Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Fergus Hambleton from The Sattalites: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1530

Episode Date: August 2, 2024

In this 1530th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Fergus Hambleton about his life in music, Toronto's music scenes, the Sattalites and what he's up to now. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, The Advantaged Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada, The Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Team and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

Welcome to episode 1530 of Toronto Mic'd, proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta, enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. The Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team. The best baseball in the city outside the dome.

Join me this Sunday, August 4th at Christie Pitts. I'm recording live at 2pm just beyond the left field fence. Drop by SayHi, RecycleMyElectronics.ca, committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. And Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today, making his Toronto mic debut, is is Fergus Hamilton from the Satellites. Welcome to Toronto Mike, Fergus. Thank you so much Toronto Mike. 1,530. I feel proud to be in that number there. Well, you know, better late than never. I have talked to you in the past because I produce

a show for Humble and Fred and Fred will often talk about one of his favorite bands to see live. He's got great memory probably we're going back to the 80s with this one but one of his favorite bands to see live is the Satellites and he would often talk about that and I booked Miles Goodwin from April Wine on the show because that was Humble's favorite band when he was growing up in Moose Jaw. He was a big April Wine guy. So for Freddie I said I'm gonna go out I'm gonna get you Fergus Hamilton from The Satellites. And I remember reaching out to you and getting you on the show

back when they did it in person. That was a great show too. Lots of chokes, those guys, like nonstop. They moved it to Zoom though, not quite the same. It's still funny. And it's a great show. They just dropped the M and it's still a zoo. Yeah, very good.

The morning zoo. Now, so it's a pleasure show. They just dropped the M and it's still a zoo. That's funny. Yeah, very good. The morning zoo. Now, so it's a pleasure to finally meet you in person here today. I want to shout out a mutual friend of ours, Blair Packham. Do you know Blair? I do indeed. Yes, Blair and I got together. We met actually at this thing called Songworks that a fellow named Dave Vaxter put together

and there were a bunch of people and we put our names in a hat and sort of pulled things out and Blair and I wrote a nice song out of that. So you collaborated? We did indeed and we became good friends. Well Blair was like have you had Fergus on yet? I'm like as you wish sir and I reached out to you and here you are. Powerful fellow. He's like the wizard behind the curtain. It's all Blair but here's a fun fact I'm going to share. Uh, it was revealed recently, okay, Steve Kane, the last punk rock president came by and Steve Kane just drops in the mix. Like he's just chatting and he talks about his

favorite band of all time. The Raving Mojos. Do you know this band? Uh, well, I remember the band from those days. Okay. Let me play a little. So we're going to hear it from you obviously, but just a little taste of the raving Mojos,

not quite the satellite. There's a thread there. You know, I record your episode 1530s, so I've had many conversations about the Toronto music scene. I'm really excited to have this conversation with you, but I feel like the raving mojos don't quite get the credit maybe they deserve until they sort of pop up here and there when someone like a Steve Kane shouts him out. But I just want to share that Blair Packham and I were chatting about the Steve Kane episode and he says, this is Blair Packham, he says the jitters and the mojos, the raving mojos, used to gig

together all the time and that Blair Packham produced a demo of theirs and even kind of tie it a bow and all this. Blair Richard Martin, who is the lead singer we're hearing here in the Raving Mojos, his brother was the jitters drummer. So and also a little fun fact because these those pink drumsticks they were gifted to me from Gene Champagne, who's the current drummer for Teenage Head. And Blair Richard Martin was, for a brief time, was the drummer with Teenage Head after Frankie died. And apparently there's a Facebook group from people who want more info called Friends of Jitters and the Raving Mojos that somebody started. So I just thought since Blair suggested I have you on and here you are,

I would share that connection between Blair and the raving mojos well, like I think we can pin people's age by the by the bands that affected them the most and you've got that Martha and the Muffins shirt on right and You know, I went through that whole scene when it was happening in Toronto But I was like ten years older than everybody else. So I came at it from a different kind of space right like Yeah anybody else. So I came at it from a different kind of space right like yeah. I it was it was a great scene and I immediately responded to it because of what had happened in the sixties there and you know I'd gone off and done

different things or whatever, but I was working on Queen Street and it was all going down and I heard these bands and I went, shit, I can play those songs. Well, we're gonna get this entire story. We're gonna start before the satellites actually, but I got a note from a gentleman named Al Grego who's a great supporter of this program and we love Al Grego on this show. Al says you were one of his teachers at Trebis many years ago.

Wow, okay. And he says you're a cool dude. So, what, you what, what you remember? Do you remember a student named Alan Grego? By any chance? I'm sorry to say that I remember all the lyrics from all the songs since I was like four years old, but many other things, but no, but something slipped away. But it's interesting.

I run into ex students all the time, right? And it's interesting to get their perspective on what nonsense I was talking. Well, he says you're a cool dude. Well, there you go. I was a cool dude. You'll take that. But so for how many years were you teaching there and what were you teaching? Well, I taught at Travis for a while and I taught music theory to people that were into hip-hop and didn't want to know anything about music theory at all. And I taught music theory to people that were into hip hop and didn't want to know anything about music theory at all. And I taught music history to people that really didn't want to know very much about music history either. But, you know, I somehow managed to liven the thing up and make it happen.

And then, but I had to leave there because the way that place was run, the kids had more better equipment on their laptops than the school was providing for them. So I moved to another place. Anyway, I've been teaching at the Harris Institute for about 12 years and I do similar kind of thing. I have a couple of production projects and I do a history of Canadian music actually. Is this on Jarvis? It's on Sherbourne. Sherbourne, you know what I meant? Yeah, I know I see it. Yeah, Sherbourne near Queen.

Do you know Jane Harbury? Of course I know Jane. I literally, I literally biked there fairly recently to deliver a Palm Apostola's on you to Jane. Oh well that's fantastic and I biked down there too. I was going to bike here today except they call for this thing. It's raining right now actually. It's yes doing that weird like spitting thing right now. And it's one of those hot days you might have. Well, my daughter said the weather says squalls, daddy. What are squalls?

What are squalls? Squalls are little short little rainstorms with a lot of wind. Yeah. A little burst the way we've been getting. And we don't usually like a maritime kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. You hear like in the perfect storm or

something, some kind of boat movie or something like that. So shout out to Jane Harbury. Indeed, indeed. And before we get too, too into the music and lighten things up, I do want to start on a serious tip and I want to offer my sincere condolences to the Petrucci family, especially our dear friend, FOTM Anthony Petrucci, because Anthony's father,

Marcello Petrucci passed away at the age of 100 and Marcelo and his wife Palma, they're the family that basically opened up the first Palma pasta retail location in 1985. They're also Anthony's parents. So my condolences to the Petrucci family, everyone who knew and loved Marcelilio, 100 years old, passed away and you do have a gift by the way from the Pagucci family. They did send over a large meat lasagna for you, Fergus, to take home so you could taste how delicious the palma pasta food is and it's thanks to Marsilio. Well I really appreciate that because that will be a good afternoon snack for me. It's gonna be more than a snack. You should keep this. Fergus, you're going to need a, you're going to need a bigger boat. As they say,

this is a huge lasagna. Well, a rising boat when it's full of lasagna lowers all, unless there's a, there's a tide there, rising tide. And then you have to think about those squalls and then you got to be careful. The squalls are the worst thing. You bear the squalls. I've seen the perfect storm. It doesn't end well for those guys. So, all right. And since I'm giving you gifts off the top here, and I hope your phone didn't break. I'm dead it No, it didn't break. It's got this cassette

Cover on it Okay, we're kicking it old school so yes, you got the palm of pasta lasagna But I'm also gonna give you some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. Wow. All right. You could crack a cola on it. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, That is delicious. I'm actually one of those people that don't drink alcohol, but you know what I'm going to give these to Blair. I'm going to give these to Blair Blair Packham deserves those for hooking us up so Blair, you're getting some fresh craft beer. I know you're you're listening at home. Okay, here's where I want to start. I'm going to play a bit of a song and I'm going to play a note I got from Rob Bruce, who was the keyboardist in spoons or is it

the spoons? What do you think? Is it the satellites or satellites? Originally it was satellites and Joe used to get irritated, but I've, you know, I've given in. You've loosened up on them. I think a gore depth is the same. People don't put punctuation in texts. So, you know, okay. So more on that in the name and the spelling and all that. But before we get to the satellites, I have to watch your reaction as I playlist to see if you even know what I'm playing. Oh, I know it's a plan. Well, let it brew a bit shut out to Great Lakes and then I'll read the note

from Rob about this song. I guess I'm supposed to talk it up and hit the post. They never let this go on radio now, it's too long an intro. Just one look and they blind you Your friends are sleeping and they want to forget That tired vision is creeping You're in the danger zone Let's hope you have nothing to hide You're in the danger zone We're gonna have to take a little ride Move over Kenny Loggins, here's the real danger zone here. Okay, so Rob Bruce writes in, I just found this deep cut on Fergus' YouTube channel.

It's great late 70s new wave and I wonder if they were still around in our early spoons days. Also, his drummer here is Dave Norris who also played with Drastic Measures. I recognize the rhythmic energy on this song. Fergus, what are we listening to? Well, this is called Danger Zone, and it was recorded at Kensington Sound, actually, who just celebrated their 50th anniversary.

