Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Fred Patterson KOTJ: Toronto Mike'd #256
Episode Date: August 2, 2017Mike and Fred play and discuss his ten favourite songs....
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And right now, right now, right now it's time to...
Take out the jams, motherfuckers! I'm in Toronto where you wanna get the city love I'm from Toronto where you wanna get the city love
I'm a Toronto Mike, you wanna get the city love
My city love me back, for my city love
Welcome to episode 256 of Toronto Miked
A weekly podcast about anything and everything
Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery
A local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. And propertyinthesix.com,
Toronto real estate done right. I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me is humble and
Fred's very own Fred Patterson. Welcome back, Freddie P.
Well, it's nice to be here again on *** Street, Michael.
Oh, Fred, I don't think in the history of the podcast we've ever revealed the exact street.
This isn't like Humble and Fred.
Well, what do you think is going to happen?
I don't know, but we'll find out and it'll be on you.
There'll be mobs in front of the *** Street location of Toronto, Mike.
Just don't tell my wife you did that.
She's the one who doesn't want me to do that.
But it's funny because your show, Humble and Fred,
records from Howard's house.
So Humble Howard's address is on the website
because that's where your studio is.
Yeah, but that's a bit different
because we have that storefront location,
which just happens to have a stylish townhouse above it.
Stylish, is it?
Yeah.
Yeah, no, I admit it.
It's great.
So, no, but the point being,
we wanted a new location for the show
and it just happened to be this cool place
that had a residence
as opposed to Howard got a residence
and then we moved in there.
You know what I mean?
I know exactly what you mean. And it's been a year now. You've been recording there since
what? September or October?
October 15th, I think.
See, what I'm struggling is... So I'm going to let everybody know at home where they can
hear everything you wanted to know about Freddie P But Were Afraid to Ask. That episode is episode 34.
So go to 34 to hear the ongoing history of Freddie P.
But Fred, you came in twice with Howard
for the 100th episode and the 200th episode.
Those are the Humble and Fred Spectaculars.
On that note...
I got a bunch of those. You want to hear another one? Nice touch. On that note... That's disgusting! Hallelujah!
I got a bunch of those.
You want to hear another one?
Nice touch.
You want to hear another one?
Sure.
Humble and friend, we ain't got no college!
You know, those go right back to early 90s, I'd say.
If not 89, 90.
When we were still... Those were actually recorded, I do believe,
in the Brampton facility.
Get out of here.
On Kennedy Road.
That's the strip mall?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I got one more since I loaded it up.
Let's hear it.
Humble and Fred, our wives think we're stupid.
We'll have to update that one for Howard.
Although his ex-wife probably
still thinks he's stupid, but that's
all good and fine.
Funny you mention that because she's having work done.
Their relationship, Howard
and his ex-wife Randy have the best
relationship for
people of a broken marriage
if I can use that term.
She's having work done on her house this week so she's moved in with Howard for the week.
I would take it one step, considering I do hear that they're very, very good friends
and they have two children together.
She should move in permanently.
Like, why not be like, you know, buddies?
He said he'd like to bring that money back together, you know, reduce the costs, and
then he can retire earlier.
And that's ideal.
Yeah.
The hardest, I mean, there's two hard parts to divorce.
I know this from experience.
The hardest part about divorce is that you won't have 100% of the time with your children
anymore.
You have to share custody.
That's the hardest part about divorce.
The second hardest part about divorce is that it's very expensive, very, very expensive.
So now that Howard's got adult daughters,
that's sort of the first thing's kind of taking care of itself.
But reuniting his money,
that would be the ideal situation for them to cohabitate like that.
Yeah, that's a great idea.
Yeah, there's like no animosity.
It's like they just decided one day
that they should no longer be married.
No longer lovers, but still very good friends.
It's quite moving, the whole thing, actually.
And that's the best way to do it for the kids, too,
that they see mommy and daddy still respect each other and love each other.
They're just not meant to be married together.
By the way, how long have you been married now?
June 28th. That was 37 years.
Good for you, buddy. That's a big number and it's only getting bigger. She hasn't caught
on yet. She's still into you.
No, it's funny. After 37 years. Because you look back and I don't know anybody that's
been married 37 years. Are there times along the way that you think,
you know, maybe this isn't the best thing?
Am I falling out of love?
Have I ever had thoughts of maybe,
could life be different without this person?
I've never had those thoughts in 37 years.
It's crazy, eh?
So what you did is you married,
you married the right person out of the gate
because a lot of us have like starter
wives and then we end up with the person
we're going to spend the rest of our life with. But you got
it right off the bat, which is awesome.
The thing is, Mike, we started going together
when we were 17. So
a lot of those marriages don't work out
for that reason because you really haven't
played the field enough or
experienced
other personalities, but for some reason but she's
a great person you know what i mean oh she's uh beautiful on the inside and out yes for all my
flaws and my shortcomings she just is the opposite so i think that's why now you're here to kick out
the jams but uh there's a jam i want to kick out for you and ask you a little bit about it. Let's hear
this. So this is not one of your jams, but
people, when they hear this, will think about you.
Alright.
When there's
a bluebird singing
by your window
pane, and the sun
shines bright all
day through,
don't forget, boy, look over your shoulder, The sun shines bright all day through.
Don't forget, boy.
Look over your shoulder.
Cause there's always someone coming after you.
That's Alan Price.
His Look Over Your Shoulders.
So when you, this is the... From the soundtrack of Oh Lucky Man.
Yes, Oh Lucky Man.
That's the Malcolm McDowell.
Yeah.
Tell me the origin story.
So this is the song,
those of us who listen to the Humble and Fred program,
that's the song that would introduce the Goo Head bits,
Mr. Goo Head.
Yeah.
So when I came up with that character
and was dabbling with it
and then did the first episode,
which I think was Time Change, if I'm not mistaken.
You know, you think about how is it going to be presented on the radio,
so it needs an intro.
And Delise, my wife, loved that album when we were teenagers.
And that song, just, you know, look over your shoulder,
there's always someone coming after you.
It just seemed to fit.
And I loved
it, and that little piece
was just long enough
to be an intro, and
I don't know, it just became
part of Goo Head, and
a lot of people referenced that song.
That's where most of us heard that
song, of my age anyways, we heard that
song for the first time, Goo Heads.
Now, that's actually from a Goo Head
because the alarm clock is added by you guys.
Like, there's no alarm clock in the original cut.
Right.
I don't think, right.
So that...
That would have been...
I don't think I added the alarm clock.
I think...
I can't even remember.
Maybe it was Dan Duran,
the producer at the time,
added the alarm clock
only because it was sort of like
a call to action. Oh yeah, no, it worked for me, man.
I'm telling you. The morning show thing, yeah. Waking up
before high school, you know, you're in bed,
you hear the alarm clock and that song, and you're gonna get
a goo head. It's just good vibes all around.
And now that the most potent drug
around is nostalgia, you are
gonna hear from a lot of, like, 40-something-year-old guys
who are gonna sing Alan Price to you.
Well, I'll tell you something.
Yesterday on the Humble and Fred show,
humblenfredradio.com,
SiriusXM, weekday morning, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.,
our guest was Gord Martineau.
Gord!
So people in the Toronto...
Well, this is Toronto, Mike.
This is a Toronto show.
Everybody knows who Gord Martineau was.
We talk about Gord all the time on this show
because Ann Roszkowski came on this show and talked some smack about Gord, and I actually reached out to Gord Martineau was. We talk about Gord all the time on this show because Ann Roszkowski came on this show
and talked some smack about Gord.
And I actually reached out to Gord
to give him a fair chance to kind of rebut what Ann said.
And he kind of said he was out of town and stuff.
But you had him in the flesh down the street yesterday.
And see, he was always a Mr. Goo Head fan.
And when he came in yesterday,
well, first when I was corresponding about him coming on the show, and he said, only if we can hear. Goo Head fan. And when he came in yesterday, well, first when
I was corresponding about him coming on the show
and he said, only if we can hear a Goo Head
episode or whatever, ultimately we
didn't play one. But even during the show,
during our breaks yesterday, he
was talking about Mr. Goo Head.
And I thought that's pretty cool because at the
time, you know, Goo Head's
on The Edge, CFNY.
