Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Mike Cooper: Toronto Mike'd #1004

Episode Date: February 24, 2022

In this 1004th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike is joined by Toronto radio legend Mike Cooper. They take about his years at 1050 CHUM, riding the ferris wheel at the CNE, the April Fools day prank, his move to 590, his years at 680 CFTR, the 5:10 Stoopid Joke of the Day, his comeback at EZ-Rock, teaming up with Erin Davis, moving to CHFI, leaving the show to spend time with his ill wife, returning to take over for Darren B. Lamb and what he's up to now. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Patrons like you.

Welcome to episode 1004 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. 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. 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. Joining me this week, making his Toronto Mic'd debut,

is Toronto radio legend, Mike Cooper. Blonde hair, blue-eyed Adonis of the airwaves. From one mic to another, Coop, what a pleasant surprise. Welcome to Toronto, Mike. Thank you very much. This was destiny. You called some years ago, but we were going through a rather tragic time in our lives.

I was losing my wife slowly but surely. My condolences, Mike. Thank you. I mean, as excuses go, I've heard them all. That's a very good one. No, that's probably the best, you know, and that one just happens to be the truth. And back then, you actually invited me, and then, you know, life got in the way. But then just recently, Gord Rennie, whom you had on the show just recently, my beloved producer for 15, 16, maybe 20 years, I don't know.

And then Chris Mayberry, a beautiful man I was speaking to on the weekend. Right. And then Derek from CHFI. Derek Welsman. On the same day. Really? All three mentioned your name. And by the way, he would love to talk with you.

You should give him a call. I said, okay, that's weird. Three of you said I should give him a call. I said, okay, that's weird. Three of you said I should give him a call. Wow. So I was down doing some work downtown Toronto, uh, cause I live up in the Peterborough area, right on the, right on the lake. And, um, and so I decided, yeah, I'm going to do this. Well, thanks for doing this. And I sounds like I owe, uh, some great legs beard to, uh, Derek Welsman, Chris Mayberry, and Gord Rennie. Because, yeah, I've wanted to talk to you for a long time. But you, as you pointed out, some personal tragedy you were dealing with a lot, which we'll get into here.

But I'm like, I got to give this guy some space and, you know, back off. And I totally did. I understand. And then I figured, OK, maybe the ship sailed on Cooper. We're going to get into it, but you filled in on, you were with Maureen Holloway. You came back, which we'll talk about. And then kind of gone again and I figured, oh, I missed

the boat. But then I did get like a tip, like blind Derek, as we affectionately call Derek Wills. I love the kid. Honest, I really do. He's got a wonderful, wonderful sense of humor. Good guy, good FOTM. And he gave me a heads up that he was kind of selling you on me,

and then Chris Mayberry said he would talk to you on the weekend. And then all of a sudden, an email out of the blue, Mike Cooper, I can be there Thursday at 1 o'clock, and here you are. You're here. Really? Right on time, too. No, see, I said to Gord, I said, well, what's in it for me?

And he said, well, hmm. He said, I will tell you that you get a case of beer and frozen pasta. And I went, I am so there. He didn't lie to you, my friend. I have a frozen meat lasagna in my freezer. You are leaving here with a frozen meat lasagna from Palma Pasta. That's happening. Do you drink beer?

It's okay if you don't, but do you have neighbors? You got friends? Anybody drinking beer? Beer and I get along very, very well. No, in fact, I'm meeting Gord this weekend for a beverage of a sociable nature. Well, in addition to your lasagna, you'll take home some Great Lakes beer.

I'm going to send some home with you. And while I'm doing this off the top, because we have a lot to cover, there's a Toronto Mike sticker. I see it. From stickeru.com. Where do I stick it? And you can put that on your car. I'll slap it on before you drive away today.

Oh, no, that's fine. You know, even Ridley Funeral Home sent over. So, okay. So I want you to be safe. You're outside maybe. Yeah. And it's icy. This is a flashlight.

Oh, I like it. Yeah. Oh, I like it. That's from Ridley Funeral Home. Boy, that's bright. This is a flashlight. Oh, I like it. Yeah. Oh, I like it. That's from Ridley Funeral Home. Boy, that's bright. You can take your own x-ray with that. Holy moly. I got a measuring tape.

You never know, Mike, when you need to measure something. Well, that's true. Or, you know, some people just don't believe how big it is. You can actually prove it to them. I was going to go there, but I'm like, I can't go there. Oh, no. That's where you go. So I'm going to just also give you, this is great,

from Canna Cabana. I don't know if you partake, but maybe you like, I can't go there. That's where you go. So I'm going to just also give you, this is great, from Canna Cabana. I don't know if you partake, but maybe you know somebody who does. No, I don't. But when my wife was sick, she asked the doctor, along with all the, you know, pills that they were, the painkillers. Right.

She said, what about marijuana? And he goes, sure. Might as well pile it on, right? Well, yeah, absolutely. And a can of Cabana created by and for people who love weed, love to smoke it, buy it, chat about it, share it with friends. You've got a couple, you've got a cozy here for your beer, your great legs, and you've got yourself an ashtray.

And before you go, you know what? I'm going to, I'm sure I have a toque for you, a can of Cabana toque. Keep you warm in the, Korth is there. So there you go. Boy, they stopped you up. Is that why you're here? Okay, thanks a lot, Mike. Thank you. you warm in the Coorth is there. There you go. Thanks a lot, Mike. Thank you. And that was Mike Cooper, ladies and gentlemen. He came for the swag.

He got his food, his beer, and he left. All right, my friend. I don't know where to begin with you, but I'm going to start with a clip, and I'm excited to play this clip. Let's listen in the headphones here. C-A-U-N C-H-U-N

Remember Remember This is Chum News at One. I'm Mark Daly. Actually, it's a minute before one and the hour is upon us. A world record is being set right now at the Canadian National Exhibition. And Chum's Mike Cooper will very shortly, by 60 seconds, have the record for time spent on a Ferris wheel.

A new world's record to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. In the background, the crowd at the Canadian National Exhibition. I understand there are thousands of people down there. And Mike has had his five-minute break earlier in the hour. We hope he's going to be able to come off very shortly and at least say something to us. We understand Mike is planning to stay on the wheel after the usual break to secure a solid new world record.

People at the Canadian National Exhibition gathered around the centre Ferris wheel on the midway, cheering on Mike Cooper. Let's hear a real big round of applause for Mike, the new world record holder. Give it up. Oh, I have not heard that clip. Michael, are you there? We'll give it a bit more here. It's incredible. There are thousands and thousands of people here.

1975. Everybody's asking me how I feel. I feel like Canada's answer to the space program, to tell you the truth. The only Canadian astronaut we got that made it 22 days. It's absolutely incredible. There are thousands and thousands of people here today. Oceans of them. I love you all.

Thanks for showing up. Chum is number one, right? All right. I don't believe I did this stunt. I really don't. Thanks very much. Listen, I've got to thank a bunch of folks. One, I've got to thank Chum

for all the help on the ground they've given me. Well, I've got to thank a bunch of folks. One, I've got to thank Chum for all the help on the ground they've given me. Well, I've done my share in the air. I've got to thank the thousands and thousands and thousands of people with the cards, the gifts, and the letters I've received. All the moral support that I've been given in the last 22 days. And I'm speechless at this point, and I tell

you, I'm so glad it's over. I tell you. But I'm going on. I'm going on for another... I guess I'll go on for about another seven hours or so, give the neck sucker something to go for that tries to do it next year. Thanks again. Thanks a million. Congratulations, Mike. You know, Mike, firstly, what are you thinking as you listen to that in the headphones there?

Ah, boy, how stupid I was back then. Oh, my gosh. You you know they asked for volunteers before we actually did all this they said uh here's what we're going to do we just need somebody to volunteer right to ride a ferris wheel at the canadian national exhibition for 21 days 10 hours and 10 minutes so who wants to volunteer and my hand shot up right and but nobody else did like nobody i mean there was like jay nelson there was terry steel there was scott carpenter jim van horn all these great jocks uh tom rivers nobody put their hand up and i went what do they know that i don't know and i was so young I was 20 21 years old or something like that

and so my hand shot up because I thought this was going to be it as it turns out it was maybe one of the biggest things I did to enhance my career when I was so young wow now we're going to step back before we kind of jump forward, but give us a taste. Like, how did you end up at 1050 Chum? My mom was a faithful Chum bug. That was her state. Yeah, that was her station. She's not listening to TSN radio, so it's no longer her station.

But how did you end up at Chum? I started off in North Bay in a small station called SeacAT, C-K-A-T, with the persuasive sound. And we used to use white gloves to handle the records. Wow. And to turn on the radio station, first thing in the morning you had to go in, into the rack room and jiggle a tube. And when the tube started to glow orange, you left it alone, and suddenly we were on the air. And then from there, I tried to do a rock tape and ended up sending, what I was, I was a great mimic.

