Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Liona Boyd: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1559

Episode Date: October 7, 2024

In this 1559th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with guitar legend Liona Boyd about Summer Dreams with Olivia Newton-John before they play a fun game of word association. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, The Advantaged Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada, The Yes We Are Open podcast from Moneris and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

Welcome to episode 1559 of Toronto Mike'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta! Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. The Advantage'd Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada. Learn how to plan, invest, and live smarter. Season 7 of Yes We Are Open, an award-winning podcast from Monaris. I can't wait for season 7. RecycleMyElectronics.ca, committing to our

planet's future, means properly recycling our electronics of the past. And Rivgly Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today, returning to Toronto miked, is guitar legend Leona Boyd. How are you? How you doing? Hi. Hi Mike. How are things?

How are you doing? Hi, hi Mike. How are things? How are you keeping? Oh, not looking forward to winter. Whereabouts are you though? Are you in warmer climate? Whereabouts are you right now, Leona? No, no thank goodness I'm not in Florida. When is this going to be broadcast by the way? Today, so it'll be like 10 minutes after we say goodbye. Oh, okay. Yeah, well, I'm glad I'm not in Florida because there's a major with a gun on its way. Are you in Canada right now? Yes, in Toronto, like you, you're in Toronto, right? How come you're not in my basement right now? What's going on? Where are you? Like south Etobicoke.

What neck of the woods are you in? Just uptown area. Well at some point though, Leona, I do need to meet you. Do you remember your first appearance on Toronto Mic'd? Oh, it's a while ago. Yeah. It was in the wake of the the popcorn remix. So that was the popcorn remix. It was 2021. And that was a fun episode that popcorn remix was played many a time on Toronto Mike after that. Thank you so much. That was a fun video to shoot. Absolutely. But where those killer high heels now I wear running shoes most of the time.

Oh no, you've retired the high heels? I could never really walk on those. They were like six inch heels. Oh my goodness. The things you'll do for art, right? Yep. I always have to suffer for those videos. And the ones I did in Palm Beach I was either looking at the Sun or you know artists have to suffer for art. Sometimes you had to ride a white horse. Oh that's a long time ago yes yes I got a big rash I was allergic to one of the plants there and that horse kept trying to buck me off. It was a wild stallion. This is the real talk, Leona. I need all the real talk here. And Andalusia in the poppy fields that apparently now are all dead because of pesticides.

But that was a crazy idea I had. I saw a book with pictures of wild horses and intro by Peter Yusufov, poetry of Garcia Lorca and young gypsy boy on the white horse. So I thought that's where I wanted to be and I'll never be what was I 35 or something more or less. Why not do it? Of course, that created a bit of a scandal with the record company. They thought it was too sexy. Oh no, it's often imitated, never duplicated. Okay, there's many an artist who has tried to capture what you captured with that album cover and has failed. Beyonce was really copying me.

Yeah, what's up with that Beyonce? Queen B, my butt. This is Leona Boyd. Come on, it's her turf. I was the pioneer. I love it. All right. So obviously we're going to dive into summer dreams and I'm actually going to play a bit of it and then bring it down. And I want to get all the details on this because of course summer

dreams is your duet with the late great Olivia Newton, John, and I'd love to talk to you about her as well. But yes, first off the top, just to reset things, if people want to hear more talk about the white stallion, we talked about Leona Boyd's legendary career in music and beyond. And we talked about that. It was episode 910. Mike chats with the first lady. See, I've been calling you guitar legend. I'm supposed to refer to you as the first lady of guitar

You could just call me Leona. That's fine All right, Leona Boyd about her life and career from Gordon Lightfoot to popcorn We talked it was just a great chat and I'm so excited to be chatting with you again But can I ask you a question that came in from a fan of yours? Who is very excited that this gentleman Bob is finally gonna get an answer to a musical question that he has for you. Are you ready? Sure, go ahead. Please ask Leona if there is a transcription of the guitar part from the Sina Rosa Allegro, the third movement of Baroque's favorites. I had to write it out by hand and even create my own backing track of the strings and harpsichord by ear

So that I can perform it. It took me a solid few days It was a bunch of obscure piano sonatas that became an oboe again part of my pronunciation an oboe concerto That she rearranged in another key for guitar strings and harpsichord. She is absolutely brilliant. I think I may be the only person who's ever tackled this on guitar since, as I can't find any other versions of it. So please ask Leona if she knows of anyone else doing the arrangement and any more details about this. Leona, take it away. No, I had the idea to make a new concerto.

He's talking about, did he mention Cimarosa, the composer? Oh yeah, I just probably butchered the pronunciation because I... Well, there were three concertos on that album. There was Vivaldi that they played to death, and there was Cimarosa, and there was of course my albinoni piece, there was another one, what was it? March cello? Yeah, my cello. So I think he's talking about the chimarrosa piece. No, and I never published it. I had a marked up old copy that somewhere in my archives. But one day when I get around to it, I intend to donate to the

University of Toronto, they're very interested in getting my library. I'm not playing classical anymore. I mean, I still play the classical style, but I'm writing my own music, as you know. Of course, of course. And we're going to, we're going to. Oh, bravo for trying that, Bob. And he says it took him a few days. Like this is the fanatics out there, Leona Boydhead. Took me a few days too. And Bob, let me like, Bob's a talented musician. I know Bob, I've met him at events and he's very talented guitar player, but he's no Leona Boyd. No, no, but it was hard to get that transcription. I used to slave over some of the,

the, you know, intricate guitar parts and, and I didn't do the orchestration. Andrew Davis did. So, and Andrew Davis just, uh, just passed away, right? Andrew Davis, sir. Andrew Davis. Sir. Yeah. I got to add the sir here.

Yes. They're all dying. Uh, my that's a third conductor. Did he? I'm yeah, I actually did. I remember speaking to a couple of members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra about Sir Andrew Davis, and I believe he passed away earlier this year. I can't keep track of all the people dying in my life.

Yeah, Olivier, of course, but two of the conductors that I worked with here, Boris Brott, oh, bless him, He got run over by a car in Hamilton. And I worked with him in the US and here in Canada. And then, Cary Stratton, who had the Toronto Chamber Orchestra. Right. Who I heard many times. And he conducted me years and years ago

in Prince George in British Columbia. We have a picture where we're both absolutely young and ravishing. We've been in our 20s or something. Poor guy. He got Lou Gehrig's disease. Oh, ALS. That's awful.

