Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Protest Songs: Toronto Mike'd #665

Episode Date: June 12, 2020

This Pandemic Friday, Mike kicks out protest music with Stu Stone and Cam Gordon.

It's time now for Pandemic Fridays, starring Toronto Mike, Stu Stone, and Cam Gordon. I'm from Toronto where you wanna get city love I'm a Toronto mic, wanna get city love So my city love me back, for my city love Welcome to episode 665 of Toronto Mic'd A weekly podcast about anything and everything Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Palma Pasta.

Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Garbage Day. Weekly reminders for garbage, recycling, and yard waste pickup. Visit GarbageDay.com slash Toronto Mike to sign up now. StickerU.com, create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. The Keitner Group, they love helping buyers find their dream home.

Text Toronto Mike to 59559. And our newest sponsor, CDN Technologies, your IT and cybersecurity experts. I'm Mike. I'm Mike from torontomike.com. And joining me for this Pandemic Friday episode of Toronto Miked is Stu Stone and Cam Gordon. Wow. Hell yeah. What an introduction.

What an introduction. Thank you so much. And to all the listeners, all the Pandemic Friday freaks out there, thanks for sticking with us. We've got so much more excitement for you. So thanks for tuning in. Speaking of Pandemic Friday freaks, one of the big, I mean, there's so many big fans of Pandemic Fridays with Stu Stone and Cam Gordon, but one of the biggest fans is a guy

named Cam Brio. And Cam Brio actually interviewed me this past week for his blog. So I got to talk to him via Zoom and he wrote, I think I tweeted the link. You can find it if you follow me on Twitter at Toronto Mike. But I got to converse with a gentleman who might just be the world's biggest Stu Stone fan. Well, you know, there's no accounting for taste. He clearly has great taste

um but uh is the brio because of the um soft drink is he like obsessed with drinking that soft drink or is that a government name you know like if i maybe cam gordon who used to guzzle pepsi we used to call him cam pepsi so maybe this guy's like Cam Brio was Brio widely available? Did you ever go to Tony's Pizza? Oh yes, Tony's Pizza they sure had that there they had a whole

I would say Brio sort of is in the same refrigerator as like Werner's it's very malty. I feel like Dan Kutcher was a big Brio guy. Shout out to him. Maybe.

Maybe. I seem to remember you being more of a Tahiti treat guy. Tahiti, yeah. There were some good Tab. Tab's more for like grandma and grandpa. Well, Tab's loaded with the extra

caffeine you know i think no no no no what was tab that's uh like a cherry no tab was like a diet drink right like a diet oh maybe i'm thinking of jolt you're thinking of jolt it was twice the caffeine and all the sugar and twice the caffeine or something like that yeah that was like cocaine do you remember sarasota sarasota wine coolers, for sure. I used to get chocolate wasted off those things. I think there was a non-alcoholic Sarasota. Yeah, it was like 0.05% alcohol in it, but we still didn't stop us from thinking we were drinking booze.

Right. Yeah, I think Zellers would sell that. Sarasota wine coolers, wow. It's true. It was like a placebo effect. Like as a kid, you'd have a Sarasota. Firstly, you felt like you were a true rebel, like a rebel. Because here you are, oh my God, there's alcohol in here and I'm drinking it and I'm a kid.

And then you would be like, suddenly you'd start acting really silly. Maybe you'd even slur your speech because you took down a whole Sarasota. silly. Maybe you'd even slur your speech because you took down a whole Sarasota. Sarasota accompanied by a pack of Popeye smokes. You know, maybe a walk to the whiz, if anybody

remembers that old shop on Eglinton. But yeah, listen to some Kim Mitchell in the backyard. Good era. What's your favorite Kim Mitchell song is it is it Patio Lanterns

well there's so many um Patio Lantern is a really fantastic song uh of course uh might as well go for a soda

definite classic I mean uh let's not leave out Atlanta Loves Me which is a really fantastic song uh and then he's got his whole

Max Webster sort of catalog there yeah Kim Mitchell's nothing to laugh about musically. Million Vacations. Go ahead, Kim. Do you remember Easy to Tame?

That was a good video. Oh, yeah. And then there's another one, too. Like, oh, the day is end. Yeah, actually, I'll say if you go back and watch the video for I'm a Wild Party, I'll just say it does not age well. Probably not something that in the current climate. It's like whenever is whatever.

He has like one of these types of songs. I can't think of it off the top of my head. But it was like a song that was like a Q107 heavy rotation. Like Nothing Lasts Forever or something. I can't think of it. But definitely a regular performer in cottage country so if you guys are going up to the cottage this summer to the key to bella you might get to see kim mitchell i still found weird he used to do mike i feel like we've

talked i feel like now we're just repeating ourselves we talked when he used to host the q107 drive home show and he would play guitar over songs do you remember this i yeah he he was uh when he was removed that's when uh maureen holloway got the afternoon drive spot on q107 of course by the way i guess i told the story a few times i'll tell it really quickly is that uh kim mitchell was playing my local park for free. And I invited my mom to come over and see Kim Mitchell. And then my mom said, oh, I love her. Oh. So I just thought it was funny.

I thought a lot of people would say it. Right. So that's my mom's, my mom Kim Mitchell story. By the way, Kim Mitchell lives, I think, in the same building, I think, as Biff Naked in Mimico. Oh, that's a hell of a building. We should just go stand outside and try to meet him. Yeah. But shout out to Kim if he's listening.

We're big fans. You know, I follow him on Twitter. He follows me back. So that's a start. Absolutely. Absolutely. I did a little math, guys. Oh, yes.

We did the shout out to Cam Brio. I wonder if he named himself after our very own cam gordon like if it's just like an invented name yeah it's possible like brio is another language uh for like he's always wrong and he's like this is our uh this is i'm kind of disappointed this is not episode 666 because it happens to be well 665 but it happens to be our 13th episode since the pandemic began so this is number 13 We're teeing it up

for 666, this is a perfect you know, this is the appetizer If it was like a natural theme would be songs about Satan, obviously Right Of which there's been many fine tunes over the year.

You know, everything from The Devil Went Down to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels band. Sympathy for the Devil, maybe? Sympathy for the Devil. Devil's Haircut by Beck. Devil in a Blue Dress. Devil Inside by In Excess. All sorts of...

Devil's Night. Oh my god god there's so many why don't we do another why don't what are you guys doing saturday uh we'll get together okay uh someone tweeted uh at us like tagged us in a tweet about jeremy taggart i guess jeremy taggart and jonathan torrens have put out an album and the in this tweet it was talking about how Jeremy Taggart is our favorite drummer, like our collective favorite drummer and I thought maybe that might hurt Sammy Cone's feelings because

Sammy Cone of course is a great friend of this show. In fact with your permission I would slip the Zoom URL to Sammy Cone if you wanted him to drop in and say hi one day. I'd totally go for a Sammy C cone run in right now and a fine fine drummer too uh a bit of a terror behind the skins there that sammy and if people don't know sammy cone is the drummer for the watchman you knew that right yeah stew have you ever met sammy cone i've i've

actually have met him we did a a very tight-quartered, very, very pre-social distancing episode of Cam's podcast. I was going to say, that's when we could still step foot in the Twitter Canada office, which is not allowed. Close quarters.

Yeah, we were in the, like, oh, my God, yeah, we were in the little... It was like a clown car. Yeah, pretty much. I've been in there. Sammy and I had a fight over the lowest of the lowest are you playing God I'm so excited or what is that I was gonna say

sisters though did she die yeah I don't think she's singing this song I think she left the group by here okay I gotta plead ignorance. So I grabbed a, I randomly selected a... It's a neutron dance. I randomly selected a Pointer Sisters song, because the Pointer Sisters come up

often on Pandemic Fridays. We talk with them a lot. They're awesome. And it's Bonnie Pointer who died at the age of 69. Yeah. I think that she... I could be wrong, and sometimes I am.

It's rare, but I'm often corrected, which is fine. But I have a feeling, and maybe cameras, one of you guys can verify this, but I have a feeling that she left...

She was in the 70s version of the Pointer Sisters and left to pursue a solo thing, and the other sisters kind of blew the fuck up in the 80s without her. I don't know... I don't know if that's true or not, but it's kind of what I remember.

But I can tell you that Bonnie Pointer had a solo effort song that was on the soundtrack of Heavenly Bodies, the 80s aerobics movie, starring yours truly. So if you guys are a fan of Cynthia Dale as an aerobics instructor battling to keep her aerobics studio open, the music of Bonnie Pointer is featured in the film.

Rest in peace, Bonnie. Do you know what song it was? It was called Heaven, ironically. And now this is a Pointer Sister song Where she would actually be in Well it's her solo song right Oh okay well there you go This is a Bonnie Pointer song Yeah so she kind of has this like 70's

You know slap shot soundtrack vibe So we lost Bonnie Pointer And I thought we should pay tribute So people don't have Pay tribute off the top So people don't have to wait So we lost Bonnie Pointer, and I thought we should pay tribute. So people don't have to wait for the 1236 episode at the end of the month. But yes, Bonnie Pointer, 69 years old. And I love how everything kind of connects to a Stu Stone production. Yeah, it's really bizarre.

You guys should really be careful. Oh my gosh, yeah. Like Little Richard, oh yeah, he did the Magic School Bus. Yeah, yeah. But listen, when you have a prolific body of work such as Stu Stone, you're bound to run into

six degrees somehow or another right i dig this song it sounds a little bit little bit uh too much maybe like uh um uh diana ross and the supreme yeah yeah i was gonna say a baby love or something right not to be confused with Baby Ran by 5440 although I'll tell you Mark Ronson probably sounds like he was inspired by some of this type of music when he was working with Amy Winehouse

sort of this vibe random question, do you guys like Bruno Mars? I respect him he's not my favorite but I respect that he blew up and I think he, you know, he puts on,

you know, one of those like does a lot for a little like dances and sings. Yeah. I mean, I don't own his music, but I respect, I respect his success. Yeah.

There's something about his music that just really does not sit well with me. And I can't put my finger on it. No, I concur. That song that was everywhere, Uptown Funk? Yeah. Well, it's interesting. It's interesting because I can remember when Lenny Kravitz first came on the scene and sort of exploded

where he was being sort of, it seems like Lenny kind of borrowed from Jimi Hendrix and all these other guys before him. And it seems like Bruno Mars is sort of seems like lenny kind of borrowed from jimmy hendrix and all these other guys before him and it seems like bruno mars is sort of the modern version of that where he's you know that's that sounds like you know the time and uh yeah you know he's influenced by like that late mid late 80s kind of music i think it's cool but i don't own it and i don't i don't it's not on my phone you know what i mean no it just seems like a real product like it just seems like music for commercials i didn't like it the first i didn't like it the first time i heard it and i didn't like it the uh 2000th time i heard it the uptown funk and everybody

was in love with this song and i just had no like just didn't like it at all so it just it seemed really yeah like faux faux retro somehow it didn't, my ears just didn't dig it. I'll say this, you know, I do respect the success he made for himself. So good for him. He's from Hawaii, right? I remember him in the L.A. scene. He was like playing club shows for like seven people. So this is a guy that really, you know, he's now he played the Super Bowl.

Okay. Well, that's good. I like that kind of grassroots. He's a guy that really, you know, he's now, then he, now he played the Superbowl. So, okay. Well, that's, that's good. I like that kind of grassroots. So he's not manufactured in the way that he was like cast into the role of teen heartthrob. He actually like hustled. There was on that Disney, uh, Mickey Mouse Club graduate type thing. Okay. From Hawaii.

But because I'm married into the, uh, Filipino culture, part of that, the deal is that you get notified whenever any human has an ounce of like Filipino blood in them. Like, so I can tell you that I don't know how, cause I have to Google it to find out how, but somehow Bruno Mars has some, uh, ties to the Philippines. I don't know if it's a grandmother. It might be like a quarter of his roots come from the Philippines or something like that. So maybe the folks who Garbage Day, that could be their next app. Like you get like a push notification when you encounter anyone who has any...

Honestly, if, oh, that City TV news reporter, she's Filipino. Oh, Kayla Williams from CP24, she's half Filipino. So yeah. Although I feel like that's like also a Canadian thing, like especially, you know, anybody anywhere that's Canadian,

we're very quick to call out. Oh yeah. And like, nobody is ever requesting this information. It's always, again, a verbal push notification. And it really is kind of embarrassing when you're talking to,

like, if you work with Americans, for example, I know Cam, you work with Americans, Stu, you work with Americans. And then,

you know, they'll mention somebody in passing. I don't like though i get i like this new song by the weekend and you you're like you're obligated to inform them immediately that that person is also a canadian it's like the law or something whose dog is that oh neither of you have a dog no no maybe it's in my head i don't know i don't own a dog so i don't think it's coming from here but uh thank you for mentioning garbage day.com because garbage day.com slash toronto mike is where everybody should go right away cambrio when i was chatting with him he's the stewstone superfan he let me know he signed up and that

makes him he's good i mean that makes him a... Well, he's good. I mean, that makes him a great guy. Not only is he a Stewstone fan, but he's a GarbageDay.com fan. Right. And, you know, you got to eat your Italian. I don't know how many. I guess I owe you guys 13 lasagnas each at this point. I'm keeping tabs here.

13 lasagnas. Holy smokes. I'm taking those, by the way. Do you have the freezer space? That's what I want to know. I'll buy a new freezer just for you. Seriously. So everybody should go to palmapasta.com

and order from Palmapasta. Authentic Italian food. The Petrucci family run the show there and wonderful people. And honestly, 35 years in business and when this pandemic's over, I can't wait to enjoy uh a meal in their their fine establishment uh great lakes brewery same deal like i'm psyched that soon

with proper social distancing in place there will be uh permission to open that patio at great lakes so i can't wait to to have myself a cold pint on the patio of great lakes once it's once it's permitted you know because i'm following the rules, guys. Barb Paluskiewicz was my guest earlier this week. She's from CDN Technologies. Barb Paluskiewicz, it's spelled exactly like it sounds. And you can phone her right now. And if you have any network issues or computer problems

or any IT support queries, call her at 905-542-9759. And of course, Austin Keitner, he's from the Keitner Group. You can text Toronto Mike to 59559. And Austin will send you information on the waterfront property. I was thinking we three guys

should get together and buy this waterfront property that's available in Long Branch, which is kind of close to me, because they don't come up that often, like waterfront properties in Toronto. A pandemic house, you know, home of Pandemic Fridays.

