Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Promo Man: Toronto Mike'd #1075

Episode Date: July 2, 2022

In this 1075th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Promo Man Nick Panaseiko about working with Freddie Mercury, Johnny Cash, Keith Richards, KISS, RUSH, Bill Cosby, Liberace, Keith Moon, and others. Joining us is Bob Klanac, author of Promo Man: Backstage Tales From the Vinyl Jungle. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Duer Pants and Shorts.

Welcome to episode 1075 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh,

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Over 100 stores across the country. Learn more at cannacabana.com. Joining me today is the author of Promo Man, Backstage Tales from the Vinyl Jungle, Bob Klanick, and Promo Man himself, Nick Panasico. Let's start with you, Nick. Hello to you. Well, hello, hello, hello. It's great to hear you. It's great to hear you.

And you're obviously, people can tell by the audio, you're not sitting here in my basement studio with me. Whereabouts are you today? I'm in lovely London, Ontario. Lovely London, Ontario. Sounds great. And I hope you're enjoying your Canada Day weekend. Beautiful.

Awesome. And Bob, let's hear you, buddy. How are you doing? I'm doing more than fine because I'm sitting here in this amazing basement studio. Oh, do go on, Bob. Let me hear more detail there. No, it's really a nice little setup. I'm telling you, you should write a book or do something and get on Mike's show.

How's that for advice? I would totally, I have a book in me, I'm telling you. And every month or so, there's another chapter that seems to be written. It's been quite the journey. But yeah, absolutely. Whose show am I getting on if I get on my own show? Whose show am I getting on? Not Toronto Bob.

Yeah, not Toronto Bob. Okay, Toronto Bob. Okay. I don't need any more competition, Bob. No. So Bob, let's start by you telling me how you learned about Nick, Promo Man, before we get to Nick's great stories. How did you learn about Promo Man and what prompted you to write Promo Man, Backstage Tales from the Vinyl Jungle?

Well, it goes back a number of years. I wrote a story on all the musical history of London, Ontario in, as I call it, brutally condensed to 1,200 words. And everyone I spoke to kept saying, have you talked to Nick Panasico? Have you talked to Nick Panasico? Have you talked to Nick Panasico? And I said, not yet, but I will. And I did. You got the hint. And I got an idea about what he had done in this town.

And then after that, Nick had come back. He was living somewhere else. And we met up again. I was the chair of the Home County Festival one year. And I saw him at the festival. And we kind of, hey, good to see you. And we have to get together. So when that finally happened, we sat around and I was eyeing him up because I'm going, I know he wants to write a book about this. Right. He was doing some Facebook posts alluding to that. And I said,

and having heard some of the stories, I want to do this book i um i we we sat down one uh one night at a pub nick told the stories uh uh to um my friend chris drosos formerly of sony music and universal and he and he of course had his own stories but it was just basically listening to nick and also our friend magen schroeder a singer in in town. So that was where it started. Nick turned to me. I said, who's writing your book? And he goes, I don't know. I was going to ask you.

And I said, let's do it. And that was it. Nick, does this story sound accurate? Do you want to clarify anything? It's as good as you're going to get it. Especially not realizing that it was going to take a lot to shake my brain up and remember some of these stories yeah that was definitely part of it i mean uh shaking nick's brain up i mean these stories go back geez here let's scare them nick

like 50 60 years really uh going back to the early 60s um and such all the way back to in the 70s and you know as they say if you can remember the 70s, you probably weren't there. But Nick remembered. And so it took some time. But it was great working with him because I got to keep calling him and saying, okay, clarify, what happened here? What happened here?

What happened here? So Nick said he's in London, Ontario. True. And is that where you're from as well, Bob? Originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, but I basically lived most of my life in London since I got married. Okay, and that's quite the drive. How long

was the drive? I know you had a stopover, but how long would that be, London to South Etobicoke here? Oh, two hours. You know what? Here, I can't do this for Nick because he's not here. So Nick, plug your ears for a couple of minutes because you're going to find out all the good things Bob is getting.

Maybe Bob can share this with you. I'm going to give you, this is what I'm going to give you because you made a two-hour drive to get here. You're not leaving here without a frozen lasagna from Palma Pasta. And I don't mean a small one. See that red box? Yeah, yeah. I'm looking at it.

That's going to be full of frozen lasagna before you go. So that'll feed you for the week. This is wonderful. It's too bad this is only audio because this is going to be great. Well, we're going to take a photo together after the show. You can hold it up. But I'm not done yet, okay? I feel like Monty Hall here.

I'm not done yet. Okay. Does Nick have any Monty Hall stories? That's what I want to know. Nick, do you? I don't think so. Nothing much with television other than Johnny Carson, I guess.

Oh, that's all. Just the King of Late Night. He's slumming it with Johnny Carson. Nick, we're going to find out who the heck you are and your stories, but first, Bob, you're getting some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. Oh my goodness, I love them. Yeah, they're going to get to you. We're going to find out who the heck you are and your stories. But first, Bob, you're getting some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. Oh, my goodness. I love them.

