Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Pete Fowler: Toronto Mike'd #152

Episode Date: December 27, 2015

Mike chats with former 102.1 the Edge announcer Pete Fowler about his years at the station, his relationship with Martin Streek, why he left radio to become a cop and his new show, The Lost Indie City.

Welcome to episode 152 of Toronto Mike's, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, often with a distinctly Toronto flavor. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week is radio host Pete Fowler. How you doing Mike? Pete, we were just talking before I press record that there is a very loud dryer spinning in the background and we were talking will these unidirectional mics pick it up or not? I guess we'll see. We'll find out because

in the room it's sort of like if you're in an airport hangar or whatever like that's loud eh? Yeah it sounds like we're in a wind tunnel and I was explaining my youngest wears these reusable cloth diapers, and this is like late on a Sunday night, which is apparently laundry time where all that gets cleaned up.

That's all right. I like it. But I see the timer has like 10 minutes left, so it'll only be 10 minutes more. But thank you, man. I was really looking forward to this, and I'm glad you could make it in. It's not quite Boxing Day. What is this? The day after

Boxing Day. Yeah, Boxing Day, Boxing Day. Right. So I appreciate that. Right off the bat, I've got to thank you for pledging my ride to conquer cancer. You probably don't remember doing that. No, I remember that. That was a year ago. Yeah, that was 2014, I think. Yeah.

I'm so for, you know, especially when it has to do with cycling, since I'm an avid cyclist, you know, pledging for someone that's willing to take the time to ride all those kilometers. So, no, thank you for doing that. You know, because from my standpoint, like I get, I had a number of pledges, but when like that guy I used to hear on the radio pledges you, you doing that. You know, because from my standpoint, I had a number of pledges, but when that guy I used to hear on the radio pledges you, you remember that. Because I know you and Aaron Davis, for example, were the only two radio people who pledged my ride. Really?

Yeah. I'm surprised. I know. You know what? Because they're cheap bastards, Pete. Okay? They're cheap bastards. I'm doing this speaking of pledging. I started this Patreon crowdfunding. I call it an experiment, but I mean, it's really happening. I don't think it's an experiment. It's happening.

How's that going? Well, you go to patreon.com slash Toronto Mike, and you can become a patron of Toronto Mike, the podcast. And it's going. I mean, since I last updated everybody on my patrons i have two new ones i'll quickly mention ed nicholson and moose grumpy which is a great name that's a great name yeah but you know i'm looking down the list like you're right uh i these are all regular people who are pledging the podcast uh none of you know nobody from the radio world who's been on this podcast is giving a dollar a month to be a patron.

Yeah, that's absolutely cheap. Cheap bastards. Well, and considering, like I listen to your podcast, Mike, and not only is it excellent, the guests that you get, like I can't believe that I'm actually sitting here, that's how impressed I am, with all the people that you have since how long have I been out of the business for?

Well, yeah. In fact, how long have you been out? That's going to come up shortly, but how long have you been out of the business? Besides co-hosting the 20th anniversary of the Thursday 30 with Martin Streak in 2008, I've been out of the radio business for at least 15 years. Okay, wow. So it's been a while. I recently got back into it a little bit, but, you know, it's been a while enough where I feel kind of rusty.

Well, listen, I've been hearing you recently, so I'm wearing the T-shirt, in fact. I know. We're going to get into it. I love this T-shirt. I love this shirt. We're going to get deep dive here. I'm just happy I can finally hear you now

because I can hear the dryers winding down behind me. Oh, that's great. So now I can hear you. Yeah. This is going to get deep dive here. I'm just happy I can finally hear you now because I can hear the dryers winding down behind me. So now I can hear you. Yeah. This is going to be fun now. So I didn't even mean to take you off course. I wanted you to spend an hour or so just telling me how much you enjoy the podcast. I was hoping you would keep going with that. Okay.

Do you want me to? Yeah, sure. Well, I listen to it religiously. I haven't heard all the episodes, to be honest with you, but I have heard the majority. I listen to the ones where people I know. So, for instance, I've met Mark Hebscher, and I used to work with Adam Groh,

one of your more recent podcasts. I used to work with him in a small market station. And then, of course, all the edge people that you've already interviewed. Like Scott Turner? Scott Turner, I've never met. But George. Who else have you had?

Humblin' Fred. Alan Cross. May Potts. And I understand that you're going to be having Rob Johnson. Yes, yes, yes. That is happening. And there's a whole list of others that I listen to just because I've either run into them over the years or have worked with them in some way.

I only worked at a couple of radio stations, a couple of small market ones before I got hired at CFNY or 102.1 The Edge or Edge 102 as you like to call it. Yeah, I have the sticker somewhere. Yeah, but listen to all these great announcers or great media people that influence me and I had the opportunity to work with. That's why I enjoy listening to the podcast so much. No, thanks. I can't believe I did that, though. I literally, you gave me a great compliment

and I came back fishing for more. Oh, I know, Seth. Pete might have more to say here. I've gotten off topic with the Patriots. We've got to get back to that. I don't normally do that, but I was just curious why somebody 15 years removed

what they would think of the podcast. It's kind of a unique perspective. I enjoy it. And even though I haven't been in radio for many years, it's not because I don't love it still. It's not because I don't love the people that I used to work with. It's just

I still keep a hand in it, but I'm not, it's not my living. Well, hey, let's we're going to do a deep dive here, but you know how this works because you've heard it enough times. But so just briefly, before we started recording, you gave me a wonderful gift.

So you gave me a bicycle, a bike jersey, a bicycle jersey. And that's awesome. So tell me though, since it sounds like you're a cyclist, let's start with just a quick, quick chat about cycling.

So you've never met Scott Turner, but he's got a $6,000 bike and does these serious long rides or whatever. What's your history with cycling? Well, I started racing BMX in the 80s, bicycle motocross, right throughout North America. And then I stopped doing it once I bought a car, like most teenagers.

And then I got back into it in the late 90s and the 2000s and would race, this time across Ontario, part of the Ontario Cycling Association series. So in 2008, I actually got ranked first in the province for my age category as well as the type of bike I ride, which is a 24-inch Haro Cruiser. And so they actually gave me two jerseys, one which actually fits me and one that will actually fit you. Perfect.

So I thought, oh, it's never been worn. You enjoy cycling, and it's been sitting in my closet for years, since 2008, and I thought I'd bring it here for you. No, thanks a lot for that. And I've never been ranked number one in anything, so I think that's impressive. Age group or whatnot, that's amazing. Yeah.

That's amazing. I love cycling. Like, I have a road bike, I have a hybrid, I have a mountain bike, and I still have a BMX. So I'm right into cycling. I love it. So if you have, I don't know, an empty Sunday and it's a nice day and you're going to go for a road race,

what kind of distance are we talking here? Not as much as you. Oh, okay. Because I was thinking like you'd laugh at me. You'd be snickering at me. No, no.

No, it's, I've kind of, you know, for lack of a better term, petered off over the years. And so if I do go out at 30, 40 kilometers, if I do a road ride,

if I ride trails, it'll be very technical-based trails. It could be like Kelso and Milton or something like that. Cool. And I'll go out for 20 kilometers, which might be a two- or three-hour ride, depending on the technology. Sure, the trails. Yeah, yeah. But a road race, 30, 40, I mean, that's all I ever target is 30 to 40.

Oh, I thought you were doing like 50 to 70. No, like I only ever have, I could do it at my lunch hour, and I steal a couple of minutes, and I typically do 30 kilometers. Yeah. And sometimes I go 40 if I have time or whatever, but I almost never exceed 40 kilometers a ride, except when I was training for the Ride to Conquer Cancer, in which I had to kind of train for that a bit.

But normal rides, like Christmas Day, I did a 40K. It was great. You know, now I hear it's turning. Like, I just saw the weather report. They're like, snow is coming. But prior to this moment, it's been like spring-like conditions this month. But the fact that you can ride, you know, December 25th,

you know, that's just amazing. And where I live, there's lots of cycl 25th. Yeah. You know, that's just amazing. And where I live, there's lots of cyclists out. Yeah. You know, and, which you don't normally get to see this time of the year. I noticed that too

because last year, for example, I'm used to like, I'll go out, I went out Christmas Day last year. I checked out because I record all my rides like with Matt, my ride. Yeah.

