Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Remembering Marc Nathan: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1671

Episode Date: April 12, 2025

In this 1671st episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike remembers FOTM Marc Nathan, "a Record Person of the highest order". Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Silverwax, Yes We Are Open, Nick Ainis and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

On April 9th at 1pm, Mark Nathan passed away. To quote Stephen Page, Mark Nathan was a record person of the highest order. And like Stephen, he was an FOTM. Mark Nathan was such a Toronto Mic'd fan, he personally asked Barry Harris of ConCan, Marin Kaddell, and Paul Schaeffer if they'd be my guest. In order, Barry dropped by for an amazing episode. Marin will eventually make his Toronto Mike debut, and Paul politely declined. But I was so appreciative of Mark for doing that for me. In December 2023, I spoke with Mark about his efforts with Con-Kan and Marin Kaddell, but especially his role in the Bear Naked Ladies story.

He's the man who introduced Bear Naked Ladies to Seymour Stein at Sire. Here's my conversation with Mark Nathan, who will be missed by the many who loved him. Mark, how you doing? I'm doing well thank you and yourself. I'm good thanks. So whereabouts do we find you today? I am in Nashville, Tennessee where I've lived for almost 11 years. Okay so this is again this is a Toronto microcast so it's something a little different but I'm curious, how did I come on your radar?

How did you, Mark Nathan, discover Toronto Mic exists? I discovered your podcast through Steven Page, a very good friend of mine and a friend of Toronto Mic. An FOTM, and you're now an FOTM too. So you got that in common I'm gonna see Stephen page next week. He's in the Trans Canada Highwaymen and I'll be checking them out Absolutely with Craig Northy and Mo Berg and Chris Murphy I'm stumped. It's Chris Murphy Exactly from I'm stumped. It's Chris Murphy. Exactly.

From Sloan. That's right. So, you know, you live in Nashville. Is it safe to say, not that there's anything wrong with it, but is it safe to say you're an American? I am. I was born and raised in New York City. So how did you, I mean, there's a few things I want to touch on here, but how did you become

good friends with Stephen Page? Well, let's see. I grew up in New York. I was in the music industry by the time I was 16 years old. Um, I was a huge guess who fan will start there, uh, bought 45 by Andy Kim, the pocket poppy family, um, albums by Kensington market, the collectors. So I had this bit of Canadian music infused in my system. My first label gig was at a label called Ampex Records and Ampex distributed an American label called

Big Tree who had April Wine, you could have been a lady we just lost miles of course and also a 45 by Thunder mug called Africa and so I learned about Canadian radio a little bit I grew up DX in the AM dial and found CKLW and of course all my radio stations started with W. So when I heard a C, I knew it was Canadian, also a huge hockey fan. So that's the backstory. Um, my label gigs took me through mushroom records where I worked, do set and chill a whack. Then RCA where I worked triumph dug in the slugs and, um, what happened was a radio friend named Don burns and Don, the late Don burns worked at CFN.

Why? And I started going up to Toronto to visit my friend Don and he introduced me to David Marsden. I really became an avid CFN. Why listener? And now we're getting to the part of the story where I worked for Atlantic Records and I tried to get a job working at wea with Kim Cook and Bob Roper. But to hire a, uh, an American and a us guy, you

had to prove that a Canadian couldn't do the job as well as the us guy. And so I never got the gig, but at Atlantic we had frozen ghost and I became very close friends with Rob Lanny. And we also had blue rodeo. We put out a Gowan record, I think. Now we're getting to, we're almost getting to the Stephen Page part. I'm a little long-winded. I'm loving this because you're more Canadian than most Canadians, I think. This is tremendous.