I wasn't a great broadcaster. I didn't know what I was doing, but I knew how to mimic the radio very well. So I fooled a lot of people, right? And I still am like to this day. Let me pay a quick compliment here, if you don't mind. Are you okay with that? I listened to that clip there from 1975 and I'm listening to you live in my headphones right now. And you've got the same pipes, like you sound the same. I mean, a lot of broadcasters, their, their timber changes, et cetera, uh, as they age, but you still sound great. Oh, thank you. You know, it's, um, my,

my, believe it or not, it's my mother that had the big voice. It wasn't my father. My mother had that like Brenda Vaccaro voice, that really deep kind of sexy voice. And I'm pretty sure that I got my voice from my mother. Oh my God. And, uh, and, and my son has the same timber in his voice. It's kind of interesting.

Could you pass them on to me? I would like to, I would like to sound like that if you don't mind. I have no idea how it happened. I just know that it won, uh, the heart of my tender morsel of passion fruit. My wife, Debbie, when we were 15 years old, I would cheat off her in French because she was so smart.

So smart. And, but my voice kind of made her, you know, think that maybe, you know, he sounds good looking. He just maybe isn't, you know. And since we were 15, I have never been with another woman. Well, I'm going to talk more about Debbie later. I'm so sorry again. Oh, don't worry. But it's part of your story.

It's part of your journey. No, it is, you know, and there's actually a book going to be coming out called Rock Radio, A Love Story, and it's, and the love story is a true love story. It's about my wife. Did you write this book? No, it's being written.

Oh, I can't. I don't. Can you read a book? Thank you. You know, I actually came up with a pop-up book, but apparently it was in bad taste. And it wasn't released. Alright, we will, again, you're stuck here

for several hours because, you know, if you get Mike Cooper, you've got to take advantage here. Now, so you're in North Bay. That's the home, by the way, of James B. So shout out to James B. He was here earlier in the week. And then CFGO was a rock station owned by Bayton, which was a Bassett radio station.

And who also, by chance, owned CKLW in Windsor, the biggest radio station in the world. Right. And I did all nights. The guy gave me a break and I learned really the biggest radio station in the world. And I did all nights. The guy gave me a break, and I learned really quick, really quick, how to be a rock jock, right? Once again, I was a great mimic. And so once I understood what I was doing, I was able to develop my own style.

And then one day they said, listen, we have a problem at CKLW. The all-night guy hasn't had a day off in about six weeks. Could you fly down to Windsor and just fill in on the weekend and give him a break? And I went, yeah. You know what? I swear to God, Mike, I had never been on an airplane before. Wow.

Never been on a plane. That's how young I was. And they flew me down to Windsor at CKLW. It's called the big eight. It was. Speaking of Mark Daly. Oh my God. I love him.

To hear his voice made my heart melt again. Oh my goodness. Well, on this program, you hear his voice often because I, I mean, I, I loved city TV growing up and Mark Daly, The Voice. I mean, how many people get the nickname The Voice? And he was funny too. Like he really, truly was like a funny guy and really, truly well-spoken.

I just love the guy. He was a neighbor of mine. We lived in the same apartment complex. Wow, wow. Okay, so you're almost, yeah, keep, keep going. Cause I want to get you to chum. And then, uh, so with the experience, um, uh, there was, um, uh, a morning guy called Richard money. Okay. Richard money, money in the morning. Yeah. It was his name. Uh, there was an all night gig at chum, but they wanted youth this morning guy at cfgo wanted the gig because he wanted to work

at chum he had worked all his life to work at chum in a major market right and they interviewed him and said you're not the image we're kind of looking for i need a kid i need a hot kid if you do you know anybody a hot kid and he puts his head down and he goes, yeah, the all-night kid. I hate him. He's got a voice deeper than whale shit. Wow. Yeah. You should put that on a T-shirt.

Yeah. And I put a small tape together and I went down to Chum for the first time. See, that was my radio station, so I knew it well. I knew all the jocks. I knew everything about them, so I didn't have to do any research whatsoever. I knew everything about Chum. What year is it when you arrive at Chum? 1971.

Do you remember the on-air lineup when you got there? Yeah, it was. Jay Nelson, whom I saw every morning, he would come in always late, and I would do the first 15 minutes of his morning show, which I didn't mind. John Gilbert was a talk show, believe it or not, for a couple of hours. After that, I think it was Roger Ashby. Never heard of him.

Yeah, I know. I love Roger. He's a very very clever clever broadcaster and uh jim van horn scott carpenter terry steel uh tom rivers i know it was uh these guys were these they were these were men and when i got hired uh bob wood took me into the jock lounge and he said uh these uh this is the new kid his name is uh mike cooper make him feel welcome and uh tom river says uh are you any good are you any good kid and i went boy i used to think so but in this company i don't think so wow i think i suck and tom said good

answer when he said good i knew i'd met i'd said the right thing, you know, rather than, oh, yeah, yeah, I'm pretty good. Hey, Coop, do you mind if I call you Coop? Please. I feel like we're friends who just haven't met yet. Okay. Can I play a little more of you from 1976? Like, let's just, can we hear a little more? I love these old sound clips.

76, sure. Is that a good year for you, 76? I don't know. Okay, so just if we're keeping track, and we actually, then we'll get back to the, get back to the CNE stunt, but CNE stunt,

the Ferris wheel record book stunt was 1975. And this I'm about to play is from 1976. That jingle at the beginning is because I found these on, and I'm not sure if Doug Thompson is behind these. Could be. Doug, sort of my, the official Toronto Mike Chum historian.

Oh, absolutely. Nobody better than him. There is an episode for you, Coop, in the archives. So this is episode 1004, where Doug Thompson came in and we played, basically we went through the history of Chum

as a top 40 station, like from the beginning to the end of it as a top 40 station. And he had these great pieces of audio, of course, because he's Doug Thompson. And it's fantastic. So if anyone listening is at all curious

about the history of Chum as a top 40 station, find that episode of Doug Thompson, that episode of Toronto Mike. So I think that jingle comes from the site I got these from. I'm going to keep it in here for this next one. Next hour. I can help you.

You need a song? I can help. Want to say hello to somebody on the radio? Well, I can help. My number is 870-9111. It's open right now for your call. Billy Swan from your charm. If you got a problem, don't care what it is. If you need a hand, I can assure you this.

I can help. I got two strong arms. I can help. It would sure do me good to do you good. Let me help. It's a fact that people get lonely. Ain't nothing new. Well, it seems like we have the whole song here. Do you want me to skip ahead or are you digging the jam?

You can talk over the jam. No, I hate that song. Billy Swan, One Hit Wonder. Yeah, I can help. No, that was a pretty good song. It was day parted. I don't think I just needed a time record back then. All right, let me skip ahead in the song here.

The Magic. needed a time record back then all right let me skip ahead in the song here the magic I didn't realize this was part of the song. Okay, maybe there's no more coop here. Let's see. Let's see. Let's find out. You're not getting off that easy. Oh, I see.

It's got this. It fooled me. The waveform tools. Okay, you know what? I never heard that before, no. Well, Coop, this is you in 1976. Maybe there's a bit more of you here. Let's see.

No. No, but don't worry. I have more Coop coming up. More Coop coming up. We never would have played that version. It just goes on and on. Everything we played was two and a half minutes long. And they call that, is that the Drake format? And that's the Drake format.

So, okay. So any more detail you can share before I move on to another stunt that didn't quite work out as well, maybe. But let's talk a little more about the Ferris wheel. Yeah, I got, so really story is uh three weeks into it i'm a couple days from the end uh there's a horrendous thunderstorm i'm supposed to uh stay inside the ferris wheel which had a canopy over top of it and in i could get zipped up and um you there's lightning, and I'm in this A-frame, you know, and I'm all by myself.

I'm supposed to have a security card, but it's raining. And these three rats, after a BTO concert, sort of hid into the C&E after closing. And not real rats, but human beings. Human rats, yes. And when they were soaking wet and you looked at them, they looked like rats to me. Well, they were taking care of business.

Well, because they proceeded to beat the shit out of me. Really? Yeah. So being raised in a tough kid in Hamilton, I knew how to defend myself. And I had a crescent wrench that the Kearney guys would give me to tighten the bolts on the A-frame. I had it underneath my seat.

And so by the time I tried to get out, I get suckered by a punch, knock me back into the seat again. I have to try and get out, but it opens from the outside. And so I'm trying to get the bar away from me, and they kick my hand, and so I reach under the seat, and I start wailing away on them. Wow. So then I decide to, like, I'm in trouble.

I think I'm going to go home. And I lived on Overly Boulevard, so you just got to walk up the Don Valley Parkway and you're almost home. And during a thunderstorm, the other two guys ran away. This other guy's in a pool of blood. I throw the crescent wrench on top of one of the huts. I'm walking down Lakeshore on my way to the Don Valley

with no money. And a cop pulls over saying, what's going on, son? I went, just leave me alone. And he pulls up really slowly with, you know, the window open. He goes, get in the car. It's a mean night, son. And he kept calling me son, which was, you know, kind of comforting. And I wanted to get out of the rain.

And he goes, and I'm wearing my chump shirt. And he goes, you're the kid from the Ferris wheel. And I go, where are you going? I said, I'm going home. I just got beat up. And he goes, okay, get in the car. So we get in the car, and he takes me back to the C&E. Takes me back.