And I saw, okay, I did 32K or something last Christmas Day. But, you know, you go out and you're the only one out there because did 32K or something last Christmas day. But, you know, you go out and you're the only one out there because it's cold and no one's out there

because, you know, it's Christmas and it's cold. But I saw a lot of cyclists yesterday, a lot of people out there because it's like, here's like a second, you know, it's like an extended fall almost.

Well, you know, if you wear the right gear, you're not going to get cold. As soon as you get five, six kilometers into the ride, you're warmed up and you don't even notice the weather.

It's exactly right. And there's a bit of trial and error in determining at what temperatures you have to add that extra layer. But once you get

that figured out, you know it. It's like you look, okay, it's minus 10. This is what I wear for that. It's zero. I wear this for that. And you're never cold.

My only two body parts I ever struggle with are my toes and my fingers. Those are the only two. Everything else will be fine. The toes is tough because I happen to bike in running shoes and I go thickness of socks, but

if it's really cold, like last February, I did like 250k total last February and those were tough. It's tough because your nose, you go numb, but the fingers, I'll double up on the gloves and so fingers and toes, but other than that, you're always warm.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, no, and it's great. If you love cycling, which it sounds like you do, and your bike's right here in front of me. Yeah, I told Scott Turner that I'm treating, this is like, I think I paid $799 plus tax for this bike. Yep. And I treat it like a $6,000 bike.

So that's what I've done. I have a $500 bike in the shed, and so I treat that like my utility $500 bike, and then I treat the $799 bike like it's my $6,000 bike. Well, some people will say, including myself, that sometimes it's the rider, not the bike. Right, right. So you can do a lot with a $500, $800 bike.

You don't need to buy a $4,000 or $5,000 bike, but I understand. And I've been there where I bought bikes that were worth a lot of money. Yeah, because you were competitive. Yeah. And even though I could have probably still done just as well with a $1,000 bike. But when you want the best of something, I totally understand why someone would want the best. Just like why people want the best car or the nicest house. Sure. That makes sense.

Cool. So that's Wicked. A little bike chat off the top. I don't get to do that every episode. Now let's get into radio here and take me back to why you got into radio. Like most people, I got into radio because I loved music. I still love music and I love radio too, but I love music more. And when I originally got into radio, there was a goal. I set out goals for myself.

I wanted to get to Toronto as the major market. And I wanted to work for a specific radio station, which was CFNY. Throughout my teens, that's the station, one of the stations I listened to, which had all those great announcers, you know, Danny Elwell, Scott Turner, Don Burns, Earl Jive, Liz Janik. The list goes on and on with the broadcasters

that worked there. And the music that they played, it was like a major market college station where they just kind of played what they want. I thought that was the coolest thing. And this is the David Marsden era. Yeah, it was the Marsden era. And even after the Marsden era,

there was a Marsden era. They still had a lot of broadcasters there that were carrying the torch up until a certain time in the late 80s where it kind of changed. And even then, when I got there in 92, it was still, it was, we were still playing music where no other commercial radio station was playing. So it was still cutting edge to me, pardon the pun.

So I was just excited to try and make it there. And so I worked at a couple of smart, I started with college radio with my, with my friend Greg and, and I would still do college radio even when I worked at the edge. I asked the program director, Stuart Myers, if I could still continue doing my college radio show. And I think he asked how many Watts was in, I go, it's 500 Watts in Waterloo.

And he goes, yeah, feel free. Go nuts. It's not going to wreck the Edge's ratings by doing college radio. So I would finish the Thursday 30 with Martin Streak, and then I'd drive to Waterloo and do a midnight to 4 a.m. spot in Waterloo on a college radio station. And that's how much I loved music, because you could get two different things. Wow. You know, getting through those small market stations to finally get good enough to even apply to CFNY and then having the opportunity to get an interview. And it's actually two interviews.

Back then, you got interviewed by the program director and then you got interviewed by the music director. So John Jones was the music director there and Stuart Myers was the program director there at the time. and Stuart Myers was the program director there at the time. So you sat down with Stu and you talked about the station and the heritage of that station. And I'm sure they wanted you to understand what you're getting into and how much passion the listeners have towards music compared to other radio stations. Right.

And then you sat down with the music director, John Jones, and I wouldn't say it was a quiz, but I clearly felt that they wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about, or at least I knew the music and I knew what the audience was about. And, you know, I felt like I won the lottery when they said, okay, yeah, you're hired to do overnights. And it was just, I couldn't believe it. It's like, I can't believe I was, like, I still can't believe it looking back all these years that I had the opportunity to work there. It's amazing that you targeted that station. You're like, I want to be on CFNY. Oh, yeah.

And that, yeah, the story almost, Alan Cross tells a similar story, but he's out in Manitoba, I think, or Winnipeg or something. And he's like, I want to work there. And then he ends up where he targets. And that's got to feel like amazing. It is. And I truly believe that if you put in the work and you're persistent, you know, most people that have reached their goals will say that

anything's obtainable. And, you know, working at that station, I did, and I can't stress this enough, how, how fortunate I felt when I got that job and the fact that I got to work there for six years, it was, um, I look on it very, very, very fondly. And, you know, even people I work with now, they can't believe that I even worked there because I don't go around telling people. And, uh, cause some of them will start making fun of me in the hallway and start using that sort of, that AM radio voice.

Hey, it's Pete Fowler. Hey, look who's coming down the hallway. You know, and, you know, CFNY, as you know, is not all, it's not anything about that. Right? It's about the music first and giving personality to radio and showing that passion about the music first and uh giving personality to radio and showing that passion for the music and that's what always drew me to that radio station the years you were there

are a core personally there so i was in uh let me see i tried to do the math here i started at university 93 so that's like i'm end of high school kind of and through my university years where i listened to a lot of edge 102 or whatever the hell they were being called 102.1 and i i guess like i you saw my twitter tweet uh so i just got these bins out of my mom's basement because she's working on her basement so just yesterday i came home with three bins of crap that i had like stuff from when i was like a teenager and i went through the bins of my daughter my son too but my daughter was really interested in this, which was kind of nice to see.

And we're going through it and I got like stickers and they're, they're a modern rock stickers. So edge one Oh two. Yeah. And you mentioned Rob Johnston. He always kind of like now he doesn't care for reasons, which will be very clear in a moment. But when he was,

you know, employed by that company for 25 years, he used to always say like it's not that's not how it's 102.1 the edge not edge 102 but in my head it's edge 102 because in those formative years that's what it was and those are the stickers i had on my boom box and everything edge 102 modern rock yeah and those those were those were your years the fantastic music i was hearing on that station. When I first started there, we referred to ourselves as CFNY 102.

And then it went to CFNY 102.1, the leading edge. And then it went to CFNY 102.1, the edge, and then 102.1, the edge, and then edge 102. And that's over six years where they kind of changed the station. over six years where they kind of changed the station. Not necessarily changed, but it changed the moniker to get more, how would I say that, singular. Like just abbreviate it up so it's easier to remember. Here, this is an ID that I pulled off one of the new music search CDs.

I used to collect those new music search CDs. I still got them somewhere. And here, let's hear it. This is actually Humble Howard, of all people. The Edge, CFNY, 102.1. So that's either 93 or 94. Oh, yeah. No, I remember hearing those every time.

Usually top of the hours and coming out of commercial sets, you would hear either Howard, a couple other, Brother Bill, Martin, May Potts, they all voiced, even myself, what they did is they got all the different announcers to do them. Right. And I remember even after I left, I would still hear my voice on the radio two years after the

fact. So I remember that one quite vividly. And was Don Burns still on the air at that time? I don't remember. He was gone by then, right? Yeah, no, he was gone. Because he went to Energy 108, right? Yeah, he was already gone.

So the ones that, when I worked there, Deadly Headly Jones was still there. Right. And you had Humble and Fred in the mornings. Okay, let's do this. Yeah, sure. So Deadly Headly, do we know what he's up to these days? No, no.

I remember when he was let go and that was 93. And I don't know what happened with Deadly Headly. He could have actually went to Energy as well. Yeah, lots of them went there. Yeah, like all those people that got either let go or let's say quit on the air, they were

gone before I got there. So I was one of the new people that came in to do overnights because so many people had for lack of a better term got blown out in the fall of 92. Right.

So it was, there's a lot of people that were still there from the 80s that started there, like, you know, Alan and May and Martin and Brother Bill. But it was a whole new change that was coming, right? Right. And so I was part of that change by being hired. And so unfortunately, I missed meeting a lot of those great broadcasters that have gone before me.

