Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Mike Stafford: Toronto Mike'd #113

Episode Date: March 9, 2015

Mike chats with Mike Stafford about his days at CFNY, CFRB and 640, getting high before his Jeopardy appearance and why he fired Freddie P as his best man.

Welcome to episode 112 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, often with a distinctly Toronto flavour. I'm Mike from torontomic.com and joining me this week is Talk 640 radio host, Mike Stafford. AM 640 Talk Radio. AM 640 Talk Radio. AM 640 Talk. You know what? If you guys didn't change it so much, I'd figure this out. We had to change it because people just kept calling us Toxic 640.

Toxic. Oh, yes. You're right. Yeah, it just didn't work. But no, it's a pleasure to be here. I've read your blog and I've heard so many podcasts. It was actually the Marsden podcast where I emailed you to say what a great job you did. And I said, why don't we do this sometime?

Yeah, I was going to say that. It was great to get that note from you that you enjoy them. First of all, I like it when people enjoy these podcasts. So that was nice to hear. The Marsden episode was pretty awesome because I made him cry twice. But he was just a great guest. And yeah, I figured while you're actually on the line, so to speak, is I'm going to get you in here before you change your mind. Yeah, the thing is I picked the one day where we agreed to meet

where this morning I did a four-hour morning show for the first time in about five years. Oh, wow. On the first working day after the clocks went ahead. So I'm a little fried, Mike. That's the way I wanted you, though, because now you're off your game. Yeah, I can pray on you. How was it?

So you filled in for John Oakley this morning. Yeah, it's hard to describe because, well, first of all, when you're not used to getting up and I did, you know, 15, 20 years of morning radio, um, it, you really have to, you have to have sponge mode in your head because you got to suck in all this information and half the stuff you're never going to use. And, uh, it's not like, uh, you know, a jock can, okay, now we're going to tell you the B side of this or that.

It's another topic, another topic. But it's also the first morning show I've done with kids in my house. Oh, yeah. What did you talk about that? Yeah, that really kind of messes with you. But, no, it was encouraging. It's nice getting off at 10 to talk to you. No, I appreciate it because you're right.

This, of all the days to kind of come in, this is probably not the one you'd pick. Yeah, but it's beautiful outside. It's, you know, no reason. You know what? This is the first, like, legitimate above zero day we've had since, I don't know, maybe we had a couple of days in January, but it feels like it's been a long month. January 24th. Is that right? Was the last time we were above

zero. Yeah, it's just what, and it really, I don't know. I think I've got a bit of that seasonal affective disorder thing. Oh, it's sad. Yeah. It's just what, and it really, I don't know. I think I've got a bit of that seasonal effect. Yeah. I just, uh, uh, a day like this, we got Cardinals in the backyard at my place.

It's, it's all good. It really is. Well, thanks for coming in. I was just going to say, you do look a little like a low rent Kelsey Grammer. Oh,

if I hear that used to be Tom Hanks. Yeah. When I was in LA doing Jeopardy, uh, I constantly would be just like double take double take double that's all anyone ever said yeah yeah i see and uh yeah i see that you know i just watched uh carly ray jebson just released a new video for her new single and the whole video is tom hanks lip-syncing the song that is the video that's pretty cool and it works yeah and uh i so

it just came out this weekend so we i was watching watching it just to see what the zeitgeist was talking about. Last time I was Timberlake doing Elton John and Robert Downey Jr. doing someone. I forget what that was as well. Anyway, but yeah, that's cool. Yeah, pretty cool. So you mentioned the Marsden podcast. What I like, well, I mean, I thought it was fascinating because the man's Dave Mickey and then the spirit of radio.

I just was legitimately interested in every word the man had to say. But you were there. We talked about you on that podcast, and you were there during the sort of, now it's sort of got sort of a legendary status, but the spirit of radio days at 102.1 CFNY. Could you tell me a little bit about how you ended up at that station and about those days? Well, 1979, I was at Ryerson. I was in the radio television arts. And when first year ended, the announcing instructor came up to me, said there may be a possibility for a gig at a Brampton radio station you work at.

Now, it was CHIC, Sevedito Disco. And they had a position for a morning news announcer. And it was going to pay like $3.20 a week. I'm 18 18 turning 19 and this is and i i go in i meet the guy he's um a real day he's got the turtleneck and the chains and stuff he's the news director and it's pretty good place you answer the phones you got to say disco news and we're you're all set to start monday i'm i'm just like wow i can still go to ryerson make this coin i show up Monday, Disco Stew has been fired. And the new guy's like, geez, Mike, I'm sorry, but we've made some changes. So anyway, I ended up in between first and second year doing a summer

of sportscasting there. Okay. A couple of bucks here and there. The big fight was in September, my news director said, don't go back to Ryerson. You've got a gig. This is what everyone fights for. I thought, no, no, no. I got to get my Bachelor of Applied Arts and all that. Well, by the middle of second year, when it's mostly television, I realized TV is not my gig. It's just too many people, too much waiting around. So there was a full-time morning news position offered at then CFNY.

And that's when I met up with Fred Patterson. And after a couple of months, the Pete and Geats thing started. Yes. And that's when I met up with Fred Patterson. And after a couple of months, the Pete and Geats thing started. Yes. And there you go. I was there till 1987. Not a good story, but we can get to that in a moment. Yeah. So yeah, we'll definitely get to that in a moment. So this is the legendary Little Yellow House. Is that where we're at here? Well, originally, Fred and I were at one yellow house at 2 Ellen Street on Highway 10. And up the road was the palace, the other yellow house. Right.

Which, by the way, you've got better equipment than they did. That's what I hear. And Pete and Geetz were at the CN Tower. So we're doing the news, being fed to the main CFNY house, and Pete and Geetz are feeding all with this magic and stuff like that. That was the place where I was doing the news one day, and a hammer came through the window. Because I think I was doing the news in an old bedroom. Okay, yeah. Someone was upset because Liz Janik didn't play his request.

Is that right? Yeah. Well, that's passion. Oh, total passion. Assault too. That's right. And I mean, the stories Marsden tells about literally mice on the turntables. So that's all true.

It was just a... Yeah, I didn't spend much time at the old place because we were kind of stuck in the AM, newsroom, the AM building, CKMW it had become. I really didn't get to know David and Pete and Geetz or anyone else from CFNY until we moved to 83 Kennedy Road South. Gotcha.

Which would have been 83 when Selkirk took over. Right. Or Civitas. Is that right? Okay, so my... And you'll know better than me, but I recently shared a bunch of like articles from like 1987, I think, or yeah.

So Selkirk, as I understand it, Selkirk by CFNY, and they're, they're trying to get more ears so they can increase the selling price because they're going to sell. There's a deal that's going to take place with McLean's, McLean Hunter, I think it's called. There's a deal that's going to take place with McLean Hunter, I think it's called. And as I understand it, and I think it's 87, suddenly they changed the playlist and add like top 40 artists. I'll give you the ownership. When I started there, the Allen brothers owned the place. It was in receivership.

One of them went to jail. Some French group called Civitas Radio Mutuelle. I don't know why, but they came out of Quebec and they bought us. 1983, we'd moved to the new studios. We get a memo, station's up for sale. Apparently the owner, Madame Crepeau, went to her bank account to take her kids to Paris and realized they had no money. Gotcha. We were up for sale.

