Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Remembering Myles Goodwyn: Toronto Mike'd #1381

Episode Date: December 3, 2023

In this 1381st episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike remembers Myles Goodwyn who has passed away at the age of 75. You'll hear all about April Wine, how the Junos would snub them, and his recent solo work. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Electronic Products Recycling Association, Raymond James Canada and Moneris. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when I would reference the fact that no guest on Toronto Mic'd had ever died. That lovely streak, unfortunately, came to an end when Andrew Crystal passed away. And since then, we've lost Tom Stephen from the Jeff Healy Band, Hal Harbour from CFNY, Bob Segarini from Chum FM, Q107 and City TV, and Al Mayer from Attic Records. Now, I've learned Miles Goodwin has passed away at the age of 75.

Miles was the lead vocalist, guitarist, and principal songwriter for April Wine, and in May 2021, I was lucky enough to spend over an hour with him as we talked at length about April Wine, getting snubbed by the Junos, going solo, and much more. Here is an extended excerpt from episode 845 of Toronto Mic'd. Miles Goodwin will be missed. Sitting now in a very comfortable chair.

Okay. I got my feet up on an ottoman. All right, so... Let's do this. All right, so get ready to, you know, go in the time machine, Miles, and then we'll bring us up to speed. And again, I got some great jams I'm going to play.

Everybody loves what you're doing on the music front. But the first question, as if you've never been asked before, but I'm going to credit listener Mike Gregotsky with this question because he sent it in. He wants me to ask you about the origins of your band name. I'm talking about April Wine. Where did the name April Wine come from? Well, one of the

fellows in the original band came up with the name and it doesn't mean anything and that was the purpose of the name because we were four writers and we were actually coming from four different places. I was more of a Rocky Blues and some of the other guys were

more experimental and another fellow was more into acoustic stuff. So we just, you know, he just said, why don't we get a name that doesn't mean anything at all? You know, like Led Zeppelin implies heavy Black Sabbath, you know, it's like, but April Wine doesn't really mean anything. And so that was the idea. I never really cared for the song at the title of the name of the band at the time, but it wasn't a big whoop for me either way. So that's the origin. Sometimes it was really odd. In the early days, we would literally check into a hotel somewhere, a motel somewhere, and they would want to know where she is. Like, okay, I have a reservation for April Wine. Is she here now? We say, yeah, that's us. But anyway, once you know,

it doesn't matter what you call a band. It just depends on what you do with the group, right? Now April Wine makes a lot of sense. Much better. And now, of course, yeah. Now when we think April Wine, we think great jams, right? So now that I've got you kind of jogging your memory

back to the name origin, give us a taste of what it was like when you started the band. And I guess I'm curious what it was like up to the release of Could Have Been a Lady. Maybe just share some memories of those days starting the band. Well, we got together in 1969. And we all got together here down Halifax Nova Scotia there were three Henman's or two brothers David and Richie Henman and it was a cousin Jim Edmund and myself and we were I don't remember exactly when we

were what month exactly we first got together, but it was in the summer or the fall kind of thing. And by the next spring, by April 1st exactly, we left Nova Scotia for Montreal. But during that first period that we were together, we just did some local shows down in Halifax. And one of the things that was important to me when they came to me and asked me to be part of the group

was that we write our own material. I was tired of playing in cover bands. And they said, okay, we'll do our own material. And so we went forward with that. And then we came up to Montreal, like I said, on April 1st, 1970, and met up with uh some people that we would be associated with for a very long time and that was aquarius records and terry flood management and a company called promotivations with bob lamb and so forth

so we kind of settled into montreal uh we didn't intend to but just when we got here, there was so much going on for us at that time that we just became a band based out of Montreal for years and years and years. And then we got our first record deal in 71 and released our very first record, which had a hit in Canada called Fast Train, which I wrote. And then the following album, in 72, had You Could Have Been a Lady, which was a cover of a Hot Chocolate, the band Hot Chocolate, a cover of one of those. We'll be right back. Girl, they're here tonight Girl, they're sweet as wine Girl, they're waiting They all need you

To make love to When you awake Find them on the bed Lying beside you They all love you, you're a good girl And I am surprised when you realize just where you're going to Because I'm alright, because I'm here tonight Because I'm sweet as wine, because I'm a lady

Because I'm alright, Good little man here tonight Good little man sweet as wine Good little lady If I told you Where you're going to Out of my face I'm out of place Mind your business

They all want you To make love to It's a shame to think Again the way you'd like to But is that alright Could have been here tonight Could have been sweet as wine Could have been a lady But is that alright Put a band here tonight Put a band sweet as wine Put a little baby

Put a band all right Put a band here tonight Put a band sweet as wine Put a little baby Na na na na Na na na na na Na na na na na Na na

Na na na na na Na na na na na na na Na na na na na na na Na na na na na na na Na na Alright, I could have been here tonight Could have been sweet as wine Could have been the lady Could have been alright Could have been here tonight Could have been alright Could have been here tonight

Could have had the sweetest wine Could have been a lady you mentioned of course a hot chocolate cover which by the way i only i'll be honest with you miles uh until last week when I was doing some homework on April Wine for this conversation, I thought Could Have Been a Lady was your song. Yeah, well, yeah, a lot of people did. I mean, the whole thing is that it didn't do anything here. It wasn't known here at all. Hot Chocolate had You Sexy sexy thing which was an international hit so people know that song but they don't know you could have been a lady um and uh so they wouldn't know until we did it and it kind of became our own but april one's been known for covers we've done covers so over the years most of our material is original but we you know we

have done songs like that or bad side of the the Moon, which is an Elton John song, and some others. Now, could have been a lady. Can you give us a sense of what it was like when that took off for you? Because, I mean, in Canada, massive hit, but that was a hit beyond the borders of Canada, right? Well, it was the first song of ours

that was charted on Billboard, Cashbox at the time. It wasn't in the top 20 even, but it was in the 30s, I guess it was, I think 38 or something, I forget how high it got on the charts. But that was our first successful song out across the border in the US. I don't think it did anything in Europe, but it did well enough in North America. And I mean, at that time, that was quite the feat for a Canadian band.