And you know,
when you're doing those things and you're doing a show
like that that had such mass appeal, you still
don't know individually who's out
there listening. And I probably would
have never thought that Gord Martineau
would be one of those fans,
but he was. And Gord, like he was there.
Anne was talking smack. Oh, yeah.
In fact,
Negative stuff? Yeah, big time. Oh., yeah. In fact... Negative stuff?
Yeah, big time.
Oh.
Big time.
In fact, I have a plan to listen to your chat with Gord
because I haven't had Gord on this show,
but I have questions for Gord
falling out of that long chat with Anne Roszkowski,
which was like...
I'm telling you, I've done, what, 256 of these things.
There's none as revealing and interesting as that Anne Roszkowski, which was like, I'm telling you, I've done, what, 256 of these things. There's none as revealing
and interesting as that Ann Roszkowski
discussion, because she didn't, she was out of
fucks to give, is what I would
say, and she just put it out there. But she
had a lot of negative things to say about Gord,
and I'd love to hear Gord's
side of the story. So, did Gord mention
any of that yesterday? No, I, and you know
what, and I wish I
had heard the show, because I would have brought that up.
We dealt more with Gord's departure from City.
Well, what did he say about that?
Because it was so sudden.
It was so cold.
Yeah, because he said,
okay, coming up next,
modern family.
And then he was gone.
And then the press release came out
that thanked Gord for his decades of service.
It was really like like just cut payroll.
It just seemed really blunt.
And like it didn't seem planned.
There was no cake.
There was no farewell Gord like they did for the weather guy at CTV or whatever.
Or they did for, what's the gent's name?
Mike Cooper.
Like he got a...
No, I know.
He said it was very cold, very corporate.
And we did touch on Ann Marszkowski
because I said, you know, you two were a team
and then all of a sudden you weren't a team
and that had to be difficult.
And he was quite gracious through that.
And he said basically that no one told him
there was no lead up.
There was no like meeting.
Just so you know, Gord, we're letting Ann go.
But I wish I had touched on that.
Now that you had the Gord chat yesterday,
you need to go back and listen to the Anne chat.
I do. Now that I've heard the Anne chat,
and I do plan to listen to your Gord
chat. Interesting. Let's just say
interesting. For example, here's a little teaser
for you. Anne Roszkowski says that
for at least a three-year period,
Gord wouldn't even say hello to
her when the red light was off.
The only time Gord would talk to Anne
was when the on-the-air red light
goes on and they're on the
TV for three years. Why?
She said one time she confronted
him about it to try to find out why.
In her words, it was like, what did I do
wrong, Gord? What have I done that's upset
you? He was just very cold and I can't remember her exact words.
Did he not want to share the spotlight?
I don't know.
But Anne, you got to hear this because we all think of Anne and Gord as this, you know, the duo from City for years.
Well, maybe we'll get her on our show then.
Yeah, you'd love her
because she shoots from the hip.
She doesn't hold back
and she just tells it like it is.
All right.
Get Ann Roszkowski on.
And I'll work on Gord
because I'm a Gord fan
and I've got one side of the story,
but I'd like to hear
what Gord has to say about that.
Ann even talks about the discussion.
She had one chat with Gord
after her dismissal,
and Gord was something like, it was either,
it had to be you because my, I can't remember how he said it,
but his contract was so airtight that basically it was either going to be her
or him, and it had to be her because of his killer contract or whatever.
And they haven't talked since.
So you listen to Anne, I'll listen to Gord, and we'll meet in the middle.
No, yeah, yeah, okay.
Sounds good.
Very interesting Toronto stuff.
By the way, on your show, I've noticed this.
As you know, I love your show.
I was there for the birth, and I still listen to your show.
I do know that you try, I don't know, you're hesitant to be Toronto-centric.
How do I say this?
You try to be a national morning show.
how do I say this? You try to be a national
morning show.
So sometimes I find that
you kind of, you hesitate
to go into the Toronto-centric details
of something like a City TV and a Gord.
Because Gord's a Toronto famous guy.
A GTA famous guy. Well, you did it yesterday,
obviously. So you do do it. But I sometimes
think, don't worry about
the fact that you're being heard in Moosejaw
because you are
Toronto famous first,
and I'm going to guess the majority of your
listeners are GTA, even though you've got
people all over the continent.
So speak from what you know. Like, Howard
Stern talks about New York, because
that's where he lives, and that's what he knows. And I don't
think anybody in, like, California is pissed
off that he's so New York-centric. No, no, no.
The thing is, when we, here's the thing.
You're trained as a broadcaster to be mindful
of your audience, who's listening and how do you
relate to them. Well, now we have
this national, international audience.
So, to some
extent, you have to be mindful of
that. We don't mind talking about Toronto,
but if we're talking about Toronto's
specific things, you have
to have a mind to who's listening.
So, if you're going to talk about
those things like Gordon Martineau comes on,
okay, outside of Toronto, not a lot
of people would know who he is. You still
have him on because he's got a story to tell
of being a corporate victim,
of being squeezed out,
which is relatable to everyone.
See, I think you have,
I think you've got to have them on
because there's a story there
that's relevant to you guys
who know this market.
Well, that's what I said.
Yeah, I know.
I just said that.
I know.
I said it in different words, Freddy.
I said it in different words.
But I guess,
don't worry about the fact
some guy's listening in Vancouver.
Who cares?
Like, you guys are here and you you know this stuff, and you touch this stuff.
You do talk about the weather a lot.
Like, you don't worry about the fact that the guy in Vancouver has different weather than you guys.
So don't worry about whether you talk about Toronto Radio.
We'd love to hear you guys talk about Toronto Radio.
Yeah, but see, and I don't want to get too into this, but even the weather,
the reason we talk about the weather this summer is because it's been so significant.
And it is relatable to other parts of the country, as we were talking about the other day.
When the West is having a hot, dry summer, we tend to have a lousy one like this one.
So, listen, and even the people, like the people at SiriusXM, they don't dictate anything to us.
The only thing they might say from time to time is,
hey guys, just remember, we're selling subscriptions
right across the country.
So try to be inclusive as much as you can.
And listen, our default is always Toronto.
We do that a lot.
Sometimes you've just got to just be mindful of it
and maybe position Toronto stories
in a relatable mass,
a relatable way that people
that aren't quite familiar with Toronto
still can relate to the story.
Well, I mean, thank you for doing the Gord.
Gord loves Goo Head.
You got him on and I'm going to listen.
And we want to hear from Gord
because we haven't heard a lot from Gord
since that fateful day that Rogers gave him his paper.
Well, he's 69 years old.
He looks like he's 59.
Yeah.
And, you know, rides his bike every day,
plays tennis six months a year in Florida
at a condo he bought on the beach.
He's got a good life.
Oh, yeah, he's a good life.
He's doing all right.
What about you?
So you're now in your 60s,
and I know you hinted at this on your show,
and then Howard said it was kind of a joke,
but I'm not sure how much of a joke it is.
Is there a plan for Freddie P
at some point in the near future
to retire from broadcasting?
Well, we all reach that point.
Some people die on the air.
I know.
There's no plan.
But here, we started the show
by talking about my relationship with my wife yeah i have a responsibility to her you know there are guys and i and i worked with a couple
you know one of the guys that i enjoyed working with more than any other manager in the history
of cfm i mean he was still there at 70 and i always got the impression that he was a little
bit selfish because his wife wanted to go i don't want to go to Florida. I don't want to sit around there and do nothing, which I understand.
But at the same time, if you're in a relationship and you're at that point of your life where you, and I'm not even going to say should be traveling.
Right.
You could be traveling and experiencing things that you couldn't during your working life.
You have to consider the other person.
You couldn't during your working life.
You have to consider the other person.
So at some point, I'm going to be in the position where, yeah, it's time for me and Elise to do a lot of the things that we want to do.
Having said that, Howard on many occasions has said to me, you know, to keep the brand
alive, maybe we can work something out that you can go away for chunks of time and then
revisit the show or whatever.
And hey, that sounds good to me.
Like, for example, you jet off most weekends during the summer.
You can be found at the Tin Palace.
That's the affectionate name for the...