Yeah, I guess Andrew Davis, he did pass. I'm remembering. Yes. He was wonderful to work with. I did the whole album in three days. I was supposed to have four, but then I caught this horrible virus. And luckily I wasn't singing. You know, you can be sick as a dog and still play the guitar, which I did in London, England.

Well, that's why I call you a legend. So, Leona, okay, we're going to play. Which I did in London, England. Well that's why I call you a legend. So Leona, okay, we're going to play, obviously I want to talk about, you know, Olivia Newton-John and I want to talk about summer dreams. And then I'm hoping if you're in the mood, a little game of word association where I just throw a name at you and then you can react. I'm kind of excited about that. That sounds fun.

I think you'll enjoy that. But before we get there, you know, we talked about, you mentioned that, uh, you're losing a lot of your friends. People are, you know, sir, Andrew Davis, people are Olivia Newton, John, who passed away. Just people from, oh yeah, my parents, of course. And, uh, just people that were, you know, that I crossed paths with like Maggie Smith, I talked to her I crossed paths with like Maggie Smith.

I talked to her for about an hour in the airport. Chris Christopherson I met backstage with Gordon Lightfoot, stood with him and Rita Coolidge. Those weren't particularly friends, but you know, our paths crossed and they were part of the culture and I'm part of the boomer generation. So it's sad to keep hearing on TV there's another one that's my old granny in Spain used to say another one pegged out. Oh no now you know this program is actually sponsored by a funeral home a Ridley funeral home and yeah I, and their funeral director, who's a lovely man named Brad Jones, big Leon avoidant. Hello, Brad. So every two weeks, we

actually he visits me and we do a recording that's for his podcast, which is called Life's Undertaking. And yes, one of our themes we often discuss is this recognizing your own mortality and this great equalizer, which is everyone you know, yes, we're all going to the same place, right? Will someday die and I'm just waiting as you say goodbye to these people you've worked with people that were friends. Do you have a sense of your own mortality? Like is this something that Oh, absolutely.

I think about it every day. Ronnie Hawkins, Gordon Lightfoot. Yes. And it was Prince Philip, he said, your whole life changes when you suddenly realize your own mortality. Now, bless him. He lived to be 99, almost 100. But we were pen palaces, you know, and he was the one that first, I don't know, and maybe think, well, he's thinking about his mortality. Well, he's going to live a long time. Don't you dare die, Philip.

Of course he did. And along with my dear parents. So I don't have people to share a lot of the memories of all different chapters of my life and my my husband, who I had left actually many years ago, but we were still friends. He also made it to 99. And when you're in your 60s or 70s, 99 sounds like a pretty good run, but then once you're feeling good in your 80s, 99... That must be scary.

Well, that number doesn't sound as big as it used to. Like it's like, wait, I'm not happy. Can I go for like, how about 120? I have more work to do. Do you just feel like, like you have so much art you need to create, so much life to live. 99 is not enough time. No. You know, things happen. But you're feeling good? I mean, other than, you know, things happen. Right. But you're feeling good? I mean, other than, you know, how are you feeling these days? Sometimes I really feel my age. Other times I feel like just the way I did in high school.

Okay. And I dare not ask your age. This is a question you never ask a woman, but. The internet is pretty hard to, pretty hard to hide. I don't know, I feel like. I've been around a while. I feel.

I'm still single and still hopeful for love. And I mean, many people have given me love over the years. Sure. And this is the year of the 50th anniversary of my first album. And I'm going to be honored. I can't talk about it, but... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're bearing a lead here. What do you know here? Something exciting in the works for the 50th?

Yeah, but I'm sworn to secrecy, so I cannot. I'm being honored in some way. Okay. And is this in Canada? Yes. See, I'm going to try to narrow it down, but I don't want to get you in trouble. So I'll abandon this mission. But thank you. And I want to tell you, a lot in the States, you know, lifetime achievement awards more than in Canada, actually.

So it's about time. You know, I've heard from, you know, let's talk about a band like Bare Naked Ladies. Like I've heard that they see, they feel they get more loved in the United States than they do in Canada. Is there something in Canada where we eat our young? I think so. Lightfoot was always much more appreciated in the US.

Oh my God, in Texas, they go nuts over him and over me too. Yes, we definitely, the Americans are a little more demonstrative. But why is that? I mean, Leona Boyd, we should be so proud that Leona Boyd is from Canada in this great global success came out of, you know, is Canadian. Why aren't we? Etobicoke. What part of Etobicoke, by the way?

I lived like around Burnham, Tharp area of Etobicoicoke and then I went to Kipling Collegiate. Yeah, you're right in high school. I should be seeing Leona Boyd statues when I bike. You've got to get more recognition, but I'm glad to hear something is happening for your 50th anniversary. So hopefully I get to talk to you again then, but would you mind maybe before I play a little bit of Summer Dreams, which I want to know the story because obviously Olivia Newton-John passed away, how long ago? A few years

ago. Yeah, it's over a year. Okay. And she was 73. And of course she had a long journey with breast cancer. She first got diagnosed in 1992, but she made it to 73 last year. So tell me about your relationship of Olivia Newton, John, and tell me a little bit about how Summer Dreams came together because that song is 11 years old. Yes, I wrote it. It's Canadian Summer

Dreams. We had to differentiate it when my brilliant producer, Peter Bond, had the idea of doing a kind of new treatment and he had, you know, better technology and just wanted to extend this song a little bit.

Olivia had been my best friend, and we were neighbors in Malibu originally when I first moved to California, and my ex-husband and I were building a house in Beverly Hills. I became really good friends with her, and was friends to the very end. I knew her first husband.

I knew the boyfriend that disappeared, Patrick. And then she she fell madly in love with John Easterling, who was a love of her life. And I've never seen a happier couple. And he tried to cure her with Amazon herbs because he always was. Well, he was known as Amazon John. That was his career. And they fell in love when they were in the jungles of Peru.