So this was done, I think, 1978, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, 1978. And, yeah, Dave Norris is playing, and a guy named Ronnie Wiseman is playing keyboards. Any relation to Bob? Indeed, older brother of Bob. Well, it comes back to Bob Wiseman. And Gene Martinak, who is one of my heroes from Kensington Market, played a little synthesizer

on this and had, it was of course not a, it was just one monophonic synthesizer, but he produced the sounds that, these kind of sounds that you're hearing now. And that's you on vocals. And that's me on vocals. I'm playing the guitar with that old Gretsch I used to have. Oh man, you know, who's telling me a great Gretsch story? Oh, it was Randy Bachman who found his old Gretsch or something. Oh yeah. Japan or something. But I have a better Gretsch story than that crap. There was a band in Toronto named Osby Field and they used to play the Beverly and we were one of the first bands to play the Beverly but you said we're getting into that history. This is before, well before this. But there was anyway, there's a band called Osby Field and I can't remember

his name but the leader was a Gretch fanatic. They had Gretsch drums, they had Gretsch amps, they had a Gretsch keyboard, he played all Gretsch guitars, and the bass player had this 1948 Gretsch hollow body electric bass one of the first things. So everything was Gretsch in that band. Wow. They're apparently the people behind Gretsch. They needed, I don't know if they lost stuff in a fire or a flood or something, something happened. They were notorious for their things falling apart. The ones that, but the ones that were good were great. Yeah, they were trying to buy Randy Backman's personal collection or something.

So I played sax on this and I noticed you've got the Martha and the Muffins thing on because this band was current with that band and there was a thing, there were a few sax players around who played in this kind of style right I think I can remember the person's name we played with Martha and the Muffins but there was a kinship there in that whole thing and then I played with the Drastic Measures sax and did a little with the B Girls and I'm on the Diodes record. Wow you're tired of Waking Up Tired is that right? Not that record but on that album. You just kicked that out and was it? Yeah, just got kicked out. And I'm playing sax on this little... Oh yeah, right.

I said that. You played sax. So, okay, let's go back now. This is 1978. So, Fergus, like when did you realize you had a proficiency in music, you wanted to be a musician? Like take me way back and then we'll get ourselves to the satellites. wanted to be a musician. Like take me way back and then we'll get ourselves to the satellites. When I was nine or ten years old I had a hit parade of songs that I made up. Although I strongly suspect that they were copied off of my... I had a song called Beautiful Moon that I'm pretty sure was Connie Francis's Carolina Moon which was on the flip side of Stupid Cupid of an MGM 78 that my brother had.

Stop picking on me. Exactly. The flip side was called Carolina Moon. Anyway, so I've always been really interested in the songs and my dad was a freelance writer and a poet and he could never really decide who was the greater genius. Was it Mozart or Fats Waller? He wasn't really sure. So we had a lot of that stuff. And I know hundreds of Fats Waller songs, and I just love them so much. And I just love the art of songwriting.

And I used to read, like many of my generation, the backs of those albums and the liner notes and study who produced and who wrote the songs and everything like it was a journey. Do you mind if I interrupt to ask you about your dad for a moment because Rob Proust saw that he took a screen cap and he was showing me of your Facebook page five years ago and young and Elliot and Chaplin like like just tell me a little more about your dad because when he when he passed away, which was a few years ago now he was

ninety nine dad. When he passed away, which was a few years ago now, he was 99. My daughter was disappointed he didn't make his century like in cricket, but there you go. Well like Anthony's father, he hit 100. And I got his address book and this was from sort of 1950 when he was working for the BBC. And so in the letter J is Carl Jung's address in Switzerland. He was the first person to interview Jung in English. Wow. For the BBC.

And then the C page, which is the one I think I posted, is it got Jean Cocteau and Charles Chaplin and with the other Cs in there. Albert. Oh yeah, Camus was in there. That's right, Albert with the other season there. Albert. Oh yeah, Camus was in there. That's right, Albert Camus was in there and he's got Andre Malraux and Jacob Epstein, the sculptor. That's not a name anyone knows, but I'm going to give you a little poem right now.

It's about the wonderful family named Stein. There's Gertie and F and Ein. Gert's poems are bunk, F's statues are junk, and no one understands Ein. So Gertrude Stein and Joseph Epstein and Alfred Einstein. Very good. So when I go, that knowledge goes with me, okay? No, it's been recorded now.

That's the whole point. Fergus, that's the whole point of this. Oh, I get it. In a hundred years, someone's gonna hear that. It's like, I always, like my daughter will, my youngest daughter will be, recite something that we were saying in the schoolyards in the 80s. And I'll be, have a moment of like, like, how does she know that? And then she'll be like, yeah, I heard it on the Simpsons. Cause the writers of the Simpsons put it in there. And basically that's how a hundred years from

now they'll be talking about. My dad was, my son was in Annie. He played Daddy Warbucks when he was a little kid, right? Like, he had to shave his head when he was in grade eight. They did Annie. Yes. And my dad said, well, you know what the origin of Daddy Warbucks is? And I didn't know, but he said he was the villain in the original comic strip because he made his money selling munitions during the first world war. Daddy Warbucks. Right? Oh my God.

I know, I know. That I took, I don't know if it was me. My dad had a radio show on the CBC called Now I Ask You, which was all trivia. So he was filled to the brim with the greatest stuff. Is this where you get your pipes from? Maybe, maybe, I don't know. He was a great poet,

and he was in the Oxford Book of Canadian Poets, I always have to mention this, but he was edited out in the seventies by Margaret Atwood when she did a new version of it. They took him out of the Oxford Book of Canadian Poets. That's a shame. Well, that's what I feel. All right.

So then now, okay, so thank you for telling us about your dad. Rob gave me that tip. It's like, oh, like I got to ask him about his dad. So you're, you're, you're very young man and you're all into music, so walk us through a little bit of the history on our way to the satellites. Well, we were mad about music. From the age of eight to twelve, I lived in Oakville, and the record store there, and by the way, I went to public school with Dave from the Kings.

And anyway the store there called Loftquist was a furniture store and downstairs they had listening booths so literally it was like the 50s. We rammed our heads in there and Mrs. Loftquist played the records for us and one day I got the new Elvis single which was Marie's the name of his latest flame and little sister. That A and B side like a killer A and B side and I it's the name of his latest flame and little sister that A&B side like a killer A&B side and I it's the summertime the records used to come on Friday night from Toronto and the Saturday morning we go there so this Saturday morning I bought this record yeah 98 cents plus three cents Ontario sales tax I still have the 45 and then I got on my bike and I cycled up to the

pool where I knew all my friends were and we I just stood around and looked At the new Elvis record and went there's the new Elvis record. Oh, look at the other side now And in high school, I have to tell you we used to in grade 9 or 10. We'd say oh Do you want to go down and look at the Beatle amps? So I went to Jarvis downtown and we go down to the music store Which was beside Basil's at Jordan Young and they had the Vox franchise so in the window they had the Vox Super Beetles and we go down and look at the amps and there would be kids from other schools that came to look at the amps. I know it was so good. Anyway so

we were mad about music and I was buying 45s like, you know, every week I'd get another one and my mom would say, how many records have you got? I'd say, oh, it's the same as before. The pile was getting like higher and higher and higher. But I was working hard at the paper route, so it was all good. So then when I got to Toronto, and as I say, I used to make up songs,

but I didn't really play any instruments or anything anything but when I got to Toronto in grade nine I went to Jarvis Collegiate and there was a young fellow there who just started the music and teaching music. I tried not to take music because I had this teacher in grade six who put me off music forever one of those situations but my mom insisted that I said I want to take, they had three options in those days, music, art, and typing. And I said, I'm gonna take typing.

And she said, you're not gonna take typing. I can teach you to type. So, so I ended up taking, anyway, very inspiring guy named Ron Chandler, who took a music program that had been basically abandoned. They had a strings program two years before, but it was suspended. Took a program and within three years,

we were like winning awards. And I was playing clarinet and that. And because of Ron, I joined the union when I was 15, because I always wanted to play in the 48th Highlanders band. And they were the Busbys, right? The fur hats, the big fur hats. Like at opening night at Maple Leaf Gardens you'd... Well this was the thing, this reason I wanted to get in was so I could play at Maple Leaf Gardens.

It looked like a great gig, the guys just played the anthem then they sat there. Remember the flags used to flutter out and there was a picture of the Queen? Yes, yes. And so, and but that was the year that Ballard got rid of the Forty Thallanders and hired an organist instead. But ironically, I ended up playing jazz with the organist Ralph Fraser years and years later and he told me that he got fired from the gardens because he used to drink a bit, so by the third period, they would get a little erratic.

Ballard was all about saving money. Anyway, so I joined the union at 15. Had to write a music test in those days. I don't think they still do that. And played, you know, Alan Gardens was my first gig in downtown Toronto, 3750, union scale.

I thought that was fucking great. Really good. So like many people, you know, the Beatles, blah, blah, blah. I don't have to tell you about that. Kind of took over everything. And, you know, but I was already interested in songwriting and all this stuff. Yeah. I've got a great story to tell you, actually. Tell me the story quickly to tell everybody

listening that the current keyboardist, I guess you had keyboardist, is that the organist at Maple Leaf Gardens, not Maple Leaf Gardens, Scotiabank Arena, where am I here? But he's been there since Maple Leaf Gardens, is Jimmy Holmstrom, Jimmy Holmstrom's an FOTM, he's been over here to tell his story, but he was hired by Gord Stalek in 1988, and he's been there ever since.