Yeah.
And that's in the Coorthas?
Yes.
Yeah.
And you might want to be there for, you know, two months in a row, like all of July and
August or something like that.
Well, it's funny you say that because I was there last week.
As much as I love it there, after seven, eight days, I sort of get bored.
I need to come back and get involved.
And that keeps it special too.
Like if you're there all the time, that becomes the new normal.
And then it's like, but if you just go there a few times through the summer,
it's a real getaway.
Mike, people often say that the best part of a cottage or having a tin palace,
one of the greatest, one of the best parts is not being there.
If you know what I mean, the anticipation of getting back there.
Just speaking to what you just said.
And that's what it's like.
It's like, you know, I came back last Friday after being there for about eight days.
And that was enough.
And I came home and I had stuff to do around the house
and I knew I was going to come back
and do the show for a few more days.
And that was inspiring.
And now I'm ready to go back.
So tomorrow after the show,
I'm going to head back for a few days.
Sweet.
On the topic of the show,
one more question.
And we are going to kick out the jam soon but uh phil phil hong is your now long time uh producer because he was there i'm going
to guess like a month after you started or something he walked through that door really
early because i was there that day when he showed up and howard had that big smile on his face
so phil has been with you guys for i'm going to say that's like almost six years, I'm going to say. And he is in love with a woman in Cambodia.
And he's currently in Cambodia
visiting this love of his life,
semi-arranged marriage.
I'm not sure the particular,
arranged in a way,
but not forced to marry.
But anyway,
so it's kind of one of those.
And are you worried about losing Phil to Cambodia?
Like what if Phil ends up moving there?
Do you have a contingency plan to replace Phil Hong
should he end up in Cambodia?
No, but am I afraid of losing him?
No, and I look at it this way,
you know, in broadcasting,
I can only speak to broadcasting.
People, this may apply to any other industry.
When young people enter it, if you've got any brains or sense about you, you want to see them move on.
You want to see them ascend in the business.
So, I mean, that's my attitude with Phil Hong. As much as I love him and as much as he's a
great big part of the show, nothing better would be to have him come in and say, guys, I just got
an offer to do this at twice or three times the money you guys can pay us, or it's a great
opportunity for my future, or they've got a great pension plan, or there's, it's a lot more secure.
I would love that. i think it would be the
greatest you'd be happy for him not only because you know i look at jason barr danger boy same
thing yeah it was awful to not have him part of the show anymore but he was off on his own he was
bob wellett of jeff demet who now produces uh you know nhlL Network for SiriusXM. It's like all these guys,
it's, you're not afraid.
You just feel good about it.
It's like you've actually had a hand in them
creating a career
that's going to provide them a living.
Same thing would apply with Phil Hong.
And in my humble opinion,
there are really,
the Humble and Fred empire
has two irreplaceable parts to it and their names are Humble and Fred Empire has two irreplaceable parts to it
and their names are Humble and Fred.
So Phil moves on,
you'd be happy for him
if he moves to Cambodia
and you'd find somebody else.
I'd actually,
I'd step in on a part-time basis
if you need help.
I know where all the pieces are
and how they fit together.
So if Phil stays in Cambodia,
give me a call.
I'll help you out.
Fred, last time you were on the show, episode 200,
you made a remark that you don't listen to podcasts.
And I'm just curious if that's still the case.
Like, do you still not listen to podcasts?
Yeah, I can honestly, no, not really.
I'll hear about podcasts and then listen to get a feel for it.
I might listen to a whole episode, but do I have podcasts that I listen to on a regular basis?
No, I do not.
For whatever reason.
I just, you know.
But here you are.
Do I have time in the day?
Because you're like a pioneer in the podcasting field.
It is interesting that you don't actually listen to podcasts yourself.
But Mike, I worked in terrestrial radio for 25 years and never listened to the FM band.
If I listened, I might listen to CFNY for a couple hours a day.
But honestly, I didn't.
I was always a news,
information sports junkie. It's even now, the FM band on my radio, it's never on.
I'm listening to 680 News or this Fan 590, or my Sirius for music.
The point being, I worked in FM rock radio
for years and years and years and never really listened
to it. I don't know what the
connection is there.
How do you know
what's happening in the
field of podcasting if you don't listen?
I can read about it. I could probably
read and learn more than listening to them.
But you are going to listen to the Ann Roszkowski
Yeah, but you know the vast majority of
podcasts stink.
Like the overwhelming. There's great
podcasts. Oh, in percentages, yes, but like the ones
that float to the top, they're so
well produced now.
You know, they're just better than radio,
if you will. Like I just think there are some
podcasts that I think you'd actually
enjoy. But you know,
to each his own. That wasn't so much a judgment, just wondering
if one of the
Canadian podcasting pioneers
had delved into
the world of podcasts yet.
But, no. But that's okay.
I still love you, man.
Yeah, it's...
You know, if there was one that...
Listen, I love Howard Stern,
but I might listen to it two or three times a month,
maybe, on my way home.
So, I don't know.
I mean, I'm just unique.
You know, I'm...
To each his own.
Yeah.
You know, whatever floats your boat, as I say.
So one last tough question on what floats your boat,
but this one comes from an anonymous fan
who wants to know if that's really how you feel about Toronto FC's Sebastian Jovinko.
You made some Twitter comments about Sebastian Jovinko.
I've been working on pronouncing that last name too.
Jovinko.
For the record right now, before we kick out the jams,
can you give us your thoughts on TFC versus Argos and the TFC superstar Sebastian Zivinko?
Just briefly, for the record, go.
Yeah.
Here's the thing about Zivinko.
When he blamed the Argonauts for his injury,
I thought he was, you know, and it was just sour grapes
because they blew that last game,
the championship game last year.
And then he was saying he blamed the Argos
for them ripping up the field.
I thought, you big suck, baby.
And I thought during that game, him leaving,
I thought, boy, he's leaving this game pretty quickly.
Anyway, all that stuff.
Right, because he had the injury.
Yeah, and I just find the whole thing frustrating.
Listen, I don't really even care that much.
The Toronto Argonauts are their own worst enemy.
The Canadian Football League's their own worst enemy.
I get all that. It just, It gets back to this for me. It's subjective, like the music we're
about to play. Right. And you like football, but you don't like soccer. Right. There is more
excitement in an Argonaut quarter, to me, than six TFC games. People go to TFC games, most of them aren't even watching what's going on the field.
It's a party in the stands.
And you know what?
If you can capture that and you can create that, all the power to you.
I think it's fantastic.
I wish the Argonauts could do that.
You know, that's lightning in a bottle stuff or whatever the terminology will be.
But Fred, if I could get a ticket
for you and I to go to the supporters section,
which is where I love to watch the matches,
would you go to a TFC match
to see what all the fuss is about
if I presented to you a free ticket?
Absolutely.
And I would go and I would say,
I see what the fuss is about.
This is a lot of fun.
But that stuff going on down on the field there?
Last game was 4-0, though. Okay, well, super. I hear what you're saying. A lot of people don't like talking. That stuff going on down on the field there. Last game was 4-0, though.
Okay, well, super.
I hear what you're saying.
A lot of people don't like soccer.
That thing going on down on the field there.
And listen, if you like it, all the power to you.
And obviously, a lot of people do.
But what's going on down on the field there,
when most of the time those guys are walking up and down the field,
and I get this about great shape and running it.
They really do run a lot in a match.
That argument, I don't think,
carries a lot of water. Fine.
But a lot of times they're walking. You ever see a fat
soccer player? No.
But what I'm saying
to me, and what's going on this year
with the Argonauts, and they're 3-3,
and Ricky Ray is setting all these records,
and there's a lot of great things going on,
but people care.
There's not enough fun in the stands.
The Argonauts have not created an atmosphere,
and part of that is they're continuously compared
to the National Football League,
and you can't win that battle.
But listen, here's another thing, Mike.
People can say they don't go to hockey
or baseball's boring, and it flies under the radar.
What is this thing where you can't say you don't like soccer?
No, of course you can say you don't like soccer.
Of course you can say you don't like soccer.
I actually don't particularly like football,
and I'm not afraid to say it, and I say it often.
But I don't judge people who are fanatical about football.
