Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Marc Weisblott from 12:36: Toronto Mike'd #1108

Episode Date: September 9, 2022

Mike chats with Marc Weisblott of 12:36 about the current state of media in Canada and what you oughta know. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

The BBC is interrupting its normal programmes to bring you an important announcement. This is BBC News from London. Buckingham Palace has announced the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In a statement, the palace said the Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow. BBC Television is broadcasting this special programme reporting the death of Her Majesty the Queen. Welcome to episode 1108 of Toronto Mic'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. StickerU.com Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. And Canna Cabana. The lowest prices on cannabis guaranteed. Over 100 stores across the country. Learn more at cannacabana.com. Today, covering the month that was August 22,

what, August 2022, and maybe a little more, is FOTM Hall of Famer Mark Weisblot? That's right. Now, I woke up this morning like the rest of the world hearing the news bulletin that Queen Elizabeth II was basically on her deathbed, right, Mike? When the news came out, we pretty much got the sense that this was it. Buckingham Palace wasn't holding anything back. We were told today was going to be the day.

And September 8th, 2022 happened to be the date for the relaunch of the new independent 1236 newsletter. And I honestly thought to myself, how awesome would it be if the queen died at 1236 newsletter. And I honestly thought to myself, how awesome would it be if the queen died at 1236? What sort of cross-promotion possibilities could there be? Did you get your wish, Mark? Did you get your wish? It was more like Eastern Time 136

where the bulletins first came out. So close. And I was wondering for years Eastern Time 136, where the bulletins first came out. So close. And I was wondering for years if I could actually experience in real time, radio geek that I am, hearing BBC Radio 1, the teen pop radio station of the British Broadcasting Corporation. pop radio station of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Could I be tuned in at the point where they broke into the programming with the bulletin that the Queen is

dead? And here I am, Mike, to report to you and the rest of the members of TMU, all the FOTMs in the Toronto Mike Universe. I had it locked and cranked. I was listening to BBC WTMU, all the FOTMs in the Toronto mic universe. I had it locked and cranked.

I was listening to BBC Radio 1 when they were playing this song. And it broke in with the news bulletin that the Queen is dead. Yeah. I showed you read him Sylvia Clarke. I thought that that was awesome. You know I like you like that. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Eugene, the song by Arlo Parks. There is the answer to your pub quiz trivia question. What song was the flagship pop radio station of the BBC playing when they shifted into that funereal mode. It was like listening to the Q107 morning show after they got rid of John Derringer, right? Suddenly, they're shifting to this mournful state of mind.

No music played at all, right? I mean, every station was simulcasting the same feed. It didn't take very long for even the BBC to slip into the same void, I suspect, happened across the board on all the news media, right? After a few minutes, talking about how the Queen is dead, like, what more is there to say now we've got like uh almost a century of her of her personal achievements but anybody can look that stuff up

right like do are you gonna need here we're going into a 10 day mourning period going up to the funeral for queen elizabeth right it's gonna be on a Sunday. We've got two weekends of this queen mourning mode ahead of us. At the same time, I guess we know. We know there's an audience. There's a market out there that can't get enough of wall-to-wall queen coverage because we just went through the 25th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, which reaffirmed the fact there's a whole royal family

media industry out there. How much can you take, Mike? Or do you think in this time, everything's on demand, it's not difficult to tune out from listening to this mainstream media broadcasting about the Queen. You do have freedom of choice here, right?

You can binge a streaming TV show, listen to streaming music on your own. You're not beholden to what they're not playing on the radio. Diehard monarchists aside, I can tell you there's a huge difference between Princess Di dying suddenly in her 30s and Liz dying, you know, 96 years young. Like, it's a completely different mindset.

So this was not unexpected. I don't think anybody was shocked. She's, like, super famous and has been around all of our lives, so it's going to be a big fucking deal. But this is not the same as when Lady Di crashed and died in Paris. Not the same.

And yet, had the funeral not been on a Sunday, if that didn't happen to be the end of the 10-day mourning period, as I understand it, it would have been a bank holiday in Canada. Your kids would have been told stay home from school. Watch a funeral procession.

My daughter Michelle was asking me do I get a day off of school at McGill because of this? She said there was that rule or whatever, that old custom or whatever. I didn't know what the heck she was talking about. It falls on a Sunday, so it's actually going to coincide with my Terry Fox run.

I'll be running for Terry. Hopefully one day Terry replaces Liz on our money. Okay. Say hello. Say hello to heaven. King Charles. What are his pronouns? He slash him.

King Charles taking over, right? I mean, dude's been waiting his whole life for this moment here. And I think for loyal viewers of The Crown on Netflix, these are exciting times, right?

We're going to see the drama unfold. Camilla Parker Bowles, what happens here with Prince William, the family. We've got Harry and Meghan Markle. How are they going to be treated under the circumstances based on all the recent drama they've been going through?

Here we are today, historical day, September 8th, 2022. Mark, I'm cracking open a Great Lakes beer right on the mic here. A sunny side. Here we go. Before Queen Elizabeth passed away, I got a direct message from Toronto Mike saying that he could do an entire three-hour episode recapping the events of TMLXX i thought mike i've been there i've done that i i dedicated more than three hours to hanging out at your party what is there left to

say well we didn't record any of that so let's let's try to begin listen there's so many uh things i want to say but can i just start with a jam here as we segue over to TMLXX? And then I do need an update on what the hell's this current status of 1236, the newsletter. It did drop in my inbox at 1236 p.m. today, but it's no longer affiliated or associated with St. Joseph's Media. So we need a thorough update on that, but I want to start with George Pasher. So let's get a taste of thumbing through the city in the afternoon Hey, I'm not bragging or complaining I'm just talking to myself, man to man This old mental fat I'm chewing

Didn't take a lot of doing But I take a lot of pride in what I am So last Thursday night, we all collected as FOTMs collected at Great Lakes Brewery for TMLXX to celebrate 10 years of Toronto Mike. It was our 10th Toronto Mike listener experience. Over 100 great FOTMs came out. It was absolutely wonderful. I want to thank Great Lakes Brewery for hosting and buying a beer for everybody. That was awesome.

Palma Pasta fed everybody. It was delicious Italian food. Everybody left with a full belly. I want to thank Sticker U for coming out and giving everybody stickers. I want to thank Ridley Funeral Home and we'll talk more about Ridley Funeral Home later

but there was a prize pack won by the VP of Sales. What a swell guy that VP of Sales is. He won a prize pack won by the VP of sales. What a swell guy that VP of sales is. Uh, he won a prize pack for the mind blow competition. Amazing, right? We had amazing music.

Meredith Lizowski, Rob Pruse from the spoons kicked ass. He took names. Blair Packham was unbelievable. And Danny graves from the watchman took us home under the, uh, stars under a clear night sky and sang four songs for us. Blew me away.

I'm going to play a little Danny in a minute, but I want to tell you about a gentleman named George Pasher who lives in Mimico and waltzed over to Great Lakes to buy some fresh craft beer. And he didn't know what a TMLXX was. He sure wasn't there for my event. But he heard Danny's voice in the night sky and he thought it was beautiful.

He made his way to TMLXX which was, as you know, on the lawn. So he kind of came into the retail and then made his way to the grounds where Danny was singing. And it turns out Rob Pruce struck up a convo with this man. And he was a country singer. And that was him in the 60s. And it turns out Rob Pruce struck up a convo with this man, and he was a country singer, and that was him in the 60s. And that was him, George, and he was

covering, let's see, Merle Haggard's I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am, and that's from 1968. But George Pasher is there, and I'll just tie this all together to say that I was linked to a YouTube video for I take a lot of pride in what I am by George Pasher and there was only one comment on that YouTube video from four months ago and the gentleman who left the comment on that YouTube video was also at TMLXX crack open your beer mark you deserve it now mike you know it must have been an exciting event because contrary to expectations i didn't use tml xx as an opportunity to go for a walk which was my reaction to attending you were there a Murderer premiere starring Stu Stone,

the great Stu Stone of Toast, who seemed to take that a little too personally, that I didn't have the disposition to sit through an entire feature film. But the show that you put on at GLP was unpredictable enough that I had to be there, especially when one of your honored guests was going to do an impersonation of me on the stage. Blair Packham.

And what did you think? Blair Packham. He did a great Mark Wiseblood, I'd say, on the mic. Last of the Red Hot Fools, one of the songs that he played. I don't know that his version was long enough. I was thinking it would be like the record, the Edmund Fitzgerald

that he would go on, live up to your expectations and just play out one hit from the jitters all night long. But he diversified the set a little bit. And me refusing

to answer the call that I participate in the Mind Blow competition with your judges, Cameron Gordon and Stuart Stone. What was your takeaway from the collection of Mind Blows from the gathering of FOTMs? Look, I enjoyed them. And I did listen back because I was distracted throughout the Mind Blow competition, you know, you know, pressing the flesh, you know, meeting and greeting the FOTMs who were dropping by. So I listened back and it was good. Paul Burford, who created Just Like Mom, won an award. I think he won a Palma Pasta gift card. Again, VP of Sales,

you know, who might be in the room right now. I don't want to spoil anything, but VP of Sales won a Ridley Funeral Home Prize pack. And you ready for this? Amber Morley, who's a pretty recent FOTM and is running for city council in this Ward 3, she won the Canna Cabana gift. She was very excited. She's got a whole big delivery coming to her from Canna Cabana,

who will not be undersold on cannabis or cannabis accessories. Okay, so if she can't beat Mark Grimes in the city council election, at least she'll have a good smoke. Now, I had a resolution around here lasting for at least the entire year, 2022, that I was going to smoke my first cannabis cigarette as long as I found somebody who could teach me what to do. Yeah, that's where I was at earlier in the summer.

Yeah. Well, I found the best coaches around and happened to be the same two guys who were in your backyard. Stewstone and, of course, Canada Kev. I don't think either of them go anywhere without packing some legal cannabis. September 1st, 2022, was a milestone day for me. Not only did I finish a magazine I had to work on

for the Canadian Jewish News, but also ending my run with the 1236 newsletter as part of St. Joseph Media. And I thought I need to do something to remember this month by here heading into the fall. And so what's the terminology here? I'm new to this whole weed lingo. Mike, you've been into weed for at least,

I don't know, seven more weeks than me? By the way, every time I've got high... We lit one up. You sparked up a fatty. That's it. You look good doing it. Although, what Stu furnished me with, and he gave me an entire pack.

I feel these were like starter cannabis cigarettes. You got to start slow. Yeah, you can't start. Did they put these in the frosh greeting package when you sign up at McGill? Kind of a free sample, courtesy of Canna Cabana? Because I feel that's what I got. Well, wise boy.

These are like girly cigarettes. Hey, no, we don't. Come on, that's misogynist. But I will tell you this, that this is smart, right? You're not Willie Nelson. Like, you're not Snoop Dogg. You've got to start slow, and you've got to start low, and then you can start to go from there.

And yet it was only on the second time around that you're smoking this big burrito that Canada Kev passed you on the lawn at the Budweiser stage show. So, Mike, you're already further along than me here. I'm a seasoned vet. Shout out to Canada. But here we are here we are learning learning together yeah how to how to consume cannabis here in in this uh summer into fall of 2022 can i may i then we have our great lakes beer that we've cracked

open and uh even uh the vp of sales who, he's got a mic open, but I think he'll speak when spoken to. He's very well behaved here, but I want to just say hi to him because he's in the room. It's about time we had somebody around here who could possibly correct some of my mistakes, right? One of the hallmarks of the 1236 episode

is me walking out here realizing that somewhere down the line I misspoke. And then I've got to go through an entire month before I can come here and correct the record more often than not. I completely forget what it was. Before we hear from VP, I will shout out some people. Whatever I had to say. We have a pirate stream, live.torontomike.com.

And I just want to show Basement Dweller, who's here for the show. Opran is here for the show. Always good to see Opran. Lieve Fumka. Shout out to Lieve Fumka. And what say, oh, Cambrio's here too. This is a bunch of A-listers. What say you, VP of sales? Well, first of all, I am so excited to be here. It's an honor to watch this process unfold live. I understand I'm the first to witness this besides the two of you, so this is very exciting and I'm honored.

I will be able to do some live fact-checking tonight, so I'll stay on that. It's about time. Because that's normally Wiseblood's job, but he's on this episode. Hey, two or three beers in once we get through doing the shout-out to Ridley Funeral Home. There tend to be

a few factual mistakes. So I'm going to play. I want to play a clip from TMLXX before we move on. And I do want to say hi to Brian Gerstein, you know, propertyinthesix.com, because he got COVID. See, I'm still waiting, and Tyler, you're still waiting as well.

Yeah, despite my best efforts to give it to you. Right. Have you ever had it? You don't know. You've gotten away with it all. But Brian got it because he went to New York to see the US Open. He got it there. He brought it home and he's recovered.

