Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Victoria Lord: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1857

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

In this 1857th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with PR queen Victoria Lord about her relationship with Gordon Lightfoot and the heavyweights she's worked with over the years. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Nick Ainis, and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail].

I'm Victoria Lord, and I'm a arts and music publicist, and I'm really excited to be making my Toronto mic to debut. That was perfect. Welcome to episode 1857. Yes, that's the year of my birth, Victoria. I think that feels like a lucky number to me. An award-winning podcast. Did you know that? An award-winning podcast.

I did. I have been fortunate enough to have many clients come and visit and be a part of this podcast over the years. So I'm very excited to be doing something like this for the first time in my career. See, I like how we're now embedding like teasers into the intro. So let me race through this. No, that's good. I like how you did that, okay? You can do no wrong here, Victoria.

Yay. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. Order online at Great LakesBeer.com for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta, enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Visit palmaPasta.com for more. They're catering my daughter's 10th birthday party this weekend. That's a fact, Victoria. delicious food there.

Fusion Corpse Own Nick Aini's. He's the host of Building Toronto Skyline and Mike and Nick, two podcasts that you ought to listen to. The problem is, Victoria, I ran out of music because of all of our banter in the middle of this intro.

So let me just quickly thank Recyclemyelectronics.ca, committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. And of course, Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community

since 1921. And as you heard, joining me today making her Toronto mic to debut, and I'm going to learn in a moment, it may be your podcast debut. It's Victoria Lord. Welcome, Victoria. Thanks, Mike.

I'm really excited to be here. Is this your podcast debut? This is my interview debut. I have for 33 years, been setting up in interviews for lots of people, but I have never been in front of a mic before. I've always chosen to stay in the background and so this is a debut.

Leaving your comfort zone. I'm actually feeling very excited about this. And I don't know if the comfort plays a part in it. But, you know, I just thought it was time. And I'm an avid listener of this podcast. So it was excited to be invited. So I'm honored that you chose Toronto Mike as the place where you're finally going to tell your story

because you're a name. Many of us content creators. I don't know if that sounds like a... I don't know if I want to be known as a content creator, but many of us people who host shows like this, we know the name Victoria Lord. Like, we know you. I've been around for a while.

I've been around for a while, it's true. And the name itself is memorable, I think. I get a lot of comments about that name. And I will just want to clear up that, yes, that is actually my name. Well, that was my first question, because it sounds like a nom de plume. Well, it's interesting. If you Google Victoria Lord,

you're going to have to go through about eight or ten pages of Victoria Lord, on Days of Our Lives. No, I'm going to correct you. I feel like Robert Lawson. I did my homework. It's not Days of Our Lives. Is it not Days of Our Lives?

Okay. You want to give you the story here? Please do. Okay. So Victoria Lord is a fictional character in the matriarch of the Lord family on the American soap opera One Life to Live.

Oh, there you go. There you go. So you've been wrong about your soap opera of choice. But I will say that for 41 years, six-time, daytime, Emmy Award winning actress. Erica Slezak, Slezak, I'm not sure how you pronounce the surname, but this woman, Erica with a K, played Victoria Lord for 41 years.

Well, you know what? I've had to sort of live up to that because she has quite the life. I have not been jailed. I don't think I've had multiple personalities. I'll be the judge about that. Yeah, well, all of those things. So what made you decide? it's finally time to tell the Victoria Lord's story.

When for your entire professional career, which we'll learn more about in a moment, but you've been there to help others share their stories. Yeah, you know what? I have always, I come from a school of thought that, you know, I am there to promote my clients and to help them build their profile and in doing so, want to always present those opportunities to them.

Why I chose now, you know, I think that the world of PR that I'm in is changing. and with social media, you know, I think I have had to promote myself a little bit more just in terms of my business. And it's not that I've ever been reluctant to do it. I just have never felt the need to share the spotlight in any kind of way with my clients. And I think now it's an opportunity to tell people a little bit about my story, what I've done, how I think, how I feel, you know, about the work that I do. Just the opportunity to share a little bit about who I am.

why don't we do this then? Why don't you start telling your story? And I will tell you right now, I did load up one song because there is a topic that we're going to dive into, but I'm guessing you'll actually bring this topic up during our little chat here. So I will press play on a song

when you say the magic words, but why don't you start us off? Tell us a bit more about this Victoria Lord, since all I know about is the One Life to Live character, Victoria Lord. Okay, well, to start at the beginning. beginning the beginning? Yeah, let us go.

We'll converse about it because I'm a curious cat. Okay. And again, I'm listening in the headphones and you do not sound nervous because you don't sound nervous. I can tell when a guest is nervous. You're not nervous. It's very comfortable here. I'm not at all nervous.

I'm not even recording. Okay, great. Well, so where do we start? I guess I'm going to start with, you know, how I ended up in this career. I was an English major at U of T. Me too. And were you? A double major English in history over here.

I feel like that beats you maybe. Nice. Well, I did English and film. You know, really easy to get a job with that kind of criteria. Well, you did it. Well, my goal really was I wanted to work in publishing. And I got an internship at Random House and in the publicity department. And I had no idea what publicity was.

But I threw myself in and while I was filing everything and was reading as much as possible and I guess I made an impression because after a few months I, I was hired on a contract to work on my first paid publicity job. And of all the books that I worked on, I worked on Pope John Paul's memoirs. So to even read, to read his book, I had to read three books simultaneously to be able to understand what he was talking about. Listen, I went to Catholic schools. That man's face, and this is Pope John Paul the second, right?

This is true. He was all, you know, his photo would be in the schools. Yeah. I can still visualize the photo. Like, he was like, you know, I was, he was our supreme leader. He was. And an incredibly intelligent man.

And, you know, at 23 years old, trying to, you know, not having any background in the Catholic religion and really trying to understand it and trying to do the best that I could to participate in this opportunity, I delved in and I read the book. And that was sort of the start of the journey. And then from there, I was referred to another job where I started to working on the Toronto Jazz Festival. It was actually back in,

do you remember DeMorey when they were sponsoring everything? So it was, yeah, it was for the PR firm that was handling the DeMoree. The DeMoree Jazz Festival, is that what it was called? That's right. And there were jazz festivals across the country, and they were also in the fashion world. And so I had the opportunity to really learn the craft in the arts. And I'd come from the arts in terms of who I was personally.

I grew up around music. I fancied myself as a singer. at one point. And so it was a very sort of natural fit for me. And while I was working with DeMorriy on the Toronto Jazz Festival, I was recruited by the great for folks at Verve Records. And I went to Polygram. And eventually we were bought by Universal.

And I was through that transition. And I left there when I had my first child, who is now 24 in finishing up a sec. You ready for this? I have a 24-year-old. Do you really? We have so much in common. And I had no idea. Okay.

Which college at U of T did you go to? I was at Innes College because I was interested in the film. I was originally Victoria and then I switched over to Innes. Victoria had the nicest, well, one of the nicest buildings, right? Really lovely building. I would hang out of Victoria College because I liked hanging out there, but I actually was affiliated with St. Michael's College. Okay.

Fantastic. Hence my Pope John Paul, the second expertise. There you go. There you go. And you have a 24-year-old. So I, yes, I do too. This is a boy? Girl, what is this?

So my son, Graham, he is just finishing his second year at UFT law. Wow, it's smarter than my oldest. I'm jealous. He's pretty great. Well, I want to hear all about your oldest as well. My son's also a musician. He's played saxophone and he continues to play sax and he gigs on the side with a great band called Regadiction. And so he's constantly doing that as well.

He's a busy guy. Don't get to see him as much as I'd like because of that. But he's great. Yeah, so when I was home with him on Matt, leave I got a phone call from actually it was the songwriters association of Canada, Blair Packham, the wonderful Blair Packer. Do you know he's here tomorrow? Is he really?