Wow, awesome. Now back to you. Yeah, well I was gonna say, you know, I said I kept all the records I had. So there was a record that I bought when I was, I think, I think it was 1960, so I was 10. And it's, and it's by a guy called Buddy Clinton, who, which was the stage name of a guy who went on to write many famous songs.

But anyway, this song was called Take Me to Your Ladder, I'll See Your Leader Later. And it was about a guy who went to the moon and found that the women were 20 feet tall. So when he landed there, he said, Take me to your ladder, I'll see your leader later. Well, the point of this is that I looked at it about two years ago. I've still got the record. And I noticed it was written by Bachrach and Hilliard. So it's an early by Bachrach and Hilliard so it's an early Burt Bachrach song and I swear to you the reason I have this record is because it goes take me to your ladder I'll see your leader later because nothing in

this world could be greater than a woman who's 20 feet tall but beautiful and they go off in this lovely little thing and that Enraptured me when I was like 10 years old. So I'm looking at this record and I'm thinking Backrack got me when I was 10 with one of his little melodic twists, right? One of his little melodic turns is so attractive that he has in all of his songs right and there it was So anyway, there's a story for my singles. singles well shout out to Kurt swing hammer big back rag head oh absolutely did Blair tell you his back rack connection yes he did he was entertaining him and then but he calls in he taps in Kurt for that I believe the king he and

Kurt I think Kurt swing hammer enters that story I remember that story correctly yeah but he was there was a was a 9-eleven for some reason he was grounded here I feel like it was 9-eleven in back right was stuck here. Can you fly? I crack used to date Blair's mother. Okay You know, I saw something at McGill. He's got multiple. Okay, he did share that but yeah, he has multiple back. I know the other So okay. Hold on slow down here. So at McGill Bert back rack dated Blair Packham's mother. That's right. That's amazing. I know. I don't know.

Okay. Probably had an effect. Well, listen, any stories of that nature you have, Fergus, just spit it into the microphone. We've got to capture all those. That's a good one. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, yeah, so, but I always liked all that stuff and wanted to be in a band, and I liked

singing, so I ended up singing with a band that played on the island. Like played on the Toronto island? Yeah, in the clubhouse on the island there. And we did Honey Don't, I remember, and my girlfriend was there with Honey because my throat was ripped out raw trying to compete with Ted Scovel's screaming lead guitar. What was the name of this band?

Oh, you know what, I don't know. No, no I do, the Wombats. Okay Oh, you know what? I don't know. No, no, I do. The Wombats. Okay. There you go. I forgot they were called the Wombats. Okay. Anyway, that went through high school playing with different bands and, you know, forming different things. And I just have to say that at Jarvis, I went to school with a rather remarkable cohort of people. Okay. Especially. Is especially Jarvis Collegiate, Jarvis Collegiate. Yeah, there were a lot of women there that ended up doing quite amazing things in the arts, pretty incredible people.

You're going to name check these some of these people. Val Ross, really well known as a journalist and silver size. It's a great journalist as well. A financial journalist and Ireland, who wrote award-winning novels, Mark Jordan who's a fine songwriter, Blair Packham was a little later than me, Aaron Davis who is a great arranger and pianist and works with Misha Vukogh-Groesman. It was an incredible time, it really was and there were others, like seriously. Wow.

And we were all downtown, and I found out years later that Jarvis was the school where they sent the misfit teachers. It didn't fit in at the other schools, so we had a fairly eccentric cast of teachers as well. Very cool. But it was a good atmosphere. Very creative, and we were downtown. So I lived right next to Yorkville Village, so I used to go and see bands there all the time so you know so good.

Yeah. Although I have to say I'm glad there weren't phones recording all the gigs so that I can remember them for the golden treasures that they were. I mean when we played we used to tune our guitars with a tuning fork backstage while the disco was playing outside right. So do you remember the names of all your bands? Okay so Wombats and then who's that what's after Wombats? Well there was a band played in high school called The Collectors that were really good and so I kind of joined up with them when I got grade 12 or something and then we called ourselves the Ginger Group.

We made a great record. I'm going to send you a link to that. It didn't come out as a single, it was just like a demo, but it's a fucking great sound. The guitar was stolen from the new beats apparently. Green like bread and butter. That song. When they played in Toronto. But anyway, we had a rehearsal studio, which was right where the Toronto Library is now. So there was Longquaid on the corner. And then just along Collier Street there

was a big pink house called Career Girls Unlimited, which was a temp agency. And behind, they owned this square box sort of building behind there, which was rented by Ernie Schultz, who had a children's theater company, and we rented it from Ernie to practice there, so we practiced there at night. So, and so you imagine how good that was,

like right at Yorkville and Young, we had a studio that we could go to all night long and play music, and we became friends with the MC5, you know that band from Detroit? Kick Out the Jams. Yeah. Are you kidding? Yeah. Which was the reason why when Led Zeppelin came, me and my snobby friends thought, this

is baby music. Right. This is weak. This is pathetic. I'm sorry. But that was what we thought of them at the time, right? This fucking awful-litten drummer and terrible lead guitar player, and that guy with his thing stuffed in his pants,

and I was like, what the fuck? Anyway, yeah. Love the real tuck. Yeah, well, there you go. But the MC5, okay, it was after John Sinclair was busted, and they came, because we knew a guy from Ann Arbor, and they had all this, their special slang, their special ethos, the whole

thing. Brother Wayne Kramer and of course, brother Fred Smith and all that stuff. It was great, great fun. Nobody left, right? It was nobody left from MC5. I think we've lost them all. Oh, I believe so. Oh yeah, Wayne Kramer's gone now. Yeah, yeah. I think we're gone. This actually came up with Jack Rabbit was on the program and we were talking about that. He was kicking out his favorite ten Canadian bands of all time, but that was a Monday. This is Friday, so okay, so you know, keep keep going here. Just give me the highlights on our way to the satellites and then I'm going to play more music and I got lost. I went to I like many, pissed off and went to Europe and hitchhiked around and

did all that stuff, right? And I wanted to, I wanted to get into U of T, in the music program, so I spent a year getting my piano and my harmony and my clarinet playing up to the thing and I just made it by the skin of my teeth. I always tell people, if you think the pop music business is competitive, try to play a classical instrument at that level. It's pretty intense. Anyway, but I'd written a whole pile of songs and my brother was a producer. He's produced some pretty famous Canadian records and he sent the songs to Capitol and it was just when

the Canadian content legislation had come in and Capitol was looking for people. I was signed at the same time as Shirley Eckhart, as Chris Kearney, there was a big duo called Aarons and Ackley that was there, there was a band called Peppertree. All these bands were signed by Paul White. Eckhart wrote the, let's give him something to talk about, right? Shirley wrote that, yeah. Yes, okay. And yeah, she was like 15 when she was signed and I was, so I was, anyway, long story short, I signed a deals, which meant I only stayed at U of T for like four months.

However, I did have a great composition teacher and wrote all the string arrangements on my first album, the first capital album, which is a, it's a nice record. You know, it's funny, it's 50 years ago now, but I feel close to it just because it was all those original songs of mine that just kind of fell out of me I didn't really know what I was doing particularly. This is a solo effort. Yeah, I had two albums on capital that were solo albums and I will tell you a story about this. Yes, and that is that a friend of mine Who's English? knew the program director at chum and took the record in. He started playing the hell out of it.

And then they found out it was a Canadian record and they were so pissed off. Why? You have to understand that in the Canadian content regulations was passed, the radio stations were kicking and screaming. First of all, they played the Canadian records between 12 and 6 in the morning on Sunday morning. Well, the Beaver Hours. Yeah, well, they were

they were they were... They would dump them, right? They opposed that legislation really strongly and and they reluctantly went along with it. The record companies were more willing to go along with it because there was a lot of pressure on them to sign all these acts that were popular. I mean, some of them did some good work in the 60s before they were forced to, like Columbia did, and a few of the other companies did research

the Canadian bands, but it was a real antagonistic situation so they felt they'd been fooled. They thought we'd tried to pull a fast one on them. They thought it was an English record. So they played the hell out of it. What does that say? That's funny. Yeah, well it's one of those things where

you value the imports more than you do the domestic product. But you'd think that they would realize now, of course, they can play the hell out of Fergus and that'll be CanCon. Yeah well then they realized it then too but anyway it's a long long time. It sounds to me like the plan was you were gonna be Fergus Hamilton's solo artist. Yeah. But we know you best from being a vocalist in bands. So what happens? How does that change? Well, I did another second album for Capital, which was quite a bit different, a bit more

rocky because I had a band there, which was a nice four-piece band. And then I made another album that my brother put out on his label because I was dropped by Capital at that point because for a number of reasons you know I don't think of it in any negative kind of way because basically the Canadian business was in his infancy. I didn't have a manager. I didn't know what the F I was doing like I just wasn't you know they wanted people who were up for promoos themselves and you know and I just so. But did you consider at this time doing what people like you know Neil Young and

Joni Mitchell and they'd all went to the States like did you consider I'm going to go to the States. I did and I will tell you. That. My good friend Mark Jordan went to the States and did that and I made a conscious decision not to do that Literally, so you decided you wanted to stay in Canada I decided I wanted to stay in Canada and there might have been some fear and I think actually there's a lot of ignorance because Really? Honestly, I was pretty naive about the way the business operated, you know like

Honestly, I was pretty naive about the way the business operated, you know, like Many younger people coming up now because there's so much information out there pretty savvy about a lot of the way the music business works But I really had no idea and these days you have to do everything if you want to be in the meat You've got to know about graphics. You've got to you know, be able to produce you know, all this stuff, right? I mean those days there was capital had a photographer and you know graphics department I didn't think about any of that stuff I just played music right so and I think I was limited a bit by my lack of imagination right but anyway I did kind of make a conscious decision to just stay here and play music and meanwhile Mark Jordan is living in Marina Del Rey. He's living in Toronto

he came back. Well now now he is, yeah. We have an Amy Skyer here now, but... He came back from there. No, I know. I just wanted to shout out the big hit there. Okay. Yeah, I know. He wrote some great songs.