So good on you, Brian, for recovering from COVID. But he's in isolation so he's watching us live because, hey, he needs to kill a few hours and this will do the job. So I'm going to play a song a song you guys are gonna drink your beer and then we're gonna get right into it but this was recorded live on thursday night at great lakes brewery this is from tmlxx it's danny graves lead singer of the watchmen and it blew my fucking mind, so I'm going to share it with you all right now. About women and glasses of beer Closing his eyes as the doggies retire He sings out a song which is soft but it's clear

As if maybe someone could hear So goodnight you moonlight ladies Rock up my sweet baby James. The deep greens and blues are the colors I choose. Won't you let me go down in my dreams? And rock-a-bye, sweet baby James. And now the first of December. So there you go.

You can hear the gardenner in the background. I think I heard Jarvis in the background. That was recorded Thursday night. And Danny was incredible. So thanks again to all the musicians who came out. Meredith, Rob, Blair, and Danny. Just a great, great night. And it was with great people.

Like you guys. Great to meet Mike Apple of City News, who on the 1,000th episode of Toronto Mic'd, stated that I did his most favorite

episodes of all. Shout out to Mike Apple. And Blair Packham, after him being under the delusion that we somehow grew up together. We were both young teens broadcasting on the University of Toronto campus in 91 St. George. Even though my time there was more than a decade after him. But in different eras, we were in fact the youngest volunteers at the campus radio station. The difference was my show was on FM 89.5.

And when Blair was there, it was a closed circuit affair, reminiscing about how he was undermined by Kevin Nelson, the son of Jungle J from 1050 Chum, who was rehearsing in the other room and revealed himself to, in fact, still be in junior high. And Blair feeling diminished by the fact that he could no longer say that he was the youngest DJ around. I got that title more than a decade later. So, you know, we do this once a month. We're a week late because of TMLXX, but better late than never.

And, you know, during the month where you're not here, Mark, I get like, people will ping me, they'll tweet at me or they'll email me or they'll message me or whatever. They'll send smoke signals or, you know, pigeons, career pigeons, but they'll be like, I want to hear Mark's take on this. There's always like a hot topic. So let me play this. And then let me talk to you about the subject of the matter. matter. Can't we get VP of Sales to do like a voiceover leading

into the segment? Got his golden pipes here. Come on, Tyler, give it a shot. What can you say leading into the segment? Something. I couldn't possibly. Hit the post. Oh my god. What can we say? And now, Lloyd Roberts. Oh my God. What can we say? And now,

Lloyd Roberts. Oh, there's more. Lisa LaFleur. See, I don't know this show. Like, are these all like known pieces of music from the CTV National News? Like, what's this?

What the hell was that? Is that what you play when the queen dies? Lisa Laflamme, the esteemed evening newscaster on the CTV National News, who became the biggest newsmaker in Canada during August of 2022, you might have wanted to say these were the dog days, not much happening out there. And yet this story got more traction

than I think anybody could have predicted out there. And even though this is not a verifiable fact, I think it had something to do with the fact that Lisa Laflamme's husband, Michael Cook, former editor-in-chief of the Toronto Star, works for a little company called Navigator.

Not only then does he know the ropes from having run that Toronto Star newsroom for a decade, lots of other newspapering experience, including in Chicago, also himself since at the CBC, wherever else, he would know how to spin a story to the point where newspapers could not get enough of it. And I don't think then it was purely a coincidence that the Toronto Star or Michael Cook used to work, used to run the place, had story after story after story. Did you notice how much coverage there was, how many op-eds, how many different angles, all around the fact that

Lisa Laflamme was fired from her job and turned down the opportunity to say goodbye on the air. This was not made clear in her initial statement. She was told at the end of June that her contract would not be renewed. Her services were no longer required. Yet she continued to appear on the newscast, if not anchoring during that period. She did cover the Pope's visit to Canada, try and make amends over the residential school she was in the field. And the whole time she was sitting on the fact that she knew that by the end of the summer,

she would not be employed in any way by CTV News anymore. The strategy here was very much a social media one. It was all about issuing the statement on Twitter. How many millions of views does this tweet have at this point now? We have to check in. The auditor, Cam Gordon, about how many people watch what Lisa Laflamme had to say from up in the attic at her cozy Muskoka cottage, up in the attic at her cozy Muskoka cottage, delivering a message to the nation on a level that we previously only associated

with the queen to tell us that she would not be the anchor of CTV News anymore. Okay, here's a taste. 4.6 million views as I press play. Hello, everyone. Today, with a range of emotions, I'm sharing with you some information about me and my career with CTV News. For 35 years, I have had the privilege of being welcomed

into your homes to deliver the news on a nightly basis, so I felt you should hear this directly from me. On June 29th, I was informed that Bell Media made a quote, business decision to end my contract, bringing to a sudden close my long career with CTV News. I was blindsided and I'm still shocked and saddened by Bell Media's decision. I was also asked to keep this confidential from my colleagues and the public until the specifics of my exit could be resolved. That has now happened. And I want you to know what these last 35 years have meant to me. Everything. Reporting on the darkest days of war from Iraq, Afghanistan, and this year Ukraine,

to covering natural disasters, this pandemic, federal elections, amazing Olympic moments and so many other consequential events including this summer's papal apology to residential school survivors. I need you to know that this is a trust I have never taken for granted as a reporter and as an anchor. I am forever grateful to you, such loyal viewers, for sharing in the belief that news delivered with integrity and truth strengthens our democracy. At 58, I still thought I'd have a lot more time to tell more of the stories that impact our daily lives. Instead, I leave CTV humbled by the people who put their faith in me to tell their story. I guess this is my sign-off from CTV, so I want to express my deepest gratitude to all of you,

to my incredible colleagues for their unwavering support, my dear friends, and my loving family. While it is crushing to be leaving CTV National News in a manner that is not my choice, please know reporting to you has truly been the greatest honor of my life, and I thank you for always being there. Bravo! What an amazing performance. It was like something worthy of the movie broadcast news. Remember with William Hurt and Holly Hunter? Yes. Albert Brooks, right? I think when we were growing up and we saw that movie, it might have been an introduction to the concept that what happened behind the scenes of a network newscast

was more fascinating than any of the product they put on the air. And as a result of this video, it was like a mic drop, right? Lisa Laflamme left the stage. She did not comment any further. But perhaps with a little bit of backstage strategy, some expert advice from her spouse, some collaboration of what seeds they could plant out there to make this story live on for an entire month.

Here we had angle after angle after angle, endless reports of the backstage drama at CTV News, including the perfect enemy, a guy named Michael Melling, who nearly no one outside of CTV would have heard of prior to about a month ago. What date was it in August that she announced that she wasn't going to be working at CTV anymore? Suddenly he became a main character in the Canadian media, He became a main character in the Canadian media, including a story from the Globe and Mail about a comment that he made, possibly in jest, about how he wished that Lisa Laflamme did not let her hair go gray. Something about how the studio lights reflecting off it were making her her look kind of purple uh but it was a fact that something like this was reported in the newspaper once again lisa laflamme herself never made that insinuation this was this was something that came out in a news story uh unilever the company behind Dove, Dove Beauty Products, wanting to capture the empowerment of women whose hair is going gray.

Encouraging them to embrace the aging process. Wendy's, Wendy's Hamburgers, putting out a tweet. I think everybody out there has seen it by now because this thing didn't only go viral. It went nuclear, right? This is the earned media game. All over the USA, people reporting on the fact that Canada's number one network fired the anchor of the number one evening newscast. And the mascot from Wendy's even spoke out about it all.

And she changed her hair color in the process. This is what got it discussed on the Today Show. This is what led to her report on CNN. This is what led to something on Instagram by Katie Couric. And suddenly, Lisa Laflamme is a national hero, including among millions of people who probably haven't watched a traditional TV evening newscast in years. But we all got swept up in what was happening here

because at the same time the announcement dropped from lisa laflamme you had ctv news scrambling to introduce the fact that they weren't firing her for no reason it was to bring in a guy replacing her and that man's name mike omar come on last name can can you do it i don't want to steal the spotlight from you you handle this one tyler i'll pass omar sachadina i'm just uh testing your sachadina media literacy sachadina i knew that now interestingly as i look at this video with the 4.6 million views is that it was dropped on a monday 2 p.m. precisely. That's a scheduled tweet. This was completely orchestrated

to where will we get the most traction and eyeballs and most chatter, 2 p.m. on a Monday. And it was within minutes that the CTV News press release came out announcing that Omar was going to be taking over in the chair. And also, speaking of an emergency situation, crisis PR. They had to scramble to find him. I believe at the time he was hanging around L.A.,

having a summer vacation, getting ready to take over his secret spot on Labor Day. He would become the new national anchor, chief correspondent of CTV News. Enjoying the sunshine while they had to rush him into the studio to do these hits with local CTV reporters. I don't know. Did you see any of these bits? I saw them on Twitter.

It was the awkwardness of a situation where they didn't mention Lisa Laflamme's name, right? It was just like, he's the new guy. He's the heir apparent. He's our new anchorman. What kind of trust and integrity is he going to bring to the role? It was made even more surreal by the fact

the elephant in the room was a fact that millions of people were watching this Lisa Laflamme video. So CTV as a news organization was not being transparent in reporting what was actually going on around there. People wanted answers.

That's where the story started to unfold. And that included the business decision of which she spoke over there. Well, let's get into the nuts and bolts of this, okay? Because name the guy again. Michael what? Milner? What's the name of the gentleman who was in charge of CTV News when this decision was made? Oh, Michael Melling.

And he was new in that national position area. Previously was in charge, put in charge of CP24. Put in charge of CP24. Got his start at CTV, at Bell Media in Kitchener, Ontario, which was also where Lisa Laflamme cut her teeth in the news business, rising up from CKCO to have more of a national profile over there. And he seemed to have the right character, right personality. Look, Mike, we've been discussing here over a period of months and years. What does it take to make it in telecom-owned corporate media here in the 2020s

decade when all these bodies are hitting the floor, right? I mean, we've got more stories of layoffs, as you put it, people being tapped on the shoulder, right? Toronto Mike is like a clearinghouse for all these tales of these people who used to work in TV news and aren't around anymore. What is the character of the people who are the survivors? What kind of person would want to still work in these places? What sort of personality does the dirty work of telling somebody after 35 years that your services aren't required anymore? And Michael Melling, it turned out, happened to be one of those guys. The business decision of which Liesel Laflamme speaks, as far as I could tell,

and no one actually came out and said as much because Bell executives were under fire. They had some kind of town hall meeting, conference call, which turned out to be a disaster. Shortly thereafter, Michael Melling said he was leaving the job. Did you catch that? The press release, the line, spending time with his family. Right.

And it sounds like he will never be welcomed into the building again if his management style results in this kind of crisis situation. But by process of deduction, CP24 has been a successful enough operation. Now, Bell Media, CTV, did not actually create what this thing has become. We all know it goes back to the peak era of Chum City.

CP24 as a spinoff of City TV was a big deal. 1998, they were going to take City Pulse News, legendary newscast that we all grew up with, and they were going to turn it into a 24-hour day operation. Remember? Remember first tuning into this channel? It was like nothing Toronto had ever seen before. Now, they kind of ripped off in that

Moses Nimer style without really explaining it to everybody. The channel in New York City called New York One, which had previously done that screensaver style. How do you describe it? Where they would have like the- Chirons?

The anchor would be in one box and the weather would be in another. We're all familiar with this by now. There would also be like a newswire delivering these text headlines, right? Sometimes they would slip in some really terrible puns, or you could just divert your eyes and watch this thing if you were bored with whatever was going on with the anchorman. If that wasn't interesting enough on the screen, you'd have a

stock ticker at the bottom, and also advertising, right? Like, even if you didn't have the sound turned on, and we've seen this experience with this kind of news channel, it has an ambient place in society. So in this age in which there isn't really as much appointment tuning anymore, the whole idea of the 6 p.m. newscast is a thing of the past, CP24 has been a smashing success. It's no wonder that Bell Media considered this a crown jewel when they took over City TV. They got rid of everything else

that was associated with the station. The CRTC leaned on them to divest what they were doing, but they hung on to this 24-hour day news channel. They even repainted the truck, the live eye crashing, crashing through the wall. Right.

At 299 Queen West. However, however long, uh, they're still going to last there until the building gets, uh, ex, expropriated by,

by Metro links for, for new, uh, transit line. Still there to this, this day. I think that's disingenuous, right? This truck is

part of the legacy of City TV and they repainted it as part of Bell Media CP24. They're actually messing with history. This is almost as bad as tearing down a John A. McDonald statue.

But it goes to show you the degree to which this CP24 station was a moneymaker. I think the idea was to replicate that formula over at CTV. Over at the CTV 24-hour day news channel. And that meant

no more idea of focusing all of our resources as a newscast that only runs at 11 p.m. But I have questions. Yes. That newscast,

and I wasn't a viewer, but I was well aware of it. I even know people who work on this newscast. By the way, though, here's the thing. Even if the viewership for CTV National News,

it was the most watched TV show on Nightly Basin off-counter, but even if you didn't tune into the news, you would have seen promos for it, right? News bulletins during other shows, the Super Bowl.

