Jake and all that stuff. Did you do Scruff Connors? No, I think this is my days too. Jesse and Gene.

Let me try to think. Yeah, I remember Jesse and Gene on Q107. Brother Jake. Brother Jake Edwards. Yeah, Scruff. Yeah, absolutely. Brother Jake. Brother Jake Edwards. Yeah, absolutely. Sex with Sue, all that. So when I started at Q, Stern was still the morning show. And I produced it for a very short amount of time.

Okay, okay. We'll get you to Q. And you remember Shirley McQueen, of course. Shirley's great. She's fantastic. Where is she? Is she in Calgary now? I don't know. She went out west and I haven't kept track and it's like, you know,

you have Facebook and all the social media, but I feel lame on Keep Track. I loved, I got to say, I absolutely loved Shirley McQueen.

Like, that was a big deal. And what I, I swore by the Q107, this is back in like in the late 80s or whatever, I swore by the top 10 at 10. Yeah.

Like, and that was like where I heard like what was going on in the world of rock, which I love. This is all like pre-grunge, right? And one, there's where I heard what was going on in the world of rock, which I love. This is all like pre-grunge, right? And there's a jam.

I'm going to play a bit of this jam. I think it's a slow burn, but let me start playing it anyway. So bear with me. This song. So here's a little story. I don't know how old I am.

I don't know. What am I like? I was like 14 or something. I don't know. But I'm listening to the top 10 at 10 as I always did. And I heard this song on the top 10 at 10. And it takes a while to warm up, But I'm listening to the top 10 of 10 as I always did. And I heard this song on the top 10 of 10.

And it takes a while to warm up. So I'm going to ramble while it gets going. It is called Come Along by a band called Salty Dog. Yep. Do you know this jam? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. How come?

I don't remember. Here's the thing. I only have memories of hearing it on the radio one on Q107 one time. Probably. So how do you know this song? Again, radio. That's how we heard all our music, right? There was no downloading.

There was no smartphones. There was no iTunes. It was radio, dude. You went to radio and remember pressing play and record when you heard the tune come on? Of course. Are you kidding me? I tell the announcer, shut up. Stop talking.

You're talking over the intro of this song. You fool. I'm going to record it. Absolutely, absolutely. And what I like, because I came from CFTR, believe it or not. Yep. But CFTR,

and I would record Top 6 at 6. Yep. AM though. It always sounded like I'm recording AM radio. Them and Chum AM grew up with them too. The Spaceman on TR and everything back in the day. It was great. It was great stuff.

Dude, here, I'm holding this up. You know who gave this to me? She gave it to me last week. This is an old CFTR, 680 CFTR when it was top 40.

Evelyn Macko. Wacko Macko as I call her. Love her. She's great. Ev's fantastic. I love her. Here,

we're going to keep talking because I want to, there's a part of this song. So I hear this song. I remember, I was in my basement like I am now. Yeah. Listening to keep talking because I want to, there's a part of this song. So I hear this song. I remember I was in my basement like I am now. Yeah.

Listening to Top 10 of 10. Yeah. Different basement of course. I want to point that out. And I hear this just

the one time. And for some reason, I don't know if it was the timing or something about this song, it blew my mind. Like, what is this? And I never, I could

never hear it it never I kept tuning in it dropped out of the top 10 of 10 like right away where was it what is that song I just heard it's kind of kind of

a raunchy Aerosmith feel to it yeah and there's a part coming up which I'm going to jack up for us it's just crazy but it wasn't until the internet arrived that I was able to

kind of source it out and figure out what the hell it was thank god right I know crazy but I'm impressed that you knew it that was my test able to kind of source it out and figure out what the hell it was. Thank God. Right? I know. Crazy.

But I'm impressed that you knew it. That was my test. I wanted to find out, like, will John Scholes know this? I think it's fairly obscure because most people I talk to about the song don't know it. You know what? If I'm forced to think about it, it was either radio or honestly my wife. She is much more of a musicologist than I am. This is the Flyers fan, right? Yeah, exactly.

She knows more music. She remembers when she heard it. She knows the albums, where it came from. She's so much better at this stuff than I am. It's kind of sad in a nostalgic kind of way. So I have two teenagers who listen to lots of music, and they discover none of it via radio. Like none of it.

For us, 100%. Spotify, stuff like that. It's the way it's going, right? But I do talk to a lot of younger kids, millennials even, that still tune into radio, still love it for the personalities, for the people.

Okay, just a moment here, John. Hold on here. My heart rate is increasing. So this song starts speeding up a bit. Yep. We got 90 seconds left. Yeah, it's a bit of like an Aerosmith meets Led Zeppelin kind of... What a bartender. And I always felt like I talked to my buddies at high school

about this song, and they'd be like, I never heard of it, and it was gone. Much music wasn't playing this or whatever. But here we go. Hold on. Oh, baby! Here we go. Hold on. Isn't that fucking killer? It's great. Oh, the good thing about podcasts,

you can swear on podcasts. Yeah, why not? I'm gonna leave your ass behind. Nobody would do this today. Okay. Wait for it. Yeah. Strong. okay wait for it yeah strong oh my goodness so i'm so glad you dropped by because it gave me i've never got to play that on my this is episode 339 and it's my first taste of salty dog on the podcast and i don't know where

they're at now i don't know what else they did uh i Napster showed up, I found this. You know what I mean? I've had it ever since. And I still love that jam. I don't know. There you go. It's my thanks to QN07's Top 10 of 10. It's dated, but it's a cool tune. Fuck it. It's cool.

And it's probably around the time Pump was coming out by Aerosmith, which was a big deal to me, too. Like, 89, 90, 90? Around there, yeah. Pre-Grunge. Grunge crushes all this, right? All of a sudden, you can't... Remember those last few hair bands in the early 90s?

Like Motley Crue? No, no, no. Oh, Warrant? Yeah, kind of that stuff. Even they were early enough, but there was a couple near the end around 1991. They're like, dude, you are totally missing the boat. Nevermind just came out. What are you doing with the hair and the handkerchief around the microphone at this point? Not going to happen.

It's kind of strange because you're right. Once, like, for example, your enemy for a while, then it became your brother's station or whatever you call it. But, you know, CFNY starts playing the hell out of Smells Like Teen Spirit. And that song, it's almost like that song hitting radio destroyed, you're right, all the hair bands. It just signaled the end. It's like, you guys have got to go away for a while, and then at some point, you'll become like a nostalgic guilty comeback. It's like a guilty pleasure. Seattle dropped on everybody, right?

Yeah, incredible. All right, that's great. We started with Salty Dog. Already, this is my favorite episode of all time, so good on that. We started with Salty Dog. Already, this is my favorite episode of all time. So good on that. I'm going to ask you a strange question, too,

before we dive into some of these specifics people are asking you about. But Rob Gaudette wants me to ask you to tell the story about the homeless guy who used to sleep in your Volkswagen during the overnight shifts. Yeah, back then I had an 84 Jetta. As you know, I pulled up today. I'm still driving Volkswagens.

I had an 84 Jetta, and I was doing overnights at that point. And at one time, I was parking outside across the street. There was a bar called Ferg's at that point. I think it's referring to the old station when we were up at Young and Norton. Young and Norton, right. Yeah, north of Shepherd. And I got out of my shift, and I was always up to thinking because at the time, I lived in an apartment.

And when you live in an apartment and you park your car in an underground and it's not exposed to everybody and it's an old building and there's no cameras, you learn not to lock your doors. People say, well, why don't you lock your car doors? Because if they want to get in, they're going to get in. I'd rather they not smash my glass, open the door, look around, you see that there's nothing there to steal, shut the door and walk away. So I never locked my doors in my car, even though it was an old car. And I parked outside during an overnight shift, and yeah, when I came out, there was a guy sleeping in my car. And I'm like, dude, you want to, you know, it's not a homeless shelter, son.

It's a car. Get out. So I had to boot the guy out of my car. Get him out. Oh, you could have just let him stay there, like a gesture of goodwill for a less fortunate. Yeah, I want to be the guy out of my car, get him out. Oh, you could have just let him stay there, like a gesture of goodwill for a less fortunate. Yeah, what if he defecates? He'll release himself. Come on.

Doesn't quite smell the same after a homeless guy sleeps in it. Not at all. That's a good point. I'm changing my mind. Or anybody for that matter. That's right. That's great. That's great.

Right off the top, let's present you with a gift since you came all this way. That six-pack. I'm eyeing them up. Are we allowed to, the Hey Now, you just did a Hey Now, right? Did you just do a Hey Now? Maybe, I was thinking, I don't know if I vocalized it. I think you did. I do

Hey Now all the time, which is Hank Kingsley. Yes. And the actor is in Hot Water these days. Soon we won't be allowed to do Hey Now. He and Morgan Freeman now in Hot Water too. I know. All the great voices, I suppose. That's right. So you be careful out there, John,

because you're one of the great voices. So please take home this six pack of Great Lakes beer and enjoy that. Oh, twist my arm. Twist my arm, the GLB. I think the one you pulled out there, that's the Octopus Wants to Fight. That's my personal favorite. Yeah. Haven't had this one. You'll love it. It's got the citrusy.

Of course I'll love it. It's really tasty shit. Well, thank you, Great Lakes Brewery and Toronto Mike. How far away? Oh, yeah. Please. I deserve none of the thanks. All I did was put it on the counter there for you. But the Great Lakes guys, it's all from them.

How far a drive was this for you? Like, was this a long drive for you? 15 minutes. I'm in North Etobicoke. You're in the nice part. Okay. You're in Ford Nation. Yeah.

Yeah, that's right. Oh, that's a whole other kettle of fish. You bet. But here, where I'm going with this, on July 19th, if you're around from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., there's going to be a Toronto Mic'd listener party at Great Lakes Brewery on the patio.

This is a Thursday night, July 19th. There's going to be live music. There's going to be $5 pints. Other guests of Toronto Mic'd will show up. I'm in. I'm in. Imagine I don't show up.