Set up like a Humble and Fred type of situation. Right. Yeah, we have a studio and you can have, I know, Stu, you do a lot of post production on films. You could have your own little studio for that. Do you i know stew you would do a lot of post-production on uh films you could have your own little studio do you guys ever see like the ringer like bill simmons the ringer has like the studio where they shoot stuff like it could be all like the heavenly body posters on the wall uh the haunted house on kirby hill over poty sports talk logo what the

twitter logo little palm of pasta logo you just reminded me uh you reminded me of like mike and over-potty-scorched sock logo, the Twitter logo, little Palma Pasta logo. You just reminded me. Picture of Mike and Norm Wilner. The Wilner squared. Norm, I'm worried about him. He tells me he's okay, but the owners of NOW are really messing with the formula.

Yeah, what they say, they're getting rid of arts and entertainment coverage, which is like, okay. And it was the same with the Georgian Strait, I believe. It's weird, like, because now they're just like, it's going to be like news, the environment and e-sports. Right. E-sports, like a bit of an outlier. And cannabis, obviously, is a big thrust of, not to be confused with the Toronto hip hop MC thrust.

Or the American MC Cannabis. Yeah. Or the IPA from Great Lakes thrust, which is really good. That's right. So yeah, it's, I don't know, like now, now magazine as we know it is rapidly changing. So how does Norm, like Norm, as we speak, Norm believes he still has a gig there because no one told him otherwise

and that's great news for FOTM Norm Wilner. But if you don't have an entertainment section, what are you doing with the movie review guy? Maybe he'll start reviewing weed. I'm sure listen, Norm Wilner is going to land somewhere. He'll be fine.

There's nowhere to land. He's going to end up in front of a lot. Well, there's got to be. I mean, listen, Norm Willner is going to land somewhere. He'll be fine. Where? There's nowhere to land. He's going to end up on Toronto Night. Well, there's got to be. I mean, obviously, well, then maybe that's why Now Magazine is cutting out the fucking entertainment section. If there's nowhere for him to land, there's got to be some place where people can find this type of content. Peter Howell, who is also an FOTM,

he was the movie guy at the Toronto Star. He's out of a gig because the Star is just, they got rid of their entertainment section. So where do people go for movie reviews now? It's all wire services like some outlet in the States and then the Toronto or Canadian publication. Well maybe there's an opportunity for the three

of us in our new venture at the Lakeshore property to open some arts and entertainment publication news magazine and we've got Norm Wilner and all these great guys that can review for us still you're on to something and i'm serious for a moment if i may i know we pretend we goof around on these friday pandemic fridays but we buy that waterfront property okay it's a business because we're gonna launch and i already have the tmds but maybe we come up with some kind of like a sibling organization that we're all part

of maybe one thirdthird each. And with our skill set, I'm looking at us. I'm looking at Cam Gordon, who, when I had Dini Petty on, I found somebody linked me to an... Was it Dini Petty that you talked to, Cam, at some point? Yeah, in the

long-forgotten Toronto Special, which was a Toronto tabloid. There might be the odd list. I feel like 1236 might remember this. Okay. We got to bring him into though. How's this? Us four guys,

us four guys, we have to launch something. There's nothing else out there. Something. Okay. And when, when, when COVID's got a vaccine,

we can have these amazing can con festivals. We talk about like, I want to put live events and then we got the brewery. I'd like to see Head and Rusty double co-headline an event. Totally. And we can make that happen. I think we get the Doughboys, maybe. I would love to go to that show.

Sun don't shine. Absolutely. And, you know, he's the one married to Jessica Parr. That's right. She can come, too. Yeah. She's invited. It's all inclusive. It's not necessarily all can come too. Yeah. She's invited.

It's all inclusive. Okay. It's not necessarily all inclusive, but there'll be drink tickets. Reciproc price. Yeah. And I know exactly the brewery that's going to provide the tasty beer too. Okay.

It's set. We'll take that offline to finalize the details. I'll call Austin after this recording and tell him we're going to put in a bid for that waterfront property. Okay. I want to do this. So who chose the topic this week? Austin, after this recording. And tell him we're going to put in a bid for that waterfront property, okay? I want to do this. So, who chose the topic this week?

This is my topic, Stu Stone here. Listen, I'm not going to do a prolific speech this week about what's been going on in the world, because I feel like I've already used a lot of, uh, a lot of my thoughts up over the last few weeks. And, uh, I did think

though that a great topic for this week would be for us to come up with some socially conscious protest songs. I think the three of us sort of mutually agreed on this topic. And I want to just give a little sidebar to the people that are standing up for the cause. I'm right there with you, and I see you, and I love that you're standing up. And I want to give a very special shout out to the city of Toronto, who really, really showed up in a great way and proved what a world-class city we really are. Obviously, we have a ways to go as far as our equality goals in not just Toronto, but in every city, in every country, all over the world. But specifically, Toronto stood together, marched together, had a voice together.

From everything that I've read and heard, it was done in a way that was a world-class kind of way for a world-class city. way that was a world-class kind of way for a world-class city and uh people of all different uh shapes sizes colors and uh they all came together and uh you know it's also pride month so uh you know toronto is a world-class city and we've always been at the forefront of uh having a voice in the right direction and uh so you Toronto haters out there can suck it. But Toronto really, though, has been on the forefront. We grew up in it. We're lucky enough to have grown up in a progressive city

that has morals and it has empathy and does come together when they need to. And I'm really, really proud with what this city has done. Do you think Toronto haters would listen to a podcast called Toronto Mic'd? I don't think they would. I'm assuming that this is our core audience

here, and I'm not trying to hold a Bible in front of the church to pander to my base here. I'm just saying that Toronto did a very good job with obviously there's a lot more to go and a lot more to do, but I'm just saying that Toronto did a very good job. Obviously, there's a lot more to go and a lot more to do. But I'm just saying.

Toronto wasn't on the news for anything negative, only positive. So good for us. So the theme this week, this Pandemic Friday jam-kicking, is essentially it's protest music. Yes. These songs that were written or have inspired protests uh so they're written because they were inspired by a protest or maybe it's a song that was uh adopted as a protest anthem there are so many more songs than i even knew what to do with i thought this was going to be limited choices here you know i can't wait to tell you guys this after i hear all five of yours i can't wait to tell you songs that i'm surprised

that didn't make the list because there's so many great ones so uh if you don't hear a protest song here folks just know that we could have probably picked 10 each because there's so many great ones out there well i feel and this also just here's a bit of a origin story this for correct me if i'm wrong got pared down from songs about causes which is sort of a broader which you know would obviously include the whole spectrum of you know tears are not enough and we are the world to do they know it's christmas time to um you know west coast hip-hop all-stars. We're all in the same gang, all the great charity singles. But yeah, I mean, protest song, I think, is something different.

Perhaps you could argue it's a sub-genre within songs about causes. Yeah, and I think, to Cam's point, if a song you hear in today's episode inspires you to speak up use your voice then uh then these protest songs still have just as much power as they did when they came out and i think you're going to find that some of them are still very relevant sadly so yes we have a long way to go but uh i'm happy that we're at least stepping foot in the right direction i'm interested to hear if any of you picked the Hanson protest song. I have a feeling Hanson's going to get shut out again.

But we'll find out. And are you ready for Cam's first protest song? I am. Let's do it. All's my life I has to fight, nigga. Let's do it. K-Dot. We gon' be alright, alright, alright Uh, and when I wake up, I recognize you lookin' at me for the pay cut Bahamasabi lookin' at you from the face down One Mac 11 even ruined with the bass down

Skimming, now let me tell you about my life Painkillers only put me in a twilight Where pretty pussy and Benjamin is the highlight Now tell my mama I love her, but this what I like Lord knows, 20 of them in my Chevy Tell them all to come and get me, reaping everything I sow Saw my karma come in heaven, no preliminary hearings On my record, I'm a motherfucking gangsta

I'm a motherfucking gangsta With his flow, I don't think there's going to start talking because with his flow, I don't think there's going to be a lot of breaks. So this is, of course, Kendrick Lamar, the song All Right. The song came out in 2015 from his album To Pimp a Butterfly, which is weird.

I mean, I guess I suppose was, well, this seemed to be the one that got him into that sort of grammy level where he started getting nominated for like a bunch of grammys and sort of all over things like the mtv awards um but i mean he's he's been pretty kind of consistent in terms of i don't know like no tour or no two album is the same with what he he puts. And this song, I mean, was certainly became very prominent in a lot of protests that Black Lives Matter, I mean, certainly topical in this day and was also like a big,

you would hear this kind of sung and chanted at a lot of the anti-Trump protests back in 2016. That was happening south of the border. Stu, I'm curious. Here's my... I seem like I'm asking more questions like Stu's L.A. years. Were you still in L.A.

when he was kind of coming? Yeah, yeah. I think Kendrick Lamar, obviously one of the most widely respected influential rappers to come out in the modern era of current crop he actually has something to say which is really great and you know

listen, Dr. Dre isn't wasting his time with people you know, so he's got Dr. Dre signing him and working with him and you know there's like a level of talent there that already exists he's already bubbling if Dre's working with him.

So, you know, Dre doesn't swing and miss too often. And Kendrick Lamar was a home run. And, you know, I think he's definitely, considering the other, I hate to use this word, dreck, but other dreck that has come out in the rap world, Kendrick Lamar is head and shoulders on another level of musician. And he headlined Coachella very early in his run. I mean, this guy's inspired protest.

This song, I believe, was inspired by, you know, This song, I believe, was inspired by the racially charged battles that were going on, I believe, in 2012. Yeah, this was definitely... 2014, maybe it was. Yeah, I was going to say this is far and away my most current song, but that's actually not true. So there's a small teaser as i i checked myself there but certainly above you know the last last decade i mean certainly when you think of protest song this is one of the first ones that came to mind well i may have something to say about that shortly but i definitely am not going to discount this entry and it's nice to see kim

getting off on the right foot here with protest songs. With an entry, we can all get behind. Yeah, and then this seems almost silly, but like I often do, this song, here's a chart check. This went to number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. So kind of the lower stretch. I mean, but he's obviously one of those artists. I mean, it's not about his chart positions and whatnot. It's more about the, I mean, he's sort of a rarity in this day and age too.

He does seem like he's like a full album artist too. Yeah. He's had some great singles like this. I mean, he's more of a broader conceptual work. And that album, To Pimp a Butterfly, got a lot of airplay in this home, I'll tell you right now. Cause my, uh, my two oldest kids were just in love with that entire album. And it's really good. And it's,

I like it when rappers are saying something like, uh, you know, I, I mean, we'll talk about this later, spoiler alert, but,

uh, I grew up with rappers who were saying something. And, uh, then for a period of time, it felt like a lot of the popular rap. I mean, to be fair,

that happens to every genre as it gets watered down. I mean, country artists used to be saying something. And, you know, rock and rollers were saying stuff. So it happens to every genre as corporate America gets its hands on a popular genre and waters it down. But KDOT keeps it real, man. Keeps it real, man. It's amazing stuff. And let's go back in the time

machine a little bit before our time, but here's Stu Stone's first protest song. Revolution well and all We'd all love to change the world Revolution, well, you know We'd all love to change the world Tell me that it's evolution, well, you know

You know, hearing it now, it sounds like a grunge song. It's got those distorted guitars and that, yeah. Interestingly enough, this song is called Revolution by a band called The Beatles. I don't know if you know them. This is actually, there's a lot of interesting kind of tidbits about this song

that I'll share with you. This is one of those songs that was written by John Lennon that was credited to the Lennon McCartney partnership that we've talked about, I think in the past, how these guys sort of butted heads over that type of stuff. But this is one of those Lennon songs, not to be confused with one of those McCartney songs that was credited to the

duo, a controversial song when it came out, because depending on which side of history you were, this song was either for you or against you. Obviously, since it has been sort of adopted by, you know, one side, I would say, the people who are trying to fight for change. But, you know, the initial sort of inspiration for this song was sort of to sort of counter program the far left movement that was happening. So this is more like you, you know, sort of on the other side. So it was a controversial song because the Beatles guys were like, wait a minute,

we don't know if we want to be a part of that. And a lot of critics were also, you know, wait a minute. Is that what the Beatles are doing here? But they put it out. They ended up recording three different versions of this song. All three of them are well known. This is just one of the three that you're hearing right now. But, you know, it's a legendary song that has sort of been adopted.

Maybe it started off on one side, but it's sort of been adopted by the other side. Sort of like the way the Democrat Party in America sort of shifted from one side to the other over time. I think the Democrats maybe were like not the bad guys. Not that they're bad guys, good guys and bad guys, but you know what I'm saying?

The Democratic Party has completely shifted since its inception, and i think that sort of speaks about this song too i think some values that yeah were perhaps more extreme are now perhaps seen as more centrist or progressive whatever that means and this is this is all very like murky uh in the day i i always get the song mixed up with instant karma you know why because they were both i think it's a drums or something no they were both used in a nike ad that's what maybe that yeah maybe it's like some subconscious thing i remember this song like the

first time i heard this song was in a nike ad and they for some reason they didn't have the rights to use it so they had to pull it really early in the campaign but it was a really cool ad and that was like and then i do and again a little bit later i do remember an instant karma uh like i think it was another nike ad with instant karma and it was the first time so i think they get conflated for that reason but basically he's saying he wasn't agreeing with the way that the protesters were protesting so he's sort you know, that's sort of what he's sort of saying here. But like I said, the song has been obviously missing, has been reinterpreted by people over the years and sort of taken on its own

life. Interestingly enough, some more kind of fun facts here. This is the first Beatles recording to ever be licensed for a television commercial, which as you guys just alluded to, prompted a lawsuit from the surviving members of the group. Because Michael Jackson owned all the publishing. Yeah, so I think Michael Jackson probably licensed the song without telling the other

dudes. Right. And that's a whole story unto itself, right? Because he was doing that duet with Paul McCartney. Say, the girl is mine and say, say, say. Right. And I think in passing, Paul said something about it. And then Michael just bought him from under him. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Of course. It's always a story. Always a story. Well, here's a really, really fantastic fun fact. This song was a big hit at the 1985 Live Aid event, if you guys remember Live Aid. But you won't believe the band that performed it. Oh, can I guess? Yes. Live Aid event, if you guys remember Live Aid, but you won't believe the band that performed it. Oh, can I guess? Live Aid...