I remember rehearsing with him on the island and we played Bob Dylan songs, and that's when we were 17 or 18 or something. Oh, it's wild that you go back that far of him. Okay, because he's been over. This dude... Now, you never had lunch at... Have you had lunch at Allen's with him? I have not, but we've had lunch a few times. I feel like you could be in lunch at Allen's. The nice thing about

Toronto is that is it because I grew up downtown. Yeah. And you know, Mark has lived up on Walker Avenue. I took singing lessons from his dad. Do you know who his dad was? No. Charles Jordan, one of Canada's finest baritones classical baritones unbelievable singer and his wife Gloria was Sorry, but he was known as a great singer too, but she kind of retired but my mom You know from the early days and whoa Just a beautiful singer and Charles was a great singer too. He had a radio show in the States, an hour-long radio show, he told

me this once, an hour-long radio show. It was him and another woman, three backup singers and a ranger, a conductor, 25 members of the NBC Symphony Orchestra all for that one radio show, right? Like that's employment, right? And now if they do a show like that they've got a keyboard guy, you know. The play to sing to a track. He was a great singer and I really learned. I went to him because at this point I was more interested in more folk-y kinds of music. So at the time when disco and everything was happening, I was born to like pentangle and Fairport convention and stuff like that. I was in and I went to Charles because I knew he knew a lot of that repertoire because they they did a lot of it in that radio show. He knew a

ton of that repertoire and I learned a lot of songs from him. You know this is learning so much about these parents of FOTM's in this episode. We're learning about Blair's mom, we're learning about Mark Jordan's parents, we're learning about your dad here. Love it so much. Okay, so please continue. One thing I've got to point out is that, you know there's this myth,

there's this myth that Toronto is this really dull, backward place and nothing was happening here until the vibrant 60s, right? And you know Margaret Atwood re-edited the Canadian Book of Poets because we know there was nothing happening It was all very dull and provincial right well that was not true Because we had Glenn Gould here, and we had marine forester here, and we had Marshall McLuhan here We had Charles Jordan here. We had my dad. We had Len Peterson. We had all kinds of people

It was a culture going on here And I think I've traced the reason why that myth got started. Tell me. Of all the British expats who came here and were so pissed that they couldn't get a drink on Sundays that they labeled this place as a backwater. And that's my theory, okay? I'm sticking with it. Well look, I need to... No, but there was a cultural, like there was a lot of stuff happening here and I always

find it irritating when people say, oh, you know, before it was nothing going on here for the terrible abstract artists, you know. No, that's why you're here, man. You were there, as we say on the show. So you were there. You're giving us the real deal here. Okay. Now keep walking me.

So now are we in the seventies yet? I've lost track. Yeah, no, we're in the seventies. So 74, 75 and I'm playing a little music working on Queen Street and I was working in a place called the Peter Pan, that restaurant there, you know it? I know of it, yes. So I won't even tell you those long stories but whatever, the Peter Pan, but down the street was the Beverly Tavern and because of, it was in this band called Moon Food.

And Moon Food, we actually have seven songs that we did with Danny Lanwan, his parents' basement, in 1975. There's a name for you. Yeah, 1975, it was a great sounding demo. And we were one of the first bands to play at the Beverly because Eric went to OCA, the art college there, and that was where everybody went to drink from the OCA, so then they started

having bands there. And that was the time when the dishes started to bid after us, but the diodes, that was when the whole New Wave thing started then, and that was when I thought to myself, well, I can play all these. I went to see this band, I can play all these. You know, like I went to see this band called, by a guy, with a guy named Matt Harley. And Matt's around still, he's a great artist, he's obsessed with dinosaurs, or he was then anyway. But they remember we were going to see them and they did the song, Just Like Romeo and

Juliet. And I thought, wow, they're playing these shitty old songs? I could do that. So, yeah, that's when I got involved with the Diodes and the B Girls and Drastic. And Tony knew about my capital stuff. And that's how I got involved with Drastic Measures. And Tony was a, you know, the guy was troubled in many ways,

but the guy was a genius as well, too. Like he was a really interesting player. We did the scene from Hawaii five, oh, rock style. Yeah, it was fantastic. It was so good. Okay, cool. Now it's, you know, early in this conversation, you mentioned that you didn't know how to play anything,

but it's worth noting you play like you play the keyboard, you play the guitar, alto sax. Oh yeah, right. You're proficient in a number of instruments. When I entered high school, like I didn't actually play any instrument. Right. And then, you know, I didn't actually play any instrument. Right. And then, you know, I wanted to play the guitar,

and I wanted to be like the Beatles, and then we had a piano there, and you know, I was so pigheaded, right? Like, my parents got me piano lessons, and wanted me to take piano lessons. You know, we're a pretty artsy family, so, and I didn't want to do it. I wanted to play baseball, you know, with my friends, and my friends and they said okay well do it for a year and if you

don't like it you can quit and I'm so pigheaded that I actually quit after a year but years later my mom said to me you know that woman who was the teacher was not very good like my brother Ian didn't like her either and I think that I just disliked her on a level the same way I disliked that woman in grade six who sang so badly right and you know this killed my musical career I was putting piano lessons, and I hated my teacher, and I just rejected the whole thing like I just you know what I Didn't care about that definitely sometimes that happens for sure anyway But I was very I was I I was musical because I was making up songs and singing Before like I made up a whole pile of songs when I was little

Just because I like songwriting and that's really been My main thrust is singing and songwriting so I can play the guitar Reasonably, but you know if I really want some amazing guitar playing I hire guys that are amazing guitar players And functional on things you know so now you mentioned that you'd rather be playing baseball than learning piano there. Are you still a baseball fan? I'm a fan of athletics, generally speaking. I like the drama. And so I follow all the major sports in a way, not as a not as a like I vaguely know about basketball I vaguely know who's you know tops in Grand Prix racing you know I

just sort of general I like the drama of the stuff however I have to say that well the first year I watched baseball was with my friend Michael Mosley and it was the year that Mantle hit 58 Maris hit 60 I think that year, but Elston Howard hit 44 and Bobby Richardson, so I became a Yankee fan. Well Maris hit 61. Okay so that's. Because the record was 60 by Babe Ruth. Okay so he hit 61 and Mantle was just behind him

and Bobby Richardson and Tommy Trash and you know those guys were all hitting, like that Yankee team was unbelievable. So that's when I started. Wow. And the first year I watched the Leafs was the year that they made the playoffs on the last day of the season. And there was 59 and then they were swept by the Canadians in the semifinals who were just kind of that was their fifth year, fifth cup in a row,

I think that year. But but yeah, it's my semifinals Hawks one. And I think next year, really you but yeah, it's funny. Semifinals Hawks won it. I think next year, really you start in the semifinals, right? Like four out of six teams make the playoffs and you're in the semis right away. There's only six teams. Right. Well, that was the first time they, they've been out of the picture for quite a few years, but they had this, yeah, they were an exciting young team, right? Keon was young and Armstrong was leading them. We're right in Allen Stanley had just been brought in and stuff. So, and then we had a good decade of the 60s.

I went to a few parades. Yes, I went to a few parades. I went to a 2019 NBA Championship parade, but I don't know what these Stanley Cup parades look like. I would have no idea. I saw black and white footage of a couple. It was all in black and white actually. Everything was black and white. There was no colour in those. There was no colour footage of the Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup,

which is all you need to know. But there's another Maple Leafs I just want to tell you about briefly, Fergus. So there's a Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team. They were the Maple Leafs before the hockey team. Hey, I follow the Toronto Maple Leafs. Don't worry, I've been to Christie Fitz to see many a game.

Don't start with me. Okay, well listen. I want to hear more because this coming Sunday I'm there. Are you up in the booth? No, I'm there's actually like a members tent. Oh yeah. Where you get your leafs, logger and your hot dogs and everything for members and I'm right beside this and this is beyond left field fence if you're looking for it. Okay. Not far from where you line up to get your ice cream and hot dogs and stuff. Not far from the

clubhouse. So I'm gonna be at a table under a tent and I'll be recording at 2 p.m. Sunday. No, no I heard you say that earlier. I'm planning to be at a table under a tent and I'll be recording at 2pm Sunday. No, no. I heard you say that earlier. I'm planning to come by and visit you. Honestly, come by. I can cycle this time rather than. Come by and say hi to be amazing. And if you get there a little early, I'm going to throw out the first pitch. Awesome. Like I'm still blown away that I'm going to be throwing out the first pitch. So that's a, you know, that's worth the price of admission alone and the price of admission is zero.

We'll have to come and heckle from the hill. We're heckling from the hill. Oh, I'd be honored. There's a big group of hecklers there. Can't remember, they have a great name, but. You know, literally, I've been going to see those games for many years, many years. Did you go to the old, the stadium

where the Tip Top Tailors was there on Stadium Road in Lake True? I'm afraid to say I did see a game there when I was a, What was that venue like? I lived in Oakville and I delivered the Toronto Telegram. And so there was a Toronto Telegram trip. All the kids, we went to the ball. We went to see the Mayfellips play.