Are you serious? Holy crap. That's incredible. I know. So he takes me there, and, of course, Bob Wood and his wife and all the news cruisers, everybody shows up because i got a shiner coming i got a major black eye coming up and uh so the cops arrive and everything else and then i break the record they put some makeup on me and everything else every morning they come

because i got a real shiner wow it went yellow it didn't go black black, but it was a shiner. And then one week after the Ferris wheel, who gets charged for assault and battery? Hopefully three rats. No, me. They charged me. I was afraid of that. Yeah. So I had to get a lawyer, a guy by the name of Julian Porter, who kind of got me off. And so that was the dark time that nobody knows about.

Now, I know this is the Mike Cooper show, but I'm going to share a story. I've never shared this on the podcast, actually, but I worked at the C&E for three years, late 80s, early 90s, as a game booth attendant. Oh, I know them well. Okay, and this is, because we're going to get you at some point to CFTR.

Uh-oh. That, yeah, that's, Evelyn Macko gave me that. This is like an old CFTR. Uh-oh. Yeah, that's... Evelyn Macko gave me that. This is like an old CFTR... I love Evelyn. I forgot about her. She's a sweetheart. Oh my goodness. And there's a voice. When you hear her voice, it's just like hearing Mark Daly's voice. It's like, oh my god, that's Toronto.

But we're going to get you to CFTR shortly. But I won a contest from CFTR where they got me tickets to see a Blue Jay game. You got a pizza pizza dinner and got me tickets to see a Blue Jay game. You got a pizza pizza dinner and then you got to see the Jays game. This is like 1990. Nice. Now, my boss in the game booth was a woman who was obsessed with Madonna.

She was all blonde ambition. She dressed like Madonna. She was obsessed. But that's nothing to do with the story except that I gave her my plus one because that was the way I got off the shift. I was supposed to work and then I'm going to the Blue Jay game. So she got my plus one. Anyways was the way I got off the shift. I was supposed to work and then I'm going to the Blue Jay game. So she got my plus one.

Anyways, fast forward to like really late at night. I don't know, after midnight, I suppose we were closing down and her boyfriend who was inebriated and I'm only 15 or 16 years old, I should point out. I'm not a big guy now, but I was smaller then.

Anyway, this guy was there to kill me or to kick my ass because I took his girlfriend on a date. Anyway, this guy was there to kill me or to kick my ass because I took his girlfriend on a date. Anyway, this is all going down. I realize I'm going to like, this guy's going to kill me. Yeah, you're going to die. Yeah. But there was this Kearney code, okay, because you

mentioned the Kearneys. I know what you're going to say. You're right. And I wasn't working for Conklin. I was working for a company called Astro Zodiac Enterprises. But the Kearney Conklins were there. And you know what Kearneys are like. They travel the show. Bless the Kearneys.

But one of the guys said, hey, you in trouble, buddy? And then I said, yeah, this guy's going to kill me. And I remember he took like a pipe, a lead pipe, and he pounded it into the palm of his hand a couple of times. And he looked back. All these other Kearneys were kind of his hand a couple of times and he looked back all these other carnies were kind of there having a drink after hours or whatever and he said hey guys you up for a fight tonight and the guy said yep and i remember all these carnies kind of came to my rescue to like take on this guy he was there to kill me and i just like i just ran i didn't

stick around to watch the show but i promise you the carnies saved my life that night. And you know what? They almost did the same for me when they found out what they had missed, you know, that night. And of course they're not around because it was, you know, one o'clock in the morning and during a thunderstorm. But oh my God, they became very protective of me after that. And they always. They're your security. Yeah.

The carnies are your security. No, I have a lot of time for them. Okay. Much love to any carnies listening. Especially the Conklin carnies. Yeah, I agree. They saved my life that day. Now, hopefully we have an ex this year.

It's been a couple of years since we've had a CNE, but that's... I've never been back. Really? Yeah. I've had enough of that place. 21 days, 10 hours going around and around. That's a mind blow, Coop.

That's a mind blow. I still have the hemorrhoids from it. Okay, so that's 75. So you have not been to the C&E since 1975? Yeah. Wow. Okay, man, this is already off to a killer start. Now, before we get you out of chum, right?

So do you have any other stories or memories you want to share from your chum days? Before I play some audio from another, I want to call it a stunt, but maybe it's better to call it an April Fool's Day prank. Oh, yeah, that was a bad one. Well, do you want to jump to that? Sure. And then you can always sprinkle it.

I'm really, this is another one I have trouble listening to. Well, you might want to take off your headphones then, because we're all going to listen for a few minutes. Just take a second. Don't play a lot of it. Okay, how about this? Cool like that. When you shoot me partner, I will fade her down. Okay.

You are living things and let your love shine. Let your love flow and let it shine this morning from your chum. It's 1226 and Mike Cooper and a lot of strange calls are coming through again this morning. Must be a full moon. A dude just called me a few seconds ago and said he didn't like what I was doing this morning and said he was going to come on down and shoot me.

A lot of sense of humor out there, I'll tell you that. That could be a radio first. I could make the news. Not everyone buys their brother. Good morning, troops. 105 from Chum, the Rock of Toronto. And this is Mike Cooper for Steve Elliott. And my calling murderer just called again a few moments ago. And he's still kind of hot and he's still kind of anxious to get down and take care of business. I have no idea what he's going to do. I'm getting frightened.

Career training worldwide. Well, I keep getting these strange phone calls when this dude said he's going to come down to the radio station and do me in. Was the movie Misty on last night? That always happens. Every time that movie plays, a lot of kinkos going up and let you have it on the phone. Stevie Wonder from your chum. Buy better anywhere, I guarantee it. Just about done. Oh, God. It's Billy Swan.

It's not Billy Swan again. I need help this morning. Holy crap. I got to tell you, this strange, strange dude keeps calling back all the time and says he's going to do me in this morning. Yeah. Okay, I'm done. That's all I need. You're the boss, but it's just getting good.

So anyway, the guy comes down, and it's all staged, of course, and there's gunshots in the studio, and I fall down, and then I say, April Fool. Well, that sort of brought the SWAT team down, because people, all they heard was this long pause. Right. Before I said April Fool, right? Okay, so it seemed like a great bit.

I was a big fan of War of the Worlds, you know, so Orson Welles, and so I said, I would love to do something similar, and I think I will at the tender age of 21. And the cops broke down the front door. They were weapons drawn. One runs up the stairs with an automatic weapon and one pops into the studio where I am

and I just see the muzzle. I hear the airlock crack, you know, because it's a soundproof booth and you can always hear that air escape when somebody opens the door. And I see a muzzle of a gun point at me, and the door opens and said, where's the shooter? Where's the gun?

I went, no, no, no, hang on. You're going to laugh. Hang on. It was just a joke. And he goes, where's the gun? I said, there's no gun. It was a sound effect record. It was April Fool's.

April Fool's joke. It's an April Fool's joke. And he goes, so tell me the funny part. And I went, oh, I think I'm in trouble. And as it turns out, I was. And so the next day, I was talking to Bob Wood, and he says, I got to tell you two things. Number one, Mike, it was the most brilliant piece of radio I've, quite frankly, ever heard.

And I went, oh, so I'm not fired. And he goes, no, I don't know if I can save your job. I went, oh. Okay. And then the Toronto Star, like man on the moon print on the front page, murder at chum, disc jockey hoax during a rating period. Wow. Well, all of a sudden, I'm not too bad, you know, once again, but he's already said he's going to suspend me for three days without pay.

Three days without pay is a lot back in 1970, whenever that was do you know what it was i'm just curious i was making uh 15 000 a year okay well i was gonna ask what year it was but that's 1975 because okay because i played that the billy swan clip from 76 so because well you finish your story and i'll explain why I think it might be later than that. And so, um, um, uh, because of the suspension and because, you know, I wasn't going to make any money, uh, all the jocks phoned in sick. See, I was a swing jock. I was the one that filled in for people plus did the all night show. So when there was nobody to replace the jocks that were sick, they had to call me in. Right.

And it was, God bless all the guys. They just love me and I love them for doing that. It was very courageous on their part. And I didn't miss one single day's pay because of them. Okay. I believe it was April Fool's Day, 1976. 76, yeah. I believe if my Googling.

That explains Billy Swan over and over again. That's right. 1976. 76, yeah. I believe if I'm Googling. That explains Billy Swan over and over again. That's right. Wow. Oh my goodness. Okay, so, wow. Okay, so it didn't cost you your job. No, however, I shortly after that, because of my notoriety, and I got a job offer, and I wanted to get off the all-night show,

and I wasn't American. All the jocks were American. Yeah, that's weird, eh? Yeah, it was weird. Except Ashby. Except for Roger. God love him, too, and he's from Hamilton, too, like in the Hamilton area. So I actually, how cheeky am I?

I sent an audition tape to my program director, and I was the all-night guy at Chum with an American address on it using American call letters so he could hear me what I sounded like if I was at an American radio station. Right. He didn't find the humor in that. I didn't get the gig. So I chose to leave and went to see KGM in Montreal.

Okay. So you leave, but that's your own volition. You decide you're leaving. Okay, gotcha, gotcha. So in this part of your career, give me the details. Where are you before you end up on CFTR? Before I end up on CFTR? Fill in the cracks for me.

Oh my gosh, I don't know. Where the hell were you, Cooper? I was at CKGM in Montreal, yeah, in 1977. And I love Montreal. My wife hated it. She was pregnant, and we had some medical issues even back then trying to get a little one into the world. My son was born, of course, in Montreal in 1977.