I feel like you, in my opinion, maybe you've decided to not dislike.
What's the term?
But you've painted all TFC fans with a certain brush
because you don't like soccer yourself.
No, no, no.
You're wrong.
Okay.
That's why I wanted to put this on the record now.
Okay.
Because tweets, do you know how tweets are?
What is it?
120 characters?
I don't care for soccer.
It's not my first choice.
Just like people don't care for baseball. Right. I was with a guy a couple of nights ago. He said, I don't get this Blue Jay thing. I was sitting care for soccer. It's not my first choice. Just like people don't care for baseball.
I was with a guy a couple of nights ago.
He said, I don't get this Blue Jay thing.
I was sitting watching a game.
He said, I don't.
Fine.
Super.
One I don't like is the same reason I don't like.
Most of the reason I don't like the Montreal Canadiens is because of their fans.
A big reason I don't like TFC is because of the fans.
Because it was the TFC fans that took it on themselves.
Especially when it was announced the Argonauts would
go in that stadium. I witnessed this firsthand.
They started pissing all over the Argonauts
and the Canadian Football League. That's
what turned me off. I hear you.
I just wish that the Argos fans had
responded by actually going to the games
at BMO Field. Because the numbers don't lie.
I just wish that they could say, hey, we had
20,000 at that game.
That's what I wish happened.
Yeah, and I don't think it's ever going to happen again,
unfortunately.
Well, here's something
you don't dislike.
I know you enjoy
a cold alcoholic beverage
on a warm summer night.
You enjoy your beer.
Yes.
I know Humble and Fred
have a beer sponsor
that you love.
But, you know,
a man cannot live on bread alone,
if you will.
You need a variety of beers are good for Freddie P's diet.
So you're going to take home with you a six-pack of Great Lakes beer.
Yeah.
I think, because Howard stopped drinking, right?
There's only five in here.
I'm going to get you a six.
I just got the box delivered yesterday.
Okay.
But Howard stopped drinking, right?
Yes, he did.
He's still alcohol-free.
So last time you were here, I saw you walked away with both six-packs.
Yes, I did.
Did you enjoy them?
Absolutely.
So I'm going to get you six of those.
I love these IPAs.
Yeah, they do a good job.
And they're not far from here.
They're a very local craft brewery, and they're good people.
You know, these Ontario craft beers are just outstanding.
It's true.
Yeah, there's a number of great craft breweries now in Ontario.
By the way, Barry Pletch, I want to say hi to Barry.
Barry used to coach my daughter in soccer,
but now he works at Great Lakes Brewery,
and he wanted me to ask you how much his Humble & Fred share is worth these days.
If he's got some Humble & Fred shares, what are they worth these days?
What they were worth the day he got it. The paper they're printed on got some Humble and Fred shares, what are they worth these days? What they were worth
the day he got it.
The paper they're printed on?
The paper they're printed on,
yes.
All right, Barry,
there's your answer.
He's kind of hoping
he could retire on it,
but no.
You know,
that's interesting,
that Humble and Fred
share idea
was a great idea.
I think it was Howard's,
if I'm not mistaken.
Just the whole idea of it,
you know.
Well, in a nutshell,
remind us.
People still reference it. It's it, you know? Well, in a nutshell, remind us. People still reference it.
It's just, you know, you get...
You got shares of Humble and Fred.
Yeah, we actually sent you a document
that said you had a share
of the Humble and Fred show.
You know, you were part of the posse,
so to speak.
What a term that is.
But you were part of the group that...
You were in the club.
You were in the club.
You were like 100%er.
You were like, you know,
the people that just love the show.
And we actually issued these shares
and tons of people wanted them
and they're still referenced 25 years later.
Yeah, a lot of guys still have their shares.
I think that's very, very cool.
Very cool.
By the way, when you're drinking this beer,
do you drink from the can or do you pour it into a glass?
I drink from the can.
Okay.
Should you want to class it up a bit and drink from a glass,
you're also taking home with you a brand new pint glass,
a lovely pint glass.
That's courtesy of Brian Gerstein at propertyinthesix.com.
Oh, nice.
Propertyinthesix.com.
Call Brian at 416-873-0292 if you're planning to buy and or sell in the next six months.
if you're planning to buy and or sell in the next six months.
Just by meeting Brian and having a conversation with him,
he'll give you a property in the six pint glass like Freddie P just received,
and he'll give you a six pack of Great Lakes beer
to go along with it.
So don't delay.
Call Brian today at 416-873-0292. And get that pint glass and six pack and lean on Brian's expertise because
Brian Gerstein is a real estate sales representative with PSR Brokerage. So add that to your collection,
Freddie P. And now before we kick out the jams, there's one more jam I need to ask you about.
Wow, this is going to be a long intro.
But I need, while you're here, sitting here,
I'm going to play a little jam here,
and I want to hear the story briefly, if you don't mind.
And I'm sure we talked about this
in a previous Freddie P. episode,
but we're kicking out jams today.
So I thought I'd start with Snow Removal Machine.
Do you remember the details of... I'm picking out jams today, so I thought I'd start with Snow Removal Machine.
Do you remember the details of how this came about?
Because I'm sure you're hearing people reference this all the time as well, especially when there's a snowstorm, right?
I'm thinking when it's a snowy day, people are going to remember this jam.
Check this one.
Looked under my tree.
This, um... And it was there. Uh-huh-huh. Remember This Jam. This predates The Humble and Fred Show.
Good vocals, by the way. Buck up your women and your children too
I'm on my way to heaven
With my snow removal
Brady's got a snow removal machine
And who's doing the backup vocals there?
Brady's got a snow removal machine
That would have been, I know, Leslie Cross,
who worked in the office.
Oh, you know. Is Captain Phil in there?
Probably Captain Phil.
Darren Wozolik, who was the promotions guy at the time.
You know, there's a long version where there's talking in the middle and everything.
It's a great jam, man.
And these vocals, they're not at all goo-headish.
No.
You're using a different octave-headish. No.
You're using a different octave or whatever in your vocals.
This is actually before goo-head.
So were you on the Pete and Geet show when this was done?
No.
Steve Anthony. Okay, so you're post-Pete and Geet's pre-powered coming from Montreal.
What happened is I used to sing along with stuff.
And sometimes on the
Pete and Geet show I would sing goofy little songs.
So the guys in production used to get me to do a lot
of goofy little things.
And then we used to have the Pete and Geet Santa Claus
parties. Yeah, it's Pete and Geet's
Christmas parties.
So Darren Wozleck at the time
was the promotion guy.
He used to love it when I'd sing stuff.
So he came in one day and he said,
hey, I've got an idea for Pete and Geet's Christmas
so you can perform
because we'd get up and all sing.
And it was Love Removal Machine
by the Cult at the time.
It was a current song, I guess, at the time.
89 or 80?
I don't know because I was in high school.
86, 87.
Okay.
Yeah.
Like that song's 30 years old now.
It's a great track.
So he wrote it.
And to be honest with you, Mike,
when he wrote that song,
I really wasn't familiar with Love Removal Machine.
So I had to listen to it a few times. And then I
remember the night I went back to the station. I didn't
live far from the station. We recorded it.
And Darren, who had
written it, was very frustrated because I
was struggling with it, believe it or not. We had to
stop and redo lines and lines.
But anyway, it was created.
And then we aired it on
the Pete and Geet show, or on...
Steve and you?
Yeah, I'm getting my timeline mixed up.
I'm contradicting myself.
So this was after Pete and Geet.
I had done a few things on the Pete and Geet show.
Right.
Right.
Because I would also, I would sing this
and I would sing Santa Claus is Coming to Town
by Bruce Springsteen too, at the Christmas party.
Whatever it is, I'm sorry.
It's 30 years ago.
So whatever that timeline was,
we played the song.
I think it was
on Anthony's show then
or maybe Pete and Geats.
I don't know.
Anyway, everybody loved it.
Late 80s.
Well, Pete and Geats
were there in 87
and Steve Anthony
started in 87.
So, you know,
it's one melts into the other.
So the listeners loved it.
And then I went
to the Christmas party and performed it live and people loved it even more. So for listeners loved it. And then I went to the Christmas party
and performed it live
and people loved it even more.
