Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Roger Ashby: Toronto Mike'd #126

Episode Date: June 12, 2015

Mike chats with CHUM FM morning show host Roger Ashby about his years on 1050 CHUM, his move to FM, his success with Roger, Rick and Marilyn, and how long he'll run.

Welcome to episode 126 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, often with a distinctly Toronto flavour. I'm Mike from torontomic.com and joining me this week is Chum FM radio host Roger Ashby. Welcome, Roger. Hey, thank you. This is great. Welcome, Roger. Hey, thank you. This is great. It's a big-time pleasure to meet a legend like yourself, a radio legend. Legend.

You hear that every day, though. I remember when I was the youngest person at CHUM. Now I'm a legend. It only took how many years to get there? 46. That's not too bad. You know, right off the bat, sometimes I have chats with friends like, who's the longest running radio personality at the same station, more or less? And it always comes to you. Is there anyone in this market who's been at the same station longer? Well, not that's currently on the air. No, I don't believe so. I mean, I may be wrong. I don't know. I can't think of anyone.

I can't think of anyone. Wally Crowder has me beat, but of course he's been long retired. But he was at CFRB for 50 years, and I think he did the morning show for each of those 50 years. Well, you could beat that 50 years. Well, I might. Well, you know. Maybe we'll get to that. Okay. Well, maybe I'll beat the 50 years in total, but I won't be 50 years on the morning show.

No, okay. That would be a big goal, right? So please tell me, how did you get your start in radio? What drew you to radio? I always say that I knew since I was 10 that I wanted to be in radio because I remember 10 and I remember that I would sit in the basement in a radio station that was created for me by my dad. It was just a little mock station, but I had a couple of turntables, a tape machine, and a little horseshoe desk. That's a good dad. Oh, he was great. And then he hooked it up so that I could be heard upstairs on the radio by my mother in the kitchen. Cool. So that's amazing. That's from the time I was 10. But I read a letter after my mother passed away

that she had written to my aunt. And in the letter, she says, Roger's playing radio again. And I looked at the date of the letter, and I would have been three and a half. Wow. And she said again. So I don't know. I must have been born with it. Yeah, you were born of the bug, so to speak. I guess so.

But then, you know, I was 10, so I sat in the basement for seven years while everybody else went to school events and practiced radio. So by the time I got my first part-time job at 17, I felt like I had seven years experience. Where was that first part-time job? In Kitchener at CKKW at the time, which is now a Bell Media Station, as it turns out. There you go. And when did you end up at Hamilton CKOC? Well, I worked at CKKW and their FM station, CFCA, for about a year or so while I was still in school. Then when I graduated the old grade 13, I had applied to go to university. And that summer, between high school and university, I was offered a job in Hamilton doing swing or the all-night swing. And my parents had always supported me because they knew for years I wanted to get into radio.

So they said, well, you can always go back to school. So I never went to university. Lost my $50 deposit. Still haven't got back. And I went to Hamilton in July of 68. And that station, it's been in the news recently because it's turning all sports. How does that feel?

Well, you know, I think it was inevitable. It happened to 1050 Chum. AM music stations just aren't what they used to be. I'm sad to see CKOC go because I did work there and it itself is a very legendary radio station, but the writing was on the wall. It's the end of an era, though. It is the end of an era, absolutely. Yeah, it's too bad. But at some point, in fact, if my notes are correct, and I couldn't believe it when I read it, I had to read it twice, but you started at Chum in 69? I did. I started in August of 69, which was, I think, a month after man landed on the moon, six days before Woodstock.

Wow. You can tell I've been asked these questions before. No, that's good. It's good. Wow. So how do you can tell I've been asked these questions before? No, that's good. It's good. How did you end up at Chum? Sorry, 1050 Chum. Well, a friend of mine, Rick Murray, who we went to, we went to high school together and I got him interested in radio. And when I lived in Kitchener and he, as a result, ended up going to Chum prior to me as a board operator. I think he went in the spring of 69. And that was right around the time CHUM was undergoing a major change in staff. J. Robert Wood had come in as the program director and it was kind of out with the old and with the new. People like Bob McAdory, Mike Darrow, John Sprague, all those people had left and they were looking for a new staff.