I have terrible guess. Aerosmith. Power Station. Ladies and gentlemen, the Thompson Twins. Now there's a version of Revolution I would love to check out. At least they're British.

Yeah, they're British. Doctor, doctor, can't you see i'm burning burning right right i love the thompson twins but i had a picture pinned to my wall uh that's like say with me yeah that's thompson twins yeah right yeah they were a big deal like for about a year they were as big as anybody i feel oh yeah and not actual twins right were they not sure i don't know i feel like this is sort of a kim mitchell like the names uh right they're ineligible i think for that previous episode of sibling uh sibling bands okay so i uh you guys picked a couple of very well-known songs. Now my song is not as well-known

as yours, so I'm just going to preface it by saying it's from one of my favorite bands of all time. It was almost debuted of sorts on this very program and as I watched these protests over the last few weeks, as I watched them on television, this song is actually bouncing

around my head, and I'll explain what the lyric from this song that I keep thinking about, I'll explain right after we hear a little bit of it. But this is, of course, the Toronto Mic'd House band, Lowest of the Low. from your dome lead one way and the other way and all the waves that crash on your shore carry sailors bones from shipwreck days when all those vicious

handcuffed words constrict, contract, constrain well I'll meet you on the barricade in the cool, defiant rain. I want you and your brothers held on to your mother's, your story on a written page. Well, they read you the rules and they sent you to school But she paid for the bars on your cage And you played a poison violin

In a symphony of rage Now it's time you traded that fucker in For a place on the barricade In or out Struggle or shout The second's the jury Minute's the judge In the aisle of the barricade All right, the line comes up shortly,

but I'll bring it down to share that this is an album that Ron Hawkins wrote full of protest music. He called it agit-pop, you know, agitation pop music, if you will. And this song is called The Barricade, and it's a catchy little ditty. Ron Hawkins, by the way, I consider him Toronto's laureate poet. I think the way this man writes a song

and turns a lyric, he's super underrated. That's what I'm going to say about Ron Hawkins. Here it is. Hold on. Okay, so at some point in this song,

he declares that his next vote is with a brick. That's the lyric. My next vote's with a brick. That's the lyric. My next vote's with a brick. And this song is essentially a song that dismisses all politicians as self-interested jerks.

And I'm waiting for the lyric. Great jam, anyway. Stuck in my head was I watched all these people protesting my next vote votes with a brick and i don't know exactly what it means it sounds to me like we need to like the system's broken and the only way to fix it like like these peaceful protests that fuck i get so mad when i think of colin kopernik and the most beautiful peaceful protest you could imagine taking a knee during the national anthem and what it pisses me off how that man was treated and how he was chased out of the

game in black. Like I get so angry, peaceful protest and they threw him out and took away his livelihood. Uh, my next votes of the brick. Well, now it now seems like the take in knee has also been co-opted when you're seeing everyone from Justin Trudeau to Nancy Pelosi to

outgoing Toronto police chief, Mark Saunders, all have taken a knee in the last week. Can I say a few words about Ron Hawkins? Yes. One thing, I don't think he gets enough credit and sorry, but this is like a slight segue, but just how great his voice has held up. Like he's really, he sounds exactly like he did when he was young. He's one of those guys almost grew into his voice

because he kind of sounded old when he was probably 23. But having seen Lois Lowe and Ron Hawkins solo a number of times over the years, like he never disappoints. This is, and this is sort of an aside and this sort of loops back, but my former colleague at Twitter, Steve Ladorante, ex of of an aside and this sort of loops back, but, um, my,

my former colleague at Twitter, Steve LaDurante, ex of the global male who now lives in Scotland. I remember him and I having a debate once, who is the Billy Bragg of Canada? Um, and this was, I can't remember if I brought this up on the show. This was actually partially because we were having a, a, I guess it was like a viewing party at our Twitter office in 2016 for the US election because we had to deal with BuzzFeed How'd that turn out?

We can circle back to that later. You can go to Twitter advanced search. You can see some content from that. Anyway, we talked about do we bring in a musician and we said we need whoever the Billy Bragg of Canada is and I think from what I recall there was like four or five names came up um Bruce Coburn was one uh John K Samson of the weaker thans was one Joey Shedhead of DOA was another um but Ron Hawkins

name came up too and I think certainly of the city of Toronto I don't know if anyone else comes to mind for someone who's yeah kind of that voice of like protest and sort of almost like urban affairs and all the rest of it I think he fills that role very well. To me he also I have memories if my memory serves me correctly

I associate him with Nathan Phillips Square New Year's Eve specials on CBC Oh that's the yeah hisake, Rompin Ronnie. Who he's been, he tells a story, he's told me a couple of times, that at some hotel he was mistaken for the other Ron Hawkins. It sounds awful, but I feel like we're sort of at the age with Rompin Ronnie in that, is he still with us? I feel like he is. Oh, he's with usp and ronnie in that is he still with us i feel like he is oh he's with us uh yeah i think his big house on that was put for say up for sale recently i

don't know how well he's doing but he's definitely breathing yeah he's very like reclusive too like i feel like he would just kind of show up once a year to hang out with gordon martineau and then oh retreat back to and they haven't done that't done that since Rogers got rid of that very cool event a long time ago. So that's one of those cool holdovers. Shout out to Gordon Martino, the man. I talked to Deanie Petty this week and Deanie was of course part of that City

Pulse newsroom when it first launched, when Moses first launched it. I had Gordon in my latest movie that's coming out. Gordon makes an appearance in the movie. Oh, like in Dirty Work? Yes, that type of thing. I think, I know MF, shout out

to MF. I know she heard the Dini Petty episode, and I think I revealed to Dini that she's also in Dirty Work, but she didn't know it. She had never seen the movie. Yeah, I think so. Am I out to lunch? Maybe I'm out to lunch again.

I don't know. Was it like a skydiving scene or how did that work? We'll find out, but just to bring it full circle to the barricade, what I like about Ron Hawkins is the lyrical content and the thoughtfulness. And you're right, Billy Bragg of Canada, but I like how it's

always inside a jam with a great hook. Like it's one thing to write the poetry, but if you wrap it up in a melody like that, like I've been thinking about, and I didn't turn it up when he said the line, but when he says, my next boat's with a brick, it's like, I'm not here to advocate violence. I'm not here to advocate violence at all but i get it does that

make sense like i completely get it's sort of the anti it's sort of the uh uh an anti uh john lennon revolution song lennon's like revolutionized without bricks and hawkins is like fuck it bricks well because uh i i guess bring up to back to colin again colin kaepernick is and i mean if they should be tearing down all the statues and maybe just put one up of Colin Kaepernick taking a knee. Like this man to me, he's a hero. And the way he was treated, and that's how the powers that be respond to thoughtful, peaceful protest. So it just makes, what choice do you have? Yeah, no, you, what choice do you have? No, you're a hundred percent right. The most profound thing about the Colin Kaepernick thing,

other than, you know, all of it, you know, the way he was treated and everything in blackballed or blacklisted or whatever the hell insulted by the president in tweets and called a thug or a bum or whatever. Son of a bitch. Son of a bitch, whatever it was. And then in the manner in which George Floyd was killed, this guy taking a knee on his neck.

It's just like, it's, it's just, it's crazy how you can make so many different connections of, of, of depth to the whole situation. And to tease my final jam. So that's my first jam. Connections of depth to the whole situation. And to tease my final jam. So that's my first jam. And to tease my final jam, when I was very young and I watched a wonderful Spike Lee movie,

Do the Right Thing, and Moki threw that fucking garbage can through Sal's pizzeria. At the time, I remember that feeling, and I'm just a teenager at the time. I remember thinking, I totally get why he did that. Like he had that moment where he held it and it's like, is he really going to throw that in the pizzeria, the neighborhood pizza place they all grew up eating his pizza and he throws it. And that's the same

kind of feeling I get when I hear Ron Hawkins say my next vote's a brick. Okay. We can move on to Cam Gordon's second jam. A little bit different here. So, you ready, Cam? Uh-oh. No bricks. And not Ben Folds 5 brick.

I am woman, hear me roll in numbers too big to ignore. And I know too much to go back and pretend cause i've heard it all before and i've been down there on the floor no one's ever gonna keep me down again well yes i'm wise but it's wisdom or the pain Yes, I paid the price But look how much I gained

If I have to, I can do anything I am strong I am invincible I am invincible. Invincible. I am one. Cam Gordon selects some Helen Reddy. Yeah, so this is Helen Reddy from the year. I mean, this was a single in 1972. It technically came out in 1971 from an album. I Don't Know How to Love Him, which is a great name from an album uh i don't know how to love him which is a great name great

name for an album um i mean she's kind of an interesting artist because i mean i i think a lot of people might think of her almost as a one-hit wonder which she really wasn't she was sort of in the mix and had other songs that you know people remember but just this song is so memorable and so timeless. I mean, obviously, you know, it's become something of a feminist anthem. I was going to say over the years, but also at the time, but it's a song that you do see resurface and does have a degree of timeliness for it. I think like a lot of protest songs, it's patently obvious what this is about i mean there's no ambiguity there's no simile um but it's also like if this is you know unlike some of the other

songs we've heard you know there's no fuzzy guitars like we heard in revolution or you know that that kind of chant ability like we heard with kendrick um But yeah, I mean, sort of, you know, kind of one of the key songs when you think about kind of women's liberation and whatnot. And I think this song's interesting too because of the timing it came out. You know, it's not a 60s song. This is like early, early, early 70s. And certainly has a sense of kind of optimism to it.

And 70s was sort of a mixed bag when you think of kind of social causes and protests and whatnot but um yeah i mean certainly one of the anthems of the women's liberation movement that happened at that time and again a song that we still hear to this day in various uh various places i feel this still pops up and is a song that you know other generations have embraced as well. I did hear it on The Simpsons once, but I can't remember the character. It looked like Homer, but it was a woman.

I can't remember if it was Homer as a woman. I can't remember. I'm just visualizing it, and she's singing this song. Well, yeah, I do feel like this song has been... I think it's so overt that it's sort of opened itself out for things like parody and whatnot which uh i don't know like there were sort of times where like that would go i'm again i feel like it's a different climate now i don't think i don't think it would be again well received if you sort of did a like weird owl version of this song right now but uh this song also has some interesting stuff with the co-writer who uh

would do cover version some dude um again to that a future episode but yeah who was the co-writer uh co-writer what was his name say angus from uh acdc yeah no it's a guy named uh ray burden who was another australian musician uh he was mainly like a songwriter he was actually most well known for co-writing this song he did have kind of some uh rock and roll hits back in his native australia um but there was some kind of falling out with the right thing, but he would still play it on tour and the whole thing. And how could he not if he wrote this song? How could you not?

I would too if I co-wrote that song. Now, Stu Stone, what do you think of Cam's selection of the Helen Reddy jam, I Am Woman? I mean, I'm not against it. You know, it's... ERA? Is that the E the era that's the name of the movement in the early 70s right era or am i confusing my women's movements i feel like i'm not sure i think that uh obviously that's that song is loaded with like iconic lines that

you often that have been adopted as like almost like slogans for the for the the movement so definitely uh impactful song uh just on like a song level though just you know judging it on a song level it's not like something that would be like pick i wouldn't pick it in the jukebox like maybe the kendrick lamar song or beatles uh you know but obviously it's a powerful fucking song and uh you know i'm gonna sort of reserve i have a general sort of statement at the end okay but a good segue for me to go into my next pick if you don't mind one final comment but this and this gets to some of the revolution stuff this too appeared in some tv commercials um yeah according to wikipedia a sports footwear, you can kind of do the math, but that might be more oriented cable TV show,

but was apparently Helen Reddy and, and kind of the publishers were approached by Coors in 2013, which they were rebuffed to which Helen Reddy replied, I'm not in the drug dealing business. I don't care how much money they offer me. So this is a good point. A lot of these protest songs which are you know important songs like that are ruined by uh when they're uh licensed for commercials like

it is a way to ruin a song in a heartbeat i'm thinking of the parachute clubs rise up right was it yeah what you talked about like yeah well that this song did appear in 2006 burger king did a lyrically adjusted version of this song and it was a commercial but they called mantham i mean talk about like perhaps a brand you know is this problematic um in this in this advertisement it would play a almost like a parody version of this song and it would extol the virtues of larger burgers over smaller chick food plates uh So there's some, you know, Burger King circa 2006.

And again, I don't think that flies in the current day, but I suppose there's a different time. Does that make it right? Probably not. But yeah. Well, I'll tell you what,

we'll make things better with this second protest jam from Stewstone. We just wanna party Party just for you We just wanna party Party just for you I just wanna party Party just for you We just wanna party Party just for you We just wanna party

Party just for you I just wanna rock We just wanna rock We just wanna rock We just wanna rock We just wanna rock We just wanna rock We just wanna rock This is America Don't catch you slippin' up

Don't catch you slippin' up Look what I'm whippin' up This is America Don't catch you slipping, no. Look what I'm whipping, no. This is America. Don't catch you slipping, no. Don't catch you slipping, no. Look what I'm whipping, no. This is America. This is Childish Gambino. Donald Glover.

This is America. I get goosebumps when I hear this song. This is a song that's obviously very relevant and sort of... If I was to think of a song that's sort of adopted by what's going on right fucking now, this is the song. The music video for this song

is a work of art. Probably the best music video in the last 30 years, and you could quote me on that. I mean, this is a really, really great music video in the last 30 years. And you could quote me on that. I mean, this is a really, really great music video. And I spent hours just watching reaction videos of people watching the music video on YouTube. There's like, just watching people watch the video.

That's how fascinating of a video this is. Just the imagery in the music video, the profoundness of it all the distraction it's it's the dancing and there's madness in the background and there's it's just an incredible incredible song uh and you don't need me to verify that because it's been co-signed by uh the grammys where it won the song of the year best rap song of the year best music video of the year uh he's the first hip-hop artist to ever win record of the won the song of the year, best rap song of the year, best music video of the year. He's the first hip hop artist to ever win record of the year and song of the year.