I can't possibly have a son that's over 40 years old. Wow. That's not right. And he sells real estate in Mexico. Will your son be listening to this episode of Toronto Mic'd? No, but I will tell him. However, you know, he's traveled all over the world

and he would listen to the morning show of Aaron and I from like Japan at like 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It's kind of cool. Well, send him the link because he might learn a thing or two about his pops. Oh, he knows, unfortunately. He knows all these things.

He knows it all. What year do you show up at 680 CFTR? Oh, no. Oh my gosh. I don't know. I was there for like 12 years, maybe 15 years. So 1980, 77, 78, 78, 79. Okay.

Now, I did recently. Now, this is. Boy, you know everything. Well, recently I had Sharon Taylor on the show. Oh, I see. I like her too. You know, one of the few things that I haven't discovered, I've had 55 bosses, 55 program directors,

90% of them were dickheads, all of them, that taught me nothing, but she made me a better jock. Okay. You know, and so I have a lot of time for her. Okay, well, she has nothing but high praise for you. I know you kind of leave early. She's not there very long. It's the end of the 80s, and you leave, I guess.

Oh, I go to Key 590. That's right. Oh, okay. We got that right. Okay, so before you leave CFTR, I did, okay, I first discovered Mike Cooper on 680 CFTR. Yeah. That was my station.

I loved Tom Rivers and Mike Cooper. I'm going to ask you a bit more about Tom Rivers. Yeah, we won Jock of the Year. It was a tie. It's never been done before. Record Magazine's Jock of the Year, and since we were so hot,

they declared it a tie, so he and I both shared that award. Amazing. Amazing. So here's a little ad that aired. This is, again, mid-80s, I guess, 86 or so. Commercial-free Sundays, the call of the day, the top six at six. And once a week, Dr. Ruth drops in. The biggest contest of best announcers. We've got it all.

So why do we need gimmicks to sell CFTR? 680 CFTR. No silly gimmicks. You know, Dr. Ruth is still with us. I believe she's still alive. Yeah. I like a dirty girl, though. You know what I mean?

She's like she's abroad. You know what I mean? She's, like, she's a broad. You can't shock her. Now, please, what can you share with us from the 680 days? And then maybe if you get a moment, I just would love to hear your thoughts and memories of the late Tom Rivers. Tom and I, we fell from favor with me once, but at the very beginning, I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but, you know, he decided to do something inappropriate with my wife once at a Christmas party. And, you know, being a bit of a battler, you know, and from, you know, Hamilton, I didn't take kindly to that.

Did you slug him? I did. Yeah, and in a washroom. And so, and he and I never saw eye to eye after that. And it's just, it's kind of too bad, actually. Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that, but, you know. But there's no excuse for that. You know, I don't care if you've had too much to drink

or too much to smoke. We just don't do that to one another, you know. Right, and I mean, you're not the first to tell me stories like that about Chuck and Tom. I'm still angry. Yeah. Isn't that wild, eh? I wish he was still with us so we could talk this out.

Oh, he'd deny it. Oh, no, no, I didn't. No, no, no. She made that up. Yeah. I produced a podcast for Larry Fedorek. Oh, he'd deny it. Oh, no, no, I didn't. No, no, no. She made that up. Yeah. I produce a podcast for Larry Fedorek. Oh, no. I love, oh my goodness. We used to play poker all the

time. Okay, well, he's listening right now. If you want to share a message right now with Larry Fedorek, I know he's listening. He's a very, very gifted broadcaster. He is so clever. I hate him. No, I do. I mean, I really don't like him for that. He's so clever. He's like a comedic genius and a hell of a card player

too, I gotta tell you. Like a really good one. Well, let me continue to blow your mind by telling you. So he has two podcasts. His first series is called I Was Eight and he shares stories about growing up in Saskatchewan as an eight-year-old. That storytelling podcast won a prestigious podcasting award. Telling you no lies, my brother.

I should have a podcast. That's what I do, brother. Come here in the right place. I'll just make up stories. I do want to shout out, since Larry's listening and he'll like this, is that the new podcast by Larry Fedorek is called Later That Same Life, and a new

episode drops every Thursday morning. So literally this morning, a new episode dropped and it's, again, Larry's very talented and it's, of course, it's a very good podcast because he's very good at what he does. But he, of course, worked with Tom Rivers, not just at CFTR, but then, I don't know, Mix 99.9.

I lost track of wherever Tom went after that. But, okay. But you're right. You know, I mean, he fell from favor. And that's the thing is that why I'm still around, because I chose to change with the times. And that's one thing that Tom could never do. He always lived in the past.

This is the way we used to do it. Hey, this is the way we used to. Well, it doesn't apply anymore. And so I'm still around, and I'm going to be 70 this year, believe it or not. And I'm still around by choice. You know, I'm still on the radio. I don't have to, but it's great therapy for me. But that was his downfall.

He refused to change. Those pipes of yours have to be heard somewhere. Like, you know what I mean? You need to be on the air in some regard. I should do commercials and stuff, but I can't be bothered. That's work. You know, I love, like, I'm not a fan of radio. Tell me more about that.

What don't you like about radio? I don't listen. I love, like, I'm not a fan of radio. Tell me more about that. What? Because what don't you like about radio? I don't listen. But did you ever listen or is this a more recent? Oh, when I was a kid, I did. Yeah, because that got me into the business. You know, I used to listen with a transistor radio. Well, you had to find out what happened to the Lone Ranger, right?

Yeah. And then, but, you know, I don, uh, but I love being on the radio. I love the people, the camaraderie that I work with and I love the audience and I, and I love that they, that they need me or I think they need me. And so that gives me purpose, but I am, I don't listen to other morning shows. I don't listen to other radio. I don't listen to podcasts. I don't listen to my own show, for goodness sakes. I swear to God, I've never heard me on the radio. Well, let me get to the easy rock, and then we're getting there.

Listen, I do, before we leave CFTR, though, what can you share with us about, of course, the 510 stupid joke of the day? Can you say it, and I won't interrupt this time? The 510 stupid joke of the day can you say it and i won't interrupt the 510 stupid joke of the day and it believe it or not it there were more people listening to that break at 510 and it was never at 510 than any other radio station like in the world we had a share like an incredible share of people just tuning in for that and then they would go back to their other radio stations or whatever they were into. Where did that idea come from?

It was just because I am a good storyteller. So one day I told a joke inside of a joke inside of a joke, and it was a hell of a story that made everybody laugh. And so the PD said, you know, you should, you know, you make people laugh in the halls. Can you do that on the radio? Like, like every day. And I went, yeah, but we weren't allowed to talk more than 15 seconds.

Right. So that, that requires time. Are you sure? And so we embellished it. Thank God for producers. I love my producers, Gordon Rennie. I love you, brother. And, uh, and a guy by the name of Karl Rampershad, we would use

sound effects to enhance the jokes. And so the jokes took on a life of their own. Most jokes you'd already heard, but you know, with sound effects in the background, they were kind of funnier. Alright, I have a mind blow for you, and this might even surprise you,

but you made a comment earlier that you haven't been back to the X since 1975. Yeah. So Toronto Mic'd correspondent 1236, Mr. Mark Weisblatt who visits me once a month to recap the previous month. FOTMs know that. He

swears he met you at the X in 1989 when you were repping CKEY 590? No. Is that possible? No. No.

Now I don't have the best memory in the world. I trust you, but you wouldn't forget returning to the scene of the Ferris wheel stunt. No. And what year was that? He says 1989. He said he met you at the C&E. You were repping Key 590. No, because I was at Key 590

in 1990. Okay, well, Wiseblood, he's here next Thursday. We're going to discuss this. But he has been wrong before. And who is he, though? He has a newsletter. It's called 1236, and every day at 1236 p.m.,

he sends this newsletter where he covers sort of similar to the same thing I'm kind of doing but he covers what's going on in the zeitgeist, if you will, the media. Boy, that sounds riveting. I'm not doing a great job selling it, but tune in next Thursday when he's here for three freaking hours and

you'll get a vibe for it. I don't have enough words in my head to talk for three hours. Holy smokes. So, okay, let's move on. But you are at Key 590, of course. Okay, yeah. And then what? There were the best of times, the worst of times.

The best air staff I've ever worked with and the stupidest management I ever met. That was Key 590, yeah. Interesting. What made him stupid? Oh. Everything. Just everything. You know, yeah. Interesting. What made him stupid? Oh. Everything. Just everything. You know, inability.

Incompetence. The problem with that is bad management doesn't realize the impact they have on people's lives, their relationships, their mortgage, their health. Bad decisions can actually ruin a career. However, if they make a bad decision and all those people's lives are destroyed because of that bad decision, the management sometimes go on for as many more years without consequence. That bothers me.

That should bother anybody. I think that that's a shame. Yeah. So, um, you had to get yourself out of there. Why does it end for you at Key 590? Because I, no, oh no, I got fired. Oh no, oh no. You know, I've been fired a lot and we haven't

even got there, but you know, I love, I've been fired by the best, but it was always, it was never my fault. It was apparently. Were you fired from CFTR? Was I? No, I know I left to. Okay.

