Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Remembering John Donabie: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1623

Episode Date: February 2, 2025

In this 1623rd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike remembers FOTM John Donabie. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

This past October 9th at 1030 a.m. I had a calendar entry to kick out the jams with John Donobie. John and I had arranged for him to visit my South Etobicoke home studio to play and discuss his 10 favorite songs of all time. This was to be a return visit for John as he had previously visited several years ago to discuss his legendary career in radio, working at CKFH, Chum FM, Q107, CJCL, CFGM, CFRB, CKFM, CKEY, KISS FM, Jazz FM, and CIUT. and CIUT. We also talked at length about his interviews with John Lennon and witnessing the last waltz in person. And of course we talked Bob Dylan. Sadly, mere days before this scheduled second visit from John. He called me up to regrettably postpone. I still remember his words when I asked him how he was doing. Mike, I have cancer. Today I learned John passed away yesterday from this terrible disease.

My sincere condolences to all who knew and loved John. He was always very kind to me. And as you'll hear in this conversation, he was an absolute sweetheart. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me this week is radio legend John Donahby. Legend. I don't toss around that term lightly. You've earned it my friend. But I'm number 358. I was hoping you wouldn't notice that.

Well, no, I picked up on what you said and I followed you a long time and I will admit to you that at a couple of points I went, you know, he may not be familiar with me, maybe I'm out of his demographic, I guess I'll never get invited. And then all of a sudden, a few weeks ago, I get this wonderful email and then you and I met at Roy Thompson Hall for the annual radio and records get together and then I got to meet you and I did ask you before the show how old you were and I'm not going to say how old you are. Well you can, you can, it's not a secret.

You're in your 40s. Yes. I seriously thought, well I turned to the table after you left the table, I said, nice kid, eh? I mean, I really thought you were like between 28 and 30, because you do look very, very young. Maybe the lighting was such you couldn't see my white hair. Maybe that was great. Yeah, I saw a little bit of it.

But maybe like Phil Donahue, you were prematurely gray. Yeah, I always think Phil Donahue, Steve Martin, these guys were always white. Oh, yeah, yeah. And they They were young and they had no problems. John, firstly, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. I haven't been confused with a 28 to 30 year old in a very long time. Now, I also am worried about your vision. Should I let you drive home? Maybe you need to see an optometrist and get a new prescription before I let you get behind the wheel. I'm a little concerned. Oh no, I really did and when I saw you

when you when you opened the door today when I came in and down to the studio I I still felt the same way. That's why I asked you how old you were and you were nice enough to tell me and you were at an age that you still don't mind telling people. I'm at an age where I sometimes will tell people, other times I won't. And I know a few guys around my tenure that don't like to tell it because there is such ageism in this business. See, I get you there. Maybe somebody, and I'll make up numbers, I don't know your age, but maybe there's program

directors or decision makers that don't want to hire a 65-year-old person, so you'll play younger I suppose to be eligible for such gigs. Now let me just say a couple things. One is, true, you're actually a bit out of my demo in that you know I missed the Chum FM years, we're going to do a deep dive here, and then I never ever did listen to CFRB so I kind of missed you. But the reason I hadn't asked you yet was because I the same reason I haven't asked Barack Obama yet. Like there's certain people there. I'm not even trying for these legendary heavyweights. Like I'm not going to aim that high because what am I going to do? I'm going to get John Donahue to come over and I was

very complicated, complicated, complimented. When you did ask me, I looked at my email and went, you're kidding. Is this really happening? Now, here's, I'm gonna say this to, not to you, but to maybe people who worked with you or other legends that may be tuning in, that if I haven't reached out to you yet, it's not anything personal.

I kind of wish you would send me an email to let me know that you would do the show. Like, if somebody like yourself had reached out and said, Hey Mike, I love your show. Uh, if you're ever looking for a guest, I'd be interested. I would have jumped on that and, uh, we would have done this much sooner than episode three 58. So may I just say how I want to do this show so much, uh, on this day that we're doing the show, the 401 westbound is jammed from Scarborough where I live all

the way wet past Keele,le, Gardner was like that, Lakeshore was like that, and we almost canceled today. But I said, no, I'm gonna give it a try, and I only arrived, this is a radio guy, 17 minutes, 30 seconds late. Which is, by the way, I'm just happy you're here at all. Well, I'm very pleased to be here, thanks. And you mentioned we met at the Roy Thompson Hall so let me just say thank you so

much that you put me on the list so I was so lucky that I was invited to this private party. Yeah. You know and was I may I ask him was I the only guy there who never worked in radio? Is that possible? There might have been a couple of others but for the most part when when I was pitching you, because I was on the committee, I said, there's a guy I want to invite. He's a young guy. And I said, he's not in radio per se, but this is my personal feeling, Mike, and I'm not trying to blow smoke here that listening to many, many of your, uh, you call them podcasts or blogs podcasts.

Okay. I said, this guy has a passion for radio and anyone who has a passion for radio that much has to be here. And he's going to meet a lot of people maybe he's wanted to meet and some people I'm sure you already knew. That's it. So I mean some of the people, so I had a good chat with Roger Ashby who's been on the show and David Marsden who's been on the show and we'll talk about him later because you worked with him. They've already been on the show. Yeah. And I David Marsden who's been on show and we'll talk about him later because you work with them. They've already been on the show. But you know

why? Because Marsden I had him from the CFNY and Ashby's still on Chum FM. Until the end of the year. Yeah. So has he announced that yet? Because I've heard this too but I can't find any like public. Well I don't know if he's announced it publicly. I did ask him and Roger's a very private guy. And if he didn't want to tell me, he wouldn't. Uh, and he said, yeah, yeah, the end of the year, it's going to be 50 years for Roger being with, uh, chum limited, which is no longer existing. It's now bell, but, uh, yeah, 50 years for roge. When I, you know, I'm not going to jump ahead, but when I was at chum FM the

first time, cause I was there twice, uh twice Roger was the AM jock over on AM radio and was for years. Tell me if I'm wrong you know the answer so I believe you were the second last person on Toronto's airwaves who was also on Toronto's airwaves in the 1960s like it's very true so the number one would be Roger, because he started in 69, I think. Yeah, well I started in 65 and full-time 66 in Oshawa. Roger, when you say 69, maybe earlier? I don't know. Oh yeah, okay, 69 would be chum, but before that he was at CKOC and before that I think he was down in Leamington. I may be wrong but I know for sure he left CKOC with Nevin Grant and all of them and he was hired by

chum and did a great job in his you know, his oldie show and etc Well, the nice thing is if I need to remind myself of like Roger Ashby's career, like I can go back and listen to the episode I did with Roger Ashby, which is why I'm glad you're here because essentially we're, we're archiving this key piece of Toronto radio history. And I don't just do radio personalities. Like I'll do musicians.

I had Gord Depp from the Spoons in recently. I'll have print journalists. I'll have TV stars, whatever. But I just love to capture this like, so that for all eternity, I mean, long after you're, hopefully you live forever, but long after you're gone, this will exist as a digital archive and we'll have sort of a, John Donobie's massive imprint on Toronto Radio, which hopefully we can collect all that today.

Thank you for saying the word archive because yes as years go by this may be the place the one-stop shopping where people will be able to look back and maybe all of your archives will end up in some kind of like Los Angeles and in New York have the the broadcasting museum you know and I wish we had one here and these could all end up there, you know. Oh, that'd be great if they can afford them. If they can afford them. I was going to say that and then I said, no, no, no. Don't do it. That's inferred. So I will say that some people I met at your,

so at that private party, which was amazing because I walk in, there's, I see Evelyn Maco to my left, who was, by the way, if Evelyn's listening, because she's been on the show recently. Yes, I know. I want her to say, I want to say thank you to Evelyn because here's the thing about me. I don't know what a lot of radio people look like. Like Ashby is one of the great exceptions because they did so many television ads for Roger, Rick and Marilyn. Right. Like, so you had, and I mean, and some I had met like, right. So I had some had been to my house. So I knew what they looked like, but you know, there's a lot of people, there were a lot of people in that room

that I know the name and I know the legend but I didn't know I couldn't put the name to the face but Evelyn did a great job of kind of saying oh there's Liz Janek and here's all these people and she introduced me to Liz who's gonna come on she lives far away so we have to schedule this because she's she came from a further distance than you did I'll tell you right now I think it's Collingwood or something like that she She's way up there. But Michael Williams was there for much music and he's agreed to come on. I saw Alan Cross there. He's been on a few times. Good to see him again. Like I said David Marsden and

I'm just getting at the guy who said he'd come on and we had just talked to him on this program because we had just ranked the top 10 sports jams and we put OK Blue Jays at number one. And Keith Hampshire was there. There he was. And I was like, holy smokes, Mark Hebbser and I just did that. And Keith said, oh, I'd love to go to my website and fill in, send the email to that address, and I would love to come on. And I've sent two emails and no replies yet from Keith Hampshire.

So next time you see him, give him an email. I have his business card here. I'll give you his home number. That's even better. Do it up. So thanks for that invitation. I met a bunch of people who agreed to come on. I can't wait to have them on. And it was great to finally meet you.

And you gave me... you bought me a beer at the Roy Thomson Hall. The least I can do is send you home with six beers! So there's a six pack in front of you of Great Lakes beer. Thank you so much. Please enjoy. I will. And you're looking at it now and I bet you think there's only Mike, there's only five, but the sixth can is a short one. So it's hiding in there. You drank the tall one and gave me the short one. I understand. Hey, you know,

I got to get through the day. Now, the keeners, like the keen subscribers of Toronto Miked, will probably jump on this episode right away and maybe will have heard this episode before tonight at 6pm. The vast majority of people who are listening to my voice right now are going to hear it after 6pm on July 19th. That's the day we're recording. So this message is for those Keeners who jumped on the episode. Tonight's the night. We're all getting together at Great Lakes Brewery for the Toronto Mic'd listener experience. The very first one, there's a live band, there's a food truck, everyone gets a free glass of beer to start your night, and then there are $5 pints on the patio. The weather looks great. I can't wait, so that's tonight, six to nine.

So come out. All right, sounds like a good time. Yes, and thanks for the invite, I appreciate it. I was gonna have you be the guy on the microphone who is announcing all the songs, but I needed a little legendary voice. But yeah, I gotta say, when I told my mom that John Donobie was coming over,

she started breaking into this thing. I thought she was having a stroke at first. I'm like, mom are you okay? She started doing this Donobie for Connobies thing. Okay? Wow. Okay, so then I went to Google and I'm like, what's my mom talking about? I honestly googled the mess out of Donobie for Connobies. I couldn't find anything. Please tell me what my mom is talking about. I was approached by one of our salesmen a number of years ago and they said, John, we'd like you to be the voice of a stereo shop in Whitby. And I said, sure, okay, and you're going to love the sound of this.

Donabee for Conabee. And they were Conabee stereo. And I did it for a period of time and it was fun. And I wrote the spots and, uh, it was like a personalization and I got paid for doing it. And I'd go out there periodically from time to time, kind of like Marsden would go out to, to Whitby audio. Uh, and when he got to Whitby audio, I mean, the crowds were incredible. Yeah.

But Donnaby for Connaby, uh, when you just mentioned it now, you kind of freaked me out because I didn't think anyone remember that. It's the first thing my mom said when I said John, she said, she said, I mean the crowds were incredible. Yeah, but Donnaby for Connaby When you just mentioned it now you kind of freaked me out because I don't think anyone remember that It's the first thing my mom said when I said John is something she's not like Oh, you know, he talked about to John Dylan or I'm sorry John Donn, John Lennon or this or that? No, no She Joe and the reason I slipped and said Dylan everybody will find out at the end of this episode why I slipped and said Bob Dylan, but when you talk to John Lennon, I know she went straight to

Yeah, Donnaby for Connaby. And the Google was lacking. I was listening, trying to find some audio clip or something. I couldn't find anything. She's got a really good memory, Mike. She was a, now I know you were on 104 chum and we're going to get into that, but she was a big 1050 chum bug. Like when I had Ashby on she was freaked out was freaking her out like Roger Ashby like you know and in Jim Van Horn was here and some other guys but but but she was very happy to tell me about Donnaby for Connaby's I got an email from actually was a tweet from Ralph Ben-Murgy when he heard you were coming out wrote send John my best good man better broadcaster so that that's a message for

you from well oh yeah Ralph and I worked together at Jazz FM I took his place actually after he got out of broadcasting for a period of time and and we became friends and and if I may go show you a difference when I was at Chum FM the first time from 71 to 75 one of our jobs was Bob Lane was the program director, former CHUM AM jock, did a great job. And he said, look guys, I'm going to be sending you out to different high schools. And how can I say that? During that period, if a CHUM FM jock went to a high school, it was like a rock giant coming in. It was incredible. And I went to, um, Forest Hill collegiate and I

do the class years go by, forget about it. I meet Ralph and Ralph says, do you know who is sitting in the second row? Not you, Ralph. Yes. So Ralph was in grade 13 and, uh, here I was addressing radio and CHOM FM and everything else and there was Ralph.

