Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Ralph Benmergui Returns: Toronto Mike'd #441

Episode Date: March 18, 2019

Mike catches up with Ralph Benmergui before he kicks out the jams.

Welcome to episode 441 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Propertyinthe6.com, Alma Pasta, Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair, Buckle, and Camp Turnasol. Buckle and Camp Turnasol I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week to kick out the jams is

television and radio personality writer and ordained spiritual director and a strategic advisor in political environmental and academic realms Ralph Ben MerMurgy. I actually have a sound effect for that, but that bio, did that bio sound familiar? I think I,

yeah, it's impressive. It's been, I've beefed it up since your first appearance. How you doing, buddy? I'm good. You? Good. If anybody wants to go back in time and listen to your first appearance, I have a note here. I want to tell people to go to episode 330. That's when Mike chats with Ralph Ben-Murray about his years at CKLN, CBC

Radio, hosting Midday and Friday Night with Ralph Ben-Murray on CBC Television, and doing mornings at Jazz FM. We talked about Mike McDonald, Stuart McClain, fatherhood, Hamilton, and your spirituality. Ooh. People enjoyed your first appearance.

Oh, good. What's new with you? Because Greg Porter is a fan of yours from the States. I saw that yesterday on Twitter. I asked, who wants to ask Ralph a question? And Greg chimed in and said, ask Ralph, where are you being, man? Well, yeah, see, so it's perfect because I have a book I'm writing and almost finished, but I'm kind of pausing

because there's a literary agent and he's trying to get some publisher to say they want it and I don't want to go finish it and have the publisher go, you know, I think you could. So I'm kind of waiting, but I'm about 50,000 words in. But the title is, I Thought He Was Dead. And I think maybe Greg Porter thought you were dead. Because when you're somebody who's been

public for a lot of your professional life then um if you don't do public things and i haven't mostly been doing public things for the last uh eight years or so uh people just assume uh you know oh like so you say hi to them and you can see it in their eyes they're thinking i thought he was dead that's funny right and other times people celebrities die as it were and people go wasn't he already dead like didn't he yeah yeah yeah is it or is he dead so it's just a question of whether you appear in front of people publicly that would confirm for them that you're alive which is why i'm here today well you're here to confirm that i'm still alive what did uh groucho mark say is that reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated is this what you're here to announce that you're

still here i thought that was mark twain he wasn't mark twain it might be those guys i get them uh well you know the story about Alfred Nobel. Tell me. So Alfred Nobel, who's known for the Nobel Peace Prize before that, and all of his Nobel Prizes that are handed out in Geneva, was a Swiss chemist who had invented TNT and felt horrible about some of this. and felt horrible about some of this.

But anyway, his brother had died, but they wrote in the obit that he had died. Oh, no. And when he read his obit, he saw that they were talking about the man who had invented dynamite, and how many people it had killed. And he thought, that's my life that's what i'm going to be remembered for so he got completely out of the blowing people up business and blowing

up and to be fair dynamite was also used in creating dams and all that sort of thing of course yeah but he just got out of it and decided that as a philanthropist that from then that point on he would create prizes of aspiration like peace and science and medicine and all of that. He had a rare opportunity to rewrite the first line in his obituary. That's right. That's right. And I do a spirituality workshop in aging into elderhood. And one of the first things I have people do is write their obituary. And, you know, it's an interesting thing to do to write your own obituary and

who you were related to, how you passed away, how old you were. Often you get people saying that they passed away peacefully in their sleep at 100. Then I asked them, what would it be like to be 100? So your spouse is dead. Most of your friends, if not all of them, are dead. Maybe even, God forbid, some of your children have passed away. And physically, 100 isn't for sissies. It's a tough age. Right. So what are you really saying?

Which is, I'd like to outrun death. Right. I think that's about it. I was wondering, when you, that's a very interesting exercise, because that does the same thing that Nobel had. But were you inspired by the story of Alfred Nobel or was it? Well, it's just, if you can't face that life has a finite limit, you don't take it as seriously.

You know, this isn't a rehearsal. You know, people who talk about, you know, when I retire, when I'm 72, I'm going to, this is it. Like, it could be tomorrow. It could be 20 minutes from now by mistake. It could be anything. So just cherish it, but also rehearse it a bit. Get through it. You know, just, we don't talk about it in this culture.

It doesn't exist. So bring it to the surface and have fun with it. Because there's no escaping it so it's uh and i get the sense that you're you're comfortable with the fact that one day you'll shed your mortal coil like that you're you're you're you're at peace with the fact that one day you will die is that fair or i don't know if i'm at peace i think about it i've been thinking about it since i was six and at the time i thought what kind of a cruel joke is this you give us this life and you take it away um but uh i just think it informs me

uh i i don't i have no idea how i'll actually deal with the the moments before uh i die some people do it really well really beautifully there's a great book by stephen jenkinson called die wise you check that out because it it really so one of his great lines is death is not a failure right because we see it as if i just done everything right this would never have happened So if you sort of get that out of your head, that it's about failing at something, right. Um, you know, people always ask about somebody, well, you know, he used to, he'd have a drink every once in a while. It was like, as if it's their fault that they died, you know? So we're all just doing our thing, trying to, trying to be our best. And you know,

you do this, right? You, you engage with people. I engage with people. I'm fascinated by interesting stories and people like yourself typically deliver. And that feeds me. And if I can find people out there who are craving the same thing, it seems like when people try this podcast and they like it, they like it a lot. And then they like hook it to my veins.

I need another hit of this. Uh, and then when I click with somebody or when somebody like yourself, for example, uh, I knew, I knew you from television and from radio, but when I spoke with you, uh, how long ago was it? I don't even know, but, uh, for episode three 30. So about a year ago, I guess, uh, I was struck by the spiritual side that i did not i wasn't expecting and it was it was almost like um i felt like almost like i was uh meeting with like some kind of a spiritual guide or something you know what i mean like uh the ordination i am a spiritual guide but you know guiding yourself is the hardest part right just think really am i is this me you know is this as good as i'm going to be and a part of that the wonderful part of that is being a father of four right which we spoke about

the first time because you know most of the time you suck at it you keep thinking no no i could do better than that right why was i just sarcastic with a nine-year-old so it's your youngest is nine nine nine nine and there's a big range. My oldest is 32. Right. Okay. And he's moving to Hamilton in about a month and a half. Yippee-yi-yo-ki-yay.

With two granddaughters in town. So where does he live now? Toronto. Toronto. Okay. So he moved to Hamilton. Like you did. And then, of course, we talked about this in the last episode, but you were, I saw you

in the Toronto Star talking about the Brooklyn, like you're now living in like Toronto's Brooklyn or whatever. And you're still happy in Hamilton. Yeah, we just had dinner on Saturday night, actually, with two old, three old friends, acting friends, or people from my old showbiz life, who are about my age, a little older, actually. And they've all moved to hamilton

and it was wonderful are they famous people like from your uh i'm just only because this is canadian show business that's that's the witness protection program right you can name someone and they've worked their whole life as a successful actor but nobody knows who they are let's see famous hamiltonians let's see. Stephen Brunt. Stephen Brunt. Jeff Blair. Jeff Blair. I just got off. Well, we were DMing each other. But Tom Wilson. Tom Wilson, who I see because he's the grandfather of a kid who goes to the same school as my kid. And I'm pointing here. No one can see us but you. But Tom Wilson.

He's got the most amazingly deep voice on earth. So this is kind of exciting. The reason we're chatting is because he wants to start a podcast. And I might be helping him with this. Oh, cool. That would start in April or May. But I think that Tom has two things. He's got the killer pipes, as you mentioned.

Like I could listen to him read the phone book. But he also tells a great story. Oh, yeah. Like, you combine those two. Like, you need to be broadcasting regularly. Yeah, I know. He's great.

He's amazing. In fact, just a little promo here. On Friday, Stephen Fearing is coming on the show. Ah! Speaking of Tom Wilson. So, yeah. I remember having Stephen Fearing on a episode of the

entertainers on cbc radio that i was hosting it's funny to hear people doing that same kind of work i was doing but from a different generation it's sort of like because i sort of it takes me back into that world and they just think oh that yeah well getting the audience to applaud here doing this there right you know it's it's a lovely thing that so many people do it in this country well i want to ask you about something you used to do that i've noticed you kind of doing a bit of it now and i have questions so i have questions you sound like my mother i have questions except she does it in spanish go ahead i'm i could try no uh jazz fm yes so you were how long were you the morning guy in jazz fm like six years six years uh but we okay so i without getting

into like the minutiae of it all there's a new board at jazz yes very exciting very exciting and and just raised great money i heard you beat the and you helped with the fundraising you bet i did uh and i was glad to do it and i was glad to help renew the station i hold nothing against uh people who try uh and those people who had come into the station were trying they were in my opinion doing things that just didn't make any sense. But, you know, it's a renewal issue. At a certain point, you need to renew and refresh. And, you know, the station, the people who are the members voted,

and it was a very close vote, 409 to 400 proxy votes. So that's about as close as it gets. It's like politics. Right. But once you've won, even if you won by nine, you've won. Right. But in this case,

we all went back on the air. People who'd been let go, James B., Heather Bambrick, Walter Vinafro. I had not been engaged with the station except to do some fill-in once in a while in the last few years. But we all went on, and we're supposed to raise 250 now the fundraiser before that they'd fallen short by 70 000 this fundraiser they uh shot past that by 75 000 so it's great because the station needs it

they need the the money to stabilize their situation and to get things going and to do good things and i think it's going to be hopefully the dawn of a a whole new age at jazz fm of uh the next generation of that station uh and god love everybody who who's given it their best shot up until now well you named some like friends of the show and fantastic people like james b and heather bambrick uh Just, I mean, yeah. The B-meister. When you came out to see me in the front, his dad had just sent me a list of 20 things you should do

as you get older. Terry. Well, right next to Tom Wilson's vinyl is Look People. Ah! So there's some James. First time I interviewed him was on, I think we may have talked about this, on CKLN. He came back from Switzerland

with a seven foot one guitarist named Longo High in tow. And I interviewed him on college radio. And that's how our friendship began. I was on a podcast he was doing a few months ago just to support him. I think it was a second guest or something. Just because I love James.