Yeah, they're fantastic. And they're available across this fine province. Dewar, this is for everyone listening. They can save 15% with the promo code Toronto Mike at Dewar.ca or at the retail store on Queen Street here in Toronto. Much love to Dewar. Canna Cabana, I know my son went to Laurier the last two years, and

I know that he's got Canna Cabana there, so I'm sure it's out there and London must have a Canna Cabana location. But that's where you get your cannabis and cannabis accessories. I have a Toronto Mike sticker for you, Bob, courtesy of StickerU.com. And I just want to give

some love here. We are going to talk about some artists that cross paths with Nick Panasico. Some of them are no longer with us. And of course, as we remember those who have passed, we shout out Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of this community since 1921. Let's dive in with Nick here, the star of the show. Bob, you can interject anytime. You're my co-host here, my co-pilot. You can interject anytime. But how, Nick, how did you become Promo Man? Well, it started

in, as they say, lovely London, Ontario, working at a major record store called the Disc Shop in New England Square. This would be 1964. And I was managing a couple of local bands that I started promoting and promoting my own shows using the bands that I managed. But I got turned on to an agent in Toronto called Ron Scribner. And at that time, I was looking for a band called Richie Knight and the Midnights

who had a hit with a song called Oh, Charlena. And that was in 1964. Well, I got a hold of the group, and they told me that since they had the hit, they were booked solid for the next couple months, so I had to look for somebody else to present a major concert. Ron Scribner talked me into bringing in Gene Pitney, who at that time was riding high from songs like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 24 Hours from Tulsa.

So I booked Gene Pitney in December of 1964 and sent the deposit, got the arena, everything was set. I walk into one of my retail stores, the Bluebird record store that was selling tickets, and they said, in a panic, you've been getting calls from New York you got problems so I get on the phone with Ron and find out that Gene Pitney

is pulling the date two days before the show because he started getting better offers due to the hits so here I'm stuck with no band, with a full-page ad in the London Free Press,

and had to look for somebody to replace Gene Pitney. Well, we couldn't get anybody until January, and I ended up booking in a group from Detroit called The Supremes, who were just riding high on Stopping the Name of Love and numerous other hits. Wow. Wow. Okay.

So they came in mid-January to fill in the date. We honored the tickets for Gene Pitney. Unfortunately, there's a major snowstorm. Their drive from Detroit to London was four hours plus. When they got there, there was no time to rehearse, and the manager came out with a stack of charts. Unfortunately,

nobody in the backup group, Johnny Stevens and the Canadians, could read music, so the girls end up lip singing to their hits through the sound system that they use for the roller skating in the wow the hall so you just played you just played the single or anybody else you just played the single on the loudspeakers and they just lip synced essentially yeah and i'll tell you one extra thing. Yeah. Further to that, uh, recently Nick and I both met John, uh, the late Johnny Stevens, um, wife at the London music awards the other weekend.

And I told her the story about the record and she had never heard of that. She, she, she, all she knew was Johnny was backing them up. And then it's like, yeah, this is what happened.

So. And I'm just going to point out here again, this is all audio, but, Bob and I have our respective copies of Promo Man. I bet you Bob has more than one. And I've got to say, great pictures. Like, I'm looking at a photo here at London Arena.

This is from January 16th, 1965. The Supremes, like, I don't know who took all these photos. I guess you saved them all, Bob. Well, here's a good answer to that, and it's got two parts. Some of these photos, as you can see all bob but uh well here's a there's a good answer to that and it's got two parts some of these photos as you can see and actually we have a quick um we credit them at the front some of them uh like the ones you're looking at um and were included by from other photographers right and this is before nick met john rollins now john rollins is a renowned rock and roll photographer he He shot the famous Bowie, what do you call it, Archer shot. Oh sure, okay.

And he's shot everyone from the Beatles to Lady Gaga. And so Nick hired him around 75 to work for him at Atlantic. Okay. Sorry, at Quality Records. And so John basically chronicled much of Nick's life in the music business and later too, because, and they were still lifelong friends. They, you know, amazing. They hang out together all the time anyway.

So, but, uh, John also provided these and donated these pictures for use in the book free of charge for his friend, Nick, you know? Nice. I mean, I mean, I'm looking here. You just flip through. And again, I've read this book and I have cherry-picked some names and artists I'm going to ask Nick about. But you're just flipping through here.

It might be Blondie. It might be Johnny Cash. You got David Foster, who comes up a lot on this show. Freddie Mercury. This is unbelievable. Keith Moon, you know, unbelievable. Like Keith Moon, for goodness sakes.

Like these are the big stars we're going to be talking to Nick about today. Yeah, that's a great story that opens the book about Keith Moon.

Okay, let's start there then. Again, Nick, I'm going to ask you about some specific artists and stuff, but if you need

to go on a tangent, you just, you can just, you got, you know, Carp Launch to do it. I will just say in a funny coincidence that on the last episode of Toronto Mike,

they had Scott Turner and I had Brother Bill and then we have Cam Gordon. We were talking about dance music from the 80s and 90s and we were talking about like, sometimes, you know, the legend is what the people need as opposed to the real deal.

And sometimes people will ignore the real story in favor of the legend. And then I referenced the man who shot Liberty Valance. It's print the legend is in that movie. So that was the last step. So it's funny that we now talk Gene Pitney and the man who shot Liberty Valance. But okay, I digress. Tell me if you can, Nick, about Keith Moon. You did coke with Keith Moon.

Well, we were kind of forced into a situation. Other duties as assigned, yes. My friend Gene Liu, who was the director of public relations for Quality Records, hired me, for Quality Records hired me, and he opened a club called Coolies, which is up above Sam the Chinese Food Man in Toronto, and it was being used mostly by record companies for artist promo nights and so on and so forth.

artist promo nights and so on and so forth. But the roadies for The Who threw a final party from their Toronto concert in 77, I believe it was. And Gene invited me up to look after and keep Keith Moon busy talking because he'd heard some of the horror stories about Keith throwing television sets out of windows and whatever. So when I walked into the room, it wasn't long before Keith and I were together and he says, you've got to find me a spot here because they're watching me. So I wasn't sure what he was referring to but we went into the employees washroom

and they pulled out a bag of coke which I thought he was going to maybe do a few lines and he says we're not leaving here until we finish this. A little bit undaunted but if you take a look at the picture, when we walked out, John Rollins happened to be in the back kitchen also, and he snapped that picture, and it definitely looks like drugs were involved, and we were all smiles. You know, that's when you know you're working in rock and roll, right?