Wow. Yeah. Yeah, Ralph was on recently. He's really into deep, I wanna say, what would be a good word, philosophical thought on sort of living and dying and coming to grips with your mortality and it's quite a very interesting. He's a bright guy. He's a bright guy. He's a bright guy and having a conversation with him is mind-bending right now and makes

you think about everything. And I'm going to tease you with this. I'm going to talk to you about maybe the brightest guy I ever met in radio and this is kind of a mystery thing once we get to the Q107 years. Oh, for sure, for sure. I know. I love teasers. You can keep doing that.

That's great. I'm glad you said in radio because I was gonna be like, well yeah, we did meet at Roy Thompson Hall. Yes, I am the smartest guy you've met, but I'm not in radio, so. Rock Golf, now Rock Golf is the handle of a guy who, and I know him because he went to my high school, but he was there before me,

but he went to high school with Bill Brio, who was a recent guest, and that's where I learned about Rock Golf. But Rock Golf writes, back in a recent guest, and that's where I learned about rock golf. But rock golf writes back in the seventies, Donnaby was on Q 107 praising the release of a live Beatles album and how we could finally hear our set for ourselves. The historic Shea Stadium concert. I called in and asked, so the Beatles live at the Hollywood bowl was recorded in Shea Stadium. Donnaby's reply, shit. So I guess...

I screwed up, didn't I? He screwed up and he wants you to know... Thanks for bringing that up. Your many decades of excellent service, Rock Golf took note of your one slip up there. Thank you, Rock. And now everybody else knows. So I've given you six cans of Great Lakes beer.

You're going to need a pint glass to pour the beer into when you get home to Scarborough. There is a pint glass there. Oh look at that. That is courtesy of Brian Gerstein who is a he's a real estate sales representative of PSR brokerage and just before we start you know going into your career in radio he's got a question for you that leads to some very interesting stuff I want to hear about so let's hear Let's let Brian ask let Brian steal the thunder from me even though I was gonna ask these questions, but here's Brian Hi John Brian Gerstein here sells representative with PSR Barucharaj and proud sponsor of Toronto Mike's and

I'm also represented with PSR Barokirage and proud sponsor of Toronto Mic'd and very excited tonight for Toronto Mic's Listener Experience where there is a rack of ribs and GLB ready with my name on it to enjoy while I'm meeting everybody. 416-873-0292 is the number to call or text me for any of your real estate needs. John, while I'm impressed that you interviewed John Lennon twice, including the iconic bed-in, I am more impressed that you were at the Last Waltz, the band's farewell concert as Leavon invited you. What was it like to be at the greatest concert film ever recorded by the brilliant Martin Scorsese? Let's not bury the lead here. John, you were at the last waltz? Yes, I was at the last waltz and I wasn't only at the last waltz, I was there for the

entire week leading up to it. And LeVon Helm called me at my home. I was living in Vancouver there, working for CKLGFM. And this was LeVon. One of the finest songs of all time. Yeah, LeVon and I became really tight. I was very close with the band from the earliest days, he and Robbie actually, and members of the band

got to invite personal friends to the last wall. So he called me in Vancouver and he said, this is a great story, he says, listen, I'm I want to invite you everything will be picked up when you get down here the food will be great this would be great though however I can't pay your way here oh okay all right I'll figure that out so I have a wife and two really young children and I'm going what will I do? I get a call from my boss Roy Hennessy at CKLGFM who says Frank Gigliotti from CBS is here now Sony he says we want to meet with you okay so I go down he said listen Frank

wants you and so do I to go to San Francisco to interview Bas Skaggs on his newest album, Blowdown. And I went, cool. When is it? Uh, oh, but a day or two before American Thanksgiving. Oh, really? So that got me my free flight and back. That's amazing. Yeah.

Then, and, uh, I went to all the rehearsals. I was allowed to go to all the rehearsals with the exception of Dylan. Dylan recorded in the basement of the Miyako Hotel. I would go down to Winterland and watch the rehearsals every day. There's a lot of stories about the rehearsals, but I'll just say one thing about Van Morrison. He had a great performance in The Last Waltz, but his rehearsals in the last walls, but his rehearsals were way better. And they performed songs that they didn't put into the film. And just meeting Bill Graham and going through everything and oh, great stories of what happened to be there

where Leavon had to protect me at one point from one of the big bodyguards. And, but I watched all the rehearsals, watched everybody go through it. And it was just a most extraordinary week of my life. What an amazing film that was and I gotta ask like I love the Staples singers like so Mavis Staples. Well they weren't they weren't there the Staples singers and Emmylou Harris were filmed after the event on a soundstage so I never got to

meet Mavis then. I have since met her a few times, but I didn't meet her there. All right, wow. And unbelievable that you were there. It is the greatest concert, I'd say the greatest concert film of all time, I'd say. Oh, listen, I sit with my son and we have a few of this,

we'll have some of these great beers right here that you've given me. And together, we just, what was he? He was like five, I guess, four or five years old. And then later, of course, he would travel with me to Woodstock when I'd go down and see Leavon and hang out and do different things. And Leavon was so good to him. Tell me about Leavon. Sadly no longer with us, but I mean just listening to him now like what so what was it like being buddies with friends with Leavon? Leavon was a member of the band that whether you were a powerful disc jockey that could help him or you were a ditch

digger or a tobacco picker from Simcoe Ontario, he loved you and he was loyal to you. And I remember when I got out of radio and I'm just going to go up here for a minute. Sure. When I, when I got out of radio for a while in 2011, him and I had dinner here in Toronto at the house of Chan and he said, what's this I hear you're out of radio. No, no, no, no, no. You've got to get back on John. That's who you are. That's who you are.

That's what you are. I had that the other day when I was at Roy Thompson. But we would hang out. He'd invite us down to the house. We'd make the drive to Woodstock. We stay at the same B&B that we still stay at. And we hung out there for years. On one trip, we had a motor home.

And he said, look, I got to do a gig down in Connecticut and there's gonna be some pretty interesting musicians there so maybe you might want to drive down I said Lee I've got a motorhome. Well let's get the whole band and put them in the motorhome so there's Ricky Danko and Garth and Richard Bell and and and all of these different guys and we drive down and we have a great evening. And then we're driving back and he goes, son, why don't you let Jimmy drive? My son, he's like 14, 50.

Why don't you let Jimmy drive? And you and I'll go into the back and you know, excuse me. Anyway, I said, no, Leah, I can't do that. He's too young. Okay. So, uh, he says, oh, by the way, I won't see tomorrow. I said, how come?

Well, I got this offer Ricky and I to go to California and join Ringo star in his first all star band. I said, you're kidding. Now he, I threw this at him once and he's not here to defend himself, but he did say that day. Well, I'll tell you, he better be real nice to me, or I'm going to, I'm going to throw an Arkansas fit.

Well, he was kidding. And he went on that first tour and it's available on DVD and record and so on. And he had a really good time, him and Ricky, cause Levan actually sang the weight on on that particular tour so he got to know Ringo really well and of course Ringo was invited to the last walls too so did you get an opportunity to say goodbye to leave on when he was very sick there I

was on the phone with him maybe a month before he passed away they weren't telling the truth for various reasons. They didn't want people to know how bad it was. He said, John, I'm canceling the next few weeks of tour. I've come down with this and that. I'm really not feeling well, but son, you got to come down and see me soon. And I figured, oh, okay. Well, then I got the call that he had passed and, um, his wife and his daughter, his daughter invited my wife and I to the

funeral so we drove down and it was a very amazing event I saw people that I'd met back in Arkansas a lot of great musicians there John Sebastian played Larry from the Ramble band and so on and so forth. Garth did a great solo. It was a very touching and moving funeral and what is it? Is it Jimmy Vito? You know from Conan the guitar player? Oh no Jimmy. I can't remember his name. Anyway now I'm only thinking Max Weinberg, but I can't remember. This is really terrible because he's great. He got up on stage and he said, Hi, I'm so and so.

And I was Leavon Helms best friend. And I went, Oh, that's cool. They took his hat off and said, but, you know, everybody in this room can say the same thing, because when you were with him, he made you feel like you were his best friend. And I MC two shows with LeVon before he passed at Massey hall. And, uh, he, he just put me in his arms after the show and he had to be very delicate because he

was so thin, paper thin. And, um, he thanked me profusely. He, cause he had a love affair with Toronto because as you know, he was here in the late fifties as. He, because he had a love affair with Toronto, because as you know, he was here in the late 50s as part of Ronnie Hawkins Hawks. Of course. Now you mentioned Ringo Starr and his All-Star band, but that's a pretty good segue, I think, to, and Brian brought this up. So let's talk about this now and then before we dive into your radio career. Okay.

John Lennon. Tell us, and I think this ties in nicely with Ron Hawkins as well, but how did you end up chatting up John Lennon? Well, the first one was live, the second one was on the phone when Walls and Bridges came out. He came to do live piece in Toronto with Eric Clapton and Alan White and Klaus Vorman at Varsity. And he was in a little tent off to the side with Yoko. And I was at CKFH then before my Chum FM days.

But they knew who I was that is his people. So I got invited into the tent and we had a really nice conversation and he was very gracious very good and then in 1973. He was doing about let's see New York Chicago Los Angeles and he wanted to do Toronto for radio interviews. So he called Ronnie Hawkins and he said Ronnie Ronnie, I don't know anybody in Toronto. Really? He says, well, son, you got to talk to John John.

And I ended up and I still have it in my archives chatting with him for about 20 minutes about he, you know, he'd left Yoko. He was hanging out with Harry Nilsson and in the drunk that never that went on forever. Yoko didn't want him you know screwing around with all kinds of women so she sent Mae Pang to go to California with him who was with her and so I guess Mae and John had a pretty good time but all the time he knew he was gonna get back with her. And he and Yoko, you know, ended up back together again. But my mind skips around when I talk about him

because later I would interview Julian Lennon. And I said, well, tell me a little bit about your father. And he just looked at me and said, he was probably one of the greatest rock and roll musicians of all time John he just wasn't a very good father and it was sad and I passed on something to him I said your father told me when you played the tambourine on Yaya on walls and bridges he just beamed and Julian smiled. And that was my one encounter with Julian.

You mentioned the archive. Now can you tell me a little bit about the John Donobie archive? Like so because I'm thinking when you talk about having that audio clip I'm like I wish I had it. I'd play a bit of it right now. So what do you have in this archive? Well this is embarrassing. I've had two people make me offers and I think I'll take them up on it. In my house, I have maybe 100 or 200 real to real interviews. I kept everything everything. However, as you know, with tape, it's extremely

brittle. Doug Thompson, great guy to interview because I mean, he's interviewed just about everybody as a producer. He said, look, I'll tell you what, I have an oven, special oven for baking tape, because you have to bake the tape in order to get the brittleness out of it and make it sort of greasy or flexible again. And he said, yeah, I'll do it. You know, I'll pay him. I'd pay him for it.