Yeah. And may I ask, and don't take this the wrong way, because here you are almost 70 and you're Were you fired from CFTR? No, I left to... Okay. And may I ask, and don't take this the wrong way, because here you are almost 70 and you're going strong here, but is it possible that at CFTR you were too old to be there? Like, is that even... No, because Tom was a lot older than me, Tom Rivers. Yeah, they did boot him at some point. Yeah, but then they got Gene and Jesse. Jesse and Gene. And, you know, they were just a couple years younger than me, Tom Rivers. Yeah, they did boot him at some point. Yeah, but then they got Gene and Jesse. And, you know, they were just a couple years younger than me.

So, you know, I don't think age, it was, I wanted to enter the morning show arena. I wanted to do a morning show. And thank God I did that move. And, you know, I was going to get a stupid amount of money. Well, that's where the money is, right? The morning show is where the money is. And I was ready to take it stupid amount of money. Well, that's where the money is, right? Sure. The morning show is where the money is. And I was ready to take it.

And I did. And I never looked back. And I always did mornings after that. Good for you. Yeah, absolutely. And is there still money in mornings? Or is that something that's gone? Yeah, money has changed.

But, you know, the times have changed. You know, their stations aren't doing well, thanks, COVID. And it's a shrinking pie anyways. It is. Because, you know, we're now going to have a great conversation and it will never appear on terrestrial radio. Like there are now other audio options, I suppose, for listeners. Yeah, absolutely.

And so, I mean, and I'm okay with that. It's just how do you compete against that? So radio had its day in the sun. Now they just have to be a little more economical the way they get an audience or maintain an audience. And the big salaries are pretty well gone. But one thing will always reign supreme on AM radio is talent, real talent. And the secret, the secret to being a real talent is to make them laugh and to make them cry. And if you can do both, you have them for the rest of your life.

That's why I have such a loyal audience. Make them laugh, make them cry. How do you end up at 97.3 Easy Rock? Oh God, I don't know. I don't know how the hell that I ended up there. I think they offered me and I took it. Because this is, I would consider this the Toronto comeback for Mike Cooper.

It all begins at Easy Rock in 95. Yeah. Oh, I did country for a year. Okay. And I love country music. Is that a kiss? Where was that? It was, no, it was a cham in Hamilton, my hometown.

And it was, once again, a stupid amount of money back when, you know, country was big in the early 90s. I introduced to the world... Garth Brooks. How did you know I was going to say that? Because you said big in the early 90s in the country music. Shania Twain, Toby Keith.

Oh, Fedorek's got a great Shania Twain story. Oh, I have a better one. Okay, go for it, please. She calls me all the time. I don't know what, I mean, I say Shania, it's over. Come on. Leave me alone. Allow me to grieve.

Now, we know what that is because you have one of the great, beautiful romances of all time. I do. So we know that's not true. But, okay, so. of all time. I do. Debbie. So we know that's not true, but okay. So it could have happened. You wish. Now in the mid nineties, Easy Rock, you're, you're

alongside Christine Cardoso. Oh, I love her. You know, we have this magic together and there are times that like five years would pass and I, you know, I, I never, life gets in the way and I never had been talking with her. And we meet each other and we pick up where we left off. And the magic, the chemistry is instant.

And I know how to make her laugh and she knows how to make me laugh. It's instant. I love that about her. And she gets pregnant and she goes on maternity leave. No, it's, it's okay to get pregnant. You know, you just can't stay away too long. We encourage it. We encourage it.

Yeah, so Christine and I actually beat Aaron Davis. Don Daynard. Was it Don Daynard? Oh, no, the other guy. You know what? I can't remember who it is either. McGee. Bob McGee.

Yes, Bob McGee. Not really a nice man, too, and a great talent. But the chemistry wasn't there for them. And he was on the air until like a year ago. He was at Element FM. Do you know this station? No, never heard of it. This is like an indigenous, although I don't

think Bob's indigenous, which might be why he's not there anymore. Oh, that's funny. Well, he was married to Jeannie Becker. Jeannie Becker's on Toronto Mike in March. Oh, is that right? Oh, she's a doll too. I like her too.

Listen, fashion television, okay? So, Christine and I actually take over mornings at, where was I? 97.3 Easy Rock, Mr. Cooper. And so, poor Christine. No, not poor. Good for her. She's going to have puppies, right? So, she goes on maternity leave.

Well, I need a co-host. I work with Andrea ruse for a while whom I adore. And then, um, well, we got to get a replacement. And so Aaron, they fired Aaron and because, uh, because of us. So the, the, the, you know, the, the brain trust, you know, at, uh, at the time and decide, yeah, well, let's get Aaron with Cooper. And I go, no, she's the enemy. No, you can't at the time and decide yeah well let's get aaron with cooper and i go no she's the enemy no you can't hire the enemy we've been we've been working five years to knock her down and you're gonna hire why would you do such a stupid thing like that when christine's coming back well uh uh, we sort of glared at one another and, uh, we knew honestly the first day

it was magic. The gourd, my producer said, oh my God, here's your morning show. The chemistry was off the hook. But because it's, we were opposites. It was beauty and the beast. It was like, she's stupid smart, right? Has a tremendous sense of humor.

She's far too intelligent for her own good. And then there's me. And it just clicked. Okay, now I've got so many questions. I will just tell you, Mr. Cooper, I don't know if you know this, but I've got all the time in the world for Erin Davis. She's been here twice, some of the best episodes of Toronto Mic,

and she even submitted a great piece of audio for episode 1000, which dropped last Thursday. You're kidding. So Erin knows what I think of her. I think she's just the best. And we're still dear friends. And actually, I'm a huge fan of her husband, Rob, as well.

Rob and I are actually dear friends. You know my wife, a huge fan of her husband rob as well rob and i are actually dear friends you know my wife debbie debbie and her were actually became dear friends and she spoke at the funeral for well we're gonna get to that for sure but the rob uh i refer to him as miles long because when he uh when he was producing bobcat show uh on30. I can't remember. Ever heard of him? Yeah. He refused my invitation to come on Toronto Mike, that Bobcat fellow. So he's in my bad books. He's on the shit list? He's on the shit list. Alright.

He's on the shit list. He might not get off that list either. But where am I going here? Okay, so when you learn, so before Aaron Davis joins you on Easy Rock, because Christine is on maternity leave, when you learn that, I believe Julie Adam usually wears this one,

but when Rogers decides to part ways with Aaron Davis at CHFI, what was your reaction? Was it schodenfreude? Were you happy? No! Okay, tell me, what was your reaction

when Aaron Davis was fired from CHFI? Well, hooray for us, No. Okay. Tell me your, what was your reaction when Aaron Davis was fired from CHFI? Well, hooray for us, but you know, just, we want her to stay on the beach because she's a real threat. I mean, she really has a loyal following and, and she writes this blog and she still does to this day. God love her, but I could never do that in a million years. I don't have enough words in my head. But, you know, she wrote this beautiful book, as you know.

And so she said, well, you should write a book about all your stories. And I went, no, I need somebody else. And actually, deep down inside, I don't actually recall a lot of it. You know, I've embellished a couple of times along the way because I don't actually know what happened. Well, as I'm learning, as I'm learning, Coop, you've got some gaps in the memory bank when it comes to your career. Oh, absolutely. Well, I think I am 70. I'm worried about that. No, no, not in the least, no.

But that's one thing that's interesting, that point, though, that scared me about morning radio working with Mo, who's similar, very similar to aaron in in intelligence like oh like shut up i mean how do you get that smart and she's beautiful and she's got a tremendous sense of humor but you know they're so fast and i need it's like watching jeopardy and you have the answer and you've got your buzzer but you go hey hey hey no no they answer it too fast before i can come up with the answer. So I paused jeopardy on purpose, you know, just to give me time. What is Alex?

What is, uh, Topo? Oh, what was his name? Topo, Topo G. Joe, what is, what is, and by that time they've moved on to 17 other questions. So I needed that time. But in radio, you, you're not, you can't afford that moment of, oh, what's his name? Oh, what's that?

What was the puppet's name? Unless you're doing a 90-minute episode like we're doing, then that's the exception. But you're right. Absolutely, you're right. I was on CBC Radio 1 yesterday, and it was a 9-minute and 40-second appearance. Jesus.

And I know. But you're so hyper-aware, you're live on the radio. And I think I did actually a pretty good job. Jesus. And I know, but it's a whole, you're on, you're so hyper aware you're live on the radio, and I think I did actually a pretty good job, but I'm laughing. If I don't say so myself. Can you pat me on the back, Mr. Cooper? It's right over here. Maybe you too could be a blonde here. So here I'm comparing my 9 minutes and 40

seconds of terrestrial radio experience with your, how many, what are you, Regis Philbin? How many hours of radio do you think you have under your belt? I have no idea, but 50 years since I was 20. Wow. Yeah, 50 years. And you're still, are you the last, here's a great question,

and then I got to get back to Easy Rock, but do you think maybe you're the last guy who could have been heard in 1970s on Toronto Terrestrial, well, there was only Terrestrial Radio in 1970s, but are you the last guy who could have been heard in the 1970s on Toronto Radio that can still be heard on Toronto Terrestrial, well, there was only Terrestrial Radio in 1970s, but are you the last guy who could have been heard in the 1970s on Toronto Radio that can still be heard

on Toronto Radio? Are you the last guy? I don't follow that stuff. I couldn't tell you. I mean, there's a- Now that Bob McGee has hung up the- Yeah, no,

I couldn't tell you. And deep down inside, I really don't care. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to you. Okay, long may you run. So there's a rumor I heard, and I wonder if you have

any insight into this. Is it true that 97. So there's a rumor I heard, and I wonder if you have any insight into this. Is it true that 97.3, before it was Easy Rock, it was going to be Classic Rock with Derringer, and then they did some research, and it led them to change their mind, and that's how John Derringer ended up at the fan instead? Did you ever hear this? No.