Yeah. Okay, these coincidences are. He's here tomorrow because we have a quarterly Toronto miced episode where we basically we talk about what's new in the Canadian media landscape over the previous three months. And he comes over every single quarter to do that. There's a lot to talk about this episode. But tomorrow is the next episode of Rewinder. and before you say another word

Victoria Lord that's your real name man that's an amazing name here I feel like I need to tell you I need to play the Rewinder song Hold on Excellent So it's a pack of moo

Who is also known as Blair And Mikey Boon Boon too Rewind Looking back and yippy hopping on the air For the quarterly review Rewin With the pack of moo is also known as Blair And Mikey boom boom too

So it's amazing to me hearing you tell me, Blair Packham plays a role in your story. Huge. I don't even know if he realizes it. He is, as you know, one of the funniest people. So intelligent and the biggest heart is just wonderful. I might have to pull that for him and play for him tomorrow. He really, yeah. I just think the world of him. I haven't seen him in a long time, actually. But, so please, you can spend the night and see him tomorrow. See him tomorrow. So yeah, so Blair called and said, you know, we're doing this Bluebird North tour and I know you're on Matt leave, but you know, would you work on this tour for us? And then somebody got, somebody at Roy Thompson, Massey Hall heard that I was also doing some

freelancing and so they called. And then a certain folk iconic singer. Okay, hold on. You said it. Yes, there we go. Let's listen for a bit here before we dive into this. You're a singer you want to sing along with Ford? I'll be in tears. I still hurts. I got to say. Well on that note, then listen closer. I'll be quiet.

And I got Kleenex here if you need it. Or a fortress strong with chains upon my feet. You know that ghost is me. And I will never be set free. As long as I'm a ghost, If I could read your mind, love, what a tale of your thoughts could... If I could read your mind, Victoria, what would I know about your relationship with Gordon Lightfoot? Well, I miss him. I think of him often. I speak with Kim, his lovely wife regularly. She's one of my closest friends.

Yeah, he was a big part of my. life. I got that call from Bertie Fiedler and asked me to do some work for him. And 22 years later, I was the person that had to let the world know that he had left us. And that was an incredible moment in my career, as you can imagine. It was really wanting to do everything that I could to honor and represent Gordon and his family and my relationships with the media. And I was getting calls from around the world. I got calls from India and Dubai and I it was, it was 36 hours,

36 hours. Everybody knows Gordon, yeah, it was really quite, you know, we had had that scare that the rumor had passed that he had passed. Can we slow down and get into that because it does come up often here, but it was reported on, which station

reported it? Well, it was Cane West that went with it first. And I remember that day because it was actually 11 years ago or it was last month, 11 years ago last month. And I was at a meeting and I had, I think it was like 45 minutes or an hour in between meetings and I decided to get myself a sandwich and a coffee and go have a little time by myself and I turn my phone off, which is something I don't do. And during that time, the reporter whose name I can't recall from Ken West was trying to get a hold of me because

he had gotten hold of this rumor. And I think what he had said to me is that, well, you didn't pick up your phone, so I assumed that you were avoiding media because you always pick up your phone. And in that time, he ran with the story and it was absolute madness. It was absolute madness. But that's a legitimate journalism outfit, Ken West, that they must have rules to corroborate such things, especially if you're recording that somebody has passed away. I think there was a lot of it. He's not a blogger, is what I'm saying. He's not some blogger who ran with a tip. There was a lot of that happening at that time, you know, that these internet rumors were taking hold for some reason.

I understand that he also reached out to Ronnie Hawkins, and Ronnie Hawkins had also heard the rumor and confirmed it based on the rumor, and it just got a little discombobulated. Say no more. Okay. Yeah. Ron Hawkins may have, we don't know what he said to this journalist. Yeah.

I, you know, I heard that, I don't know this is true, but I heard that his wife's wife was faxing out, you know, messages to people. Like it really, it got big, really fast as it would because Gordon was beloved. And, you know, what was really happening was Gordon was at the dentist. And we didn't, you know, and he heard it while he was there and he reached out and we were able to correct that. But it took a while. And I thought that day, you know, very clearly I remember thinking there will come a day that this is going to be real for me. And maybe this is a bit of a taste of what it's going to be like.

in terms of the on slot of the media onslaught that was definitely there but what I hadn't counted on was the grief that I was dealing with and you know having to it was 36 hours straight that I was dealing with media from around the world

and I think I maybe slept for about an hour and a half I have a had a friend staying with me at the time and she says I didn't sleep but I think I might have dozed for a little while but But, you know, really just trying to, you're in on autopilot and you're trying to be available for everybody who needs it. And that included, you know, members, you know, from the estate. And we had planning to do in terms of how we were going to, you know, funeral arrangements and getting calls from incredible people who wanted to attend the funeral and just managing all of that. I, you know, a Jesse Kumigai at Roe Thompson, Massey Hall, who I've known for many, many years

was an absolute angel in terms of coming to help me. And we were organizing security for Aurelia. There was just so many things to be done. And I really, I think I didn't allow myself to grieve until it was all done. You know, I think it was about three days after I had a meeting with my clients at Sony Music. And I just said, you know, I think I'm just going to take today off. And it was just, I just completely crumbled. Well, you worked for over two decades with Gordon Lightfoot.

So maybe now is a good time to talk about how that experience with Gordon, you know, shaped you, like both professionally and personally. Like, tell me a little bit about the man. Well, you know, when I first started working with him, he rarely did interviews. He really, he wasn't comfortable. He was a little afraid of giving too much information. He was in the process of really rebuilding relationships with his, with, his kids, and he was very sort of protective and he didn't do a lot. So over the years, you know, we kind of made him feel a little bit more comfortable. And I at the beginning sat in on all of his interviews,

and then over time he was sort of very comfortable to have conversations. And I would say, I would schedule somebody for 20 minutes and I'd say to them, you know, clear your calendar because he'll keep talking. He's very generous. And, you know, he will keep talking and he would stay on the phone with folks. So, um, in terms of, you know, uh, work, you know, I would, I, I, I miss the days and he would call me quite regularly. And he all, when he'd call, he'd always say, Victoria, it's Gordon, Gordon Lightfoot. And it was, I was always introduced him. Gordon who? I know. He'd always introduced himself that way. And I, and I, I'd say to him, you know, I can tell by your breath, the way you breathe. I know, you know, but he, uh, but he just had, he was just, um, incredibly generous and, you know,

meticulous. One of the things that I love about him and that I miss about him is he always wrote in pencil. Even if he was doing a shopping list, he always wrote in pencil because he would say there's always room for improvement. And that's sort of the way that he approached everything in life, I think. So he taught me

a lot about that. He was incredibly, anybody who met him knows he was incredibly humble, incredibly generous. And really straight. Never got any BS with him. He really just said what he thought. And I think that was rare.