He's like a brother. He's fantastic. And it was the second guest or something. Just to, because I love James. Yeah. He's like a brother. He's fantastic. And he was the music guy on Friday night with Ralph Ben-Murgy. Second year. Yeah. When Mark Breslin took over the show from us. Oh, by the way,

Mark was on the show, was on this show within the last few weeks. I don't know, last month, I guess. But you guys listen to that. We talked about your show. Yeah.

Breslin came in, told a lot of great stories actually he's great he's great and he told us about how uh he was sure this young comic um jim carrey was going nowhere fast well jim didn't do well the first time through and he split i had him on um two friends of mine used to have this gig at the queensbury arms and it was the uh part of it was including the wet t-shirt contest, which was mortifying to do. Absolutely mortifying.

And more mortifying in that there were women who would do it. And I said, oh my God, what is going on here? But it was their gig. And, you know, it was 75 bucks for me and 75 bucks for whoever I could bring with me. So I brought Jim with me. And Jim had to be up there doing his bits. And he did like thalidomide Elvis, he did these horrible bits, right? He knows it. But he did this bit. So I said, you got to do bits, because I got to go into the audience to find people who want to be in this contest. And he bombed. Nobody liked him. Uh, and we drove home. He, he had the car.

It's why I asked him. He had, I think the Volkswagen Beetle. Uh, and, uh, we're just driving home like this sucks. This totally sucks.

But it's funny cause you know, last episode you were here, we talked about Mike McDonald. Uh, I think, I don't want to put words in your mouth. You can tell me if I'm wrong, but you said maybe one of the greatest standup comics.

Yeah, absolutely. You have a witness, right? He was, he was punk rock comedy. You can tell me if I'm wrong, but you said maybe one of the greatest stand-up comics you've ever witnessed, right? Yeah, absolutely. He was punk rock comedy. It's interesting how, and even Breslin, we talked about McDonald's, same thing.

So the comics all will say, you know, that Kerry guy was not very good. No, no. He wasn't very good for a little while. Sure, but the impersonation, okay, go on. So I did a documentary about Jim at one point for CBC, and what I realized in watching the trajectory of his career is that every time he got really good at something,

he threw it out the window, which is way more guts than most people have in the business. If I get it, I stick to it. Right. And he would, you know, as soon as he became a great mimic and a great impersonator, and he was opening for Dangerfield in Vegas and bringing his dad with him and all that. He just went, okay, this is not what I'm going to do for the rest of

my life and started from scratch and did stand up in LA and had to build an act and then in living color and then that brilliant characters that he could create. But Jim is fearless. That's the thing about him that made him who he was, is that he wasn't just fearless going for the joke. He was fearless in that if I've done this, I've done it. I'm not going to sit here being Rich Little for the rest of my life. God love Rich Little, but that's not what I want to end up as. So he had the guts.

He made the right call. Oh, absolutely. Well, but he didn't have to. He could have just ended up in Vegas with a permanent gig, making perfectly good money. To bring us back to Jazz FM, any chance you ever, you returned to the station? Like, could you?

I don't know. Did you board? Yeah, I don't know. We'll see. For me, I just want to help out. It's something I did that sort of got into my blood. I didn't come from, Oh, I'm a 900% jazz guy, but I love the musicians. I love the music. Uh, I love that Toronto has an all jazz 24 hour real jazz station. Uh, and, uh, you know, some of the people

who were there, Brad Barker, people, they're brothers, you know, it's a great thing and sisters. So, you know, for me, I just want to help. I just want to do what I can to help. Well, that's great. Congrats on the fundraising, uh, beating the target. Yeah. I always think of when you mentioned Walter and, uh, James, not James, actually, sorry,

uh, Heather Bambrick and Walter Vanafro. And of course they're with, uh with Garvia Bailey and Danny Elwell. Yeah. And their new venture is JazzCast. Yeah. In fact, Garvia is coming on, I don't know, next week. Oh, share that with me. I will, for sure.

I always, I mean, I said this straight up to Heather when she was on, but in the event that the board's replaced, which has happened, maybe they'd start bringing back some of these old personalities. You know, I think you have to blend the two. Like you're going to have to have some of the people doing what they were doing, but don't ignore the idea of renewal as well, right? And not everybody wants to do the same thing they were doing. So I think it's a question of trying to first you decide what

is the next vision of the station, then you decide who will get us there. Right, right. So, you know, people have to figure out for themselves, like, I work a lot in strategic communications and strategic planning with people. And what I realized is that most organizations or groups, and what I realize is that most organizations or groups, they just can't stop doing tactics. Well, let's do this. Let's do that. Let's do this. And then you go, wait a minute, why? What's your destination? Where do you want to end up? So if you know where you really truly have all decided is the place you want to end up, then you can reverse engineer and find a way to get there that works. But if you don't, you end up with a whole bunch of tactics, which really look great because it makes you look really busy, right? Right. You're operationally just, and those are the people that people hire.

They hire the operational people, the strategic people. they just think of as fuzzy wuzzies in the corner. But without that planning, you're really just going to chase your tail most of the time. So the station can't afford to chase its tail. Political parties can't afford to chase their tail. Once they get into legislatures and the House of Commons, often they get completely consumed by the tactical game. Oh, well, the premier said this. Well, we're going to respond with that. We're going to do this.

Okay, wait a minute. What are you asking people to pivot towards that's not on offer? So if they change something about the healthcare policy, what is it you want to say about what you believe your political party believes is the right attitude towards healthcare? Maybe this is a good chance for me to segue from Jazz FM to the Green Party. The Green Party.

The Green Party. You, I mean, you had great success, right? This is the first time there's been an MPP. I was the director of communications for the election campaign for Mike Schreiner and the Green Party of Ontario, and we had a ball. And I'll tell you something right now about, I've worked with politicians in the Liberal Party,

the NDP, and the Greens. So this isn't about, you know, this being a homer, as it were. Mike is the kind of person who you want in politics. There are other people where you think, you know, this is probably, you shouldn't probably do this very long. But he's truly a class act

and with really good vision and strength of character. And I was very happy when he won. The night before he won, we were all convinced it was going to be really squeaky close. And I kept thinking, oh my God, what if he loses by a hundred votes that'll suck and he got more votes in total than the next the liberal and the ndb combined so i don't know what the polling was supposed to be but it wasn't right well but again congratulations because that's unprecedented success for the green party in Ontario. Yeah. And it was done mostly because of what Mike and people like Becky Smith,

who work with him and all the people who've been around for the long haul. Nine years he put into that. Nine years to win that seat. So it was well-deserved. Are you still working for the Green Party? I consult. Okay. So I consult. Okay. So I consult for them.

They ask me to help frame policies and ideas. I have a question for you that's not a provincial question, but federal. But I have a question from a John who wants to know your thoughts on the SNC-Lavalin scandal. Yeah. So it's very interesting because what is a scandal in Canada

compared to what's going on in America is hilarious in terms of the stakes. But what I would say about what I've seen about the SNC-Lavalin case is not the issue itself, but the lack of transparency about politics as it's done. So if you were in any government on the legislature in Ontario or in the federal level or even in a, well, not in a city hall

because they don't have the same discipline, thank God. But if you had that, you would know that everything in politics is run by what they call the center. So if the center calls up the cabinet minister and says, we need you to make this announcement, and it could be about your ministry without you actually having had a consultation with them. Sometimes it is, it depends where you are in the pecking order.