She was very adventurous. She wanted me to come with her to the Great Wall of China, but I'd already been once. And it was just not the right timing for me to go again. She was just such a lovely, spirited, and spiritual, very spiritual person. I saw her so much over the years. And we just do simple girl things.

We'd go shopping in Palm Beach. We'd have lunch in some of the courtyards. I don't know whether you ever read my poem about Palm Beach, my cynical poem. I have a disclaimer. Before Trump became president, I used to go to a lot of Mar-a-Lago things. I was down the street and had a lot of interesting events. Anyway, poor Olivia, I do miss her all the time. It's lovely when I see her on TV. lovely when I see her on TV. Well, my condolences. And it's not summer anymore. It's um, I just got back from a little walk and I wore my fake fur coat for the first time this morning. It was

definitely chilly. No, it's about burying their nuts like crazy. You know, yesterday was like one of those, it felt like summer yesterday during the day. Oh yes yesterday was nice. And today we're back to uh back to reality. Yes. I want to play some of this song and ask you what changed in the last 11 years like so luckily you know you and your dear friend Dame Olivia Newton-John you know just like it's uh yes you know I don't remember that Dame. Dame Dame Olivia Newton John and you had a duet and you recorded it 11 years ago Well, it wasn't really a duet. It was a song I did and then she said would you like me to harmonize? I really love the song. So I flew Peter down to Florida

we went to Echo Beach Studios and she just, I mean, I had written the whole song, but she came in in the intro and the extra and harmonized with the chorus. And it was just lovely. It added so much to the song. So I was thrilled to have her on the album. It was very generous.

She wouldn't take any money. She didn't need that, I guess. She just, you know, we went over it. She gave us a cup of tea and a house that they built. And what was it? Yeah. Where's the house? It was Jupiter.

That's right. Jupiter. Yeah. I saw that house going up from the basement, the foundation. Well let's take a moment here and listen. So I'm going to let this play a little bit because I want people to hear this. In this production, so Peter, is it Peter who decided to or you, somebody decided to revisit the song that you had recorded and sort of let Olivia's vocals rise a little bit as a kind of a fitting trip.

It's like a moving tribute to your friend. To cut a couple of the verses out, which I was sad about, but it was a bit long. Peter just wanted to reimagine it and I said let's go ahead and do it Well, are you better Olivia never got to hear that version? Well, let's hear it in her honor right now and then I'll bring it down and we'll we'll talk a little more here It is some very well. It's got 60 60,000 They call them for you. Yeah views views on YouTube.

Well, listen, not only is it guitar legend Leona Boyd, but you have Dame Olivia Newton-John, and it's a wonderful way to remember her, because now that she's passed on, we can still hear her beautiful voice. So let's listen, and then we'll pick it up on the other side. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, To the summer cottage by the lake Paddling our canoes along the shore Greeting neighbors at the country store How could anyone have asked for more? Those were simple happy days for sure Canadian summer dreams Cottages and lakes and streams Lemonade and soft ice creams Canadian summer dreams

La la la la la la La la la la la la Cartridges and lakes and streams Canadian summer dreams That fishing place beside the granite rock That musty boathouse with its rusty lock Our swimsuits drying on the wooden dock Who thought those summer days could ever stop? Canadian summer dreams Cartridges and lakes and streams Leona, suddenly I'm craving some lemonade right now. Yes, I had one soft ice cream this summer.

It was a truck that came and I thought of a livy yard. It was so delicious. I was brought up on Dairy Queen as a teenager. It paints a beautiful picture. I love it. You know, I'm a proud Canadian myself, but Canadian summer dreams, cottages and lakes and streams, lemonade and soft ice creams, Canadian summer dreams. And you sound great on this. And I'm always amazed that Leona Boyd sings now.

Yeah, that was amazing. I couldn't even sing a scale. I was torn out of a choir when I was like eight. So it's nostalgic. It's about, the song is about all the happy memories we all had being at cottages. And I just, I love the video, the way the video came out. I was involved in that, but also had help with my video guide, George, and picking the right images. And it just captures that.

The lovely golden summer days we all remember so well, that maybe we'll never experience again in the same way, because we're not kids. Sitting around bonfires, having marshmallow roasts, catching fish, going out on the lakes. I'm going gonna bring it up just to let it close out here to listen to this great ending. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, Soft ice creams, Canadian summer dreams La la la la la la la La la la la la la la la Cottages and lakes and streams

Canadian summer dreams Canadian summer dreams Kudos to you, that was beautiful. Oh, thank you so much. And you know, sometimes you don't need that complex lyrics. The next video I brought out has very, very complex lyrics. Have you have you watched that? It's called The Search, the search, you know, by Cabo, Fay and Dylan and all the great poets that I used to read still do.

That one is just just came out. So that's extremely complex with Summer Dreams. It's the opposite. It's just simple imagery of summer. Well, it's more accessible for us normies, right? Like we're not all Sir Andrew Davis. Sometimes we need things dumbed down to shade here, but that's not dumbed down.

I'd say that's beautifully simple. Well, but the search is sort of a melody that's simple. It's got, people have responded so well to the lyrics. And it started out as a poem. You can just look on YouTube, the search for sure. The only boy, the search, for sure. By the way, search for the search, by the way, I know we talked about how Canada doesn't give you your due props, but I do want to let the listenership know before we get to the word association that, okay, this is from your like official biography here, okay, but you have received five honorary doctorates, the Order of Ontario and the Diamond Jubilee

Medal and you were recently upgraded from member to officer of the Order of Canada. I think, Leona, you should run for prime minister. No, thank you. I'm staying right away from politics. It's too scary these days. Well, there might be a couple of names in the word association, and you can say what you wish. You can say pass, and you don't have to say anything.