But nonetheless, I'm thankful for the opportunity that I actually even got to work there, even though I never got to meet them. Okay, so Deadly Headly. Mm-hmm. And then, so that's like nighttime. Yes, nighttime weekends. Right.

Doing live to air. And your morning show is Humble and Fred. Humble and Fred. And we know what they're up to now, because they have a podcast not too far from here, and they're on SiriusXM. So that's Humble and Fred. Then what's next?

May Potts. May Potts, who, you know, that's the number SiriusXM, so that's humble friend. Then what's next? May Potts. May Potts, who, you know that's the number one station in Toronto right now as per the last book? I still listen to her. I love her.

She is such an amazing woman. You and me both. Oh, yeah. I had her on. Her daughter was actually here. She came on with her daughter. Oh, did she? Who's 25 years old now,

believe it or not. I haven't seen her since she was like maybe 12 or 14 or something. That's awesome. So like, I have memories that you, speaking of university, where she would do the, what's that where they would go? Frosh week.

They would do a Frosh week tour of all the universities, I remember. And I went up to Mae Potts because I was in love with her voice. Like I had to meet Mae Potts and she was there and it was like, it meant so much. And when she came on my show and she's in my freaking basement, I'm like, you can just read the phone book now because it's going to sound amazing. amazing oh yeah may is just wonderful the way you know how you listen to someone and you kind of have a feeling on what that person's about or what their personality is

about may fits her voice perfectly she's such a wonderful nice warm person and yet like that station which is nice because that station is not owned by, it's not Bell Media, it's not Rogers, it's not Chorus. It's a much smaller company that owns, it's a new cap. That's great. So, and they're number one in terms of overall years, I guess, as per the most recent, what do we call that, PPM or whatever. They got the book that just came out. So, yeah, Boom won that book and she's a key part of that team. That's awesome.

Good for her. Okay, cool. So Maypots, what else? Afternoon Drive was actually, it was two people. And the only reason I laugh, because it was, one of them is my friend,

which is Donna Corsano, who went on to go to Q107. And Alan Cross. They were actually, we had two co-hosts there doing it, with Anita doing the news for the Afternoon Drive. So, yeah, that's Afternoon Drive and Alan. What can you say about Alan? The guy just, I know so much.

Like, I respect Alan so much and what he's done. And I still have kept all his books. Remember those books he put out in the 90s? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The Ongoing History of Music. I still kept all his books remember those books he put out in the 90s yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah the ongoing history of music I still kept them all I still listen to his his show the ongoing history of music it's just a wonderful program so I felt very fortunate to work not only with May but also Alan because you know those people are the ones I'm learning from like I'm coming from a small market station you know I grew up in Toronto, partly in Kitchener-Warlow. And, you know, Alan and May, like,

and, of course, Martin and Brother Bill and everyone else I worked with, like, they're the ones I'm learning off of, right? Yeah. I'm still green. I mean, Alan, I mean, he's got, speaking of, you know, May Potts and that voice, well, Alan has branded himself, the personal branding Alan's done where now his voice is like, it reeks of like knowledge and like music authenticity.

Like he could, if he's the voice behind some kind of a documentary or there was an exhibit at the Science Center I was at where he was the voice of this like music trivia stuff. Yeah. Yeah. So he was behind this thing that came to, like two years ago, it came to the Science Center, the Science of Rock or something like that. And he's behind the music you hear at Leaf Games now, at the Eric Kano Center.

This guy's all over the place, but he is also back at 102. Yeah, yeah, no, that doesn't surprise me. Like even back then when he was starting to put out books and doing the ongoing history of music, because I remember when that first show aired, the ongoing history of new music. And I don't know if it was like 93 or 94, but I remember it was still in Brampton at the time

before we moved the studio and the station to Toronto. And just an impressive amount of work that he's done over the last couple of decades. It really is impressive. Well, you mentioned Rob Johnston. So he was the producer. Yes. So you always heard Alan say, executive producer, Rob Johnston, or whatever.

Well, Rob Johnston was also the producer. Is it Johnston or Johnston? It's Johnston. T, right? I don't know. Okay. I just keep hearing you say Johnston, and then I'm hearing myself say Johnston. I'm like, who am I to second guess Pete Fowler?

He worked with the guy. Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's Johnston over T. Yeah. I'm hearing myself say Johnson. I'm like, who am I to second guess Pete Fowler? He worked with the guy. Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's Johnson of a T. Yeah. I'm pretty sure, too. But now I just don't. Same difference. It's not like he's listening.

Rob, I apologize if I messed up your name, but he was the producer of the All Request Breakfast. Oh, yeah. That I used to do on Saturday, Sunday morning. And this is before the ongoing history of music, as well as people like Craig Venn. You remember Craig Venn? He's in Oshawa now. He's a lobster boy on Q.

Yeah, he was a producer of the All Request Breakfast. You know, even Jason Barr, right? Danger Boy. He was the producer of the Thursday 30. These people have gone on to do amazing things. And I can't believe that they actually produced shows that we were on

because they are so amazingly talented. I look back and go, geez. I got a Jason Barr story for you in a minute. I'm going to save it because we talked about Martin. But yeah, he's doing well. Speaking of guys doing well, he's at Hits FM in St. Catharines, and apparently they're kicking ass in their targeted demo. Doesn't surprise me at all.

Dixon Barr. Yeah, no, it doesn't surprise me at all. I just remember him being, you might laugh at this, but I remember him being very driven, and I remember him being an extremely hard worker. Because Humble & Fred would get him to do all sorts of stuff when he was a producer of the Humble and Fred show. And he just did it and got it done.

And that's what I always saw in Jason. And he had to do it with a Scottish accent, as I recall. Oh, yeah. I remember that, too. Jeez. That brings back memories. OK. So we're Alan Cross.

OK. See, this is how it's going to go. You're going to drop the name, and we're going to chat about him. I like it. Sure, sure. Who else after Alan Cross? Kim Hughes see, this is how it's going to go. You're going to drop the name and we're going to chat about him. I like it. Who else after Alan Cross? Kim Hughes, live in Toronto with Dave Bookman.

Bookie, by the way, who's one of the few people who I've asked very nicely to please come on my show and has very nicely said no thanks. Dave, you've got to come on if you're listening to this. If they pulled me out of the closet to come on this show, you definitely have to do it, Dave. It'd be wonderful to hear you on Mike's podcast. Is that good enough, Mike? Yeah, I will be so gentle with him too. And I had, Raina's working with him now and Raina was in and I had Raina go and try to do it too.

For some reason, Bookie doesn't want to come in and talk about the past. So I respect that. I respect that too. I do wish he would because I'd love to talk to him. Well, I had reservations too, Mike. I got to be honest with you. I've been so far removed that I thought, you know, I was a little concerned.

I didn't know what you were going to ask and considering what I do now. But then I thought, you know, I talked to a couple of ex-edge people. Did you? They said, hot, go do it. Mike's a good guy. I'll be dead. Well, you've listened enough to know that. Oh, yeah.

You're the last guy I'm going to pull a punch with. No, no, I totally get it. Don't worry, I'm not scared. Okay. I do have a power move if you start to intimidate me. I'll tell you to get on that mic, and then I'll be in charge again. Just consider yourself warned.

So Kim Hughes and Dave Blum. Kim Hughes, by the way, I heard her, like I say recently but now that I think about it, it might be five years ago but I heard her on CBC radio of all places at some point in the last five years. I know she had a tie to CBC even back when we were doing Live in Toronto at the Edge of

Bloor and Bathurst. She would sometimes have a CBC crew come down to cover one of her interviews. So amazingly smart and talented, so knowledgeable with regards to the music and doing interviews. I don't know if you remember some of those interviews, but they were excellent.

You know, just, I could never, they would sometimes give me people to interview, and I would try to do a half-decent interview, and there's just no way you could do something as well as Kim Hughes with regard to that. So I always try to, I don't want to say emulate her, but I try to take points off of her and try to understand how she does it to do a good one,

just like what you've probably done with your podcast over the 151 episodes that you've done. And Bookman would come in and do a, once a week, Dave would come in and do his bit with regards to the independent scene in Toronto, which was excellent because he was right there on the ground checking out all these bands and he was right in there for all the new music. So much talent, but also so much street cred, if you know what I mean. I do. I do. Yeah. So those two were doing Live in Toronto with Josh Holliday, which he was a comedy reporter. Yeah. He pops up now and then I hear him on different podcasts and stuff.