But the centralization of power is the issue. The item of S&C Lavalin is an entirely different issue. You could argue they're not being let off the hook. They're going to have punitive damage. They should be all the way into a court and they shouldn't be allowed to do business in this country for 10 years afterwards. You can argue whatever you want. That's irrelevant to me. What's relevant,

and what people should really pay attention to, is the conservatives would be no different. The NDP would be no different. They're not going to do politics differently. And there's a really good new book out by George Monbiot, who writes for The Guardian, writes a lot on environmental issues, but he's got a good book called Out of the Wreckage. And that book really deals with the systemic issues of we're really, okay, so he says, the thing you need to do is create a story, a new story. So the first story out of World War II was the Keynesian economic story, which was the welfare state, how to take care of each other, how to make sure we lift all boats. In the 1980s, that was replaced by neoliberalism. Reagan, Thatcher, Milton Friedman, Hayek, the people who say the individual,

the one who will rise to the top is the winner, because that's what they're supposed to be. You're the loser, but that's okay. The winners will take care of you. And that's that story. And what it's led to is rampant individualism, right? Like everything is about get out of my way. So if you go door knocking as a political candidate, I'll knock on your door, and you have a young daughter, so you'll have all kinds of cares about education. And the person next to you will have no children and could care less about the school beside you.

They want something else. That's because we've been reduced to being taxpayers, customers, not citizens with obligations and duties and rights, just taxpayers with rights. So that individualism has led us into a state where in the United Kingdom, they've literally created the ministry of loneliness. It's literally a ministry. Interesting. And in mental health circles, the biggest epidemic is loneliness, that we're so living alone with our own, like, why would you share a lawnmower with 10 houses here, Why would you share a lawnmower with 10 houses here? Which makes perfect economic sense.

Just write on the sheet or on the Google Doc, I need it Tuesday at 9. I need it Sunday at 10. Absolutely. But we don't. No. Because that doesn't feed the system of consumption. It's funny.

We had a really icy winter, as you know. Yes. And I created a Facebook group just for people on this specific street we're on right now so just like a very smart and i suggested in the group like we all some of us all ran out of salt like the road salt right and it was really icy and i'm like why don't we have a for this street why don't we have this communal yeah salt system yeah you know what i mean because your lawnmower makes so much sense. And then, and things like, I mean, snowblower, like people sometimes do it with their neighbor

will share the cost of a snowblower. But that's another example, snowblower, salt. So what Monbiot's talking about is the recreation of the commons, of the common good, of the common space. And that we only way we can do that is to come together on the neighborhood and community and village and town level and city level to say, you know what, we will buy from the private developer that land and make it a common area we're really i'm really in a bit of despair about how the neo-liberal world has led

us into this really anxious lonely time as people it's not you know we have better uh unemployed so called better unemployment rates than we've had in in. But what's the campaign going to be about, the federal campaign? Do you realize how badly off you are? Do you realize how much better off you'd be if you had us? We're badly off. We're living individually by far, I'd say at least 70% of this population is living better than literally the medieval kings.

Literally. Heating, cooling, food, always available, transportation, cleanliness, health, you know, cancer care. And yet, we're humans. So whatever you get, you want a little bit more. So feeding greed is one thing. Feeding altruism is another.

I was at home before I came here, and I saw on Twitter two things from New Zealand from that horrible, horrible murder rampage that that man went on or whatever. And one of them was the prime minister of the country hugging. She was hugging these people who were sobbing on her shoulder instead of this ridiculously senseless lacking in compassion malignant narcissist that passes as a president of the united states who doesn't even know how to feel for people has no at god has no clue how to do it and this woman did that and then students two of the kids who'd been murdered high school kids their classmates were at the back of the crowd and they broke into the maori

chant you know the fierceness and i was just it was everything i could do to not just burst into tears i was just breathing so heavily just watching them with this passion that's what human beings are we're not just a bunch of grubby graspy people if you if you guide us that way that'll be what comes out of us it's like constantly pushing someone to be bad eventually they will be i should remind the listeners we're actually going to kick out the jams so i hope you're comfy because this all right let's let's but let's do the music. But soon. But this is not one of your jams, but I did load this up because... A little

Pulp Fiction to warm us up here. Everybody be cool! This is a robbery! Any of you fucking pricks move! And I'll execute every motherfucking last one of you! Ralph, do you know why I'm playing Dick Dale? No.

Passed away yesterday. Oh, really? And apparently he's the, I'm told by those smarter than I that he essentially invented this surf guitar sound that made this Miraslu. I never know how to say this word because there's no lyrics in this song. But Miraslu, this is his big hit and this was all over Pulp Fiction

and therefore had a big resurgence in the 90s so I thought we'd just say thank Dick Dale for his contributions to surf, rock, and this great jam right here. Dick Dale.

And I want to give you some gifts. I have in front of you a six-pack of beer from Great Lakes Brewery. You got a six-pack last time you were here. I still have two of them. Because their claim to fame is the freshness. Because I wait for people to come over. Oh, I see. It's nothing personal.

I'm just not a beer guy. You're not a beer guy. No, but when people come over, I go, I've got good beer for you. And they love it. So it's great. Well, now you've got eight. Because you've got two still. See?

And you've got some more visitors there. It's going to last for years. Decades. The, of course, Great Lakes Brewery, fiercely independent. 99.9% of their beer remains here in Ontario. And it's always fresh unless you go to Ralph's house, and then it's not as fresh. But at least you got six fresh ones here.

Is that a thing? Does beer go stale? Yeah, apparently it's a thing. It's definitely like a source of pride for the Great Lakes brewery guys. It's fresh. Yeah. They'll point to the date and be like, this thing was canned eight days ago,

and this is like amazing. Not like wine. No. This is from 1942 it's the opposite with wine you know this was this was corked eight days ago what's that called when you have uh in the spring they put out a wine that's oh i don't know yeah yeah it's a very new version of a wine i can't remember i can't i. I've got to plead ignorance on the wine stuff. This is an opportunity for me to tell

the listeners and yourself, Ralph, if you can make the trek on June 27 from 6pm to 9pm. We're having a Toronto Mic'd listener experience on the patio of Great Lakes Beer, which is in Southern, it's near like Royal York in Queensway. So we have

a great band. We have a couple of bands lined up. The Royal York in Queensway. So we have a great band. We have a couple of bands lined up. The Royal Pains will return. They'll be opening. But closing, and this is, again, a free get-together. There's no cover charge. In fact, your first beer is on the house. Lowest of the Low are going to play.

Lowest of the Low. Yes. Lowest of the Low. Low of the Galway. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ron Hawkins is a, I guess a lot of rock stars in Canada are goaltenders. Ron McLean pointed this out. And then I started to realize it like, because I think Ron Hawkins plays net.

It's like most baseball managers are catchers. Right. Because they see the big picture. That's exactly right. That's right. So please join us June 27th at Great Lakes Brewery. There's also a lasagna in front of you. Don't cry for me, lasagna.

That's a meat lasagna because you wanted, your kids like the meat lasagna. Yeah, I'm a vegetarian, so I'll watch them eat it. You can watch them enjoy it. And that's courtesy of Palma Pasta. They'll love it. It's amazing. And there'll be leftovers too.

You'll get a, yeah, it's a big one. Saw it in half and put half in the freezer for later. They're at palmapasta.com to find a location near you, but they're in Mississauga and Oakville. And the, I always recommend people check out Palma's Kitchen, which is near, I'm going to say that's near Burnhamthorpe and Mavis. It's around there.

But the exact address, again, palmapasta.com. I was there last week, bumped into a listener who saw me there and said hi. And it was, again, best Italian food you're going to find in the GTA. So go to palmapasta.com. How do you feel when somebody recognizes you? I'm actually getting used to it.

It's funny because who am I to be recognized except it's happening like on a regular basis. So now it's regular. How do you feel about that? It's not at a point where it's at all annoying or negative. Like I'm always kind of, it's kind of exciting and I'm happy to meet listeners. And it's like an opportunity to kind of, hey, how do you listen? How long you listened? Thank you for listening. Like, so it's at, it's at that level where this is a level

of a new level of fame, like this C-list internet celebrity or whatever, where it's, it's not annoying at all. It's kind of neat. Like, I like it when people come up and say, Hey, I just wanted to say hi, I listened to Toronto Mic'd. And then I get to kind of thank them and chat them up a bit. I dig it. So then there's this next one, which is you're in the middle of duking it out with your daughter in a shopper's drug mart

about something. And people go, that's him? Ew, gross. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Picking your nose in an airport. This is where it gets ugly. You're not as anonymous as you.

Yeah, exactly. Well, then you're not anonymous. At all. And people sort of whisper as they walk by you, which is not this is where it gets ugly you're not as anonymous as you yeah exactly well then you're not anonymous at all people and people sort of whisper as they walk by you which is really well the funny thing is it's uh this gentleman who uh recognized me at the palm of pasta he was all he's he lives in regent park and he was only there because he heard about them on toronto might cool so it was like i went to kindergarten in Regent Park. And yeah. It wasn't what it is now. I'll tell you. Oh yeah. Well they.

Yeah. You're right. The. Yeah. It wasn't that. Completely. We had a townhouse though which was. Cool.

Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool. I have a. There's another newsworthy event that happened yesterday. But I'm going to let Brian introduce it. And then we'll chat briefly about it. But this is Brian Gerstein.