Leo La Porta used to do a computer show. I used to watch his show. get sort of greasy or flexible again. And he said, yeah, I'll do it. You know, I'll pay him. I'd pay him for it. Leo Laporte who used to do a computer show. I used to watch his show. Yeah. Leo and I became friends, really good friends. I went to visit him in, in, in, in California. And, uh, he offered to put money up because he wanted to see some of those

interviews ended up in the Smithsonian. And I went, you gotta be kidding. He said, John. And I showed him the list of people I talked to. And he says, no. So far those tapes are all sitting in my home and fairly... And they're reels. They're all reels. They're all 10 inch reels. Right. Yeah. Some are 7 inch. So you need to digitize them and then set them free. Yes. And I know the guy that could do it, but they all have to go into the oven for, I don't know how many minutes, and then they become flexible again.

The brittle, they won't, in other words, they won't break. Right. And, um, I would like to do that because there are interviews in there. Just one, um, the Chambers brothers and Bonnie and Delaney and friends were hanging out at Maple Leaf gardens. They did their concert. When the show was over, I met Bonnie and she was a little upset. They didn't get a time check that afternoon. So right across the street from Maple Leaf Gardens is CKFH standing for Foster Hewitt on the corner of Granville and Young. And I said, well there's a show called The Open Lid that's

on there right now with Terry David Mulligan. How would you like to come across the street? Well, they came across the street, the late Carl Riddle on bass, he came across the street. Terry went nuts. We all sat in a studio and we had Neumann microphones. We put them in the round and they spent about an hour. And I've got that tape and Bonnie just wails. Wow. And it's incredible. I'd like to get that one back. But that was just an idea of just an impromptu interview. You know, that's that's the stuff I want to hear.

We got to digitize this and free this. We got to do this. It is. It is great, Mike. I mean, I must admit I look back and I go, really? You know, okay. Wow. Okay. That's incredible here. When did you first fall in love with radio? I was four. Wow.

Maybe five. Had a Westinghouse, probably from the 40s, I guess. It was my father's radio. And I just fell in love with it. And he finally gave it to me. And I took it up to my bedroom and I had it on gave it to me and I took it up to my bedroom when I have it Had it on the shelf over my head and I would be listening to

1050 chum. I'd be listening to CKE why and I listened to Why do I have a mind blank all of a sudden WKBW, oh, yeah, of course Tom Shannon So I listened to all those three stations and in the mid 60s R&B became really really strong. So at 1060 on the dial, too close to 1050 but I could get it, I listened to Wufo. W-U-F-O. And so I got my dose of rhythm and blues and I couldn't, I couldn't stop. I fell in love with music at a very, very young age. And recently, I'm sorry, I'm just going to blow my own horn.

Two people, um, one at the party you and I were at, but then J. Robert Wood at the chum party, who was the big guy behind chum am. He said, the one thing I've always admired about you, John, is you've just never lost your love of music. Uh, I hung out with musicians a lot more than I ever did with radio people. And I just love music to death. And it stayed with me all my life.

So when I got into radio in Oshawa, of course, I couldn't play what I wanted. In fact, it was so far away from what I would listen to. But it didn't matter because, well, it was so far away from what I would listen to, but it didn't matter because well, there was a microphone to talk into. And this is mid-60s, right? When you're at CKLB? LB, standing for Lakeland Broadcasting. Yeah, Gord Garrison was the boss. A lot of famous people from today and yesterday went through there, like, you know, Dick Smythe, Larry Salway. Wow.

A ton of people went through that station and I got hired full-time in February of 1966, but I had been hanging out. See, these were the days I hung out and got to know the all-night guy and he let me go with him. I'd get off school Friday afternoon get a little nap go to the radio station spend the all-night show with him that went on for a while and then he said about three in the morning John I got something to do down the hall oh yeah he did would you mind going on the air and I go on the air maybe from three to four thirty and I did that for a while and then in February of 66 when he got a job out in Regina,

Terry Mann the PD said, well, who are we going to get? He says, get John. John's never been on the air. Oh, yes, he has. After Terry cooled down, $75 a week, Johnny, you got it. I'm living with my parents, and I'm going, that's cool. So I started the All Night Show. And I guess it was February 14th, Valentine's day of 1966.

Wow. Stayed there until September of 67. Short time before I got the dream of my life, I got a call to come to Toronto radio. In this case, CKFH, standing for Foster-Uid, right at the corner of Granville and Young. And for periods of time, it would give Chameyama run for their money. You know I got asked about the voice so you have a excellent voice like I'm listening to you in the headphones and I'm like I could listen to you read the phone book and that's no joke great great pipes. Thank you. Did you always have them in Oshawa like did

you sound like this? No I didn't. So there's still hope for me is what you're telling me. Oh absolutely it's all it you know if you don't use it, you lose it. I've got tapes. I should have brought me at CKFH doing Top 40, you know. It's like, hi everybody, how you doing? Hey, this is 1430 Radio, CKFH. And before that, I was like, hi, you know. I mean, it's like a piece I saw with Howard when he, when

he did his whole piece on how he sounded in the early days. And if you saw the movie private parts, of course I have many times. Yeah. And you see what he sounded like. Eventually you find yourself and my voice started to deepen and I went, oh, this is not bad. To a point now where, Mike, if I listened to tapes from 10 years ago, it may be a little more laid back because when I was at Chum FFM the first time, it was like, hey everybody, got some Pink Floyd coming up here and it's really groovy, man. You really got it.

And I talked like that and then you go, wait a minute, that's not real. And that's the spirit of 104, right? That was the, I just saw a picture. I was tweeted it today. I tweeted a picture of, it was called the spirit of 104. And it had, like it had Pete and Geets in there. It had David Morrison.

It had yourself, we'll get to this later. But I just tweeted it today. And it was just great to see that photo. And you're in there. I love Pete and Geets. Well, Geetz. I saw him at the party and I did I saw him there right? I didn't. I saw Geetz there briefly and then I went I was gonna go like invite him on because I need I mean sadly Pete's passed away but Geetz is still active as anything. That would be the most amazing interview

he is my longest and oldest friend in Toronto Radio. I arrived at CKFH and they said, oh by the way, oh see I have to explain this. I'll do it quick. When I got hired at CKFH, I didn't get hired by CKFH, I got hired by Tom Williams. Tom Williams brokered the All Night Show. It's an interesting way of doing things in those days and what he'd do is he'd sell his own spots, hire his own announcer. I was doing a show in Oshawa called 80 of soul rhythm and blue show. I thought RMB would be the next biggest thing. And it turned out it was.

So I get to Toronto and while I'm in the studio, in comes Geets Romo, otherwise known as David Haydew. He says, look, man, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you're not allowed to touch the board because you don't work for FH. I gotta op for you. We just kind of look at each other. I said, I don't want, I wanna op.

He goes, I don't wanna op. So he would go into another studio. Was it like a union thing or something? No, no, it was just the rules of the station. So Geetz went up into another room and ended up talking to lovely ladies in the night. And one night a lovely lady came to visit him and I said, oh, that's nice. This is Barb. Well, Barb is still his wife since that time. But Geetz and I, we go way back in the late Tom Fulton. Oh, God.

Well, you can broker the deal to help, you can help me get a Geetz on here. Oh, absolutely. Cause I do a lot of, speaking of Spirit of 104, I do a lot of Spirit of Radio CF and Y stuff. I mean, I know Fred Patterson was on that show, for example, and Freddie P is a friend of the show. He's been on it. I gotta get Geetz on here.

And just remember that Pete and Geetz were on Shum FM first. I always, of course, go listen to the Marston episode. I'm all over that for sure. Hey, where's your brown bag? By the way, when I chatted him up at your party, at your party at Roy Thompson Hall, he expressed great interest in a return visit, so potentially we'll have Marston back. You know that David is a few years few years more than a few years older than I am so when I was sitting there at a card table which was my desk in my bedroom in Curtis I would be listening

to him as Dave Mickey. Yep Dave Mickey. And I he I I came to Toronto I wasn't driving on a bus I went to the C&E and I stood there in front of the C K E Y mobile. Suddenly this guy comes out in a gold LeMay jacket and he's talking a mile a minute. And I went, Oh my God. And then later when I started at CKLB, he was friends with rock and Roscoe Campbell, who was the rock jockey there. And Roscoe said, Hey, tonight, jock at the, and Roscoe said, Hey, tonight, uh, David Marsden is coming down here.

I said, Dave Mickey. So I opt for him for one show. And, uh, he was so gracious him and big G Walters and Duff Roman and those people. Legends to me. They, they just treated me so well. You know, some guys I understand aren't very nice. These people were great. Yeah. Yeah. I searched again. I searched for audio of Dave Mickey because of course I talked to Martin about it. Yeah, but it's in the... You gotta bake it. Is that right? Or do you have a digital...

No, I have some. Send it over. And I'll send you the CKFH jingle. Do you want me to sing it? Yeah, yeah, please. Dun dun dun dun dun dun, this is the second greatest radio station in the world. We must be, because all the other radio stations are number one. We are CKFH number two. Woo woo boo boo. Oh, that's great. And that was the jingle, because we were called number two radio. So those who don't aren't like the younger folks who aren't familiar with CKFH. So this is a top 40 rock station, right?

Yep. And I mean, in Toronto, there's lots of nostalgia. Like you hear a lot about 1050 Chum, for example. But you don't hear, I'll be honest, you don't hear a lot about CKFH these days. So what was it like? I mean, Foster Hewitt, if you know nothing else, you know Foster Hewitt from the Paul Henderson goal in 72.

So even young folk will say, oh yeah, I've heard that call a hundred times. Like, wow, Stafford and Fell, that's a great call. But what can you tell us about working for Foster Hewitt at CKFH? Well, you know, yes, I guess I was really working for Foster, but he didn't see him much. He was in an office in the back and I just hung out with the people in like Jack Lowe, the engineer who just passed away. I hung out with all the jocks. Tom Fulton became very, a very, very dear friend and mysterious Mike Williams. Both of them have now since passed away. and mysterious Mike Williams, both of them have now since passed away.

There's a picture on the internet of myself, Tom Fulton, Mal Ferris, Duff Roman, there's another one, anyway they're all past except Duff and I and Duff is a number of years older than I am because I listened to to him as a kid. And they were just great. And the attitude was really that we had a program director named Barry Nesbitt. God bless him, but Barry just let us do whatever we wanted. And Barry was in a corner somewhere, so we just have fun. And everything went well until a guy by the name of the late Gary Palin came in in 1969 to take over his program director because the station wanted to take a good run at Chum. And one of the first things he did was fire Keith Hampshire at myself.

The first cut is the deepest, Keith. That's what I would say. Yeah, it's really true. It was my first cut. And six months later, I got a call from Barry Nesbitt. Well, we fired Gary Palin. Would you like to come back? I've called Keith.

He wants to go into freelance commercials, John. I don't know what's going to happen with that. Well, you know, I think Keith made an inordinate amount of money. And I said, yeah, I'd like to come back. And I came back for two years and then got a call on a Saturday afternoon from a guy named Bob Lane. And that's an interesting story of how I got my job there. Yeah, so tell us, because that's where you go. So after CKFH, you move over to Progressive Rock at Chum FM.

And you had the night shift there. So tell me how you ended up there. And tell me as much as you can about Chum FM and its progressive days. The meeting was the greatest. Here's how it went. Reiner Schwartz, who was the guru of late night, he quit on a Friday night over something that happened on the year and there's too many variations of what happened so we won't go into it but he quit. Saturday afternoon I'm doing my show at CKFH and a guy in the other room says there's a phone call for you I said no no I'm too busy it's Bob Lane from Chum FM so I get on the phone hi Bob do you think you could

come over and see me after you get off the air at 2 at 1331 and I said yeah so I went and met with him and he told me about Reiner and he said I've heard you sit in to do the open lid you're doing stuff that we do I'd rather have you with us and against us and I was making fourteen thousand five hundred dollars a year at FH which was really great money I was driving one of the first six 240Z Datsuns in the country. I mean, I was a bachelor. I had it made. So I said to Bob, uh, what about money, Bob?

Well, what do you, what do you think you'd like? I said, let's see, 14, I like 18, Bob. Bob goes, this is chum FM John, not chum AM. Now, okay. And I settled for 9, $9,500 a year. Took a massive cut, but the best move I ever made. I'm going to use this word. I don't normally do this behind a microphone, but I did it at his, at his funeral.