Where the hell's Mike? Maybe we'll change it to the John Scholes Appreciation Night if I don't show up. So yeah, I'm serious. I'll send you a note about this in the future

so you don't forget. But July 19th, 6 to 9, people would love to meet you at Great Lakes Brewery on the patio. Done. And hopefully it's a night like this. What amazing weather we're having right now. This is amazing, right?

This weather. I know. I'm wearing white shorts. I realize it's summer, man. I can get away with it, okay? You look like you came from the country club, like you played tennis with the well-to-dos. Like a starting Flamingo kid with Matt Dillon back in the day i know it's a good look no i've never met

you before so i never know what i'm gonna get am i gonna get the uh the 80s motley crew shirt with all the bad tattoos like i don't know if i'm gonna get or this which is honestly uh i would expect you to pull up in like a i don't know a bentley or something like you you you look like you've got a private membership to an exclusive golf club. I know, I look a little Banana Republic today. That's where I'm going. You look really preppy. I got the white shirts happening.

I got the white shorts. And you look clean. Do you have any tattoos? No. No, I got none. Were you the only guy at Q without tattoos? That is an excellent question. I haven't seen everybody's skin,

nor do I ever want to. There's no bathhouse things. Nice. Some of them do, for sure. Oh, my God. Yeah. No, I got no tattoos at all. I don't mind looking at them. I've just bathhouse things. Nice. Some of them do for sure. Oh my God. Yeah. I got no tattoos at all.

I don't mind looking at them. I've just never been a big fan. Is it because you're afraid because I don't have a tattoo because I'm afraid like there's

nothing I know I'm going to want to have on me for like 50 years or whatever. Yeah. I just I just they never appealed to me and everyone says it's

really painful anyway and I'm not. You pay money. It's painful. It's permanent. Like this sounds like a recipe for a bad idea. I know guys that have like full arms, chest. They're just like the only time you can't see it is when they're wearing a dress shirt.

I know lots of guys like that. And it's cool. I appreciate the art. It's just not my bag. Not your bag. Not my bag. I think we're in the minority though. I think everybody's got ink but us.

All right. That was a great question from Rob. You're going to enjoy that beer before you get into radio. So, of course, you're a listener of Q107. Legendary station. I loved it myself. That was where I got my rock before I, no offense, I did switch over to 102. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

When early, early, yeah, 91. Maybe same time as the Smells Like Teen Spirit stuff. Who knows? to 102. Yeah, yeah, for sure. When early, early, yeah, 91, maybe when, same time as the Smells Like Teen Spirit stuff, who knows. But did you work at the Toronto Sun before you ended

up on the radio? Yeah, I worked at the Sun from 1991 till 2007, around eight years, around there. Were you delivering the papers? No, I was in the,

I was down at 333 King. That would have been the start with a buddy of mine back in the day. Oh, cool. No, I worked at, I worked at 333 King and I was have been the start with a buddy of mine back in the day. Oh, cool. No, I worked at 333 King, and I was in the press room, actually, where they printed the paper. Absolutely brutal, back-breaking work, shoving around 2,000-pound rolls of paper all night. We're called paper handlers.

That's what we did. Can I blame you for my issue I always had with the sun was that the ink always came off of my fingers? Try working there. So you don't have tattoo ink, but you do have permanent newspaper ink. Maybe that's what's got me away from tattoos. You know what? You had too much exposure to ink.

The last thing you want to do is inject it into your body. And other chemicals. Yeah. And other chemicals. But I was young there. I started there when I was 19, fresh out of high school. And yeah, I was there for about eight years.

That's a good run. Yeah, not bad. So it's kind of an interesting way to get into the media, if you will, that you're kind of working in the back rooms. Well, I mean, there was a lot of great guys at the Sun and I'm still Facebook friends with a lot of those guys. Good people working there in the press room, pressmen. But it really took a toll on my back.

It ruined my lower back, that work. You're having trouble playing tennis now at the club. Everything, basically. Getting out of bed is going to be a challenge, Mike. And it really started to wreak havoc on my health. And then I remember, I can't remember the comedian, but this is, of course, near the end of my eight years there. I was home one night watching TV, Comedy Network probably.

And there was a comedian on. And I remember he was doing his bit. I don't remember the guy. And he said one of his bits was, you know, if you turn the age of 30 and you still got a job where you have your name on your lapel, you've made a serious vocational error.

As funny as that is, I was like, God damn it, he's right. That's me. I don't want to do this anymore. What am I going to do? And I've always, as we talked about off the top,

love Q, always loved radio, grew up on it. I go, yeah, I wonder if I could do that. And I went back to school. Which school did you go to? I went to Humber.

Okay, yeah, a lot of radio professionals on this show went to Humber. Yeah, like almost all of us, yeah, who went to college went to Humber. Well, I mentioned Macco. I think Macco was one of the second radio class in Humber history, I think. Yeah, I taught there for a while,

and I'm still good friends with the coordinators and everything else. It's a great school. So yeah, I went back to school for radio, and that's how we got into it. Well, hey, I think you had the pipes too. Like, I mean, not anyone can be on mic in a big market like this,

but you sound like you belong on a microphone, which that was my problem, you see, but you sound great. Yeah, you know what? A lot of great announcers, a lot of great jocks out there don't have the quote unquote pipes, but they've got great talent,

they've got great stories, and they're great storytellers. But they're all working in Thunder Bay or whatever. Well, not all of them. I mean, some of them, you know. Some of them are, and I mean, there's not a lot of females that have deep baritone voices,

but goddammit, are they good on the air? You know, you get good jocks on the air, it doesn't matter what you sound like as long as you're interesting, right? Well, you know who else has been on this show? Joanne Wilder. Love JoJo. Speaking of great female announcers. She's fantastic. Love her. Good friend. sound like as long as you're interesting, right? Well, you know who else has been on this show? Joanne Wilder, speaking of great female announcers. She's fantastic.

Love her. Good friend. No, good to hear. I'm glad you didn't tell me, oh, she's a jerk or something because I had a great experience with her. Everybody I've worked with, it's been so long there. Everybody I worked with at Q was great. I mean, it's like a family, right? Well, we're going to dive deep into Q for sure. But I want to give you some more

things because that's why you're here. Because you heard there was some free swag. Oh, yeah, the good old days of radio. I'm sure it changed over the years you were in radio. At the beginning, there was like swag spilling out of like everywhere. And then I'm sure there's a lot less now. Yeah, we get taken care of. There's less now. I mean, sponsors got a lot of dollars, right?

So the stuff they do give you generally, they want to go to listeners, which makes perfect sense. But there is, yeah, earlier on, there was more extras, more to go around. We got thrown a bone now and again for sure. Yeah, and you're going to get thrown a bone right now. And that sounds dirty, but it's not. You're in my basement. You're going to be thrown a bone. Which is why I'm wondering.

Shelly, that's her name, Shelly. It's all in the up and up here. I'm giving John a pint glass. This one here? That's the one. I'm giving John a pint glass. Oh. Again, though. This one here? That's the one. Propertyinthesix.com.

But let's hear it in your voice. Property in the six. Thank you of the propertyinthesix.com. Very nice. And what is this inside here? So that's Brian Gerstein. Brian Gerstein, my pal, Brian Gerstein. Well, Brian's got a question for you,

and I can't wait to hear the answer. So let's hear directly from Brian. Propertyinthesix.com. you and I can't wait to hear the answer. So let's hear directly from Brian. Hi John, Brian Gerstein here, sales representative with PSR Brokerage and proud sponsor of Toronto Mic'd. Depending on your neighborhood, there are some really good buying opportunities for low-rise housing, which is expected to bounce back in the middle of 2019. This is a fantastic time to move up, as the gap moving from a condo, townhouse, or starter home to the next level is as narrow as it has ever been. There's no obligation, just happy to show you the numbers and you can make an informed decision if you are considering taking the next step up.

Call me at 416-873-0292 to find out. John, after the Beatles broke up, which Beatle do you think had the most artistic solo success? Oh, that's a tough one because longevity factors into it. I mean, McCartney is still around doing amazing things, but early on, I got to go. I'm a Lennon guy. I'm a Lennon guy. Admittedly, this may shock you

based on where I've worked for the last two decades, but I'm not a massive Beatles fan. I like the Beatles. I appreciate their music. I'm a little young. Does Al Jones know this? Because he's a big Beatles guy.

Yeah, and I'd say the vast majority of people that not just work there but listen to that station, especially years ago when I started, would be massive. I like the Beatles. I enjoy their music. I don't like all of it. I think some of it's pretty bubblegum, but that's why I kind of go back to Lennon.

I just find his stuff kind of cool. He would be the Beatle, I would think, earlier on as far as solo career is the one. Now, Harrison, I'm a massive... I'm kind of a Lennon-Harrison fan. I've got tons of respect for McCartney. There's a lot of his stuff. So McCartney's stuff is a bit poppier, right?

There's a bit more... It is, but it's still good songwriting, and he's a great vocalist. I mean, the guy, look at him. He's still doing it, right? He's still doing it. But Harrison, he's just... I mean, some of my... Something is one of my favorite Beatles tunes. That's a

George Harrison song. He's a guitar player. He's a great guitar player, and those guys often make great songwriters, right? He's a traveling Wilbury, for heaven's sake. That's it, right? But I think knowing Brian, as I know him now, I think he'll be happy because you started, yes, you went with John, which is most people go with Paul or John on that question.

True. I would agree. Almost, I would put 95% of people, and then the other 5% go with George. John on that question. True. I would agree. Almost, I would put 95% of people. And then the other 5% go with George. And I think it excites Brian when he hears George. So you started with John, but you sort of threw in some George. I think you cheated a little bit. You took two of the four people. I know.

And no one goes with Ringo. That wasn't the question, Skolls. What is wrong with you? Nobody goes with Ringo, right? How can you ever put forward a valid argument that Ringo is the greatest solo Beatle when those

are the three guys that he's up against? Right, yeah. Kind of tough, right? Even the hot take contrarians amongst us have difficulty forming that argument. Yeah, I would agree.

So enjoy the pint glass. You can pour the Great Lakes beer into that and enjoy it. Okay, so last we left you, you're at Humber College. You're taking radio. Yes. How do you parlay that into a gig at the Mighty Q? The story goes as follows.