He's a real estate sales representative with PSR Brokerage. Here's Brian. Hi, Ralph. Brian Gerstein here, sales representative with PSR Brokerage and proud sponsor of Toronto Mike. March break is over. The weather will improve. Trust me, it will. And the spring market will be ready to take off. Now is the time to contact me for a free home evaluation if you are considering selling your home. Of course, you can also call or text me at 416-873-0292 if you are interested in the Galleria Mall

condo redevelopment this spring. Ralph, yesterday Bianca Andreescu won the biggest tournament ever by a Canadian tennis player, either male or female, at Indian Wells. My wife and I screamed in delight when she won, as she showed an incredible amount of skill and grit to overcome her physical ailments. Did you watch the match? And even if not, how cool is it to see so many Canadian teenagers perform so well on the world stage are you a tennis fan okay so this is yes but i we don't have cable so i don't watch stuff so last night yesterday on twitter it appeared before me the live feed so i watched

the match because I was very interested in her I just written a piece about her in the globe so I was very interested in uh watching her and uh I found myself remembering that when I watch tennis I get upset with every point it's like advantage rescue is like oh great and advantage curber it's like what what so i actually after this the second set i knew she was going to get beat so i stopped watching thinking i i can't watch this anymore and then uh later on that night saw that she she'd won the third set so i went back to that same feed and watched the last set so it was very exciting i love her story they came from romania they went back and forth from romania to toronto to mississauga uh over the years and then finally just stayed in

canada but 18 year old singleton a single child and uh what a story and canadian tennis changed its approach a few years back and decided to pick its winners and really concentrate on them. And it's paying off. Miloš Raonic, like there's just so many great players coming out of Canada. So it's wonderful. It's wonderful to see. Felix, Chapo. Yeah.

Of course, Pospisil. Yeah. Still going. And of course, this new development, which is really exciting because we have something on the female side as well. Bibi is what she goes by, Bibi. But Bianca Andreescu. I watched the match on Twitter, and it was enthralling.

At every point, it was like it was a Wimbledon final. I was so into this. It was a grand slam. You see that part where you can hear the coaches talking to them? And you know what was really smart on the part of the broadcast? Kluber, in German, her coach was speaking to her. She's German. And they left it.

They didn't try to fix it. They didn't try to say, well, they're talking right now. They just left it because even though you didn't speak German, you could completely understand what was going on because she was getting very frustrated. And basically, I could figure out that she was saying what am i supposed to do to beat this kid i can't seem to do anything that was and then she got out there and won the next set it was that was that was like the the turning point uh and you're right she was like my feet are burning she gets to everything but i want this so bad uh this was of course the canadian uh speaking in english

um and and the coach was like use that and then that was like right after that she broke uh kerber yeah and then i think the next time she broke her again and then she got broken herself but then she came she kept coming back and it was super exciting so it's just cramps and you know she's young and she's not used to going this deep into tournaments with people of this caliber. So very exciting, very exciting. So thank you, Brian, for the Brian Loves His Tennis. It's a fluke that I knew that. And I watched it on Twitter, too,

like you did before you, you know, bailed and then came back. But that's okay. Why would you put quotation marks you probably had better things to do that's right no i i just thought i i've been getting too upset i didn't have better things to do all right i uh i don't watch the leafs anymore well that would not because i'm getting too upset i just find hockey doesn't hold my interest anymore. Will you return for the playoffs when the stakes are higher? Maybe.

Really, over the last seven years, I morphed out of hockey. Part of it because of the atrocious performance of the Leafs for decades. And, you know, I don't care anymore. But also the game, I don't find that interesting. They're still playing in too small an arena. Should be international sized for skills to really rise to the very top

because you've got a band box with 6'6 guys and 6'2 guys smashing into each other every 14 feet at most. So to me, baseball's become the thing I really, really enjoy. And I like the Raptors, but baseball's really, to me, sort of a zen sport i dig it it's got no clock although they're trying to introduce clocks to parts of it i noticed but not what they should get rid of is the shift i actually okay so i record a podcast with mark hebshire he was actually here just before you got here and this this morning we recorded an episode

of hebsey on sports and apparently when uh a Aaron Judge was up for the Yankees, we put four outfielders out there. Right. And Bryce Harper. Yeah. And I was talking about how, like when I was a kid growing up, you could literally hear from the sound of the bat,

that's a base hit. You know, that's a base hit. But nowadays there's a guy there. I just think that you should have to defensively have a certain discipline. Mild shifting over. Right. But this idea that everybody goes to one side of the like you take the third basement out you stick them basically it sucks i'm with you i mean if i was a manager i'd have bunting practice every day uh until everybody on the team could just lay down a butt that nobody could get to

on the third base side or the first base side and make a mockery of the whole shift i just think you got to hit it where they ain't not i tend to hit it it's the info matrix part of baseball that is like come on man like it's an acoustic sport it's kind of folk music for sports you're right relax into it and i agree if you uh no shift i i mean it just takes a lot of the yeah it's joy out of the game yeah yeah i mean if you if you're if you can get past those guys god love you you know now we're going to kick out the jams any minute now but uh last time you're on uh i got a tweet right after i posted the episode and somebody was like and i wrote down the tweet i have no idea who wrote this but it said uh any talk of the infamous John Candy CBC promo?

And I actually, can you speak to this? Sure. They were asking different people to promote Friday night, the first season, right? They had a big budget for the promotion of it. had a big budget for the promotion of it and uh john was supposed to be hosting the genie awards at the time the which are now amalgamated with the tv awards but he was supposed to be hosting the genies and he came in and they asked him to do a promo for me uh and he made fun of my name and he go bamongi babugi what is this guy beringi

um so they had fun with that but that wasn't the thing that got trouble the thing that got trouble was i think they gave him a script that talked about him being large a large a huge talent right right uh john candy's going to be hosting the genies. He's a huge talent. And he went ballistic apparently and said, I'm out. I'm not hosting your stupid show. And you're making fun of my weight and go away. And he was gone. And I think they asked me to do it.

And I said, no, we're trying to get this show to work, which clearly didn't happen. We covered that in the last episode. Yeah, so I just said, we're trying to get this show to work. I can't host this show. I'd hosted The Geminis the year before that with Cynthia Dale,

who's back on TV. I was going to say, everything old is new again. They should bring back Friday Night with Ralph Ben-Murray. You know what's weird is they show clips. They showed one for Sarah McLachlan and me together last week just before the Junos, and I cringe at me because of the costuming. It was the 90s.

Yeah, it's just like, oh my, the hair, it's just like, oh my God, please get me out of here. But I like seeing the old clips because the whole point of the show was Canadian talent, so I'm happy about that. Canadian talent, John Candy, of course, great Canadian talent. Now, because I knew I was going to ask you that question and John was going to be, we were going to talk about John, Retro Ontario, his name's Ed Conroy.

He comes on periodically and we talk about like, you know, Canadian media superstars like yourself and John Candy. And he's uncovered a clip of John Candy on a TV show. It was a TV Ontario show in the 70s. And this clip is from 1974. I'll just play a bit. Was it called The Comedy Shop? No, it was called Cucumber.

That was the name of the show? The show was called, it was a kid's show. Oh. 1974, called Cucumber. And here's a little bit of it from ed retro ontario conroy oh poor moose this is serious oh who in the world are we gonna get to help us what's that oh now the wind's after me. What is it? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it the... It's Weatherman.

Mind if I stand till it stops raining? Oh, boy, am I glad to see you. Hey, listen, do you know anything about the weather? Well, my name isn't Tomato Man. It's Weatherman. Of course I know about weather. Oh, good. Look, maybe you can help my friend over there. Uh, hello, whoever you are. But I'm not budging from this spot. So this is Cucumber. And I think the video shows, I think he's a beaver.

I think like John's a giant beaver or something like that. But this is from 1974. If you're wondering where John got his television start, it was on Cucumber. It's funny because you mentioned TVO, and I thought a stand-up, so when we started a stand-up, there was a gig on TVO, the comedy shop, and it was literally, I think, my second or third time doing stand-up, I was on the show because they needed comics.

There weren't any. And you had to rehearse before the show, so you had to do your act. Now, that really is not a good idea, to do your act to an empty room of disinterested camera people and sound technicians who won't laugh at anything you're doing because they're busy getting ready for the show. But yeah, the comedy shop.

We'll have to get Ed Conroy to dig up some clips of the comedy shop. I'll get on that. I'll get on that. Ralph, remind me, do your children, do they go to French immersion? One does. One does.

Okay. There is a fantastic French camp in the GTA. So if you are a parent or a grandparent, listen up. Camp Ternasol. They've been offering French camps for children in the GTA since 2001. There's 15 campuses across the GTA. There's several overnight programs.

They're the largest French camp in the province. So go to campt.ca to learn about their French camps for children ages 4 to 15. And when you sign up your child for a Camp Tournesol French Camp, use the promo code Mike2019. So Mike2019. And you'll save $20 on your first order. So thank you, Camp Tournesol,

for returning. They were sponsors last year and they've come back because it worked for them. So if you're interested in sponsoring Toronto Mic'd, give me a shout. That's a little Nana Muscuri.

I don't know if you've ever seen Nana Muscuri. Great glasses. That's all I think about when I think of Nana Muscuri. Great glasses. Great glasses. Let's go back in time with one more song and then we're going to get to your jam. I've been teasing that you're kicking out the jams.

