Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Wayne Webster: Toronto Mike'd #1225

Episode Date: March 27, 2023

In this 1225th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Toronto radio vet Wayne Webster about his years at 107.1, 104.5, 99.9 and 97.3. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1225 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online 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. Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. And Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Joining me today, making his Toronto Mike debut, highly anticipated Toronto Mike debut, is a Toronto radio man who can speak with authority

about 107.1, 104.5, 99.9, 97.3. It's Wayne Webster. And Sirius FM 2. And Sirius FM 2. Iceberg.

Iceberg. Wayne, lots to talk about. Thanks for dropping by today. Oh, thanks for having me. That was a mistake I made, right? Like everybody's like, where's Wayne Webster on Toronto Mic'd? Maybe I forgot to, a few people, maybe I forgot to invite you. Is that possible? Yes, I know you reached out and I think it was before the COVID thing.

Oh yeah, the COVID thing. And it sort of shut down and then we sort of tried to hook up after that. But we made it happen. Yes. Because here you are in my basement in person. So it's awesome to finally meet you. It's good to meet you. To warm you up so that the great stories start to flow,

I'm going to read some notes that came in when I announced Wayne Webster was coming on Toronto Mic'd. Are you ready? Okay. Well, actually, before I do that, I have, what do I have here? Okay. A little jam.

Just put it in the background while I talk, but let's see how long it takes for you to name that tune. Putting on the spot here, Wayne, you didn't know this was like a trivia game, a trivia podcast. No, I didn't. So this is Chantel Kravyshak. Oh, Chantel, yeah. This is Wayne. Hi. The songantel Kravyshek. Oh, Chantel, yeah. This is Wayne.

The song's way ahead of much music play. It was a jam. Give it a moment. Yes. I enjoyed talking with her. She was a great interview. Okay, I'm jealous now. That's Rain Mada's better half.

Yes. Chantel. And I'm surprised, like, Wayne isn't like your ringtone or something. Or when you walk in a room, Wayne doesn't just play. Yeah, I know. I guess I should have put that one out

in the forefront, but I didn't. All right, comments from FOTMs when they were excited to find out Wayne Webster was coming on. But firstly, your name Wayne, I'm going to ask, is it that you are named after John Wayne? Is that how you got the name Wayne? Do you know? No, I asked my parents that.

I know my middle name is Gordon, and my father's favorite hockey player was Gordie Howe. Wayne, I think my mom was just looking for something a little bit different at the time. You know, there's not a lot of Waynes, right? No, I mean... Especially back when I was born. Okay, so it's Wagon Maker, right? That's what Wayne means. You know, you grow up and you, you know, all the hockey players have, you know,

you're whatever the Bobby you are or whatever. Right. And there was nothing until like Wayne Cashman, you know. And then, of course, there was the great one. Of course. Do you want me to hear my theory on why so many serial killers have the middle name Wayne? I guess I'll find out.

I believe it's because the same like greatest generation parent or whatever who worshipped John Wayne, and basically because that was the time of like toxic masculinity and it was macho, macho man, and your kid can't be a sissy and stuff, like they'd give their sons the middle name Wayne in honor of John Wayne, but they would also raise their sons, you know, in that

style of like, you can't cry, you gotta be a man, like that's, in that style, I'm not saying it's all nurture, but if you're gonna like groom a serial killer, that might be the way you do it. What say you, Wayne Webster, about my theory? It doesn't make much sense

to me, no. Oh, okay. Well, you know what? I got to bring it back to the workshop and work on that. Okay, to the questions. Here we go. Bob Willett. Do you know Bob Willett? Yeah, yeah.

Bingo Bob. Do you know he's here tonight? He's actually here at 7 p.m. tonight. He'll be sitting in your seat. Oh, great. I'll say hi for him. I will definitely say hi to you. Bingo Bob.

So Bingo Bob writes in, Wayne Webster is the best, period. This guy is as responsible for shaping the sound of Toronto Radio as anyone else in the past 40 years. Wow. High praise. What say you about Bob's nice comments there? Bob, no, he's an awesome guy.

Like his career too. Like when you sit down with him and the things that he's done and the way he's bounced around and sometimes, you know, a door closes, but he finds another one and opens it up right away. And I think that shows the talent and stuff like that and the drive. I think part of being in this business

is you've got to be a good guy. If you're an asshole you close the doors yourself. But some assholes were very successful in this market. Oh yes, many. You going to name them all? No. But Bob Willett, not an asshole. So you

called him Bingo Bob, which I've actually been doing him a favor lately in calling him Bob Willett, because I feel like we're too right. But of course, that's a Humble and Fred reference. Right, because that's when I met him because he came along with Humble and Fred at the mix. Of course. And I think he

was not being paid. And I was, I think he was not being paid. And he was like, is there a job that you can get me where I get money? Right. I think then I got him doing some operating

with CFRB because they always needed operators for all the shows. And I think he got doing that plus doing, I'm with Fred. Well,

he makes, his wife makes good money. So Bob's one of those, he can afford to do it for love of the game. But Bob, now he's like working for, I want to say he's working for chorus and in kingston ontario right program director there so bob let so yeah tune in to live.torontomic.com at 7 p.m tonight and you can actually witness me live telling bob that wayne webster says hello okay blind

speaking of nicknames we're trying to drop, Blind Derek Welsman. Oh. What's better, Blind Derek or Bingo Bob? Two nicknames that came out of CFNY. So Blind Derek Welsman says, what a gentleman, this is you, Wayne, enjoy the conversation.

So there you go. Okay. Any nice words, because you said such nice things about Bob, are you going to say anything nice about Derek? Derek's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet in the world. He's just, I don't know, when he left us and he went to CIGIFI last time, it's like losing a family member.

You know, he's one of those guys who just becomes so close to everybody. And, you know, him and Rebecca, they're just great people. Diehard Argos fans. Yes, actually, he did a little thing last year where he invited a whole bunch of people down. Come on down, and he had, you know, he's got these seats in the end zone, and I went down and hung out with him and watched.

It was the last game of the season. No, absolutely. So, so far, the two notes have come in from pure sweethearts. So, let's see if we go three for three here. Mimico Joe, I've given him the nickname Mimico Joe because he lives in Mimico, which is not too far from here, but Mimico Joe Middleton. Do you know Joe? Oh, Joe, yeah, yeah. So Joe, Joe's, yeah, you know, whereas Blind Derek and Bingo Bob are people you hear, you know, I guess you've heard them on the radio at some point, but Joe kind of works behind the scenes in sales. So Joe, who now works at Indie 88, I believe,

he writes in, Wayne is the absolute best in a music programming legend. Wow. Do a lot of people call you a legend? It has happened. I always say when they say that, it's because I've been doing it for a long time. Yeah, it's another word for,

he's old and he's still here. That's right. I'm still doing it. How long will you run? Do you have a retirement date in mind? You know, I actually started thinking about that about a year ago. And yeah, I've sort of discussed it with my folks

at work and I sort of thought I might retire, but you know, it's sort of weird in a way I still enjoy what I do. So I've been talking to a few people about retirement. Some people just, you know, go do it because you love it. And then other people are like, if you enjoy what you do, keep on doing it. So I'm still doing what I do.

Like, why stop? If you're healthy and you enjoy it, why stop? You know? Yeah, no, you know, I have a great job. I program music on a radio station. Like, I make playlists up every year or every day, you know, for people to listen to. It doesn't get much better than that for a music nut. And shout out the station you currently program music for.

Just shout it out now and then we'll go in chronological order. Okay. Boom, 97.3. I think we're about 13 years old now. Yeah. It's been an awesome ride. So some of the personalities that have been in this very basement, Mae Potts.

Yes. Speaking of CFNY, Mae Potts, who's a sweetheart. Who's on the air right now, I think. On the air right now. Oh, no, she just got off. She just got off. Okay. KJ.

Yes. Who didn't really want to talk about himself. Very interesting for a radio guy to like, oh, I'm here, but I don't actually want to talk about myself. But. Make it a little difficult. Well, you'll tell me at the end of this if I make it difficult. But I remember KJ from 680 CFTR.

Yes. Why KJ and not Chris James? Like, why the change? I'm not suggesting you had anything to do with it, but we all knew him as Chris James, and then now it's KJ. Like, how are we supposed to know it's the same guy? Yeah, that was, you know, you have program directors, and they try to say, you know, that name doesn't work and stuff like that.

I can't remember. I'd have to ask KJ how it worked, where it got down to KJ instead of Chris James. He actually does use Chris James once in a while. Oh, does he? He'll drop it in sometimes. Okay, smart, because it took me a long time to realize KJ was Chris James.

Put two and two together. I'm not that bright, though. But here's a guy who's super, I don't know if he's that bright, but he works out a lot, and he's been here a couple of times, and he's a fan favorite, so to speak. Stu Jeffries.

Oh, Stu's awesome, yeah. You know, Stu and Humble Howard, again, we're going to geek, this is going to be for the radio nerds, the Toronto radio nerds. But there was a period of time when like Howard would take over for Stu here and then there. And then Stu took over for Howard. Like they sort of jostled for a while yeah it was uh you know I still tell the story where he was doing mornings you know the Howard came in and uh and Stu got sort of let go or whatever then he came back and he was doing um the 80s show I think right and then he was doing weekends and then he was doing evenings and I

remember I was putting the music sheets in one day for the next day. He says, yeah, I'll be doing the morning show soon. And it was just one that was like, wow, that's pretty bold. And sure enough, in a matter of time, he was there. And of course, he's done, you know, amazing. Oh, my God. Yeah, he's, you know, and he's the second host, I believe, ever of a good rocking tonight. Yes.

I think he took over for Terry David Mulligan on that show. He loves using that one on the $1,000 Minute and hardly anyone ever gets that answer. Well, listen, I got to start playing that game. Okay.

Okay. A couple more notes here and then we're going to get into it here. Although it has already begun, Wayne, it has already begun. Will Menzies,

Will Menzies, who loves the radio episodes of Toronto Mic, I noticed he gravitates towards those. Legendary. Looking forward to this one. So there's that L word again.