So he's active in the scene. I think I'm not sure what he's really like doing right now, except that he him on different podcasts and stuff. So he's active in the scene. I think, I'm not sure what he's really like doing right now except that he's definitely active here and there. I definitely hear him here and there. Good. And then on to evenings, Brother Bill. Who changed his name. Yeah, Neil Morrison.

Which I guess is his real name. So Brother Bill as well as Martin andishna um all them we were all working nights basically we were the night uh people working evenings and overnights and weekends so we got to know each other really really well and uh brother bill was oh man he's he's he was such a funny guy. Well, he still is.

It's not like he's gone. But I still talk to him. And I just remember a few stories with Billy. One, which I still use as my email address, is that when he would get tired or do whatever, he would mess up my name. So instead of saying Pete Fowler, he'd go, Hey, coming up next is feet powder to the point that people at work call me feet powder. And my email address, I thought,

Oh, what the hell? I might as well just own it. So my email address is feet powder or something. And, uh, you just, uh,

I keep on telling him to come back to Toronto and just do work here. That's actually a good point. So he, he went, he went to a different chorus station in Vancouver. The Fox, I think? Yeah, C-Fox. C-Fox.

And he was there for a long time. And then I guess, because I had him on through the phone or Skype. I can't remember which one. But I Skyped him in to talk about Martin Streak on the fifth anniversary of his passing. And Neil Morrison is what he goes by now, his real name. And at that time, he was still on the chorus show. But sometime between that appearance and now,

chorus, for some reason, decided to part ways with Neil Morrison. So Neil Morrison, I know he started a podcast, but he's still looking for a gig. He should come back. I want him to. I see the pictures of BC and it's like, I don't blame you for Wednesday.

It's so beautiful. You got mountains and the ocean. So I get that. And he's made a home there. Yeah. And lots of friends. Would I love to see him work at another Toronto radio station? Absolutely.

I think we're missing out on someone that's not only talented, but also knowledgeable and a really funny guy. And I would love to see him back here, but that's his decision. No, that should be our decision. And we should make it right now. If Neil's listening, I have a hookup. Where do I have hookups? I know a guy. I know the guy at Oshawa's The Rock, where Craig Van is.

I know a couple of guys there. So come on, we'll help you get a gig in the GTA. I can't promise Toronto right now, but we're going to get him something. Oh, that would be great. Neil Morrison. But you got to go back to Brother Bill. That's the only caveat.

If he comes back to this market, he's got to come back as Brother Bill. That's the only way I know him. Like I do call him Neil now out of respect that that's what he goes by. And that's what he's been going by for years and years since he left this market. But he's always Brother Bill goes by. And that's what he's been going by for years and years since he left this market. But he's always Brother Bill to me.

And he's fantastic. I missed him when he left the CFOY. So did I. And I was still a listener. After I left, I still listened. And the people I listened to, you know, was May, Alan, Martin, you know, Vishna and Brother Bill.

Okay, so Vishna is a name that I haven't thought of in a long time, believe it or not. And it's now coming back to me, Vishna, because I had the J in there as I see it. But what did Vishna do after? Do you know what she did after? I think she, I'm not 100% sure. I lost contact with Vishna over the years. I haven't seen her in probably over 15.

I think the last time I saw her was at a Marilyn Manson concert in Toronto. And I know that she has a beautiful family. I know that she continued to do voice work. And she was just a wonderful person, a wonderful friend to work with, and very, very supportive. In fact, she's the first person I told that I was going to leave. Oh, wow. Because she was working the overnights.

I was just finished the Thursday 30. And she was actually the first person along with Martin that I was going to leave. Oh, wow. Because she was working the overnights. I was just finished the Thursday 30. And she was actually the first person along with Martin that I told. So I really, really miss talking with her because she's just a wonderful person. The other voiceover work, which I think she would be great at, we probably heard her in a million things

and just didn't know it was her, but Danny Elwell is the other one. I mean, right now she's on the jazz station and she's doing great. I keep trying to get her in here and I get the feeling she doesn't think she's worthy for some reason. That's the way I felt.

That's ridiculous. I may run down a list of lesser bands. I looked up and I still do. Danny was one of those listeners that, sorry, one of those announcers at CFY that I mentioned previously that, uh, you know,

I, I wanted to work with, you know, and, uh, or at least, uh, be near just cause I respected her that much.

And I, I felt the same way. I don't know why Danny would feel that way. Cause Danny to me is on a whole nother level than, uh, than what I think of myself. But, but,

um, I know for me or myself that it's like, Oh, I can't believe than, uh, than what I think of myself. But, but, um, I know for me or myself, that it's like, Oh, I can't believe that, uh, you know, I, uh, that Toronto Mike wants to talk to me. I'm so far removed, even though I do, uh, I do have, I do have a couple of, of, uh, interesting things to say, uh, with regards to something that you feel passionate about. You're a no brainer, man. Don't worry. You were a slam dunk. But Dani, too. And one of my goals for 2016 is to finally get her in here.

Because I have the audio of her. She resigns on the air, which I don't know who does that. I can't think of another Toronto person who does that. So I've got that sitting. And sometimes I have guests on who know her, and I think I should play it. Then I go, no, I'm saving it. I will play it when she's on on and then we'll talk about it. Yeah,

I would do that. And that's my plan. So, I got to get her in here to talk about it but that whole story of Danny Elwell resigning on the air,

stuff of Toronto legend. It is. That's Toronto legend stuff. It is and you can find her resignation all over the place on the internet. Well,

there's that wonderful site, spiritofradio.ca or whatever. I don't remember the address actually, but where they try to keep up with where people are. And I know that they have it there too. So you can definitely find it. Yeah, no, that's one of those things that I just love it. I just love that she did that.

So I'm going to get her in here. But where was I going with that? Oh, yeah, voiceover stuff. But she does a lot of voiceover work. you'll she'll be doing ad campaigns you know and it's her voice or imaging for stations even like and you'll be loud that's danny so that's what that's if you can get that gig because speaking of don burns we talked about earlier who passed away sadly just last year just well this year i guess we're still in 2015 uh but but you know these the voiceover gig and i think i hear it's kind of drying up,

like the heyday might be past. I don't know, because as you can hear, no one's ever offered me a penny for doing voiceover, anything. Stu Myers would not, I could not interview Stu and get to the next guy like you did.

Okay, I don't have your pipes, but yeah, the voiceover is great if you could get it. Yeah, yeah. And it helps having, I think what it also helps too, having a good agent and having a, a, I don't know, I never did a lot of voice work. I just voiced commercials for the station, just

local commercials. Right. Like you'd hear me do a commercial for Wild Water World or something like that in Brampton. But there's work out there. It's just, I think they just go with a select few. Because there's some people that I used to work with, and one guy, his name is Jamie. I hear him on everything.

Jamie, because Humble and Fred gave me a bunch of clips. And this Jamie character is behind a bunch of them, I think. He sounds a bit like a Billy West kind of guy. Yeah, Jamie's on everything. I can't go anywhere without hearing that guy's voice. Is it like a slacker voice? Is it that guy or whatever? Yeah, he does everything. Yeah, he does everything and

so talented. Plus, it's, you know, I could never do what Jamie does. You know, sometimes you just got it and he's got it. My friend Kelly Catrera, who I don't think she overlapped with you. she probably came in after you but uh she that's what she's trying to get into now and sometimes i'll be listening to the fan 590

on a bike ride for example especially when the jays were playing and i'll hear like the rbc ad will come on in it and it's like it's her and there's something else i just heard with her like so yeah you start to hear the same voices uh uh Lumby, who was in here recently, if you know Lumby, that's like he'll do a lot of voiceovers and he'll do, you know, cartoons and stuff. So it's great work if you can get it, that's for sure. Oh, for sure.

But you definitely do have to have not only the pipes, but also the flexibility. And the flexibility, as well as the agent. Like if you have an agent pushing for you and you're very flexible, meaning you can voice different types of voices

and fit in the right inflection when it's needed, then you're going to get work. And Jamie showed that over the last couple of decades, he's gotten a lot of work and so have others. All right. Let's talk about your friend, Martin Streak. So Martin Streak, you co-hosted the Thursday 30 with him. Correct. All right. Let me do this.

You get a drink of water there and let me play just a bit of this clip here that I pulled off of YouTube. And it's you and Martin doing the Thursday 30. Let's hope this audio is half decent here. Toronto's New Rock 102.1 The Edge, The Foo Fighters and Big Me. A debut from their debut album, Foo Fighters. That's at number 29.