It wasn't commonplace at that time for a Canadian band to crack the top 40 on Billboard Hot 100. Well, yeah, yeah. I mean, not the way it is now, but I mean, there were other people doing it. Guess Who, for example. There were a lot of bands that came before us.

They weren't necessarily the same kind of band. Gordon Lightfoot was doing very well down there, and others. But there weren't too many rock-slash-pop bands or whatever you want that were doing that well down there. There weren't many. A lot of us tried. Nothing really happened. But those things were slowly changing. Absolutely.

And you mentioned Bad Side of the Moon, which just like could have been a lady, that's still a CanCon rock staple. I hear it all the time on classic rock radio. Now, Bad Side of the Moon, as I think you mentioned, it's an Elton John song. I have a question from Tim Phelan. Tim wants me to ask you, did you ever meet Elton John? And if you did, what did Elton think of your version of Bad Side of the Moon? It seems as though I've lived my life on the bad side of the moon

To stir your drags and sickness still Without a rustic spoon Now come on people, live with me Where the light has never shone And the hornets flock like hummingbirds Speaking in a foreign tongue It's my life, it's my life, it's my life, my life Thank you. Sitting on the bad side of the moon Into my life, into my life, into my life, my life

Into my life, into my life, into my life, my life There ain't no need for watch or tear to justify our ways We live our lives in miracles, the main cause of our stay Thank you. I'm going to wait for the people to make mistakes. Sitting on the bad side of the moon. Into my life, into my life, into my life, my life. Into my life, into my life, into my life, my life. Into my life, into my life, into my life, my life Yeah, no, I've never met him. I've been in the Olympic Studios in England when I was over there in 1980. I was in the Olympic Studios and I sat

at the very piano and played the piano that he used on his first couple of recordings with all those classic early Elton John songs, which was a thrill for me to think that the man sat here, played this very piano. It was very impressive, but I never did meet him. So I don't know how we felt about that song, our version. I always say that if you're born too late, I think I was born a little too late for the April Wine heyday, if you will. But if you were born too late and then you listen to some April Wine discography, you dive in, you have no idea how many songs you actually know, but you weren't exactly sure they were April Wine jams. One song, like a staple of my life,

I've been hearing it forever, is Roller. Roller, what a ass-kicking jam that is. Like, what a hard rock. Just tremendous. Maybe share a little bit about how you came to write Roller. All right. A high roller baby She's a roller A high roller baby She likes to play for double or nothing She's telling all the boys she's hot And everybody knows she's ready To give it everything that she got She's a roller, yeah

A high roller, baby My, my She's a roller, yeah A high roller, baby Look out! I'm a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a- guitar solo guitar solo People try to tell her she's crazy She doesn't hear a word they say, yeah Telling all the boys to get ready Cause she's giving it all away

She's a roller, yeah A high roller, baby Yeah She's a roller, yeah, roller, high roller baby Yeah, she's a roller, yeah, roller, high roller baby She's a roller, yeah, roller, high roller baby Yeah, she's a roller, yeah,'s a warrior I'm a warrior I'm a warrior I'm a warrior Ooh, ooh Bye-bye

Bye-bye Bye-bye Bye-bye Bye-bye Bye-bye Bye-bye Bye-bye Bye-bye

Bye-bye Bye-bye Bye-bye Bye-bye Bye-bye Bye-bye Well, Roller was written after a trip down to Las Vegas, and just the idea that there was a lady that she wanted to do a gamble kind of thing. And it was a great guitar riff, the one that opens the song and it's throughout the song. So when I found that musically, I realized that this was good. And then I had the idea for the lady that gambles, has a gambling problem, if you will. She's a high roller, maybe.

7, 11, or blackjack, and all that kind of casino lingo thrown in for good measure. And anyway, I went to Vegas for the first time, I think it was 1975, or maybe just a little bit later, and I had that idea running around until I actually started writing the song.

And the arrangement changed a great deal. When I think of that song, what I think of mostly is two things. One, it was one of the few songs that we took on the road and played live before we recorded it. And I found there were too many changes uh that it wasn't settled long enough in any one part of the song so i simplified it by about half so there's a lot of that that that that that that that that that you know kind of linear kind of a feel going on it's in the key of E, by the way. And just pumping that low E

and every now and then going da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You know, the changes. And by simplifying the song, it just had a new life and it worked so much better live. And I said, well, this is the version we might have to record. And the other thing, too,

is I wanted to... I used to write songs for tours, and I've done that a number of times to say, okay, we need to start our show, our tour, with a new song. So I'd write, like, anything you want, you got it, or some kind of, so I like to rock, you know, with that whole intro. And in Roller, it was the same thing,

and I wanted to write a song that would finish the show. So I threw in the bye bye bye bye bye byes at the end uh in the that you hear in the song and and so it kind of came together like that amazing and that was your I guess that was another uh U.S. hit uh I guess your first since uh could have been a lady but that cracked the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 too. Yeah, that was an international hit. Yeah, that was on first glance. That broke us everywhere. Yeah, with that song. Amazing, amazing.