So for years and years after that,
soon the first snowfall,
the lights would ring up
any day part on CFNY
and people would ask for that song.
I want to hear it on your podcast,
the first snowfall we get,
whatever in December,
I want to hear some snow removal machine.
Okay, man.
Fred, are you ready to kick out the jams?
Yeah!
There are places
I remember
All my life
Though some
have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone
And some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends
I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life
I've loved them all
The Beatles in my life
But of all these friends
Not only is this a beautiful song
And the words are so amazing,
what's always blown me away about this song,
John Lennon wrote this when he was 24 years old.
How do you listen to this song, appreciate the words,
and then imagine it come out of a 24-year-old?
It just, it lets you appreciate how much life these guys lived
in their early 20s.
You know, because they became
unbelievably successful and popular.
And I guess in some way,
it aged them a lot.
And then if you look at Lennon's history
as a child, his mother,
and all that stuff,
it all starts to make sense.
But I've always loved this song.
To me, it's like a showstopper.
Whenever I hear this song start being on the radio or whatever, I just get this weird feeling.
I just love it so much.
And I never get tired of it.
love it so much.
And I never get tired of it.
And the older I get,
the more it means to me, because in my life...
You know, listen.
When you're 60 years old, and you're into
starting, you're becoming a
senior citizen, there's a lot of
reflection, and this song
just enhances that.
I get
unreasonably angry
when I see these lists
of the greatest Beatles songs
of all time.
If it doesn't have
In My Life in the top 10,
I almost want to throw it out.
Like, what is wrong
with this list?
I know it's subjective.
It's subjective.
And there's so many
great Beatles songs,
but that is definitely,
in my opinion,
one of the greatest
Beatles tracks.
You know,
we're going to do this segment,
no matter who does this segment.
What are we calling it?
Kick Out the Jams.
Kick Out the Jams.
Kick Out the Jams.
There are going to be people that listen to this
and say, hey, that was pretty cool.
I like Fred's songs.
And then others will, holy, what's that all about?
What a shitty taste in music.
Don't do that, people.
You can't win with this stuff.
But what we love is we love hearing
your songs
Freddie P's
subjective
taste
his songs
and why he loves it
so it's really
I love
the premise of this series
because I don't
if I don't like that song
that's fine
I love that you love that song
and I want to hear why
and it could be an education
I mean
you may have never
really thought about a song
in a certain way
but once you hear somebody explain it or say why it inspires them,
then maybe you'll start to like it for the similar reasons.
Let's hear Freddie P's second jam. There is freedom within
There is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
There's a battle ahead
Many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're traveling with me
Hey now, hey now
Don't dream, it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They'll come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know that they won't win
Crowded house.
Don't dream it's over.
There's a hole in the roof
You talk about a beautiful song.
Now I said that about in my life. But this is a beautiful song. And, I said that about In My Life,
but this is a beautiful song.
And you know what this song is?
It's timeless, much like In My Life.
This song could be released today,
and it would hit the road.
It would hit the, what do they say?
The charts?
Yeah, hit the road running.
It would go viral.
Beautiful song.
And it's probably, you know, I worked at, you know, I was at CFNY from 78 to 2001.
This was released in what, 87, 86?
So this song is 30 years old.
This probably is my favorite new rock song of all time.
And again, as you'll tell through this,
I'm not, I don't like strident
rock. I don't like heavy metal.
You don't like Led Zeppelin?
Yeah, I don't
care for them.
I like melodic, vocal,
lyrical music.
And this song, it's the same thing.
It's just I love it so much, I can't get tired of it.
It's a song I want to share with my kids or anybody that isn't familiar
with certain types of music.
And it's funny, you know, a lot of people with this song,
it's like,
what's it about?
And it's hard to explain songs sometimes, right?
But Neil Finn,
who wrote it, says it was just about
on the one hand feeling kind and lost,
and kind of lost, and on the other hand
sort of urging myself on
don't dream it's over
and can't we all relate to that
absolutely
at certain points in our life
always love this song as well
Freddie this is a great, great track.
These are brothers, right?
These are the Finn brothers?
Yeah, Neil and Tim.
And when I think of a song like this,
and this can apply to so many as well,
he sat down one day and had an idea and produced this.
And as I said, 31 years later, we're sitting listening to it, enjoying it.
And that's pretty big impact. You know, when you pin something that has the legs that this did in the popularity. Loved it. Love it.
Very nice.
Let's hear another Freddie P. jam.
Let's hear another Freddie P. jam.
Don't the hours go shorter as the days go by We never get to stop and open our eyes
One minute you're waiting for the sky to fall
And next you're dazzled by the beauty of it all
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time Lovers
in a dangerous time
These fragile bodies
of such a chance
Bare Naked Ladies,
Lovers in a Dangerous Time.
Of course,
this is a Bruce Coburn song.
And I think there were,
at some anniversary of Coburn's career
or something there there was a compilation they got exactly they got all sorts of Canadian artists
to pick one of his songs and do it and I always loved the original by Coburn I just always found
it quite moving but when I heard this version and I almost feel dirty doing this but I heard this version, and I almost feel dirty doing this, but I like this version better.
I mean, I was always a Barenaked Ladies fan and got to know them.
But it's just done so well.
And one of my favorite lines in the history of music is in this line.
And I'm going to let you say it, but I know exactly what the line is
because it's one of my favorite lines.
Is it really?
I swear to you. Yeah. And I drop it what the line is because it's one of my favorite lines. Is it really? I swear to you.
Yeah.
And I drop it all the time.
I'll even tweet it occasionally.
No, but it's so, again, inspirational and simple, but it can apply to us all.
Got a kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight.
And I believe the compilation that this is on is called Kick at the Darkness.
Oh, is it?
I think that's what they named the album.
Yeah, yeah.
That is one of the great lines here.
Absolutely.
Kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight.
Exceptional.
By the way, I was going to ask you, you're a Scarborough guy, right?
You were raised in Scarborough?
Did you ever see the video for this song?
I'm like, much music.
Yeah, it's like on just a regular street of Scarborough bungalows.
It's just a regular street of Scarborough bungalows.
And that's another thing that I always found about these guys that I loved was that Scarborough connection.
You know, I just read Mike Myers' book
and his references to Scarborough.
And when you grow up there, and it's so much different now, but...
There it was yeah it's all there scarborough what song is it that ends with uh birchmount stadium home of the robbie that's uh
one of those baronet galady songs listen i'm losing my mind i could have named that song but as a a guy who
was you know on a morning show on 102.1 in the early 90s you were really right there for the
explosion when that yellow tape comes out oh yeah i mean as a cfy listener in the early 90s
you played the bare naked ladies like early and often, including that McDonald's Girl cover.
Oh, yeah.
I heard it all in 102.1.
Yeah.
And this one included.
You were right there.
Yeah, and I loved it.
You know, that was a great thing about the radio station.
I mean, CFNY played these guys long before anybody else did.
Definitely.
And, you know, that yellow tape produced the grant from CFNY
that led to the creation of Gordon,
which, as far as I'm concerned, in my collection,
is one of the favorite, my favorite records of all time.
It still is.
I mean, I don't listen to it often,
but when I hear it or throw it on,
it's like, it's just a great, great record.
It is, and they're so that the most of us saw them for the first time playing yoko ono be my yoko
ono on speaker's corner like this is and i can still see like um the big sweater he's wearing
uh one thing that saddens me today though is that is that when you hear Barenaked Ladies today, it really is, it misses Steve and Paige's contribution.
Like, they were such a good team.
I'm almost wondering whether they should have rebranded.
Because the minute you hear Barenaked Ladies, anybody that was a fan immediately thinks of No Steve.
And there's something hollow there.
I mean, that was a very tough situation. I think the problem with that was that
Barenaked Ladies had this
Disney thing going on with this like children's
album at the same time. It was just a perfect
storm of like, we can't have this
tainting that.
And it just, it all kind of explodes and then
there's a fallout. But, you know, Tyler
was on our show not long ago. Did you,
one of the most intriguing Barenaked
Ladies stories was,
and I forget what the year was,
but Tyler was up at his cottage,
which he can easily afford.
