Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Westerly Cancon: Toronto Mike'd #678

Episode Date: July 4, 2020

This Pandemic Friday, Mike kicks out great western Canadian jams with Cam Gordon and Sammy Kohn after sharing a heartfelt message from Stu Stone on the loss of his father.

It's time now for Pandemic Fridays, starring Toronto Mike, Stu Stone, and Cam Gordon. I'm from Toronto where you wanna get city love I'm a Toronto Mike, you wanna get city love My city love me back, for my city love Welcome to episode 678 of Toronto Miked A weekly podcast about anything and everything Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities Good times and brewing amazing beer.

Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Garbage Day. Weekly reminders for garbage recycling and yard waste pickup. Visit GarbageDay.com slash Toronto Mike to sign up now. Sticker you.com create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. The Kytner group.

They love helping buyers find their dream home. Text Toronto Mike to five nine five five nine. And we welcome back our friends from pumpkins after dark. I Mike from Toronto, Mike.com and joining me for our weekly pandemic Friday episode is Stu stone and cam Gordon and our very special guest, the watchman drummer, Sammy cone. Watchmen drummer, Sammy Cohn.

It's not time to make a change. Just relax, take it easy You're still young, that's your fault There's so much you have to know Find a girl, settle down If you want, you can marry Look at me. I am old, but I'm happy.

I was once like you are now. And I know that it's not easy to be calm when you found something going on. But take your time, think a lot Why think of everything you've got For you will still be here tomorrow But your dreams may not How can I try to explain When I do he turns away again It's always been the same

Same old story From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen Now there's a way. And I know that I have to go away. I know I have to go. We're going to open this Pandemic Friday with a statement tweeted by our very own, our dear friend, our very own Stu Stone. This was tweeted earlier today. So these words belong to Stu. Sadly, had to say farewell to my father Jack this week as he has passed away.

It's been a roller coaster of emotions. Not even quite sure what to write because the words are too difficult to type. Our story had too many blank chapters in it and for that I am heartbroken. Our story had too many blank chapters in it, and for that I am heartbroken. I will cherish and remember the good times we had forever. Grateful that I was able to reconnect with him and be there with him for his final chapter. Sending love to my siblings, Carrie, Dina, Jesse, Jagger, and Hunter, as well as my mother, Trudy, and their mother, Debbie, as well as his friends and family. Jack was a complicated guy,

but when things were good, they were the best. We all just wanted him at his best, and those moments that we did get over our lives are amongst the best times that will stay in our memories forever. I know he loved me, and I know he left us knowing that we loved him too. Hopefully he will look after us wherever he is. At his funeral, I reiterated that although I am the son of the king of trades, the good times I had with him, I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

Rest peacefully, dad. I'll miss you. Cam? Sammy? This one's for Cam. This one's for Cam and Stu, especially Stu. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, far more Stu than I. Yeah, I mean,

it's tough. I mean, I'd imagine a lot of people who listen to our episodes every Friday, Mike, uh, have also seen Stu's a great documentary Jack of all trades. So, um, I mean, it's, it's, it's wild. I mean, life, life is like fucked sometimes, you know? Um, and it's, you know, as someone someone's known stew a long time and knew jack to some degree i mean back in the day i mean god like i i worked for jack at you know some uh collectible shows back in the early 90s and like it was this great i mean uh yeah i mean i i i

everything that was in that film from what i knew seemed kind of an accurate depiction of what I knew of Jack and also perhaps more importantly of Stu's relationship with Jack that was complicated to say the least. And I mean, I don't know. I mean, you know, perhaps unlike Alan Cross to some degree, I was there for part of that anyway. like Alan Cross to some degree. I was there for part of that anyway. And, you know, obviously our hearts go out to Stu, but I'm also glad that he got a chance to make that documentary, did a great job with it.

I mean, again, I can say firsthand, as far as I know, part, you know, is factual. And this sucks. And I think how Stu kind of, you how Stu put that message on Twitter and the other social media platforms today is, I think, a perfect campsite. The complicated nature of relationships with people that we love that are not perfect sometimes. Well said, well said. And if people don't know, we've been only talking about jack of all trades for like 16 weeks now but is it still on netflix i should know this right i believe it is right

yes you know it's funny you mentioned that mike because when stew was on the podcast that cam and i uh do that's been on hiatus for a while, the Completely Ignored podcast. Not to shuffle anybody's attention from yours to ours, but in any event, Stu, I remember he was very excited the afternoon we spoke to him, Cam, because he just heard that Netflix had picked up Jack of All Trades. And I knew nothing about it. Cam, you kind of knew the history. And I remember watching it with my wife because we know Stu's sister as well. She lives in the area. I didn't know that. Is it Dina

or Carrie? Carrie. Carrie's got kids my children's age and she's in business with a woman, a sports clothing business. Sure, yeah. I've seen the Facebook content. Anyway, I didn't really know what to expect. I watched Jack of all trades with my wife and the trailer is sort of deceptive. You think it's a movie about baseball cards and it's obviously nothing at all.

Well, it is about that's just on the tip of the iceberg so anyway hats off to stew it's a great movie and and and certainly that's a nice keepsake he has with his dad that that project he did and i love the movie i emailed stew the day after i saw it and i and i of course asked him if relations had smoothed at all with his father and he said that sadly nothing had really changed there. But maybe since then, this was about a year ago, it has. So this one's for Stu. This one's for Stu.

And when I read those words from Stu, it included that he says he was grateful. This is Stu Stone was grateful that he was able to reconnect with his father, Jack, the Jack from Jack of All Trades,, be with him for his final chapter. So, uh, Stu, obviously I know in the intro, I introduced it as pandemic Fridays with Stu and Cam, cause that's, that's how we introduce these episodes, but there is no Stu on this episode. He's, uh, gonna take a week off rightly so, but I am proud to introduce, and I should

point out, Sammy was booked before Stu's dad passed away. So we didn't just say we need a pinch hitter here. Come on, Sammy. Sammy was always scheduled to be on this Friday. And I want to welcome you officially to this Pandemic Friday, Sammy. And for those who don't know, and shame on you, for those who don't know, Sammy, you're the drummer for The Watchmen. That is one thing I did about 20 years ago, yes. I've seen you do it more recently than that. Yeah, well, you know, it's funny,

you know, Sammy from The Watchmen, I'm proud of it, no question. I mean, the truth is I'm a realtor in real life. I buy and sell houses, but I do also love music, Canadian music. I love talking with you guys because I know that being an FOTM myself, being on the show, this will be my third time, Mike. Yes. The open door invite that you've always extended to me is one that i am always excited about so and any chance to talk to cam because uh he never surprises me or never um

ceases to amaze me in terms of his uh knowledge of the minutiae when it comes to canadian rock sammy you thank you and you you will be both delighted and appalled by some of my choices today of these sounds that I will provide shortly. I can't wait. Why don't we dive in, Mike? You can show up and let's do it before we get to it. And actually just before we do, I would, I would like to also, I mean, this is sort of a Friday night. So this is almost a special edition. Mike, I also want to give you a shout out too, because don't know like we've it seems more and more there's stuff that happens to people

within the fotm universe and you know that could be like this week's you know unfortunate news with stew or the stuff we saw play out yesterday with dan o'toole and i don't know how you feel mike but it seems like you always had some like very specific information that was sort of like relevancies, just things that happened in this fiefdom that you've created. And I mean, I don't know. I just hope you get a chance to like step back and really sort of reflect and like appreciate it. I think you do. Cause you and I've talked about this a lot,

but even this week I listened to your Alan Cross episode and like, you know, hearing him rebuttal the words by brother Bill a few weeks ago. And it's just like, this is kind of incredible. Like these are, you know, these are, these are people that are sort of the fabric of like all of our lives too. And you've kind of brought them together and like triangulated them. And like think there's no perfect you know if stu can't be here and you know i'll be back next week like sammy's the perfect person to join us tonight too so like you know it's it's it's it's pretty remarkable what you've done i was in a long car ride today

with my girlfriend coming back from her cottage and we're just you know also a listener um and like we were talking about this very thing where we were talking about the dan o'toole uh matter i'm just like like mike always knows something about like all this stuff like he's had all these people on a show and you're probably the one person in the city and maybe in the country who you know can quite often be like that that connective fabric between you know, these bursts of like media stories. So I'm not wearing a hat, but hats off to you, Mike. I mean, it's pretty remarkable what you do. And I hope you can sort of take a step back sometimes

and just appreciate what you've built. Like it's pretty staggering slash bizarre, but mainly staggering and impressive. Well, Cam, I know Sammy's itching to get to the jams, but I want more of that talk right there. I think another hour about... Am I hearing you correctly? Am I the straw that stirs the drink?

Is that what I'm hearing? Well, I don't know. It's just like with the way, as you know, like the way the media works now where there's so fewer and fewer journalists every year. I think it is people like yourself and obviously, you know, 1236, I did listen to that episode. People like Jesse Brown, brown you know all the people who are like keeping an eye

on the media and be yeah able to connect the dots um and in like a really kind of unique and in often profound way that doesn't have a point of view that you won't find elsewhere so no thanks cam because i know you're also kind of, one of those guys I look at who's kind of observing everything. And you know, you're also in the mix there, like kind of knowing how all the parts are connected. So those are, uh, that's high praise from someone in your position. So thank you. Now it's Sammy's turn to praise me, Sammy. How long do you know? Okay. So, you know, I'm a fan, Mike. Uh, Cam. Yeah. Okay. So I'm a fan, Mike. Cam.

Allow me the quick little brain freeze here. Who is the gentleman from the Toronto star that was on a week ago? It was Ben Rainer. Ben Rainer, of course, Ben, Ben Rainer. Let me just say that that was a piece of real talk that I quite liked as well. I didn't know Ben's story and I know that that one got some traction for you as well. So just a good example of just this medium and how it's so honest and sort of to Cam's point, you certainly were ahead of your time a little bit.

What did you say this is the 600 and what's episode? 678. That's incredible. In this day and age, when every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a podcast, you know, present company included. And I think we've got four listeners, Cam, last time we checked?

Yeah. I mean, four. I think we were maybe up to five. I listened. Last time I checked, you know, we're not quite at the monetization level. I'm one of those listeners. We're not selling palm pasta yet here, but we're doing a lot. No, we're not quite in the monetization. I'm one of those listeners. We're not selling palm pasta yet here, but we're doing.

No, we're not. Where's my palm of pasta, Mike? You know, OK, you mentioned the Ben Rainer episode that was recorded in the backyard studio. So Ben actually came over. We did it live here. That's part of the magic. I want to let the people know, like the people who are just listening to the podcast right now and aren't watching on Periscope where my camera's acting up,

they probably wouldn't know until I tell them right now that I actually moved my studio into the backyard. I mean, you guys aren't here. You're on Zoom. But I'm here in the backyard on a beautiful Friday night. I'm cracking open a Great Lakes beer and this is a toast. This is to Stu

who... Sammy, help me. When you sit Shiva, how long do you sit Shiva for? I'm cracking open a Great Lakes beer. And this is a toast. This is to Stu. And Sammy, help me. When you sit Shiva, how long do you sit Shiva for? Seven days, I believe. I think it's seven days. So Stu, he's sitting Shiva as we kick out these jams. And we're about to... Here, let me crack it open. Oh, yeah.

Good sound. So thank you, Great great lakes for the beer uh we're gonna introduce the theme of this week's jam kicking and it's uh a topic we chose for you sammy and we'll do that in a moment but cam for the record who's the better drummer fotm jeremy taggart or FOTM Sammy Cohn oh wow that's tough but I gotta go with Sammy I mean you know I think Sammy's kind of you know the bedrock a lot of the best

Watchmen tunes Taggart you know Taggart definitely has his moments and his talent himself but yeah gotta go with Sammy top five drummer in Canada right up there with the well i'd say the late neil pierce and uh sammy i don't know if i ever told you this know who one is one of my favorite canadian drummers i don't know if you know this guy i think his name

is mark godet the drummer for eric's trip the older guy guy. I never got into those guys. I know they were kind of an important band in the nineties. Yeah. That guy, like, I, I'm, I hate to say I'm not normally someone who notices drummers all the time, but I think as I saw them a few times back in the day and just like a real, I don't know, there's just something about his like style that's very captivating. Anyway.