It's this America's the first rap song to ever win any of those awards. This was his first song that went to number one. This is just an incredible fucking song and video. And it really speaks to, you know, it's kind of Nostradamus in a way I mean he sort of wrote this sort of inspired by stuff that had already happened but in a way predicted the way things were going to go if things didn't change and boy oh boy was he right interesting that of all the celebrities that have spoken up during the recent events in the world, he has been one that has not spoken up. He hasn't said anything. But I think that he doesn't need to because he did this.

And this is like a really, really eye-opening, visually stunning piece that you should definitely go out of your way to watch this music video if you haven't already i mean i would say michael jackson thriller was the best music video ever and then i saw this video and it's obviously a much different fuck you can't compare the two but this is a very impactful everything and he didn't even release an album he just put this song out put this video out cleaned up at the grammys he didn't even release an album. He just put this song out, put this video out, cleaned up at the Grammys. He didn't follow up with an album until two years later, which he still hasn't even promoted. And it came out to his album. His new album came out a few months ago. He's never even tweeted. I have a new album out. This is a guy that's like the, the, uh, the opposite of, uh, attention seeking in a lot of ways, even when he does attention seeking videos,

although I wouldn't call it attention seeking, I would say attention grabbing videos, but he's not a thirsty guy. This is a very cool dude. And I had a chance to meet him when he came to Toronto for his last tour. And like the coolest fucking guy you can imagine, like just, you know,

it's sort of like how Bruno Mars is such a great showman. Childish Gambino embellishes or not embellishes. He embodies a lot of those same characteristics, but in a more, in like a less manufactured kind of way, if that's a way of kind of saying it, but like Childish Gambino, he can act,

he can does a standup comedy special. He's a writer. He's a rapper. He's, he can dance clearly. If you watch the music video a writer he's a rapper he's he can dance clearly if you watch the music video the guy can do it all and uh you know i think uh he is one one of the most important artists that this generation has and it's sort of an accidental genius you know if you even go back to his earlier works and earlier videos he always has cool

fucking videos and visuals and messages so big fan of if you can't tell already and as much as i love kendrick lamar you know i think childish gambino really took it to another level with this song and uh definitely has been embraced as uh the 2020 anthem for protesting uh anyone else want to sort of yeah i really don't know what else to say i mean this song this is one that i thought about putting on because i it's it's weird this song to me almost transcends music like it just seems like it's a it's almost like a multimedia experience like i remember i mean i was obviously working at twitter at the time when this came out and just it just like it owned twitter for like a week like it was

just it was i mean to say you had to watch it would be like an understatement like it was it's almost hard to put into words how transcendent this was as like an online experience because it was such an immersive thing and again it's in a weird way like the song almost seems secondary like this seems part of like a grander statement, almost like music is like a genre. I can't contain it. Cause just to his point, the video was so memorable, but also like, this is, this is sort of like, you know, almost like a five tool players we'd say like in the NBA,

like this guy kind of does it all. A real Raul Mondesi. Sure. Yeah. If that, if that helps, but again, but not a guy who seems like he's doing it for the limelight, too. Like Raul Mondesi. So he's not a Raul. He's more like a Ken Griffey Jr. Yeah, sure. Yeah. He's a Robbie Alomar.

But yeah, I mean, listen. There's a phone ringing. Is that Childish Gambino? Is that him calling you? Yeah, he's calling. Interestingly enough, he released this album on this evening that he was hosting

Saturday Night Live. Sorry, not this album. This song came out the day that he hosted Saturday Night Live, which is a pretty great episode too. And people don't realize this, but like there are ad libs

and other sort of singing in the song from other rappers that appear on the song with them uncredited and it's recently come to light over the years like a young thug uh slim jimmy from ray shremard block boy jb quavo from migos 21 savage all these guys are are have vocals on this, either as ad-libs or part of the choir or part of, I know Young Thug sings at the end of the song. So he brought on a lot of rappers of the day. But it's a really, it's kind of sad, man. I mean, it's more than kind of sad.

As much as the song bumps and as much as I'm into it as a hip-hop song and as a hip-hop and as a hip hop fan, the visual stay with are so hunting from the video that it just makes you sad to see what the world is going through and to hear that this is America. And it's sad. It's fucking sad. Dude, this is why I go back to that Ron Hawkins lyric, my next votes of a brick,

because music like that, what year was that released? 2016, 2018, 2018. Okay. 2018. Right. Like, like that existed since 2018 was that released? 2016? 2018. 2018, okay. 2018, right? Like, that existed since 2018 and nothing changed, right?

Right, well, that's what I was going to get to at the end of all of this, but I guess I could just spill the beans now. The saddest part, no, the saddest part about every song you're going to hear is that I wanted to wait to hear the rest of the songs in case this is inaccurate, but I have a feeling it's going to be spot on. All of these songs that everybody's protesting, all different subjects nothing there's still so

much there's still so much more to go like the world is not as changed but not enough like it's like it's worse yeah it's like these protest songs like didn't work well enough because here we are still fucking protesting the same shit look at the top of the food chain right like it's about power at the top and the gentleman if i i guess you can call him a gentleman at the very top uh is is throwing gasoline on these uh on on these fires like and he enjoys it like i think yeah yeah i remember the first time i saw this video like almost not being able to process it but then also thinking this feels like I'm like on live leak or something because I mean some of the imagery in the video is like pretty disturbing

because he's depicting like you know cash shootings and stuff and it's just I don't know like just the sheer ambition of this and for it to work is sort of rare I mean I feel like Kanye West has sort of tried to like run away and stuff these sort of grandiose statements which you know kind of landed with has sort of tried to like run away and stuff. These are grandiose statements, which, you know,

kind of landed with varying levels of success, but like this one just. There's just so much going on in the video too. And like, there's so many, there's so much brilliance. Like, it's just like, everything is a distraction. Like what's happening in the foreground that you're paying attention to watch the video again and just look at the background only. And you'll see, you know, it's the watch reaction videos, see people watching it the background only. And you'll see, you know, it's the, watch reaction videos, see people watching it for the first time after you watch it,

you're going to be really find yourself in a black hole, a wormhole, whatever you call it when you're on YouTube, just sort of worming your way through stuff. But yeah, great song and great message. It's a rabbit hole, I believe is what you're doing. A rabbit hole. There you go. All right. Here's something a little, I believe is what you're saying. A rabbit hole. There you go. All right. Here's something a little different.

My second jam. God's like a crane. God save the Queen The fascist regime It made you a moron Potential hate bomb God save the Queen She ain't no human being And there's no future In England's dream

And it's all, it's all All the ones you want And it's all, it's all All the ones you need There's no future No future No future for you Now I think there's two pieces of the great protest music puzzle. Like, one is, you know, the lyrical content and what are you saying?

What are you taking a stand against? But then the second one is, as I mentioned with Ron Hawking, like wrapping it up. And again, that Childish Gambino jam and the K-Dot, great songs, right? Like, you've got to wrap it up in a kick-ass jam, right? I'm telling you, if you could imagine, you know, England in 1977 when good old Queen... I can't believe she's still alive. Anyway,

her husband there turned 99 the other day. But Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee was in 1977, and then Sex Pistols put out God Save the Queen which is this anti-monarchy song if you will and

BBC wouldn't even play this song they pulled it, it was too too hot to handle too much for much as they used to say it's just funny when you listen to this and I find this about like a lot of 70s heavy metal too listening to it through the present day lens it's so not heavy at all um for such an infamous song

that has such like a backstory i mean it's i wouldn't quite call it power pop but is it really that different from you know the third matthew i feel like their reputation precedes them you know like their reputation is bigger than their music maybe maybe kiss has that same sort of vibe but maybe not but but yeah i feel like the sex pistols that's that's what this is right yeah the sex pistols are are just you just you're associated with punk rock and and anarchy and you know maybe their music isn't as heavy as it should be but at the time it probably was also the lead singer's

namesake is one of Cam Gordon's favorite professional wrestlers of all time Mr. Sid Vicious oh he's not the main singer though because Johnny Rodden oh sorry sorry but he's a Sex Pistols member right Sid and Nancy yeah

okay here's our we haven't talked about wrestling yet amazing like why I never understood why when he came to WWE he became Sid Justice and I always wondered was he inspired by Dave Justice right around the same time had been like American League Rookie of the

Year and was a pretty big deal for the Lamb Braves. Right, and Lisa Left Eye Lopez was soon to burn down his home. That's right, yeah. Actually, was that Dave Justice or was that Andre Rison? Andre Rison, I think.

Dave Justice was with Halle Berry. Oh, I conflated my celebrity couplets. Oh, thanks conflated my celebrity couplets. Oh, thanks for pointing that out. And of course, Sid Vicious, WWE legend Sid Vicious, famously quit the WWF because they wouldn't give him time off for his softball game. Well, he is speaking of like, God, we're talking about viral videos. That's like an awful. Have you ever seen when he jumped off the top rope?

He was trying to. Yeah, he broke his leg. Oh, my God. He's wearing like jorts? Yeah, his leg snaps. His leg snaps like the band that's got the power. I was going to say like Paul George, if you ever saw it.

Yeah, that's a bad one too. Joe Theismann. Right, right, right, Joe Theismann. Just a thought. Oh, I don't even like to think about that. You're freaking me out here. Is it Chris Berman used to call him Andre Bad Moonrisen?

Was that his name? Yeah, that's right, yeah. Anyway, shout out to the late, great Lisa Lopez. But that's my, yeah, that jam. There's also a wrestler named Johnny Rotten and Ian Rotten and Axel Rotten. Like there are a lot of Sex Pistols wrestling connections. Oh, shout out then.

We called him Basement Dweller because for years I knew him as Basement Dweller. And we talked about him last episode because he felt you guys had gone stale. He's still listening and he would like us to refer to him by his new handle. I think it's a pandemic handle. Basement Dweller is now Hades Dweller. Hades Dweller. Like hell.

Okay. Which would be appropriate for episode 666. I was going to say, yeah, you should have him on that episode. That would be perfect. Maybe I will. Yeah, that could be stale though. Oh, we're going to kick out an FOTM now. so that would be perfect. Maybe I will. Yeah, that could be stale though. Yeah.

Oh, we're going to kick out an FOTM now. I'm so excited an FOTM has made the cut here. You guys ready for Cam Gordon's third jam? Hell yeah. Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm about to introduce The smooth groove that I just produced So don't dance or prance, move your head to the rhythm As we scan this land that we live in

Is plagued with racism, C-A-N-A-D-A Canada, I'm watching it decay every day Young minds are being mentally crushed and mushed in Thanks to men like Rushton and others Who want to smother the dream Of a black-mind revolutionary regime We gotta redeem ourselves from shame By removing our stains of the chain

On the brain We gotta roll with force Cause the Klan also moving the great white north We gotta hurdle the system Cause hate penetrates multiculturalism Listen, I want an explanation Why are Mohawks being kicked out of their reservations? I'm being put in misery and stealing the land to create sporting facilities.

The native man of the land is who you're killing. And they've got the nerve to celebrate Thanksgiving. Flaming every man as evil. I hate to see what y'all got planned for my people. I tell my brothers and sisters to read the signs. To open their eyes because it's time to get together. No time to stall, because without togetherness, we got nothing at all. Okay, so this is, yeah, FOTM Maestro, or his full name as he went back then,

Maestro Fresh West. The song's called Nothing at All. It's from his sophomore album, The Black Tie Affair. Like, Maestro's kind of funny because, again, I feel like most people think kind of a one-hit wonder, but not really. What do you mean? There's definitely two. I can think of them off the top of my head, not to mention three or four. I'm agreeing. I'm agreeing. Yeah, no, no. I'm agreeing with you and disagreeing with the people that say that. Yeah, this was certainly a hit. Nothing at all.

Nobody in this country has ever accused Maestro of being a one-hit wonder. Nobody. Drop the needle, let your backbone slide, conductive things. Maybe I'm wrong. These Eyes. These Eyes was a big jam. And even this one was a big Much Music hit. I actually don't really remember this song.

Because you were in L.A., I guess. Yeah, maybe. I don't remember this song. Is this when he was doing like uh uh search without the redson no it's before that I think that was the next album was it not when he was trying to have a bit of a harder he went to uh

New York and that's where the search that's when he became maestro but this is his second album he's still based in Scarborough and in this video if you could imagine I think he's wearing a I want to say it's a rocket Ishmael jersey i was gonna say yes i was just gonna mention that um yeah i feel like you yeah he had sort of had affiliations with the argos who this was when like they were super hot and like wayne gretzky and uh as i say the

late bruce mcdowell the formerly incarcerated bruce mcdow uh, warning the team and obviously the late John candy. Um, so yeah, this song, I mean, this was one, I'm not positive. This is a protest anthem,

but certainly, uh, a song with a cause where it's celebrating, I would say the plight of the black experience in Canada, circa 1992. Uh, Maestro name drops a lot of, uh,

great black Canadians, everyone from Lennox Lewis to Oscar Peterson and a lot of reference to Egerton Marcus who is sure the perhaps this is like your wife with a Philippine they're both Guyanese background so that seems

to be the connection there yeah this I'm trying to think of this I would say this was like a medium size hit Conducting Things is the single that most people remember for this album but this one definitely got some spins on it. Interesting though that you picked a song

you're not sure if it's a protest song to be in a protest song countdown I think Cam's right, I think it's a protest song because he's got verses talking about I don't know, it clearly is, I'm just questioning Cam's, you know, picking songs for a protest song and you're not sure if this is a protest song.

Way to be behind your pick. Well, I'll just say, you know, whoever chose this topic, I mean, you know, you did pick something that's a little abstract, a little subject to judgment and, you know, that's your choice. I mean, it's your week, you know,

not going to get in the way. You know, you could show some better judgment sometimes, but that's okay. Well, you know, that's your choice. I mean, it's your week, you know, not going to get in the way. You know, you could show some better judgment sometimes, but that's okay. Well, you know, listen, shout out to Maestro. Sure. I'm a fan. Obviously, Mike is a big fan, and I'm going to go and give this song another private listen

so I can hear the brilliant name drops. That was another Maestro hit, Private Symphony. That was like a sexy track that's when rappers were trying out ballads a rare rap ballad um but yeah i like this choice and and and again it was a big hit on much music i don't know where it was on the coca-cola countdown but it got heavy rotation on much music yeah but again like certainly not really one you hear too much anymore. So I thought we'd dust it off. Cause I think it's a fine track.

