Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Mike Hogan Kicks Out the Jams: Toronto Mike'd #822

Episode Date: March 23, 2021

Mike chats with Mike Hogan about the sudden passing of Chris Schultz and XFL and CFL discussions before he kicks out the jams.

Welcome to episode 822 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. CDN Technologies, your outsourced IT department. Contact Barb, she's Barb at CDNTechnologies.com Palma Pasta enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga

and Oakville StickerU.com create custom stickers, labels tattoos and decals for your home and your business. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921.

And Mike Majeski, or as I call him, Mimico Mike. He's the real estate agent who's ripping up the Mimico real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca I'm Mike from torontomike.com

and joining me is another Mike, Mike Hogan to kick out the jams. How you doing, Mike? I am very good. Thank you for having me on. It's been a while. It's been a while. Who is that again? It's been a while. It's been a while. Who was that again? Who is, it's been a while. That was a starts of an S it'll come to me. Oh my goodness. So my friend, it has been far too long and I've actually wanted to kick out the jams of

you for a while because in your first appearance on Toronto Mike, we got some kick-ass tragically hip stories from way back because, and I'm sure, I'm sure I'm spoiling some that will come later, but you went to high school with the hip guys, right? Yeah, a long time ago now. But yeah, I played football with three of them and some pick up with another.

And I didn't know Johnny Fay at all, the drummer. He was in grade nine when I was in grade 13. Two of the guys were a year older, two of the guys a year younger. So we all knew each other fairly well. It's a small town, which may give another hint of what's coming up later on. But yeah, it was really neat to see them explode the way they did. It's just still mind-boggling to this day.

Well, before I go too far, I need to say that it is stained, stained, recorded, it's been a while. So for all the people yelling at their devices right now. You were not going to let that go, were you? You were just going to, you were a dog on a bone until you figured out who that was. It was a big jam and it was everywhere. And I'm like, how could I forget stained?

I think Aaron Lewis was the guy in stained, if I remember correctly. But I have a question. Did you ever run across, like come across the Hugh Dillon and the guys from Headstones? Hugh Dillon was in my home form. I knew Hugh like anything else. An interesting Hugh Dillon story, musically related. I'm a big fan of Teenage Head.

They were really breaking when I was in high school, late 70s. And before a football party, which were plentiful, there was a guy on our team who was hosting. And we were never close, but I was one of the early guys there. And Hugh Dillon, who didn't play football, was also there. So my first track, the last track listening of the teenage head self-title album was with Hugh Dillon wow wow so yeah yeah and Hugh and I Hugh Hugh was an interesting guy I'll leave it at that when he was in high school he went some through some pretty dark periods uh and came out shining on the other side. And we reconnected when he was doing his thing with the Hugh Dillon

redemption choir. And then we, we had a soft drink after, after the show. I got caught up with, with another buddy of mine from, from KCVI, David Usher from Weiss also went to that high school at the same time.

Wow. And so did the Mahomes. Oh yeah, sure. I know. It time. Wow. And so did the Mahomes. Wow, yeah. Sure. It was pretty neat. And we're all within, aside from Johnny Faye, we're all within three years of one another. First of all, that's amazing.

And if I connect some dots here, so let me see if I can do this. Okay, so Hugh Dillon was in Hardcore Logo. I wonder how much that Teenage Head album he consumed with you inspired them you know ramones what was it joe dirt that was the name of the guy joey shithead yeah yeah yeah he was uh something ages yeah you know what i just remember i thought it was fantastic like a hardcore logo like that movie to me was just like just fucking brilliant i loved it and that's the first time i saw hugh dylan act and i remember the rumors at the time were that he was up for a part in i want to say in pulp fiction something quentin tarrant i've heard that too yeah i don't i don't know if that's urban legend or or whatever but that yeah absolutely and you know i thought he

was kind of good in that but uh you know let's be it wasn't really a stretch for Hugh at that point. But when I saw him in Durham County, I went, smoke. And, you know, I've seen enough episodes, oh my God, having a flashpoint, I've seen enough episodes of that where I go, he gets it. He's solid. He's really

become a really good actor. So a lot of greats have come out of that high school in Kingston, Ontario here. And it was so great, they closed it down. Oh, well. Sir John A. MacDonald, Don Cherry, Simon Whitfield, a bunch of guys. So what is it? Is it condos now?

What the hell is there now? What do you mean? It's still up right now. What I understand is they're going to knock it down. It's really close to Queens University. So everybody assumes that Queens is going to take it over. Well, it's just funny because that's what they do, right? Universities kind of envelop the area in which they're centered. So there's not much room for Queens to go because it's housing all over the place.

So they took over my public school, middle school, I guess, for seven or eight is on the same block as my high school. And Queens has already taken over that. So this is the next logical step. And Mike, am I allowed to call you Hoagie? You can do whatever you want. Is that right?

Anything, anything. I gave you permission if you needed it in our initial conversation. Right. So Hoagie, just yesterday. I like Hoagie. I'm going to Hoagie. Hoag Hoagie, just yesterday... Call me Hoagie. I like Hoagie. I'm going with Hoagie.

Hoagie, just yesterday, I had on Bill Brio, who used to write for the... Yes. So, Bill Brio went to my... He's a bit older than me, but he and I went to the same high school. And just yesterday,

we were talking about how our high school is now condos and how strange it is that you can never... You can't go back to your high school and walk the halls and remember this, that, because it literally does not exist anymore. So it's just funny.

I'm not a guy like, I don't, I didn't go to our, the school turned 225. It's, it's the oldest high school or was, I guess now the oldest high school. And I think Canada, if not, certainly Ontario. Bob Elliott's another guy who went to KCV. Bob Elliott, another great FOTM. There you go. Exactly. So, yeah, they had a big reunion.

I didn't go back. There have been a couple of reunions I didn't go back. The fan had its 25th. I didn't go back. I just, you know, I'll have conversations with whomever whenever they want and talk about the old times but i really feel awkward going in and being forced into small talk and telling the same story 400 times to 400 different people so no i hear i've never gone to i've never wanted to keep in touch with for the most part i have no i get that uh i haven't

gone back to any uh reunions or whatever they are called never Never been either. Now, Hoagie, before we have the fun that comes with kicking out the jams, I would like to get serious for a moment because very recently we lost the great Chris Schultz. Yeah. And I know you were close with Chris and I'm hoping if you're up to it, you could tell us a little bit about

what it was like knowing Chris Schultz. Oh, he was a unique guy and uh in terms of me being a friend with him it was for all the right reasons um for whatever reason we clicked um right from the get-go um he came in while he was playing uh in 1993 excuse me he blew out his knee in the first game of the season and had always thought about getting into broadcasting afterwards because he thought he could talk about football for a living, which is something he loved to do was talk about the sport. And he came in with a guy named Brian Warren and Brian had a big voice. And, you know, everybody, if you were listening to that show, your ear would have been attracted to Brian Warren's voice because it was so good.