When you're snorting a pile of Coke with Keith Moon. Like, that's as rock and roll as it gets, right? Yes, indeed. And Keith, I'm trying to get my timelines right. When does Keith Moon pass? Not too long after, right? It was 78. I think I've got it there, too.

Well, he filmed one more thing in 78, and I think it was September 7th of 78, that brings a bell. Okay, well, I'm just glad Nick didn't go with him. We have these great stories. So you're doing Coke with Keith Moon, and otherwise, though, I'm trying to get an idea, because I have heard he's a bit of an animal. Other than the mound of Coke you had to do with Keith Moon,

what was he like otherwise? Definitely very mellow, very talkative. We discussed he really liked Toronto, so we had a lot of things in common. And there wasn't much conversation after us being in the washroom. But we had a few drinks and we sat around. And as I said, we had an evening like most normal people have. Okay.

I think if I, what do I know about Coke? But if I did a mound of Coke like that, I think, I don't think I could sit down. I'd be bouncing off walls, I think. That's right. All right. But now we're going to cover another gentleman who passed away too soon, another guy who knew how to party. Did I read in this book correctly

that you got high with John Belushi? Yes, indeed. He came into London with the National Traveling Lampoon Show and performed with Fry Fogles. And so we got talking and he invited me back up to his room at the Holiday Inn in London. As I said, it was on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I walked into the room

and there was something just wrong with the room. I'm looking around and I realized that he's taken a pool liner, a black pool liner and gaffer tape and taped the window shut so that he

could control the space of light and day. So we ended up getting fairly high. I was amazed he was able to do the show later that night. I always wonder, like, when you have these moments with these big names like Keith Moon and John Belushi, and then you read in your paper or hear on the radio that they passed away at young ages,

like, Nick, what's your reaction to that? Like, what was your reaction when you heard? Well, yeah, that's when you take the word moderation out of the sentence and out of play and you indulge on a constant basis where you

need your fix basically or whatever it is. Addiction, absolutely. Now, Bob, again, I'm like a kid in a candy store here. Go for it. So I'm just going to go, but you can take me any direction you want, whenever you want. But here's a gentleman who did not die young, but he did pass away recently, lived to a nice old age, though.

Chuck Berry, what can you tell me about your experience of Chuck Berry, and what was Chuck Berry like? your experience with Chuck Berry, and what was Chuck Berry like? Well, Chuck, I met Chuck at an early stage in my career. I'm just trying to remember the year now. But Chuck and I hit it off. He performed at a high school auditorium, and after the show, I ended up inviting him back to my house. We ended up coming back to the house. He brought along a young lady which we found out was 15 and not 18 so we ended up sending her

home in a cab. So that was my initial meeting with Chuck. Was that one of your duties as well? I was at a rib fest yesterday and if they think you're close to 19, they want to see ID. So apparently the rules, if you look under 25, let's see some ID. Okay. And I was wondering,

is that part of your duties? Like if, you know, you can't, you know, if you look like you might be under 21, let's see some ID here and make sure we're old enough to be there. On the same page. Well, then, as I say, I got to know Chuck later in life. We had an issue where he was at Convocation Hall in Toronto with George Thurgood opening the show for him. And Chuck always demanded cash payment.

Well, the student body had a $5,000 check for him. And Chuck always demanded cash payment while the student body had a $5,000 check for him that he wasn't going to honor and not go on until he got cash. Well, it's a Sunday night. We had to do some brainstorming of who could cash a check for five grand. And we ended up coming up with Sam Snyderman from Sign the Record Man. Wow. And he ended up coming up with Sam Snyderman from Sign the Record Man. Wow. And he ended up cashing a check for us, and we paid Chuck, and the show went on.

Wow. And I know you couldn't remember the year, but are we before My Ding-a-ling or after My Ding-a-ling? Oh, after. After, okay. I think that was 72. Okay. Only I find Chuck Berry's chart history interesting because he's a legend,

one of the founders of rock and roll. And like, you know, Johnny B. Goode, it's still a staple of the rock and roll diet from the 50s. But his biggest hit is a novelty song he records in 72. That's too sad. I know. It's just interesting how that worked for Chuck. It's not even a very good song.

No, it's a terrible how that works it's not even a very good song I know it's a terrible song but it's you know it's I think my ding-a-ling is a terrible song but and imagine comparing you know my ding-a-ling to Johnny Be Good or Roll Over Beethoven any of those right and my sweet

little 16 is that how the song's called but which is essentially if you listen to you know California Girl California Girls by Beach Boys, that is Sweet Little 16. It's the same song. Okay. Good point. Listen to Sweet Little 16 and then listen to Surfing USA is the song I'm trying to say.

Surfing USA by the Beach Boys. Right. Not California Girls. Sorry. Surfing USA. Same song. Right, Not California Girls. Sorry. Surfing USA. Same song. Right, Nick? I believe so.

And I'm putting Nick on the spot here. Okay. Again, Kid in a Candy Store. You have fun. This is what it was like talking to Nick when we first heard these stories. And I went, I got to do a book. All right. So before I get, and I know so many people listening are fans of Kiss and fans of Rush.

I know off the top of my head a number of Rush fanatics who are diehard Toronto mic listeners. So we're going to talk Kiss, we're going to talk Rush, but I want to take a moment just because I'm curious, you were there, what was the music scene like in London

back in the mid to late 60s there? Well, it was the start of Carnaby Street with the Beatles, and of course the other opponent was the start of soul music and the Toronto Sound. We brought in bands like the Five Rogues, who ended up being the Mandela, George Oliver, Sean and Jay Jackson.