That's the first of three debuts tonight. We also heard Bush X from 16 Stone. We heard the song Glycerine. That's down six positions. The song number 30 on the Thursday 30th. So I looked it up in the dictionary, Martin. Yeah. Glycerine is a colorless liquid used in

medicine and it's also used to make explosives. Exactly. Nitroglycerine. Exactly. Somebody told me that if you mixed, I better not tell you how to do it. Yeah, you better not. No. Martin Streak with you. Pete Fowler as well. Thursday 30 from the edge of Blur and Bath. There's 559 Blur Street West if you want to drop in and place a vote in person.

So if this goes on for several minutes, it's on YouTube. You can find it really easily. But I listened to it. It was great. It just took me right back. But I listen closely now because I was with you quietly. And it was jacked. You can actually hear another station bleeding into the recording.

I don't know if you picked up on that. I did. Just tell me what it was like to work with Martin during those years. I remember the first time I met Martin, it was in the hallway at the station at 83 Kennedy Road. And he came up to me and it was, I was only there for a couple of days and he came up to me, he goes, he sticks out his hands, goes, Martin Streak, nice to meet you.

Name 10 bands that you like. Like right off the bat. And I know he's done that with someone else. He did that with Neil Mann, who was our music director. And I went, uh, uh, uh, so I started naming bands, uh, REM, The Clash, uh, GBH, you know, just the Ramones hoping, cause I knew it was kind of a test or at least to see if we like the same things.

Right. So, uh, he just nodded his head every time he heard a band and I tried to name 10 and, uh, and he goes, ah, okay, okay, good. So I knew that was kind of like, okay, what kind of, cause I had long, he had long hair back then. I had really long hair, long straight brown hair. And I, I think he was trying to figure out, uh,

what type of person did they, they hire? Cause he cared that so much for the station that he wanted to make sure that, you know, that the announcers also cared about it too. So I think that's why he was asking. And, you know, I knew that this question would be asked. So I tried to think about how I would answer it because it's very hard for me to answer it

just because there's so much to say about Martin. Martin's the one I work with most closely just for the fact that we did the Thursday 30 together for over five years. And I just remember his integrity. I remember his passion. But most of all, I remember his generosity. He remember his passion, but most of all, I remember his generosity. He was generous. I would say to a fault where I think people actually took advantage of him.

I would see him work a room like the Phoenix or energy or club max. And I, I would, he would make sure that everyone, everyone in that room had a good time and that he was taking care of everybody. I've never seen anybody do that before, at least not to the extent of what Martin could do it. And I know he touched so many people with the way that he engaged himself.

Like, for example, when we were doing the Thursday 30, we had two telephone banks that had four lines each. And when we weren't playing songs, we were doing the Thursday 30, we had two telephone banks that had four lines each. And when we weren't playing songs, we were answering the radio. You know, I've seen announcers before lock up those lines because they don't want to talk to anybody. Martin wanted to talk to everybody, get their votes, you know, talk to them, you know, get them on the guest list. Make sure they're on the guest list for whatever club he was doing a live to air. Anybody that came into our broadcast studios where they could watch the show live, like the Edge of Bloor and Bathurst or a 204 Young or 2226 Young,

he made sure like he'd get out of his seat and go, hey, you know, hey, Martin Street. He would introduce himself, shake his hand to the point where, you know, I tried to make sure I did the same thing, because it was all about customer service. He wanted to make sure that people were taken care of because if they liked listening to the same music as he did, then that's someone he wants to make sure that they're satisfied. And I I've never seen another radio announcer do that, where he tries to make everyone special and he gives the utmost attention to each person, whether that's in a club or at the radio station or on the phones. And I'm sure you've probably heard similar things like that,

the way that he's reached out and made all those connections. And he really, really did. Even when I came there, I didn't know anybody that worked there. Like personally, I didn't know anybody. But, you know, he made sure that, I don't know if I'm using the word mentor, but he made sure that, you know, I met certain people, whether that's certain listeners or people at the club or certain bands. Like he took you under his wing, so to speak?

Yeah, I would definitely say that. Tommy had a roller blade. And he was just very, very, that's why I say the word generous, because he was very, very generous with his time. generous because he was very, very generous with his time. Um, I just remember all those times where he would, uh, uh, you know, we would talk about the Thursday 30 and, um, and talking cause he would, we would give each other kind of air checks to our program director would give us air checks, but we always wanted to make sure that we were doing a good show. And I just remember him just being, he was just, it's hard to describe, Mike, in so many words, what he meant to that radio station, as well as to the listeners and the people that used to work with him. the listeners and the people that used to work with him. And to the point where I I've listened to some of your other podcasts about Martin and people nail it right on the head,

you know, how they feel about, uh, Martin. And, uh, you know, I,

I still, to this day, it's, you know, we're almost in 2016 and, and, uh, I still can't believe he's gone.

Okay. So in 2009, before he passes away, he's let go by the station. So he's gone. Okay, so in 2009, before he passes away, he's let go by the station. So he's, I can't remember, 25 years of service or something like that. And he's, maybe Rob Johnson can relate to that because he had a similar length of time with the station

before he got the pink slip. So Martin is let go. And he was let go with, am I going to have a brain fart here? So Martin is let go. And he was let go with, am I going to have a brain fart here? The guy, the 420 thought guy, where's my brain at? That's amazing.

This is, I never met him, but I know who you're talking about. Yeah, it's Barry Taylor. Barry Taylor. You'd think I could Google it, but it's like, I refuse. It's going to have to come out eventually. So he's let go with Barry Taylor. Barry Taylor. You'd think I could Google it, but it's like, I refuse. It's going to have to come out eventually. So he's let go of Barry Taylor one day in 2009,

the first half of 2009. And I write about it because I cover that station closely because it was my station in the 90s. That's why I keep harassing you guys and telling you to come to my basement and talk to me. So I'm trying to figure out,

because I hear stories, even before I started this podcast, I was hearing stories about how he was so passionate about the music, passionate about the station. I had some mutual friends at the time who worked with him and told me, you know, he had a tattoo of the station on his ass. He was Mr. CFNY. This was this guy. And as David Marsden so eloquently said it, he couldn't really separate himself from his job, if you will. Like he was the station.

This was Martin Streak. Yes. So did you reach out to him after he was let go? Did you guys have a conversation at that time? I did. Like I mentioned before, I lost contact with him after I left. And part of that was me. I was, I was changing to a totally different career and it was a tough decision to leave. And, but I knew it had to be done. And so I kinda, I don't want to say cut ties, but I did, you know, this is before Facebook

and all that stuff where it became very easy to stay in touch with people. So I moved on. But then in 2008, I started getting phone calls. Martin Streak went on the air in 2008 saying, yeah, I'm looking for Pete Fowler. Whoever can find him, tell him to give me a call. So it's like, what the? So I called him. And this has already been like almost 10 years since I last talked to him. And he goes, yeah, we're doing the 20th anniversary of the Thursday 30.

I've already asked George and, yeah, if you could come down. So I went through the approval process to make sure I could still do it because it is a media outlet and got approval. So I went down there to Young Street, the studio, for an hour and did the Thursday 30 and was really impressed with Martin because I sat down with him and it's like, geez, and we started just doing the show together and it was like, oh boy, 10 years has not passed. This feels just like putting on an old shoe, right? It was really, really nice reminiscing about different things.

And we brought up a couple of different things of trouble that either Martin's been in or something on the air, which I guess we'll get to in a bit. Oh, yeah, I got a Jason Barno here. Yeah, yeah. So it was really great. And then we became friends through facebook and um so when i heard about that he was let go and i had heard about other people getting

let go before him like kim hughes and uh others that got moved around to different stations and uh i i sent him i sent him an email or through Facebook and let him know that if there's anything that he needs and by all means, you know, contact me. Now, there's not a lot of stuff I can do because I'm not in the industry. So other people did the same thing. I know that other announcers and, and program directors,

um, had also reached out, uh, to, to Martin and, uh, and, uh, I just remember, uh, then I didn't hear from him for a little bit. And, uh, then I got a text and it's the type of news that you don't want to get in a text. It was from a listener that I used to listen to the Thursday 30 with Martin and myself. And, um, yeah, it was, uh, it wasn't a good text. And so I immediately went to Facebook and then saw what he wrote and I knew. Yeah. So it wasn't, um, yeah, that wasn't a good time for anybody. You say you knew,

you knew because, well, you had the text, and you saw the Facebook message, which really does read like a suicide note, that Facebook message. It does. And,

but, was any part of you, so, I guess what I'm trying to understand is, did it seem within the character of Martin Streak, that he might just check out and opt out and leave us? In what way? Like, were you shocked that he took his own life

or did it seem like that was a Martin kind of way to, that Martin thing to do, if that makes sense? I was shocked. You can never guess what is going on in someone's life or in their head or the way that they feel.