They made Lisa Laflamme a ubiquitous personality, whether you watch the news or not. Sure. So I have questions for you. One is that, this is what I'm led to believe, that this is the most watched Canadian production we have on our airwaves. So clearly the viewership is there, yeah you with me yeah but imagine the

profits that will roll in if you replicate that formula to something that goes for 24 hours a day and i think that's what this michael melling here i'm showing some sympathy towards him they didn't get in the media for being you, a nasty little man who disparages a woman for letting her hair go gray on the air. That's lazy journalism. But in fact, like he was commissioned to come through with this idea and maybe Lisa Laflamme didn't want to do it. Right. Like she saw herself as the as the traditional anchor doing that 11 p.m. newscast. And she didn't want to be on call doing like random shifts on the air all day and night on ctv uh but that is the attitude that is making money for cp24 they don't

they don't have that central anchor the product on that toronto all news channel is is that it's always on it's always there. It's always there. You could have this thing on the background. It could play day and night in your lobby, in your elevator. While you were vacuuming, you could still be considered a viewer of what's going on over there. And I think they saw the CTV News channel falling behind in that race. And they were trying to refashion, remodel. You think, Mike, as far as what I'm telling you, that the reporting on this missed this story?

You think you didn't hear enough about this out there? Like, what was the plan for the CTV News channel going forward? What was the business decision? But who cares? Listen. Okay, firstly, I am frustrated by the coverage of this story because it's been melted down to some very convenient talking point that Lisa Laflamme was fired because she let her hair go gray. Okay, this seems to be the sexy narrative that everybody's running with. And I think it's really fucking lazy.

This sounds to me, if I start to look at it, you know, closely, that there's a person in charge of CTV News named Wendy Freeman, right? Wendy, when does she let go? December 2021? Yeah, a whole bunch of backstage drama involving, again, like more personalities. Okay. Most of the normies have never heard of. I think it is about personality. It feels to me, it sounds to me, all speculative, of course, that Wendy Freeman was a protector of Lisa Laflamme

and how she operated her business at CTV, which is a very successful broadcast, which not only has viewers, we talked about it being the most watched show this country produces, but wins awards. I mean, I've seen photos of Lisa with her trophies. She won as recently as I think June 2022. So it's critically acclaimed. It's commercially successful.

But for whatever reason, this is the part where I, the thread, I need to figure this part out. But there seems to be some type of personality conflict between this Michael Melling. Yeah, you got that right. Okay, finally.

Michael Melling and Lisa Laflamme. And it seems like as soon as he was able to do so, he relieved her of his duties and took the newscast in a different direction. I'm not too sure if I follow your narrative about CP24 and duplicating that. It seems to me like CTV still wants this nightly newscast.

Okay, but here's the thing. Viewing patterns are changing out there nbc the national broadcasting corporation they said they're they're not even going to program any shows at 10 p.m anymore they're going to hand it over to the affiliates the viewership ain't what it used to be the whole idea of investing in 11 p.m show right why would they put these resources into what i presume is a profitable show at 11? They're looking at it and saying we can make just as much money if we do the 11 o'clock thing at 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. So why? So what?

Omar's just holding down the fort till they. I'm not sure. OK, so I will ask you this. I would imagine Omar as, you know, 40 year old anchorman who's who's worked his way up. People speak well of him and his talents, right? Part of this narrative was saying, here's this guy who was cheated of his time in the spotlight. He got caught in the undertow of everything that was happening here. Then we get into a whole race and gender thing that surrounds the scenario, right? We're not that far away.

A couple years ago, remember that? We even played that here on the podcast when Ben Mulroney gave a whole speech because his wife got into a fight on Instagram that he was going to step down as the anchor of eTalk. And then he felt like the new anchor had to be a person of color because it was time for him to step aside. So I don't know. If you're playing that game, wouldn't Lisa Laflamme have been happy to relinquish her role, right? Like, aren't we going through a reckoning process in which we're supposed to applaud the fact that CTV is being more diverse than before. Whatever they were thinking, whatever they had in mind,

people weren't falling for it, least of all Lisa Laflamme. And in the process, what comes down to is Bell Media trying to extract as much money they can out of a media operation that, as far as most people can tell, they're barely even interested in. And as a result of all this, we've then ended up with other stories. Jamil Javani on News Talk 1010, right? He saw an open window to file a lawsuit against Bell Media for what happened on the radio, News Talk 1010,

because he thought, as a person of color, it was a situation where they figured he would be following a certain political line, start fighting with the managers there because the viewpoint was more conservative, more libertarian. He didn't want to go in the air and talk about how all white people are racist.

It's interesting in his little lawsuit, he is suing them for a very specific amount of money, right? Usually multi-million dollars. No, he just wants to get six months pay, $42,500. Jamil Javani wants out of Bell Media. But that's got headlines. Again, more embarrassment for the company. Danielle Graham from eTalk also has a lawsuit.

You heard about that one. The woman who was anchoring alongside Ben Mulroney, pushed aside there for this situation, abiding by Ben Mulroney's wishes that they brought in Tyrone Edwards to be the host of the show. Make sure I got that name right, VP of Sales. And Danielle Graham pushed aside saying that it was a boys' club there,

gender discrimination, and again, she feels vindicated under the circumstance. Look at how Bell Media treats its employees. The number one anchor of the number one newscast. Her job isn't safe anymore. So in your opinion, as a guy who spends more time analyzing the zeitgeist than I do here,

I need to know, like, is she gone because she made too much money? Is she gone because she's too white? Or is she gone because of a personality conflict with this Michael Melling guy? Or is it all of the above?

Why? I'm still trying to understand. And you might not have the answer, but all of the above are maybe nothing at all still trying to understand, and you might not have the answer, but what? All of the above or maybe nothing at all. Look, it boom times out there in the marketplace

for someone who can be a journalism consultant, an advisor, someone who can do the speaker circuit. I feel this story spun by Lisa Laflamme, maybe with a little help

from Navigator, some strategic planning. I think a lot of people are going to want to hear from her and what she has to say about the state of journalism here in the 2020s. I don't think you've got to worry about her profile and her ability to remain a public speaker. It just won't involve delivering the nightly news anymore. But if we look at it objectively, does it really matter anymore? Is Omar Sachedina going to be revered? Is he going to become a celebrity on the level that we once associated with the voice of God

doing a network newscast. Well, I'm glad you mentioned the voice of God because why it's so jarring for the average Canadian viewer here is that we just witnessed, not that long ago, it's relatively fresh, that Lloyd Robertson got a farewell tour. I mean, this was like the Ann Romer treatment. Like, there

was cake, there was keg gift cards, there was a passing Ann Romer treatment. Like there was cake, there was keg gift cards, there was a passing of a torch to Lisa. And this time we get this like, that video kind of, I know it dropped strategically at 2 p.m. on a Monday. That's 2 p.m. Eastern, by the way. So you get 11 a.m. Vancouver time.

But it looks a bit like one of those videos you see, like to prove that you're alive, you're a hostage and you have to prove that you're actually alive and well. Like it's just jarring to compare the transition from Lloyd Robertson to Lisa Laflamme. And what do you think the price tag

would be on that cottage that she was speaking from? That looked like a pretty good pile there. Who's got the better cottage? I want to know. Wendy Mesley, Maureen Holloway, or Lisa Laflamme. Who's got the better cottage? I want to know. Wendy Mesley, Maureen Holloway, or Lisa Laflamme. Who's got the better lakefront cottage? It was confirmed that she was... I camp, okay? I camp!

She was given the opportunity to say goodbye. Alright? Like, I don't think anybody denied this, and she turned it down. She walked away. Good on her for that one. You think? Good on her for that one? Because they would have given her a whole tribute show. Do you have the clip from it? Did you not listen to Christine Bentley on Toronto Mike?

Tap, tap, tap. You're done. We can spin this one of two ways. We either let you go, or we spin your happy retirement with cake and gift cards and all that bullshit. No thank you. Behind door number three is the Kevin Frank-ish option,

which is we announce you're sticking around to work on special projects that never materialize. It's only me and Toronto Mike are keeping score about whether these special projects ever actually happen. Do you have it? It was in the 1236 newsletter today. Go to 1236.substack.com. You can see Omar Sachedina

when he did a bit on the Labor Day newscast where he acknowledged that CTV had become the news recently, that they regret the circumstances under which all this happened. 1236.substack.com. There, Mike, you're looking at the old archives. Are we going to get this up? I know, I know.

So say it again. I've got to get the tech department at stjosephmedia.substack.com. 1236.ca. I'm following you. We've got to upgrade this thing there. Then in a bit we'll talk about what's happening with the news. Okay, let me read it first. Okay, a bit okay uh here we are real time this other cake is baked vp of sales gonna watch it all and there we have the statement from omar

we have become the subject of it over the past few weeks canadians have been having important discussions about ageism sexism and racism The fact that we can have these conversations and learn from them is one of the hallmarks of this great country and reminds us of the role we all have in making it even better. Half a century after my parents were expelled from Uganda and were welcomed by compassionate and generous Canadians from coast to coast to coast, starting this journey with you tonight means a great deal to me, and it validates the promise of possibility. But I'm just one part of a tireless team determined to share stories with you about what matters to Canadians and brings us together. Our mission is to do that objectively, with balance, and with different perspectives.

Finally, it is important for me to acknowledge the inspiration and mentor that Lisa Laflamme has been to me over the years. Lisa, thank you for everything. Like many of you, I really wish Lisa's goodbye could have been from here. I know welcoming me into your homes every night is not a right. It's a privilege. I will work hard with our team to earn and build your trust for that continued privilege.

That's my commitment to you. And that is our commitment to you. Okay, judges, do we got a score on that spiel there from Omar Sachedina? He's in a bad spot. I feel bad for him. We got two judges here. VP of sales, Tyler Campbell.

What do you give that one out of 10? I mean, the message is as good as it could have been, I guess. A lot of very audible gulping, which is... Yeah, his swallows are very loud. Yeah, I don't know if they mic'd his throat. Reminds me of a Bush song. Swallowed. Anyway, shout out to Omar.

I think you got to put it in a shitty spot, right? Yeah, come on. let's get a number. Where do you guys go? What would you give that on a scale? Mike, Toronto Mike. I mean, I think he's being sincere. He was kind of fucked over in this whole thing. I don't like the fact they had him, I'm assuming they had him

tweeting about, you know, taking over for Lisa like hours after we had to watch her hostage video. I think that was poor timing, shitty from a PR perspective. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth, but I'm not even one of those viewers. They're going to lose.

I guess I'm just wondering, like, I'm wondering aloud, like if, if simply like every, every, uh, Canadian media personality,

regardless of how good they are at their job or how long they've been at the job, making greater than X dollars a year now has this giant fucking target on their back. Like, I'm just wondering if that's where we're at now. And if we are there, Ron McClain, duck! I'm going to give the statement a 9 out of 10 because I could hear in between the gulps

that a lot of people worked on what he was going to say. I could imagine a fair number of revisions went into that Google Doc over the course of the last couple weeks. And as far as performance goes, I think it was genuine and sincere. I think it was genuine and sincere. Compare that to whatever it was coming out of the mouth of Ben Mulroney, where he was saying, I love my wife. He didn't explain what the issue was, right? So at least here we got an articulation of the fact that this was a situation that involved the high-profile firing of Lisa Laflamme,

even some humility and embarrassment for what has happened to CTV. But, Mike, you acknowledge it there. It comes down to the fact that, I don't know, outside of those rubberneckers who were specifically tuning in on Monday night, they were waiting for a moment like, I'm mad as hell and I can't take it anymore, Howard Beal, which happened to be filmed in that very same cdv agent court studio right uh outside of some uh you know spontaneous combustion happening uh i don't know what people were expecting there and

genuinely like it's uh it's a pedestrian audience that might have had some vague awareness giving the dozens of articles over the over the past three weeks but for the most part they're just tuned into watching news and uh maybe not getting so emotional about who's delivering it to them because the the the the audience the audience that would have watched a show like this and decided to move on, they're not coming back. Okay. So it's all about super serving the people

that are already out there now. Do you know who died today? The queen died today. Like I haven't tuned in CTV, but I'm sure Omar is going to be working overtime talking about Liz for the next, whatever. Oh, for sure.

He was out of here at 1.36 p.m. on the Concord Express. I just wonder how different it would be if it was Lisa Laflamme, who, thank you for saying Laflamme. I was thinking it was Laflamme. That's how ignorant I was, but Laflamme. Just interesting the timing that one of these giant news stories happens. So what you're always saying is she should have gone to London, England anyway

and just stood outside and done the stand-up and maybe the CTV cameras would catch her standing there? No, I'm not saying that. That's how she would be reinstated on the air again. You know there's a petition with over 200,000 signatures. Yeah, that doesn't work. I don't know why people waste their time.

And it was Simon Haupt of the Globe and Mail who clarified this point, articulated it in a way that I could not have myself, which was, in the Globe and Mail, there was like a two-page weekend newspaper open letter signed by

some Canadian celebrities and also some Canadian corporate giants, including like, I don't know, the president of Hilla Norton, Heather Reisman of Indigo, titans of industry, all demanding that CTV put Lisa Laflamme back on the air. Age and gender discrimination is a terrible thing.