But we'll be interested to see what you say. I would like to get there now. I'm just gonna very quickly say thank you to Great Lakes Brewery, because Leona, if you ever get back to Etobicoke, I got fresh craft beer for you that's brewed right here in southern Etobicoke, near Royal York and Queensway, very close to your old stomping ground. Down the street from the Costco is what I say, but I just want the listenership to know we're going to be at the other location, which is Jarvis and Queens Key. We're going to be there for TMLX 16 from 6 to 9 PM on October 21st, 2024. So that's only a couple of weeks from now. We're going to be there. You have to be on the guest list to be a part of this TMLx. So if you're not on the guest list, you'll have to go there as like a

regular customer and order your own food and drink. But you can still say, hi, hang out. That's the Great Lakes Brew Pub. I want to let everyone know that they're invited to TMLx 17, which basically anyone who wants to go can go to that one. That's at Palma's Kitchen, which is in Mississauga. And of course, that's owned by Palma Pasta, who make delicious Italian food. So Leona, I owe you a Palma Pasta lasagna. My mouth is watering at the thought. I feel like you've been to Italy enough times that you would recognize authentic Italian food.

Oh, yes. I love it. I love Italian food. Yeah. Well, you would, you would love this. And then gelato. Oh, you know what? I went to a little while ago now, but I went to, I spent a week in or so in Italy and I lived on like gelatos, which were only two euros, I think, or something like that. I would just live on it. And people there, the Italians eat gelato for breakfast. I think it's a great way to live. And they all look so good, right? It must be good for you. Absolutely.

That's the secret here. Here, here. So quick shout out to recycle my electronics.ca. That's where you go. If you have old electronics that need to be recycled, you go there, put in your address and it tells you where you can drop off your electronics to be properly recycled. And a big shout out to the Advantage Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada, where you learn how to wisely invest and good best practices for finances. So that's a great podcast. And again, I've mentioned this in the intro, but season seven of Yes, We Are Open hosted by FOTML Grego is dropping very soon.

So subscribe to Yes, We Are Open and get ready for season seven. We're going to be talking about it as it comes out, but I'm very excited about season seven of Yes, We Are Open, but I'm very excited to be reconnected with Leona Boyd because I had such a good time the first time. I really appreciate your honesty. So I'm literally going to say a name and then I'm going to lean back and listen to what you have to say. Maybe you have one word, maybe you have a few sentences. What do I know? I'm just excited. So I'm going to start with this name. You ready? Yes. Ozzy Osborne.

Crazy neighbor. My crazy neighbor. He lived right across the street from me in Beverly Hills and we'd go to his parties and he'd be walking his dog along the street. I thought he was going to die at one point. He was very shaky. Yeah. But I think Sharon rescued him. He was a character and he, I think you can see on my website classical guitar leon aboard.com classical guitar.com

Picture of him holding me up in the air and he was quite winded afterwards You know what I said put on that Aussie face, please Yeah, and then he invited us to show and I took he didn't, but I took Sharon to Cirque du Soleil. He was a great neighbor because he had all kinds of please. If you read my second book, how I tricked a con artist into returning a guitar to me, saying, look at all those policemen, of course, he didn't know they were Aussies. I pretended they were all out to get him.

Shout out your books here before we even proceed. People, you know, love your personality, love you beyond your guitar playing. Shout out your books. Oh, well, my latest one is a children's book called The Cat Who Played Guitar. And I hear it's been doing really well in England, here and through Amazon. The cat who played guitar is sort of loosely based on my cat Muffin and Laura Fernandez, who has a program on Jazz FM competition. She did beautiful illustrations. She was a professional illustrator and her specialty was cats. So I was very lucky. Then I have a book called No Remedy for Love, which is very much about my travels and my friendship with Prince

Philip and all that and how you behind the scenes of the recording and then how I broke my shoulder and was in the hospital a while. But the first book is actually, if you want all the adventures, if you want the Pietro Doe stories, things like that, that one is called In My Own Key, My Life and Love and Music, and there's also an audiobook on Audible where I read the whole darn book. It took a long time to read it, and I was recording it in Palm Beach, mostly in my underwear because it was so hot, I had to turn all the air conditioning off.

So I love writing and I wrote a lot of it on Canada or flying around the world. All the behind scenes of the different tours I did, including the Lightfoot tour, of course. Robert Leonard Right. On that note, so you did cover this in great depth during your first Toronto Mic'd appearance, but perhaps a word or two about Gordon Lightfoot since he's passed away since your appearance on Toronto Mic'd. But speak to me a bit about Gordon Lightfoot. Margaret Atkins

Well, I wrote a song called Lightfoot. I don't think there has been a good song with Gordon Lightfoot. I got permission from Gordon while he was alive to use some of his lyrics. So this song is all based on his own lyrics. And then Ronnie Hawkins, legendary stomping. Romp and Ronnie. No, no, not we are romping, not stomping. That's Tom Connors. Any stories about Tom? Yeah, the first label I was with was Booth Records.

But romping Ronnie invited us to his country house outside of Peterborough. And I have pictures of me sitting on his lap and he joined and Gordon was so surprised, he didn't know because they'd been friends for a long, long time. And I just thought it'd be perfect to guest. And at the end you hear, what is he, oh, you handsome brute,

you hear his voice at the end you hear, what is he, oh, you handsome brute. You hear his voice at the end of the song. And we have a new version coming out on the next album where again, Peter Bond has re-imagined that song. And that's going to be great. Cause I mean, Gordon, oh my goodness, he helped launch my career big time, playing to thousands of people every night. So bless you, Gordon.

Sorry you've departed. Another friend gone. Another friend gone, oh my goodness. And yeah, another legend, a fellow legend as they say. So Gordon Lightfoot, more talk in that first episode of Leona Boyd about Gordon. But you mentioned Ronnie Hawkins, and I just wanna say that earlier this morning, I was on the phone with a radio legend from Toronto named John Donobie.

Do you know John? Oh, yes, of course. Radio legend. All those old radio guys. Yes. Yeah. He was. So as I was, cause he was going to visit, but for reasons I won't disclose on this podcast, he needs to postpone his visit. But I was already doing the homework. And part of that homework was a very interesting recorded conversation that John Donobie had with John Lennon, where John's telling, sorry, John Donobie is telling John Lennon about brokering this visit that John Lennon will make to Ronnie Hawkins' place you described in Peterborough.

Yes, he stayed there, didn't he? Yes. So it's fascinating. Did you ever meet John Lennon? No, I didn't. I recorded a song that Julian Lennon was going to sing, and I've met Julian. This was through Bob Ezrin, but in the end he couldn't hit the high note.