Who does he play with now, Cam? I'm not sure. I think he still lives in Moncton. He was kind of like a Moncton... I feel like he worked in the record store in Moncton, which is how Rick White and Julie Dorian met him. Yes, I don't know. I think he had another band after Eric's trip split. But yeah, again, I think he was like 10 or 15 years older than those guys so like i don't know he might be like a 60s now

but yeah i don't know if you can pick up any old eric's trip footage uh he's a real real talent i'll check it out so sammy beats jeremy that was a close battle can con drummer battle i love it uh the premise of this week's Pandemic Friday episode and back when Stu was going to join us, we were each going to kick out four CanCon jams from west of Ontario.

So that's it. It's got to be a CanCon jam we dig from west of Ontario. That's in honour of Sammy who's a Winnipeg boy. You got it. Born and raised. Winnipeg represent. And now that Sammy

is not with us, we're going to each kick out five jams. So we're going to hit our quota. Now that Stu's not with us. Correction. My apologies. How much beer have you had, Mike? Yeah, have another octopus once a fight.

It's too early for that nonsense. Oh, yeah. Since Stu's not with us, we're just going to kick out five jams. I actually have a quick message I want to read from the Chief Pumpkineer. This guy's name is James. He's Chief Pumpkineer. And the Chief Pumpkineer says, because of COVID-19 and the fact

that Halloween may not happen this year, I felt it was extremely important that we put on an event so that kids and families have something to look forward to at this incredible time of year. Unfortunately, due to the drive-through format, tickets will be extremely limited, and once a time slot is sold out, it's gone. So the good news for FOTMs out there is that Pumpkins After Dark will happen this year.

It won't be the walk-around event it was last year. It's going to be a driving, a 2.5-kilometer driving route. There's an 88-acre farm at Scenic Country Heritage Park in Milton. So welcome back, Pumpkins After Dark. They so welcome back pumpkins after dark they got more pumpkins than ever they got more sculptures than ever it's going to be bigger and more impressive than ever and i'll have more details soon on how you can save money because you listen to toronto mic but i just want to say welcome back pumpkins after dark but that sounds that sounds almost like an african lion safari type deal.

But the monkeys won't tear apart your car. Yeah, like a guy should come out and smash a pumpkin on your windshield and break the antennae just to get it. Oh, maybe west of Ontario, Peter Pumpkinhead. That's a west of Ontario CanCon jam. There you go. Crash Test Dummies. Crash Test Dummies. Crash Test Dummies. They all come together.

Garbage Day. Let's not get too specific. Sammy, have you signed up for Garbage Day? If you go to GarbageDay.com slash Toronto Mike, you can get this free service. It'll let you know. It takes the guesswork out of the curbside collection. Is it Garbage Day Recycling? Is it Yard Waste Pickup?

Have you signed up yet? I haven't, but I should. I've heard about it. I just look at my neighbor and see what he does and then follow suit. All right. That's how I roll. As a good FOTM, you're going to also go to,

yeah, you're going to go to garbageday.com slash Toronto Mike and sign up right after this, right after this discussion, be out of respect for Sammy. I won't tell everybody about the great people at the Kytner group, but if you text Toronto Mike to five, nine, five,

five, nine, Austin Kytner is there, but I don't think, I think there's a conflict of interest. So I'll try to stay low key on that one right there. Palma pasta. You mentioned,

I can't wait to get some pasta to you, Sammy, and you cam. I think I owe cam 16 large lasagnas at this point. So let's, uh, let's get into it here. Yeah.

Like a six, 600 pounds of a fresh piping hot lasagna. We'll be collecting on that soon. Cam, are you, it is really, really good. It's the best lasagna you'll get from

a store that's for sure cam are you okay if we go in order new order we have a new lineup here if we go uh sammy you and then me that's okay with you love it love it no objection sammy you're going first as the i'll just say right now that and i don't know if everybody's going to drop off periscope after i say this but listen to this set up here i i've usually been more prepared for my toronto might episodes so i'm just completely rolling with it the completely ignored podcast style we lost cam here but in any event i'm ready to go all right now i the order i just kind of picked the order. I hope there's no specific order you need.

Okay. No order. All right. Let's kick out Sammy's first jam. guitar solo One time it's all it cost me I found out for sure, you know That you double-crossed me Just how much can I endure? Last night I was walking And I saw you with my friend again

I'm not one for talking At least I don't try to pretend Innocence Innocence Innocence Innocence Innocence I wanna lie, baby Don't even try, baby

Sammy, kicking us off. Innocence, and not by Our Lady Peace. Speaking of Jeremy Taggart, this is Harlequin. Talk to me, buddy. Winnipeg band, late 70s. You know, it's interesting. There's a few, a number of Canadian bands that are just so ingrained in our fabric in terms of classic rock, and these guys are one of them.

They have about four or five bona fide sort of smash songs. I don't think they made any headway south of the border, but they wrote just some great songs. And I have a lot of nostalgia for these guys just growing up in Winnipeg. As it happens, their bass player, a guy called Ralph James, was the Watchmen's booking agent. agent uh when he left harlequin sort of a story he he was searching for bands to start uh his his career as a booking agent and we were his first signing and um we went on to work with him we still do when we sort of had a hiatus in the in the in 2000 2002 whatever it was he went on to continue to be very successful as an agent, Nickelback's booking agent,

a number of other sort of pretty successful Canadian artists. And he sort of called us in late 2008, 2009, whatever, and just said, listen, guys, if you're interested, this city would love to have you. He was loyal to us, which in the music business is a, is an anomaly. I hate to say it. So, but back to the music, it's just a great song. And we have to watch him actually covered it from time to time. We do it. We had a couple of evenings where we were looking for some extra material and

we covered it. So staple of, of, of can rock FM joy, if you will cam are you familiar with the work of uh harlequin yeah like a little bit like i i sort of think of them in the same headspace obvious obviously is you know kind of the april wine type bands kind of the similar generation sam here they they're sort of like i think of them as like a late 70s early 80s the April Wine type bands, kind of the similar generation. Sammy, are they sort of like, I think of them as like a late 70s, early 80s band. Is that sort of their heyday generally? Yeah, they're kind of, I think actually when the 80s hit and it became about synthesizers and electronica,

they were a little bit passe. They put out, I think think three records that were rock oriented albums they work with jack douglas who is a very well-known producer who worked with john lennon and jet and um cheat trick and uh who else uh i think you might work with kiss maybe i'm not sure but um when i think it was maybe 1980, 1981 or something, the fourth album that they put out was, it sort of tanked because they got some guy who used to play bass in the fix or something to produce it. And they made a sort of a calculated move

to sort of polish the sound and be an 80s sounding band. And it just didn't work, which is difficult for bands to seamlessly move through through decades sometimes totally uh and obviously kind of a d and 80s sound is often a very specific sound by the by the way mike um i want to take mild offense to something 1236 said this week just sammy you, you mentioned The Fix. His suggestion that The Fix were the Beatles of the 80s. Are you fucking kidding me?

The Fix? He said that. Am I imagining? I could not. Because remember, I didn't. Sorry, what was that, Sammy? Sorry, I know it's hard. I didn't want to cut you off.

But first of all, I love that band, The Fix. They put out two or three incredible albums. Rupert Hineine who just passed away uh they i saw them in an arena in winnipeg they were playing to 15 16 000 people in their heyday at night so that's i mean the beatles that's just hyperbole at its finest you can't really see anybody so i i wouldn I wouldn't associate them with the Beatles, but they were a pretty popular band. Yeah, well, it was One Thing Leads to Another. Is that their biggest song? Like, that's what I mainly think of when I think of The Fix.

Like, I feel like I'm missing something, because I don't remember them being that big. It was a little before my time, but... Yeah, that's the album, Reach the Beach. It had One Thing Le leads to another saved by zero but uh that was i guess the the the pinnacle i saw them open that was one of the first bands i ever saw live we're getting off on a tangent here but that's what we do and i saw the fix open up for a flock of seagulls in winnipeg. It was the first concert. Whoa, Sammy.

Yeah, it's pretty fantastic. And now I need to advise you, an FOTM is now in A Flock of Seagulls because Gord Depp is in that band. Really? Yeah, yeah, Gord Depp. Remember A Flock of Seagulls 2018 or something? They played a benefit at a Bola Rama-rama in mississauga right do you remember

this like i feel like this is again something 1236 they tweeted about yeah and yes i do i definitely uh remember this uh just like i definitely remember what mark wiseblood saying the fix were the beatles of the 80s remember i cracked off it was the duran duran i thought duran duran was the uh was the Beatles of the 80s. By the way, when I think of that Harlequin, I got a huge blind spot for that band. I always think of a band I also have a blind spot for, like Street Heart.

Like, were these bands contemporaries west of Ontario? Absolutely of the same ilk. Street Heart, Prism, Harlequin, April Wine, just can rock. Who's the guy with the exploding guitar? That guy? Rock you? Helix. Helix. Altamoda.

Not to be mistaken with Willie Jones' Altamoda. This is like the most fucking confusing. We've talked about this before, Mike. Altamoda? Aldo- Moda. Aldo Moda. Right. Alda Nova. That guy. Yeah.

Alda Nova. Fantasy. Yeah. Yeah. All right. We're going to kick out Cam's first jam. But Sammy, did you ever play with Kim Mitchell ever in your life? Yes.

I'll tell you a very, very brief Kim Mitchell story. I saw he's coming up next week, which I'm looking forward to. Yeah. He's promoting a new album on Elmo Combo Records, as Cam definitely knows. I, the Watchmen did a band wars in Vancouver. I was 20 years old. We got flown out to Vancouver because we want to band wars in Winnipeg.

And Kim Mitchell was a judge. And I, and I, judge. And I came up to him. I remember it was yesterday and I was kind of nervous. I don't know how old he was. Maybe he was 30 or I don't know, 35 or something. And I thought he was just this old veteran in the business. And I said, Kim, I'm Sammy. I just played with the Watchmen. We just lost ban wars. I'm Sammy. I just played with the Watchmen. We just lost band wars. You were the judge. Just let me ask you, can you give me one important piece of advice in terms of music industry?

And I was dead serious. Can you, can you help me? Can you give me a piece of advice? It looks me right in the eye says get a good shrink, but that's good advice. I think great advice. All right, Cam, here we go, your first jam. Thank you. so right i'm so high i'm ready to fight you got me back against emotion any further i just might and when we're dancing face to face it takes me out of time and space images i can't erase Every time I go to pieces Okay, so this is Paul Janz from the album High Strung, released in 1985, I Go to Pieces.

Sammy, you got a big ear to ear grin over there, a big Paul Janz fan. You dig it? I've heard of him. It's the first time I've heard the song. I mean, granted granted it sounds like a shitty am radio through my computer but uh i don't know that song tell me about it yeah i don't know that song either you've never heard it paul jans okay uh i i got i got a ton of fault that

fun facts here about paul jans so he was actually born in three hills alberta um which is a small town in alberta not surprisingly another famous resident uh a native is a disgraced nhl coach bill peters uh the racist who's just let go right uh by the calgary flames earlier this year uh paul Janz was sort of an interesting rock star. It was shocking. This was an 80s track. Kind of had that Eric Stoltz, Jim Carroll look. Almost like a Mick Hucknall, sort of toe-headed. Or toe-headed is like blonde, right?

Like a redhead, ginger kid, romping around on stage saying yeah i go to pieces but i mean god this this track is so 80s in so many ways uh paul jennings actually had a quite an interesting background uh because he was actually uh i was like a mennonite i had a i had like a note here and then i erased it he He grew up with a really, I'll just say, like a devout religious background, but actually moved to Switzerland when he was four and quietly became quite a big rock star in Germany

during the 70s when he was very young in a band called Deliverance. Not sure if they did a cover of Dueling Banjos or how that worked. In 1981, Paul Janz was in the Eurovision Song Contest in Germany. And, like, you can't make this stuff up. He finished 10th behind, amongst other people, Taco. Put it on the rates.