Bob sitting there, you can do this, this, this free form, this free form, that I meanform this, freeform that. I mean, Mike, it was like dead and gone to heaven. And I'll just keep it flowing when this, because this is exactly the way it went down. I said, Mr. Lane, I'll call me Bob. Yeah. Bob, is there anything I can't do here? Yeah.

Don't say fuck on the air. And I went, and of course little Johnny's going, Oh, okay. So that was the only thing you couldn't do. But everything else was a go. If you wanted to sit down at 10 at night till 2 in the morning and play the side of an album, I had Ry Cooder come in with me one night. He played blues for two hours. I would have the biggest name, Sonny Terry, Brian McGee.

I'd have all these people come in and sit with me. And then when I moved to afternoons to two to six Senate really picked up. Wow, now you mentioned Reiner. Reiner ends up there right? So that's Reiner Schwartz ends up at CHEM? Well Reiner was there, Reiner was there way before me. Way before you. Oh yeah and he owned Tenant Night till two in the morning. Right. And then they had that disagreement and at that point he went off to show him for a while in Montreal, right? Then came back to Toronto and Pritchard by this time David David Pritchard, right? Genius genius Who was doing two to six in the morning?

the two of them went off to Actually, David went first I think to CFNY and that was the very early early days Marsden, I don't think I had arrived yet. He came shortly after. And then you got Gates and you got Pete. And they all kind of left Chum FM and over they went and really made it what it was during that period of time. Now let me ask you though, and I know Pritchard was famously anti-drug,

but in this scene, this radio scene that we're describing now, drugs played a key role, right? Like, I mean, as I understand, I wasn't there, but I've got to have heard enough stories. So what about yourself? Like, what can you share? Like, were you because you were a self-pro, you're a music musicologist. Can I call you? You're about the music like so. That's what Canada, Canada calls me. I'm not legally a musicologist but there are still people today who say to me, I don't know anybody else who's still on air that knows as much about music because it just never left me. But no, are you asking me if I did drugs?

I guess I'm asking, you're a music geek so there's the music side of being the DJ in the 60s and 70. And then there's the drug part. So did you partake in that drug side? I was so straight, Mike, I was squeaky clean. I'm a kid from Oshawa. No, I didn't. And David Pritchard, it was all just incredible talent. No drugs whatsoever.

And I'll tie this in to an interview with Frank Zappa, where Zappa was asked by a listener, so like to get that, like what you're doing on an album, Frank, like you must really do a lot of drugs. And Frank leaned in the mic and said, do you think I could do what I do if I were stoned? Absolutely not, because Frank Zappa did not do drugs. So, no, David didn't do them, I didn't do them, I've known people in the business that did them. I know a lot of people that had heavy drinking problems too, and it really tore them up.

No, absolutely. Now, why do you end up leaving Shem FM? This first round anyway. The first round, the station was changing format, it was getting tighter, what we call the hippie-dippie free-form format had disappeared. I chased that dream and I got an offer from, here's my little bit of bilingualism here say GFM FM cash for the van says Montreal CJ FM which was the FM side of CJ AD which was the equivalent of CF RB they were owned by standard broadcasting and they made me an offer and I'm just oh gosh I can't think of his name there There was a jock who is Chuck. Oh There I go. Anyway, there was I'll think of it later. Sure there was a jock there who wanted to leave and

When they found out he wanted to leave they offered me the job to go to Montreal on Mountain Street and I did middays Doing all of this great stuff and he came to Chum FM. And so, and then eventually he would end up at Chum and sadly he's passed away. But, um, I got to Montreal, René Levesque came into power a year and a half later. Uh, although I am totally French Canadian on my mother's side of the family. I'm one of two of a hundred cousins who didn't learn it. Um, I wasn't enjoying the experience of Montreal. Uh, they weren't enjoying an Anglophone either. So, uh, Don Schaefer, who was still at Chum FM.

We worked together. We're very close. Don calls me up and I said, Don, he said, what are you up to? I said, I just quit my job. I have no job to go to. He says down to Toronto quick we'll talk so I came down to Toronto and he was living not far from Young and Lawrence he said I just got a job offer from CKLGFM in Vancouver by Roy Hennessy he needs another jock let's work out a tape together so we went down to Chum FM that

night we worked on a tape and including put my John Lennon interview in. Well, Hennessy calls me says fly out here right now. All taken care of. I wasn't there a couple hours and he hired me on the spot. So Don and I with our kids, dogs and everything else did a convoy to Vancouver. both of us expecting to spend many years in Vancouver, which Don did for quite some time. However, there was a guy by the name of Gary Slate, who was a salesman for CKLG. And he said, you know, uh, you should call Dave Charles

who was going to be the program director. My father just got a new license. And I think it's something you'd like. We're going to take on chum FM and, uh, okay. So I became the first person hired at Q1 Oh seven to do afternoon drive three to eight and talk about a trip of a brand new station. I mean, the entire staff and here's where I'm going to, I don't, maybe I don't, I shouldn't put you on the spot because I've heard a lot of people talk about

Q here on your show. Yep. Who do you think the first morning man was of Q107? I don't know. My guess would be Scruff Connors would be a guess. That's what I hear all the time. Okay Scruff was the third morning man Oh, yeah, the second morning man was Ted Walsh. Okay. Yeah Ted was doing the Comedy Bowl Because when John roadie, I Don't know if you know that name. It's not ringing a bell. Okay, John roadie The most intelligent person I ever met because he's a member of Mensa in California. He did the morning show, he got bored, he

worked together again twice at Chum FM and also at Key 590. He now lives in Picton and he makes wine. But he was the first morning man. The whole staff was, uh, Rody in the morning, Dave Charles took two hours till noon, Murray Smith. Murray did noon to three or something. I did three to eight. Marianne Carpentier went till I think midnight. And Scott Marwood, I can't remember yesterday sometimes, Mike,

but I remember this staff. That's great. We were the Toronto Sun. We had, I should have brought you the ad. We all had big paper bags over our head because they wanted to, uh, to show everybody that, uh, there was a new staff, but they wouldn't name us. But Dave Charles and John Paracol, uh, who they would both later leave Q and become, uh, joint communications. And they were the guys who were the PDs. And when they left, Gary Slate took over.

And yeah, those early days, unbelievable. Unbelievable. Well, that's exciting getting to launch a new station. Oh, yeah. I'd never done it before. And we're walking into the control room at 2 Bloor East and we're looking straight down Yonge Street, right to the water, and Elvis Costello came in one day, he was a little tough to take. Meatloaf, there's a lot of bands that came in there that were just breaking. And they'd come in and

John what year is the launch is it 77? What may may of 1977? Okay. Yeah, I got back in April I remember Charles would love this joke. Okay, Dave. I'm here. Uh-huh. Good. We're going on next month Uh, dave, I don't have any money Well, you know Coming on next month. So I drove to Oshawa and lived with me and my two kids, my wife, and we lived with my mom and dad for a month. Then we got an apartment at Young and Blythewood. Do you want to hear a little bit about yourself on Q107? Here's a little bit of...

Yeah, let's hear a little John Donovan here. Yeah, let's hear a little John Donobie here. And boy, to run both from Bruce Springsteen, some powerful rock and roll at 528 on Q 107 Toronto, Toronto's best rock. I'm John Donobie. And we've got about 13 degrees out there right now with mainly clear skies. Winds will die down this evening with lows around seven for tomorrow, highs of 20 and same for Wednesday, sunny and warmer and mainly sunny for tomorrow. A good, beautiful few days coming your way. Gamble Rogers is at the groaning board. I'll be there of 20 and same for Wednesday, sunny and warmer and mainly sunny for tomorrow, a good beautiful few days coming your way. Gamble Rogers is at the groaning board.

I'll be there. One hour from now at 6.30 I'll have for you the brand new Cooper Brothers album as well as music of the Eagles this evening on words and music. And Dean Hill, who I just talked to a few minutes ago, has been tuning up all day getting ready for a visit tonight at 9 from the Cars. Two of the members of the Cars will be here for a solid hour between 9 and 10 tonight playing their favorite tuneys and they'll be the guest jocks tonight along with Dean so we'll be listening tonight the Cars and the Q107 studios playing some of their

favorite music that's between 9 and 10 p.m. On July 2nd this band will be in our city this is an old Roy Orbison song from years ago Jim Capaldi recorded it as well. This is Nazareth with love hurts with you 107 Formerly Atkinson Denko and Ford Wayne Ford now married to Patsy get home 14 minutes before 6 o'clock. I'm John Donahue and There you go. There you go. That'll taste. Thank you for that. Thank you for that flashback Just just as an aside because you're a radio guy. I mentioned Dean Hill Dean left Q eventually and became probably the biggest jock in Vancouver just amazing guys Wow, he's still on the air out there and because you mentioned I guess I mentioned, Scruff Connors thinking he might have been

the first morning guy at Q, I just want to tell everybody listening that in a couple of weeks, Scruff's son, TJ Connors, is coming on the show to tell a whack of Scruff stories. And there are some pretty epic Scruff stories. That will be amazing, including, well, obviously Q and what happened down in St. Catharines. Right.

Well, that's it. So he's right now, I see afternoon drive, I think he's afternoon drive because it's Biggs and Barnard. So he's at Hits FM right now. And speaking of Hits FM, another quick plug, I gotta plug another episode a week later, Paul Morris, long time Hits FM jock

and father of previous guest, Siobhan Morris, who's been on a couple of times. So Paul Morris is coming on the Toronto mic as well. So I work with Paul at, uh, at standard broadcasting because I was at CFRB and he was across the hall at, uh, was he at Virgin or mixed 99 nine or whatever they were calling it. And, uh, yeah, Paul was one of the nicest people you ever want to meet and St. Catherine.

So, I mean, he turned that place around. Yeah, they say that's the house that Paul Morris built. So there you go. And I know we have to find out what happened there. I know if he was king for a day, he'd still be on the air there. So we've got to find out what happened at Hitsam. Well, like all of us, you know, I mean, I was let go two or three times in my career.

I was doing well. But it comes to a point sometimes like the sad reality is age plays a factor the amount of money you're making plays a big factor and when you put them all together it's time to say bye bye and I I've been watching this for the last eight or nine years with interest and so when someone gets let go that you really love you know Al joins this for the last eight or nine years with interest. And so when someone gets let go that you really love, you know, Al joins and I work together too. And it's Steve couch, my boss at CFRB said it best, it's not if it's when, and sure

enough your time comes up. Because when I left CFRB, I was in absolute shock. I've been there 15 years and I really thought I could be there forever, but it wasn't meant to be. I just had Alan here to hear that story. He got it with John Scholes and Andy Frost, like all three in one room speaking of the Mighty Q, the ones Mighty Q. When you started, when you helped launch Q107, essentially you gave it instant credibility by having John Donobie as part of your launch team.

I think. Here's Dave Charles line. I'm walking into the control room because we were the first day we all did an hour. And then the next day we, you know, and Dave went, here comes Mr. FM because Dave, Dave worked at chum too. And I'd had a reputation of, you know, being at chum FM. And I think I was the only one there that had been at Chum FM. And so, yeah, it was instant credibility,

and marvelous guests, great guests, and it was a great time. I was there for two years before I left to go into television, and it was just great, and Gary Slate was a great guy to work for. And you know. Alright, when I had Ingrid Schumacher on I asked her this question. Because I had read that the Q107 Chum FM rivalry was such that the Q, they called Chum FM Scum FM.

And the Chum FM people were calling it Screw 107. Any truth to this? I can't find a human who actually can tell me this was true. Well, here's a human that's hearing it for the first time. Oh yeah! You can't believe everything you hear. I never heard that. I mean, I was still friends with guys from Chum FM and vice versa. And of course, after my two-month summer television show, I returned to Chum FM. So it was, you know, if you were good at what you did and you kept your nose clean, I learned that when you leave a job you never badmouth the people you left. I would get hired back.

Don't burn any bridges. That's your advice to broadcasters. No, don't burn any bridges. I worked for the Slates three times. Gary twice, Greg Slate, one of the sweetest guys in the world, who's disappeared up to Stoney Lake somewhere after they sold Standard Broadcasting. He never has to worry about working again. Cashed out, yeah. Yeah, yeah, right. We're gonna, and I have, that's your next clip.