Now I'm going to take you back to March 1977. So April Wine is booked to play a charity concert at the El Macombo. Shout out to the Elmo. And I guess there was a cool headliner on this bill, some band called the Cockroaches. Can you tell us a little about

who are these Cockroaches and tell us a little bit about this gig at the Elmo? Yeah, at the El Macombo, yeah, that was fun. That was with the Rolling Stones and they called themselves the Cockroaches. But they had been in Montreal to do a show here not long before that.

I don't know the exact date, but they had a show at the Montreal Forum, and one of their trucks was blown up, literally blown up, and their equipment destroyed. And so they were looking for additional equipment, you know, that they, that they no longer had, you know,

and so April Wine lent them a bunch of our, lent them a bunch of our stuff so they could do the show at the forum. And they didn't forget that. So when they decided to record some live music at different venues in North America, including the El Macombo. So they booked it for three days and they wanted a band to open up for them, but they didn't want to let the people know that it was actually the Rolling Stones. Of course, that wouldn't last very long,

but at least there was one night where people weren't sure what was going on, but they knew that April Wine would sell out the Vanity Venue anyway. So it was just booked as April Wine, period. There was no mention of Cockroach, anything. April Wine, El Macombo, and of course it sold out. And when people arrived, they found that there were Rolling Stones were the headliners on that night and the next night. Well, you're a part of history there.

And I know you record your performance because that's live at the El Macombo. That's right, yeah. And the engineer for that was Eddie Kramer, who is known, I guess, mostly for Jimi Hendrix, the best of Jimi Hendrix. He was the producer for all of that. And, of course, many

others from Led Zeppelin to Kiss to April Wine to many, many bands. He's still very active. So it was nice to be able to work with the Stones and to work with Eddie Kramer. Yeah, it was really cool. And then the Stones took us down to Boston after that in front of 40,000 people or however many, 30,000 000 people whatever they had down there so they took us into the states as well so it was really nice and that sort of opened some doors in terms of uh you know uh being with bands i'm thinking like sticks or rush like these are uh you know you open after you open for the stones you can open for uh these other big league bands yeah we worked we worked with a lot of bands yeah a lot of bands at that time you know they we open for a lot of bands. Yeah, a lot of bands at that time.

You know, we opened for a lot of people and people opened for us, depending on how it goes. And yeah, that was nice because that roller really opened the door for us to go down to the States. You know, of course, the El Macombo was before roller.

Oh, yeah. And, you know, that didn't really open a lot of doors for us, but Roller did. Gotcha. Okay, gotcha. Yeah, because I didn't live it, I switched up the chronology there. But here's something I'm certain of.

So when MTV launches in the States, this is August 1981, you in April Wine, you guys have the, I guess you're in the history books. This is kind of a fun bar trivia question. Name the first Canadian recording artist ever played on MTV. And that was you guys when they played Just Between You and Me. I think it was the 14th

video they played that day. Time and time again I see A love that seems strong Was not meant to be Broken hearts don't always mend Left to one shore to try love again But just between you and me Baby, I know our love will be Just between you and me

Always I know our love will be Just between you and me Lovers often seem to say Hearts can be blind To love gone astray Always it's the same old song Someone's been hurt By a love that's gone wrong Just between you and me

Baby, I know how love will be Just between you and me Always I know our love will be Just between you Just between you and me We're just sometimes hard to find The silence can be so unkind You always help me find my way The love that we share grows stronger each day Bye. Just between you and me, always I know our love will be.

Seul mon autre toi et moi, means that our love will always be. Just between you and me Baby, I know my love will be Just between you Just between you and me. Ah, well, you might be right. My memory's wrong, because I thought it was enough is enough. Oh, I'll have to check out the crack research stuff, because I believe it's just between you and me,

but you might know better than I do well I you know what I I I don't I don't profess to have a perfect memory you know I learned a long time ago that I'll never say I'll never say oh I'm positive you know because there's always I I'm not sure but you know the way I I remember the the song that they played again and again and they still you know when they at the anniversary of the beginning of MTV, they still include that in their playlist every year. And it's enough is enough. I don't know about Just Between You and Me.

As a matter of fact, I'm trying to think of which came first, which of those two songs, or if they were both on the same album. And that would answer our question. I know Just Between You and Me was on The Nature of the Beast. And Enough is Enough, I think, is, I don't know, maybe that's on I Like to Rock or It's First Glance. Quite honestly, I don't recall. So one of us is right and one of us is wrong. Now, okay, so as we're like, again, I'll speak to Generation X for a moment.

Because the boomers listening are like fanatical i work with a uh gentleman named humble howard and he is uh half of a morning show duo called humble and fred and in fact humble you're actually booked and i have to revisit this with the guys because it's booked as a zoom and i have to figure out how we could get it so you can call in next week but uh humble howard the first concert he ever saw as a teenager in moose jaw was april wine and you you know when he was learning to play guitar it was april wine like when i told him he might be able to talk to miles goodwin honestly i've never seen a reaction like this uh so for the boomers out there they know know. But I'm going to speak to Generation X for a moment

who are kind of just know could have been a lady in some of the CanCon Rock staples and should learn more because this is a sneaky deep catalog you got, my friend. But you guys never won a Juno. How is it possible April Wine never won a Juno award? I don't know. I mean, we do have a Juno for Hall of Fame, Lifetime,

whatever they call that. Canadian Music Hall of Fame. In 2010, you got inducted, thankfully, finally. But 11 nominations. I don't know. People have never been able to really figure that out.