And he got a call, I think,
one day from Ed saying,
listen, we got to come down and record this thing.
And he said, what?
And he said, oh, it's a TV show
down in the States.
The guy is producing it.
Again, I, big big name producer forget his name
listen yeah the two men in a no no but that's the guy like oh okay i can't remember his name either
but he also did that uh three three two and a half men yeah two and a half yeah that guy chuck
something you know anyway whatever wants us to do that and tyler said really do i have to want like
is there any potential here what like what's the big deal and ed said please come down and just do this thing so he thought oh shit so he up leaves
his cottage and he goes down they record this thing for big bang theory and the rest is here
i still think it's the theme it absolutely is the theme that that alone has made all of the
millionaires that That alone.
Absolutely.
Yeah, that's absolutely.
That's one of those shows that is inexplicably popular. I always hear how it's the most popular comedy on the continent.
And I think I lasted four minutes in one episode.
And I'm like, this is not for me.
I'm not interested.
But it is inexplicably popular.
And yeah, they're making a mint because they have that theme song from day one.
And you know, they were of an era
where you didn't just sell something off
and walk away from it.
You know, there's residuals.
But again, the producer of that show,
and again, you know, it's just one of those situations
happened to be somewhere in LA one night
when they were playing, had an idea for this show.
They're putting it all together.
They're formulating.
Okay, what about the theme?
Hey, I saw that band, you know,
Barenaked Lady.
They'd probably be good for this.
And as I say,
it's made them all stinking rich.
Worth coming back from the cottage for.
Let's put it that way.
All right, Freddie P,
let's hear another one of your jams.
It's not time to make a change.
Just relax.
Take it easy.
You're still young. that's your fault. There's so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down.
If you want, you can marry.
Look at me.
I am old, but I'm happy
I was once like you are now And I know that it's not easy to be calm
When you've found something going on
But take your time, think a lot
Why think of everything you've got
For you will still be here tomorrow But your dreams may not
How can I try to explain When I do, he turns away again
It's always been the same
Same old story
From the moment I could talk
I was ordered to listen
Now there's a way
And I know
That I have to go away Freddie, I don't even want to fade this down.
This is beautiful.
This is Cat Stevens, Father and Son.
I've always found this song haunting.
The first time I heard it, I loved it again.
Just because of, you know, the melody.
And then you get into the words, and then you think of you and your father,
and listen to what it's about.
And then you become a father, and, you know, I've played this for my son.
And, you know, it's just basically a conversation between a father and a son.
And, again, listen to the words, and you appreciate what it's all about.
listen to the words and you appreciate what it's all about you know and cat stevens i went through this phase late 60s early 70s when i really started becoming aware of music
and at the time tea for the tillerman which the song was on it was released the late 60s 1970 whatever um i just loved it i love neil young i love james
taylor i love cat stevens again i was a songwriter like yeah i was never a big rock guy i just i just
wasn't and um this is another one of those songs that i've just never been able to let go of
whenever i do a compliment compilation on compilation on my iPod and stuff.
This is always...
You know, I have this thing and it's called
my
Campfire
compilation
or just
Campfire. And whenever I update it
every year, this song stays.
Because I'm telling you, Mike, 11 o'clock at night,
fire burning up north, stars in the sky, beer in your hand.
This song comes on, it's like, wow.
Crazy shit, brother.
Is your first thought now when you hear this song,
is your first thought about your dad or is it about your son?
Or does it all bleed together?
Yeah.
No, probably about my son now because even though we
have a fabulous relationship it's funny you know there's always that sort of generation gap where
you give advice or you have an opinion that no matter how strong your relationship is it's just
it's not always going to uh connect so yeah i yeah, probably my son now.
Beautiful.
Let's hear another Freddie P. jam. guitar solo Isn't she lovely?
Isn't she wonderful?
Isn't she precious?
Less than one minute, oh
I never thought
Through love we'd be
Making one as lovely as she
But isn't she lovely
Made from love
Isn't she pretty
Truly the angel Stevie Wonder, isn't She Lovely.
This song has a huge CFNY connection.
It would have been September 25th, 1982.
My daughter Melanie had been born on the 24th, the night before or the day before.
I came in the next morning onto the Pete and Geet show and Kevin O'Leary, the producer,
got this ready and I sat down and Pete and Geet congratulated me on becoming a father for the
first time. I was only 20. How old was I? Not even 26 years old.
And they played this song.
Now, people would think on CFNY breaking format, well no, that was the wonderful thing about CFNY.
You could play anything as long as you could explain it.
Just think how fabulous that was.
You can't even digest that today.
No one's playing their own music anymore.
And that was
David Marsden's thing. It's like, I don't care what
you play, that's what we're all about. Just, you know,
be able to explain it. There's got to be a reason
for it. So again,
you listen to the words of this song, and this
was about Stevie Wonder's daughter
having been born just a couple years previous.
And he wrote this song.
And I'll just never forget that morning sitting in and being a new father
and having these guys that I so deeply respected, Pete and Geetz, congratulating me.
At the time, not really appreciating the full impact of what becoming a father meant.
Because I was a kid.
You know what I mean?
Sometimes...
You were 26 when you were first born?
Well, I was 82.
I would have been...
I hadn't turned...
Yeah, I guess 26.
I was 27 when my son was born,
so I can relate.
Yeah, it just hits you.
You're like, okay,
I now am responsible
for this human being
and their growth and maturity
and making them productive
and responsible citizens
of this world.
That's on me now.
But you know what I've noticed now, Mike?
People are having kids later.
Definitely.
And the older you are when you have them,
the more you appreciate the responsibility.
So it makes it scarier.
I was just a dumb kid at 26.
I didn't fully appreciate what...
It was almost like getting a new dog or something.
Yeah, yeah, a new member of the family.
You didn't know any better, yeah.
Didn't know any better.
And I think these people now that are 36, 37, when they're having kids,
they've got another 10 or 12 years of fear to draw from,
and it's like they're freaked out.
That's true.
But again, I love this song, and I've explained the reason why.
One of the regrets I have over the years
is Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson
that I didn't listen to more of them
and appreciate them more at the time.
Especially Michael Jackson.
Yeah, Michael Jackson is true.
While he was huge,
he was almost too big to appreciate
because he's like,
this is a pop megastar
and that's happening over here and I'm not a pop guy that's right and then it's like when he's gone
you go back and go like what what a brilliant genius musician this guy was like when i hear
the beginning of billy jean it's like or even thrill i mean that whole thriller thing was just
at the time that whole thriller album i ignored it now i's crazy. I think it was just too big for you.
It was like sometimes things are so big.
I'm with that now with Game of Thrones, okay?
Game of Thrones is just this huge thing that looms.
I can't even get into that right now.
You guys all enjoy that and me.
No, I don't.
Maybe in another decade or two, I'll think about diving in, but it's too big for me now.
No, I don't.
I haven't.
Well, you and I are the only two there.
I haven't gotten into it. I just don't have time.
I can't invest that much time in that stuff.
But yeah,
I mean, that's
a great analogy with Michael Jackson.
I just so
enjoy his stuff now after he's
dead. It's just a shame.
And you know this album
that this is from, in the key of life
fabulous record but at the time i like this song because it meant something to me because of pete
and geats but i never really embraced the whole stevie wonder thing the way i should have so i
like that your previous song uh cat stevens father and son makes you think of your boy
and isn't she lovely by by Stevie Wonder for your girl.
It's a nice symmetry there.
I like that.
Yes, Stevie Wonder.
He still tours, right?
Yeah.
From what I understand.
You haven't seen him live?
No, I'd love to.
We can still, there's still time.
We need to do it.
We need to do it while he's still out there performing.
You didn't have this on 8-track by any chance.
This is one of those albums I always think of 8-tracks.
No, to tell you the truth, Mike, I don't think I ever owned the album.
Like my brother-in-law, Clyde, was a big Stevie Wonder fan.
And I used to bug him about it all the time.
You know, like there was something wrong with that.
Weird. Well, it's funny because Michael Jackson
and Stevie Wonder, the two guys you're lumping together, were
both child stars, essentially, because they were
both massive, well,
Michael really young, but Stevie Wonder
with Fingertips Part 2 or whatever,
he was like 15 years old or something when that was a huge
hit. You know, Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes,
same thing. Like, now I just love
this music. At the time, it was just something that was out there.
You're late to the funk.
Better late than never.
Slightly.
Better than disco, okay?
I always feel funk and disco kind of at the same time kind of brewing.
And like disco wins out, I feel.
But I feel funk, that's where the longevity is, the good stuff.
You know, the first time I ever uttered words on the radio was in Brampton.
It was called 790 Disco.
Oh, my God.
It was the AM station.
You know who was just here?
Who was your morning man?
Larry.
Larry Fedora.
Last week, and we talked at great lengths.
I mentioned that you were his, you read the sports on that show?
Yeah, I did.
Well, some news and sports on Larry.
Yeah, he did the morning show.
That's where Larry and I met.
I'm glad you brought this up real briefly.
So 790 Disco, what happened to 790 as a frequency?
There's no 790 now.
No, it became, it always had a problem because there was 740, CBC Toronto was 740.
So 790, they really had to watch the pattern
so it didn't bleed into this national,
what they called, there was a term for radio
stations that didn't, they didn't have to
control the pattern.
And 7-40 because it was CBC was one of those,
but anything around it that you had to be,
you couldn't screw with it.
So it wasn't a very good frequency, but it around it, you couldn't screw with it.
So it wasn't a very good frequency.
But it was 790 Disco, and then they went from that to CKMW, which stood for CK Metro West. And they tried to turn it into a local Western Toronto AM information music station, but
it never really flew.
And then it became 790 Chow.
It became an Italian radio station.
Okay, yeah.
And now it's 530.
He had the opportunity to change frequencies
from 790 to 530.
The guy who purchased it and did that.
So 790 just ceased to exist.
Okay, because I didn't know much about 790 Disco,
but Larry was here.
We had a great chat.
We talked about you.
And I learned a little bit about 790 Disco.
So, sorry, you were saying the first words you ever uttered.
And then I think I interrupted you.
It was on 790 Disco.
It was on that frequency.
It was a disco radio station.
It was 24 hours a day.
And this was an AM radio station that had six jocks a day.
You know, that's the way radio used to be. Every four hours, there was a hours a day. And this was an AM radio station that had six jocks a day. You know, that's the way radio used to be.
Every four hours, there was a new jock right around the clock all night long.
And that's what it was.
They played 24 hours a day disco music.
Larry was the morning guy.
And I did the sports.
Mike Stafford did the news.
Oh, that's funny.
Yeah.
And then you guys ended up on CFNY shortly thereafter, I would guess.
All right, my friend, let's kick out another jam.
Let's jam.
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no country It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You
John Lennon's Imagine
Do you have phone capability here? Yeah John Lennon's Imagine.
Do you have phone capability here?
Yeah.
I'm not asking you to, but if you phoned, speaking of my kids,
if you phoned either one of them and said,
Danny or Mel, what's the greatest song ever written?
They would say, oh, you've been talking to my dad.
Because I drilled this into their heads over the years,
whenever the song would come on.
And maybe I should have ended with this song, but I do believe this is the greatest song ever written.
Just, the words are just so profound, yet so simple.
And it's just so powerful.
Freddie, in your opinion, which Beatle had the best post-Beatles career?
Like, who had the best, which of these guys had the best tunes post-Beatles?
That's a tough one. And the world will live as one
Mike, that's a tough one because McCurney and the Wings Days,
like one of my favorite post-Beatle albums was Ram by Paul McCurney.
He just loved that album.
But I think as far as depth goes, Lennon sort of nailed it.
You know, Paul went sort of poppy,
but I love them both.
It's just this song is just,
it's just my favourite.
It's just, I just love it so much.
I mean, it's so simple
and it says so much.
And if the world could subscribe
to what he talks about in this song,
I mean, especially Imagine No Religion.
I mean, you know, I'm...
That's the line to me.
Yes.
That line is so important.
And that's where you start to think,
like, can you imagine?
Like, just stop and imagine
there's no religion in this world.
How much better the world would be.
Wow.
No hell below us, above us only sky.
Like, I mean, yeah.
It's fantastic.
You know, a quick little story here.
Yeah.
I, when I was in Peterborough as the program
director of The Wolf, I got to know Ronnie Hawkins
and I went to his house a couple of times.
And I would sit there on his couch.
He'd smoke a reefer, not me because I was working,
and tell all these stories.
And I asked him, of course, I'm a big Beatle fan
and John Lennon fan, and I had asked him about John Lennon
and he told a couple of stories about Lennon was at his house
in Mississauga once and really didn't have the concept
of paying for things because he was rich.
And so you just did things and they were...
Anyway, he ran up this huge phone bill on ronnie
that was never he was never really compensated for but anyway he was telling me too he i think
the story went he one time he went to to new york and went to visit lennon and lennon called him
into a room or said and said something, I'm working on this song,
and he played the first few keys of Imagine.
And Hawkins thought, oh, yeah, that's pretty cool.
There's potential there.
I don't really know what it's all about,
but yeah, that's pretty good, John.
Anyway, it became Imagine.
Wow.
By the way, that house is for sale now,
the big Rock and Ronnie Hawkins house is for sale.
Yeah, originally listed for something like $12 million.
Now it's down to $5 or something.
True, but he probably picked it up for like $20,000 or something like that.
No, I think he told me.
It was like $200 and some odd.
And the thing is, you know, Stony Lake where it's on,
it's like the, it's sort of the Muskoka.
Like it's, Stony Lake is sort of like the Muskoka of the Coerthas.
It's the highbrow,
the big money place.
And I'll tell you,
he's got all this acreage sitting on a hill,
looking down to all this waterfront that he owns.
And it's quite the place.
Wow, man.
I always think about the band when I think of Rockin' Ronnie Hawkins.
And there's an underappreciated musical act, the band.
But now Levon's gone.
Levon Hill recently passed.
That's too bad.
But Rockin' Ronnie Hawkins is still kicking.
Speaking real quick for people listening
and hearing the kick of the jams,
speaking of Rockin' Ronnie Hawkins,
Ron Hawkins is going to come in
and kick out the jams in early September.
So if you enjoyed the chat with Ron Hawkins of Low to come in and kick out the jams in early September. So if you enjoyed the chat
with Ron Hawkins of Lowest of the Low, which we'll hear later in the program as we close out,
he's going to come back and kick out some jams. So let's hear another Freddie P jam. Baby, here with a woman's eyes
I can feel you watching in the night
All alone with me
I
Were waiting for the sunlight
When I feel cold
You warm me
And when I feel I can't go on
You come and hold me
It's you and me forever
Sarah, smile
Won't you smile and love for me, Sarah
If you feel like leaving
Hall & Oates, Sarah Smile
You know you can go
What I always loved about Daryl Hall is just vocally amazing, the range.
If you wanna be free
And I've always loved, Hall loved hollow notes have always been like a
not like a real
true love of music
for me just sort of on the peripheral
but liked all their stuff
but this song
again it's another one of the songs when it comes on the radio
or whenever I hear it
I just love everything about it.
It makes you feel good.
Yeah, it's a good song.
I mean, it's sort of a sad song.
I mean, it was about his girlfriend
that he was with like for 30 years
before they broke up.
But you know, you're speaking of
online now and the new media
and everything, you know, have you ever seen
Live from Daryl's House?
I've heard great things from you and Howard,
but I haven't actually watched it.
Take the time.
Because he's got this beautiful ranch or farm in upstate New York
with a studio in it.
And he invites famous people to come
and kick out the jams with him.
And what's interesting about it,
people will come and they will sing his songs
and they will sing his songs
and he will sing their songs.
Cool.
And the spin on Sarah's smile
throughout this show over the past few years
has been fantastic.
How many times have you seen Hall & Oates in concert?
Twice.
Both times disappointed.
I saw them last year when they were here.
They were just here again.
But last 2016 saw them at the Molson Amphitheater,
which is now the Budweiser Stage.
I was really disappointed.
Very lethargic.
I didn't like the attitude.
It was going through the motions.
Very, very disappointed.
But I still love their greatest hits,
and I especially like that song.
