Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Tish Iceton: Toronto Mike'd #967

Episode Date: December 15, 2021

Mike chat with Tish Iceton about her decades in radio, her voiceover work, and why she's no longer heard on CHFI.

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from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. And Redleaf Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. I'm Mike from torontomike.com, and joining me this week is Tish Eyston. Woo! Hello. As I said to you just before I press record,

do you even remember the song Hippie Chick? I think Soho. This is maybe 90s. No. Oh, you got the Keith Richards. I love it. Keith Richards for president.

T-shirt. But I got a hippie chick vibe from you. Pleasure to meet you. Yeah, thank you very much. Good to be here. And I don't know that song, the 90s.

The hippie chick. I'll dig it up on YouTube here i could be a hippie chick my only regret in life is i wasn't old enough to go to woodstock oh okay that's uh that so if you were like what is the age by which you feel you you would have been able to go to new york there i was too young you know i i would have probably gone with a bunch of friends you know we were into hitchhiking and doing all of those kinds of things back then in the, in, you know, the late sixties, early seventies. But I was, I was too young in 1969. What was your first favorite musical act or artist? Do you remember?

You know, um, I think I'm, I'm, I have to go back to my very first 45 that I was given. I think, I have to go back to my very first 45 that I was given. I was the kid in the neighborhood that had all the 45s. Yes. So, you know, we hung out at people's houses and we danced and we played music. Right. And the very first 45 someone gave me was a British, Lonnie Dunnigan. Oh, I don't even know that name. I wear a, I'm a dustman.

I am an old dustman. I wear a dustman's cap. I live in, you know, it was one of those early songs. Yes, it was from the 50s. And if you look him up, actually, he's been around for a while and had done quite a bit of music. Anyway, I still remember it was blue. So that was my first 45.

But I would probably say The Mamas and Papas. Yeah, that was my first album, I think. In fact, right off the top, I'm going to ask your opinion on a voiceover, a piece of voiceover work that was done by somebody whose favorite song of all time is California Dreamin'. Oh, that's a great song. And it's a great segue, too. I'm going to give myself props on that.

So I'm going to play it off the top because I know we're going to have some of your stuff, too. Your voice is amazing, Tish, and you've done some great voiceover work yourself, which we'll get into. But this was recorded for a special episode of Toronto Mic last Friday by a good friend of mine. Again, a man who loves California Dreaming. You might even recognize his voice. I'm going to let you listen for a minute

and then tell me how he did in terms of voiceover work. Here we go. For 76 successive weeks, a weary nation was entertained by Pandemic Friday episodes of Toronto Mic'd, a welcome distraction during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Then on August 27th, in front of an adoring crowd of FOTMs on the patio of Great Lakes Brewery at TMLX8, it came to an abrupt end. It was over. Toronto Mike was exhausted and went camping. Cam Gordon retreated to the cozy bosom of MF and PPMM, and Stu Stone fled to Winnipeg to film a movie. A nation wept.

But do you believe in miracles? Pandemic Fridays with Toronto Mike, Cam Gordon and Stu Stone will return in January 2022. That's right. The band is getting back together with more fun facts and mind blows. Only this time, they'll record on the third Thursday of every month. Live at live.torontomike.com and they'll have a new name pandemic fridays are now toast welcome back boys all right tish i need an honest review how did this gentleman do in terms of voiceover work fantastic okay that's high praise from somebody who would know peter gross yeah okay how can you not recognize that fabulous voice and

that great delivery delivery is everything when it comes to those those kinds of characters on the radio so he didn't okay he might have a great job he might have a future he might have a future in this uh yeah in this world i would say so okay because you're the queen and oh god i'm not the queen let me play i got the imagination do you have 15 seconds i do what are you gonna dig up here okay here we go okay when stories and legends come to life, and you find yourself face to face with the wicked creatures and monsters of myth, how long will you keep telling yourself it's just a local tale? Okay, 15 seconds, and I think you won that round. Wow.

Thank you. That was a great booking. That was an exciting booking. You know, you get bookings as a voice talent that really excite you, and you think, oh, man, this is good. That was a good one. And that's Resident Evil. That was Resident Evil Village, the new video game that came out in May, and I was the promo voice for that entire campaign.

So that was the 15. And, you know, here's the thing. They own that work, of course, and they own all the work. So I really had to jump through some hoops and get the producers who I worked with to approach the client and see if I could even have that for myself. Okay, because that's on tishyston.com. Yes, and so you can't just have that.

My secret source. Yeah, thank you. And you know, I made the mistake, I regret it afterwards, but I was trying to be, you know, sometimes when you want something and so you ask for the smallest amount just so that they'll say yes. I wish now I had have asked for the 60, you know, because I'm sure they would have said yes. So I only asked for the 15, and that's what I have on my website.

But it was still a great campaign. Well, I'm going to do one more here because everybody wants us to talk some radio here. But, of course, you're very busy with your voiceover work. And here's a big tech company. Let's listen to this. This is a whole minute here of Tish. Change is hard, unfamiliar, even uncomfortable. It's also beautiful, compassionate. hard, unfamiliar, even uncomfortable.

It's also beautiful, compassionate, courageous. Nokia phones challenged people around the world to create change in 48 hours. I'm gonna put on the most important blood drive I've ever done. the most important blood drive I've ever done. I'm going to lift the spirits of the elderly through my works of art. Change can happen to us, or we can embrace it,

seek it out. The blood drive is in the books. Because change is necessary, inevitable, and powerful. Wow. Thank you. That was also a great booking. That was a directed session, as was the Resident Evil. Are there ever bad bookings, though?

Like, you ever get a booking and go, not a good booking? You know, I'm very picky. I'm terrible. I'm very picky, which I should probably, if we talk about, you know, the voiceover, because I do murder shows, and the first time around, I passed on that audition twice, and it ended up turning out to be fantastic for me.

Because I didn't, that's not something that I would watch. It wasn't something that I was interested in. By murder shows, you mean like true crime? Are we talking? Yes, yes. I'm the narrator of Fear Thy Neighbor, which we're heading into season eight in the spring, which is unheard of.

And I'm also the narrator of, in the States, it's called A Time to Kill. Here, it's called Hours to Kill. And My Paranormal Nightmare, Passport to Murder, all those murder shows, I'd never watched them. I'd never watch a murder show. So when that audition came around, I said, no, I'm not interested.

So what I'm saying is I like doing the work that I, like that was a nice piece of material and copy and visuals to be a part of, to jump on board. So it becomes, ah ah so good and this is kind of going to tie in nicely as we kind of walk through your radio career as well but like when did you realize you had the this these pipes that the golden pipes you know um after i got out of high school i went to work work at the Holiday Inn in St. John, New Brunswick at Haymarket Square. And I was at the front desk.

The funnest job I've ever had. It was so much fun. And the Stampeders came, and I was so excited. At any rate... And not the football team, the band. No, the band. It was so much fun. And I met so many great people.

But of course, being at the front desk, you had to answer the phone. I continuously, right from the get-go, had people immediately start to comment on my voice. And I have to say that that was nice to hear, but nothing occurred to me. But I did use my voice to open a lot of doors for me all these years. Not just in radio, but all kinds of other doors as well. I'll bet.

Now, instant feedback, because we have the live.torontomike.com pirate stream. Andrew Ward there says, Mike, you have to get her to do the voiceovers for your sponsors. I don't know if I could afford to, Shanks. Oh, I'd probably do them for you for free. You've got a great setup here, by the way. Can I just say everybody has... Anytime you can interrupt a praise. It is fantastic.

Well, thank you. Yeah. This is the last space in the house. I'm here by necessity because I got four kids. This house really wasn't built for like a family of six. So I've got like my oldest, who luckily is mostly in Waterloo going to university now, but he's around the corner.

The two little ones share a room upstairs. The teenage girl has her own room, of course. I have a room with my wife. This is the last space that existed in this home. But it's everything you need. Why would you need anything else? I mean, I'm comfortable. I don't feel like I'm cramped.

Well, yeah. I mean, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar might have trouble down here. I think if you hadn't ducked, you would have hit your head on this one. Perhaps. I think you would have. It's not just Kareem Abdul-Jabbar might have trouble down here. I think if you hadn't ducked, you would have hit your head on this one. Perhaps. I think you would have. So it's not just Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Anyway, I'm sorry I interrupted you. No, you can interrupt and praise the operation anytime you like.

One last note here. Oh, yeah. So he was even asking if you bumped your head. And I'll just tell Andrew. I warn all my guests several times, be careful. And shout out to Al. In fact, I'm going to give you a gift because this ties in nicely, and you're touching it right now.

So Al Grego is a great FOTM, and he just was praising the T-shirt I'm wearing today. He says it's sexy. So thank you, Al, for that high praise. Is it sexy-tish? It is. Actually, I was looking at it. It's the produce stand or produce.

How would you say it, voiceover queen? You know, it depends on where you are. What the director wants or whatever? Yeah, exactly. And there's all kinds of words that come up like that all the time. I would say produce. Produce, produce, produce. But I can see Americans saying produce.

Yeah. Interesting. One of those words. Data, data. Which one do you go with? Absolutely. Well, most of the time in the United states it's data okay yeah and uh you know here in canada there's words like organization yeah we say here it's actually in the states organization we have a tendency as brits

to to make our vowels long they they have a tendency to make them short so you have to be mindful of here's an interesting one I only recently learned about by listening to another podcast. So we, of course, have grown up with crayons. Okay, crayons. My kids play with crayons, crayons, crayons. And there are parts of the States where they call them crons. What?

Like, yeah, I know. Do they know any better? Maybe that's the problem. And like literally, that's just what they call crayons, crons. Like this is some regional dialect in parts of the USA. But here, before I digress here,

this is important. So FOTM Al Grego, he's been traveling the country interviewing small Canadian businesses and then he tells the story of their origin, their struggles, their future outlook.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs like myself will find the podcast. Yes, we are open. A Moneris podcast, by future outlook. Small business owners and entrepreneurs like myself will find the podcast. Yes, we are open. A Moneris podcast, by the way, both helpful and motivational. And your hand right now is on a wireless speaker branded, Moneris branded wireless speaker. That's yours to take home so you can listen to. Yes, we are open.

And Toronto Mic'd if you wish. Thank you so much. Thank you. You're taking that home. So nice. And I Mike, did you wish? Thank you so much. Thank you. You're taking that home. That is so nice. And I asked you, I learned my lesson. Kyle Christie was down here two days ago, and I forgot to ask him if he eats meat. This is something I should ask all guests.

So I asked you yesterday, do you eat meat? I do. Thankfully, because in my freezer right now, and you're taking it home with you, is a large meat lasagna from Palma Pasta. Oh, that's perfect. Holidays are coming. Daughter's coming in. We'll do that.

How old is the daughter? 32. Wow. Well, there's going to be enough lasagna for all of you. Absolutely. And I have a son who's 34. And where do they live? Do they live in the GT?

No, my son lives in Oshawa. He is a very successful jewelry designer. Wedding rings, engagements, rings, order. My daughter lives in Los Angeles. Okay, coming in. That makes sense now because you don't come in from Oshawa. You just get in your car and you

drive. But from LA, that's a long trek. That's a long trek, yeah. Palm Apostles on it. Hopefully some people in your family enjoy fresh craft beer. Anybody? Any neighbors? You know, I'm sure that I will be able to make good use of that. Thank you very much.

That's very nice to come and be a guest and have parting gifts. And take home some swag. Well, I'm not even done yet. This is going to get better. So the Great Lakes beer, of course, is what you're taking home with you. Thank you very much. And Ridley Funeral Home. You're only the second guest to get this, but this is like a safety light.

See that? That's a good light. It's a good light. I also noticed this. Do you know that I carry one of these in my purse nonstop, like permanently, 24-7. You get it back up now. So thank you. Well, this one will be easy to find because it's very bright green.

I like this. So thank you, Ridley Funeral Home. And there's a Toronto Mike sticker from StickerU.com. Yes, I like that. And last but not least, and then we will get into the radio, I promise. And I have a couple of nice notes from FOTMs who heard you were coming on. That's nice. Which is always nice.

I have for you, it's a virtual gift card, so I'm going to email this to you. But you have $75 to spend at chefdrop.ca. Tish, when you see the restaurants and the chefs involved in this, these are prepared meal kits that get shipped directly to your door. You're going to love it. There's something for everybody. If you're into, you know, if you love tacos, if you love chocolate, if you love Thai, if you love burgers, you know,

if you love Southern U.S.-inspired menus or fried chicken, Union Chicken's there, the Carbon Bar is there if you love barbecue. It's all there, chefdrop.ca. You've got $75. That's amazing. Thank you. You're going to love it. FOTMs get $50 off their first order, which is also amazing.

If they use the promo code FOTM50. So FOTM50. Okay, here's a nice note from Jovi Giovanni, who said, can't, well, let me read it verbatim. Yes, look forward to this. Can't wait. Tish is an icon. I never thought of myself as an icon. Have you ever considered yourself an icon?

No. But that's nice thank you i appreciate that and i want to shout out uh lucas lucas ayaneta do you know the name lucas ayaneta have you come across lucas in your travels he's a huge fan of yours as well thank you he loves you thank you and stephanie wilkinson i'll touch on this and then we'll get into it because we're going to walk through this chronologically. But Steph says, I was a big fan of Saturday and Sunday mornings. She has a very interesting voice when you want to listen to and hear what

she has to say. She has a great love of the roots of music. I always enjoyed her roundup of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions. In fact, when I went to Cleveland for the All-Star Game in 2019, I went to the Hall of Fame because she made it sound like a place I needed to see. Oh, that gives me goosebumps.

Thank you. She was right with an exclamation mark. That is so good. Yeah, you know, being at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies over the years, we've gone several times. It's just the coolest thing in the world. Even if there's bands that you are not connected to. Right.

It's a trip. Man, I'll tell you. Who do you think not connected to right it's it's a trip man i'll tell you who do you think is the the the best act who's been overlooked like do you have like an omission you know let's be honest it really doesn't mean anything let's let's let's don't try and you know brush over that it really doesn't excuse me too my voice is cracking i have a cold um it you know but you know what it's just fun And it's just fun And the greatest Non-acceptance speech this past year Was Todd Rundgren He's been up several times

For induction and completely Passed over and he's always said He doesn't give an F Forget it, it doesn't matter to him He just wants to play all day He just wants to bang on the drums all day He is such an interesting guy, producer. What they did was they

inducted him and then they cut to a clip of him doing a commencement speech at a university where he basically said he didn't give a F. That was it. It was like, ouch. It was good. So Rundgren, the connection there, if I have to tie it to FOTMs,

which I know you're wondering what the heck is Mike talking about FOTMs but Tish you're now an FOTM that's friend of Toronto Mike you are now an FOTM but Moe Berg from the Pursuit of Happiness

is also an FOTM Pursuit of Happiness is that not Brad Barker is Brad Barker yeah correct I worked with Brad at Jazz FM I did

we're going to get to that okay we're almost there okay that's awesome Brad's a sweetheart lovely lovely person also an FOTM yes all the jazz people We did. We're going to get to that. Okay. We're almost there. Okay. That's awesome. Brad's a sweetheart. Love him. Love him.

He's a lovely person. Also an FOTM. Yes. He's been here as well. Yep. Yep. All the jazz people I like, actually. Heather Bambrick.

Yes. James B. Oh, gosh. Yeah, we had so much fun. Do you think James B. is famous? Yes. Yes, thank you. Are you kidding me?

Yeah. Everybody knows James B. See, thank you. I'm going to cut that out. We have a great debate in the community whether James B is famous. I think he's famous. Absolutely. So we're going to get the Jazz FM. Oh, Dani Elwell, who I see doing a lot of voiceover

work as well. You'll hear her on some spots. And Garvia Bailey has been here, but we're going to get the Jazz FM. Where was I going with that? Oh yeah, Pursuit of Happiness is a big album. It's called Love Junk. Produced by Todd Rundgren. So there's your connection. Well, and Oh yeah, Pursuit of Happiness' big album is called Love Junk, produced by Todd Rundgren. So there's your connection.

Well, and you know, he's one of those brainiac kind of producers. I mean, he does music that's way out there now. Did he produce Bad Out of Hell? No. Oh, maybe he did. I think he did Bad Out of Hell. There is somebody very famous that you wouldn't expect

that did that album. Yeah. But you know, I don't know, on a Sunday morning, is there did better than Hello. There is somebody very famous that you wouldn't expect that did that album. But, you know, I don't know. On a Sunday morning, is there anything better than Hello, It's Me Again? I mean, in fact, you know, if you've watched And Just Like That, that's in season one. I only got into 20 minutes of that. But at any rate, and, you know, Big puts it on. And so it's like, oh, that's so nice.

Anyway, I don't know. And I have a question. We're not allowed to spoil that, I suppose. Like, what's the moral? Oh, everybody's so nice. Anyway, I have a question. We're not allowed to spoil that, I suppose. Like what's the moral? Oh, everybody spoiled it. I only watched it for 20 minutes, so I didn't know about the spoiler until the next day. So here, in my first marriage, we watched every,

she loved Sex and the City. Yeah. And so I'm like, oh, I don't know. It's like for chicks or whatever. I was in my 20s or whatever. But I start watching it with her. And I got to admit, I really got into the show. Like I loved Sex and the City. Yeah. and i watched the whole thing through the finale and then i watched

the first movie and then i the second movie uh the reviews were so terrible i actually avoided it but i wanted to see like how do they reboot this thing why and i spoiler alert so if you really haven't seen the first episode of this reboot of sex in the city minus samantha unfortunately yeah uh who they diss in the first 15 minutes by the way yeah you know this whole problem yeah uh kim cattrall by the way who plays samantha was in porkies which was i believe filmed nearby but anyway that's an old movie that's an old one city tv is that on her resume i'm not sure she can't scrub it from IMDB no it's there

but why didn't Carrie call 911 like did you see the ending no I didn't I told you I only watched 20 minutes I have

it's infuriating to watch because she doesn't do it big eyes are open yeah he's responding to her looking at her she never

calls 911 no I'm trying not to I won't say anything further except that it's infuriating to watch and realize that that's the first thing you do. You'd think. But you know, maybe the deal was, you know, I'm going to come back, but I'm not going to participate in all of the episodes. So you've got to make sure that somehow I'm gone, whether we get a divorce or what happens. I'll give you one episode. I'll give you one episode, and that's it. And let's be honest, had he stayed in all of the episodes,

it would be really boring, I think. Let's be, really and truly. So I don't know. Anyway, I only watched the first 20 minutes. Full disclosure, I'm not, you know, I liked, I was never a Sex and the City person. I was doing morning shows, so I was in bed at 8 o'clock, and I don't even know if I had HBO.

So, you know, I love the fashion, though. God, how can you not love the fashion? Well, I'm glad you disclosed that. You watched it for the shoes, right? I watched it for the shoes and the attire and all of that stuff. And, well, now that we're on the topic, the character, I never liked the character of Charlotte. I just found her very annoying.

Anyway, there's my Sex and the City talk. That's a whole different podcast. That is a whole different podcast. All right, so Maritimes. Okay, yep. You're in the Maritimes. Yep. I did much research.

I learned, like, where does it begin for you on the airwaves? And I learned about CHNS Halifax, where you're doing traffic and hosting overnights. I have great research staff. So maybe tell me, it's one thing to be answering phones at a Holiday Inn or whatever, but to actually be on the air in Halifax, how does that happen?

Well, I have to kind of step back a few years. After the Holiday Inn, I came to Toronto. My dad lived here. And so I used to Toronto, my dad lived here and so I used to come here in the summertime so I needed a change of scenery so I came to Toronto so I spent most of the 70s here in Toronto

so my radio career really began in 1979 in the Chum Building on Yonge Street and I had just come back from living in california for a while and i did not want to go back to the career that i had been in and they had a publicity stunt back in those days all of the traffic people were called marianne so it didn't matter who came and went. They went to traffic, and here was Mary Ann. Interchangeable. Interchangeable.

So just as a stunt, Chum did a come down and cattle call out to the public and all the kids and come and audition. Right. And just to be clear, though, we're talking 1050 Chum, right? 1050 Chum, 1979. And now you must remember at this point, Chum, right? 1050 Chum, 1979. And now you must remember at this point, I've already had doors open for me nonstop because of my voice, like nonstop, places that I couldn't even imagine. At any rate, so I thought, well, I'm going to go down. And so I went down, did an audition,

and I got called into the office for an interview. It was Rob Collis, who many of you, I'm sure, will know and recognize. And I still have his business card from Chum Promotions. Rob Collis and Promotions. And, you know, they asked me, do you have any experience? And, of course, I didn't. I just come back from California. I don't. And you must be very young at this point.

Oh, of course. No, I don't. I'm just doing the math in my head. Too young for Woodstock. How old could you be in the 70s? You know, 1979. You know, I have a feeling I was still in my 20s. For sure.

I think I was. At any rate, so they didn't hire me, but that was the spark that maybe I could be in radio. So what I ended up doing was that summer, it was 1979, I went on to work at, you know, and I'm going to bring up the name Genya, who I know a lot of people know, perhaps the best makeup artist in the entire city of Toronto. She worked at City TV forever,

and she has put fabulous makeup on everybody. Do you think she put fabulous makeup on Peter Gross at some point? Perhaps. Wow. If you worked for Moses and you worked at City TV, you know Genya. So I thought that I would be a waitress, and I'd never been a waitress before, but there isn't anything that I can't do.

That's always been my mantra. So anyway, there was an ad for this new club that was opening at the corner of Yonge and Bloor and it was going to be the Canadian version of Studio 54. And the way it worked was you had to go for an interview and when I walked into the interview room and I said, hello, it was my voice that got her attention and it was Genya who was doing the interviewing and the reason was is because Genya was the person in Toronto in 1979 because she

had been the hostess at Bemelmans and so she knew everybody she I love this shit. She knew the photographers, the makeup artists. She knew the models. Genya was the person. Anyway, and I still see Genya today because she works at Classical. At any rate, I know it's a crazy world. So anyway, I got the job. I'd never been a waitress before, but I lied my bum off. You can say ass on this program. This is not CHFI.