And I don't remember who they played. I think it was Cleveland something. Was there a Cleveland. That I don't know. But I do know Sparky Anderson was a part of this team. I don't remember any of the players. It was a fantastic. I just remember it was a great, we rode in a bus and, you know, but I do know Sparky Anderson was a part of this team. I don't remember any of the players. It was a fantastic. I just remember it was a great, we rode in a bus and, you know, we had a ball.

And that's like, like I've seen photos of. It was a beautiful park. Yeah, it looked like a really cool old time stadium. Gorgeous with those open, you know, like, yeah. Like you'd see it in like the natural, the natural or something like that. But I want to assure you, though, I was not at the Christie Pitts riots in 1937. Okay, I wasn't there. I was gonna ask you if you were there.

I thought I saw you there. Okay, so amazing that you're a fan already of the great high quality semi-pro baseball you get at Christie Pitts. You can fill the hill, everybody. Come by, say hi, I'm recording. Fergus is gonna be there. I did invite Rick Emmett to the season opener and Rick Emmett came and Blair Packham actually picked him up and brought him

There that's what a sweetheart Blair Packham is But you should have seen the the dudes with their triumph albums who were lined up to get Rick Emmett to sign it It was wild. He's such a lovely guy. Rick is such a beautiful guy. Good baseball player, too Is he I didn't know that like a well particularly slow pitch, but don't mess with Rick Emmett, that guy. Okay. You need a good guitar as you give him a call. I think Blair, is it, is this the Blair Packham episode or the, the Fergus Hamilton episode? Because it's all about Blair today, but I believe he's produced new music for Rick Emmett.

Like, I think that's coming down the pipe. Oh, I get it. So stay tuned here. All right. I want the satellite story. So is there anything pre satellites that you want to share before we dive in? Well, I've been recording I made a few Singles for like a few independent singles. There was a company called ready records

It was recording some Toronto people and I made a couple singles for them and I went to England and recorded a nice song With the guy that used Sid Buckner a famous producer his son actually lives in Toronto now Or it's his nephew any relation to the late great Bill Buckner who made an error in sliding back to baseball He's never gotten over to retired and became a producer of reggae music in England He did do that episode of curb your enthusiasm though where he kind of that's right. I caught the baby Though I did a nice recording in England and then when I came back what happened was I was played saxophone so I kind of joined up this horn section. Okay, let me rewind a bit.

When I lived in the Kensington Market there were two stores there, Stranger Cole and Ronnie Bopp, two reggae stores, and down the road was Tiger's Coconut Grove, and he was a Haitian guy from Montreal. But the reggae records, so that's where I bought my first reggae, and I used to go and chat with Ronnie Bopp, and Ronnie Bopp hired me to do some sessions. So I did a fair number of sessions. While I was getting into the folk music and all that stuff,

what I was also doing was playing saxophone on a lot of Jamaican sessions okay there was this guy on Eglinton called George at Monica's Hairstyling which is still there but George has passed away but George did this thing he called coat-tailing and what he would do is he would watch the American charts and if Luther van der Rosse had a hit he would record it here in reggae and press the records and then drive to New York and sell the records in Brooklyn and all the Bronx and all the little stores and stuff. So they had a really good thing going. I thought you were going to say he'd record them and then he would get Airplane Canada because they were Cancon. No, no, no, no, no, no, he just

recorded reggae versions. Reggae versions of this. This is, you know, before no, no, no, he just, he just recorded reggae version like rhythm and blues, reggae versions of this. This is, you know, before SoundScan, all this shit was outside any record keeping, right? Like, you could go to New York and sell 10,000 copies of a record, it wouldn't show up on any chart or anything, nothing. You know, this is, and these guys, there were a lot of these guys around, there's a guy called S guy got s&w soul king on st Claire did the same thing take Jamaican records and repackage them and whatever anyway, so I did quite a few of those things so I was playing in this horn section and We would back up Jamaican artists so and like these solo singers would come and they wouldn't have a band They would just send a song list two months in advance they wouldn't have a band, they would just send a song list two months in advance that would have 20 songs on it and then they'd get here and we wouldn't be doing any of

those, we'd do all 20 different songs. But they're all, you know, some famous people that I played with, Horace Andy and just some great, Barrington Levy, all kinds of great artists. And quite a few of them lived here too, like some famous artists. I played in LeRoy Sibyl's band as a guitar player, he was a famous Jamaican singer and songwriter. So that was kind of all going on, so I was part of that scene.

And so we started a music school, the trumpet player, Jojo Bennett and myself. There were four of us originally that started the school, but the two of the guys dropped out immediately. Seymour, I haven't heard of him years, and Breckenridge is an insurance salesman, lives out in the West End somewhere. But how did you meet Jojo? Well I was playing in this horn section and we were doing this show, it was Tony Tough, Cornell Campbell and George Faith, all of whom had hits,

but Tony Tuff had really big, oh, Cornell Campbell had an amazing hit at the time called Queen of the Minstrel, it was a fucking great record. Anyway, we played a number of gigs, and we played this restaurant out on Queen Street, and we played the concert hall, you know, which was the Rock Pile, the week before, and there'd been a shooting.

888. Someone was shot in the buttocks. Okay. And then we had this other gig the next week and somebody said, oh, Jojo's gonna play with us tonight and Jojo was kind of legendary, hadn't been out in public for a while but he was really famous from his days in the 60s

when he was a famous guy in Jamaica. Jojo's coming, so I said, okay, I'll meet this guy. So we're playing and we're three songs into Tony Tuff's set. And I look around and Jo's not there. I go, oh, that's weird. And two minutes later, the emergency task force come in and shut the thing down, turn on all the lights, and we have to leave one by one while they search everybody

and there's like weapons on the floor afterwards and shit. But Jojo, with his unerring instinct, knew that something was gonna happen and just took off. That's where I first met him. Okay, I thought maybe he was with Afreen. With what, sorry? Afreen, the reggae singer. Am I? I don't know who that is.

A-F-R-E-E-N. Okay, so. I don't know who that is. Then I'm gonna address Rosie Gray Teo, if you're listening. And I know you are, that we have some mop up to do, okay? You know what that means. So we'll take care of you, Fergus, don't worry. Okay, so you meet JoJo. Now this school, is this the Satellites Music School?

It is, yeah. And tell us, like, what was the, is this the Satellites Music School? It is. And tell us, like what was the, what is the Satellite Music, this is 1981 I guess we're going back to. 1980, 79, 80 something like that. I think 79 was the, yeah. So um. And tell me with the spelling, as I'm preparing and everything, Spellcheck hates the name. I know, I know it does, it does, S-A-T-T-A.

Yeah, so what is that about? Is that an accident or is that a purpose? No, that just... Just to be different? No, it just means easy. We just sat there. And originally we played music by the scatolites, but Joe used to say, we're not scat there, we sat there.

Oh, you know what? I was wondering and now you've answered the question. Okay. And I'll tell you the story of our... Let me tell you the real origin story of the satellites. Yeah, please. Because the drummer that played on a lot of these shows was a guy named Joe Isaacs. Now, Joe Isaacs is a legend and has played on...

You could just look him up and he's played on like foundation shit from 1964. Like really the heaviest stuff, like seriously. And Joe Isaac was living in Toronto, great drummer. And Joe had an idea that he wanted to have a reggae band that played ska, but was a show band. So he formed the Zadolax. And that's where the Four Horned Guys were. He assembled us and a guy named Charlie Brown whose son Maverick

Brown is in a local group now And Charlie had some great songs and great bass player. We had a camera name damn it and But the kicker was he had this woman makeup costumes for us like earth wind and fire so we had these capes and these spangly kind of costumes. This is 78 maybe, 77 maybe something like that. I can't quite remember exactly. But so, and we did a few things

around that Black World TV show, Daniel Cotterone. I'm sure all the tapes have been wiped, which is really sad. Cause we had some, we had made a couple of nice records. And when I did that ready records deal, when I was ready records, they let me do a song with the horn section, a reggae song,

which I did in French and English. It's a decidedly non-commercial move, but it's called Steal This Girl, but the French side is, en beaujour, ta blonde va s'en aller. One fine day, your blonde is gonna leave you. And I wrote that with Marilene Hammond. She helped me with the French because she's a Francophone.

So anyway, this was Joe's idea. So our first big gig was playing with Byron Lee in one of Byron Lee's visits now. If you know about Byron Lee in the Dragon Heirs, he's the guy that made ska popular in the 60s and was the big... Wave number one. Yeah. And Joe and Felix used to play with Byron and they left when they came here for expo 67 they left and

stayed in Canada and Byron never forgave well I shouldn't say that because they did meet again later and they did forgive but we started up playing these scott tunes and Joe's famous for these ska tunes that he made famous with Byron. We're into it. The fucking power goes. Everything goes at our end of the stage. And at the other end of the, we're in the international center. We're set up at one end.

Byron leaves at the other end. Our power goes. Byron's band starts and we don't finish. So that's, you know. And there you go. And, but, but I'm but that I need to understand so the music school The bands like you're a teaching group right because this is just for people the satellites music school Yeah, we can

Exactly and we had students come and so somebody would learn a song on the bass Or maybe two songs on the bass Somebody else will learn a couple songs, somebody will learn a song on the guitar or the keyboard and then we take them out to a restaurant and that was the recital. So they'd all have their song to do, right? Okay. Can I play a satellite song? Sure. All right. Which one are you going to play? Well, I'm going to play some of the hits here. Let's play some of it. If you want me, give me a little sweet talk But if you want me, don't leave me on girl And if you need me, come on show me that you love me

And when I'm feeling blue and I want you There's just one thing that you should do Just give me some kind of sign girl Oh my baby Show me that you're mine girl Alright Just give me some kind of sign girl Oh my darling

Show me that you're mine girl Alright Well if you do want me Give me a little sweet talk But if you do want me, give me a little sweet talk, but if you want me, don't leave me on your side. Fergus this was a big hit. This did and still continues to roll along which is kind of amazing. And this is not the first album right, so I mean, so this is, but this is early days

for Satellites and what stations, I'm'm curious what stations are playing this? What radio stations are playing it now? You mean back then back then? Yeah. You know, I went into an office and I got on the phone and I phoned radio all across the country. But we started with She Loves You, which was the first single we did. Right. And this was after we'd done our album, we were just looking around for something to do. I used to sing this to my girlfriend when I was in grade 10, because I love the record so much. I have the Brenton Wood album with this song on it. Right. Give me some kind of sign.

This is, I believe, the pop charts in this country. It went to number 44, but it's number 9 on the adult contemporary charts back then. Yeah I can still hear the distortion on the bass but whatever. You got to let that go Fergus. People like what they hear here. People like what they hear. You actually had a bigger hit which which I'll play next here, but I'm going to ask you about... Sunsplash. So, tell me, what was Sunsplash?

You played in front of 25,000 people at Sunsplash in Jamaica. Yeah, that was... That year, Sunsplash, and many years, it was four nights. And we were on the International Night, it was called. So it was a band from Mexico that was fantastic, as I recall. And we played on that night as well. It was fantastic. Really, really great. Quite a moment. How'd you get the invitation? They just liked what they heard? You know, I'm not sure about that.

Who made this happen? on Fergus well we Jojo and I went down in 1986 for the 100th anniversary of the school he was raised in Alpha Boy School where he learned his trade run by the nuns and that was an amazing absolutely amazing concert at Cariff Theatre in Kingston. That was my... and honestly, I went... I've been to Jamaica in a few years. The last time I was there, a lot of people remembered me from that concert because at that time, I mean, I'm sure there were maybe other white guys singing reggae, but other than UB40 and us, there wasn't anybody else.

That's a good point. And I'm wondering, so Satellites and UB40 and us, there wasn't anybody else. That's a good point. And I'm wondering, so satellites and UB40, how did so did you hear UB40 first coming out of England or whatnot? And then you were influenced by that? Or were they you guys just mutually exclusive streams that were kind of going on different sides of the ocean? Like, like how did? Well, I was already playing reggae in the scene, and so was Jojo. And he'd been playing reggae for years.

So it was just, I didn't really think about it really. It was just a continuum. And they were doing it over there. And in those days, things, I'm just observing here, but things are quite niche driven right now, right? I find that even huge stars, they can be enormous with billions of streams and you can go out in the street

and most of the people you spoke to would never have heard of them, right? So in a way, we were almost more connected back then in a way, because everybody's connected but it's very siloed, like you know where I teach now in Harris, I ask about like Chapel Rowan, I don't know if you know who Chapel Rowan is. Okay, so Chapel Rowan's blowing up these days as the expression goes. And I ask my students who are in the music business,

have you heard of them? And some go, yeah, oh yeah, yeah, wow, yeah. And some go, I don't know, no idea. So, do you know what I mean? Like, there was a whole scene going on here and now there are scenes, but like all those jazz guys right from the 30s, 40s and 50s and to a certain extent the rock people afterwards, they had a common literature. So it meant they could

and live music was they could play together and jam together and they did that, right? And now people from different genres don't, there is some, I'm generalizing here, you understand? But by and large, there's not that same common literature in a way. Do you know this song? Oh, I don't know that song, you know? But what about this song?

Wow, it's hugely popular song, I've never heard of this song, right? And this is true for all art, right? Because this is true also for television, right? Like it used to be that you had the three big networks or whatever, and this, you know, mash was on whatever it was, a CBS or whatever it was. And everyone tuned in for mash because this is a monolithic culture. Today there's like 400 streaming services and you just to be a big show. People are

talking about, you've never even seen this show. I was going to say about live shows. One of the things is that there used to be shows with different genres on the show, and now you go to a show and it's all the same kinds of, and I've been told by some of my students, you can't do these two bands together because these people will leave when the other band comes on, right?

Good point. And there was more, I don't know. Remember, Sarastock, which I was only, Sarastok was exactly 20 years ago, I believe. But there was ACDC and Rolling Stone, in the Venn diagram, a lot of common fans. But then Justin Timberlake played, right? And I was like, oh, the ACDC and Rolling Stone fans weren't as into Justin Timberlake. But there's an example where you kind of the big festivals now have a fair variety of things, but they're also niched off though, because you go to different stages to hear certain kinds of different stages or different. I was just at beer festival to you know, they had like there was a hip hop night and then the next day was going to be the country music night.

And then there was like this emo night basically taking back Sunday and all this stuff but absolutely keep them in silos. Like don't mix them up. Don't mix and match. Like Mattress says. It's kind of ironic but you know when the Roman Republic was happening if some incident happened the nobles would get their scribes to write it out, people could write it, and they'd post it on the wall at the forum, and the other scribes, the slaves of the other people, and the news would be all over Italy within a day. Like, you know, we have this image that, you know,

things didn't get communicated, but it was all over Italy in a day, and we knew what was going, you know, there were local scenes, but we kind of knew what was going on. People would say, oh there's a band from England and all that, you know, like all this stuff. I love how far back you went with that reference. I was going to ask you, Fergus, were you there? We were talking to you, you were there, man. It was just before the Christie Pitts riots actually.

Love it. And of course, as Freddie... I came out in the middle of Phalanx. I'm going to play the song which I believe to be your biggest Canadian hit. I'm going to play it next. But we should talk about your live performances, right? Very enthusiastic. You know, the reason Freddie P was talking so highly about the satellites was the live performances, which he loved, right?

So you guys just were great live. You know what? We were good live. No doubt about it and Jojo was an amazing performer Learned a lot from him and mistake fish steak or beef steak. It's all the same One monkey don't stop no show Where is your Junos? Where are your Junos? I should say I have one of the plastic ones somewhere I don't know where they are wait a minute, what do you mean? Like what do you mean? It's plastic?

Like these? Well, like the little, no, the glass ones, the triangular glass ones. Okay. And I have a plaque somewhere. I don't know. Okay, you got a plaque. Only because I'm always curious, but I do know that the satellites have won a couple of Junos. Yeah, we won two. Yeah, for Ray Gagarin. Okay. Let's play that big hit here. Get a few more satellite stories here. Let's play that big hit here, get a few more satellite stories here. Produced by Terry Brown, by the way.

Love the fun facts. Keep them coming. You talking about Terry Brown? And what are we, mid 80s here? What are we at? You know, 85 or so? Oh, this is 1990. We're 1990, okay.

We are, okay. Everywhere Don't you know, don't you know That it can break your heart Break your heart And leave you here in misery Misery But since I met that little woman Well now I feel it happen to me When I say, when I say that It's too late to turn back now I believe, I believe, I believe I'm falling in love

It's too late to turn back now I believe, I believe, I believe I'm falling in love I found my falling in love And I'm dead tired to say I can't sleep at night I can't sleep at night I can't sleep at night I can't sleep at night Cancel? You're proud of this? Yeah, no, it sounds good. I'll tell you, I give a lot of respect to Terry Brown,

you know, for obviously all the things he's done over the years. Every now and then I hear I just I just died in your arms tonight. And it's a fucking great record. But anyway, I was in, I don't remember cultures, this sandwich shop. Oh, yes. So they would have music playing. So I'm in there, there's busy noise and everything, and it's playing on a tiny little speaker, and I'm thinking to myself, wow, I can hear the kick drum. Like that's Terry's mixes were very adaptable. Like they worked on a lot of different media. It's interesting.

We recorded this at Metalworks. Hey. I know. Isn't that weird? Yeah. Okay. It's all coming full circle here. What is the current status of satellites? Like what is... Yeah, tell me. I'm glad you asked me that question, Toronto Mike. I'm glad you asked me that question. What would you say is the current status of these? I'm so scared to say these satellites.

I thought it was these satellites, but now I'm learning it's just satellites. Well, Joe passed away a couple years ago, so we're all pretty relaxed about that now. So I decided... Okay, so I know that the songs are still getting played on like Boomer Radio and stuff. Boom! 97.3. Exactly. They play my songs regularly. Stu Jeffrey's gotta be playing that one. May Potts is gonna be playing that one. May, they.3. Exactly. They play my songs. Stu Jeffries got to be playing that one. May Potts is going to be giving that one. Love me. You know, so I said, and I've been,

we played for 14 years at the orbit room just as a four piece, right? So, and Joe had a heart attack so he couldn't really do it. So we went down to a four piece and blah, blah, blah. So we were still playing every week tighter than dog shit That's right. I don't know No, my friend Jackie say tighter than the bulls ass and fly time That's better yeah anyway and I wanted the horns like I was missing the horn because that that was really, that was one reason why people

loved us live, right? We had a great horn section and I swear to you, a trombone player, just the visual alone of a trombone player makes people feel good. There's a higher trombone player just so I can have the visual. Like people just feel better when they see somebody blowing the trombones. Seriously. That's a good point. Like when you see the trombone, you know you're in for a good time. It's true. That's a good point. Like when you see the trombone, you know you're in for a good time. It's true. It's party time.

So true. Anyway, I missed it. So I thought I'm going to relaunch the band as a big band. So there's Bruce. I have to mention Bruce Mack, bass player. I've been playing with Bruce Mack since 1974. Wow. That's 50 years, buddy.

He played in Moon Food. That's 50 years. Played in Moon Food. He played on I Can't Help. And that song that you played earlier, he's all the way through the satellite stop, played at the orbit room with me, so I gotta give a shout out to Bruce because he's awesome. And Dave Fowler, who's the original keyboard player, he's had a few health issues so he hasn't actually played, did play one gig with us, and Neville, the the guitar player wrote a lot of great songs. He's living in Buffalo but he comes and plays some gigs with us. So anyway long story short. Neville Francis. Neville Francis. I put the band together as a big band, like a nine piece and we're trying to, we're finding our audience and they're there and we played some things

like the Burlington we played at the Performing Arts Center in Burlington and the festival they had there and we've done some other things and some we're playing we're playing Hughes Room on September the 26th. Back to Jane Harbury. Exactly, Jane Harbury was promoting that show. She'll probably be asking me to have Fergus Hamilton on the program to promote it. So the other thing we do is we're playing it so that older Crowder is there with us right we've been doing really well and then we also have playing at the drum to burn it you know the drum to burn it no so anytime

anyone says to me of my age group there are no clubs in Toronto, no... when they say that, I say, well you should check this place out, it's on Queen Street. We play 11.30 there, till two, and there's a band after us. They have four live bands. Say the name of that place again. It's called the Drum Taberna. And it's like run by these Eastern European guys and there's a great menu of pierogies and shit and the band is, they've got so much interesting music. This is my idea of, that's how a scene gets created. Like right now in Toronto, you know Toronto's stuffed with good musicians, right? You want to find somebody to play Congolese music,

you want to find someone to sing Persian guzzles, you can find anything in Toronto of really high quality. In Kensington Market, there's a real scene going on. Drum Taberna, there's find someone to sing Persian guzzles, you can find anything in Toronto, really high quality. In Kensington Market, there's a real scene going on. Drum to Burnet, there's a scene going on. There are scenes still happening, which I personally love because that makes me think of the 60s, makes me think of what was happening when I got involved in the new wave thing because that's what I like. I like community of musicians. I like the interaction that comes out of that. I like the common literature that I was talking about. I like that stuff. And I like the thread that runs through everything and I see that thread

even though it may not be obvious to other people. But I know the thread like playing Jamaican music has been so interesting because because we're both British colonies we've got the same culture like the slang is a bit different you know the foods slightly different but honestly a lot of the stuff is the same I got a great example for it when we were recording with George Semkud you know that name at all he was in Richie Night in the Midnights and he's it was a legendary wonderful guy he produced some satellite stuff in the very first album, a couple of the tracks. And, oh yeah, this is a nice record too, Colleen and Sharon Lee. I want to hear the rest of that. I don't want you to forget where you're going there, except that I'm playing this because this is a

cover of Walking on the Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves and it's a great version. And of course, that song is the version that hit was recreated, but the original version of this song was released by Attic Records here in Canada. That's right, it was a big Canadian hit. Yeah, Alexander Mayer and his partner at Attic Records. But I was gonna ask you, and again, don't forget the story, you're in the middle of there,

but I was gonna ask you exactly exactly if you could tell me what exactly is Solid Gold Records? I'm not sure if I can answer that question directly. See, I'm keeping the difficult stuff. The other lawsuits floating around. What the hell is Solid Gold Records? Because I'm trying to learn about it, but it sounds like an 81 or something. You signed with Solid Gold Records?

No. See, this is why I need Rosie Grade Tio to listen up. So, Fergus, why is this misconception out there? Um... Do you need to call your lawyer? Should I call your lawyer? You look hesitant. No, they were just some people that leased the tracks from us, right?

And they... It's hard to describe. The fellows passed away now, the lawyer that was involved, and they had a company called Casablanca, so we had some deal with them just to put out the older stuff. Like, we leased some stuff to them for a while, and then it was bought up by... Like, after Ed, the lawyer died and then it was bought up by like after Ed the

lawyer died and it was bought up by it's all it's Castle Blanket was called and then it was Linus Entertainment and I think Linus has been sold out too so this has been sold so and I actually was talking to someone the other day who wants to lease on the satellite stuff so I have to look at the contract and see when it's up with okay yeah, yeah. So Linus Entertainment acquired solid gold records in like 2013. Right. So and I'm seeing a whole bunch like True North Records is in that. Yeah, they Linus bought a whole bunch of stuff and I think it's been sold now again.

OK, we got some we do have some. So this was all just put stuff in the catalog stuff out like I wanted to have it. OK, got you. I was because I did. And also a lot of it was on vinyl originally, right? Like it's pre-CD, right? I wanted to release the stuff on CD. So you were talking about the scene in Toronto and the thread and it was fascinating to hear you talk about that and that ties into a question that comes in from Cameron. Cameron, he says, can you ask Fergus what he likes about playing at two East End venues and I don't know how

to pronounce this one. Hirut? Hirut? Hirut. See I knew I'd butcher it man. But Hirut and then one I was at recently actually, Noonan's. So the latter, I guess that's Noonan's, which is on the Danforth there. He does super jams with Andy Mays who's also an FOTM and Cleve Anderson who you know we mentioned Bob Wiseman who was in Blue Rodeo. Cleve Anderson was the drummer in Blue Rodeo. So what can you tell me about these venues and these good people that you're jamming with? Well let's talk Noonan's first of all. Yeah. It used to be called Doric Heels, it was Irish pub. Right. And so I have this thing we love the birds,

Right. And so I have this thing, we love the birds, the band, the birds, obviously. And the Alfred Hitchcock. So Tim Bovacondi and I, you know, Tim and Tim. Only from Blair Packham. Right. So Tim Bovacondi and I put a bird thing together. You know, Tim plays with Burton Cummings. Tim is an awesome guitar player and fairly knowledgeable fellow about all things musical, especially. Would he be a good guest on this program? He would be awesome.

Because another guy blairs his books. Anyway so we with Andy Mays from the Skydiggers and Cleve and a guy named Bob McKittrick that both Tim and I have played with for years. Bob actually runs the music program at Dixon Hall so he's really done amazing stuff as an educator. I give Bob full, he's really done an amazing job. Really, it's solely incredible. And Regent's Park, like the music stuff there is so good.

Anyway, so we do the birds, tribute to the birds, called Birds, Birds, Birds. We have to learn 34 songs, so. And I don't use a cheat sheet, okay? I've got all the lyrics, okay, Toronto Mike? I've got all the lyrics in there. That you can remember. You know, I love that song. Well, Jane Rowland gave me the album for Christmas in December 1965, and I just loved the birds so much, like,

just so, so much. Anyway, so Noonan's is a great little place, and we're gonna do the birds thing again, then I'm not quite sure when, we just did it recently. You know, I saw Noonan's like super great little place and we're going to do the Bird's Sing again then, I'm not quite sure when, we just did it recently. You know I saw Noonan's like super recently biked over there from here, so I biked there for a book launch. Mary Ormsby wrote a book about Ben Johnson. And that book launch is at Noonan's, I was just there. I actually invited Cameron, who some may know better as Cam Gordon, FOTM Hall of Famer. I actually phoned him, I said, hey I got a plus one for this thing. He lives nearby.

He actually is, he's guessing based on all these times he sees you playing that you live in the East End. You don't have to dog yourself, but are you an East End guy? I'm not, you know. Okay, well you're wrong Cam. I grew up in Yonge and Bloor and I'm still roughly there. All right, right by the uptown theater. So, Haroot is an Ethiopian restaurant, run by this guy named Te Tabebe and his wife's name is Harut. She does the cooking there and they have jazz there.

So I should tell you about the other albums I've got going on. Yeah, give us the 411 on what's going on with your life now. I was going to finish my story about George Sempiu. Finish that story. It was just about language and about our connections, right? But Jojo used to say when we were doing these sessions, let George do it, let George do it. So I was reading a P.G. Wothouse story. Do you know that who that writer is? No, actually you're just you're basically showing the world that I've got so much to learn. I have Fergus, I need to be educated. I don't know that name

either. Well, one of the finest comic writers ever. But anyway, one of his characters says, let George do it. And I think to myself, why was that phrase that this Jamaican guy who went to alpha boy school is using the same phrase that this English guy went using in a novel written in the 1920s? What's the connection? Right. And I found out it was a fairly common expression guy using a novel written in the 1920s. What's the connection?

And I found out it was a fairly common expression because Louis XIV, I believe his finance minister was Cardinal Richelieu, sorry Cardinal Georges. And when he wanted to raise taxes, he would never, the king wouldn't raise the taxes, Georges would do it. He let George. So that phrase went from France to England and went from England to Jamaica and then was forgotten in England, but still current in Jamaica. Oh, that's wild. I know. But that's like when you, those are the threads I use. Those are the threads I'm talking about. I the way, I love it so much, and I try to do that on this program too,

just maybe different threads. But the phrase I will use often is, Bob's your uncle, okay, Bob's your uncle. I will say, I have conversations with Americans who don't even know this expression, and then you have to, what's the origin of this term? And I think there's English, it comes from England, and whatever, it's just, it's interesting to see

the etymology of these. What is the origin of it, do you know? I can't remember now. But it's, I can't remember now. I think it's British. Well, what good are you? I know. I'll have to Google it, I'll have to Google it. So when I sit in the park and read the paper, the ice cream truck comes by. Right.

And they used to play Oh Susanna, you know, Public Domain, but now they play this melody that goes, la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la. It's one of those circular ones that never resolves, it just keeps going around and around. And it's distorted, right? I find a lot of them are distorted. But it's a children's song. C.C. my playmate, come on and play with me,

and bring your dollies three, da da da da da, climb down my apple tree. And so I thought, I'm sitting in the park and the thing's just like going for 20 minutes. So I'm thinking, what? I gotta look this up. So I look it up. And it was originally a pop song

with a totally different lyric and some teacher put these other lyrics to it and it became famous as that. It's not a recorded thing, this is a passed along. Passed along thing. Anyways, talking about Haroot. And Haroot has all great Ethiopian food and jazz. Toronto is stuffed with great musicians

and it's stuffed with great jazz, especially bass players. There's so many really super bass players in this town. You can't believe it. Like super bass players, like super bass players. Right. World class bass players. It's amazing. Anyway, Harut has music I think every night and fine quality jazz like the fine players that play here in various combinations of things

So I've done a few nights there where I've done some singing. They're cool with Ted Quinlan and Paul Novotny, we did a nice night of singing all standards because I love that shit and I have a We did a nice night of singing all standards because I love that shit and I have a Album called the Jazz Lover Society volume 2 which is the Jazz Lover Society volume 2 right? Which is a lot of standards, but some original songs that I wrote including my second song that I wrote in French So no, no rest for the wicked here. You're just warming up still and then shall I tell you the other things go ahead first? first fun fact real quick because we did mention Cleve Anderson and I feel obliged to I know I mentioned Blue Rodeo but do you know Cleve Anderson's ex-wife is Ingrid Schumacher from 104.5 she was there for many many years.

That's right. Before they they made the bad decision to cut Great Talent. I met Cleve back in the punk New Wave days of Battered Wise. Oh yes. I'm going to get Cleve on the show because he was doing shows with Mike Boguski, who's actually the current keyboardist for Blue Rodeo. And they were calling it East of Jane. Yeah, they were doing like an organ trio. Yeah.

I like Mike. Mike Boguski, his brother. I went to high school with him. Mike Boguski's brother, Mark Boguski. So they were connected that way. But during the pandemic, he played organ in the backyard when we were all so starving for live music and it was just absolutely wonderful. So Fergus, on the homestretch here, before we say goodbye, yes, this is your chance.

Give me all the info on what's new, what's going on, anything you want to share with the FOTMs listening on our way out here. I've loved this very much. Well, I would encourage people to come to see the satellites. We're doing, the next thing we're doing is August 24th, which is in the Milton Fairground and it's like a giant barbecue, Jamaican barbecue, and there's these DJs are going to play and then we're going to play a set like in the early evening. That's going to be a blast. That's cool.

And then, Hughes Room on the 26th of September and Basement 254 we're playing in October. And I'm playing some gigs around, like I played a gig with Cleve the other day where we just play some old rock and roll and stuff like that. So I'm playing on the island in Gallaudet on Monday and next Friday I'm playing on the street in front of Noonan's actually.

I'm playing with, no I'm not playing with Cleve that day. I'm doing other things with Cleve. Yeah, and then I have an, on the recording side, I just want to mention this because it's so hard to get any traction on anything, but I did a beautiful album called Neighborhoods in 2019, which is available on vinyl, if you can find the fucking thing,

but, and it's about all the musical neighborhoods I've been in in my life. And that's a beautiful sounding record. And we have the Jazz Lover Society Volume Two, which is a beautiful sounding record. I didn't manufacture anything of that. And then I did an album with a guy named Lord Sassafras, who's a Jamaican DJ.

And he has a whole pile of songs that he wrote that have got like verses and bridges and stuff. So he got me to sing them. So there's an album that's out, it's up for an award. The Reggae North Awards is up for an award. It's all ska and reggae. And then we put out a new Satellite single and we're gonna work on an album this summer.

So hopefully we can put out an album. And then I have another album, 14 tracks that are done, but I don't know how to release them yet. I did some country covers and something stupid. My friend can Nancy Sinatra. I did that and a couple of other things. And yeah, you're getting your wedding, your beacon, a lot of areas here. Did you ever cross paths with Jay Douglas, reggae musician?

I saw him yesterday. Did you really? Yeah, we did an interview for global TV that's going to be on tonight. And yeah, Jay, Jay and I go. See, remember I was talking about coat tailing? Yeah. About, you know, George from Monica's Hairstyle? Jay used to sing the songs.

I would be playing. He was in the Cougars. Yeah, but I mean, he did the coat like we do. He'd be the vocalist who came in to do the Jamaican version. Of the whatever, with that song, Everlasting Love, that thing plagued me for years and years. Such a small world here. I was invited. Great singer. I was invited to a and I'm going to do this but to participate in that like a tour of Little Jamaica and it's like a. That's what it

was. It was an interview because they were promoting that. So I've been invited to do it and then have the organizer on to discuss this and I have touched on this with Jay in the past. Who are you bringing in, Phil? I'll give me, that was this one I'll Google for you. It's in my Gmail here. I will tell you right now. I don't know who does the tour. It is a gentleman I'm gonna give you.

First of all, this is called the Little Jamaica Music History Walking Tour. And the gentleman that I will be talking to is, this is exciting as we build up here. I have to read this very quickly. Okay, are you right? Yes, Phil Vessel, the founder of the CBMAs. Okay, that's the gentleman.

You got it. So it's basically local musicians, they share personal stories and insights from Little Jamaica's music history. The music school was on Eglinton, right there. So it's basically local musicians, they share personal stories and insights from middle jamaica's music history. So that's where the music school was on Eglinton, right there. Yeah, this could be at Dufferin and Marley, I think is where you start this tour, at the 2353 Dufferin Street.

They don't mean Dufferin and Eglinton. Well it says, okay, well it's beginning at 2353- And ends at Marley. Oh, ending at Marley, right. That makes sense. Of course, yes, of course. Okay, it's all coming full circle here. Love this very much.

On our way out though, Fergus, I need to tell you that if you have, like at Bloor and Young there, where I used to live at Charles Street in Young. My parents, their first house they bought in 1946 was on Charles Street. $5,000. I don't need to hear that, Fergus. Charles and Barry. Yeah, so I know that very well. When I was going to U of. Charles and Barry. Yes. I know that are you well when I was going to U of T, I was living there now.

Where was I going with that? Oh yeah. In your home, if you have a drawer with old cables, old electronics, old devices, don't throw that in the garbage because the chemicals end up in our landfill. Fergus, I need you to go to recycle my electronics dotca, put in your postal code. They'll tell you where you can drop it off to be properly recycled. You got it? I got it. Okay. And you got your Toronto Maple Leafs book. I've got a lasagna for you.

I've got a lasagna. You got beer from Great Lakes. I have a measuring tape for you from Ridley Funeral Home. You never know. It comes in handy. For your shroud? Is it measuring your shroud? Is that what it's for? You can measure whatever you want. The Shroud of Fergus, as we call it. But I enjoyed this very much. Well, thanks Mike, really appreciate being here out in the,

I love this neighborhood too. This is like old style Toronto. This is New Toronto, which gets overshadowed sometimes by our big bully neighbors in Mimico. Well, screw them. Back in the day we'd line up on Dwight Street and fight them. New Toronto would fight Mimico according to historian Adam Bunch. So there's a lot of interesting history here. You're now in FOTM. Welcome to the club. And that brings us to the end of our 1530th show. Wow 1530. Is there like a an umbrella

website someplace we can go like fergushamilton.com? Is that a good updated place? That's updated reasonably well actually. There's some music available there that you can hear from the newer areas of life. Learn more about Fergus. Go there for all your Fergus needs. You can follow me everywhere at Toronto Mike. My website is torontomic.com. And don't forget the ball game this Sunday. Much love to all who made this possible.

That is the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team. And I am there Sunday. I got the greats like Fergus and I am there Sunday. I got the Greats Lake Fergus and I got Elvis and I got Ben Rayner. I got just Drop Eye Say Hi. I have a third mic open. People cycle through. It's going to be wicked awesome. Much love to Great Lakes Brewery. Can you say the word brewery? Say brewery for me. I struggle. I know that's an non-alcoholic beverage but that's how I sound after the lead. The least police dismiss us. Siphalus, syphilis. Okay. Great lakes brewery, Paul Mopasta. Again, my condolences to the

Petrucci family. Their patriarch passed away at the age of a hundred long good life and gave us some delicious food here. He'll be remembered for a very long time. Recycled my electronics dot C.A. and of course Ridley Funeral Home. There's a fresh episode of Life's Undertaken we recorded last night with a funeral director from Salem, Massachusetts. Very interesting conversation with Brad Jones and Andrew from Salem and Anthony. I called him Andrew, but it's Anthony. Okay, I only met him for the first time yesterday. Give me a break over here. See you all Sunday. Yeah, Christy Pets Yeah, the wind is gold, but the smell of snow wants me today.

And it's cold, but the smell of snow warms me today And your smile is fine, it's just like mine, it won't go away Cause everything is rosy and green Well I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name