Tammy, how can you do Dueling Banjos here? I'm telling you. Yeah, this is all on Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt. Why would anyone make this up? I'm actually a little surprised you guys haven't heard this. I remember this being all over CFDR,

classic CanCon radio filler. What year is this, Cam? It's a 1985. Oh, that's my wheelhouse. He had some other songs. His biggest hit was something called every little tear every little tear you i feel like 97.3 still plays it probably i know that jam right there yes yeah and a power belt called believe in me believe in me cut on your heart paul jans believe in me come on by the way taco would have been uh taco would have been a good jam to play during our one hit wonder episode yeah or uh

artists named after food like meatloaf yeah exactly or uh candy in the Backbeat. Some more candy. Yeah, I like this dude. But just... Paul Janz, and then maybe we'll go to the next Janz. After officially retiring from music, he actually became a professor. He actually works in... He's the head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King's College in London, which is, I mean, impressive to say the least. He also taught at Trinity Western University in Langley in British Columbia.

And he's even a published author. He wrote a book called God, the Mind's Desire, Reference, Reason, and Christian Thinking. So quite the journey for Paul Janz. I'm a bit disappointed you guys haven't heard of. I see Tim has just joined us. Happy Canada Day, Tim. Tim, you missed the track, but Paul Jans, I Go to Pieces. Do you know what that is?

It rings a bell, yeah. Okay. I think he's lying. I think he's lying. I bet you he wouldn't be able to name that tune. I just want to let Tim, a.k.a. Ian Service, know that he's in the presence of Canadian rock royalty.

On this Zoom call is Sammy Cohn from The Watchmen. Where? I thought you said rock royalty. I'm just that dude who hasn't cut his hair in four months. I think it's a big deal. I think he's a big deal. I'm not going to save it because these are

great jams, but I think maybe. But the Harlequin and he's a big deal. I'm going to say, I'm not going to save it because these are great jams, but I think maybe, but the Harlequin and Paul Jans jams, I knew nothing about either. And I'm going to, you know, get a, play a song people have heard of. So here's my first jam. Thank you. Weather canyons everywhere I've looked at clouds that weep

But now they only block the sun They rain and snow on everyone So many things I would have done But clouds caught in my way I've looked at clouds from both sides now From up and down And still somehow

It's cloud illusions I recall I really don't know clouds The hardest decision I had to make was which Joni Mitchell jam. But I thought I'd go big or go home, I always say. So both sides now. Joni Mitchell, if I think of best Canadian musical artists west of Ontario, Joni, number one of a bullet, right?

Yeah, there's no denying that's a pretty beautiful song. And the barometer of how good it is, is, again, I'm listening to it on one little half inch speaker, and I get chills listening to her voice. So good call on the Joanie.

If you speak to Bob Dylan, Leonard, whoever, they'll cite her as the best. Now that's the original recording, I think 1969, but she actually re-recorded it and I quite like that song by Joanie with her

more mature voice. It's deeper now. I don't remember exactly when she recorded this newer version, but I almost went with that because the song's almost better with the years under her belt as she sings it with some experience and perspective.

So I should also shout out Freeman and Parrot. Well, there's so many Joni Mitchell songs. I could have just done Big Yellow Taxi or something, but I think, you know, in the Mount, I don't know if you're allowed to say Mount. Hepsey said I was on the Mount Rushmore of podcasters.

And a couple of people said that you can't say Mount Rushmore anymore, like it's politically incorrect or something. Yeah, because they're thinking of removing it. So what's the equivalent? What's the politically correct equivalent? Do we have one? The Four horsemen. I don't know.

What else comes in fours? So whatever that is. But I think you got your Neil Young. I think you got your, you could argue for Leonard Cohen, but you definitely got to have Joni Mitchell up there, I say. Yeah, that's a good call.

Sammy, I feel like we remember when, but you definitely got to have Joni Mitchell up there. I say. Yeah. That's a good, good call. Sammy. I feel like we remember when, uh, again, on the completely ignored podcast where we had, uh, it was bright believers. Brandon Canning came on and did,

uh, the what's that album? The hissing of summer lawns. Yeah. He did like a, a record that was a real departure for her with Jacob Astorius on bass. And it was one of her jazz records yeah i i remember i feel like part of the discussion was i i don't know who said it maybe i

said it which is why i'm remembering it but i i i feel like one nice thing about joni mitchell is we we actually didn't get that much content from her. Where, I mean, you know, I mean, I think partially for reasons beyond her control or not totally within her grasp, you know, she hasn't really been in the public eye much in the last, I don't even know, like 25 years or so. She's been pretty sick. Yeah, exactly. But, you know, whereas, you know know a lot of these artists you mentioned bob dylan neil young um you know now even like people like elvis costello

there were the your 40 albums deep into the discography we never really got there with her which in some way makes it seem almost more significant like the stuff she did release if that makes sense where sure um and that's i don't know like i'm with someone like neil young it's always sort of interesting to see what he puts out because there's so many curveballs in there which is kind of interesting and uh you said like bob dylan a lot of people seem to be like losing their shit about this album he just put out rough and ready or rugged i'm rough and rugged or whatever it's called but

uh yeah joni certainly a different type of artist in terms of the output needless to say and uh yeah you have a no-brainer for saskatchewan both uh yeah both alberta and saskatchewan can kind of claim her because i think she was born and raised in alberta and then a young age moved to saskatchewan hey guys i'm in my backyard recording and I just want to let you know, I'm now looking at a skunk. So I'm watching very carefully that the skunk doesn't get too close, but I don't know what I'll do if this skunk...

Ian, what do I do if this skunk gets within like, I was going to say like six feet, like a COVID, but like... You have to yell at it, scare it away, but not too scary so it doesn't spray you i'm gonna keep my good eye on it and then uh if it gets if i think it's encroaching i'm gonna start yelling at it i just yeah you need like some stuff like uh jay guile's band love stinks you know some song that smells

some sort of some sort it's scattered with my my clapping so well another west of ontario clap for the wolf man i just okay so mike i think what's happening with the skunk is this thing is it's I'm bettered with my clapping. So another West of Ontario, clap for the Wolfman. I just, okay. So Mike, I think what's happening with the skunk is it's like a Pepe LeCleu thing. He thinks your hair is one of his own. I think you're right, Sammy. All right, Sammy, let's kick out another jam from you. I'm just going to preface this by saying this,

the gentleman whose voice we're about to hear is going to make his Toronto mic debut in exactly two weeks. Well, I won't come back and I won't say no But that miserable around us will cut a little Like you said One way near you seem so surprised At least inside you get that pretty little nightmare It comes alive Baby ran, she ran away Why she ran, I got to say

I'm lonesome all the time. Baby ran. She ran away. Why she ran? I got to say I know one reason why. Yeah. Nice choice, Sammy. Nice job.

Should we talk about this one? Yeah, who is this? Who's singing? You're joking. No, this is part of the theater of Pandemic Fridays. You say who the artist is, the name of the song. Oh, I see. I'll set it up. 54-40, Baby Ran.

First album. I think first song. That might not be their first album. It's their first full-length album, the Green album, I think it was called. It might have been an EP or something before, but...

Listen, you cannot deny that this band has been a sturdy, respectable, hardworking, really talented, prolific fixture of Can Rock for the past 35 years. It's incredible. I can't think of really any other bands that have been together this long. It's one thing to be a solo artist and have Neil Young do what he wants. Crazy Horse one day, The Sh shocking pinks the next whatever 5440 with the exception of one lineup change has been this it's had the same four guys putting out records i don't think two years has gone by without them making records and this was their sort of opening statement on a

great album same album with i go blind i love the production on this album it's it's it's raw um it's um the drums are mixed really loud which i personally love it's got that kind of like neil osborne kind of um interpol kind of um quality to his voice like neil is not neil's not a singer i he's a singer the way paul banks is from in chipotle uh sings he kind of just what am i trying to say not that melodic like dead dead deadpan yeah yeah and just a lot a lot of charm and charisma and style and and i also have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for these guys. You know, back to the Watchmen again, when we put our first record out, McLaren Furnace Room in 1992, we got invited to do a national tour with 5440.

It was the first time we were on an opening slot with what was a very popular Canadian band. They were supporting Dear Dear at the time, which was a peak for them. They had Sony Records behind them, just a lot of push, a lot of video, Sheila on Much Music and everything. And for me, it was a real wow moment because Cam, you know this, at the end of the day,

yes, I'm a musician and whatever, but I'm a fan first and foremost. So warming up for these guys on a cross-Canadian tour and having been in the audience, seeing them at a venue in Winnipeg, probably a year earlier as a fan was one of those kind of like really exciting things for me. And so I'll kind of always remember that they were really gracious to us. They taught us a lot.

They would critique us after we played. And, and we, I just saw how professional they were. And, and, and they would play this song. I remember every night, of course, they play it and Phil Camparelli, the guitarist at the time would come out with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and he'd go to Neil for the last chorus. And they'd sing that, that harmony together in the last chorus, and it was just a really good rock and roll moment.

So just a fantastic song and a great band. I feel like they're almost underrated, considering how popular they were. Because, I mean, I remember like, you know, seeing, you know, the video for this and one gun and, and one day in your life, like just so many singles, like miss you. Ocean Pearl. Nice to love you. What's that? Ocean Pearl. Ocean Pearl, like asshole. Just like a string of hits. What happens is when you have longevity as an artist people start to

take you for granted after a while you're you're never going to be the next best thing yeah and um that's i feel the case with these guys you go see them live and you're right you're going to hear 15 songs that you know and and that have been on the radio. And so, yeah, just honestly, like just, it's a respect thing. I just have, I just have so much respect for what those guys have done and what they're doing, what they continue to do. I know firsthand how hard it is to keep a band together and, and the songs are great. That's what it is. Ultimately.

It's about great songs and another little sidebar, which I think is cool, which, Cam, I think you'll also appreciate the album you mentioned with One Day in Your Life, maybe One Gun, too. It was produced by Dave Jordan, who did Ritual de Hobbitual. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He did Social Distortion. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was a very, very, He did Alice in Chains.

He's a very, very successful, popular producer in the 90s. And before his heyday, he did a 54-4 record. If you listen to, it sounds like a Dave Jordan record. He did a Pill record. He did That What Is Not by Pill. So, yeah, he's a's a legend yeah total legend and these guys um because i i was you know having seen them live a few times that they always seem like a slightly different band live like they could be pretty heavy but you definitely got like more of kind of

the joy division like i don't want to say a gothic influence but like a real almost like a dissonant quality am I am I wrong like you know for sure early stuff these this first few the first few records I think for sure were influenced by some of those dark goth bands and then they got poppy and you know but around the time of Dear Dear with Sheila and Nice to Love You, it was pretty straight ahead rock. Well, they also kind of reminded me at least, you know, the first few albums of R.E.M. Because they did have, you know, there was some kind of social messaging and certainly like One Gun seemed to, I remember thinking that was like,

like sort of an anti-war anthem. You know, I remember seeing how much music was eight and like, look, this guy's like, I think, is this a hippie? There's a hippie on the TV right now. You know, it's just you didn't see that much stuff like that. He's very forthright with his political messaging. And that was also a little bit ahead of its time. It wasn't sort of as much of a cliche as it is now. He was trying to sing about things that had meaning. And then he started talking about Ocean Pearl.

So I guess it's a balance it out a little bit, but he's great. So, so Mike, you got him on the show next week. Yeah. The week after next neil osborne is booked absolutely and i can't wait and uh i love this band and i will admit i will say uh that i agree with you cam in that they're underappreciated like i remember when i uh i saw them in fact it's the first concert i took my six-year-old to because they played a free concert literally down the street at the local this big park nearby and 5440 were the headliners and i took my kid and my wife and we watched 5440 and every song you know you know every song from the radio and you know

or from much music and i i just technically remember thinking like this band's too good to be doing a free show down the street from my house i mean oh come on michael only the finest uh bands place well okay oh and park fun fact the very well you mentioned helix earlier uh helix headlined one one year at the same festival it's called lakeshore mardi gras and kim mitchell i once took my mom to see kim mitchell at the same park uh and he was fantastic. And so... Sorry to interrupt. What was your mom's reaction to I Am A Wild Party? Did she dig that track?

I was going to share this anecdote for my conversation on Monday with Kim Mitchell, but I told my mom I said, hey, Ma, I'm going to take you to see Kim Mitchell. And my mom said, oh, I love her. Go to Catherine Wheel next week. Can I actually say one?

This is more sort of a nerdy music business question. As you mentioned, like, 5440 was primarily a Canadian phenomenon. However, I mean, there had a know, had a couple blips in the US, most notably when Hootie and the Blowfish covers I Go Blind. I'm just curious, like financially, to this day, because you still sort of hear that in supermarkets every now and then, or, you know, that coffee channel on Sirius Radio, like, how lucrative is it for a band like 5440 when something like that happens and like just sort of broadly speaking yeah no it's a good question and I was actually considering mentioning that because I've heard stories I heard actually think Neil might have

mentioned it and definitely Mike you're gonna have to follow up with him and get into it but I heard that I Go Blind was almost on crack was it called cracked rear view or something that that hootie record i heard it was almost on that record and then it got cut at the last minute and ended up like on some friends on the friend soundtrack yes yeah so i i heard neil say once and this is 20 years ago so i'm not quoting i'm summarizing and botching uh he said something to the effect that it would have been life-changing money if that song was on that cracked rearview album which sold like 30 million copies or something exactly so he came that close and i'm sure you know i get little so can checks and i cover you know, I get little so-can checks and I cover, you know, maybe a pack of cigarettes or something.

And I, you know, I don't even smoke. For your kids. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So I'm sure that that's at the top of the heap as far as where they earn with their mailbox money. We call it in the business. And but yeah, it certainly wasn't what it in the business. And, um, but yeah, it certainly wasn't what it could have been, but I I'm sure by virtue of the fact that Hootie still, um,

gets heard on, on FM radio in the States with that song, I'm sure that's still pretty sizable. Hopefully God willing, he didn't send his public or sign his publishing away and he owns that, that song cause he deserves it. And that's a big mistake. Obviously artists make as they try to get ahead by signing away with their own so i just hope that neil and his boys are making good scratch off that i'll find out cam i'll find out and before we play cam second jam i mentioned the lakeshore mardi gras another uh act i saw perform there in the last few years was sass j, FOTM Sass Jordan.

And I hearing you guys talk about I go blind, almost being on cracked rear view. I remember Sass telling me that even though she had a song on the bodyguard soundtrack, she never saw Penny from this. So it's interesting. I don't understand the business. That's why Sammy's here.

But the bodyguard soundtrack sold a lot of copies. The story about the Bodyguard is how it made Nick Lowe a very wealthy man. He had what's so funny about Peace, Love, and Understanding on that. He alleges that he got

a check for a million dollars when that movie came out. It sold like 40 million copies that album like his versions on it or i think it's his version he said he's seen the movie he can't he doesn't even know where it was played in the movie it was like on a radio in a car for five seconds sass must have uh taken like a lump sum or something to sing on this song i never saw any of these royalties or whatever yeah Mike, one more final comment on this and here's some long-term homework for you.

Maybe you've made overtures in the past. You've got to get Alfie Zappacosta on. One, how much money did he make from that fucking song on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack? And two, from the Pizza Nova jingle because we still hear that. We still hear both of them to this day.

Guaranteed he doesn't get royalties on the Pizza Nova jingle, just FYI. But I know the one you're talking about. Let's not sing it. All right, here's Cam's second jam. such a cam jam not even enigma you just love your monks big monk guy Big Monk guy.

Okay. I actually wish Lieve Fumkaka was here i think she'd uh side with me on a beef i have with this jam but no let me leave uh the floor to you cam tell us what we're listening to i i actually wonder if i sent you the wrong song here it's definitely the right artist um hold hold please i'm just gonna check my my files here yeah to let the people at home know cam literally sent me a youtube link and i just okay yeah this is the right song it's just a big big intro i think well do you want me to turn it up so we can hear a little sarah this is the right song yeah I love her, by the way. heaven holds a sense of wonder and i wanted to believe that i get caught up when the raging waves of science All right, talk to us, Cam. Yeah, so this is the band Delirium out of Vancouver, B.C.

And this is by far their biggest hit. This is the song Silence with the guest vocals. If you don't recognize that, and most people probably would, it's obviously Sarah McLachlan, I guess, another adopted West Coast artist, although I believe she's from Halifax originally, so kind of a bi-coastal vibe from Sarah McLachlan. But no, it's Delirium out of BC, Vancouver, BC, to be specific, which, I mean, this track, Silence, has a really, really interesting Wikipedia page and just chart history which

we'll get to in a second um delirium was a side project from uh bill leave who is the guy who i guess was sort of a contributor and associate of skinny puppy back in the day in bc and more famously with his own project frontline assembly um i don't know about you guys like sammy you maybe you're a bit closer to this stuff because you were you know kind of pounding the pavement across canada this whole like vancouver skinny puppy pseudo industrial because there are a few of these bands is a bit of a blind spot for me overall even skinny puppy is like hugely influential it's just i don't know like other than a few tracks i'd hear

on like you know kind of the martin street club no no no chris shepherd was the big skinny puppy yeah so like you know assimilate and uh there was this track called dog shit which was uh that was kind of a big hit and then later in the 90s you might recall they sort of did a more streamlined uh edm type sound but uh anyway so this guy bill leads starts this project delirium uh definitely sort of in the same head space at times with bands like enigma and deep force these ones that kind of combine this almost like new agey sounds with some gregorian chants and dance beats, world beats. Also, I think of like a band called Deadkin Dance. It was definitely in the space.

But I think what Delirium did, and again, it's sort of like primarily this one guy, Bill Lieb, is he made this very accessible by bringing in some really well-known artists such as Sarah McLachlan to sing on his tracks. Other guest vocalists that contributed to Delirium tracks over the years included Lee Nash, who's the singer for Sixpence, None the Richer, of Kiss Me fame. Also Emily Haynes, sister obviously from Metric,

sister of FOTM, Avery Haynes, and later on, Cresha Turner. And also a very interesting contributor. He didn't contribute vocals, but Matthew Sweet did some collaborating with Miller, which is really kind of weird. But yeah, this song had like four different runs at the charts. Originally, it was released in 1999.

Big international hit. It went to number one in Ireland. It was a top... I think it was a top 10 hit in australia netherlands and uk ireland thought this was enya i think that they probably did um and then a year later there was actually a remix that came out and that really became a big hit that became top five in canada belgium uk again ireland again netherlands And then Tiesto got his hands on this. There was a Tiesto remix.

There was a Paul Oakenfold remix. Cam, Cam, Cam. Stu's not here, but in honor of Stu, I feel I need to just point out that we're picking our five favorite CanCon jams from west of Ontario. And your first two jams are by Paul Jans and Delirium. Well, to clarify,

was this supposed to be our favorite or just five? Well, it's not just a random five. I thought it would be five jams you love from West of Ontario. This song I do. I think this is a great song. I mean, I think it warrants discussion. Where's the Summer of 69, for God's

sakes? Well, he's cancelled. You know, his comments on the wet markets. We're still not talking about that man. I'm not going to do a Wendy Misley, that guy. Careful. Yeah, careful. We're live on Periscope. But you guys know

this song. I think this was a very ubiquitous hit. Used in a lot of I feel like a lot of movie trailers. It was in the movie Broke Down Palace with Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale, I believe was the trailer. Ian, do you know that song? I know that song very well, yeah.

I knew it from the intro, actually. Yeah, number one in Ireland, come on. Yeah. I know the song, too. I thought it was Enigma. I knew it was sort of what you were describing, Cam, those sort of studio project type artists from the late 90s or whatever it was.

I remember all those bands. I'm with you in terms of Skinny Puppy, though. I never really understood what the story was. It wasn't until Trent Re resner kind of name checked them that i started to pay attention and sammy what was that band danny was in was it called doctor yes uh he well he was also in he did this thing never ending white lights remember that sure yeah like sort of a similar like it's almost like a collective and we'll bring in different vocalists uh yes things like that yeah like an atmospheric thing the the delirium enigma

and enya thing was just so trendy for a while it was just absolutely new agey sort of smoke a little weed no but but also sort of like the cds you would buy at like a uh walmart like a store that sells like a lot of like shells and like you know kind of like a 10 000 villages type place you mean it's like you mean it's to say it's like playing in the background while while you're buying that stuff yeah or like it would be like on a wood like more like nature sounds like whale whale whale whale music not the reaesthetics album jazz loon or something yeah before i uh before i kick out my second jam i just want to clarify one last time make sure we're right you're saying delirium is the west of ontario band not sarah mclaughlin correct correct

delirium okay let me get this straight we we we're doing five each i'm going to be here till one in the morning but let's get this going before sam, we, we're doing five each. I'm going to be here until one in the morning. Let's get this going before Sammy falls asleep. We can't lose our special guest. We started an hour early. That's right. Yeah. Or really late. Depends how you look at it.

Here's my second jam. I don't know how to sing I can barely play this thing But you never seem to mind And you tell me to fuck off When I need somebody to How you make me laugh so hard How whole years refuse to stay

Where we told them to, bad dog Locked up whining in a word Or a misplaced souvenir How the past che choose on your shoes and these memories lick my ear I know you might roll your

eyes at this but I'm so glad that you exist okay we're going to Sammy Cohn's hometown. Fresh off with your band, right? You and Ron Hawkins, you guys

meet at the Propagandies. Is that right, Sammy? That's Weaker Thans, isn't it? Yeah, this is Weaker Thans, but yes, absolutely. So, absolutely. John K. Sampson, Weaker Thans. From Winnipeg. Love this absolutely. John K. Sampson. Weaker Thans. From Winnipeg.

Love this band. Love this single. Big radio hit in this country. Still digging. Is this called Tournament of Hearts? This song? No. That's a different song. What's this one called? Reasons.

This is called The Reasons. That's right different song. Wait, what's this one called? Reasons. This is called The Reasons. Oh, The Reasons. That's right. Okay. Although when I had Vic Rauter on the program, I actually played Tournament of Hearts for him because it's the only curling song I know about. What were you going to say there, Sammy?

I was going to say, have you had the Propagandhi guy, I forget his name, the lead guy from Propagandhi on the show? No. He'd be a good guess, I would say. I have to pace myself. I planned to do this for 100 years. Yes, but no, absolutely, absolutely. And I wanted to, I mean, I don't know.

There's so many great jams from west of Ontario, but I really think... Why'd you pick this one? Why'd you pick this? I would say similar to 5440 being maybe underappreciated because they're a hit-laden machine there. The Weaker Dans are, I think they're way underappreciated.

Like, if you look at the body of work and you listen to the Weaker Dans, this is a great band. Who's talking about the Weaker Dans? I don't know. Well, they broke up, for one. Oh, yeah. Sure sure but uh i mean if john k samson isn't underappreciated uh who is i i never understood why you didn't hear more

like this song i remember hearing on the radio a little bit but uh like the stuff on the left and leaving which i i still think is might be in my top five all-time records. It's just like, I think like an out-and-out masterpiece. I never understood why they didn't get more radio play. Like they're not inaccessible, you know, their sound. That album has Pamphlet Ear on it, which was recently covered by Lowest of the Low for the tribute album that fellow FOTM Sky Wallace appeared on. There was a weekend tribute album?

You know, Cam, you said that it was accessible, certainly, but it just goes to show you that there's just so much more than talent and good music that is required to get ahead. These guys strike me as a band that would not play games in terms of what labels would want soulless promotional duties. Yes. What happened to you? Very indie and very kind of proud of it, if you will. Yeah. I mean, they, they, they were never on a major label.

I don't believe they were what the G seven welcoming committee. Like that was, was that John? That was the propaganda guys. Yeah. what the g7 welcoming committee like that was was that john that was the propaganda guys yeah label wouldn't pay base label but but they were on um what's that big indy in the states that had an office in canada what were they on after this one can i feel like they had something on epitaph yeah it was epitaph yeah so i mean they're they're not exactly epitaph is pretty pretty big and there is indies are concerned but um my my feeling is that they just uh probably wouldn't want to be the kind of band that would tour playing 200 nights a year and they just john seems like a guy with a lot of integrity um as far as some of the corporate

things that would would probably be required and yeah kind to a fault, you know, it's like the Tom Petty thing. It's like so cool that nobody hears you, you know, it's like, I respect that fully, but being a musician, I remember Chris Murphy talking about how they sold one of their songs to a beer commercial or something. And he just said, listen, I'm a working musician. You've got to pay the bills. This is, there's no shame in what I'm doing. And, and, and I, I thought, boy, that he's being super honest and it's, it's true. You know? So there's,

there's kind of, I guess there's a middle ground is what I'm getting at. Yeah. Well, I feel like they were also sort of the, that last generation of the band, because I mean, they, you know, they got together in what like 90 or 1997 98 i would say um where sort of you know the worst thing you could ever do would be to like sell out whatever that meant and now i i feel like for artists you know younger artists it's not even a consideration like it's sure no problem like you know the music's for sale because that's just how you you subsist as a working musician. Because you can't sell discs anymore.

I know that just before we wrap up in the weekend, as I know that Jason Tate, their drummer, who I have been an old buddy with at Winnipeg, our drummer, he now drums with Bahamas. So he's got a good gig. Yeah.

Very cool. Cool. Now, speaking of indie acts, here's a, an indie artist, very few have heard of, but let's play Sammy's third jam. Let's do it. Break it to them gently When you tell my mom and dad

When you see my baby sister Be as kind as you can Break it to my grandma Said that boy's a wild and bad Break it to them gently when you tell them That I won't be coming home again Cause I'm running with a gun And it isn't any fun as a fugitive

Fighting for my life And I don't know if I'll make it alone Running with a gun my life and i don't know if i'll make it alone break it to them gently, Sammy. AM radio staple right there. So perhaps a little bit of a guilty pleasure. Once again, Winnipeg talent, Burton Cummings. I had this weird affinity for a time in Can Rock, the kind of Gordon Lightfoot slash sort of Anne-Marie, Gordon Lightfoot slash Anne-Marie,

Burton Cummings, kind of pre-90s when MTV or Much Music kicked in where there was just this sort of cottage industry of small bands. Terry Jacks. Yeah. That's the worst song though, right? Seasons in the Sun? That's the worst song.

Yeah. No, it's a sad song. I just thought, I know that this was a record that I'm kind of geeking out on Burton here a bit. I think it was maybe his third or fourth solo record, Dreaming of a Child. It was called, and I think it was self-produced. And it's just a great song. Beautiful melody. The voice is fantastic.

This does not sound like Burton Cummings in some ways. Am I wrong? He was a rocker with the guest, but he also was a balladeer. You know, These Eyes, whatever. Stan Tall. Remember Stan Tall?

Stan Tall? Yeah, that was a big Burton ballad that still gets a lot of radio play. I could have easily put Stan Tall in this one as an alternate. So, yeah, I'm a big Burton fan. And he lives somewhere in the prairies now. Moose Jaw.

Yeah, Moose Jaw. Because he had some weird Twitter thing or some weird local news story. His neighbors were too loud or something? Yeah, it was like a get off my lawn type thing. I thought he was in Wednesday still. No, it's, yeah, Mike's right. It's like Moose Jar. Yeah, I think he was

like neighbors with some kind of like gym or some kind of dance studio and he complained about the noise or something. Yeah, that's exactly, it was exactly that's what it was there's a noisy dance god mike you have a mind like a uh seal trap well i called sammy i called uh stew sammy earlier in this episode so and you're ready for this this is interesting to you sammy when i

had uh michael barclay was over the other day we were kicking out toronto jams and i swear to you i was gonna ask him about what does he think of jake gold uh managing the hip again okay yeah so oh yeah i go to open my mouth to ask this question the name jake gold is like not in my head like i couldn't pull out the name jake gold so i started like i mean that's uh concerning right like is that concerning i couldn't remember the name jake gold yeah i haven't listened to that clip this afternoon So I started like, I mean, that's a concerning, right? Like, is that concerning? I couldn't remember the name Jake Gold. Yeah. Having listened to that clip this afternoon, I was like cringing as you did it.

I was like, oh, fuck. What have you done? Like, like it was so and it was like, wait a minute. And I go to Michael and I say, the guy who managed the hip. I was going to say the judge on Canadian Idol. Like I was going to describe Hebsey's buddy. Yeah, well, after 670 episodes, you can't remember every FOTM has been through your basement.

The more you think about it, the harder it got. That's what happens sometimes. Your brain just cycles and it's just... Yeah, I could not pull it down. What did Michael have to say about that? I'm curious, actually. I'm trying to remember because I asked the same question of Alan Cross last week

and I remember Alan's answer vividly, but Michael Barclay, I think he's kind of on the same page as Alan where there's a whole bunch of stuff in the vault. Apparently, Alan's seen the vault. There's this vault and Michael just would like him to release the hounds, as he put it, bunch of stuff in the vault apparently alan's seen the vault there's this vault and michael just would like him to release the hounds as he put it and let let us have see like let us see all the

stuff in the vault and hear anything that's in the vault and just open the vault and share it with the by the way mike have you ever tasted sorry cam does does he think jake's the man to do that is the question yeah i mean i isn't he like you you you used to work with jake gold uh Jake's the man to do that is the question? Yeah. I mean, isn't he like you, you, you used to work with Jake gold. He's the man for this. Is he not? Tell us, please. I think he is because there's, there isn't two things that Jake gold loves more than the tragically hip and money. And I mean that with all due respect. So I, he was at with that band from the time they started to their commercial peak.

And when you're at, when you're peaking as a band, the only place to go from the top is down. Right. And I think they cut ties with him around the time when they were kind of in a bit of decline. So I know that he has enough passion about that. And it makes it happen. And I'm not just saying this. I remember, I still think, remember thinking shortly before I heard the news and read a press release about that news, I think Karen Bliss wrote something for billboard, Jake. I thought to myself that they haven't not been exploiting and exploiting

that as negative connotations properly pursuing the hips work since Gord passed away. It's been non-existent. You know, most Jimmy Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, most, a lot of good artists, Leonard Cohen, have posthumous work that is worth hearing and done. And if it's done in a tasteful way, it can be lucrative for the artists and really exciting for the fans. And that hasn't happened yet with The Hip. Well, Mike, you know what this means.

Clearly, Sammy has not been watching You've Got Five Minutes with Bob McCowan and getting those pre-roll ads for the Tragiclip wine or the Tragiclip Chardonnay. I'm talking about the music. You know, the wine. You know what i mean cam

and then kidding aside sammy that this is sort of a stupid non-music industry question uh or non-music industry person question but bringing in someone like jay gold for manage the affairs of a band who sensibly is not active is this just a minute like this is magic catalog and again look for opportunities where you know their content their legacy their likeness their catalog might be well listen cam think about it this way think about how many artists are still active but don't exist the greatest example is the Beatles. Beatles released product, new music, new remixes, greatest hits never before in this order. Yeah. Like official merchandise, like whatever you name it.

And somebody creates all those ideas and those things. And I think Jake is a creative guy. And again, he loves the band enough to put his heart into it. And he also, he knows he's a music guy at the end of the day. He loves, he's, he's about the music and he's also knows how to make money. And he was, he, and he was there. So like, who better to do it? There is, there is literally, in my opinion, no better person for the job. And I think I'm sure the band knows that they struggled without him,

I think, and floundered a bit. It's not uncommon for a band to cut ties with management. It happens with all the best of them. But I'm interested and very, very curious to see what they're going to do. I hope it's just done in a tasteful way because, you know, there's one approach. There's the Beatles approach that to me has been tactful and tasteful and it doesn't feel like you're exploiting something. And then there's like, you know, maybe like the Doors, one might argue, it's been kind of raked through the coals. And, you know, the 25th century of the Doors, whatever the hell that thing was and stewart coblan on drums and it was just it just it feels like it's it's just only been about money and

granted it is about money but it can also be done like i said earlier in a tasteful way so it's respectful to the artist and pleasing to the fans well i hate to say another band and like who would have thought this band might have a bit of that and to be honest i i don't know if a lot of this stuff is just unauthorized but joy division like you you see that cover from from unknown pleasures everywhere on so many t-shirts yeah and stuff and again maybe a lot of that stuff's unauthorized but i'd be curious to know i mean if you've read anything about how peter hook his issues with the rest of new order and their bands are like you know he goes on tour and I'm going to play Unknown Pleasures

it's entirety and stuff I don't know I just I find it so weird in the year 2020 that Joy Division is as heavily merchandised as they are like it's bizarre to me. Well it's like it's the Misfits

Ramones syndrome. Yeah. How many people do you think are walking around with misfits shirt? You know, I feel like going up to them, I'm being really cynical and saying, name me one misfits. Right. Right. Name me a Ramones song. It's a fashion statement. But I think to your point, Cam, I think a lot of that is unauthorized.

I don't think the band's making money from it, but Joy Division have certainly done a lot of business since he and Curtis passed away. All their success was after he died. Anyway, we're getting way off topic. Cam, you know what I always say. It's all fine so long as it's pure. One day when I walk in To find a butterfly

Screaming in an empty room This man shot sky My heart's beating faster Thick gold in my book The faster we go The less we know So yeah, Mike, spoiler alert, this was pure out of Vancouver, BC. You know, one of those band names, it's a bit of a who's on first and never every time you say it because it's so short. Pure, I find Pure kind of an interesting band

because they were quite popular, had a few jams, including this one, which is called Denial, which is from their 1994 album, Generation Six Pack. Pure, I remember when they showed up and they had that song Blast and Spiritual Pollution. They seemed like, Mike, we've talked about this on many episodes before, how Canada often has the Canadian version of whoever.

It seemed like Pure was trying to be marketed as almost like a Manchester band for Canada. Had sort of a vibe of like Jesus Jones. Yeah, Happy Monday, Charlotte. Spiral Carpets? Spiral Carpets, yeah. Even their first album, Pure Vanilla, looked very much sort of like the album for Screamadelica by Primal Scream.

Right. So that was their first album. And again, out of Vancouver. Pretty instant success. I remember that song Blast got a lot of play on Munch Music. It was a pretty good jam. I'm applauding you, Cam, because finally you kicked out a jam I know. I'm just excited that I know this song.

Proving here. Well, again, this is from the album Generation Six Pack. There's perhaps a more well-known single from them, probably their biggest song, and as a speed freak that... Was that Biff Naked in the video? Am I wrong? Well, I didn't know that.

I could be wrong. I think it was just someone who sort of looked like FOTM, Biff Naked. Oh, one more fun fact about pure finella it was produced by uh jerry harrison the talking heads who really i think also produced a crash test dummies album yes he did he did live crash test dummies yeah violent fans yeah so he's kind of in the mix how i mean it's you know how pure on their first album hooks up with Jerry Harrison. Maybe it was some connection with Crash Test Dummies.

It seems a bit too coincidental that around the same time, two Canadian bands had worked with Jerry Harrison. So, I mean, Pure, you know, had some success, wrapped up about 2000. Their singer Jordi Burch went on a solo career. Mike, this would be a good track for forgotten Canton jams. Moolah Moolah. Do you remember this song? Moolah Moolah Moolah da da.

No? Anyway. I don't know that one. It was... Yeah, so that was... ...for solo head. Not a fun fact. And some of them missed this at the time. Todd Simcoe, who is, I believe, their guitar player, actually passed away about eight years ago. After Pure wrapped up, he became a recording engineer

in Vancouver area and did quite well. He actually played on Biff Naked's first album, FOTM, Biff Naked. Died at the age of 45 in 2012. It sounds like he drowned somehow like it was actually hard to find a lot of specifics about this but uh very tragic uh member of pure um sammy did you guys you must have shared a stage with pure at some point across them on the road yeah i think so i i we never i never got to know them but i think there might have been some sort of friendship festival-ish stuff.

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like this band always had a reputation for... I could be totally mixing them up, so don't quote me on this, but let's just say it on a very popular podcast. I feel like they were sort of not well-liked by other bands in Canada. But what makes you think that? Like, is that just a you think that? Like, is that just a feeling you have like an instinct?

No, I feel like I read, no, like I'm not, I'm not, it's like, I feel like I read that or heard that, or I could be totally imagining that,

which is probably more likely, but does that ring a bell at all? Sammy, what's this? Honestly, I can't comment. I just, I know nothing about these guys.

I know that they were from out West and I remember their singer, Jordy. Remember, remember he looked like the guy from the, what was that band called? Oh God, I'm drawing a blank. He's the guy who did it's so tough to be a baby. That's him, right? That's a different Jordy. Jordy guy. He, yeah, yeah. I, I, I know I can't comment on these guys i know nothing about them yeah but you know had four or five pretty sizable cancon jams and certainly like this this is one of those songs you hear the opening riff it's like oh yeah that song camera remind me remind me cam who who's

whose song is tinfoil uh that's limb lifter okay limb lifter okay because yeah also from saskatchewan. They could have been a good choice. Maybe they'll be coming up. Who knows? You never know. What I didn't know that I'm impressed with was that they worked with Jerry Harrison

because he's very talented. He's also made some very good solo records. Of course. All right. We got to kick out my third jam because Sammy's eyes are getting heavy. I can see them. They're starting to...

I know. Pass my bedtime. out my third jam because Sammy's eyes are getting heavy. I can see them. They're starting to pass. Speaking of Jeremy Taggart in a roundabout way, my third jam. Shone as bright as Bethlehem, primal fire I was there when you were young and strong and perverted And everything that makes a young man a star Oh, you were a star Oh, you were a star I was there and I swear to God And on my mother's grave On everything I have or ever will embrace

I was there and I saw it with my own two eyes And now it's all around me It's all around me I'm surrounded And now it's all around me It's all around me You surround me like a circle I'm taking it back to Winnipeg. Chantel.

There you are. This is Surrounded. How did you just pronounce your last name? Okay, I'll try again. Hold on. Hold on, hold on. Let me try one more time. I want to redo. Unfortunately, I got music in the background. I can't edit again. Hold on. Hold on, hold on. Let me try one more time. I want to redo.

Unfortunately, I got music in the background. I can't edit this. Damn it. Kriviyashik? Help me out. You say it. Chantel Kriviyashik. Kriviyashik?

What am I saying? Yeah, I think that's right. Kriviyashik. Kriviyashik. It's Ukrainian. I'm doing my best here. Shantel K. Yeah, Chantel K. Kriviaz. It's Ukrainian. I'm doing my best here. Shantel K. Yeah.

Shantel K. I don't know. Shantel. I feel like Rain made or ruined her. I don't know. This is very controversial. But don't you think she. Did anybody happen to see that movie that Shantel and Rain put out a while back?

I know someone who saw it. Jennifer Hollett, our former colleague actually saw it live showing that I think Rain and Shanti K did a Q&A after. I need to walk this back a little bit really quickly before it gets away from me.

I don't mean Rain made it ruin her. I mean that what I mean is that at this time when this was coming out and wayne remember wayne and those singles were coming out i don't know this is this is our next joe joni mitchell i don't know i was really like in love with her i was in love with her i was in love with her well she's easy to look at but i mean oh i don't know i i uh i was never a fan i gotta be honest you're the way to pet. Let's hear from you.

Tell us more. First, he turns on the lowest of low and now this is, this is a real talk. I like this. No, I should clarify. I don't know her music. I don't know.

Is she, is she, uh, uh, what, what, what I have to admit, I'm,

I'm very cynical when it comes to Canadian music overall, because I see the back end in most cases. And whenever I saw her, I just felt like it was a Sony music project and they were just ramming down everybody's throat. And I would say that about any artist, not just about her. I was just it started to get frustrating because it was at the time when I was in the industry at the same time. So there's no question she's very talented and she's done great.

The movie I found hard to watch because I just, I like a little humor in my music, I guess. Not like Barenaked Lady's humor, but I just felt like Chantel and rain were taking themselves so unbelievably seriously in that movie. It was just humorless. It was like pink Floyd, the wall for fuck's sakes.

It looked like they were, what was that movie? Once. Yeah. Once heads comedy. No, I am not saying it was like a similar plot line but almost like a similar like it almost the positioning the trailer reminded me of that movie once yes that's

the song i almost played during the duets episode the falling slowly song right right but okay go ahead don't misunderstand me i i i think chantelle is she's got a lot of raw talent but there's just a few things that at the time of her ascent um i was just rubbed kind of raw did you fight sammy if i'm hearing you right are you saying you felt it was too manufactured because she's like a columbia behind her like she's too manufactured to be like uh a pop star yeah maybe not i don't know i'm just honestly i'm thinking on my feet maybe i'll regret it i don't i only know the singles mike i know the stuff that i heard on the radio uh over and over and sammy is there sort of any i'm curious because i know she sort of came along you know a few years after the watchmen were you know kind

of crisscrossing or starting to crisscross canada was there sort of any overlap in terms of musical circles winnipeg i feel like she had probably moved over to toronto by the time that she had begun her ascent largely listen you want to have some you want some real talk mike i mean i will be the first to admit that her ascent was quick and, and she became very popular outside of Canada. And, and I'm not going to deny it. I felt like as a Winnipeg band who was paying dues in the clubs week after week, year after year, month after month, it, it, it, there was, there was a twinge of envy there you know just hey you know

like we're from winnipeg too check us out you know but it was an entirely different thing it was long time ago but um now chantelle had two things she well a we've established she's very talented and we've established she's very easy on the eyes i feel like those two if they kind of smash together you've got the recipe for a uh star michael why do you think she was high she was signed on to a major label this is what they look for she's got all the elements i'm not denying that right but she went on to write like a lot of music for who avril lavigne and all sorts of people. She's done very well for herself. You know what? I think she's one... I'll tell you one thing. When you see I'm Going to Break Your Heart,

which thanks to Ian, he's clarified what the title is, you walk away sympathizing with her and frustrated with Rain Maida because, again, it was just like the artists took themselves just really, really seriously.

And that's just a little pet peeve of mine. That's like a Wilco song, too. Is it not? I'm Going to Break Your Heart? I'm Trying to Break Your Heart. I'm Trying to Break Your Heart. Only Love Will Break Your Heart. That's Neil Young break your heart. I'm trying to break your heart. Okay. Only Love Will Break Your Heart. That's a Neil Young, I think.

That's a Neil Young. I think Chantel's biggest US hit is a cover of Leaving on a Jet Plane for the Armageddon soundtrack. Probably. Yeah, you're probably right, Mike. I think that's there. Which is kind of funny.

What's that, Cam? Do you remember that, Jan? Oh, you have to repeat because periodically... Oh, you have to repeat because periodically I was just saying I think we're leveling The Chantel Kravetsik jam God Made Me, do you remember that song?

Yes Almost had a David Foster vibe Right, David Foster And now David Foster I think Chantel would be too old For David Foster at this now David Foster, I think Chantel would be too old for David Foster at this point. So let's... Side bit, Troy.

Michael. Mike. Toronto Mike. Yes, Samuel. Do me a favor. Don't cut that up and edit it and play it for Chantel. No, man.

No worries there. Okay. Play it for Rain. All right. Here's a guy. I'm going to kick out a song. Great song that Sammy's chosen by a guy who promised he would come on Toronto Mike.

And he seemed enthusiastic about it, but he's yet to pick a day in time. And I've been working on it for a few years now, but here it is. Thank you. I can see it on the road ahead Running hard I'm here But I could be there instead Many houses with the lights on Silhouettes behind the shades beside fires

I'm sure I saw you in one I loved you but that was way back then Now I'm alone outside. And I face the wind. The rain washes me thin. Back me down, but I got back up. And I got myself back in the race. Love it, Sammy.

Yeah, good one. I'm actually, I'm not exactly sure where Tom is from. I think it's somewhere in Manitoba. I don't remember, but I picked this. First thing that you think about is it's a Tom Cochran song, but the truth is it's a Red Rider song, just to clarify, who I believe this was their third album, Neruda. And before he was singing that life was a highway, he was putting out some pretty cool stuff.

Lunatic Fringe, Pablo Neruda was Neruda's name of the album. He's talking about some pretty important stuff. Napoleon Sheds His Skin. And this song, I just love the production on this song i i love the the bass and drums there's a steel uh lap steel guitar that sort of ghosty guitar sound that ken greer is doing and tom cochran was kind of a just a real rocker back with with red rider then then it just became tom cochran and red rider and then uh the commercial years uh but anyway great song was a boy inside the man is that red rider is that tom cochran and that was tom cochran and red rider which i love that song as well i

think that's a that's one of his best that's a great I feel kind of a bit of a 54 40 thing with this guy too I mean he's just got every album has one or two songs uh that you when I hear White Hot on the radio I turn it up you know it's still sounds great I always thought White Hot or uh Lunatic Fringe reminded me pink Floyd. It had like a vibe. Um, I feel like, yeah, Tom Cochran versus Tom Cochran and red rider versus red rider.

You get a bit of the same thing with like Tom Petty or like some albums are Tom Petty and some are Tom Petty and the heartbreakers and, you know, or even Bruce Springsteen, like Spotify or something like, the Heartbreakers. Or even Bruce Springsteen. Like Springsteen. You got the Springsteen stuff. You got the E Street band. Yeah, totally. Yeah, very prolific.

Mike, is Tom, I'm guessing maybe he's on the Eric Alper roster of balance? No. At some point I tweeted at him, like he should come on Toronto Mike. Then he was really enthusiastic Like I'd love it let's do it That was like three years ago

Yeah This is a great song Sorry Sammy remind me What's the name of this Human Race Yeah like we really had like an amazing Run that went over Close to like really 20-25 years of like chart success, like a lot of.

And Lunatic Fringe. I heard it recently on an episode of Mindhunter on Netflix. Like, so it's, you know, still out there. Yeah, like that was an international hit. That's why I always think, you know, Americans thinking life is a highway. I mean, yeah, I guess he was like,

you know, different band, different sort of moniker. Cause that was a technically a red rider song, but, but yeah, that was a pretty big hit like internationally. I feel like.

Yeah. Maybe. I mean, life is a highway was in the U S it was a monster. It, that song in terms of what U S in terms of the U S it was a monster at that song. And what, what U S in terms of the U S people, I feel like they look at that as he's a one hit wonder. Yes. I suppose he was in the States, but,

and another thing I'll just one more thing to add about that song in particular and the production, because I listened to those sort of details on the album, the Ruta. I don't remember the name of the producer. He went out to be very successful, but Tom put a record out in 2019 called Tom Cockham revisited where he recorded, re-recorded a bunch of his hits,

which is not an uncommon thing for bands to do when they have their own masters that they own. Again, even record them long story. I won't bore you with as to why, but in any case, he recorded Human Race and I listened to it. It's the same song, of course, trying to mimic the original that's on Naruto,

but it just, it does not have that snappy. It's like the tempo is just not the same. I don't know what it is. It's very subtle. His voice sounds quite different, but just the just the recording of the song on the Neruda album is is is great I feel like those early Red Rider songs they have a really specific type of like paranoid feel you get a lot of like 80s tracks

yeah it's sort of hard to pinpoint but like it's a very specific sound i think it's like something in like the synth and the how it's produced and stuff is maybe kind of the root of that i think you're right and i think a lot of that has to do with props to ken greer who's their guitar player who did a lot of lap steel stuff he um he actually recorded one of he did a demo for the watchman uh ken greer but um and i didn't really know a lot about red rider at the time i wish i knew i would have asked some questions but yeah red rider kind of like 5440 were singing about important things uh early on and then it just kind of they went after blatant commercialism yeah well i think that the album that had um the boy inside the man and untouchable

one i think that was tom cochran and red rider yes so that was almost the point where like okay now it's gonna be victory day and big my boy's gonna play in the big league and good good times it was a record company it was the arc of red rider tom cochran and red rider and then just tom cochran it just morphed into and i think that it's like um i know why why labels do that it's just easier for people to focus on one person than it it is a band. That's why they moved that project to Tom Cochran and Red Rider. It's like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. One face on the cover of a magazine is going to be more interesting to people than five people in a band.

Actually, here's a question for you guys. This is a bit of an aside, but it's related to bands changing their names. The Dixie Chicks, Lady Antebellum. If you guys were those bands, would you have just chosen completely different names rather than these sort of modified names that don't really make sense? If you're kind of being, you know,

think it's the right- Dangerous. Dangerous to name, to completely rename your band. Yeah. I was shocked when I read that. People just, the optics of that it's it's it's like they probably won't sell as many concert tickets you know what i mean it's it's hard roger waters is going to do less business than pink floyd even though yeah effectively is pink floyd i feel like that band Theory of a Dead Man

briefly changed their name to just Theory and then they went back to Theory of a Dead Man maybe because they didn't want Dead Man. Yeah. I think that's true. Maybe. Sounds true. All right. I don't know.

Now, because Sammy's falling asleep, we have to get to the fourth jam from Cam Gordon. But let me just, uh, actually maybe we'll just dive right in. This is an FOTM. So I'm very excited to play it. Oh yeah. I wanted to just let Sammy know that Lynn Lake,

Manitoba, that's where Tom Cochran is from. He met Red Rider. And this is a fun fact. Does anybody know where Tom Cochran met Red Rider? Um, met the guys in the band, you mean? Right. Yes. does anybody know where Tom Cochran met Red Rider? Met the guys in the band, you mean? Right, yes.

Probably in Ontario somewhere, I bet. El Macombo. Oh. Second mention of El Macombo. Michael Weckerle is going to be pleased. Well, he's going to be mentioned on Monday with Kim Mitchell. But here is an FOTM. I see you holding hands with your lover And you're making plans with each other It looks real good on you

Don't you worry, I didn't come to make things strange Cause there's a reason that things change There's nothing we can do And it's been five long years since I've seen your lovely eyes. Your girl's out to go. She sees right through my thin disguise. You know I still love you. We know I'd never change.

And it's been five long years and I love you just know I'd never change and it's been five long years and I love you just the same okay so this is Colin James Mike I don't know if you're keeping track is this our no this is obviously not our first artist from

Saskatchewan we talked about the great Joni Mitchell so Colin James is from Regina the capital of Saskatchewan we talked about the great joni mitchell um so colin james is from regina the capital of saskatchewan uh his first big breakout hit five long ears um i i still love this song you know it's definitely like has a very 80s a very uh almost like a richard marx richard marx type feel to it uh but great great kind of pop radio hit um obviously he's moved to a more blues direction i feel like this was part of his origin story you'd hear a lot about him opening for stevie ray vaughn very early on after he opened for uh srv uh in regina back in 84 kind of almost like

a walk-on thing where colin james and his band opened for them and then was asked to perform in the encore. And allegedly Stevie Ray Vaughan was so taken by Colin's chops that he asked him to join the tour as a permanent opening act. And he was on his way. I think the most shocking part of that story is Stevie Ray Vaughan actually played in Regina. So I guess he was a pretty big road warrior. He toured a lot yeah yeah like

Colin James obviously like a staple of like Q107 as I feel like five tracks that still get played to this day including voodoo thing voodoo thing and Jux just came back and the very popular chicks and cars in the third world war I don't know if that song is going to be maybe canceled. It seems not sure it would go over well with the sensibilities of today.

Cam, don't forget, why'd you lie? Well, yeah, and a very sexy video from what I recall of that one. Big hit. Very sensual. That was kind of a slow, blues jam with uh some heavy makeout scenes um but yeah like just came back actually won june award for single of the year in 91 so uh yeah colin james is a big deal still is again turned to a more blues and a time like a swing artist uh yeah you still see out playing shows.

And also, like, has played a lot with another FOTM. There's just, like, there's so many at this point. Played a lot with Craig Northey from The Odds. Who should be on this episode. Should be. He should be.

And The Odds have backed up Colin James as a band. And just on his Wikipedia page, it said Colin played on this album i have not thought of this album in about 16 years but i i remember reviewing it for chart magazine back in the day when i wrote for it an album called northie valenzuela there was a one-off album that craig northie did with jesse valenzuela from the gin blossoms. Apparently Colin James also appeared on it. One thing you could say about Colin James that is not an easy thing to do is

he was kind of a video star in the probably very late eighties, early nineties. He was all over much music and he was doing sort of his blues thing. He was sort of like a pinup star. You look good. He successfully made a transition to sort of an adult contemporary artist with blues, with swing, with probably, you know, quieter acoustic albums. He's like moved into like a Michael Bublé kind of territory,

probably playing soft cedars to, you know um middle-aged oh like gino vanelli like the brampton theater and like the center for the arts i'm actually being very complimentary because that's a really hard thing to do to just make that transition and i and i think uh that he from what i could see he kind of reinvented himself a little bit to be that kind of artist, and he pulled it off. Well, I thought it was interesting. That's a great point, Sammy. And I found it interesting at the time that him and Jeff Healy were almost,

and musically, granted, are different, but both trying to veer into more, like Jeff Healy is more kind of the blues and stuff. But again, trying to get away from the mainstream when they were so massive right out of the gate and like we're winning Juno Wars. And at the same time. Yeah. Like at the exact same time. With Frozen Ghost.

When you're a blues artist, unless you're just one of the real kind of originals that you've, I feel like you're, you've kind of, you're kind of painting yourself into a corner with a tough genre. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Great choice there,

Cam. I love, I love me some Colin James. Absolutely. Are you guys, are you guys ready to rock? Yes. Let's do it,

Mike. Okay. Let's rock. You have to excuse me I am not at my best I've been gone for a month I've been gone for a month. I've been drunk since I left. These so-called

vacations will soon be my death. I'm so sick from the drink. I need home for a rest. We arrived in December and London was cold We stayed in the bars, a long chairing crossroad

We never saw nothing but grass tops and oak Kept a shine on the bar with the sleaze of our coats You'll have to excuse me, I'm not at my best I've been gone for a week, I've so glad Sammy's on this episode because shortly after the death of John Mann, I was at the Danforth Music Hall to see a fantastic Canadian band called The Watchmen. And I still remember their cover of Political that night.

Yeah, it was fun. I mean, and you know, your cousin Danny nailed it. Like, it was just so beautiful and perfect for that night. And so thank you for that, Sammy. That was a great tribute to John Mann. Oh, we were fans, Mike. We played lots of shows with these guys, and they put some great records out.

They had a very unique sound and the whole industry kind of rallied when John got sick. And yeah, we worked that up in soundcheck. I remember we just talked about it and it's a pretty straightforward song and it felt great. We had everybody uh really really um with us when we were doing

that but i didn't pick political i picked home for a rest because it fucking rocks and it's like even now it's like i just want to sing along and uh jump up and down it's just a canadian party the Canadian party anthem. Yeah, I'm actually curious what this song means to, like, young Canadians and not the Art Bergman and the young Canadians. Probably not the camp. Probably not the camp. I don't think Art has a lot of time

for many artists. No, I don't mean Art. I mean, I don't know if the song... I mean, the song is our song, our vintage. I don't think... I don't know if it's... mean the song is is our song our vintage i don't think yeah i don't i don't know if it's yeah it just felt weird because the kids are listening to yeah but it just it was so ubiquitous that like every pub night every

frosh week it's a frosh week anthem yeah you're right like but you got to be like a a 90s university guy or whatever you're right it. It's a certain... I don't know what the range is, but I think we're all in it. Yeah. I think so. But I'm listening to that. Go ahead, Cam. I guess it's different with Gord Downie's passing where the Tragically Hip

did seem like younger generations do seem to have some at least awareness of their music. where this song, like, yeah, I really don't know if it would, like anybody under, like, 30. Yeah, I don't think so. I just, if there were two songs that I can remember from when The Watchmen played Frosh Week, Ps, what have you, in the 90s.

We would, I can remember, like, we'd play our set, and then the DJ would play a song after we were done, and that song would either be Home for a Rest or New Orleans is Sinking. Every single time. I would also throw

the Violent Femmes, Blister in the Sun, as well as Jane's Laid. At least the McMaster here. She only comes when she's on top. Yeah. It's those. Yeah. Plus those two you mentioned, Sammy, like every time.

And then sort of whatever the top 40 around those. And like, you know, Sweet Caroline and like a few other kind of standards. Boston ruined that one. Spirit of the West seems like definitely a very unlikely success story because one thing I always liked about them, they had

obviously the Celtic thing, but they weren't Great Big C. With all due respect to Great Big C, they did seem like they were coming from more like a rock band, like indie rock. A little bit.

Point of view, again, because maybe they had a lot of message songs, not like 5440. They had certain issues that they liked to talk about and sing about, and a lot of labor stuff. If I'm going gonna listen to this kind of music i'll throw on the pogues yeah what they lacked what they lacked to me like i'm not gonna diss spirit of the west but the pogues had um a similar sound in terms of celtic rock but it had a punk element to it too that that the spirit of the west didn't have that for me made them less interesting

but but there's no question this was a staple of uh college well i i feel like the poet did i mean really if you go even like listen to like two of their out like they did so many styles of music yeah really like a lot of stuff that's almost like mariachi music and a little music and then straight ahead just kind of rock with that song

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, like whatever that one was called. That song Haunted that was on the City of Nancy. The Pogues were really super diverse. I really don't think of them as like a celtic band at all i just went with the accordions and the tin whistle no doubt yeah like body of an american and all that yeah absolutely yeah yeah but yeah yeah yeah okay

that that's fair but i'll just say they were definitely far more than i don't know i'm pretty sure i'm pretty sure you're wrong. I just think you're wrong. It happens once in a while. Yeah. So Sammy's like pulling no punches. He's like shooting on air. All right. Well, let's give Sammy.

I hear you. I'm just teasing you, Cam. You're absolutely right that their records were like wildly eclectic. Totally. Very much so. Yeah. Or Drunk Rick Murphys. Yes.

They had like five or six different songwriters in the pokes so it was a real stew of of

no pun intended all right no pun intended all right well done I'm excited because you know originally this was

we were kicking out four jams and then I said I said to Sammy I need a fifth jam. Let me preface, Mike. I picked this so I can hear Cam geek out on what he's going to have to say.

He's probably not going to know the song, but he's going to know the story. He's going to know the background. He's going to know all the minutia that makes him Cam Gordon. With that said, do it. What a setup. all the minutia that makes him Cam Gordon. So with that said, do it. What a setup. I'm out. I've totally heard this.

What is this? Do you want the answer now? This isn't harsh. It's a poison But sucks the freedom? Ian's cheating with Shazam over there. Okay, I can't. You've got to tell me who this is. Okay, Cap.

Remember a punk band called Slow? Yes, of course course and what happened to slow what did they oh uh copyright copyright oh fuck okay yeah yeah yeah yeah i was actually they they they kind of crossed my mind the slow i've not been the same i thought i should throw that on it's sort of a great so let me tell you a little bit about these guys. First of all, what happened to these guys? They put out two, I think maybe three great albums as copyright. Yeah. One was like literally the copyright symbol. Yes.

Yes. I mean, maybe the worst name in history outside of the payolas in terms of alienating yourself from the music industry but um if you listen to their record i think it's called love story their second record it's like um it's like interpol made stone roses level guitar playing uh with with a singer and and i'm not just waxing on here because we're on a podcast. When The Watchmen did a Edge Fest tour, we had the dubious honor of being the headliners of the second stage one summer. And the band right before us was, it was Creed right before us.

And then I think right before them was it was creed right before us and then i think right before them was copyright and i remember i remember going every afternoon it was usually at three in the afternoon and watching this band called copyright and thinking i was transfixed by their singer he had this like like this dionysian sort of flavor to what he was doing. He wasn't, he was in the moment. He was performing. He was, it was art.

It was Tom and Salmi. Yeah. Tom and Salmi. Yeah. He was very quirky and he had this sort of like Iggy Pop kind of, it was like, it was like, there was some danger. You didn't know what he was going to do.

I remember seeing them for the first time, coming back to the dressing room and saying, what the hell was that? Who are those guys? And anyway, their records are great. They got completely ignored by everybody when they put out major label records that were obviously promoted a little bit i looked

on spotify when i was listening to this song for mike i think they have they have like less than 500 plays a month like they've just dropped off the planet well i do remember this that they had a couple of singles from that album love story transfiguration and a song called radio yes both of them i do remember they had got some level of video play on Much Music. Yes. I mean, not much. They were sort of in the mix. They were just a really cool alternative band.

Honestly, Stone Roses is a very, I think, a very apt description. If you listen to that, you say it was called Trans... What's it called? I think it's called transfiguration. Yeah. It sounds like a, like a roses song. And, um, and this, this song is called into the light. It's on their third album, I think. And this album, when this was released on a major label and did nothing, you know, two weeks later is like sayonara copyright. Thanks.

See you later. Uh, but, but I just, a band that deserves a bit of respect that um is they i believe they're from out west and the guy's got his punk credentials with slow that were kind of a controversial what do you mean you believe they're from out west from vancouver yeah i i can i can verify and know, Slow played some shows like recently. Oh, did they? Yeah, they did a few reunion shows, including I believe here in Toronto. I want to say they played at like the Phoenix or something.

When you talk about like unlikely reunions. Yeah, yeah, it's true. Anyway, I just thought I'd mention that one because they really struck me. I remember when I saw them live and it's very rare that you see a performer that is. I wouldn't say going through the motions, but it's just purely performing in a way that it's just like he's just doing what is coming, becoming that is completely natural to him. And it was it was really cool to see in person. I think that guy is a, was very talented. It's too bad that they never got more attention. Yeah.

I'm about to kick out Cam's last jam. Can't wait to do it. But when you mentioned like, you mentioned copyright being bad, like a bad band for SEO. I think of another artist that would have qualified today my good friend duane levold who decided uh pre-google to go by the name custom and i think custom might be the worst seo name like i sorry i gotta correct you the worst you want to hear it the watchman of course no it's not great it's up there it's up there the worst girls yeah yeah yeah the band girls yeah well and sammy well actually i'm not gonna say i know what you're gonna say i think you're i think since uh the watchmen is reintroduced... You're going to say Cam in looking at my history? Is that what you're saying?

You're in your cash... I know, but sorry, Mike, maybe you're going to ask this. Sammy, like, you guys, the Watchmen, the band, the Watchmen, the comic book franchise, movies, TV shows, were you guys like, fuck?

Because you guys were sort of named after yeah comic book right we covered this on toronto mike do you guys named you used the band was named after the comic book characters yes yes guitar player was a graphic novel and he liked the graphic novel but it was a sort of an under the radar graphic novel when we used it as the band name. But then 20 years later, that's when it became the movie and TV show, whatever else. And has this been good, bad, nothing for the band? Like, I don't know. Does it matter?

I don't think it matters. It's been pretty neutral. Sammy, you didn't have like, you know, for example, when the American right, far right had a Tea Party contingent, Tea Party had TeaParty.com, and they were suddenly sitting on a goldmine. You weren't sitting on a goldmine with Watchmen.com? No, because we were a little late to the game in terms of buying a URL. And to this day, our website, we sort of joke that it really rolls off the tongue it's v hyphen watchman.com so we didn't even get the proper on that note here's cam's fifth jam I'm over the sounds of mother speaking Latin now Yeah, it comes to my body, I am wild My body breaks through the water

I'm a newborn child My brain's under fire Put my head down to the ground Did it tremble with the sounds? Must be getting louder now she said lay it close down with your fear of course uh the watchman featuring on drums sammy cone i thought it would be appropriate the song zoom considering we're on a zoom call. Very clever. Yeah, this is probably, I would say, top three Watchmen songs, right?

I love this track. I love the opening. It's just like, boom, you're right into it. Sammy, this one seems like it has a bit more of a Britpop feel to me. You speak about, like, I can detect a bit of John Squire in the guitar playing. Really? Kind of the back and forth.

Maybe just the shitty connection. We're listening. What can you tell us about recording this? This is a brand new day, right? Yeah. This was sort of a song I'm trying to remember. We were stuck for material, I remember remember after our second album and uh we went to the guitarist's cottage in winnipeg beach and we we had i had a bongo and there was a drum and a bass and danny

brought his piano and i remember we we sort of worked this song up there it came from that sort of two nights or whatever it was. It's not one of our favorite songs, to be honest. We don't really play it live very much. It hasn't really stood up for whatever reason. I would argue, Cam, this is not a top

three Watchmen song. That's a subjective statement, but I would never... I mean, the Watchmen, I would say just like 5440, maybe more so, the Watchmen I would say just like 5440 maybe more so the Watchmen are underappreciated if you look at the the the catalog and the whole like I literally when you see them

live you're like they're fucking good and all these songs are just catchy as all hell and they're memorable and a lot of them are radio hits I feel like this was like the fourth single from Brand New Day. Like, this was, let's see if we could get one more. Maybe it's the third single.

I don't know. It was deep. Yeah. Well, that's Cam's, that's his thing. Yeah. I don't know. I just always dug Zoom. It sounds like perhaps I'm in the minority on this.

I'm glad you like it i just uh we've tried to play it in the last five or six years and whenever we do uh it just uh it kind of just doesn't hold up to the other songs for whatever reason i don't know it just hasn't evolved in any way usually the good songs songs will kind of evolve where you'll be able to sort of add to what you're doing. And maybe there'll be a breakdown section where you can do something else. It's just like, I don't know, there's a lot going on. I think, I feel like it's very, it's very busy song with everybody. Yeah. Well, it's definitely a song of that era,

like very specifically mid nineties, like just a a song of that era. Like, very specifically mid-90s. Like, just a lot of guitars in there. Yeah. It sounds like... It's like a pretty produced song. I mean, I don't know if you think it's maybe even a bit overproduced. Because, again, like, the guitars are... Ian's holding up his Edge 102 hat.

Because since we're the only ones who can see it. Ian, where did you find that hat? In my garage. So I have a bucket hat, and I have a baseball cap, and I also have like an old school Irish cap. All Edge 102. Show and tell here.

Ian, did you ever see The Watchmen at the Humble and Fred barbecue or picnic or whatever the hell that was branded as? No, I was too i was too young but like this this song is my jam and this song was had tons of airplay it's fantastic i love it awesome so we're two two thumbs up two thumbs you're not gonna get you're not to get me to be terribly enthusiastic about, uh,

the, the songs we did. I, I, I, I never go back and listen to those records. It's, Oh,

yeah, it's too bad. It's too bad because I'm, uh, I'm about to kick out, I'm about to kick out my fifth jam from West of Ontario. And before I press play, I'm wondering,

Sammy, if you ever do take a moment, like to step back and just I know you're a successful real estate agent now and that's you know and a family man and all that important stuff but do you ever take that moment and just say hey yeah I was a drummer at a pretty kick-ass fucking great rock band that a lot of people out there are still sticking in there on their iPods and on their playlists and rock it out to every day. Is that a question?

Yeah, there's a question in there. Do you realize that? I manage a lot of the band's social media, so I see that there's still a handful of people that are really enthusiastic, which I'm super grateful for. But it's usually when we play shows, that's when it kind of sinks in that it's, it just kind of blows my mind that we can still sell out the Danforth music hall or something and people are still singing along. And so I, and,

and I'm said it before, I'm really proud of the records for sure. Well, shout out to Jay Onright, who's from Athabasca, Alberta. And every time I have you on the show, Sammy, he writes me a note to say how much he loved McLaren Furnace Room and that was

his stuff. Shout out to him. And here's my final jam. Oh, yes. shout out to him and here's my final jam oh yes Cynhyrchu'r ffordd y byddwn ni'n ei wneud. Lying in bedrooms is it It's not like five years ago Completely over my body Is that just the place that I want you to be Look at the pictures you've gotten Like signals from oncoming cars

We're covered in a cake from the last hour I know it sounds weird, we collected in jars Is that just the place that I wanna be? Oh, can't you see it's a life I don't need? Please don't make this thing up for me The way that I wanna be Oh, can't you see it's a life I don't make this thing up for me The way that I wanna be Can't you see it's a lie Please don't make this thing up for me

I like how you make us wait on this jam. To buckle me in on the highway of sin Is that just the way that I wanna be? Oh, can't you see it's an outbound on me? Please don't make this thing up on me The way that I wanna be Oh, can't you see it's an outbound on me? Please don't make this thing upon you Is that just a dream? Is that just a dream? All I gather You gotta wait for Danny to say the song title.

It only takes two, what is it? Two and change. Almost three minutes. But fucking still love the jam. I don't care how many times I've heard this song. I love it, Sammy.

So thank you for bringing us all uncovered. Thank you, Mike. Thank you. Uh, what do you, what do you, what is it about the song that does it for you?

I think it's the slow burn and it's sweet as all hell. And the, the memories of when, you know, before you have kids in a mortgage, that's, uh, yeah,

this is definitely number one. if zoom's number three this is definitely number one on my watchman tracks uh great great live song too and same i know this is one you can you can kind of mix and match a few different styles i feel like i've seen you guys play it totally stripped down and and then sort of in a more fulsome fashion it works i mean that's it's you know it's a cliche but that's a you know can be a mark of a great song you can no it's listen that's kind of why earlier to my point about zoom it sort of it actually doesn't have that quality so right right right right it doesn't allow there's no breathing room. So yeah, All Uncovered is, I've said this before, that often when we're playing it live, I still sort of get chills

and I still get a sort of a shot of adrenaline and I still, I'm listening and I'm, you know, moved by what the singer's doing. And it's like, those are the things that make me think that, yeah, it's okay, it's a good song. uh we we that was that's a good one for sure did you use like the paint brushes on this or like the different drumsticks i feel like i've seen that too i could be imagining that called blast sticks what they are what they are is um they're just they're they're not brushes they're sort of a hybrid between a brush and a stick. They have these sort of plastic ends on them that are, that give

that kind of whack sort of sound to them. It's less... Nirvana unplugged. Dave Grohl uses them, right? Yeah, yeah. There you go. Exactly. They're not as strong as a stick and they're not as wimpy as a brush. So, and I remember composing

this song in the McLaren furnace room, as a brush. So, and I remember composing this song in, in, in, in the McLaren furnace room. As a matter of fact, I think I might've mentioned this when I was on Toronto Mike last time. It's just a 32nd little story. It was,

we had just brought in Ken Tizard, who was a replacement for our original bass player. And he had this song idea, this little snippet to do, do, do, do, do, do. And he had this song idea, this little snippet. Do-do-do-do-do-do. And he just played it. We were trying to sort of compose a lot as a band at the time. And it really, another song cliche, it kind of just wrote itself for a few minutes.

You know, we had, I think, probably the first two parts sort of done just within that first time playing it through and then it kind of fell apart but we just looked at each other and said okay you know let's keep going with this this is this is pretty cool um sammy how's ken's wife doing uh i can't speak for ken exactly i i know that she uh well i actually i heard she she broke her hip i think i don't know if you heard that uh not long ago uh but i i think she's okay i see pictures of her on facebook and ken and i uh usually text uh back and forth here and there and you know we're all supportive of what he's going through and he's making some cool music right now and cool but uh yeah i well i think she's okay sammy i got to do

something i've always wanted to do uh come out of all uncovered into rosy and gray so i fulfilled heal those wounds that sammy is uh str I wasn't even going to bring it up. I've learned my lesson. It's over. Water under the bridge. Sammy, thanks so much for being our special guest tonight. This was so much fun, man. Thanks so much.

You too, Mike. Keep doing your thing. Love the podcast. Cam, love you, buddy. Yeah. I'll be back at you. Let's do it again anytime. We did this one for Stu.

Absolutely. I can't wait to hear Kim Mitchell and, and Neil Osborne. That's going to be great. Yeah. I can't wait. Thanks. Thanks so much.

And Cam again, thanks for being here. And Stu, if you're listening, we miss you, bud. We love you. And we can't wait to get you back in the pandemic Friday saddle.

Bye guys. Thanks Sammy. Have a good night. Tell Neil Osborne I say hello. Oh for sure. Are you kidding me? I'm going to, if I tell him I know you,

I'll just be so proud. I know the drummer from the Watchmen. That'll be my first, first thing I say. You'll lead with that. Sure. And that brings us to the end of our 678th show you can follow me on twitter i'm at toronto mike sammy tell us how we can follow you on twitter thank you for asking i'm at at sammy cone sammy

k-o-h-n and find me on facebook and instagram as. I'm here for all your real estate needs. And Cam Gordon, he's, Cam, you're not on Twitter, are you? I just joined. No, my Twitter handle is similar to the Watchman's official website. I'm Cam underscore Gordon, at Cam underscore Gordon, at the website twitter.com. And Ian Service, he's at iService, twitter.com and Ian service. He's at I service,

right? I follow Ian. He's a good follow. Uh, who else we got? We got great lakes brewery. They're at great lakes beer. Palma pasta are at Palma pasta. Sticker.

You are at sticker. You the Kiteener group are at the Kiteener group. Pumpkins after dark are at pumpkins, dark and garbage day are atbageDay.com slash Toronto Mike. See you all next week. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Rome Phone. Rome Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RomePhone.ca to get started.