And, uh, this album was, was produced by a cake cut of great, uh, they're almost like the mamas and the papas of rap main source, kind of the dual Canadian American, uh,

hip hop act. Did you show us the singer? Oh, who I was, I think I mentioned this in a Twitter DM. Oh, that Twitter's a great service, by the way. That I was supposed to interview Nas for Toronto Mic'd at Beer Fest this month.

Yeah, like you just casually draw, like that's huge. Is this through your Beer Fest, now that you're in the Beer Fest circuit after Chuck D last year. I met the PR guy who helped me do the Chuck D interview. And he's a beer fest PR guy. And he loves Toronto Mike. And he told me any artist on any...

So this was all set to go until obviously COVID fucked with the program. But yeah, I know. That would be a big deal, right? Right. Absolutely. Shout out to the guy who's singing that really cool refrain there on the Maestro Fresh West Jam, George

Banton, his name is, who does the Nothing At All refrain. Alright, Stu Stone, I should preface this by saying, this jam, and if you have something you want to say before I kick it, let me know, but Stu and I both

had this jam on our lists. I, being the gracious host, let Stu have it, and I picked another jam. I did offer you a hell of a suitable replacement. But that's not how it works. You can't,

you can't, I'm glad you brought that up. You can't say, oh, you could have this song instead. These are my jams, right? Like, it doesn't work that way. Well, I'm just trying to be a friend and suggest you another route that you could take.

And then I said, Stu, if you want that jam so badly, why don't you choose this song? I offered to take it, but then you graciously gave me this song and went, oh, and I, you know what? Great minds, man. Great minds. And when you think of protest and you think of the nineties and you think of a band that made protesting anthems their signature, I don't think they have a song that isn't a protest song. I don't think they do. I think every single song they have has some sort of like social justice sort of meaning to it. What about their cover of Microphone Fiend?

I don't think that's a protest song. With the exception of that song right there. However, what band is more synonymous with a song? As soon as you hear the opening note, you're going to think of Club 102 or whatever. Probably a favorite of the Phoenix nightclub live radio listeners. Let's just drop it. Again, lyrics.

It's as if they wrote the song today, sadly. We'll be right back. Talk about a time machine. Stu Stone, I'm back in the Phoenix. Unbelievable. I'm amazed none of us have done the Martin Streak impression. Yeah, that seems customary. Freak impression. Yeah, that seems customary.

Some of those that run forces are the same that burn crosses. I mean, they get their message across. No need for poetry here. It's almost poetic just using the same line over and over again. And it's simple. It's direct. It's to the point. And it was one of the first songs I remember in high school that was like a rock song with square words that everybody sort of felt like a little bit more macho just playing this song in there. You know what I mean?

But definitely protesting police violence. The exact same thing we're protesting right now. The exact same fucking thing that we're protesting right now is what this song is about and what it is battling. And interestingly enough, Rage Against the Machine, they've been raging against the machine. You know, Zach, signature sound, sort of a

I wouldn't say he's a rapper, but he's definitely like a more of a spoken sort of singer. Not much singing. Maybe he's rapping. I think he's rapping. I will say he's rapping. And then Tom Morello, the other sort of famous member,

a prolific guitar player. And if you want to talk about guitar players who we were introduced to in the 90s during the grunge era, Tom Morello is on the Mount Rushmore to me of 90s guitar players. And Rage Against the Machine is sort of a fascinating band they like sort of break up and get back together depending on what year it is but you know they are raging against so many different things that it's often gotten them in hot waters uh stuff that

they're raging against sometimes they're picked you know they're coming at it from different angles i know that some of tom morello's very public sort of opinions about the conflict in the Middle East sort of put him in the same basket as Roger Waters and other sort of outspoken artists who have sort of had their opinion on what's going on

in the Middle East and I know that that sort of hurt some of Tom Morello's popularity because you know a lot of people don't agree with him. I would say though that it worked for John Lennon with Revolution, so here you go. Tom Morello, no matter what

his political views are, I can't take away his influence and the creative way in which he uses the guitar. Obviously that has nothing to do with the fact that this is a protest anthem, but I will put over the fact that this guy used the guitar obviously that has nothing to do with the fact that this is a protest anthem but i will put over the fact that this guy used the guitar in ways that we had never seen yet and i don't think we've seen since so it's like the way that eddie van halen sort of brought like that tap solo into the heavy metal game tom morello sort of held it was very or holds it i

guess and then tom morello sort of uses it sort of like a turntable in a lot of ways. He plays with the volume, he scratches, he does all sorts of... He has his wah-wah pedal plugged in through something else. It's just a very, very prolific guitar player. And I love Rage Against the Machine. They were supposed to play at Coachella this year.

Obviously, that got canned. I was going to say, were you guys planning on seeing them with this? I saw them live once at the Coliseum. I think we've talked about this before. I saw them at the Coliseum in LA. Incredibly live. Incredible live. But yeah,

I mean, listen, this sort of has been a running theme for this episode. All these causes are still... We're still fighting the same fucking causes, so... A bit of Biven aside, they were also a bit of Toronto concert history. I'm going to put on my flyer vault hat. One of the last bands

to play at Maple Leaf Gardens. Wow. I thought it was the Beastie Boys, but... Who do you think it is? I was going to say that that was the concert I was going to, and it was cancelled because one of the Beastie Boys broke his collarbone, but it was Rage and Beastie Boys.

I believe that Molson Park and Barry, I believe. That's right. Yeah. So that one was canceled. But yeah, like Rage played in Toronto, I guess it was like late 99 with Gangstar. Oh, that's a great show. Yeah, which is huge. But yeah, one of those bands that they seem like

they exploded on the scene like because they played like the side stage or they like were the first band on Lollapalooza one year and it seemed like almost overnight everyone sort of knew about this band in a way that from what I recall at that era was didn't happen too often it's uh it's interesting first of all i want to shout out bulls on parade which i remember sort of like this hard-hitting sophomore effort from them that was just so awesome too but uh you know without googling or anything like that the folklore that i remember about the rise of rage against the machine is that they were on a they were booked as the opening act for house of pain back in the day and they were house of pain couldn't follow it

right right it it grew too big too quick and it's you know house of pain ends up opening for them by the end of the tour how do you know that's happened too many times before where like the band starts here and then they flip by the end of the tour. Wow. Wow. That is cool. Cool little fun fact there. I just want to say in high school when I discovered this disc, the self-titled disc with the monk who sets himself on fire on the cover, Rage Against the Machine, it just blew my mind.

Like I think it was stuck. Like I listened to it on repeat for months. Like it just blew my mind. I think it was stuck. I listened to it on repeat for months. It just blew my mind. Because as I've confessed many times on this program, when you took a hip-hop sound and you smashed it up with a hard rock sound, you get the Judgment Night soundtrack. Yes, which is another disc I played like crazy.

Think of Anthrax of public enemy, for example, bring the noise or whatever. It's just, that's, I love it when those two genres smash up. And to me, rage was the perfect.

I also think like, you know, the precursor to rage, obviously not the same sort of, not really the same, but maybe a precursor, but like early chili peppers and, and like faith no more, like maybe these acts were sort of prepped us for a Rage Against the Machine.

I will say that also the band responsible for helping to sell hundreds of thousands if not millions of Che Guevara t-shirts. Which you still see in every head shop across this fine land. Also,

they used to play Killing of the Name in. Killing of the Name. Oh my god, I can't talk. Killing in the Name of. Well, killing of the name in a killing of the name oh my god I can't talk killing in the name of well that's killing when I was at McMaster in the late 90s or at the pub night if this song came on at 1 a.m. yeah guaranteed like brawls right well

I was gonna say my ceiling is really low but when I as I was listening like I instinctively wanted to get up and mosh like it was like a reflex action and I'm like, oh, these ceilings are really low. I'm going to hurt my head. But yeah. I have images in my head of just being in high school and I build up like, fuck you.

We won't do it. Fuck you. We all just would like fucking go crazy. I remember being in cars and just everyone, although we are all wearing seatbelts, like still thrashing and probably like damaging like Brad Urquhart's car. Oh, Brad, it builds because it's got that build.

And you're right. It's perfect for a late night club event, like a live day. And also I was going to ask you though, Stu, we both picked that jam and we could have picked many, we could have picked many Rage Against the Machine songs like for example, Bullet in the Head would have been highly appropriate, right? There's so many we could have picked. You said they're all protest anthems. Freedom, like there's so many.

But we both chose Killing in the Name of... I think it's because it was the first, it was like sort of their first offering and put them on the map and the fact that we're literally dealing with this police brutality is what's caused this whole fucking crazy shit to happen you know there's a funny a fun fact about this song there is a fun fact hit me uh this is really funny in 2009

this song went to number one during christ Christmas time on the UK chart as a protest because it was a campaign to prevent the guy or girl who won the X Factor. The winner's song was supposedly prepped to be the number one song in the UK for a fifth successive year. Right. And people revolted. And Killing in the Name of My Rage Against the Machine went to number one in Christmas of 2009 to protest the X Factor winner's song. Because in the UK, that's a big deal to be the number one song at Christmas. We don't really have that tradition here, but it's massive in the UK. I was going to say famously, we heard this song last week. the uk well i was gonna say famously uh we heard this song last week uh um fairy tale new york kept off the number one at christmas in 2000 or no i'm sorry in 1987 by do you guys know what song

beat it to number one for the christmas number one in 1987 87 i'll give you a clue it was a cover it was a cover it was was the Pet Shop Boys cover of Always On My Mind. I actually kind of liked that cover. I thought it was a good track. What was the song they did with Dusty Springfield? What Have I Done To Deserve This? I always really liked that.

What Have I Done To Deserve This? Because, you know, Dusty Springfield is on the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction. She also was allegedly a lover of the Canadian New Wave icon, Carol Pope. Shout out to Thornhill legend, Dusty Rain. I don't even know who that is. And Dusty Rhodes. There's so many Dustys out there.

Dusty Rhodes. Yeah, Dusty was also a G.I. Joe character that turned bad, but then turned good again. We had Dusty Baker. Right. Dusty Baker, yeah. Trying to do some damage control. And he's coaching Houston now, is he not?

I think so, yeah. I feel like they brought him in because everyone loves Dusty. Dusty Wolf was a Saturday morning enhancement talent. Yeah, he's kind of a jobber to the stars. Alright, I'm going to move on to my third jam, but I just finished Close the Loop on Rage. Fucking great band.

Honestly, I'm going to go listen to that self-titled album with the monk killing himself with the gasoline and the fire. I'm going to go listen to it. What an image too that was the first time i saw that image and then uh you have so many kids you could have like a mosh pit like in your uh just get all the kids together and have a little family you guys

remember security kicking you at some point like in 93 maybe you're a bit younger i don't know but maybe you weren't in the clubs at this time but the security was cracking down on the mosh pits and would start kicking you out of the venue if they caught you moshing. And do you remember that we still did it, but I distinctly remember at the field. I do kind of remember a mosh crackdown. There was a mosh crackdown. I was,

I was a little guy that used to like get body surfed and like body thrown, body catapulted. Did you have the 18 hole docs, uh, doc Martins? Of course. And, uh,

my, you know, uh, that was a controversial thing in my household just for me to have docs. I'll bet. I'll bet. A lot of controversy in the Stone household. Okay.

I saw a documentary about it. It's called The Jack of All Trades. You should check it out. Well, you can. Is it leaving Netflix or no? It is going to be leaving Netflix at some point. Because we need a heads up. Yeah, I'll let you know.

Speaking of Childish Gambino, you know, Community hit Netflix. And me and my teenage daughter, we love Community. We were streaming it on ctv.ca or something because that's the only place we could find it. And we've been going through again. And I just want to say it's's a fun show community and uh childish uh don't dan glover danny glover is in this movie no i'm too old for this shit yeah right all right let me go on to my third jam Put your bands up Say it loud I'm talking about Say it loud

I'm talking about Look at here Some people say we got a lot of malice Some say it's a lot of nerve But I say we won't quit moving Until we get what we deserve We've been built And we've been scum

We've been treated bad Talk we've been scum We've been beating bag Talked about Just as sure as it take two eyes To make a pair Brother we can't quit Until we get our share Say it loud Say it loud

One more time Say it loud Say it loud One more time Say it loud Say it loud Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud. I watched this documentary on the Apollo Theater. It was a really cool doc on the history of the Apollo Theater. And they were talking about Harlem residents. Black people were talking about when this jam came out by James Brown.

And really, the song at its essence is simply about black pride. You know, say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud. And how important this song was for the community. And funky as all hell, because James Brown can produce no less. So I wanted to get some James Brown in the mix. Yeah, very high concept song. And certainly, I don't know, I find he's, for me

anyway, he's one of those artists I probably knew him first when he showed up in Rocky 3? No. Rocky 4? Living in America? Living in America, yeah. Yeah, but you knew I Feel Good. Yeah, because it was in Good Morning Vietnam. Good Morning Vietnam

Good Morning Vietnam Yeah maybe Yeah okay Yeah But uh Yeah And also Eddie Murphy with Hot Tub Hot Tub

Yeah No But you're right We saw him Cause we saw him in Rocky IV He sang that live In Rocky IV Right

Yeah He's an interesting guy Because I can't think of it. First of all, there would be probably no hip hop music if it wasn't for James Brown and his band, because nobody's been sampled more than James Brown, literally, and his drummer specifically. But also, it's just a guy who has all of these sort of anthems. And it's like sometimes it's best to sort of remember the artist for the art.

Because James Brown is a very controversial figure when you like ever watch a biopic or a documentary. Like this is a guy who's notoriously like firing band members, like left, right, and center, and has all sorts of issues with alcohol and women and taxes and other stuff. But, you know, when it other stuff. But, you know, when it comes to the music, you know, you can sort of put all that aside, you know, all is forgiven, so to speak. And that's, you know,

metaphorically speaking, all is forgiven when you have an artist that's, that, that is this, this, this great, you know, and very few people get that sort of unconditional love. And very few people get that sort of unconditional love. Right. And that jam became an anthem, like you said, an anthem for the black power movement. Like, does Michael Jackson still have that unconditional love? Or have people sort of, like, he used to be an untouchable force.