Awards are very particular things. And they don't really typically mean much. So awards are very particular things, and they don't really typically mean much. I mean, there's sometimes, of course, if you win an Oscar, your career takes off. Sometimes it doesn't either. But it's a great launching thing for your career. And winning a Grammy is also, it can mean a lot to your career or it could be nothing. It really depends on the artists, the talent and the people with them and good

luck and the rest of it. And Juno is kind of like that. I mean, it was so many, it is for, there was a period of time, and I don't want to knock the Junos, but for a time it was a joke. Uh, and you know, and what happened, and I'm quite honest about this, and I'm sure what I'm saying, there was a period of time where someone won a Juno and was never heard of again. And it happened time and time again.

So it was like, oh, God, don't let me win a Juno. That'll be the end of my career. That was a running joke. I mean, I remember one time we lost to a duo called Miles and Lenny. We never heard from them again. There were a lot of artists. There was a string there a number of years. If that wasn't happening, then Annemarie won everything. She'd have a dump and she'd win a Juno. And of course, the rush. I'm not saying that those two artists and others don't deserve it, but it was just a

given. If Anne-Marie's in the mix and she wins, because she was wonderful and she still is wonderful and rushing, incredible and so forth. And so either the same people won all the time, and there was a period of time for several years where if you won, it was a kiss of death. But people have tried to figure out why in the world, because we would be nominated for Album of the Year, Group of the Year, Song of the Year, Graphics.

Eleven nominations. You're like the Susan Lucci of the Junos. Yeah, it was crazy. And let's not fool ourselves. It was politics, too. It really helps, and it did. I can't And let's not fool ourselves. It was politics, too. It really helps. And it did. I can't say that's the same anymore.

It really helped to be in Toronto. I know there are people in groups in Toronto that, again, get exceptional coverage and everything else because they're there. They're playing touch football. They're playing on the hockey team with all the radio people and you know i mean it really is uh i know how it is and and abril wine was always a very private band out of out of quebec out of montreal um we didn't socialize i mean i've been running joke for years i'm very very private i don't you know i don't i don't leave home after dark unless I'm paid. It's a combination of a whole

bunch of things. There was also a very big misunderstanding between Walt Grealis and the band one time when somebody wrote something on a fishbowl. It was an old quote from what's his name? I can't remember now. Don't drink the water, fish bleep in it. That old thing. W.C. Fields said it. Anyway, somebody did that and blamed April Wine. Of course, it wasn't true at all.

Walt Grealis got really... Do you know who Walt Grealis is? Help me out. He started the whole thing. Anyway, he got really, really upset. I would say we were blackballed for at least two or three years. That didn't help things. No matter how we tried to straighten out the the the uh

the you know the the fact that the the real fact that it wasn't us at all with somebody else and it was just uh just really too bad it happened at all uh but reflecting poorly on the band is is is it wasn't very uh wasn't appropriate because it had nothing to do with the group and then if i have uh my i wrote my memoirs in, I forget what year, 2017, I think it was, around there, called Just Between You and Me. Yes. And this is discussed, and it's very, very clear that we had nothing to do with that actual event.

But I think we paid the price with the Juno Committee for at least a few years. Well, thankfully, on April 18, 2010, you did finally get inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. So what did that mean to you? What does that... Well, I mean, really, you know, I've got to be really honest with you here. You know, again, my feeling towards Juno, about awards in particular, if you really,

if you believe in them too much, I don't think it's a good thing. I don't think if you're nominated and you lose, you should be really all that disappointed. I mean, of course, a bit. Yeah, I get it, you know. Or if you want to win, you shouldn't be too big a deal. It's like, don't go extreme either way on these things because the fact that your flavor of the month or something happened, that you win an award

that particular year, it's so much more important to have longevity, to be respected by your peers and your fans. So when I finally got to Juno, it was like, well, in my mind, it was about bloody time. And really, for me, it was validation for the fans.

I mean, how do the fans feel? They've supported us. We broke so many records over the years. We're the first group to go platinum. We're the first group to go platinum. We have so many firsts in our career but we were ignored and the fans got to say after well geez you know did i believe in this band when i shouldn't have are they are they really not that good are they not worthy right and i used to feel really bad for the fans. As a matter of fact, when we won,

when we were presented with this Lifetime Achievement or whatever it's called, I said to the Juno committee, Karis, I said, I want it presented by two people. And I said, one of them has to be a fan and they said oh that's never been done yet we can't have that and I said well I don't want it then I said no I said I want two people to present this I said I want I said I want a fan and I and I have another person I have in mind and that's my good friend for a long time, Barry Grace. Barry Grace, Barry Stock from Three Days Grace.

And, you know, he was a friend of mine. He worked with April Wine as a roadie for a long time, but he went out with Three Days Grace. You know, they've sold millions of records. They're doing fantastic, and they still are. And he's a dear friend, so I said, I'd like Barry Stock and a fellow named Dave Cameron to present it. I had a battle, a fight back and forth. I said, this is about the fans. Why would you not allow a fan to be part of the presentation?

Eventually, they said okay. He was, at the time, working for the military. He was working on planes and so forth in the Air Force Division of Armed Forces for Canada. And he's a big, big, big April Wine fan and a wonderful guy. He's still a good friend of mine and he runs our website, by the way. And I said, well, Dave, you have to come in uniform. And he said, Miles, they won't let me wear the uniform. And I said, that's crazy.

I said, think of the goodwill. Right. You know, to you to come out there as the Armed Forces and a rocker and a fan of April Wine, you know how wonderful that would be for PR for the Armed Forces of Canada. Right. And he said, yeah, but they won't allow it.

I said, okay, well, then you come on without the uniform. So he did. And then he told me a few months later that they told him that somebody there at the base said that, you know, they had made a big mistake and they wish they had allowed him to go on with the uniform. It would have been a good thing. Right. And of course it was too late, you know, but there's so much, there's so much red tape and, you know,

nobody wanted to take the responsibility of saying, yeah, sure. Let him wear his uniform. You know, there's, they're so terrified of losing, you know, their jobs or their, you know, you know, they're so terrified of losing, you know, their jobs or their, you know, or whatever it is that just keeps them in the box, thinking inside the box, if you know what I mean. But at the end of the day, all I can say is I'm very proud of getting this special Juno. I'm proud for it. I'm happy for the fans, very happy for the fans, most of all.

And also, it's nice for my family and my friends to see, yeah, you know, mild dad, April Wine, got this recognition, finally. So at the end of the day, it's all a good thing. Well, speaking of the fans, I tweeted, like, if anyone had a question for you because you were coming on, and I got, And I got several responses from big fans of yours. One, Midtown Gord, Midtown Gord, big fan of your work, Miles and April Wine. And he says, if you don't mind, maybe you can ask Miles what the secret is for him and Brian Greenway to have stayed together and worked together so well

these last 40-plus years. Well, I don't know. I mean, like, Brian is a great guitar player, right? And he's a friend. I was talking to him today about something, and even though April Wine is off the road indefinitely because of COVID, but, you know, we're still friends

and you know, we just work well together. We don't hang out together. We don't socialize at all. Maybe that's part of the success. I only see him when we gig. Pardon me?

I said that'll work, actually, because you don't get sick of each other. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe that's part of it, but there's never been any reason for Brian not to be part of that group. As a matter of fact, when April Wine went on a hiatus for nine years,

he was still involved on that very last studio album that we did down in the Bahamas when the band had broken up. But I owed the record company another wine album. And if I didn't deliver, there would be all kinds of, you know, legal action and so forth. So I was in the Bahamas and I said, well, I got to deliver another album to get out of this contract and get on with life. And it was called Walking Through Fire.

And so I asked Brian to come down to the Bahamas and we did it down at Nassau down there. And so Brian, as soon as the band got back together and started recording again in the early 90s with Attitude, I called Brian right away and so Brian's always been part of anything that's been April Wine since he joined in 2007. Awesome. And

Mike Grigoski just wants to say he saw April Wine at the C&E and at Lulu's in the 90s and that both shows were fantastic. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, good. So shout out to April Wine. Ty Cat Pat, I guess that means he's from Hamilton, but Ty Cat Pat says,

ask Miles, what was the greatest or most memorable concert lineup that April Wine was ever a part of? Well, I guess he means like festivals. Yeah, I think he means festivals, yeah. Well, it's a weird thing. People might not understand this. You just have to be there. But sometimes you don't remember anything, any specific things.

I see posters now where I go, oh my God, like Cheech and Chong were on that bill, you know, or, oh, I didn't, I didn't realize that Neil Young was on there, you know, and these are, these are festival events that last three days. Like there's a California jam we did once. And, and sometimes you, you just, you you know you come in uh before you perform an hour or so performing you're so busy getting ready and nervous and everything else and you're kind of doing your own thing and then you go on and you do your thing and then you get off and

then you gotta you know you gotta deal with whatever right you know immediately after that all the reality of the business of it and then forth. And then the next thing you know, you're heading out of the area and somebody else is coming in. And, you know, you would think that if, you know, I think your average listener here would think that, well, you know, if you knew there were like 12 bands or 10 bands that day, why don't you just come in early? Just watch the whole thing. Do your thing and just continue watching, right? Just to soak it all in. But in reality, it doesn't always work that way, especially if it's a two- or three-day event.

You miss a lot. But we've played, we've shared, we've been on the same festivals at the same time, more or less many times and you don't really get to see other groups. But I do know that when we were in England once we played with Neil Young

and a group called with Robert Fripp, King Crimson. And I remember King Crimson coming over, some of the guys at King Crimson coming over and saying that the guys at King Crimson coming over and saying that they loved our version of 21st Century Schizophrenia that we did.

And that was really nice. If you know what I'm talking about, King Crimson, that album called Court of the Crimson King that came out in about 1969, give or take, right about there, and I wore that album to death, and I said to April Wine, one day I'd love to do this song, it's extremely complicated, and it's really a big challenge for

a three-piece, a four-piece, or five-piece band, you know, four guitars and a drummer, to do this, but I want to do it, and we did our version of it, and it became, some people call it a classic April Wine song, and like it better than King Crimson. But to have the original guys in England that day come over and say,

wow, we love your version was a special moment I remember. Well, just this morning I recorded with Mark Hebbshire. We do a sports podcast called Hebbsy on Sports and that cover of the King Crimson cover you're referring to there by April wine was he brought it up as his very favorite thing you've ever done. So it's definitely a classic. Oh, good. Very good.

Now Indy. And then I want to get the solo miles Goodwin. So that's coming right now. But first Indy can radio just wants you to know that the album cover of electric jewels was part of his wall art back in the day. So shout out to IndieCan Radio. Okay, cool. Very cool. Solo. Okay, so

what happens? Why does Miles Goodwin go solo? And I ask you that as like an A. And B, I just recently had Lee Aaron on the program, finally. And I know you had a hit with her in 1988. Do you know What I Mean?

So maybe talk about the first solo album and why you went solo. The 40 days since I threw the wind I just saw her with my best friend You know what I mean You know what I mean I just saw her yesterday I just saw her, had nothing to say You know what I mean

But you know what I mean So I asked her, but she still cared She didn't hear me, she just stared You know what I mean Oh, you know what I mean Then she said, you haven't loved me in nearly four years You haven't noticed that I've held back my tears But now you have

But it's really too late Better find yourself another girl Better find yourself another girl Better find yourself A better place Her and Bobby Are stepping out Her and Bobby

You know I found out, you know what I mean Oh, you know what I mean She's a dandy, yes indeed She's a dandy, but now she's free You know what I mean Yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah, do you know what I mean? She said You haven't loved me in nearly 40 years

You haven't noticed that I've held back my tears But now you have And it's really too late Better find yourself another girl Better find yourself another late Better find yourself another girl Better find yourself another girl Better find yourself another place It's been 14 days since I don't know when I just saw her with my best friend Do you know what I mean?