He subsequently become a pastor. He's been on 100 Huntley Street. Like he's been able to use his voice, the gift that he has for good. And Brian went on eventually and became the color voice of the Argos for a year. And Schultz, he went back and played in 94. Lance Chomack had followed Leo Cahill as my co-host on Football Sunday. And then Lance got lured away by AM640 when they took over the Argo rights,

which left an opening in 95 for a co-host for Football Sunday then, eventual Football Friday. And I honestly can't remember if there was any conversation at all about anybody else than Schultz but uh we ended up working together the show lasted on and off for 15 or 16 years and then um he ended up coming back in the 2018 and 19 seasons to do the Argo games with me after Jeff Johnson had, uh, had moved to Halifax with his family. So, uh, we kind of went full circle. Uh, the last conversation I had with him was, uh, he died on a Thursday. It was a Thursday prior and he sounded great. He was talking, you know,

he was keeping up to speed on all of the Argo acquisitions, which have been several this year. Uh, we talked about some common friends. He sounded like a million bucks. He sounded as good as he sounded ever. And that's what makes it so much more sad that he passed when he did. Because he went through a pretty tough stretch after his dad died. Yeah, I'm so sorry, Mike. I mean, I knew him as a great player, great broadcaster. You know, everybody, I mean, when I've had Don Landry on,

we talk about, you know, Chris Schultz's mustache. Like that's so I always I always knew him as a, you know, a broadcaster and from TSN. And of course, again, a player. But I know I'll add this before just so we don't get sidetracked. And I'll allow you because it's your show to come back with all of the guys that I've worked with. And this is absolutely no respect to any of the men or women I've shared a microphone with over the years, nobody prepared more than Chris Schultz did. And it rubbed off. I mean, here's a guy who played D1 and NFL and CFL and, you know, is specifically hosting a football show.

And he would come in with copious notes, all handwritten in Sharpie. And, you know, he'd have a binder that was just packed and you know i'm thinking okay if this guy has to study for a football show i really have to study to do a football show with him and uh he really really was an inspiration for for my over preparation because i'm i if i use 10 of the stuff i prepare for i've i've underpared. He made you raise your game. Absolutely. No question. Well, I'm so sorry. And he's now next to Doug Flutie. They can't see this. I've got a bookshelf behind me.

I've got a Schultz-y football card now next to Doug Flutie. He's protecting Doug Flutie's bobblehead. That makes complete sense right there. Absolutely. And yeah, again, I'm so sorry for your loss and for all the family and friends of Chris Schultz. And yeah, so young.

And I guess I think I read this somewhere, I believe in the public, but did a heart attack take Chris Schultz? Is that what? Yeah, a big man had a big heart attack. And, you know, he was home at the time and I didn't ask how long it took. I know the paramedics showed up, obviously, and I don't know when he passed, whether it was sudden or en route or when he got to the hospital, because I don't want to know. It doesn't change the fact that he's gone when he passed away. I did talk to his girlfriend briefly at the ceremony, and she was there with him. So I'm just happy he didn't go alone. That's the only thing I can add to that. Yeah, it's a big loss and far too soon, Chris Schultz.

Man, holy smokes. So now I'm going to change gears to something far less severe and important, but still something that's right in your wheelhouse. And I'm going to give credit to CFL super fan Mike Gregotsky, who listens to Toronto Mic'd, and he's a big guy. Yeah, there's a lot of

mics, I noticed. I don't want to get this wrong. I believe he's a Thai Cats guy. He lives in Toronto. Okay, I take back my hi, Mike. And I'm not aware of who you are or what team you cheer for. He's buddies with the great, I don't know how great he is. I'm going to call him the great Jake the Snake from the Hammer,

who loves to give everybody. Oh, okay. The Argo sucks. Email exchanges with him. Or Twitter exchanges. So at some point in your life, maybe he made you pose with an Argos suck button.

I don't know if you... Yeah, he had the Argos suck website. And his thing was to take Argos suck buttons and have people connected with the Argos wear them. And it was always, you know, you would always kind of sneak up and put it around like you didn't know it

was there. And I told him afterwards, I said, I probably would have, I would have put it on. Like I enjoy the rivalry with Ticap fans. I think it's fantastic. The ones that have fun with it are, you know, as I enjoy those conversations as much as any other fan in the CFL. Right. The better the rivalry and the friendly the rivalry where you can have a beer before the game with some Ticat fans, cheer like hell against them during the game and have a beer with them afterwards and commiserate or celebrate. That's what sports is all about in my eyes.

Right. And I mean, as you know, those who embrace and love the CFL love it a whole damn lot. I don't think there's many casual fans. It feels like once you get it, you're all in. I maintain that the Argo fans

in this market are the best fans in Canada. And the reason is simple. If you're a Leaf fan, it's easy to be a Leaf fan, right? I mean, if you go to the office the next day, most of your office is talking about the Leafs. And all of your friends watch the Leafs. And the only thing that people will kind of jab at the Leafs is the lack of a Stanley Cup in so long. But, you know, it's kind of part of it.

You're mostly hockey fans in this country. Blue Jay fans. It's easy to be a Blue Jay fan. There's a bandwagon there, an effective place. So when the Blue Jays are going, the Blue Jays are as popular as any team. If you're an Argo fan, good luck going into the office and talking about the Argo win over Calgary on the weekend. Good luck. You know, it wouldgo win over Calgary on the weekend. Good luck.

You know, it would be easy to give up on the CFL because all you've had for the last, how long, how long have I been in Toronto since 92? Oh, the CFL is going to fold. The Argos are going to fold.

Nobody likes them. Right. And yet those people who love the Argonauts still love the Argonauts despite all of the opportunity to, to get off that bandwagon and go cheer for another team in another sport. I think they're fantastic. You know, you're making a great, great point is you got to kind of work for it to be a diehard Argonaut in this market. And you get defensive too. It's like, you know, the Canadian, you know, you have that inferiority complex against anything

American and you hear Americans are better because they're Americans and you get your backup a little bit. Americans are better now at hockey than Canada. You know, Canadians are going to go apoplectic on that one. That's how CFL fans have felt in this market for the most part. It's easy to be a writer fan in Saskatchewan because it's a big game in town. Right. And everybody at the office, it's the same thing. It's really tough for a lot of fans to be an Argo fan because they can't, they don't have a place to go and talk to,

to people who cheer for the same thing. So that's why the home games are so great. People get together. A lot of fans really are good friends with other fans because it's a really small, tightly knit community. And, you know,

we have great fans. We just need more of them. So you back out to games. You went to the Eastern final in 17. Well, Mike, I got some some serious TSN time because I was they took a shot of me right after the I guess the touchdown that put the Argos ahead late in the game. They went right to me. So I got so many, you know, people are watching like the number of texts and emails I got, like, I just saw you on TV. Like, so without a doubt, you're right.

I don't know. I don't know. I have no idea like how many Torontonians are tuning into the regular season Argo games, but I can tell you for that Eastern conference final there, the Eastern final, a lot of eyeballs on that. Millions and millions of Canadians were tuned in and a few of them even recognize me. So yeah.

The late Jim Hunt, the great writer and broadcaster who was on the fan, he was with the Sun forever. He had the line where the CFL is like pornography. Everybody watches, nobody admits it. And shout out to my buddy who I recorded with just on Friday, I think. Bob Willett, who was with me that day. And he wore his vintage Boatman jacket.

It looked like it was out of the 1970s. I think it was. And it was really cool. And what I remember is I remember going to that game, of course, at BMO Field. And I remember on my way to the game, Pinball Clemens walked by and was saying hi to everybody. And it just felt really, it was a great day.

It was a great game, great day, and I hope more people give the CFL a shot. So on this note, let me get to Gorgotsky's question here before we go to the gems. So Mike Gorgotsky says he'd love to get your thoughts, Mike, on the CFL-XFL, and he put in quotes, partnership that has been circulating. What do you know about this?

I will be blunt here and as honest as I can be. For those who don't know, I am the communications manager of the Argos now. I've been out of the media for at least aside from play-by-play for a couple of years now. I don't know anything. I know as much as you do, to be honest. I know what I read. I can sit here and honestly say I have no idea where the discussions are, what they're talking about, what the possibilities are down the road. If it helps the league become a stronger league, giddy up. Because right now, there are markets, including the one in which we are sitting right now, that could use a little bit of a boost. We need more people in the stands. And, you know, cash influxes are never a bad thing.