So that one never came. I really worked hard on getting the guitar part right. This was in Los Angeles. But I have Mark Masri, he just guested on one of the songs on the new album that will be coming out in February. And Mark Masri is always struck me as such one of the sweetest nicest people. I saw his TV special that he did on PBS.

We both had TV specials and he's one of the tenors now. So wow. Do you ever rest Leona? I'm just hearing you know you got this new song coming out then and you got this stuff in 2025. Do you ever rest? Leona, I'm just hearing, you know, you got this new song coming out then and you got this stuff in 2025. Do you ever just say, Hey, I'm going to, I've earned a break. Oh, lots of times you kidding. I just laze around listening to audio books. It's a good life. Yeah.

It's a good life if you don't weaken. Going for walks. Beautiful. All right. You're not playing pickleball, are you? No, that's my sister. She's a pickleball fanatic. Retired dentist. Okay. Retired dentist. Okay. You're getting good, good dental care there. Okay. So another name, I'm going to just throw these names at you. Julio Iglesias. Julio. I was always in love with Julio.

I just love the quality of his voice. And he wrote so many beautiful songs, especially at the beginning of his career. And I speak Spanish because I used to live in Mexico. So I know he's old now and people made fun of him when he did to all the girls I've loved before. He's a legend for sure in the Latin world. I remember Oprah was weak at the knees when he came on her show. And unfortunately, he was not a boyfriend of mine. I would have liked it.

But I tell a very humorous Julio Gracia story. It wasn't fun at the time. I was most embarrassing how I went to meet him. Got drunk. Anyway, I will always love Julio and his music. I was waiting for that story. I guess he's hanging in there. Oh, it's in my book. You got to read the first book. It's in the book. Shout out to Nick Kiprios. Absolutely. Now, you know, when I down in the courtyard, now, what is it?

It's the full down in the schoolyard schoolyard schoolyard. Is that Paul Simon? And what about Paul Simon? You ever meet him? You know, I lived so close to him in Ukraine and Connecticut because I've skipped around the country. But sure, you know, yeah. But I never did. No.

Julio Iglesias, you mentioned all the girls I love before. I always remember Willie Nelson and him sort of doing that. And then I'm wondering if you ever met the fellow living legend Willie Nelson. No, I didn't. I had met Boxcar Willie, who almost smashed my guitar. I did quite a few country shows when I was in Nashville. I did so many TV shows, I almost forget some of them. But Chet Atkins introduced me to many of the top country people. Well, he's next on my list, Chet Atkins. Oh, oh, wonderful living legend. Yes, he was called the country gentleman.

His finger picking was unequaled. He helped introduce me to different TV shows. And I did some concerts with him and then he was a guest on my TV specials. Yeah, I had so many TV specials. I really want somebody to do a documentary on my life. Shout out to any documentary filmmakers because I have so much footage, a lot of footage with chat,

a lot of, I mean, I was on the Tonight Show three times. I was going to be four times, but Bruce Allen delayed it and said, Oh, don't worry. There's a lot about him too, in my book. Well, Bruce Allen still with us also, but we talked quite a bit about Tears Are Not Enough and we of course know you were involved in that. So that would be through Bruce Allen there. I wasn't.

Well, no, it was really through, I think it was David Foster. Yeah, David Foster composed it, and then I think Bruce helped organize that recording in some regard, him and, he was in tight, of course, with Bryan Adams and Jim Valance who co-wrote that. Yes, Jim Valance, where they co-wrote it. Right. Yeah.

What a time. It was kind of this version to We Are the World. That should be, I mean, there is a documentary from the mid 80s. But I feel like we need to uncover the source footage and put together a new tears are not enough documentary. Yes. And I want to know who the guy is, is escorting me. I am wearing this fake fur coat. I look awful. And with sunglasses look like I'm trying to be a movie star. We solved this riddle. I don't have it in my notes right now.

I might need to do a quick. I don't know who it was. I have no idea who the guy is. I'll tell you what, I'll set you up for another story and then I'll search. You know, I'm going to search my. You can find out. I'm just curious. We put this out to the listenership last time you were on and I'm certain we saw this.

Yeah, we found out who that was and I wish I had that info. I'm gonna look it up but while I do that let me just give you another name then get you going here but Sylvester Stallone. Sylvester Stallone, well, once, I was very great friends with his mother, his very eccentric mother when I lived in Beverly Hills, we used to go to the same hairdresser and we met there. And she was the most eccentric character. She introduced me, I think she was trying to line me up with her son, Sylvester's brother. So I met Sylvester Sly just briefly at the ice cream shop. It keeps coming back to ice cream, don't we? I have the answer for you. We'll get

back to Sly. He can wait. Okay. But here it is. No, I didn't know Sly really. No, but did you know the hairstylist Gary Chowen? Does that name ring a bell? Maybe not. No. I usually didn't go to hairstylists actually. I was having some hair extensions put in or something. No, I always did my own hair. Well, that's a fun fact. Okay, here it is. I have it here. This was solved. I want to shout out Jason Schneider, who solved this back September 6th, 2021, because he heard you on Toronto Mike and we talked about this famous this who is this mystery man you ready for this? Yes. His name is Doug Johnson. He was the keyboardist for the Canadian rock band, Loverboy. You're kidding. That was the gentleman who escorts you in. I remember the band of course. Yeah.

And Mike Reno and yeah. Yeah. So Doug Johnson was your mystery man. Huh. Well, hi, Doug. Thank you for escorting me in because it was they were afraid we, you know, get mobbed. Well, at least you didn't take a, you didn't take a limo to this event, did you? Oh, I don't know. I may have. You may have. Okay. No, I don't. Yeah, I don't think my dad drove me down. I didn't drive for the longest time. No, but cabs would take you. Like I know Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, they kind of arrive in these taxi cabs, right? But the gentleman who took the limo and got a little flack for it,

and I'm trying to get him on Toronto Mike, then he's the next name I'll throw at you. Mark Holmes from platinum blonde. No, I don't know a mark. But you remember him from that day. He didn't take a lim limo. No, he did though. I remember Jason Snydomans, uh, keyboard, I guess. Um, who's passed away.