It's something that surprised so many people. I don't know if anyone's ever told you that they thought that's a Martin thing to do. I would never, the guy loved life. You know, whatever new adventure,

whether it's heliskiing or skydiving, you know, he just loved trying new things. So I would never say that that's a Martin thing to do. By all accounts, things looked optimistic for his future. Like when I talk to people, I hear about projects in the work. I've seen video footage of projects in the work. The guys from USS, and Ash was here, they were working basically these backstage shows

and other radio opportunities and stuff were emerging for this guy. He clearly wasn't going to be out of the public eye for long if he didn't want to be. And that would be maybe our perspective, but it might not be his. So that's why it's so hard to try and guess or put ourselves in his shoes because you can't. And we might never know. And we're just going to have to live with that.

It's just, like I said, when I got the text, you know, it really shocked me. Like, even though I had lost touch with him for at least a decade there, touch with him for at least a decade there. It still didn't mean that, you know, that he wasn't important in my life, or that, you know, that we all didn't care for him. It was a really rough time for a lot of people, and I feel so sorry for his family and all his close friends that knew him even better than I did. Yeah, that was shitty, man.

I never worked with him. I didn't hang out with him. As a listener, I remember how that hit me like a ton of bricks. It's a tough one. I can't imagine what it was like, not only for people who knew the man, like Strombles,

but on the show, and when he tells a story, and not people who worked with him, like whether it be Todd Shapiro, or it be Fred Patterson, who spent some time with him between the firing and et cetera, but his family.

And I had a tiny bit of dealing with him, because for a period of time I tried to do something with martinthestreak.com because it was lapsed into cyberspace because he was the only one getting the emails to renew it and no one could get into his email and there was a bunch of crap there. And I can't imagine what it was like for his loved ones

like his girlfriend or his mother, etc. Yeah, I can't imagine. Yeah, it's, um, yeah, it's, it's something that people are, you know, just have to accept that they might not ever get over. And, uh, when you lose someone, especially that, that passionate and had love for so many things and, you know, you just can't help yourself from thinking oh geez you know what i mean like he had so much more to offer and uh and it's too bad that that uh you know it's just uh it's just a shame it is a shame here's um a story a story i think it's a tweet

but it's essentially it's jason barr who uh basically i'm going to read what he wrote but he wrote i wish i still had the tape from when martin yelled fuck during the 30 because he couldn't go to see nine inch nails poor pete sitting next to him at Bloor and Bathurst. I was back in Brampton operating their show. The note from the boss afterwards was priceless. So do you remember this infamous day? Yeah, we talked about it on the Thursday 30 in 2008 when I joined Martin there for the 20th anniversary. And I remember vividly,

and that's one of the other things I loved about Martin, is sitting across from him, I never know what he's going to say, which is awesome. You know, like, you know, I always tried to make sure that I was careful because I was always worried that, oh, I don't want to say anything that gets me fired.

And Martin, he didn't give a, you know, like it was just awesome to work with that type of person because it was like being on a wild ride. Yeah. So I'm sitting there across from at the edge of Blue Arm Bathurst. Jason Barr is back at the studio, I think. Yeah, Brampton. Brampton.

And, and I just, I just remember him talking about not being able to go to see Nine Inch Nails that night. Now, I don't know if he requested it off or the, or not, but I know that he was upset about it. And then I remember him backing away from the microphone. Now, Martin always ran the console. I usually ran the phone lines with him and also would research a lot of the information. So I remember Martin goes, okay, Pete, get ready for this. And I'm going, what the? So he backs away from the mic and yells out the F word,

like really loud, like for a long time. Like it seemed like it was going on forever. And he didn't go and do a commercial or a song. He just looks at me. And I remember saying, what do you want me to do with that? Like meaning he's looking for me to to somehow tag it or something tag it or oh you know or just after he said the f word me go okay and here's Allison Chains right and I don't know if we went to a song or commercial but I'm sure Jason even though he wasn't there was probably thinking what just happened we're gonna get in

so much trouble which we did And after so many years, I kept the memo. Pete's got some papers here. Yeah. So I kept a few memos. I'm going to let you read it. Okay. Yeah.

I'd love to, man. This is amazing. I read this on the Thursday 30 in 2008 with Martin, but yeah, feel free to read it. It's Stu Myers who, so speaking of the Strombo podcast, he spoke very highly of Stu Myers, and I was glad to hear he was okay with you

still doing that show in the Waterloo station. Is that where you- Oh yeah, no, he was great. So Stu Myers sent this note in December 2nd, 1994. Never in 15 years of working in radio have I ever heard a more blatant act of irresponsible broadcasting than last evening during the Thursday 30.

The policy concerning CFNY's use of the word fuck has never been a question. We, and then in brackets it says CFNY 102.1, don't use it. That's in all caps, by the way. So he's yelling at you there. Oh yeah, he's angry. Periodically, that word is broadcast during the playing of

unedited songs, live interviews with the artists that make the music or because of a lack of seven second delay live conversations with listeners. We, CFNY 102.1, don't use it. That word has never been used and is

never to be used in CFNY102.1 promos, commercials, IDs, or intentionally through Input 102. It is so far beyond me as to what you could have been thinking when you used the word fuck on the air last evening during the Thursday 30 that it disgusts me. Not only did you let the listeners down, but the radio station and each and every person who works here every day in an effort to achieve greater success. I can assure you that, and this is in all caps, nobody on our team thinks what you did last night was anything but a total disregard for CFNY 102.1 as a group and as individuals please consider this and this is all caps again absolute notice that acts of irresponsibility like this will not be tolerated by anyone being an on-air personality

at cfny 102.1 is a privilege not a given so he this is from stewart myers and it says to martin streak regarding the use of the word fuck and he he's copied Vince DiMaggio, Chris Sissam, all staff. All staff. Yeah, all staff got it. Because we all need to know not to swear. Wow. Yeah. That, you know what, that is some, I've never,

sometimes I hear about memos in this, but I've never like had one in my hand and never read one. That's amazing. Yeah, he was pissed. Yeah. Well, that's like 22 years ago. I kept that memo. 1994.

Yeah, I kept a bunch of memos. I'm a little nervous right now. I feel like I'm in trouble. No, you're not in trouble. You're on podcast. You're allowed to swear. I'm allowed to swear here, right? I don't have the same rules.

CRTC doesn't govern you, right? So you're not going to get fined, and you're not going to lose your broadcasting license. That's right. I have no license to lose. You're right. See? So you don't have to worry.ed and you're not going to lose your broadcasting license that's right I have no license to lose you're right see so you don't have to worry but when you say that on a radio station that's governed by the CRTC

and you get enough complaints you know you could get a very large fine or you could lose your broadcast license and I that's why I understand why some people are pissed yeah this is serious shit so to speak was there any complaints do you know I have no idea. There could have been, maybe not.

Don't know for sure. It's interesting because one of my little hobbies, I guess, but as a listener, I always took note of songs you would play that actually dropped the F-bomb. Because some songs, you would play some songs. Like Nine Inch Nails is a good example. I would hear on CFNY, I would hear a song, I Want to Fuck You Like an Animal, and it was not censored in any way. It would be not censored is a good example. I would hear on CFNY, I would hear a song, I Want to Fuck You Like an Animal,

and it was not censored in any way. It would be not censored at a specific time. So after 10 or 11 o'clock, we wouldn't play what they call the radio edit. But if you listen, I remember when Brother Bill would play Nine Inch Nails closer, and when he gets to I Want to Like an Animal, and it would be that blank there, right?

Because the censored version just, there's a space where the word goes. What Brother Bill would do is he would raise his mic level, and where it got to, I want to like an animal, he'd go, I'd want to, and he'd hear Bill in the background, fornicate, which that's why I think he's so funny because he would do stuff like that over a top of songs

or call Lenny Kravitz Lenny Crabnuts because he doesn't like me. I'm going to, I just realized one day if I have some time, I'm going to start writing down the songs I remember that you would hear because I remember Radiohead's Creep.