So I honestly have zero idea what's happening with the XFL. The people who are covering this, the Dave Naylors of the world, literally know more than I do because I just don't know. Right. So I wish I could help Mike and Mike. Okay. But you might not know anything, but you must have thoughts on this or do you need to tread lightly because of your title? I just, I, I don't know. I, I, I mean, if,

I just want to see the CFL thrive and if they can find a way to do it no matter how they do it you know, I, I don't know how far is too far. I just, I don't know. It's just one third of the league right now is not in really good shape financially, one of which is going through an ownership change right now with passing of David Braley, senator. And I don't know. We've got to figure out anything at this stage to try and make this thing more viable. And it's a great product.

I love it. I'm a CFL guy. I'm an NFL guy. I'm a youth sports football guy. I like NCAA football. I love the sport. So to me, football is football. And if they have to tweak something here or there, as long as it doesn't really kill the entire, you know, image of the CFL.

Okay, fine. We'll do some tweaking to make this thing viable. Okay, I'm fine with that. Now, is there any sacred cow, so to speak? And I'm referring to something my son has an issue with when he's 19 and he does watch a lot of NFL, but he's got his grandfather on his mother's side. He's from Saskatchewan, huge, you know, huge CFL supporter and et cetera. And the issue my son

raises with me is the four downs like is that a sacred cow like uh cfl without four downs isn't the cfl i'm open to anything at this stage no i'm sorry i'm saying it backwards three downs of course is what i mean i i i don't you know i don't know i i for me i'm just talking about me yeah i love the fact that there are different rules and different strategies and you know it's two different people playing chess whether it be four down football or three down football that's me sadly i think i'm in the minority um there are a lot of cfl byhards who can't stand four down football there are a lot of people who like the nfl who cringe at the thought of three down football. I'm not that guy. I love football. I just, I do. And, um, to me, I don't, I don't even know anymore. I just,

I just know that something has to be tweaked from a business model and I don't know what that tweak is. And CFL is talking to XFL. I don't know how far down the road they are. I honestly don't know. So, um, I'm not sitting here BSing you. I just, I don't know how far down the road they are. I honestly don't know. I'm not here BSing you. I don't know where they are. I don't know what possibly could happen down the road. I don't know if there would be any changes to the CFL game. I don't know, and nobody does.

There's one thing I do know. Our balls are bigger. Not anymore. Is that right? When did that change? They used to use a spalding ball uh the j5b back in the day and and the nfl used the wilson ball sure and they've gradually you know so it's basically the same size basically i'm so stupid i have because i have a cfl and it's obviously i think it's like over 10 years old now, but I have a CFL ball and I have an NFL, like an official ball or whatever in my personal collection.

And at least when, at least that CFL ball is a lot bigger than the NFL ball, but it sounds like. It's still bigger, but it's not like it. Right. The old Spalding used to be, you know,

essentially a rugby ball. Right. Back in the late seventies and eighties. And before that, they were, they were considerably bigger. I like those t-shirts. The CFL ball is still bigger.

You've got to keep it a little bigger because I like those t-shirts. CFL, our balls are bigger. One thing that screwed up quarterbacks a few years ago is they put the white seams on my pointing. You can see it if you're listening to the podcast. The Canadian ball has the two stripes on it.

The white stripes at the end right at one point somebody thought it would be a good idea to put this kind of sew on the uh the stripes so they were raised from the football and that drove quarterbacks here insane because they were not used to throwing with a with a raised seam on the football interesting well my shout them. Well, shout out to my oldest again, who does want you to consider adding an extra down. And I just feel like that might be a third rail of sorts for CFL diehards. But again, it's all in flux.

You'll let me know. You tip me off when you know something. When this thing gets figured out, call me. We'll talk. For sure. Because then I want to find out what's going on. Because I care about the CFL, Mike. Then come to more

games. Season tickets. Argonauts.ca. At this point, I would go to any game. I would go there. And that's what we're hoping. We're hoping that we get first dibs. That would help us so much that we're able to open the doors and say, come and see our product.

People are going, we can spend money outdoors. Here's my promise to you, okay? Summer of 20... I've got to open the doors and say, come and see our product. People are going, we can spend money outdoors. Here's my promise to you. Okay. Yeah. Summer of 20, I gotta do the math. Where are we now? Summer of 2022.

Assuming of course, at that point you have to go ahead that we can all collect at BMO field. I promise to go to at least one game, maybe more. Uh, absolutely. I want to, I want to check it out again for sure.

Beautiful. For sure. All right. And we're going to kick out jams here. I know you came for the jam kicking and I turned it into CFL Tonight here. I'm preparing to kick. Preparing to kick. If I was a bagger cat, it would go wide left, but that's for your friend Mike.

We'll give that one to Jake the Snake, I think. And Steve Paken, too, who's become a good FOTM and loves his time. There we go. Big, big, big. His son's an Argo fan, and Steve is a Ticat fan. Right.

Steve's a Ticat fan. His son's an Argo fan. Right. And, of course, shout out to Damien Cox, too, I believe, who is also a Ticat fan, I believe. Anyway. So long. Okay. What I would love to inform you of, Mike,

of the good old days when you actually had to spend time with me in person. I can't wait to get back to those days. But I would be happy to be giving you some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. And I would be happy to receive it. It was really good. The package you gave me the last time, including, at that point, the pumpkin ale. Right. It must have been the season, right? Yeah. Right. It must have been the season.

Right. Right. It was very good. David Schultz, speaking of CFL, Schultz famously in the FOTM circles hates the idea of a pumpkin ale, but I do believe he did try the Great Lakes and admitted it was actually very good. There you go.

And Palma Pasta, if you're looking for authentic Italian food food uh they're in mississauga and oakville go to palmapasta.com i don't know if you were in the palma pasta era when you visited uh did you get a lasagna or no no i did that was pre-food yeah and if you come back we'll get you a lasagna for sure i look forward to that love to uh sticker you.com if you're getting your ego stickers made up go to sticker you.com uh the decals etc everything behind me basically courtesy of sticker you they do a fantastic job they're based in liberty uh village but of course uh so not too far from bemo field that's for sure and we practice in liberty village at lamport right uh and i believe

i know that i suppose there is mildly competition for you, but I do believe the rugby team folded. I don't know if you have an update on that. The arrows are still alive. The arrows are alive, but Wolfpack is gone. Wolfpack is gone. They had good crowds over there. And sometimes, unfortunately for us, we would be competing at playing Saturday afternoon games, either right, you know,

kind of crossing over or at the same time. But yeah, they did. They did a pretty good job over there. They had some really good crowds over there. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. But yeah, I do believe

I was at a Wolfpack once when I saw a Wolfpack match once when I saw a bunch of Argos preparing to practice on that field. So, of course. There you go. And Mimico Mike, I mentioned him off the top. But if anyone's looking to buy and or sell in Mimico, which is, of course, the other side of the Humber River, so southwest Toronto, not too far from where I sit right now.

Your man is Mike Majeski. And you can go to realestatelove.ca to learn more about Mike and to contact him. And if anyone out there is responsible for a network of computers, you might want to consider outsourcing your IT. You can outsource your IT to CDN Technologies. There's some great references for them. And you can have a conversation with their CEO, the wonderful FOTM, Barb Paluskiewicz. And she's barb at cdntechnologies.com. And last but not least, Ridley Funeral Home.

They're true pillars of the community here. They're in New Toronto. I know I'm dropping all these neighborhoods, but that's what I like to do. And New Toronto, where I am actually, is just a little bit west of Mimico. Well, Mimico is a panhandle. I won't get into the details.

We're also south of Mimico. Mimico is a beast. You gotta, you know, I live next to a beast. But they're tremendous, tremendous people at Ridley Funeral Home. And you can learn more at ridleyfuneralhome.com. Mr. Mike Hogan, I have one question for you. Yes?