So London was very vibrant in numerous styles of bands that existed. If I could add something to that, too. Nick was from that side. There's a chapter in the book in which we Talk to a lot of young people from the day And if I could Characterize it it was like Everyone had to get their hand on an instrument And so

They would Get some from the police band They would borrow it from the police band Or they were in the police band Or they would you know borrow it And I use that loosely from the high schools and also turn the numbers around the cases so if the teachers came to see them play they wouldn't know it was their instruments that's funny in the case of one guy chuck rover chuck um

was he made his own guitar in shop class and he later became um a peer Robbie Robertson's. Wow. To such a degree that not only did Robbie give him one of his guitars, but Robbie, a couple years ago, wrote a letter to the London Music Hall of Fame just saying Chuck should be in the London Music Hall of Fame. He was that good of a player. Wow. Yeah. You know, because London's an interesting city

in that it's far enough removed from Toronto that you don't get the overlap. that there's not, you don't get the overlap. I'm guessing in London you can't get 1050 chum on your radio, can you? I don't think so. I don't think so. I feel like you're far enough away that you're not, obviously not GTA, but you're not even influenced.

You have your own kind of ecosystem. Of course, pre internet, even radio, there were all these regional scenes and regional sounds. It's interesting you mentioned London. Ronnie Hawkins used to winter at the YMCA with the Hawks, because that way they can go north to Toronto, two hours, south to Detroit, and they would make it their home way from home.

Well, my buddy down the street who has a Detroit Tigers bumper sticker on his car, I always give him a hard time, and he reminds me he's from London, and he said there are a lot of Tigers fans in London, and he's like, you have to appreciate that. Until the Jays came along, Detroit was a London town. I mean, London was a Detroit town.

London was a Tiger town. Yeah. Yeah, and sometimes even, because this guy, I think, was probably around my age and he's been, had the J's around his whole life, but it's the father influence.

If your dad's a Tiger fan, he brainwashes you. There you go. There used to be some little bars in town, like pub bars that would say Home of the Detroit Tigers in London, Ontario, which is kind of funny.

So I give him a pass because he's from London. He can have a Tigers sticker on his... That's very kind of you, Mike. Shout out to Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, sweet Lou Whitaker, and Jack Morris and the gang there. Okay, I digress. Where am I going next?

I want to, before I get back to radio, I want to ask you because, you know, we've talked about Belushi and Moon, and we know what happened with them, and Chuck Berry, who recently passed away, but was there at the start of rock and roll. What a legend he was. I want to know, Nick,

about your experiences with Bill Cosby. Well, that was a classic, because he overwhelmed me at the time. We had a group called Spinners, who were coming off of a hit rubber band, man, opening for Bill Cosby, which was a little strange. Having a rock band, soul band opening for a comedian.

But we decided I would give him a nice box of cigars, Cuban cigars. So he ended up opening the box getting a cigar and calling me over to the side and telling me that next time that he ever performs he doesn't want the N-Boys opening for him So he called these guys the N-Word Yes

Wow So I was a little shocked and taken back and actually a couple of spinners wanted his autograph Wow. And so I was a little shocked and taken back. And actually a couple of spinners wanted his autograph and he basically slicked them off and wouldn't sign anything for him. You know, again, with his character and what we've learned about Bill Cosby, nothing surprises me at all,

but still because he is such a symbol of black excellence and progress. And then to hear that he would say, surprises me at all, but still, because, you know, he is such a symbol of, uh, you know, black excellence and, and progress. And then to hear that he would say, I don't want N words opening my show. Yeah. Even now, even knowing, even knowing what we know, it's disheartening. And he was kind of the acceptable, um, black face for white America at the time. He and, um, uh, who else? well sydney poitier oh yeah yeah

so they and though those two were kind of like the sydney poitier is apparently a wonderful human being um who just passed himself right and and bill cosby um was not as as can be seen clear and i just want to add something when writing anything but writing this book yeah i did um one this is this says a lot about nick himself nick really doesn't like it not like in many people you know and he doesn't have many nasty words to say about pretty much anyone there's only bill cosby and the other one was van morrison which makes sense because van morrison's always been known as a surly guy. Even during this pandemic. Yes, oh my God, he's had a nervous breakdown there.

But still, no, he was just always known as a surly guy. And that's the only other guy that I ever heard Nick say, you know, something negative about. It takes a lot for Nick to say something negative about you. And Bill Cosby passed that threshold because the name of this chapter, chapter 15, is one of the worst acts I ever worked with. Yes, indeed. Wow. Okay. So let's move on from a disgraced comedian, Bill Cosby. Here's a gentleman.

I grew up with this gentleman seemingly everywhere. And then he passed away when I was pretty young, but not too young that I don't remember. But what can you tell me about Liberace? Liberace was one of the best acts that I worked with, a real sincere gentleman that remembered your first and last name and wanted to know that you had any kids and acknowledged the hello and goodbyes every time you saw him.

So his manager, Seymour Heller, ended up getting me pretty close to Liberace's lifestyle. And, of course, they had the trauma when the National Choir and other tabloids wanted to break the news about him being gay, and Tim Orr ended up spending half an hour talking to the editors of the National Enquirer, and they ended up coming up with a watermelon diet story. So I don't know how long that stayed.

Now, wasn't that to do with AIDS, Nick, because he's getting so thin? Because I remember that was the idea that they said he was getting thin because of his diet he was on. Does that ring a bell? Yeah. Right, of course, this is an era where, I'm thinking of Rock Hudson now,

where you weren't out. It was career suicide to be honest. Even Elton John will tell you that he stayed in the closet for a long time and when he came out, he suffered commercially. In the 70s, he was top of the heap and then he went through a tough commercial period after he came out. It's what kept George Michael in the closet a lot longer than he wanted to be because he saw what happened to his friend George.

Well, I was going to say, one of the things that comes up in Promo Man at least a couple times, one with Liberace and also with Freddie Mercury, you know, just getting them, keeping Nick Wood, find ways to keep them entertained and bring them to the

underground gay clubs in Toronto. And try to keep it on the down low. Keep it on the down low. Well, let's talk about Freddie Mercury then. Nick, what stories can you tell us about the lead singer of Queen? Well, with Freddie, once again, I think gay people are definitely courteous and seem to have a mannerism about them.

Freddie just wanted the word to get out that he wanted to get out to the gay clubs that night. And he wanted to make sure that everybody was wearing either a little leather sailor's hat or a leather vest. Because he's into leather at the time. because he's into leather at the time. So we took him to a couple clubs along with Gino Empry, who's the publicist for the Royal York. And Gino wanted me to have a dance with him because he said I was a perfect new guy on the block, the newest young spring chicken.

So I even gave Gino a kiss on the block, the newest young spring chicken. So I even gave Gino a kiss on the cheek and I said sure, Gino will have a dance. I remember Gino Empry and I used to work for a guy who was good friends of Gino and he was a character. He was a character himself.

So it sounds like Freddie Mercury wanted to enjoy, he wanted you to help him enjoy, you know, his lifestyle. And he didn't want, I suppose he didn't want the attention from the media on such matters. Matters, yeah. So similar to the bridge.

Okay, now, okay. So I'm going to now, I teased it enough, it enough but there's as you know the fan bases for these two bands are enormous like and these are like i would say passionate loyal fan bases uh unlike most bands uh let's start with kiss since they're they're the american band here what did you do for kiss tell me about your relationship with KISS. Well, KISS in 1974, I was in Detroit. I was working for a radio station called CJOMFM that really was out of Windsor, but really catered to the Detroit market. And we got them to come into London on a cable. So I went to see a group called Bullets that ended up becoming the Romantics down the road.

Oh, yeah. But that same night, there was a group that everybody was talking about, KISS. So I went to see KISS, and they were just in their preliminaries with pretty well homemade outfits and whatever. They had two huge barrels of dry ice to create the smoke theme, and Peter Criss' drums would be lifted by a forklift truck on a riser.

So I ended up wanting to bring them to London, which we did. And of course I hired Rush at the time, who were just coming out of doing high school bands. So two basically unknown groups getting together for a night of entertainment at Centennial Hall in the summer of 74. I brought Kiss back in December for the phrase that I coined, Merry Kissmas. And I had four kids dress up as Kiss. We hired a limousine and took them around London to all the radio stations.

We darted in and out. We had a cameraman taking pictures. And the buzz got out that everybody thought that Kiss was in town a week before the concert. So it helped definitely to promote the show for us. But both Kiss and Rush were just coming on the scene at that time. And I think if it wasn't for the team teaming up, Rush teaming up with Kiss, who ended up taking Rush

to all the heavy metal states as an opener, I don't think that Rush would have gone anywhere as quickly as they did or the change that they did. And of course, the first show that they did for me was with John Rutze, the original drummer. Wow. It was the last show he did, wasn't it, Nick? It was in July. The July 74 show in London

was John's last gig with the band. And so this is pre-Neil Peart? Yes. Wow. Wow, okay. And I mean, this is where you become a promo man. This is your moment here because you're helping get Kiss and Rush

recognized on the radio and that's amazing because those two bands, as you know, as we all know, those two bands became huge. You're not still buddies, you're still friends at all with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson? Really,

Rush really wasn't my cup of tea. What was your cup of tea? Well, I listened to a lot of metal music. I used to enjoy the Linda Ronstadt, the Emmalou Harris's, the Eagles, as opposed to loud, thumping music. See, as Nick has said, you know, many times, I don't know if he said, I think he says it at the end of the book, it was a job to him.

It was a job. He loved doing, loved promoting. And so it didn't really matter who, you know, I guess. Right. Now, okay, I alluded to his photo being in this book earlier. There's a lot of great stories about Johnny Cash. I'm Johnny Cash. So what can you tell us about your working relationship there with Johnny Cash?

And it sounds like you were witness to quite the moment in Johnny Cash's personal life. Well, I got to know Johnny quite a bit through us at quality we released an album that uh featured uh johnny cash elvis percy and the the group at sun records oh the million dollar quartet yeah uh carl perkins and jerry and Jerry Lee Lewis are the other two. And Elvis. Yeah. Oh, it's Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins? Yeah. Okay, that's the Million Dollar Quartet.

What was it? Roy? Oh, my God. Now I'm going to put a word in there. I have no idea. And I even saw the musical. They did a musical, Million Dollar Quartet. I've seen that.

So Elvis for sure. Right. Okay. Carl Perkins, I'm pretty sure. Okay. I feel if Johnny Cash is there, why do I think Jerry Lee Lewis is the fourth? Well, I think he is, because I've seen a picture of Jerry Lee.

Maybe Roy Orbison shows up, and then he doesn't get invited or something? I don't know. Here, so keep telling me your story about Johnny Cash while I Google the heck of it. So with Johnny, I presented him with the album, and I ended up having a young photographer take some pictures of Carl Perkins with Johnny, I presented them with the album, and I ended up having a young photographer take some pictures. Carl Perkins and Johnny picked me up like a surfboard and held me in the air.

And, of course, I was looking for the pictures the next couple of days when we find out that the young photographer belonged to London YMCA, Dark Room Photography Club. And for whatever reasons, the film went missing. So somebody still got the film out there, but I never did see the pictures. And of course, that was the night that Johnny proposed to June Carter. Yeah, don't bury that lead.