Does it have an F bomb? There's an F bomb, I think. Yeah. And I remember hearing that. What the fuck am I doing here or something? I don't belong here. I remember Cubically Contained, I think it was, by the Headstones, Paranoid Little Fuckers.

And I remember, and it wasn't... I'm sorry, man. I took mental notes. I have a crazy memory for this shit. It wasn't nighttime, all right? It was like noon or something. I don't know. It was like 1 o'clock p.m.

Paranoid Little Fuckers. Like, it's clear as day. It just like one o'clock PM. Uh, paranoid little fuckers. Like it's clear as day. It just rings out and you're like, Hey, you know, Hey, there you go. That's not the edit.

Maybe those days are long gone. Cause I don't listen like I used to, but, uh, yeah, in the nineties I heard it would happen for sure. Oh yeah. No,

you would, uh, you would definitely hear it. But he, so you said you have, you have more, do you have any other memos, uh,

that you can, off the top of your head? Is that like the most stern memo you've ever received? Yeah, that's the most memorable memo that I've received. I've received other memos, but usually it was with regards to either dropping music or playing music that we're not allowed to play. Because I did the All Records Breakfast,

so sometimes I bring in my own music that I knew people wanted to hear, but we weren't playing at the time, but maybe we were playing a couple of years or maybe, you know, or... So once in a while, I remember getting a memo saying, Pete, why are you playing this?

We don't play this. So other than that, that's the most memorable one I get. But that's a commonly asked question, I'm sure, is did you have to stick to a specific... Because I've heard the stories from the olden days, like the Marsden era, where I can't remember now, but there was like a dot system where you can...

Yeah, and I know Scott Turner described it in great detail. But those days are long gone. Like now, today, for example, you could never go off a very... You would play what you were told at this point. Yeah, I know. So at your time, did you have a list of songs you had to pick from?

Like, what could you play rules? Well, they gave us a music list. That's what the music director's job is for, is to program the music. But during the overnight, when I first started there, they had no problem with me swapping out songs because you don't have the can-con role either after midnight. Or I think you do, but you

do now, but you didn't then, or it wasn't a concern or something. Just play an extra hip record. That's all. Yeah. Yeah. Just play the whole record. But, you know, back then, you know, for a show like the I'll Request Breakfast, which means to me, I think, okay then, you know, for a show like the All Requests Breakfast, which means to me, I think, okay, All Requests Breakfast, meaning they're all requests. So we, what they have at CFNY at the Brampton station, I don't know if Scott Turner mentioned this,

but on every record and every CD, there is a white strip and it shows you what dates they played. It might say August 27th and now you're in December. So it's like, oh, that album hasn't been played in five months. So regularly I was pulling music for the All Requests Breakfast with Rob Johnson who was helping me pull it as well. Stuff that we make sure that hasn't played in a while. But over time, over the years, songs were actually programmed into the All Requests Breakfast just to get that rotation up of a specific song.

Breeders' Cannonball. Well, this was after Breeders'. Yeah, I know. But I feel like that was often played on an All Requests Breakfast. Yeah, there was a lot of songs that were often played that were programmed. And that came in the later years with regards to rotations and songs that were new songs that were getting pushed

at that time. But at the beginning, you know, swap out or for like an all-re request show or like a nooner. Remember Maypast doing the nooner? Of course, yeah. Yeah, we would just pick a, oh, you want to hear this? Yeah, okay, yeah, we'll play that. That's awesome.

And that was so fun doing that show. You mentioned Rob Johnston with a T helped you with the All Request Breakfast, and he wants me to tell you that working with you on the All Request Breakfast will always be one of his career highlights, especially in his younger days. So he's got very fond memories of working with you on that show. That's nice of him to say that. I feel the same way about Rob. He's

solid. And you know what? When I heard, once again, like you know, it's a small family, so you hear fairly quickly when someone's not working there anymore. And when I heard about Rob, it was like, you know, it's a small family, so you hear fairly quickly when someone's not working there anymore. And when I heard about Rob, like, it was like, what? Like, you know what I mean? Like, sometimes I understand with radio, if you get to a certain age and you're above the target audience,

like if you look at different radio stations advertising swing positions, they'll say the ability to, you know, the ability to relate to the listeners, which means you want to be in that target audience sort of level. So if your target audience is 18 to 34, you probably want a radio announcer that's probably 18 to 34 that can relate, right? But when Rob is a production producer, that doesn't matter.

He's got all this experience, and he's been doing the ongoing history of music forever. And I was shocked. It's like, why would they get rid of Rob? The guy is so knowledgeable. You can't buy that type of experience. If you ask a guy like me who's not in the business and doesn't know anything, and Rob hasn't told him dick, the only reason we could ever conceive is that Rob makes too much money. Yep, that's the only reason I can think of.

But I wasn't there, so I don't know. But that's what I would... We should let the lawyers know this is purely speculative. But it does seem like if you're there long enough that you make a reasonable salary, you could risk being replaced by somebody much younger, making a much, much smaller salary. Well, the amount of people coming out of broadcast schools, even in the GTA, whether it's Humber

or Ryerson, and then all the ones like Seneca that are in the surrounding areas, Conestoga, Fanshawe, Mohawk, the amount of people coming out of that that are willing, like me when I first started there, to work for nothing. That's right. Just for the opportunity. Because all those jobs, all those overnight jobs, all those entry-level jobs, they're gone. Like most of them, satellite radio, programmed radio that just works off a computer where you don't hear an announcer at night. Most of those...

A big thing now is like you'll hear Derringer, the best of Derringer at night now instead of what you had before, which was a live announcer. And so all those positions where you would get into broadcasting when you're green, like a lot of them are all dried up. So it's, I'm glad I had the opportunity to get in when I did doing overnights because I'm sure some stations still have overnight announcers, but not many.

Yeah. I mean, where do you go to get your reps in? Like, I mean, you're supposed to, I guess, go to Thunder Bay or something like that. I guess that's what you're supposed to do and then try to work your way back to the big smoke. But I feel, man, I mean, let's get into this here. So let's say, okay, so at some point you leave 102.1. Yeah. Was that, were you, did you jump or were you pushed?

Is this Pete's decision? Oh, no, I jumped. Even back before I even got into radio, I was applying for my most present career. Because I noticed you dance around it, but you don't say what it is. I was waiting for you to actually do that. Okay, yeah, I do.

I was, and then I started thinking, well, maybe he doesn't want people to know what he's up to these days. All they have to do is an internet search, and they find out that I'm a cop, right? And it's one of the more frequently, like, once in a while I do a where are they now kind of an entry on my site. And I always have people who will contact me and go, Pete's with the OPP. Right. You know, I can see Kim Mitchell wearing the hat right now. You know, I saw him this summer, by the way, down the street at the Sam Smith Park. He was great. He's fantastic.

Okay. So you're like a, tell me if I got the wrong title, like a constable with the OPP? Sergeant. Sergeant. So constables are below sergeants. Yeah. There's a rank structure just like the military. So it goes constable, then sergeant, then staff sergeant,

and then up and up and up. And you left, so you left 102.1 to become a cop. Yep. Wicked. Yeah, so back in 89, I tried to get hired by Toronto Police, and I went to Ceo Bick College in Scarborough, and I remember going through the testing, and then this English fellow saying,

geez, Fowler, you should have skipped breakfast, meaning I was too fat. And because they did a body percentage test where they would squeeze different parts of your body to see what your percentage or ratio of body fat is. And even throughout, when I was at the edge in the mid-90s, I was applying to Peel, Waterloo, when I was still there. No one knew. I wouldn't tell anybody. But I was still the Edge in the mid-90s, I was applying to Peel, Waterloo, when I was still there. No one knew.

I wouldn't tell anybody. But I was still applying to police services. But if you loved radio and music so much, why were you so wanting to become a cop? What was your dream, to be the cop or the radio guy? I wanted to do both. But I knew that looking at everybody that worked at CFNY before me, I knew that there was only a certain amount of time that I could work there, that I would either get too old or just replaceable.

Everyone's replaceable, especially in broadcasting. As you've heard through many of the podcasts that you've done, people that you thought were secure and would always have a job. Bookie's a good example. What did Bookie ever do wrong that he needed to be canned? Like, it doesn't make any sense, right? A lot of things don't make any sense. But it's broadcasting, and it's an art. So the art is up to the opinion

of whoever's in charge, right? On whether or not you're the type of artist that they want. But I knew that there was a shelf life to me in radio for that specific station. There's only a couple of stations that I would enjoy working at. And I think at that time, it was 89X out of Windsor.