Come on, Tish. on so studio 50 the club was called heaven okay and actually a lot of people out there as well would know gary slate or gary slater no um because gary slate's no not gary slater um no not gary slater um uh slater in the music business he he had a record company okay um anyway i can't remember his first name around anyway so he was behind he was part of the owners and part of the company in this studio 50 well heaven and we had two dance floors we had a capacity of 1500 people we had a private room and everybody who was is it andrew slater no okay because he's got a music no i thought it was gary but no, it's not Gary,

because that doesn't make sense. At any rate, I'm sure it'll come to me. Somebody out there is going, Tish, Tish, it's so-and-so. So here we were at this club, and it was the summer of 1979, and you know, Studio 54 was on its way down. Disco was on its way down. Punk was on its way in. The Cars, Blondie, changing the whole scene later no andy's later no gordon's later why i don't know why i want to say gary gary slater i don't but that i don't think that sounds right anyway um so 1979 so i was part of the opening of the club genya was going to be the hostess it was patterned after studio 54 you had to line up to get in um it was underneath the hotel plaza too so those uh that uh escalator that now i think takes you down to fabric land

used to take you down to heaven fabric land fabric land so you used to get picked to be able to come in um the drinks were very expensive and uh we had a blast. And so people would open at the O'Keeffe, and then they would come and have their private party in our room. So Paul Anka, Tom Jones, Cher. Cher had that disco hit. She would come and put her rollerblades on and dance around the floor. So that's what I did for the summer of 1979. But, you know, people would come, and the drinks were so expensive, you couldn't make a lot of money in tips because the drinks were so expensive.

But I'll tell you, that was the craziest summer of my entire life. I just want to throw that out there. I love that story. Like, cause not only is that a scene, I'm not familiar with the scene in Toronto anyways, like, uh, and these names like Genya and AC Slater, whoever this Slater is. Uh, I love, I love this hearing about something I haven't heard in the previous 962 episodes. So, um, anyway, I had to anyway, I had to do lunch somewhere. So I worked lunch at the original Green Jeans down on Adelaide

beside SCTV or the old fire hall. Right. And Debra McGrath, who is Colin Mochrie's wife, was also waiting on tables with me. I know her because she was recently on an episode of a podcast I produced called The Feminine Warriors, and she's fantastic. She is. So we waited at lunch tables at Green Jeans on Adelaide back in 1979.

Deborah probably wouldn't remember me. But at any rate. Don't be so sure. I worked there, and I also worked at a restaurant at Yonge and Eglinton called Original Hectors. And heaven kind of dried up by the end of the year. And I went on to decide, well, you know, this whole, oh, and while I was in heaven, we had a lot of people, of course, you can understand, who were models and actors, which is very typical of the industry. And so there was one girl who was a model and she had a friend who was taking the TV Ryerson course.

And so he needed, as one of his projects, to shoot a commercial. So she was the actress in the commercial and I became the voiceover. So that became my first kind of voiceover. Do you remember the name of this model? I don't. Cindy.

Her name was Cindy. Oh, yeah. And you know, one of the things at Heaven that was so fabulous, we were the entertainment because we were encouraged to dance. And we were the entertainment for all the people who were coming from the suburbs who had never been downtown. So who was Toronto's Andy Warhol? Like if you had to say, okay, you're the Andy. You're the Debbie Harry. I don't know. It's not James B. yet. He's not yet. He's still the Debbie Harry. I don't know. It's not James B yet.

He's still the Maritime. James B might have been part of that scene in 79. Well, look here. So, at any rate, I decided that was another kind of inclination that maybe I could be in. So that's basically when James B starts his fame. He didn't look like that when you know him, right?

So that's Look People. Has this been opened? That's a very rare gift from James B himself, the famous James B. But he was in Look People, which was kind of, I'll be honest, punky, kind of, you know, I don't think... Not doing what he does.

But interesting, interesting band. And Kevin Hearn is in that band, who is now in the Barenaked Ladies, so some good things came out of there. That's very good. But shout out to James B., sorry. Absolutely. So those were kind of the chum thing,

being called into the office, doing this voiceover for somebody at Ryerson kind of was my idea that maybe possibly I could be in radio. So I still had family in Halifax, and so I decided to go back to Halifax. This is gets me now in the Maritimes. And I was going to live with family and manpower had a broadcasting course. And the way it worked is it was for the maritime kids. And so it had, you know, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, you know, etc. and so you only attended this school until you got a job there was no kind of like two years or six months so you you went to

the school they taught you and then if you got a job you left and the way it worked is if you were from Nova Scotia and you got a job then they would bring in somebody else from Nova Scotia so I went down and I applied and in order to get into the school you had to go and do a voice audition somewhere because they had to prove that you could do what you did. So my mother lived in Pictou. So I went to the local radio station in New Glasgow, New Brunswick. My first impression, the thing is the papers. And of course, now being on the air, you understand there were papers everywhere across.

And of course, your eyes would wander, which is what you do, right, when you're on the air. That was my first impression. Anyway, I did an audition and you know, I, I don't say this boastfully. This is exactly verbatim what this fellow said to me. Again, remember there isn't anything that in my mind I cannot do. Right. He says to me, you, you can go to the program, but there isn't anything that they're going to teach you that you don't have a natural ability to do. Wow.

So that was like, okay, this is good. So I went back to Halifax, stayed with my aunt, and I waited to get into the school, and I needed a job. And so I went to a nightclub to be a waitress. And as I was waiting in this nightclub, somehow, I don't know how it happened. I ran into a gentleman who knew me when I was a little kid growing up in Purcell's Cove. His name was John Pauly. He was a salesman at the ATV station, which is the CTV affiliate. Okay. Okay. So he was a salesman, a TV salesman. And we got to talking and I told him I wanted, salesman. And we got to talking and I told him I wanted, I was trying to get into the radio program.

He was with a fellow who sold advertising here in Toronto for CTV. So the two of them were out together. The fellow who sold advertising for CTV said, I recognize your voice from waiting on me at Original Hectors. Oh my God. I kid you not. That's wild. Wild. So John Pauly took out his business card and he said, here, tomorrow morning I want you to call Rick Green at CHNS and you tell him John Pauly told him to give you a voice audition. So the next day I called Rick Green. I went down, did a voice audition, started in radio. Wow. That is, isn't that bizarre? That is such a wacky

serendipitous story but it's the truth no it's actually it's hard difficult to even like process that like how small this world is yes that that could have yes and how all of those things and all of those people lined up for me but you know what if you have the talent which you clearly have uh ask nokia and resident evil and all these places uh there you it was if it wasn't that path it was going to be another path like that just happened to be the first path that got you the door so you're on chns in halifax was on chns in halifax and i worked with some fabulous people joe bowen joe holy mackinaw you worked with joe yeah joe bone was doing the morning show i worked with um alan davis who is Joe Bohm was doing the morning show. I worked with Alan Davis,

who is the program director at WGR across the lake. Was he ever at CFTR? Am I getting my Alan? No, I don't think Al was. Al was here working for Telemedia. Oh, right. That's when CJCL. The music of your life.

Yes, he was here. He worked for them. So Bowen ends up there too. So it's like, it's all connected. See, all the pieces matter. It's all Christmas. And so that first job that I had, it was great because here I am walking in off the street. So I started doing Trafficking.

And then I started doing All Nights. Mike Cranston was the program director. Eventually, Rick Green hired me, but then Mike Cranston came on, who was retired in Halifax. And I loved Mike because he was just so supportive. And that's so great when you get first are new and you have people who support you and believe in you. And after a year, you realize, okay, I don't want to do all nights anymore.

So I started sending out tapes. I don't know how people apply for jobs today, but man, it was fun. It's probably easier because now they're sending a link yeah but you know what now you're being really but now you're being really kind of pushy because it goes into somebody's inbox these days you know we sent mail and it was not quite so you couldn't get lost in the noise right because i'm sure everyone exactly and also the the, what do you call it? The barrier of entry for creating like a demo reel or whatever is so low. My five-year-old has a demo reel.

Okay. So not, not true, but she could, she could, she should, she should. So it's just like anyone,

everyone has that link to the YouTube video. You know, it's so easy to get a microphone and record something and then put it on YouTube and then send it out. It's so much junk, I guess. It's like, is it worthwhile to actually review everything? So, and also, and we'll get to this as we get to the CHFI part and everything, but there are just fewer spots in this country.

Like, I would wonder aloud, like in 1980, how many different on-air positions existed in the country of Canada versus 2021? Oh, I mean, the difference is, you know, it was so great because there were people on the air 24-7. In every small market, too. Now you've got Ross and Mocha in 12 markets or something. And you know, that's just a state of business. That's just smart business. And that's why, I mean, you understand it.

Whether we as broadcasters really think that it's great for radio. You mentioned the name Slate, another Slate. But let's talk about Alan and Gary. By the way, one time when I was living, I was working in Thunder Bay. And I wanted a job at Q107, so I sent a tape to Gary. Gary called me up, and he says, dude, this is how not to get a job, okay? Listen, everybody, how not to get a job. Gary said, do you like rock and roll?

I said, yeah, but I like jazz better. You don't say that when you want a job at Q107. Another Maritimer, though, I got to shout out an FOTM, from the Maritimes who ended up at Q107, John Gallagher. I worked with John. Bananas, right? When you worked with John, was that during the cocaine period? C100, 1984, I was doing the morning show.

That's Halifax. Was Brother Jake there? Yes, he was at the other station on the other side of the area. I think there was a slow pitch game where Jake told John he's going to Q in Toronto, and John got brought along somehow. Like it all came out of some slow pitch game. Yes, I can see that. And you know, I can see why, well, not everybody who works in small markets and wants to come

to Toronto. That's one of the things you realize. We just think that's where you want to go. We just think you do. And that was one of the things I realized is that a lot of people don't. Anyway, I worked with John. John was doing the morning show with me. He was a sports guy on C100.

And, you know, the consultants, they weren't big on John. They weren't big on this delivery. And I thought he was fantastic. It's a bit manic, right? It was. And, I mean, I think as sports people, you have to have that. You have to be that, that, that you have to be different and set apart. And there's something like Howard Cosell. He's not a normal

guy or wasn't a normal guy. At any rate, I thought John was fantastic. And lo and behold, there were a lot of people who did too. So don't ever, don't ever believe all of the consultants. John and I were neighbors here in Toronto after I came back in 2001. He sold his Young & Lawrence or wherever the heck that was. He was on St. Germain. They ripped it down. It got sold. That's a big value real estate on St. Germain. I didn't know he was back in Halifax.

Because we would see him around the neighborhood. Okay, sorry. No, it's on topic here. I like these tangents. We heard Peter Gross earlier in the show. I produced a podcast for Peter Gross and John Gallagher called Gallagher and Gross Saved the World. So I got pretty tight with John. Like he was pre-COVID.

He was here a lot and we were doing lots of recordings. And, you know, he's got these crazy stories, right? Crazy stories. Really ridiculous stories. And he's got that manic delivery that I quite like. And it sounds like you like it too. So Gallagher and Gross Saved the World was pure magic. But the pandemic has affected everybody differently.

And then it changed John to a point where he's cashed out basically in the real estate market and said, I'm going home. And he's back in the Maritimes. That's good. Yeah, I think it's good. It's a nice place to be. It's his family there and he's going back home. Absolutely.

Good for him. So you're in Halifax, but you're like, I'm going to, so where's your stop after Halifax? So what happened was I started sending out tapes and of course,

somehow the general manager knew who will go nameless, who did go on to be a big executive with Chorus, told Mike, well, we're going to get a person to replace her first or she's

going to get a job first. He did not like the fact that I was sending out tapes. How can you not be supportive? I don't understand that. At any rate, so I was sending out tapes. And you know, one of the things I still have all of those letters that I sent out to all the radio stations. That's about the only thing that I kept.

So what happened was I got a job in Prince Rupert. But then I got it. But then Thunder Bay offered me a job. And I told Prince Rupert, I said, you know, Thunder Bay is offering me a job and they've offering me this much more. And so Prince Rupert said, oh, we'll match that. So then I said to Thunder Bay, you know, Prince Rupert, they've matched your offer. Well, we'll up it. My salary kept going up and up and up. It was fantastic. So what ended up happening was, oh, the guy who I was negotiating with in Thunder Bay, a lot of people in Toronto would know him, Harry McIntyre. He was a salesman at the old CKFM, the sound of our Toronto. Everybody knew Harry. Harry could sell anybody. Shout out to Reiner Schwartz. I'm thinking of some of the old CKFM

So he would have been there in the 70s and he convinced some doctors and investors here in Toronto to buy CJLB in Thunder Bay. So finally Harry says to me, oh, another thing was, I was a big CKFM fan when I lived here in Toronto.

I loved CKFM and I loved Peggy Graham. So Harry said, here, I want you to call Peggy Graham and I want her to tell you how great I am and how much you'd love coming to work for me and how I could get you into Toronto. So I remember having a conversation with Peggy Graham, who really for me was, you know, she was that late night voice. And when I finished at heaven, sitting in the middle of the night, listening to Michael Franks, et cetera, et cetera. Anyway. Love it.

So Harry says, go to Prince Rupert. When you've had enough, give me a call and we'll have a job for you. And how long did that last? Three months. Three months. It rained every day. We played baseball in the rain, tennis in the rain. But it was a trip.

It's funny because now we're getting you to Thunder Bay here. CJLB. I should know that. But I was chatting with a guy the funny because now we're getting you to Thunder Bay here. C-J-L-B. I should know that. But I was chatting with a guy the other day, Scott Allen's his name. And he was telling me, I just mentioned, he said, like, who's coming up on the show? And I said, oh, Tish Eyston is coming over. And he's like, oh, I listened to her in Thunder Bay. Like, this was his touchpoint for Tish. That's crazy.

Actually, you know what? Thunder Bay was just a wonderful experience for me. First of all, I ended up doing afternoon drive at the station when I arrived. And it was, first of all, it was sunny. It was sunny. The sun shone. The sun never shone. Prince Rupert, I swear to God.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. And we had people on the air 24-7. And, you know, 1 o'clock in the morning we'd be hanging out. And it was all of those things that, you know, unfortunately, the people who are new in radio today don't get to do. And I met my husband in Thunder Bay. Hey! Yes.

And it was a trip. And the people, Thunder Bay was just! Yes, and it was a trip. And the people, Thunder Bay was just so welcoming, you know. It was just a really good experience all around. And you were there a while. I mean, there is a C-100 interruption here, but you're in Thunder Bay. It sounds like you start there in 81,

and you don't actually leave until 1990. And we will, of course, you'll need to explain how you end up at c100 with john gallagher for a year or two yeah so what happened was um so 1981 i arrived in health in thunder bay and um ended up getting married to my husband in 1984 but i knew that you know this isn't where i wanted to be now I met my husband in radio he was also in radio and um he had you can't have two radio announcers in the same family you know because I had trunk will have I my my mantra was have trunk will travel so my husband who had never

lived outside of Thunder Bay it had never lived apart from his friends and family um that was not even anywhere near anything that he could relate to. So anyway, I applied for jobs, and I ended up getting the morning show job at C100. And it was a big thing because, first of all, solo female, you know, semi-major market. It was a big deal. And I worked for Barry Horn,

who was kind of a wonder kid for Chum for years. And I loved it. I worked with some fabulous people, including John Gallagher. And also Kathy Sabokin, who was the news person, Kathy Steele. Kathy Sabokin was doing the morning news with Bob on Element. Kathy Sabocan. So there's all of that tie-in. I had Dave Charles here like two, maybe three weeks ago. Yes, he's responsible for that station, is he not? Yeah, absolutely.

And Q107, which we kind of will talk about. Her name back then was Kathy Steele. Are you sure it's not Karen Steele? No. It's Kathy Steele. Okay. Kathy Steele's a news person. And she's kathy steel okay i'm yeah i'm complaining kathy steel's a news person and she's she's here in toronto i i she's my neighbor i still that's what i do all the time so um so what happened though it was a wonderful opportunity for me my husband had a lot

of trouble adjusting and you know radio certainly back in those days where a lot of people moved in order to move up in the game and to to get a bigger salary and to have a higher profile, it's hard on the wife or the spouse. Well, we all know the theme song to WKRP in Cincinnati. Or W-O-L-D by Harry Chapin. My God, that's a great radio song. At any rate, so after a year, my husband was really not happy. And it was like, hey, know, my husband was really not happy. And, uh, you know, it was like, Hey,

I love my husband. I'm, I'm willing to, to, to do whatever. So I ended up going back to Thunder Bay and, uh, did the morning show on C J L B. In fact, you know who I did the morning show with? Tell me. Andre Mezenov, Catfish Morgan. Okay. I know all these names popping up. I like the name drops. And then every once in a while I hear a name I don't know, but the next time it gets dropped, I can remember Tish mentioning this name. Yes. So Andre Mezenov, who actually passed away several years ago, he was working at the alternative station in Ottawa. Just a great guy. But anyway, I have to tell you what happened as a result of me doing,

me and Andre being on the show together. And this was a real first time thing ever in a little market like Thunder Bay to have two people on the morning show. The other radio station in the city, whatever we did, they had to do too. So not to be outdone, they wanted to have a two person morning show.

So the fellow on the air, I'm not even going to say his name because it doesn't matter. But Willie Percy, of course, who was Don Percy's son, famous Don Percy, is from Thunder Bay. Actually, Willie and my husband are friends. They know each other from school. Willie came to Thunder Bay. They brought Willie to Thunder Bay to do a two-person morning show with the person they had on the radio. Well, the other person was not having any part of this, and so he treated Willie terrible on the air. He was just rude and nasty.

So after a week, I guess he went in and said, okay, either he goes or I go, and they said, well, you can go. So they needed somebody to be on the air with Willie to be the operator. Larry Hennessy was doing the afternoon drive show. So just in the interim, they brought up Larry to be on with Willie. Voila. There you go. So that's how that happened.

Yeah, it was great. And they became such a great success. They were just fabulous. And both of them independently are still amazing, of course, talents. I love Willie. So why do you ever leave CJLB? So I wanted to advance. I wanted to. So I went back to do the morning show. Right. Okay. So I'm, oh, well, I ended up, there was some crazy stuff that went on. So I ended up. Oh, that's the good stuff.

Yeah, it was just, you know, internal nonsense. And so I ended up walking up 10 minutes before my show one day, which is terribly unprofessional, but that's what I did. Okay. And I was doing afternoon drive and I had no job. So I did go to the college and I did, you know,

work on a, you know, one semester teaching, blah, blah. Well, that wasn't for me. So I ended up going to do originally middays at CKPR. I did go to the college and I did, you know, work on a, you know, one semester teaching, blah, blah. Well, that wasn't for me. So I ended up going to do originally middays at CKPR. Right. And then from that, I went and I became the program director of the FM station there. Rock 94. Rock 94.

Right. And, you know, the reason I wanted to be a program director was because, and I think for most program directors, this is the case. I really wanted to be a program director was because, and I think for most program directors, this is the case. I really wanted to make a difference. You really feel like you want to make a difference. And I loved the job. I didn't like, you know, where you have to keep track of all the money and who, you know, how. The administrative stuff. I hated all that stuff.

Right. But the creative stuff I loved. The only other part that I didn't like was dealing with the talent. Because you suddenly realize and find out that not everybody is committed and as, I hesitate to use the word professional, but that just have the same kind of thinking and mindset that you do. You know? And so that I found very difficult. And I really just, and plus I ended up doing a morning show. So I was doing the morning show and I was being the program director and I just about killed myself. So I went in and quit is what I did. And my

general manager said, I don't want you to quit. What can I give you? So I went over to the AM station and I did the morning show and got a raise, six weeks ckpr yes i went back to ckpr did the morning show got a raise got like seven weeks holidays and a three-hour air shift for you you know and you're there a long time like yes you spent a good decade there in this 12 years i did that morning show and then you know it reached the point i'd already had two kids we'd had two kids right we had a fabulous life it was it absolutely wonderful. I loved living in Thunder Bay, but I knew from my soul it was time to go. So I didn't know how it was all going to work out, but I knew it was all going to work out.

So I started sending out tapes and stuff to Toronto. Anyway, long and short of it is, Brian DePoe at Easy Rock hired me. I love Easy Rock. Yes, and it was exactly at that time. It was exactly at that time. They came on with the new Lisa Gibbons campaign. Well, I know John Tesh was always doing, they had John Tesh syndicated doing some overnight thing maybe.

No. No, not yet? No, I don't think so. They had Delilah. Okay. Delilah was the syndicated person at Easy Run. Okay, Lisa Gibbons for sure. I remember her ad campaigns.

She did the promos and the TV campaign, and it was fantastic. So we ended up coming, and we didn't know. My husband, of course, didn't know how it was going to work. As it turned out, it worked out perfectly. He still has his business in Thunder Bay. He still travels back once a month. And for my two kids, it was the best move ever because they got to pursue things.

As I said, my daughter's in Los Angeles working and doing fantastic. Well, I think all that was before I pressed record, I think. Oh, was it? I think so.

I don't know. No, I think we talked about that. You would know better than I would. It's all blurred to me. So at any rate, so as it turns out, you know, it all worked out.

So 2001, I came, started working for Easy Rock. They had been purchased by the Slates. And you know, we all know in radio. Standard, right? Standard broadcasting. you know, you can be gone for whatever reason. Change, somebody doesn't like you, somebody wants to bring in a friend. Oh, it happens so often. All of those things have happened to me.

So anyway, I wasn't part of that new plan. So I was out of work. Okay, but you were on Easy Rock for a couple of years. Two years, my contract. Two years, contract didn't get renewed. Do you remember any of the talent

that was on the air at Easy Rock at the time? Let me hear some names from early, now that we've got you in Toronto, I'll know more of the names. Well,

Mike Cooper and Christine Cardoso were doing the morning show. Daryl Henry was doing Middays, who is still a fabulous buddy. We worked together at CHFI.

KJ was doing Afternoons. I love KJ. Chris James. You know, here's the thing. Yeah. You know, he still sounds like he's 25 being a chum in a CFTR jock. He can do that forever. I love him.

He's an FOTM as well. Although this was an interesting thing. My experience with KJ, who I also loved on, that was uh station growing up with cftr and i loved kj and and actually i'll be honest i didn't realize that kj was chris james like he just changed his name to kj and i had no idea it's the same guy and then i start cluing in and i have him over and it was great but he he clearly doesn't love he doesn't love doing what you're doing now, which I love. Talking about themselves and their journey. Like KJ clearly wasn't one of those guys who wanted to just talk about himself. So getting him to kind of do the journey with you was a bit more difficult.

But I did like the man. And I think he's tight with, I think he's really tight with Mad Dog, I want to say. Like maybe like BFFs with Mad Dogs. Another name I should bring say. Like maybe like BFFs with mad dogs. But so. Another name I should bring up. Yeah, please. Was an operator at Easy Rock with Steph Canonico, who also went on to be, if I'm not mistaken,

board operator and worked on Roger Ashby and Marilyn on Chum. And so she's at CHFI these days. So she's behind the scenes. So a lot of people wouldn't know that she's there, but Steph is there. But drop them, because I'm hoping she'll listen to this episode. And okay, so Easy Rock,

they don't renew your contract. They don't renew my contract. And you know, I have to be honest. It was, you know, I never believed that it wasn't going to work out for me because my entire life, everything has always worked out for me. I have that kind of energy that I just,

I just know that that life unfolds perfectly for me as it always has. And it always will continue to do. My husband, he had some trouble. Here we are, you know, we bought this house in Toronto, you know, we're, we're in, uh, actually on the same street, John Gallagher street. Yes, it was like, I mean, my husband, I have an old boss who lived on that street he had an 80s Porsche I don't know if you ever saw a mid 80s Porsche a guy who owned a software company I used to work for lived on that exact street

St. Germain that's where John lived that whole area is all the the same. You all shop at the Pusateri. We all have lunch at Safari. I can't tell you the many times I've sat on the patio and waved to John as he walked across the street. They don't even let me in that neighborhood because they look at my T4 and they say,

Oh, that's not true. That's not true. So for my husband, it was very, you know, he did well. Did you want to name your husband? Oh, my husband's name is Bill. I love my husband. He's Bill. Okay. I love my husband. He's fantastic. He's, he's been the greatest cheerleader and the greatest supporter. And he always says, never bet against Tish. That's, that's his favorite saying. You can't go

wrong. Never betting against Tish. So, you know, it was like, okay, what am I going to do? So I ended up, um, I don't know how it happened, but maybe I applied. I can't remember. I don't know. So, you know, as I said before, it's never a good sign when the person who hires you suddenly loses their job or they change formats. Because they're your champion. Right. So Jazz FM was in the process of, first of all, I love jazz. Jazz is my, and I hesitate to say this, but that's how I lost a job at Q107. So even Spotify says my favorite

music is vocal jazz, smooth jazz, bebop, soul, and classic rock. So that's my thing. You do know now that you're doing your deep dive today, but you know that once you do this, you get to come back at some point to kick out the jams. Literally, we play your 10 favorite songs of all time and just talk music. Talk about them. Okay. You'll love it. So being a jazz lover is being different than a jazz knower. And I've just always loved jazz. So they were in this kind of mode of they wanted to kind of broaden their audience. And so they were going to bring on a mainstream kind of AC person. And so I went to do the morning show.

And actually, Steve Paikin did a hit on my morning show. He came on and talked politics. We had a lot of fun. You know, Pagan's a big part of the show. He was on Friday. One of the smartest guys in the business, I have to say. He was on the Friday, this past Friday? Yeah, the most recent. Yeah. So a week tomorrow. So yeah. So six days ago, Steve Pagan was on this program. Great experience with Steve. So anyway, so they hired me to do the morning show. And my very first day on the job, the general manager who hired me, who had this great idea, he gets fired.

So, but Brad Barker was wonderful. I loved working for Brad. And it was just a real trip. And I was only there for 11 months. And in that time. So you worked with Ross Porter? and in that time... So you worked with Ross Porter? Well, Ross Porter came on board

after they fired the general manager and the board brought on Ross. And, you know, everybody knows Ross stories. Everybody, you know, has had an experience. And, you know, there's a reason why people should be in therapy. And I'm not implying Ross should be in therapy. No, but there are Globe and Mail articles about this.

Yes, and it isn't just perhaps the way Ross treated people, but just generally speaking, working in a business where you wear your talent and your heart on your sleeve, and you're often vulnerable. Most actors, in fact, I would say 99% of actors and people in the business in Hollywood have therapists. And there's a reason for that. And I believe everybody should be in therapy. And you have managers who make you cry. Greg Brady podcast. What is that?

What is that? Like, what's going on in this person's life that they do this? And really, what happened there had nothing to do probably with Greg at all or anybody else. Anyway, so my point is, you know, people bring their stuff with them. Their stuff down the hallway, their stuff behind the people bring their stuff with them. There's stuff down the hallway. There's stuff behind the microphone. There's stuff in interactions. And I think it's really important to clean up that stuff.

And you don't clean it up for the people around you. You clean it up for you. Right. So Ross didn't like me. I could tell right off the bat. But you're in good company. But I'm in good company. And at the time, I didn't know that because he was new.

He had just come on. And that's OK. But I loved working at Jazz FM. Oh, God. I loved the music. And you know what? I was one of the first who got to interview Sophie Millman. I love Sophie Millman.

I got to interview Curtis Stigers. Now, you might not know who Curtis Stigers is. He's a jazz guy now. But back when I was programming Rock FM and being in a small market, you know, you've got that liberty of creating, you know, hits and doing, playing a song because it's a good song, not because that guy's playing it or it's on the billboard chart or somebody says, we've done research and you should play this song. You know, you get to play a song

because it's a great song. Curtis Stigers had an AC song back then and I played it. And so when I got to interview Chris, this is so inside baseball, but when I got to interview Chris Stigers, that was a real thrill for me because I, as a program director,

had really appreciated that piece of music. For those who don't know, Jazz FM is a great deal of their... Is it all the funding comes from fundraising? They are only allowed, I don't know, maybe seven, nine minutes in an hour. So they're like a public broadcaster, but they're not the CBC.

They have a whole different model. They're only allowed to sell a certain amount of advertising per hour. So most of it is listeners supported. That's why you need James B. to get out there and shake the money out of the St. Germain people. And you know, also while I was there, one of my favorite artists today, who I've now seen three times, I got introduced to because she was just newly on the scene, is Melody Gardeau.

Saw her at the Mod Club. She came out with her glasses and her cane. The room had to be dark because she was still kind of in recovery from this incredible trauma that she'd suffered. Man, she's one of my favorite artists today. She just blows my mind. Did you cross paths? I'm trying to think, oh, four.

I get my ears conflated. But did you cross paths with Ralph Ben-Murgy? Well, Ralph replaced me. Ralph, you know, I produced his podcast today, Ralph Ben-Murgy. Well, Ralph replaced me. Ralph, you know, I produce his podcast today, Ralph Ben-Murgy. Do you? Not that kind of rabbi. And you know, Ralph, of course, is fantastic. He's a wonderful broadcaster and a great person, and I've never,

ever held it against him that Ross fired me to bring on his friend. And don't worry about offending my friends and clients. It's okay. Hey, you know, it's radio. It's life. And if i carried that kind of resentment and crap around you know that doesn't serve me so i'm fine with that hello ralph hello ralph uh hopefully ralph is listening but you know jazz fm was a lot of fun i had such

a great trip and then so and you know i had again we kind of went quickly over it but one of the nicest people i've ever met mr br. Brad Barker. And he also, for those who don't know, he also does play in the pursuit of happiness. Yeah. He was, he was just fantastic and so supportive. And I know that he felt bad, um,

because he's a survivor, right? Like he's the guy who's still there. He's still there. He was there when I was there. Okay. Rick, cause,

cause I'm, and again, those who haven't read the globe and mail articles or whatever. Uh, and I, this is, I will tell you, I'll be,

cause this is the home of real talk. I got a C, not a C, yeah, I guess you call it a C. I did hear you say something about that when you were talking too. Yeah.

So because I would have on a Danny Elwell or Garvia Bailey, James B, Ralph Ben-Murray, Heather Bambrick. These are people I would have on the show. And they had enough of the way they were being treated by Ross Porter.

And they wrote this letter, most of them. Not all of them. I don't think Brad actually said, but a lot of them did. Like a consortium, like a collective, if you will. This is the treatment we're getting in Garvia. There's a lawsuit from Garvia Bailey, which I guess was eventually satisfied. I need to get an update from Garvia. But all this is to say is that uh i got this letter

from a lawyer representing ross porter saying to delete these episodes of toronto might and i that's what i had to get a lawyer uh a guy you might know do you know the name ron davis so ron davis is a synthronica i think is the name of his uh he's a lawyer yeah but he's also a jazz musician in this market who uh loves jazz fm etc but anyway all this is a long-winded way of saying, yes, I know Ross Porter, never met him, but I never did remove those episodes. Well, good for you. And you know, I mean, without a doubt, you know,

Ross is, you know, a walking encyclopedia. But I'm not sure that that gives you the right to be mean to people. No, and you should see the things I was blamed for. Or to mistreat people. I was blamed for. Or to mistreat people. I was blamed for things that would blow your mind. I'll tell you as soon as we finish. But some of the things in this letter from the lawyer that I was blamed for are outrageous when I tell you later. Okay.

And so one of the things, you know, I only worked there for 11 months, but when they fired me, they actually continued to pay me and kept me my benefits for another three or four months, which they did not really by law have to do. I just think that, oh, that's good. You know, they, so they treated me well. So I had, you know, but you know, with new, new board and everything, uh, there could be a chance for you. Mark Pari is, is on the board. And Mark Pari was my general manager at Easy Rock. In fact, we had an Easy Rock reunion a couple of weeks ago. Oh, it was so much fun, and of course Mark Puri organized it. Anyway, it was great. But he's at Jazz FM, and good for him.

He's a wonderful radio guy. And we're going to get to this very large segment of CHFI stuff here, and then I have a clip I'm going to play that Lucas sent me, and we're going to talk about that. But would you return to Jazz FM now that Ross Porter's long gone and it's a new regime there, if you will? Your voice would be welcome on those airwaves, I would think. Anything is possible. Anything is possible. Jazz is my love. I love jazz. My husband laughs at me all the time. In fact, we'll be at a country concert at the Molson Amphitheater and listen to jazz on the way home.

But I do, I love it. And I just, I don't know. You never know. Anything is possible. I am really happy where I am in my life right now, right this Red Hot Minute. You know, my life is fantastic. Okay, so maybe we're going to revisit your life

in this Red Hot Minute. Shout out to Blair Packham, who wrote Last of the Red Hot Fools, which is a song if you start thinking about Last of the Red Hot Fools, it will get stuck in your head. It's one of those earworms. But I just want to very, very quickly thank McKay CEO Forums because they have a podcast called the CEO Edge Podcast. I post new episodes on Torontoike.com every single week.

It's Nancy McKay. She has fireside chats with inspiring CEOs and thought leaders. And I just want to give a big thank you to McKay's CEO forums for helping to fuel the real talk here the last several months. It's been fantastic working with the fine people there. Now, let's get you to CHFI. How the heck does Tish Eisten end up on CHFI? Oh, it's a story

and a half. And I hope I don't get the details right. Forgive me, Mad Dog. Or I'll get the details wrong. He's an air timer too. Yes. Jay Michaels, which is not his real name either. No. So needless to say, you know, one of the things, I had met Julie Adam, who was the program director at the time at CHFI. We had actually met at a, you know, when record companies bring new artists to town, and one of the new artists that they brought to town to the top of the Senator was Renee Olstead, who was a David Foster find. And Renee Olstead is another jazz artist that I love. At any rate, so they were doing an artist introduction, so I was at the top of the senator, and I made a point of introducing myself to Julie Adam. Now, I think I was at Jazz FM still at that point. So along comes no job.

And so I ended up talking to Julie, and she knew I was available. And I guess what had happened is her brother used to listen to me on Jazz FM, and he got in touch with her. Hey, Julie, where's Tish Eyston? I don't hear her on Jazz FM anymore. You know everything in radio. And that kind of prompted Julie to go, huh, okay. So I ended up coming on and doing weekends,

just kind of they're never going to offer you a job right out of the gate. So I came on and I did a weekend shift, and then the following week I'd get a phone call. Okay, can you come in and do this weekend shift? So I started just doing freelance. And so it was per shift. And so I was doing weekends shift here and there. And then, and Mad Dog and Billy were still on the air.

So Aaron and Mike were gone. Or Aaron was gone. Bob was doing afternoon drive. Mike was still at Easy Rock. So Bob McGee was doing Afternoon Drive. And Aaron and Mike Cooper, aren't they on Easy Rock? Not yet. Not yet.

Okay. Because that's when Julie makes a little mistake of judgment and then rectifies it. Right. So it was in 2003 that... This is a great... That story, by the way, is one of those great Toronto radio stories. It is one of those great Toronto stories. But, you know, kudos to her for

saying I made a mistake. We made a mistake, without a doubt. So, I'm doing freelance for them, and Mad Dog gets hit by a streetcar. Wow.

He's on his way to work in the morning and forgive me if i don't get this story right this is only how i know it from where i was so he is on his way to work one morning and he's turning left and the his car gets hit by a streetcar so they had to put somebody on the morning show so billy did not come on that was it they were gone at that they so so billy wasn't on the morning show so they moved bob up well then they had to have somebody on afternoon drive voila tish comes on and does afternoon drive and uh wow started working permanently at chfi so that's how it happened and so i was doing weekends i was doing weekends and swings so i that summer when you know jay and and billy were gone Bob went back to Afternoon Drive,

and I got to do the morning show quite a bit that year, that summer. And it was a blast. It was a lot of fun. And then Mike and Erin came over in the fall of that year, 2005. Now I've got it. Erin's been on the show a couple of times, in the fall of that year, 2005. Now I've got it. So that's, and I still, I mean, Erin's been on the show a couple of times and she tells the story of how when she, but she said, yeah, I'll come back.

But this time, because when she left, it was Dawn and Erin, I want to say? Right, so Dawn was- No, no, no. When she left, it was Bob and Erin. Oh, right. Dawn had retired. Bob McGee came on to do the morning show with Erin.

But it was Bob and Erin. Yes. But when she came back, it was Erin had retired. Bob McGee came on to do the morning show with Aaron. But it was Bob and Aaron. Yes. But when she came back, it was Aaron and Mike. Aaron was going to be billed first. And I thought that was a rock star move. I love it. Well, you know, I think she deserved it. Oh, no, no, no doubt.

Absolutely. But good for her for speaking up. And I don't think, you know, Aaron would never not speak up at this point in her career. At that point. Right. At that point, for sure. So, okay. So Aaron Davis and Mike Cooper, of course, had a...

Doing a morning show. Quite a... And you know what? I have to bring... I have another shout out. Love it. Okay. So Mike Cooper brought over his producer, who had been the producer on Easy Rock with him, Gord Rennie also was, he had been producing and editing Delilah on Easy Rock and making incredible waves and people were just in love with him who were producing the Delilah show at their end.

So Gord really, you know, kind of set the bar for everybody else who was going to produce that show afterwards. Anyway, Gord Rennie was Mike Cooper's friend and producer. And so Mike said, Gord is coming with me to be my producer. And so Gord Rennie came to be the technical producer. Ian MacArthur, who recently, also the general who left CHFI this summer, he became the content or, you know, producer. And Gord was the technical producer. Gord and first Ian left in July. Gord also was gone after at CHFI when Mike and Mo left that same day. Right.

And Gord last week landed at the Greg Brady show on 640. Okay. He is, I got to tell you, having done the morning show and filled in so many times over the years and been in that room. And when you're doing a morning show,

everybody knows this. And you're doing phone calls and you're doing contests and there's a thousand things coming at you and you've got to have things done like this. I'll tell you, there is nobody's hands that you want to be in better than Gord Rennie's hands. He, he, you never feel unsafe. He always gets it done and you never feel that he is manic and crazy as he's behind the board doing your thing. Anyway, he's wonderful. So I'm so happy he found a job. He deserves to work.

I'm glad you brought up Gord Rennie because he's in the Toronto Mike schedule. Good. He's booked. I love him. January, he's coming over and we're going to talk about all this. And I'm going to like, and we're going to, again, you were at CHFI a long time. So there's a few things we need to talk about. Almost 17 years

yeah and I got to play your final no you're not yep are you really you're not going to play the whole thing no just like a little

like a little taste of it but because you know what I haven't I have to say I haven't listened to it oh wow I did it

and I never listened to it well I mentioned some of your super fans including Lucas they keep close tabs on uh future fotms etc etc but gordon renny is coming on the program uh can i ask you though straight up real talk we keep saying things like ian mcarthur left uh why do we say it like that because when you say it like that and i know that's maybe that's the spin i don't know but it

sounds like ian did one day woke up and said I'm done producing this morning show when it's very clear to all of us that Ian was tapped on the shoulder and said, you're not doing this anymore. You know, as I said earlier, we all know when we get into this business. And if we don't know when we get in, we find out very quickly that things can change. And it's a business. It's a company. There are people who, you know, feel that they have reasons that they want to make changes and want to do what they do.

And that's, you know, it's just the nature of the business. And, you know, I don't know. And I'm sure that, well, I know Ian had a great run. I know he was well loved. And we'll talk more about Ian when Gord comes over, obviously. And I mean, people like Aaron Davis. But, you know, things a great run. I know he was well loved. And we'll talk more about Ian when Gord comes over, obviously.

And I mean, people like Erin Davis. Things like that happen. Things happen. Erin Davis and others. She made the decision to leave. She made the, and I know that, you know. So Erin chose,

well, she was, she has terrible tragedy in her personal life. Which we, Steve Paikin told me when he heard the second appearance of Erin Davis on this program, he said it was one of the most powerful

being tapping myself on the shoulder. But really it's all Aaron, Aaron's story, which of course is, I don't even like to think about this story because it makes me want to cry. But she is now happy on the West Coast and that meant who came in.

Okay, so then Maureen Holloway comes in alongside Darren B. Lamb. And it's some, now we're going to go early 2021. I think we're talking now if I get my years right. So this is earlier this year. Darren B. Lamb leaves the airwaves for undisclosed reasons.

And then Mike Cooper kind of subs in with Maureen Holloway. Yeah. Do you have any relationship with Darren B. Lamb? Like, do you have any insight into how Darren is doing? Because it was very, very mysterious for fans of the program. Not only mysterious for fans of the program, but mysterious for the staff at CHFI, can I add? You know, we weren't told anything. We weren't told anything. We have no idea. I seriously no idea what the reason was

what was behind it but you know from a business standpoint for all of us it was unsettling it was like where are our captains what's happening

and not being told what was happening and for whatever reason management can't tell you what's happening I'm sure that they had their reasons there might be an HR reason. Of course.

So there's so many things that you don't understand. But sometimes it's helpful. I find, and again, I'm not even in your industry, but I observe and I get lots of notes from fans of radio, et cetera. But sometimes even just the ex is taking some time for personal reasons and leaving it there will kind of stop the speculation and concern and everything rather than the whole like

his name will stay in the title of this show but his voice will not be heard on these airwaves for literally for months but here's our old friend Mike Cooper back from his retirement to sit alongside Maureen Holloway like it's just it's happening now on 1010 so just a quick aside is that

a person disappeared without any, they don't even, and speaking of Jay Michaels, who is a good FOTM himself, Mad Dog, Mad Dog's co-host on the afternoon drive on 1010 is a guy named Ryan Doyle, was a guy named Ryan Doyle.

And suddenly he was not on the show and there was substitute people like Jim Richards, et cetera, filling in for Ryan Doyle. And then all of a sudden the name of the show and there was substitute people like jim richards etc filling in for ryan doyle and then all of a sudden the name of the show changed it's no longer the rush with mad dog and ryan or whatever now it's just like the rush with mad dog or i guess they call him jay and now he's lost the mad dog but this complete shrouded in mystery they deleted him from the website uh like to me that's like aren't you fostering a relationship with your listeners that these have become like their

friends you're in my car for my commute you're in my living room when I'm relaxing like you know it's strange to have that whole like this person never existed we like men in black or something like forget that you ever heard the voice Ryan Doyle he's not a part of this show what are you talking about I find

that part a little bit uh discomforting. Yes. And you don't know why that happens. And it could be for that particular person. And I only speak from just my own experience of journey, mental health journey,

recovery journey, you know, there's not everything that you expose. And who knows what is happening in their lives. And there's something that becomes, it's up to them to be the ones who disclose. True, true, true. With specifics. Like if somebody has, let's say, an addiction to, like that's a mental health issue,

and that's a private matter. Yes, and so you don't know if that's it. And so there's no comment and there's nothing said because it's really a protection for this person in their life. I don't know if that was the case for Darren B. Lamb. I don't know if that's the case for Ryan B. Lamb. I don't know if that's the case for Ryan. We're not being specific. Not being specific.

But for anybody, you know, and people just disappear. And sometimes you have your own reasons. Well, I agree. Not everything is for public consumption. But yes, without a doubt, listeners, you know, I'm still getting messages on Instagram. People suddenly go, where the heck? You know, you're gone. What happened?

Okay, let's do that now, then, since I actually have Tish Eyston here. I don't have Darren B. Lamb here right now or Ryan Doyle, but I have Tish. So this is about a minute. And let's listen and then we'll talk. Are you ready, Tish? I don't know if I'm ready. OK, actually, I don't know how much to play, actually. I have more, but let's start it and then we'll see how this goes. You're the cutest thing I ever did see. It is Sunday Morning Rewind. Good morning.

I'm Tish Eiston. At 11 o'clock, I told you that I would have a special announcement for you, and when I think about it now, it's kind of like, you know, when you have a partner or a boyfriend, girlfriend, and you call them up and you say, you know what, we really need to talk. That's kind of what it's like. Anyway, the important announcement is that today is my last day here on CHFI. And it's very sad for me.

I know I'm kind of laughing. But it's very sad for me. I have had just an unbelievable time here on CHFI with you. You have made this the most amazing radio journey for me. And I don't want you to fret about anything. I am going on to do wonderful things. I have a voice acting career. I do a lot of documentaries.

I do a lot of TV shows. In fact, you might have been flipping the dial and came across some of the TV shows that I narrate. They're murder shows. I'd never in a million years watch them, but I seem to be a good murder narrator. Anyway, I have lots of stuff going on and I just want to it also means that it's uh it's the last time that we're going to spend here together on sunday morning i said i wasn't going to cry this has been the most special time in um all of my career here at chfi you know from from the beginning of my life being able to turn the radio dial i knew that i wanted to be on the radio not because i wanted to be on the radio i wanted to play music i wanted to connect there was immediately in my life i knew that there was a connection when music was played when you go to a concert don't you feel like you're part of it all and i just inherently knew at a really young age that that's what this energy coming out of the box at your end was all about and that's what i wanted to do

so i've done that but you know what it's been a gift to be here at chfi i've been here since the spring of 2005 and when i arrived um this this three hour time block of this music was already here and i just kind of slid into it it became my shift and you know what i never asked anybody if i could do what i do uh i never asked permission i just started doing it because to me it became my shift and you know what i never asked anybody if i could do what i do i never asked permission i just started doing it because to me it was what i wanted to do i love to do it i love to tell the stories and share the music and man man man we have had a trip over the past 16 and a half years and you know what the bosses have trusted me i get to program this show and you know that is an anomaly in radio.

So I have to say thank you to Julie Adam and Wendy Duff for trusting me with, I kind of say, the keys to the car. I've had it on a joyride for the past 16 and a half years over this three-hour time block. And, man, we have had fun. We've laughed. We've danced. Oh, and, yeah, we've cried a few times along the way as well. And you would pick up the phone and you would call to make sure that I was okay. But it has been a trip.

And I can't even begin to tell you how important you are to me in the depth of my soul as we've shared this music together here on Sunday morning. And it's all good. Everything is good. You know, I'm a believer of uh door closes a thousand windows open and man that's how i live my life and i think you've you've you've gathered that that that's what my life is all about it's positive it's joy and nothing has brought me more joy than this three hour time block that we have spent here on sunday mornings i've worked with uh the best in the biz behind this microphone here at chfi i love every single one of them

and i know that you do too so daryl henry and i yesterday were talking about uh the last song that i was going to play and i was laughing so hard about the tunes that he was throwing back and forth that i almost peed my pants but i didn't anyway not that you needed to know that that was way more information than you needed anyway so i decided this is the song i'm playing and for no other reason other than it's a vibe and i'm all about the vibe and it's just so cool and it's just so groovy there's a little sexy saxophone in there and i love horns and uh you just can't beat philly soul so i used to have this album actually and i loved this song so i play it for you every once in a while daryl hall and john oats do a great job on this song, so I play it for you every once in a while. Daryl Hall and John Oates do a great job on this song. Michael Bublé does a great version of this song.

So there's no hidden meaning here. It's just the vibe, and I'm all about the vibe. So, shall we? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Well, first of all, I have goosebumps because I love that song. But, you know, you just laid that on me there. I hadn't listened to that since that last day on the air,

which was October 24th. Well, you did a great job. Thank you. And you know what? It didn't sound as bad as I thought it would. Oh, it sounds great. It sounds great. It's from the heart.

You know, it was from the heart. It was very genuine. And you know, I really have to say that in all of my radio career, and I have had a fantastic radio career for 41 plus years. My radio career has been amazing. And I have worked, as you've heard here, with some fabulous people.

But, you know, the three hours that I got to do on Sunday mornings. And also, you know, they also gave me, they trusted me with a countdown show on Saturdays that I got to research, and I loved to do that as well. So all the other time slots, but those three hours that I got to program, that I got to do. Now, when I first slid into that show, CHFI was in a different spot. Now, before Aaron came over in 2005 2005 i was doing the morning show and chfi had had realized they needed to kind of move back a bit to to where they were before they tried to change and bring mad dog and building on so the music kind of moved back a bit and i remember i remember we played ray charles on the morning show it was all programmed i didn't have anything to do with that on the

morning show and i was doing the morning show and It was all programmed. I didn't have anything to do with that on the morning show. And I was doing the morning show and, uh, Julia Haddam calls and says, you know, maybe we've gone too far. So we didn't, you know, that kind of got changed. But so my point was, is that back then when I was started, first started doing that show. Yeah. Um, it wasn't unusual that we played a lot of 60s tunes. And when I was doing a special Grammy show, I remember playing King of the Road by Roger Miller. And I remember, you know, all of those kind of things. So needless to say, you know, it's just business and it's radio. And as years went by, we kind of moved through the decades and we kind of left any of the 50s stuff behind. Which, by the way, my favorite number one

song in my entire life. I'll tell you about it after. So we moved through the 60s. We didn't play 60s anymore, maybe ever so slightly. Moved into the 70s and started playing 80s. And so that's just the evolution of radio, as we all know. So in those days, though, those early 2005, 2006, we got to play. I still got to play all of that music.

And it was a thrill. It was a trip. And I remember one particular day, and this is probably more information than anybody needs. Impossible. But I'm doing the show, and I could feel nobody ever came to me and said, we want you to move the show forward. We want you to stop playing. Nobody ever, ever, ever said that to me.

But in meetings and in conversations, you can feel it. I'm not stupid. I'm organic. I can pick up vibes and I understand radio and I knew where we were going. So I knew that there was music that we were going to be leaving behind. So Mary Travers from Peter, Paul and Mary died, right? We were in this process of moving the station and moving the music on Sunday morning rewind. It was Sunday morning oldies back then forward. And I was about to play and talk about Mary Travers passing away. And I was also hormonally just whacking off the road.

You know, nothing that primrose oil can't fix. At any rate, so there were all these things going on, and I really felt that I was a mother moving and leaving their children behind with this music that I knew I wasn't going to be able to play anymore on a regular basis. So I did the story of Mary Travers, and I started to cry. I'm bawling on the air. Tears are coming down my cheeks, and I can't tell the audience,

you know, we're not going to be able to play this music for you anymore. And my hormones are all raging. I couldn't do that. So people didn't understand. And that's really what was going on. And the phone lines lit up. I had people writing me. I had people.

There was a listener who sent me the Puff the Magic Dragon book with a CD. People genuinely cared. Because you were authentic. Like, this is all we're looking for. I mean, what I'm looking for anyway. And that's what radio should be. Right. And, you know, that was the thing about that three-hour time block

on Sunday mornings is all of that music touched my soul, and I felt always, and I believe radio, you know, I don't buy for a second that people don't still listen to radio. Radio is more than just radio. Radio is energy. Radio is feeling. And you might not remember what I said to you, but you sure as hell will remember how I made you feel. Right.

And so that's what radio, and that's what on Sunday mornings, and I'm going to make you feel. I'm going to allow you to feel. I'm going to allow you to feel. I'm going to bring you along on this joyous ride that I am on. Because when I'm playing a song, I would have out-of-body experiences while I was playing songs. Because I could feel the energy of all of those musicians in the room doing this and loving it. Patricia, break my heart here. Because that's what I'm looking for, what you do, what you're describing there.

That's what we got. I'm thinking now the late great Dave Bookman, for example, bookie gave that he had a passion for the music and you would, you know, and there's, you know, David,

we'll go back with David Marsden. Okay. They, you know, I love Mars bar. He had a show on the rock in Oshawa and he was able to play whatever he wanted and got to connect in that manner. And then at some point, the program director said,

this doesn't make sense because all week long we play this. And then for a few hours on a Sunday night, David Marsden plays that. And so obviously that show had to go. And now he's got NY the Spirit, a streaming thing, which is great. But all this stuff seems to be gone from radio. It feels like now there's just these quick...

Do you know, it's interesting. It seems to be gone interesting because you're gone wait can we get that question now because we never did address it so i'm gonna ask you the trillion dollar question because i heard what you said live on the air and that's very you know diplomatic and kind of you but did you wake up one day and say i'm gonna focus on my voice over and not have this show on chfi or did chfi somebody in chfi tap you on the shoulder and say, Tish, that was an amazing 16 years and seven months, but time's up and we're doing something different. You know, it was just, there were, there were, it was changes, you know? And, and I absolutely had the ride of my life and Rogers treated me fabulous.

And, and so for them to decide they want to make changes, I absolutely had the ride of my life and Rogers treated me fabulous. And so for them to decide they want to make changes, I was totally okay with it. And it's like I was fine because I also have this voiceover career that I love and get to tell amazing stories. So, you know, if they had not have said, we're going to make some changes, would I still be there? Perhaps. But it's okay. You know, I had a ride and a trip. You had a great run, and you're doing

other things. But you did not decide to retire from radio. Like, this wasn't a tish. But you know what? I haven't retired from radio. I don't know if this, you know, I'm certainly not retired. I still think I have a lot to give and communicate and share.

You still sound great. And you got the passion, which is what I'm looking for. Yeah. And you know, I believe again, you know, radio is energy and you invite people to come along on this trip of joy.

And who doesn't want to hang out with people who feel good? Oh, I know. And jump on that bus. So, you know, I've always been about that kind of thing. And so, you know what? It doesn't matter. I love all of the time, the 17 and a half years that I spent at Rogers. And for whatever reason,

the changes that they want, you're not, you're one of many. Corporations are allowed to do this. And there's a lot of changes at that station. And we all knew the rules when we got into radio. Can I just add that again? Right. Cause you watched WKRP.

Right. Exactly. Baby, if you've ever wondered. Okay. So just since we're talking about your your station you're on for so many so many years uh you know we talked about how aaron davis you said decided to leave and then they brought in maureen holloway to go alongside darren b lamb because mike cooper had

decided to leave before aaron davis decided to leave right he had i think his wife was sick i think there was a personal thing so there were some personal things so then that's when darren b lamb comes over from Roger and Marilyn. Darren came over. He had a six-month non-compete, so we had to wait. Right. So Darren, of course, we did discuss the mysterious disappearance from CHFI, but Mike Cooper comes in.

And then Maureen Holloway and, well, Mike Cooper, I guess, was only a fill-in. But I was surprised to learn Maureen Holloway was no longer with the program. You mentioned Gord Rennie, who got caught up in that whole bucket, if you will. And Maureen's been here a couple of times, and I quite like her. I was surprised by that news. But I also knew, because I followed the industry, I also knew Pooja Handa and Gurdip Alawalia had both quit their jobs on CP24. And as I wrote on torontomike.com,

they were clearly going to resurface as a pair somewhere in the market. Now I think of them as TV stars. So my brain starts thinking of like breakfast television or whatever. But the moment Maureen Holloway got the axe, I went, bang, that's it. So the big announcement, new announcement

is that Pooja and Gurdip are going to be the new morning show on CHFI. And I'll be honest with you right now. They're all Christmas on your station, your former station. They're all Christmas, but who knows what happens when that all, when that Christmas ends?

Like, I guess we don't know. We don't care, not our department, but who knows what that station could sound like when, are they going to be exactly as they were before Christmas music started? Who knows? You know,

it's interesting. There is a difference between television and radio. Just hello. Really? And nobody's reading off a teleprompter. And nobody's writing scripts for you. And so it's a learning curve. And, you know, I hope that they have all the resources.

I hope they're given the resources to truly succeed because it would be unfortunate if they weren't. Radio is not television. And, I mean, morning radio is different than other kinds of radio. I mean, in other shifts, you have to tell a story, be creative and entertaining in 40 seconds or 20 seconds or over a 13 second intro. You know, how are you going to do that? And we do that. And that's what we do. Can, can people who

don't do that come in and suddenly do that? I'm going to say no. And if you ask anybody behind the microphone in radio, they're going to say no, because it takes a talent and it takes a while to develop that skill and that sense of just all of that. So morning radio is different. So I hope more than anything for their sake, and I don't know them personally. I only know them from CB24, and they're wonderful, delightful people. I've always enjoyed any time that I've been getting my nails done

and they were there on CB24. And so I hope that they're given the resources to succeed because more than anything, that's what they're going to need. You're right. You did touch on the same journey and so I hope that they're given the resources to succeed because more than anything that's what they're going to need. That is, you're right you did touch on the interesting aspect here which is neither has any substantial radio experience in their background and radio and TV are not the same thing

so it will be interesting to see how they do it how that goes one more name I'm going to ask you about here and by the way this was a tremendous debut for you, go ahead. I just want to say there was something that you mentioned earlier that made me think of. I have this. Hold on. I'm going to take a drink.

Okay. What are you drinking there? That's green. Oh, well, you know, I have greens every day. Okay, good. And today was the last of my greens, Natural Factors greens, natural orange flavor. And today was the last bit of greens out of the jar. And I hate to just waste all of that in there. So I switched some water

around. And so that's why my water is a little bit green. Anyway, so I, again, this is just, you know, the woo woo part of radio that is really more powerful than anything else. And you know, one person who is connected to the energy stream of the universe is more powerful than anything else. And you know, one person who is connected to the energy stream of the universe is more powerful than a million who aren't. Keep that in mind. So people who get into radio and are program directors and general managers and, you know,

who back in the days when everything was organic, we didn't have, you't have the research and the software and all the things that are done today. Radio came from your gut and your soul, and we all know those great radio people who were a part of that. to people, broadcasters, general managers, program directors, that may have started in the business understanding and feeling that organic sense of energy that exists in the world of radio. But then they get into the money and the corporate. And so what ends up happening is, slowly but surely, it kind of disappears. And I like to refer to that which is something everybody

will immediately understand i call it your peter pan do not lose your peter pan no matter what you're doing in the business no matter how far up the ladder you go radio is peter Pan at its core. Don't ever forget that. Love it. That was powered by the green juice. The green, the green drink. I had to say that there was something that you said earlier that I, that made me think about, you know,

my philosophy on. Sure. But you are using the word radio. And just to be clear here, when you said speak of radio, you really are speaking of broadcast. Broadcast. Like audio broadcast.

I'm talking about terrestrial radio communication right communication touching someone because we literally spent you can you be shocked when i tell you how long we've been going here but none of it was boring so it's all killer no filler as we say but don't tell this could never happen could never have happened on terrestrial radio like it's simply no one's gonna give us 90 minutes to to dive into all this so here there was something. I interrupted you. I apologize. No, I was going to drop a name because, you know, we talked earlier.

Like, oh, your neighbor, John Gallagher. My neighbor, I'm curious what your relationship was like with Michelle Butterly. I love Michelle. I call her Michelle-y. I know she lives down the street. Literally. She does. I know.

I could probably walk to her house. You want to walk there together? No, I love Michelle. She's just a vibrant voice on CHFI and a much deserved talent to be in the chair that she's sitting in. I'm happy that she's still there. Not to say that anybody's jobs... I'm not, but I'm just saying.

I think everyone at CH uh is thinking that exact thing because that's quite the uh turnover and slash turmoil not to mention what's happening like in the succession world of like rod the rogers family like all that's kind of this this whole radio in and of itself is in in turmoil i mean the business i mean you know advertising dollars aren't there the world is a different place over the past couple of years, especially with COVID. So, you know, you certainly understand from a corporate standpoint. But no, I love Michelle.

I love Michelle. She was just a whole lot of fun to work with. And, you know, when we crossed paths, it was usually changing shifts of some kind. But it's just, there's somebody on CHFI where it would not be, it would be atypical for me to be on like a bike ride and there's a Carl Hanski

from 680 City News. They rebranded it, you know. Carl likes jazz. Did you know that? Carl and I share a favorite album, Michael,

George Michael, Songs from the Last Century. I need to have a real talk. I mean, first of all, they're down the street. They got, they were gonna, the COVID messed it up

and they had elderly parents and they were really hyper, hyper careful or whatever. So at mean, first of all, they're down the street. They got it. They were going to, the COVID messed it up and they had elderly parents and they were really hyper, hyper careful or whatever. So at some point, of course, they're going to make the long, long walk over here. Down to you. But I've never had an actual, I don't think so. Carl and I, like we just wave hi to each other as I bike by and he walks, they have a big dog and they're always walking the dog in the hood here. And I see them all the time.

So hello to Michelle Butterly and Carll hansky future fotms okay so uh just to wrap up mop up and then uh because there's a couple of questions that came in from people on the live stream uh one is did you ever work with arlene meadows no i yeah arlene meadows now i don't think so where did did Marlene? CFMZ? I mean, that's the Canadian way. Is it CFMZ? I don't even know. No. Okay.

No, I don't think so. That's one question. And does Tish get a lot of video game work, voiceover work? Has that overtaken commercial work that comes from Al? No. I get a lot of anthem kind of work, you know, work that somebody needs an anthem. Also, documentaries, I have to put a plug in for a couple of things that I've done. Are you familiar with the streaming service called CuriosityStream?

Oh, no, but I know you did a nature documentary with them. Yes, actually, I've done a couple of things with them. CuriosityStream is the Netflix of documentaries. It's very cheap. It's only like $30 a year, but their programming is amazing. And so what I have found is somehow, I don't remember the first job that I got. Well, the first job that I got is with a production company, a film company, and it was a documentary on Abraham Lincoln.

Fighting for Lincoln. Fighting for Lincoln and the Wide Awakes. And the Wide Awakes were a group of young rogues who could not vote, but they were responsible for getting Lincoln elected. And, you know, Lincoln never ran on the anti-slavery banner. He ran on the slavery not moving into other states. Anyway, all this thing.

Like holding the line, basically. Right, exactly. So I did this documentary for this film company, and that's who they had sold it to, was CuriosityStream. As a result of that, producers talked to each other. Sure. And I just, this week, wrapped up a third episode of a documentary

called The Humboldt Current. And I didn't even know this thing existed. The Humboldt Current is a current that runs from Antarctica all the way up to the equator. And so it follows a blue whale from Antarctica to the equator and all of the animals and all of the Galapagos Islands.

So we just did the third and final episode this past week, and it's going to air on CuriosityStream January 20th and may hit HBO Max. Since we're talking about your extensive voiceover work, so your voice would be heard for NBC's New York City Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center yes I got to do that it was one year still that's bananas

it was bananas it was so cool and yeah it was great so I've done some fun stuff along the way oh and the voice of God for that was a fun thing the voice of God for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards that they have every year.

Okay, so this is what's taking up your time these days is this voiceover work, but you're not going to ever count yourself out of the radio game. You're taking all calls and accepting all offers. Because I have a question for you on that note. So I think you'd have interesting perspective on this. And then I have to ask you what 1950s song you loved that you teased earlier but forgot to come back to. But I took a note because I said I need to know.

So what advice would you give a college student right now who wants to be on the radio? Man, you know, take whatever you can get. Get your foot in the door. And, you you know I know that things aren't the same as they used to be and you know back in the days of course when I started and most of us who we've talked about today started

there were people on the air 24-7 and it was easier the trip of radio and I still think you know to some to some degree, it's there. Working in the smaller market, in the smaller markets, you get to develop and find out who you are. You get to make the mistakes, you get to expand and grow and do all of those things that, you know, you can't you can't just walk into Toronto, and or, or any of the bigger markets. So take go to, you know, you can't, you can't just walk into Toronto and, or, or any of the bigger markets. So take, go to, you know, Portage La Prairie and go to. But aren't they disappearing?

Like, uh. You know what? They still have some people on the air in some of those markets. And, and, you know, there are independents, you know, not everybody is. Like Fort Francis or something. Fort Francis. You know, I worked, Prince Rupert. That was small. 12,000 people. And a girl who had come from Toronto in the 70s to a town of 12,000. We went to the dump to watch the Bears and the Eagles. That was my thrill. So, you know, but I still say that there's jobs out there. Do and take whatever you can and be eager.

Right. And no self, no entitlement. I'm not sure there's something going on in the, my daughter and I were having this conversation. She's in the fashion business in Los Angeles. She's a celebrity wardrobe stylist. She dresses people. And so we were talking and she said,

I need her help. She was talking to a publicist the other day and they were talking about this publicist needed an assistant. And not somebody who closes the computer at 6 o'clock and not somebody who feels they're immediately entitled to $100,000 a year. And my daughter says, what is that? And she's 32, and this is what she says.

So I don't know. I don't know if the kids today have that feeling. Don't have that feeling. Check in with yourself. How do you feel about this industry that you're going to go into that's smaller than it used to be? You can still be passionate about it, and you can still do it, and I say take whatever you can get your foot in the door.

That's good advice, and I never worked in this industry, but my advice would be you can't just be an announcer anymore. You can't just have the golden pipes of a Tish Eisten and speak eloquently into a microphone. You've got to be an announcer anymore. You can't just have the golden pipes of a Tish Eisten and speak eloquently into a microphone. You got to do all these parts. So I, if I were trying to get in radio, and I've never applied for a job in radio because I sound like this.

I don't sound like you, but I would learn how to- You're unique. I like your voice. Well, thank you. There's nothing, thank you. So I would, now I feel so much better about myself, but just because you said that. I would learn how to like

put something together through all these uh digital uh channels where you don't need a terrestrial radio license where you can have a podcast or a youtube show there's a variety of ways to broadcast now without having a job from you know Rogers or Bell or Chorus or whatever it's it's and first of all how successful are you with all of these sponsors and like every you know what am i gonna do oh i'm gonna go do a podcast i would never in a thousand years imagine going to do a podcast first of all it's not in my being but yeah why did you accept this offer oh no no no i mean being a host of a podcast right i would happily be a guest of a podcast and i have a plethora of subjects that we could talk about other than this. Well, you'll be back. But we could talk about so many things.

Why don't you talk about music? Because if you're going to finish this thought, then you're going to tell me the 50s. So my point is, is that you being successful and having, look at all these fabulous sponsors that you have. So that is absolutely fabulous. And so there are so many avenues that you can pursue and that's where you can put in your reps and make your mistakes and get better so that you're not you know you can't just start in a although some do have this story which i find interesting they'll come over and be yeah like i started on this toronto station my only job whatever ryan doyle's an interesting guy wherever ryan doyle is reach out we need to talk i don't know what happened

to you but he literally like went from i think it was humber college but from a college learning radio to cfrb where he literally is the only job he's ever had and clearly though he was able and and that was a a door that could open for him and there were people who believed that he had the talent absolutely and he actually has been on the program but we need an update from ryan Tish. I gotta say, man, this was amazing. Man, it's been so long, my gosh. I can't believe it. It's a deep dive on this program, as you know, and what a pleasure, and I can't wait to have you back to kick out

the jams at some point. It would be great. We can't leave the people hanging and not know what my song is. Let's hear it. It's an incredibly depressing song. Do you want to give me a clue? Oh, it's depressing. That's a big clue. Bobby Darin. It Swings.

Okay, Bobby Darin. Number one for nine or seven weeks. Can you hum a few bars? Can you sing a bit? Dun, dun, dun, dun. Oh, yeah, yeah. Dun, dun, dun, dun. I thought it was Mack the Knife. Yes.

Okay, okay. My number one favorite song of all time. I have no connection to it. It was probably even before I was born, but not quite. Great song. Oh, my God. It swings. It's the coolest tune on the planet.

It's a good. Do you remember the McDonald's campaign, Mac, Tonight? I think they used that music. They used that music. And they did a whole song. Now my brain will switch over. But anyway, that's a great song. Bobby Darin, Mac the Knife.

And when you kick out your jams that could be one of your ten songs okay Tish Eyston fantastic it has been a pleasure thank you

and that brings us to the end of our 967th show you can follow me on Twitter I'm at Toronto Mike Tish are you at

Tish Eyston TishEyston.com TishEyston.com and TishEyston.com. And you can hear more of the great voiceover work. I only pulled a couple, but there's lots of great, great pieces there. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. ChefDrop is at GetChefDrop. Moneris is at Moneris.

McKay CEO Forums are at McKay CEO Forums. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. I have a lasagna for you, Tish. Sticker U is at Sticker U and Ridley Funeral Home, they're at Ridley FH See you all tomorrow when Mark Wiseblot drops by for his

monthly, you thought this was a long episode wait till I do this three hour deep dive with Wiseblot tomorrow See you all then.