So we heard you on cue and we're gonna hear you shortly at CKFM. There's a little teaser there. I got another clip of you. So tell me about this television though. I mean, we called you a musicologist. The guy I think is using that term today, I met him at your party at Roy Thompson Hall. But Alan Cross is now kind of a new musicologist.

He's taken up that mantra. And good for him. He's an extremely talented guy. But you were on Afternoon Delight, right? That was the CBC show that you were on. It was Network. It was coast to coast. So here goes the deal. I'm at Q107, I was, see my mind just goes all over the place.

Earlier you talked about meeting guys on radio and they don't look like they, how they look. You have no idea what they're gonna look like. And so when I meet people and they go, you don't look anything like you should. And I go, well that's because when I'm on the radio, I'm taller, I'm thinner, and I have a lot more hair. On the radio, you look like Don Draper,

essentially, for that. But, what was I talking about? Oh, you're on CBC. Yeah, so anyway, I'm at Q, and I'm heavy, I'm really heavy. So I go and go to a weight loss place and I lose a ton of weight and I'm really thin and looking good. And one day I get a call from Cynthia, Cynthia Grek

and she was working on the Bob McClain show. Bob McClain was kind of one of those guys, he was at CBC forever. And he says, look, could you come on Bob McClain's show? I want you to talk about the phenomena of disco. We're talking 79 here. You know, shame, shame, shame, all that stuff. I said, sure.

Being a kind of a musicologist, I could talk about pretty much any format. So I went on, did the show. I got a call two days later from Cynthia Greck and she says, look, Bob takes the summer off. I'm in charge of putting together a summer show and I'd really like you to host it. I said, you got to be kidding. I don't do television. Well, you just did. So pardon me. I said, well, okay.

So what is now a Staples store on Yonge Street, just down the hill from Chumifam, CBC Studio Four used to be there. So every day from one to two, we would do Afternoon Delight. It was a show about men for women. So women could better understand men. And, um, I had some incredible people on the program with me. Great musicians would come in for every show. It was an hour live five days a week, right across the country.

And, uh, I got paid more money for that summer than I ever made in radio. Wow. And you know it was just great to have these people working with me. Summer ends and oh yeah as the summer's ending I've got Gordon Sinclair on the show and Gordon said so what do you plan to do after this show John? Well you know Gordon I'd really like to stay in radio. Can I give you some advice? Sure. CBC there's Tommy Hunter.

There's hockey night in Canada. Everything after that is a bonus. So I go to meet with Jack McAndrew, the, uh, the head of CBC and he said, can I tell you how great you were? You really were good. I can't believe it. Oh, good. But you know, John, uh, Bob's 40 John Bob's 40 and he's one of our boys so sorry so at the end of

summer I was unemployed and I got a call from Warren Cosford from Chum FM via J Robert Wood they wanted me to come back and do afternoon drive and there was a certain salary I was looking for they matched it and I went back there for probably two or three years. It was a very different place then but yeah I enjoyed myself. I've had a good time. You reclaimed your old slot there. Yeah I reclaimed my old spot and then this is when you start to wonder about your career. So here's something I don't even have to admit. But I was there doing afternoon drive.

And suddenly J. Robert Wood calls me and says, John, we're moving into mid days. Now mid days socially is great. But you know, the morning show and afternoon drive were these two shifts. So I said to Bob, he won't remember this. I said, so Bob, like, is my future okay here with a chum FM? And then one of the great lines I've heard many times, John, we can't promise the future.

And I went, okay. So I got a call from less soul who was the big guy from, uh, CFTR. And he says, we're putting a brand new station on the air, John. You might remember the building. I said, where, you know, where CKFH was? Yeah. It's going to be called CJ CL. We're hiring Andy Berry from RB, Jim Brady from TR.

And we'd like to get you. Well, it was, it was financially it was incredible. It didn't last all that long and I'll just summarize by saying again that before you knew it when things weren't working out Mike they decided to go to the music of your life. Of course I remember it well as a die-hard Blue Jay fan how could I forget. Oh god and one day I'm sitting there preparing for the show, depressed as hell. And someone said, there's a call for you, kind of like the Chum FM call. I said, I'm too busy.

And someone named Greg Slate. So Greg says, Would you like to come up to CFGM? Be my music director. But you have to go to evenings. Sure. And as people have often said when I do interviews, how do you go to a country station in a format you've never done before? I bluffed it and then I started buying a bunch of books and I studied it. So by the time I got up there I pretty much knew what I was doing and I stayed

with Greg for a couple years before I actually went, I was at CFRB twice. So I went to CFRB, Ralph Lucas hired me and away I went and Yeah, that's kind of that corner of the world. Well, let me bring you back. So that's a there's a lot there anywhere you want There's Chum FM and then there's CJ CL, of course And it's funny you mentioned music of your life because I would listen to Tom and Jerry Tom cheek and Jerry Howarth No blue Jays games and then I would list to Tom and Jerry, Tom Cheek and Jerry Howarth, called Blue Jays Games, and then I would list Scott Ferguson, I think. I think that was, yeah, Scott Ferguson. One of my old buddies. He was my sports guy when I did weekends on RB.

Well, he's a guy I've been trying to find him to get him to come here because I used to listen to him do the postgame show on CJCL. I mean, I fell asleep to that man's voice more than any other voice, I think. But when I'd wake up, because I had my little transistor radio and I'd wake up in the middle of the night and I'd hear the music of your life and I'm gonna be like Tony Bennett or something. I can't remember. It was just it was not my cup. It was a CFTR guy back then. But uh, so I always remember the music of your life, but I want to bring you back to Chum FM because you're there. You're there when John Lennon is shot and killed.

You're at Chum FM. Oh, what a night. What a night. I'm in bed, I'm just going to sleep, and I get a call, excuse me, I'm just getting a water here, get something to drink. And I apologize for not offering you water. What a terrible host I am here.

Oh no. I'm spoiled, I bring Evian with me. So anyway, I'm falling asleep and I got a call from the newsman at Q107 who still was a great friend of mine. John, did you sleep? Yeah, I'm just saying. John, turn on TV quick. John Lennon's been shot. So I turn it on and there's all the shots from the Dakota and I'm going, oh my God, oh my God. And I'm watching it and all of a sudden, these were the days the operator came on. I have an emergency call for John Donobie.

Oh, wow. I said, Paul, I gotta go. It was Ross Davies from Chum FM. John, uh, John Lennon has just died. We need you in here now. This was about 11, 1130. So I drove down and I did an interview live with Larry Wilson. We talked about Lenin, how I talked to him, this that and everything. We're all pretty

depressed about it. And then as I got off the air, Ross says, come here. We found out Ronnie Hawkins is in Arkansas. We're going to call him and wake him up. We'd like you to interview him. Well, I did. And he just heard about it. So he gave us a nice lengthy chat. I stayed there all night long, working on tape and doing different things. Meanwhile, no cell phone.

Then I, uh, got a call from my wife at the station. John CTV just called. They want you to do a candidate. Yeah. So myself and Larry LeBlanc, a journalist, we went down to, uh, uh, Norm Perry was the host then. We went down and did an interview on John Lennon and, uh,

great. Okay. Now I've been up all night and morning. I go home, city TV calls. And from AM six 40, Lauren, um, can you help me out? Like Lauren, like Hanukman. No, Hanukman. Yeah. Hanukman.

Close enough. Yeah. He wants to interview me at noon at my apartment or my, yeah, my apartment. So he comes up, does a nice long interview with me. Now I've been up for like ever and, ever and he leaves and I'm just about to lay down and I get a call from city again and Martin O wanted me to come on for the evening show with Peter Goddard. So I come on with Peter Goddard and we do yet another interview. So now I'm up like 24 hours pretty much. I go home, I sit in a chair and someone's playing the song,

beautiful boy, beautiful boy. And I sit in the chair and I start to cry because I hadn't had time to really take it in because I mean, I really loved Elvis and stuff, but I was just a tiny, just a tiny bit late for Elvis and Pazzy Klein and Buddy Holly and all those people I admired them but they were before my time John Lennon was my generation so I just wept I was so upset and then later as you know Chum FM had the famous candlelight ceremony at Nathan Phillips Square and I still have pictures of me holding my daughter.

Long John Baldry was there. Ronnie Hawkins was there. It was a great evening. And we paid tribute to John Lennon. But that night, I will never forget as long as I live. It was extremely dramatic. Wow. Yeah, I can imagine.

Now, to change channels a little bit here. No pun intended, but with Chem FM, this is before. So at this time, when you're at Chem FM, the second time there, Ashby still on AM, he doesn't move over till mid eighties. I want to say like eighty six or something like that, something like that, something like that. So I'm curious though, because we talked about him earlier and you dropped a little nugget there that I've been thinking throughout our chat that, you know, Ashby confided, Roger Ashby confided in you that he was stepping down at the end of the year. Right. And it does. I mean, and although I have

been searching for some evidence of this in the public sphere, it really has been, in my opinion, as an observer, it was clear this was imminent like that, and it makes sense that at the end of the year, after 50 years on the air, that Roger would step down and they just introduced. So there's Roger Maryland, who have been there since the mid eighties together, and then of course Rick Hodge was there a long time, but then Rick Hodge got an offer. He couldn't refuse. I think Gary Slade as well, and he he moved over to standard broadcasting, and that did not work out for Rick. He's been on a show.

He's talked about that, you know, live and learn, whatever. So it's funny. I was, I was at who hasn't been on your shows. Oh God. Okay. John, again, you were there with Barack Obama in the unattainable list. I didn't even pursue there, but I love your politics. Just this past week, this week, what are we now? Thursday? Okay. Just this past week, this week, what are we now Thursday? Okay, just this week they added a third person to the Chum FM morning show. He's a gentleman from, I think he's a New Yorker, but he came from Chicago. He's an American. Jamar. Jamar. Yeah. So what is clear to me is that Jamar is here for us to get used to the three person booth of Jamar, Roger and Marilyn.

Cause Roger's stepping down and then I'm sure some shortly thereafter, maybe Marilyn, cause she does a million things. Well, you know, you bring up a good point. Everybody asks me, what do you think about Marilyn? I have no idea. Cause Marilyn's doing the TV show, which is part of Bell. And I see her staying on for a period of time and I think she'll she'll leave maybe when she wants to but in radio who knows maybe when they want you to but this gentleman I understand he's really really good I think he's on the air now isn't he? He started Monday. Monday yeah I haven't heard him yet but there's a lot of things about him being hired, uh, that I really like.

Um, I think probably, and this is something we all talk about in this town. Uh, he's a man of color and the fact that he's on a major radio station like Chamefem, I think it's wonderful. I think it's really, really wonderful. And, uh, obviously they, they listened to him for a while and decided he's the guy. You know, everybody thought Adam Wilde was going to gonna be the guy I think he might end up on Virgin I think possibly and this is all just my guessing I don't know well on the yellow pages you know you know he's good he's gonna make a major announcement

no that I hear that he's filling in on the fan on a fan for Jeff Blair yeah so that's so that's not a major announcement no no I think there's still more to. I think he's got a what is it the non-compete period or whatever So I think he left Rogers. Yeah quit Rogers and there's a period of time where he's not allowed to show up on a Toronto radio Station a computer there Yeah and I know a lot of this commonplace and it might end around September and at that point I actually had bought into this fan fiction of like, oh, he'll be on the air with his mom and then he the torch is passed when his because his mom's Marilyn Dennis. And when she steps down

then Adam, while whatever and then I thought, no, he I think it's more likely he ends up on Virgin. Like that's just my guess here. That could very well have that's a good guess. So tomorrow, though, person of color, fantastic. This is a very diverse city like half the city. Absolutely and long overdue. But do you have any thoughts that maybe there was a Canadian who could have taken this? But does it matter to you that he's American? No, because back in the day, I when I was at FH and Gary Palin was P. D., he hired the great Steve O'Brien, who went on to just one of the most famous

jocks in New York. He was an American, a guy named Scott was American, Rhodey was an American. My first favorite DJ was American because it was Tom Rivers. There you go, there's Tommy. At Chum AM, you know, Terry Steele, Tom Rivers, oh my God, the guy who's in Washington now, he's retired, Pat is his real name, Scott, this is terrible, you're talking thinking memories and when I get in the car when I leave here, I'll go, oh god, can I edit this in Mike? But no, there was a time at Chum AM, you know, Mike Holland, all these guys, they were all Americans

and nobody back then seemed to be overly concerned because J Robert wanted the best and he found that these guys were the best. Yes I've seen it the write-ups the last couple of days, couldn't they have found a black jock in Canada was equally as good? I, it doesn't even enter me, my mind. They, they, the bosses there heard him. They thought he was right. They thought he was the right fit. Bring him in.