We were sold to Selkirk. Okay. Selkirk, by the time I left in 1987, they were prepping the station and they ended up selling it to McLean Hunter, which then became Wick. But I was gone when all that controversy happened. Because you left in 87. I left in 87. Yeah. Were you there when, I don't know, let's say Phil Collins or Madonna hits the airwaves at 102.1. That was about six to nine months after I had left. That's when David had left. Marston had left.

And I know Don Burns was still rest in peace involved. But the sales manager became the program director, Jim Fonger. Okay. And Selkirk was looking to appreciate the value of their asset for the sale to McLean Hunter. Right. The station still had cult status. They had to take it. I have really no opinion on what happened at the time because I wasn't there.

Right. But I understand a lot of people were upset. Yes. So, you know, and it was disingenuous to think that, you know, all of a sudden people aren't. You're playing Madonna? It's from what I read and because I was young to remember this in real time, so to speak. But yeah, it sounds like there were literally people

going to the CRTC and marching against this. And a lot of letters were written. You heard on the, I can't remember what year that was, but Marsden at some point had a call to arms where he was like urging people to write CRTC, write your, you know, so there's saving the sort of spirit of radio kind of was a trend there for a bit.

Very, I don't think you'd see that passion today. I mean, that, that one guy you, you read about the sheet metal worker at the time. I mean, Larry something, Larry devastated. Yeah, absolutely. All those clippings I shared were his personal collection. So he saved all, obviously he shaved Larry, Larry Bates. Bates, yes. That's it. Yes. Bates he shaved, Larry Bates. Bates, yes. That's it.

Yes, Bates Motel. Larry Bates. So yeah, that kind of passion, I don't think you'd see today. No, you don't. A lot of it because we have so many other ways to consume our product. And I get it. I get it. We were this really cool little radio station that was never, ever really going to make

any kind of substantial profit because we were still a cult radio station. I don't know if it could have been fixed without adding the top 40 element because the music itself, even the new wave stuff. And, you know, we were sort of in between new wave and grunge. So there was a bit of a vacuum there. Right. Like, you know, Don McLean sings about in American Pie. There's that one little vacuum between the death of Buddy Holly and here are the Beatles. Exactly. And yeah, and after your time at CFNY, and I want to hear why you left

and then talk to you about a couple of guys, three guys there in particular. But I believe the gentleman who deserves a lot of credit for sort of, you know, semi-righting the ship and satisfying the people

who are protesting is Reiner Schwartz. It sounds like he was with McLean Hunter and he's the one who listened to these protesters and then, you know, helped find sort of a happy medium, if you will. He was a weird cat.

You know, he just passed too. So he passed, I guess, last year, I think it was. Yeah, it was just, I used to watch, he had a show called Media 77 on TVO, Channel 19. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm a 17 year old guy, wants to get into media. It was just an amazing show. You're right. Reiner kind of, Reiner kind of grabbed the reins on that horse that was kind of galloping out of the track.

Right. And just said, hey, wait a second, wait a second. We can do this without alienating the core? Yeah, exactly. So I think he sort of, yeah, and that would be probably, I'm going to say, like around 91. 91? 91, yeah, something like that. Sort of when the Humble and Fred show kind of was starting up, I think.

Yeah. Okay, something like that. Sort of when the Humble and Fred show kind of was starting up, I think. Yeah. Okay, I digress. So I wanted to ask you, what was it like working for Dave Marsden? Very cool. What I loved about David was I was technically a news employee, so technically I had a news director, a superior. We didn't get along. We didn't get along.

So David kind of took me and Fred under his wing, under the programming wing, and said, look, you guys are program stars, if you will, with Pete and Geats. Right. News department. So just to clarify, you're doing news and Fred's doing sports for Pete and Geats. Exactly. And this was back in the days because of regulations.

CFNY had a news staff of 12 people. That's crazy. We had a Queens Park correspondent. We had an ad, because we had to. Do you have that many at 640 right now? God, no. No, FM has none. 640 takes care of the edge and queue for their news needs.

Right, right, right. So it was a pretty big department, and David kind of very much a mentor, especially for Fred, because Fred had gotten married, and he'd had a kid, so I think he helped Fred out salary wise and things like that. What I remember David used for me the most, and David, if you're listening, you'll remember anytime he knew I was going across the border,

he'd give me some money to get him his bronchial spray because he couldn't get it up in Canada. But no, it was so cool watching him bring the, the UNOs to life. And then later the Caspys and boy, the Caspys became almost as big as what we were mocking in the beginning. I mean, CBC, Paul Schaefer. Absolutely, yeah. That was, I guess, yeah, the You Knows and then they were originally the You Knows, right?

Yeah, they were just us on the CN Tower, yeah. And then the Caspys, sponsored by Heights Ketchup, if you'll remember, became a national broadcast. But David, it's funny because before I left my condominium, I used to live at Yonge and Davisville. I'm outside the variety store on Paleton and I'm in my 370s, I have my little sports car and this Murano pulls up next to me and all I hear is, that's a very nice car, Michael. Yeah, that's it. And I look and it's David. And for two, three years, we'd been living across the street from each other on Merton Street. That's funny. That's funny.

Another gentleman I want to speak to you about. I'm going to play a 90 second clip of him on 102.1 and then I want to ask you about him. Just a second here. To Natasha and Ancaster from Enos, pronounced like it sounds. John Fox stars on fire, exclusive to you from 102CFNY. And as promised, just about 55 minutes worth of music for you tonight. Don Burns sitting in for the live Earl Jive with Big Audio Dynamite. Some Interferon, New Model Army with No Rest. FM with Naish the Slash at the top of the hour.

Boy, I was really impressed. I'd never seen them before, and when they performed a couple of months ago at the Diamond Club, I was really impressed. They were really on, really good show, and I hope that they're around for a while again. Before the top of the hour, we heard from the Lotus Eaters, and the name of the song is You Don't Need Someone New. The person requesting it wasn't quite sure of the title, but he knew the sentiment for Ashley

and Tammy. That was not one, but two girls this guy's got. Before that, from the World of Wonders LP, the new one from Bruce Coburn and an excellent album it is. I mean, really fine. Calypso's sort of track called See How I Miss You, and we

began at the top of the set with heaven 17 and we don't need this fascist groove thing and that's to gordon at the sunoco station at highway 10 and steals from jim who says hey we don't need this fascist groove thing jack so that's don burns yep and you worked with don i did um again more toward my exit in 1987 i just find it hilarious that a guy at a sonoco station is programming the station that's that's how great it was yeah yeah uh yeah don and you know ironic he's mentioning nash the slasher we lost just last year as well but uh what what was what a shock i mean i hadn't seen Don in about a year.

What I loved about Don, he was a perfect contrast for David Marston. David was kind of like the dreamer and the Michael. Whereas Don was Michael. He was kind of like the soldier in, if you can talk about a mafia crew, he was the guy who got things done. They were good foils.

They were a perfect contrast to each other. And we didn't keep much in touch. For a while, I was seeing a woman in Brampton and living next door to her was a man who co-owned a tanning salon with Don. So that's when I'd see Don. All the time, he'd be bringing his beautiful King Shepherd out of the car. Michael, how you doing? And he had a couple of tours of Chorus Key. And, you know, unlike folks like Danny Elwell and Humble and Fred even,

I didn't, Don really kind of took over just again as I was leaving. So as a manager, though, I had no problem. He was, he told it as it is. And I miss that in radio. So I understand he was a big deal in Buffalo before he comes here. Because there's two Don Burns threads here. You got the crowd that remembers him from CFNY, and then you got the electronica.