I was obviously a mature student when I went back. I didn't go back until I was around 27, 28. And while I was there, when did we start? We started in the winter, I believe, what they call the certificate program. It was a little over a year. It wasn't a two-year program. We started in the winter, and sometime around late spring, early summer, I thought to myself, you know, if you're going to get into this industry, you should try or at least get the feel for what a radio station is really like.

Because until that point, it had been the college station, which isn't much more – well, back then, it's not much more elaborate than what you got here. It's much better now. It's incredible, the equipment at Humber now. But back then, it was similar to what we're doing here. Very basic. It worked. It was very basic. Other than that, it was just listening to radio. I never spent any time inside a station. So I figured, you know, it might be cool to be a fly on the wall and see if you can get in somewhere. So obviously, by default, the first station I call on would be Q. And I remember the day I decided to do that. I was in college and I remember where I was driving. I was driving east on Steeles Avenue coming down towards Bayview.

I don't know why I remember this because I have zero memory. That's what my wife is for. And at that time, Howard Cogan, Hungry Man, was the afternoon guy. And I think he had John Panette, the late comedian on the show. Yeah, of course. And he had pulled up to the station. Panette had pulled up to the station. While he was doing his interview, 16 floors up at Q, they had towed his car.

Panette's car? Yeah. Is he the I don't care guy? I don't care. Yeah, the big huge guy. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Really, really funny guy. Miss him. But he was interviewing Panette, the big huge guy who's talked about his weight. Really, really funny guy. Miss him.

But he was interviewing Panette and they towed his car during the interview and someone told him that. So the interview, which was funny already, just turned into this whole thing where Howie was trying

to get the guy's car back from the tow truck driver. And I thought, this guy is really funny. I really like Howie. He's just kind of irreverent. That was kind of his shtick at that time

because Stern was on the morning show and I knew he was a big fan of that. So I guess someone. That was kind of his shtick at that time because Stern was on The Morning Show and I knew he was a big fan of that. So I guess someone that rubbed off in his own way. I don't actually, if I don't mean to interject, I love this story, I want to hear more, but I don't think it was rubbed off. I think maybe there was a, like, be more like that.

Maybe. I think. Possibly. At that point, maybe it was. But he had Panetta on, so I go, I really like this guy. So I emailed him, I think, at that point and called him and said, I'm a radio student. Could I come by and hang out? He said, yeah, man, come on by, hang out and pick CDs, get coffee, put your feet

up. We used to call it interning back then. It was not an organized thing. It was just come by. And it's unpaid, right? Oh, 100% unpaid, 100% unpaid. So I started doing that a couple of days a week while I was in school. And it turned into three days a week and then four days a week. And then eventually I started opping the board, doing board opping down at the 640 side overnights and so on and so forth. And that's just, that's how, and I never left. Amazing.

Never left. That's great. So Howard Cogan, key cog in the wheel of your success. Yeah, Howard and the late Pat Cardinal, my first program director. Well, talk to me a bit about Kogan a little further because Kogan, of course, it must be making a mint now, right? Voice of Jack FM and Modern Family

and the commercial voiceovers and stuff. Is the Jack thing still going? I don't know if it is for him, but he had about, what, 10 years ago now, maybe he'd moved down to Culver City. So he's living in LA. And I'd caught up with him a few days ago. And I said, how's the VO business?

He goes, it's pretty tough. It's pretty tough. I mean, these guys have had to expand out and really look for other work. I mean, the big guys are still making huge bucks. But he said, for a lot of them, it's a tough grind. Even in LA, it's a tough grind now. But as far as I know, he's still doing voice in LA. So he's a good guy. Yeah. So it's a tough grind. Even in LA, it's a tough grind now. But as far as I know, he's still doing voice

in LA. So he's a good guy. Yeah. So it's interesting. He was a Howard, right? Because you had the Howard Stern in the mornings and then the Howard Coven. The hungry man in the afternoon, yeah. Very interesting time. And I have a question from a gentleman. His name is Mark Weisblot and he has a newsletter called

1236. And he comes on this show every quarter to talk about what's going on in media. He's very knowledgeable in the world of the Canadian media landscape. You're familiar with 1236? Yeah, Weisblot. Absolutely. Okay. Yeah, good. I actually just today tweeted that when I start my

Toronto Digital Avengers or whatever, the two guys that I think make the internet way better in my opinion that I want drafted right away i want uh wise blot from 1236 and retro ontario his name's ed conroy and he goes by the name retro ontario like those are the two cats i'm drafting and i have them both on the show as much as i can cool they're adding a lot to gta interwebs as we say but wise blot's question is he wonders aloud he wonders how the type of people who called into a radio station request line

have changed in the 19 years. Like, has that changed as the internet, as social media and stuff arises? Has there been any change in the kind of person who would have called in when you started at Q

versus a guy who would call in now? I would say yes, Mark, in the way that what they're calling in for. Now, a lot of the time, it's to chat on something you're talking about, whether it's a funny story or a bit. That's why they would call in to give their two cents. You'll still get some song requests, and you'll get that on text as well. But I mean, it's obvious just as we sit here, and you've got a program open in Spotify, and you've got your tablet open. I mean, people really don't request songs that much anymore.

They kind of go with your playlist or they have their own playlist. they know now they've caught on that you guys have like, it's already programmed into some computer. Yeah. The days of carte blanche programming your own music. That's, that's way before my time. Way.

I mean, Al would have talked about that. I, I, that was long before my time. But even, I feel like even me, oh yeah, because you're showing up in the, that's like late,

that's like 98, right? Yeah, you're right. It's way before that because the best conversation of that nature, I had David Marsden in here and. Oh, legend. Yeah, his rules at the old spirit of radio CFNY and guys like Scott, Scott Turner and Alan Cross and all these guys, you know.

Yeah, they'll talk like they had like some, some rules, like it had to be, there were certain guidelines, but otherwise they, they went to the collection of vinyl and they grabbed the album and they played what they wanted within certain parameters. How awesome would that be?

I know. How awesome would that have been? Yeah, I know. I know. And today the people working today, you, yeah,

it's as you, well, you, you, you, you have very little say in what you play, right? Did you have any say? Any leeway?

I did at one time when we did the album sides. I had a bit there when we had the request hours on Psych Sunday when I first started and I would either cover for Andy or do that bottom or last part of the show. It was a request hour so we could play what we wanted and take requests from listeners as well. So there was some leeway in that regard. You know, it's funny. One of my teachers at Humber, who's now for many years been a jazz FM, Terry McGillicod, who's a fantastic guy, is one of my teachers. And I asked him about that. I said, you know, picking your own records and this music versus

that music. And he told me back then, it always stuck. He said, music is simply inventory. It's what's between the records that's going to give you the longevity, which brings it back to personalities on radio and doing funny stuff and making people laugh, making people cry, pissing people off. That's what's going to keep them coming back because they can get Drake. They can get Pearl Jam. They can get Miley Cyrus anywhere they want. Salty Dog. Salty Dog. Maybe not Salty Dog. No, that's not going to be anywhere anytime soon, but you can still get it, right? So No, that's not going to be anywhere anytime soon, but you can still get it, right? So I think that's really what it came down to.

So near the end, not picking my own music, there was not even a concern, not even a concern. But on that note, though, do you find, you know, as radio, I want to say evolves, devolves, I think might be more appropriate, but that the personality, they seem to be taking it out of the game slowly but surely, the personality. Like a lot more shows are being voice tracked, for example, that aren't live. And I don't know.

I feel like when you're not live and local and, of course, you already can't play what you want kind of deal, that it just seems like there's less and less. This is just a listener's perspective. I've never been in the game. I'm an outsider here. Right, right, right. But it does seem like there's less and less. This is just a listener's perspective. I've never been in the game. I'm an outsider here. Right, right, right. But it does seem like there's less personality now than there was. Or maybe I'm just getting old. It could have that perception.

I think the people that are still doing radio, as far as the announcers, are still very talented. They're still telling personal stories. There still is a local element to it. I mean, there would be much more local element, I guess, to a news talk station because it's, by definition, a local element to it. I mean, there would be much more local element, I guess, to a news talk station because it's by definition a local element. But I listen to stuff like John Tesh who's been doing it for years

who's syndicated or Ryan Seacrest. I mean, there's lots of shows I've heard them do that I still find very interesting. Tesh was on Easy Rock, I remember, for,

I don't know. I think he still is. But we don't have an Easy Rock. No, we don't have an Easy Rock. I've heard him somewhere. I can't remember where.

Maybe Niagara Falls. Possibly. You know who they are? Rick Hodge is the morning man in Niagara Falls Easy Rock. Easy Rocks are still around. Just now they're gone from here. But they went boom. That's right.

They went boom. Oh, speaking of... We've got so much coming up, though. But sometimes I wonder if Q has gone boom like in terms of uh playlists they have uh i mean there's there's definitely some some competition we've definitely uh or they they've definitely focused more in that regard um i mean we're still we're still harder than they are i mean there's still stuff we'll play that they won't play because they're not trying to they're not trying to do that type of radio um But I mean, it's a changing landscape.

I mean, you look at music charts. I talked to guys who were in bands, and rock generally right now is just not in vogue. It's just not the flavor of the month. I mean, a lot of it's hip-hop and rap. I mean, I think it's cyclical. It's all going to come back. I mean, there's so much 80s stuff on now. 80s have come back with a vengeance.

You look at Stranger Things. You look at a lot of fashion in magazines. A lot of commercials are using retro 80s rock and just pop in that regard. So I think it's all cyclical. It'll come back. But yeah, I just think rock at this point is not in vogue. That's all it is, right? So you've

got to swim with the tide, right? And do you hear from the old guard, okay? You've got a bunch of Q listeners still who have been listening since the 70s. You've got to swim with the tide, right? And to hear from the old guard, okay, you've got a bunch of Q listeners still who have been listening since the 70s. You've got these diehards. And when they hear Duran Duran, I know this only because they usually Google something about Q,

end up on my blog, and end up leaving a comment. Right. So maybe it's a vocal minority. I don't know. But there is definitely these old stalwart Q fans that are very upset that how can Q107 be playing Duran Duran? Of course. It's breaking their brains and pissing them off. You're going to get that.