Don't bury that lead. Okay, well, first let me clarify that I am correct. It is Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. So Orbison was not part of the Million Dollar Quartet. Only my imagination, clearly. But he was there. He was there. He was like a past member, I think, like class of 55.

But this is a 56 recording that like a past member, I think, like class of 55. But this is a 56 recording that we're talking about. So he was like part of that group, but wasn't there in 56. And to tie that all back, that was the record Nick was promoting when it came out.

Oh, yes. Million Dollar Quartet. And that's 1981, I think. I believe there's 17 tracks on this thing. It's weird. Nick and I went over this. He insists that there was a version of it

that came out in the 70s because that's when he was with Quality. I think it's Quality. It's hard to, you know. Yeah, well, okay. So, I mean, I wouldn't doubt Nick for a second, especially because I know he's on this call. But 82, okay, I don't know.

It's 82 is when Survivor the survivors live there's so many different variants i hear there are i i did exactly what you were doing when i was writing the fact checking the book right but there is this this uh release that i keep reading about does come out in 81 so if something came out in seven in the 70s i'm not too sure what that was but regardless regardless you were there i don't want to bury this lead here. So Nick, you were literally there when Johnny Cash proposed to June Carter

in his hometown, right? Right. He was managed by Saul Holliff, who was the London manager. it all caught a self-card, but it was a joyous night. And of course, the movie version of it shows him on stage on a grand stage

as opposed to a cold hockey arena. Well, that goes back to the man who shot Liberty Valance. Print the legend. You're right, Mike. I could have co-wrote this book. Okay, Nick, you're going to start saying, yes, there's a huge hall with red curtains and everything. Print the legend right now.

I like the real talk. I want the authentic story. So that's why Nick is here. Okay, we mentioned some big bands here today, but you know what's a bigger band than all these bands? I would say the Rolling Stones. Nick, what can you tell me about your involvement with the Rolling Stones? And anything you can tell me about the infamous arrest of Keith Richards

in, what was it, 1977? Well, the Rolling Stones involves about a six-month period of time during their bust that I end up meeting Ronnie Wood and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards at Thunder Sound. They were checking studios out at the time, and Ronnie Wood invited me back up to the hotel. When I got to the hotel, I noticed that Keith Richards' son, Marlon, who was about seven years old, was there playing with a Dungeons and Dragons type of game.

So I kind of joined in because I had a son about that age at that time. And down the road, I ended up getting some tickets. We were supposed to take Keith, Anita Pallinger, and Marlon to see a show by the Great Ravine, who was a hypnotist, a magic man at the Elgin Theater. Well, of course, Keith was passed out. I had to wake up Anita to get her ready, and we ended up going to see the show, arriving late, making everybody have them to get up for us to get to our seats. And halfway through the performance, I hear a snort over to the side. And it's Anita with Ronnie Wood's silver straw doing a line. And she yells over to me, do you want to snort too, Nick?

Wow, everything is dead silent. So, of course, they end up having to, trying to find drugs for Keith, keep him occupied. And they end up setting up Lance Irwin, who was Keith's kind of runner boy, to provide Keith with drugs. Yeah, like Lance took care of the heroin, and then you set up a connection with some people in Toronto, with Lance, wasn't it? I think it was, yeah. Where they put it under a carpet at this house on Spadina Road,

and then they go by, pick up the stuff, leave the money. And yeah. Wow. So Keith could get his, yeah, get his supply. Okay. Remind those who are a bit young to remember the details. What was the arrest of Keith Richards about again? I know this does result in a lot of like famous Toronto rock and roll stories.

But what happened with the arrest of Keith Richards? Were you there? No, I was actually on my way from London to Toronto and they got busted. That was because they found some traces of heroin in Keith's luggage, in Anita's luggage. Yeah, after they found that at the airport, then they busted them at the hotel. I think it was like a day later, wasn't it, Nick? And that's when the big charges were laid.

And if you read the book, well, and I hope you all read the book, but if you read the book, you'll see you know officially pearson airport wasn't part of toronto so they have they were charged under a different area with a different thing so anyway it uh it became an rcmp thing ultimately i think right well he credits it i believe keith credits it with saving his life doesn't he doesn't he clean up after this instant incident he referred to the young woman who helped him there as his blind angel. Wow. Yeah, and she was the one who, and this is also in the book in a different chapter, she basically, the judge was in a quandary as to how do you deal with this?

Because, you know, Keith wasn't, you know, he wasn't trafficking it. He, it was just possession. So, and yet he was hope high profile. And then somehow this, someone, I think this, as he says, his blind angel, um, called up the judge or gotten judge's attention and said, what if he does a concert for the blind? And then that was like the perfect solution for the judge and everything. Wow. Yeah. Okay, Nick, this is your chance to catch your breath because, and I should have done this earlier,

but here we have this guy here with me, some guy named Bob. Bob, I always... Clannock. Clannock, I know. I always feel like there's another syllable in there. Isn't that funny? So Bob Clannock, maybe a little bit of background.

Like you don't just get up one day at your age and say i'm gonna write the book about promo man because he's got great stories like tell us a bit about your background like who the hell are you bob by the way imitating my parents will get you nowhere nowhere but still anyway no i um i grew up in thunder bay i was a music obsessive i started writing for a little magazine in Thunder Bay when I was 15. And then the student paper there, I went to them when I was like 16, and I said, can I write for you guys? You have a paper here. Because I was looking for some place to write for,

and the student paper took me on, even though I was a university student. And I just started there, went on to write for reviews and lots of features, interviews for a number of London-based magazines. And I've done a couple of, I don't know, three, four Juno award juries and Polaris Music Award for a couple of years. And now I'm on the Polaris Heritage Prize. So you were a juror for the Polaris Music Prize. Yes. And now you're a member of the Polaris Heritage Prize jury. Yes.

Amazing. Okay. So you're, yeah, you're the real deal, Bob. And I'm glad that, you know, Nick met you and that you could capture these stories. Because again, we got a few more stories here to go, but I want to tell people this. Maybe you tell them where to go, where to go.

If somebody says I got to read, because we're touching on like, I don't know, a 10 or a dozen stories. There's hundreds in here. Like it's every page is another wow. Like I, this is right up my alley. Like how would somebody get a copy of promo man? Well, if you live in Toronto and I'm going to presume that at least some of your listeners live in toronto most of them live in the gta yes okay uh sonic boom uh they're carrying it um and they just ran out of copies so i'm

dropping off five more today okay i'm going to going in and um sonic boom and of course if you want to it's also available on amazon okay and. And I just found out, too, that the book has been, the London Public Library liked it so much, they recommended it to be sold by a company that distributes to libraries across Canada. Oh, that's cool. So it might be in a library near you before you actually get a chance to buy a copy.

And as I said, it's also on Amazon. Yeah, and there's promomanbook.com is your domain there. And Nick, how do you feel knowing that, you know, people are now reading your stories? Like forever, I guess you had to take you out for like a beer or a coffee or something or for dinner to get these stories. And now we can all just read these stories.

How does that make you feel? Well, that's great because it's a little bit of history that, of course, it's a different angle. Everybody thinks that if you're a roadie or you're doing promo, that you're a groupie or whatever. They don't realize that they're all jobs. So basically, you don't get attached to any particular group. You work with the label wants you to work to the particular group. You work with the label that wants you to work

to the radio stations and the thing you want to do is get sold out concerts and guaranteed airplay and guaranteed sales. Right. You know, it's a job so you don't play favorites

but if you had your choice you'll take a Liberace over a Bill Cosby every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Right. All right, let's talk about the woman who is known as Eileen Twain. Eileen, I heard she changed her first name.

What can you tell us about Eileen Twain? Well, Eileen Twain ended up coming up to Deerhurst to do an audition. At that time, really, I was doing public relations for the resort and part of the entertainment committee. So she ended up auditioning for us. And it was during the period that Deere Hurston was being sold to Apotex Drugs, Barry Sherman's company. Right. Right.

So Eileen's manager was able to bring up a lawyer from Nashville that was impressed with Eileen's rendition of Somewhere Out There, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and ended up getting her a deal with Mercury. So before she left, she ended up disbanding the Vegas show and talked to Apple Tech and giving her $2 million to build a Broadway show that lasted about six weeks. Before she went out to Nashville, and it was Nashville where she met up with Mutt Lang,

and of course changed the name from Eileen to Shania. The rest is history. There's a success story for you. By the way, any leads, who took the lives of Barry and Honey Sherman? Do you have any idea? Yeah, I'm waiting for that

news to break. Well, Kevin Donovan in The Star had a recent piece about how the police butchered this investigation pretty badly. So I'm not sure we'll ever get a resolution on this one, which is unfortunate. I think whoever solves it is not going to be in the police force. They're going to be someone just that because the police are probably too embarrassed. You know, Kevin has a, not that he would publish it, but he's, you know, in his experience investigating this, he's got a name. That's all I'll say. He's got a name. So, okay. I won't say that name because I

don't want to hear from any lawyers. Okay. Fun fact, in the 2010 Olympics, I think Alex Bilodeau, I believe, won gold. And that was the first time in three different Olympics that Canada hosted that we actually won gold. We did not win gold in Montreal in 76. We did not win gold in Calgary in 88. Why the hell am I dropping this fun fact in a music episode? Because one of the highlights for me watching the 88 Olympics was Eddie the Eagle.

And I'm wondering if Nick has any stories about Eddie the Eagle. Well, Eddie the Eagle, and I'm wondering if Nick has any stories about Eddie the Eagle. Well, Eddie the Eagle, we discovered through his publicity that he was getting about being the skier arriving from England with an old pair of skis and an old ski helmet and whatever. Right. So we ended up teaming up with him

and renaming our Vegas girls the Eagleettes, and they cheered him on in his jumping. Plus he caused a near riot at the Glenmore Inn where we were performing because the public wanted to meet him. And he was almost to the point where he was becoming an embarrassment to the British ski team. I remember Eddie the Eagle mania, and now I know who to blame. It's promo man's fault.

Well, then, Nick, also, you called up your old buddy Liberace's manager down in L.A. Yes, Seymour Heller, yes, of course, to arrange a shot for Eddie the Eagle on the Johnny Carson show, which we ended up getting him on. That was really amazing. No, that's why you're a promo man. There can only be one. Okay.

Now, again, there's hundreds of stories in the book. I'm just covering a few that I jotted down because they captured my fancy, but there are many great stories in this book. But on the back of the book, there's these interesting quotes. I see FOTM Rob Bowman But on the back of the book, there's these interesting quotes, you know. I see FOTM Rob Bowman is on the back of the book, but the very first one, and Paul Myers, who's also an FOTM, by the way, so you're in good company.

Yeah, for sure. Paul's an old friend, too. Come on, he's from the Gravel Berries. Yes. Paul's an old friend. We have known him for years, so great guy. You know, he gets this show. He gets it.

And, you know, if I ever need to do a deep dive into kids in the hall i know who to call it's gonna be uh absolutely it's gonna be paul myers or pull my ears as he calls himself on twitter okay so why am i talking about the back of the book because we just lost the hawk and the very first quote on the back of the book from ronnie hawkins not to be confused with lowest of the lows Ron Hawkins, who will close this show, but Ronnie Hawkins, the quote is, this is about you, Nick. I hope you're sitting down. This is a lot of praise you're going to get.

But he says, he was the best record hustler I've ever seen. What can you tell me, Nick, about the late, great Ronnie Hawkins? Well, the Hawk loved London. Started playing here back in the early 60s and made London basically his second home to the point where he invested in properties in London. Had a club called Campbell's, was expropriated by the city of London and ended up taking a piece of property that was a former city hall in London.

He opened a restaurant with one of the Eaton boys called Johnny Finebones and a club upstairs called the Hawk's Nest. So I had a great opportunity to get to know Ronnie personally and hang in. We became very close and dear friends. And, of course, at 87 and passing away, I can only say that, Ronnie, I'm amazed that 87 was your closing year because he could have been gone at 67. So he definitely led a great lifestyle, but one that could have led him to an early demise, but he outlived all the speculative reasons. Yeah, he got quite the send-off the other day.

He himself was a master storyteller, although I never shared a room with him uh to hear his stories but uh my buddy freddie p would talk about being at the compound and getting the stories and even if it's just about you know the john lennon long distance phone bill or whatever like these are just some great stories you get from uh ronnie hawkins and it's it's interesting you mentioned because he lived to a nice old age, which is awesome. Another guy, though, we talked about him earlier

and then you told a story, but I don't know at the time if somebody had told you back in 1977 that Keith Richards will make it into his 80s, what would you have said? I'm legit curious what you would have said if I told you that in 1977. Yeah, it would have been shocking to me.

And here, he's still going strong, still going strong. So he'll outlive us all. Absolutely. Now, gentlemen, I threatened an hour and I took an hour, but this is an opportunity, Bob, for you to...

I can be quiet for a moment. If there's anything else you want to ask Nick about before the other Ron Hawkins plays us out here. I don't. I see Nick all the time. Nick and I hang out all the time in London. So you know what? I can, you know, ask him anything.

I can tell you one thing now. Yeah, anything. I'm working on another book right now and it's going to be all the photos by John Rollins. Oh. Not just these photos, but many photos, and the stories behind them, because he's got lots of great stories, and if there's anything I love, it's good stories,

and so we're working on his book next. Interesting, because even if you can't read English, just the stories, this is quite something. I mean, I'm now looking at a picture of Nick with Etta James. This is at the Horseshoe Tavern. Like, I mean, I could just talk about these photos all day. It's unbelievable. Blondie.

I think that's what I really liked about the book in terms of I wanted it to be one of those things that you're reading it and then you're seeing it. So it isn't just, you know, an anecdote. It kind of gets brought to life for you. And I think that's why it's a lot of fun. Well, you know, on this program, I'm a big, big, big fan of capturing these stories and

sharing these stories and that's one way these stories can live forever is if we keep sharing them and passing them on. So I want to thank you Bob for writing the book, Promo Man, because I don't think I would have known about Nick if you didn't write the book about Nick.

Terrific. I'm so, thank you so much. I very much appreciate it. I very much appreciate being on your show too because you're a bit of a legend too, Mike. You know. Okay. I'm listening. Now you got my attention. You know, you sound good on the mic.

I will say you got a great voice. Thank you very much, Mike. And do you remember your first Toronto Mic episode or is that putting you on the spot here? It's putting me on the spot. I know Jim Slotex. Because I've known Jim since Lakehead in Thunder Bay. He just came up because

Liz Braun was here last week. And Liz had very nice things to say about Jim. Actually, Liz Braun's a good friend of mine also. Oh, and you know what's funny? I wanted her to tell me stories about the 82 Who concert, right? Which was promoted as the last Who concert.

Apparently it wasn't. Spoiler alert. But she was there, you know, and she really had no interest in it. Like, that wasn't her jam. Again, much like yourself, Nick, that was just a job and she did her thing. She did tell me her friend went

into labor during the fireworks that went off at the end of that concert. So there's your fun Lis Braun, 1982. Nick Panasico, this was amazing. I want to thank you for giving me all this time and sharing these stories.

I just want you to know you're now an FOTM, Friend of Toronto Mic'd. All right. Fantastic. Looking forward to hearing the podcast. Well, it's going to drop in 10 minutes. I wish I could take a photo with you, but I'll be taking a photo with Bob. And, well, we'll just tell people Bob is Nick because people don't know what you look like. So that might work out.

But thanks so much. And that. Thank you, Mike. Thank you. And that brings us to the end of our 1075th show. That's also a nice round number for you, 1075. I do like that. I'm adding the applause track here.

I like that. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Now, are either of you on social media that you want to tell me your handles? You can go to look up the Promo Man page on Facebook and Instagram. Okay, so Facebook and Instagram. No Twitter. That's fine.

But go look up the Promo Man. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery, they're on Twitter at Great Lakes Beer. They're actually at the Rib Fest, the Lakeshore Rib Fest, which is where I think I'm going to head over to in just a little bit. Before I go, I'm going to History to see Moist and Tea Party.

And you mentioned, Bob, you're going to see... The Sky Diggers. Sky Diggers. And Andy Mays is also an FOTM, and I love that band. So enjoy that. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Make sure I get to you, Lasagna.

Sticker U is at Sticker U. Here. Let me give you the sticker right now before I forget. This is happening live, people. Thank you very much. There's the Toronto Mike sticker. Doers at Doer Performance, everybody. The promo code is Toronto Mike.

Use it early and often. Helps the show. Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. And Canna Cabana, they're at canna cabana underscore. Smoke them if you got them. See you all next week. But the smell of snow Wants me to dance And your smile is fine It's just like mine And it won't go away

Cause everything is Rosy and great