Let's start that rumor. Yeah, they don't tell you a lot, you know. It's just like the new morning show at CHFI. You know, I thought they didn't have a plan. They had no idea what was going to happen. You know, and I was just there to fill in. As it turns out, they knew all along. They had a plan.

I just, it was such a secret. Okay, we're getting there right now. We're getting there now. You know, I like this chronological order here. So we have you at Easy Rock. You and Erin are kicking ass. Can you tell me, how did the conversation go with Erin when she basically says to you that CHFI came calling?

Yeah, so we were at the Toronto Zoo for Children's Day or something like that, and I don't know why we were there other than the Toronto Zoo is cool. And there were children there. And so Erin can't lie. Like, she's the worst liar. I'm really good at it. Like, I'm lying now, and you have no idea.

Oh, I know. I know you are, yeah. Okay. And so she goes, I had a dream last night, and I said, yeah, good. Was it sexual? And she goes, why do you always go there? And I went, okay. What was the dream? last night and I said yeah good was it sexual and she goes why do you always go there okay what was the dream she goes I dreamt that you know the CHFI asked me to come back and I said

so would you she goes yeah I said okay what's going on she said I got an offer and I I think I'm going to go back to CHFI and they went holy crap I said well then that's great because i still get christine back right right she said well um i said under one condition i said what that you come with me and i'm oh shit that's going to be costly eh and i went oh my goodness well thank you for that of thinking of me uh but um and and they And they were thinking of other partners for her because they figured that I wouldn't go in a million years. But I wasn't a big fan of the management at the time anyway. And we had a dreadful program director, just dreadful.

And so, yeah, and I liked Julie Adam when I met her. I still adore her, to tell you the truth. I just think she's wonderful. One of the best when I met her. I still adore her, to tell you the truth. I just think she's wonderful. One of the best boss I ever had. Once again, another woman. Wendy Duff, once again, another woman. Because they're fans of radio. They're fans of talent.

They weren't former disc jockeys that didn't make it. And so they're not jealous of the talent. They encourage it. They're great jockeys of these race horses that love to run. Their, their job is to make sure that they run, you know, in a circle and the right way on the track.

Now, okay, just back to Sharon Taylor for a moment. And I loved my episode of Sharon and she's done some amazing things, including that kiss. But it's, it sounds like she's brought in because they're like, because they're flipping all news. It's almost like we need somebody to take, you know what I mean? It's almost like they set her up to flip formats,

as I look back at it retrospectively. Is that a word, Mr. Cooper? Oh, yeah. I use it all the time. So you bring her in from out west, and then you realize top 40 AM radio is dying, essentially. And music's going to FM,

especially current music. And then you have this plan in place for the early 90s where you're going to be all news in it. Anyway, that's as an aside. Julie Adam, I hear nothing but good things. I recently put her on Humble and Fred. Oh, they say hello to you.

I was on a Zoom with them this morning and they said say hi to Coop for me. I have a lot of time for them. Fred is the worst golfer ever. I mean it. Sincerely, the worst. And his partner, Howard, is like a scratch golfer. He's fantastic. Yeah, he's very good.

Oh, so you know? Well, because he likes to tell me he won the senior championship here. He's really good. Once again, I hate him for that. I'm a bad golfer. I love the camaraderie. I just don't like the game. I don't like golfing, to be quite honest. Good for you.

We're going to get along. So, okay. So Aaron Davis is going to CHFI. This is all a very important detail. You know, you're starting to lose me, right? I'm starting to play with all the things you gave me. Hang in there. It's all worth it here. Aaron Davis is going to CHFI.

Aaron wants you with her because you have this great rapport. I guess you've got to give your notice At Easy Rock You've got to wait a period of time Yeah I got it six months And I did it, I honoured that But then at the very end they got dickish They became dicks

And so that's when I Said you know what I'm going to hurt these people When I leave And we did We hurt them bad Good for you, now the dickish And I said, you know what, I'm going to hurt these people when I leave. And we did. We hurt them bad. Good for you. Now, the Dickish, is it Standard?

Who the hell owns Standard Broadcasting? Gary Slate. A lot of people love that guy. You know, I could take him or leave him. You know, he did nothing really for me. But he's like a philanthropist. He's got a billion bucks or something. Yeah, he's got a billion. I liked his dad better, to tell you the truth.

I did. And his daughter, Allie, is a singer, and she's a real sweetheart and a real talent as well. Okay, but no love lost for Gary. No, I take him for leaving. Okay. But so he owns, yeah, he's running Standard, I guess. Yeah.

So Easy Rock there. And you go to the Rogers-owned CHFI. Yeah. And this is a big, not that And you go to the Rogers-owned CHFI. And this is a big, not that it matters, but this is good for your wallet. Aaron, Aaron did you great, great favor, made your wallet very happy. Well, also, you know, we, you know, the, well, I'm a great talent for one. But for two, they had great incentives. So it wasn't really the money. Right.

But there was money if you were number three from number eight in the market, which they were. If you were number three, you would make a large sum. If you were number two, a larger sum if you, by chance, made it to number one. A staggering sum of money. That means the radio station also is making a staggering sum of money. sum of money. That means the radio station also is making a staggering sum of money. They made

millions when we became number one, like over $30 million. Easy. And Aaron has told me on this program that it was important to her that her name go first because with Don Daynard, etc., it was always like Don and Aaron. And this was going to be

Aaron and Mike, and you were A-OK with this. Oh, you see, I know my place. No, I do. I mean, I love just being in radio, and the position doesn't make any difference to me. As long as my name is on the marquee, and as long as I get a chance to shine, I don't care. So, you know, ladies first, not a problem. I never, and even with Mo, when I worked with Mo, you know, I don't care. So, you know, ladies first, not a problem. I never, and even with Mo, when I worked with Mo, you know, I mean, absolutely. You know, Mo's radio station, I'm just a guest.

I'm just filling in by accident. And it never even occurred to me that my name should go first. All right, Coop, before I lose you here, because I know you're. I'm starting to get playful now. I'm staring at the beer and I'm shaking. Well, let me, let me, and again,

uh, let me, let me change the tone here for a moment. I'm going to get serious for a moment. So collect yourself, take a deep breath. But, uh,

so Aaron Davis, Mike Cooper on CHFI, a juggernaut, a ratings juggernaut. Of course, uh, we'd see your ads and you guys were very popular in your targeted demo, particularly,

and, uh, all's honky dory but let's just if you don't mind take you back to I guess you were doing a live show and you'll tell me if it was at Jamaica? Yeah I think it was and all hell broke loose we were just starting the show you could hear a sort of a murmur Rob got called away and that's when we found out the demise of her daughter, whom I actually adored myself. Her and I had a kind of a special relationship, you know,

that was, it was kind of, it was so interesting that we could make each other laugh and she would say things about her mother that, you know, she could never tell her mother. And you know, then I was privileged to, so I was kind of like uncle Mike to her. And I,

and I love that role. And, and Lauren Davis, cause in Aaron's first appearance here, uh, she was very proud of Lauren having a, an opportunity in Ottawa radio. She could be heard on beautiful girl and a beautiful singing voice too.

I mean, really very talented. You know, not to get too deep here, Mike, we're talking radio, but do you believe in God? That's too personal. You can take a pass at it. No, not at all. No, I have to admit, I kind of lost my religion when they kind of took my wife away.

Yeah, that's, yeah. Yeah. So, you know, it's like, how do you, how would you do, why would you take an angel like that?

Take me. Holy crap. I'm the one that's got it coming. Right. So that's double whammy really for the show, because Aaron, for those who don't know, and again,

Aaron's second appearance on Toronto Mike, she speaks very openly about this and candidly about it. I down crying in that conversation i find this so incredibly sad i know as in mike it's okay i'll take that moniker on this one i'll take that hit because you take a 20 i believe 23 year old woman who literally this was her very first mother's day as a mother and she's got a less than one year old-old, Coco, and passes away in her sleep. And, like, geez, man, that's the saddest thing ever. Isn't it? Oh, my gosh.

Boy, you know, you're just a bundle of joy. I know. I warned you we were going to get heavy for a moment here. But Erin experiences this loss. And at this point, is Debbie sick? Again, if it's too personal. No, not at all. No.

And as they say, Erin and Debbie were actually friends. She spoke at the funeral eloquently, by the way. And so she had colon cancer, stage four, for five years. It's almost impossible to have stage four cancer for that long in a colon, which they removed ultimately, you know? And so she just went through one hardship after another, one procedure after another, pain day after day, and to the point of like, oh, come on!

Come on! Leave her alone! Coop, I'm so sorry. I know we're talking about Erin's great loss losing her only child and now we're talking about you were you and Debbie were uh together since you were teenagers as you said here this is a lifelong you know romance and uh my goodness and that maybe we talk about you know January 2016 you announced that you're uh you're you're leaving the CHFI morning show and maybe this is the time to find out.

I mean, is it simply you wanted to spend time with Debbie while you could? And you know what? I even lied to my wife about that. She said, if you are leaving because of me, I am going to be furious and I will haunt you for the rest of my life. And I went, no, no. No, like I'm 65. And I think, no, no, no. Like I'm 65 and, uh, I think it's time to, uh, you know, time to retire. And, uh, you know, so I'm just going to take a really, really, really, really good care of you. And I'm just going to spoil you

more than I've already spoiled you your entire life sort of thing. Uh, so she hated the idea that I was leaving because of her. So I never told her the truth. But the truth was, I knew she was in trouble. She didn't listen to the doctors. She thought she was going to beat this. She really believed it. She had these concoctions she would put together every morning, all these things that she would put in her smoothies and turmeric and all these things she would put in her drinks to try. And ultimately it might have even saved her, you know, but at the end it was just the most tragic, tragic thing. And I'm still not over it.

I've got to admit I'm still troubled. In fact, I had to go to a psychoanalyst. Is that the word? Sure, a psychoanalyst, sure. Because everybody was kind of worried about me. I said, I'm fine. I'm good. Everything's good.

You know, I'll be fine. And so I go to the psychoanalyst, and she starts to, she said, well, so you're here about your wife. So anyway, I start making her laugh. And for half an hour, she has the hanky and she's wiping the tears away

because I'm making her laugh, right? And at the end of a half an hour, she goes, well, I don't think we accomplished very much today, other than the use humor as a shield. Well, she's dead right about that. I mean, that is exactly the defense mechanism that many use so they don't have to deal with the root of these problems is humor. I mean, humor deflection. That's the easy way out for a guy who's naturally funny like yourself.

But have you subsequently dove uh, you know, dove deeper into, uh, this, this great loss? I mean, everyone grieves differently. I'm not here to judge how any human being grieves, but if you're with somebody since you're whatever, 15. Okay. You get ready to cry.

I'm ready. All right. I'm ready. My daughter, um, uh, got married in September last year, September 1st. And, um, uh, course, Deb wasn't there, however she was, believe it or not. So they say we're going to get an ordained minister because she kind of lost her religion as well because of all this.

And I said, I'll do it. They go, what do you mean? I said, I'll become an ordained minister, and I'll do the ceremony. I mean, who better than me than some guy or some woman? I can do it better than anybody. So I took the course and everything else. I learned how to do it, and we went to St. Anne's Spa, outdoor ceremony in a gazebo, butterflies, wildflowers everywhere,

Sarah in her gown. And then Ian MacArthur's wife said to me about six weeks ago, Anita said, she's a sensitive, or I don't know what that word is. She feels, she gets feelings and vibrations from those who are deceased. Medium. A medium. I'm extra large. Sometimes a 2X, really.

See, there you're doing it again. Yeah, see. Using humor to deflect from a heavy convo. Okay, okay, okay. So she said, Debbie came to me in a dream and she said, I was there. And she kept clapping her hands saying, I was there. I was there. I was there. I was there. And that's all she said. And I said, what was there. And she kept clapping her hands saying, I was there. I was there. I was

there. I was there. And that's all she said. And I said, what was all that about? She said, she was telling me she was at the wedding. I went, you know what? There was a butterfly that landed on the podium as I was doing the ceremony and everybody sort of of paused and that's, I actually thought to myself, no, that's stupid. I don't believe in this stuff. And the little thing kind of floated away, but it was that magic moment. Like, you know what? Wouldn't it be cool if it was, wouldn't it be cool?

Yeah. So anyway, we did this ceremony. There was, uh, lots of tears. I got through it. My finest performance, because that's one thing that radio taught me, was under pressure, you know, in severe emotion, how to pull it all together when you really have to. Well, on that note, and we'll come back here,

but just Erin tells me that when she received news in Jamaica that her daughter had passed, that she went to do that morning show. Oh, yeah. Like she was ready to do that her daughter had passed that she went to do that morning show like she was oh yeah like she was ready to do that morning oh she's crazy you know I said no no I said go home bury your daughter sweetie no no no no no we're not doing we're not going to do this no we're I'm not doing it uh I'm not ready for this so you do the show but I'm not so and that kind of but that speaks to what you're speaking to where it's like you you have that switch where you can go into performance mode.

Yeah. But because the audience was there. So she says, you know, the show must go on. And I went, no, not in this case. Yes. Every other case. Yes. But not this one.

Cause she was in, she was in shock and I could see it in her eyes. She started to get really classy and had that far away look. And, and of course Rob didn't know, nobody She started to get really classy and had that far away look. And of course, Rob didn't know, nobody knew what to do to tell you the truth. So yeah, it was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

There's a one-two punch there because gut punch, if you will. So Aaron's loss, your loss again, I know I've said it a few times, but my condolences. And I know this is why it's taken you this long to get on Toronto Mic'd, because you had to be there for Debbie. Yeah.

And so I still listen for her at night. And you know what I did? Like last night, it was steak night. Why not? Because, you know, I'm by myself. And I would cook her a steak. She would have it perfectly. But when she was sick and her little tummy couldn't handle anything,

I would cut a steak, a sliver, like with a razor blade, paper thin, so she could at least taste it and, you know, put it in her mouth and she would clap her hands. Well, she's very lucky you were there for her. I was lucky. She gave me purpose. She made me a better man. Okay,

my friend. Okay, so that's like the heavy portion of this conversation. I think we're done. We're almost done. Like, almost done. Hang with me, buddy. You want to earn that lasagna, don't you? Okay, and the beer? And the beer. Thank you. Very close to done, but you sign off

after 45 years. You say goodbye and the date you say goodbye is January 29, 2016. And you go spend time with Debbie. And of course, Aaron Davis is still there at CHFI and they bring in from, it's funny, I had Tom Jokic on the show.

Oh, he's a wonderful talent. How is he? He's doing well. I mean, he's immunocompromised because he has no spleen. So we did it by zoom. I think mine fell out years ago too. But you know, you know, he,

and for those who don't know, and you should listen to the Tom Jokic episode. It's only a couple back, but he, uh, maybe it was the last one. Actually. I might,

it's all blurred to me. Once you hit a thousand, you run, you forget. But, uh, Tom speaks about, of course,

uh, Darren B. Lamb comes in to replace Rick Hodge on Chum FM. And then Darren B. Lamb leaves Chum FM because he got an offer he couldn't refuse to replace you on CHFI.

So Darren B. Lamb, Aaron Davis, I know you're friends of Aaron. Any insight into how that... Yeah, the chemistry. Once again, you know, the chemistry between Aaron and I shouldn't have worked. You know, when you think about our temperaments and who we are, you know, and what we are.

But it did because we were opposites. Not that they were similar is that Aaron could very easily be a solo performer and so could Darren, but together you have to share and play nice. And sometimes it's really difficult for talent. Not for me. I feed off of people I need like you. I could not do this interview,

quite frankly, into a mic all by myself. It would be far shorter. Here's the million dollar question, Coop. Yeah. Had Debbie never got sick and you never left CHFI. I'd still be there.

Yeah, well, okay, similar question. But my question specifically is, would Erin Davis have moved out west when she did? No. She just wanted to run away. And she chose. That was her choice. And she loves it where she is. She's happy where she is, but she's, uh, she was troubled back then. And, uh, we were all troubled back

then, you know, every once in a while, you know, the sun comes out on us, you know, and, and we had a really good run, but every once in a while, storm clouds gather and it starts to rain. And it started to rain on us both almost at the same time. She chose to go back into the sunshine again to her happy place. And it turns out it's out west somewhere. And her grandson has joined her there, which is very exciting. I know, way out there. In Vancouver Island somewhere.

Oh, really? But yeah, her grandson now lives there as well. I know. So this is very special. Oh, and you should see him. He's huge. I have a son the same age, so I can track these things. Yeah, I've got a seven-year-old son.

Do you really? Who is like pretty much the same age as me. Do you have any other kids? Yeah, I've got a few. I've got four kids. You do not. I do. Well, give her a break.

Holy smoke. I didn't have a Debbie for my whole life. I had two Debbies, okay? Oh, did you? And each produced two children for me. So it's not, yeah. I went on my first date the other night. Whoa!

I know. Your first date since the passing of your wife. Yeah, and I think I talked too much. I think I just, I was funny. But did this person know that they were on a date with Mike Cooper? Yeah, but I think I talked too much, and I think I blew it, because I don't know what I'm doing, right? Well, okay, okay.

Put a pin in that. No, no, I'm sorry. But anyway, her name is Karen, and she's a doll. Will there be a date number two is the big question. Sure, sure. Well, this is a big step, I think, in the mourning process. There's a book about mourning you need to read by an aaron davis called morning has broken you should look into it is it a pop-up see he's doing it again he's doing it again okay quick quick a few more

radio questions and then okay you're almost done hurry okay where do you have any insight into what happened because basically for those who are following along at home aaron davis moves out Almost done. Hurry. Okay. Where do you have any insight into what happened? Because basically for those who are following along at home, Aaron Davis moves out west. Yeah. Maureen Holloway comes in from Q107 to take Aaron's spot alongside Darren B. Lamb. And a few years later, yada, yada, yada. Darren B. Lamb seemingly disappears. Yeah.