And every time you make a sway musically anyway, even just a little off kilter to what somebody likes, you're not going to please everybody all the time. I got to find this. My sister-in-law, my wife's older sister, has a chart, a Q107 countdown chart. God, I've got to find this thing and bring it to you and show it to you. What year? That's what I mean.

I would say it was mid-'80s because... So is it before Appetite for Destruction? I guess that's 87. Yes, yes. Yeah, it would be because I can't remember all of it, but she's got it somewhere. It's like faded and it looks yellow now, but it's an actual paper chart from Q107

with the old logo. It's got Huey Lewis on there. It's got Tina Turner. We have played this stuff before. It has been around. It was charting with us before. We did play this stuff. Again, we didn't in the last 15 years, but we did play this stuff before. But I've learned a long time ago

in this business, you're not going to please everybody. So yeah, I mean, a lot of people are going to be like, you know, why are you playing Duran Duran or Simple Minds on cue? But again, it's just the way of the tide, right? Yeah, and it's evolve or die, I guess, is what the decision makers would say. For sure. As far as I'm concerned, man, good music is good music. I'm not, you know, everyone thinks I'm a rock head. I am so far from a rock head. I've got everything. Well, you're listening to John Tesh. I think that your reputation has already changed. On my way down here, I had Doobie Brothers,

and then I went over to Coldplay, and then I had Whitney Houston on. This is all on the drive down here this afternoon, right? I mean, there's probably Mozart somewhere in my playlist on my phone, right? That's too funny. That's too funny. And you have no ink,

and you're listening to Whitney Houston. Yeah, we're going to change your reputation. Who is this guy? Who is this guy? I thought I was getting this rock and roll till I die guy. He's got white shorts on, for Christ's sakes. What's wrong with this kid? And white shoes. You're skipping the...

You're burying the lead here. And white socks, white shoes. That's why you look like you just played Wimbledon. That's exactly what I look like. I look like a ball boy. Oh, remember Kramer? Yeah, the US Open. I fucking love that show. Oh, remember Kramer? Yeah, the US Open. I fucking love that show. Oh, that's funny.

Okay, I'm going to take you. We're going to go to Young Nord in the center in a moment. But first, I don't get to play this too much longer. I got to enjoy every second here. I'm a salty dog again. Don't tempt me, man. I'm one button away from more salty dog, and I'll do it because who's going to stop me? You?

Who's going to stop me? No. Nana Muscuri. Wow. Q's never played Nana Muscuri. No. I think we have a lock of her hair somewhere, though. It's long enough.

I just want her glasses. That's what I want. You know, she's still touring. Really? 83 years old. She's 83? Looks like, doesn't look a day over 63, whatever that means. But yeah, she looks great.

She's still touring. Wow. This is in honor of Camp Tournesol. So Camp Tournesol provides French camps in the GTA for tens of thousands of children ages 4 to 14. So if anyone listening has children or grandchildren, because I learned from Splashin' Boots that grandparents like to spoil their grandkids more than parents like to

spoil their kids. So if you have children between the ages of 4 and 14 send them to French camp because they'll have a great time and they won't even notice that they're learning. Like they're picking up French. It's like... It's osmosis. Yes. It's like a trojan

horse here's a fun overnight camp have a blast and when you come back you'll be fluent in french and whatnot so there's a whole bunch of different french uh camps so the call to action to you the listenership guess where i get that from the listenership that would be that would be a scruffer that's a scruff connor's term The listenership needs to go to camptea.ca. Camptea.ca. Peruse the assortment of French camps and pick one for your child or grandchild. Or heck,

use it on your nephew and niece. What do I care? Just pick a French camp and then use the promo code Mike. M-I-K-E. Because that tells Camp Tour... You'll save 20 bucks, but also it tells Camp Tournesol that this sponsorship worked for them. You'll also get them out of the house.

Yeah. Right. I mean, come on. Get them away from the PlayStation or whatever. Totally. No Playstations allowed at Camp Tournesol. Awesome. Send your kid to French Camp. Who is here? Speaking of 80s making a comeback, Gord Depp was here from the Spoons. Excellent. Oh, fucking speaking of

80s, man. Nothing's more 80s than Gord Depp at The Spoons. He still looks like he's living in the 80s. The hair he had in the romantic traffic video. Oh, and the TTC. Sandy Horn with the crimped hair. It's a beautiful thing. Okay. Shirley McQueen and Sandy Horn. You just nailed two of my crushes back in the day. No kidding. Oh, my goodness. So where am I going with that? Oh, yeah. So he heard about the Camp Tournesol. They have a 13-day trip to Quebec, okay,

that you can pick up from French camp. A 13-day trip to Quebec. Oh, my God. Gord is going to pretend he's 14 years old and enroll in that camp. He just wants to go to the Depeneur and pick up some beer in a corner store. No. Yes, that's right. Come on. That's right. That's right. and enroll in that camp. He just wants to go to the deponier and pick up some beer in a corner store. Yes, that's right. Come on. That's right, that's right.

Gord, he's onto it. One more and then we're going to continue. What do I have? Here's a song that gets played a lot on Psychedelic Sunday. Oh, what a beauty. I have Psychedelic Sunday questions for you, but they're coming soon.

People need to hang on. The big questions are on the way. Oh, it's gold. Gold, Jerry. Gold. More Seinfeld, please. Not enough for my Seinfeld. This is being played because of Paytm Canada.

Paytm Canada is the only app in Canada that gives you rewards for bill payments. I use it. John, if you use this app, you download this app from paytm.ca, you pay all your bills through the app. You can pay through your credit card using the app. For example, I pay property taxes with the city of Toronto and they don't let me use my credit card when I want to pay my property taxes, but I can pay my property taxes through Paytm using my MasterCard, which gives me points that I redeem for free groceries at no frills. So this is a true story. So it's like double dipping. I get points from Paytm for using the app. I get points from my credit card for using the credit card. It makes it easy for me to pay all my bills. I get reminders and everything.

I get, it makes it easy for me to pay all my bills. I get reminders and everything. It's super convenient. It costs me nothing. Here's the kicker. John, this is why you're going to be whipping out your smartphone right now. That's right. I said smartphone.

You're going to use the promo code Toronto Mike when you make a bill payment. All one word, Toronto Mike. And you're going to get $10. Hey now. Hey now. We can still say it, right? Hey now. Why not? People think that's a stern thing. And I'm always like shaking can still say it, right? Hey now. Why not?

People think that's a stern thing, and I'm always like shaking. I'm like, you have no idea. The Larry Sanders Show is one of the greatest shows of all time. That's where it came from. Absolutely. I love that show. It says applesauce. Hank Kingsley.

What a show that was. Anyway, use the promo code TRONOMYTE. Get $10, and you can thank me. And it's an app. You'll never, you have no excuse to default on your payments for your credit card or bills for that matter. No excuses. Get your life in order. What's wrong with you people?

Come on. Pay your damn bills. That's it. Do it with Paytm Canada. Young Norden Center. Yes. So this is, and I'm always interested in ownership. No one else cares about this, but I am.

But this is when it was WIC. Yes. WIC owned Q when you started there. Yep. And you broadcast from Young Norden Center. You bet. And as I understand, I've never been part of that environment at the time. It was a very plush atmosphere, possibly, like when you compared to other CHUM and CFRB

and different studios that were kind of stuck in the 1960s or 70s. The Young Norden Center, this environment at the time was pretty plush. Is that fair to say? Yeah, I mean, I haven't been to too many other radio studios, but I do remember Young Norton Centre,

it was two floors. I guess the 15th floor was all sales. That's back when sales people all had their own offices with doors that would actually shut closed. Right.

So admin and sales and office was on that floor reception. And then you went up the staircase or took the elevator and upstairs one way was the radio studios production, Skylab. Remember Skylab? That's why it was so plush. Skylab Studios was up there.

What was Skylab again? It was a big recording studio with a massive board in the window and you could get a band in there and they did all kinds of stuff. Gary Whitten, our ex-producer, that was his studio and the sound that would get out of that old board would just be phenomenal. Wow. So you had Skylab up there.

You had the radio studios on the one side that faced Yonge Street. And then around the back was this massive lounge area with a full kitchen, stove, oven, had a glassed-in smoking room back then, pool table, lounge, patio with barbecues. Yeah, this is the 90s.

Dude, they're living. Barbecues out there. Amazing. And a glass in smoking room. How about that? How long did this party last? Until we moved out of there down to Yonge and Dundas, which was what? 2000, I want to say 2002, maybe? 2003? Is that when the Hard Rocks Studio

started? And across the street where The Edge was, at Young and Dundas. Right, right. So I got to enjoy it for a couple years, two, three years anyway. I loved it. I loved Young and Dundas. It was great.

So remind me, who took ownership after Wick? Well, that's when Chorus started, right? Chorus. That's when Chorus. So is it Shaw, though, and then Chorus by Shaw? Yeah, maybe. I don't know. You're asking a little business crap.

You don't remember who signed your checks. Dude, I'm wearing white shorts, not a tie. That's right. Right? Yeah. That's right. Okay. So tell me about the formats, though.

You told me already we learned you have a terrible memory. Yeah, awful. The worst. Can you remember, though? Because as we talked about these top 10 of 10, it was like New Rock, I want to say. And then at some point, I can't remember when, but at some point it becomes, maybe it's post Howard Stern when Derringer takes over in the mornings. Is that when it becomes classic rock?

Yes, when I was first there, it was the pure rock format. Pure rock. Pure rock, yeah. And that was, as you said, we'd still play the Zeppelins, the Floyds, the ACDCs, but you'd also be playing Big Wreck and Foo Fighters. Like Black Crows or something like that.

Black Crows, all that stuff. It was more, there was some active rock in there. There was some classic rock in there. And you still had Psych Sunday with Andy there as well. You had Stern in the morning for a while. And shortly after that, Derringer was doing Afternoons when Howie left. And then, of course, the tenure of Howard Stern came to an end.

And then Derringer, bang, into mornings. And it blew up, right? Because he's Derringer. He's a Toronto legend. Everybody knows him and loves him. Share with me a little bit, because he's a gentleman who I invited into my basement and politely declined, so I've never met him.

I'm starting to think he was smart. I mean, I'm looking around here. I see comforters and stuff in the corner. The 16-year-old, you're lucky he's not sleeping right now. He's at high school. But tell us, people have heard John Derringer on Toronto's airwaves for, I want to say forever for guys my age, pretty much. Totally.

Grew up with him. And his brother's been on the show for what it's worth. So Bill Hayes has been on the show. Yep. But no John Hayes, a.k.a. John Derringer. What kind of guy is John Derringer? He is, again, there's a guy that when I was starting out and he was doing afternoons in the station,

I would email him just because you're a rookie jock. You don't always know. I mentioned Al being an early mentor, and he was too. Al did a lot of stuff for me in college. I'll mention that later on. But John was very nice because at that point, he'd come back to Q after being in Montreal. Then he was on the fan.

So, I mean, he's, I mean, you know, I remember when they announced that Derringer was coming back. And when I was still interning with Howie, Jimmy, the phone sex boy, we call him, Jimmy Galaitsis, who's still down in Cornwall doing radio. He was like, Derringer, yeah, I kind of know him. I'm like, dude, how do you not know who Derringer is? Like, did you grow up in this city? So we were all super jacked

when John came back and I remember like, I met him for the first time and he started doing his show Afternoon Zen with Craig Venn was his producer. A lobster boy.

Lobster boy. Who's been on the show and now he's in The Rock in Oshawa. Fantastic, salted to the earth, that guy. Love,

love Craig. Yeah, very nice man. Yep. So, and I remember talking to John when he was off air and emailing him, just asking him about advice about being on air and am I doing this correctly and what should I be doing?

And he was always fantastic for that. He would just tell you straight up, this is what you should be doing. This is how, not so much the business works, but this is how radio works and here's what I did. He's, again, great mentor, great guy. Nothing but good things to say about Derringer. Is he worth every penny of that million dollar contract?

I don't know what the guy gets paid, but I would say based on the legacy and the way that station's done over the last 15, 16 years, I would say absolutely. I'd say absolutely. Cool. Here's someone else I want to speak about because Kyle, I'll give Kyle credit for this question on Twitter, but he wants to hear about your experience with the Mo Show.

Maureen Holloway has been a guest on this show, by the way, and that was a fantastic chat. And she's now at CHFI. Correct. Yeah. So when she was at the Q, she had the Mo Show and you were kind of a co-host. You were the co-host essentially, or what would you call yourself? I was co-host and producer. So I technically produced the show and I was co-hosting with Mo. Yeah. We ran that for, what did you call yourself? I was co-host and producer, so I technically produced the show, and I was co-hosting with

Mo, yeah. We ran that for, what did we get out of it? About a year, year and a half, until she got an offer she can't refuse. No kidding. Yeah, for sure. So how was it working with Maureen Holloway? This is someone who's been in radio for over 30 years.

I've been listening to since way back when, and of course, I listened to her when she was on The Mornings with John, you know, doing The Last Word and co-hosting with John. So the chance to work with her in the afternoon was fantastic. I mean, they came out to me one day,

said, you know, you're going to be co-hosting with Mo. I'm like, are you kidding me? It was fantastic. And it was, I mean, this is, she's a Rosalie Tremblay Award winner. That just happened a few weeks ago. Yeah, I heard about that.

Just a fantastic broadcaster. And again, you learn. This is the thing about Toronto radio, and I'll go off track for a little. No, go nuts. When they tell you in college that, you know, the general rule is when you get out there out of college, you're going to go to Fort Mc-fucking-nowhere and do overnights, and it's going to be great because you're going to be the big fish in the small pond. You're not only going to have to learn on air, you're going to do promotions.

Maybe you'll have to go out and see sales clients. You might have to rub the floors and put tint on the windows. You might have to do everything at a radio station, which is good. And I get that. And it's good to learn all those skills. Work your way back to a big market, being a Toronto or a London or a Hamilton or a Montreal. And eventually everyone wants to rise to that level and be in Toronto. I get that. That's fantastic. But what I did when I left college, because of the whole thing we talked about Howie and Hungry Man, I never had to do that. So I worked my ass off to stay at Q and I ran my whole FM career at Q. So I started at the biggest station, the biggest market in the country. You started at the top.

You started at the top. And the thing is, though, yes, you didn't get that early grounds roots training of doing everything. But when you start your career working with people that are at the pinnacle of their talent, it's like, I don't know if you play snooker or play pool, but it's like, it's one thing going out to a bar and playing with your buddies. But then if you get to go to the next table and play with Steve Davis, I mean, it's going to raise your game. When you start working with guys like Derringer and Gonzo and Maureen Holloway and Al Joines,

you're learning from the best in the business. It's a fantastic experience to work with them because they've done it. They've worked in the trenches. They've done all that stuff. I was very fortunate and I'm glad I got to work with Mo and everybody else. The unpaid intern learning a lot

with a hungry man, Howard Kogan. How did you parlay that into an actual pay? You know, they're going to start paying you and you're going to work here. Like, how did that, how did you finagle that? Well, like I said earlier, I started hanging around there one, two days a week between school.

Then it got to be three days and then four. And then I was there on the weekends and I was just hanging out doing what I'm doing here, just seeing what I could do. And eventually, Pat Cardinal, my late program director, said, you know, if you're interested, it pays. We need an overnight board op to run the board for some syndicated. Of course, I'm going to say yes. Right, good. So I would go to school all day. And at night, I would go to the station and run the board overnights and I went from there.

I still tell students this when I go speak to them at colleges, do everything you're asked. And if they don't ask you, you ask them. And that's not just radio, that's every job. But go out there and be available and be in their face and just do as much as you can do because that's the way you're going to get recognized. And hopefully you get a gig and you will get a gig from that, you know, for the most part. Is there a fine line between what you're describing there, which makes very good sense? Do it and then you can parlay that into an actual career. And I'm not even suggesting for a moment this happened with you or at Q or any specific station, but at some point,

is it exploitive at all that you have somebody giving so many hours of work for $0? At some point, what if you don't get the offer of money, you're just sort of used for your free labor? Is there at all any uncomfortable balance there? I never experienced it. I mean, there's also the element of free will. If you think it's going south in that way, don't do it. I mean, they'll move on. Nobody's pulling a gun to your head to do this, right? But I mean, I just think if you're good, if you're studious, if you do the work, if you do what you're asked, you volunteer, they're not going to want to lose you. And the intern program, the intern aspect of radio college now is much more of a structured thing than it used to be. Like I told you, I hung around Howie and picked CDs and I welcomed guests into the studio and got coffee. That was my interning. I didn't have to do an official intern program at Humber because I was already working at Q while I was still in school.

So those hours would apply, whatever hours you need. what, you don't have to finish this because you've already achieved what you're supposed to achieve at the end of school. That's get a job. You've got a job. So I did it that way. And the reason I was recognized is because I did everything I was asked and I kept asking for more. And they eventually said, you know, we don't want to lose this guy. We got to keep him doing something. Maybe we can give him some board hopping shifts and keep him hungry, throw him a bone. And it worked. And it worked. But when did you sleep? In class? Yeah, exactly. I would go home after class. I'd sleep for a few hours and then I'd get up.

You've got to remember, though. I literally, literally lived across the street from the Young Norton studio. So I could toss a baseball and break a window at the Q studio. So when there's a snowstorm and nobody else could come in, guess who got the call? Yeah, you put on the snowshoes and you made your way over. Oh, yeah, barely. I could walk over in my jammies. Oh, here's a snowstorm and nobody else could come in. Guess who got the call? Yeah, you put on the snowshoes and you made your way over.

Yeah, barely. I could walk over my jammies. Oh, here's a question I'm curious about. And it's current day Q107 question, but it's also from Kyle. So he wanted to talk for the Mo Show. But he also asks, does Willie on Q record in Toronto? Willie on Q is all the particulars that Willie on cue. I think that's a good question.

I think they record. I don't know. I don't know. He also says, uh, live from six to eight each night. Now I don't know a hundred percent, uh,

but I understand Willie on cue is on in a different market, not Toronto. And that this is a, uh, not a live show. I think he's on also in BC. I don't know the particulars of that show because when I was done at 10 to 6,

I was out of there and the next hop was in, so I was already in my car. I will investigate. We're going to have to address these past tenses we're hearing from you. Okay, because I know you slip sometimes, slip sometimes like we and then you realize they and that's a tough transition for you so let's let's talk about in fact let me play i have a song for you here uh oh there we go i flirted with the idea because i have the recording of your farewell on q and right my

last break but i'm like you're. I don't want to play that because I want to hear it from you. Totally. I'm like, why am I playing that? But I'm like, I can still play the tune that you played. Oh, it's one of my favorites. I hope the movie's good. The movie's coming out soon, Bohemian Rhapsody. Sam Raimi? That's good.

The guy from Miss Robot. Raimi Malek? That's it. Thank you. Sam Raimi, Looks good. Not Sam Raimi. The guy from Miss Robot. Raimi Malek? That's it. Thank you. Sam Raimi. I don't... Yeah. He's a director.

He's a director, yeah. Evil Dead, right? And then the Spider-Man stuff. All right. Let's tell us what happened. I need to know what happened. Why are you no longer on Q107? Why did you have to say goodbye to us?

I guess it's the radio landscape. They obviously want some change. I was there a long time. How long were you there? 19 years. I was there 19 years. It happens.

I had an incredibly long and good run at that radio station. If they've got something else programming in mind instead of me, that's totally cool. That's totally cool. I mean, that's business, right? No, it's definitely business, never personal.

I believe that. Absolutely. Are you still doing work for Chorus? Yes, I still do my AM640 work. Well, you can't burn a bridge now anyways. I mean, there's no bridges to burn. But yeah, I still do a lot of work on 640. I have my client shows.

And these are the weekend paid programming? Some of it's weekend. Some of it's live during the week as well. Okay, interesting. So you're still on 640 in that capacity. And I thought I saw a reference to Global TV. Did I dream that up? Yeah, one of my AM clients,

Lior Sanfiro, the Employment Hour, we talk about employment law. We now do a TV show on Global as well. Okay, so you're still doing some work for Chorus. Correct. But you're no longer on the air at Q107. Correct. Yes, my days at Q are done.

When Al Joines was here, we talked about two people getting dismissed at the same time. And he... I mentioned you not knowing anything at all. I just mentioned you in passing and he said he couldn't talk about you. It was very mysterious.

I guess my question is, the two people Al joins, the two people who were let go simultaneously, Al joins tells me, is himself. Al joins was let go. He was walked out of the business and he said Andy Frost was let go but Andy was going to be given an opportunity like you got. Andy

was going to be given an opportunity to say goodbye to the listenership. Right, right, right. In fact, okay, so let me start by asking you, were you part of the same, was this all three of you caught up in the same I don't know what you call it, restructuring, cutting, cost cutting, whatever this was that

Q107 did, are all three of you in that same bucket? Until yesterday, I had no knowledge of Andy. Al, I did because I talked to Al. Yeah, when you walk a guy out, I guess he's going to make some noise. Well, when it happened with Al, he said, guys, I'm done. I'm going to take off. And he wasn't walked out. He just kind of had a meeting, I guess.

No security for Al. They didn't worry about Al going postal or anything. I was told the same time Al was, but I was asked, you know, do you want to hang out for May? And I said, yeah, absolutely, man. I'll keep doing my thing here. I got no problem with that for sure. Okay, but here's the question I got to ask as a fan. Like, I love,

I'm sad that you're gone. I wish you could do another 19 years at Mighty Q. People love your voice and your work. But business never personal, so they made that decision and life goes on.

The show must go on as we hear right now. But how come you got an opportunity to say goodbye to the listenership and how come Al did not? Like, what was the difference? I can't speak for Al.

All I can say is that I was also on five days a week during the week. So it's a substantial shift. That's a substantial place to fill. Right. Five days a week. So, I mean, if they have something in the works, a person to replace me, maybe they need more time. So it's like, we just need you.

If you don't mind hanging out and doing your thing, no problem. So I just stayed as long as they needed me. Right. Gotcha. Because, I mean, Al was doing weekend swing. And again, I don't know what happened with Al. I just think it would have been nice if Al could say goodbye as well. Because even though we did talk about the fact that there was an interruption of his term, he did leave. He left for a bit and came back.

But if you skip that leaving for a bit, he was there longer than you were. So I'm pretty sure he was there. All years told? Yeah, absolutely. I know you're the wrong guy to talk to about this. This is above your pay grade or whatnot. But it would have been nice if Al could say goodbye. I feel like the listeners...

I don't think that's rare, though. I don't think that's rare in radio. No, you're absolutely right about that. In a lot of businesses, it's not rare. So yeah, I don't know what Al's feelings are about that. I don't think that's rare, though. I don't think that's rare in radio. No, you're absolutely right about that. In a lot of businesses, it's not rare. So, yeah, I don't know what Al's feelings are about that, and I don't know what happened or what transpired that day. He said goodbye on Toronto Mic'd, so people can go back and listen to the Toronto Mic'd episode. All right, now, you just learned, you said,

yesterday about Andy? Yes, apparently. I actually heard it on cue. I heard the splitters on cue talking about this Sunday will be Andy's last show. Oh, so they're promoting it. I wasn't sure. Yeah. Yeah, he's retiring apparently is what's going down.

So they're going to be doing the last show this Sunday. So I'll be tuning into that one for sure. Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, Andy is an institution in this city on the airwaves. I mean, yeah, it'll be sad not to hear Andy on cue as well. But what's happened? Do you have any idea through the grapevine

of what's happening to Psychedelic Sunday? It'll be the last Psych Sunday. Okay, I wasn't sure if it was the last Andy Frost. Okay, so Psychedelic Sunday's last episode is this coming Sunday. Yes. Wow, this is... And I did know this, again. Well, it's all over social now. It's all over social. I think it's even on

the Q Facebook page. I do believe in Twitter. Okay, no, that's good. I'm glad they're promoting it. I wasn't sure if it was like an open secret or whatever. No. That's okay. So we all tune in. Say goodbye to Andy this Sunday. I'm sad, though. That's a few longtime voices

of Q that are kind of going the same way of you, Al, and Andy. See, with Al and Andy, I don't see these guys sticking around doing nothing for very long. I don't know what Andy's plans are. I haven't talked to Andy. I don't know

what's transpiring with him, but if he doesn't... I'm just saying, out in the open, if he doesn't get picked up by, like, TSN TV or sports, I mean, can you picture him being on TV for, I mean, I would grab this guy so quickly. Like Leafs TV even. Absolutely something. I mean, he's brilliant. Doing some Leafs talk. Yeah.

Get him on, get him behind the, you know, in front of the camera. I would. I get, I'm just, I'm just saying when I look at Andy and I've seen him on TV before and the stuff he's done with the Leafs, oh yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, that guy's got a huge career still. Could, would, will, I hope. I have a question. And again, business never personal, but when did you know your time was up? Was it when the folder was presented to you, or was this something you could smell in the air before? No, I had no idea. I had no idea.

I had no idea it was going down. Yeah, they just told me one day, said, we're going to wrap up the show, and that's it. So we're just going to be making some changes, and that was pretty much it. And that's, of course, when they say, could you just hang around for a few more weeks

and keep doing your thing in the afternoon? Sean was like, yeah, man, let's give her. Let's give her a bite. Okay, Your Honor, I request permission to speculate for a moment. Okay, speculate if you will. So we already know Willie on cue is not live programming.

I believe it's not live. I have to confirm this. But okay, so that's the story there. And now you cleared out, so Psychedelic Sunday is going away. We know the program director, Bartram,

Blair Bartram? Blair, yeah. Right. He's no longer there. Rumor is that, and I don't know what you know and you can tell me what you know, but rumor is that

there's going to be more voice tracking on QN07. I have no idea. No idea. I have no idea. I,'t know what you know and you can tell me what you know, but rumor is that there's going to be more voice tracking on QN07. I have no idea. I have no idea. When I go into 640 and I see all the guys at Q and we talk, we just talk about general stuff. It's kind of like I said in my

last show that you alluded to. I kind of said, for the first time in 19 years, I'll be able to sit on this side of the microphone, not the one I'm on now, the other side, and listen as a listener, like everyone else. That's called a speaker, I think. Yeah, exactly. So it's like, I don't

know. I don't know. I'm as curious and eager to find out what's going on as you are. Because if I look at the lineup that's on QN07.com, I only see two people now, two shows, I should say, that are like local live things. I see that there's still a Derringer in the morning and Derringer of course, he's live of course

and there's a Joanne Wilder show. Joanne's still there. The rest of it actually looks voice tracked. No, there's a cool young guy named Coulter who's doing afternoons. I don't know if he's sticking around forever. If he's a new guy, I don't know. Again, I have no idea but he's a cool cat.

He's a cool cat, but he's no school. Is that fair to say? I don't want to say that. He's a really smart guy. He's pretty funny. I enjoy listening to him. I know Coulter's there. Other than that, I'm in the dark here. I have a nice note for you from a gentleman named Andy Burns.

Andy. Andy's good times. Let me read this. I the way, I learned this fairly recently that I'm farsighted and I need glasses. Do you wear glasses? Yeah, I had laser surgery. My eyes are shit.

They still are. Well, this sucks. I'm telling you, it sucks. You're sitting there in the dark, too. You've got no light where you are.

I'm in the dark here. You literally are in the dark here. Right on cue. No pun intended. That's it. We could do this all day. Andy Burns. Yes. I met Scholes when I was a 24-year-old intern at Q.

I saw in my 25th... Okay, I'm going to read as you wrote it, I think. I saw in my 25th birthday with him eating burgers or pizza. I can't quite remember. What I can tell you is Scholes will be fine. Unlike a lot of guys before him,

he's made inroads in becoming more than a rock jock. He knew it was always about the music and the fans, whereas many others, in my humble opinion, think they're the stars. He's got a wife and a daughter that have kept him humble, honest, and hardworking. So Andy Burns is letting you know, you don't have this particular job,

but you are not your job. I'm going to take a line from Fight Club. You're not your job. You're going to be A-OK. Yeah. And you got the good support. So how old is your daughter? She'll be 10 in July.

10 still? They still worship daddy. Yeah, I know. That's a good age, 10. I'm just sucking the marrow out of that sucker as long as that still, I know. That's a good age 10. I'm just sucking the marrow out of that sucker as long as that still happens, right? That's a good age.

Yeah, Birdsy's a good boy. Sweet and innocent. Yeah, he's a good man. God, musicologist? Man, that guy. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I only know him

a little bit from I only know him through like social, I'd say, is how I know him. Biff Bam Bop, the online. Yeah, check that out as well. I will check that out. Yeah, he's a good boy. Jason from Sudbury is a listener of Toronto Mic'd. He says, I'd say, is how I know it. Biff Bam Bop, the online. Check that out as well. I will check that out.

Yeah, he's a good boy. Jason from Sudbury is a listener of Toronto Mic'd. He says, I've always said that Q107 needs to go back to the pure rock, hard rock format. As for the upcoming changes, I suspect they'll be flipped to the big FM format. I want John's opinion on this, though. Q107 seemed to be doing good in the 90s

when they had the pure rock format. If they were to go back to it, do you think they would succeed? So maybe I'll ask you this. Forget John Scholes who worked at Q107 for 90 years. How about John Scholes, the radio fan? Do you think Q should go back to Pure Rock? I would now

based on what we talked about earlier with Rock being in a bit of a lull overall as a format, I would probably say no. Been there, done that. As far as anything else goes, I don't know. I mean, I've always been – that's why I never strive to be a programmer in radio. I always wanted to be an announcer. I always wanted to be on air and talk to listeners and do this end of it, play the tunes and try to make people laugh a little bit, have a good time on the microphone. I never

had a programming insight. So everyone says, what do you think they're going to do? I have no idea what they're going to do. And I don't think anybody else does who's not there, nor do I speculate what they're going to do. You'll find out when you turn on the radio station. Yeah, exactly. I'm actually eager to see

what they do. Will they go back to Pure Rock 4 Men? Maybe. I don't know. But I'm eager to find out. I just have no programming insight. I don't know how it works. No, they don't pull you into those meetings. They don't because I have no knowledge. Why would they? But as a listener, as a fan of radio, can you share with us what

is this big FM format? Because Al Joynes referred to it as well. I know. I heard and I don't know. I just never listened to it. Is it in Barrie? Is it just another chorus? I don't know. You've got your laptop right there open up. I've got no idea. Al Joynes referred to it as well. I know. I heard. And I don't know. I just, I never listened to it. Is it in Barrie? Is it just another chorus? I don't know. You got your laptop right there open up. I got no idea.

I have no idea what Big FM is. Honestly, I've never listened to it or loved that. Well, it's fair to say. It's fair to say there are changes happening before our eyes. I mean, Al's gone. You've said goodbye. Andy says goodbye on Sundays. It will be interesting to find out what is happening at Q.

But you said the show must go on. And I have more questions. I'm not playing you out here, but I was thinking that maybe a more appropriate Queen song for you. I'm not sure

the show must go on. Just for me. Just for you. The show must go on is a lovely sentiment. I love it. It's great. You're a very positive guy.

You've already got me looking at the world with these, not rose-colored glasses, but I'm seeing things there. You need glasses. I do need... Maybe I'll get rose-colored glasses, but I'm seeing things there. You need glasses. I do need. Maybe I'll get rose-colored glasses.

It'll kill two birds with one stone. But this is when I heard you were leaving and then you said goodbye to that other Queen song. This is the song you should have played. Another one bites the dust just for me? Another one bites the dust. Radio is a tough biz. I mean, I had Ingrid Schumacher on the show. She was there for almost 40 years,

maybe 40 years. It's tough. No Country for Old Men is a great movie, but I always say no radio for old men. It's a tough go. Maybe. Maybe. I mean, you've got to think of all the people in Future Shop and Sears and all those poor bastards as well that are out of jobs too.

I guess everybody comes to their end. You're right. This is not unique to radio. I remember years ago in high school, my old automotive teacher, who is, oddly enough, my automotive teacher taught me more about life than any other teacher I had. He said back then when I was 17, he says the average person will have four different careers in their life. And back then I thought, you are full of shit. Who's going to have time for four careers? Right.

Well, I worked for The Sun for eight years. You were a newspaper man. I was a newspaper man for eight, and I've done radio now for 19. I mean, I'm still doing it, so it's not officially a career change, but if you want to count Q as. So I've already gone through two. All right, and I'm 47. Maybe you'll be selling software next. No.

I don't want that to happen anytime. Maybe I'll be blogging or podcasting. Hey, podcasting. You know what? Now you're on. Blogging is funny because you'd have to go back to like 2004. See, I'm behind. I'm the last guy still blogging.

Blogging, yeah. But podcasting, there you go. Like you mentioned guys had to go. You know, you mentioned you started at the top. You started at the Mighty Q. A lot of others had to go to, I don't know, wherever. I always say Thunder Bay as my example. I don't mean to pick on Thunder Bay, but somewhere else

and cut their teeth there before they can get to the big smoke. Nowadays, you can broadcast from your basement and you can hone your skills with a podcast. Or a YouTube channel. Or a YouTube channel.

Yeah. And the result of that is when you can control your own destiny to that of an extent in your basement with some software and a mic. I'm not talking about what you do because everybody knows Toronto Mic'd and you've had 339 guests on this show. So you've got your stuff down. But there's a lot of YouTubers out there where it is just

pure shit. Not everybody's a star. Not everybody's a broadcaster. I mean, and this goes back to why some don't get out of Thunder Bay and some become John Derringer. There's a reason for that. But now this whole forum has opened up where anybody can do this and call themselves

a broadcaster or a star in media. It's like if a tree falls in the forest, right? It doesn't make a sound. I don't know if I'm good with it, man. I don't know if I'm good with it. Interesting. But isn't it better to at least you control your own destiny and then you can sort of die

on the vine because you didn't have the chops in that way uh i feel like maybe cream always rises anyways so if if you if the content is shit and nobody listens it dies on the vine and if people it gets a buzz and people have traction i mean i'm sure i'm only at episode 339 because uh at least some people thought it was a good good program and enjoyed it and subscribed and told their friends and family about it. But I'm sure I would have called it a day after, you know, I don't know, 50 episodes if it never had any. Well, I mean, and I think, like you say, there's a certain amount of truth and cream rises to the top. I mean, you've got sponsors on this show now. So that says something when people want to come and be part of the show and get some advertising,

some notification of being on Toronto Might. I think that says a lot about it right there. But there's a lot of stuff. I mean, everybody always talks about podcasting. Oh, I want to do a podcast. Look at Joe Rogan. It's always a reference to Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan was famous before he ever started a podcast.

Big time famous. Right? He had the Fear Factor. Oh, I knew him from News Radio. News Radio, Fear Factor. He had all the stuff he's done with the UFC. I mean, he was wickedly famous and wealthy and

cut his chops before he decided to do a podcast. So everybody just looks, oh, well, if Joe Rogan can do it. Yeah, this is not some guy, some self-made man in his basement or whatever. Totally. You're right. And this will tie into you in a moment, but huge advantage for those who are already famous and they can just continue their broadcasting to their existing fan base and build from

there. Exactly. It's a whole different story. So that leads us to John's goal. So let's talk about you. So when was it? Was it two Friday? Was it a week ago yesterday?

No. Two weeks ago today that you did your last broadcast? May 11th. Friday, May 11th. Was that a Friday? It was Friday, May 11th. So 25th now. Okay.

That was two weeks ago today. Two weeks ago today. Wow. You're right. How, May 11th. Was that a Friday? It was Friday, May 11th. So 25th now. Okay, that was two weeks ago today. Two weeks ago today. Wow, you're right. How about that? Yeah. So two weeks ago today, you played The Show Must Go On and you said goodbye to the listenership.

Yep. And we already established that you're doing some work, of course, still. So you still get a pass. Does the pass card still work? Oh, yeah. My email still works. It's amazing.

Okay, there you go. Now, what is next? And beyond that, what's next for you? I will continue to... My 640 clients are fantastic. I continue to grow that end of it. I will work on getting more of those. I will work on doing hopefully more TV within that family.

And for now, that's really where I'm concentrating. I mean, not having to work every day from 2 to 6, it's nice to be able to pick up my daughter every day at school now. I can do that again. It'll be a good summer. I can spend some more time with her. But yeah, I'm really still

really aggressive with my work on 640 and Global. It's great stuff. I really, really enjoy it. I really enjoy it. I'm lucky I still have it. I'm glad to be doing it still. And if you had to choose a time for this to happen, May is a good time because the summer's right there,

so you can kind of catch your breath and enjoy the summer. Get some good weather. If you get it in December or whatever, like, okay, Christmas and the terrible months of January and February, that's a shitty time to get it. But if you're going to get it, May is probably the time to get it. Yeah, for sure. And I'm just wondering, since you mentioned the podcasting and stuff, and since you are, although maybe you're not Joe Rogan famous, but I would say you're definitely Toronto famous.

Jeff Woods, for example, who's been here. Is Jeff a good guy? Again, one of my program directors, good friend, huge mentor, huge mentor. I'll tell you a funny Jeff Woods story. There was a joke. I can't remember who. It was someone at the station. I told a joke, and then someone else working at the station told the joke to the person that the joke was about. Basically, it got back to them.

Okay. And they threw me under the bus and said, oh, Skulls did it. I'm like, really, dude? Really? So why did you let the person know the joke? Anyway, so shit kind of rolled downhill. Right.

And Jeff said to me, he was program director at the time, he said, I said, what do I do? He goes, well, just go up and say, you know what? Didn't mean it. I apologize, blah, blah, blah. That joke came from me, even though he didn't hear from me. And I didn't mean to offend you. Blah, blah, blah.

And it was just such a Jeff thing. And in Jeff Wood's voice, he just turned around and said, just remember, an apology is unconditional. And that always stuck with me, just in life. When you say sorry, it's not sorry, but. It's sorry. And he told me that one time. He's just that type of guy. I learned so much from Jeff in radio. it's not sorry but it's sorry. And he told me that one time I got this, you know,

he's just that type of guy. I learned so much from Jeff in radio and in this business and I always remember that one little anecdote and this is back young and Norton too. This is way back when.

Right. I remember him telling me that like he wouldn't, he won't wear a tie like it doesn't matter what his tie is. No, that's not his bag. That's not Jeffy's bag.

The tie, no way. He's like, this is what you get. This is me. And speaking of ink, there's a guy with something. Lots. And speaking also, most of you DJs have pretty good pipes, but the Jeff Woods pipes, man, holy smokes. That's a great voice he's got.

I asked him what his secret was. You know what he told me? He says he started smoking and drinking gin or something at the age of nine or something ridiculous like that. That was his secret. I was like, that explains, that's what his secret was. You know what he told me? He says he started smoking and drinking gin or something at the age of nine or something ridiculous like that. That was his secret. I was like, that explains, that's what I did wrong. I should have done that.

Just heaving on camels when you were 10 years old, Michael. Yeah. We've done something for you. That's how you do it. What I was saying was, okay, so Jeff Woods also, he got let go from chorus. And what he does now is he kind of rolls his own, and he has his records in Rockstars. Yep.

Great show. Yeah. And he put that together himself. He put out a book, and then he's got the podcast. But have you considered John School's some kind of broadcast in podcast format? I have. The only thing that's holding me back are, well, two things.

I haven't really given enough thought. It would be content to come up with. And as stupid as it sounds, the technical end of it scares me. What you're doing, that whole thing you're doing right there, I'm not technically great at that stuff. So I don't know if I could

technically put it together. I don't know the language. I'm not sure how this shit works. There's a guy named Mark Hebbshire. Have you ever heard of him? Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. So Hebbsie from Sportsline. Yes, guy. That was Taddy's line, of course. But he

is like you. He knows how to create the content. People want to hear Hebbsie's thoughts on sports. Right. But the rest of it is scary to him. So I combined forces with Hebsey. He was here earlier today to record episode four of his new podcast, Hebsey on Sports. I'm just letting you know,

you just need to partner up with somebody who is fluent in the technical side of broadcasting. I know a guy, just so you know. Do you really? I think I might know one now too. Although having said that, don't get mad. I forgot to record this. We have to do it again.