Are you ready to kick out the jams? Always ready to kick. Jams be ready. Hello, baby, hello Haven't seen your face for a while Have you quit doing time for me? Or are you still the same spoiled child? Thank you. surviving friend that you know

Harmony and me, we're pretty good company Looking for an island in our boat upon the sea Elton John's Harmony. Are you surprised? Not surprised, because this would be right in your wheelhouse, right? Yellow Brick Road. I assume you thought I was going to come here and do all Springsteen. That seems... Be honest. When you said, come check out the champs,

you were expecting like 10 different live versions of Springsteen songs. Well, let me ask you this. Are you in your 50s? Yes, I am. Okay. Yeah, typically a sports media personality like yourself in their 50s would probably kick out lots of Springsteen, yes. And I thought that would be too cliche, so I'm throwing you the curveball.

Elton John was my first favorite artist, if you had that. Like the early leader for my Mount Rushmore. And still maybe the number four guy on the Mount Rushmore at this stage. It kind of alternates and rotates. That album really meant a lot. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was a spectacular double album. All kinds of great songs. And when you get to a certain age some of it gets overplayed um you know if i don't hear benny and the jets again i'm happy with that you know what i mean

which was the big hit off that album um harmony is just a song i i really love their songs on that like uh i've seen that movie too and roy rogers they They just really don't get any airplay at all, but are really, really solid songs. And Harmony, for whatever reason, was one I was really attracted to when I was a kid and just thought I'd start to kick out the jams with one of my earliest jams. No, I love it.

And the music you fall in love with as a teenager really never leaves you. It's kind of stuck on you forever, right love it. And, you know, the music you fall in love with as a teenager really never leaves you like it's kind of stuck on you forever. Right? in that era that I love were like Harry Chapin and Jim Croce and storytellers, which kind of moved into Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle and John Hyatt and some of the other guys you're going to hear in this. Graham Parker, the people who could just put a couple of words together.

Well, here, let's go to your second jam. We're off to a rip-roaring start here. Here's number two. Don't say a word if there's any doubt Sometimes a little love's just a tumor You got to cut it out You say you're sorry for the things that you have done You say you're sorry but you know you don't mean it I wouldn't worry, I have so much fun

Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being It's you Not just another mouthful of lipstick It's you So glad you picked an Elvis Costello jam. I think he's highly underrated. He is the number two spot on my Mount Rushmore. This is the album, this year's model,

that I played more than any other in high school. This was it. It's the first concert I saw was him at the Jock Hardy Arena at Queens University. Tiny little place. I ran when they opened up.

It was general admission. Ran up. I was right at center stage. I basically could have kept time on his shoe if I wanted to. And the really cool part about that, that album that I wore out in high school, I eventually got him to sign. Wow.

Which is pretty neat. It's framed. It's up in my office and uh um you can see like you can see where the album was in the middle because it's frayed in the circle you can see the circular uh part of the album in the middle of the cover but uh you know lipstick vogue was just such a killer and it's the same thing you know uh where it's you've heard an album so many times and then you hear the hit, which was Pump It Up. Pump It Up, if I don't hear the song again, I'm OK with that because there are so many good songs on this album. And that's that's probably the most uptempo of them.

And, you know, great lyrics, you know, attracted to songwriters. You know, sometimes I think of love is just a tumor. You've got to cut it out. You know, just a very romantic guy like that. He's just a, he's a wordsmith. He was, he was fantastic.

Still is. Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting local movie reviewer and television personality, Richard Krause? Oh yeah. And his, he wrote a book about growing up with Elvis, you know,

as an Elvis Costello fan. Right. I saw him. The first time we met was by chance, seeing a band that we both knew guys in, the Sin City Boys. And we were at Graffiti's, rest in peace, and I recognized him, went up and introduced himself. He seemed to know who I was, and we had a great time.

And the last time I saw him was just before the pandemic closed everything. I saw him at Hamilton. I was lucky enough to get through my wife to that. And I don't mean the city or the football team. The Broadway, off-Broadway show, I guess, the Toronto production. That was the hottest ticket when the pandemic hit. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, yeah, Richard's fantastic.

I love his show. He gets it. He's very authentic. He is who he is. And I'm sure he has a job that he has to get up and pinch himself because he's doing exactly what he wants to do and what he should be doing. Love it.

Now, I got to plead a little ignorance. You can help me out here as a man who was around for Elvis Costello's heyday here. I need to know the song This Year's Girl. Is that on this album? Or do you know off the top of your head? Yes, it is. Okay, because you ever seen The Wire? Yes. I watched

two seasons. I didn't get it as much as other people. I love Treme, which is the same group, a lot of the same cast okay yeah oh there you go so okay why am i bringing up the wire i'm glad you brought up trim a which might come up again later actually in this episode spoiler alert but the because i love that too by the way uh although i loved it a lot more with john goodman i didn't love it as much when john

goodman gone but that we said too much okay so don't give it away i won't give you away but the same guy david simon is his name uh he did a show called uh for hbo called the deuce i love the deuce there's three seasons and what i want to one of the seasons has as its theme song it's elvis costello's this year's girl but it's a duet where they have elvis his, I guess the original master there and a, a young singer named, uh, I want to get her name right. Natalie Bergman, who does it with him. And it's the most stellar thing.

Like you need to get your ass to YouTube after this conversation and look up the, the deuce version of Elvis Costello's this year's girl. It's perfect for the show. And it's, I just, I just fell in love with this duet version anyway. So Elvis Costello,

fantastic, fantastic selection. Are you ready for jam number three? Yes. We'll be right back. Turn on the light, don't want to dream about you, baby When you left, you took the sun right out of my sky Yes, you did Wonder why you went away and never told me why

When the sun goes down, the moon is near I'm scared to death, cause your face is clear You said his name, Graham Parker. Love him. It's funny because Graham Parker, and I don't mean this disrespectfully at all, but kind of Elvis Costello-lite, because I found out about Graham Parker by listening to Elvis Costello. And again, great songwriter. And it's funny, I almost feel guilty using that song because that's one

he didn't write. That was written and performed first by a disco group called The Tramps. Oh, yeah, I think I know of The Tramps. Yes. What was their hit? They had a hit. Was it Disco Inferno? Well, you keep

talking, Graham Perker, and I'll come up with a hit. But they had a monster disco hit. And that's just, I'll use a pun here for Graham Parker fans. That's his treatment because he had an album called His Treatment. Disco Inferno was the big one. Yeah, by the Tramps. And yeah, that was their monster hit. Yeah.

And I didn't even realize this was a cover at first because I wasn't a big disco guy. But it's a really good song. It fits his voice, and it's a chance for him to use a horn section. And I just love it. If any of these jams my wife was going to give a thumbs up to, I think this is her, of all of my favorite artists, I think this is her favorite song of any of my genre music.

So there's a tip of the hat. What's her genre? Like what is her genre of choice? She would do like mid-70s soul music. Soul. Or dance music. Like Gladys Knight and the Pips? Sure, absolutely.

The Shy Lights or stuff like that. And then into the dance stuff. And now like Bruno Mars and stuff like that. You know, all that stuff. Loves it. Well, I'll kick out the jams of her next. There you go. It would be a lot different than mine.

Well, here, let's kick out a fourth jam for Mike Hogan. guitar solo Man, some Stevie Ray Vaughan. Yeah. The head of my Mount Rushmore. That's it. That's the man. The cool thing is,

we just heard Graham Parker. I've got a Graham Parker autographed album. I met him at the Horseshoe like three or four years ago. He was on a, not a solo tour, but he was with his longtime guitar player, Brinsley Schwartz. So I got him to sign an album. And I met Stevie Ray Vaughan in Ottawa and got him to sign the Texas Flood album.vie rayvon in ottawa and got him to sign the texas flood album nice that if i was on a desert island this would be

the uh the album i would take this would be my desert island disc and he said what's your nickname i said they call me hoagie and he signed it to hoagie thanks for picking this one stevie rayvon and that is framed in the office as well so um i mean i heard this album and whatever year it came out 83 84 and just 83 jaw dropped i just what is this this is the allman brothers meet jimmy hendrix meet you know a bunch of guys that i hadn't heard of but would subsequently found find out about like albert king and and people like that and you know just fell in love with him. And we found out he was playing in Montreal at a bar called The Spectrum. So this would be kind of like an El Macabre kind of group.

And I went down with a couple of friends of mine, and this is 84, I think, 85. And saw him in a bar. We'd never seen him other than in pictures. Videos weren't out yet of his. We just knew the music. And he came out. He was higher than a kite. He was dressed like a peacock.

And I'm thinking, what the hell are we getting into? And we're sitting at a table, a raised table, maybe 20 feet from him. And he breaks into this Hendrix cover like he's doing Voodoo Child and Third Stone from the Sun and he's doing a bunch of

just absolutely blown away by this guy and there is still nobody that makes me feel as good as Stevie Ray Vaughan when I hear a song. And this Texas Flood, this is the one that has pride and joy on it, right? Yes. Yeah.

It's his first album. Right. John Hammond produced it. And I did confirm it came out in June 1983. 83. Okay. So I heard this and my best friend Tim told me he said you have to hear this album this guy is is kind of like a mixture of all the kinds of music that you like because I

was pretty big into Hendrix at that point right and heard this and it was just a you know my parents really loved country music so I would if they were listening I would hope that they would play like the stuff that I would like like a a Willie Nelson more than a, you know, than a twang twang Loretta Lynn, no disrespect to her, but you know, kind of anything with a little bit of rock to it. So when I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan, I just went, what the hell is this? And, you know, that opened up my eyes and I started looking at, you know, all kinds of other blues people and,

and really got into heavy into the blues for a long time. Still love it. But, uh, uh, man, he, he, he just opened a whole musical door for me. He was your, uh, your gateway, but I still, I was working at the, I was working at the C&E and I still remember the day when, uh, I got the news about the, uh, the accident and that Stevie Ray Vaughan was gone. Man, far, far too soon but i think it was i think it was 89 but i only worked there yeah i was in ottawa at the time so that that sounds right and uh yeah helicopter crashes into a ski hill like he was he was flying down

to chicago to play at that uh buddy guy's bar after they played a festival. And he played there with Eric Clapton and Robert Cray. And, you know, just a fantastic group. And then Jimmy Vaughn was there. And it was just fantastic. What a waste. But it was, you know, that's my guy. And I'm trying to do this chronologically as well, up to now, anyway.

Now, I never had the pleasure of meeting Stevie Ray Vaughan, but I did meet one of his, I guess he had one of his many protégés if you will but uh great canadian singer songwriter colin james uh absolutely yeah great great guitar player and he was uh yeah i guess the best way to put it was a sort of a stevie rayvon protégé and the uh stevie rayvon actually went if i have the story mistake and i interviewed colin jan protege in the... Stevie Ray Vaughan actually went, if I have the story mistaken, I interviewed Colin James way back in the day, just when he was breaking at the Lakeview Manor in Kingston

is where I met him. And I said, can you do a phone-er the next day? And he said, sure. And he told the story about how Stevie Ray Vaughan had kind of dropped in when Stevie Ray Vaughan was playing in Reginaina or saskatoon and colin james happened to be playing as well and somebody said there's this kid playing why don't you go and check him out and after his concert he went and saw colin james play when he was probably still

a teenager yes yes indeed yep neat story yeah completely very cool story uh and i'm excited to kick out this jam because I love these stories. And you knew this was coming, everybody. But of course, we needed a jam from this band on Hoagie's list. Here we go. Thank you. Take the scene, you're a crazy child. It's a sad thing, burdens all around. You stop that feeling when you're living in a small town. You're long and mean, things don't get you down. You're a top ten kingpin in the borders of your hometown.

I love it. Some early Tragically Hip Small Town Bringdown. Yeah, it's 87. I had just started work. I had worked at CKWS in Kingston for four years. I had moved over to CKLC, 1380 CKLC, and we started playing this. And I thought this was spectacular. The guys that went to high school had put out an EP and it had two songs I really

really liked on at this and last American exit and you know there was this one this one there was a video filmed at the aforementioned Lakeview Manor Bob keys was was one of our DJs and he's the voice you hear at the beginning saying you you know, all from Kingston, you're tragically hip, as they do the live video. Right. And I thought it was great. I never thought to do another song. I never thought to do another album. This is great. This is fantastic. They were able to achieve this and God loved them and did not see the next stage coming and was so happy when

it did so unlike yourself who was there you know on the ground floor uh the first time i hear this band is actually up to here and it's uh blow it high dough on q107 i still remember because it's funny how life works like literally my buddy joe who i was friends with and jk was in my backyard yesterday with his son and we were pretty much because bill brio was friends with, and JK was in my backyard yesterday with his son. And we were pretty much because Bill Brio was on my show and he plays hockey with Bill Brio. That's how everything's kind of connected. But Joe, Joe and I went downtown. I still remember that day.

And I think it was 89 when we went downtown and I was so I could pick up Up to Here and he could pick up Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies. And I went home with this up to here and I put it on the CD player and I still consider it a playthrough. Like I just completely loved it. And Hoagie, I can, considering what you just shared with us about Stevie Ray Vaughan and the blues,

you know, the sound I'm listening to with the hip, it's got that very bluesy sound to it, like the early hip particularly. And not only did you know these guys from Kingston, but this would be right in your wheelhouse anyway. Yeah, and look, I think this is a great song. It's one of those hidden gems, I guess, for lack of a better term, because I don't even know how many people know this song. And I did try for our conversation to steer away from some of the bigger hits um but but um you know that was just these guys are really good you know i've seen them at

that bar of the manor you know doing covers of route 66 and you know uh what was the song from the flintstones bedrock twitch twitch um they they did they they did that live which was fun uh but that was a they were a fun band and i just i i just thought it was a bunch of guys that i knew were getting together and you know having fun playing music never expecting it to be their living and and for them to be in the canadian music hall of fame i just that would you would have said that in 1987 yeah right but you know yeah like people would have called you crazy if you had probably predicted that kind of uh i don't think i don't think you could have predicted the success that would come to which is great which which adds to it well similarly like if you go back to around

that time there was you know a band that was like literally busking outside like the brampton uh radio station cfny like like busking that you could never have predicted. Oh, that band there, that band that are calling themselves the Barenaked Ladies will one day have a US number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Similarly, you'd be kind of laughed at if you predicted it. Well, they used to do the Speaker's Corner thing, right? When Speaker's Corner

used to be a thing at City TV. Yeah, they did Yoko Ono. They were trying to get their names out there. And it worked. They played that Yoko Ono clip. And, of course, CFNY did play the hell out of the yellow cassette, the yellow tape they made. And just a quick shout-out to Tyler Stewart tweeted this morning, sometimes I drop these little, like, surprise pieces of audio

on the Toronto Mic podcast feed. So they're not numbered episodes. So, like, an episode like this gets a number. This is 822, I believe. But I'll drop drop like, Oh, here's the ninth inning of, uh, the blue Jays 1985 clincher against the Yankees when they clinched the AL East or whatever. And then I'll drop something like that. And I dropped,

I think just on the weekend I dropped, um, it's called a scope, but basically it's like a 90 minute scope scope of what CFNY sounded like on this particular day in 1990. And you hear Humble and Fred, and you hear Alan Cross, and Mary Ellen Benninger, and Deadly Headley, and Chris Shepard, and Danny Elwell, and Scott Turner, and Don Burns. There's a name for that. And I'm sure I missed, oh, I think Live Earl Jive. Wow, what a lineup. I know, and this isn't even like the heyday. This is way post-Marsden.

This is sort of like... Marsden, Pete and Gates, and all those guys. Yeah, I think we're left in 87, I think, so this is 1990. And basically, I dropped it in the feed, and Tyler Stewart subscribes to Toronto Mike. He's the drummer for bare naked ladies. And he listened to this and he pointed out on Twitter that Scott, I think May Potts.

Oh, I almost forgot May Potts. Who could ever forget May Potts? May Potts played. I think she played Yoko Ono, like from the yellow cassette, not from Gordon. And Scott Turner was promoting some show that bare naked ladies were doing,

which was literally the second show Tyler Stewart ever did in his life. And he was just remarkable. Anyway, so if anyone out there, if you're not subscribed to Toronto Mic, you're missing out on stuff like that. And for no other reason, subscribe so you can listen to this 90-minute scope

of CFNY in 1990. That's really cool. Very cool. But you know what's cool? Your sixth jam. Here we go. I was gonna get up off them dining bars too Just as soon as I could figure it out While I was overlooked at the carpool

I stood up at the dance with no twist and shout You're burning with your last desire And every memory haunts you You write it down in alcohol fire Cause that's the only thing that wants you when you're paper thin. Gonna read all about it. When you were out of luck, when luck was doing all right. You're paper thin. Yeah, they can see right through ya. You just cut your little finger on the edge of the night. John Hyatt, Paper Thin.

You know what I'm enjoying about this more than anything else? Because we're doing this over Zoom, I can see you. Right. And I'm sure you don't know a lot of these songs. I'll be honest. I'll be honest. I knew. I know.

You know, you're absolutely right, actually. Obviously, I knew the Tragically Hit songs. You're right. These are deeper cuts. Yeah. And I enjoyed watching your smile on that one. Because you were kind of starting to do the head bob. And then you listened to the lyric and you smiled.

And then it looked like you were going to fade it down. And then you kind of turned to the side and said, no, I want to listen to more of this. No, yeah. I didn't want to bring that down yet. But John Hyatt, like uh fucking very cool like i actually really i'm really digging your musical taste here john hyatt is another wordsmith um this is not this is this is not from the album bring the family it was a little bit one before the one after the one after but sorry the one after uh slow turning yes slow turning and so i was in

ottawa for for both of the albums i believe um but bring the family is a perfect album bring the family is a perfect album there is not a weak remotely weak song on the on the entire thing it's a super group uh it's it's uh a right cooter and nick Lowe and Jim Keltner with sort of the backup band. They became Little Village for an album. Just a spectacular album. This is from the follow-up from Bring the Family. You had it there. Slow Turning.

Slow Turning. That was the single, obviously, off that album. But yeah, just paper thin. Okay, that's me in the 80s, drinking too much and people skiing through me. Okay. Luckily, I changed a little bit, but very predictable back at that point.

I just love that song. I think it's a fantastic song. Yeah, no doubt. I know I'm trying to think. I'm wondering who's doing background vocals there. You probably don't have that. It was one of the goners, as usual. I can't remember her name, but I don't think there's any...

It's a nice touch. It's a nice compliment to John's voice on that track. For that album, he toured with a female backup singer who also played percussion instruments like maracas or just whatever. We need more cowbell. We need more cowbell. Gotta have more cowbell. Exactly. So it's

fine. I've seen him. I don't know how many times I've seen him, but not as much as the next guy that we're going to play. Back to John real quickly. I believe his daughter is quite a performer. Lily? Is it Lily? lily hyatt i gotta get this lily hyatt yeah she's good yeah good look at you well because i i kick out the jams of lots of

people and somebody i kicked out was literally like it might have been sarah boesveld who wrote for shadow lane but i think when lily hyatt came to town to play the horseshoe or something i guess she asks if any fans can put up, put them up for the night, like to save a few bucks, you know? And I think, I think Sarah Boswell put her up for the night,

like in her home. That's awesome. That's such a musician story. That's, that's fantastic. And I always remembered that. And I always, like,

I always knew John Hyatt. My first wife was a big John Hyatt fan actually. And I heard a lot of John Hyatt. And then I thought I just, so i remembered this story because i just think that's that's kind of amazing like uh by the way can i can i ruin a movie scene for you yeah it's a john hyatt story here okay go ahead um did you ever see true lies the schwarzenegger movie with jamie lee curtis yeah yes i. So you remember the scene where she is dancing for him very provocatively? Yes. That is a song called Alone in the Dark by John Hyatt, right? Really

dirty, bluesy song. Right. You know what the song is about? No. John Hyatt's wife committing suicide. Oh, that's a dark turn there. Okay. Yes. So like watching this and I'm going, oh, it's John Hyatt's wife committing suicide. Oh, that's a dark turn there. Okay. Yes. So like watching this and I'm going, oh, it's John Hyatt. Oh no, they didn't listen to the words, did they? And they've actually edited out one of the lyrics of that song. Like Bring the Family is a really dark album at times because it's dealing with John Hyatt, the death of his wife, who committed suicide, his drug addiction, their drug addiction, and then remarrying

and getting past that addiction and turning his life around. And it's an incredibly emotional album. Great musicians and just Hyatt's awesome. Well, speaking of awesome, I can't wait to kick this one out. In fact, I'm glad I have the wire box set beside me here. But here we go. I was born with my papa's son wandering out on a smoking gun

Now some of you would live through me Then light me up and throw away the key Or just find a place to hide away And hope that I'll just go away But I feel all right. I feel all right tonight. I feel all right. I feel all right tonight.

Steve Earle, Feel All Right. Yeah, so Steve Earle, who I love, another one of those sort of alt-country guys, goes to prison. And it's like, okay, what's Steve Earle going to be like when he comes out of prison? Ta-da! He puts out what I think is his best album by far,

and I love basically everything he's ever done uh he's the fourth guy on my Mount Rushmore although that does rotate um but right now he's got that spot I think I've seen Steve Earle more than anybody else live in concert and uh God it's got to be over 20 times and uh just just absolutely love basically everything he does. It sounds like he's not the most lovable guy at times offstage, but, you know, man, he's great. And another, you know, you're going to bring it up with The Wire, but he was in Treme as well. And, you know, he does a little acting.

His strength is obviously as a songwriter and performer. And he was just on Austin City Limits this week doing a tribute to Guy Clark, one of his mentors. So that was nice. And you talk to a guy my age. We first hear Steve Earle when Q107 plays the shit out of Copperhead Road. Bob Makowitz, who people will know, Bob Sr.

Right. Is CFNY and G107 Connections was my program director at 54 Rock in Ottawa when this came out when Copperhead Road came out and he thought it was the best rock song ever written he just thought

this is a perfect song but it is a near perfect song it's fucking fantastic Copperhead Road, but that's like, you know, it's funny because he's this

alt-country vibe he's got going on. But at that time, you think like rocker, like, right? It's like Copperhead Road, kind of a cool rock song because you're hearing it

on Q107 alongside like Aerosmith and Motley Crue or whatever. But doesn't that make a great musician when they can play well enough and just do what they want

and different genres of radio stations can pick it up? Steve Earle could easily be on about four different types of music stations at this stage. And that album, I feel all right. If you want to just sit and listen to another thoroughly fantastic album

that goes really dark and really happy and romantic. And, you know, he deals with his addiction. Why he went to prison was the heroin got him. And he does one on that album called CCKMP, which stands for Cocaine Cannot Kill My Pain. Wow. And that's why it's so like, he's so, I really like him in The Wire as Waylon,

who basically when Bubz is trying to get clean, you know, Waylon's there. And some of the lines that David Simon, that they give Steve Earle, just are tremendous. And, you know, Treme coming up soon, but yeah, David Simon put him in that too. He's just...