I know. I love that. I know. I love that. I know. It's coming now. I want to see how good your memory is here. On this day, 50 years ago, so exactly 50 years ago today, this was the

number one song on the Billboard Hot 100. Just let me know when you recognize this song Yeah, and I knew it was Dizzy right away But you didn't have the courage to No, I did not have the courage Just in case Sing it Ralphie Who's singing Dizzy

Besides yourself I don't know Tommy Rowe Oh Tommy Rowe. Oh, Tommy Rowe. That's right. You know, I don't remember 50 years ago, and this song seems to have been lost to time. I don't hear it when you hear great golden oldies.

Well, you know what? Canadian golden oldies suck. You go to the United States. No. You go to the United States. No, you go to the United States. No, I don't mean our music. Just the format sucks. You go to the States and you hear golden oldies. Like, now this is golden oldies.

It's fantastic stuff. So, yeah, this was a great song. I used to love this song. I used to sing it when I was walking to school. Dizzy. Tommy Rowe. 50 years ago today. Or this week, i should say remember the time ralph

is brought to you by fast time watch and jewelry repair they've been doing quality watch and jewelry repairs for over 30 years you might remember they had watch repair outlets in sears canada stores and then sears left the country these guys decided to pick themselves off the mat with their 30 years experience. I like the sound effects. They opened up some new locations. They have a new one in Richmond Hill. If you go to FastTimeWatchRepair.com you can find a location near you.

If you want to get 15% off any regular price watch battery installation, just let them know you heard about them on Toronto Mike. They'll give you the 15% off. It's a great deal. Apparently they don't do this for anybody, but they're doing it for me. That's because I drive a hard bargain. So I had

a Swatch my wife gave me that I loved. I took it back to the Swatch people at Yorkdale in the little kiosk thing, and they said, that's it. What do you mean that's it? You can't take the battery out. It's finished. You built a watch that I can't actually sustain? So, Swatch?

You know, that sounds like something Apple would do. Yes, exactly. Nonsense. I mean, how do we put up with this crap? Great question. No, seriously. I mean, they've got us, you know, pulling us around by the hairs, and it's just unbelievable.

I'm sorry, we don't replace the batteries on Apple products. We just make sure they die so that you have to buy the next Apple product, and you're never really going to be enough because you don't have the right Apple product. There's revenue on every three months. I'm recording on Apple product, but it's the only Apple product I own. I have an Apple computer computer but i still completely resent this you know gaming of our lives to continually suck us dry for money it just it's awful it's awful it should be a disposable world and uh well it's not cool

you're talking to a green guy i mean this is a real unbelievable, like the kind of stunned consumption trance that we're in. It's just too much. By the way, Green Guy, there's a new camp for Camp Tournesol. I didn't mention it, but it's out of concern for the environment. It's called Love My Planet. Nice. And it's like an eco-friendly educational French camp. C'est beau, c'est beau.

C'est beau.alph are you ready yes kick out the jams christ yes Isn't it rich Are we a pair me here at last on the ground you in midair where are the clouds

isn't it bliss? Don't you approve? One who keeps tearing around One who can't move Where are the clouds? There ought to be clouds

Just when I'd start opening doors Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours Making my entrance again with my usual flair

Sure of my lies No one is there Judy Collins, Send in the Clowns Stephen Sondheim Why do you love this song? Don't you love us? Listen to this line. I fear

I thought that you'd want what I want Listen to this line. See, it's just, it's a beautiful song. The clouds. Don't bother their ears. Come on, what's not to love? It's clown, the clown image, the clown metaphor is such a rich and beautiful one, right? It's just sorrow and joy. Out of sorrow comes joy, you know, that tear of a clown. So in high school, in my

yearbook, after many years of presenting myself in a certain way, I wrote, I'm sick of being the class clown. You run out of jokes after a while. And people looked at me like, what? What? I don't get that. I was just like, well, I get that. So it's a way of surviving. It's a way of coping, right? To take the stories of your life

that could be just as easily ones of tears and make people laugh, really laugh listening to them. Lovely thing. Maybe next year. Now they're not my jams, but do you want to know what I think of when I hear Send in the Clowns? When Krusty the Clown on The Simpsons. What? Sideshow Mel sang a version of this song to Krusty.

Sideshow Bob? No, it was Sideshow Mel. Oh, Sideshow Mel. Because he had the bone in his head. Do you remember Sideshow Mel?usty. Sideshow Bob? No, it was Sideshow Mel. Because he had the bone in his head. Do you remember Sideshow Mel? No, not Sideshow Bob. I don't know. Kelsey Grammer does a great Sideshow Bob. Yeah, you knew him in band. Bone by the multiple clown.

Anyways, I'm already here. It was actually just like, that's when I first learned about this song and then I kind of then discovered the source. But that's true for me and a lot of like famous pop culture references where I learned I saw it on the Simpsons being sat satirized and then I would go back and discover the source material like it happened with lots of like and I'm lucky enough to heard it the first time through and I'm lucky enough that uh I get to I have to leave the soundboard to play your next jam because my soundboard has a 10-minute cap on files,

and this song is actually, I hope you've got some great stories for this jam because it's like 11 minutes long. Wow. Oh, I know what this one is, I think. Yeah, let me get it for us. I have it set up here, okay. Does it have a piano in it?

There it is. It starts quiet, but it's... Feel free to tell me any and all stories during this one. I want to hear about... This is Stevie Winwood's band, Traffic. Some good saxophone and it's The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys

listen to those congas in the background so this floats along for about 10, 11 minutes. And I was a camp counselor. And this other counselor and I would go to the cabins at night and sing songs for the kids. The kids were all 14 and 13, 14 and 15. It was a senior camp, right? So these were not little toddlers. These were kids feeling their oats. So we had to keep them in their cabins because they were starting to run

around trying to find each other, which was getting a little ugly. lovely. So he used to play on guitar these chords, and I would sing this song for him. Right? Right? Then it kicks into its chorus. And the thing that you're hearing Is only the sound of the love spark

High heel boys Was there a radio-friendly edit of this song? I think so, but remember, I grew up with FM, right? Where you actually were allowed to play music. Right. So bands made... What was your station? Like Chum FM? What was your station? Chum FM, yeah.

The album-oriented? Yeah. All those guys. Pete and Geetz was... Yeah, that was... I liked the late-night FM, and when Ross Porter and I those guys. Pete and Geetz was, uh, no, that was, yeah, that was like, I liked the late night FM. And when,

uh, Ross Porter and I did a show called nightlines in Winnipeg, um, we really tried to create that free flowing FM vibe of playing any music you wanted and just letting it flow into sets of music, as opposed to the format for the sales guys in the demographic we were just playing music that's a very marsden thing right like um well he was the fastest talking dj on am radio when he was dave mickey that's right and then he became dave marsden

easy dave pritchard was also on the radio. And all these guys were just fantastic. Wish there were more women, but at the time that's not how we did it. But I would just lie there in bed and listen to this stuff and just think, fantastic. And Traffic was a great band. They did John Barleycorn Must Die, which is a great album. And they did this one, Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. So it's just a jazzy riff. But you

back to the camp story though. So we would sing for the kids. We'd go to the girls' cabins so that the boys couldn't run into the girls' cabins at night and serenade them for a while and then move to the next cabin. It was a way of doing surveillance but entertaining them at the same time.

Yeah, yeah. So this became sort of a camp song that summer, which is not your typical camp song, right? It'd be like walking in and singing Steely Dan around a campfire. Yeah. As Steve Schuster used to say. Not the most friendly music for a campfire. That's right.

And the things that disturb you Not the most friendly music for a campfire. That's right. The percent that you're paying is too high price While you're living beyond all your means And the man in the suit has just bought a new car From the properties made on your greens But today you just spread that demand with shopping Do you remember what year this came out? Well, when I was a counselor, I must have been around 17, 18. So early 70s. 1971.

Yeah. Very good. Tell me, can you look a little more? I'm just before my time, 1971. And I'm curious about the radio landscape for somebody like yourself. So there's no, is there a Q107 yet or no, not yet? Q107, not yet. I remember listening to the first day of Q107.

I just had a minor operation and had a major painkiller, which I'd never experienced before. And I was lying there on this bed thinking, oh, it feels so good. And it was Q107's first day. But I would say then I was about a few years later. Well, mid-70s, I'd say. 75, maybe?

It's funny, I just had Ted Wallach in here. Oh yeah, he would have told you. Yeah, and I can't remember. I think late 70s. Because once it's before your time, sometimes you forget how... Walsh was doing stand-up. Yes, and he went and... Yeah, 519 Church Street.

519 Church. He was one of the original stand-ups, and he was hilarious. Somebody sent me, and I didn't load it up, but somebody ripped their cassette to MP3 to let me hear some Ted Walsh stand-up. Oh, fantastic. Yeah, and I have it, and I can play it. Driving down the highway,

and I'm looking up, and there's a sign that says, Jesus is coming. Call Bill. Who the hell is Bill? The clip I did listen to was very heavy on Ukrainian humor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like memories of Ukrainian camp and stuff like that. It was great.