I missed this scene. So it's like I feel like I just completely missed this scene. It just wasn't my jam, so to speak. Yeah, in my 30s when he was Dr. Trance. Right, Dr. Trance, exactly. And then there's a whole whack of people who just remember him jam so to speak yeah but he was in my 30s when he was dr trance i mean right dr trance exactly and then there's a there's a whole whack of people who just remember him as the godfather of uh i don't know techno yeah yeah well it's interesting because when i worked at cfrb in the newsroom every once in a while there'd be another moral panic as i call it about another

kid overdosing at a rave right right right and he would always phone me or email me and say like here's here's the deal. Now, one, he had a fiduciary interest because he made money off the raves. Sure, sure. But also because it became a moral panic. Like, you know, these kids are dropping like flies, and they weren't. Right. They weren't.

A lot of media hype. Yeah. I mean, I saw more people high at the police pickets. When I was a kid, I remember some story. I don't know. Some kid dropped acid and then thought he could fly and he must have fallen off a bridge. I'm telling you,

the way it went around our school was that kids were literally falling off of buildings. It just seemed like, you know, that was back when it was tougher to sort of fact check things before the internet.

Oh, it just became an urban legend and you believed it, right? But yeah, Don would always keep me straight on what was going on in the rave scene. Never got a chance to get the glow sticks and dance with him.

But rest in peace. I mean, we're losing him. I got a question for you about how mainstream media covers sort of radio personalities like that. Just as an observer that we have four major newspapers in the city, but none of them actually. I know there was a paid obituary, which kind of is like salt in the wounds, really. But a paid obituary for Don Burns made the Toronto Star. But there were zero actual, you know, like articles or editorials about the passing of Don Burns in this city. But, you know, you have your kind of your alternative things covering it, like Torontoist.

And, you know, I blogged about it. And then you'll have. I'm sure Now had something. Yeah, Now had something for sure. But I just wondered, doesn't a Don Burns warrant some type of write-up in your local newspaper? Wouldn't you think? I would think not only for his radio career, but I would certainly see even more for the club scene. That's right.

He helped establish it. He helped establish. I mean, without Don Burns, we don't have Deadmau5 closing the government. Right. Yeah. Right. Right. So from that standpoint, I was surprised it wasn't mentioned. But then again, we used to have radio columnists. We don't anymore.

Yeah, that's what I think that's what's going on here because I just, I'm just surprised. We're a week later now. It's been a week since he passed. And, you know, suddenly, of course, of a heart attack. And I just am surprised there hasn't been something in the Globe and Mail or the Toronto Star. I looked as you did.

I didn't see anything. I've been Googling it, wondering when it's going to show up, and I guess the fact that we're a week out and it hasn't happened yet, I don't think that... No, unfortunately, but that's the state of the typical newspaper newsroom now. They're very short-staffed, but that should have had a mention. I agree. Now, another gentleman you work closely with is a friend of mine, Fred Patterson. So he's been on the show a couple of times. If anyone wants to go back to episode 100, I have Humble and Fred in here. And it's a pretty revealing, interesting two hours.

If anyone wants to hear that. By any chance, did you hear that by any chance? I have not had a chance. I like to put people on the spot. I have not had a chance to. I've heard some of obviously your podcast and Hum humble and fred's but i haven't listened to that specific episode humble fit down here you know what you gotta like bend over it's true it's it's pretty low ceilings uh that's right um you know mark hebbs is a tall guy too he was just

here last week yeah he's a tall guy so we had some adventure luckily i didn't have any problems with ed the sock he was nice and easy to get down here. Tell me though, now we're going to get a little Oprah here. Okay. And I don't think I'm speaking at a school because I know I've heard Fred say this on his podcast, but you and Fred were very close. Yep. And for many years. And when you were getting married recently, Fred tells a story that you asked him to be your best man. 100% correct. Fred and I go back to, I was the first person to learn that his wife,

Delise was pregnant with their first child. Wow. He shared that with me at some tennis tournament. We went to Montreal together for a great cup. We lost track with each other after I left in 87 and he and humble went onto their success. And I was at CFRB, but yeah, I met a woman after 52 years of bachelorhood who I fell in love with and

thought, you know, this is the one, very late in life. And I contacted Fred and said, I'm getting married, dude. And I'd really, I don't have a lot of friend friends. I am, you know, pretty, even Howard Stern would admit he preferred to be in his basement alone, right? Right. So I thought I'm going to ask Freddie to be my best man. And he was more than happy. He wrote a wonderful piece about it on the internet at Canadian Thinker. And sometime around, I was getting married in June of 2012,

and sometime around January of that year. And a lot of ego comes into this here. Sure. Fred wrote something. Now, he had had, I think, an up and down experience with chorus. And I think he was a little embittered and I understand that I've 13 years at standard. I, uh, I read a piece and I thought, what's, what's he up to? He was talking about six 40 being a failure and being sold off.

And he's always been a real champion for the station and stuff like that. Now I also know he wanted employment there. I understand. It wasn't me other than the barrage of stuff I got thrown out at work. He's your pal. What's wrong with him? He's your pal. My boss, co-workers, guys working at Q. Why'd Freddie write that? Why'd Freddie write that? I thought that's kind of a dickish thing. And me being me with a lot of ego and a lot of, I just, I didn't contact Fred. I just thought, okay, he's pissed about something. And plus, you know, getting my wife, you know, what women are like when they're getting married, there's a lot of stress in life and stuff like that. And I got

an email out of the blue from Fred, understandably, Hey, what's going on? My wife needs to know, is she getting a dress? And I can't even tell you Mike what I wrote back but it was obviously very very it became very nasty and I've since um I've since realized one I got to dial down the uh the ego because I can't worry about how other people think what other people are thinking and it's a shame again Fred and I were kind of like 15 years maybe once or twice a year we'd say hello but when we were tight in the 80s which is why he was honored to be asked, and I was honored to ask him. And it was a total dick move on my part, I've got to say. And I'm kind of glad that I've kind of felt that, Fred, it's water under the bridge. You know, it was a dick move, Stafford, what's wrong with you?

But Fred and I have always been like that. I'm passive-aggressive. He tells you exactly how he feels. So that's – there's no drama. As you pointed out to other people on your page, on your blog, there's no drama here. There was no fist fight. No, no, no. Because, yeah, I got a lot of questions.

Sure. Because Fred did reveal that you, I think his terminology was you fired him as your best man, which is an interesting subject matter. And people are interested because they know who you are. You're a public figure and they know him. Yeah, and fired. I know. So many months had passed.

I hadn't heard from him. He hadn't heard from me. I just thought he'd figured, okay, Stafford's made other arrangements. I ended up getting my wife's brother to stand in. And to tell you the truth, Freddie, if you're listening, you wouldn't have known anybody. He doesn't like to leave his Brampton home either. Exactly.

You know, you did him a favor, right? Jody doesn't work. So all her friends were there. I have no friends. So all my people from work were there. So that's, you know, I don't think you missed much, brother. It was a beautiful day. But, you know, so that's the story.

How are things with you and Fred now, though? Because now that's how many years ago? How long you been married? June 2012. So coming up three. Cool. Very good. So have you guys talked since?