Well, I appreciate you saying that. I've always felt that if I believed in reincarnation, I was a goalpost at Maple Leaf Gardens in my last life. So I continue on and it's 1988 and I'm visiting Don in Toronto and I'm at a club and I hear a record I've never heard before. Now I've been a radio promo guy for 17 years at that point right so I hear this song and it hits me like a hit record hits me and I've never heard it and I yell up to the DJ booth what is that and he yells down Khan can and I'm

like con can There once was a time and there once was a way We had something going into my dismay Attention to me seemed to drift though I don't know where And when we're alone, seems there's nothing to say I bring up the topic, you push it away You say that you do, but I think it's just you don't care Why do I feel you're using me Are we an item or are we just two? I need some commitments, all I ask of you Your lifestyle can change, don't be afraid what you think's in store I know what's on your mind, you've got lots to lose

Your shallow acquaintance is what's there to choose It won't get too deep even though I'm worth so much more So think about it carefully My father was a speedy driver And I'm trying to be someone he could call I'm a lonely cheater who dies while we can Do you want the Hussle? Right! That's right! Bra! Do you want the salsa? Right! That's right!

Bra! Do you want the Hussle? Right! That's right! Bra! Do you want the salsa? Right! If that's how you want it, that's how it'll be

There's no use in trying or making you see That love don't come easy, You don't know what it's about To get things together won't take anything Need to see you from you never again From this day on lesson but no more names count me out And you know what I'm talking about Smile for the wild and let's be jolly Touch and feel so mad and sorry

Come along and share the good times While we can I know now's the time that I went to find something new So I go out to a vinyl record store on Queen Street and I buy five copies of this record called I Beg Your Pardon on a little independent label out of Hamilton. And I bring it back to the states. I give one copy to my boss. I keep one copy and I send three copies to radio stations in Houston, Texas. And they add the record and my boss is like, what do you mean they added the record? We haven't signed it yet. And I said, well, you better sign it. So they signed it.

It became a huge international single. We did an album was less of a huge hit, but we sold in excess of a hundred thousand records. And um, I was on the map as an A and R guy after being a promo guy. So they moved me into A and R. Well, by 1991, I had had a bunch of success with con can and then with another pop band called linear. Um, they made me the dance music guy for groups like camouflage and the beloved who were not Canadian.

Um, but, uh, I tried to sign a group called the cowsills. Now I don't know how far back you go, but the cowsills had had big pop records in the 60s and they were the precursor to the Partridge family. So here we are in 1991 and I've seen the 40 some odd year old cowsills and I think they're amazing and I want to sign them and my boss freaks out. You can't sign these old, you know, has beens even though he loved the music. But when I told him who it was, he got indignant and I got indignant and he fired me. So now I'm out of a job for the first time since I'm 16 years old. I'm 36 and Atlantic has kicked me on my ass and it's a new music seminar. And well, I'll back

it up a little bit. I had recently been to Toronto and I heard a song on the radio called The Sweater by Maren Caddell. And I flipped out. You know, I just thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever heard. Girls, I know you will understand this and feel the intrinsic, incredible emotion. You have just pulled over your head the worn, warm sweater belonging to a boy. Now you haven't had a passionate kissing session or anything, but you got to go on a camping trip with him and eight other people from school. And you practically slept together, your sleeping bag right next to his.

And you woke in the night to watch him as he slept, but you couldn't see anything because it was dark, so you just lay there and listened to his breathing and wondered if your heart might burst. The sweater has that slightly goat-like smell which all teenage boys possess. And that smell will lovingly transfer to all your other clones. If you get to keep it for a few days, you can sleep with it, but don't let your mom see because she'll say, what is that filthy thing and who does it belong to besides the trash man? It's good to keep it under the covers with you.

You can kind of lie it beside you, wrap it around your waist, or touch it on your legs or whatever, but that's your business. Now if the sweater has like reindeer on it or is a funny color like yellow, I'm sorry you can't get away with a sweater like that. Look for brown or gray or blue. Anything other than that and you know you're dealing with someone who's different. And different is not what you're looking for. You're looking for those teenage, L, pine, ski, chiseled features and that sort of blank look

which passes for deep thought or at least the notion that someone's home. You're looking for the boy of your dreams who is the same boy in the dreams of all of your friends. Now the sweater isn't going to hit you, of course, you have to kind of roll up the sleeves in a jaunty for the boy of your dreams who is the same boy in the dreams of all of your friends. Now the sweater isn't going to hit you, of course, you have to kind of roll up the sleeves in a jaunty way that says this is the sweater belonging to a boy and the boy is a genuine hunk a hunk a burnin' love and this is not just some hand-me-down from your brother or your father. Monday, wear the sweater to school.

Be calm, look cute. Don't tell him a dream you had about the place the two of you would share when you get older. Just be yourself. The best, cutest, quietest version of yourself. Definitely win the class. He looks at you and he looks away and he walks away, and the smell of the sweater hits you again, suddenly like ape scent, gloryola, and you get a note passed to you by a girl in history that says, He needs his sweater back, you forgot that you put it on in a tent on Saturday, and he's been looking for it. And you don't have to die of humiliation, no. You are a strong person, and this is a learning experience. You can still hold your head up high as you run from the classroom, tearing the stinking sweater from your body. Hold your head up high as you run from the classroom, tearing the stinking sweater from your body. You look at that sweater carefully, and you realize that love made you temporarily blind. You got a secret now, honey, and though you would never sink as low as him, you could

blab it all over the school if you wanted. The label in that sweater said, 100% chronic. And I go to the new music seminar and there's a Canadian music panel. And I'm in the Canadian music panel listening to people talk and they said, all right, we're going to take questions from the audience. I raised my hand and I said, I've recently been to Toronto and I bought this album, angel food for thought by Marin cadet. I think it's fantastic. What else is big in Canada that I should know about that the States doesn't know yet.

And one by one, they went down the panel and they said bare naked ladies bare naked ladies bare naked ladies and I'm like okay then this chubby guy in shorts and like a Charlie Brown t-shirt is in the room and I look at him and I'm like who the hell is this guy? And I get tapped on the shoulder after the session and a guy says I'm Stuart Ravenhill and I have a label called Intrepid Records in Canada. I manage Maren Caddell. I'd like you to meet her. And all of a sudden I'm face to face with Maren Caddell

at the end of the panel. And she says, we're going to the Canadian Music Showcase tonight. Would you like to go? I said, great. I would love to So I'm with Marin we're talking and Marin and Stuart and I are talking about my possibly representing Marin US and

Chopping the album in the States and I'm thrilled at that idea and shopping the album in the states and i'm thrilled that that idea and the lights go down and this band comes on the stage and there's that chubby guy in the charlie brown shirt and he has the voice of an angel i think steven page is up there with burton cummings tom jones my favorite singers of all time. And this kid is singing Brian Wilson, be my Yoko Ono if I had a million dollars.

I flipped out. And it was at that point in the summer of 1991 that I realized that I was grateful to have been fired by Atlantic because the way I brought the cowsills and ended up getting fired, if I had brought bare naked ladies to Atlantic, they would have left me out of the room and in fact a Lot of labels left me out of the room But one label sire a guy named Seymour Stein Said to me mark

they're like Simon and Garfunkel for the 90s. And that was a man with great vision. And he signed Talking Heads, he signed the Ramones, he signed Madonna, I mean the list goes on. And he signed both Bare Naked ladies and Marin Caddell. Now I was managing Marin Caddell, I was not managing bare naked ladies and um, I ended up being an honorary Gordon without participation, but I made lifelong friends. And I was lifelong friends with Stephen and Ed

and later Kevin Hearn and of course Tyler and Jim. But when Stephen and the ladies split, my allegiance kind of moved more towards Stephen. And, um, kind of moved more towards Stephen and The rest of you know, Kevin and I are still in touch but the rest of the guys and I are a bit estranged Though everybody does remember that I brought bare naked ladies to sire records in 1991 much to the chagrin of their manager, Nigel Best at the time. But that's all another story. I have the late night record shop Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane

When I'm surrounded I just can't stop It's a matter of instincts, a matter of conditioning, and a matter of fight You can go with Pablo's dog Ring a bell and I'll salivate How'd you like that? Dr. Landy, tell me you're not just a pentagon Cause right now I'm lying in bed Just like Brian Wilson did Well, I'm lying in bed, just like Brian Wilson did

So I'm lying here, just staring at the ceiling tiles And I'm thinking about, oh, what's the thing about? Just listening, I am really listening Just finding a smile, and I'm wondering if this is some kind of creative job Because I'm lying in bed Just like Brian Wilson did Well I'm lying in bed Just like Brian Wilson did

Oh And if you wanna find me i'll be out in the sandbars Playing like a time Playing my guitar in the little land Castles in the sun Whoa, whoa And singing fun, fun, fun Lying there Just like Brian Wilson did Well, I Lying there just like Brian Wilson did Whoa I had a dream that I was 300 pounds And though I was very heavy, I floated till I couldn't see the ground I floated till I could not see the ground

Somebody help me I couldn't see the ground Somebody help me I couldn't see the ground Somebody help me I'm lying in bed Just like I'm crying in my Sunday I'm lying in bed just like Brian Merson did

Just don't tell me Now you're burning on a Tuesday night Just to check out the late night Record shop, late night record shop Colored balls and colored combos and colored insane Oh, when I'm surrounded I just can't stop Oh I'm gonna be the one to make you feel better I'm gonna be the one to make you feel better I'm gonna be the one to make you feel better

I'm gonna be the one to make you feel better I'm gonna be the one to make you feel better Mark, this is, this is all wild stuff. Mind blow after mind blow. When Seymour Stein passed away, I did jump on a zoom with Stephen Page to get the full story. Yeah. And I guess you've heard that probably. That was the first time I was turned onto your podcast.

Wow. So you brought bare naked ladies to Seymour Stein at sire. Absolutely. You signed con can, which is already a quite a mind blow. I beg your pardon was a huge, huge jam. Marin Kadel, his sweater, all over Much Music, all over the radio, huge jam. Am I right that you managed Carol Pope for a moment or two?

I managed Carol Pope, I managed John James, and I had heard you reference John James in a podcast Which was why I finally said oh, I've got a contact this guy and you know, let him know my intersection because you know It just there are a lot of a lot of things When I was at Universal I signed a group out of the UK called London Bus Stop and they covered We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet.

So I had a Randy Backman connection. Right. Dave Badini and I are very close friends. So I have that connection. I'm all over the map with you. So I figured Micro or not. I needed to get myself in here I'm glad you did. I'm very glad you did now John James came up if I remember correctly Cam Gordon was kicking out forgotten jams

Like he was basically he'd play the song and asked me if I remember and I had I had no memory of John James And that's on me. Probably. I've had a few glaring omissions for some wasn't a huge hit. It was kind of a Secret weapon record if you will Okay Do you know how John is doing these days? I? Haven't talked to John in quite a while and I was looking for an email address or a phone number because it has been at least 15 years. But I hope he's doing well.

He was a very talented guy. He did two albums for Attic. The first one had I Want to know and that was called big fat soul and then the second one was mothers of hope which did a little less and that was the end of our relationship but he was a great guy I loved him and how are you holding up how are you doing these days? Well, I'm 68. I've got kidney failure, diabetes, I'm on dialysis.

I broke my ankle. I screwed up the recovery and they had to do a fusion. So I have a steel rod in my foot. You know, I'm a Jewish mess, but you know, I'm still alive and I still, my brain is fine. It's just the rest of me is failing terribly. Okay. I'm sorry to hear all this, but I'm glad the mind is sharp and I'm very glad we connected and I could capture these stories. I'm so glad we did this. Thank you, Mark. You're more than welcome. So You So I'm sorry. You