And he did get a Juno nomination. For a comedy album? For a comedy album. That's fantastic. Yes. But who else was there? Oh, yeah, the other gentleman who's been on the show, who's from day one of Q107, is John Donabee.

I reached out to John to ask if he would come and do some fundraising with me on jazz, but he was out of town. Couldn't do it. Since he left CIUT, he's been, his wife and him

have been traveling quite a bit. That's what I understand. One of the great broadcasters of this generation, no doubt about it. For sure. So if you, your album,

I mean, pre-Q107, if you wanted to hear something like this, I guess it's Chum FM, right? Chum FM and, you know, really vinyl culture was huge, right? Like your friends would tell you, go this way, go that way. So, you know, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Neil Young's first album. I mean, it was so exciting. The music was so, Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced? when I was in public school. I mean, it was just crazy what was going on. The Beatles' last album, 1970, you know. But it was... Yes, it was highly corporate,

but it hadn't become a blister yet that was popped, you know, so that what ends up in the next part of the 70s is the studio sound, you know, so that what ends up in the next part of the 70s is the studio sound, you know, the toto, poco, Kansas kind of stuff that starts happening, which punk then says, screw that, you know, let's, who cares if I know how to play this thing?

Let's just thrash away on this thing. It makes noise. Right, and that's like... You have to do that once in a while. You have to stop the money machine of the music. music right now i'd hate to be a professional musician because of the absolute tyranny the slavery of it you know how many streams you need of something to make 50 bucks is just obscene oh i know when that's i'm never i'm always floored when i have a professional musician on and they tell me what they make from streaming.

Try being a jazz musician. Oh, yeah. Those guys get it. So all their revenue, I guess, comes from live gigs? That's it. Yeah. That's it. You've got to be on the road and you've got to sell.

If you're big, all your money comes from merchandise. Is that why, I guess that's why so many such artists end up in Hamilton? Is that why, I guess that's why so many such artists end up in Hamilton? Well, you know, the people who, look, it used to be Queen and Spadina. Then it was Soho area, which is, the Rivoli is now, used to be the Soho. And, no, but none of us had any money. Everybody was just scarfing free sandwiches in the kitchen of wherever we were playing. But then it moved to Queen West, and then Queen West West, Queen West West West, and now it's Hamilton.

It just moved all the way out. Logical extension was get the next city. Yeah, that move from Parkdale to Hamilton was the big jump, right? Because artists are the ones who animate and create, right? A vibrant community of people who then gentrify them out of their own creation. It's kind of

ironic. What happens when Hamilton becomes... A friend of mine lives in Oshawa and he says Hamilton wants to become Toronto and Oshawa just wants to become Hamilton. Right. That's right. But Hamilton's a great city.

Yeah, it's cool. It's got a cool vibe to it. There's a hell of a lot of people from Toronto that have moved to Hamilton in the last five years and there'll be more because this city is my hometown, Toronto, but it is not

sustainable in its present form. One guy who's coming in in a couple of weeks who did the opposite is Damien Cox, who now lives in Etobicoke. And used to live? In Hamilton. Did he really? Yeah. Gotta talk to that boy.

Damien's coming in soon, I think. We've never met. He's a big tennis guy. I gotta get his take on that. He seems like a robust fellow. Well, he's been on, he's been on, he kicked out the jams too.

So he's been, I think he's been on three times and he's making his fourth appearance. But I will admit with Damien, the first time it was a little chilly. Like I wasn't sure he was digging it. And the second time, a little warmer. Third time, okay, he seems, he keeps coming back. So I know what you're going to say.

Pay attention. Yeah. He didn't say no. That's right. I'm harder to find. That's right. That's right. That's right.

We have a longer drive. You know, Damien's just a little north of here. Now he is. Okay. Traffic. There it is. It's over. Oh my goodness. So now I get to return to my soundboard. Now he is. Okay, traffic. There it is. It's over. Oh, my goodness.

So now I get to return to my soundboard. This is how the sausage is made. Let's kick out another jam. Okay, let's do it. It's a short nine-minute jam. Sorry, it's how I roll. Just tap your head if you need a bathroom break. Thanks. Are you going to introduce this song to me?

Go ahead. This is Miles Davis, So What. From the album? The biggest selling jazz album of all time. Is this, I'm going to butcher, it's not Bitches Brew. No. It's Blue. Kind of Blue.

Kind of Blue. This is after the birth of the cool. We go to this. And you remember, we're getting out of bebop, which is really

jumpy. And this guy gets it. First take. Eight, I think 78 songs on Kind of Blue are one take. Just gave everybody the music. Wow. And these are some, there we go. So there's him.

You've got John Coltrane as well. Paul Chambers. I mean, this is... When he breaks into his first league, he's just a genius. Miles Davis is genius. hear the breath and the trumpet and soft approach I would listen to a radio show where we hear a song like this, and yourself, actually, let's be very specific, you do, like like talk over it telling us things like that like just educating so that we could kind of like robert harris does

this with michael enright on cbc radio he just talks about music as it's playing he's brilliant so listen to this it's just so good evans on piano see with jazz sometimes the best thing to do is to attach yourself to one of the instruments for a period of time and just follow it. Just stay with the piano, stay with the bass. Blues march, right? I invited Michael Enright on this show and he told me he was too busy. Aww.

I know. I'll guilt trip you. Do it. He does the best current affairs show on radio in this country, period. And Anna Maria Tremonti does the next best. as the next best. Also, if I may,

introduce the listeners to the fact that we're not alone in this room. We're not. Tell us who's also been in this room since... This is Maisie. Hi, honey. Hi, honey.

Maisie's my mini golden doodle. She's a lovely little girl. Well, she's very quiet, so she's ideal for a podcast. Yeah, she's a sweetheart. I forgot she was there. She's asking right now, how the hell long is this thing? You didn't warn her?

I could get a pup tent. Just lie down and sing. Now you're hearing Coltrane. So they were just giving their sides, their music. And it was just like, guys, on one. And everybody was in. And I think that this is the largest selling jazz album in history. And seven of the eight songs are one take.

One take. It's amazing. Everybody in the room. See, if you want jazz to make sense all the time and you're trying to be rational, leave the room. Just, you have to make yourself available to what's being done.

Like, listen to Coltrane. rhythm section behind them just keeping you moving through the whole piece right it's a brilliant song the whole album is brilliant... Listen to that bass, right? It drives you right through the song. Was it tough to choose which Miles Davis song to play today? Oh, sure. You could do Freddie Free, the literary softlinks. Miles Davis is in a world of his own. It's like Frank Sinatra in jazz vocals.

A lot of guys have spent their lives trying to sound like Frank Sinatra. Like Frank's friend. Nina Simone. Same thing. You can try all you want. Just be authentic because that's Nina. great doc on her on netflix i was actually i was gonna jump in and say that yeah uh whatever happened to dina simone

yeah it's excellent heavy mental illness use of relationship and like a small club in paris or whatever yeah walk in and there she is uh well because in america we've been held to be a black performer there used to be a lot of black performers in America, we've been held to be a black performer. There used to be a lot of black performers in America that came to Canada to be on TV shows because they weren't allowed on the TV shows in America. So that's the kind of nonsense that they had to cut through every day.

There's so many good jazz musicians in this town, too. Really talented. Would you give a little love to some? Like a name drop? Mike Downs. Last album was fantastic. Bass player. Colleen Allen on saxophone. Larnell Lewis on drums and composer.

I can't actually... I'm not being disingenuous, George Kohler on bass. Just the amount of people who are so unbelievably talented, it'd be a crime to try to mention them. Bill McBurney on flute, you know. So many good people doing so much.

Mike Murley on sax. Good maritime boy. Da-da. So now we move the song to the next level. Mr. Evans on the piano. Adrian Ferrucci on piano, who lives in Hamilton. Some good jazz artists up in Hamilton. Sophia Perlman on vocals. Barbara Lika. See, with jazz, you need good speakers.

I feel cooler just listening to this for what it's worth. Yeah, there are lots of people who just, jazz is hard for them. They don't like it. But those are people who are looking for a verse, chorus, verse. They're looking for things that make sense.

Right. A structure, a predictable structure, if you will. I've got to take her outside. She needs to pee. I'll tell you what. Do that, and I'll pause us right after this song, and then we'll pick it up with your next jam. When she does a little cry, it means she's going,

hey, Dad, seriously, honestly, just for a minute. Intermission. We'll be right back. Dog bio break. Thank you. This is Cora Silver. Cora Silver. Señor Blues. Cora Silver's dad. In Cape Verde.