Wife of Sam. She was always saying, you're going to be riding around in limos. Well, I didn't care to be riding around in limos, but looking back, I sure have been in a lot of limos. Well, you know, limo is how Leona Boyd should travel. Private jets. Private jets. But when you're going to create a charity single for famine relief in Africa, maybe

that's the time to jump in a cab. Yes, I think so. Back taxi, as I do these days. Amazing. Now, so Mark Holmes, I just wondered that day, I've heard from people who are at Tears Are Not Enough about Mark Holmes, and I wondered if you had any engagement with him during that famous day when you guys recorded Tears Are Not Enough, but you don't have a Mark Holmes. And I wondered if you had any engagement with him during that famous day when you guys recorded Tears Are Not Enough, but you don't have a Mark

Holmes. No, I mean, I hung out with Dan Hill. But at that time, I didn't know him that well. When I did the Canadian song, a song for Canada called Canada, my Canada, I invited a lot of well known Canadians, including Dan Hill, you know, to be my special guests. And that's on the Return to Canada with Love album. So who, you know, Jen Arden, she sang with me. We did it on tour with a lot of choirs

that was great, especially children's choirs. They love that song, Randy Bachman. Um, who else? Randy back then, by the way, he got screwed. Even Ron McLean. Remember Ron McLean? You kidding me? I saw him at Nassie hall last Saturday. He inducted the, uh, blue rodeo.

The two guys from, uh, Greg and Jim from blue rodeo got inducted into the Canadian songwriters Hall of Fame and Ron Yeah, I met I met him under the in the airport. I said I'm doing this song. Would you like to come and sing? Here you sing and all he was he brought bottles of champagne for my producer and I yeah, it's great and he sounded good and Chris Hadfield sang on it too. Wow. He's a lovely guy. He sounds like a young Gordon Lightfoot. Okay. Cause he's famous for doing the David Bowie cover from the space. Yes. Imagine playing the guitar from outer space. I love I knew two people that were astronauts and both of them are amazing. I knew Buzz Aldrin.

Wow. I used to live in LA. We'd go to dinner with him. We had parties together. Wow. And he had some great stories. And then my father's Air Force friend years ago was knighted by the Queen. And he was one of the top geologists in the world and got to analyze the moon rocks. So he took me into his lab and showed me a piece of under a bell jar, you know, couldn't just get it out. But he said he got the weirdest sensation sometimes holding a piece of the moon in his hand, and then looking up at the sky, seeing

the moon. I was remember then looking up at the sky, seeing the moon. I always remember that. And they took me hiking over the moors. Lovely guy. And my father, both my parents had great adventures during the wartime. They didn't get hurt, thank God. But oh, they had amazing war stories. My favorite Buzz Aldrin story is somebody came up to him at some event and said that the moon landing was staged and apparently Buzz Aldrin punched him in the nose. Good for him. Yeah. Can you imagine going through all that effort and all that risk, such high risk to and, you know, just to be told it was an assaulter? Crazy conspiracy stories now that are. Yeah, disturbing.

Well, I want to ask you about so. I mean, I don't even know if you know this name, so I'll throw the name at you just to see if you had any interactions with him, because I know you did film a lot of stuff in agent court at the CFTO studio in Scarborough. And I'm just wondering if you ever met Uncle Bobby. Oh, no, I didn't. No. But you know of Uncle Bobby? Do you know this, this gentleman?

I think I've heard of him. Yes. Okay. We'll move on from Uncle Bobby, but I have to ask, you know, if you met Uncle Bobby. Okay. And again, extensively covered in your first episode of Toronto Miked, but would you say a sentence or two about former prime minister, father of current prime minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau? Yeah, I can't just say a sentence or two. It was eight years we were together. Oh gosh, eight years my first book, it's a whole chapter and then, and then some, yeah, it was a big chapter in my life. And while he was a playboy, I left him, I leave them all Mike.

That's the trouble. Have you ever been left? Has anyone ever left Leona Boyd or you? No, never. I've never had my heart broken. Doesn't seem right. Does it? But it's always me. I left my fiance Joel. I've never had my heart broken. It doesn't seem right, does it? But it's always

me. I left my fiance Joel. I left Pierre. I left, uh, I don't know. You're a heartbreaker. No, it's just, I'm an artist and I guess I'm in love with the guitar and, uh, but you mentioned you're single now. Like, are you dating now you dating now? Like are you on the apps, for example? I don't think I dare do that. Could you imagine I'm on Tinder and I see Leona Boyd? Like that's a mind blowing. No, I'm not on Tinder.

I am not on Tinder. I'm too fussy. That's a trouble. They've got to be perfect. You've got high standards. Very, yeah. But I have great friends. But ask me about some women.

I got some women for you here. You're right. It's men heavy and I'm disappointed in myself as I look at this. But here's some women. How about Tracy Chapman? Oh, terrible one. I hate to tell you, but she was a nightmare on tour. Her whole band She was a nightmare on tour. Her whole band almost mutinied. She was so mean. Oh, Elliot, what's his name? Elliot was her manager. And he said, it's because she's,

we did a whole tour of Europe together and she didn't even talk to me. She didn't talk to anybody. She just yelled and screamed. The sound checks were a nightmare always. I didn't even get sound checks a lot of the time. And the idea of a photo, she didn't do photos with any of us. She had a huge hit with fast car.

Yeah. And she was going through, I guess, a lot of, I guess it was, I don't know, she must've had a lot of problems to be so mean because I didn't even make any money on that. Yeah, she must have been dealing with something. Hopefully she's found happiness. She was moving house. I thought I'd be fighting her off. It's the opposite. Couldn't even get close. Couldn't even have a conversation. She was very young. she became famous, couldn't just deal with it maybe. But in those days when we did the tour in the mid-80s, oh gosh, it was a very bad year.

Probably late 80s, I think, for Tracy. Yeah, like maybe. Maybe even 1990 maybe. 1980 or something. Right. Yeah. Right. Well, I'm sorry to hear that She's changed. What about Sarah McLaughlin? So I mentioned I was at Massey Hall and there's Ron McLean inducting Greg Keeler and Jim Cuddy from Blue Rodeo But also inducted that day was Sarah McLaughlin. Have you ever met Sarah? I met Jim Cuddy, but I know I never met Sarah

I kind of did my own thing, you know as a Classical soloist, you don't always run other than at the Junos. I don't always remember meeting some of the people. Okay, so then we'll move away from that. Let me ask you about David Gilmore. Oh, he was a lovely guy. We both recorded together at his house. I kind of helped him. I helped produce that track he did on my persona album. Right. People always ask about Eric Clapton, but I never met Eric, we did our tracks in different countries.