So no pressure, but at the end of this hour, 90 minutes or whatever, you've got to kind of demonstrate you're worthy of this term legend. I think you'll have to make up for that decision. I'm going to be honest with you. I'll be honest with you. Okay. And here's an interesting one that came in. Alison Stewart, and I don't think you would know that name,

except here's the note. Maybe it'll jostle your memory. If it's the same Wayne Webster I think it is, say hello. I went to school with his son, Zach, and I served him and his whole Webster family at the Stone Lion a couple of years back. Very nice family.

Should be a great episode. Wow. Yeah, I remember Alison. Okay, Alison Stewart says hello. I'm very excited. Wow. Look at that, eh? It's not even all radio here. Okay. And here's a gentleman, another FOTM who used to work at CFNY. If you notice, I kind of focused heavy on CFNY stuff. Captain Phil Evans writes in.

You ready for this? Yeah. A prince of a man. And that's just about me, but wait till you hear what he says about you, Wayne. No. You're the prince of a man, Wayne Webster. Oh, Phil's awesome. Phil is great.

Okay. Yeah, he's amazing. Phil is great. Okay. Yeah, he's just one of those, I don't know, people are just outgoing, happy, one of those great people to work with. He's always happy. He's always got a big smile on his face. Yeah, you know,

he's going to find the good things in life. I've never met him in person. He's been in BC for a while. Yeah, yeah, he left. It was great having him here in Toronto. But of course, I think he went back home. Captain Phil. Okay.

And this one, there's a few questions tied to this. It'll kind of get us going and then we'll kind of go chronological. But one of my favorite radio people who you've crossed paths with many times is the great Scott Turner. Yes. FOTM Scott Turner. By the way, Wayne Webster, you're now an FOTM. Alright. So congratulations to you. Thank you. Okay.

Did you ever, this is for you, I'll read it to you as he wrote it, because I don't know what this all means. He writes, Scott writes, I'm sure I know what it's about. Did you ever have nightmares about not hitting F10, or was it F2? The keyboard function to save your work when working on Selector back in the day. Selector music

scheduling system. So let's stop right there. Is this a piece of software that would have given a radio programmer nightmares back in the days? Yeah, it still does. There's two sort of music scheduling systems, Selector and Music Master. I used Music Master

I started with that. We did Selector because the company said, we're all doing this and then went back to Music Master. But yeah, there's, you know, those times when you, did I do that?

Did I not do that? Or all of a sudden something disappears. You know, when you're working on something and you didn't save it and it's like,

where did it go? So just to help us, I'm not a Luddite obviously, but to help us understand. So this is like a piece of software where you'd program the songs

and the commercial breaks. Are you basically automating a show? Or am I wrong? Yeah, no, no, that's the one, yeah. So nowadays you do a music test if you have some money, and then that tells you which songs you like, and you put those in different categories, and then you make your clocks up, you stick them all in the computer.

You hit F10, and the computer kicks it out. Wow, F10, Scott, not F2, okay. Just to correct him on that one. Yeah, F10. computer, you hit F10 and the computer kicks it out. Wow, F10 Scott, not F2, okay. Just to correct him on that one. Yeah, F10, I think you mentioned F10. But I do it by hand now. I don't let the computer do it. Really? And then what, you give it to like an intern

who puts it in the computer? No, no, I just program it in. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay, cool. We're going to learn a lot about this. It's fascinating to me and that's what the most... Yeah, most people do the F10 where I do

the old-fashioned song by song. Gotcha. I think it sounds much better. So like, I mean, I really know nothing about this, but like for today's, the music Stu Jeffries was playing this morning, like that was all pre-programmed. Like how far in advance is the music loaded up and programmed?

Right now it's a little farther than it's ever been, I think. Usually, because I'm on holidays, so I have to program ahead. But usually if I'm, you know, on Monday, I'm working on finishing Wednesday, and then I'm doing Thursday, and then by Friday, I have to have Monday and Tuesday done.

So you know my next question, right? Let's, heaven forbid, shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. I hope this does not happen, but let's say Bono dies today, okay? Which we do not want to have happen. What a great musician. But obviously you got to play more U2 tomorrow morning. So what's the process to break into that software to say, yeah, Wayne's got this thing loaded up for the next week or whatever,

but we got to go hard on U2 jams this morning. You just sit down at your computer and start plugging them in. Okay. And Stu can do this or does he need the master key or something? Yeah, usually I'll do that or Troy, our program director, because I'm away, so I imagine. But yeah,

sometimes when those things happen, like when Gord Downie died, Troy was on holidays and he came to work anyways because it was such a crazy know, a crazy day. And that day, we actually, about 8.40 in the morning decided let's do all hip

and just went all hip all day. Okay. And so those are those, you know, see the pants, let's go, you know, you throw the sheets out

and start all over again. Which is awesome you can do that and that's a great move and it's great that that was CanCon because you didn't have to worry about anything.

Yes, yes, that definitely helped. But yeah, I think, you know, radio gets a little stale sometimes and, you know, you really have to be able to make those adjustments to, you know, if it's a sunny day, if it's a rainy day,

you know, we just played November Rain, it was sort of a rotten day. That sort of worked out. But yeah, you know, sometimes you get a, you know, KJ will come in and says, I just got a great call for, you know, something, you know, addicted to love. Can we play it?

Yeah, okay, put it in, you know. Okay, so you have that kind of a nimble, nimbility. Yeah, I think it's really important to be able to do that. Yeah, absolutely. And listeners notice too, like that, you know, it seems relevant to the moment.

But okay, here are some Scott Turner questions for you. You ready? This will warm you up nicely. Oh, that's interesting. I'm wearing a Martha and the Muffin shirt. I see. Because boom will play Echo Beach. Yes. This is not that's interesting. I'm wearing a Martha and the Muffins shirt. I see. Because Boom will play Echo Beach. Yes.

This is not Scott's question. This is mine right now. But do you find with an artist like Martha and the Muffins, you just go hard on that one big epic defining jam? Or would you at Boom try to spread the love and introduce other Martha and the Muffins songs as well? Yeah, we play one, two, three, four.

That's what I can think of at the top of my head. Now, a lot of what we play is sort of we do like music surveys. So we get a bunch of people, you know, we'll say, here's a whole bunch of songs. Which ones do you like? Which ones do you love?

Which ones do you don't care? Game on, you don't turn it up, you don't turn it down. This one I don't like. This one I used to like, but I heard it too many times. So with all this information, it gives us an idea of what people like. And then that's sort of what we put on the radio, because there's no use us sitting here playing what we want to play, because you're not going to get anyone to listen.

Okay, love it. And by the way, be loose with all of these fun facts, because you're talking to a guy who just eats up this kind of love it. And by the way, be loose with all of these fun facts because you're talking to a guy who just eats up this kind of detail here. And Scott Turner now wants me to ask you, what are the top five most overplayed CanCon songs?

I'll lean back and listen, Mr. Webster. Wow. Maybe I'll play along with you though. Let me think. Oh boy. There's so many. You know, that's supposed to be a problem with you though. Let me think. There's so many. That's supposed to be a problem with Boom where we play old stuff.

We have to play BTO over and over. We have to play April Wine over and over. Would I wear my sunglasses at night? Is that overplayed? This is where you go, okay, what's overplayed and what do people want? People want to hear sunglasses at night, so we play it what do people want? Right. And people want to hear Sunglasses at Night, so we play it.

Right. And it's the ones that people don't want to hear that you don't want to be playing a lot. So the, you know, the CanCon that you hear over and over is generally the ones that people supposedly want to hear. Like Summer of 69, people absolutely love it. Makes sense. I just saw the movie Nope on the weekend.

For the first time, I saw Nope. And then you're a strange, well, the Corey Hart song's in there too, actually. Kind of a freaky little slowed down version, if you will, of Sunglasses at Night. But You're a Strange Animal's in that movie. So there's a big boom jam. Some CanCon going on.

Yeah, too. I know. I was like, oh, another one. Okay. Any other over... You don't have to obviously give me the top five, because that takes a little time to prep. But any other overplayed CanCon songs you want to shout out? I don't have to obviously give me the top five, because that takes a little time to prep, but any other overplayed CanCon songs you want to shout out?

I don't know. The ones at the bottom of our music test. I can't remember what they are. How about Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone? Is that overplayed? I just booked yesterday. Or Glass Tiger? Glass Tiger.

Yeah, yeah. The ones that I guess you'd say are overplayed are the ones that people actually probably like.. Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, the ones that I guess you'd say are overplayed are the ones that people actually probably like. Of course, yeah. So, and one of the things that I found with the music test, I think the first one we did was in like 88, I think we got some of them. And when it came back, it was like,

wow, people don't have a good taste. Like they really don't, like all the stuff that I like, they don't like. And then the stuff that I think is like, you know, doo-doo, it tests well. And I was like, so you, you know,

you can't, if you want to do your radio station saying, this is what I like, you know, it's going to be great for you, but nobody else. Well, that would be like,

if you tuned into, David Marsden now has his nythespirit.com, right? So there, if you want a curated, you know, playlist, David Marsden deems these play want a curated, you know, playlist, David Marsden deems these play worthy,

then that's where you go. Yeah. All right, I will say this bonus, as you know, I'm just going to let the normies out there know, of course, there's bonus Brian Adams in that Glass Tiger Jam because he's doing the backup vocals on the refrain. And I will just tell the FOTMs listening

that I just yesterday booked Alan Frew to drop by and visit. So we'll be playing some more of that Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone. Great.

And you named the Breakfast Club song. That was actually originally written for Billy Idol, but you probably know that as

well. Simple Minds. Yeah, they're lucky that it came to them. Yeah, no doubt. I appreciate it. All right. Ask him about drinking Guinness in U2's

hotel in Dublin and who came walking down into the lobby at 2 a.m. with two chicks on his arms looking for more booze. Robbie Williams. Wow! The ego has landed. Yes. That's one of our, me and Scott, you know, our favorite memories

being in Dublin at the U2 Hotel. And we had the whole bottom floor. And you and I took a whole bunch of Canadian press over. Wow. And it was an awesome time. Actually, I thought it was about 6 o'clock in the morning when Robbie came in with the two girls. But maybe it was 2.