Coast of Africa. Did a song for my father, which is a wonderful tune as well. But this one, Sing Your Blues, I really just love the the roll of it. And you can see how it's all built

on one piano riff, right? I did it and did it and did it and ba-da-ba-da-ba-da But were you always able to differentiate between good jazz and bad jazz? Well, it's personal. You know, there are some people who think that certain kind of jazz is great. There's a lot of sub-genres of jazz, right? that's personal. You know, there are some people who think that certain kind of jazz

is great. Like, there's a lot of sub-genres of jazz, right? There's Dixieland jazz, big band jazz, bebop,

there's, there's acid jazz, there's this stuff, the classic stuff from the 50s, the 60s. So, each to their own,

right? Like, this one resonates for me and another person would go I don't like that one they might like song for my father which he did but they won't like this one so and some stuff just sort of sounds like people who at best are trying to do what they've heard the Marsalis family created great jazz, right?

And yet, the jazz fusion stuff, when I was a teenager in the 20s, like Weather Report, that stuff was great. But, you know, Wayne Shorter's a serious player, right? But that band hit the pop charts. Teen Town and all this great stuff. Heavy Weather.

I find jazz intimidating. Yeah, people do. Well, they're classical, right? It's like, you don't know, that was Brahms' fifth movement of the seventh, me, DJ, major. It's like, sorry, man. Well, that was one of the things when I got hired at jazz. It wasn't because I was a jazz freak.

It was because I was a broadcaster, you know, and Ross at the time said, you know, I'm not hiring this guy because he knows every player on every session. And neither do you have to know that. Like, is this moving you or isn't it moving you? I was going to say, is that rhetorical? No, no, I mean, that's the thing. It's like, music's music, man. Like, I listen to music from all over the world.

I don't need to have it be pop music from America to be music. You listen to anybody's shuffle, and you realize we don't listen to one kind of music. We listen to all kinds of music. It's just radio stations that tell us to listen to one kind of music. Even on those stations, there should be a little more room for play and for innovation and for interesting sounds. Put it in the middle of the night. You've got an audience of almost nobody.

Relax and enjoy it. It's like when yuck-yucks, when guys used to do their killer act for 12 people on a Tuesday. It's like, no, man. This is where you're supposed to screw around and try stuff out. Experiment, right? Yeah. Like, okay, second show Saturday. I get it.

Full house. You want to kill. But, you know, in radio, those nighttime shifts where all that was happening are gone. They're dried up. Now it's syndicated programming and re-rolls. Well, if there's so many people out there who are willing to podcast,

I'm sure they're willing to put those, simulcast those on a terrestrial radio station you've absorbed you have a studio here you've absorbed all your costs all they have to do is play the stinking thing and they're done

that's right they just don't use their imaginations they use their sales department. You can really hear the blues in these things, right? That's the thing. Imagine this on an electric guitar with a blues beat. Bow-wow-wow. Yeah, yeah. Bow-wow-wow.

Bow-dum-bow. Bow-dum-bow. Yep, so that's Horace Silver. Ralph, if you ever want to hear a blues aficionado kick out the jams, I would highly recommend David Schultz from The Globe and Mail. His jam kicking here, in which he gives me a blues education, was tremendous. You would dig that, I'm certain. Sports writer, right? Yes, exactly.

He's a sports writer for the Globe. David Schultz. Nice. So the first time I see this band, he walks out, Ian Anderson, and says, this is a rather lengthy tune, which will keep you sliding from buttock to buttock. My words but a whisper, your deafness a shout. Jethro Tull. I may make you feel, but I can't make you think. Jeff Rotel. And you make all your animal deals And your wise men don't know how it feels

You'd be thick as a brick Thick as a brick. Thick as a brick. Now, is the album called Thick as a Brick? Yeah, it's a concept album. And the sandcastle virtues are all swept away. Aqualung, that was an album. I loved this kind of progressive rock stuff

when I was in high school. The moral malaise. And Jeff Rotol famously won the first ever Grammy for heavy metal band or something to that effect. Yeah. My wife will be very disappointed

being a hair metal queen, she would be like, no, that's not metal. Definitely not. I think it was a big surprise. When your wise men don't know how it feels To be thick as a brick Yeah, we used to go see Jeff O'Tell, Maple Leaf Gardens. We'd go hang out.

Everybody had tin foil hash pipes. Half the crowd was on mushrooms, the other half was on acid. Good times. As a prog rock guy, who are your favorites? Are we talking like Yes? I loved Yes.

Rick Anderson and Yes. I love these guys. Jesser O'Toole. Would you put Genesis in there? You know what? I was never... I loved Yes. Rick Anderson and Yes. And I love these guys. Jethro Tull. Would you put Genesis in there? You know what? I would, but I was never really that into Genesis. They were okay for me, but they weren't like, wow. Gentle Giant was a good progressive rock band.

There was an Italian progressive band. PFM. What was it? Promete Fornerio Marconi, and they came and played Convocation Hall, and the drummer stood on the stool and goes, this is our first time in America. And we're like, it's Canada. Never mind, play.

Play your heart out. Oh, man. I'm getting flashbacks because I went to U of T, and then I had many like a sociology 101 in that room in that building. These guys played. Yeah, for sure, for sure. Now these guys can play.

Let's kick out another jam. I look at all the lovely people I look at all the lovely people Eleanor Rigby Picks up the rice in the church Where her wedding has been Lives in a dream Waits at the window

Wearing the face that she keeps In her jar by the door Who is it for? All the lonely people. Where do they all come from? All the lonely people. Where do they all belong? The Beatles, Eleanor Rigby.

So you know what's great about this song, besides everything, is that it's storytelling. It's not, baby, baby, I love you, baby, baby. Who's Eleanor Rigby? I want to know who this person is. Who's this preacher who's empty hearted after all this work? All those lonely people.

This was, and this is George Martin too, right? The producer of the Beatles. Created the next level of sound for everything. Even listen to the harmonies. Listen to this. Nice. Nice. That's brilliant right there. No one was saved. Look at all the lonely people. That's brilliant right there. Look at all the lonely people.

Do they all belong? Oh, come on. And amazing in the headphones. Oh, just come on. Orchestra, classical. This is a rock band. this is a pop band these guys like the beatles to me were every album freaked me out just just like when we were talking before about jim carrey just when you nail it do the next thing you're finished with this do sergeant

peppers right crazy what album was eleanor rigby on uh i think it's a rubber soul there's like a transition right like this this band that was doing like i want to hold your hand and yeah yeah and then all of a sudden this song is kind of part of that transition from well and they stopped playing live and then it's become purely a studio band with george martin's influence a bbc producer who was assigned to them, as it were. It's like, oh, OK, I guess so. You know, he was a guy they dragged into the studio and he was just like, well, OK. And then he transformed their sound.

He brought in layers that they couldn't even imagine before from when they were playing in Hamburg. I remember the first Beatles TV appearance in America because I was sitting there watching it on the TV, Ed Sullivan's show. The Beatles! And the place goes crazy. And I immediately wanted to know which Beatle I was. Which one were you? So which Beatle do you think I was?

George Harrison. The spiritual Beatle. No, I was Ringo. i was george harrison the spiritual beaver no i was a ringo i was i was the the the kid who was kind of the dopey weirdo not quite with it kid i was ringo it's like i relate to that guy do you have a favorite uh beetle like uh i don't every one of them uh i adore i don't like when ringo sings on albums i know they gave him one per album but it was like those songs are the worst beatle songs there are and that's why joe cocker's drummers drumming's really good yeah so i hear uh but that's why joe cocker's version of with a little

help of my friends is everybody's favorite because ringo sings that uh on the beat oh a good boy with a little you know it's very you know kind of back of the uh bus on the way to bristol right kind of thing you know it's not not quite it but uh come on lennon mccartney harrison unbelievable unbelievable let's kick out another jam מי האי שחפץ חיים Who would dare to risk their life? Who would dare to risk their life? Oh, I love you. ‫הכף את חיים. ‫אוהב ימים, אוהב ימים, ‫להיות טוב, נצור לשון חברה, ‫נצור לשון חברה, Shalom. Turn away from bad.

Do good and be peaceful. Tell me what I'm listening to. This is What Man Is He? What man is he that behaves in a certain way? What do they do with their lives and how do they become good people? Turn away from speaking badly of others and do good

in life. Chava Albertstein singing it to an Israeli crowd. It's a prayer. I love when the Israelis are singing. Just everybody. Everybody. Do good.

Find peace. Last time. Shalom. So there it is. And this is a prayer. Yes. Yeah. And everyone's singing along with her in the concert in Israel. Oh, every hour we, every hour we, we will soar. We are here. Do you have another trip to Israel planned?

I just went in August. Four of us went for three weeks. And two of our friends, mother and daughter, from Kibbutz Shvaim, north of Tel Aviv, are coming to see us. You know, I love that song because it's really complicated being Jewish, and it's really complicated being Jewish with a homeland. It hasn't happened in 2,000 years, and it's as complicated as it is for us to be on native land right now as we speak on that level.