And, and as a, some cretin that's on that board, soundy pages came, you know, well, you know, who bitches when, uh, Dan Aykroyd goes to the United States or John Candy goes to the United States. Nobody down there gripes that Canadians are coming in. So I learned to love it. I can't wait to hear them. I just haven't had a chance yet. So yeah.

And so one of the thoughts though is that there's a little bit of a generation gap, I think, between Jamar and Roger. I haven't listened a lot, but I get a lot of feedback. Possibly there's a little awkwardness there with the references and stuff. Well, you know, on CHFI, that was the Don Daynard-Erin Davis problem. Right. And Don has done interviews publicly that they finally had to have a meeting and saying, Don, you can't go back this far because Erin was young and she would have no way of knowing. So,

you know, it was tough for Don because I, Don was the morning man at CKFH when I got there in 67. So yeah, he had a little bit of a problem there. But then Erin had this wonderful career. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And then she,, I think that was the last show where, she told me, she's been on the show. I know that's, I know she was ahead of you here, but again, you were unattainable, I thought, but I was wrong, thankfully.

But Erin made sure that in the future shows that she would be named first. So that was like, it was Dawn and Erin, I guess, is how they referred to that. And then henceforth, like with Mike Cooper, for example, which Erin was teamed with for a long time, it was Aaron and Mike. So Aaron made sure she was-

That was a great story because I was at RB and Aaron had been fired from CHFI. And Aaron was working up at, which is now called Easy, well, it was Easy Rock then, and Coop was there. Right. And then she gets- Yeah, now boom. Yeah, now boom. Then she gets that great job offer to go back. And her and Mike worked so well together.

She said, yeah, I'll be interested if I can bring Mike Cooper with me. And Coop and I have been friends forever. And financially, the greatest thing in his life, because he was able to retire. Same as Roger Ashby, when it happens to Derringer. Erin, I think she's still on the air out in Victoria. because he was able to retire and you know same as Roger Ashby and when it happens to Derringer. Erin I think she's still on the air out in Victoria I'm not sure. I'm not too sure she's doing a lot of on air stuff but she's she's her and her husband are having a good time they got a nice place on the island out

there yeah they seem to be doing well she's still journals regularly on ErinGavis.com so you can follow there. But she's another radio legend. So where will we pick you up? Let's get you. Okay, see. Yes. Okay. I have a clip of you here. So you return. Okay. So Gary Slate calls you again. And CK FM is where you you end up after your two year stint at okay, I guess. I can make that very clear for you. Go ahead, yeah. When I got to RB in 85. RB, okay, CFRB in 85. Yeah, so Slate has bought the place, but they haven't arrived. So in 87, Allen and Gary enter the building,

and the first thing Gary says to me, comes into the studio, I want you across the hall. You know, I want you at my music station. So I crossed the hall in 87 and then he brought in a program director by the name of Don Stevens. Don Stevens fired a few people there. I was one he wanted to fire and he warned me about it. He said I don't like your act. First PD that ever said that to me. So Gary calls me in one day, what's this? You've quit, you're going down to Key 590. I said, well Steve Harris is the head of the whole thing. I told him that my PD doesn't want me. What? Anyway, so I ended

up leaving and going down to Key 590. But yeah, I was there with Gary for a couple of years and and that's when Daynard got very, very sick, took the summer off and I filled in on the morning show very sick, took the summer off. And I filled in on the morning show with Stafford for the whole summer. Mike Stafford, friend of the show, absolutely. He's been on a couple of times. Funny, funny man.

Smart, too. He's very intelligent. He was on Jeopardy, which is his. He loves to tell that story, but it's not easy to get on Jeopardy. So I have a clip of you. So this is you. And I think this is from 1988.

In fact, I know this is May 19th, 1988. Let's hear how you sounded on CKFM. ["KFM Theme Song"] 6.53 in the morning with John Donobie. Here comes Mr. Eric Clapton, old slow hand, they call him. This is Lay Down Sally. 999CKFM, good morning. Aha!

The name of the group here at 999CKFM along with Eric Clapton. Coming up, some Bruce Hornsby in the range, the Beatles, John Lennon too, back to back. And I'll return with foreigner but right now at seven o'clock it's time for news good morning Dave Agar good morning thanks John it's an overcast cool morning in Toronto the temperature in Midtown is 14 it should reach 16 today it'll be cloudy with showers today and tonight a low overnight of 10 coming up on sports with Glenn Gingrich Edmonton wins game one here's what's going on this morning East and West good morning I'm Maureen Holloway with CKF-Ebsalde Traffic. The OPP tell me we have fog stretching

from Oakville into the Niagara Peninsula along the edge of the lake. I think you've come back, but it's great to hear Maureen Holloway speaking of, she actually took the Aaron Davis spot on the CHFI leaving Q107. Yeah, eventually after some years of Q. Yeah. But you notice that? Maureen is doing traffic, Aaron Davis was doing traffic when she got to town and they both spiraled.

But right now, I'm just gonna say this right now, I want a copy of that. Oh, for sure. I don't have anything of me from CKFM, Mike. I would really appreciate a copy of that clip. For sure, here you are. Here's Stevie Wonder. Listen to that voice.

It's great. I'd hire him. One of a kind. At 99.9, CKFM John Donahue for Ted Wallishe. For Ted Wallishe. From one of my favorite videos, and certainly one of the most powerful singers in rock here comes Lou Graham and foreigner Oh, this is a great anthem. I want to know what love is Ted Wallace and show on a Thursday morning. This is John Donovan for Ted the sound of our Toronto

999 ckf What a powerful video that is foreigner here at 99.9 ckfm Toronto I hope the video portion came through for you this morning too. We're having a little trouble just adjust the Vehicular now the vertical it is 720 in the morning 15 or 60 degrees Fahrenheit and showers are on the way We're not going to fib to you this morning last couple of days We predicted these beautiful sunshiny days and we got rained on but it's going to be rainy today tonight and tomorrow as a matter of fact Maureen Holloway is up next. She'll have a check on traffic Stand behind you 722 with John Donahoe time for traffic brought to you by city Buick Pontiac Cadillac

Here's moe if you're northbound on Jane, expected delay approaching, Steeles, two cars have collided in the intersection. It's just great to hear this, like this is kind of when I, as I understand it, there was an attempt to compete with Chum FM, I guess CKFM was trying to get more youthful and uh, 4-4 Parkway combo busy through Highway 7 and John Street, the 401 is probably- Let's listen to the last minute, only because I actually can't get enough of these old clips Like I just love hearing this and I'll have an update after the 730 news always. Thank you Maureen All right, here's Bruce Hornsby in the range with new music followed by classic Beatles taking a news time at 730 with Mike Stafford This is the Valley Road

999 CK FM Beatles eight days a week from 1965 here at 9999CKFM along with New Hornsby and the Range. We'll be back with the likes of Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine and John Lennon. But right now it's 730, it's time for news. Good morning Mike Stafford. Good morning John. Somebody forgot to turn on the sun, cloudy with showers today, tonight and tomorrow. A high today and Friday 16, tonight's low down to 10. Midtown it's 15 degrees. Coming up, Glen and Maureen with Sports and Traffic.

The CKFM forecast, cloudy with showers 16, showers tonight 10, cloudy with showers Friday tomorrow. A high of 16, looks cloudy for the long weekend as well. Midtown it's 15, I'm Mike Stafford. CKFM News and Sports Next Today with Dave Agar. 737, here's John Lennon with the number nine dream at 99.9, CKFM. What a clip. There's lots of you. Fantastic. I mean, we get some Maureen Holloway doing

traffic. We get Mike Stafford doing news. Dave Ag who had recently retired I believe that I just have to say this and and that is I don't like hearing myself generally I like that guy and I'd like to take full credit But I have a funny I have a funny feeling was the engineers just working with the god. I sound so ballsy in there I working with the God I sound so ballsy in there. I love honestly if you hadn't told me and my name was in there I'd go who is that guy so smooth. Yeah right. I always wondered like I always thought you know I should be the last guy to host anything because I grew up listening to voices like that on the radio and thinking that you got to sound like that

to broadcast. So what am So who am I with this voice to compete with what I just heard right there? You're a personality. You'd probably do really, you know, what you'd really do well with too is commercials and stuff. Because I got an agent that didn't want me because he said I sounded like I was in radio.

They're looking for the real guy in the street. Authentic voices. Authentic voices. Hook me up with that agent. You're authentic. I am, I'm the real deal. Toronto Mike, authentic. Yeah, I'm not using any of the engineered tricks to make me sound like John Donahby. So that was 99.9 and then you mentioned CKEY. That was your next stop. Yeah. Key 590 they

called it. Yeah. Right. Because that's right. So in you know, guys like me who love sports radio, we remember, of course, CJCL was 1430. And then shortly after you, I guess, so you're there in 89, you come to CKEY, which was 590. And then not too long after that, like, I don't know, a year or two later, 1430 moves to 590. Well, no, there's a little thing in the middle. Key 590 was not doing well. We became country 59. Right. And the only two people were retained. I was one of them. That lasted for five months and then they said you know John it's not working out. So I was out of work. What am I gonna do? I got a family.

Guess what? I end up, thank God, my old friend Don Shafer, he's running Q107, John, come on up here. And I did Psychedelic Sunday for a few months. I filled in for Brother Jake. And I did that for a while and then I get this call from kiss FM which was new country right and that's my Doug Brinkman mugs and kisses right that was the mugs and kisses I stood out one day in the middle of Ajax about 40 below zero with these damn mugs and these Hershey kisses oh god it was fun at first and by the way, I've got to give full credit Never never did it before never did it since we were in the studio for over a month Mike doing mock shows

Down there on Ontario Street. Well, and we'd come in every day do a mock show so by the time day one came to go on air, we sounded like we've been there for a while and In the first rating book, I think it was either number three or four, blew the city away how high our ratings were. So full credits to the Rawlansons for that. And full credit to Garth Brooks, because as I recall, my mom was a big Kiss FM fan and it was a lot of Garth going on. That was the big, the big, the big peak of Garth going on. That was the big the big the big peak of Garth mania I'd say but yeah very cool. I remember my mom getting a

kiss FM mugs one of the mugs and I think you know speak morning show host he's currently at the kiss ninety to five but Mocha frappe is what he goes by with Ros and Mocha. I'm certain he came on the show and told a story that he, early in his career, he was responsible somehow for dispersing the Kiss FM mugs. He might have been one of the kids. We hired a lot of young kids to come out and do this with us. We'd have a couple of announcers and then all these volunteers would come in. And he might have been one of the volunteers. Did you have any leeway?

Like when you played your country songs on Kiss FM, did you ever like, do you, were you able to slip in a rock song here and there? Like no, no, not even the Eagles, the Eagles, no, everything, everything was on, uh, on paper and Kathy and I, Kathy was my op up at, uh, up at Q for my my my return there and I brought her with me and no it was all mapped out the philosophy of new country was it wasn't Merle Haggard who was the guy who made the format it was the Everly brothers and people like that and You either loved a new country or you didn't and you stuck with classic country. You know, I thought you might have been able

to slip an eagle song or two in the mix. Well, if it was slipped in, it was slipped. It was slipped in by the people who was doing the format. All right. Now talk to me about your why do you why do you leave kiss FM and how do you end up back on CFRB? That's next, right? Or have I missed anything? No, you're missing it. There's a lot of steps here.

This is a very, very interesting career. Yeah, I know. As Ted Walshian used to like to say, hey, John's worked at every radio station at a subway stop near you. And the truth is, I have the chance to say it now, I just didn't quit and things like that. I would get offers.