There was CFNY, and there was a couple more. This was pre-Indy 88 or pre-even ever having an opportunity at the CBC or something like that. And so I was planning for a while just to, I'd like to stay there as long as I could, but I understand that I was also getting older. I was approaching 30, that at some point, if I'm going to be out of the target audience of CFNY, I'll, you know, and that means just like the people before me, my days are numbered and just like the people after me, which were all let go or left to go on to better things like George did. And so I was making the move, you know, even three, well, not only before I even got there, but two, three years into it, I was applying to different police services. three years into it, I was applying to different police services. And a lot of them would say the same thing, which is, is, uh, geez, you sure you don't want to be a dispatcher because you got

all you have is a radio background. And I didn't want to be a dispatcher. I wanted to be a police officer. So I knew I had to leave and go back to school. Right. So, um, what I did is I, I put in, So, um, what I did is I, I put in, I signed up for Constable College for law and security at night and to do a BA at the University of Waterloo during the day. So I planned it, got accepted to the university while I'm still at the edge, knew that I was starting school in September and worked out my two weeks notice before, uh, before school started. And then it just turns out that I had to give more, I was asked to stay even a little bit longer just so they could train somebody. And, uh, so I stayed an extra week and then, uh, thankfully my, my girlfriend at the time went to my classes for me.

Oh, good. To, uh, to record them. So I, I wouldn't miss out anything, but, uh, no, it was, um, no, I had, I knew that, you know, even playing to get to CF1, which is where I wanted to work, there's nothing wrong with having two passions, right? You know, you can love doing a podcast, but you can also love doing computer work or you can love being a police officer and love music. I still love music and radio. I just don't do it for a living. Well, I know you do because I'm wearing this awesome T-shirt

we're forgetting to get to. But I think it's first of all, you had great foresight. I think it was a smart move. You're like, radio's precarious. To me, it sounds like a terrible way to live your life, except for that 1%,

let's see, the Derringers or whatever. Yeah, it was an excellent good time and I wouldn't take it away from the world. And I think I stayed as long as I could. I, I had, I had a, what do you call it? Peaked. I wasn't getting any better as a broadcaster at that time or being challenged and I wasn't getting the satisfaction, which I believe you should have in a job. And, uh, but I wouldn't take, I wouldn't take that away for the world, the experience that I had working there. It was awesome, and I enjoyed most of it.

And you're still there? Yeah, I'm still there. Wicked. I think it's amazing. That's what I want now. I realize I need an OPP cap like Kim Mitchell. Oh, you know what's funny? Pete's given me a...

Is that right? Is that possible? Yeah, there is. Just a why don't you unwrap it? Okay this is gonna be good too I can make the sound here. I know.

I've been given a present and it's like wrapped with like nice Santa snowmen and Jarvis he's sleepy now but he gets he loves these snowmen because they remind him

of Frozen and Olaf. Alright. You know what? This is this is an OPP hat. This is awesome. I love this guy, Pete. What a no-brainer bringing him on the podcast

with the gifts he brings me. Well, no, I appreciate, and I am honored to actually sit in with you, and I do enjoy talking about something that I'm very passionate about, which is radio and music, and I knew that since it is too, it's irreversible, so you can actually just wear the orange part

or wear the candle for cycling underneath your helmet. It's going to sound like we scripted that because it's like, I'm telling you what I want and then you hand me a gift and it's got it in. That's amazing. Yeah, no, I just,

I appreciate it and it just seems like good manners to bring something. No, thank you. And that's, because you gave me, I should tell everybody, you sent me this t-shirt I'm wearing now,

which I love because it says on it, the Lost Indie City. So tell me about this. I've been tweeting about it, but I want people to hear, what is the Lost Indie City? Lost Indie City is a, for lack of a better word,

alternative indie slash music that hasn't been played on the radio or doesn't get played on the radio music themed show. That's two hours every Sunday night on soundfm.ca. That's Greg, my friend Greg, who I've known for 35 years. We used to do college radio before I even got hired at CFNY. And he's a professional in the tech industry with a large music background. And me with my background, we just talked about it. We go, hey, you want to do a radio show again?

Like, so we can play what we want to play and do whatever and reach out to the listeners and incorporate them and just make some really good connections and enjoy talking about music again. Because that's why we either, that's why he got into music industry. That's why I got into radio was music. And we said, sure. So we've been doing the show for like a couple of months.

And it's just a blast. I just love doing the radio thing now, which I hadn't felt in so many years, if not like two decades. You know what? You're following the Strombo model, which is hadn't felt in so many years, if not like two decades. You know what, you're following the Strombo model, which is go do, go make your money doing whatever. So he does Rogers hockey,

for example, you know, in Canada, but he, he puts together every Sunday night, he puts together the Strombo show and he hands it over to CBC radio too. And they air it there, but he does that,

you know, he's not, he's not paying any bills on that. That is done because he loves the music and he loves it. And you're doing the exact same thing here, but I should tell everybody because, you know, he's not paying any bills on that. That is done because he loves the music and he loves it. And you're doing the exact same thing here. Yep.

But I should tell everybody because, you know, yes, it's on 10.30 p.m. on Sunday nights on CKMS, which is, that's University of Waterloo Radio?

It used to be. It's now a community radio station not associated to the university. So, yeah, like through soundfm.ca, but also you can find us on the facebook and sound well here's the thing i gotta tell you because i i've been listening because i love the theme

that runs through it and the tunes you play are fantastic so i'm loving this show so it's it is 100.3 sound fm but if you're like me you won't like you won't know how to get that or what the heck's going on there so i you you do put the audio on SoundCloud. So if people find you on Facebook, for example, which is easy to find you if you look up Lost Indie City, you'll have links to where you can just stream it on your computer, which is what I've been doing. And it's awesome. It really is fantastic. It is a lot of fun.

Like tonight, depending on when this airs, like Sunday night on the 27th, we're playing a show with just two hours of music that features the saxophone. And that was from a listener in Edmonton that suggested it. So picking up these listeners from right across the country that listen to it online, I just love it. And we throw in a lot of, it's mostly the music, and then we throw our personal experiences and stories into the mix. So it's a lot of fun.

It's just great audio, and I love the T-shirt because it's indie. You didn't come here and give me, you're not Rogers, you're not Bell. It's just indie, man. It's just great music for the love of the music, and that's what we're missing right now on the radio is guys like that. Yeah, no, I agree. Greg and I, and of course you mentioned Strombo. We just love the music and we still want to have the opportunity to talk with listeners that are also passionate about the music and get music out there that isn't being played. And there's a lot of it or hasn't played in years or decades.

So we cover like four decades. We'll play something from the 70s and we'll play something from like 2015. So it's, I just love doing it. It's funny you mention that because I recently shared like two hours of CF, three hours of CFNY from

1983. And I just threw it on my site because my buddy Andrew Stokely said, hey, we just converted this to digital and he sent over these files and I'm like, I'm going to host that and share it because it's freaking awesome. And in the middle, somebody just plays Live World Jive, maybe. I'm not sure. But somebody just plays the Beach Boys.

It just bears the Beach Boys. It's like because you can. It's awesome. I love that you play Rosie and Greg. Yeah, you know, I think in the next episode, he's got to tell me exactly when, but Stephen Stanley is my next guest from

Lowest to the Lowest. Awesome. And he, two and a half years ago, he's had an on and off with Ron Hawkins. They have an interesting relationship.

I'm going to get all the scoop on that, but you know, Shakespeare My Butt is fantastic, and he was behind that with Ron Hawkins. Top to bottom, that almost song.

And this song is great, isn't it? I got to close every episode of this. I would. Pete, this was everything I hoped it would be. And then that reading that memo pushes you over the top.

And forget it. The old PP hat in the bicycle jersey. Favorite guest of all time. Yeah, right. Thanks for doing this, man. Oh,

thank you for having me. And I'm about to drop your Twitter handle. So if people want to get that audio of lost Indy city, you always tweet a link to it. So I'm about to drop your Twitter handle so if people want to get that audio of Lost Indie City you always tweet a link to it so I'm about to drop that so that brings us to the end

of our 150 second show you can follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike but Pete's who you really want to follow he is at Lost Indie City

see you all next week.