And I did a documentary series on Israel years ago, about eight years, nine years ago. And, you know, when I left on the plane, and I interviewed everybody on every side of this thing, every possible side. I just wanted to hear. And it was everybody on every side of this thing, every possible side. I just wanted to hear. And it was really just about human dignity, just wanting to have some dignity and wanting to find a place in that crazy piece of land that's, it takes 45 minutes to get from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It takes 45 minutes here to get to King and Young. That's true. That's true. Right? 45 minutes. It's the smallest little country. It's the smallest little sliver after all these years. And when I hear that song, it just reminds me of the humanity of people. And I'm talking about

everyone. You know, it's not, to be proud of being what you've come from, whether it be by the coincidence of your birth or the decision you make, is not to negate other people's experience and to say that they're not worthy but you are. Exceptionalism is the disease of religion. And you have to move away from that to the spiritual, not the religious. Spirituality is a relationship issue. Your relationship to yourself, to other people,

and to the universe. And you have to find that place in your heart that when you hear someone, you're listening to their heart and you're speaking from yours. But not emotionally to be violent and superior. We're human. We're all just human.

So when I hear that, and I hear all those people singing with her, and I just think, amid all the tension and the anxiety of being in this situation, these people just come together and sing together, and it's lovely, so I love it. Ah. Thank you. Take five, Dave Brubeck.

Paul Desmond on saxophone. Desmond was a difficult guy. And Brubeck had to hold a band together. And there were lots of fights where Desmond would just say, I'm out of here, I'm out of here. This is the first jazz song I ever heard performed live. I was going to Forest Hill Junior High, and we went to a concert, I think, in the auditorium.

And the Forest Hill High School jazz quartet or quintet was there, and they played the song, and without realizing it, I walked towards the front of the stage from the side of the auditorium, just kept walking. The next thing I knew, I was standing there right in front of them, looking at them. Oh, wow. How the hell did I get here?

So I realized that jazz probably had a gravitational pull for me at that point. Like a moth to a flame? Like a moth to a flame. And this album came out at the same time as Kind of Blue did, Rubeck's album. So it was 1959, and it was the year of jazz albums that were transformational. This is another one.

And Rubeck was all about time. that were transformational. This is another one. And it, Bluebeck was all about time. 5-4 time, 9-8 time, right? Everything was about playing with time. Borello,

drums. thumbs. Remember drum solos in rock and roll were a big thing for a while. 17-minute drum solo. Oh. Rock and roll was a big thing for a while. 17-minute drum solo. Rest of the band would leave the stage. For sure, for sure. And there's still some drum parts that are epic.

I'm thinking of Phil Collins in the air tonight or something like that. Yeah, well, as an intro break. Right, right, right. the air tonight or something like that yeah well as an intro break but uh and it got an avida iron butterfly that was a big one that's the bathroom break song right speaking of uh when they play long songs on the radio how long this take five? There's a minute 20 left, so I don't... I think it's about six minutes. Six minutes. But I think this might be the most famous

of these types of instrumental jazz songs. Well, it has huge legs, like this song. There haven't been a lot of... Ah, it's Paul Desmond's sound, right? And Rubeck was West Coast, and mostly white guys in the band. And people would say, oh, who are you to play the classical rock music of America? But that really hurt him deeply, because he was a highly egalitarian guy. Duke Ellingtonton at one point, Rubeck was on the cover of Time,

and he felt horrible about it, that Ellington should have been on the cover of Time. And Ellington was like, man, you got this. Don't worry about it. We're all good. By the way, your next jam is by a former guest of Toronto Mic'd. Very exciting. Very exciting. It's a big teaser for everybody.

Let's hear it. I would have given you all of my heart. But there's someone who's torn it apart. And she's taken almost all that I've got. But if you want, I'll try to love again. Baby, I'll try to love again. But I know The first cut is the deepest

Baby, I know The first cut is the deepest But when it comes to being lucky She's cursed When it comes to being lucky, she's cursed. When it comes to loving me, she's the worst. But when it comes to being loved, she's first. That's how I know the first cut is the deepest. Baby, I know the first cut is the deepest.

Keith Hampshire. And who wrote it? Cat Stevens. Absolutely correct. You're rolling your way to a new Chevy Nova. Yeah, that was a thing to do in those days, is that local bands would cover songs. And Hampshire was a jingles guy, really good at it, right?

But he also had these singles, and this was the one that caught my interest. There were bands like the Mandela with George Oliver, and there was a whole scene here, you know? This was the number one hit, wasn't it? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, definitely like a signature song or whatever. But yeah, you're right, not an original.

But I'm thinking like Andy Kim's been on and a lot of his hits were like... Yeah, a lot of his hits were... Covers? Covers, yeah. Yeah, yeah. In those days, things were still regional. And remember that here we needed CanCon for the first time.

So if Keith Hampshire did this song, then okay, it's CanCon. Right, right, right. Hey, I know. Now Keith, of course, is a Toronto radio guy. Yeah, he kind of sounds like David Clayton Thomas. Really. Yes, David Clayton Thomas meets maybe Neil Diamond or something. I like it.

Absolutely. I like it. But he also had a CBC show. Yep, yep. And as a Blue Jays fan, you hear him at every game because he sings OK Blue Jays. Which I think... Who wrote OK Blue Jays? It was...

I'm not sure. Tony Kozunak. OK, it sounds right, yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure. Tony Kozinec. Okay, it sounds right, yeah? Yeah. Who is a Kabbalistic expert. I think he lives in Israel now. Wow. But he's a Jewish mystical expert.

I did not know that. I did not know that. Keith, I mean, it was a great combo. Remember Tony Kozinec's song? No. Life, it is a perfect song all things come from god if you learn to sing along all things come from god even doubt even pain sweet lord yeah that was his song no you, you do it well. That's great.

I used to love that song. Didn't realize that it was religious. Back real quick on Keith Hampshire. What was fascinating is hearing his work at the offshore pirate radio stations in England. He left Canada and

was a popular DJ. I guess the BBC had some kind of monopoly or something. And if you went off a certain number of kilometers offshore, you could, yeah. And he was working for one of the, Radio Caroline, I think. Oh, yeah. That was the famous one. Right. And he was a popular, like, guy.

I did not know that. Yeah. And he has a whole, like, yeah, interesting part of his history before he comes back here and becomes, like, a pop superstar or whatever. Are you ready to kick out your final jam? I am. Now I got the version. I hope you're okay with the version I picked here,

but let's, let's kick it out and then you can tell me later. I got the wrong one. I can tell you now. Well, this is a live version, but as opposed to a studio version, but let's hear it.

as opposed to a studio version, but let's hear it. I'm sitting in the railway station Got a ticket for my destination On a tour of one night stands My suitcase and guitar in hand And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one man band homeward bound

I wish I was homeward bound home where my thoughts are escaping home where my music's playing home where my thoughts are escaping Home, where my music's playing Home, where my love lies waiting silently for me Every day's an endless stream of cigarettes and magazines

And each town looks the same to me The movies and the factories And every stranger's face I see Reminds me that I long to be homeward bound I wish I was homeward bound Home, where my thoughts escape I wish I was homeward bound. Home where my thoughts escape me. Home where my music's playing. Home where my love lies waiting silently for me.

Tonight I'll sing my songs again. I'll play the game and pretend But all my words come back to me In shades of mediocrity Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me Homeward bound I need someone to comfort me. Homeward bound.

I wish I was homeward bound. Home where my thoughts escape and home where my music's playing. Home where my love lies waiting silently for me. Silently for me. That was beautiful. Wasn't it? You mentioned harmonies with that Beatles jam, Eleanor Rigby, but Simon and Garfunkel, like, wow. Yeah, I mean, Paul Simon alone as an artist is phenomenal,

but knowing that it was never easy for them together, listening to them sing, you thought, but you sound like angels together. That must have been the thing easy for them together, listening to them sing, you thought, but you sound like angels together. That must have been the thing that made them go, whatever, we're going to keep doing this. But we had a big Phillips reel-to-reel tape recorder in our house, in the bedroom I shared with my two older brothers. And they brought home a West Montgomery tape,

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme, and Blood, Sweat, and Tears 2, which is one of my favorite albums as well. But I used to listen to this all the time. And then when I was in high school, Michael Zweig is a friend of mine who plays guitar. He actually plays with Burton Cummings these days and does the session work.

But Michael would kindly let me sing along with him because he was just a brilliant guitar player. And this is one of the songs we would always sing together. And I do the Art Garfunkel, the high end. And it's just a beautiful song. It's just everything about it works. And listening to that just now, it was just like just both of us just found ourselves

just sitting there listening to it. Because normally I'll bring it down and I'll introduce the song and talk. But I had this feeling of like, shut up, Mike, because Simon and Garfunkel are doing their thing. Don't pollute that. So I was like, we can talk about it after.

Yeah. But it was amazing. And this entire discussion was amazing. And the jams were amazing. And I really appreciate that you took the trip. And it was nice to meet Maisie here, who's been wonderful. Yeah, a God lover. And I hope you enjoyed kicking out the jams.

I did very much. Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate it. And that brings us to the end of our 441st show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at TorontoMike. Ralph is at RalphBenMurgy. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer.

PropertyInTheSix.com is at Raptor's Devotee. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Fast Time Watch and Jewelry Repair is at Fast Time WJR. And Camp Turnasol is at Camp Turnasol.

See you all next week. I want to take a streetcar downtown Read Andrew Miller and wander around And drink some Guinness from a tin Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold

But the snow wants me today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine