Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Richard Crouse Kicks Out the Jams: Toronto Mike'd #916

Episode Date: September 21, 2021

Mike catches up with Richard Crouse before he plays and discusses his 10 favourite songs of all-time.

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I'm Mike from torontomike.com, and returning this week to kick out the jams is Richard Krause. Hello, Richard. Hey, Mike. How are you? Listen, if I had known that this was episode 916, I would have insisted on waiting 84 more episodes so I could be number 1,000. I like an even number. You know, I could arrange for your third appearance

to be episode 1,000. All right. That'll happen probably in a couple of months. I was saying the way you got, the way you ripped through these things, it's like next week. Welcome back, Richard. Seriously, it's been far too long. Do you know that when you visited here the first time, it was April 2018?

Wow. It doesn't seem that long, but I'll tell you the pandemic to me, I look at it two ways. It either feels like it's been 10 years long, the last 18 months, or it feels like it's been about a week. I can't tell anymore. People say, when's the last time I saw you? And I say, well, it can't be that long ago. And this is just before the pandemic, which now is coming up on two years that I've seen some people and it does not feel that long. I'm with you, man. Sometimes it feels like forever. And then sometimes you're right. It feels like that was six weeks ago or something that this pandemic started. But I'm going to read the description from your first appearance, and then we're going to do a brief catch up before we

kick out the jams here. But I want to let people know if this is their first time hearing Richard Krauss on Toronto Mic, that they really should pause, like right now, and find episode 323, which is also not a round number. I'm sorry about that. I know. Listen, I feel burned by all this. Well, you have friends in high places. We could always make this happen.

But in the description I wrote at the time, by the way, that was a two-hour episode in person. Fantastic deep dive. Mike chats with movie critic Richard Krauss about his years as a bartender, co-hosting Real to Real, hosting the Richard Krauss Show on 1010, his cancer scare, his love of Elvis Costello, which may or may not come up again in this episode, Pop Life on CTV, and so much more. That's almost too much for one show. Two hours, and I could have gone longer. I think I did you a favor by wrapping it up with a two-hour mark. How are you doing, man? I mentioned the cancer scare there. How's your health? You look fantastic, but how are you feeling?

I feel fine. I feel fine. Uh, you know, I feel fine. The, the, the cancer thing was more than a scare. I mean, it was, it was cancer. I had surgery and chemo for over a year. Uh, but you know, you have that marker where you hit the five year mark. I'm well past that now. And, uh, and things are fine. You know, it's, uh, it's, it's always something that kind of lurks in the back of your head a little bit, but I was fairly open about it. I talked about it a lot in the press. I wrote a great deal about it on ctbnews.ca. I put up like a 30,000 word essay over the course of a few weeks about what to expect if you've been diagnosed with cancer. And I still have people stopping me on the street and saying, I went and got tested for, I went and got a colonoscopy because I read that, or I heard your story. And that is gratifying.

If you have to go through something absolutely terrible like that at least you can try and find some good in it and for me that's the good that came out of it yeah i gotta say you know thankfully knock on wood i haven't had to uh deal with what you had to deal with but whenever i have something i need to deal with whenever i can read like a sort of like a deep dive that of someone else's experience going through it it's sort of like I would say uh comforting and reassuring to kind of kind of live through like to kind of if I could like uh borrow your shoes for a little bit and kind of learn about your path that I'm about to take there's something there's something uh positive

there and so I'm always grateful when people like yourself are open about these experiences, because we're all human beings, we're all dealing with these things. This is something as an illness that you had to deal with. And if someone else has to go through that, it's, it might be comforting for them to be able to read about your, what you experienced. Yeah. And at the time when it all happened, you know, I was on Canada AM, which was still on the air then I was, you know, kind of like I was my, I had a loud voice and, and I thought that it would be incumbent on me just to say, you know, listen, this is a confusing

time. If you have just been diagnosed with cancer, it's a confusing time. There's so much information that just comes winging your way so quickly. And there's terms that you don't really understand. And for me, anyway, there were entire meetings that I had with doctors that I barely remember because there's just so much talk. There's so much information. And you're slightly shell-shocked by the whole situation. So I thought that by talking about it and coming out the other end as I did healthy would be valuable, hopefully, for someone who was just entering in and just feeling that weight of what happens when you're diagnosed. And here I am a few years later,

cringing at my own words. Like, why am I calling this a cancer scare? A cancer scare is when you think you might have cancer and you find out you don don't that's a cancer scare you had cancer well and then and i'll tell you it was scary so yeah it's a cancer scare so i guess and more and i do not judge any human being with regards to how they react when they're faced with this disease but i do i do find it interesting that you can go your route which i i just expressed why i'm glad you went your your route and we're open about everything but you can also go the other way as norm mcdonald did norm uh other than his you know close friends and family uh we had no idea he was grappling with this terrible disease and uh passed away recently after i guess

i think nine years he was yeah yeah and Yeah. And you know, there's two ways really of looking at this. I, I didn't get really public about it until after my final chemo treatment. In fact, it was the day after my last chemo treatment that I went public and, and went on Canada AM and told the story. And then I started writing about it and that previous to that. And it was a long time. It was, uh, you know, over a year, a year and two months or three months or four months. I can't remember now. Um, while I was having chemo and things, I didn't really tell anybody, uh, and except very close friends. Uh, my family knew, although I i my dad who lived in nova scotia at the time um i don't i didn't really tell him uh for a long time because there was nothing he could do about it i didn't want

him to worry and with other people i i kind of didn't want people looking at me and going oh he's he's not well so let's not hire him for this gig or he's not well, let's not. And, and I didn't want that pity. That was sort of the thing that, that kept me going. And I, I would suggest, and I don't know this about Norm MacDonald, but that was part of it too. And as a comedian, I think, you know, you want to not have that hanging over every joke that you tell. No, that, that makes complete sense again.

And I will just say a big fan of Norm MacDonald. Missed the guy already. And just what a terrible disease. Like we just had the virtual run for Terry Fox two days ago. So it's the second year in a row it was a virtual run. But every year as I have for decades, I raise funds for my virtual run this year, unfortunately. But what a horrific disease. We all know somebody, we all love somebody who's been touched by it.

And I'm just grateful that you're looking so fantastic, man. It's all worked out for you here. Yep. Yeah, no, it did. And I'll tell you, the treatment I got was exemplary. And, you know, if anyone out there who's listening is struggling or has been recently diagnosed, just know that the treatment works, you know, and be careful, get tested, look after yourself. And, you know, it's a, you know, you knock wood,

every case is different. But, you know, there's a great deal of success out there right now with cancer treatments. And keep that in mind. A positive attitude, I found, for me, that a positive attitude, and I don't want to sound all Patch Adams-y about this, but it's really true. A positive attitude meant so much to me. meant so much to me. It really made me, it felt like I could get over that hump a little bit better if I used humor

and just tried to feel better about things. You know, when I saw you on the schedule today, Richard, I was like just crossing my fingers that like, I don't know, a major movie star would not pass away this morning. I hope, I know Clint's got a new movie out, but the man's got, you know, he's an older guy. Please, Clint, don't die this morning like i had like i hope i know clint's got a new movie out but the man's got you know he's he's an older guy please clint don't don't die this morning because i figured you'd be

uh you'd be unavailable because every time you know you make the rounds and and they uh there are it's true when someone famous dies i generally tend to pop up uh eulogizing them and uh to the extent where uh they call me the undertaker and uh there's a number of newsrooms around town because and and i can and i can see it i'll be home working here and i'll get a twitter alert that so-and-so has died and then it's like two three you know one and and and the three two one yeah i look and the phone starts to blow up and people want me to talk about them and then your next thing you know what you're on CP24, you're on CTV Toronto, you're on CTV, the news net there. Radio.

You're on 1010 CFRB. Yeah. So shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. They're pillars of this community. Ridleyfuneralhome.com. The Undertaker, Richard kraus can endorse their fine services a few quick hits here before we kick out these jams uh so last night i'm watching the uh the federal election results rolling early but i realize that i in my opinion i'm curious to

your thoughts on this as a proud maritimer but i feel like canada never pays more attention to the maritimes and Atlantic Canada than we do that night of a federal election. You know what I mean? I will tell you, they don't pay any attention other than on election night because our results start to come in first and

in some ways set the tone for what's to come for the rest of the country, so people are interested in that. It's election night and whatever lobster season is, that's when they pay attention to us down there. Because I was thinking last night, because you're right, we don't have anything except we start to get some stuff rolling in

from the East Coast here. Let me turn off my ringer here. And then suddenly we're all like, oh my goodness. And these results come in so early. You'll see, like, for example, the liberal candidate in this St. John's East or whatever has six votes. Like, well, they have to start somewhere. I like the modesty of it all.

You know, the these small communities that start to vote and literally everyone comes out and votes from, and votes and from these small fishing communities and things. And I, you know, I think it's kind of sweet. I like that. My people are representing, I haven't been down there for ages because we're not really allowed to go down during the pandemic.

They kind of didn't want us down there. And so we canceled a planned trip to go, but next year we'll go down next year. Dude. Sounds amazing. And do you have any thoughts here? While I have such a cool kind of alternative media man on the program here, any thoughts on NOW Magazine turning 40?

You know, I loved NOW Magazine in its early days. I remember when it came out. And I think like so many things that are celebrating decades and decades and decades of existence now, we kind of take them for granted. But, you know, at the time when Now Magazine came out and I could pick it up, leap through and see who was playing at the Cabana Room or at the Beverly Tavern and see really cool ads for bands like Les Trangés or The Government or somebody like that, it was a godsend for people like me other than that it was word of mouth no twitter no nothing there you know you had to find out where people were

playing uh you know through your friends and often uh in those days anyway i would just go down to queen street west and and go to four or five places a night just to see who was playing see what was going on there were posters and things that were up and around uh but you know often for the the cost of a two or three or maybe if you're feeling extravagant a five dollar cover uh you can go in and see uh you know two or three bands at one of those places and now magazine uh really for most of its life really was an alternative magazine to everything that was happening in the rest of the city. They covered things differently. They had a point of view and they covered the arts in a way that was exhaustive. And that was something that,

you know, nobody does anymore. If you pick up the newspapers and have a look around on, you know, what we think of now is old media. The arts kind of gets a short shrift, even though I would suggest that during the pandemic, it's the arts that's stopped everyone from going completely mad. It is television and music and movies. However it is that you're watching them that have kept us entertained and kept us on a level. So I think the arts is super important

and wish there was more coverage of it. And Now Magazine thrived at that for a very long time. I agree 100% with everything you said, including the desire for more coverage of it. But I'm going to suggest something just to get your thoughts on this. And I guess I preface this by saying, yes, I'm biased because Mark Weisblatt appears on this show for a few hours every single month so i'm just throwing

that out there yes he's become a friend but in my humble opinion and i'm more curious about yours uh maybe 1236 mark weisblatt is now carrying that torch i read 1236 absolutely it arrives uh most days not usually at 1236 which is i thought was sort of the point of the name but uh it but it arrives every day at some point and and uh i do think that he's got a really interesting way of curating the news out there it's not all arts coverage but there is there is a lot of uh interesting stuff stuff that in terms of the arts, that there'll be some story that I've never heard of or something that's new to me. And for me, you know, that's invaluable.

I love the arcane. And quite often that's what comes up on that newsletter. If you have a few hours every month to spare, I highly recommend Mark Wiseblood on Toronto Mic for his monthly recap. We dive deep, my friend. You would dig it. Yeah, yeah.

Now, you're not here. You're on Zoom here. So we're about to kick out the jams. But if you were here, obviously, you'd be going home with some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. You know the drill. I'd have a lasagna for you, a frozen lasagna from Palma Pasta. If you drop that into FedEx right now, it'll get here before it defrosts.

Oh, I could bike it over. Toronto Mike stickers from stickeru.com. But what I can give you, this is exciting. This is only started in September 2021. I can email you and I will email you a $75 digital gift card that you can use at chefdrop.ca. So basically, yeah, you're going to find a great meal.

You and your wife can enjoy, you and your partner. I don't know if you're married. Wife, yeah. You guys can enjoy a great meal from Chef Drop, curated meals from chefs and restaurants. Fantastic selection. Go to chefdrop.ca. I'll send you the email where you can spend 75 bucks just because you kicked out the jams on Toronto Mic'd. And I want to let all the listeners know they can save 20% right now at chefdrop.ca

if they use the promo code FOTM20. So FOTM20, that's 20% off your first order of $50 or more at chefdrop.ca. But Richard, you're getting the $75 just for appearing on Toronto Mic'd. I love it. Thank you very much. I'll look forward to that. And Richard, without further ado, my question for you, sir, is are you ready

to kick out the jams? You know I am. I'm ready to kick out the jams and You know I am. I'm ready to kick out the jams and get my $75 gift card. I'm ready to pay for being perfectly admired and you can have anyone that you have ever desired.

All you gotta tell me now is wow, wow, wow, wow. Welcome to the workin' week. Oh, I know it don't thrill you. I hope it don't kill you. Welcome to the working week, oh I know it don't thrill you, I hope it don't kill you Welcome to the working week, you gotta do it till you do it, so you better get to it All of your family had to kill to survive, and just waiting for their big day to arrive But if it's what I feel, it better be a lie

Welcome to the working week, oh I know it don't thrill you, I hope it don't want to fade this down, Richard, but I want to hear you talk to me. Shock to the system, Richard Krause has kicked out some Elvis Costello. Yeah, it's not unsurprising that the first song would be an Elvis Costello song, but it's also the first Elvis Costello song that I ever heard. So I grew up in Nova Scotia and I was obsessed by music, but I lived in this very small town, Liverpool, Nova Scotia on the South Shore, and we couldn't get records. You could drive 200 miles to Halifax down at the time, what were treacherous coastal roads. And you only made the trip if you had like a doctor's appointment or

whatever, if you were going to make that trip, it meant that you had things to do in the city. And the, the, the day was always planned from appointments and and whatever going to see the orthodontist and all that stuff and i would always try and swing by kelly's records uh in halifax and try and and gather up as much stuff as i could get that i've been reading about so i used to as a music obsessed kid growing up there i would buy hip parader magazine and cream and all those music scene magazines uh at a place M&O's Pharmacy, blow my entire allowance on them. And so I knew all about Elvis Costello before I had ever heard a note of the music. My brother was living in Toronto. I used to send him lists of records that I wanted. He would bring them back to me and just happened to

be in one of those lists with him. He came in. He gave me the record. I went into the bedroom where my stereo was, put it on the turntable, and I dropped the needle, heard that song. It blew my mind. I didn't know what rhythmically admired meant for a very long time. And if you want to know, look it up in my book, It's Dirty. And then

listened to side one, flipped it over, listened to side two, side one again, side two again, fell in love with it. I'm still in love with it. And I remember thinking at the time, I never have to listen to REO Speedwagon or Fleetwood Mac ever again. Not that there's anything wrong really particularly with those, but they did not speak to me. Elvis Costello was the first artist who really spoke to me in the same way that Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby had spoken to my father, that Jimi Hendrix had spoken to my brother of their generation. And now I had my own music. I love it, man. I could do, I just realized I could do two hours with you just talking about Elvis Costello. Like that can be the 1000th episode of Toronto. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. RC on EC. Oh, think about it.

I'm going to start working on the artwork right after this convo here. But first, here's your second jam. I saw you out the other night I saw somebody hold you tight A rock set I wondered who it could be It was so dark I couldn't see it But I know what was in me When I tell you it ain't right I know you got to agree

I followed you into a show The band was playing rock and roll I said I didn't need to seek you out The music played so loud But I could hear you through the crowd You was telling everyone about a new guy you found Well, that doesn't sound like the rock set. I know what's going on.

No, this is the amazing Dr. Feelgood. And they were a pub rock band in England, sort of just precursors to punk rock and new wave. in England, sort of just precursors to punk rock and new wave. And they've stayed together for years and were more popular in England than they were here. But I think they're amazing. Their guitar player, Wilco Johnson, had this really kind of a rhythmic sort of crazy way of playing. You've got the singer, Lee Brillo, who was just a dynamo on stage and um I love while doing the research I think for the Elvis Costello book I read a bunch of old reviews about Dr. Feelgood because they would often share bills and they were in and around and nobody wanted to follow Dr. Feelgood because uh

when they were playing live because as one journalist journalist said, seeing them live in a pub was like Hiroshima in a pint glass. And just, I thought it was such an evocative way of describing what it must have been like, the explosive power of this band and the records. Most of them do the band some justice, but I love that song. Rock set's a great tune. So this jam is just for the record. It's neither a song by the rock set

most people are most familiar with or a song from Motley Crue's Dr. Feelgood. That's right. Dig it. And what I love about these jam kickings is sure, I might, like most people, I might know that Elvis Costello song, but you get to hear some things

that you don't hear that often, like this rock set by Dr. Feelgood. Fantastic. All right, buddy, here's our third jam. I can see the shape. Your end finger on your eyebrow And left hand on your hip Thinking that you're such a lady killer Think you're so slick

Well alright Well, all right. And he got on it. Now here's a razor in the wind. And he's got a pistol in his pocket. They say the man is crazy on the coast. Lord, there ain't no doubt about it. Well, all right. So damn cool. Talk to me about this jam,ard oh i just love that song i discovered that when i was 16 years old probably maybe 15 uh and honestly i probably listen to it once a week it never gets old and it's hard to imagine that that's a band called mink deville whose singer

was willie deville who's the guy that sang the song Storybook Love with Mark Knopfler on the Princess Bride soundtrack and had a big hit with that. Mink DeVille were also the house band at CBGB's, and they were like sort of proto-punk band that set the tone for a lot of what was to come. But I love them, And I love that band. One of the best shows that I've ever seen was Willie DeVille at the Diamond Club. And this would have been, I don't know, 1980 something.

Three, four, five maybe. And we go see the show. It starts hours late. This is my memory of how the show went. It starts hours late. The band comes out, starts to play. Willie DeVille comes out, starts to sing. And then he starts pointing at his ear, which is the universal signal for,

I can't hear my vocals. I can't hear my vocals. Nothing seems to change. He gets mad, pushes the mic stand over. Song number one, done before it gets to the first chorus. Song number two, he picks up this shiny guitar that he's playing it's got like a silver body on it and uh he's he starts to play and then he does like a pete townsend windmill style move with his arm hits the bass of the

guitar and sends it like a rocket into the audience end of song number two probably by the second chorus by the third song uh he was at this point i think he was living in new orleans and he started he was moving into doing some more soulful kind of music and so he sings this song and i don't remember what it was called but i do remember that the the chorus was something like i can't take it anymore and he just sang it over and over and over again and by the end of it he's on alls. And then he's laying on the stage and he's pounding the stage with his hand and he's singing the song. And then we think, wow, this is amazing. We're getting not only are we getting a full song, but it's an incredible performance. And then he stopped

singing and the band keeps playing. And then we realized that Willie DeVille has passed out on stage. And that was the end of that song. So we, it was the end of the show. It just ended. And people were mad. They were running to the box office to get their money back. And someone said to me, like, are you,

are you, are you going to get your money back? And I said, are you kidding? That's the greatest show I've ever seen. That's that's punk, man. Honestly,

amazing. And the diamond for the kids out there, that's the Phoenix now, right? That's yeah. Yeah. Yeah. On Sherbourne street. Yeah. Right. Amazingburne street yeah right amazing uh love it man i love it and all these songs uh

cool jams man did you have any because we're about to kick out your fourth jam but were there any jams that were kind of guilty pleasures that you thought i gotta protect my reputation here and you left off the list like i don't know there's probably a ton of those i listen i grew up in the era where music wasn't so format right so i i could be listening to and i worked for radio stations like ckbw in bridgewater nova scotia where i would be playing uh the new song by led zeppelin and the next song might be by will by Willie Nelson and the next song after that might be uh whatever that's called right and so um I grew up uh with all that stuff and all of it is deeply embedded in my consciousness so we're not that you know we're not that far apart in age because I grew up with my top 40 being exactly the same experience where you'll have like a boy band

I don't know new kids on the block or something right next to like the latest deaf leopard song and that'll be right next to like young mc or something like it was all just it was all there and then there's a phil collins or a peter gabriel or something like that or jerry harrison i worked at this place ckbw in bridgewater nova scotia and my first shift uh on air i trained i was 16 years old and i had to do a top 40 countdown and so uh they said just make sure that you leave time to get the number one song all the way in and i was like so all night i'm fretting about it and i'm trying to do the math and count out the minutes and stuff and uh the number one song was heartache tonight by the eagles i remember that and so i think that I've nailed it.

And at 10, it was a CBC affiliate. So at 10 o'clock, the CBC was going to kick in whether or not you wanted it to or not. And I'm like, I'm going through it. And I get to number two and I'm playing it out. And I realized, oh, my God, I haven't done this right. And we faded out. I think i've tried to fade out the second song number two so that you can still get a sense of what it was but leave enough time but all i got in of heartache tonight was a bump dump a bump dump of the drums and then boom boom boom

welcome to cbc yeah do you still wake up in the middle of the night like in a cold sweat like uh i i have never forgotten that moment. And I've also never forgotten the station manager had a direct line to the station. And there was a button that lit up when he called. And like as the CBC cut in, it was a boom and it was instantaneous. So he was clearly listening. Oh, man. Okay, let's try to get to some better memories.

Jam number four. Here we go. Well, it ain't no use in sin, wonder why If you don't know by now And it ain't no use in sin, wonder why It won't matter anyhow When the rooster crows at the break of dawn Look out your window and I'll be gone You're the reason I'm traveling on

But don't think twice, alright And make no use of the time or your light Alright, talk to us about this great jam. Okay, that's Mike Ness. And Mike Ness was one of the lead guitarists, one of the singers of a band called Social Distortion. I think you can probably tell when I grew up by the sound set up during the era

of which these first four or five come from anyway. And, you know, when I was growing up, I looked at Bob Dylan as a relic from a different age. I mean, for me, it just, it wasn't music that resonated for me. Now I'll tell you, it does now. And, and it's funny how it sort of happened. I was in New York and I was roaming around the East Village years ago, and I walked into some cafe and sat down and had a drink and as I was having my drink they played all the Blonde on Blonde and I was like oh for some reason it now totally makes sense to me because of the setting and the place and the time and the whole thing

but back when this record came out I you know I of course knew Bob Dylan I knew who he was but the music didn't resonate with me and I came to Bob Dylan sort of through the back door, which is by listening to covers like this one. And Mike Ness, I love Social Distortion. They have a song that could easily have ended up on this one called Born to Lose. Born to Lose is an amazing song. And that one could easily have ended up here. But I like this one. It's a solo record.

Not that many people have heard it. And I think it's a pretty cool tune. I'm going to shout out friend and client, Lorne Honickman. Because Lorne Honickman, who you might remember from City TV. I totally remember him. He's a great

guy, but he has a great podcast. He came on Toronto Mic'd for Bob Dylan's 80th birthday. Just to dive deep into Dylan, Lauren's the biggest Dylan fan I know. Praise at the altar of Bob. I kind of do now.

For me, I guess it was just a function of getting some age, you know, like getting some perspective on things and finally understanding what the songs meant. And, you know, a year or so ago when he released a 17 minute long single, I was like, I wish it was 20 minutes long. I could have taken a few more minutes of that. It's funny how some, cause I know, you know, I would hear John Prine through the years and I would really not give it a second thought.

And then I dove in after he passed away and it's, it hit totally different. Like, it's just funny how sometimes the timing isn't quite right for the art. And then when it does hit, it's like, you wonder like, uh,

why, why, why did it take me so long? It's almost, it's. Well, I also think when I was a kid, certainly in music, if it was super popular, I was by and large not interested.

And so that has changed a great deal now. I can see so far. Yeah, I mean, I'm thinking about hits. That Elvis song might be your biggest hit so far. Yeah, maybe. But here, let's get to your fifth jam. This is not a love song This is not a love song This is not a love song This is not a love song This is not a love song Happy to have

Not to have not Big business is very wise Crossing over into enterprise. This is not a love song. This is not a love song. This is not a love song. This is not a love song. This is not a love song.

This is not a love song. All right, talk to us about this jam, Richard. Well, I love this because it not only was a big hit when it came out, and that's one of the reasons that I put it on this list, because if you think about what sounds come out of your radio today or whatever it is out of your Spotify today or how whatever it is out of your spotify today however it is that you hear music uh generally speaking the big hits don't sound like that they're not as abrasive they're not as they don't announce themselves as what they are like this is not a love song and it sure isn't you know and and uh the sex pistols obviously i mean i think

given the music that we've already heard were a big influence on me. I got to meet Johnny Rotten once, and I know he's all mega these days. But, you know, meeting him was extraordinary for me. And it was during the Toronto International Film Festival. He was part of some movie that was brought through 10 or 12 years ago. And I was doing interviews and, you know, I'm wearing a suit and I look like I do now. And I thought, oh, he's going to hate me on site. And as it turned out, I found him to be not only super interesting, but beyond charming.

And, you know, he seemed to, the way I spoke to him and the things that we talked about, he seemed to sort of find a kindred soul in me somewhere. And we actually hit it off in a really kind of interesting way. And the photos we have from that day are kind of cool because he was just having fun. And every now and again, doing this job, you get to meet someone who was an influence on you or someone who made your childhood different. Johnny Rotten was one of those people. Bruce Springsteen was one of those people when I met him.

Those are the moments when I have to check myself and say, I cannot believe that this is happening right now because my 14 year old self would not have believed that this would ever be possible i've had those moments my friend i've had those moments uh but my my worry is and i'm wondering if it's also your worry is that they say never meet your heroes the reason for that is because you know it sounds like it went great for you and uh johnny rodden but uh sometimes it goes the other way. Yeah, it could do. I mean, I haven't really had that Iggy Pop. I was concerned about meeting Iggy Pop because I'm such a huge fan of him. And I'll tell you, he transcended even my biggest idea of what he might be like.

We not only hit it off, but, you know, he was talking about the Stooges, his band, the Stooges, and, you know, how some of them weren't around anymore. He started to cry. He was just like so absolutely human and real and raw and all the stuff that you want Iggy Pop to be. So for me so far, you know, it hasn't gone south,'t gone South, but you know, there's a chance. Yeah. Hopefully that never happens for you here. Now, uh, we're halfway through your jams.

I'm absolutely loving this. I love it when someone who's passionate about music talks about the music they love. Like even if you were picking songs, I hated, I would enjoy this experience and you're not, but I would enjoy this experience here. Uh,

I just want to give some love to really quickly here to uh mike majeski because mike majeski is helping to fuel the real talk here on toronto miked and he's a fantastic partner of the program he serves the gta uh he's with remax majeski group if you follow him on instagram he's got these outlandish entertaining videos about homes that are for sale. Majeski Group Homes is how you find him on Instagram. He was actually the number 14 Remax sales representative in Canada last year. So Mike knows what he's doing. So reach out to Mike Majeski and just let him know Toronto Mike sent you.

Jam number six for Richard Krause. I shook the hand of the president and the pope in Rome. I've been to parties where I've had to be flown. They said everything was sacred, nothing was profane. And money was something that you'd throw off the back of trains. Oh, always keep a dime in your mind. You've got to always keep a dime in your mind. You've got to always keep a dime in your mind. Wherever you may wander, wherever you may roam,

you've got to always keep a dime in your mind. Steam of the great. Solomon Burke. Just one of the greatest singers to ever stand in front of a microphone for one thing. And, you know, there is no such thing as a bad Solomon Burke record. I happen to love Don't Give Up On Me, which is the record that this one is from, because it does something a little different. This is a record that takes songs, some of which have been recorded before, but most of which were written for Solomon Burke by great songwriters like Van Morrison and Brian Wilson and Elvis Costello.

And that one was written by Tom Waits. And he reinterprets them in his own extraordinary way. And this is a record that is beautiful from start to finish, not only for the music arrangements, which were recorded by Danielle Lanois, the great Canadian, but it's just the thing that I love about this record is how they've taken all these songs by different songwriters and they all sound like Solomon Burke songs. He's put his stamp all over every single one of them.

And that one just has such great lines in it. You know, I always thought money was something you threw off the back of trains and stuff. It's just it's fantastic. Top to bottom, lyrically and musically. top to bottom, lyrically and musically. He's one of, I mean, he's no longer with us, sadly, but he's one of those underappreciated, underrated artists. Yeah, I think so too.

I think so too. And I never got a chance to see him, but apparently he used to do a great deal of his show. He had a big throne on stage and he would sort of come out on stage and sing and sit in the throne and uh and and perform and i just i love that i love that i just i i can't get enough of his voice love it love it uh while i have a little bit of that song left in the background where if somebody uh needs an update on where exactly can they see and hear richard krauss days? Do you want to run down the lengthy roster of places we might hear or see you? Yeah, well, everything, you can find out everything that's happening at richardkrause.ca, my website. That's probably the way to do it because the list

is lengthy these days. And it's good. I'm knocking wood that the list stays lengthy. During the pandemic, I've been in this room that I'm talking to you from, which is my home office. And this side of it, where I'm sitting, is kind of the radio side. And then the other side, there's lights and microphones and things over there. And that's

the TV side. And so I've been able to keep working by and large. But right now, you know, CTV News Channel, CP24, the stuff that you mentioned off the top of the show. The Bell Media Stations. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And there's the radio show. I know you're primarily interested in radio. There's the radio show that's an interview show that goes across the country on iHeartRadio and Bell Media. And, you know, we talk to interesting people about interesting stuff. It's arts coverage. And again, you know, we have everyone from,

you know, Simu Liu, who was the star of Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings on, he was on a little while ago, to M. Greiner, the great singer, who's just got a fantastic new book out, who talks about how you can use your voice to heal yourself when you are feeling, you know, on the outs in whatever way.

Using your voice can really, can help you. And she's learned from personal experience. So lots of, a variety of interesting people and they stop by and they tell great stories. Love it. Sounds like it's right up my alley. And, uh, M.

Griner, much love to her. Uh, when my good friend, Mike Kick was battling esophageal cancer, M. Griner wrote a song actually. And I, if I talk about it too long, I'll start crying. So I'll just quickly say she wrote a song called Visiting Hours about Mike and his wife. Yeah. Beautiful song. Uh, I closed Toronto Mike with it when she came over and talked about it,

but M. Griner is fantastic. I got a lot of- She is fantastic. Yeah. I think she's on this week, so tune in. Okay. Okay. Because this will drop right after we press. And by the way, we're going to see your office too, I'll tell you. So we'll pose for a Zoom photo screen cap at the end of this so people can see that office of yours as well. Absolutely. If you went back in time, I don don't know let's put you back 20 years did you see the day you would uh conquer uh you know the bell media stations across this country like did you envision that i i don't know if conquer is the word i would use but no listen i'm i am you know i was talking to em about this m grinder we just did the interview

a few days ago and you know i was saying that every time I step in front of a microphone or step in front of a camera, or these days, I guess, more rightly, my, you know, cell phone camera that we use to broadcast from, I still understand what a privilege it is to have this job and to be able to make a living talking for a living and sharing ideas. And, you know, I love the idea that I can have an idea in the morning. I can write about it, you know, by noon and have it online or a video or something out in the world quickly. And that's mind blowing. I mean, when I first started doing this, if you were to, I mean, well, the idea of just broadcasting from home, like we have just wouldn't exist, except if they

had a truck parked outside with three or four people sitting in it making you know with a satellite dish on top of it you know everything has changed so much uh and i just feel grateful and and that there's an audience out there you know somewhere that's still interested in what i have to say Turn the lights down Turn up the music All the gangs here It's a crazy city Get the picture No, no, no, no Walk a tightrope No, no, no.

Walk a tightrope. Such a bright way. What's your name? You're mine. Take a powder. Have you found the corner? Woo, woo, woo. Have you a future? No, no, no, no guitar solo Well, I've been up all night again

Party time wasting is too much fun Then I step back thinking of life's inner meaning And my latest flame It's the same old story All love and glory, it's a pantomime If you're looking for love In a looking glass world It's pretty hard to find Oh, Mother of Pearl I wouldn't trade you for another girl.

Divine intervention, always my intention, so I take my time. I've been looking for something I've always wanted but was never mine but now i've seen that something just out of reach glowing very holy grail oh mother of lustrous lady of a sacred world I do wow this is fantastic so I love Roxy music

there's nothing like a little blast of art rock from the early 1970s and this Brian Eno isn't on that record but certainly his presence is felt i think it was i think this is their third album and uh he left after the second one i think i might have that wrong don't at me but it's in and around there somewhere and and but you can still you can feel his presence on this uh you know from that wild overture uh to the lyrics that seem disconnected

and listen i can't tell you how many times i've listened to this song i mean it could be it's in wild overture to the lyrics that seem disconnected. And listen, I can't tell you how many times I've listened to this song. I mean, it could be, it's in the tens of thousands of times that I've listened to this song. And when you first hear it, the lyrics seem kind of disconnected and they kind of make up words. Occasionally favorita is a word that's used in here that I've always loved. And, but the more you listen to it, the more you realize that it's kind of like

the words don't have to make sense. All they have to do is evoke a certain sense of something in you. And that's what they do to me. Like, it's not about a linear thought. This is about putting words together in an interesting way, like David Bowie, who we'll hear from soon. Spoiler alert.

Yeah, spoiler alert. Like he used to do. I mean, he used a technique that William Burroughs used to use where you'd write a long text and then tear it up, throw it on the ground and put it back together in a different way just to see what you get from it. And so when you listen to like some songs like Pretty Pink Rose and things like that from that's David Bowie and Adrian Belus on the lyrics really don't make any sense. But they don't have to because you know exactly what he meant because he wrote them in this kind of oblique way. And I don't know if if Brian Ferry did this in this. It feels like it. And also, I'll tell you, that vocal.

I mean, come on. It's fantastic stuff. I saw him recently. I mean, I say recently, just before the pandemic. So either a week ago or 10 years ago, depending on how you feel about the pandemic. And an incredible show. That voice is singular in all of rock and roll.

Nobody sounds like Brian Ferry and no one ever will. All right, my friend. We're going to actually roll out of Roxy music right into the aforementioned David Bowie here. So let's listen to the end. So, so semi-precious in your detached world listen to the end. I wouldn't trade you for another girl. Oh, mother of Poe, I wouldn't trade you for another girl. Oh, mother of Poe,

I wouldn't trade you for another girl. Oh, mother of Poe, I wouldn't trade you for another girl. Oh, mother another go Oh Mother of Poe, I wouldn't trade you for another go Thank you. Sake and strange divine You'll make it Passion with bright young things Takes him away to war Don't fake it

Sadling with sandal strings You'll make it We'll love a lot Insane Battle cries and champagne Just in time for sunrise We'll love a lot Insane

Nota Sensational We'll never let him say Motus and sensational Paris or maybe hell I'm waiting Watches of sad remains Wait for Aladdin saying You'll make that We'll never let him say Actually, hang tight just for the piano solo that's about to happen. Thank you. ស្រូវនប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ Ooh, love alive inside I love that so much. That piano solo for me,

imagine when I first time I heard this, I was a child and I had certainly never heard anything like that before. And I didn't know what free jazz was. And I didn't know any of that stuff. All I knew was that David Bowie was my favorite artist. And this was something that I was going to have to either accept or not. You listen to the song or not, either way. But what it did for me, listening to records like that, was made me look into other stuff, you know? So instead of, of going, Oh, I hate that. I was like, well, why don't I learn about this and see, you know, see what's out there. And I'll tell you that piano solo for me is so bonkers and so great. And I think fits the song so beautifully and pre pandemic,

whatever it was, I went see uh mike garson the piano player uh who plays that song plays that solo and uh he had a band he tours with the i think it's called the bowie experience and m grinder we were talking about her and she's sung with them and sass jordan and a few people and uh they played this song in my, my head almost exploded because no one plays Aladdin Sane. And just before the piano solo started, and you'll note, that's not exactly a dance song. People started standing up in front of me and dancing and waving their hands around.

And I was like, I don't know what I'm going to do here because I've waited 40 years to see this guy play this solo. And they, frankly, luckily, sat down and i was able to take it in because man what a thing to see live love it love that story and yeah of course the the m grinder connection to david bowie that's uh that's for sure wow in fact when i talked to m uh when she first came over uh i believe it was like literally like 10 days before bowie passed away it was um when we did a little deep dive into bowie but dude uh i still remember that day i realized a lad insane is a lad insane insane yeah well it's you know and you you listen to that record and there's a

darkness to it right there's a it it it came it's the same band that was on ziggy stardust and you know people he played with for years before that. But it sounds much different. And it was recorded at a place called Trident Studios in London. And Trident Studios is a cool place. Whenever I'm in London, it is one of the places that I go and pay homage to. I just stand outside the door. It's in an alleyway.

And then you walk up the alleyway and you're at the back door of what is a pub called the ship pub. So the last time we were there a couple of years ago, my wife and I took her, she'd never been. We go, we go to the ship, we sit down, we have a drink and this American guy comes in and sits next to us. We're talking back and forth and he's done exactly the same thing that we've done that day, created his own David Bowie walking tour of London and has done it and ended up with the ship after having gone to Trident Studios. And we talked and he looked familiar to me. I'm like,

and I said, who are you? You know, I said, you look familiar to me. He goes, Oh, I'm Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters.

So we hung with him for the afternoon and he was super fun. And as it turns out, a big David Bowie fan. Well, I was going to say, yeah, that's Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters or as I know him Alanis Morissette yeah and the new documentary Jagged which

you'll get it was at the film festival he's all over it and I mean the story of how quickly she became a superstar and they went from playing clubs to arenas with 50,000 people is kind of head spinning. Well, I got to check that one out. And here we are.

This is your penultimate jam. It's just fun to say the word penultimate. And it's also it's a little different. It's a little different than the other jams. But I'm going to kick it out because I can't wait to hear you talk about it. Here we go. But I'm going to kick it out because I can't wait to hear you talk about it. Here we go.

I was toting my pack along the dusty Winnemucca Road When along came a semi with a high-end canvas-covered load If you're going to Winnemucca, Mac, with me you can ride And so I climbed into the cab and then I settled down inside. He asked me if I'd seen a road with so much dust and sand. And I said, listen, I've traveled every road in this here land. I've been everywhere, man. I've been everywhere, man. Across the deserts there, man. I've breathed the mountain air, man.

I've traveled, I've had my share, man I've been everywhere I've been to Reno, Chicago, Fargo Minnesota, Buffalo, Toronto Winslow, Sarasota, Wichita, Tulsa Ottawa, Oklahoma, Tampa, Panama Matta, Wallapaloo, Bangor, Baltimore Salvador, Amarillo, Tocopilla

Barranquilla, Amphidilla, I'm a killer I've been everywhere, man I've been everywhere, man The name's Cash. Johnny Cash. Well, this is on here for a couple of reasons. One, well, maybe three reasons. I love the song. I love Johnny Cash.

And I once got to sort of meet him. I was at Chet Atkins Music Week in Nashville, and I went to see a tribute to Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. And I was sitting in the audience, and from the audience, I could see on the side of the stage, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings were sitting like on a sofa watching the show, one on either end of the sofa. And I had a backstage pass, and I was like, I'm going to go back, and I'm going to sit on that sofa with them and I I made my way backstage and I bumped into Chet Atkins I met Brenda Lee there were a few people and I thought eventually someone's going to stop me as I'm warming my way back here uh and nobody does and so I got up to Johnny and Wayland and uh I said uh

is anyone sitting there and they're like no go ahead and I sat between is anyone sitting there? And they're like, no, go ahead. And I sat between them as they watched Chris Christopherson and everyone else on stage watching the show. Kind of like one of the high, and we didn't talk. I mean, the music's playing. I cannot tell you that I had any experience with Johnny Cash other than just being there while he was there. Were you like sweating bullets? Or like, I feel like what a moment you're sitting on a couch with Johnny Cash.

I know. It really was. I mean, for me, it was a huge deal. Even though we didn't really share a moment, we shared, you know, I was breathing the same air as Johnny and Waylon, for that matter. But the other reason that this is on here is that it was made popular originally by a guy called Hank Snow, who was born in my hometown. And if you go to Liverpool, Nova Scotia right now on the south

shore of Nova Scotia, there is a Hank Snow Museum. Phone ahead, make sure they're open. I'm not sure during the pandemic, but it's in the old train station where we used to play baseball and they've turned it into a museum and they've got like cars and all the kinds of, you know, all those sorts of things that you would expect from a museum about a music legend. Yeah.

He's got one of the first, I think Hank Snow's got one of the first like Canadian songs to hit number one on the billboard hot 100 or one of those maybe. Yeah. I don't know for sure, but I would be unsurprised by that. You know, Hank Snow was a legend with giant hits, giant, giant hits,

and wrote a lot of songs that people still sing and record today. And he came from Liverpool. Yeah, Brooklyn, technically. But it's the next little Hamlet over from Liverpool. Amazing here. Are you ready for your final jam? I am ready for your final jam i am ready

for the final jam well See me turn out right, I don't wanna grow up How do you move in a world of fogs? Always changing things Makes me wish that I could be a dog Well, when I see the rise of the day I don't wanna grow up I don't ever wanna be that way I don't wanna grow up be that way I don't want to grow up

Seems like folks turn into things that they never want The only thing to live for is to stay I'm gonna put on my TV set I don't want to grow up Open up with a medicine chest I don't wanna grow up Open up with a medicine chest I don't wanna grow up I don't wanna have to shout it out I don't want my head to fall out

I don't wanna be filled with doubt I don't wanna be a good boy scout I don't wanna have to learn to count I don't wanna have the biggest amount I don't want to have to learn to count. I don't want to have the biggest amount. I don't want to grow old. Well, I should not care in spite. I don't want to grow old. What's not to love about that song?

For a lot of these artists and for a lot of making up this list, there are 20 songs from Tom Waits that could have been on here. David Bowie, if we had the time, we would just play the entirety of his catalog. Same with Elvis Costello and maybe any of them, actually. But I love that song. I love just that it's kind of playful,

but it's got some darkness to it as well. I like that it sounds like it was recorded in his house, which it probably was, and on very rudimentary instruments. I remember years ago getting tickets to see Tom Waits at Massey Hall. And it was a show that I'd waited my entire life to see. I've always wanted to see him perform live. And so I get tickets. And then my dad announces that he's going to come up and visit on the same weekend, which is going to throw a crimp into my plans because I hadn't seen him for a while. And so I said, listen, I've got tickets for a concert that day, but why don't you come to the show with me? I can get us two more tickets.

You and your wife can come. And he said, I don't know. We're kind of particular about the music we listen to. I said, he sounds like Louis Armstrong, which I knew would be like a hook to get him in there. So we go to the show and it's me, my girlfriend at the time, my dad, his wife, Paul Myers is there with us who now writes. And Paul is along for the ride and we appalled me i'm just entranced by the show but it's a weird show there's a there's a fridge on stage where you go to every now and again and pull out a beer and drink a beer on stage there's instruments that i've never seen before or since you know homemade things and stuff and a lot of

it was that kind of rain dogs, experimentalism that I loved. And so after the show, we go to the silver rail, which was right across the street, the legendary cocktail bar. And, uh, Paul and I are raving about what an amazing show it was. And, uh, I said, and my, and Paul was trying to explain to my father, like he's looking forward, but backward. And he's real, you know, he's like just giving, giving him the rock critics take on the show that we'd just seen. Uh, and I said, well, you know, he's like just giving, giving him the rock critics take on the show that we had just seen. And I said, well, you know, what'd you think of it? And my dad in his typically understated way said, son,

that did not sound like Louis Armstrong. And that's about all he had to say about it. Love it, man. Love it. Love it. And the nice thing about Tom waits is you could, you feel like when you're doing karaoke or something like you can achieve that vocal range like that's attainable for you but seriously my friend if you ever want to kick go deep into either you know tom waits or elvis costello or david bowie i would drop everything to do that with you richard you're fantastic we'll do it again mike Thanks so much for having me.

And that, that brings us to the end of our 916th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Richard, what's your Twitter handle, my friend? At Richard Krause, capital R, capital C. Capital R, capital C, not even case sensitive, but what the heck. When you're Richard Krauss, you get the capitals.

Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery, they're at Great Lakes Beer. Chef Drop, they're at Get Chef Drop. McKay's CEO Forums, they have a fantastic podcast, fireside chats with CEOs and executives by Nancy McKay. They're at McKay's CEO Forums. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U.

Ridley Funeral Home, they're at RidleyFH. And Mike Majeski, again, he's on Instagram. He's from Remax Specialists Majeski Group, and they're at Majeski Group Homes. See you all next week. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Rome Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.