Okay, so I'm going to go back a bit. So I have some of my questions about the fake announcement about his death. Okay, so you turned your phone off and there's a Cannes West journalist who's, I guess, asking for, is this true? Because they've heard a rumor. And then it sounds like we're blaming the late grade romping Ronnie Hawkins here for possibly telling this journalist that, yeah, my buddy Gordon is dead. Is that what might have happened? That's what I understand. I'm sure everybody has their stories,

but this was certainly my experience, is that that that's what this journalist told me that he got his confirmation. Yeah, because it makes the journalist's life, I don't know if Hawkins confirmed or denied those allegations, but this makes a journalist's life, at least they can say, like, well, there were rumblings,

but then I confirmed it with his good friend, Ron Hawkins, and not the guy from lowest at the low. That's right. That's right. When I die, people will be confirming it with, Ron Hawkins from Lewis to the Low. I think that's how that's going to go down here. But then what are the steps when you catch wind of the fact that there is a story now out there circulating

that the legend at 71 years old, again, this didn't actually happen, but at 71 years old, Gordon Lightfoot had passed away. Like what are the steps you take to, I guess, extract some lemonade from all these lemons flying around? Yeah. I mean, I think that, you know, at that point I was so associated. with Gordon that and and and I was I'm even to this day highly responsive if you call me usually hear back for me pretty right away that's that's part of the way that I operate so so an assumption was made a mistake was made I think that it was also at a time where these rumors were happening of other of celebrities passing and but but it was early in that sort of process so he got he got taken you know and that's that's unfortunate I think that you know it was it was a

difficult day for a lot of people. It was a really difficult day for Gordon's family. I mean, you know, I had heard from his assistant that, you know, his grandson had heard it on the radio and didn't know it was true if it was true. And that was, that was really hard, you know, and Gordon wasn't carrying a cell phone, you know, so we, we had to wait for him to call in to let us know where he was. So we didn't. And he was at the dentist. He was at the dentist, yeah, and he heard it on the radio. And, you know, for years, Jane Stevenson from the Toronto Sun. She's been over here. Yeah, she's fabulous.

Good friend. She wrote a story and the cover story. I believe it with the title, the headline was, rumors of my death have been exaggerated or something like that. Rumors of my demise. Yes, he loved it. He loved it. And he kept that, you know, by the couch of the front door,

he kept that coffee for years and he'd pick it up and he'd laugh about it. And I do know, because I've had radio people on who would talk about that. I guess that afternoon, Gord started calling into, radio stations. Yeah. There's an interview with reports of his demise greatly exaggerated.

We have Gordon Lightfoot on the phone to prove his... Yeah, we set that up. But the first call was to Rudy Blair. Oh yeah, he was telling this story.

Yeah, it was Rudy. Because Rudy, again, a great, great friend. Who told this story recently, Rudy Blair? He was for Rudy Blair. Yeah, so we set up that he called into Rudy

and then we had verified it with other fours. That's right. That's right. And so we did a bit of that and then clean that up And it was just sort of exhausting. And just, you know, again,

I thought of it as a prelude to what would eventually I'd be dealing with. But I couldn't have known. But this is kind of good. I think from a PR standpoint, I feel like this is one of those situations where you can extract a lot of lemonade because suddenly the awareness of Gordon Lightfoot's going to shoot up, right? The fact that it's reported he's dead, he's not dead.

just at the freaking dentist. Now it's like, yeah, I'm alive and well. And by the way, I've got a tour coming up. Right? Everyone's covering this. We actually didn't do that. We could have. But we certainly didn't do that. Okay. Well, I know there are newspaper articles out there, which would say, like, you know, it's an easy story to write. Like, okay, quotes from Gordon about how he's, he was, I can't believe they reported this. I'm alive and well. And then in that article, it would be like, he's got a tour coming up. Get your tickets now. Might be the last time. No. It's possible, though. If you were.

weren't such a lovely person, I would say that you could fake an artist's death just to extract this kind of media. Well, it could certainly be done. Certainly now in the way that the internet takes off of the story. It certainly made done. Would you be my PR person? And let's fake I died. Well, you know, they'll go to Ron Hawkins at Lois or Lowe to confirm my death. And then I'll just like, surprise, I'm at the Elmo on May 21st. Get your tickets now. That was a nice flag. Excellent. Well, you know what? There's always got to be a strategy, Mike. There's always got to be a strategy. So absolutely.

Interestingly enough, when Ian Tyson passed, Gord called me and said, you know, they're not talking about it. People are not talking about it. And he asked me, he said, I want to do some interviews, set some up because I want to talk about my friend and what he, you know, what he gave and what he represented. And he said, that was quite a beautiful thing. That is a beautiful thing. Yeah.

I'm trying to take out the combo. I had, you know, I have a lot of combo. down here. At some point in this chat, you're going to tell me everybody you've sent over here, okay? That'll be, I don't know if you have a list in your mind, even if it's a short list. Because I notice one name not on that list is Gordon Lightfoot. You know what? Again, he didn't

do a lot of interviews, but, you know, he was better over the years, but he didn't do a lot of interviews. But you're right, I did deprive you of Gordon. You deprived me of Gordon Lightfoot, which I'll never forget before. I owe you. I owe you on that. When Gordon did pass away, sadly, I know we touched on that when he actually died.

I actually did a special episode with Dave Hodge. And it was really beautiful to hear Dave Hodge talk about not only what Gordon Lightfoot's music meant to him, but what his friendship of Gordon Lightfoot meant to him. Kind of a beautiful little thing I put in the Toronto Miked feed with the legend that is Dave Hodge. So that was cool. But quick on Ian Tyson, the name that came to mind is Lloyd Robertson. Like I remember having a chat on Toronto Miked with Lloyd Robertson, where Lloyd was talking about his time spent with the late great Ian Tyson and I guess, I don't know,

Berta Ranch or something, and they spent some real time together. But that was kind of interesting. Well, I got to spend some time with Gordon and with Lloyd as well, because Lloyd came to the house and did a long interview with them, so we got a lovely interview. And, you know, I also, you know, had a, I have this great photo. It's one of my treasures with Gordon and Peter Mansbridge at Massey Hall. And I really consider that those are three icons in that photo, not including myself, but Massey itself, of course. Absolutely.

And it's great that when they did all that, the renovations to Massey, that they were able to reopen it with Gordon Life. Yeah, absolutely. And closed it. He also did the last concert. Yeah, right. Before they shut it down. That's right. Well, his residences there were an important part of the Massey Hall history.

And they were a real homecoming for, you know, all of family and friends. And it was his, yeah, it was a special. special time. Now, when I think back, well, Gordon Lightfoot, a legend, and you knew him personally, and you knew him very well. Of course, you worked with him for over 20 years, but I think of some of the great Gordon's we've lost lately. Like, I feel like there are a number of Gordon's that are, like, important Canadian icons, and we've lost a few of them recently. And I'm wondering, what do you think is the legacy of Gordon Lightfoot? Like, what exactly does he leave behind for this

country that will never die. Well, you know, he had a way of capturing Canadian life, Canadian experiences in such honesty, with such purity and real precision. You know, I think people may not know this about Gordon, that he really worked on a song. He would work on it and rewrite it. You know, when he wrote Edmund Fitzgerald, you know, he talked about, you know, having gotten every news item he could and he researched. he just wanted to make sure that he had every detail correct and that he honored those lost

in the way that that was as accurate as possible. And he was really precise in that way. And, you know, one beautiful thing, you know, I just recently worked with, I believe it was, with Reuters on a story about the 50th anniversary for Edmund Fitzgeraldon. And that reporter told me that, that, on... on, that, that on, when Gordon had passed, they rang the bells, one for each soldier, each victim lost, and then an extra one for Gordon.

And that brought me to tears because, you know, at his funeral, they also rang the bells for each of those, Edmund Fitzgerald. Well, I was going to say, you know, we're both, you know, I'm the history major, right? You're the English and film major. Yes. Are you the history major?

Okay. Definitely not. major. But I'll tell you right now, I'm, you know, a Gen Xer who learned about the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald from Gordon Lightfoot. Yeah. Like, like he, and this is what I love about, you know, the music of Gordon Lightfoot. He's embedding history in there.