Do you know what happened? Because I have no freaking idea. It's the weirdest thing I've ever known in radio. And to hold a radio station up for ransom like that, and then to have Rogers buckle, you know, and it's like, I applaud him. It's like, wow, I don't know what you did, man, but tell me because I'm going to do it too. Fascinating.

Okay, I don't have anything I can disclose on this microphone right now, but Darren B. Lamb is not on the radio. He disappears from the airwaves. You trawl up in to take a spot alongside Maureen Holloway. I don't know, it was less than

a year, I guess, in total, but how did it go doing mornings again, but this time with Maureen Holloway instead of Aaron Davis? It was wonderful. It might have saved my life. And, you know, thank God for Darren leaving because the money they paid me, I paid for my daughter's wedding.

So it kind of worked out really well. So thanks, Darren. Appreciate that. That's awesome. Yeah. And a car. I needed a new car. Amazing.

Okay. And a house. So good for you. No, and a car. I needed a new car. Amazing. Okay. And a house. So good for you. I love it when talent gets the money because too often your private jet is in my backyard right now. That's how Coop got here in a private jet here. Yeah, so Mo and I, yes. Mo and you. But quick society, I had Gord Rennie on the other day.

But my question to you is, we know Gord Rennie was let go day but my question to you is we know Gord Rennie was a let go in that. Yeah. That was tragic. That was mean what they did. That was just

mean. Why do producers have, is that because morning shows have their own producer? Because Gord was like,

anyway, Gord got it when Maureen Holloway got it and you got it again. Okay, so Ian the General, you brought him

up earlier, Ian MacArthur. I just need to know because it was spun as this retirement for Ian the General, and I didn't buy it for a second. Good.

I hate it when they do that in radio. I know. Ian the General, did he retire or was he retired? No, he was retired. Yeah, obviously. Yeah, I mean, they took good care of him, as they should have. And see, it's the evolution of radio. It's okay. You know, they

blew up the radio station because they want to start from scratch. And okay, we're going to start brand new. And this isn't working. And I honestly thought I could change things. I thought I could save lives. I could save jobs. If Maureen

and I got really good, maybe I could help and I could come out of retirement. But that's just old ego, you know, figuring, yeah, I can do it. I've done it before, so I can do it again. Well, as it turns out, that was stupid. That's just the whims of an old man. And that is a cauldron in that studio. It is not as easy as it appears.

We make it look easy, but it is not. On that note, Mike, they brought in a television duo. Okay, so. I wish them the best. Oh, sure. But I will tell you, they are far too good looking for radio. Radio should look like me. So I brought this up...

No comment. I brought this up with Tom Jokic last episode, so I'm going to tell you what I think. I think that you have a company, Rogers, you might be familiar with them, and they own a tv station called city tv and their big morning show is called breakfast television this is a tv show the big competitor to breakfast television in fact steve anthony came in here one day to just brag

about how cp24 breakfast had beat breakfast television the ratings for the first time his co-host was puja handa by the way. So there's a big competitor at CP24. Their breakfast show is doing very well against breakfast television. The stars of the CP24 breakfast show, Gurdip Alwalia and Pooja Handa. And what better way to beat the competition than to recruit the television stars at CP24 breakfast

and put them somewhere in the Rogers media bundle, which happened to be mornings on CHFI. Yeah, well, if they do well, I wish them the very, very, very best. That means the management made the right decision. If they don't do well, it's not their fault. It's management's bad idea. Well, they're not radio people,

and radio is not the same as television. You can't just take your skill set honed being on television in the mornings and duplicate that on the radio and it'd be successful. I would like to help them. I'm not bitter in the least. I love talent. And once again, I don't listen to radio, but if they asked me to i would

certainly uh you know give my two cents if if but they never ask my opinion because they don't want to hear it well they're so good looking as you mentioned here i'm like you mr grouper uh just kidding but no it's this is i mean i sound good looking and that gets me uh that gets me to the next base every single time and but do you think they're destined to be and i'm with all due respect to the wonderful people currently on breakfast television this is no slight against them but do you think the future is that uh puja and gurdip end up as breakfast television hosts oh jean that's you know who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men you know i, I know they sparkle,

but whether or not it translates on radio, I don't know. It means I have to listen. And you don't listen. And I don't listen, but I don't listen to any radio because there's no reason for me to. Well, the aforementioned Mark Weisblatt,

who swears still doubling down that he met you at the C&E in 1989. You know, he could be right. If he can produce a photo. Yeah. We'll see if he has a photo. But he will be, he has been listening to the CHFI morning show. So next Thursday, he's going to sit where you're sitting right now to tell me how it's going over there.

So stay tuned. Maybe your phone will be ringing again for like a third tour of duty at CHFI. You know, I'll tell you, I got three job offers recently. Wow. From, you know, because I wasn't going to return back to CHFI. They were, you know, being kind of jerky. Well, they didn't, they tell you to go away?

No, but, you know, I was going to tell them to go away. And plus, you know, I should, I should retire. But, you know, I do like Coop's Classics, which I still do every Saturday. Well, remind us here, while you said the words there, because there is a question that came in. Somebody wants to know how long it takes you

to record the Coop's Classics. Four hours. So four hours, and I'm just reading a note that the predecessor, Don Daynard, Don Daynard used to mock the fact it would be the same songs repeated every week. And that happens, and it doesn't happen to us. But over the years, yeah, it would be the four tops of the same old song over and over.

It's like, come on. Okay, so tell me. So obviously, Maureen Holloway and you get removed from the airwaves at CHFI because Pooja and Gurdjieff are coming in. Yeah. And you're telling me that you've received other job offers since then. Can you tell us any specifics? No, I can't.

Is one to be my co-host on Toronto Mic'd? Because I can pay you with Great Lakes beer and I can pay you with, what if I paid you with cannabis and lasagna? Okay, I've never told anybody this. And so if you promise not to tell anybody. I'm not even recording this. Each time it was for a dreadful sum of money, almost minimum wage,

no benefits, and I have to run my own board. I don't know how to do that. All I know is how to talk. But the new generation broadcaster, which know, which the new morning show, they have to be visual now. You have to be an author almost. You know, you have to take pictures because, you know. Well, you know who's been running his own board

for a long time now is the great Stu Jeffries. Oh, yeah, I know. He runs his own board. I know he does. I know. He's crazy. I've known him for years. And he's been pumping a lot of iron, man.

He likes to take off his shirt and show you what's going on because he's very proud of it. He's crazy. I've known him for years. And he's been pumping a lot of iron, man. He likes to take off his shirt and show you what's going on. Like serious? I'm serious. He's very proud of his muscles. Well, I could do that. I mean, you may not be too impressed, but I've been working at it. You know, I have that one pack. You got a keg.

I think Coop here has a keg. I wish I had a six pack. Somewhere under this littleg. I think Coop here has a keg. I wish I had a six-pack. Somewhere under this little flesh here is a six-pack here. Coop, I could talk to you all day. No, we got to go. We got to go. I got to go back to Peterborough.

Any final words here on your way out? Your fans miss you. Now, you are again. We're clear here, right, that there is a, what's it called, Coop's Classics? Coop's Classics. And when does it air?

Now they've shortened my hours. It's now 8 to midnight on Saturday nights, and I've done it for like 16, 17, maybe 20 years. And is there any end in sight for that? You'll do it as long as I let you, right? No, I think I'm done in November, by my choice. It's just,

I don't know. I think it's, you've got to know when to hold them and when to fold them, and it might be time to fold. I would love a podcast of you and Aaron Davis. Can I just put that on the record? And we get rid of you and just Aaron and I. Holy mackerel. Yeah, we could definitely do that.

You could be true on a mic. I feel we could slide you in here. Listen, that would not be a bad idea. Well, talk to her. I know she's listening now. Hello, Aaron, and hello, Rob. Hey, beautiful. How are you, sweetie? Coop, what a pleasure.

This kind of fell out of the sky in that you weren't in the calendar and then I get an email saying I could be there Thursday at 1 and I moved a hundred things because I said, Coop's coming. Thanks for doing this, buddy. I'm a man of my word. I said I'd be here at 1 o'clock and I was here at 1 o'clock on a Thursday. And that brings us to the end of our

1004th show. It only took you a thousand and three episodes to get here. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Mike, you're not on social media, right? You're above that. I hate it.

Nothing exciting happens to me. I can't report on something that never happened. Oh, well this is exciting. Our friends create an account to talk about your Toronto Mike experience. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.

Don't leave without your lasagna, Mike Cooper. It's the only reason I'm here. I swear to God. I believe it. It's the beer and the lasagna. I never even knew who you were. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley FH. And Canna Cabana, they're at canna cabana underscore. I'd say see you all next week, but at 8 p.m. tonight, Thursday, February 24th,

it's the next episode of Toast with Stu Stone and Cam Gordon. So you can join us live at live.torontomike.com or of course, listen to 1005, the episode 1005 of Toronto Miked. See you all then. Then. It's just like mine and it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and gray Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who Yeah, I wonder who