Oh, do you know what I mean? I just saw her yesterday I just saw her,. I just saw her. I asked her to stay. You know what I mean? Boy, you know what I mean? You know what I mean? Do you know what I mean?

Do you know what I mean? and things weren't going well, you know, and I can't get into all of that right now, but, you know, it's in my book, in my memoir, just between you and me, Harper Collins. But anyway, you know, we broke up. I call it a hiatus because nine years later, I was back from the Bahamas. I was here, and I started getting requests for a new April White album, especially as odd,

but out of California, as a matter of fact. But anyway, I ended up doing an album called Attitude in 92. But, you know, I'd been with April White so long that we, you know, and it broke up and I did Walkin' Through Fire and I was then living in the Bahamas and it was done. My contract was done and I wanted to do something different because, you know, I still have that thing that I want to write and I want to record, you know, I still have that thing that I want to write and I want to record, you know, and I still have it and I still do write and record all the time.

And so I want to do something different. What I was hearing on the radio was very, very different from April Wine. You know, we were just the classic rock format with guitars and drums. But I was hearing all these other things. And this was the time when a lot of people were working with drum machines and keyboards and sampling. You know, Michael Jackson was like king, and all these British bands, different bands.

It was, and this would be before grunge, but there was a period there, there was a lot of this stuff going on. Even great artists like Bowie was doing stuff in the style of what was going on then. I said, I've never done anything like this. I've done some keyboard stuff. I wrote Like a Lover, Like a Song,

or Would Want to Lose Your Love, and some other things. But I've never really experimented with uh with all of the technology and all of the sounds that are that's going on right now and i said i think i would like to do that so i did uh and it was simply called uh miles goodwin and i don't remember what year it came out i think it was 87 and i had a great time i had a a ball. And I'm still proud of the album. I don't regret it at all. April Wine's fans didn't like it because it wasn't April Wine-ish. It was something different.

But, you know, that's fine with me. Anyway, there was a Lee. Yeah, so Lee and Aaron, I had that song that I did with her. Do You Know What I Mean? It's a cover song, of course. And so I called her. I know her to be a great voice. Yes.

And a great rocker. Lee Aaron, by the way, you might know this, but that was the name of her band. She just assumed the name of her band because she was a Karen. And then her band was called Lee Aaron. And she just, sort of like Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper was the band, and then he just took the name. Yeah, I don't, I didn't

know that. I know that that's not her name, even if it was her stage name, that her real name is something else. Right. And I don't even remember anymore. I used to know. Well, it's Karen. I don't know the last name or anything, but Karen. Yeah, Karen. So I think that's why I called her Karen back in the day

when I reached out to her. I didn't call her Lee, but anyway, whatever. But she's still, as far as I know, she's performed somewhat. She's just a great singer. Oh, yeah, well, how's this for a segue, Miles? I would say Lee Aaron has the voice of an angel. And what I'm going to do in post here is I'm going to play Will the Last Voice I Hear Be an Angel? the voice of an angel. And, uh, what I'm going to do in, in post here is I'm going to play,

will the last voice I hear be an angel? Because that's the new single by Miles Goodwin. It's available now. Tell us about the new album. So, um, I'm dying to know more information about your, your,

your new work here. I think it's called long pants. It is called long pants. Yes. And, uh, it's, uh, it's a collection of songs.

Some people that know about it are referring to a songwriter's album, if you will. I don't know. It's a collection of songs. The oldest one goes back to when my daughter was born 40 years ago. And her name is Amber. And the song is called Forever Amber. And I came. She was the night she was born.

I came home from the hospital. I went right into the studio, exhausted. And I wrote the entire song, every word, every note. That, you know, an hour after I got home. Wow. I recorded it on a cassette. Sure. Which I still have.

And my family, Amber and my sons and so forth have always said you know dad you know when are you going to record and release this song because it's it's so beautiful and i said well i said i can't put that on an april wine album so i don't know and so you know 40 years later, I'm recording it. And I have a song for each of my children. I have a song about life and death. And I've got some humor on the album. There's a drinking song and one about kittens. And there's one about, you know, this single that's out right now

that's gone out to radio. And the response to it on the appropriate stations for what i'm doing at this time are playing it so it's really good you're really happy happy about that Well, the last voice I hear Be an angel Well, I leave this world Peacefully Well, the last voice I hear be an angel, Lord, saying, take my hand and walk with me.

I've walked wasn't always kind. And Lord, you know that's true. And now all I want is peace of mind. And to one day be with you. I remember the days of summers. As a young child long, long ago. And although much has changed In ways I'm still the same As that young boy I used to know These days I worry some

About my past And the things I've done Oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, I pray You'll never turn me away Will the last voice I hear be an angel? Will I leave this world peacefully? Will the last voice I hear be an angel, Lord? Say and take my hand and walk with me.

Will the last voice I hear be an angel? Will I leave this world peacefully? this world peacefully Will the last voice I hear be an angel Lord saying take my hand

and walk with me saying take my hand and walk with me But one friend of mine called it a prayer. I'm not a religious guy. I'm just not. In all of April 1's career time, I've avoided politics and religion.