Who knows which time zone. Which announcers have you worked with over the years that were the very worst for changing slash moving slash dropping songs? Let's call these DJs out. Who's been dropping the songs on stations you've worked at?

All you have to go back is now no one touches it unless they call me. So there's news right now. I won't pick on any. Okay, I'll pick on Brian Adams. Brian Adams, car crash, dead. Right now, you got to call Wayne Webster

before you break his programming there because even though you got to play Brian Adams now, almost wall to wall, I would imagine. Yeah. I'm asking the tough questions here, Wayne. You didn't realize how tough these questions were going to be, okay? Brian Adams just died. We got to play

Brian Adams right now, early and often. I got to call you up. What if you're on Toronto Mic for 90 minutes and you're not answering your call? Someone else will take care of it. Okay, okay, okay. As long as there's a backup. Okay, good. Call out a couple of DJs who kept dropping. Did Humble... Oh, I guess now you said you can't do it.

So I guess you got to go back on this one. Yeah, Howard dropped songs. Really? You remember any of his songs? I would think he tried to sneak in like Steely Dan or something like that. Deacon's Blues is his favorite. Yeah, that's right.

But no, Howard was actually really good, especially like now because I program by hand and I do it by sound codes and stuff like that. So it's a little more complicated than the computer. And Howard would always try to figure it out, like try to understand what I did,

you know, so that if he had to make a move, he'd understand what Wayne would want done. Okay, yeah. He's cool. You know, he's not anymore, but he did fly his own plane for a while. Yeah.

So I feel like those are people interested in sort of the mechanics. He's a very smart man. Okay. He's going to want me to cut that out and send it. He'll probably play it on the show, on Humble and Fred. I produced that show, by the way. So there you go, Humble and Fred.

Oh, right. Okay. Yeah, I produced that show. How are you doing? Great. Yeah? This week, I'm actually doing these, like, I'm talking to super fans of Humble and Fred this week

in place because they're in Mexico. They're on vacation in Mexico, but they're back next week and they're doing great. Yeah, they got a bunch of great sponsors on that show and they're doing really well. They own their own thing now and they're very happy to do that. Yeah, they know they're very happy about it.

One more, I did name all these like boom personalities that were on Toronto Mic'd and I got a shout out to Stacey Thompson, right? She's on boom. And I wonder if I missed anyone else. I and I got a shout out to Stacey Thompson right? She's on boom and I'm wondering if I missed anyone else. I hope not but shout out to Stacey Thompson. And Matt Story. But Matt Story is

not a person who's been on Toronto Mic'd. But where do I know Matt from? Where was Matt before he was at boom? Do you know? He was back at the mix. We worked together at the mix and he was a part-time school teacher. Okay. And he went back into, you know,

being a school teaching thing. And then one day he called me up and said, you know, I'm thinking about getting back into radio. What do you think? And I said, well, you know, then we talked to Troy. Troy's the program director, and we sat down,

and luckily we had a spot to get him in, and he started doing, I think, like Saturday nights, and then next thing, you know, he's doing weekends, and now he rules the evenings. Okay, you know what? Send Matt over here, man. Let's get Matt's story. Okay. See what I did there?

Yes. Okay. And this gentleman, Troy, you keep referencing. What's his full name? Troy McCallum. So what is the duties between, I said duties. Duties, how are they divided between yourself and what you're doing and what Troy's doing? Troy's the

program director. The program director is sort of like the manager. So if you're the Blue Jays. Like Michael Scott. I'm going to go to the office, but you can go to Blue Jays. Okay, yeah. So like, you know, the manager and then you got your third base coach and your first base coach. So I'll be the

first base coach. I'm the music director. And then you got your third base coach and your first base coach. So I'll be the first base coach. I'm the music director. And then you have a promotion director. You have all these different sort of areas. And then the program director has to make sure all the people are all doing the proper things and make sure that everyone understands what we're trying to do. Okay.

Now let's go way back and then we'll get you back to Boom because I got more Boom questions, obviously. But where does it all begin for you? Maybe go to the very beginning. Like when do you, Wayne Webster, realize you want to Boom, because I've got more Boom questions, obviously, but where does it all begin for you? Maybe go to the very beginning. When do you, Wayne Webster, realize you want to be in radio? You know, I listened to a lot of radio when I was young.

I think that around 9, 10, you know, I had a cousin, if you go back to 64, you know, the Beatles, you know, Sullivan, a cousin that really sort of fell in love with the Beatles, you know, it's relevant. I had a cousin that really, you know, sort of fell in love with the Beatles. And I just sort of looked at that.

And then when I was 10, I bought the Stones. I can't get no satisfaction. And that's sort of where the love of music started. You know, I bought the Who I can see for miles. And then just, you know, grew up as a rock guy and stuff like that. But listened to a ton of radio, but never really thought of ever working in it.

And then I used to be like a shipper receiver in Rexdale. Lived in Rexdale. Well, the old Sears? Actually, the Eatons on Rexdale Boulevard. Yeah, just up the street there. And a bunch of the people I was working with they said, you know, what do you do with yourself?

I think it was 1920-something. And he's like, do something. Don't be like us and work in a warehouse. So Humber College wasn't far away, so I went over there. And they said, we're full, sorry. I'll try again next year. So I said, well, what about surveying?

They went, surveying? Yeah, I said, that might be sort of a good job. And he says, there's a big difference between radio broadcasting and surveying. I think you should's surveying. Yeah. I said, that might be sort of a good job. And he says, there's a big difference between radio broadcasting and surveying. I think you should go back and think about it. What do you really want to do?

So then I went back the next year and got into the radio program at Humber and that got me my first, you know, job.

Okay. Where is that first job? I started in April of 1977 at a station yet to go on the air. It eventually became Q107. All right, so I've had Dave Charles on the program.

We dove deep into kind of the origin story. But what's it like day one or really? I guess you're day one or right at Q107. A month before I went on, there was a bunch of sort of empty offices and they're building the studio. And I was my second last week at humber my first year and they needed somebody to go down and put the library together um dave charles was uh

good friends with um or spencer spencer was one of the teachers and he came to me they wanted somebody with um you know back then it's fm knowledge. Okay. You know, so I had the FM knowledge. So anyways, I got the call to go down and I go down and there's just all these boxes in the middle of a room and some racks. And my job was to put the tape around the edges of the album so that the album wouldn't get ruined and then put a number on it. So we had these cards, the song cards, and then you could relate from that card to the album for the announcers. And so after a couple weeks,

I had a bunch done, but I didn't have it all done. So they said, well, I was finished school, and they said, can you hang around? I said, well, I'm not going to school anymore. So I stayed and kept on working. So finally about June, I asked if I could get some money

because I was living on my own. Oh, sure. How dare you? Yeah. So he gave me, my mom said it was $115 a week. And that was enough for rent and a box of beer a week. Okay. Okay.

On that note, before we go any further, I'm going to send you home with some beer. Okay. Okay. Fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. In fact, I'm a terrible host. I should have offered you one in the beginning, but yeah. I do have fresh

beer for you from Great Lakes, and I urge all FOTMs who enjoy fresh craft beer. Great Lakes Brewery is where you get your beer. Go to greatlakesbeer.com. So that's for you. Yep, you can take that home with you. This sort of looks like the Simple Minds album. Yeah. That's the premium lager that Wayne's holding up there.

And delicious, delicious. Speaking of delicious, really quick here before we get back to Q107. Do you enjoy Italian food, Wayne? Yes. Okay. I got a frozen meat lasagna in my freezer, courtesy of Palma Pasta. This is the most delicious lasagna you're ever going to eat. So you're going to cook this up and tell me that, damn, that was good.

Excellent. So that's from Palma Pasta. Everybody go to palmapasta.com. And just since I'm giving you stuff, you never know when you're at the Boom studio there. Is that 2 St. Clair? Where is Boom? Yeah, 2 St. Clair Avenue West.

Okay, I've been in those facilities. Okay. So this is from Ridley Funeral Home. They're pillars of this community since 1921. It's measuring tape. You never got to measure something in the studio. So you put that in your pocket. You never know when you get to measure something. Okay. So Q107, who hired you? Oh, yes.

You got referred basically by Humber College. Yes. Dave Charles was the program director. John Perico was the assistant program director. So they were basically the guys that brought me on. Okay. And you're kind of a trivia minded guy. The first song I ever spun on Q107 was by an FOTM, a friend of Toronto Mike's.

Can you name the artist? Murray McLaughlin. Correct. Hard Rock Town. Well done. Well done. So how long were you at Q107? I was there just over two years.

It's amazing. Like you mentioned about that day we went on the air. So I was still an intern at the time. And they had champagne corks flying up and down the hallways and everything like that. And it was just like, this is way too much fun. I got to get in. I got to get in. You know, I want to be part of this.

And it just seemed like, I didn't know there was a job like that out there. I had no idea. And so once I got in, it was just like, I'm set. I love this. You're not going anywhere. John Donabee was there at the time, right? Yep. John was the afternoon.

The FOTM. He's a good guy, too. Yeah, John helped me a lot. He was one of those guys that, you know, when a guy had been around and, you know, I was a rookie. I didn't know how it all worked and he helped out. Yeah, he would know. Now, name check anybody. I don't want you to be shy.

So name check. Is there any other jocks that were there during your two years at Q that you want to name check? Yeah, well, Wallachian. Another effort to. Great fun with Teddy when he took over the morning show and stuff like that. And we also have a big love of baseball. And then Mark Daly was our news person.

And Mark is a huge, huge baseball fan. So we started the Sparkies Plugs. And that was a baseball team. And we started playing just those games. You have radio station against whoever. I remember because Les Nesman was under that fly ball and he had those flashbacks, remember? But he made the grab.