Simon Haupt in his column saying if they actually reinstated her, she would owe all these people a favor. She's burned. I think here we are trying to dissect fake news and propaganda and media bias. All these people

who are running right big corporations i don't know the president of imperial oil uh you know saying put lisa laflambe back back on the air she would actually owe them a favor and so it's completely illogical this this posturing that was going on out there one word mr wiseblo Cluster fuck. That's what that whole thing is. And I don't think we'll ever get the answers. But, man,

interesting to watch. Cold winter night. Snow is on the air. My eyes are a little heavy. A feeling in the past And somehow you will I don't want you on the phone Don't you play good girl with me Why must I always say it again I got a new girl now I mentioned Lisa Laflamme was the number one requested story

for your monthly appearance on Toronto Mic'd Mark. But the second, this is like the third month in a row, this story has been as strong. People want to know what you think about the John Derringer exit from Q107.

And in honor of Q107, a jam from a Q107 homegrown album, the original version of Honeymoon Suite, New Girl Now. So not only... It's a titch slower, I think. Has that kind of indie rock sound. I feel like this could qualify for a piece of hipster irony here in the 2020s.

You also notice a lyrical change that they made for the major label version. It starts, Hot Summer Night. And there was Johnny D of Honeymoon Suite starting off the song, talking about the cold winter. So they adjusted those lyrics. The A&R guy for Honeymoon Suite did the big time shout out to Rob Pruce. the A&R guy for Honeymoon Suite. Big time shout out to Rob Pruce

among the FOTMs, the one most adjacent to the band Honeymoon Suite. But not on this song. He was a late comer. He came for the Lethal Weapon song. Which I absolutely

love even more. We showed you. Reclaim the theme from Lethal Weapon. And what an appearance. His first in-person appearance kicking out the jams. He was fantastic. But what, since your last update on Derringer Gate, where are we at now?

They announced he was no longer with the company, right? We saw this coming, but it was. You sure did. I think I said, we will never hear his voice on Q107 again. Even before the Lisa Laflamme story broke, August 9th. They're interesting stories

when you take them as a bundle. They're both questions about a woman's role in media and there's elements of misogyny in both stories and Canadian media, they're kind of parallel case studies for future media classes.

Vindication, I think, for Jennifer Valentine, who issued her own video statement in response to the fact that Q107 issued a statement saying we're not in business with John Derringer anymore. Toronto Mike played a supporting role in this saga, which not only included an irrational attack from Dean Blundell, but also the fact that the floodgates on the 2022 John Derringer discussion, they opened up right here.

Jackie Delaney, one of John Derringer's prior female co-hosts, I think she articulated more about her experience working with him than anyone had before. And it was Jennifer Valentine, who on Victoria Day weekend issued a video statement, and then we all stood by on Monday morning to say, was John Derringer going to be back on the air? Not a chance, right? He was removed from the lineup, not on the station website anymore, and suddenly we've got this Soviet-style programming, usually hosted by Dan Chen.

But it took a little while for some sort of negotiations. Under the circumstances, they said there was going to be a third-party investigation. Whatever the case, John Derringer, announced by chorus, he's no longer with the firm. The end of the John Derringer, Derringer in the Morning radio program.

After almost 21 years of doing the morning show, 20 and a half. But it was 22 years from when he first came back to Q107. After being in Montreal, on the Fan 590, you've recently had some flashbacks to the history over there. We got a Mike Umentary coming up,

produced by the one and only VP of Sales, Tyler Campbell. Yeah, and you're referring to the Scott Metcalf episode, which is earlier this week, coming up, produced by the one and only VP of Sales, Tyler Campbell. Yeah, and you're referring to the Scott Metcalf episode, which is earlier this week, and we dove deep. If you're at all curious about the history of the fan, 1430 and 590, you want to hear Scott Metcalf on Charlie. And the role of John Derringer, the disgraced. The pally, the pally talk.

Yeah. The disgraced John Derringer, and yet here we are not afraid to speak his name, unlike on the Q107 airwaves. Six to eight million dollars was the rumored amount of the John Derringer severance package. Published in the Toronto Sun. Was it?

FOTM Liz Braun quoted that figure based on information that she obtained. Now, she got in touch with someone at Chorus and said, is this true? And they wrote back

essentially with a canned statement saying we do not comment on these personal matters. Okay, because I've done my own digging here, okay? I'm not a journalist, but I play one on podcasts occasionally.

And I think that the source of this is Jackie Delaney, the aforementioned Jackie Delaney, who went on social media and said she had heard from insiders or someone she trusted that it was like $5 to $6 million to make John Derringer go away. And I think that's Liz Braun's source for that story. Five, six, seven, eight. Okay, now, maybe a rational conclusion,

given the fact that he made a lot of money for the radio station, right? I have my own insiders. I have been developing insiders for decades. I can tell you the numbers I have been told by people I trust inside those walls is much, much, much lower, not even close to $1 million. But does it really matter? Because he made a fair bit of money along the way.

I mean, that story is sort of like the gray hair got Lisa Laflamme's fired story. Like, it's really simple, speculative comments that people grab a hold of, and that becomes the story. And at some point, reality be damned, like, truth be damned. Like, this is the easy narrative. We can spoon feed our listeners or our followers or whatever.

And that's happening here. Like, can you believe it was $8 million for Derringer to go away? Can you believe they fired Lisa Laflamme because she stopped dyeing her hair? Like this is just not how it all works. Like this is all, I'm just sick of it. I figure he kept a certain amount of money in the bank and, uh, he might've been turning the corner to some kind of retirement.

Now it might be a situation where you might have a hard time fitting in socially with the media elite. At the same time, I actually met someone who was a John Derringer fan, a woman who had loyally listened to him, grown up with him on QN07, who actually believed he was railroaded under the circumstances. Oh, I'm sure there's

many like that. I'm sure. I'm sure. The loyalists, the diehards, come on, there's Trumpers amongst us. Like, of course there's gonna be people who are defending John Derringer in this. Absolutely. Do you think he could have a public profile? Do you think there's a context for him to do some work as an

MC? Or will it just be a case where he has to You think there's a context for him to do some work as an emcee? Or will it just be a case where he has to accept that he got a slightly earlier retirement than he was counting on? How many times, Mr. Wiseblood, have we talked on this program about the $1 million a year he's been making for well over a decade or whatever? I don't think he needs the money. I think he's comfortable. It sounds like he's got a loving family. He's got three daughters. I think he's going to keep sounds like he's got a loving family. He's got three daughters. I think he's going to keep a low profile

and enjoy the rest of his life. Maybe having to do some work on himself, but that's between him and his psychiatrist, right? I mean, as much as we would like to extract as much discussion out of this as we can for years to come, but I think

the legacy of John Derringer is still going to be in the air because Ryan Parker and John Garbutt, longtime sidekicks on Derringer and the Morning Show, are still employed by Q107, as far as I can tell, based on their social media profiles. Joanne Wilder acknowledged

that they were in the radio station. No, I think they are coming back with a different anchor, with a different host, that they, in fact, the investigation concluded that they were not cul radio station. No, I think they are coming back with a different anchor, with a different host. That they, in fact, the investigation concluded that they were not culpable in any way for what has gone on and they will be back on the air at Q107. Stay tuned for more.

Who will be that different host? Do you know? Stand by. Stand by. As usual, Mike. Speaking of guys trying to hit the post. Oh, well, come on. I can fix it in post.

You know that. Blew it all. Hey, listen. Speaking of men behaving badly. Okay. Hey, it's okay. I still like this song. I fucking still love this song.

Is that okay? I don't know anymore. Oh, I think there were tens of thousands of people going to Arcade Fire concerts currently in Europe who are raising their fists every time they hear the song Rebellion Lies. This album, I just want to say, and I know Michael Barclay was over here in the summer and we talked quite a bit about it,

of course, before this news broke, which is unfortunate and terrible news, but fucking Funeral was a great album. I'll just say Funeral was a great album, but this gentleman, Winn Butler, tell us the story, Mark. You've been following this story. Thanks to Pitchfork.com.

Pitchfork was a website that broke Arcade Fire, and now Arcade Fire has been broken thanks to reporting at Pitchfork.com. And it involved various women coming forward

with stories of having liaisons with the lead singer of the band. Okay, I have questions. This is not unexpected behavior from the front man for a rock and roll combo. But I have legit questions. Well, consensual under the circumstances based on the stories as things were described.

With the approval of his wife, Regine, who is also in the band. These are women or girls? How old are we talking here? I don't think age was a factor. They were all perfectly legal. It was a situation where they were accusing him under certain circumstances of acting improperly. I would say maybe not living up to the expectations

that they had in initiating relationships with him. But there was one other story where the allegations, the insinuations, which he denied, would have crossed the line. In the process, then, they managed to structure a certain kind of Me Too story. Jesse Brown on Candleland pointed this out. It was not four women accusing Wynne Butler of sexual assault. You would have other media outlets regurgitating the story and maybe framing it in a way that was irresponsible

originally compared to what was said. But I guess in the modern parlance, what we would say is there are women out there who think Winn Butler acted like a dick. Should he be put in the penalty box under the circumstances as described when his wife, who is part of the act along with him says that she knows these things were going on

that was a part of the situation their relationship uh where he recognizes his faults he admits where he might have fucked up and they are going forward together in their relationship as well as continuing to perform in the arcade fire staying on tour a tour that they're opening at, Leslie Feist walked away from after what? The first or second night? Saying that it wouldn't be ethical for her to continue performing

with them anymore? Okay, so we have a moral dilemma here for the Arcade Fire. Well, let me just ask. Are you still allowed to say you like this song? Oh, yeah. I mean, come on.

I still like Ignition remix. But listen closely. This is important. Okay? So this is adult consensual sex with a blessing from his wife to like in an open marriage of sorts like where she is sort of

aware that this is... At least retroactively consensual, okay? So what am I missing though? There must be one what is that one story you said that was a little more troublesome? You think I have the time to digest every single detail? At least I'm correcting the record, though. It was not four women accusing him of crossing that line.

It was only one, but then you have three other women with allegations, and all of a sudden we have on Pitchfork a headline. Wynne Butler accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. Look, they're on tour this year. They got an album called We. I don't know whether they'll be welcome back for the annual appearance on Saturday Night Live. And I don't know if they're going to make it back to Canada.

They've got Beck as the opening act on their tour. Will reform Scientologist Beck Hansen be willing to open a concert for Arcade Fire? They haven't canceled anyone yet. Will this thing fade away? Will he be able to outrun the allegations? Tune in next

month to hear another Arcade Fire update. By the way, that song, I remember Rebellion Lies? Remember hearing it on Chum FM? And they were playing it at the time before CFNY. Would it shock you if I told you other than the Sunday Funnies and Theater of the Mind, I've never actually heard a minute of Chum FM? I can't win with you, Toronto Mike.

Witten Butler. This is a song by Steve Lacey. Tearing up the charts. I always, I would like to bring you some songs that reflect what's going on now on Top 40. Okay, let me drink it in. Kate Bush running up that hill is fading away. Bad Habit by Steve Lacey is my new jam. Before we get to the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment of Toronto Mic'd with 1236's own Mark Wiseblood,

I want to thank you, Mark, right now. I want to thank you so much for coming out to TMLXX because I know it's off-brand for you, so the fact that you were there the whole time and you even attended the after-party where you were smoking Ganna Cabana, it was just amazing to see you there. I got photos of you with Stu Stone.

I got photos of you with Blair Packham. You got photos with me and your kids who you let me talk to once again after during the COVID era that you were shrieking at them to get away from me. Yeah, because you're not symptomatic, you asshole. Dangerous visitor over here in your backyard

just trying to hang out with Morgan and Jarvis. Well, when you're not sick, you're not dangerous as far as I can tell. But! Oh. This is the best bad habit since the offspring, right? Which I kicked out

in the swear jams on Pandemic Fridays. But! Much love again to Sticker U for Ridley Funeral Home. We're going to be jumping U for Ridley Funeral Home. We're going to be jumping into the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment in just a moment. Thank you, Great Lakes Beer, delicious fresh craft beer. I've been drinking it all afternoon. So during one of these songs that I play for Ridley Funeral Home,

I might have to disappear and go to the washroom. That's okay. We got VP of Sales here standing by to take over on the momentum. He's got better pipes than I do anyway. But thank you Palma Pasta. Again, thank you Canna Cabana and EPRA, the newest sponsor of Toronto Mic'd.

We're going to set up a program so at TMLX 11 people can FOTMs can come by with their old tech that they can safely recycle with EPRA. Don't throw away that old Android device or that old, you know,

tablet. Oh, and don't forget the 1236 newsletter at 1236.substack.com. Well, Hey, we didn't get that update thoroughly for my, uh, so before I kick out the first jam in our Ridley funeral home segment, what the hell is the, hey, we didn't get that update thoroughly. So before I kick out the first jam in our Ridley Funeral Home segment,

what the hell is the status of the 1236 newsletter? The plan is there is no plan. I'm going to see which way the wind blows. Let the market decide what they want in terms of a newsletter product. We're scheming here with some experimental advertising. There's a reason why VP of Sales was invited to the show. We had a high-level board meeting in your backyard. See what could happen.