As Harley. Street musician Harley. And boy, did he ever fit in. And one of my favorite parts is when he's talking, I can't remember the character's name, a violin player, and she's starting to write songs now. And they go to see John Hyatt at the House of Blues in New Orleans. And they play, it's about Hurricane Katrina.

Feels like rain. Beautiful song. And Steve Earle, talking about John Hyatt, says he wrote that before Katrina. And the look on her face is like, oh, my God. And that's what makes a great songwriter. Wow. And again, Steve Earle did experience some great loss recently, too, because his son passed away. So much love to Steve Earle. did experience some great loss recently too because his son passed away. So, yeah, much

love to Steve Earle. And he's just, and again, I don't have Sirius XM actually, but I borrowed a car once that had it and I caught him, and I can't remember, Outlaws, and I can't remember the name of the show anymore, but he was hosting a show and talking about music and it was like the best fucking thing.

Let me just listen to Steve Earle talk about his, let me, no offense Steve Earl talk about his, like, let me, no offense, Hoagie, but let me kick out the jams of Steve Earl now, if he's, he's around.

No kidding. And you know, that's, that's, if you read Elvis Costello's book, his dad, and, and, and do yourself a favor,

Google Ross McManus or, or on YouTube, because he looks exactly like Elvis Costello classes gap to every, like, it's hilarious how much, you know, you can tell that you don't need a DNA test with Elvis. or on YouTube because he looks exactly like Elvis Costello, glasses, gap to everything. It's hilarious how much you can tell that you don't need a DNA test with Elvis to find out he's Ross McManus. But he grew up listening to big band songs, right? Because his dad was like a big band singer back in the day.

So if you read Elvis Costello's book, he's addicted to almost every genre of music. And he's performed. He did an album with a Baroque quartet, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's amazing. You know, he's written songs with everybody from Paul McCartney to Burt Bacharach, you know, performed with George Jones. Like it's, it's, he's just, he loves music and I'm anybody who can do that over different genres,

you know, tip of the hat, you're not just doing pop songs or just doing twang country or just doing, you know, blues. If you can pull off multiple genres and be really good at every one of them, that's special. All right, here's a fun fact

before we leave Steve Earle is that iWeekly put out their, of course, every year they do their top 10 albums list. And I Feel Alright was actually their number eight album of the year in 1996. Doesn't surprise me. Top to bottom. Great album.

Alright, let's go to New Orleans here. Drop me off in New Orleans ¶¶ Have you ever been to New Orleans? It's the hottest city you've ever seen Gotta love them red beans You gotta love them mustard greens, in this city called New Orleans. If you're not from New Orleans, let me hear you scream, hope you're feeling much better now, like my homies feel. like my homies feel when you're feeling down and out and you feel there's no way out

you get dropped off in New Orleans Hoagie, you can drop me off in New Orleans. That's Kermit Ruffins. Speaking of Treme, he was in many episodes of Treme with Elvis Costello. It's all coming together now.

I get it now. I get it now. You're a big fan of all the David Simon stuff, just like me. There you go. But yeah, and this David Simon link is absolutely unintentional. I didn't put these. This is kind of weird the way this has come together. Even in the song order, I didn't connect those two until, that's pretty weird.

But he plays himself in Treme and meets Elvis Costello at my favorite watering hole in New Orleans, a place called Bonds in the Bywater. I have, in the last 10 to 15 years, developed a very unhealthy relationship with the city of New Orleans. I love it. It's a spectacular town. Take Bourbon Street out of the equation because that's just, you know, whatever. The history, the music, the food,

the architecture, the different parts of the city, the people, just love it. Just absolutely adore it. And I've seen Kermit Ruffin's live a couple of times. And again, we talked about the city. The people just love it. Just absolutely adore it. And I've seen Kermit Ruffins live a couple of times. And again, we talked about the gateway. He became a gateway to a lot of New Orleanians who do jazz, obviously, but just different genres. And, you know, I can't wait to get back there after this mess is all over. I got there with my best friend just before things closed down. And so it would have been 2019 in December.

We went down and just time of my life. I just, I don't know. I don't believe in reincarnation, but when I get there, it almost feels like home. It's really weird. Interesting. And another tie-in that's probably unintentional of course is that uh one of the first big tragically hip uh hits in this country was new orleans is sinking there you go it's all

coming together now isn't it and they got another jam i quite liked called if new orleans is beat do you remember this from later later hip uh i know you were on board but a lot of a lot of hip fans i find a lot of hip fans sort of dropped off after music at work or thereabouts. They aren't as familiar with the more recent stuff. Or the solo stuff. Yeah, or the Coke Machine Glow.

Go listen to Coke Machine Glow. By the way, when you're at these I'm thinking of Steve Earle. If you go to a Steve Earle show or something, do you see Dave Hodge there I think one of my favorites was going to a uh Springsteen show at Massey Hall and I think I was sitting next to Cliff Fletcher or behind him or something like that and ran into Paul Molitor and it was just, it was okay. And then, uh, I met Kevin Allen after having him, uh, on our show, my show, whatever, uh, for, for several years, I bumped into him with,

I was with John Whaley from city TV. We went to see one of the vote for change tours in Detroit at Cobo hall. And, uh, it was Springsteen anden and REM were the headliners there. John Fogerty was on the bill as well. And that became one of my favorite in-concert moments because Springsteen went up and did Man on the Moon with REM. And then Michael Stipe came up and did Because of the Night with the E Street Band. And there's a version of that, not from the show that I saw in Detroit,

but on that tour they did that i guess i don't know if every night but they did it in washington and that that uh that concert was filmed michael stipe was born to sing that song and springsteen is very hypnotic when he's on stage right you don't even know he's on the stage when michael stipe is up there with him wow wow it was it might it might be my favorite in-concert live moment, but go and check that out. Springsteen REM Because of the Night.

And, you know, it's Stipe resplendent in his all-white suit and just... REM was great. It's funny because Gord Downie was often compared to Michael Stipe as a front man. Because of the gyrations and the arm movement. And sure, I get that.

And you mentioned John Whaley. I did a, in fact, this also ties into Ann Romer being, I think, my most recent jam kicker before you. Listen to that. She was great. We did a 30th anniversary of Breakfast Television episode where we had David Onley on the phone and Steve Anthony and Ann Romer was here in person. And we called up John Whaley because he was a day one-er on Breakfast Television when it debuted, I guess, 31 years ago now.

Whaley and I have kind of drifted apart, but we were really tight for quite a while. And a lot of it was music. We did a charity event together uh he came up and he was a big fan of the fan when i was working there and he introduced himself and uh for whatever reason we clicked and a lot of it was you know sports and music sure that's all here and uh yeah we we ended up seeing springsteen a couple of times he he threw a friend r Ronnie Camilleri, who was the head of what was his label? I can't even remember the labels anymore. But he was of Sony, Sony Canada.

And he got us backstage to meet Springsteen. So I've got an autograph. It's around here. That's insane. I can't show it to everybody. I just hope Brad Faye doesn't hear this episode because he might be. Brad Faye is a guy who got me backstage to see Elvis Costello.

Wow. Because he knew somebody from Vancouver who managed Diana Kroll or worked with her. And he said, look, a buddy of mine is a gigantic Costello fan. Can you get him backstage to meet him? And that was it. So we went backstage at Massey Hall.

Well, I think Fay's seen Springsteen a hundred times. Yeah, he got the book late but has really got it. I've got a picture of it. I can't find it. I thought it was down here but it's a picture of me and John Whaley and some other friends and

John's wife of meeting Springsteen backstage in Boston. The Orpheum theater. Amazing. Are you ready for your penultimate jam? I will throw this by saying that Kermit Ruffin put me in this direction because I kind of fell in love with Ruffin stuff and wanted to find out his influences.

And I'm late to the game, but found a sort of songs that I had never heard from a guy that I only knew as an older performer. Right. Is that a good tease? That's a great tease. Here we go. Okay. © BF-WATCH TV 2021 All right. Answer me this question right off the top, Hoagie. I was told by somebody who would know that it's actually supposed to be said as Louis Armstrong.

It is Louis Armstrong. It is not Louis Armstrong. Right. And every time I do that, because I try to be accurate. Here he is here. Let me play him a bit here. In case it's weird to leave the beach, joy Say, don't you know it You don't know about, don't you, blue Someone will teach you, come on And to do that dance

They call it the heebie-jeebies dance Yes, ma'am Papa's got the heebie-jeebies dance So I'm correct, okay, because I say Louis Armstrong and then they give me a funny look like it's just another word I mispronounce because I mispronounce a lot of words, but is Louis Armstrong so tell me this is he be jeebies yeah it's a 1926 Louis Armstrong and his hot five and I did I did thank Kermit Ruffin's last time I made a point of going up after the show was over and thanking him for kind of putting me in this

direction um uh because when I when I think Louis Armstrong, I think, you know, when I was a kid, it was Hello, Dolly! And, you know, what a wonderful world and the stuff we heard toward the end of his life. And I was completely unaware of this stuff. And, you know, I'm very, very, very, very late to the jazz game.

But I had no idea Louis Armstrong was as good as a player, you know, because to me, he was just this older guy who had the really funny voice. And the reason I picked this song, this is the first recorded version of a song where there is scat singing in it. And I learned this on the Ken Burns documentary and went back and followed up. I learned this on the Ken Burns documentary and went back and followed up. The reason behind it is studio time was very expensive and very tight back in the mid-20s. And you didn't really have multiple takes. The sheet music fell off the stand. So Louis Armstrong just started improvising and making up words and kind of doing the zap, zap, booby-doo, ba-da-booby-doo.

And that was the first recorded version of Scat. started improvising and making up words and kind of doing the zap, zap, booby-doo, ba-da-ba-da. That makes sense. And that was the first recorded version of Scat. Okay, you know what movie you need to see if you haven't seen it already is Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Okay. So this is a new, it's a 2020 film. Okay, I'm writing this down. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. I just think you dig it because it's all about... I believe it's the very last performance and it's excellent

by Chadwick Boseman, the Black Panther. Oh, I've met to watch that. I have seen that. For whatever reason, I've got to be in the right mood. Only because you get a vibe of recording back then and you're absolutely right. Live on the floor, if somebody screws

up, yeah, it's a big deal like you keep going and he the music with the lyrics fell off the stand right so he just immediately he looked across the uh the glass and the the producer was just gonna keep going so he just he said i think they called it mouth music was he said they used to do that and so he just he just started doing that and they finished the song because i i mean uh i'm a little younger than you but not too much younger than me you but i do remember like cab calloway would show up in like a janet jackson song or something doing the scat and he was the that's that's an interesting combination but it was like how do

you introduce you know generation x to cab calloway well you do it through uh janet jackson yeah that's that's brilliant But yeah so I'm really late to the Armstrong game and I will Never you know pretend to Be a jazz expert but some of The stuff I really like some of the stuff I really don't Like and for whatever reason

Just the sound of this group Back in the 20s For whatever reason And if you would have asked me this 30 years ago, I'd say you're nuts if you think I'm ever going to like this stuff. But I guess maybe seeing some of these musicians play live and find out where their inspirations come from and knowing that this was, you know, Louis Armstrong was a lot of improvisation when that wasn't really a big thing

back then. So for the listenership, if you want to catch Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and you should, it's really good. It's on Netflix. So it's sitting there on Netflix. And the music, like Branford Marsalis, like it's all, you would love the music in here.

Okay, let's finish strong here. Can't wait to kick out this final jam. By the way, Mike, this has been pretty damn awesome. Like you kicked ass today. So thanks. Are you being serious? No, how you can go listen to every,

go listen to every jam kicking. And how often do I use that, that those words at the end that you can, so it's a, I mean it when I say it, but here your final jam. And you will know this song. Thank you. ¶¶ If you go to New Orleans, you ought to go see the mighty cross. If you go to New Orleans, you ought to go see the mighty cross.

When you see the mighty cross, Somebody will tell you what's gonna fall Get your ticket in your hand Go to the Mardi Gras Do you recognize this song? So I should tell people what we're hearing is Professor Longhair, who I'm actually not too familiar with. I know you've seen this song and you can't remember it.

I feel like Fats Domino or Chubby Checker. Who was it? No. Okay, go on. You mentioned the John Goodman, Melissa Leo couple from Perme. Right, yes. When they would go to Mardi Gras every year, they got in their costumes and they put on

a song on the cd right and this was a song you're right it's been a while but you're absolutely you're absolutely right professor long hair henry bird who was a was a was a fairly big local guy in the 50s in new orleans fell off the map stopped performing didn't do anything was a janitor, was completely out of music. And the New Orleans Jazz Festival starts in 1971. And somebody hears this song and said, this is spectacular. Who's the guy doing it? And somebody said, oh, it's Henry Byrd. It's Professor Longhair.

He's a local guy. Where is he? We have to get him to perform this at our inaugural event. And I don't know. And nobody can find him. it turns out he's working in a record store sweeping the floors right he's he's just become that guy gambling addiction um but he's not doing anything they put him on one of the side stages at the new orleans jazz festival the first one and there's somebody on the main stage at the time people are leaving the

main stage to go and see Professor Longhair because he's blowing them away with his piano playing and his just unique take. And it's such a New Orleans feel to what he does. They end up bringing him back. They put him on the main stage later in that jazz festival, packs him. He becomes an instant favorite. And to this day, he passed away, I believe, in the late 70s.

They have a picture of professor long hair over the main stage at the new orleans jazz festival uh one of his big songs was tipitina there is a bar a lot great live venue called tipitina's um where they have when you walk in there's a giant bust of professor long hair and then over the main stage there is a gigantic uh caricature of professor long hair so he's really had an impact on the new orleans market and just it's neat stuff like it's it's something that you don't listen to it might be a love or hate relationship with that kind of music but you know it makes me think i'm back in new orleans and it puts a smile on my face every single time i hear that guy play well here's hoping that we can get you back there soon

let's uh return to normalcy and get hoagie back to new orleans uh i meant it dude that was a like great fun for me and i love hearing you talk about the music you love and you've introduced me to a lot of stuff that's not necessarily on my radar and now you've made me want to finish because i haven't finished treme uh i and i've even i mentioned a certain character who i i fell off a little bit after he disappeared but now i think i made a mistake i need to go back and get some more treme in my in my you'll start appreciation appreciating music even more because they use in that show you know actual new orleans musicians you know know, Corey Henry and guys like that are trombone shorty. They're all through it.

John Batista's in it. So just a lot of the local guys are in it. And so many of the actors I loved on The Wire show up in that show. So for no other reason. Michael Pierce and yeah, the crossover is really deep. so for no other reason. Michael Pierce and yeah, the crossover is really deep. Yeah, and your job then I guess

is you should check out The Deuce which is like three seasons sitting there for you on, if you get HBO, I guess that's on Crave TV. Check out The Deuce, man. The Deuce is really good. You never hear much about The Deuce

but I just loved it. A lot of them are The Deuce. That's what I've learned from this show. And that brings us to the end of our 822nd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Mike, what's your Twitter handle? At Mike Hogan Argos.

At Mike Hogan Argos. Can't wait to see a game at BMO Field in, I guess, summer 2022. I just can't wait. Well, hopefully this year. Oh, you're holding out hope. Okay. We're trying to get there this year. Well, let's be optimistic. I just cannot wait. Well, hopefully this year. Oh, you're holding out hope. Okay. We're trying to get there this year. Well, let's be optimistic. I like that.

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