Right. So we started doing that and then we got into a league. We actually started playing some pretty serious ball. Did you ever play the Wankies? The CFNY Wankies? No, I don't think we did, yeah. Okay. This is only 20 seconds here, but you said his name here.

The following program contains adult themes, nudity, and coarse language. Viewer and parental discretion is advised. I've got to ask you for more about Mark Daly. Gone too soon, but by all accounts, just beloved. So what can you say about Mark? Back in those Q days,

I had a buddy, Mike Kelly, and the two of them lived up on Richmond Hill. And we used to go up there on the weekends, and we'd just go shag flies and just hang out and then go back for beers after and stuff like that. You know, just one of those guys I just love to hang out with and, you know, as you say, like gone way too soon.

Like, super nice guy. Super nice guy. And he had great contacts with the police, et cetera. Yes. Yeah, they would always give him tips. Gone too soon. Okay, so why do you leave Q107? Yeah, they would always give them tips. Gone too soon. Okay.

So why do you leave Q107? Everything started changing. It's when Paracol left and then Dave Charles left and there was, I think, Mark had left. And it was sort of like the gang had changed. And then it was sort of weird at the time because they said, Gary Slate's going to become the program director. And I was like, what, the sales guy?

And I was going, and of course, again, I'm like sort of young in the business. And I was like, how can the sales guy be the program director? He says, well, his dad owns the business. Right, that'll do it. And I was like, okay.

But still, he doesn't have to know what's going on. And of course, Gary's showing that he's more than capable of running a radio station. But at the time, it was sort of weird. And then around that time, I think Mark Daly and Larry LeBlanc mentioned to Bob Wood at Chum FM that there's this kid down at Q

that you should probably check out. So I got a call from Warren Cosford and he was the program director at the time. So I go in for my interview and I'm sitting in the lobby and I ask for Warren and Warren's not there. And Diane at the front desk

says, can you hang on a sec? So then she comes back a couple of minutes later and says, Bob Wood's going to come in from home. Can you wait for him? And I was like, the legendary, talking about legendary, here's the legendary, legendary Bob Wood is going to come in to see me? I'm like, okay, yeah, I'll wait.

And we had an interview, and anyways, I got the job. And I think, if you could just interrupt one more time. Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Hummer College, the best thing I did there, probably one could just interrupt one more time. Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Hummer College, the best thing I did there, probably one of the best things I ever did in school, is Waston Choi had a class called Communications, and one of the projects we had to do was the job that you want in radio,

and how you're going to do it in five years. So usually you're, you know, going up, Phil Stone, our coordinator at Hummer, obviously he started up Upper Rubber Boot Manitoba, I don't know if there is a town, but, you know, he just tried to make it as far north as possible, up, Phil Stone, our coordinator at Humber, he started up Upper Rubber Boot, Manitoba. I don't know if there is a town,

but he just tried to make it as far north as possible. So you start off at Timmins and you work your way back to North Bay, Sudbury, Barrie, and then hopefully after five years you're good enough to make it to Toronto. So my plan was to be a music director at a station like Chum FM.

And then all of a sudden, two and a half years in, I get a call from Chamatham. Wow. Yeah. Wow. So you didn't even have to go to North Bay or Sudbury? No.

I just started to move downtown. Amazing. Okay. So I mean, I've done a few episodes about 104.5, but yeah, any info? So we're talking early 80s? When it was to you, right?

Yeah. So I started in 79. Back then, it was a pretty crazy time for music because there was so many, the disco thing, and then there was the new wave thing happening, the punk,

and then of course, the rock thing was still happening. And Bob was one of the most fearless programmers I've ever known. And he said, okay, when I got there, we're doing an album format. So every 15 minutes, we'll do a different album. And so we'd play three or four songs, three or four songs. And it was really cool.

But then also it was a ton of work because you had to take home, you wouldn't just listen to one song. You had to listen to the whole album. But it was great because i i mean like talking heads fear of music you know i was sort of knew about them but didn't really know that i heard this album and it just sort of i was like mind-boggling it was just like one of these what an amazing record it's got this r&b feel but it's african it's new wave it's rock it's like um and then so that was really cool and then of course as we get into like 80, 81,

if you look back at that time period, there was a lot of vapors turning Japanese. Right. And, you know, those kind of things. So all of a sudden, it's really hard to do an album format when you've got to play three or four songs, but really there's only one decent song. So then we had to sort of break the format

and went back to single song execution. Okay. And the rivalry, give me a taste of the rivalry between QN07 and Chum FM at this time. Yeah, it was pretty cool. You know, I think we used the ultimate rock, you know, it was like what word can you describe it better,

right? And then there was a time when Bob said, okay, Q's coming up, we gotta do something. So it was like, okay, let's go full rock. And I remember like the next morning, I played Cat Scratch Fever and Wang Bang, Sweet Boom Dang, whatever, Nugent, right?

Right. And he goes, okay, that was just a little too much. Let's just pull back a little bit here. It's like in Back to the Future. They're not ready yet. Yeah. There's a line and I went too far. But yeah,

it was like, you know, let's try to out-rock them in the ultimate and stuff like that. And there was one time I had to see if I might start doing really well.

And it was like, okay, let's start playing more alternative, which was really cool too. And then I think we lost like 200,000 listeners and we were just like,

okay, that didn't work. Interesting. Such interesting times because people of a certain, you know, unless you're a certain age, you only know Chum FM

for like top 40 and hit stuff. Like, you know, the whole idea that Chum FM was competing with Q in the rock world

is like, oh, really? It was a rock station, yeah, and then, of course, it was the progressive

rock station in the market because it was the only really one. That's where I grew up with, you know, John Donahue and Pete and Geetz.

And Marsden, right? Yeah, Marsden, yeah. Still, I'll never forget listening to Dark Side of the Moon

with the little brown bag, you know, and that's what I got tonight and he's got that brand new pink boy. And it was just like, it was, I still remember that night.

It was awesome. That's amazing. Love these memories too. Okay, so at, at Chum FM, you want to name check some of the jocks

that are there and this, now you're the music director, right? At Chum FM. Yeah, to name check some of the jocks that are there? Now you're the music director, right? At Chum FM. Yeah, I became the music director in 81. Who did you take over for? They didn't have a music director. Benji Karsh was the last one.

He was a sales guy. And Bob Wood just sort of took it over. I think he just took control of everything. But we got along really well. He thought I had pretty good ears. So he made me the music director and, you know, that was pretty cool. All right. So the, yeah, the jocks, Namecheck, if you don't mind, some Chum FM jocks.

And how long are you at Chum FM for? Eight years. I left in 87, yeah. Okay. So, yeah, Namecheck, I mean, that's, if you were there until 87, you were there for the dawn of Roger, Rick, and Marilyn. Yes, Roger, Rick, and Marilyn. The funny thing, I guess they were going to move Roger over.

Back then, we were still sort of a rock station, right? And they're talking about moving Ashby over. And I'm like, really? That AM guy on FM? Like, what are you? It's just sort of weird, isn't it? You know, so it was like, okay. But of course, you know, I don't have anything to say.

And they move him over. And then they try to find a co-host. So they're bringing in different people. And so we went through a few. And, you know, finally, Marilyn came along. And the two of them just, of course, connected. And, you know, history. Like, talk about a morning show duo that dominated, right? I mean, the fact that she's still doing mornings on that station, like she's the last survivor.

There's no one else from that era that's still doing their shift in Toronto radio. Yeah, I know. It's like, I always sort of wonder, like, you know, Rashby finally retired. And it's like, I guess they don't want her to. I don't know. Well, okay. Well, she's a lot younger than Ashby, but they, you know, and Ashby,

I just had him on, we did an episode 1050, which was like a bunch of 1050 jocks on and we were talking about that great station. And, you know, Ashby's like, I didn't want to go. Like, Ashby didn't decide one day. I want to be on Tom FM. Yeah, I'm going to retire now. He got, you know, and I'm sure that, you know, this happens all the time. I'm going to retire now. He got, you know,

and I'm sure that, you know, this happens all the time in radio because a lot of these people end up, you know, sharing the story. Like, oh yeah, I know we said I retired, but they tap me on the shoulder and said you're retiring.

You're moving. Or you're moving from here to there. Yeah, because just as I said, I thought, why are you putting an AM guy on FM? Right. It's just, that's sort of weird, you know? And then, of course, shortly after that,

we started, I remember Bob Wood coming in and said, can you play me the new Madonna single? And I was like, Madonna? And I'm like, you don't want to hear the new Scorpions? I got the new Accept Balls to Walls. Come on, we're rocking out here. And then I asked him, I said, so when Lionel Richie comes out with a new song,

are we going to have to play that too? You know, and that was the beginning of Chum FM, of what it is now. And then slowly we started mixing in sort of the Madonnas and stuff like that. Phil Collins. Yeah, and the pop stuff. And then, you know, the Scorpions and stuff like that started getting day parted at nighttime until it was gone. And the next thing you know know we were at this pop station

and it was 84? mid 80s for sure right? next thing you knew we were the number one station in the country. Okay so it clearly works but I'm curious like do you have any sense of what the reaction is like at Q107 when they hear

104.5 play Madonna like is there a sense of like we own this now? Yeah, you assume that, you know, they're like, okay, good, thank you. You're out of our backyard now. Now we are the rock station and no one's going to, and they have been since. Right, because I mean,

see if Hawaii was playing more like new wave and, you know, so if you're looking for rock, you know, it's all going to be owned. If, you know, Kim Mitchell, there's only one station that's going to be playing, like it's all going to be, if you know Kim Mitchell there's only one station that's going to be playing like it's all going to be

although Kim did have some mainstream pop hits of course yeah we still play a bunch I bet you do I bet you do absolutely so that was kind of

a terrible example but you know what I mean actually Kim mentioned he was very happy that we would play even when he was doing afternoons on cue we would still play his music

and he thought that was pretty cool well that is pretty cool because people are going to think about Kim Mitchell and then they're going to be like, I wonder what Kim's up to and they might go to the Google machine. Maybe, yeah.