And as far as I'm concerned, I'm open for business. I'm curious about what people want to do with this newsletter medium and hopefully also taking on some other content providers and take the idea of this daily newsletter focused on politics, media, and the arts, whatever's happening in the world, primarily had a Toronto focus, although also expanded it all across Ontario and Canada. What can I do with this medium? Now that, as we explained last month,

I have been handed from SJC Media, St. Joseph Communications. They didn't want to be in business anymore. I appreciated their patronage for 88 months, over seven years of having a fun time and given a gift here to make something out of this newsletter, stay connected with all these people who seem to like the spin that I had to offer every day.

But let's try and broaden that universe and do a little bit more. First advertiser at the gate, another email newsletter called The Peak, a morning business newsletter based in Toronto doing business news for a younger millennial Gen Z audience out there. I am happy to give these brilliant guys a boost, and there they were to support me. So subscribe to come along for the ride. I figure people are listening to these episodes of Toronto Mic'd. So subscribe to come along for the ride. I figure people are listening to these episodes of Toronto Mike.

They are interested to see how a media product can evolve. And what can I do with 1236? That was different from before. Subscribe and stay tuned. You know, you say that's why VP of sales is here. I think it's because VP of Sales is from the Hammer, and he's here for this jam. If you go, I will, you know, I just won't mind. Cause they said, I love like I've been blind. I said, I'll let the sun take all my mind. She's a friend, and I knew you wouldn't mind.

She's a friend and I knew you wouldn't mind But if you have to go, that's okay But if you decide to stay, please don't go Please don't go Gord Lewis, the founding guitarist for the band Teenage Head, died in August 2022 in a story that captured national attention for the fact that it was the third homicide of the year in Hamilton, Ontario. Huh? Tyler Campbell? Not a lot of murders in Hamilton, it turns out. That's very low for Hamilton.

And the 41-year-old son of Gord Lewis, Jonathan Lewis, was charged with second-degree murder after his father's body was found in his apartment on August 7th. So this story is pretty horrifying. And it definitely unleashed a lot of nostalgia out there for Teenage Head. I think even more so than when the front man for the group in its original incarnation, a guy named Frankie Venom, when he died in 2008. Because Frankie Venom was, shall we say, more of a polarizing character. He would have been charged with domestic abuse,

a lot of infamous situations they found himself in, including our late friend Dave Bookman, who once spoke of Frankie Venom launching into a whole anti-Semitic rant one day. We heard that after Frankie Venom passed away. It got to the point when there was a movement to erect a Frankie Venom statue in Hamilton. Remember this, Tyler? They canceled the Frankie Venom statue. We don't want to put up any statues of bad dudes uh we're we're in the process here of tearing statues down

of of people who who who live their their life on the wrong side of of socially acceptable behavior but gordon lewis i think based on the tributes he was much more the soul of the band uh he was the one who stuck it out through the subsequent incarnations long after Frankie was not in a position to do it anymore. And the story of Teenage Head is definitely one

of a lot of missed opportunities. Remember this? Something on my mind. This was I think they're a breakthrough AM radio hit because I remember it with the saxophone going on and Teenage Head ready for the big time. The name was a little bit problematic. When they put out an American album, they added an S to the name, Teenage heads as not to imply

any inappropriate contact. But along the way, Gord Lewis lost setbacks, car accident, the riot at Ontario Place, and Gord Lewis dead at 65. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home.

The old or the great, sweet or the wine, sweet or the wine. General Home. It's going stronger day by day As it brightens you John Till of Stratford, Ontario, a musician who died September 4th. Breaking the law here by acknowledging a death that happened in September on the August recap. Is that okay?

Well, we talked about the Queen for 10 minutes off the top. I'm following the rules here, Toronto Mike. Stratford, Ontario, Canada, the origins of the band. Band in Stratford called the Revols. David Marsden, I believe, was involved in the band management at the time.

Went on to being Dave Mickey on the radio. A great FOTM 1236 newsletter fan who wished me well in my future endeavors. Grateful that David Marsden is still around. But John Till,

the Revols, the group he was in, taken under the wing of Ronnie Hawkins, who we recently lost, which led to Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. But then, as the members of the band dispersed the

USA, John Till, first he was a studio musician. And then he started something called the Full Tilt Boogie Band. Janis Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie. Tilt was originally spelled T-I-L-L-T. Two L's. And the two L's refer to John Till. So here is a dude who was backing Janis Joplin on the classic album Pearl. That's the one that came out after Janis Joplin's death.

after Janis Joplin's death, and the full tilt boogie band became the stuff of legend, although John Till eventually moved back to Stratford. He was a rock and roll survivor, and I guess enjoyed his life until he died in Stratford September 4th at age 76. You mentioned Rumpping Ronnie Hawkins, so I'm just going to share a fun fact with you,

which is that Creedence Clearwater Revival had many, many top 40 hits. In fact, I think they have the record for most number two hits without getting a number one hit. But many, many hits, but only one of their top 40 hits was not written by John Fogarty.

That song is Suzy Q, and the writer of that song, Ronnie Hawkins' cousin, Dale Hawkins. I was blind, now I can see You made a believer out of me I was blind, now I can see You made a evil out of me I'm moving on up now And out of the darkness

My light shines on My light shines on My light shines on Come on I was wrong I was wrong No, no, no I was wrong

I was wrong I was wrong I was wrong I was wrong Okay, you know this song, Mike. Tyler, you know Moving On Up by Primal Scream. This is a cover version, one of these lockdown sessions. Performed in masks, in fact, on YouTube from a Toronto band called Fade Aways. A-W-A-A-Y-S, Fade Aways.

And Reed McMaster, the front man of the band, who died July 30th at age 23. From one extreme to another here on the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment. And I think this tune got some airplay on radio station Indie 88. This is a song I know fadeaways from. I sat in bed all day And got high but had nothing to say I'm too young to be alone

Swoke cigarettes but I'm addicted to my phone I think I'm a fool I think I'm a fool I think I'm a fool Reed McMaster was a graduate of the Etobicoke School of the Arts. So that was the place where Broken Social Scene originated from. I think Keanu Reeves also went there. Maybe Wheels from Degrassi. Speaking of dying at too young of an age and then uh we found about the

death of of uh reed mcmaster this was definitely a band that was moving on up and and this jam here called she don't know why i thought worth acknowledging it here uh with a shout out to ridley funeral home with with not too many details, besides just, like, the sadness of the fact that... Far too young. There was a guy. 23. Rockstar making it happen.

R.I.P. Reed McMaster of Fadeaways. Young and the Restless theme played in honor of a guy named Nelson Branco, who I never met, but I interacted with him on Twitter because he was working at Post Media. He was at one point the editor of the 24 Hours newspaper when they were doing the Free Transit Daily, and he was in charge of video and digital at the Toronto Sun. We found out he died in August 2022 at age 48.

Tragic story here. And, you know, I mean, breaking out the sadness to note the fact that on his LinkedIn page, he was laid off by Post Media just a few weeks before. the sadness to note the fact that on his LinkedIn page, uh, he was laid off by post media just a few weeks before, not to speculate on what happened here, but we do talk about obituaries in these, these tragic situations.

And here was a guy who loved media and the young and the restless theme because his first love writing about soap operas, Nelson Branco became the most notorious soap opera expert around, doing the soap opera gossip columns and the way that people spoke about him after he died. He was the one following the storyline on every daytime television show. And these shows are disappearing. I mean, they're going away.

Days of Our Lives, they're moving into Peacock, right? Like the main NBC network isn't airing it anymore. That became a part of his mission here to be the top soap opera journalist in Canada, if not the entire world. And so remembering Nelson Branco here, because you always can appreciate that eccentric weirdo. I mean, who thinks that this is the main thing

you want to be known for in your life? His death was acknowledged in the Toronto Sun, but I thought we couldn't go without remembering Nelson Branco here with a shout-out to Ridley Funeral Home. It's a classic situation Boy meets girl meets new temptation Go I demand an explanation

But you keep losing concentration So So you turn on those little white lights again Thank you. I can tell by the tears on your anorak That you'll never ever come to call me back It took time till I discovered He was not your older brother You keep calling me a lover, but I'm just your undercover friend. So you cry those plastic tears again. Save them for all your good friends.

I can tell by the tears on your anorak. A song by The Drivers called Tears on Your Anorak, which I busted out for Blair Packham when I met him, TMLXX. Wondering if he remembered this song. And Blair Packham had total clarity that he remembered this group, The Drivers, based in Toronto, because he recalled a time when Toronto loved nothing more than British bands who couldn't make it at home,

who would move to Toronto with their English accents, playing their pub rock new wave, and for some reason they would get treated more respectfully here than across the pond. Must have been something in the accents. You remember the monks? The monks? Drugs in my pocket?

I think they set the template as far as being taken more seriously in Canada than they were at home. And that, I mean, that was like a comedy act. But as far as I can tell, this band, The Drivers, was actually sincere. And the guy who ran the record company that signed The Drivers, Martin Onrott, he died in August 2022 at age 82.

And the whole idea of him starting up his own record company followed him being one of the pioneers in the concert scene in Toronto. He was an early manager of Neil Young. He couldn't catch a break, couldn't find a booking for his young protege, Neil Young, in Toronto. I think there was a reason why Neil Young got frustrated and flew south. But he tried again with another band called Crowbar. Oh, what a feeling.

Oh, what a feeling. And Martin Onrott was the steward of Crowbar featuring Kelly Jay, who we talked about on a previous memorial segment here. But the way he made most of his money at the time was running a company called Encore Productions, and he was the one who brought Led Zeppelin, Elton John, David Bowie to Toronto at a time when the business wasn't structured enough to know what to do with all of these acts. How do you manage to put on a concert? Roxy Music, who were just in Toronto this week as we speak on a 50th anniversary tour. It was Gary Topp, FOTM Gary Topp,

who I remember is being recruited with helping to execute that show when Roxy Music first came to town. And as a result, Martin Onrot made a lot of friends with A-list artists out there, Well, Martin Onrot made a lot of friends with A-list artists out there. Even got a full Globe Mail obituary for the stages that he managed to set. And as CPI, Concert Promotions International, moved into town, that was Michael Cole and Bill Ballard. Shout out to VP of Sales, Tyler Campbell, producer of the Harold Ballard Micumentary.

When you had Harold Ballard's son muscling in on the concert business in Toronto, there wasn't as much room. Was Liz Braun there? Liz Braun worked there? I would figure she was hanging out backstage. But Martin Onrott squeezed out, not really a part of the concert business anymore. He did manage to be the promoter of what at the time, this is well before SARS-CoV-2, 1978. He was one of the organizers of Canada Jam at the Mosport Park in Bowenville, Ontario, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, the Doobie Brothers, Atlanta Rhythm Section,

the Village People, Dave Mason, Prism, Kansas, the Commodores, Triumph, Toronto band Triumph. In in the glow mail obituary it talks about how martin's 13 year old son uh was in the helicopter on the way to playing on the canada jam stage uh and here this 13 year old boy uh he was offered a doobie one of the doobie brothers living up to his name, and the 13-year-old having to reject and refuse this cannabis cigarette in front of his father. But what a lineup there, huh, for Canada Jam?

Sounds like the kind of place where you might have found a young Canada Kev hanging out with his stash of cannabis over there. Later on, Martin Onrott was general manager of the O'Keeffe Center. But along the way, that song from the Drivers was part of this indie label, Delcourt Records. I remember hearing the Drivers on 1050 Chum. I think I might have even had that song on a 45. The Drivers, one of the members of the Drivers, who then went on to form a band called Cutting Crew.

And so that song by The Drivers. I just tied it in your arms tonight. That song produced in Toronto. Must have been something you said. A guy named Nick Van Eid. Oh, not Nick Van Exel. Teamed up with a Vancouver musician called Kevin Carmichael who was in one of the opening acts.

Okay, wait, let me get this straight. And so that song, Tears on Your Anorak by The Drivers, kind of like Neil Young. You know, here Martin Onrott maybe missed his shot to be involved in like a huge number one American record. But he planted the seed for what followed, and that

was Cutting Crew. I just died in your arms tonight. By the way, it sounds to me like Blair Packham could remember The Drivers, but could not remember that Rob Pruce played on Last of the

Red Hot Fools. Shout out to Blair Packham. I'm out. It's all too much It's all too much When I look into your eyes Your love is like me And the more I go inside The more there is to see It's up to love

For me to take The light that shines On the path to Every love It's what you make For us to take It's what you make for us to take You know, every time another anniversary rolled around for the Beatles cartoon movie Yellow Submarine,

you ever seen this one, Mike, Yellow Submarine? First time I saw it, I rented like a canister of movies from the library, projected it on the basement wall. That's how far back I go. Although, I'm young enough that I wasn't born at the time to see this in a movie theater. Sorry, Blair Packham. Trying to age me. Okay, we hit our quota of Blair Packham shoutouts.

I'm told we have to cease and desist. Where are you getting this from? I always heard that there was a guy living in Montreal who played a role in animating the Beatles in Yellow Submarine. And that guy's name, Gerald Potterton, who died August 23rd at age 91. And not only did he have Yellow Submarine as a credit, he was the director. And this is the third time in 2022

this movie has come up in the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment. Heavy Metal, the animated movie. So we talked about Ivan Reitman, who was behind that cartoon adaptation. And then also Sean Kelly, who was the National Lampoon editor who originally brought Heavy Metal magazine to America. And so if deaths come in three,

those were three passings this year America. And so if deaths come in three, those were three passings this year of Canadians involved in the animated version of Heavy Metal. But Gerald Potterton, his celebrated work originated with the National Film Board of Canada.