I got offers my entire career and I Knew what the Equation was of how much money I would have to make it to make it to make it in order to leave No kiss FM. I got let go at kiss FM Yeah, that was the trip so anyway, I'm out of work and I'm, uh, I went to see Bob Lane. Bob said, you know, I think you're done for Toronto,

John, I think you are, you know, you've been here a long time. I said, yeah, I guess so. And then one day I got a call from this friend of mine, Peter Donato and Peter says, uh, Hey John, uh, I just had a meeting with Gary Slate and John Marie Heimrath and Gary would like to see you. So Gary, I told this when I was inducted into the broadcast Hall of Fame in 2013

I told this story at the dinner got a lot of laughs. I phoned Gary we have a nice chat and He says I got nothing for you John. I just want to know how you were how you were doing and Why don't you look at the easyZ Rock, because he hadn't bought that yet. And I said, nah, did that, done that Gary, but thanks very, very much. Well, I got nothing for you. Yeah, I know Gary, okay, I understand that. Well thank you very much.

He did that like three or four times. And then he goes, well why don't you come down and see me? So I went down and I sit in the office with him. Well, I don't have anything for you, but I just wanted to see you and that went for a while. So I said well Gary I better get going, I don't want to bother you anymore. Now follow me. And he takes me down the office and he opens this door and it was like the prize closet where we kept all the prizes for the two stations. In there enough room for two people in the room and a desk with Steve Couch

PD of CFRB he just walked out couch Yes Find him something and he leaves Wow and So I sit down with couch. He says look Glenn Crowder is doing weekends Why don't you fill in for Glenn? Oh Okay, so we talked for a while and I leave the room and I go back to Gary's office and I told this story as when I was inducted and it was just very funny because I go to Gary, Jesus, thank you, thank you so much.

But there's only one problem, Gary. What's that? I've never done talk radio. And he looked at me and said, John, what do you do between records? I said, I talk. Then talk f'n longer! And we both laughed. And he was very gracious.

Saved my life, really, because my daughter was heading to university in the fall. I didn't what I was gonna do and I stayed for 15 years until Gary sold the place and That I managed to stay a year through astral and that that's when you might remember Jane Brown myself God, there are about 40 of us I guess over two years Most of it was, you know due to age and money and things like that but I got a really nice package and they were very very nice to me when I left and so I I couldn't gripe about it and Mike Bendixson was a great guy to work for and so that was that and then three weeks later I get a call from

Jazz FM and they asked me if I'd like to three weeks later, I get a call from Jazz FM. And they asked me if I'd like to come down there. And I stayed a year at Jazz FM. And then I just kind of hung up my spurs for about four years, five years, until CIUT came a-knockin' and wanted to know if I'd like to come down there and do a two hour show a week of freeform radio like I did at Chum FM in the early days, which

brings us to the present. Now back to CFRB just for a moment. So yeah, it's a talk station, but you were playing full songs, right? Like you could play... Yeah, mine was the only show that could do that. It was very unique and to be honest, you know, I couldn't really buy into it at the time, but I can now. My show is different than anyone on the radio station. I was playing music, I was doing these type of interviews and so on and so forth. In other words, it stood out from all the other shows. And I think Mikey wanted to do something that was more in line.

So I understood why things had to happen the way it did. But here it is, 2018, and I still get people who come up to me and say, oh, I just miss you from CFRB or News Talk 1010, which is really a nice compliment. But I had 15 great years there. I can't complain. They took care of me well in the end.

And it was just a trip because I'd never stayed anywhere that long, Mike. Right. Well, I was going to say, I think we can make the claim that you were the last person with a show on CFRB where you could play full songs. Yeah, probably. You're probably that last person who can make that claim, so you can add that to your list of accomplishments. And I was just wondering, so when you're there at CFRB doing weekend mornings and...

Then I would fill in for Ted Wollish during the week. Right, AM Drive. Okay, very good. And you were also entertainment editor? Is that on your list of... On your business card too? No, no. I did an entertainment show on the weekend, but I wasn't the entertainment editor? Is that on your list of, on your business card too? No, I did an entertainment show on the weekend,

but I wasn't the entertainment editor. There were a few of us that shared those responsibility. And by the way, because I think she's going to be on your show, when I was at CKFM for that two year period, that's where I met Danny Elwell. Danny was there. Well, when you were talking about Reiner Schwartz, I was going to bring her up because I know that when Reiner Schwartz was at CFNY, he left a big impression on Danny.

Well, I love Danny. I love her. Well, Danny and I have been doing a dance speaking. Okay, so good. This is an Italian. She's in Italy right now. I understand. Yeah. Europe. You know, she was in Italy. And then I think she's somewhere in Europe. You're absolutely right. She's got a great story. And she was coming on and it got delayed because something went down with, and I don't have the specifics, but it sounds like a cluster F, if I could, I think that may be the technical term, but something went down at Jazz FM. So there was a purge, I would say, of on-air talent at Jazz FM.

And I'm sure you're familiar with most of this, but Dani was like the first one because she was on the air there. In fact, I think she was in charge of, she had a big title. She had a great title. I didn't even know she had that. And then she was off the air and was very mysterious, very mysterious, her disappearance. And then, uh, since then Garvia Bailey was the morning show and she mysteriously disappeared. And I tried to get her to come on, but everyone's really hush hush and other people too. I mean, James B, James, James B or James B. I always say that wrong, but James B with a BEE.

Right. That's it. Others too. Um, lots of the on air people at jazz FM were mysteriously purged over the last six months. So something went down there. You have any insight to what's going on at jazz FM? No, no, but Danny Elwell, that's why she postponed her visit here because if she's coming on, she's going to be honest and she wasn't able to say something or wasn't ready to say anything. Well, the saddest part for me of The Purge, if you're talking about, is I had a producer for six years at CFRB named Mark Wigmore. He became the entertainment editor and he had just gotten The Morning Show about three

weeks before he got let go. And now I understand there's no morning host. They just run music now. But no, I have no idea what's going on down there. And it's just a part of my past. And I really don't know. But Danny is great. I mean, I hear her voice over on lots of stuff, actually. So she's very active. She's a sweetie. Danny is coming in and mean, I hear her voice over on lots of stuff, actually. So she's very active. She's a sweetie. Danny is coming in.

And she, I have this clip I'm going to play when she's on, because she did something not many people do, which is quit their job on the air. Let's see if and why. Yeah. Yeah. So I've got that clip locked and loaded, and I can't wait for her to come on.

But can you think of anyone else who sort of resigned on air? Not resigned on air? Not resigned on air but I do know people that did a topic kind of knowing that when the show is over there wouldn't be a job there. So I knew a couple of people like that over the years but they would they would always just get back on their horse and they would they would continue to work but most of us know just either resigned or got fired. It took me, well, you figure I started in 65 and I didn't get let go until 89.

Which is amazing. I actually thought, I truly thought I was invincible. I really did. And when it happened the first time, I could have gone into therapy. I didn't even know who I was. I read a lot of topics about this. I was John Donobie on the radio and suddenly I have no microphone. And psychologically, it was really rough. It took me a while, but then I got a can two more times in life.

And each time it gets a lot easier. And as the real old experts used to say to me, you got fired, John. Well, Hey, you're not in radio unless you get fired. Come on, come on, come on. You're not in radio unless you get fired. And each time it gets a lot easier. And as the real old experts used to say to me, you got fired, John. Well, hey, you're not in radio unless you get fired. Come on, come on. So true. And it's true.

It's true. And everyone not named Roger Ashby has been fired at least once, right? I think he might have escaped. I think Roger's escaped it, yeah. Yeah, I think he's been blessed being with Chum for so long. Very blessed. So tell me about your return to the airwaves on CIUT. So that's funny. Mix bag, right?

Yeah. Talk to me about that. I'm hosting a tribute to John Finley of John Lee and the Checkmates, a band from the 60s. And it's being held at that bar at Mount Pleasant in Eglinton. And I find out later there's a co-host. His name is Ken Stower. And Ken is the program director general manager of CIUT. So anyway, I'm standing over in a corner, I just say to him, by the way, I really like your radio station. It's so diverse blah blah blah He said well, I really like you. I said well, thank you. That's very kind of you. I

Have never met anyone anyone that knows my entire career He knew I worked at CKLB. I said what he's a radio nut and he followed my entire career But the chum FM first time first period And he followed my entire career, but the CHUMFM first time, first period, was his favorite part of my life. Free form, interview who I want, this, that and everything. He said, I'd like you, would you be interested in doing that two hours a week, Saturday afternoons two to four? And I went, no.

And why? Well, I know what's going to happen. You have a computer in there and you'll tell me what to play. No, no, you don't understand. I want you to play what you want, interview who you want, and I promise you I'll never interfere. And for two and a half years, he never interfered. But my wife is retiring in November. I worked 15 years of weekends at RB, two and a half years of weekends at CIUT and we thought we'd take the summer together and here we are in the summer and we're getting ready to go away and you know it's really really nice. Now if someone came a-knocking and said would you be interested in this and I looked at it and I went ooh but to go back and sit behind a computer and have

it all programmed for me, been there done that. Got the t-shirt you know. Now okay so being able to play what you want I think you're the last guy you can make that claim to. Very very important to me Yeah, probably the last bastion is CIUT and I wasn't the only show that could play what they wanted and that's where Ken was able to get people like us. I don't know if anyone out there knows this, but I never got paid for the last two and a half years. Nobody does. You're called a volunteer Nobody does. You're called a volunteer. And if I can stress this to anyone who wants to fall in love with radio, you know you're in love with radio when you do it for free.

And I did it for two and a half years. And I could have continued to do it if my wife and I were both a little younger, I guess. But we have a lot of other things we want to get accomplished. But oh, by the way, a little exclusive here. Ken and I have a little deal. I will be coming back from time to time and doing specials. And that'll be nice. Cool.

Yeah. Speaking of David Marsden, he's come up a few times here. But when he had the show on The Rock in Oslo. David came more than once, and I'm just getting here. He come up a few times like in discussion, but he's only been here once actually. But when David Marsden was at the rock in Oshawa, I know he swears and I believe him, he was allowed to play whatever he wanted. Yes he could. Until the program director, much like how your show on CFRB didn't fit the rest of the station. And I find this a lot. Like Scott Turner's been over, he had a show on

Edge 102.1, the Edge called the Spirit of Radio Sundays, which didn't fit the rest of the station. It was very popular. It was excellent. But when there's that outlier, a lot of times you eliminate the outlier to be consistent, like across the station or whatever. And so that happened to Marsden on the rock. It did. I have friends that worked there at Durham Radio. Great company, great owner, but the programming people felt that,

here's this radio station, it goes like this, all of a sudden. Right. Hard rock, hard rock kind of thing, and then yeah. And it actually doesn't matter if you do really well Because you can't be an island, right? I'm just gonna take you back for one second when I was at chum FM John Gilbert did a talk show on chum a.m. 10 to noon. I think he had tremendous numbers tremendous numbers and They let him go and I went to Jay Robert Wood and I said Bob Bob help me understand. He said, okay

When people listen to 1050 chum John they push a button they expect to hear music We tried this experiment for a couple of three years whatever it was John had great numbers, but the moment he left the show at the end of the show, the numbers would change. And he said, I just decided I wanted absolute consistency 24-7. And you know, that was part of my problem at RB too, and David's problem too. No matter how popular his show was, it didn't really gel with the rest of the radio station. So eventually the bosses decide okay we're gonna make it consistent and so because David loved it out there they let him do anything he'd drive out there he'd have

suitcases of vinyl I went out and watched him do the show I was on his show one night and that was great man he's he's so creative He and David Pritchard, probably the two most creative people. Pritchard number one. He was frightening to watch. You could see his eyes and the stuff he would do. Things would just come out of his mouth out of nowhere and you'd go, where did that come from? And he's no longer with us, sadly. Sorry. Yeah, I know. They made a documentary in which David Marsden is featured. I don't know if you saw that.