But I don't know if that's the case anymore. Yeah, I don't know if that's the case anymore yeah i i don't know like i i feel like he's gone down a few notches i don't know like i don't know if you similar to like your prince seems like he's almost become more popular since he passed away or certainly embraced by younger generations i could be wrong i i don't sense sense younger generations are like as into Michael Jackson given how big he was that he was you know kind of the artist of the 80s

not Michael Jackson the solo adult but I will say that my kids watch some kids show my little two on Netflix and the song ABC is prominently featured by the Jackson 5 so it's like I feel like yes Jackson 5. So it's like, I feel like... Great song.

Yeah, it was great. Yes, that's the thing. It's a great song. So maybe the Michael Jackson song... And of course, Michael influenced by James Brown too. His dancing and... Oh yeah, the hardest working man in showbiz, man. And again, I repeat his name...

And Prince too. Prince is obviously influenced by James Brown too. Right. And I remember there's like that famous clip, and again, we probably talked about this, but where James Brown brings up Michael Jackson first and then Michael sort of instigates and says, bring up Prince and Prince kind of shits the bed.

I don't know if you guys have ever seen that. I don't think we've talked about this one. Okay. Well, there's this famous YouTube clip where James Brown is doing a live performance and Michael Jackson and Prince are both in the audience. And so he calls up Michael Jackson first and Michael does some dancing and a little bit of singing.

Everyone goes wild. And then he brings up Prince and then Prince sort of picks up someone's guitar. That's not tuned properly to his liking. And he just sort of shits the bed. Really? Yeah. I mean,

you have to look that. That does not sound familiar. Oh yeah. It's a famous, it's pretty famous. Okay.? Yeah. I mean, I have to look that. That does not sound familiar. Oh, yeah. It's famous. It's pretty famous. Okay. All right. Cam Gordon,

jam number four. This is not the Pearl Jam version. No. This is not the Pearl Jam version. No. There's a warning sign on the road There's a lot of people saying We'd be better off dead Don't feel like Satan But I am the same So I try to forget it Any way I can

We fall apart in the free world Oh man, I love this jam. Hit me, Cam. Yeah, I mean, this song's a bit of a history lesson. I kind of forgot how very specific of its time this was. So, of course, this is Neil Young, rocking in the free world, released right at the tail end of the 80s.

This came out in November 1989 from the album Freedom. Yeah, I mean, this really transposes a lot of kind of the global angst that was going on and and sort of displeasure with uh i would just say the republicans in general uh there's there's some references to some stuff that george bush said the thousand points of light lyrics specifically um gets into some stuff by the Ayatollah from what I recall in the video there was sort of some like Berlin Wall type stuff

yeah like definitely a song that sort of embodied a lot of the political angst of the time but also Neil Young suggesting we can all just rock our way through it because at the end of the day, it's a free world.

And yeah, certainly a staple that one of Mike's favorite bands, Pearl Jam, has played, I would say, for many, many... Like, Pearl Jam's been covering this, I feel like, since... I was witness... Start touring. I was witness to Eddie Vedder and Bono singing this song at the Air Canada Centre

and I feel like Neil Young came out like one of their more recent visits to Toronto Pearl Jam always their more recent the last 20 years I feel like I saw a video of Neil Young kind of ambling out on the stage they opened for Neil Young too like the first time I ever saw them was at the C&E and it was Neil Young kind of ambling out on stage. Also, they opened for Neil Young, too.

Like, the first time I ever saw them was at the C&E, and it was Neil Young with Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Yeah, which is huge. And, of course, go ahead. I was going to just quickly point out the I Got the Mirror Ball and the Merkin Ball. So the Mirror Ball, that was the Neil Young album where Pearl Jam was, like, the backing band. And the EP Merkin Ball ball which i think had i got shit on it and some things like that uh was made at the same time like so the mirror ball

merkin ball era was when pearl jam and neil young were doing a lot of uh recording together i would say that neil young is probably in on the mount rushmore of Canadian protest artists. He's the flag bearer, probably. This song feels like it's older than 1989. I'm kind of surprised that it came out in 89 because it feels like it's from even the 70s or something. It doesn't feel like a 1989 entry, which is very Neil Young of him. Is this the song or the music video

where he got a bunch of sponsors and didn't tell them what the song was? No, that's this notes for you. Yeah. That was brilliant. Where he just got money from everybody, didn't tell them what it was, and then everybody was pissed with the video. Right. And singing for Pepsi.

I almost put that on the list instead, which is sort of a protest against sort of the man or the corporatization. Yeah, because that video had sort of like parodies of like Michael Jackson getting his hair on fire and like Spuds McKenzie and stuff. Was it that video? Yeah, yeah. Well, this is a man. Go ahead, Cam. I don't think that's that good a song, though. But like when

you'd hear it on Q107, it'd be like, okay. Like, it's fine, but I don't know if it's that memorable. The video is more memorable. 1989, I guess Neil Young would have been coming hot off the success of the Crosby, Still Smashing Young release of American Dream.

That's right. Used to see you on every TV, your smiling face, looking back. I loved that song. Yeah. Maybe he's got that whistle thing. I love that song too.

I really did. Definitely the first time I knew, and i've talked about this on past episode definitely the first time i knew who neil young was was seeing the american dream video he did he was i think he was the first canadian if maybe brian adams is there too but he did an mtv unplugged uh with with harvest moon maybe that was like a much music unplugged no no it was it was mtv and i had that disc it had from hanks to hendrix on it and some yeah but recently in recent years i think last year he did like a live show on cbc live from like franklin or something ctv i think because it was on uh uh crave oh yeah yeah it was a bell media production i think it was on Crave. Oh yeah. It was a Bell Media production. It was just him by himself and like the first club he ever played at or something.

I don't remember the backstory, but it was a really cool, intimate show that was like, wow, I wish I was there. It's where he grew up in, there's a town in North Ontario, right?

It was where he grew up. You're no Jimmy Fallon. I love that I love Neil Young upstairs I don't know if you well you have actually walk the hallway before you come down the stairs for me to warn you not to hit your head there's a print of

Neil Young hanging in the hallway yeah I feel like this is sort of a morbid thought when Neil Young leaves us like I was thinking when David Bowie died and just seeing the sort of a morbid thought when Neil Young leaves us. Like I was thinking when David Bowie died and just seeing the sort of outpouring of just obsession with David Bowie, like what other artists could inspire that?

I don't think Neil Young would quite be at that level, but. He might be, you know, you know, you mentioned such a ubiquitous artist for so many different reasons and so many different eras. He might be right there. artist for so many different reasons and so many different eras. He might be right there. I remember Neil Young also got his own label at some point in America.

And one of the first acts he signed, if I'm not mistaken, was Hayden. Right. I remember this too. Yes. Who I love. It's been well established. But yeah, Neil Young, man. What a career. And a lot of protest music he he fairly

recently i think it was during the w era which i guess is not as recently as it feels but uh he had that whole album uh let's impeach uh the president you remember this uh let's impeach yeah that's that's right like well even remember you had that song let's roll in the wake of 9-11 and there's a certain there's a certain generation of like heavy hitter pundits let's call them that are of a certain era and age like i'm talking about howard stern and david letterman who are both very public about their obsession with neil young so you can see that he's definitely influenced people like Letterman and Stern, who are like the voices of a generation here.

Those guys love Neil Young. I mean, he is loved. Absolutely. And I'll say, I only saw Neil Young once, and it actually was not in concert. Here's a Neil Young anecdote. I was at do you guys know what CES is? The Consumer Electronics Show?

I know of it, yeah. In Vegas. Yeah, like I've been a few times, mainly why I worked in the PR, well, entirely why I worked in the PR agency world. I was representing Spin Master Toys at the time. We were showcasing some robotics kits for media from around the world. And I was going to the washroom and I saw a sign that said,

Ponyo briefing, press briefing this way and i'm like holy shit uh for those listeners who don't know ponyo was like a high-end like audio player almost like an mp3 player but way better quality that this was i think in 2004 because it was like the second it was like sega cd sort of yeah like just this thing and it cost like a thousand dollars but neil young was one of the investors in it and was really saying you know is it was really about the sound quality and this is almost like if you can't have vinyl panio is the next best thing and he was actually doing some kind of press briefing so i followed the sign and down the arrow and you needed credentials to get in and like i had pr credentials not press credentials but just out of like a sliver of like a door i could actually see him in front of a table doing some kind of press conference

um that was my one neil young encounter i don't think that even qualifies i did see neil i've seen neil young live in concert and uh to, I think he is like a Mount Rushmore, slam dunk Mount Rushmore, like a living legend. And we almost lost him a few years ago. There was some stroke he had, but I think he's doing okay now that he's enjoying life of Daryl Hannah. I was going to say, yeah. You know, there's a song that I often like,

very similar to like the Sopranos theme, how I thought that it was Leonard Cohen. Can I guess? Can I guess? Can I guess? Sure. Horse with no name. Yeah.

I always thought that was Neil Young and it's not. I think it's America or something. America. Yeah, it's America. I was going to say Three Dog Night, but that's. I run through the town with a horse with no name. It sounds just like Neil Young, but it's, uh, with a horse with no name. It sounds just like Neil Young, but it's not him.

Sort of like the way Steelers wheels, uh, sounds like, uh, Bob Dylan with, uh, with, uh,

stuck in the middle. Yeah. Okay. Sort of the way tag team sort of sounds like, uh, 60, 60, what were they calling it?

Yeah. The good one. Okay. Speaking of Good Ones, I can't wait to kick out this fourth jam from Stu Stone. Hey, what's happening? Brother, what's up? This is a new recording, man. Yeah, brother.

I can dig it. Stop right on. Hey, man. What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? What's your name?

What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? What's your name? Mother, mother, there's too many of you crying Brother, brother, brother, there's far too many of you dying You know we've got to find a way To bring some loving here today Father, Father We don't need to escalate You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate

You know we've got to find a way To bring some love and give to the day Picket lines And picket signs Don't punish me With brutality Talk to me So you can see

Oh, what's going on What's going on Yeah, what's going on Oh, what's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? Yeah, what's going on? What's going on? Oh, what's going on? What's going on? Wow. Seems like a crime to speak over this song.

Much like the Sam Cooke offering, this is another one of those songs I would put right up there with the Sam Cooke offering. This is another one of those songs I would put right up there with the Sam Cooke. This is Marvin Gaye, What's Going On. Another song that was inspired by police brutality. And another song where we're still fighting the same fight. Another song where we're still fighting the same fight. Interestingly enough, a member of the Four Tops is the one who was inspired for this song. The Four Tops, I believe, if the story has not...

If I have not fucked up this story, the Four Tops were on a tour. They were visiting berkeley they witnessed uh what goes down as i believe bloody thursday where you know the police really had at it with protesters there and uh he wanted to do this song for the four tops and the four tops were like no this doesn't really work for us and uh that's where marvin gaye came along uh who was inspired by the watts riots himself and sort of took the song and made it his own and uh this was marvin this was a song that that motown wasn't thrilled about marvin gay releasing because he had all those hits with that motown sound and that motown bounce and this was his first sort of departure from that and doing a more you you know, a different song. And it ended up being, you know, one of his most successful songs ever.

And not just one of his most successful songs ever, one of the most successful songs ever. Rolling Stone ranks it as the fourth greatest song of all time. I'm not even going to bother getting into what's number three, two, and one, but number four of all time and Rolling Stones are pretty good, pretty good barometer for that. If you're going to be named in the top four songs of all time from any publication in music, that's a pretty good one. Of course,

it's in the rock and roll's hall of fame, 500 songs that shaped rock and roll much like the Sam Cooke song. And, you know, it's's it's just a really really really beautiful beautiful beautiful song and the way that marvin gaye got died is pretty shitty also believe he was killed by his father yeah um but uh you know what's going on i mean does it get more you know this is this is this is, this is timeless. Yeah. I always think this song is interesting because if you strip away all the lyrical content, I mean, it's, it's kind of like a, you know, it's, it's kind of a breezy, you know, like a good, easy listening song,

but then, yeah, I mean, I'd like the song that I don't, I get like emotional hearing this song. It's just, it's so, it's so po's so poignant but it's so timeless too and it's it's a really old song now like it's like we're almost like 50 years ago this came out um and again this is another one like that entire album is incredible and like very sort of like very abstract a lot of the album what's going on because it gets into a lot kind of of more like it's a spiritual stuff with love kind of like more longer but the song on this album also gets me as the last one like inner city blues is just almost like heartbreaking and and kind of like with the bookends of this and that like it's it's just like what an album like one of the all-time greats i think deserves every list it's's topped, and it's just fantastic stuff.

And again, much like Sam Cooke, as Stu mentioned, another real tragic figure who left us way, way too young. And fuck, man. It's again, it's like these beautiful, profound songs that should change the world. And here we are, still fighting for the same change. It's wild. Kind of gross, actually.

My next vote's with a brick, Stu. Stu, that Rolling Stone top 500 songs, is that the one where Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone is number one? It might be, yeah. I do definitely remember when they put that out there. And of course, Rolling Stone decided like a Rolling Stone was number one. Well, there's another guy who could have several songs on this list, Bob Dylan. Another guy named Bob that's shunned from this list so far, Bob Marley,

who I offered as a gracious, being gracious when Mike had told me that Rage Against the Machine also appeared on his list, I offered him Bob Marley, take Get Up get up stand up bob keeps getting passed over every episode we keep fucking up and not playing any bob marley and here we are again bob marley getting the hands in treatment we're playing scategories here yeah how do you know uh that uh cam's final jam isn't get up stand up by bob marley. I'm positive that it isn't. Cam's next song is probably like The Pixies or something. Before we get too far removed from

Neil Young, I just want to shout out a couple of Neil, he was involved in a couple of, because he was at Buffalo Springfield, for what it's worth, would have been a great jam. But also, the song Ohio about the Kent State shootings is a fantastic protest song

that's a Neil Young jam too Ford it in Ohio but yeah and For What It's Worth which is like and you might remember Stephen Stills For What It's Worth was remade somewhat by Public Enemy remember they brought in

was that from He Got Game, like that song that was on the same time? Yes, yes, yes. There's something happening. It's also from Forrest Gump. Oh yeah, it's right... Stop now, what's that sound? There's also a great Muppet show

montage with that song too, which I think has John Denver on it. Am I imagining it? Probably. He did a lot of stuff with the Muppets. Before we get too far away from Forrest Gump, shout out to another great protest song which didn't make anybody's list. CCR's Fortunate Son.

That's like a classic protest song. That was definitely like a Scattergories. I love that song and I just figured someone else might put it how about a war what is it good for

oh the original name of Tolstoy is War and Peace I believe or nobody picked Martika Toy Soldiers save the toy theme if this pandemic goes long enough we'll need all the topics we can get okay I believe. Or nobody picked Martika, Toy Soldiers. Yeah. Save the toy theme. If this pandemic goes long enough,

we'll need all the topics we can get. Okay. Toys and Tots, too. Right. My penultimate jam. We need, I rarely make this request, but let's give this some real time to simmer. That's how important I think this song is.

In fact, before I play it, I'm going to make the case that this is the most important protest song in the history of English music. So let's all listen to this jam. Southern trees Bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves And blood at the root Black bodies swinging In the southern breeze

Strange fruit hanging From the poplar trees So this is Billie Holiday recorded in 1939. And the strange fruit that Billie Holiday is singing about, and it chokes me up to even describe it, so I can't even look at you and tell you, but I mean, that's a metaphor.

The strange fruit is a protest song, if you will, against the lynching of black Americans. Like, lynching. 1939, the lynching of black Americans. And Strange Fruit is meant to, if you can visualize that, I know it's horrific, but visualize that, the strange fruit hanging from the tree. Yeah, what a haunting song, needless to say um and i often it's one of those like often

covered songs i'm like it takes real kind of balls to cover it too i know like there's some great versions by like nina simone and other artists but fuck like what a what a song i mean again this is like just further proves our example that these protest songs we're still protesting the same thing that she's protesting obviously I don't think that lynching is as widespread as it was in that

era I would pray to God that it's not but I do know for a fact that it's still not illegal in certain states so that's a big fucking problem is that right? yeah so there's still a lot of work to do uh you know not to say that people are lynching in those states but it's just not against the law well stew i i learned this week that nascar was only now banning the presence of

the confederate flag at their events like here here we are in June, June, 2020. And my first thought was that wasn't like, that was okay until now. Yeah. I mean, I think cause we, most of us grew up, grew up as children of the eighties unaware of, you know, we were young, so we were really unaware of what's going on, but you know, the Republicans were, you know,

it's a Ronald Reagan America where where the dukes of hazards and the confederate flag and and and leonard skinner uh rock and roll and and uh the fabulous freebirds i was gonna say you know it's like uh you know the the rebel flag was not thunder i didn't even know it was a bad thing i i had no idea i thought it was a cool thing. I had no idea. I thought the Dukes of Hazzard was the coolest car. I had no idea that it stood for racism. Obviously,

it's a disgusting symbol now, but it was a disgusting symbol then. How come it was okay then? We're talking about in the 80s. How was it okay then? Another Neil Young song is Southern Man. If you think of the lyrics to southern man and then of course leonard skinner'd recorded uh sweet home alabama as a like a retort a reply to neil young's uh like a diss track if you will to neil young southern man go

ahead cam which is um i forgot what i was gonna say okay go ahead stew i mean skinner not really fascinating to me that you could play this song and somehow we're talking about leonard skinner um but how is it okay i don't know i was too young to really be aware of what was going on and freebird is one of the greatest songs ever so how is it that that was okay i don't but like stew like you you know you sort of like because i'm like simple-minded i think of like you know you mentioned sort of just like uh symbols of like the confederate flag is if i thought of like the fabulous freebirds too and also uh dick slaters the rebel uh the rebel dick slater in the wwu sort of i believe he either had like confederate flag trunks or he was a baby face he was a good guy wrestler with the confederate flag and people just like oh it's a good old

southern boy like i feel like you know you'd see it in cartoons like it just yeah it's movies played up for yucks uh it's all just a big fucking joke um Meanwhile, I don't know. Like, it's, again, Smash got 30 years. They banned it at NASCAR. And you might have seen there was a driver today quit in protest over it. Cicerelli? Yeah, a guy who has no career wins in NASCAR. Leaving NASCAR because of the flag or because he can't win. Hopefully not related to Dino Cicerelli.

The sentence that was about to come out of my mouth was hopefully not related to Dino. Yeah, no, Dino. I mean, listen, there are people who make the arguments like about they want these mementos and statues and flags like, how dare you? You're ruining history. I don't know, man. Well, have you guys seen the debates over

Dundas Street? Yeah, what's that about? I'm assuming that Dundas is a racially charged person that it was named after, because I don't even know the history. Yeah, some Scottish guy who was pro-slavery. Do you know, Cam? What was his...

Yeah, had some nefarious dealings in the slave trade, yes. Which is, I mean, it it's gonna be hard too because there's also dundas ontario where i don't know i mean but i mean this is sort of like we're seeing it all across the culture and it probably is overdue you know this calibration of things like these statues that people have probably walked by for you know years it's like oh why is that there you know why do we need the Robert E. Lee statue? Maybe it's time for that to come down. The times, they are changing.

Maybe they'll name Dundas Street like Vince Carter Way, now that he's been so rudely retired by the NBA. Or maybe Jesse and Gene Way can move downtown finally. Right, get it from young and norton and put it where it belongs uh dundas is an interesting street if i will because i believe it's the only street that is in all i believe it's in all the boroughs like the way it curves like it hits all the toronto boroughs i think if you get a map like well i think it also like dundas ontario like that i don't know if you've been there ever. Like that's,

it's the same street. Like it just, it obviously changes names and curve, but it is the same Dundas. Dundas and also in Hamilton. Well, that's what he's talking about. Yeah.

Yeah. Um, yeah, let's, I, you know, somebody pointed out on Twitter, I can't,

I don't know who to give credit to, but they're like, okay, if we're going to talk about when we should, we should talk about, do we rename Dundas? Right. Like, give credit to, but they're like, okay, if we're going to talk about, and we should, we should talk about, do we rename Dundas, right? Let's talk about all those, if you know West Toronto,

the High Park area, there's Indian Crescent, there's all these Indian names, and are they appropriate? I don't know, it's good that we have the conversation, though. What about the Washington Redskins, or the Cleveland Indians? Well, yeah, like you guys probably saw pretty much every

professional sports organization issued their sort of condemning racism tweet this week, and it was very interesting to see the reactions to the Washington Redskins and the Edmonton Eskimos tweets on this topic. Let's just say they were not well received

by the Twitter universe. Alright, Cam's final jam on our pandemic Friday protest music kicking here We don't believe you Cause we the people Are still here in the rear Yo, we don't need you

You ain't killing off Good young nigga mood When we get hungry We eat the same fucking food The ramen noodle The simple voodoo Is so maniacal We're liable for pull the choo-choo.

The irony is that this bad bitch in my lab, she don't tell me she make money, she don't study that. She gon' give it to me, ain't gon' tell me none of that. She gon' take the brain, the weather, please, she spit on that. The doors and signs with it, don't try to rhyme with it. VH1 has a show that you can waste your time with. Guilty pleasure

take the edge of reality, and for a salary, I'll probably do that just sporadically. The OG Gucci boots are smitten with iguanas. The IRS piranhas see a nigga get you coppin'. Niggas in the hood livin' in a fishbowl. Gentrify here, now it's not a shithole. Trends set up, I know my shit's cold. Hands set up, baby,

cause I ain't so bold with air. All you black folks, you must go. This could've been on the post-post-posthumous episode as well. Yeah, so this is We the People by, I guess you could say, it's a comeback song from a tribe called Quest. I mean, sort of similar to Rage Against the Machine, a band that split and got back together a few times. Yeah, I mean, does feature

some verses from the late Phife Dawg who died during the recording of the album. Underrated Phife Dawg. Yeah, yeah, like, definitely a big deal. I mean, this song, I mean, it's interesting because it's, you know, it was

sort of positioned and very much is generally like an anti-Donald Trump song, I mean, it's interesting because it's, you know, it was sort of positioned and very much is like generally like an anti-Donald Trump song, but also came out on November 17th, 2016, which is my birthday, by the way. Happy birthday, Shalom. Thank you. Which is, you know, after the U.S. election, too. So I don't know. Like, honestly, I don't know the time frames of this. The Wikipedia entry isn't that detailed about it. too so i don't know like honestly i don't know the time frames of this the wikipedia entry

isn't that detailed about it but you would think this song being so politically charged as it was uh it was a little surprising because i i you know just in my head i remember this being sort of pre-election one of those songs you hear on the campaign trail um in opposition but it yeah it came out after uh all day trump was uh elected president what do you guys think of this song like you know obviously such a beloved group that you know kind of had like a lot fits and star stops you know kind of post breakup and getting back together i mean i'm a huge sharp call quest fan obviously their early stuff is my favorite stuff uh i still respect them at

this stage in the game and would curious to hear you know when this album came out i definitely checked it out uh q tip is uh one of the best rappers of that era his cool voice his delivery and quietly sort of although maybe he wasn't humble behind the scenes if you watch the documentary he sort of gives off this humble vibe just in general. And you don't even realize, you know, he's the producer of most of these songs. He's making the beats, too. So a musical genius, I would dare say, without hesitation, actually, Q-Tip is a musical genius and an influence, heavy influence and he's been involved in Tribe Called Quest has been involved in sort of the protest movement since

they first entered the scene you know they were sort of the anti-commercial rappers they were so socially conscious they were you know affiliated with Spike Lee and his message and movement I love Tribe Called Quest and fuck man they're one of the

best acts never mind hip hop just one of the best acts in my lifetime. No doubt, no doubt. They really did that nice jazz fusion with the hip hop, like low end theory and all that amazing stuff. And of course, Neva on the left because my right's my good ear. That Q-tip was also in Groove is in the Heart. Come on. Yeah, yeah. The first time many of us had seen him. Yeah. Big deal. He was also with the Beastie

on the Beastie Boys record too. Gotta Get It Together. Oh, and isn't it? He's in Sure Shot. Is he in Sure Shot? Yeah, because I'm rocking the Sure Shot. He's in that, right? No, I think it's Get It Together. Get It Together.

Wait a minute. The phone is ringing. Oh, my God. Get It Together. By the way, shout out to the documentary on, I can't remember the name of it, but the Tribe Called Quest documentary is excellent. By Michael Rappaport, I believe, from...

Right. Meyer Learning. Michael Rappaport from Twitter. Yeah, Michael Rappaport. I believe, from... Right. Michael Rappaport from Twitter. Yeah, Michael Rappaport. In Howard Stern Show. That seems like someone you must have encountered, Stu, like in your travels. He's been around. You know, when I was doing my rap

project with Jamie Kennedy, Michael Rappaport was one of the people who was vocally opposed to us. He was not a fan, and he was not afraid to... He was not a fan of what we were doing. He was, he was not a fan and he was not afraid to, uh, not digging it. Okay. He was not a fan of,

uh, of what we were doing. Why? Because it was, uh, was it cultural appropriation? What was the term? I don't know.

What is our, I mean, he just didn't get it. I don't know. Uh, he's not, he wasn't a fan of it and he definitely made it known. Cam,

do you ever like had that moment of like Stu fucking stone, like, like Donnie Darko, like so many have that moment of Stu fucking Stone? Like Donnie Darko? So many different... How about this? Are you ready for a Michael Rappaport story? Yeah. Michael Rappaport, who played a teacher on the show Boston Public.

I was his student on the show. I was on that show and he played my teacher. So I worked with Michael Rappaport and I don't think he remembered that while me and Jamie Kennedy were doing rap. Otherwise, maybe i would have got a pass but uh no hall pass from uh mike rapaport i'd like a list of all the greats you've worked with like we learned you worked with jerry stiller like yeah you know just just the complete like we already know what jake gillenhall and all that but the fact that uh you worked like bob with remy from higher learning bob saget yeah michael rapor wasn't he remy in

higher learning yeah and curly sue you worked with her he was in some spike lee stuff too right was he in 25th yeah he's been a guy that's definitely uh one of the sort of uh white guys that has been woody allen stuff too right some woody Allen stuff I think yeah I'm saying that he's been on the forefront of like the hip-hop movement he was you know he probably raps he probably raps in the shower so he's he's like done so much stuff with like the NBA too and like he's big on social like he's really like endured in a way that hates Donald Trump hates Donald Trump pretty uh he's reasonable pretty opposed, he's reasonable. Okay. Final jam. And again,

like the new tradition, I guess it's not new anymore. It's been going on for weeks now, but Stu kicks out his fifth jam and then there's the bonus jam. So let's get Stu's... This is not such a mind blow this week, but I really like this song. The original and the remake.

We'll start with the original. Let's go. And then we can have that discussion because me and Jeremy, Jeremy Taggart and I would disagree. I actually don't believe it's a remake, but let's hear this. Great song. It's a great song but I can only hear the next song we're gonna play in my head. See, I disagree, I disagree. I still love this song. get a job that's just the way it is some things will never change that's just the way it is hit me Stu because for me

it's like when you hear under pressure and right away you break into yeah I mean this is a is a really interesting guy. Bruce Hornsby in the range, the way it is. Great song, came out in 86. It holds up production-wise. It still sounds like a great song to me. And, you know, this was definitely Bruce's way of sort of protesting against the civil rights movement. And, you know, alongside the civil rights movement, he was protesting inequality.

And if you listen to, you know, he's talking about each verse has its own sort of message. You know, the first verse sort of illustrates the divide between the rich and the poor. The second verse sort of talks about racial segregation. And, you know, the third verse talks specifically about the Civil Rights Act

that took place in 1964, the victory of the Civil Rights Movement. Interestingly enough, you know, a lot of people don't know Bruce Hornsby before this song came out, but we'll get to some fun facts in a moment. But Bruce Hornsby, you know, it's interesting because he's got, this is a guy who's a piano guy, right?

And piano wasn't exactly the most contemporary instrument at this point in the hair metal crossing over into the Bon Jovi era of pop music on the radio, Def Leppard, whatever you want to call it. And here you got this guy sitting behind a piano. He does have like that synth man in the mirror bass, which I'll call it the man in the mirror bass, but a really cool kind of funky electronic bass line. But, you know, it's a protest song disguised as a really pleasant song. That's just the way it is. Now, here's a fun fact. In 1982, Bruce Wormsby was a member of the band Ambrosia,

who were a yacht rock favorite. If you're familiar with Ambrosia, also a store on John Street that sells bulk nuts and candy. Very fair prices. Yes, but he was in Ambrosia and he can be seen in the video. And after the band disbanded, he and the bass player from Ambrosia started the... Oh, they started as a touring act with Sheena Easton. So they were Sheena Easton's band together.

If you remember Sheena Easton, Strut and the Glamorous. Uh-oh, comes back to prove it. This song won, like, Grammys. This was, like, this was, like, a big fucking deal, this song. It seemed like Bruce Hornsby is, like, he, in terms of, like, a mainstream artist you would hear on, like, CHFI, was, like, a very, very short run, but was then, then you know adopted by Deadheads had you know the whole relationship with the Grateful Dead it was just like a very musical guy like didn't really seem like someone who was trying to be on Top 40 Radio it just kind of happened that's what I'm

saying and he is I think he's got a couple more songs like that were that charted after this um he'd be a guy I'd be interested in going to see in concert sometime. Of course, we're not going to blow your mind here, but this song was sampled and reconfigured by a gentleman who also launched it as a protest anthem. Are you going into this year? Hey. Pull a trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero Get a crack to the kids, who the hell cares? One less ugly mouth on the welfare First ship him dope, now them dealer brothers Give him guns, step back, watch him kill each other It's time to fight back, that's what Huey said Two shots in the dark, now Huey's dead

I got love for my brothers, but we can never go nowhere Unless we share with each other We gotta start making changes Learn to see me as your brother instead of two distant strangers And that's how it's supposed to be How can the devil take a brother if he's close to me? Great song. So, Changes. Tupac. Protesting the war on drugs.

You know, the treatment of the African-American community by the police, racism, the difficulties of growing up in sort of a poor neighborhood. This is an interesting song with an interesting history. The song was originally recorded by Tupac. Most of the song was originally recorded by Tupac at a session in 1992. Most of the song was originally recorded by Tupac at a session in 1992. Obviously, this is not the version we're hearing now, but the lyrics, which were originally inspired, ironically, by a 1972 song, Changes by Black Sabbath, which is a really interesting, fun tidbit.

After Tupac's passing, of course, the song was re-brought to life, and the lyrics from his original recording were mixed in with lyrics from a song of his called I Wonder If Heaven's Got a Ghetto. And they put the verses and lyrics together, brought in a guy to sing the hook. And here you go, Changes, one of Tupac's most famous songs that could have been played posthumously on the show a few weeks ago. So I don't need to give you the history of Tupac. We've already covered that. But interesting, this is probably the first and only song I can think of where a protest song was sampling another protest song

and managed to make a whole new protest out of the same protest song. So really interesting that a lot of mileage on the Bruce Hornsby on his protest. Yeah, again, like the amazing that at its root is like a guy who likes to play piano. It was sort of a sideband for most of his career, generally.

But like a fantastic musician by all accounts. I would suggest taking a deep dive into the Bruce Hornsby catalog. You'd be surprised with how many songs you know. Maybe there's probably two or three that you know. Yeah. I used to mandolin rain mandolin rain i remember one that goes like yeah there's one it's called country road country road what's another one name another one I'm thinking of.

Let's see if we can find Bruce Horst's second biggest hit. We haven't said it yet. The Range. No, his band was called The Range. Wasn't it Bruce Horst and The Range? Jacob Slatter. He also played piano on Don Henley's The End of the Innocents.

Wait, wait. Jacob Slatterder, how does that go? Well, I think that's like a, I guess he did it too but it's like a Huey Lewis and the News song Okay, then that's not it No I gotta place some ignorance here, I don't know

my Bruce Hornsby very well Yeah, I'm telling you, he's good, he's good The Valley Road was a big hit but I don'm telling you, he's good. The Valley Road was a big hit, but I don't even know how it goes. Yeah, The Valley Road. He won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1987 with The Range, and he

beat out four other artists. What a Mount Rushmore hero. You got Glass Tiger, New Shoes of I Can't Wait fame, Timbuk3. Oh, yeah. Remember them, I think, featuring like Ferris Bueller's Day Off or Weird Science or something.

And then Simply Red. Wow. What a five sum, those five bands together, like a real slice of 80s crap. I used to... Oh, no, the end of the of 80s crap. I used to. Oh, did we already? Oh, no, the end of the innocence.

You already said that. I'm trying to find it. Mandolin Rain, that one we did already. I'll try to find it, but there's another one. I don't think there is one. I don't know. I think it's like three or four songs tops. Yeah. And I only,

to be honest, I really only know one. Like I only, unless I heard them, I'd have to hear them, but I only really know that song, which of course was a monster hit. Do you ever,

okay, this is a bit of a side. Do you guys ever have a moment just from like your childhood that like, it's really memorable and you're not really sure why. I remember being in a car once with my mom and like driving around north york or thornell or whatever and the valley road came on the yacht the radio and she turned it off and just very calmly said i fucking hate this song and like my mom doesn't really swear oh my god yeah okay yeah like a visceral reaction to the valley road

by bruce hornsby and the range and I'm still to this day not sure why. Maybe I'll ask her next time I see her. What's your beef with The Valley Road, mom? Okay, I'm going to play a little Valley Road. I just want to see if I know it. Hold on. Oh, my God. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. I know this song. Yeah, this is a good one. I know this song. Yeah. This is a good one. Okay. He had more than one hit. I apologize.

We've talked about this band before, I think in relation to like Tom Petty and Dire Straits, but if you ever want to know where the War on Drugs gets their sound from, I think the Valley Road might nail it better than any of the other 80s sound delights. This jam is from 1988. Bruce Hodgeby, baby. Dig deep, baby. We should actually like zoom my mom in and like sort of like Valley Road bomb her.

She thinks it sucks so much. Hey, mom, remember this? It's amazing how the name The Valley Road meant nothing to me, but of course that song I've heard. I'm telling you, you're going to know a few of your songs. Okay, okay. I'm going to go dive in later, but I got one more jam to go here. So one more jam

and again, the second appearance by an FOTM today. So let's hear it. Yet our best trained, best educated, educated best equipped best prepared troops refuse to fight matter of fact it's safe to say that they would rather switch than fight We'll be right back. Come on, Nicky John Come on, Nicky John 1989

That number, another summer Sound of the funky drummer Music hitting your heart Cause I know you got soul Brotherly system Listen if you're missing, y'all Swinging while I'm singing Giving what you're getting

Knowing what I'm knowing While the black band's sweating In the rhythm I'm rolling Gotta give us what we want gotta give us what we need our freedom of speech is freedom of death we got to fight the powers that be fight the power let me uh ask a question of you cam and stew uh can you think of a song that was better suited to a movie like where both were great but they were sort of like so perfectly suited for each other like i'm asking about fight the power and uh do the right thing like it just they just seem so ideal for each other and both fantastic yeah certainly uh it's hard to think of one without thinking of the other, for sure.

Yeah, I mean, I definitely gave Tribe Called Quest all these props for their affiliation with Spike Lee, but Public Enemy is really the one, is the real flag bearer. Fight the power, man. Still fighting the power. Chuck D, probably the most commercial commercially suggest the probably the most commercially successful political activist rapper of any of any i i can't think of another one yeah i don't know yeah like there's certainly nobody at that scale i'm trying to think of like

like krs1 but likeOne, but not with the impact. No, I would say the closest thing to a public enemy, and this might get me some points, or people might not like me for not saying this. Basement Dweller's going to... Yeah, see what he says about this.

I believe that while Public Enemy was laying down the brickwork on the East Coast, I think on the West Coast, NWA, although not as eloquent as Chuck D, NWA was sort of fighting the good fight on the West Coast.

Maybe a little bit more glorifying of gangster rap. A lot more. But, Fuck the Police is definitely an anthem that is a protest song. I almost picked it. Straight Outta Compton is another one of those, like, you know, so as much as Public Enemy

was dominating the charts, so to speak, with protest music, N.W.A. was also, is, I guess, my point. Were you... I'm a big N.W.A. fan, and those are great jams you mentioned there, but alongside those, you might have a song called To Kill a Hooker, where it's just completely cartoony gratuitous.

Sure, sure. So that's what I'm saying. You can't compare the two, because Chuck D was a one. He lived, breathed, he lived it, he breathed it. The messaging was everything, whereas NWA

was a little bit more all over the place. But I still say Fuck the Police is just as big of a fucking anthem as any other, but Fight the Power is a fucking classic. I was playing it off the top there, I could see Rosie Perez, you know, and

it felt like a hot day, and then again radio rahib uh playing this thing oh my god what a movie i can't believe that's from 1989 but what a song and what about i want to watch it again i do too actually i want to see it i want to see it again uh there's a lot of like g and carlo esposito is the guy uh is one of the guys in there there's a lot of interesting actors that show up in that thing. Interestingly enough, you know, a lot of us, a lot, I remember

9-1-1 is a joke was like their commercially successful kind of song. Another kind of protest song. And then I remember their controversial collaboration with Anthrax, which turned out to be a pretty interesting bridge for them

and got a whole sort of new audience opening their eyes to Public Enemy that never even considered themselves Public Enemy fans. I feel like with that song, though, almost from a commercial perspective, they started to go... I'm trying to remember what came out after that maybe he got game he got game we talked about but but don't forget don't forget guys i was

kind of an anthrax fan at the time too and uh don't forget they covered uh bring the noise on their album i think it was attack of the killer bees or something like that so so public enemy did that song with anthrax as a response to anthrax already having covered uh i think like scott ian was the guy that sort of brought that brought them all together the bass player was a huge public enemy fan yeah they were from new york too i feel like and they were they were a new york band so like they had that in common too run dmc for set a dj could, I'm trying to think of the lyrics. Music's for Eric B and LL as well.

Hell rap is for anthrax. Still they can rock well. Like this was a, you know, public enemy layer. So they were, there's a lot of back and forth with the public enemy and in anthrax. And that diamond one is a joke just before we leave that one. Cause you could have picked that one.

Sure. That was the first, I remember young Mike, cause I was, I listened to a lot of fucking public enemy a lot and i remember young mike having this epiphany this realization oh like 9-1-1 isn't the same in all neighborhoods like this whole like like i was totally being educated by uh i feel like we didn't have 9-1-1 in canada when that came out but you were sort of aware of it because you would hear it like... We definitely had 9-1-1 and we definitely had 4-1-1.

Was it a joke? We had 3-5-0-3-0-0-0. When do you think 9-1-1 showed up in Toronto? 9-1-1 was definitely around when we were kids. Did we have it in Cornell? I mean, Retro Ontario is posting 9-1-1. It was definitely around. But interestingly enough,

probably the most commercially successful song. 9-1-1 is a joke. And Chuck D doesn't rap on it. That's a Flavor Flav song. See, yes, you're right. Except I think Fight the Power is the most commercially successful. I would agree, man. Well, shall we look it up just to see?

Yeah, go ahead. And then now I'm thinking of other commercially successful songs. I guess so. Welcome to the Terror Dome wasn't a big top 40 hit or whatever. Brother's Gonna Work It Out was kind of a. Like Can't Trust. I feel like Can't Trust it was the album after Fight the Power. Yeah, that was Apocalypse 91.

The Enemy Strikes Black. Yeah, this can't be right, but it says Give It Up. Is their most commercially successful single in the United States. It could be like that last kiss Pearl Jam factoid. You never expect this curveball to be the number biggest. I feel like with a band like Public Enemy, we're talking about protest music. I don't think the Billboard charts.

No, I don't think the charts are important at all i was just pointing out that like the flavor flav song was the one that was on mtv all the time okay yes and you're right it was a massive hit you're right uh but i also believe that that song we just heard fight the power is probably their biggest mainstream hit is my uh feeling but you will we'll have to come up with the metrics for uh for next week mike am i imagining when you when you spoke to chuck backstage at beer fest you asked him about touring like across canada like in northern ontario so if i okay so i was told i had 20 minutes with my fucking idol chuck d okay they said you have 20 minutes yeah you know i'm used

to doing two and a half hours of tyler stew okay? They said, Mike, you got 20 minutes. I'm like, okay, I can't blow that 20 minutes asking him the question. Every freaking journalist in the world is asking him or whatever. I said, I got to do my Toronto Mike thing. So I focused heavy on, A, the Toronto rap scene. Remember DJ Ron Nelson and Maestro and Mishy and all that. And also I wanted to find out about, because I knew for a fact that DJ nelson brought him to toronto i wanted to find out about his touring small town ontario so i got chuck d to say things like sudbury like all these you know what i mean like yeah well like i feel like i met like people over the years who like saw some of those shows or like

just hearing people reference you know the fact they saw him in thunder bay or whatever it It's like, that's got to be a mistake, but it wasn't. It actually went. It wasn't a mistake. Interestingly enough, 9-1-1 is a joke reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart. Oh, rap singles, okay. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard bubbling under Hot 100 Singles, number 15 on the U.S. Billboard bubbling under Hot 100 singles, number 15 on the regular chart, whereas Fight the Power.

Where did that hit on the regular Billboard Hot 100? Neither song was programmed on the regular Hot 100 because racism. But you have Fight the Power number one on the US hot rap singles as well. And number 20 on the hip hop R&B Billboard chart. So maybe 9-1-1 is a joke is more commercially successful. I don't know. There's no sales of the single that I can find for 9-1-1 is a joke, but half a million units sold for Fight the Power.

So both songs. I like 9-1-1 is a joke though. It's a great jam, but not as important. This is the mode for Fight the Power. So both songs. I like 9-1-1. It's a joke, though. It's a great jam, but not as important. This is the most, that Fight the Power, we all agree, the most important Public Enemy song. Sure. 100%. And a really important episode of Pandemic Fridays.

I would say this was like the best suite of songs. Like some real classics. And I kept Levi Fumka and VP of Sales muted through the whole event and even Tim. Thank God. Are you taking a screenshot? Camera. Yes I am.

I always screw this up. And that brings us to the end of our 665th show. One away from the evil 666. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Stu Stone, you're at Stu Stone. Cam Stone you're at Stew Stone Cam you're at Cam underscore Gordon our friends at Great Lakes

Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer Palma Pasta they're at Palma Pasta Sticker U are at Sticker U the Kytner Group are at the Kytner Group CDN Technologies are at CDN Technologies and if you haven't done so already you're a bad FOTM.

Get yourself to garbage day.com slash Toronto Mike sign up. You can get garbage day alerts for SMS, email, or their app. See you all next week. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Rome Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.