A lot of Americans were hired and they were looking for a Canadian guy to do the all night show. And my friend Rick thankfully said to J. Robert, why don't you listen to my friend in Hamilton? He'd be interested. So he did on Rick's recommendation. And I was brought down to chum. I was interviewed and I think Brian Henderson applied for the same gig at the same time. That's what he's told me. And I got the job.

So I have my friend Rick to thank. He went on to be Rick Hunter on CFTR and he's now living in Florida. Cool. So wow, since the 60s. And basically, I'm going to read a little note. So I got a longtime reader of my blog named Dale sent me a note last night. He knew you were coming in. Dale who? Dale, I don't know his last name, but we're...

Okay, I know a few Dales. Yeah, there's a few Dales. Dale, though, says, Please ask him, please ask Roger, about the Chum Mobile trailer inside the Princess Gates, DJing live with the Chum Chicks. It was awesome, and a few live band performances on the stage there also.

I was a Chum bug and still have my badge, as well as over 100 Chum charts, including the last one. So tell me about that because my mom talks about this time. It sounds like an exciting time for Toronto Radio. Well, it was. I remember as a kid too, coming down to see the chum trailer, coming down to see people like Bob McAdory and John Sprague. John Sprague, by the way, was one of my biggest influences. But yeah, I'd come down and see that. when I started in 69 it was the last year for the trailer at the Princess Gates so I took part in that and yes they had all kinds of a lot of Canadian acts

Bobby Cortola a lot of people who were popular in that day would appear on the stage just inside the gates when you went to the CNE and some broadcast from there every day during the X so I was there the last year that they had the trailer inside the gates. And I remember Jack Fraser menswear gave us these woolen winter suits to kind of not model, but to wear while we were there to promote their fall line of clothing. So the dog days of August, like 28 degrees, 30 degrees, and we're there in these woolen suits. Wow. And I was a newbie, so I went along. I played by the rules. But Hal Weaver, I don't know if you know the name Hal Weaver.

No, no. He once worked at Chum. He died very young, but Hal was a brilliant radio broadcaster. But he bucked the rules. And he said to Hal with this. So he wore the jacket and the pants, but he didn't wear a shirt, didn't wear a tie, didn't wear socks, didn't wear shoes. Because he thought this is ridiculous.

Jack Fraser weren't too happy with him. And we had a deal across the road with the honeydew people. Oh, yeah. That we'd get free honeydew drinks if we gave them a plug on the PA system on the stage. So that was all set up. And then Hal decided that, hey, this is a great idea. So he brought his whole family down

for dinner one night but that really wasn't part of the deal i could spend the whole show listening to like cne stories oh listen i'm i got i got a lot of stories because i uh i worked at the x as a game booth attendant and yeah for three years and so i actually i remember going down and meeting alan cross for example at the cfny they had like a it looked like a boom box yeah oh yeah it would be equivalent at the CFNY. It looked like a boombox. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It would be equivalent of your trailer, I guess. It looked like a boombox.

And I have vivid memories of seeing him at the C&E and getting stickers and stuff. Yeah. So I'm sure it's pretty much the same thing. Yeah, it was. Same experience. And it was there every year for a number of years. Yeah. But I was there the last year they had it.

Very cool. Now, Dale has one more quick question. He wants to know, and I'm curious as well, do you keep in touch with many of the colleagues from the past? Well, I'm trying to think of somebody I keep in touch with. I guess for the most part, I don't. I saw Haji recently. You know where I see people?

It's at funerals now. Yeah, that's it. No, I don't keep in touch with many of them. That's not intentional. That's just, you know, we work together, but we didn't necessarily socialize together. I hear this a lot. A lot of times people think because you're on the air together

that you're best buds. When the show ends, you guys go out together and hang out it's but in reality that's your job and you're friendly and you get along in the air but you have your own lives well i do socialize with the current people who i'm working with i mean we're all very good friends but you know when you end up going your separate ways to different stations different markets you can lose touch sure no understood completely uh is it true that Dick Smythe started with you at Chum in 69? Well, Dick started in 69. He started a few months before me.

He came from CKLW in Windsor, where I used to idolize him as a newscaster when I was in high school. And then I ended up working with him. Dick was a great guy. Dick's still around and still as cantankerous as ever. You know, I always liked his shtick. It was just fun. Yeah, he's one of the all-time greats. Yeah, he started, I think, in April, and I started in August.

Yeah, that's funny. Did you ever meet Wolfman Jack? I did meet Wolfman Jack. I worked with Wolfman Jack when he came to Toronto because he did an oldie show on Chum, as you may know, back in the mid-'70s. So he'd come up once a month and he'd do one show live and then he'd record three others. So he came up once a month for, I don't know, however long he

was on the air, maybe a year or so. And it was my job at the time because I wasn't on the air full time then. I had moved into the programming department. So the idea was that I would greet him at the airport. I'd get take him down his hotel. So I got to know him quite well. And he'd be, Roger, Roger, get over here, I need you. So I had to kind of babysit him while he was here. Did you find you started talking like him?

Sometimes I hear him for a little while, I start talking like him. No, not really. But I really liked him. You know, he was, he talked like that in real life too, but it wasn't quite as exaggerated as it was on the air but he really was a wonderful human being guys my age know wolfman jack from american graffiti that's where we kind of get introduced to wolfman jack yeah and he was on the air of course uh back in the 60s in the states i didn't really know a lot about him then either

i got to know him in the 70s can you you do a good Wolfman Jack imitation for me? No, just... Roger! Roger! He had that growl in his voice. He died too young, too. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Now, so you're at... This is 1050 Chum you're at. And you move over to the FM in 85? Is that right?

Moved over in 85. In 84, Chum FM changed from the progressive station that they had been up to 84, and they changed over into a more adult contemporary hit music station. And at that time, I was doing the morning show on AM, which began in September of 82 when Tom Rivers was fired one of the many times. Another guy who left us too soon. Oh, yeah. Well, see see there you go

that's how i can't keep in touch no i can't see that i was i should point out at cftr i woke up to tom rivers for years yeah yeah well tom was a great guy he was he's one of the all-time great top 40 disc jockeys but he uh he was let go in 82 and because i wasn't on the air doing much at the time i was working in the programming department and doing a bit of swing work. They said, hey, you might as well go in and do the morning show until we find somebody. So I was the temporary morning man for three years. Wow. We used to call it lotto six to nine.

It was anybody's guess who was going to be on the air next. So they'd call and say, stay home today. We don't need you because Joey Reynolds is coming in to do the show. So I felt like I was temporary for three years so then in 85 uh i came off the am morning show in favor of uh a new show and ross davies who was the program director of fm at the time said to me hey come on over here so it it worked out well i walked across the hall and started doing the morning show there but you know i i always say that the Waters family were very, very fair. It really was a family in that building.

We all came in the same front door. We all knew each other. And the Waters family were loyal to you if you were loyal to them. And there were two or three times when I very easily could have been let go because I moved from one position to another and there was really nothing for me to do. So what I'm saying is in 75, I went into programming. And then in the late 70s, I realized it wasn't for me. I wanted to be back on the air.

They realized I wasn't suitable for that job. They very easily could have said, hey, see you later. But they didn't. They found something for me to do. Then in 82, they found something for me to do with doing Mornings When Rivers Left. 85, Ross finds me something to do by bringing me over to FM. So I have been lucky, too. I've kind of been in the right place at the right time.

Well, you know, you have to be a little lucky because this gig you started in 85 pretty much is the gig you have today. Like, how often does that happen in the radio business? Well, when I started in 85, Haji was already there, of course. And I knew him, but I was on AM, he was on FM. I didn't know him all that well. And then we got to know each other quite well. And then a year later in 86, we decided that we'd like to have a female presence on the show.

And I remember I, along with Ross, our program director, we must have auditioned, I'll bet you, a hundred different women. Wow. Most of whom were actresses, because there weren't a lot of women in radio at that time, believe it or not. I believe it. And the actresses could act, but they couldn't be themselves. You know, they couldn't communicate properly on the radio. So as good as a lot of them were as actresses, they just weren't suitable for the position we were looking at. So we kind of gave up. And then Marilyn came to Toronto with her then husband who had been transferred here and she was looking for work. And she came in and Ross called me up and said, there's a woman out in the lobby. Do you

mind interviewing her and auditioning with her? And we both kind of thought, okay, well, one more time. And then as soon as we sat down, honestly, I looked at her, she looked at me and she was instantly like the sister I never had. We hit it off so well that after the audition, I phoned Ross, and I don't think he'd even met her at this point. I said, she's the one. He said, okay, if you say she's the one, she's the one. You know, after 101 interviews, I think they were glad to hear that. But I was so emphatic. I said, she is the one. So as a result, it became Roger, Rick, and Marilyn. I said it before, chemistry, it's one of those things, like you either have it or you don't, and it's instant, right?

You just know. And, you know, none of us in any walk of life knows who we're going to end up working with. You don't know who's going to have the cubicle beside you. Right, right, right. So we got lucky that way. And so let me get this straight. Before Marilyn joins, was it actually you and Rick doing the morning show?

It was primarily me. It was really a single-person morning show, and Rick would do sports. And then he gradually came in because I said, you know, it would be nice to have Rick come in a little more often and contribute. So he'd come in, and we'd do different features together. Then that became a regular thing. It became the two of us, and then it became the three of us. Nice. Rick's been on this show and I quite like Rick. He's a

great guy. Maybe too many cats, but he's a great guy. Yeah, well he had 17 the last time I spoke to him about that. But I saw him at the CMW Awards back in a month or so ago, whatever that was. And yeah, he's working in St. Catharines doing well. Yeah, he's

on Easy Rock there with Lori Love. Yeah, which is now a bell station. There you go. See how it works? You just wait long enough, you'll be back in the same family. Now, I do want to talk a little bit about when Rick left, but before that, I'm going to play a little clip

that the audio is not very good, but that's the source material's fault, not mine. So I'm just going to play a little clip here for 30 seconds, and then we're going to chat about it. This is Toronto Television, City TV, Channel 57, Cable 7, everywhere. 1050 Chum, Toronto's first AM stereo presents the Chum 30 video countdown. Official Chum chart issue number 1376 for the week beginning Saturday, October 29th. In the next hour, we'll see videos by Elvis Costello, John Cougar, Melanchand, The Fix, and a new live version of True by Spandau Ballet.

Let's start off the countdown this week with a former number one song in Toronto, number 27 this week on Chum, Michael Sambello's Maniac. In Toronto, number 27 this week on Chum, Michael Sambello's Maniac. Now I want to hear Maniac. So there you go. There's some... I remember that. I recorded that once a week. And I think I was on camera for like eight seconds.

So I'd get the whole makeup treatment for the eight seconds I was on camera. That's funny. I remember it vividly. I would tune in. I loved my video hits with samantha taylor and then i had toronto rocks with various john major yes john major and uh brad oh i think he's actually uh brad giffen oh brad giffen yeah brad's on ctv news channel now yeah there you go uh and and who else anyways that was another show i went to this Did Steve Anthony do that at one time? I don't think so.

I think he was just on much music, I think. But I remember City TV airing the Chum 30 countdown and you being sort of the voice of that countdown, and I would tune in every week. Good times. Good stuff. So Roger, Rick, and Marilyn, heavily marketed, I would say, because even though, and no offense, but I didn't listen very often. My mom loves, it was my mom's favorite show. I didn't listen that often, but I knew who you were, what you looked like, and I knew that name, Roger, Rick and Marilyn. I knew you were on 104.5 every morning. You know how I knew? It was everywhere. It seems like... We did a lot of advertising at the time. Yeah, we did. One of the most infamous spots we did was the naked TV spot where we were all sitting on a bench with radios on our laps.

Oh, I remember that. Marilyn had a big boom box, so she had more... Oh, we only noticed Marilyn in that ad, I think. And it was done over in Leaside on a park bench, right on the street, though. This bench was right on the street in Leaside. And I remember a couple of little old ladies drove past, and then three minutes later, they drove past again. That's another look. But yeah, well, we did do a lot of advertising, very creative television advertising back in the late 80s, early 90s.

And the Roger, Rick, and Marilyn phrase, I coined that kind of accidentally because every morning at 10 to 8, Rick would join Marilyn and me, and I just thought, well, this is the time to mention all three names, so I said it's Roger, Rick, and Marilyn, and it stuck. It rolls off the tongue, as they say.

So that's interesting. You're branded as Roger, Rick, and Marilyn. We know you as Roger, Rick, and Marilyn, and then the Rick in Roger, Rick, and Marilyn has some news for you. He's leaving the show. How did you react to this news? Well, I was sorry to see him go, but I understood why he went. He was, a lot of what he had been doing with us had been changed and he wanted to continue to do the kinds of things he had been doing. Ross Davies, who put the three of us together in 86,

had by that time moved up to Standard Broadcasting, CFRB, and he offered Haji a position up there. And I talked to Haji about it after the fact, and I wished him the best because I understood that it was a good move for him. But unfortunately, as it turned out, Ross left a few months later. Right. And Haji didn't have that alliance there with Ross. And Haji ended up leaving, too. So it's too bad it didn't work out. But I didn't blame him for going. I mean, you know, you got to do what you got to do as an individual. I understood why he was going.

Did you, so on any level, did you feel betrayed at all? Or was it just business, never personal? No, I didn't feel betrayed. I mean, as I just said, every individual's got to do what they have to do for their own good. And, you know, I'm sure he had a lot of, you know, thoughts either way. Is it a good thing? Isn't it a good thing? You think about these things long and hard.

And once he made the decision, I backed him up on it. And one thing you lack when you make these decisions, you lack that crystal ball that, you know, hindsight being 20-20. So at the time, and Rick, so for listeners who want to hear Rick talk about this in great detail, it's episode 116, so 1-1-6 if you want to track it down. But Rick Hodge was, you know, like he's an offer he couldn't refuse and the timing was right and he makes the jump. And we won't dwell on this too much, but it was clear they didn't quite know how to utilize him

on the astral stations. Yeah, I can see why you would say that. Especially the multi-person, I'm trying to remember, was it Boom yet? I think it was Easy Rock. I can't remember. Just four people. Was it Boom then or was it Easy Rock? Good question, right? I think it it Boom yet? I think it was Easy Rock. I can't remember. It was four people. Was it Boom then or was it Easy Rock? Good question, right? I think it started I think it was Easy Rock. I think it was Easy Rock.

I do know that he was, because I went in one day just to be in the room, so I've seen this first hand, and he's at CFRB doing stuff there, and he's literally running down the hall to join Humble Howard and Colleen Rusholm and great singer.

That kind of thing is not uncommon. Kim Stockwood. That kind of thing is not uncommon now to be on more than one station because we've got three stations on our building now. We've got us and 99.9 Virgin, and we've got News Talk 1010 upstairs. So we share people. Well, costs are being cut. Yeah, it's costs, and I think it's cost and it's also i think

it's utilizing your your people to their fullest sure so rick leaves um and you like how basically do you in maryland and in the gang how do you go about replacing rick like what is that process like well um a lot of thought went into that who who should it be should it be somebody from outside the building should it be a comedian should it be a Who should it be? Should it be somebody from outside the building? Should it be a comedian? Should it be a celebrity? Should it be somebody new, fresh out of school? Someone named Rick, because you already have that branding. Well, yeah, if we found a Rick, I suppose that would have worked.

But Darren was doing afternoons at the time. Darren's a very funny guy. He's very quick. Very different from Marilyn and me, but I think all three of us are very different, and that is part of why it works. So Darren was brought up, and I think it took a while for it to click, because you got somebody new in the mix, but I look back at it now, it seems like it was meant to be. And yeah, I was going to ask how that went, but clearly it went well.

Yeah, it's going well. And you're rebranded now, so this is Roger Darren in Maryland, which does not roll off the tongue like Roger Rick. So do you find people Yeah, it's going well. And you're rebranded now, so this is Roger, Darren, and Marilyn. Roger, Darren, and Marilyn. It does not roll off the tongue like Roger, Rick. It doesn't. So do you find people still call you Roger, Rick, and Marilyn? Some people do. Yeah, even though they know that it's not Rick, they still say Roger, Rick, and Marilyn. It's just fun to say Roger, Rick, and Marilyn.

Poor Darren. Well, you know, I made the mistake myself, too, for the first little while. I'll bet. Yeah. That can get awkward, I made the mistake myself, too, for the first little while. I'll bet. Yeah. That can get awkward, I suppose. And this, like you mentioned, that Rick didn't last very long in his new venture, and then he was sort of on the sidelines for a while. And was there ever, like, I'm going to just ask the question, like, was that bridge burned, or was it ever considered like Rick could come back, or was that simply just moving forward? Well, I don't think the bridge was burned, but I also don't think it was considered to bring him back.

I mean, it just doesn't work that way. You know, you move on. Right. Gotcha. Go forward. How important are radio ratings to you? So how focused and interested are you when PPM would put out a book? Not very. Because I don't want to be second guessing myself every time I say something. I don't want to, I don't want to think about the radio race or the competition.

I'm not that kind of person. I know a lot of guys are, uh, when the ratings come out, well, listen, when the ratings come out, I want to know what they are. I want to know what, are we doing well or are we not doing well? But I don't agonize over them. That's not my job. I'm hired to do what I do, and I do it the best I can. And if it works, great. If it doesn't, then tell me. Maybe we can make some changes. But ultimately, each of us is who we is, and that's the way it goes. Your show particularly, it's been around so long at this point.

The show is what the show is and if Chum decides they don't want that show, then they don't want that show but this is the show. Yeah. Do you ever have

like a consultant kind of stick his nose in and how does that go? We do once in a while. We've had some consultants who I didn't see eye to eye with. I mean, I didn't get into arguments

with them but I just thought You didn't slug anybody? No, but I thought to myself this is a waste of my time and it's a waste of his time. But we have a guy who we deal with now and mind you, I don't think we've seen him in some, we haven't seen him personally in some times, but he keeps in touch with us through social media, email and he's very good. And he sends out stuff every week to his member stations and I read those reports because, you know, we all need reminding every once in a while about how we can improve and how we can avoid becoming complacent, which is a real issue for anybody in any job.

But if you're on stage, if you're on the radio, you're on TV, you can't become complacent. How are the numbers for Roger, Darren, and Marilyn? They're great. You know, we kind of go back and forth between CHFI and ourselves. The morning show has done well. Other day parts do well. Ingrid's been there a long time in midday. We've got a wonderful woman, Ashley, in the afternoon who now fills in for Marilyn when she's on vacation. We've got a good, strong lineup of people,

and the ratings are good. So you mentioned your primary competitor would be Aaron Davis and Mike Cooper. Is there a friendly rivalry there? Oh, yeah. She's been around a long time as well. We know each other, sure. I worked with Mike, of course, years ago at Chum.

Oh, right, right, right. And I remember Mike speaking of CFTR. He was on CFTR. Yeah, he's been. Sure was. I've got to get Mike in here. Tell me, please, a question about, this is kind of a tough question to phrase,

but is there any concern at all about like you're targeting these younger crowd and there's a host who remembers when Hound Dog was a fresh single on the radio and Elvis' Hound Dog. I'm just curious if this ever is discussed as a potential issue. Well, it's only an issue if it becomes an issue. You know, they pay me to work there because they believe that I can do the job they want the morning person to do.

I don't really hide my age on the air, but I don't boast about it either. So you don't talk about, you know, I was here in the 60s. You try to keep that to yourself. Well, there are references because I remember things in the 60s and 70s that I'm invariably going to blurt out every once in a while. So we're not trying to hide anything. And as long as they feel that I can relate to the audience we're trying to attract, then I'll be there.

And I must tell you, I like a lot of the music we play, and I've said that for as long as I've been in radio. I've never liked all the music we play. No, no one would. But I've always liked a lot of the music we play because I'm a top 40 kind of guy. I grew up with 1050 Chum and the top 40 stations. I collected all the Chum charts.

So I'm into charts. I'm into numbers. I like to know what's number one this week, what's new on the chart. I still follow that religiously. So it's still me to like current pop music. So you sincerely, you enjoy like the newest Katy Perry single? I do.

I certainly want to know what it is. I want to hear it when it comes out. I may not like it. I might like it. But I'm curious about today's pop music. I like the history of pop music over the last 60, 70 years. I like following it all, including today's music. I really do. I mean, and you know, if I didn't, if I didn't keep myself current, then I would be in trouble. You're right. And if I kept myself

current because I felt I had to keep myself current, that would be phony but i do it because i want to i enjoy it no beautiful now is there uh so is there any pressure from bell media for you to gracefully exit you have any any pressure at all like that what what have you heard i've heard nothing not yet and so how long tell me how long will if it's up to you, how long will you run? I don't know. Everybody asks me that. That's the big question, right? I love my job.

It's not physically exhausting. You know, it's fun. Sometimes the best part of my day is when I'm at work because we laugh and laugh and laugh. So why would I give that up? You know, I'm not the type who's looked forward to retirement because I hate my job and, you know, can't wait to get out of that place. I'm not that kind of person. So why would I retire? What would I do if I retired?

I don't have a lot of hobbies. I've been playing radio since I was three years old. So what am I going to do if I ever leave? Yeah, if you left, you'd just end up podcasting anyway. I'd end up dying. And, you know, the pay here isn't nearly as good as the pay is there. Yeah, if you left, you'd just end up podcasting anyway. I'd end up dying. And you know, the pay here isn't nearly as good as the pay is there. No, surprisingly enough.

Although I am going to charge you for the visit. You're going to charge me for the visit. I'm going to buy boom mics. And for everyone listening, I know people are used to like 60-minute shows

and they're going to wonder, you know, why is this one going to be like half that length? You're a very busy guy. You've got another appointment. Well, your show's

normally an hour? Normally an hour, but we're fine. No pressure. We're actually good. We're going to be fine. I do a very busy guy. You've got another appointment. Normally an hour, but we're fine. No pressure. We're actually good. We're going to be fine. I do want to congratulate you. You are in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. That was a great honor.

That was in 2010. I was really touched by that. That's something to be recognized by your peers was really an honor. I had David Marsden in here recently. He said the same thing. That's truly a great honor. I had David Marsden in here recently, and yeah, he said the same thing. That's truly a great honor. It is, because I know all those people,

and to think that somebody voted for me, thank you very much. Yeah, no, it's great. Of all the artists you've met during your career, because you've met a number of big artists, which one was the biggest thrill for you to meet? Because you're a big music fan. Two.

Don Henley of the Eagles, because I'm a huge fan. No, three. Huge fan. I was really happy to meet him. Mick Jagger, who I've liked since I was a kid. I've met him twice. And Tony Bennett, who is a legend, of course. And he was so nice, so down to earth, so accommodating,

so forthcoming. I felt after five minutes of being with him that I had known him for years. And he's still releasing new material. Yeah. That guy's just, how long will you run?

How long is Tony going? That's amazing. Well, he's what? He's almost 90. He's not even slowing down. But they would be my three top favorites. But I got to tell you,

there are very few people I've met celebrity-wise who I didn't like. So they're just people. Was there ever a disappointment? Maybe somebody who was just... Oh, Reggie Jackson, when he came in, he was a complete jerk. Oh, yeah, Mr. October. But apart from that, no.

And Reggie Jackson is not a very good singer. No, I know. I never bought any of it. Was he in the Jacksons? He wasn't in the Jacksons. He was in the Jacksons. That's right. What, in your opinion, is the greatest radio single of all time? How's that for a question?

Oh, God. Because the canned answer is somebody would say Good Vibrations by Beach Boys. I think that would be like it. Well, I guess I think of Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones because it just bounces out of the radio. That riff, yeah, that Keith Richards. But, well, yeah, let's say that for now.

I'll get back to you. That's a good one. Just a couple more. If you could only bring one album for a desert, you're going to a desert island, you could bring one album. One album?

We're leaving the singles here now. You've got to bring an entire album. Wow. And you can't bring, you can't use the greatest hits either. That's kind of a cop-out.

Can't use greatest hits? either. That's kind of a cop-out. Well, it would be either an Eagles album or a Rolling Stones album. It would be an early album by either of those artists. It would be one of the early 60s albums by the Stones or one of the early 70s albums by

the Eagles. Good stuff. Last question, and I'm very curious. How large is your record collection? Well, it's not as large as it used to be. I used to have close to 10,000 albums, and I've whittled that down by two-thirds now. I've got a few thousand CDs, but

you know, I look at them all on the wall, and I think, what am I going to do with all these? Now, you can stream everything. When new albums come out now, I don't go and get the CD anymore. I listen to it online and save it if I want to save it

and don't save it if I don't want to save it. Because you can always access them. That's the thing. It's like it's on demand world now. And I had nothing close to your size, but I did have close to a thousand discs at some point in my peak. And I think about what years is,

yeah, but a decade ago, basically they all got boxed up and stored away because it was, I just ripped them all to MP3 and now they're just on. Well, I've got them on the walls on shelves and they look good there. So they'll stay there for a while. The vinyl sleeves are like beautiful pieces of art.

Every once in a while, I'll just pull out a piece of vinyl. I still got a turntable and I'll put it on and play it and read the liner notes and reminisce. The good old days. You can fill the other half hour with air checks. You got some, you can send me some good air checks. I'll do that. I would do that. I don't know. I can send you air checks. I don't know how good they'll be. Hey, before I read this final blurb, are you on Twitter? Do you have a Twitter feed?

I do, but I don't use it very often. Okay, but what is it? I can't remember. Oh, you don't? At Roger underscore Chum FM, something like that. All right, so I'm going to prompt you to say that, though, because I always like to leave the Twitter handles, and I realized I couldn't find you on Twitter. Oh, well. Either the consultants haven't got to you yet,

or you're one of the last holdouts. I'm one of the last holdouts. And that brings us to the end of our 126th show. You can follow me on Twitter, at Toronto Mike. And Roger, he's on Twitter. He's not sure what it is, but it might be Roger underscore Ashby. Don't waste a lot of time. Don't waste a lot of time.

He's not going to reply to you. That was great, Mike. Thank you. Thanks, Roger. See you all next week. I want to take a streetcar downtown Read Andrew Miller and wander around And drink some Guinness from a tin