And I will shout out another Gordon who did this also. But the lyrics of Gordon Downey. Yeah. Also embedding Canadian history. You know, I'm shutting out stomping Tom Connors right now. The man did the same thing. We just did two episodes. And I'm going to use.

use that. This is the master of doing 1857 episodes of Toronto Mike Victoria, because now I'm going to segue to Dave Bedini. Do you know Dave Bedini personally? I have met him over the years, but I wouldn't say that I know him well. He may not know me, but I certainly know him in his career and has definitely been at his shows over the years. Would you meet Gord? I'm not Gord. Why did I say that? Would you meet Dave Bidini for a Great Lakes beer? Of course. Okay, so I'm sending you home with some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. Excellent. Okay.

So back to Badini for a moment here. He was over here a couple of weeks ago, and we talked about how he played a role in the comeback of Stomp and Tom Conners in the mid to late 80s. Bidini plays a role in this. Okay. I don't know this story at all. Yeah, well, you got to go listen to Dave Bidini's most read. Come on, Victoria.

I miss that. So, okay, Bidini, I'm coming back to Bidini, but I'm going to briefly rant, as a PR person, maybe you'll appreciate this, but I had a guest on. the most recent guest of Toronto Mikena actually before you. Who it became apparent as we were talking that he didn't really get this show. Like, and I always, like, how, like, when you send somebody over to do something, is it just they go in cold or do you give them a little, like, a little, this is the vibe of that show, the type of show, like, I'm just curious whether you would send a guest in cold.

It's a loaded question, Victoria. I want to know, like, only because it became very apparent very quickly. even just that this person, you know, even though they claim they listened, they hadn't actually listened. Right. Well, you know what? I think it depends on where I'm sending them and who the conversation is and what it is that we want to promote. You know, I might send a client in and say, you know, remember, let's try and mention these three things. Here I don't.

I think the last guest I sent here, it might have been a while ago, was probably Gilmore. Oh. Yeah. So I loved my chat with Gilmore. Yeah. That was great. Yeah, and I just said, you know, I didn't give him any instructions. We were talking about something in particular, and I'm sure he talked about, you know, the music education program that he was doing.

But, you know, he has so many stories to tell. I don't need to shape the conversations. But from my perspective, I know the spark that caused Gilmore to drive to South Atobico and come on Toronto. I realize it might be that music education thing. So I know we're going to cover that. So that's in my notes and we're going to cover that. But I also know Gilmore. is in my basement for an hour,

and I have other questions, okay? And it's funny, when I think back to that episode, I remember the highlight to me was asking Gil Moore if he remembers playing a gong on a change of heart song from the Change of Heart album,

Smile, okay? And this is a Ian Blerden's band, Change of Heart, I don't know how familiar you are with Change of Heart, but there is a credited, there's a gong in a song that is credited

to Gilmore. Okay? So the source is Bob Wiseman. So Bob Wiseman produces a gong hit by Gilmore at Gill Studio. And I'm like going to make a... I like to take these little Canadian nuggets that nobody cares about and treat them like we're breaking into the vault of Capone. Okay?

Like this is... So I remember the moment building up with Gilmore. do you remember hitting the gong for the change of heart song on on smile and i'm telling you gill was a great guess because he just rolled with it like he had no memory of this he was fantastic so i'm going to say thank you for sending over gilmore i loved that chat fantastic yeah clearly gil didn't know where the hell he was going you're just like you're going here yeah knock on the side door and you're good you're in good hands but it's a bit different it's not you know it's not peter Bridge, you're not on the national, just go off the flow.

And he was great. I remember telling him, just have fun. You know, I remember telling him that. Yeah. Okay. My most recent guest, I hope he doesn't hear this. But he was saying things where it was clear to me, he didn't know where he was. Okay.

I think he was just looking for publicity, which is fine. There's a quick, but have some idea of where you are. Now, I'm going to go back to Bidini for a moment here, Victoria. We're still in good hands here. Okay, good. The Rio Statics. which is Dave Bedini's band. Yes.

They covered the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Did you know that? I did know that. And over the years, people would send us covers or, and Gordon's thing was he never heard a cover he didn't love. Okay, so I asked Dave Bedini, Bedini told me on Toronto Mic, I don't think Gordon Lightfoot liked our cover of Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

He probably, he would have heard it. Like if it was into him, he would listen. but his standard line was always he didn't, he loved every cover and he was happy to have the publishing on that. I don't know if real statics are moving those kind of units, but I would say that's like...

He was always, that was his comeback. For sure. Okay. I was going to ask you if you knew how Gordon Lightfoot really felt about the real statics cover of the wreck of the amendment Fitzgerald, but you might not have that intel at your disposal. I don't. I don't.

I mean, I think, you know, If somebody ever gave me something to pass on to him, I always did. And I know... This wasn't like hiding... I would say this was on the radio. This wasn't some obscure band throwing something on an album that no one's ever going to hear. Like, this is the real statics. And that song got airplay.

Yeah, yeah. I never had a conversation with him about it. I do remember Julian Taylor sending something and I pass it on and Gordon saying, giving me a message to pass back to Julian. He's a lovely man. Did you send him over? You can take credit for you. I didn't send him over. I've never.

Oh, you know what? I actually tracked him down. Sometimes I just pursue people. Yeah. I think Bob Willett had him on his podcast. And I went to my buddy Bob Willett, who's on Indy 88 right now. He's here soon for Toast. And I'm like, Bob, can I have a contact email for Julian Taylor?

And then Julian and I had a great chat. He came over. And another fantastic episode. I loved my chat with Julian Taylor. He's really great. Super, super talented. And one of the nicest piece. people in the business. I like him a lot.

Unless we forget, the biggest song from Staggered Crossing, his old rock band, hitting out on the 401, don't want to make you nervous, like unabashedly Toronto. Yeah, absolutely. I know, it's like in that Simpson scene, Spinal Tap, right? Spinal Tap says,

well, we were heading down Route 401. And it's like, I can see it from my house. Like, it's when these artists drop the local references. So shout out to Staggered Crossing. Yeah. So Gordon Lightfoot, sadly passed away in 23.

And I feel, I do feel like he got his flowers and I feel like he continues to get his flowers. I don't feel he's one of those underappreciated artists. I think we get what Gordon Lightfoot meant to this country and to music. Absolutely. And I think that that's

certainly true of a generation. What I hope to do and will continue to do, and I'm sure a lot of people will, is just sort of keep the the focus on him and what he gave. I mean, you know, my kids grew up knowing him, just as Gordon. And, you know, my daughter would like to go and run around that big house and didn't really have any understanding.

Gordon would come to my Christmas parties, you know, and I remember the last one, my daughter, I don't know how old she was at the time, but she said to a friend of mine, she says, Andy, do you play guitar? And he says, yeah, I play a little. And she looked to Gordon. She goes, can you play keyboards? And he said, well, no, but I play a little bit of guitar. She just, she didn't really understand who she was, but she did manage to bring a guitar down and Gordon led us in a round of Christmas carols in my living room.

And that was quite a moment. Unbelievable. You know, it was really quite a moment. You know, my, my neighbors and friends were kind of astonished that this was happening. But, but sort of my kids never really had an understanding. And so even my son's generation at 24, I think they don't know who he is and what he's done and what he's left. But what about that song I played for us? Like a song like that, if you could read it.

my mind. Surely that... I think it still resonates, but is it still getting... And there's other, like, the Studio 54, who is it, the stars on... There's, there's like a dance version of that song. That's very popular, right? Yeah. If you could read my mind. Yeah. Is it from Studio 54?

And his work has been covered by, but, you know, by icons, it's, it's, I just, I just, I hope that that continues. What we need is Benson Boone to cover if you could read my mind. That would be nice. That's what we got, keep this alive. And also, what I, because I've got, I've got four kids. And, uh, the younger. ones will be like my daughter who's turning 10 this weekend and we're going to eat

palm pasta do you like lasagna I love lasagna I have a lasagna in my freezer for you oh well thank you very much palm pasta I just want to shout up palma pasta because literally my daughter's in love with the penet with rosé sauce like she just loves this and she wants it every birthday or whatever and we got a thing going on this weekend but palma pasta not only great partners to work with I'll say like it's a family run business I can talk to anthony petrucci it's the petrucci family that owns Palma Pasta. It was Palma Petrucci who started it with her husband, Marcilio. And I got to say, not only great people to work with,

and they're hyper-local, they're in Mississauga and Oakville, but sincerely delicious food. So, like, let me know what you think of your lasagna. Well, I'm looking forward to it. My guy, Steve and I are big foodies and so we know about the lasagna. Who's a Steve gentleman? Oh, well, I won't out him, but he's pretty fantastic. And a great chef himself.

He spoils me. Okay, you're a lucky woman. I am. So you're bringing home the goods. You're bringing home the Palma Pasta, the Great Lakes Beer. But I brought up my daughter because she likes to sing and she'll break into songs. And I'll be like, how do you know that song? Like we're not talking about Sabrina Carpenter or Taylor Swift or whatever that she might be, you know, exposed to because it's her Jen or whatever.

I'm talking about like old songs, like not specifically Gordon Lightfoot, but old classics that, you know, I've always known about my whole life. And she'll break into it. And I always be like, where did you hear that song? kind of fascinating how she gets a lot of her music. It's stuff that she gets from television. Like it may be, oh, my kid broke in it, should I stay or should I go? My 12 year old and it's like, where do you get that? Oh, yeah, it's on stranger things. It's like, of course. It was a bit. So it's like, suddenly there's a resurgence with the kids. Should I stay or should I go now? And I'm like, where are you getting this clash from? Like, that's kind of wild. Or Kate Bush,

for example, and things like that. But another huge vehicle for giving my daughter classic music is the Simpsons. like my daughter will break she'll break into like steely Dan or something love it and I'll be like where did you learn that and she's like I heard it in the Simpsons so it's kind of interesting to me that I would be I would tune into my I had my local

radio and I would hear shows like I don't know ongoing history and new music and try to teach you about the you know clash and CBGBs and this is what happening and maybe you learn about a band like television or whatnot and then you had much music like and I'd watch the videos on much music and hopefully somebody who would give like some context of things and

teach you about class. And you'd hear things like Gordon Lightfoot in the wild because radio was everywhere and you couldn't help them know the big hits. But nowadays it just seems interesting that like, oh, the Simpsons and stranger things. And there's a show. I'll just shout out a quick show here. My daughter watches. She streams this show.

Please might get the Goldbergs, okay? And she likes the show of Goldbergs. And it's really like it exists as like a distribution channel to teach kids about big 80s jams. Like, I mean, so, so, she'll break into like, I have. the tiger by Survivor and it's like, oh, that's from Rocky 3. Like, how do you know it? It's like, oh, I heard it on the Goldbergs. Yeah. It's interesting. I have a 17-year-old daughter who's, who's a singer and, like, an actress and, you know, and, um, she, her playlist is, is, you know, reaching back to, you know, my youth, the cure and the Smiths and, you know, and I don't really know

where she's finding that, but we played a, like a music game or something over Christmas, like a board game, and, and she killed it. I don't know where she's getting it all from. But yeah. And I think what's evergreen, like regardless of whether you were born in the 60s or born in the 90s or born in the 2000s is there will always be curious cats who have a, like an itch, a desire to learn more. Like, okay. So, oh, I just learned about this band called Led Zeppelin and they'll dive in through the streaming of their choice. They'll learn about Led Zeppelin.

And then maybe if they're really interested, this is my oldest particularly, you'll be like, oh, who are these artists that, Led Zeppelin quote unquote borrowed from or we're, you know, like, you know, you can interpret that as you will. But it's like, oh, howl and wolf and all these, these blues artists that inspired Led Zeppelin. And it, you can really just follow the breadcrumbs. And then, but really it all starts with being curious. Yeah, absolutely. You can't really, I don't know how to teach curiosity.

Like some kids are naturally, I know I am, and I think that's why we're talking right now. But some people are naturally curious and they're going to. pull at threads and that'll lead somewhere else and then they'll dive into there and really what I'm trying to do in this freaking podcast. But there are some people who just simply don't have a lot of curiosity beyond the here and now. Yeah. And I hate to say that that might be more prevalent with the general public. I know my kids are very curious. They're both of them. Look at their mom. You know, about music, but you know, their mom and their dad, you know, we're both in the industry. And so they have a natural curiosity. So the fact that my, but my daughter has a very, very

playlist or that, you know, it is not necessarily surprising to me, but then, you know, I have friends outside of the industry, you know, who have, who have kids who just don't. There, it's very, very vertical. Like, I don't know how to teach it. I don't know. I know. I know. I'm actually, so my oldest who's 24-year-old, it amazing, we go for these walks every

Friday. We have this route we walk and we talk for like 90 minutes on this, this walk through the junction, etc. And then I, what are you listening to these days? And he'll tell me, he's going deep into George Harrison's solo stuff and he'll talk about the, I don't know, the Bob Dylan stuff he had just, you know, and Neil Young, and we're going in and I'm like, yeah, like, this guy has that curiosity to drill into what happened before his time. And I think there is a great percentage of people I talk to where, oh, that happened before I was born. I don't have, I don't really care about that. But I'm always baffled.

Like, how can you not have interest in what happened before you were born? Yeah. Like, what we have now, it all led up to that. Like, this is an important building blocks. Like, how do you not care? I think in my experience, and the people that have been around, curiosity and creativity seem to come hand in hand. And I'm working with a young duo that are nominated for a juno right now.

And they do what they describe as sort of mid-century inspired, you know. So they're digging back into, you know, Ida Gourbet and Frank Sinatra and they're you know and they're you know Well, show this duo out. Yeah, so it's Katie George and Mike Lamarer who are up for the best vocal jazz album and this year's Juneau.

So yeah, they're really fantastic. And we, you know, I rewrote, you know, updated their bio material and stuff. And both of them. I interviewed each of them individually and we both of them talked about curiosity and creativity and how they, how that informs their work.

And I thought it was really interesting. So I think the curiosity kind of keeps you young and keeps you engaged and keeps you, you know, just alive. And I see it, but I don't see it as much as I would hope to see it in people. Well, there's some hope for the future there. So nominated for a Juno, this duo. Yes. Should they win the Juno? Do you have to, and I kind of know the answer because I've been digging around, but I did surprise.

I had a woman overnamed Amoy, and she's nominated for her eighth. Juno. Susan Lucci of the Juno Award. She's fantastic. She's fantastic. She's fantastic. She's fantastic. She's fantastic.

She's fantastic. But she's never won. And I blew her mind when I told her when she wins that Juno, somebody's going to cut a check. I say it won't be really cutting a check, but somebody's going to have to pay for the actual trophy. I think you do have to pay for it. Yes.

Well, he was over here. Simone Denny was over here. Yes. And she told me, yeah, like I don't know, 400 to 600 to 600 bucks. So, so. I think you may get, I'm not sure exactly. I think you may get one free, but if you want others. I don't think so.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure how it works exactly. But yes, I think that there is somebody's got to that. But I think that is a mind blow because people just assume, oh, you won this prestigious award. Of course you get the trophy. They're quite marvelous. They're quite marvelous objects to have. Do you have any Juno's in any of your clientele say, here's one for you, Victoria? I have not.

I have not. No. Okay, so you mentioned this duo. What's the name of the duo again? So it's Katie George. She's going to done a record called With Strings. and it's been arranged by Mark Lamacher. And so, yeah, so they're up for the junior.

I'm working with them right now. I just had the wonderful opportunity to work with the one. I don't know if you know, Lully and Biali. Just got nominated for a Grammy. And I worked with her on, on, to launch the record and then got to work with her on the Grammy as well. Or even remotely, if they couldn't make a basement. I think maybe we talked about it, but I can still get it for you.

She's still wrong. I just, I'm not even sure. I'm not sure, but you should talk to her because she is so lovely. The Foley, I knew her PR. She's so lovely and she just had this amazing experience, you know, at the Grammys where she was Lely Bailey. Yeah, she was nominated. She nominated herself in the jazz category and the Grammy folks moved her over into traditional pop.

So she was in a category with Brandy Carlyle and Barbara Streisand and Elton John and Leahy and like just this incredible array of people. And it was it was quite a whirlwind PR tour with her for sure. Okay, so because now we're talking about post Gordon Lightfoot and some people you've worked with. So let me just take a pause here and just thank a couple more partners of Toronto Mike that help fuel the real talk over here so I can have these great conversations. And then I will chastise you and punish you further for not having Lela Biali on. I'm going to get her. I'm going to call her the moment. Well, I can't get Gordon Lightfoot anymore.

Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. By the way, this measuring tape, Victoria is yours from Ridley Funeral Home. That's going to stay in my purse because I can always use that. Thank you. You never know what you need to measure. So Brad Jones is the funeral director at Ridley Funeral Home, Pillars of this community. And Brad has a podcast called Life's Undertaking,

which we record every two weeks. And I get to co-host that show. And I highly recommend Life's Undertaking from Ridley Funeral Home. And while I'm recommending podcasts, there's a new show from Nick Aeney's that features me called Mike and Nick. And we basically talk about, it's every two weeks as well. what's basically the politics of the time.

We just share our perspectives on things and we talk it out. We come from very different perspectives on most issues, but we have mutual respect and we have just a civil conversation. I feel Victoria, like we've stopped having civil conversations. Like somebody would be like, I like Donald Trump, and then somebody will be like, I wish he were dead. And then the conversation can't happen. Like I feel like we should be able to have civil discourse.

about things in this big, bad world that we live on. I agree, I agree. I have a memory that relates directly to that in that I had the privilege of working for many years with John Cleese. Wow, faulty towers. Faulty towers, Monty Python. Fish called Wanda.

Yes, an incredible brain, super vocal about his opinions. And I was doing it. interviews with him for some appearances he was doing in the deep south, in the midst of the Trump era. And so I was sitting in, you know, managing interviews with him. And we had the journalists out there asking him, you know, about Trump. And he would just go. And so moments of not being having civil conversations was really, you know, I was, I was cringing and trying to manage this as best as possible.

but you don't control John Cleese. You just let him say what he's going to say. Would you dare tell John Cleese that while he's in the Bible belt there in the United States, maybe he bite his tongue when it comes to Donald J. I wouldn't even try. I just prepare for the fallout because he's going to say what he's going to say, and he has every right to say what he's going to say, and he has no fears about that.

You see him on social media. But you would expect nothing less from John Cleese, right? Like you wouldn't want John Cleese to be censored. answered. No, absolutely not. But, but,

but to be in the room, it's a little bit uncomfortable, uncomfortable when that's going on for sure. But that's actually like, kind of,

kind of, it sounds enticing to me because it sounds authentic of John Cleese to share his feelings on what is happening in the, the land that he's visiting. Absolutely.

And he, and he's not without a base of knowledge. He's going to say something. He's going to be able to back it up. You know, he's an incredibly intelligent, intelligent man. So he's not going to say something

vapid in any way. I'll tell you what I'll do, Victoria. I will zoom with John Cleese. Just you set that up and I'll have a zoom of John Cleese. Okay. Okay. I don't think I can get him to the basement, but, you know, but. Well, that's why I'm zooming with the way. I even had the wherewithal to just say, I will zoom with John Cleese. Okay. I will look at that for sure. Another big name I'm going to ask you about just after I again remind people. There's another podcast from Nick Iini's called Building Toronto Skyline because he's in the development business. and it's pretty educational and interesting, and I urge you to check it out. But one last tip for the listenership and for you, Victoria,

which is, if you have old electronics, old devices, old cables, don't throw them in the garbage, Victoria, because those chemicals end up in our landfill. Here's what you do. You're ready? You're going to take a mental note here? I am. You go to Recyclemyelectronics.ca.

You put in your postal code, and you find out where you can drop that off to be properly recycled. It's good for everybody. It's a great idea. Got it, Victoria. I do. I've got some in my storage, so I will put that on my list to do.

We all do. Like, I went through this exercise because of the great partnership I saw what they were doing. Like, I literally had old laptops. I had so much, like, electronics clutter that was obsolete or broken. And you do think the easiest path is throw this in a, throw this in the garbage bin in and it will disappear. But this is uncool. That's an uncool move. You've got to do your due diligence and make sure it's properly recycled.

So Recycle My Electronics.c.a is where you go. So while I'm beating you up about all the great guests you didn't send to me, I want to ask you about one great Canadian who has yet to make his Toronto mic debut, George St. Pierre. Right. Yes. We had a world when day with George. And I had him in Toronto for one day.

and we did 24 interviews in one day. It was an absolute marathon. It was an absolute marathon. And he was just up for it because he said, you know, I don't, he doesn't need downtime. I said, do you need a lunch break, anything? Can they be have any uniqueness to them or is it just the same spiel 24 times? He, he has got this thing. And I saw it with when I was working with Dolly Parton as well is that he, they, he has an ability

to just be incredibly present and the energy level for everybody is the same. It doesn't Wayne. He's just, it's an incredible professional when it comes to doing. And I've worked with a lot of people over the years, but I think those are the two people that I would say that have that ability where I just put them through the ringer and they, they don't, they give everybody. Part of the gig, right? Yeah, they're professionals. Yeah, they're professionals. So yeah, he was a lot of fun. A lot of fun. GSP. So 24, but we couldn't fit in a 25th. We really couldn't. We really couldn't. And partly, Mike, that would have come down to, you know, the amount of time that he needs to sit properly with you to do the interview, but also geographically. Like just trying to. I let Chuck D do 20 minutes. Okay. Well, this is good to know. But geographically, just my, my grid in terms of where we needed to go and where, you know, how to get around and, you know, timing the traffic and working with the driver and all that stuff. I see any Banshell to interview Chuck D.

Okay. And for Jim Cuddy, I went to the woodshed. Okay. In, what is that? Riverdale or where the hell I was. Okay. So my point is, depending on who you are, I will definitely come to you if you are deemed of a certain stature,

like Gordon Lightfoot, for example. Okay. Okay. So a few things I need to make up. Yeah, a few things I need to make up for sure. You know what? George is lovely and he's a lot of fun. He's really, he's very, very, again, super intelligent.

really quick wit and really a generous interviewer. Like there seems to be no questions he won't answer. Did Rudy Blair get George St. Pierre? He did. You know what? Rudy's now my... I know because I follow Rudy on LinkedIn. So since he came over, we had a great chat.

And I was clear on this. Rudy and I wasn't love at first sight. Like there was a lot of... I'm surprised we actually did it because, you know, I think he would own it. A bit of a dick to me over the years, Rudy Blair. Oh, okay. The real talk on this.

I don't know. No, I don't know about that. I think highly of Rudy. I was at a, yeah, well, of course you do, because you can help Rudy get, you know, people like Gordon Lightfoot. So he was very nice to you. But it wasn't always nice to me. But I bumped into him at a Hollywood sweet breakfast that David Kines throws. Yes.

Okay. Did you ever attend one of those? I have, yes. So, because I feel like at the door, we met each other, and we were meeting each other for the first time. I thought we had met at a Hollywood sweet breakfast, but clearly I didn't leave an impression on you. So maybe this never happened. Like, you have no memory of meaning me. before today.

I don't, you know, we may not have met. We've probably been in, in the same room, but I don't remember we ever sat and had a conversation before off, off the phone or email it.

I don't think we've ever done that in person. That is absolutely. We were always talking about Gilmore. That's right. Okay. And now Triumph is doing a whole new thing. Yeah, I'm not involved in their, in their touring.

I was working with them in their connection with the Coalition for Music, education. Music Monday is a passion for me. But I did work with Rick on a number of his personal projects for...

As did Blair Packham. And guess who introduced us? Yeah, well, they're buds. I believe Blair produced a new Rick Emmett album, maybe. Possibly. Like, they're working together in some regard there, but we'll get more about that when Blair visits

tomorrow. Okay. And with Rick, I mean, I got to work with him on a few of his projects, and then I had a client, based in Australia who was doing lots of shows in Canada and he was doing a Beatles kind of tribute thing and he and I ended up helping him produce that show because he was you know time zones and what have you and Rick Rick was one of the singers that we had we had Rick and Andrew Craig

Damnet Doyle and Russell DeCard I had coffee with Davenna Doyle's cousin yesterday Tabna Doyle she's just I love her she's just the best she's just the best she's great she's doing CBC stuff yeah yeah yeah but her I just want to shout out her cousin real quick because I met him at the distillery district at Ballzax there. Sean Doyle, kind of an interesting actor and had a good chat with Sean Doyle. And Sean Doyle is Davenant Doyle's cousin.

I did not know that relationship. Okay. There you go. I'm here to miss that podcast. Okay. Well, I mean, Sean's never been on. Okay. This is all private, unrecorded coffee talk here, Victoria.

I'll meet you for coffee anytime. You know this, right? Forget where I was going, but I'm worried was. I was probably going to beat you up over something. But is there anyone else you're working with now you want to shout out? Well, I'm working with the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Oh, does that bring Blair Packham back? Because I did want to revisit you because off the top, you mentioned Blair Packham.

Yeah. So I was working with Triumph last year, last fall, because they were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Yes. So I was fortunate to do that. By the way, remind you, I'm going to come back to Rudy Blair. That's where I want to come back. Let's finish the Blair thing first. We'll close of Rudy.

So, and I'm just working with that amazing organization again for the Massey Hall induction, which will be taking place in September. So that's keeping me very busy. I'm also on the board of the Canadian Life Music Association, which is a real passion for me and very active with that. And back on the Coalition for Music Education, because, you know, I really, you know, it's going to be a loaded, loaded thing, but I really believe that music is not just how, not just my livelihood, but it actually saved my life. And it's because of having music education

funded in public schools. And I know what it's done for my kids. I know what it did for me. I grew up in Jane and Finch in a really difficult situation. And if I hadn't found my music community in the music schools, my life would be very different today. So yeah, there's what I'm working on right now, a few other things, but also with a with an amazing woman who, ran in the last U.S. presidential election. I'm working with her right now as well on some appearances in California.

What's her name? Her name is Kamala Harris. She has a McGill background, if I remember. My daughter's at McGill right now, but I... She did. She did. And, you know, I actually just I wrote about something on LinkedIn

because the day that I'd spent setting up interviews with her, it really struck me because she is South Asian as I am. And it really made an impression on me to, you know, because you come from a culture that maybe doesn't push the women forward, you know, and to see someone like her achieve, what she achieves, has achieved, it was really inspiring and had the opportunity to just be in her orbit is pretty exciting.

That's a big name you dropped on me. It's a pretty big name. I think there's a lot of us who sometimes in a moment of like peace, we sort of thing, what could have been? What would life be like today if she had won that election? Well, I hate to say, and I think that that country is not ready for that kind of a leader, but she would certainly be, she would change everything, just who she is, how she thinks. You know, I find, I find her completely inspiring.

The lengths that country will go to to avoid a woman president. Yes. Yes. And you know what I, so that's two, because obviously I think possibly you could argue the most, qualified person to be president in the history of elections was Hillary Clinton, okay? And I got the chance to work with her. Wait a minute. So I did go to your website.

So let me shut it out now. This is great. So VLPR. Thank you. So VLPR, what does that stand for? Victoria Lord Public Relations. I knew that. Yeah.

It was just, it was a quick thing. I didn't put a lot of thought into it. So VLPR.com. But there is a page, I actually was on the other day, there is a page called, you I want to say it clear. Oh, R-Work. So it's literally V-L-P-R-R-R-R-D-R-R-D-R-R-K, W-O-R-K.

That's how you spell work. People come here to learn these kinds of things. Okay? So I'm there, and I'm just a list of people you work with. And it's like, oh, just some slubs. Who's this? Oh, Bill Clinton. Okay.

Like, this list is unbelievable. That was really quite incredible. It was November, 2004, and it was at the Beacon Theater in New York. He had a new book out, and we did an appearance there. And, you know, I had met him before, having had the opportunity to work with his wife. But I, going down to New York, and I was, the relationship with the client that is producing the shows as a vault, I've been with him with Howard for about 27 years. So when I started, I was really just doing publicity, and I'm now more associate producing his shows. So I was in that role at the Beacon Theater, which was very exciting.

And we had a moderator that night by the name of Billy Crystal. And that was pretty exciting to have Billy in the room as well. Was he marvelous? Not as much. You know, I find, you know, and I've had the opportunity to work with other comedians, and I find that they're probably the ones that are a little bit more challenging. But to be in the room with the bills, you know, and fly on the wall and hear those off-handed conversations was a bit of a pinch me moment for me,

for sure. Okay. So I, and I hope this isn't embarrassing for you, but because it's on your website, okay, you can, this isn't something from the rumor mill here. This is from VLPR.com, our work, okay? So, again, we're just going to burn. It's a sampling. It's a sampling.

Yeah, it's a sampling. I couldn't put everybody there. So, 33 years. And that's funny, I was going to say, all these names are household names, but they're not, because I don't actually know this first name for example. example. And I know this is alphabeticalized. Okay. So I'm going to just name some of the people on this list. Okay. You ready? Sure. Alec Baldwin. Yes. And maybe I'll just say them all. And then if you wanted to remark on a couple at the end. But Alec Baldwin, Anderson Cooper. Yes. Andrew Ridgley from

Wham. Yes. That was a Sony project. So I was 18 years on retainer with Sony and did a lot of work for them, including their catalog releases. So I worked with Andrew Ridgely recently. I know, The list of people I've got to work with them through Sony was just phenomenal. Okay. So Andrew Ridgely, though, of course, half of Wham, but the cassette Make It Big went in my Walkman and didn't come out for many, many months when Make It Big was released. I'm just throwing that into the universe. How much I love to make it big by Wham. Right. Okay. Thank you.

Right. Bill Clinton. Yes. Bob Newhart. Yes. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Bobby McFerrin. David Suzuki, Dr. David Suzuki. He was turning 90, I understand. You still working with David?

I'm not. I'm not. I was working with him, actually, with the Canadian music publisher, who had a couple of recordings that he had done that were specifically for children. And so I was working with him on that. Can you get me Rafi? I've never worked with Rafi. I'm thinking of children's entertainers now. I did work with Fred Penner.

Yeah, but I love that man. Who's so fantastic. He's been here. He's been here. And Sharon Losen Bram, I did, and even recently, have done a lot with them. I think I pissed off Bram, because I think I pronounced his name wrong. And I think he got mad at me. But the two survivors have been on Toronto Mike, which was great.

Dolly, pardon, you mentioned? Yes. George St. Pierre, we talked about Gordon Lightfoot. We talked about John Cleese. We talked about Kamala Harris. You dropped that bomb on me a moment ago. We talked about Layla Biali. The late great Dr. Jane Goodall.

Yes. again that was another unique lives and experiences one of my long time clients and so had the opportunity to work with with dr goodall on her appearances that's the same with alec baldwin it was again he was coming in for appearances but with alec i also got to meet him again because he um it came up and recorded here in toronto a beautiful interview with gordon for his podcast so i got to work with him on that as well loretta lynn yes that was a sony a sony client and although I never got a chance to meet her, I did send a journalist, Eliyuanachi,

who's just great writer, to her ranch. And one of the things he said, he got a great interview of it, one of the things he was just astonished was she prepared for his visit by baking pies and food for him. Like, just he was, she's just a lovely, lovely person.

Now I'm hungry. Okay. A bunch of, like, opera singers who are very, very famous, but I'm, you know, like some guy named Pavarra. Pavarotti. Pavarotti, yes.

Andrea Bocelli. Yes. I was working on Andrea Bocelli when I was at Universal right at the start of his career and had a real, real moment, you know, attending his 30th anniversary tour, thinking I was there right at the very beginning. So now I'm just cherry picking here. But Diana Kroll. Yes, again, that was back at Universal.

You know, my background in terms of music training and where I really started was in classical and jazz. So it was early days with with jazz. She's still with Elvis Costello, right? Yes. And I had a very, and I'm trying to remember what the context was. It was well after I was with Universal. I can't remember what the context was, but I needed to call her. And she was in Vancouver at Mother's House. And I called and I asked for her. And the gentleman said, oh, yeah, she's just going to be a minute and while I was on the phone, I was just making time and being such a silly and saying, oh, how's the weather out here? Well, it's great out here. I just got my first pedicure of the season and, oh, what color did you get? And then after we got off the phone, it hit me that I was convincing

with, with her husband. That's amazing. Who's really a Declan, a Declan, a Declan. That's right. Okay, I remember his last name right now. Do you remember Roth Tan? It doesn't matter, but... I didn't know. Castello or something like that. Because Costello was like a stage name. It wasn't I don't know. It's real listening. Yeah, it'll come to me. But okay, a couple more here, because, you know, one is the searching for Sugarman Rodriguez.

Yeah, that was, that's, you know, and Rodriguez passed in August of 2023, just after, after Gordon had passed. And it was really, again, I got to know him through working the soundtrack on behalf of Sony, and I got to spend some time with him and his daughter Reagan and really bonded with them. and they then hired me to represent him on a number of events throughout North America.

And I kind of became their go-to. I didn't have the same relationship that I had with Gordon, but it was quite similar in that I was kind of a go-to for him. And I'll just do it. So you got the one-two gut punch there in 2023 then. Yeah. My goodness. Yeah.

And I lost my dog Charlie at the beginning of that year. So that was a bad year for me. But at the end of the year, I did meet Steve. So then it's a little balanced. Yeah, I feel like we should do 90 minutes on Steve. He won't appreciate that. But, yeah, he's pretty great. All right, shout out to Steve.

Will Steve listen to this episode? He will, and he'll give me a look, I'm sure. He'll say, where's that beer you brought home? What's going on here? Okay, so here's some monster names I'm going to close with because, I mean, Yo-Yo Ma. Big deal. I bike by Yo-Yo Ma way.

I have a wonderful story about yo-yo-ma because, you know, I had the opportunity to work with him a number of times. and there was one year my son was probably about 10 or 11, and in school he had just decided to learn how to play the cello. And we were backstage after the concert, and Graham asked Yo-Yo a question, and he says, you know, my teacher says, when I'm playing the cello, I have to sit like this,

and, you know, and, you know, when you play, you're all reclined. And Yo-Yo said to him, well, you know, what you need to do is to form your body in the best possible way to allow the music to, inside of you to come out. And he said this to Graham. And then in a room full of people waiting backstage, Cyo Yama, he took my son to the corner and they sat for about 15, 20 minutes.

And they had a conversation, just the two of them. That's awesome. And he's such a beautiful, constant teacher and beautiful, lovely person. Okay, here's the two names I'm going to close on. You ready? Neither of whom have ever been on Toronto Mike. I just want to throw that into the universe. But Willie Nelson.

Again, a thing through Sony music, yes. Yes. William Shatner. And that was also through unique Lison experiences. And got to work with him a few times. And, you know, he's been in the business a long time and likes things very precise. So, you know, it wasn't the best experience. But certainly.

But I've heard he can be crusty. Yeah, he was Christy. For sure. Not even nice to Victoria Lord. You know, he's just, if things are done with real precision, I guess he's okay, but, you know, everybody has an off day and I've had a couple of off days with him, but that's fine. Okay, I look forward to, I guess it's to, no William Shatner appearance on Toronto Mike.

But while, so we learned a lot about you, is there, when you're making your way here to the TMDS studio to make your Toronto Mike debut, were you thinking, oh, I hope I get a chance to say this or that, and then you're sitting here saying, oh, my God, there's music going. He's playing me off because there is time. Well, there is one other story. I do want to tell you. Please tell me it.

That, you know, I almost got to attend Barack Obama's original inauguration. And that was quite a moment. I had the opportunity to work for many years with this group called Nathaniel Debt Chorale, beautiful African-based choir that did a lot of work. And, okay, trying to try and. shorten the story. Well, you know, I can take down the music if you want to go longer. No, no problem.

They were invited. They were sent by Canada House as sort of Canada's gift to the Obamas to have them perform. And this was announced that they were going to be a part of this. And I was pregnant with my daughter, Maggie, and I was very sick. I was on bed rest. So, you know, we announced that Nathaniel DeCarrell were going to be a part of this historic inauguration. And I ran the press campaign.

from my bed and I literally have a memory of talking to the New York Times to set something up and asking them to hold for a moment so that I could lean over the bed and, you know, be sick in the bucket beside me and then continue on. But I ran this massive campaign

for this, for this guy, and that's sort of, I think my one regret. I mean, don't regret Maggie at all, but I really wish I could have attended that moment with them because it was, you know, huge fan, and I haven't yet had the chance to work with the Obamas, but it's on my wish list. Barack Obama on Toronto, Mike. Let's make it happen.

Wouldn't that be something? Victoria, this was something. Like, how did it go for you? Your debut interview. Oh, it was very easy. I can't believe it's over already. Let's plan another one. Well, we've got to kick out the jams at some point. Sure, for sure. I got to do more jam kicking. And I never got back to the Rudy Blair thing, and I think that's for the best.

But let's just say, I keep my good eye on who you're saying. sending over to Rudy. And when you get somebody on the Rudy Blair show and I realize I would like them on Toronto Mike, you're going to hear from me, Victoria. Okay, Mike. This is going to be corrected. It will not happen again. I can be very demanding. Absolutely. I got you. I'm an award winning podcast, Victoria. Podcast. And so much fun. And that brings us to the end of our 1,857th show. Go to Toronto Mike.com for all your Toronto Mike needs. I already told you,

VLPR.com, to see all the big names who have never been on Toronto Mike. That's where you go. Much love to all who made this possible. That is Great Lakes Brewery. You got your beer, Victoria. Palma Pasta. There's one in the freezer for you.

Nick Aini's. Check out his fine podcasts. Recycle MyElectronics.ca. And of course, Ridley Funeral Home. So Peter Gross is here in a half an hour. You mentioned Rudy Blair, 680s. So Peter Gross is here. He's making a court appearance in this basement.

That's a long story. But if there's time afterwards, I might get Peter to give us an update on what's going on of him and his legal challenges in his life. So that might happen. But definitely tomorrow, Blair Packham's here for Rewinder. And there's a very special Nash

the slash episode of Toronto Mike on Friday with all the principals involved from Colin Brunton to Rob Pruce. It's all happening Friday. Lots going on See you all Then