But, you know, if you grew up in Toronto, Kim Mitchell was a staple. Oh my God, yeah. Yeah, and for me it was like, we're not going to play him just because he's over there. I thought, no, let's be bigger than that. Good on you,

but also there's only so many great big jams from the, you know, Cane Con jams from the 80s. It would be tough to not play Kim just because he's on cue. But yeah, good on you, good on you. Kim's an FOTM as well. He's a great guy. Shout out to Kim and Sean. Okay, so when Chum FM, they switched the formats,

so Bob obviously just gives you an FYI. You're the music guy. You've got to be in the loop when it comes to format changes and stuff. But clearly the ratings tell you that this was a smart move for Chum FM. Yeah, it was the beginning, like, you know, through the 60s and 70s, you know, the CFTRs, the Chum AMs, the CKOCs, you know, they ruled. And then, you know, Chum FM stations were the sort of progressive of... I remember when I worked at

Chum FM, we were like, you guys are at the back of the building, right? Chum is in the park. Chum, 1050 Chum, that's our moneymaker. You guys long-haired hippies just go back there and play some radio. It was sort of weird, but we actually took over Chum AM and it was just like...

So I finally said, okay, now we're the top dog here. Oh, no, we've got to take care of Chum. They're in trouble. But that was just the time when people moved from AM to FM, and next thing you know, it's like, let's play the music they want to hear over here. Well, yeah, I guess, was it 86? When did Chum, 1050 Chum, when did it go golden oldies?

Like 86 or something like that? Could have been. I'm not sure because I didn't, I tried to get to be the music director of both, but they wouldn't let me. Can you say some words, please? You mentioned CKOC. What about the late great Nevin Grant?

Can you say a few words about him? You know, I never really got to know him, you know, so I... Everyone loves the guy. I think the guy's amazing. But personally, I never spent time... No, fair enough. Now, later I mentioned

Bob Ouellette's going to be here at 7 o'clock, but joining him from an undisclosed location is Rob Pruce. Rob Pruce was the keyboardist for the Spoons in their heyday.

And it's great to hear Spoons on Boom 97.3. Yes, we play lots. And I bring up Rob only because he grew up listening to, he's a Burlington guy, so he grew up listening to CKOC. But me as a Toronto guy, like this was a completely foreign station to me, CKOC,

so it's like I'm hearing from all my buddies who grew up in like Hamilton or Burlington, and they talk about it the way we talk about 1050 Chum. Yeah, well to me it was the third one. You know, it was like I'm hearing from all my buddies who grew up in like Hamilton or Burlington and they talk about it the way we talk about 1050 Chum. Yeah, well, to me, it was the third one. You know, it was like, you know, it's just like you don't hear the song you don't like there, you don't like here. Well, let's try CKOC.

Right, right. I don't know if there was buttons back then, but we're twisting novels. Yeah, it's true. I press buttons here, but yeah, I can't remember when the buttons arrived, but in the car at some point. I always thought it was kind of interesting

like how it knew where to go, the button in the car, I always thought it was kind of interesting how it knew where to go, the button in the car, because it wasn't digital, right? It would bring the band over, but blew my mind, Wayne. Okay, so 104.5. And again, if there's any stories or anything you want to throw at us, this is like the ongoing history of Wayne Webster, so now's the time. But I want to get you to 99.9. What brought you to CKFM as it was known back then?

Okay. Just mention like Chum FM, the eight years there. Yeah, please. Phenomenal. Take your time. Because Chum was like, in radio, it was like that was the place to work. They always had some of the best people in the country working there.

And, you know, we're talking about assholes and whatever. But there were so many great people that were great people, plus they're really good at what they did. So it was just so much fun. And then, of course, when you start doing really well, it's even more fun. You know, so it was just so much fun. And then, of course, when you start doing really well, it's even more fun. So it was great. So anyways, I guess around 85, whatever, we gained number one.

And of course, we're all thinking we're pretty good. And then a couple years later, it was like, whatever I want to do. And it was sort of weird. I sort of felt a little bored and stuff like that. And then Gary Slate, who I worked with, we were taking over at Cube, we'd always sort of kept. I sort of felt a little bored and stuff like that. And then Gary Slate, who I worked with taking over at Cube, we'd always sort of kept in touch and he didn't

want me to leave and stuff like that. He always kept checking to see if everything was okay. Anyways, he bought Standard Broadcasting and he said, I got CKFM in 1999 and I want to do something like what you're doing with Chum FM. Make it a little more contemporary.

And I said to do something like what you're doing with Chum FM, make it a little more contemporary. And I said, okay. So he offered me some money, and I was like, more than I was making at Chum. And it was one of those times where I was like, okay, I'll do that. Because I was sort of thinking about a change. So I was off to CKFM. Okay, let's get timelines here right. So I happen to know this because I mentioned I produced the Humble and Fred show.

I happen to know for a fact, because Howard has told me this, and you'd be the best man to confirm this is true, but I do believe, Howard, that he says he's the very first human being on the planet to say the words Mix 99.9 live on the radio. That works for you, right? Because he leaves, because remember, yeah. So clearly, because he leaves, for those who think like he arrives, because he

does arrive in Toronto in 1989, and he's teamed with Freddie P on CFNY, but Howard disappears for 18 months and goes to CKFM. So he's there for the rebrand of Mix 99.9. Right.

And because he's the morning show host, he's the first one to do it. He's the first one to say the, yeah. That's right, right. And the reason we changed

to Mix was, because CKFM had been around for many years and it was, you know, the, sort of the easy rock. It was the,

you know, nice soft AC station and it didn't seem to matter if we were playing Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven or whatever. We had that image of this soft station,

so it was like, okay, we have to change the name. And at the time, mixes were starting to come out, and Pat Holliday came up from Cincinnati, I think, to be a program director, and away we went. And it was, because it was mix, it sort of kept changing all the time. Right, right. So I'm trying to think of people

who might have been at CKFM when you first got there. So I'll just throw out a couple of names. You tell me if they were there. Was Ted Wallish in there? Ted? No, I don't think he was there at the beginning, no. Okay, not at the beginning. Okay.

Was Maureen Holloway there? Or she come a bit later too? No, no, Maureen would have been there, yeah, because she was part of the CKFM thing with Cherry Forbes. Okay. Was a young Danny Elwell there? Yeah. Well, she was around that time.

It's hard remembering exactly that time, 30 years ago or whatever it is. I'm really testing you here, Wayne. Okay. So you're, but you're at CKFM and then there's a decision to, you know, rebrand as Mix 99.9. And what Mix 99.9 obviously designed to compete directly with Chum FM, right? Yes. Yeah.

And also we had a rock element too. So it was like, it was sort of that spot in between uh q107 and chum fm um it was you know a very difficult spot to try to you know squeeze into because both stations were doing really really well and were very defined in their sound and it was like um we found that we became really good at being the number two station of people okay you know they might have liked chum fm but they also had us on the dial and they like q but they're like but they we didn't have a lot of people that were locked in as our P1s as you say. That's okay.

With ranked balloting, you could win this election by being a lot of people's number two. All right. Okay. I'm going a bit back. I forgot to ask about this but when you were at Chum FM,

were you too late for a young DJ named Rick Allen who may be better known to people as Rick Moranis today? Yes, I missed that part. Yeah, he was gone by the time I got there. Yeah. So yeah, I worked with, well, Pete and Geetz were there. Then John Rohde, Donabee, Rick Ringer. All FOTMs almost, yeah.

Yeah. And Ingrid Schumacher, of course. Oh, Ingrid, of course. Yeah, I was there forever. Until fairly recently. I hope her appearance on Toronto Mike didn't result in her getting that tap we talked about earlier. But she's

fantastic and I believe she tells me a story where she was training young Rick Allen on the board basically at Chem FM. There's Rick Moranis. By the way the SCTV reunion that was recorded by Martin Scorsese's company there, you didn't happen to get an invitation to that, did you?

No. Okay, well, I only bring it up because I just had on Colin Mochrie and his wife, Debra McGrath. They were there because Debra worked, they both worked at Second City Toronto. But I also had Dave Thomas on the show. By all accounts, and my research, it seems like Mr. Scorsese

has lost interest in this project and all this footage seems locked away in some dusty cabinet and I say he's got to set it free because I don't think we're ever going to see this SCTV reunion. I don't know if you care but I would like to see it. Yeah, it's like, well, give it to somebody else who wants to do it.

I know! Okay, so if anyone listening has contact if you care, but I would like to see it. Yeah, it's like, well, give it to somebody else that wants to do it. I know. Yeah. Okay, so if anyone listening, you know, has a contact information from Mr. Martin Scorsese, I would like to talk to him about this. And at least if he doesn't

want to do this, set it free and let somebody else do it. Right? Right. Okay, here's a story that was actually, I'm going to shout out

Mark Weisblatt, who used to come on this program every month. He was telling me about Chum FM would monitor CKFM because they had just changed formats there, obviously, to sound more like Chum FM. And they would count the number of hit songs because was there a rule like you couldn't be above 49% hit songs?

So what is that rule exactly? Or is that it? See, I just see over the years I've had some pretty crazy rules. Luckily, we got rid of them. We used to have foreground programming and mosaic programming and you had to enrich this and you had to, so quite often when you would hear those, especially on a Sunday night, you would hear

the jazz program, you hear the comedy program, you hear all these different programs. It was part of your performance that you had to do it. Is that why I had the Sunday Night Funnies with Rick Hodge? Yeah. I loved the Sunday Night Funnies. Yeah, no, it was a great show, yeah. So a whole bunch of those things were done because of that. And one of the rules for, is it for CKFM,

is that they couldn't have more than 49% hits? Yeah, well, that was everybody. All stations had to do that, yeah. So if you're a station on FM, you'd have to keep track of when a song became, hit top 40. And that's like Billboard Hot 100 top 40, right? Yeah, yeah.

And then there's also a Canadian chart, it was RPM at the time or whatever. And when it hit 40, you know, then you had to decide, okay, well, is it big enough hit to play? So sometimes, you know, you'd have the song going up the charts and it'll sound like,

well, we drop it because it became a hit. And it's like, well, It's not a big enough hit. The weird thing is people like hits. You're trying to do a hit format, but only half the songs you play are hits. Don't worry about it. Just make the station sound the way you want it to sound.

We played too many hits. Of course, we got caught. And we had to go to CRTC. We sat in front of the CRTC. And he said, you know, you played too many hits. And we're like, I can't remember. Sorry. But they took our advertising out for two weeks

or something like that. So we didn't make money for two weeks. It might have been less. I don't know. According to Wise Blind, he's pretty good at keeping track of this stuff. He thinks it was, you weren't allowed to,

it was three days that you weren't allowed to. Oh, is it? Oh, okay. I thought it seemed like it was longer, but it was one of those, you know,

like, okay. And then of course you make a promotion or that. It's like, oh, hey, maybe we'll go commercial for three days. Right.

You know, thank you CRTC. But I remember I got a call from somebody in Chicago in American Radio, and he said, you know, I'm reading on Billboard here that you just got in trouble because you played too many hits. I said, yeah. We had to go to the CRTC and explain.

He says, well, then what are you supposed to play? A bunch of stiffs? And, you know, it was sort of one of those sort of, okay, yeah, because you, there's a bunch of stiffs and you know it was sort of one of those sort of okay then yeah because you there's a bunch of songs you know like you know stairway to heaven isn't a hit right right like barbara o'reilly isn't a hit right a bunch of great great classic rock stuff that was never because they weren't issued as singles right right so you know there was ways to get around it that could actually make the sound station you know station could sound good right

but uh yeah it was just one of those really strange rules that finally got dropped. You know, I mentioned I had a lot of CFNY people on this program and their big work around was that they would play a lot of British hits, like songs that were big in, you know, England and they hadn't yet arrived here or whatever, or they weren't, they weren't basically popular here and

they would be quick on the draw with those jams because they weren't North American top 40 hits. For sure. They broke a lot of records that we joined in on. The OMDs, the Simple Minds, all those things that Polydor had. Bobby Gale was just nonstop. Another record, another record, another ABC, whatever. And there were so many that...

And that was what they did. We sort of rode those coattails and stuff like that. another record, another record, another ABC, whatever. And there were so many that, you know, and that was what they did. You know, and, you know, we sort of wrote those coattails and stuff like that. And actually, you know, if you listen to Boom right now, a lot of the stuff we play was because of CFNY. Well, here, that's a good segue here to a question I have about, okay, so you have the mix. Was there a plan in place to change the mix

to a, like a retro format with like a CFNY type jams like that? And then maybe even like, you know, that would include of course Humble and Fred who, who had come over while they come from Mojo radio, but they were famous for being on 102.1. Like, was there a plan to do that? But then, you know, the minds got changed over there at 99.9. What say you Wayne Webster?

No, no, we, we were pretty good. You know, we wanted to play a bunch of the older stuff. Plus we wanted to play the new stuff. It was just that mixture, stuff like that. And then the new stuff was again, you know, sort of rock leaning, alternative leaning. And then we started playing a little more pop because of course people like pop.

So then we started working in the pop stuff. So it was that working in the pop stuff. So it was that combination of the three. But we never were going to go retro like a boom does. Like a spirit of radio type deal. No, no. No plans like that. Okay, so what was the research? Research showed one time that we should have been a top 40 station.

They said, there's a hole there. And then shortly after that, Kiss appeared from Rogers. And then it was like, there's the spot. So much of this is like a race to be the first to get there or whatever. Because, yeah, there's a few examples. I know that famously 640 was going to become like an old news channel. I guess we're going back to early 90s now. But there was like, they were going to go all news.

But before 680? Yes, right. And then 680 obviously had to beat them to the point, you know, because first in was going to go all news and then, but before six, yes. Right. And then six 80 obviously had to beat them to the ones, you know, because first in was going to win and then second in was going to change their mind basically. Right. Yeah.

And that, that happens like when we, um, we were getting ready to launch vinyl and, and, um, and Hamilton launched. I remember a bunch of people,

you know, that we work with, we're going, Oh no, what are we going to do? You know, they're doing what we want to do. They're doing the same thing.

And I was like, okay, well let them do what they do and we'll do what we do most to see who wins. Survival of the fan. Who won? We're still going after 13 years. Amazing. Okay, we're going to get to Boom very shortly here. But what was the reasoning? I need to ask, because I mentioned I produced the show, I need to know.

So Humble and Fred, especially Fred. So Fred had been working for the various owners of 102.1 forever. Like he was the sports guy on Pete and Geet's on 102.1. And then he was doing the morning show when Pete and Geet's were done. And then he, of course, was the co-host of Humble and Fred, which had a good long run to like 2001, I want to say. And then Chorus decides that they're going to put Humble and Fred on Mojo Radio.

Speaking of 640, they're a 640 experiment of sorts, a talk radio for guys. Anyway, all this is to say that the guys tell me they got an offer they couldn't refuse from Standard Broadcasting. And this was to go be the morning show on Mix 99.9. But if you bring this up to Freddie P today, he starts to cringe. He really looks uncomfortable and he just wishes he had a time machine to not go to Mix 99.9. What went wrong with Humble and Fred on Mix 99.9,

Wayne Webster? Well, the mix was, working with Gary Slate sometimes can be difficult. You know, Gary's got definitely ideas of how he wants the station to sound. You know, he may not be the program director, but he would definitely make his thoughts known.

So I have a feeling that's what they're talking about. I don't know. He doesn't feel like a mix. This is the thought from Humble. I'll be very honest with you. I've had many conversations with them about this. They feel that Standard bought Humble and Fred, but then tried to change what Humble and Fred was.

Right, that's true. So that's what the frustration is, because Fred was let go pretty early. I don't know, how long did he last there? A few years, but then he was gone, and then Howard got a little extra time, but then he was gone, like a year later after Fred. But they're frustrated that they don't feel

they were given a chance to be humble in Fred. No, it's true. You know, they weren't. As you say, it's like, okay, let's make you mix people, right? Right, right. And yeah, you know, it's true. It's like, well, what do you do if you hire people? Let them be themselves and be them, you know,

that's what the strongest is going to be, right? But, you know, I'm sure you've seen it many times where, you know, that's what the strongest is going to be, right? But, you know, I'm sure you've seen it many times where, you know, someone's hired, but they, you know, you're told no. Just like, you know, I heard them talking about hockey and like, you know, they have to drop the puck right here.

If they don't, you know, that's the style. But what if the person's not there? And so, you know, you're told how they want it. Yeah, yeah. It's like, it's not just a radio thing, right? That's almost everywhere. No, it is. Yeah, it doesn't matter what job.

You hired this and then you tried to make them that. Right. It's not just radio. It's whatever business. Right. Okay, so I did not end well for Humble and Fred on Mix 99.9. No, they tried. Howard tried so hard, man, to make that thing work.

Like, he really put a lot into it. He would sit down with everybody. He'd go, what do you want me to do? Try to find the right spot, you know? Right. And it is interesting, though, that you mentioned Gary Slate, but Gary Slate would hire Howard again not too long after, right? He's like, hey, we got this Easy Rock thing,

and then Easy Rock becomes boom, and we're going to get to that in just a moment here. Before we leave 99.9, where would I go with this? I want to know about Virgin Radio. You're there when they switched to Virgin, right? Yes. So what is that essentially? I'm not sure now. I guess

Virgin Radio was this branding that was licensed from England, obviously. From Richard Branson. Yes, from Richard Branson, of course. So like, what's the idea? I know at the beginning, it felt like, I don't know, were you guys using British accents or is that a weird memory I have?

Like, tell me about why rebrand as Virgin Radio and what that changed from Mix 99. Well, Mix had been around for, was it 19 years? Yeah, no, it was 18, 19 years. It'd been a long time. And we, as I said, we were like everyone's number two choice. We just could not break through. We could not become a number one radio station. And it was one of those things like, it was 18, 19 years. It had been a long time. And we, as I said, we were like everyone's number two choice. We just could not break through. We could not become a number one radio station.

And it was one of those things like, as a goal, you know, you want to do the best you can. Like, you can be happy with being number two or number three or whatever. But, you know, sometimes the people at the top aren't happy with that and they want to try something else. Right. But we were sold from standard broadcasting to Astro. And then when Astro bought us, I'm not sure where the connection came from, but someone had a connection with Virgin and Richard Branson. And it was like they got the rights for Virgin Radio in Canada,

and we were going to be the first ones, which was really exciting. Yeah, okay. So musically, though, did it just include more like R&B, dance-ier tracks? I don't even know what the proper term is for that. Martin Trumbly was a program director. I was a music director.

And we, it was funny because we, we sort of made it more of a Chum FM adult hits. You know, so we still played some older stuff. So we were still playing some 80s and stuff like that. Plus the new stuff is we're trying to make it a little more contemporary. And then

Rob Freena came in and basically said... Also an FOTM. Yes. And Rob, you know, I remember he laid down a list of songs and says, I want you to switch to gold. I want you to put these ones in. And I was looking at it and went, I'm just going to change the whole sound station. He says, yeah. And

basically he took the top 100 songs on top 40 and said, let's start playing these. It was like, okay, now is the time. Virgin is going to be a top 40 station, true top 40. Katie Perry, Rihanna, the whole kid in Kabuto. Oh, yeah. I was doing that for a

couple of years. No one ever said anything, but I think they realized, you know what? Wayne's not our guy, but he's really good for Boom. Let's just let him do Boom. We'll hire somebody else and take over Virgin. And then they made the switch into Real Talk 40. So are you at Boom when they have

the four-headed morning show? The four-headed, like this is like when Rick Hodge, Colleen, Kim Stockwood, and Humble Howard are the, yeah, it's okay. Was that Boom or was that Easy Rock? Easy Rock. That was Easy Rock. Yeah. Yeah. That was Easy Rock because

it's only Humble and Colleen when it flips to Boom. Right, right. So, yeah. And also, it's funny, today happens to be the anniversary of Rick Hodge's first appearance, so I tweet every day. Like, every day I go on this day and whatever. On this day in 2015, Rick Hodge made his Toronto Mike debut, whatever. And I put a little bit of like what we talked about and we talked about me

torpedoing him, which he wanted to, you know, discuss with me. And that's because I was actually like, uh, embedded, this is blogging way before podcasting,

but I was like a blogger in the room at two St. Clair to witness this, uh, morning show. So there was Colleen Rushholm and Humble Howard Glassman, Kim Stockwood, and of course, Rick Hodge, who was also going down the hall and doing CFRB. Yeah, he was like going back and forth, going back and forth.

Yeah, yeah. So what was, now again, you know, it felt like a very busy room to me. And I mean, at some point, Rick and Kim were let go. So I'm just curious, was the idea to have four different voices? It would be like, I'm just curious what the idea was there. Yeah, that was it. It was just like, okay, well, you got some really good people here.

Let's put them all together and just see, you know. But of course, it just never really seemed to gel. You know, it was, you know, how do you make room for everybody? You know, you hear sometimes your morning show and it's like too many people are talking at once. And it's like, and you know, so,

you know, Rick had his spot and stuff like that. And then, you know, Howard, Howard's like, I'm the star here and, you know,

it's my show. And then you're also. He'll do the back selling and all that. Like he wants to be the main jock. Yeah. He's the guy driving the ship. Like someone's, someone's got to be driving,

you know, and usually, you know, it would have been Howard, right? So he's the guy driving the ship. Like someone's got to be driving it, you know, and usually, you know, it would have been Howard, right? So he's the one that sort of directs it where it's going and stuff like that. Okay, it's your turn, your turn, whatever, blah, blah, blah. But yeah, it was one of those experiments that, you know, didn't really, you know, you see

things on paper and it's like, wow, wow, that could be really cool. And then when you hear it, it's like, maybe not. Okay, so Easy Rock, I always think of John Tesh, wow, wow, that could be really cool. And then when you hear it, it's like, maybe not. Okay. So Easy Rock, I always think of John Tesh. Okay. At nighttime.

Yeah. Right. I love Easy Rock. You know, Delilah. Yeah, absolutely. And Lisa Gibbons commercials.

Speaking of E.T., what was the fascination with entertainment tonight? Come on, that's two right there, John Tesh and Lisa Gibbons. But so Easy Rock, obviously never played music I really wanted to hear,

but that wasn't for me. That's fine. And then, so tell me about the decision to introduce Boom. You kept the same. So the morning show on Easy Rock, at the end of Easy Rock,

is Colleen Rush Home and Humble Howard Glassman. Right. That's the morning show that launches Boom. What was the idea to relaunch Boom? Again, it was Rob Farina.

And it was one of those meetings, you know, in the boardroom with, you know, a bunch of the big people. And Rob basically said, you know, we're doing okay with EasyRock. We're making money. But again, we're never going to be number one. C-H-F-I is going to beat us all the time.

So is there another avenue that we can attack the market with? So radio stations will try to find what's the open hole, which format is not there. So there was... Country music? Yeah, it's sort of weird. Country never gets a shot here. But there was four, and one that we all loved was Adult Alternative.

So it would have been what you were sort of talking about, CFNY. Right. So you play some of the new stuff, but all the great classics and stuff like that. That's what we wanted to do. Joy Division. Everything, you know? But there's this other thing that came up,

and it was just like, well, if we play music from the 70s, we play music from the 80s, we play 90s, we play some bit 2000s, we play some 60s, we're going to play some R&B, we're music from the 70s, we play music from the 80s, we play 90s, play some bit 2000, play some 60s, we're going to play some R&B, we're going to play some rock, we're going to play some alternative.

But anyways, that came through strongest. And then we were sort of sitting there in the boardroom and Rob Frieden sort of looked at me and says, hey, Wayne, I think this is perfect for you. Because, you know, I'd grown up in Toronto. I've been in radio for a long time. I've worked with the different formats. So it was like, yeah.

And then when I started looking at it and going, I can mix this with this and this, and I was like, you know, I was like, okay, so I can play that Simple Minds song, but then I can go to the Bee Gees, but then I can hit Def Leppard, you know, and then I can go Duran Duran, and then I can hit Fleetland Mac.

You know, it's just like, I can go all over the place. Sure. And that's what I do. Okay, amazing. So at what point did you realize that this was a success? Like was it a slow burn or when did you realize, oh, boom is a hit? It popped pretty quick. Wow.

Yeah, it was one of those ones like, wow. But not too quick. I'm just going to point out the fact that we talked about Stu and Humble taking turns or whatever. Too quick, I'm just going to point out the fact that we talked about Stu and Humble taking turns or whatever, but at some point fairly early in the boom run, Colleen and Humble are showing the door and Stu Jeffries takes over Mornings. Right.

So is it like post that maybe when it pops? Also, you go back then, Mornings was like in that building at 2 St. Clair West. Yeah. We hardly ever had a Mornings show that was number one or was one of the top ones. When Aaron, Don and Aaron, to St. Clair West. Yeah. We hardly ever had a morning show that was number one or, you know, was one of the top ones.

When Aaron, Don and Aaron, Don and Aaron? Mike and Aaron. Mike and Aaron. Yeah, when they were there, they did pretty good. You know,

then of course they went back to State Defiant. Right. That's another reason we switched from Easy Rock. So. Aaron toured it. Aaron destroyed the format.

That's how powerful Aaron Davis is. Yeah. Good effort. You can beat him. One of the things was that that morning show never got through. Because when you go up against Roger Rick and Marilyn, or at the time Roger and Marilyn, I guess,

Derringer was ruling what was it doing, the edge? Dean Blundell took over for Homeland Fred. Anyway, so it was just one of those ones where, you know, we couldn't seem to break into them. You know, well, C-25, of course, was, you know, huge. So, you know, there were maybe like 50,

if we could get lucky, right? Right. So it was like, okay, well, we got to try something different. And, you know, as I said, Howard tried everything. Like, he was like, what do you want me to do? I'll do it, you know. And he couldn't obviously do it because, although he's happier now, it all worked out.

Oh, yes. No, he's mentioned that a few times. I'm much happier. Well, he got to reunite with his buddy Fred, where he wanted to be anyways. And they get to do what they want to do. Like, what's better than that? Absolutely. Okay. So, Boom popped.

Basically, it's been pretty consistent, like the personalities on Boom. I mean, we mentioned KJ and May Potts and Stu Jeffries, but they've been pretty, like been there a long time. Like there's not a lot of turnover, I noticed in the lineup.

No, no. And you have to Stu. How long do you say Hummel was there? Good question. I can't remember what year this all broke down but he wasn't there too long

because Easy Rock became Boom. He wasn't at Boom very long before Stu Jeffries was put in place. Yeah, and then Stu came in

and Chris Ebbett was the PD and basically said just play music. Didn't want too much personality stuff and just stuff like that and then Chris

went back to LA and Steve Parsons came in and said, okay, let's grow the show. Let's do a $1,000 a minute. Let's do this and the Fast Five and all these different pieces. You don't need benchmarks for people going, oh, I like that and like that and like that.

And then the show started to grow. But again, it still wasn't number one. Like it still, it couldn't beat the Derringers and Mike and Aaron's and, you know, Roger and Marilyn. So that was a real hard grind, you know, to get there. But the station outside like from nine o'clock on was doing quite well. Because I think a lot of people when they got to the office,

boo made, sort of made sense because we played so many different styles of music, it pleased a lot of people. Right. So we, so yeah, we, Chris came up a bit around,

we were about six months in and he basically said, okay, we're the shiny new toy right now. We don't want to be that toy that gets stuck in the, in the toy box in six months. Right.

We want to be the one that they keep playing with. So it was our work to, you know, make sure that we stayed relevant. We play oldies, but we're not an oldie station. We try to be very current in our

approach. How often do you go in the 60s? I don't hear a lot. Maybe I just haven't noticed. Yeah, well, there's 25, 30 songs. There's the Satisfactions, The House of the Rising Sun, The Hey Jews, The songs. You know, there's the Satisfactions, the House of the Rising Sun, the Hey Jews, the Twist and Shouts, Doo-Wah Diddy.

There's a bunch of those that they just don't seem to go away. And people, it doesn't matter what generation it is, they seem to like. What do you think is the newest song that you'd hear on Boom 97.3? We just started playing. We just did a music test recently

and we put a couple of Cold Plays back in. So they're in 2000, 2004. We'll play something quite often usually in the early 2000s, something like that. We found through the research that people like the 70s really loved the 80s. 90s are, because 90s is so weird, you know, musically, like the seventies really loved the eighties, nineties or, because nineties is so weird,

you know, musically, like there's, there's so all over the place, right? Yeah. But it's really coming around now. Like,

cause you know, our audience, you know, you think if someone's in their forties while they were born in the eighties, so nineties would make sense to be their music. Right. So, uh,

yeah, it's, it's getting a little more into the nineties, stuff like that. But we have, we have people call up and go, play more 60s. You redirect them, okay.

So how are you about Stu Jeffries and his Sweet Caroline karaoke performances? They're great. We get great response. So there's going to be somebody go, hey, shut up. Don't sing over the song, you ruin it. But so many people go, oh, I love it when you do that. And they sing along in the car. For what it's worth, I told him this when he

came on to kick up the jams. I love that he does that. I love my radio jocks to have a personality. I want to humanize you're a person and these are your passions. I dig that. Yeah. I think if you listen to Stu, you get to know who he is like he right you know he'll have uh you know he'll say to me uh tomorrow um you know 755 can we uh kind of put you know imagine in whatever

i said yeah i got a bit i got i gotta talk about it that'd be great a couple weeks ago where um somebody on uh an elevator and um of, you know, sometimes in the elevator, no one talks and stuff like that. So this woman was standing there and then just before the doors opened, she goes, you got this and walked out. And then so she told me and said, yeah. So, so meanwhile, you think they're ignoring you, but meanwhile, they're like focused like, I gotta get this job or whatever it was right so he comes he needed something you know if it's gonna be alright

if it's gonna be alright so I said well Three Little Birds by Bob Marley beautiful and it just works so good you know and you got a bunch of comments

like you know perfect pitch perfect song every little thing is gonna be alright Stu I couldn't help but notice when I saw Stu doing his thing that he's the only guy

in that room like he's he's up in his own board he seems to be doing everything but then other times I'd see morning shows and they've got I saw Stu doing his thing. He's the only guy in that room. He's up in his own board. He seems to be doing everything. But then other times I'd see morning shows and they've got somebody, technical producer, maybe another producer.

Sometimes it's a whole team of people. How come Stu can do it all by himself? Let's see. It's a loaded question. How awesome is Stu, I guess? Like Stu's solo there. He's like alone in the room, right? Right.

Now, usually you have a morning show. We just talked about a four-person morning show. Plus, usually you have a producer behind the board, right? Right. So there's another person. Plus, you have an executive producer that helps get guests and sort of organizes the show with you and stuff like that. So there's tons of people.

Yeah. I think one of the main reasons Stu started on his own, money. Right. It just, it was cheap, right? It was like, Stu,

go in there and do it. And then I think what happened is that Stu got the handle of it and it was like, he likes it. Yeah, because even our, like our,

we worked with like a research company and stuff like that and he kept saying, you need a co-host for Stu, you need a co-host for Stu. And he was, he would always fight and we were like,

I don't know, like, it was like, the research people, you know people didn't really understand Stu. And then all of a sudden the numbers started to pop. It was like, oh yeah, okay,

let's help Stu out. So it's amazing that, as you say, one person can do it when you have other times there's like five or six people working on the same show. Right. And I'd like to think that when you recruit me times there's like five or six people working on the same show. Right.

And I'd like to think that when you recruit me to be one of the personalities on Boom, I'm going to be like Stu. I'm doing it all myself because it's fun to man everything and it's part of the fun. Yeah, well, you have control. Right.

I'm a control freak like Stu Jeffries. Okay. So I want to ask about ownership real quick here. So you mentioned Astral. I think that's how they say it. Yes, that's right. So at what point, I guess was it Bell was So you mentioned Astral. I think that's how they say it. Yes, that's right. At what point, I guess, was it Bell was going to buy Astral, therefore

Boom had to be sold and it got bought by NuCap? Do I have that right? Yes, yes. So CRTC with regulations, you can only have two FMs, two AMs. And with Bell, of course, they already had Virgin. No, we had Virgin. So they had Flow and Chum FM.

So they couldn't get two more. So they said, we'll give you Flow. We'll take Virgin, which are, you know. Right, so they would end up with 99.9 and 104.5, but that means that Flow, which I'm going to ask you about in a minute, Flow and Boom were sold to NuCab. Right.

So there was a bid for new cap something fell through in it i was like oh no you're kidding because new cap seemed like a good uh station because i worked with you know gary and standard you know and then i worked with ellen waters um jimmy waters you know at chum and this was again another family you know, at Chum. Sure. And this was, again, another family, you know, thing. So it was like, okay, this makes a lot of sense. I get that, you know, dynamic to work for. So when they didn't go through, it was like, and then they had to, I forget now, Bell,

they had to do something. Anyways, we ended up getting bought by NuCap and it's been awesome. So NuCap was absorbed, I guess, by, swallowed up by Stingray. Right. Okay, so your current, your checks are currently up by Stingray. Right. Okay. So your current, your checks are currently signed by Stingray.

Right. Okay. So that means in Toronto anyways, we'll focus on Toronto, this Stingray had, had, because one of them changed, but had Boom 97.3. We all know the success happening there. And Flow. So I'm, of course, you're at Boom. You're not at Flow.

So I don't know how much you even are aware of this, but do you have any insight into why Flow became today 93.5? Any insight into that? Well, there was a few changes in between. So when, great thing about working with NuCap was that they basically came in and said, okay, what do you need? Like, you know, quite often someone takes over,

they want to put their stamp on it. They were like, you know, Steve Jones programming. It's just like, we're here to help you. You know, we're not going to try to, you know, make drastic changes or anything like that. So they always felt that flow never really got a fair shot. So let's give flow a shot. So they worked, worked, worked.

And of course it didn't really happen. And then they tried to move, you know, and that didn't work. So then they went back, that was around Scott Turner time. Right. And then we went back to Flow because it seemed like that's what people wanted.

Right. And it still didn't really work. And then that's when, I guess, you know, across the country, you know, in Calgary and Edmonton and different, I think it's in Vancouver now, there's these today's and now's and they're doing really, really well. So it was like, okay, let's try that. And you, I think it's in Vancouver now, there's these today's and now's, and they're doing really, really well.

So it's like, okay, let's try that. And you, I mean, literally, I believe it's free of charge, you gave the Flow branding to G98, and then you launched Today 93.5. How is Today 93.5 doing in this market, Toronto, Ontario, Canada? So far, not very good yeah the ratings haven't been there so it's sort of weird you know like you would assume that something like that

would get a little more attention but it's tough i mean people are so loyal to their stations like so you're a new new new dog in the race or whatever and you gotta you know get people to leave chum or whatever leave virgin whatever, whatever, come over, leave Kiss. And these are not high-profile personality names. There's not a lot of name recognition with the personalities there, and they're not sticking to a genre because you might have, I don't know, it sounds like when I, my wife will tune in

and she'll be like, oh, they played this country song and then they played this dance song. It's sort of a... It's all over, yeah. It's like a boom on steroids. It's like we play a lot of different styles of music in eras and stuff like that. They even go farther. It's sort of a... It's all over, yeah. It's like a boom on steroids. It's like, you know, we play a lot of different styles of music

in eras and stuff like that. They even go farther. It's boom on steroids. They go even further than we do. And also, one of the problems with that is the signal.

The signal's just not really strong and I think, you know, if they had a regular signal like everybody else, it'd be interesting to see if they would do better. How, again,

you won't, you're programming the music on 97.3, boom! But how long do you stick with a format in this day and age? It feels like back in the day, you'd have a long go at it before you threw in the towel. But it feels like today, it feels like two years, feels like a long time. How long do you stick with today, 93.5,

before you try something different? I don't know. That's the only, correct, that's the only answer you can give me on that one. But anyways, I'm always paying attention and what's going on. And it's great success you had at Boom. Is there anything, like any story or any anecdote

or anyone you wanted to shout out that you were thinking on your way here, you're like, I got to make sure I mention this or tell this story, because before I play lowest of the low, and come on, Boom should be playing more lowest of the low. Yes, yes. Come on.

My friend Kim Cook is always asking me why we're not playing it. I want to tune in to 97.3 and hear Henry needs a new pair of shoes. It would be perfect. Okay, well, we do play Salesman's Treats and Liars sometimes on the lunch when we get requests, because, you do play Salesman's Deeds and Liars sometimes on lunch when we get requests

because, you know, of course, May has a lot of people from the CFNY days calling up and, you know, requesting a lot of the stuff that she used to play back then. That would make complete sense.

Bleed a little while tonight. Is it just the word bleed you don't want to throw into the ears? Because that to me is, if you're going to play one song, I think bleed a little while tonight might be the jam.

Food for thought. You don't need to give me an answer right now. But is there anything there you're like, I got to make sure I mention on show. I'm making, finally, I, Wayne Webster, I'm finally making my Toronto Mike debut. He's going to throw a bunch of garbage at me off the top about John Wayne and serial killers.

And at some point, I got to make sure I tell him a story about when, I don't know, when Paul McCartney was walking through the halls and he, whatever, he told me, whatever. Like, is there something you wanted to tell that you didn't get a chance to share? Oh. This is for your benefit because I don't want a phone call later.

Yeah, I know. We've talked so much, you know, there could be, but I have no idea. Drain the swamp here. So boom, successful, you know, that's great. That's the whole objective. Today, 93.5. We'll stay tuned to what happens there. I think it's tough sledding, but I'm not... I don't have that responsibility.

Otherwise, long may you rock, Mr. Wayne Webster. This was thoroughly enjoyable. If you ever do kick out Rosie and Gray on Boom 97.3, just maybe you can say, that's for Toronto Mike. Okay. Because it's been my closing theme for 11 years now.

Shout out to Ron Hawkins. And that brings us to the end of our 1,225th show. This is 1225. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Wayne, are you on any social media? Can we find you anywhere out there? Not much, no. If you want to learn about Wayne Webster,

you've got to tune in to Toronto Mike. That's the only place to learn more about Wayne. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. I do have beer for you, Wayne. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. I do have a lasagna for you. Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada.

If anyone listening has any old tech they need to get rid of, don't throw it in the garbage. Go to RecycleMyElectronics.ca and find out the closest depot to safely drop off that tech so it can be recycled properly.

And Ridley Funeral Home, they're at Ridley FH. See you all tonight for another episode of Toast. It's kind of rosy and gray. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and gray. Well, you've been under my skin for more than eight years It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears And I don't know what the future can hold or will do For me and you

But I'm a much better man for having known you Oh, you know that's true because everything is coming up rosy and green. Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow won't speed the day. And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is Rosy and green Well I've been told That there's a sucker

Born every day But I wonder who Yeah I wonder who Maybe the one Who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of grey Cause I know that's true Yes I do

I know it's true Yeah I know it's true How about you? Are they picking up trash And they're putting down roads And they're putting down roads. And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes.

And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can. Maybe I'm not and maybe I am. But who gives a damn? Because everything is coming up Rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Warms me today And your smile is fine

And it's just like mine And it won't go away Because everything is rosy and gray Well, I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name And I've seen the sun go down on Sacré-Cœur But I like it much better going down on you Yeah, you know that's true

Because everything is coming up rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold but the smell of snow warms us today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine And it won't go away

Cause everything is rosy now Everything is rosy Yeah, everything is rosy and great Yeah, yeah guitar solo