Yeah, Roger King was the guy behind it, along with American Jocks. Very well done. Yeah, they can play what you want or something, I think some title like that. Now, you know what David did when he got lost his gig at The Rock is he started a digital station, if you will, The Spirit and Why, I think it's called. Yeah, he's still doing that. Right, have you considered doing something like that? You're a musicologist who has such a wealth of information

about music and loves music, you need to be somewhere. Well, when I saw him at the party, I said, so David, are you ready for me yet? John, call me. I suppose I'm not going to put words in his mouth, but I get the feeling that if I wanted to do a show there, I might be able to. But I don't know if I'd be as far out or as bizarre maybe

as the rest of the station. I might be a little straighter. I don't know. Yeah, because that's one of the few stations you never worked at CFNY. Never worked at CFNY, never worked for Rogers in this town. So I didn't work everywhere. It's not too late. I'll see if Julie Adam has room for you on the run. Julie was my op by the way when I went back to Q107 in 1994 or whatever. She was my op for a short period of time and she was also the assistant music director when I was at Kiss FM New Country and then Rogers bought the station. Almost everyone was gone but they kept her and boy was that a smart move.

She was and is close friends with Liza Fromer who was doing some stuff with Q there back then. But yeah, it's funny how I've crossed paths with Julie a few times, but she's come up on this show with the Aaron Davis story. I guess she made that decision, I guess, to let Aaron go and then made the decision to bring her back. I think she's heavily involved in that story. But let me ask you. So yes, I see you. And if it's not a podcast, it's something like what Marsden has going on. But because you need to after your trip, and I hope you enjoy it with your wife and enjoy the summer, but you're gonna get the itch. You're gonna need to share this somewhere. So yeah, a podcast, for example, I know too bad you live in scurril.ba I advise you and your wife you move to southwest Toronto and there's a

spot here for you. I didn't even know this place exists. No one does. It's our little secret. No but I mean the trees are all you know oh it's beautiful. The lake is really close too. Yeah you're right on it's beautiful beautiful down there but is there a format now so in your illustrious career is there a format you haven't worked because you've mentioned country and there's But is there a format now, so in your illustrious career, is there a format you haven't worked? Because you've mentioned country and there's rock and there's... I've done rock, I've done country for a little tiny bit when I started in radio. I did a little bit of classical. I've done jazz. You've done jazz, yeah. What else? Talk. I've done many formats and that's one of the things I was called once by

someone very important, a consummate pro, which means I can jump from radio station to radio station and fit in very very well. That's been said by other people, that's not me saying it, but it's a nice compliment. May I name a list of some people that you've conversed with during your career? Just going to run down a list, and then I have a question at the end of this. So Gregory Peck.

In fact, you were, Gregory Peck, there's a story about you speaking of Roy Thompson Hall. I hosted Gregory Peck at Roy Thompson Hall. And we chatted for a while, and I was just in awe. Wow. Robert Duvall. Yeah. George Carlin. Yes who said to me when he walked into the Chum FM control room hi nice to meet you let's get something straight I don't do funny in interviews so don't

ask me to be funny I never forgot that line. Very interesting and he's a legend George Carlin. Yes. Who else? Let's name some people like, so Bob Dylan? Bob Dylan is someone that I met on two occasions here at Maple Leaf Gardens on tour 74 with the band and then later at The Last Waltz, but I didn't interview him. Okay. We just talked. You just talked.

Okay. Duke Ellington? Yes, the great Duke Ellington. Yeah. Wow. Ella Fitzgerald? Oh yeah, there's a story. Tell me. Ella Fitzgerald is sitting in her hotel room at the Windsor Arms. She's watching the young and the restless. I'm brought into the room. Gino Empri, the late Gino Empri. Right. What a very flamboyant publicist. He walks in the room and he's talking and she's like, shh, shh, shh, you know, he walks right over to the television set and turns it off. Well, that didn't set it up for me very well at all. So this is your first interview with John Donahue. I had done massive massive massive homework on Ella Fitzgerald. So I start talking about her career and she finally says look look I appreciate all the homework you've done. You're dead on.

I don't want to talk about this stuff. Miss Fitzgerald what would you like to talk about? Let's talk about some of my recipes. Let's talk about my grandkids. I said, OK, what's the favorite thing you'd like to make? And I let her down that path for about 10 minutes. And then I managed to make a turn and bring her back to music. That's how you do it. Tony Bennett, Tony was one of the greatest interviews.

And then I threw him a curb when I said, by the way, Tony was one of the greatest interviews and then I threw him a curb when I said, by the way Tony is it true that you do egg tempera paintings? How would you know about that? I said my father was an artist. He did watercolors, he did oils and then the big big tough one. So we got into a whole conversation about egg tempera and that let me lead him down another path. B.B. King. Wow. Sitting backstage at the Sony Center. And I've got my son with me, who's like nine or ten.

And he's trying to remember a song, Mike. He's trying to remember some song or no, some artist. He said, I can't remember who did that and I said oh BB that would be sister Rosetta Tharp. My son is sitting in front of him he looks down at my son he says do you know now why I like your father so much? Yeah thank you John. Anyway that was just a thought that came to mind. No that's great. Just a couple more here before we're going to kick out a jam, but Joe Cocker? Joe Cocker, I did an interview, Larry Green did, and it was the funniest thing he ever saw.

I could do it here, and then I'll have to explain what I'm doing. They say, so Joe, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And Joe went, what I'm just doing there is nodding my head. Doesn't work on radio. No, it doesn't. And he is nodding my head. It doesn't work on radio. No it doesn't. And he kept nodding his head. If I said Joe we're on radio. Oh yeah man okay. And no that was Larry Green. Wow and hopefully I got this one right too but ZZ Top? Yeah Billy Gibbons. I interviewed Billy at Chum FM and that's how I found out that he actually owned Hendrix's guitar, one of Hendrix's guitar. He was really, really nice. Really a great guy. Seals and

Crofts and I became very close back in the early 70s. I almost left radio to go and be their road manager in California. But then I chickened out. Well, we're glad you did actually. Now, just before we kick out a jam, those are some big names and I'm sure there's many, many others, but is there somebody that you didn't get a chance to interview but you wish you had? Oh, I should have studied for that. It's the only trick question here. Yeah.

Oh gosh. Let me think. And I don't mean to put you on the spot. No, it's okay. Maybe there was somebody who alluded you and. Yeah, you know, I'm sure there is someone, I just, unfortunately, I just can't think of who it might be at this very second.

I'll call it in for you and you can insert it. I'll add it. I'll add it in post as we say. Here, let's kick out a jam together, shall we, John? Here, let's kick out a you're bound to fall, you thought they were all a kid and you You used to laugh about everybody that was hanging out Now you don't talk so loud Now you don't seem so proud About having to be scrounging Your next meal

How does it feel? Oh, how does it feel? How does it feel? To be without a home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone I love that song. I really love that song an awful lot. Maybe because of the beginnings of when I first saw him perform.

It came out in the summer of 65. That's when Marsden came down to Oshawa, the sit-in and rock and Roscoe show, and he wanted to hear it. So I opt while he played it. But anyway, November 1965, Last Waltz was great. But I'm in Oshawa working part-time, and I write a letter to Massey Hall. And I tell him, yeah, I work for CKLB in Oshawa working part-time and I write a letter to Massey Hall and I tell them oh yeah I work for CKLB in Oshawa and I would really like to get two tickets for Bob Dylan and the Hawks at Massey Hall well no three tickets they sent me three tickets front row center Wow and I'm sitting there

and I watched Dylan do his acoustic set and then the Hawks come out and they're doing their tunes and suddenly at one point he just looks Bob looks back at Levon this is one of Levon's last shows before he quit the Hawks and he just hits that rim shot and I just sat there and Garth on the organ, Richard Manuel on piano. On this recording of course it's Al Cooper on organ, Paul Griffin on piano and it was like almost six minutes long. When the 45 first came out they had to put half the first half on the first one side the other half on the other side it was too

long. Too long. Yeah they didn't grooves. But I hear that period of Dylan bringing it all back home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde. And it's just that whole organ. I just love that period of Bob's a lot. And I love that song. It's funny, earlier we played The Wait, which I consider The Wait to be one of the greatest songs in the sort of English language history of the last you know what a

what a that song is right up there on the Mount Rushmore. A load-off Fanny. Yes and this one too. Oh yeah absolutely it's a it's up there you know at the pinnacle of rock music there are a lot of you know you sent me a little note asking me one of my favorites and this was one but I have about half a dozen others too that you you know, I can take it so far away from this. And if you said, John, if you're on a desert island and you could have one song to play over and over and over and over and over and over again, it would be Herman's Hermits doing I'm Into Something Good.

I think it's two minutes and whatever seconds of the best hooks of a pop song I've ever heard. You want to know where I discovered that song? Where? The Naked Gun. Oh okay. There's a great sequence with Leslie Nielsen and Priscilla Presley set to that song and it's like what is this? Yeah that's that's when I was like back in like I was 89. Well I got to interview Peter Noon back in the day and you talk about a nice guy. Just incredible. Huey Lewis, probably the nicest guy I've ever talked to.

In Cali, I went to, they sent me to California to interview him there. And there's a reason I liked him so much that day. It was an incredible day going up into Marin County with him. So yesterday for the first time ever so this studio we're in right now the Toronto Mike studio It's it's always been here and at least in this house and then people come to me But yesterday I had a corporate gig Okay

I was producing a podcast for a company and they asked me if I could bring the studio to them Because they couldn't afford to have these expensive bodies out in southwest Toronto. So I said, you know, I'm starting up my own business, TMDS. I said, of course, I packed it all up. I took it downtown, like Bay in front, and I loaded it all up. And then I, so I set it all up there in this sport, looking over, I can see the dome, I can see the Lake Ontario, like, CN Tower of course, and I set it all up and then I needed to put on the headphones

I'm wearing right now and I needed to test everything, make sure everything was good. I had this song loaded up because you were coming today and I had it all set or whatever. And I was sitting there and I'm looking out the window and I'm gonna test the setup, I'm like, oh, I'm launching the new business, TMBS, and it's like, I have all these thoughts, you know,

I'm getting all sentimental and this and that. And this song is playing in my headphones and I had this like a out of body experience like this song, like just was like the perfect song to play at that moment. Everything sounded great. I felt some pride. Got me all up for it. So just I share that that this song suddenly means something different to me than I can't believe that was 1965 and here we are in 2018 and it's I still get the same emotional bump from hearing that too what a what a great jam and John Donahue be this discussion which I feel like this should be part

one in a series because I feel like we're only scratching the surface here. But absolute pleasure. Like I loved every second of that and I'm so glad you made that trek from Scarborough to chat with me today. Yeah, I had my passport. I had to get it stamped twice. But in all seriousness, I've known about you for a long time. I wondered what's wrong with me. I can't get on that show. But anyway here I am and Really an honor to be with you. Thank you for your passion For radio. That's what I have to say. You do a great show and you're well researched. I love your system here, but it's

As I was explaining to the committee for the party this guy's got to be there Because he's younger than we are but he's got a passion for that little Westinghouse box that I fell in love with when I was a kid. You know what Alan Cross said to me when I said hi to him at the Roy Thompson Hall party? He said, how did you get in here? And that brings us to the end of our 358th show. You can follow me on Twitter, I'm at Toronto Mike. And John, are you on Twitter? No I'm not.

Is there a website or anywhere you'd want to direct people? I can't right now, but I actually took myself off Facebook too about two months ago. It's a long story. I was trying to get rid of an old site. You can never get rid of an old site if you don't have the password. So I lost my everything but I'm coming back but I've got to put an initial in there because... Well once you come back I'll share with the world via Twitter where they can find you and then... Yeah well I'm gonna I'm gonna open up my Twitter account again. Okay good and then tweet at me and I'll share. And I can talk to Jake Tapper again at CNN. He got right back to me. I can't believe it.

That's what I love about Twitter. I'm now chatting with people back in the day and they had to write a letter and they maybe would write you back or get a form letter or whatever. Like this is such an interesting time for having direct connection with the talent that we all have. Well thanks again Mike for having me. Absolute pleasure.

And I should point out our friends at Great Lakes Brewery or at Great Lakes Beer, if you're listening to this right now, you've got a little time. It's at 6 p.m. tonight, July 19th. I've already gone through four cans. John Donobie was 78 years old. I'm gonna be your man So So I'm just a little bit of a wimp. you