No. My wife, who is the great conciliator and should be working with the UN, she's been in contact a couple of times when Junie died. God, I love that woman. And Dickie. Their day is back in Milton and Dickie's chilly. I know Junie was a big, big fan. I couldn't bring myself to, but I made sure Judy, Judy,

Jody's four-hour shift this morning left Fred heartfelt condolences on how he must have been feeling. And he did write us back and he said, you know what, we go back too far for this to continue. Let's get together. And I hope that happens. I hope that happens. Yeah, me too.

I mean, I'm only meeting you now, but I've actually been a fan for a very long time. You know, Fred has grown children now. He's a granddad. I've still got a 13 and a 7-year-old. So socially, it's tough for us to make these things happen. But maybe in the summer, who knows? He's going to make you come to Brampton.

You know that, right? Well, I'm in Port Credit. That's not too bad. You know, Port Credit's beautiful. I bike there almost every day. Yeah, I'm in the bad part of Port Credit. Is that right? You're not near the lighthouse.

No, I'm east. I call it Port No Credit. That's funny. My metro supermarket, I call the Metro. We're in actually Lakeview. Actually, we're in Mineola. Okay, so you're not actually. Okay, I call the Metro. We're in actually Lakeview. Actually, we're in Mineola. Okay, so you're not actually. Okay, I got you.

Yeah, we're in Mineola, which I'm sure you've biked on Mineola and State Bank and all those beautiful. But yeah, it is a beautiful. But we rent. There's no way we'd ever be able to buy there. You know, yeah, that's a whole different episode. But I just recently bought in this neighborhood, which is, yeah. Are you New Toronto, Mimico? This is New Toronto.

Okay. Yeah. So you know how the numbers, when the numbers start, you've left Mimico. So when she, First Street. So you know that McDonald's at Dwight? Yeah. Yeah. That's the border.

Okay. So the McDonald's is in New Toronto, but everything east of there is Mimico. Okay. You meant the McDonald's at First. Yeah, First. Okay. Yeah. So Dwight and First are the, yeah, Dwight's the one before.

Yeah, yeah, right, first. So once you hit the first, now you're in New Toronto. And I can't remember what number it becomes Long Branch, but it's something like. 27th? Something like that, yeah, something like that. I wanted to just, I mentioned a couple of times, I want to clear something up about leaving CFNY. Yeah, I do want to know why you left in 87. And here's the unabashed history,

because I kind of took a lot of heat from Peter Griffin's family. Peter and I were extremely, he was my mentor. Seven years on the Pete and Geet show, things were starting to get a little stale. Pete and Geet, and I'm not telling stories out of school, they weren't friends. They were business people. Geet had a full-time gig.

He was the chief engineer. There wasn't a lot of freshness in the material. Now, Pete and I worked hard. We came in on weekends. We'd meet up at night at the studio, and Pete lived at Danforth and Broadview, and we'd try to put bits together and stuff like that. Well, management called me in one day and said,

Mike, here's the situation. We have hired a new morning man. We are ready. I'm not going to mention his name, but he had already been told he was hired. We are ready to put him on the air Monday morning unless you give up the news shift. Mary Ellen Benninger took over. You give up the news shift. If you want to stay on news, Pete and Geetz are gone.

And that would have meant Kevin O'Leary was gone, and it would have hurt a lot of people. The other Kevin O'Leary. Yes, the other Kevin O'Leary. Or you leave the news shift and become their full-time producer. What we want you to do is get them to drop a lot of bits, get them to start writing some new material. I said I'll give it a try because, one, I didn't want to work with this new guy

because I had already, and, two, I didn't want to break up the team, even though the team was really becoming dysfunctional. That was the position I was put in. And I don't know if anyone on that team knew that even Peter, before he passed, it was horrible. It was, um, for, and I don't blame Pete and Geetz. I'm 26 and and I'm, stop playing that now. Stop playing that. Right, yeah. Geetz was extremely, the first thing he said to me, I want to take seven weeks vacation. It's like, oh God, this is going to be a fight.

Yeah. I tried and I tried and I tried, but there was no apple juice in the bottle left. So I went into David Marsh and I said, I can't do this anymore. I can't, I got to find something else to do. I've left on air, which do this anymore. I can't, I gotta find something else to do. I've left on air, which is my dream. I love being on air. I'm trying to fix a dysfunctional show. Right. And he very graciously said, Michael, you're a very good man. And they handed me a,

what was a very paltry, like $5,000 for seven years. And I was out of work for two months, three months. And, and within those three months, the show was gone. It was done. So it kind of left a bit of a sour taste, but I've had far more sour since then. No, I'm glad you explained that because I think radio is funny. Like this week, Mad Dog was fired. And now, you know, Mad Dog was a guest on this podcast

and I'm getting emails now about what happened with Mad Dog. Like I know what happened in the inner circles bell and they're getting oh i know what happened he he got drunk at a party and he punched the boss and yeah like everybody wants a story like that right and i'm like no it's radio like in radio good people get fired all the time like usually in the summer which is what's interesting about my not interesting mad dog but what's strange is that it happened in March. But he's still doing stuff at Bell. You know what? I heard that he was doing like 1010. Yeah, he's doing live drive.

So is he still doing that? We did Tuesday, but then he was let go like Wednesday. But I don't know. I mean, well, sometimes that happens with us. Dominic Diamond was doing mornings on the edge. It didn't work. Right. Dominic still with us. In fact, he's filling in for me today. Okay. So he's still got his contract. Because on cue yeah i've heard him yeah he's done some stuff on cue so chorus still wants to keep they don't want to lose them uh it just wasn't working in that

particular time slot on that particular station and i don't know what the i mean i love fred and mel melanie's a sweetheart but uh there are some radio personalities who have the ability to cripple a station. And Dean Blundell was one of them. Dean was one of them. Another one was Don Bainard. When I first started in 1987, Don left what was CKFM at the time. He took everyone with him. He went to CHFI where he ended up working with Aaron. Right. yeah he took every and it was gary slate's albatross to where to try to rebuild that audience aaron davis yeah she's too old sounding let's let's get the kids in yeah mad dog speaking of mad dog yes yeah yeah yeah that was a julie adam did that yeah i guess she's behind the blendel thing too i understand but i mean what power and credit to

them credit to them uh aaron left and it was like, oh, look at the book. Yeah. Oh, you want me back? Here's my number. Here's what I want. Yeah. And she makes a good point about how I guess typically when there's a woman co-host, they become like end company. So it'll be like the male gets top billing and then it's like end friends or end company, whatever.

top billing and then it's like and friends or in company whatever but aaron i guess when she came back i think it was like important that she made sure that this was like aaron davis got the top billing in this moniker like it's aaron davis and mike cooper yeah and no disrespect to mike he's been around forever but uh i mean i'd like to hook or hitch my wagon to aaron davis you're not gonna lose there yeah mike's very talented but uh that's a perfect uh that's good for him because he came from ezad as well yes that's right well that it. They hooked up there and then, you know, she's coming back. She said, I'm bringing Mike with me. Yeah. Yeah, you're right.

I mean, yeah, and I'm sure Mad Dog would like to, is wondering when Mike's retiring and then, you know. You know what? There's a certain era that's done now, Mike. The era of the huge Morning Man salaries. The Derringers. The Davis. They're the last of a breed. The Ashby's

i'm telling you right here i'm tony soprano in the first episode of the sopranos told dr melfi i feel like i got in at the end anyone in getting into radio now you're tony soprano because those massive morning salaries are done uh it's a rare person who can bring those kinds of numbers or create that personality cult personality uh once roger retires and aaron and i hope it's a long way away it's gonna be very different interesting so on and i i'm gonna get back to my notes but i have a question about mr blundell there so uh rogers hired him to do mornings at fan 590 yep uh so an am competitor if you will to 640 uh what do you think of that from like is this simply like rogers wants to get back that 14 share or whatever he delivered how many years ago for 102.1 yeah i think they've realized he brings his audience

with a lot of blendel folks who left the edge when when dean left the edge didn't go necessarily anywhere because we didn't see a spike in any other real numbers. I mean, Indy hasn't really done it. And they're thinking maybe, you know, they're out in the stratosphere somewhere. We can pull them to 590. Right. You know, I wish Dean the best. I really don't know him. I think I worked there five years before we even said hello.

Interesting. Yeah. But, yeah, I wish him luck. Cool. Okay, so in 87, you went to CFRB. Yes. So how'd you end up there? And tell me about the CFRB. I'm out of line. I'm out of work. When I left CFNY, I wrote an article for the CNE magazine,

strangely enough, a humor article, Gary Slate got his hands on it. He and his father had taken over standard radio. And he went up to Dave Agar, another mentor in this business. And he went up to Dave Agar, another mentor in this business, and he went up to Agar and hired him. And that's what Gary did, hire him. Dave doesn't know me from what he did news at CFNY. It was actually CKFM that I first got hired for. Yeah. And Dave met me, and I could just see in Agar's eyes, like, you know, I got to hire this guy because the boss told me to. It worked out to be, you to be a very fruitful friendship.

Dave Agar I invited to my wedding, and he turned me down. Okay, good. He's not a social guy. Not a social guy. Yeah, and I did Morning Host, Morning This. The thing about the morning show on the mix is I worked with seven morning men in about six years. Wow. It was a turnstile.

It was a revolving door. It was Wallish and Tom Rivers It was a revolving door. It was Wallish and Tom Rivers. Rivers didn't work. Let's try Rob Christie. Let's try Dean Stevens. Jerry Forbes. It was just because Gary was set on beating Chum FM.

Well, Gary, look at their lineup. It hasn't changed. How long has Ashby been there? I was trying to think. Who's the longest? Got to be mid-70s. I was thinking he has the record right now for on-air radio guy in Toronto who's been at the same place for the longest period of time. He's got to be pretty close with Agar through various ownerships.

Okay, yeah. He's got to be very close because Dave was 74. But yeah, and then somehow I ended up moving over to RB, again more news, and then I started hosting weekend talk shows. Well, they weren't talk shows, folks. They were paid commercials. Yeah, I remember these. And my analogy is with talk radio,

and I've told people like Kelly Cotrera and others who really want to get into it, the Beatles were only the Beatles because of Hamburg. They were playing 13 hours a night, 14, night after night after. They came back to Liverpool. They weren't the same group. It's the same thing with talk. You're only going to get better the more times you attempt it. You got to put in your reps. You got to. You really do. And you're going to fail some days. You're going to panic because the phones are empty. That's good. Yeah, that's good. Because now when my phones are empty, what do I say? I say, you people let me down. You know, I'm out of a job. You know, whatever. I'll go to dial tones. Inevitably, now people say, oh, you shouldn't do that. Sounds like

you're desperate. I don't care. Right. I don't care. Of course, I'm desperate. And I'll go to any means, including begging. And usually I've got full lines. And it's a bit of an art. You learn it. You're right, man, because I'm at like 100, don't know hour 160 of this podcast and there's no right now how I feel doing it compared to hour why not I won't do it because it's just cringe worthy oh you gotta put in your reps I got tapes from the from the 90s it was like oh my god and here's one right now just kidding um. Okay, so Mojo Radio. Yes. This is, I think, don't even tell me. Is this 2001?

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Yes. April 23rd. I know it was like pre-9-11, but not too pre-9-11. And I do remember this because Humble and Fred decided to come over from 102.1 to be part of this. So you're part of the original lineup. And I have Fred Patterson to thank for that. I had left CFRB in the summer of 2000, a bit of a constructive dismissal. I was out of work, but I was getting salary continuance.

So I wasn't desperate for money, but I knew that within a year I'm going to be. I was depressed because I'm watching breakfast TV. Look at all those cars going to work. I took my mother to Ireland, did all the right things. Around January, I got a phone call from J.J. Johnson, who was a program director with Chorus there, and he said, Fred Batterson and I were talking, because I guess humble Fred had already kind of put it into work

so that they wouldn't be moving. We got a new idea for a new station. Why don't you come down? I went down, signed disclosure form, and it turned out to be Talk Radio for Guys, Mojo Radio AM640. And, you know, it was Fred who made the suggestion, and maybe Howard as well, you know, Stafford's out of work here. You know, we got to find something for him. I ended up doing afternoons four to seven, and the initial reaction was huge.

Toronto Life, Toronto Star, Global News. Toronto Life, Toronto Star, Global News. At one point in the summer, JJ came to me and said, Mike, how long has Bobcat been working in Toronto? I said, I don't know, 20 years on the fan. You beat him. You got a seven share. Wow.

In the afternoons. The afternoon show, for whatever reason, became like the breakout hit. Then 9-11 happened. And that was it. The, um, nobody wanted to be funny anymore. Another reason people say, why didn't Mojo work?

I don't think the sales team was up to snuff. Uh, when I was at a meeting, once I looked at our sales department, they're all women in their twenties drinking cosmos. And this is talk radio for guy station. Uh, the other thing is the enormous launch we had with the Mojo models and stuff

like that. Yeah. For a couple of months we were talking about BJs and, you know, gross stuff. And we started getting smarter, but we never lost that Mojo model. No chicks in jail. We actually became some, I know you've been critical and rightly so, because there wasn't a lot of intelligence. I tried to bring that in the afternoon show, you know, with a wink, wink, nudge, nudge, you know. But...

I listened to your show on Mojo, and I thought it was the best show in the lineup. Yeah. No disrespect to Humble and Fred, because they were always great, too. Yeah, but they had a tough time of it. I don't think Humble and Fred realized what talk was going to be like,

how tough it would be. And mornings are so much, the afternoons, people have done their day. They just want to, you know, chill out. Oh, we'll call it. That guy's talking about what's the weirdest stuff your wife's worn during sex. I got a funny story. People aren't like that in the morning. They don't have funny stories. So I know they gave it the college try. The whole, the whole thing didn't work. And the other reason, the national advertisers wouldn't touch us. Is that because you were essentially like a Maxim magazine on radio kind of mentality? And there's a story about a Maple Leaf executive at a meeting we had because we held the rights, blowing

up. Because following the beloved blue and white, there was sex with so-and-so talking about bondage and he's listening to this on the way home okay it was ken dryden he i've never heard such filth i've never heard except he says it much slower than that i've never heard such filth but you can read about it in my new book right um it was an experiment that was doomed to fail. But 9-11 and the overwhelmingly sex slanted launch is what eventually killed us. And then we became, I hate consultants. So then we became the new mojo. Right.

We're talking about Toronto water quality. Oh, there's a five part series on the PPMs of chlorine. So who picks these topics? Me? So, okay. So is it saying you have guidelines like so when you switch your direction and then you're going from like let's say you're going from simpsons trivia to water quality or whatever uh this is you've got some guidance from your boss and then you

you you pick your topics and i really have no guidance from my boss unless i'm in trouble i produce pretty well my own show i have r Ryan Bonner, who was my quote producer. It's the best call screener in the business. Um, and Patrick Malkin, my technical producer. But when it comes to what I'm going to be talking about that day, Ryan has some input. I'm pretty well gender. I'm up at six 30 on my computer. I leave at eight 30. I've pretty well got an idea by the time I walk in the door. Um,

not maybe what I'll start off with, but at least the three or four go-to topics. And, you know, each day there's, you know, something different, but I, I like to inject a little bit of, you know, levity, if you will. Some people call it glib, but I prefer to think of it as more personal. I like the pop culture references. That's what I like. And I know everyone's different, but that's what I'm, I think, you know, you've got this

quick, sharp mind that recalls these names and different programming. That's my reach for the top, Jeopardy experiences. Well, tell me, okay. Well, first of all, did you find an inordinate

number of producers are named Ryan? Do you find like this is a common name with producers? I think it should be eliminated. No, you're right. It does seem to be. My firstborn's middle name is Ryan, so I do like the name.

But it seems like a lot of them are named Ryan. Ryan Bonner, Ryan Parker at Q107. Yeah, there are a lot of Ryans. A lot of Ryans. Yeah. Tell me about Jeopardy, because you were on Jeopardy. We heard the story in the Marsden podcast. Tell me how you got on there and how that went.

I sent in a request to audition. Now they have the, what they do is tour cities and it becomes a radio station contest to try out. Back then I let them know I'd like to be on the show. And they said, okay, in August, on this Monday, August, whatever, it was near my birthday. Come on down to Hollywood Center Studios. We're not paying for anything, obviously. And you can join the audition. This was a day from hell. I showed up. I went down by myself, and I actually stayed,

thankfully, with, she's passed on, a friend of Kevin's for free. She put me up. I went down, and I went to the guard's gate, and I said, I'm here to audition for Jeopardy. What's your name? Like, Stafford, you're not on the list. Oh, God love him. He called the producers and said, I got a guy here from Toronto. Okay, let him in. I went in, there's a bunch of us in the room. There's a 75 question quiz. We had 15 minutes. You had to score 75 or 80% plus to stay to stay in the room. I was the first name called out as you know, not necessarily the highest score on the quiz. So about 30% of us remained in the room. Then they start playing the game.

They held up the cards, the old Art Fleming era cards. We're standing there with bells. Now they're looking for personality. They know we're all good enough to be on the game. Now they're looking for the demographics and, you know, personality. And I got interviewed. So I went back to Kim's place. They said, we'll let you know.

We'll let you, because you're in for a week. Phone rang about two hours later. Mike, it's Greg Monteen. He was the contestant coordinator. Congratulations. Did you bring three sets of clothing? Yes, I did. We taped Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Be here tomorrow morning on the dot, 10 a.m. Oh, my God. Mom. Sister. Kevin. I'm on. I'm on. I'm on. hour and a half later kim's phone rings mike it's greg monteen i am afraid i've got some bad news what we can't let you on the show why because you're on radio oh my god i i figured it out later he says we can't let you on but take comfort in

the fact you could have been on right right right right, right. Yeah. Well, you're going to make the phone calls back home now, Greg, to say, yeah, right. You passed. Yeah, right. Right. I was despondent. So off to Ralph's supermarket for a bottle of Kahlua. Six o'clock comes along. KCOP TV channel 13 in LA.

Might as well watch this piece of shite show. They start introducing the contestants. A radio DJ from Santa Clara, California. I go, what the hell? So I get home and I call the Murph Griffin Productions. I said, what's going on? Well, you have to call ABC Standards and Practices in New York because they make up the rules.

They thought I was a member of a broadcast union, like AFTRA in the States, like AFTRA here. Because they're not allowed to be on TV for free. Gotcha. I said, I'm not. CBC is. I'm not. Fought it for months.

Finally get a phone call in October. Come on down November 5th. You're not guaranteed to be on the show, but you've been cleared to be on. So I go down with my then girlfriend at the time, who was a rather attractive blonde woman. And I go on the Tuesday because they tape five shows Tuesday, five shows Wednesday. And I show up for the Tuesday tapings. She's in the audience.

We have no contact. They're very strict still, even after the quiz show scandal. I get to meet Alex and I sit through the five shows. We had dinner on the set of Soul Train. I mean, that's a life changing experience, Michael. But by the fifth show, we're done for the day. Come back tomorrow. Well, the first show tapes at're done for the day. Come back tomorrow.

Well, the first show tapes at noon, my name gets selected. It's all done. ABC picks all the questions. ABC picks all the contestants. So I taped the show. Now what I didn't tell anyone was the night before I get back after the five shows were taped, I get back to my, uh, Howard Johnson's in Hollywood. And my girlfriend at the time had about six staff members from the Jeopardy crew in the room. Wow. There wasn't any orgy or anything going on. She just, you know,

she, you know, come on back. Well, out came the booze and out came the smokables, not a big pot smoker. I got to say not a big pot smoker, but I thought I got to relax because my gut was,

so I puff away, puff away, puff away. And I get picked for the first show the very next day, about eight hours later. Which is why if you've seen the show, how I could possibly miss the only US president with a double N in his surname. Daily double, $2,000. I grew up on Kennedy Road in Scarborough. I worked at 83 Kennedy Road South in Brampton. This explains everything, man. I'm not going to say my short-term memory was in any way affected. I was horrified. I mean, I laugh now watching The Wheel and watching... How could you miss that?

You know what? You got 22 minutes under hot lights. Yeah, it's a different... At home, it's a whole different ballgame. A whole different ballgame. You can't compare that. I was so bummed out. I ended up with zero.

I will mention, though, I am the only Toronto radio host to make it to Final Jeopardy, John Moore. I was so bummed out. I'm driving around. I got to cheer myself up. So we went and saw a matinee of Sid and Nancy. Yeah, there you go. That was so it was a hell of an experience.

Unfortunately, I can't get back on the show, but maybe it's too late. No, that's cool. That's a great story, too. So just tell me a little bit about The Simpsons here. So we're both big Simpsons fans. Yep. So do you still watch? No.

So, Wendy, because I have my demarcation line or whatever is after season 10, believe it or not. I have the first 10 seasons on DVD. I have maybe 12, but yeah, I think 10 in terms of. I made the call at 10. I could have gone to 12 probably. And now it's more time that goes on. I notice I'll see something from season 12 or 13 and go, hey, that's pretty good.

But maybe I'm comparing it to today. But that first 10 seasons, and really, to be honest, the first six seasons is like a special category unto itself. I was just lazing around yesterday, and I think it was season four, Homer at the Bat, Cape Fear. Yes, yeah. I mean, I know. The little thing, Homer at the Bat, that scene where he's choking

on donuts at the beginning and they're looking at the Heimlich poster and it's a guy giving another guy the Heimlich and an entire lobster's coming out of his mouth. I mean, the kind of stuff that went on in the writing room over a simple poster back then. Yeah, I'm with you. I have them on DVD because I like the commentary. I've only

seen the first 10 seasons, but you would break into like Simpsons trivia periodically on your show. I used to do, but I'll tell you, I'd get crushed after season, I would say season 8. Yeah, me too. It's only because it was just constant rerun. Once they hit the

100 syndication mark, those first 100 shows I've got embedded in my memory. Oh my god, like when Homer goes back just all right i was on this weekend too yeah i just did a screen cap of that because don sherry went off on nerds so i took a screen cap of the nerds yeah yeah yes and i tweeted it out and i was thinking of that episode and then i was thinking like homer's heart attack and i was thinking or the monorail right we that gets referenced a lot two conan o'briens you've mentioned yeah you're right and uh what's his name just passed away uh the world needs laughter uh oh nimoy in nimoy right dog surprise me you know you can talk start you know yeah nimoy's dead and all the great things he's

in especially star trek but i go straight to the monorail episode completely yeah is that anybody else want to sit next to this guy yeah cosmic. Cosmic Dance Ballet continues. No, it's just one of those shows. I don't think there's been any more of an influence on popular culture. To think of it, though, I was 29, 28 even, when that show premiered. Yeah, and it's still going. I mean, you know, a generation or two. I could do, I was in high school. Okay, I was in high school.

Look at all these white hairs on my head, okay? I was in high school when that show debuted. But why don't they pull the plug? I guess if it's still making money... You know what I think? The principal voices are still... I feel like if the passing of a principal voice and there would be like, okay, we're done kind of deal. They lost Phil Hartman,

all these peripheral guys, but the core voices are still interested in doing it. Isn't it insane they thought of actually replacing them over a salary dispute? mean they'd already banked five billion on this show i don't yeah i yeah that's insane but i i a couple years ago there used to be a simpsons fan fest and i'd always get invited and i actually did a uh i emceed a discussion david silverman was there the one of the first directors and a really cool guy, and Nancy Cartwright. Of course, Nancy, the voice of Bart. Scientologist.

Yeah, and she did a one-person show. It was one of the worst things I've ever seen. God love her. It was just... She's brilliant at what she does. I suppose. No Harry Shearer or Dan Castellaneta. Shearer doesn't want to do anything on that show.

He's just cashing a check now. He doesn't even go to the table. Is that right? We were just at Universal, and they've got the entire Springfield down in Orlando with the Simpsons ride, and there's nothing to do with any Shearer character. He wouldn't do the...

I'm sure they offered him a lot of money, but there's no Smithers presence, Burns presence, Skinner presence, Shear presence cheerless interesting i see now we're up up against it believe it i gotta do a little rapid fire q a quickly here okay one quick question personal question is uh about me is uh uh did i know you talked about freddie p and his entry about chorus and how it upset you whatever uh you used to comment on my blog and we would correspond and then I believe I pissed you off. Oh, you probably did. Everyone's pissed me off, Mike. All right, because the anti-corruption,

I think around the Martin Streak suicide, I probably wrote some things that pissed you off. Oh, that was a brutal, brutal time because I didn't know Martin very well. I knew his brother better, but I know the importance he had. And people get fired in radio. And Marty, unfortunately, I think... Well, I've heard David tell the story, David Marston, he came up to me and he hugged me, he said, I don't know what to do, David. I don't know what to do. I don't know what Martin's demons were. But I thought chorus

was kind of getting a bad, it's never pleasant. It's never pleasant. But I kind of knew Martin was a little difficult. Martin was being told what to do. And God bless Marty. He was an iconoclast. You don't tell me what to do. If I offended you, I apologize. I was just getting a little weary. No, I mean, it's more that I actually enjoyed our correspondence.

I particularly enjoyed your feedback on the blog because I listened to your show and I like how you think. And I wasn't OJ. OJ boy! You know that's a flash from the past. I wonder if he'll hear this. You know what? They're destroying the internet. Yeah, the trolls. They're destroying that yellow board.

There's a guy named Ziggy on this yellow board. Yeah, John Cato. He's a community broadcaster. He's never spent a minute on major market radio, but he knows everything. I'm told he single-handedly destroyed what was, at one point,

a fairly interesting... No one wants to participate anymore. No one wants to participate, but, you know, you keep feeding them. But I actually, if I have a guy, I've had guys like that

in the past where I actually ban them because it's almost like I have somebody like that who starts to ruin it like no one wants to. I'll actually ban the one guy to save

the forum kind of deal. Yeah, but some of them have kind of turned around. Irvine and stuff. I've seen some positive stuff. I banned him. He had like a period where he was banned and he came back a kinder and gentler version. Absolutely. But an OJ boy, I never did actually ban him, but he kind of banned himself.

I just got tired of hearing how CNY sucks again. It's, it's a corporate station. Again, it was a tough time for us at work. You know, it's the first time I've ever seen grief counselors in a radio. Go ahead, you've got more. No, but on the Martin Street, no, just real quickly there is,

I've now decided you should not hear episode 100 with Humble and Fred. I don't think you should hear it now because I think half of that episode is chorus bashing. Well, that's understandable. That's understandable. I mean, I 100% understand chorus bashing. Well, that's understandable. That's understandable. I mean, I 100% understand. It's a brutal, brutal business.

You know, they make the decision, we're going to go to the mix. I know Pat Holliday hung a basket of money out for them. Right. And the way they do it. Hey, Humble, don't tell Fred. But, you know, all this subterfuge. Sure. You know, we're men.

Treat us like men. Right. Anyway, I won't listen to 100. Okay, don't listen to 100. What's your dream job at radio? Like, if you pick any job in radio, do you have it? I have it right now. My boss lets me do what I want to do unless I do something stupid.

I'm completely in control of my own content. I've got some really wonderful core p1 listeners um and this is the best job i have ever had in radio i love the days from the 80s but you know as tony soprano said the worst phrase in the world is remember when love by the way we're also fellow uh sopranos fans have you ever dove it did you ever dive into the wire i have lent it to three different people then i got married I just got the box set back from my buddy Patrick. He said it's one of the best things he's ever... We're breaking bad

freaks, but he said it's one of the best things he's ever seen. I still haven't cracked it open, but it was you who recommended it. I was going to ask because... You got me into Six Feet Under, actually. Six Feet Under is great. Still one of my top five shows of all time. And I love The Sopranos. I know I think we've talked about the ending of The Sopranos, but I'm actually

getting to a point. Somebody wrote in and had a question for you about, I guess you don't like The Walking Dead. I've never seen it. Okay, so I actually watched one episode of The Walking Dead and decided to bail. And I do this, I just didn't capture me the one episode. It was kind of boring, I found and I just decided to leave it. There's a Jeopardy

question. A Jeopardy question. George Romero, the king of the zombie genre, was asked to direct three episodes. He said, no, this is a stupid soap opera. Case closed. Case closed. Okay, because somebody wants to know, because you talk a lot about The Sopranos

and apparently you were a fan of True Blood, which I actually watched, I think, the first three seasons. It was okay. Jody got me into that. The first three with Russell Edgerton and then he died and it was crap. I just wanted to know why you defecate all over

The Walking Dead. I don't. I defecate over the fanboys who keep telling me to watch it. Do you watch Game of Thrones? No. Too many Welsh names. I haven't watched a minute of Game of Thrones and I'm sure it's good. I'm sure it's amazing. There's a point where when everyone's telling you

and I almost feel like I'm the annoying guy who says you gotta watch The Wire. It's the best thing ever. I did a whole show on this, telling you, and I almost feel like I'm the annoying guy who says you've got to watch The Wire. It's the best thing ever. I did a whole show on this, Mike. What are you sick of being told to watch? Sons of Anarchy?

Now, I did cave on Breaking Bad, and it was one of the best things I've ever seen. I enjoyed it, too. Although I still think that when he's, spoiler alert for anyone

listening, but when he's in the car and he can't start the car. Ah, Norm MacDonald started that. But doesn't it make sense? No, because how would he know that Jesse was being held by the bikers?

Or by the Nazis? I got to think deeper. You got to think more. I just find that it seems very like a fantasy from that point on. Like as if everything breaks. I mean, what gets me is he's in that restaurant. He's the most wanted man in America in his hometown dining at a restaurant. He looks like himself.

He's just wearing a beard or whatever. And, you know, it just seems way too convenient. What are you talking about when he was having the drink? The thing with Stevia, when he poisons what's-her-name's coffee. Oh, when he went with Lydia, yes. How is he sitting in a public restaurant in that town with that? You know, he's all over whatever scene. Well, but, I mean, Skylar's sister did tell her

that he's been seen around town. And i mean um uh skyler's sister did tell her that he's been seen around town when she was warning remember on the phone and it turns out he's i need to maybe watch this episode again it just seems a little too convenient that's okay but i do love the sopranos and uh yeah so do you think he lives or dies i think he's dead i that's what i that's my i believe but i heard that and i don't like it when creators do this but david chase says he's alive or something i don't like it when creators do this, but David Chase says he's alive or something. I don't like it when years later, the guy who wrote that open ending decides to tell you what he thinks happened.

Because then I like it better when, leave it open if you have the open ending. Well, you know, of course we all freaked. We thought our DVRs and our cable went. Why would they bring back Pussy's quote about you won't even hear it coming? Yes, that's right. Why would they do that

and then end with a smash cut to black? Right, I'm with you. What was it? The members-only jacket guy comes out of the bathroom with the gun or whatever. Ricky Jay. Is Ricky Jay, actor and magician Ricky Jay, now your nemesis? No, he's not my nemesis. My knob producer, Ryan Bonner, I do very few interviews.

We book one with Ricky Jay. I forget about it, but as a producer, he should remember. The hotline rings one day. Hi, it's Ricky Jay to talk to Mike Stafford. I don't remember setting up any interview with Ricky Jay. Click. Okay, so that's who Ricky Jay is. I love Ricky in the David and the Met films.

Yeah, that's right. Okay, cool. Okay, what else we got here? I did this to my wife. So I got married for the second time recently and my wife suddenly has two stepchildren and she's a great stepmom and she's enjoying the experience. And I have a 13 year old and a 10 year old who love her and adore her. She's a stepmom. So you recently became a stepdad. Yep. So how's that experience? I have a 13 year old and a seven year old stepson. They both took just, just had birthdays. Um, it is, I, I,

I know they have a father's day and a mother's day. I think there should be, I don't think there's as a stepfather, um, it's a hell of a tough job. It's an extremely tough job. You come in as a disciplinarian. Um, I'm still waiting for the 13 year old. I know it's coming probably this year. You're not my dad. Oh, you think? Oh yeah. It's inevitable. I'm prepared for it. Um, and I, I always talk about the boys weekend with the biological dad. Right. I say they're bowling on the space shuttle. You know, we're going to sky zone. We're, we're going to, you know, I, I'm the one who's dealing with the crap during the week, signing the checks for the karate. And, uh, where do you want me to pick them up this week? Where do you want me to pick them up this week? Where do you want me to pick them up this week?

Where do I have to drive them this week? You know, dad brings them home jacked on sugar. He's your problem now. Now the dad's a cool guy, but I think I've found it to be a very thankless job. I know my wife loves me and I love her, but it's tough. So I don't know if your wife's going through this. No, maybe because she got them when they were younger sort of deal but because of my uh of course my my daughter uh just

like worships her so that's amazing and my 13 year old son is uh he's more of a man than he is a teen actually this 13 year old he's just a giant my my stepson's the same and I can have chats with him that Jody can't yeah um and you know just do the sit in the bed, pat him on the knee kind of thing. Everything's going to be okay. Yeah, good. That kind of thing. So that's good. And we share a love of computers and geeky stuff.

But yeah, so far so good. I mean, my son gets along great with my wife. And, you know, now one thing is we have a child together now. So they got a half-brother. I guess we have uh we have a child together now so they got a step uh half brother i guess we don't call him a half brother he's just a brother but uh yeah everything's good on that front and it's good to hear your experience oh it was a it was a bit of a shocker uh doing it but um anyway we're we're getting through day to time all right here's a fan of yours says instead of wearing button-up shirts, a nice polo, or a cardigan, you wear a lot of sweaters and t-shirts to work.

Is this out of left field or what? I don't know what this reference is. They're asking if clothes matter in radio. Oh, sweet God, no. I mean, to some people, the most impeccably dressed man in Toronto radio is John Derringer. And John used to look like a Russian mafioso coming to work in a 1970 era as Adidas, but he's sartorially, he's well-dressed. I don't care. You know, I've got a punch now. I'm 54. I mean, I don't care what I look like.

I hate the proliferation of studio cams, by the way. I hate it. Because now suddenly you can't come. What's the point? At some point, I don't know. Take the magic away? Come on. You got to look. What's the point? Some point where you say, I don't know. Take the magic away. Come on. That's called TV. That's right.

That's why Bobcat wears the sunglasses, I think. Well, at least Bobcat's on television. Like you're just on the web. Yeah, exactly. This is just like a webcam. Give me a break. That's right. Last question here from the fans.

But somebody wants to know what makes you nervous and what's your favorite radio moment from your long career? What makes me nervous is every show every day at 1006 i gotta swear i get when that theme music comes up i'm i'm scared so still you still get that and that's a good thing i think i think i think that's a good thing that gets me um uh breaking news is is nerve-wracking as for my favorite radio moment the moment that could have ended fred patterson and my career at the same time fred if you're listening i'm doing the news in the little news booth at 2 ellen street fred's in the sports booth right across from me i'm this is the old

rip and read you know type type type on paper right in other news two toronto police officers have been charged with kitty diddling uh cost and meanwhile, Fred's waving his arms in the sports booth. No, no, no. Constables Nick Grecchio and Harry Carey will face court actions when they return from their holiday in Greece. That son of a bitch had put that fake copy in my newscast, hoping I would pre-read it for some reason probably a bathroom so fred put that in there fred put that in there and he's and we're carrying i we finish and we wait for the phone to ring wow nothing okay you got lucky nothing this should have been about 1981 so cf and i was that's a good thing and a bad thing right hadn't been on the cn tower yet it wasn't

you know its broadcast signal was still pretty restricted and none of the toronto police service got that was the most memorable moment in radio because I thought I was out of a job and career. Oh, that's funny. That is funny. Hey, man, I got to thank you for this because I've wanted to have you on for quite some time. Just because I just like how you think and I think you're the best talk radio host in the city. In the city, I appreciate that. And I've said that on many episodes,

so this is not me changing my tune because you're sitting here. No, I appreciate it, Mike. It's a pleasure. And keep up the great work because nobody else does this on the internet. No, thank you. Because I do it as a labor of love, as you know.

Oh, of course. Because these microphones don't buy themselves. No, they don't. And I'm taking one because I could use one of these at work. I'd be honored. All right, Mike, take care. Thank you very much.

And that brings us to the end of our 112th show. You can follow me on Twitter, at Toronto Mike. And Mike Stafford, what is your Twitter handle? At Mike640, I think. I'm not a big Twitter guy. But you're on Twitter. You can find me. We'll find Mike. You guys can, this is your homework guy. But you're on Twitter. You can find me. This is your homework.

Find Mike Stafford on Twitter. See you all next week. And drink some Guin goodness from a tin. Cause my UI check has just come in. Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy.