Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Stephen Brunt Returns: Toronto Mike'd #345

Episode Date: June 7, 2018

Mike catches up with Stephen Brunt before they play and discuss Stephen's ten favourite songs of all-time.

Welcome to episode 345 of Toronto Mike, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery located here in Etobicoke. Did you know that 99% of all Great Lakes beer remains here in Ontario? GLB, brewed for you, Ontario. And propertyinthesix.com, Toronto real estate done right. And Paytm, an app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. Download the app today from paytm.ca. And Camp Tournesol, the leading French summer camp provider in Ontario. I'm Mike

from Toronto Mike and joining me to kick out the jams. Hmm, how should I bill him this time? How about Primetime Sports co-host Stephen Brunt. Welcome back, Steven. Hey, Mike. Thanks.

There were multiple, many, many ways I could have billed you in that opening. Yeah, that's true. Just pick one, right? Yeah, I'm a podcast guy now, too. So that's important. With the guy who blocked me on Twitter for no reason, but I still respect the man, Jeff Blair. Yeah, you're not alone.

I think he's done that to many people. But yeah, we are now in your world. So tell me, I saw one episode dropped. Yeah, that's it. Just the tease in the first episode, which was pretty cool. Yeah, it was fun to do. It is a different medium.

And let's not bury the lead. What's the name of this podcast? The lead, yes. The archaic spelling. L-E-D-E. Old newspaper dudes, right? See, you're just trying to scare away. You want only the elitists should be listening to this podcast.

Oh, yeah. That's absolutely right. Yeah. We don't want many people to listen. That's exactly true. Spook up. By the way, Rogers has really kicked up their podcast game lately because Dan Schulman was here since your last visit. And he's got Swingin' a Belt.

He does indeed. Yeah. And Merrick and Friedman have 31 thoughts. Yep. Heavily promoted. Are they going to promote you and Blair's podcast as strongly? I hope so, yeah. They're certainly interested in the form, right?

And those ones plus At The Letters, you know, Ben and Art arts baseball podcast uh yeah i i think it's a it's a priority at sportsnet now and uh like i don't think they want to have a million of them but i think they want to you know make the ones they have they're very produced you know they we have a really good producer and uh it's yeah the showcase and some pretty interesting people i love i love. I love all three of those. So the lead, do you want to tell us just a little bit about what we can expect from the lead? I'm sure everyone listening will definitely subscribe and download episode one. But what kind of format are we looking at? Well, it's sort of an extension of what I did with Blair on the radio.

It's sort of an extension of that show. We could go a lot of different places, not just straightforward what happened last night and who scored. So there'll be guests every week. There'll be some hardcore sports talk. It's not a baseball podcast because we've got a couple of those. But there will be baseball. There'll be a little bit of politics. There'll be some music.

There'll be kind of all the things that we, when we did a deep dive on the show. All the good stuff. Yeah, all the good stuff. That's right, I think. Jeff and I, we're different guys, but we come from kind of a similar... We are both old newspaper guys. Not that that'll factor into it. But we live in the world, right?

We're not just... So it's not just about Hamilton. It's not just about Hamilton. It's not just about sports. I hope it's interesting. It's all Thai cats all the time. Yeah, there may be. There may be a Thai cat element.

So next time you're having a beer or coffee or whatever with Blair, you can just let him know he's welcome on the show. I just can't tweet at him because he's blocked me for no good reason. Yeah, good luck with that. Let me know. Maybe if he thinks it'll promote the podcast, he'll do it. Well, that's it. Tell him the people who listen to this are already podcast subscribers.

So you're fishing where the fish are. Okay, I will. Give him that line. Yeah, the's it. Tell him the people who listen to this are already podcast subscribers. So you're swimming. No, you're fishing where the fish are. Okay. Give him that line. Yeah, the fishing analogy. That'll work too. He'd probably like that. Okay.

Now I'm playing this song. Why am I playing this song? Because my favorite television show of all time is The Wire. And on election day, Cuddy goes for a run and he sticks on his Walkman. And this is the jam he's listening to as he's running through Baltimore on Election Day. Cool. So today, and I'm going to drop, that's what the kids say now. By the way, when you release your new episodes of The Lead, you're dropping them.

Yeah, I know. Have you been versed? I got that lingo. Yeah, I've got that. So this episode, like 15 minutes after we take a photo on my front lawn, this episode will drop, which means there's many hours left for a lot of you to vote. And a lot of you are in Ontario, so it's election day. And any thoughts on election day?

Oh, I got lots of thoughts on election day, Mike. Any you can share? I feel like I'm in ground zero here. This is, I believe this is the center of something, isn't it? Isn't it in your neighborhood? No, that's actually north of here. Okay, because there's a sign on your street here. Yes, I know.

Yeah, yeah. This is not, yeah. I don't know why he's got that. Some people, you're supposed to like vote for your local MPP, but that guy with that sign is pushing the leader for some reason. Yeah, well, I think I know what reason. What could possibly go wrong? We have a... I understand it's a neck and neck in this riding between NDP and PC.

Sort of like the province then, yeah. I was lined up. First time I was ever lined up before polls opened at 9 a.m. I will be heading there. I will be heading to vote in my Hamilton riding just as soon as we're done here today. Good for you. And then I'm going to sit nervously by the whatever tonight

and see what happens. Yeah, I guess polls close at nine. So you got nine to nine. And yeah, I mean, me too. My daughter's got soccer and then I'll get home. I'm braced. I'm a realist, so I'm braced for what I believe will happen, but I'm hopeful that I'm wrong, essentially.

Yeah. Well, you know, I'll tell you a story because it's going to lead into the first track we're going to play. The night of the Trump election, I went to see John K. Sampson at the Mod Club in Toronto. And my wife and I and Dave Hodgson, his wife,

went to see John. Of course. And we were sitting in a bar across the street from the Mod Club having dinner, waiting to go in, watching the returns come in, you know, and started to understand that things were going badly for the planet. And then went into the Mod Club. You know, everything starts early at the Mod Club, right?

It's one of those weird because it turns into something else later on, right? So it's one of those places where shows blessedly started. It actually started like 8 o'clock. So Dave and I are sitting there staring at our phones, watching that unfold. And I'll talk about John in a minute. But John started his first song, and neither of us could stay for the show. We both left.

We just turned up. We said, look, I just can't do this tonight. Yep. I remember that feeling. We both drove home, pulled the covers over our head, I assume both of us did the same thing, and then hoped to wake up in the morning and hear something different that it was all kind of a crazy dream.

Yeah, and it's almost like you're not angry, you're just disappointed. Like you're just sort of overwhelmed. Sick, disappointed. Yeah, heart sick. And funnily enough, that feeling hasn't passed. No, I know. I mean, I always tell the story that night. So I have a 13-year-old daughter. And so the way

that night worked for me is at, let's say, 6pm, I was uber confident. And we were talking about how, like, what a historic night this is going to be. Do you realize we're the first woman president? Wow. And we're having this chat. And by 8.30, the chat was so different. By 8.30, the writing was on the wall and you kind of...

And it was like, that feeling. It was like reassuring her things would be okay. Yeah. Like that things will get through this. Yeah, it was kind of like the night of the first Obama election, I went to a party in Toronto held by Democrats abroad. So a bunch of American expats, you know, and it

was the greatest party ever and the greatest feeling ever. And I remember Minnesota flipped, which was what guaranteed it. That's when you knew. And the moment that that came up on the board and thinking the world is a better place than I thought it was and feeling optimistic. And yeah. And so whatever the flip side of all of that would have been what it felt like that night. So my apologies for John walking out on me.

Right. Let's hope for a little of that positive feeling tonight. Let's be hopeful. I got one vote to cast, but let's be hopeful here. I want to tell people listening if they want the deep dive with Stephen Brunt.

So we did, it was two hours. It was long, yep. Well received, though. I still get notes from some people. So this is episode 345. 345, yeah.

I still get notes that their favorite episode is the Brunt episode. Oh, that's nice. I appreciate that. So you brought your A game. Yeah, well, it was fun, Mike. I enjoyed it. And their favorite episode is the Brunt episode. Oh, that's nice. I appreciate that. So you brought your A game. Yeah, well, it was fun, Mike. I enjoyed it.

And that's episode 269. So if you want to pause this and go back and catch up to episode 269, here's the description I wrote for that. Mike chats with sports journalist Stephen Brunt about his years at the Globe and Mail, his video essay at the 2010 Olympics, his fallout with Bob McCowan. We'll talk about that in a minute. His work with Jeff Blair, which continues in podcast form, and much, much more.

This episode, that was, yeah, two hours and 14 minutes. So go to episode 269. Here's a very, very short clip from episode 269, Stephen, just to remind us. And then I need to ask you about this. So this is you. Kyle wants to know if you'll ever return to primetime sports. It doesn't sound like it. You know, like I'm really happy.

I'm incredibly happy doing what I'm doing right now with Jeff Blair. You know, I think we're doing some of the best radio I've ever done. And we can do things on that show that are different than, you know, it's a different show than primetime, but I really like the differences, you know, I like the deep dives in

baseball. I like some of the stuff we can do. And, you know, I've known Jeff for 25 years, right? So going back to the newspaper days, back when he was at the Montreal Gazette. So I'm very happy doing what I'm doing. The time, the mid-morning thing is better for my life in a lot of ways. I guess you never say never, but yeah, it's not imminent.

Never say never. but yeah, it's not imminent. Never say never. So tell us what changed, what happened that you now have returned to primetime sports? Well, you know, Bob, Damien was working with him, you know, and was doing almost all the co-hosting and then he wasn't. So we who have been co-hosts of Primetime Sports understand that nothing is permanent and we are all disposable. So for whatever reasons, Damien was no longer doing it and they needed somebody to fill those weeks.

And Bob had signed a new contract so he signed another, I think, a three-year deal and there's 52 weeks in a year and he works, I don't know how many of them, but they needed, and I have a contract that says I do X number of weeks of radio a year. So I was asked, is what my boss, my big boss called me in, and I knew why he was calling me in. I said, I know why you're calling me in, because you need somebody to do that.

And then they also approach Richard Deitch, which, you know, is a really interesting, it's great that Richard wanted to move up here. He's a, you know, he's a really, he's a different voice on the show. And, uh, and he was gung-ho to do a bunch of weeks as part of his deal. So, you know, so it didn't really change, didn't change the number of weeks I did. It just changed when I did them. And yeah, look, I understood the priorities. You know, Drive Time Radio is important. That show is important. It's a legacy show for the station. And look, I know how to do it.

And people, genuinely, you might be, if we had a big survey, you might be the favorite co-host. Yeah, well, that's... If I may speak for the fans. Well, that's nice. Look, I know how to work with Bob. I understand the gig.

So it just kind of was like dropping back into kind of a familiar spot. And I know how that show runs. I kind of know what the show... I think I know what the show is supposed to be. And so, yeah, I was asked. I said I would do it. I'm not sure what would have happened if I said I wouldn't do it.

Um, you know, that would have been an interesting discussion, but, um, look, I've got, you know, I have a, I have a really good gig with a really good employer. They treat me extraordinarily well at Sportsnet and, uh, you know, I've been able to expand my horizons, do good work. You know, I get to flake off to Newfoundland for the summer. I got a lot of good things there. So, you know, I'm very, very loyal to people who treat me well. So I, it's not, I would not have, I would not have played that card and said no and stomped my feet and said, I'm not going to do it. Can you shed any light on what happened with Damien? By the way, he kicked out the jams.

I know he did. Yeah, I know. I know. I know. Funky Damien. No, I can't. Damien. By the way, he kicked out the gyms. I know he did. Yeah, I know, I know. I know, Funky Damien. No, I can't. Damien could if he, if Damien wants to, he can. I'll bring him back to Funky Damien. And I honestly don't know, Mike. Like, you know, who knows? I just know that, look,

Damien's a great line and I will give him credit for this because it's true. He always said that Bob's favorite co-host is the one who's not there. So we have all, you know, we in the co-host union, the sidekick union, you know,

me and Damien, Ken Reed, you know, we, we and the co-host union, the sidekick union, you know, me and Damien, Ken Reed, you know, the late Jim Hunt, the late Jim Kelly, now Deitch into that happy group, Bill Waters back in the day.

Right. I think, you know, we all got together, you know, we don't need a seance for the two guys who aren't around anymore and, and swap stories. The stories would all be very similar. Very interesting.

Now that this ties into a question on Twitter. You're still lurking on Twitter? Like, obviously, Stephen Brunt's not on Twitter. That's what people seem to think. Yeah, no, I'm still not on Twitter. Still not on Twitter under your own name, at least. That's right. Like Brian Colangelo, right?

I got five burner accounts. The burner, that's right. So to defend my wardrobe. Keep writing, oh, Brunt is the greatest. I keep seeing those tweets. Okay, so one of the questions on Twitter from Paul F. is, why is Bob McCowan so grumpy? But I'm going to change this question because that's a silly question. I think it's the greatest. I keep seeing those tweets. Okay, so one of the questions on Twitter from Paul F. is, why is Bob McCowan so grumpy? But I'm going to change his question because that's a silly question.

I think it's a question. His on-air persona of being curmudgeonly grumpy. Off-air, is he nicer to you off-air than he is? Well, he's pretty nice to me on-air. He rarely, you know, he's not that grumpy to me on-air. We certainly disagree about stuff. And I occasionally have to call him on something, which, you know, he may not like that much. But that is part of that.

Again, that would be part of that job description. But look, it's mostly, by and large, he plays a character. And he's acknowledged that. And I think most people in those kind of gigs play a character. You know, it's, you know, there are huge elements of that character that are him. But it's an embellished, exaggerated version of him. And look, if he wasn't kind of cranky or contrarian, it would be kind of boring. You had a guy up there kind of said, oh, yeah, you're right.

Well, it's working for him, right? It's worked for a million years. Most successful sports broadcaster in the country. Yeah, he bought a winery. So it's working for him pretty well. I see. He distributes the Tragically Hip wine. Is that the...

They have a licensing deal with the hip, yeah. That's cool. Now, Mike Cohen, he goes, hashtag Real Talk. And he asks, how is it being back on Primetime Sports? Are you happy to be back? And also, down the road, would you return to Tim and Sid? Oh, I'd love to. But, you know, that's a different discussion. You know, I think I can go back and guest with Tim and Sid? Oh, I'd love to, but that's a different discussion.

I think I can go back and guest with Tim and Sid. I'm not sure what the parameters of that are. Do it. I want to hear what the reaction is. I love working with Tim and Sid. I have a ball working with those guys, and I like the show, and I like both of them personally very much. What was the first part of that?

Are you happy to be back? Yeah, look, it's a great platform. You know, people listen to the show. That show has impact. And I get that. And we do get great guests. You know, we get great people on there. So it kind of feels like, you know,

it is still the place a lot of people go if something happens to, you don't kind of take the pulse. And, you know, there is, you know, again, I sat down in the chair the first day and I was like, you know, I hadn't been away that long. But I'll tell you, look, the other thing is, the podcasting is great because I missed working with Blair. Yeah, listening to your clip from 269 and you're talking about you enjoy the deep dives of Blair.

And then, yeah, all I'm thinking is, well, you're getting that satisfaction via the podcast. Yes. So did you, is it your idea to do the podcast or they came to you and said, hey, we'd like to have you? No, they came to Jeff and I and said, would you guys like to do it? And, you know,

like it's another job, right? It's kind of an add-on job to the several other jobs I have. So that, I hadn't. Yeah, that's right. They don't pay you more for the podcast. It's all under your contract.

No, they don't. So I didn't think that through that well, I don't think. And, you know, but I have found a way to do it from Newfoundland. So I'm going to be working with a community radio station out there. So I didn't think that through that well, I don't think. But I have found a way to do it from Newfoundland. So I'm going to be working with a community radio station out there. So the voice of Bon Bay is going to allow us to do it from there.

Well, that's great. Well, you know what they say, if you enjoy what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. Yeah, no, look, my dad told me that. That's the best piece of advice I ever got was he was a happy worker. And I think there's something to be said for that. If you don't get up in the morning and dread going to the gig, then was a happy worker. And I think there's something to be said for that. You know, you don't, if you don't get up in the morning and dread going to the gig, then,

you know, everything else is easy. And yeah, I like it. I like to work hard, but I do like the work I do. Now, you mentioned earlier

that you're, how do you say it? You're a loyal, you're loyal to Rogers. They treat you well. You get to, you're going to, when do you leave for Newfoundland?

In about two weeks and two days. No wonder you're smiling. Yeah. June is always kind of my countdown month. I got a lot to do before then. Good for you, man. And we're going to get to Newfoundland later. Yeah, we will.

But that's amazing. So you were schmoozing, right? There's a Rogers Media Upfront bash at the Carlew and you're kind of there pressing the flesh, you know, taking photos and stuff. And that's kind of part of the package, right know, taking photos and stuff. And that's kind of part of the package, right? Because you're a face

of Rogers media. No one actually took my picture. Oh, really? And no one talked to me. You were the Justin Trudeau of the event. It's a great party.

Those upfronts are ridiculous, right? Because they're for advertisers. So it's not just Sportsnet. It's all of the City TV shows as well. So like Howie Mandel hosted it.

And they had various stars from various TV shows who I didn't recognize come out to great, you know, applause. Right. Kim Coates was there who, you know, from Sons of Anarchy.

He's a cool guy. Yeah, I can imagine. And I saw him in, in, on stage in Jerusalem a little while ago. He's a great actor. So I was, I thought it was pretty cool to see him. And, uh, and then they just, so they lay on

this huge, uh, big dog and pony show. It was at Massey Hall. And then they had a big party at the Carlew. And it's where, you know, if you're a 24-year-old advertising, low-ranking advertising person, and you want to meet other 24-year-old advertising people and, you know, get down with them,

that's what it's about. It's like a big singles party with free booze and food, except it ends at 7.30 at night. So it's like speed dating. And you felt like an old guy, right? Oh, yeah. I was at a Twitter Canada,

a similar scene at Young and Dundas and they had kind of, you know, the brick, exposed brick and everything. I can't remember what the venue was called actually, but it was a cool venue and it was Twitter Canada did a similar thing. Scott Moore was there, for example. Like, you know, there was a lot of partnerships

between Rogers and Twitter. All these media companies are there and I'm there and I felt really, and I was chatting with Alan Cross of all people. He was there and we had the same feeling, which is that we didn't feel we belonged like these were really young attractive well-dressed yes you know hip people yeah that's them yeah those companies are like that like my son would have been at that one because he works you know he works in the brand world and he's he would be one of those people right so he was probably there doing exactly what i just described i was there i biked over and i was in shorts and

a t-shirt i felt awful. I was the only one there who didn't like, I wasn't snazzing it up with a cool jacket or something. Yeah, that's okay. That world has passed for me. But it's fun to kind of watch it from one side. Cool. Now, another follow-up and something else. So the Wall Street Journal had an article, a quote, but it said, it was about the athletic. But skeptics say the athletics focus on subscription revenue is risky. They question whether the company can bring in

enough long-term subscriptions to fund its aggressive expansion while competing with more established sports news sites that offer free content. Also, covering sports can be expensive, requiring hundreds of thousands of dollars and considerable travel. Do you have any updates on...

The athletic, it seems like they've kicked it up a notch in terms of hiring and spending. And do you have any further thoughts on... I know you root for the Athletic. I do, yeah. I got a lot of friends over there. I read that Wall Street Journal piece and that has always been the question, right?

Can you look at their... That's when you start to wonder if it's a bunch of venture capitalists started it. They're not in the journalism business. They're in the build it and sell it business, right? So they're just trying to get this thing to a point where they can flip it and get the heck out and then give somebody else who's invested a ton of money the challenge of trying to make it work. Yeah, I don't know. The business model to me doesn't make any sense, but I pay for it.

I don't know how many other people pay for it. There's some great work on there. It's funny. I've got to give a plug to a guy. Go ahead. A guy out of the blogosphere. Andrew Stoughton is an interesting character. He's coming on soon, but he lives far away.

Yeah, he lives in Peterborough or something. He's a Peterborough guy, right? And Stoughton did – he started Drunk Jays fans, and I've worked with him at pitch talks and done things. He's what you would think of as a blogger, the kind of character we think. But I'll tell you something. He is writing some of the most sophisticated baseball stuff in the city right now, if not the most sophisticated. Especially with the business of the team. Like he's, there's a piece, he's got a piece on the athletic right now.

Go read it. You know, he's just, he, he really gets a lot of the kind of complicated corporate machinations around the team, how the ownership works, the challenges of that, what the front office is up to. So a guy like him, yeah. And again, there would be people who would be surprised at what I'm saying because Drunk J's fans was what you would imagine it was. And it was awesome. I read it every day. Right. But he's doing great work, for instance.

So there are a lot of people doing great work at the Athletic. Richard De read it every day. Right. But he's doing, yeah, he's doing great work, for instance, right? So there are a lot of people doing great work at The Athletic. You know, Richard Deitch is there now. Right. But yeah, look, I hope it works. I don't know what the successful model is. You know, what I do know is that if you're working for a company that has a vested interest in sports

content, like I do, they're probably going to be around. That's, you know, that's kind of one of the reasons I'm there. I'm going to make sure Andrew hears this because that's a high praise from somebody who knows how to write a sports piece. Yeah. Well, I just, I, you know, hats off to him

because it's not, it's easier to be knee jerk and, you know, crap all over people and not try and understand. I say this is a, this team, the ownership in this team is a, it is a puzzle, you know, it's a puzzle to the guys, you know, in the front office, it's a puzzle because of the structure and he, I think he's maybe the only guy in the team is a puzzle. It's a puzzle to the guys in the front office. It's a puzzle because of the structure. And I think he's maybe the only guy in the city who gets it.

Yeah, I know. I think he does great work as well. That's fantastic. Now, somebody anonymous wants to know your thoughts on recent non-playoff travel bans for sports crews at the Globe and the Star. for sports crews at the Globe and the Star and how you feel about reporters instead of writing, how you feel about reporters writing off TV. Well, as long as you, you know,

no one's pretending, like they're not putting fake placelines on, so they're not hiding it. They're not being explicit about it. You know, I feel for guys like Rich Griffin at the Star writing, you know, a great baseball writer writing baseball off television.

It's diminishing returns. And I'm not surprised. Sports is expensive. Sports brings in no revenue in newspapers to speak of. Travel costs a lot of money. Is that right? Yeah. Just look at this.

Sports-specific ads in newspapers, they're almost none. We were always told that at the Globe anyway. But yeah. They were all buying the sun, I think. But travel's the natural thing to whack, right? There's a ton of travel. You know, if you're covering a baseball team, 81 games on the road, or even a hockey team,

you know, 40 games on the road, costs a lot of money. And, you know, yeah, you can create content without that travel. What you're going to lose is authority. You know, you're going to lose. Like integrity, right? Yeah, integrity and also knowledge.

You know, it's not about going out and cranking out game stories because I think game stories are, you know, a dodo. But if you're with a team, especially in baseball with all the dead time, right, the batting practice and the clubhouse time and all that stuff. Right. You tend to know what's going on if you're a good reporter. And you will not know that if you're sitting at home watching it on TV. But I think they're burning the furniture. I think that's what newspapers are doing now.

They're burning the furniture to heat the house. The Deer Cop, there's a great Twitter handle for you. The Deer Cop, he wants me to ask, he asked me to ask you about this last time and it got left on the cutting room floor because we had to jam pack two hours. But I'm going to pick it up here before we kick out the jams. He wants me to ask you about this last time and it got left on the cutting room floor because we had to jam pack two hours.

But I'm going to pick it up here before we kick out the jams. He wants me to ask you about Marty York. Are you aware of his new persona? No, I'm not aware of his new persona. Hang on a second. I'm going to make my phone go away. That's unfair.

Maybe we got breaking news. Okay, no. You know what? I don't want to talk about that. on the bus. That's unfair. Maybe we got breaking news. Okay, no. Does he have a... You know what? I don't want to talk about that. That's fair. Because you can't say something nice, right?

No, totally fair. And I respect that. So let's go here. We talked about Jeff Blair's elite. Okay, Jake the Snake. I have to say thanks again because, I mean,

he helped set up the first visit and I don't think I get the second visit without the first visit. So forever, if you come by a hundred times, I'll have to say hi to Jake. Hi to Jake, my buddy out in Calgary.

His question is, who will be more famous in Hamilton in November, the late Johnny Pops or Johnny Football? Whoa, I don't think, see, I think an entire generation has missed out on Johnny Pops. My next question is... He's a mobster. John Papeli was a famous Hamilton mobster. I covered his funeral. It was one of the greatest I know. I covered another mobster. John Papeli was a famous Hamilton mobster. I covered his funeral.

Oh, wow. It was one of the greatest I've ever... No, I covered another mobster's funeral where I met Johnny Pops. That's a story that we don't have time for. Like the Sopranos.

But yeah, he was a ruthless and horrible mobster who owned a... There was a whole street in Hamilton called Railway Street, which where he lived... Well, he owned the streets,

essentially, and that's where he was murdered. So, you know, he went the way a lot of other people went at his behest. But look, I think the Manziel thing is going to be great. I've always been very positive about it. I don't think there's any

downside. Like, if he flames out, he flames out. But look, more people are talking about the CFL right now than have talked about the CFL in a long time. There's a curiosity there. I'm interested to see how Johnny Football does. And I'm glad I finally learned who Johnny Pops is. There you go. John Papeli. You can look him up.

It's not pretty. But he was very nice. He was very polite when we met in the cemetery that day. Leave the cannoli. Is that what you said? Mike Grogotsky has a good follow-up. He says, who is the greatest Hamiltonian of all time? He's got choices for you. Iron Mike Sharp. Yeah, pretty

good. Canada's greatest athlete. Yes. Billy Red Sharp. Yeah, pretty good. Canada's greatest athlete. Yes. Billy Red Lions. Yeah, not bad. Yeah. Or Angelo Mosca. See, I would have to go for Mosca. You know, just two-sport athlete, right?

You know, I'm not sure. What was his other sport? I only know football. Wrestling. Oh, yeah. That's actually... Yeah. I'm so...

King Kong Mosca. Yeah. No, no. He wrestled all... Because I know Iron Mike Sharp and Billy Red Lions. I know those two guys. He said, don't you dare miss it. Yeah. Billy Red Lions no, no. He wrestled all the time. Because I know Iron Mike Sharp and Billy Red Lions. I know those two guys. He said, don't you dare miss it.

Yeah, Billy Red Lions was a wrestler. He did the wrestling. He was on the CH. And Iron Mike Sharp did bill himself as Canada's greatest athlete. Right. But he was a loser, right? He mostly lost. Yes, he did.

Like, they didn't make a doll out of him. No, they did not make a doll out of him. And I'm not sure he made a whole lot of money. Yeah, the Hamilton wrestlers for 100. There you go. Johnny Canine is another one. He was a bad guy. I think he got murdered or he's in jail,

one or the other. Wow. But yeah, a lot of Hamilton has a rich wrestling culture. Well, the Maple Leaf Wrestling and CHCH, I watch that every weekend. Me too. In fact, my friend and a recent kick out

the jammer, Jason Agnew, he hosts a wrestling show on TSN something or other. The one in Hamilton, 11. The one in Hamilton, of course, 150. And he closes every episode with Don't You Dare Miss It as a homage to Billy Redlines.

Yep, he was great. He had the great, he was like Gene Orndorff, you know, like. Gene Okerlund? Gene Okerlund, yeah. I mean Gene. You know, you got that

straight face thing while the guy's doing his... on the mic. You got to kind of sit there straight faced or look appalled or look shocked. Yeah, he was... Billy Redd was pretty good at that. Oh, man. Yeah. Mean Gene recorded a great version of Tutti Frutti as well back in the mid-80s. Jay Reeves says, can you please ask

the dean of Canadian sports journalism, according to the late Pat Marsden, a favorite memory of Leo Cahill. You know, I didn't cover Leo, right? It's really, you know, he's a little before my time coverage. Like, you know, I yelled horrible things at him at Iver Wynn with, you know, 25,000 other people. You know, he was a great villain. You know, speaking of wrestling, right?

Like, he was like the heel coming into hand. And he loved it, right? He played the heel. Like a lot of guys, like the Like he was like the heel coming into hand and he loved it, right? He played the heel. Like a lot of guys, like the Toronto, back in the day when people actually cared about it. Right. You know, you could, if you were the, from

the big city evil Argonauts and you came into town and you boasted about, you know, what you were going to do to the Tiger Cats or, you know, and he, yeah, he played the, he played the heel very, very well. So yeah, my, most of my memories are, you know, singing goodbye Leo at Iverwind. Goodbye Leo.

Mm-hmm. On your jam list, this is a spoiler alert for those listening, but there was no Nana Muscuri on your jam list. No, there's no Nana Muscuri. I hear Router's coming in. Has he got Nana Muscuri? No. He's already been?

By the way, listen to the Router because... I love Router. I've worked with him. I love working with him. Make the vinyl. Router was great because it was like... He had it like segues built in. Each song led into the other.

And so it's interesting how people kick out the jams. By default, I start playing the jam. I give it till like first chorus ends and then I fade it down. And then I say the name of the song and the artist. And then my guest will tell me why they love the song or what it means to them or whatever. The exceptions are Dave Hodge wouldn't let me speak over his jams. That's my Dave. No, you'll let me speak over your jam.

Yeah, we can do it. It might take a long time. Yeah, and a lot of mine are short. I've got some short ones there too. That's right. That's right. Kind of, yeah. And Vic had a whole, so Vic wanted me to start playing jam.

He spoke throughout the whole jam. He had this great, it was wonderful, trip down memory lane, and it all segued together. And he goes, and that's when I turned the station from my dad's 1010 to 1050 and heard this. He had produced the whole show, and it's really magic. Yeah, that's Vic. Yeah.

I did a lot of bad boxing, bad kickboxing with him. Low rent, low production value stuff. But, man, he was always great to work with. His dream, he told me, his all-time dream,

and I'm trying to make it happen. I'm trying to get some help from others who have more social media presence than me, but his dream is to be

one of Gladys Knight's pips. To be a pip, yeah. That's his all-time dream. That's a good dream. I think it's an achievable dream. That is a worthy, well, maybe. Maybe.

It's not too late. I'm playing this song because Camp Turn a Soul is a proud sponsor of this program, and it's achievable. That is a worthy, well, maybe. Maybe. It's not too late. I'm playing this song because Camp Turn a Soul is a proud sponsor of this program. And it's, what are we in now? This is June, people. You need to sign up your child for French camp. These camps start after school, which is in July. You've got to get on this. Go to campt.ca and check out all the camps they have in the GTA for your child ages,

children ages 4 to 14. Sign up for a French camp. If they're francophone, French immersion, or no French experience, they have a day camp or overnight experience for your child or grandchild. So camptea.ca, and when you do register your child for French camp, because you should, their French skills will bloom over the summer. Use the promo code Mike and you get $20 off your first order.

Camp Tournesol. Stephen, did you enjoy the six pack of Great Lakes beer you got last time you were here? I did, sir. Yeah, one of them exploded my car in a way. Is that right?

So that was a bit, yeah. So I owe you seven, you're telling me. Yeah, there was a fair bit of carpet cleaning after. The beer... Well, that's never good if a cop pulls you over

for speeding or something. It really soaks in, so I was down on my hands and my knees scrubbing for a bit. But otherwise, the other five were good. Yeah, I'm sorry that happened. But yeah, here's a new six-pack for you to enjoy. Thank you. Much appreciated. Go to a good home. Great Lakes Beer. And I've been telling people, I just last week got my SmartServe

certification, which means I can legally serve beer at bars or retail stores. So I'm actually going to be pouring beer at the Great Lakes Brewery Beer Tent, which is at the Grilled Cheese Challenge on Saturday from 11 to 6. And if you go to Lakeshore and you go to

7th Street, there'll be a beer tent and I'll be there. So Stephen, you got a trip to make. Sounds excellent. You got to head east and heavily tip me if you don't mind. That's cool. Now I have a pint glass for you. Did I give you a pint glass make. Sounds excellent. You've got to head east and heavily tip me if you don't mind. That's cool. Now, I have a pint glass for you. Did I give you a pint glass last time?

You did, and I use it all the time. These are great pint glasses. That's a different one, I think. Did you have any red in yours? No, no. He added color. No, the red is good, but it's a nice shape. It's got a nice, solid feel to it.

It's called a willy, I think. Somebody told me it's called a willy. But that's from Brian Gerstein at propertyinthesix.com. He's a massive Stephen Brunt fan, so he recorded a question for you. Let's hear from Brian. Propertyinthesix.com Hi, Stephen. Brian Gerstein here, sales representative with PSR Brokerage,

proud sponsor of Toronto Mike, and self-confessed Brunt fanboy. 416-873-0292 is the number to call or text me for any real estate needs you have. Stephen, as Raptors devotee on Twitter, I am anxiously waiting to see who ends up replacing Casey. Grange expects the new coach to be named in the next week or so. Do you expect an internal or external hire and who has the inside

track? Also, your thoughts in general on moving on from Casey as well. Grange is the real insider here, right? So I'll defer to Grange on that. I'm no insider on the Raptors. Although it sounds like it's going to be Nick Nurse or an outsider, right? That sounds like what it's down to now.

And that's a tricky call. I understood the firing. Everybody likes Dwayne Casey. Everybody likes Dwayne Casey. Right. You probably picked that up in the kind of reaction. People who cover the team and people around the team, he's a lovely man, smart guy, a lot of integrity,

decent person in everything I've seen. And a heck of a lot regular season success. Yeah. Can't argue with those numbers. Yeah. And so how do you fire a coach from a 59-win team? Well, you do it if you get smoked by the Cavaliers, and there's a sense that you've kind of gone as far as you can go,

and unpicking that roster is hard. You can't just change it. I had this conversation with McCowan a couple of times saying, in the NBA, you can't just trade everybody. It doesn't work that way. And so, yeah, I think this is the way you try and get one more go around with that team. And, you know, it may be a different voice. But couldn't you have just waited for LeBron to go to the Western Conference?

Well, yeah, but then you got Boston. And then, you know, like other people, time doesn't stand still, you know. And I think this is kind of the only move they could make if you're going to take a shot with these guys. And you have to take a shot with these guys because they're not going anywhere. So there's my insider knowledge. I feel bad for Dwayne.

I would think a voice from outside the organization might make sense if that's what you're trying to do. But Nick got a lot of credit for the good stuff last year. PayTM Canada. And then we kick out the jams. I know you're excited over there stuff last year. Paytm Canada. And then we kick out the jams. I know you're excited over there. I am. I'm excited too.

I love kicking out the jams. This is going to be a thrill. Kicking out the jams comes soon. But first, Paytm Canada. Go to paytm.ca. Download the app for your smartphone, Apple or Android. And you basically can pay all of your bills in one spot. And you can pay with your MasterCard or your bank account or your Paytm cash.

And you get points for paying bills that you have to pay anyways. So it makes it easy. It gamifies it. You don't pay anything extra to do this. I love it. Two reasons I think it's great. One is it lets me pay all my bills with my MasterCard so I can get my, what do I get? My President's Choice points.

And I can use that for free groceries, which is great. But also, if you use the promo code, this is the kicker, if you use the promo code TorontoMike when you make your first bill payment, they give you $10 in cash you can use towards another bill. So it's free $10 just sitting there, lying there, waiting for you to pick it up.

So pick up that $10, go to Paytm.ca Trust me, you couldn't pay me enough for me to lie to you here. I love the Paytm app. It's fantastic. Paytm Canada. And Stephen, one last question for you before we kick off here.

Yes, sir. Are you ready to kick out the jam? I am ready. I'm ready, Mike. My city's still breathing But barely it's true Through buildings gone missing like teeth The sidewalks are watching me think about you Sparkled with broken glass

I'm back with scars to show Back with the streets I know Will never take me anywhere but here The weaker thans left and leaving. Yeah, the hair on the back of my neck stands up when I hear that one. Always does, those first few lines. I feel like Hodge now. I don't want to step on him.

He was adamant. Mike, we do not speak over my jams. And I said, Mr. Hodge, as you wish. I'll let it go for a second here. not to wonder where you are. guitar solo All this time This time Lingers Undefined Someone Choose

Who's left and who's leaving Memory will rust and erode into lists Of all that you gave me Blankets of matches, this pain in my chest The best parts of lonely. Duct tape and soldered wires. New words for old desires. And every birthday card I threw away guitar solo

I wait in four-4 time Count yellow highway lines That you're lying on to lead you home That you're lying on to lead you home The year lying on to lead you home Okay, we don't have to do that with all of them, okay? Otherwise, we're going to be here for like four hours. But yeah, John K. Sampson is the greatest writer of lyrics. As a writer, I admire him. I admire him in a lot of ways. But it's easy to be obscure, poetic and obscure,

and have people ponder over what the heck the words mean. John writes it with a clarity and a directness, but it's poetic and spare. He is absolutely of a place. You know where he comes from and he's so that you know the band is the band but you know John is the band

you know the weaker thans are no longer extant because one of them didn't want to do it anymore you know and being the great democracy there John doesn't go out and tour as the weaker thans he tours as John Sampson he's done some great solo stuff Winter Wheat the last record some beautiful record but yeah I got to know go out and tour as the weaker dance. He tours as John Sampson. He's done some great solo stuff.

Winter Wheat, the last record, some beautiful record. But yeah, I got to know John, well, Hodge, right? You know, I got invited on their tour bus. They were playing to Casbah in Hamilton and actually had a tour bus. And Hodge, who is the king of backstage, you know, said, hey, come on and meet the guys.

So I went in and met John there for the first time. And, you know, we have, we've crossed paths a bunch since, you know, he's hey, come on and meet the guys. So I went in and met John there for the first time. And, you know, we've crossed paths a bunch since. You know, he's been out and played my festival in Newfoundland, our festival in Newfoundland. His partner, Christine Fellows, has as well. And that's the Woody Point Festival. Yeah, Writers at Woody Point coming up this August. I've seen him in a million different places.

I went in the World Cup, the Women's World Cup. I was covering the Women's World Cup in Germany in 2011, I think it was. And I was in Dresden and somehow saw something. They got a note saying, hey, I'm playing. Do you want to come? He was in Cologne. Yeah. So I just skipped out on the World Cup, got on a train, went to Cologne,

got a hotel room, showed up, and watched the whole show from the side of the stage in front of, you know, they're big. The weaker lands are big in Germany, right? They had a following there and people singing back every line of every song to them. But watching that from the side of the stage,

you know, there's a great line. There's a great line about the, there's a reference to the Winnipeg Jets in One Great City and, you know, somebody in a German accent just before the team came back, you know, hollering out, we love you Jets. And great city. And, you know, somebody in a German accent, just before the team came back, you know, hollering out, we love you Jets. And we did it. The other thing with John, you know, we shot

one of our features about Reggie Leach, you know. I'm glad you're going here. Good. By the way, just I want to hear the Reggie Leach story because Tim Thompson kicked out the jams and that was one of his jams. The, the, the, the. What do you call it?

The application for induction into the Hall of Fame. Yeah. And I know Tim made the little, the film about going, walking the Hall of Fame with John, right? And so we did a piece about Reggie, the Riverton rifle, and I wanted John to sing that song in the piece. And we went up to, so we drove to Riverton. So it was in the winter.

So we, we went to Winnipeg and George Katakis, the producer and Elias Eichle, who shoots a lot of our great stuff. And I showed up in Winnipeg in the middle of winter and picked John up. And, you know, we went out to a steakhouse for dinner and John took us to a steakhouse for dinner. But he's a vegetarian, so we ordered a grilled cheese. And then the next morning we drive up to Riverton, which isn't that far from Winnipeg. But, you know, in winter driving, you know, we were wimps, right? And it was like prairie driving and you couldn't see

and there's like one little strip. And eventually I just said, look, will you drive? Because none of us should be doing this. So he drove. So he drove us up to Riverton. He stood on the snowy main street of Riverton and played the song over and over because we had to shoot it. And that piece is one of the, of all the things we've done,

that's one of my absolute favorites. It's amazing. Yeah. I think it's got a kind of an honesty to it that I, yeah, I am really, really proud of that piece. I'm not sure how many people even saw it, but you can probably find it somewhere. But John, look, John is a, you know, he's a socially active guy. He's a politically active guy. He does real things for real people.

And I'm not going to embarrass him by talking about it here. But people who actually don't just talk the talk, right? And he's a very, very special person. And look, I could listen to John Sampson and or the weaker thens and not listen to anything else. I'd be happy with that. When I started doing these Kick Out the Jams episodes, I think Mark Hebbshire was my first guest. And then it was like Wilner and then Simmons. And I started doing this

and I always love Kicking Out the Jams because I love to hear the stories. But my thoughts at the time I started this were the two guys I'd love to get in here to Kick Out the Jams,

Dave Hodge and Stephen Brunt. So that's fantastic. Oh, thanks, Mike. That's fantastic. Well, this is great fun for me. So, yeah, don't worry about time. I mean, it's your time, I guess, because I'll record six hours if that's what it takes.

But just give me a wink or whatever when you're ready for the next jam. Okay, and we have a theme now. So this, that was, except for the first song and the last song, and I will not talk over the last song. Okay. But there is a theme to this.

So, you know, I have two hometowns, right? I have two places where I feel at home. You know, one is Hamilton where I live and where I was born and, uh, and the other is Newfoundland, which, you know, for the last 20 years,

I've been lucky enough to, they allow me to go out there and pay my property taxes. So, um, so everything else other than the first and last song is going to be drawn from either Hamilton music or Newfoundland music, but it's going to be, especially with the Newfoundland stuff,

like people here in Newfoundland, they think jigs and reels, right? Or maybe, you know, or maybe Great Big Sea, you know, and Alan Sabal, you know, and he's great. And they revolutionize things. But this will be, I think, a Newfoundland that a lot of people haven't heard. And I should tell the people that you brought 10 jams

as you were instructed to do, but there will be 11 jams because there's a surprise jam you don't know about. Outstanding, okay. So let's kick out another Stephen Brunt jam. We live around the hydro towers Listen to them singing in the park Wind the clocks to tighten all the radios That blow in the dark

The mothers lie down in the daytime And dream about Hollywood I know that they'd get there If they could It's just a matter of time Before we get to shine It's not a question of when or who does it cry Show our skin and picture windows around Tom Wilson.

Junkhouse is a great defunct Hamilton band, but man, Tom Wilson's still going strong. This band, Lee Harvey Osmond, which is his side project, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. No one else sounds like Tom. And he writes, actually his book, Beautiful Scars, his biography just came out.

Read it. It's fantastic. Tom is a larger-than-life guy. People know what he looks like, right? The hair. Like, I see him at the bank machine in Hamilton all the time. He looks like a rock star when he's at the ATM. That's what I love about Tom.

Yeah, a great live performer, great songwriter, larger-than-life personality, and what a set of pipes, man. And he's coming to Woody woody point yeah blackie's coming black in the rodeo kings are coming he came out before uh solo when he was uh going out with kathy jones so they came out together which was an interesting pairing and i know we're gonna hear obviously we're gonna hear more about woody point but uh that was one of my favorite takeaways from your first appearance was hearing about the festival. And almost every guest, I've had some musicians in here since. I bring it up every chance I get.

Like, it's like I got to get myself to Newfoundland at some point and go to the Woody Point. Yeah. You had Skydiggers guys here, right? So, you know, they played. Like, they had a heck of a time. I saw them about a month ago. So good. Little Hall in Waterford, Ontario.

What a great show. So good. I saw them at Christmas. The Christmas show was at the Horseshoe. I was at one, Ontario. What a great show. So good. I saw him at Christmas. The Christmas show was at the Horseshoe. I was at one of those. But fantastic. Yeah, Josh and Andy are, again, you know. Actually, I only had Andy, I should point out.

Well, I'll say this over and over again, but, you know, really good folks, right? Good dudes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, he came into my basement, right? That's a first sign he's a decent guy. Yeah, I love them. Some Neil Young harmonica here.

Yep. Yeah, I love them. Some Neil Young harmonica here. Yep. And now he plays for the Washington Capitals, right? A little bit of a goon, I'd say. Yeah. It's funny because I had Rusty on recently, and I love Rusty. I still love Rusty.

Ken came all the way from Sudbury, flew in, he had a show at the Horseshoe but he came here first. And I had all three guys from Rusty and it was fantastic. But I always remember the 90s watching much music and listening to a lot of Canadian rock. Junkhouse was fantastic right up there. Yeah, they had a moment, didn't they? Kind of a much music moment. Maybe more than a moment.

Yeah, we had some big top back't they? Kind of a much music moment. Maybe more than a moment. Yeah, we had some big top, back when rock would appear on Top 40. Yeah, it's a band that, you know, I think probably couldn't stay together

at a certain point, you know. Bands, we'll talk about that. Bands have a shelf life, right? Right. Right.

Yeah. It's just a matter of time Before we get to shine It's too bad Brian Gerstein doesn't do any Hamilton realty because I think we're going to get a lot of people moving to Hamilton this episode.

Yeah, it's a cool place. Musicians are flocking in. Oh, and that note. This is a good chance. I've still got 30 seconds in this jam. Ralph Ben-Murray was on recently. He loves Hamilton. Yeah, he does.

He's a real zealot for Hamilton now. He asked me, no joke, he asked me at some point if I could broker a meeting between, he wants to meet Stephen Brunt. We've met. We did a show together. Does he remember that?

Yeah, I hope so. It's on the recording, I think. No, there was a great, there was a benefit show at Christmas. Well, he might not remember because I'll tell the story. So they had this super cool benefit for Syrian refugees, right? And the National played, among others, right? So the church in Hamilton.

So the National played, Hayden played, Tom played, all kinds of amazing people played this benefit. And so it was all about Hamilton and about, you know, so they had people talk, you know, Hamiltonians, and Ralph hosted it. You know, and Ralph's kind of a new Hamiltonian. He's one of those guys who, you know, is still kind of blown away because there's trees and parks. He's blown away because it doesn't take him an extra half

an hour to get anywhere. Yeah, that's right. You get everywhere in 10 minutes and all that stuff. And I got up and I made kind of the, you know, it's the closest I've ever done to kind of a fist raise. And I didn't do it with Ralph. But I kind of – because there is Hamiltonians being discovered by Toronto Life and stuff and people saying, oh, there's restaurants there. And there are parks. Some of us kind of still kind of think of us and them in terms of the big city, right?

And so I did the kind of we are not part of the GTA. This is a real place full of real people and it always has been and it's got its own character and, you know, I didn't quite flip a middle finger

to all the people coming in for the cheap real estate, but it was kind of like that. So maybe that's why you forgot. Well, that's why the artists are showing up, right? Because you can't afford to live in Toronto

and be an artist. Yeah. Well, you know, we have, you know, Tyler from the Dwayne Gretzky, the Trues guys are there, two thirds of Elliot Brood's there now. You know, we have, you know, Tyler from the Dwayne Gretzky, the Trues guys are there. Two thirds of Elliot Brood's there now. Elliot Brood.

You know, Wayne Petty, Cuff the Duke is there. Yeah. A lot of people, you know, visual artists, you know, a lot of those kind of folks moving in. And just a reminder, because a lot of sports media fans are listening. So Blair lives there. He does. Jeff Blair, you live there.

Yes. And no longer living there, but proud Hamiltonian is Damien Cox. Yeah. He actually went to, unlike me, he went to high school there. Jeff Blair, you live there. Yes. And no longer living there, but proud Hamiltonian is Damien Collins. Yeah, he actually went to, unlike me, he went to high school there. Like I, you know, I had, my family had moved out by the time I got to high school, so I returned. But yeah, he went to high school in Hamilton, which is always, that's the signal, that's the kind of the people always ask you that, you know, if you're from Hamilton,

where'd you go to high school? And I always have to go, I didn't actually go to high school here. Any, did I miss any prominent sports media people that are from Hamilton? Ken Finland from The Sun, you know, lives up in Lancaster, I think. Yeah, but, you know, which is kind of close. Because Hebsey used to live near there,

and then he moved to, like, Bloor West Village. Yeah, because he was on CH all those years, right? Right, and then we know what happened there. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, not sports media, but Alex Pearson was over, and she was a Hamilton punker, apparently, back in the day. Yeah, well, Hamilton was over and she, she's a big, she was a Hamilton punker apparently. Yeah. Well, Hamilton is, you know, I kind of think of what Hamilton music sounds like, right. You know, and like, not that I was a punk, but I certainly was writing about music and I was

listening to music during the, you know, the first time around. I always have to kind of say that, you know, the first time around, the late 70s, early 80s, when it actually happened. And Hamilton in those days was not a place where people came for cheap real estate and to go to cool restaurants. It was a gritty, steel-cut town, working class, very much a working

class ethos. It still has that. I'm going to change up the order of your dance. Yeah, you're going to have to. And if you say, what does Hamilton sound like? It's a great rock town, but the sound of Hamilton is punk, I think, and unpretentious, like not art school punk. It's not art school punk.

It's kind of, it's distilled, it's a distillation of rock and roll. That's to its most basic and its most direct. And that to me is the Hamilton sound. Someday you may smile at me And I'll walk away But yesterday I needed a book Today I needed a bank But I know who was always there It's me that I have to thank

And I wanna say I picture my face And I gotta say Teenage Head. Yeah. Picture my face. The problem is you can't make it loud enough. It should hurt. Yeah. And I like that can't make it loud enough. It should hurt. Yeah. And I like that

it's not overproduced. It's got a bit of a grungy kind of raw sound coming out of it. Yeah, I wonder, I'm not sure who made that record. I gotta tell you,

there's a Teenage Head this week. Teenage Head are being enshrined on the Wall of Fame at Westdale High School. Wow. Which is where

my kids went to high school. They actually did go to high school in Hamilton. Because the first Teenage Head gig was played in the cafeteria at Westdale High School. Wow. Which is where my kids went to high school. They actually did go to high school in Hamilton. Because the first teenage head gig was played in the cafeteria at Westdale High School. That's awesome. Now, I'm not sure how far Frankie got in high school. I'm not totally sure about that. And there was a legit scene there.

Yeah. Well, you know, I was going to, you know, they didn't quite make the cut as I wanted to get, but, you know, I was going to play Forgotten Rebels, right? Right, right, right. Mickey DeSantis, you know, who's still a punk, right? He rides around my neighborhood on his bicycle with flaming red hair. I always think, that's Mickey DeSantis in my neighborhood. That's kind of cool.

You know, they did Surfing on Heroin and Elvis is Dead. But these guys, you know, the Ontario Place Riot. And Frankie was, you know, man, to be a front man, you know, a real, true,

honest to God, can't take your eyes off a front man. I saw one of the last gigs he played, which was at a Grey Cup in Toronto, you know,

like in the Tigers, whatever they call it, Tiger Town or whatever the Hamilton Ticat Room was. Right. And he was pretty far gone there. But they continue on. Dave Rave's fronting them now. You know, Tom Wilson's. I went to a New Year's Eve show that Tom Wilson fronted with a teenage act.

Oh, wow. That was pretty good. It was really loud. Really loud. At least, you know, Gord Lewis, I see all the time. There's a great bar in Hamilton called This Ain't Hollywood, a great music venue.

The name of a forgotten Rebel song. But that's, yeah, the kind of, the grit and the authenticity of Hamilton, that's what I think of

when I hear these guys. We need more Hamilton. Yeah, well, we got lots of Hamilton here. Now this is not fun. I swear it's fact Now I'm alone About that girl who's gone And I tried teaching her guitar Now she's standing at the bar She tells me her favorite song And I say, yeah, that's a good one

She says it follows her around. No shit, but it feels. I'm so lost. And I live just around the corner. But here's a thought. Yeah, Frank, I'm closer at the forward I'm John Lennon in 67 I'm John Lennon in 67

I'm John Lennon in 67 I'm John Lennon in 67 The Arkells, John Lennon. Yeah. I'm going to start with this one, too. You know, I think that song takes place in the Snooty Fox, which is a bar around the corner. It's kind of a divey student bar around the corner from where I live.

The line about being in the John at the Snooty Fox, I believe. This is from their first record from Jackson Square, which, you know, obviously they're a big deal now, right? And they have exploded. But I love this is from their first record from jackson square which you know obviously they're a big deal now right and they have exploded but i love this record this first record this is one of the bosses the bosses yeah boss is coming uh ballad of hugo chavez right it's it and it's you know these guys i i first got to know about max because a friend of mine was his academic advisor at mac so you know saw them play in tiny little venues in Hamilton. Got to know them.

Saw them at the Olympics, playing in the Ontario Pavilion in 2010 in Vancouver and a million other places. Again, I'm going to say it again. Really cool dudes. You know, Max has got a great sense of presence on stage. And they make me smile, you know. Max has said to me a of presence on stage. And they make me smile. Max has said to me a couple times, he said, I can see you in the crowd

because you're out there with a big stupid smile on your face. And they make me smile. And I think there's something about going to hear a band where they're not a bunch of shoegazers, right? That they give you joy. And I feel great joy listening to these guys. Max is incredibly likable as a front man. The other guys in the band, I also did.

Here's my Hamilton point of pride. They played, they opened, they did the pre-Great Cup show. When the Great Cup was in Vancouver, I've got to remember which year it was. But they weren't the halftime guys. They weren't big enough. And I managed through, Jake the Snake knows this story. Jake runs a website called ArgosSuck.com, right? That is Jake's other life.

He has several lives. He has a professional life too, but he does run ArgosSuck.com. So through Jake, I had several of these buttons and I got down backstage, down to the dressing room before the show, and those guys on National Television wore Argos Suck buttons at the Grey Cup,

which endeared them to all Hamiltonians. But the fact that it's blown up for them, I couldn't be happier. They took it seriously. Bands, again, have a shelf life. They're coming out of school. People's lives change. And if you really want to do it, it's a risky, risky commitment. Can't make any money

selling records anymore and they make music people like and I like the new stuff but I love this record because it's fresh and it's young and it's kind of wide-eyed and it's beautiful.

You know, it seems to some of the casual observers it almost seems like they had a meteoric rise because now the Arkells are a really big deal. Then you realize

this song came out 10 years ago. Yeah, and 10 years is, you know, if a band lasts 10 years, it's had a great run. You know,

and often that's kind of where they... The Beatles didn't last 10 years. Well, the last live gigs for sure were less than 10, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, yeah, it's, you know, they have a shelf life because people have lives you know one of the guys in the band you know left and went to law school um you know dan um it the reality is uh the arkells if you're gonna be i hate to say this but if you're gonna be

there's nothing wrong with this but being canada famous it's really tough to make a living i find because i talked even guys like from sloan for example which is a big time canadian rock band it's tough to make a go of it, even living in Hamilton, I'm sure. But Arkells are blowing up right now. Well, and you know, Mike, the question is whether you want to be Canada famous and make a living.

I've talked to Joel Plaskett about this a lot, right? Because Joel has got a great career in Canada, plays with the band, plays with his dad, does solo stuff, runs know, runs a studio. And at a certain point decided I'm not going to beat my head against the wall and try and make it in the States because it's just nuts down there. Right. A lot of other bands go down there. And, you know, I've seen the Arkells in the States, you know, playing.

So I saw them on a great triple bill actually at the Wheel Turn in Los Angeles. This is just, you know, a couple of years ago. Maybe not even that. So Frank Turner, John K. Sampson, and the Arkells. Dave Hodge's dream team. Yeah, it was. It was super.

So Frank and Frank has great life, right? And in a great old theater. But they were the third act on that show, playing in front of a crowd where people didn't know their stuff. I remember going to see Hey Rosetta play at a bar in Tucson once where they were opening for a band I've never heard of. I just happened to see Hey Rosetta play at a bar in Tucson once where they were opening for a band

I've never heard of I just happened to be out there and they were playing it's a tough road the more musicians I have sitting here with me and having what I call the real talk where we talk openly and honestly about anything the more I realize there's a reason Ken from Rusty is a bricklayer in century yeah no it's true

it's really hard and again because especially because there's no money from records. So how do you, you know, how do you justify it? If you're, you know, if you start when you're 21, you know, and you quit when you're 31, that's a pretty big chunk of your life. So these guys, but these guys, you know, they really, they made some kind of, they made decisions in terms of management and strategy and music that were, you know, again, because they're all really smart. They said, look, how are we, okay, if we're going to make it, how are we going to make it?

What are we going to be? You know, what kind of a band is going to make it? And they made themselves into that band. And I, and look, I get it. And I think it's, you know, and it's paying off for them now. They can fill large venues now, which I think is a big deal. If you're going to make all your money touring, you've got to, if you can fill the bigger venues,

like what are they called now? The Budweiser Stage. Yeah, and they're doing a big outdoor show at Tim Hortons Field. You play the big festival gigs. Right. But yeah,

what you don't want to be doing is six guys driving around in a station wagon, all sleeping in the same room and playing a bar in Sudbury. And that's what every band you love has done that. Oh, yeah. And at some point, you can. And that's what every band you love has done. Oh, yeah.

And at some point, you can't afford to keep doing that, believe it or not. You always think you're on the road to make money, but when you realize the true expenses of being on the road, you realize that actually, considering, like you said, you can't sell a million units of your CD anymore, like it was 1995. Or you grow up, or your girlfriend says, hey, it's me or the road or you go to law school.

So the ones that hang in are, it's not just about talent. It's about perseverance. You're right. Here's a quick kick out the jam footnote that I find interesting. So you gave me 10 jams. Only one jam had been kicked out by somebody else. Okay. And that is the one we just heard.

So John Lennon was kicked out by Freddie P, Fred Patterson of the Humble and Fred show. Oh, excellent. Yeah, that's cool. And he was program director at The Wolf when that song broke

and he played it as often as he could because he just adored John Lennon. Yeah, it's a great song and it's a great record. And again, if you can listen to that song

and not smile and not imagine yourself being 19 years old trying to pick up a girl in a bar, uh, deep water Black and cold like the night I stand with arms wide open I've run a twisted line

I'm a stranger In the eyes of the maker. I could not see. Daniel Lenoir, The Maker. A song that's been covered as well by, you know, Willie Nelson plays this in his live shows, Emmylou Harris, obviously a big association with Dan. And, you know, he's a genius.

Not a term that should be overused, but I think he is a genius. And he wasn't born in Hamilton, you know. Family came from Quebec when his mother left his father which is a story that's told in another of his songs but they did come to Hamilton

and boy, where do you start with Dan? You know, I've encountered him. I've never, I don't really, I don't know him but I loved,

I always loved the idea that, you know, when he and his brother were running Grand Avenue Studios that, you know,

he was driving around Hamilton with like Brian Eno and Bono in Hamilton because of the Joshua Tree and all that stuff. A lot of it was done in Hamilton. I got to know his brother, his late brother. One of the first cool restaurants in Hamilton was a Cajun restaurant on Lock Street that his late brother was the chef.

People in Hamilton didn't know Dan was there. They didn't know what was going on in that studio, really. It took a long time for the penny to drop that he was one of us. And yeah, I got my two Dan stories. In my neighborhood, there was this little crappy neighborhood festival, and a guy was opening a new vegetable market, like a little vegetable store and uh it turned out that the guy was his mother's boyfriend so they said you know so this is what you can imagine like people in lawn chairs and like bouncy castles and all this stuff and somebody said dan lan was going to come and play for the

opening of this vegetable thing i don't think so but you know it started to seem and they brought like this little flatbed trailer up there right and it kind of seemed and so so i brought a lawn chair my wife and i went and sat there's like 12 of us sitting there in lawn chairs in front of this trailer nothing happens nothing happens nothing happens finally bob lanois his brother gets up and plays a little guitar and sings a song says dan's coming don't worry he's coming and you know So then he kind of shows up and he's got the cowboy hat and the mutton chops and the whole thing.

And he sat two in the afternoon in bright sunshine in front of 12 people in lawn chairs and played Pedal Steel. That's incredible. Dan Lanwa playing Pedal Steel is ethereal, right? And that was it. Didn't say anything. Just played for 20 minutes and then he left

and then they opened the vegetable store. That's amazing. So that's my one story. The other encounter, slightly different. When they started, the Hamilton Music Awards

started maybe 10 years back and it's kind of had a bit of a checkered history, but they, the first year was, they, you know, was really interesting.

There were a bunch of little pop-up things in bars, like jam session stuff. And the word kind of filtered out, and I forget how I heard, that Dan Lanwa was going to show up and play. So we end up in this little bar, and it's kind of a basic rock

trio playing, you know, guitar-based drums, and they're grinding it out, and there's not that many people there. And then, sure enough, Dan Lanwa walks in the door. And the guy hands him his guitar, and he tunes, and He looks at you guys. He counts it out and they go. And it turns into this extended, this blues jam.

And it felt like it lasted for an hour. And he just kept pushing and pushing and pushing and playing. And again, again, going more Hendrix all the time. And this poor, the poor drummer and bass player like are dying. He's just killing these guys. And he's just, you know, he'd look at him and go, go, this thing just keeps and and finally and that's it plays this jam that goes on forever it ends boom it's over and he walks off and so i walk i walk into the washroom and there's no one no one else there except dan lanois standing there kind of looking in the mirror and i looked at him

and i just and and i said something to the effect of, you know, that was, you know, that was fucking amazing, man. He was like, that was, that may have been the greatest thing I've ever heard in my life. And he looked at me and his eyes are spinning around like pinwheels. So, uh, and he makes a fist and he, there's a paper towel dispenser on the wall and he knocks it off. He smashes it, punches it, knocks it off the wall. Thing goes flying. Knuckles are bleeding. Looks at me and says, see ya, and walks out.

Whoa. So I'm not sure what Dan had been doing before that gig. But man, it was cool. It was great. Last time I saw him was with Emmylou Harris when they did the Wrecking Ball tour. And wow. Yeah. He has such great taste.

You know, that's the thing about him. You know, playing with Brian Blade, the great drummer playing with him, the two of them together. Yeah, a musician's musician. How many nights a week on average are you seeing a live band? Yeah, it depends what I'm doing. You know, it depends what's up. You know, I try to get out as much as I can.

But, you know, it kind, yeah, it kind of depends what I got to do the next day. And it depends who's coming through town. So, but yeah, no, I try to get out, you know, and I'm, I try to get out. I've got tickets for stuff going into the fall already. And yeah, I'm, I, you know, I'm not, again,

I'm not Hodge. When do you return though? Hodge is my mentor. When do you return from Newfoundland? Yeah, around the end of August usually. Cool. Yeah. But I'll hear a lot of music out there, too. We'll hold on I will always be

The Novaks Goodbye Rock and Roll Band We'll kill more life For when you're a disease The No-Backs, goodbye rock and roll band. There's your Newfoundland music. Yeah, again. It's heavy. Aggressively loud in person, man. They've taken away some layers of my hearing.

This song, this was the other big moment. This song was Little Steven's Garage on Sirius. They name the greatest song in the world every once in a while. I think every day or every week. This is the greatest song in the world.

This was the greatest song in the world for that week or that day, whatever it was. And it is kind of perfect. It's two and a half minutes of just kind of pure kick-ass rock and roll. Well, goodbye rock and roll band. Mick's got that sneer in his voice, doesn't he? He's got the rock and roll sneer. Mark, the bass player, is a guy we worked with. When we go to Newfoundland to shoot stuff, we've shot a lot of features out there.

He's our sound guy. And he produces and he does a bunch of other things. But yeah, they've been going for, you know, they've had a good long run. They don't play all the time, but they occasionally show up. They played the horseshoe. You know, they've played places like that around here, but they're really kind of a Newfoundland phenomena. That jam is all killer, no filler. Yes, that's 100% what it is.

Yeah. Now I need to leave my soundboard here. Hey, everybody, come with me as I leave the soundboard because I'm going to play a song off SoundCloud, but let's kick out your next jam. Oh, Linda, how did you manage that? Everyone knows that your goals was more than mine To be expected

No, ain't that Yes, you've been around this block more than one time I'm emancipated from my young and lonely heart Yes, you can also come to me right from the start Calculated with every move I make This is Gramercy Riffs with Olinda. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think the riffs are active right now. Mara Pellerin, whose voice that is, and I love her voice.

It's got that great kind of edge to it. But she's toured with Hey Rosetta Basha Bulat she's part of her band her regular band

she's a great musician you know plays French horn plays trumpet but again I love the freshness of this it's again it sounds young you know in the right way

and I love the energy you know I just and they're fun. Again, they're another band that makes me smile. This is a great jam. It is pretty good, isn't it? Oh Linda, did you manage that? Everyone knows that your goals worth more than mine To be expected, knowing that

Yes, you've been around, you've been around, you've been around this block more than once. All I ever wanted was for somebody to come break my heart out. Come and go. Yes, all I ever wanted was for somebody to come break my heart out. Come and go. Oh, oh, oh, oh. All I ever wanted was just somebody to come break my heart out. They come and go.

They come and go. They come and go. That's fun, isn't it? Seriously, that is a kick-ass jam. It is a kick-ass jam. Yeah, they're great. They played, I remember, I saw them, they played a gig at the Casbah Lounge, which is the Casbah in Hamilton.

It's another famous music venue. Casbah Lounge is a tiny little room beside it. First place, I saw the Arkells play. And these guys played with another great Newfoundland musician, Mark Bragg. So both check Mark Bragg is kind of like the Newfoundland Tom waits, right? He's a really interesting songwriter, really interesting character. And the only people in the Casbah lounge who were not members of the bands were me and my wife and a bartender.

No one showed up. So it was like a Tuesday night in Hamilton. No one knew who the bands were. And they both went up there and they killed it. They still put on a show. That must be amazing. I don't think I've ever seen a decent band with such a small audience. I saw Hey Rosetta play to seven people once.

I gotta say though, Lowest of the Low did play for me in this basement. That's pretty good. That's not bad. But yeah, I've occasionally seen bands where they hadn't happened yet or something like that. Well, if you're a Newfoundland phenomenon,

it's quite possible in Hamilton that Stephen Brunt and his wife are the only two that are aware. Well, if you're a Newfoundland phenomenon, yeah, it's quite possible in Hamilton that Stephen Brunt and his wife are the only two that are aware. Well, yeah. It's, you know, big bands deserving greater recognition, I guess. But again, the kind of rock scene, the pop scene in Newfoundland, other bands, you know,

Green and Gold, Repartee, St. Mark Bragg. There's some really interesting stuff going on there that is not what people would think of as music from Newfoundland. There's lots of great traditional music on there that is not what people would think of as music from Newfoundland. There's lots of great traditional music, if that's what you're into as well. But St. John's especially has been a real hot bit. Sherman Downey from Corner Brook,

he won the Searchlight competition one year, I think. So yeah, there's some really, really good music being made there. But Stephen, back in the day, we heard bands from across this country because they got radio play. Like,

this is where we, you know, forget much music, the radio, and then you, oh, this band's got a radio single that you're hearing all the time

and they're from Newfoundland and they're coming to town and then you want to check them out or whatever. But now that everything, I mean, everything's kind of streaming, there seems to be less,

I want to say less curating by somebody who knows and loves music. I mean, Strombo does a good job. Strombo does a good job. Yeah, he does. And I think CBC, Radio 3 does a nice job. 3, yeah. I think they still showcase Canadian music.

I'll tell you, when we do stuff, one of my kind of rules, my unofficial rule around Sportsnet is if we're going to go out and license music for something, I try and make the point that we should license Canadian music. Why would we not license Canadian music at the showcase? I don't know if you saw the piece, the Memorial Cup piece we did with the Rios with Saskatchewan.

I'm proud of that. If you're a Rios statics fan, yeah, go find it. Bedini's doing his West End Phoenix thing on Saturday. The telethon, that's right. Conflict me with my grilled cheese challenge. That's a tough one. A lot of neat people going to Bedini's doing his West End Phoenix thing on Saturday. The telethon, that's right. Conflict me with my grilled cheese challenge. That's a tough one. A lot of neat people go on the Bedini's thing, of course. I said Hepsi because Hepsi records his podcast in my basement,

which is competing with your podcast. Oh, well. And I said, hey, come see me at the beer tent. And he's like, I'm at Bedini's thing on Saturday. Yeah, I'm going to be out of town, unfortunately. I sent Dave my money. So I've already done my bit. Oh, that's great.

That's great. And that was a great jam. Loved it so much. And here's a longer jam. So this is going to give us a chance to talk. You're right. A lot of your jams are shorter. Some are a couple of minutes long, but not this one.

So let's kick out another Brunt Jam. Regrets a dish that's best served. Constantly reheated. And we know you've been eating alone a lot Cause now you've got that hunted look upon your face From chasing yourself down Down Oh Oh, don't stop me if you've heard this one before

I'm sure it's worth us digging up more bones For a good friend, a trend is not a destiny So it's time to move from rescue to recovery Giving it to defeat like folding a fitted sheet, there's no way to win this And hey, from where we stand Everyone's to blame A little No one's killing any kids

So no matter No one's stealing last day plans I'm killing any kids. Paithological lovers best served. Yeah. The great Jody Richardson. Again, St. John's, Newfoundland. Talking about guys who had a moment. Yeah, he was part of the Thomas Trio and the Red Albino, who would have been on Much Music.

They had a couple of hits. You can find old interviews with them on YouTube. Ask anybody in the Canadian music business, rock business, about Jody Richardson. He's the greatest rock front man

in this country. Wow. He is, and he's an interesting writer of lyrics as you can tell from this. Massive, massive talent.

Yeah, the Lovers, you know lovers still play every once in a while. If you go to the ship or someplace, they'll go on at one in the morning and kill it. He's one of our Woody Point people, so he's around our town most of the summer. He runs a crazy karaoke Saturday night. If you want to go here, that's where Ron Sexsmith doing Aerosmith there one night. Wow. Which song? Do you remember?

I can't remember which one it was. Sweet Emotion, right? It was pretty great. But yeah, Jody's a smart guy and a great writer. A great, great writer. But him in front of a rock band? Yeah, everybody should experience that.

I'm ashamed to admit to you that I heard this song for the first time when you sent me your list. Yeah, I'm not surprised. But I was, because it's long, it's like seven minutes plus, but it's actually, it is also all killer, no filler. How do you do that in seven minutes? There's a lot going on there. Like lyrically, there's a lot going on in this song. And it doesn't have that typical like verse, chorus, verse kind of thing.

It's relentless. Like there's nowhere to talk in this song, you will maybe now i guess but uh it reminded me and this is for some actually let's be quiet for a moment i like this A lot going on in that. It almost gave me a Bruce Springsteen vibe. Yeah. Yeah. It's just a lot going on. Or meatloaf.

I wasn't sure which one to go with. It's sort of epic. Way less cheese. Yes. Way less cheese. Yeah. Or Band on the Run. How's that?

That's okay. But it's like a little, yeah, it is like a little rock opera here. Different parts. Been in and out Knowing a lot Cause now you got That haunted look Upon your face From chasing yourself down Now is the empty time To draw the battle lines And play to take back yourself From where We stand

Everyone's Two-game A little No one's Turning any kids Everyone's choosing a game A little old No one's killing any kids Are they now? And no one's stealing Life savings

Are they now? And no one's killing any kids So no matter No one's stealing Life savings Are they now? Are they now? Are they now? It's relentless. And it's great.

It's relentless and it's great, yeah. So imagine that at kind of a packed steamy bar at 2 in the morning in St. John's with him swinging from the chandeliers essentially. Oh man, I want to go there. Yeah. He'd need a radio edit, I think, for the... He might, yes.

...session. That's possibly true, yes. For Indy 88. Jody wrote a song for Hockey Day in Canada this year. They always have original songs. It was equally epic, right? He, Kim Stockwood, and Sherman Downey wrote the three songs. It was equally epic, right? He, Kim Stockwood, and Sherman Downey wrote the three songs.

And Jody's song, their songs were great, but they were kind of song-like. And Jody's was two voices and like 20 verses or something. That's fantastic. I've met Kim Stockwood. She's great, too. Yeah, she's terrific. And this is, I don't know, this was on the album, so this kind of follows, I guess this is not

technically part of the song. I don't think this is technically part of the song. I'm not totally sure what this is. The bonus know this was on the album so this kind of follows I guess this is not technically part of the song I don't think this is technically part of the song I'm not totally sure what this is the bone it will close that's the bonus but anyway

he's yeah he is a magnetic presence he is a rock star you know he's one of those guys there's people just who are rock stars Jody is a rock star he is

yeah it's another band deserving wider recognition okay let's kick out another Bruncham. guitar solo We're born in water A fish so cold We're born in autumn

As the river flows Cause you shut up And you shut in And I know that You got your reason. But evil still lives in your heart. And it's your red heart, so. Won't you let your red heart, so.

Won't you let your red heart, so. Can't you let your red heart, so. Hey, Rosetta Red Heart Yeah I had to play that one Yeah Yeah Were you born a closed book? Full of secret lines And bound so tight Did you learn to lock it?

It's not to break your smile Oh, you were bound so tight Could you shut up? And you're all shut inside And I want it Honey, kiss your smile Maybe once in a while you could try Maybe it's your red heart, it's your Heart, it's your red heart, it's your

Come on, it's your red heart, it's your Come on, it's your red heart, it's your We'll see you next week. We were given so much that we let it go We were given so much that we let it go We were promised so much but we let it go We were promised so much and it's going I know but you look so good when you're laughing, you know Yeah, you look so good when you let it show Honey, you look so good when you're laughing Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Hmm. Yeah, that's, that's, yeah, that's still, uh,

you know, these guys are, it's almost like, I feel like they're almost like my own kids, you know. I've, um, they, you know, I, obviously being out there, being in Newfoundland, you kind of knew about them as a band on the rise. You know, the first time, I think we booked them for the festival. The first time was, they weren't even two years in.

And, um, you know, I remember going to see them. I remember going and talking to Tim Baker. They played the back room at the Rivoli. I think the first place I actually talked to him and said, hey, I got this festival. You don't know me, but you got this festival back in your home province. How would you like to play? And we've done all kinds of things with them out there.

They've played our theater a bunch of times out there. We did a show on a boat in the early days on this little kind of tour boat out in the middle of this beautiful fjord where it was a calm night. And people were packed in like sardines. I think the boat legally held 99 people, but we may have overdone it more than that. And the acoustics were hideous. It was below deck, so it sounded like you're playing inside a tin can. And the acoustics were hideous. It was below deck, so it sounded like you were playing inside a tin can.

But they anchored out in the bay in a full moon, and they played a show, and people are standing on chairs and tables in the bottom of this boat. It's still one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced. Yeah, you know, musically, they are a really interesting band. And I guess I should say past tense because they're on hiatus now. I talked about the 10-year rule, right? They hit 10 years. And people wanted, I guess I should say past tense because they're on hiatus now. They've kind of, I talked about the 10 year rule, right? They hit 10 years and people wanted to do other things. So Tim has got a solo record coming out soon. And he's played some solo shows. He's going to be playing out in Woody Point solo. He did some house concerts across Canada. So be interested to hear that. But yeah, other guys, other people in the band kind of had, it was time to do different things.

So they played these great farewell shows at the Phoenix in Toronto and then in St. John's at Mile One that were, you know, sad, happy, right? It was, you know, kind of felt like the turning of the page. But like these guys have, you know, I remember once they played Woody Point, there's, you know, there were seven people in the band. So them, Girlfriend, Sound Guys, everybody, we put them all up. We have a tiny little house there and then a tiny little guest cabin. And we put up 13 of them, I remember. So there were people sleeping on every surface. And I remember late at night sitting on the floor in the living room

in the kitchen kind of all together listening to the first time I heard, I think, Into Your Lungs, I think that record, you know, hearing there when, you know, just, it hadn't been released, and we just all, it was, you know, very late, and we were all semi-intoxicated, but hearing that music for the first time, and obviously that song changed the course of my life, because, and I may have told the story when I was on here before, but, before, but the Olympics in 2010, I was there for the Globe and also there for the Olympic website. The Olympic website was a disaster for the writers involved because it was run by these Italian guys. They brought in this Italian company, and it never worked.

The CMS. Well, you would produce stuff. Mike Grange could tell the same story. We were both assigned to it, and we would write stories, and they would never appear. And if they did appear, 10 would immediately be, you know, 10 pages of other stuff would make it disappear. So it felt futile. So we were very underemployed in 2010.

We just kind of wandered around. But one day, you know, in the middle of those Olympics, and obviously it was pretty extraordinary in Vancouver, Ken Volden, who was at TSN, and, you know, was kind of the conscience of TSN, I think, in a lot of ways, the brains, who is at TSN and, um, you know, it's kind of the, kind of the conscience of TSN. I think the, in a lot of ways, the brains and the conscience of TSN came to me and said, Hey, look, there's, you know, this, this kind of flag waving thing happening here.

You know, why don't you write something about it and we'll do it as a TV piece. And I'd never done anything like that. And so I wrote that piece and we did it. I worked with Matt Dunn, who's a great producer at TSN. And it ran during the Olympics and it was, everybody liked it. But that was not the piece that everybody remembers. No one remembers that piece. But that, so that ran like at the end of the first week. And, but it was generally well-received.

And they said, look, why don't you, you know, could you do something for the end of the Olympics? Revisit it. And so Matt and I went to work and, you know, those Olympics, one of the great things in 2010 was that, you know, in addition to the Olympics, there was this amazing cultural festival. So again, they're bands, like they, they music every night. You know, the only time I ever saw Lou Reed was, was there in this crazy Neil Young tribute show that, you know, Lou Reed and Elvis Costello and Bedini, you can ask Bedini. He was part of that show. Uh, so all kinds of great Canadian acts, right. You can ask Bedini. He was part of that show. So all kinds of great Canadian acts, right? You could see a different band every night.

And we went to a show at the Orpheum, which was one of the great theaters in Vancouver, and it was Hey Rosetta opening for Starz. And I'm not sure I've ever heard Hey Rosetta better. Like Starz might as well have not shown up that night. You know, it's the cardinal sin for an opening act, right? Don't overshadow the headliners, but man, they shown up that night. You know, it's the cardinal sin for an opening act, right? Don't overshadow the headliners. But man, they killed it that night.

And they started and they played Red Heart. And my wife, you know, who is much smarter than me, said, you know, you should use that when you do the next one. You should use that song. And yeah, so we did. And that, you know, I'll never forget the experience. The first time that ran and my phone was turned off and I went in and we ran and I did the thing with Brian Williams and, and then walked out and turned my phone on and it's like my phone exploded. I've never experienced anything like that, you know, and then it ran and again and again and again.

And, um, but that music, you know, there are a lot of things that are great in that piece. Um, you know, and Matt Dunn, you know, the images are, are perfect, but that song has an emotional pull that I,

you know, people hear that song now and they, you know, I, I'm not sure how that, like, I know for the band, it was a big deal.

Like it, I'm not sure. I think they probably get tired playing the song. Um, and I think the story was they were down in Surrey playing at one of these outdoor Olympic things that night and it was, and they ran it on the big screen. So they, they sat and watched the thing for the first time on the big screen. Um, so yeah, it's, it's been a, it's been a really special part of my life and my family's life getting to know those guys. Uh, you know, I, I, I, I, yeah, I have had many, many, many great experiences listening to them

and hanging out with them. And, you know, we'll see what they do now, right? It's one of those things. I'm sure they'll do other things as well, but it was a hell of a run. I mentioned a bonus jam that I was bringing. And so I'm going to play the bonus jam now and then read a little note about it I received. And you'll know what it is pretty quickly here, but this is the bonus for Stephen Brandt.

Bad luck just weaves through the city But it's keeping away from us. We'll move out or crawl through the traffic. And Water Street is humming along. And me and Cecilia are singing And we're banging on the dashboard in time We sing the words on her father's gravestone He's there in the human

light singing Don't let the bastards grind you down Don't let the bastards

grind you down Don't let the bastards grind you down. Don't let the bastards grind you down. Here's a note from Robert Carnell. So he writes, They played Woody Point Festival a few times. One year they recorded a concert there for CBC Radio. This is from September 25th, 2009. It's the last song from the concert.

They were at Woody Point Theatre and as the song was ending, they kept singing and walked outside and the crowd followed them. I'm pretty sure I can hear Brunt's voice laughing at one point. The last three minutes of the song is the chorus, Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down, as the band is on stage. So this was gifted to me yesterday, I suppose. Yeah, that's great. I appreciate that. I remember that well. We are the children of strength and vigor

And we were born in the morning blue Singing Don't let the bastards grind you down. Don't let the bastards grind you down. Don't let the bastards grind you down. Jesus, fair feet of emery earth Send me the current Let me be delivered Cause there's devils among us

There's dev devils among us And there's devils living in our hearts Some have not got their teeth cut Some are ashes in their gut And riding the freeway And they're locking their front doors at us And they're raising their family And they're raising their fingers at us in the front doors This is a thing I've never seen But I know Jesus for a fee

I see it all in the earth And they're trying to send me to church And they're all letting me be Tell the world that you should You don't let the masters Grind you down. Don't let the master cry you down. Don't let the master cry you down.

Come on, sing. Don't let the bastard grind you down Don't let the bastard grind you down Don't let the bastard grind you down Don't let the bastard grind you down Thank you. No less a bastard driving me down. No less a bastard driving me down. No less a bastard driving me down. No less a bastard drive you down. Don't let the bastard drive you down.

Don't let the bastard drive you down. Don't let the faster ride you down. Don't let the faster ride you down. Don't let the faster ride you down. Don't let the faster ride you down. Yeah, that's pretty great. So yeah, you've got to imagine that whole crowd walking up behind him. I can see it in my mind's eye.

I can see it and I just wish I was there. Yeah, it was pretty special. Yeah, that's great. It's great. I'll tell you, I'm going to say one old guy thing here. It's great to hear somebody who can actually sing. You know, auto-tune. It's the worst thing that ever happened. But to hear somebody who can actually sing, you know, auto-tune, you know,

it ups, it ups, you know, it's the worst thing that ever happened. But to hear someone who, you know, Tim can really sing. Like he's a great musician. They're all,

that's a really musically, you know, a lot of the stuff we played today, some of it's super sophisticated musically, some of it's three chord, you know, those guys, they're really good musicians,

you know, they're sophisticated musicians. And Tim has a, you know, has a real voice. And that's, so that is, yeah, un're sophisticated musicians and Tim has a, you know, has a real voice and that's, so that is, yeah,

unproduced, unfiltered, unaugmented in a little 200 seat room in Newfoundland. But you can feel the energy like you can, you can see them

drop their instruments and just kind of in that refrain, don't let the bastards grind. What's that, that song's Epitaph? Epitaph, yeah,

yeah. That's a beautiful, you know, and it's, yeah, it's a kind of a beautiful, beautiful moment. Are you ready for your final jam?

Yeah, I am. And this is one I'm not going to talk over. So I'm trying to think how to set this one up. I think I talked about Gord a fair bit when I was here last time. And Gord Downie, obviously. He came out to play Newfoundland. I got to spend time with him and his family. I was, you know, I think I told the story about him walking up my driveway, Newfoundland, still one of the kind of crazy dreamlike moments in my

life. And, um, you know, and then, and, you know, I think we've, we've all kind of been processing Gord ever, ever, you know, ever since we got the news. Um, and, uh, it's funny that I was talking to Wayne Petty, Cuff the Duke, Wayne Petty, who's an unbelievable guy. Another one of our, our, our Hamiltonians about, and he played at a, there's a, J.R. Diggs does this crazy Christmas show every year in Hamilton, this benefit show where all the musicians turn

out. It's really, really fun. If anybody gets, if we get a chance, it's just, it's the 23rd of December. It conflicts with the sky diggers at the, at the horseshoe. You have to choose, but it's, it's great. So all this, all these guys come out and he played, Wayne came out and played Chancellor, you know, and, and I was talking to him after I said, I told him, I said, I love that song, you know, and I love, I love that song. He said, and I love that record. And I found myself increasingly going back. So that's Coke Machine Glow, which is Gord's first solo record.

And I find myself going back to that record as much as I go back to the hip stuff. Over the last, you know, however long it's been, I listen to that. And when Gord came to Woody Point, he played, aside from Bob Cajun, he played exclusively stuff from that record. stuff from that record. Um, and Wayne said, you know, he said an interesting, he said, he said that, you know, for me in high school, that was the record that made an impact. He said, you know, the hip, you know, the hip was kind of the jocks and the muscle heads and the meat heads. And I wasn't one of those guys and they all loved the hip and, and I felt excluded from that. But when I heard this record, you know, that's the one that spoke to me. And I kind of get that. And I think in some ways, it's hard to separate Gord from The Hip,

although he did all that other stuff. He played with the Sadies and with Fucked Up and all those other projects, the Company Miracles record, which is, those are great records. But when you kind of say, okay, what's Gord? What was Gord? I think this record is Gord to me. This is, this is, this is essential Gord. And this song, in some ways it's the most straightforward song I think he ever wrote lyrically. It, um, it's simple and it's beautiful. Um, Julie Doran's on it, you know, and she's, her voice is like something from, from heaven. And I, and I say, I keep going back.

I go back to this record a lot. As much as I listened to the hip, I listened to this record over and over and over again. And I will say, you know, before we play just one, you know, there's at least one more record coming. There's at least one more record coming. I did not know that. Yeah. I just found that out a couple of weeks ago. So I'm not sure when you know and you know

but he was Gord had a really productive time around the time he was doing Secret Path you know in those last

months he did a lot of recording and so there's at least one more but yeah this is a beautiful song

you know yeah it breaks my heart. My wild child Your night lights on In your mild dance The moon is on the law Just make your friend while you're still young Before you can see through

anyone Or you can't see through anyone If you're trick riding in the rain Don't expect me to watch Don't ask me to explain I'll be your friend Your last refuge When things get weird Your beard breaks you I'll stroke your hair I'll dry your cheeks

Failures come No one speaks. If you're on a horse trick riding in the mud and rain, you can expect me to watch or ask me to explain guitar solo If you're on a horse trip riding in the mud and rain guitar solo Don't make me watch. Don't ask me to explain.

Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah Ah Ah Ah guitar solo It's kind of perfect, isn't it? You know, you said it earlier. We're all processing this. I find I'm still processing the loss of Cord Downie. Yep.

Yeah. No, I think that's... But, you know, the best way to do it is to immerse yourself in the art and it's many and varied forms but as I say I'm guessing there are some people listening to this who probably don't know that record and yeah I would say

Coke Machine Glow give it a listen I think it's the essence of Gord in a lot of ways Steven that was fantastic. It was fun, Mike. Thanks so much. You know, you're two for two. We might have to get you back.

I got to invent an excuse to get you back a third time. Well, yeah. You can come up with a new hook. I know. The Ralph Ben-Murgy, Steven Brunn, Hamilton love. Yeah. Well, apparently he doesn't met me, so we have to meet. I think you just erased that.

That's funny. And that brings us to the end of our 345th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Steven is not on Twitter. He's incognito. He's at a burner account. One of Colangelo's extra burner accounts.

Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Propertyinthe6.com is at Raptors Devotee. Paytm is at Paytm Canada and Camp Turnasol is at Camp Turnasol See you next week I want to take a streetcar downtown Read Andrew Miller and wander around And drink some Guinness from a tin

Cause my UI check has just come in Ah, where you been? Because everything is kind of rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold but the snow is cold It warms me today And your smile is fine