Oh, just kidding. Of course, I don't have a heart attack that's yet to happen yet but 339 i shouldn't have said that out loud now it's gonna happen on the next episode um real quick uh question about 90s rock i want to ask you here which one will i do how about this one q did not play these guys these were an edge band. I don't think Q was playing any of this. It's interesting growing up in Toronto that you could tell this band, there were some bands that overlapped, but you could say, okay, Aerosmith, that's a Q band.

Edge won't play Aerosmith. Q plays Aerosmith. Yeah. Whereas then you had a band like this, Rusty. Oh, that's an Edge band. Q won't play Rusty. The Venn diagram was so interesting. Unless it was late 90s in the Pure Rock format, maybe they snuck it in there. Q won't play Rusty. Like it was so, the Venn diagram was so interesting. Unless it was late 90s

in the Pure Rock format, maybe they snuck it in there. I don't know. I'm going to say, I don't think so. You're going to say no? I'm going to say no. But it is kind of interesting

like how like, you know, Edge would never touch a certain band like Aerosmith and Q would be all over Aerosmith. Right.

It's just interesting how it all flows. So, I'm only playing Rusty. This is from Fluke, their 1995 album, which I adored and adore because they're coming over tomorrow. Come on. Yeah.

Isn't that crazy? Right down here. They're going to play the Horseshoe tomorrow night. Yep. So they're going to be here in the afternoon. They're going to pop over and put up with this fanboy's annoying questions. Is there any tall guys in the band? Because this ceiling is really low.

Jay Onright was over here a couple weeks ago. He's like a giraffe, that guy. He's a tall guy. Here, let me ask you, since you talk to lots of musicians, when you have a band, let's say Rusty. Rusty was big in the mid-90s. And then gone.

Gone. Just disappeared. But the bands like that, that have like a big album in 1995 that gets a lot of airplay and people like me love, and then they put out a lot of other music, let's say,

that doesn't have the same radio play or traction. So there's a bunch of bands I'm thinking of that are just kind of like this. When they're interviewed and the person only really focuses on this album in 1995, is that like rude or disrespectful? Like that you're sort of honing in

on this early success they had and ignoring like subsequent releases that maybe they're very proud of because they're artists. Like is that sort of an amateur move on my part? I wouldn't say it was amateur. I think the best thing you do in that regard

is you always pre-interview before your interview. You find out what guys... I mean, whenever I interview, I've never interviewed a lot of bands, a lot of artists, but when I did, I would say, out of respect, I don't like to lambaste anybody. I don't like to drop surprises on guests

because they're there promoting their stuff. They're giving you their time. So I would say the first thing is, is there anything you won't talk about? You know, yes, my mother died of cancer last week. Don't bring it up. And I'm not going to drop that bomb on them. I'm not that kind of douche.

I never was. No. So in that regard, I would say to these guys, can we focus on this record for 1995 or are you really stoked about some other... Yes, the new project. Right. And they'll say, yeah,

we'd like to talk about that as well. Okay, okay. Well, how about we... Because the listener really wants to hear about this record because this was big. But I still want to mention your stuff as a favor, quote unquote, favor to you. So I would ask them first before...

That's what I would do. Okay, interesting. Is that a tack that you just organically discovered or is this something they actually teach at Humber? I have no idea what they teach at Humber for radio. The Humber course when I was there would not go in depth of what to do when

you interview a band. I mean that's kind of a specific thing. Again, this is stuff learned on the job. When you do the job and you work with guys like Jeff Woods who's interviewed 16 trillion musicians. Oh, yeah, some big ones too. He's kind of got it down at this point.

He knows what to do, and you learn the simple techniques and the simple things that most people wouldn't think of from a guy like Jeff, and that would be one of them. Write down what you're going to do first, and if it goes off on a different tangent because of the person you're interviewing, great. But if not, make sure you're prepared and make sure you're talking about stuff generally that they're going to be cool with, right? Unless you want to be like a Brian Linehan and just throw a bomb at them.

Like, wow, where'd you get that information? That wasn't my thing when I do interviews. Right. So no surprises from John Scholes. In your next venture of Rock Radio Venture, if you could interview any living artist, who would you interview? Wow. That's a tough one, right? Yeah, because the issue with that is the artists that I really like and I would want to interview are so much more...

Salty Dog. You nailed it. That's my number one. I hope those guys are still alive. I have no idea. After this recording, I'm going to take a picture of you, then I'm going to put this online, and then I'm going to go to the salty dog, see if they have a Wikipedia page. I need to know if these guys are alive. Yeah, that's a tough one

because I think, again, this might speak to my very poor interview skills. I think any artist I'd really like to interview are very intelligent and would probably walk all over me. Well, Frank Zappa's passed away, so you can't do that. Well, I mean, I would love

to interview David Gilmour, but I've heard him in interviews, and I don't understand half of what he says because I'm just too dumb, but that's the type of guy who I would love to pick his brain because I love him as an artist, and I love Pink Floyd as a band and I think it'd be really cool to sit down and

talk to him. But having said that, you don't know what these guys specifically are going to be like on that day. I mean, I got to... I had the pleasure, not once, but twice, to sit and do four hours of radio with Little Steven.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Who I know from the Sopranos. Right. That a lot of people do, but he used to be banned for decades before that. And that was two of the biggest highlights of my career at Q was doing that

with Little Steven. Do they still, he has that syndicated program. Does Q still hear that? No, the Underground Garage, we haven't had that for a few years. I've got to update

my notes here, but I remember he did a show on Netflix like in Finland or something? Yeah. Or Norway? Is it Norway? Yeah,

it was Lillehammer. Lillehammer. It was great too. Thank you for reminding me. I never finished it. I've got to watch season two because I loved Lillehammer. This gangster

that's trying to hide and he ends up in Lillehammer. It was hilarious. I've been told I would enjoy it and I do like it. Yeah, that's trying to hide and he ends up in Little Hammer. It was hilarious. I've been told I would enjoy it and I do. Yeah, yeah. No, you should see it for sure. But I mean, as far as interviews is concerned, that guy, oh, like nothing else.

Like nothing else. For me anyway. I had a later date. So you're going to enjoy the summer with the family, your beautiful wife and daughter, and you're going to kind of still do what you're doing with chorus, but you're going to obviously be thinking about other things you'll be up to. At some point, either later this year or next year, would you come back and kick out the jams with me?

What that means is you tell me ahead of time, you say, Mike, these are my 10 favorite songs of all time. And then we'll play them and discuss why you love the song. Absolutely. Oh, yeah, I'd love to. Can I bring Shelly? Because she'd be so much better at this than I would. Will she get upset at my Leafs memorabilia on the wall?

She'll bring a Flyers hat for you or something. I had a brief period. I think it was around 87 when they went to the finals, when Ron Hextall stood on his head. Good goalie. Yeah, great goalie. And I remember that team, that 87 Flyers team, I thought I really liked them.

Even when they were playing Gretzky and the Oilers in the finals, I found myself rooting for the Flyers. It just started happening because it was a great team. Tim Kerr, Sinasalo, Brian Propp, I think. Zezel, I think, was on that team. I'm just going to put Shelly in this chair here, and you guys can just talk, okay? Because you're not a hockey guy.

No. So what do you do when Shelly's watching the Flyers versus Penguins? What are you doing? I'm listening to Toronto Mike podcast. What? That is the correct answer, sir. Thank you. You are a consummate professional.

On behalf of the Q107 listenership, we will miss you on the airwaves at Q. And I'm sorry you couldn't do another 19 years it's a good run buddy 19 years is a good run and I think everybody listening to this right now will be tuning into Psychedelic Sunday that's the end of an era really like we can't

overstate that this is not only is Andy Frost leaving the Q107 airwaves Psychedelic Sunday which has been a staple there for so long I am still even though I've known this was coming the Q107 Airwaves. Psychedelic Sunday, which has been a staple there for so long. I'm still up, even though I've known this was coming for a long time, to be quite honest. It's going to be good.

I'm still processing this. This is massive. Yeah. Andy, it's going to be, I have no idea what Andy's got in store, but it's going to be phenomenal. I guarantee you that much, right? It's going to be really good.

His son is really good at hockey, speaking of hockey. Just a little. Speaking of flyers, right? Oh, my God. Of course. Does She flyers, right? Oh, my God. Of course. Does Shelly have a frost? Oh, yeah.

Well, he's still in the OHL, but when he does make his NHL debut, Shelly, you got to give Shelly a frost jersey. Yeah, Morgan's a good boy. Love him. Thanks for doing this, John. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. This was a great, great pleasure.

It's been fun. And that brings us to the end of our 339th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. John, what's your Twitter handle? I did not write it down like an idiot. You don't know. What's wrong with you?

Stephen LeDrew was just here and I asked him that question. He says I'm not on Twitter. Turns out he is on Twitter. He just doesn't know it. It's John Scholes. Wow. Go figure. At John Scholes.

I don't know. I don't know. I'll get back to you. Google it. John Scholes. Wow. Go figure. At John Scholes. I don't know. I don't know. I'll get back to you. Google it. John Scholes Twitter. And if somebody wanted to say thanks for the memories, how would you prefer they contact you? I am on Facebook, I think. Am I on Facebook?

Yeah, I'm on Facebook. Just my name. Find John Scholes on Facebook. I'll look around. He'll see me somewhere. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Propertyinthe6.com is at Raptors Devotee.

Paytm is at Paytm Canada. And Camp Turnasol is at Camp Turnasol. See you all tomorrow when Rusty's on. And your smile is fine and it's just like mine And it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and green Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who

Yeah, I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize But I wonder who, yeah, I wonder who. Maybe the one who doesn't realize there's a thousand shades of gray. Because I know that's true.