Because he was in the US when I was recording in London. But Gilmore, we actually hung out at his house, got to was in the US when I was recording in London. But Gilmore, we actually hung out at his house, got to sit in the garden. I have a picture of me petting his dog and working, of course, with Michael Kamen. That was a bit of a nightmare in a way actually doing it because he was high on coke most of the time. didn't. I mean, I was never into drugs. He kept saying, come on, do a line, Leon, it'll help you relax. You'll improvise better. And I'm coming from a classical training. I don't really improvise that well. I love writing melodies. And sometimes I feel it's almost like just downloading something from

the sky from some other dimension and I sit all the time and well more recently when I sit in my house in Palm Beach, some of the happiest times when I just sit there and get inspired and the melodies would just flow. I've done so many of so many times it was just effortless. It's like I was just tuning into some other level of consciousness. Amazing. It was in the zone. Yeah, absolutely. Now what about Judge Lance Ito?

Well, he's the one that gave me certainly a memorable experience playing for the OJ Simpson jury. And at the end, they wanted autographs. I played for an hour. They were so bored. So Lansito called me up and asked if I'd come in and then entertain them. And this is purely classical I was playing.

They seemed very, very appreciative. I had to sign all these CDs that I brought for them to numbers, not to names, because of course it was all secret. And when the verdict came out, I mean, we all knew he was guilty. But we also knew that. Rodney King trial. They were, yeah, they threatened to burn down Beverly Hills. So I was up in Prince Rupert, Canada, when the verdict was read out. And so I was almost relieved that he was found not guilty. Because otherwise I thought, oh, my husband, my cat, my, yeah, I think I had

muffin by then, my cat. I was terrified of mobs coming because, you know, I arrived in LA during the, during the riots, right? The Rodney King riots. Yeah. And then I became like the disaster reporter of the earthquake, which was terrifying. The Malibu fires. I was in that and we did a fundraiser with one of my all time legendary, my hero,

Maury Shaw, who wrote the theme to Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Givago. So we did the fundraiser and got to hang out with him a little bit. Did you ever hang out with him? I played on the film that he wrote. What was it called? And he won the Golden Globe for the best score. Lorne with Keanu Reeves.

The Matrix. Or Walk in the Clouds. Walk in the Clouds. Okay, not The Matrix. No sex, no violence, all in the vineyards with Anthony Quinn, or anybody that loves wine would love that, because a lot of vineyard scenes. Beautiful. And the music was beautiful.

And I was thrilled to be able to be conducted by Maurice Shaw, one of my heroes. Amazing. By the way, speaking of Lansito, but is that intimidating? Like when you're being, you know, when you're meeting your heroes, I mean, usually people of your stature are the heroes and they're being met by people who are very nervous. I'm always anxious when I'm going to be on a zoom with Leona Boyd, but when you meet your heroes, do you get nervous? No, no, I don't know why. Well, good.

I think if I met, uh, I wasn't nervous playing for all the heads of state. I played for so many politicians over the years. Of course. No, it was just, I don't know, playing with orchestra. Sometimes I get a bit nervous because I didn't do it as much. And with that walk in the clouds, my God, it was like the whole LA Philharmonic facing me and I had the melody. So that was a bit scary. Wow. Now, speaking of scary, did you ever meet OJ Simpson, who also passed away earlier this year?

No, that's what we're talking about. The OJ Simpson trial. Oh yeah, but Judge Lanzito invited you. I saw him crossing the street, but I never went to talk to him. I just wondered pre-murderers, if you had any, you know, when you were a famous football player who was in one of my... I loved The Naked Gun, okay, one of my favorite movies. O.J. has a prominent role in The Naked Gun, so.

Oh, yes, what's his name? Leslie Nielsen. Leslie Nielsen, he came over to the house. Yeah, I had lots of people we'd have over for dinner. And Neil Simon, too. No, I mean, I've met so many celebrities over the years. And, no, I just enjoy what they contributed. So many people as we started out saying, no longer around, but I feel very privileged that I met people like this. I should put a book out, just little anecdotes of all the crazy things. I mean, Zaffirelli cooked me dinner. How lucky

was that? One of the greatest film directors in the world. But I guess it was all timing. Yeah. Okay. Well, let me, Okay. So what about Megan and Harry? Have you ever had a meeting with Megan and or Harry? No, but I, I think that people should not judge them unless you've read Harry's book, which I've read. I've listened to as an audio book many times. I love his voice. He acts so well. And I know a lot of people are kind of disappointed that he broke away from the royal family,

but I think he did the right thing. I really do. And he was very brave. He was very compassionate. He's got a great sense of humor. I love his stories. So I hope that one day maybe I will. I don't know Megan at all. She did live in Toronto for a spell because she was...

Spare is great. Spare is a great book. Now she did live in Toronto for a bit when she was filming Suits, which they filmed here. Now, last 10, Rapid Fire here, and you've been amazing. So I will thank you at the end again, but I got to say, anytime you want to come on and chat and promote any new single, you've got to pass. Okay, Leona, I will drop everything. Leona Cotter-Royer Thank you. When the new album comes out, I'm still trying to think of the right name for it because it's very, very varied. But I'm really, really pleased. You know, the Once Upon a Time album is doing very well.

And we did it on Atmos, which is surround sound. So if any of you have Ferraris out, of course, I do. I end cars. Do they make bicycles? You're a biker, too. I'm a cyclist. Yeah, I don't know furry in my driveway. Do you bike? Yes. Amazing.

I love biking. I want to bike. I want to bike with you and maybe the waterfront trail here in Toronto. At some point I want to bike with you. That's delightful. I want to do that. All right, so rapid fire 10 last. Here we go. Rick Emmett.

Oh, amazing guitarist. Lovely that. All right. So rapid fire. 10 last. Here we go. Rick Emmett. Oh, amazing guitarist. Lovely person. Triumph. Absolutely. Also a fellow FOTM like you. That means friend of Toronto Mike. So shout out to Rick. Okay. Hi. Lots of love, Mike. I mean, Rick, Rick, Rick, Rick with R I K just so you don't mess it up. Okay. Yeah, and he's very knowledgeable. We both were honored with, and we both used to write stories for Guitar Play Magazine. Of course, and he's an atopical guy too, right? Maybe not, maybe he's not actually.

You know what, I'm gonna rescind that. I'm not convinced he is, but. Finally somebody I knew. Well, the real statics, I don't know if you remember the real statics. I had lunch just a little while ago. The other one, what's his name? Alex Lifeson.

Well, that's OK. So I'll go to that one right away. Alex Lifeson, because he was on my my last 10 year. Lovely guy. Yeah. And he lives down the street from me. Absolutely. OK. Now, I'm curious for your reaction to this name, Pierre Poliev. I do not know him. Okay. So he is the, uh, okay. No, it's okay. I know who he is. Oh, okay. I'm just going to say, uh, maybe you spent too much time in the States.

I was going to, yeah. Yeah. So, uh, any, any comment or are you going to pass on Pierre Poliev? I'll think I'll take a pass. Okay. John Travolta. Did you ever meet him? No. Only curious because of John Tory. Yes. Are you friendly? John Tory?

I feel like John Tory should come over three days ago. Yeah. Tell him to come on Toronto mic and just clear the air on everything. He kind of got lumped in with some stuff. And I feel like, uh, John Tory thing some stuff and I feel like John Tory. Yeah, I feel like that's why pencils have erasers. Come on over and talk about it, clear the air and let's move on from that. So that that's not the first thing people say when they hear the name John Tory. Okay. But I only mentioned John Travolta because of course Olivia Newton, John

Dame Olivia Newton, John and him were in the Greece. Okay. The edge from you too. Olivia Newton, John and him were in the grease. Okay. The edge from you too. Oh yes. He was in my closet and in my bedroom looking at a guitar. I had an unusual guitar made by Boaz and is really guitar maker. Okay. Okay. It's funny to think. Yeah. I have another story. I was in the bedroom of, uh, of, um, oh god, what's his name? I'm getting forgetful.

You know what, it's because I talked too long and you're like, no, who is this guy who wants over an hour of my life? We're almost wrapping up, five to go, but describe that person I can help you with the name. Who are we talking about? Bono? Bono? Yeah, no, like, opera, you know, opera. Yeah, I don't even know what opera means. A young guy. Okay. Worked with David Foster a lot.

Okay, geez, Mike, come through this. David Foster. Geez. Okay. If it comes to you later, I Would anyway because the reason I went there his mother said go up is in the bedroom We shared the same type of cat and his cat was sick So he was up in the bedroom tending to his cat well comes back to get shaded silver American shorthair Wow Okay, well a lot of people love their cats. We stop all I'll know okay,, then I'll go insert it in. All right. Did you ever meet Terry Fox? No, unfortunately, but I think

he's one of our legendary heroes. I run, I run for Terry every year. So, uh, so yeah, I was a young man, very young boy when he passed away and it affected me greatly. So I make sure I get out there every year for the Terry Fox. That's great. That's great. Like Bob Einstein, also known as J Super Dave Osborne. Oh yeah. I better leave that or I'll end up telling a me too story on him.

He's no longer with us. I feel like if you, if you wanted to tell that story, but you probably told it in the first episode, as I recall. So if people want to go back to your first appearance on trauma, yeah, he did. He came. He was a he I guess you went to his hotel room, because he promised a possible TV show. And he was wearing a robe. Yeah, he invented this whole TV show. No, I mean, we all think me too, it's just happening in the US. It was happening here in Canada too. Not that often to me, but I do remember Super Dave, Super Dave, to fight my way out of the room. That's too bad. That's too bad. Okay. Last three names. These are big names. Okay, Kamala Harris.

Strong, determined lady with good values. Donald Trump. Do I have to pass? You can pass. See, I like you. You pass. You don't want to say a negative thing about somebody you'll pass. Okay. Last name on the list. And then I'm going to thank you again, but Toronto Mike. Toronto Mike, my favorite guy in Toronto. I'm looking at his handsome face. You can't see me, but great hair. Ask me all these impossible questions. Standing up on end now. Beautiful color. The same color as my shaded silver American short hair cat.

I'm honored. I want to reach out and stroke your hair. Listen, when we meet at the waterfront trail for a bike ride, you can do anything you want to my hair. Leona, continued success. I can't wait to find out what's in store for you as we approach the 50th anniversary of that first release. And I hope it's the key to the country, none of this key to the city nonsense. You deserve all these accolades.

You are a living legend. And I can't wait till our next chat. Yes, earlier this year, I gave away 30 beautiful guitars. They were Yamaha guitars. I decided to pay it forward and help inspire young guitar students across Canada and very kindly Longham McQuade offered to distribute them for me and basically helped with the competition and people from across Canada were eligible. So I got a lot of very happy kids and a couple of adults that got these guitars and sent me little videos and photos. I think it's coming out in that catalog. So that was something I just spontaneously did. Good on you for paying it forward and good on Long and McQuade for working with you. And speaking of people we lost recently, we just lost Mr. Long from Long and McQuade. He just passed away. Oh, I did not know that. Terrible.

I don't read the Toronto papers enough. I'm the bearer of sad news for you, Leona, but the good news is you've got new music coming, new music now, and you're paying it forward and I want you to know that I appreciate that. So thank you. A guitar can change someone's life. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me back again.

And that brings us to the end of our 1559th show. You can go to torontomic.com for all your Toronto Mic needs. Much love to those who made this possible. That's Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, RecycleMyElectronics.ca, Raymond James Canada, Minaris, and Ridley Funeral Home. See you all Wednesday when Jeff Spindel, formerly of Boom 97.3, makes his Toronto Mic debut. Well, I wanna take a streetcar downtown Read Andrew Miller and wander around And drink some Guinness from a tin Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been? Because

Everything is coming out rosy and gray Yeah the wind is cold but the snow is cold It won't speed the day And your smile is fine and it's just like wine And it won't go away Because everything is rosy and gray