I won't talk about either one of them. Even with my friends, it's something I avoid because it seems to be kind of a no-win kind of conversation. I leave that alone. But this is a spiritual song. This is a thing called the Christmas Daddy Showdown in Halifax, where I live now.

It's an annual event that's been around for many, many, many years. I've done it the last several years because i'm back in town and they asked me to do it i love doing it i did a an ian mcclellan song called put your hand in the hand which was very successful and covered by of course anne-marie i think it was most successful with it but many people have done that so i did a version of that with my acoustic trio. And it went over so well, I came home and I thought about it. I said, boy, people really like this kind of thing, this spiritual kind of song.

I wonder if I could write one. And in a day or so, I came up with the chorus, and I went and I played it for my partner, and she loved it. I said, well, maybe I do have a song here. It actually brought a tear to her eye when I played it for her, because she is religious. I said, if anybody's going to tell me how they feel about it, it's going to be her. She loved it. And a couple of days later, I got an email, a request from Los Angeles asking me if I would be a judge on a spiritual, international spiritual songwriting contest. Oh, wow.

Well, I almost fell out of my chair. I called them the next day and I said, I said, why in the world would you ask me to do something like this at this time or at all? And she said, well, we just really respect your songwriting. And I said, wow, that's really cool. I said, it's funny because I just started writing my very first spiritual. So that's crazy good. So I said, I'm going to say yes. So I became a judge on this international spiritual songwriting contest. And it's over now and I cast

my vote and everything else and I finished the song not long after I spoke to them so it all came together in a very cool way and yeah so it's it's the first song from the album Long Pants the Long Pants like I, is a collection of songs or songs for adults, if you will, mature people. And it's been

a labor of love that's years and years like finally putting all of these, all the music and the words and thoughts into a project.

So that's very cool. And Long Pants means, uh, long pants means like adults versus short pants, which would be children. Right. You know, it's just, just that kind of connection. Short pants, long pants. Yeah. Okay. Amazing. So the single that's available right now, uh, will the last voice I hear be an angel and long pants, uh, just summer.

We have a, do we have a release date or is it just summer 2021? We can get our hands on that. No, sometime, yeah, sometime in the summer, yeah. I don't know. I mean, I have to finish up, you know, finish the writing process, which is most, you know, well on its way, but I have to finish that and book the studio and go in and do all of that kind of stuff. But once I get rolling, it'll come together quickly.

So it'll come out probably towards the end of the summer, I would imagine, yeah. And of course, final question here. By the way, thanks so much for your time. I've really, really enjoyed chatting with you, Miles. But when this pandemic ends, assuming this does end, in a better end, because I'm sick of it, but when the pandemic ends, will April wine hit the road? It's a really good question. I was to brian about this today you know there there are you know different camps different thoughts about this some people feel that with the vaccines once everybody gets vaccinated vaccinated that you know we're going to be good to go things will be more or less the way they were before and the optimists believe like next year will be you know will be a

very different scenario uh and then there's those that believe that um that it's going to take a long long long time and that no one person uh is safe until everyone is safe and it's a global thing and you know that uh in most places it got all places it's worse now than it was uh when it when it began um even in nova scotia where i live now like we had 182 brand new cases yesterday a month ago we might have one new case well the variants are here we had the variants kicked in and some people behaved very badly and it just spread like crazy so now we're in complete lockdown and and which was a very safe place to be right now is not quite as safe as it was and you know see what's happening in india and

and of course there are a whole gang millions of people many people that don't believe in you know in in in you know and wearing masks and social distancing or any of that. And of course that's not helping anything. So I don't, I don't know. Will April want to perform again when it's, when, you know, it's safe to, put it that way, it's safe to get on a plane. It's safe to be able to play venues that make sense where they're, you know, a lot of people more or less shoulder to shoulder the way it was. I don't know. You know, I don know i i don't know how long it's going to take the party tells me that you know that it'll be too late for us uh you know i'm in

my 70s now and i you know i still rock i can still hit the notes and roller and i'm like a lot of bands i've been around as long as i have our april wine has been around that are you know in their 60s and even into their early 70s. You know that. I mean, it just is. I mean, the Rolling Stones continue to play. It's in our DNA. I was talking to Brian Adams a couple of days ago, and he called me here about something that he's involved with and asked me if I would be part of it. And I said that I would.

And we talked briefly about how it's in our DNA. And like the first time he saw April White was in Kingston. He's from Kingston back in 74 or 5 or something like that. He was younger than I am. And he was talking, you know, how wonderful that was. And he wanted to know, what's that timing in Say Hello? That's all you're saying. What kind of timing is that? And I don't know, Brian. I don in Say Hello? That's all you're saying. What kind of timing is that?

And I don't know, Brian. I just write them. I don't know what the timing is. But anyway, we do it. A lot of us do it because we love to do it. And as long as I can remember, as long as I honestly can remember, I've always, always loved music and played guitar when I was a little kid. I still have the first guitar I ever had in my entire life.

Oh, good for you. I still have that guitar. And I released, in the last few years, I released, you're talking about solo records, I released Metal Scooter and Friends of the Blues in 2018. And it's not because all of a sudden, you know I can't rock so I'll play blues or country music or something you know I think some people do that I just did it because I I'm a fan of uh blues songs I'm a songwriter and I'm a fan of songs a big influence was me was was Taj Mahal on his very first record I bought around the same time as King Crimson I played it to death and I still own the original copy.

I love B.B. King, The Thrill Is Gone. I just love blues songs. And I've been, you know, April Wine, I've had blues, loose-labored stuff in our stuff for years. And of course, blues was a big influence, like bands like, you know, Bled Zeppelin and all kinds of people, Eric Clapton

and so forth. Rolling Stones, of course, and so forth. So I decided that I was going to finally do a blues album of songs. And wouldn't you know it, first release, nominated for Blues Album of the Year at the Junos. You know, not bad. I'm a 69-year-old to come out with a brand new direction and to be nominated as one of the best of the year.

Awesome. I lost to Colin James. Of course, we always lose to Colin when he comes out, apparently. I love Colin. He's one of those things. Oh, Colin, you know, if Anne-Marie does a blues album, the rest of us are screwed. Oh, that's right.

That's right. But anyway, and then I did a second. And, of course, that album won the East Coast Music Award Blues Album of the Year. It was a top 40 blues charts in the year. This was an international success for me. I was in the top 40 for over a year in the States, and then I did Friends of the Blues II the following year, and the same kind of success, pretty much. Won awards and was played everywhere, and now I'm going to do this solo album

called Long Pants. Right. And the next Blues album is well on its way. I don't know, it's not going to come out this year. And finally, you know, there's been a request for an April Wine album for a long time. Our last studio album was 15 years ago.

And this year, 21, is exactly 50 years since our very first release in November, I think it was November or September, with Fast Train in 1971. So it's exactly 50 years ago. So I called the guys and I said, you want to do an April wind-up? Because I've got all the time in the world now. I get up in the morning and I get my coffee and I said, you want to do an April wine album? Cause I've got all the time in the world now, you know, I get up in the morning and I, I wrap my, I get my coffee and I wrap myself around the guitar.

And I do that almost every single day. It's like, okay, when am I going to write this morning? What direction am I going to try and go? And so I've been working on, um, I know April wine album.

I'm actually, you know, slap on the Marshall crank off the strap on my last Paul Stern on the box show on my recording studio at rock, you know, slap on the Marshall, crank off the Marshall, strap on my Les Paul, turn on the Marshall on my recording studio and rock, you know. And it's fun. Amazing. It's really fun. I haven't done it in a long time.

And it's coming along. So I hope there'll be a brand new studio album. If not at the very end of the year, you know, then sometime next year. Amazing, amazing. Good for you, man. Now, you mentioned Brian Adams sometime next year. Amazing. Amazing. Good for you, man. Now, you mentioned Brian Adams, so I know I lied. I said that was my last question, but this is my real last question, which is, were you

invited to be a part of Tears Are Not Enough in 1985? No. No. Well, that's bullshit. Like, I'm part of me, but shouldn't you have got the call? me but uh shouldn't you have got the call well the thing is you know april wine has been ignored uh in canada in terms of those kinds of things like forever and i don't think it'll ever change like i see you know i see all kinds like here's something and i don't want to be known as you know a sour grapes complaining i mean i wrote a song called uh and Roll is a Vicious Game. It became an April Wine classic.

It was played outside of Canada. I don't know if you know the song. In the Canadian music industry at the time, it said, oh, Miles, it's sour grapes. He's complaining because he's never won a Jonah. I'm going, no, it's got nothing to do with that. You know, I mean, I just wrote, I just thought about Elvis Presley. I thought about Janis Joplin.

I thought about Jim Morrison, you know, Kurt Cobain or whoever, you know, all of these people that just, you know, the lifestyle killed them. And I said, more importantly, and that's in the song, that idea's in the song, but even more importantly to me, the Rock and Roll's vicious game is all of the people that couldn't succeed in the business. The regular people that just loved singing and playing and writing songs more than anything, but they just didn't make it.

It just didn't happen for them. Either they just didn't have enough talent or bad breaks for whatever reason. I consider April Wine to be lucky to have the career that we've had. They've always said to me, what's the success? What do you suggest for new people coming up?

What's your formula or whatever? I said, just work harder than everybody else. When everybody's sleeping, you're still working. I said, that's what I did. All I did you know just work harder than everybody else you know when everybody's sleeping you're still working I said that's what I did all I did was all I did was all about is all about work and writing and singing and playing and getting better and writing songs so that's why you know I wrote 80 percent of April 1 songs I produced them I published them and so forth because you have to work hard and it's the same with anything you do in this life it's got to be it's got to be a hundred percent at least if you want to have a chance to succeed and uh but at any rate you know this song rock and roll is a vicious game it was an observation of people that tried

really hard and they loved it but it just didn't happen for them and then there were the greats that just you know you know succumbed to the pressures and the lifestyle and everything. But yet, April Wine and myself are not invited to a lot of things, and I see the same old faces, the same old people that are invited to everybody. And I think part of it today and for some time has been management too. If you have a certain kind of managers, they will make things happen. They will open doors, and they will always keep your name there right at the tip of people's tongue you know and you just and the more successful you

are you know of course but i see a lot of a lot of canadian groups that are they're part of everything and like i'm never asked to do partly anything if you know what i mean and sometimes it kind of bugs me but on the other hand you know it's what it is i don't worry about it i think one of the one of the things that really kind of sums up my side of of what's been going on and like and i'm very fortunate i've had a great career and i have no complaints really as people you know a lot of people i know uh have been adopted into the song like canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and I haven't. I'm just saying, what do I have to do?

I've been writing hits for over 50 years. Even my blues records were successful, general nominated. I wrote everything. I'm a songwriter. Why? I'm friends with them. Rita McNeil was just inducted doctor but the one before that you know was kim mitchell and and and other people i know so i said i'm always sending a message

they say hey kim you know congratulations on being adopted into the songwriters hall of fame i said what do i have to do to get in there he says you're kidding me right and so what do you mean he says you're not there he said man you should have been there decades ago. I said, yeah, well, they kind of ignore me. And I don't know why. But you know what I do is I just keep doing what I keep doing what I do.