Moved here from London, England to become one of those animation pioneers. Also worked on Sesame Street and the Electric Company. You would have seen Gerald Potterton's animation over there. As we mentioned, Heavy Metal and also the Beatles' Yellow Submarine. Gerald Potterton, dead at 91.

Now I'm going to leave your notes for a moment Mark, because I have a fresh note that came in from FOTM Mike Hannifin. Hello to Mike, who's in British Columbia. Loved my episode of Mike. He says, I'm not sure if you've heard about the passing of Fred Locking in time

for today's epic episode with Mark Weisblatt from 1236. Hopefully so, but if not, maybe it could be touched on next month. Fred was a great mentor to me. The least ego you could possibly imagine for a guy with his credentials and voice. As I think I

mentioned during my visit, when I got let go by CFNY, Fred Locking called me right away to offer reporting work on CFRB. A huge deal in those days, as Sunil Joshi had just left. Anyway, it's so strange that he passed away August 23rd, and no one knew about it until the last few days. Also, Dave Quinn was another sportscaster from Standard Broadcasting.

CKFM and CFRB also recently died. And I don't know how many are still around from that age in which you would have a full sports department working on a non-sports radio station. But one of those is a future Hall of Famer FOTM, Dave Hodge. And, of course, with the help of VP of Sales, Tyler Campbell, we'll look forward to the annual Hodge 100,

in which we're reminded Dave Hodge is alive and well and cooler than any of us here when it comes to keeping up on what's happening on the independent Americana music scene. Thanks, Mike Hannafin. Shout out to

Fred Locking, who I do remember on the radio. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. guitar solo What do you think the E stood for in Joe E. Tata? Eduardo. Entertainment. Oh, like Chuck E. Cheese. That's right. Charles Entertainment Cheese.

That would be wonderful. He's here to punch up the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial thing. That's more inspired than anything I could think of at this point in the episode no uh Evan E-V-A-N was the middle name of uh Joseph E. Tata who everybody remembers as the longest serving grown-up in the opening credits for Beverly Hills 90210 right I? I mean, he was their front and center. Like all the middle-aged teenagers kept changing, right? There was like an endless rotation of cast members over there. You had Luke Perry coming and going over the years. Eventually, Jason Priestley decided to move on.

Shannon Doherty in the grand scheme didn't hang around for very long in the history of the show. didn't hang around for very long in the history of the show, but Joe Itata playing the role of Nat Busiccio. I got that right? It works for me. I'll have to ask Andy later if that's correct pronunciation. He ran the Peach Pit Diner where all the magic happened in the world of Beverly Hills 90210 and died at age 85

on August 24th 2022 and he was a TV jobber doing all sorts of bit parts on different shows most prominently of all 8 episode run on the Rockford Files

but you see credits he was on an episode of Magnum P.I. and Hill Street Blues and the A-Team. Adam 12, if anybody still watches any of these reruns, you can catch a glimpse of Nat from the Peach Pit, but a whole decade on 90210. Only one of the people who we lost from 90210 this summer. The other one on the show, in the cast, a smaller presence,

but nonetheless, like Andy Pandy, the FOTM, who keeps us up to date on everything that's happening with new kids on the block. She would remember Mrs. Teasley. Right. Mrs. Teasley from 90210 was she the principal, the vice principal. She was some kind of administrator on the show. She was the one that these middle-aged adolescents turned to whenever they were

in trouble. And so she was someone else who had an advisory role. One of the grown-ups on there who always was compassionate and listening to these young people's problems, died at age 64

on August 13, 2022. Also, the death of... That's going to hit you with a mind blow. Let's hear the third one. Jessica Klein, who with her husband, Steve Wasserman, they were right there front and center as producers of the show, running the writers' room. Steve Wasserman died in a boating accident somewhere around 1998.

He was married to Jessica Klein. They ended up separated and divorced. They were soap opera writers who ended up being hired for the show produced by Aaron Spelling. And to go through Jessica Klein's history, one of the 90210 fan blogs cited the storylines that she was most responsible for, including Donna Martin graduates. Remember this one, Tyler? Remember when there was a protest at the school? I'm not sure exactly what happened. What was the problem with Donna Martin not being allowed to get her diploma?

Was it maybe they found out that she was actually 27 years old? Mike, you've got a line to Tori Spelling. Yeah, that's wild. years old. Mike, you've got a line to Tori Spelling. Yeah. You're working with her on again, off again husband. A guy named Dean McDermott. I spent two hours with the man currently married to Tori Spelling today. Now, it was via Zoom because he was in California. But yeah, we spent

two hours together being Dino. Dean McDermott. Shout out to Dean McDermott. But I think, why am I conflating my stories? But I thought Donna Martin graduates. That has nothing to do with when she lost her virginity to David Silver, right? That's a completely different episode. I don't know.

We need some help here. Stu Stone knows this 90210. And I do want to shout out Stephanie Wilkinson. What a sweetheart this FOTM Stephanie Wilkinson is. Because she's the one who brought the cupcakes to TMLXX to celebrate 10 years of Toronto Mike. I didn't see that coming. It was beautiful.

And she appeared on Tori Spelling's podcast. So she's quite the 90210 buff herself. Here's the thing. Donna Martin was not allowed to graduate because she drank too much champagne at the prom. Wow. And it was, in fact, Brandon Walsh, along with Andrea Zuckerman, the two editors of the school newspaper, their faculty advisor,

another grown-up on the show, Gil Myers. He encouraged them to organize a demonstration and show that Donna Martin deserved to graduate from high school after all. You can credit these wonderful storylines to the writers of the show. Degrassi, eat your heart out. The real issues are being discussed. Now both passed away, Steve Wasserman and Jessica Klein, who spent part of her recent life in Toronto.

And I've actually met the daughter of this couple who were responsible for all these storylines on 90210. It's better off that I kept my distance, that I was restrained, because I would have been asking her endless questions. Why was Donna Martin not allowed to graduate? Thank God for Google, but sad about the loss of these people. Jessica Klein, who died at some point this summer at age 66. If you try Any puppy, dog or pussy Do the jerk or do the fly You can do the wooly bully Or can you pull the wooly bully Can you wag, can you wag the dog?

Wag the dog. Can you wag the dog? Okay, someone from the movie Wag the Dog. You know who we're talking about here? Anne Heche, who died in a freak series of circumstances August 11, 2022, at age 53 in Los Angeles, California. As far as celebrity deaths were concerned, this had to be one of the wackier ones. It involved a whole sequence of motor vehicle crashes. sequence of motor vehicle crashes.

At first she slammed into a garage of an apartment. Then she hit a pedestrian on the street and then she slammed into yet another house. And it was a situation where she was on life support

for the better part of a week. The Anne Heche death watch was on and a lot of recollections of the place that she had in popular culture because the first we ever heard of her was as the girlfriend of Ellen DeGeneres, coinciding with Ellen.

Incorrect. No? What else? What else happened there? My mother was watching Another World, the soap opera, and Anne Heche played the twins, Vicky and Marley.

There you go. It had to start somewhere. Did she work alongside Ray Liotta? Do we got that right? No, Ray Liotta had already moved on by this point. Well, we can't get Nelson Branco on the line,

but I'll take your mother's word for it. You'll have to trust me. Did you watch all these soap operas firsthand, or was this information relayed to you by your mother at dinner time? It was like osmosis. Like, it was in the atmosphere and absorbed it. It wasn't a situation like your mother

would barrage her children with stories about what she watched on the soap opera. Similar to how you subject your family to all this discussion about what's happening with John Derringer and Lisa Laflamme. And they're listening to all this. They don't care about anything you're talking about. But I figure like 30 years from now, they would be able to regurgitate the information on the Toronto Jarvis podcast. While I'm opening up to you guys, I'm going to tell you, I made the mistake

of going to TMZ not TMZ, but TMZ.com to see footage of this horrific car accident that took the life of Anne Heche at the young age of, what did you say, 53? Yeah, 53. Okay, I made the mistake of watching the damn videos. young age of, what did you say, 53? Yeah, 53. Okay, I made the mistake of watching the damn videos.

I've actually been haunted by one of them. And I advise you do not do what I did. Learn from my lesson here. Do not do this. But Anne Heche is on a stretcher, and this is some footage, and she's going to be put into the ambulance. And she sits up,

and she kind of does this thing of her hands in the air. And this visual is haunting me, sits up and she kind of does this thing of her hands in the air. This visual is haunting me because I realized, I've been told subsequently, that she was brain dead and they took her off life support. Of course, now she's dead. That's why we're talking about her. But this vision of her sitting

up after the crash. I don't know if anyone else caught the TMZ video. Don't do it. It's haunting. One of the things when Anne Heche was working the red carpet. You're just moving on? Well. I open up about being haunted by this footage.

We've got to end the episode sometime. Give me another Great Lakes. When she was a girlfriend of Ellen DeGeneres, right? But she was still playing heterosexual roles in film, including opposite Harrison Ford. That movie, Six Days, Seven Nights, it came out around the time. And then she was in Psycho, the remake, the Gus Van Sant version.

And a word like psycho would have also been applied to Anne Heche because she wrote a memoir herself called Call Me Crazy, which came out in the year 2001. because she wrote a memoir herself called Call Me Crazy, which came out in the year 2001, September 11th. Oh, I see. The September 11th. Oh, I know where you're going.

Keep going, because I know you come into this story. Right? Right? I remember seeing a poster for Anne Heche speaking at Indigo in the bookstore. I thought, I gotta check this thing out. But we kind of got distracted on the morning of 9-11. But here's the

thing. I remember that Anne Heche did the book event anyway. So this is just like... Did you go to it? No, I should have been there. But there are newspaper accounts because the international press was in Toronto covering TIFF, and Anne Heche was in Toronto partly tied to Prozac Nation,

the movie version of the memoir by Elizabeth Wurtzel, who we have also talked about recently on the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment. on the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment. There is an account in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper of Anne Heche talking about her memoir, about all her psychiatric experiences to a crowd of people who actually came out, right? Like maybe they even lined up overnight. Here was a chance to do a little star sighting

in the middle of tiff you get an autograph from anne hayes and they proceeded with the book event anyway but nobody lined up though even though it was at the point where the twin towers had fallen down right and you know all this tragedy going on in new york city all the airplanes ordered down from the sky and there is Anne Heche doing a little talk on stage talking about her experiences in the bookstore and the way it describes the event. Somebody walked out and said,

this is completely distasteful that you're actually holding this here. Without a moment of silence, without paying your respects to what's actually happened on this day. It's like when Lisa Simpson says, why would you buy tickets just to boo us? Like, why did you go to the event just to walk out?

Absolutely surreal. And you know the movie that she was here for? I don't even know. I would gather they canceled the premiere that night. Volcano. That was Prozac Nation. The movie release ended up being canceled because it was Elizabeth Wurzel who did it with Jan Wong of the Globe and Mail. And she was talking about how she thought the chaos of 9-11 was actually kind of great.

She found it very, very dramatic and exciting. Sure, it's stimulating. And this was in the age of freedom fries. And if you said anything against George W. Bush, you were with the terrorists. And so the company behind the film, which was Miramax, Harvey Weinstein, they canceled the release of the movie. So the entire race on everything just fell apart from there. And here we, you know, flash forward to 2018 and there's Anne Heche talking about being one of those alleged targets of Harvey Weinstein. But that's, you know, I mean, that's a list of hundreds of women by now.

And typically Harvey denied the allegations. But, you know, Anne Heche persisted. I mean, she was not without talent. Did a sitcom called Men in Trees that was on ABC, 2006, 7, 8, remember it? And Dancing with a man behind her, inextricably linked with Ellen DeGeneres, because this was groundbreaking for a star with her own TV show to come out, and it was Anne Heche who was on Ellen's arm, the first gay super couple, though that only lasted until 2020, followed by her having another nervous breakdown. And so a lot of drama in the life of Anne Heche. What about Carol Pope?

Not a super couple. A dusty Springfield? A dark life, a lot of drama, and a tragic ending, which you can see for yourself on TMZ, huh? Don't do it. Anne Heche, dead at 53. I can't wait.

I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait. You made the pretty speech I heard But a single touch Surely is worth a thousand words To a heart That's open wide From the stars

Olivia Newton-John, who died on August 8th, 2022, aged 73. A lot of media attention for this death, and I think a lot of it had to do with the movie Grace, which was such an influence in so many people's lives, particularly young women, for whom I wouldn't say it was the most positive example of how to live your life. I don't know if they expected the movie Grace

to be taken literally. The movie Grace may be also known for its depiction of its relations between men and women no longer being an appropriate thing here in the year 2022. You know, I've never seen this movie. I've never seen Greece. And yet, you

know the songs, right? You're the one that I love, that one. You're the one that I want, and hopelessly devoted to you, which was the big ballad sung by Sandy. Should I see Grease? Am I missing out? Am I missing out? Summer Nights?

Summer Lovin'. Yes. You know the drill. I know the song. Okay, so it's been in the air. This movie has been around for pretty much our entire lives. Yeah. And Olivia Newton-John, who before all that was born in England,

but raised in Australia. Right. She was first a country singer. You might even say that she was alt-country. So Dave Hodges is a big fan. As close as you could get for somebody who was breaking into the pop charts in the mid-1970s out there. I think Grease was both a blessing and a curse

because Olivia Newton-John had reached the heights of being the kind of celebrity. Like, what was she going to do for an encore? And that included what the Robert Stigwood organization would have thought would be a surefire hit at the time, the movie Xanadu, which was an homage to the classic movie musicals. They had Gene Kelly in there playing a soft shoe role, and Jeff Lynn and the Electric Light Orchestra, right? You know the Xanadu theme song. Jeff Lynn says that's the greatest song they ever wrote.

That's his most favorite composition of all. And in fact, it was Olivia Newton-John originally doing the vocals on that song. Wow, that's a mind blow. And ELO, well, he reclaimed it. He now plays it in concert. He's very proud of this

jam. Better than Blue Skies. What's that Beatles ripoff? Blue Skies, right? Yeah. Mr. Blue Skies. Magic's that Beatles rip-off? Blue Skies, right? Yeah. Mr. Blue Skies. Magic by Olivia and John. Remember that one? Have to believe we are magic. That was also from Xanadu. What was she going to do for an encore? An album

called Physical. Yes, Monster. And that was a follow-up to the single Physical, which I remember hearing on the radio. Make a move on me. You know where I didn't hear it? 10 50 chum. Famously, this song physical, which was the number one song in the USA for, I don't know, three entire months.

Yeah. The video was one of the earliest bits of ubiquity. It surfaced at the time that MTV was starting to become a thing. It was 10 weeks at number one for a physical by Olivia Newton-John. Don't want to overestimate

the achievement there. But 1050 Chum in Toronto, the music director, FOTM Roger Ashby refused to put the song Physical on the air. And Roger has spent all these decades, 40 more years, defending his decision

to keep Physical off 1050 Chubb. What was his issue with Physical? I think there was a disco backlash at the time he saw the song as sounding a little too trite. 10.50 Chum wanted to have more of a rock sound, and that meant at the time there was no room for Olivia.

Chum FM, the week after Olivia Newton-John's death, played the song Physical. She was vindicated in the end. She got her airtime on the radio station that wouldn't give her the time

of day. Flash forward 30 more years, and Olivia Newton-John is connected with another couple of FOTMs, Mark Jordan and Amy Skye. Right. They had written some of her songs. They did a singing collaboration along with her.

And a movie made in Toronto called Score a Hockey Musical. Speaking of TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival, 2010. Okay. Score a Hockey Musical, a movie with that name, was the red carpet opening night for what was trying to be taken seriously as the biggest film festival in the world. This was like a piece of CanCon crap that you would flip around on TV on a weekend afternoon. Like Mark Jordan

and Olivia Newton-John playing the parents of some young hockey phenom. I mean, absolute cliche, right, of the worst possible Canadian movie. And for some kind of political strategic reason on that particular year, I think it was also a Jewish holiday thing if you want to get in the weeds.

Like they couldn't actually get like a big movie that night because, you know, a certain percentage of the people in the movie industry, not that I'm insinuating anything here, they wouldn't go out to see an actual serious film. film. So instead, we got stuck that year, 2010, with Score, a hockey musical, by far the worst movie of all time to ever open up TIFF. And I was reminded on a podcast called Junk Filter, hosted by Jesse Hawken, that the song Physical also has a very significant place in popular culture. Physical was the first video ever played on the show, Beavis and Butthead. And so the template of Beavis and Butthead was established by them doing a real-time commentary on Olivia Newton-John's Physical. You remember that video, Tyler?

The subplot of the whole thing? Kind of this idea that Olivia is turned on by all the guys in the gym. Then we get the plot twist, right? The homoerotica comes in the scene there. None of the guys that she's ogling are actually interested in her. They're going off into the showers together. Another tie-in to Beavis and Butthead reflected in our next jam here on the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment. A song called See You in hell

Can I make you an offer? You gotta get on I'll get my eyes on you Cause I'll tell you that you lose And you can come with me To a place you'll know so well I will take you to the valley Days of hell

See you in hell, my friend See you in hell, my friend Okay. Okay, you know you've lived a real heavy metal life when your obituaries include the fact that Beavis and Butthead was the place where people most likely saw your video, but Steve Grimmett was the lead singer of a band called Grim Reaper. He died at age 62 here in August. Oh, I get it. Grimmett. See you in hell. Grim Reaper.

Grim Reaper. That's a mind blow. I didn't even connect those dots. See you in hell. A life well lived for this British heavy metal band. Part of the new wave of British heavy metal. Still active like they kept

going right up until Steve Grimit died in August of British heavy metal and still active. Like they kept going right up until, right up until, uh, Steve Grimmett died in August of 2022. Grim Reaper. See you in hell. What would, uh,

Martin Popoff say about that jam? He'd be into that, right? This sounds like a Martin Popoff jam. I can hear him in my, uh, my head right now. Oh, yeah. I'm going to get a little personal here. You know, when we talk about someone who died, I don't know,

and they're like 10 or 20, even 30 years younger than me, let alone older in the other direction, I don't really look at it and shudder and somehow feel it resonates with me personally. But when I see someone who died whose birthday is so close to my own, it freaks me out a little bit here i don't know has that ever happened to you guys like you see uh someone's birth date uh is uh just a few weeks including the year yeah like a born like a few weeks after i was and and there he died on

august 25th 2022 and that was a jazz organist, a guy named Joey DeFrancesco. Put out dozens of albums, including a tribute to Michael Jackson. Dead August 25th at age 51. One of the albums was a collaboration with Van Morrison. This guy was a real deal, like a child

prodigy. Went to school with Quest Love. Speaking of people born in 1971. But it was Joey DeFrancesco who had a record deal first. 16 years old, Sound of Columbia Records. He was in the band with Miles Davis. Wow. Toured Europe.

Late 1980s. Even before Miles Davis died. So Sirius Kretz here. And his discography that includes a Michael Jackson tribute album, and you look on Facebook and Instagram, and he's already gone tour, and there you go, cut down, suddenly, August 25th, 2022. But it's a thing, right? Like, again, like if it's someone who's significantly younger than me let alone older i don't it it it doesn't it doesn't freak me out as much as it's like someone is almost exactly my

age as long as we're doing these memorial segments there's only gonna be more of those to come so get ready mike stand by i think it was when dallas good of the sadies died you had their reaction mike like i think i think he was his, his date of birth was also close to yours. And it was kind of disturbing. Still got some life left to live. And very sad, very sorry to hear about Joey DeFrancesco. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Thank you. Okay, this song, best known for the movie Silence of the Lambs in a particularly dramatic scene involving Anthony Hopkins

as serial killer Buffalo Bill. Jonathan Demme, the movie director, discovered this song by a woman who was a cab driver in New York City and she recorded it under the name Q Lazarus.

And this song, Goodbye Horses, was the only song she ever released. It was in Married to the Mob, Jonathan Demme movie, and then he used it again, more dramatic effect, in Silence of the Lambs a few years later. She was also in Jonathan Demme movie Philadelphia a few years later, and that was the end of that. And it was an obscure obituary that was discovered under her real name,

Diane Lucky, or Lukey. obituary that was discovered under her real name. Diane Lucky. Or Lukey. L-U-C-K-E-Y. And it turned out that Hugh Lazarus, a legend for having done this song, spent the rest of her life

driving a bus back to her roots. But here at Seminole Recording, do you guys know this at all? From Sons of the Lambs? Or have you ever seen the movie again? Cue Lazarus. Goodbye, horses.

I'm sorry. You want to listen to me If you wanna leave, baby I won't beg you to stay And if you wanna go, darling Maybe it's better that way I'm gonna be strong, I'm gonna be fine Don't worry about this tired of mine Walk out the door, see if I can Go on and go now

Don't turn around Cause you're gonna see my heart breaking Don't turn around I don't want to see me crying Just walk away Cause you're gonna see my heart breaking. Don't turn around. I don't want to see you be crying. Just walk away. It's turning me apart that you're leaving. I'm letting you go.

And I won't let you go. Rather than enjoying the Yorkville nightlife here while the Toronto International Film Festival is going on, we're sequestered in Toronto Mike's basement listening to Oswad and the song Don't Turn Around because this reminds me of a real yuppie kind of late 1980s sound and a British number one hit for what was originally a B-side written by Diane Warren and Albert Hammond.

The father of the guy from The Strokes. It never rains in Southern California. Kind of a lost track. Rescued by this British reggae band who took it to the top of the charts. Don't turn around.

The singer on this, Angus Gay, Drummy Zeb. He was a singer of Oswad, and he did the vocals on this song, their biggest hit. And then later it became an even bigger hit. I know. Ace of bass. Ace of bass. Ace of bass. And there was, in fact, an Oswad reggae remix as well of

Don't Turn Around. So they were the real deal. And eventually had this sellout song. I mean, subsequently, like the recording with Cliff Richard. So, you know, at some point they had to pay the bills over there.

And a remake of Invisible Son, the police song that they did along with Sting. Living the good life there. there and we lost Drummy Zeb September 2nd age 62 and fun fact you can type the word Aswad am I saying that right Aswad you can type it all off your left hand

try it Try it. the start. I saw your face and that's the last I've seen of my heart. you it's how i feel each time you're close to me that keeps me close to you i gotta bring this down it's burning my ear holes okay this is awful but please i i thought it was worth uh giving a shout out to the guy guy that played the woodwinds on this song. A guy named David Mews, who was a member of the band Firefall. You are the woman. And I feel he was responsible for the entire personality of this jam by this country rock band. You are the Woman. Country rock?

I'm trying to... 1976. Okay. You think this would be a jam that your buddy Stu Stone would be enjoying, maybe? I feel like this is a Stu Stone jam. Way too white bread for yacht rock, but... Really?

Say that sentence one more time. Yacht rock needs a little bit of soul, okay? Like, Yacht Rock doesn't refer to music that doesn't have a little bit of R&B. I don't know if that would be the case here in You Are the Woman. Just needs a doobie bounce, right? A fixture of 1970s AM radio over here. Sorry, I was sighing too hard. I didn't have a chance to try and hit the post.

David Mews, he was a guy on the flute, and he died in August, age 73. Firefall. You are the woman on 590. C-K-E-Y. are the woman on 590 CKY. It's impossible power The strength that I can see There's no way that I can let you go Why did I mistake sex for another sense

Than wanting someone else to try to tell you no, well I think you understand Oh, that you've got it I try hard

but I can Oh, do I try hard but I can't Oh, do without it I'm bringing all these songs to the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment with Toronto Mike, but really my dream would be to work at a radio station where I could play these songs. Scott Turner is a program director of a station that plays Simply Red and Firefall. Do you think you would hire me for a job there in Brantford, Ontario

to introduce this music? Well, it is the home of the great one, so it only makes sense you'd end up there. Okay, Scott, stand by. I'll be sending you my demo tape. In the meantime, Holland Dozier Holland, the songwriting team that I think

at the forefront of the Motown sound. Let me understand. This is the song you chose to represent this institution. Because this is a song! Do you know the songs that gentleman's responsible for? I remember hearing this on the radio in real time in my actual life

when Simply Red had their album in the late 1980s. And it was a co-write with Lamont Dozier called You've Got It. And he had a renaissance because he was initially commissioned to work with Phil Collins after You Can't Hurry Love, a Dozier-Holland composition, originally by The Supremes. Phil Collins called up the real deal. Help him with a soundtrack of a movie called Buster. Sure.

And you remember Two Hearts by Phil Collins. Of course. A number one hit at the time. And so Lamont Dozier's phone kept ringing, at the time. And so Lamont Dozier's phone kept ringing. Among other artists that he worked with were Debbie Gibson and Simply Red.

And so here was a personal memory of a song I remember from my favorite adult contemporary radio stations, co-written by Lamont Dozier, Mick Hucknall, and Simply Red, You've Got It. So just so we all understand, you could have played like the Supremes,

Where Did Our Love Go? But instead you said, I'm going to give everybody some You've Got It by Simply Red. Do I have it right? I hope I'm invited back to this show. August 8th, Lamont Dozier, dead at 81. Hey there, Georgie girl Swinging down the street so fancy free Nobody you meet could ever see

The loneliness there inside you Hey there, Georgie girl Why do all the boys just pass you by? Could it be you just don't try? Or is it the clothes you wear? You're always window shopping, but never stopping to buy So shed those dowdy feathers and fly a little bit Hey there, Georgie girl, There's another Georgie deep inside.

Bring out all the love you hide. And oh, what a change that'd be. The world would see a new Georgie girl. Okay, Mike, is this song not obscure enough for you? No, well, I'm a Simpsons fan. We all know this song because of Homer's Blimpy Boy. Judith Durham was the lead singer for the Australian folk music group called The Seekers, started in 1963.

Hey There, Georgie Girl from 1966. Originally a theme song from a movie of the same name. And Georgie Girl, which made it to number two on the Billboard Hot 100, standing its way at number one, The Monkees, I'm a Believer. And so this was a reflection of pop music of 1967 over here. And definitely remembered in Australia

for being one of the first pop stars to break through on the other side of the world. Judith Durham of the Seekers. Dead at 79. And I gotta be a wild, I'm a wild one Ooh yeah, I'm a wild one Gonna break loose, gonna keep on moving wild Gonna keep on swinging, baby, I'm a real wild child We'll be right back. Gonna break news Gonna keep it moving wild Gonna keep it swinging baby I'm a real wild child You know, Buddy Holly died so long ago. How long ago? 1959.

The day the music died. The day the music died, February 3rd. 22 years of age. And it's maybe like a mind blow to think that the other guys who were in the band with him, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, they were still around. They were still alive, at least for one of them, up until August 22nd, 2022, when we lost Jerry Allison, who was the drummer backing up Buddy Holly, the co-writer of That'll Be the Day, Peggy Sue.

But if you want a deep cut, I think a song that was even more influential than any of those as far as the role that it played in the modern music lexicon, Real Wild Child, where Jerry Allison was a singer, and he released it under his middle name, Ivan. Not Ivan for Men Without Hats, F-O-T-M Ivan, but Ivan was the credit for the song,

Real Wild Child. Now, this guy's Australian? No, no, that was the Seekers, Georgie Girl. Why do I always thought this was an Australian song? Was it through the different cover versions it had over the years? No, no, no. I mean, the most famous one we talked about on this show, because there was a period of time in the 80s,

I think we include like Adventures in Babysitting and movies like that, where Iggy Pop's cover of that song seemed to appear on all these trailers. But I thought that was an Australian hit, movies like that where Iggy Pop's cover of that song seemed to appear on all these trailers. But I thought that was an Australian hit, like an early example of Australian rock and roll. Definitely not. That was Jerry Allison, drummer for the Crickets, with Buddy Holly on guitar, stepping out from behind the kit, doing the song Real Wild Child. So only peaked at number 68 in the Billboard Hot 100.

Nobody knew who this Ivan guy was. But I think the long tale of history here, real wild child. Okay, Mike, I'm going to correct you. I'm going to correct myself. It is originally Australian. Yeah, Johnny O'Keefe. Yeah, so only because I've recently been diving into the history of rock and roll, so all this

stuff is kind of fresh in my mind. But yeah, this was an early example of Australian rock and roll. Wild One, a Johnny O'Keefe song. You owe me the largest apology. Jerry Allison. I don't get a bigger apology.

Also known as Ivan. and my my my inability to comprehend that this was not his original song well that's what i'm here for once in a while are you gonna edit all that confusion out you know i'm gonna fix it in post don't worry we've got a fact checker down here are you are you exhausted already tyler campbell vp of sales it's the home stretch, but may I say, because we started pre-drinking outside and chatting it up 90 minutes before we pressed record. And I got to say, I'm fading away here.

Not fade away. Is that a Buddy Holly song? Holy smokes. Shout out to the day the music died and shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Let's burn through the rest and get the hell out of here. What day is it now? Thank you. Emmanuel a legendary French feature film

one of those first instances of erotica coming to the big screen this is the theme song from Emmanuel and the director of that movie who died on September 6, 2022 at age 82. His name was Just Jakin.

Not just Jokin. Just Jakin. And he specialized in this soft focus, soft core porn. And I definitely grew up as soon as I was old enough to understand the concept of what was going on here. So a couple years ago. I had to see these movies for myself.

I remember seeing Emmanuel. It was on the French pay-per-view channel that was having one of those free preview weekends. And I stayed up until, I don't know, 1 or 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning to see Emmanuel for myself. Sometimes we get these anecdotes about young Mike. This is young Mark learning a little bit more about the world. What did you learn about yourself when you were watching Emanuel? You don't want to know.

No, I don't. Later on, a year later after Emanuel, The Story of O, which was banned in the UK until the year 2000. And then Lady Chatterley's Lover. Another one he directed. That's a triple feature right there.

With Sylvia Christel. And then, I don't know, kind of disappeared. With this filmography behind him, he couldn't have done any more than that. Worked as a sculptor in his studio somewhere in the south of France. But you remember the movie Emmanuel directed by

Just Jakin September 6 dead at age 82. Shout out. I don't know if they want it in this case. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Thank you. When you're in this town, wandering around, and you feel lost. Please try to find me and I'll try to find you. You know I need you just like you need me.

Please don't give up Cause we're almost together We've almost made it Hold on and you'll see Okay, what we hear is a very relevant, historically important, heavy metal power ballad. Do you know why, Toronto Mike? Is this the Scorpions? No, it's a band called Gorky Park.

This is a year before Wind of Change, which podcast series speculated might have been co-written by the CIA. Do you know I dropped that fact on Hannah Sung earlier today? Did you know that? It's a blur to me now. And yet, perhaps you could anticipate that I would be dusting off this jam from Gorky Park, who in the late 1980s, in the glasnost era, were the first rock band from the USSR to make it on to the Billboard Hot 100

chart with this song called Try to Find Me. And they also performed at the Moscow Music Peace Festival. It was a big all-star heavy metal anti-drug concert and then the stories came out subsequently that everybody

was doing blow on the plane on the way to tell the kids of America not to do drugs. Molly Crew was on that bill. Ozzy, Osbourne, Bon Jovi, Scorpion, Cinderella. Oh man.

Try to Find Me by Gorky Park is the best I can do with so much to say. At least I didn't bust out the Pizza Hut commercial with Mikhail Gorbachev, who I figure deserves a shout-out in the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment. And, you know, again, like not quite Queen Elizabeth, but as far as figures who we've lost just in the past few days, as figures who we've lost just in the past few days,

he will be a big presence in the history books for the role that he played in Russia, making it possible for us to make out to the music of Gorky Park. Oh, man. You had me at Emmanuel, and now this? Holy smokes. Monica, I'm coming! Shout out to Jeff Woods. Yeah, let's bring this chat to the Blue Hotel.

Here's the commonality between Gorby and Queen Elizabeth II, you know, other than the obvious. Both of them appeared in the naked gun. So, remember that great opening scene when Lieutenant Frank Drebin rubs the birthmark off Gorbachev's head. And it comes off and he goes, I knew it. And Reggie Jackson, man, he almost killed Queen back in his mid-80s or whatever. Like he was going to kill Queen Elizabeth II then.

He had the gun hidden under the base. What a movie. Thank God for Enrico Palazzo. It's Enrico Palazzo. It's Enrico Palazzo! Olha que coisa mais linda, mais cheia de graça Ela, menina que vem e que passa Um doce balanço, caminho do mar Moça do corpo dourado, do sol de Ipanema O seu balançado é mais que um poema

É a coisa mais linda que eu já vi passar Ah, por que estou tão sozinho? Ah, por que everything so sad? Ah, the beauty that exists The beauty that is not just mine That also passes by itself Ah, if she were a beast The Girl from Ipanema, produced by Creed Taylor, a jazz music mogul who died August 22nd at age 93.

I remember The Girl from Ipanema coming up on a previous Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment where we were wrestling with the pronunciation of uh well we had stan gatz and we had wow gilberto remember it was it was an fotm mike mike moniz he he tried to uh give us the pronunciation so that we could get it right next right uh he's of a portuguese descent and he was able to nail it well here's our our chance. But at the end of this punchy episode here, I might have once again screwed it up. The Girl from Ipanema. So, Creed Taylor, who ended

up starting a record label of his own, CTI Records, a few years after the Girl from Ipanema. George Benson was another one of the artists he discovered through that record label. And Bob James

is still alive. Bob James is the guy who wrote the theme song from Taxi, Angela. That's a VP of sales personal fave, as I recall. Yeah, honestly. And so, considerable contributions

to the popular culture from a guy named Creed Taylor, who helped to make jazz music big business. He was the one that signed John Coltrane. Wow. Originally to the Impulse record label. Ray Charles. Wow. Gil Evans. A lot of big names.

Verve Records, he also worked for after Impulse. And then his own label called CTI. West Montgomery. That was another one. West Montgomery did the Beatles cover version, Day in the Life. That's another one to seek out. And honestly, look, real talk. Is that the coolest name

you've ever heard of? Like, Creed. Imagine your name was Creed. I feel like that's a cool first name to get. Oh, not only was his first name Creed, get this, his middle name was Bane. B-A-N-E. McBane!

Wow. And now he's no longer with us. Everybody dies. Okay, but a good long life there. Yeah, shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Which means we're nearing the end of the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial Sigmund.

Mike, how are we going to get there? Testing. Testing, testing. One, two, now. We are now testing this out for proper modulation. As you will know, when you record, the proper modulation that is required is for the electric eye, which is a green type of tube.

We'll open and close as we record. Now I will play this back to hear the quality whether this is operating. Thank you. The bear went over the mountain The bear went over the mountain The bear went over the mountain To see what he could see.

And what do you think he saw? And what do you think he saw? He saw the other mountain, he saw the other mountain, he saw the other mountain. And what do you think he did? He climbed the other mountain, he climbed the other mountain, he climbed the other mountain. And what do you think he saw? Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing from dear old dad. Relay, yuck! Relay, yuck!

Dormez-vous, dormez-vous Sonnez les matines Dormez-vous, dormez-vous A cultural icon who died at age 99, Ben Stern, the father of radio personality Howard Stern, who spent the first half of 2022 complaining about his father on the air. Did you catch wind of this at all? I don't think you're tuned into Howard Stern like you used to be. But it became a radio bit because Ray and Ben Stern, Howard's parents,

they were longtime characters on the show. And after a while, maybe things started to get a little grim. Howard Stern, he's sequestered at home, afraid to come back to the studio, podcasting from his basement, fetching about the state of mind that his parents were in as his father approached

his 99th birthday. And we found out in pretty weird fashion how Ben Stern died. It was mentioned as an offhand comment in like a free newspaper from the Hamptons. And given that Howard Stern built his brand around this disclosure,

that this was the medium in which he chose to reveal this information, it was a little bit weird not to psychoanalyze his motivations too much, but to have learned something about this from something called Dan's Papers rather than on the actual radio show when Howard Stern has his own Sirius XM satellite radio channel. It was kind of unusual, wouldn't you think? Like he has license to broadcast on there any time,

but he was taking the whole summer off, and like the cliffhanger here was, would he be able to confirm the fact that his father had passed away? Not a shock, not a surprise, but he held on to it until after Labor Day to confirm that Ben Stern, heard there on the soundtrack of the movie Private Parts. That's his voice in recordings he made with Howard Stern when he was a kid and played many times on the air. Worked into a remix there in the Howard Stern movie project that Howard Stern, in fact, lost his father, Ben.

A good long life that he made it to age 99. life that he made it to age 99. And that is the Ridley Funeral Home Memorial segment. Let's see Tyler Campbell, VP of Sales, if Toronto Mike is still awake over here to do his customary conclusion to our monthly show. Mike, are you there? Are you still with us? Yeah, of course. Have you passed away?

Oh, no. Who will publish this audio file? VP, you do it. I'm done. I'm on it. Now, I just want to say, at some point in my life, I listened to an awful lot

of the Howard Stern show. That was a show I didn't miss. And you're right. The parents of Howard Stern were these characters. And he would do impressions of them and tell stories about them. I remember famously show I didn't miss and you're right the parents of Howard Stern were these uh characters and we he would do impressions of them and tell stories about them I remember famously uh when Howard was very rich man his parents didn't want to leave their uh modest home even though you know I'm

sure Howard could have put him in a mansion or something but they didn't want to leave their modest home and I always liked hearing Howard talk about his mother and father, and it is very strange the way we learned that Ben Stern had passed away. Mike, keep riding with me on the 1236 Newsletter on Substack. See what happens over the next month as I try to develop a new kind of media product. Making it up as we go along. Very much influenced by your development here at TMDS where there was a lot of serendipity.

But not without you strategizing about what you wanted to do. I'm well on my way to getting there. And we're going to see what happens so strap yourself in and enjoy the ride and that brings us to the end of our 1108th show you can follow me on Twitter

I'm at Toronto Mike and Mark is at 1236 You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike and Mark is at one, two, three, six on Twitter. Our friends at Great Lakes brewery are at Great Lakes beer. Palma pasta is at Palma pasta. Sticker you is that sticker.

You electronic products, recycling association or at E P R a underscore Canada. Ridley funeral home or at Ridley FH and canna cabana are at canRA underscore Canada. Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. And Canna Cabana are at Canna Cabana underscore. See you all next week. 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 There's a thousand shades of grey Cause I know that's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah

I know it's true How about you? Are they picking up trash and then putting down roads? And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can Maybe I'm not and maybe I am But who gives a damn because Everything is coming up rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today.

And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine. And it won't go away, because everything is rosy and green Well I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour

But I like it much sun go down on Chaclacour. But I like it much better going down on you. Yeah, you know that's true. Because everything is coming up rosy and green. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms us today. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine. It won't go away. Cause everything is rosy now. Everything is rosy and everything is rosy and gray. Yeah, yeah, yeah.