It reminds me of the St. Louis Blues
when Brett Hull and Adam Oates were on the same line together,
and we had Hull and Oates.
You remember that?
Oh, that's right.
Hull and Oates.
That's right.
Hull and Oates.
All right.
I have to bring it back to sports.
By the way,
I recently put together a list
of all the sports media personalities
that were on this podcast.
And I just never,
I didn't have you on the list
because in my mind,
I know I didn't think of you
as a sports media personality.
I think of you as a more,
more humble and Fred and stuff.
But somebody.
Yeah, first 10 years, man.
I know.
I know.
So somebody pointed out you were missing.
So you were added to the list. I want you
to know you are on the list of sports.
You and Bob McKenzie and Brian Williams,
you're all together, and Ron McLean.
You belong on that list. So let's hear
another Freddie P. Jam. We're bound to wait all night
She's bound to run them all
Invested in nothing but anyhow
To reach us all
The garden's sorting out
She curls her lips on the bough
I don't know if you're dead or not.
If you ain't one.
Come on and get the meeting run.
Before you open up your eyes.
There's all of you so many hands.
To analyze.
Come on and get your own dose.
Collect it at the borderline
They want to get up
in your hair
Cause they know
it's so divine
The highway road
is hard to find
A detour
in your new life Broken Bells, The High Road.
Yeah, I don't even know that awful.
What would this be?
Five, six, seven years old?
Should I have all the dates of these songs?
Anyway.
You don't need that.
It's a fairly recent, especially on your list,
this is by far your most recent song. Because it's my favorite...
It's my favorite It's my favorite new rock song
Meaning, and I know it's not new
Because it's a few years old
But from this sort of new rock genre
This, without a doubt, is my favorite
And there's recently been some good stuff produced
But still this song, same thing.
You can probably catch a theme through this,
the type of music I love.
Like tempo and feel.
And when I first heard this,
I do believe I was working in Peterborough
and I was driving north one day.
Here was my goal. Maybe I've mentioned this to you. When I took the job in Peterborough, and I was driving north one day. Here was my goal.
Maybe I've mentioned this to you.
When I took the job in Peterborough for Chorus to be the program director there,
my goal was to come back and be program director of The Edge.
That's what I, because I thought, it doesn't pay enough in Peterborough,
and it's not where I want to be, but it could be a stepping stone to management,
and it's Chorus Entertainment, and if I go there could be a stepping stone to management and it's chorus entertainment.
And if I go there, I can go full circle and become program director of The Edge.
So I used to listen to The Edge a lot on my drives
because I wanted to keep familiar with the radio station
just in case the opportunity arose.
And when this song came on the first time,
it was like, wow, I just love this song.
Even this part at the end when it kind of...
Yeah.
It's very melodic.
You like a nice melody.
You don't want anything that's going to make your ears bleed.
You like beautiful music, if I will.
Mm-hmm.
Heal and love Be your guide
And the interesting thing,
I used to, when I put the music together on The Wolf,
we had a current category
where new rock music would come out.
When I say new rock,
I don't mean new rock in the edge sense.
I mean rock that's new.
A new Coldplay song or something.
Or whatever, a new...
The Arkells or something.
Whatever.
Okay.
And this was on the new rock list, and I really liked it.
And I made the bold move of putting this on The Wolf.
And I got the typical reaction.
It was people that were open-minded, people in Peterborough that,
you know, sort of the new generation opening the new restaurants
and the funky stuff.
I actually got calls to the station going, wow, that song sounds so good on The Wolf. that, you know, sort of the new generation opening the new restaurants and the funky stuff.
I actually got calls to the station going,
wow, that song sounds
so good on The Wolf.
And then I had the old
redneck guard phoning,
what the fuck is that shit?
And ultimately,
I did get in a little bit
of trouble for adding it
to The Wolf.
Wow.
It's a song that I like.
You know what they say
when you program
a radio station,
you should never do it
on personal taste. To this one, I did a bit because I just thought it was a song that I like. You know what they say, when you program a radio station, you should never do it on personal taste.
To this one, I did a bit
because I just thought it was a good song.
And those stations like that, The Wolf,
if I remember, those types of stations,
they really do like,
they still play like Back in Black.
They have these staples of these classic rock songs
that sort of don't leave the rotation.
When I was there, there was like a 650 song universe.
And it's probably the same.
And it hasn't changed much since I left in 2011.
And a song like that would be noticeable there because it's modern, if you will.
Yeah.
And I always like the idea, the thing is, you know,
a stage like The Wolf where you play lots of familiar music,
every song that comes on, you know, and that's a good thing
if that's the type of radio station you are.
But don't you think it's interesting that every so often
that you're sort of, something's thrown at you a bit different?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, a lot of people didn't buy into the philosophy there.
All right, let's hear your ninth jam. Yeah. Hail. Hail.
What's the matter with your mind and your sign?
Oh, hail.
Hail.
Nothing but matter with your head, baby.
Find it.
Come on and find it.
Hail.
With it, baby,
cause you're mine and you're mine
and you're just so divine.
Come and get your love.
Come and get your love.
Come and get your love.
Come and get your love. Come and get your love.
Redbone, Come and Get Your Love.
The reason I like this song is almost as much visual.
Remember, I know, maybe you're too old for this.
It used to be called the Saturday Night Special.
Something like that on NBC.
Too young, you mean?
What did I say?
Too old?
Too young.
Yeah, I think so.
I don't remember that.
It's called the Saturday Night Special.
And they would have musical acts, comedy acts on and everything.
And the first time I ever heard this song, it was Red Bull.
And this was a band of Native Americans.
And I heard the song and I just loved it.
And I don't have a lot to say other than I just think it's a fun song
that I've always enjoyed,
and the little, just the chorus and everything is fun.
And if you were to call me, Mike, it's my ringtone, this song.
Well, I have to ask you, do you have Netflix?
Yes.
There is a, it's a cartoon by Bill Burr, you know the comedian Bill Burr, called F is for Family.
Right.
Which I enjoy this and it takes place in the 70s.
Okay.
You'd love it, I think.
And this is the theme song.
Get out.
So it's making a comeback, yeah.
Get out.
And I haven't seen this yet, but somebody told me this song is really popular with kids today
because of
oh crap what is the popular
superhero movie
with the raccoon
and the tree trunk
you're asking the wrong guy
although I do have a 5 year old grandson
no this is too old for that
but
hold on I am No, this is too old for that. Hold on.
I am not going to let this pass here.
Guardians of the Galaxy.
I don't know why I forgot that name.
Apparently, this is on the soundtrack of the second movie,
the sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Part 2.
So I think this song is making a bit of a comeback.
Well, it's just a fun little song.
Yeah, it's just a fun little rock song.
And it's very 70s.
I don't remember much of the 70s, but when I hear it, I'm back in the 70s.
Because at least I was there for half of it anyway.
Cool.
And as I say, yeah, it's my ringtone.
I want you to give it a shot, F is for Family,
because I think it's just sitting there on Netflix
waiting for you, and it'll start with that track.
Yeah, if he's chosen the song, I'll probably like it.
And he's a funny guy, that Bill Burr.
I don't like a lot of stand-up comics,
but he's one that makes me laugh.
He's in an exclusive club.
Freddie P., are you ready to hear your last jam?
Yes, sir.
Let's do it up. Ooh, yeah.
All right, we're jamming.
I want to jam it with you.
We're jamming, jamming.
And I hope you like jamming too.
And the rules ain't no vow We can do it anyhow
I and I will see you through
Cause every day we pay the price
We're delivering sacrifice
We're charming till the charm is through
We're charming
To think that charming was the thing of the past We're charming Bob Marley and the Wailers
Chamin
you know I've made it quite clear.
I don't care for Led Zeppelin.
It's like, hey, if you love them, super.
And ACDC, sorry, I just don't get it.
I don't.
I try.
And I'm just amazed when I'm in a room, like a bar or something, and ACDC comes on, the
place goes crazy.
And I mean, it's wonderful.
It captures the imagination of so many.
It does nothing for me
other than aggravate me.
To me, it's noise.
And you know, I love the Beatles,
but I have actually met people
that say, I don't get the Beatles thing.
I don't like the Beatles.
And on and on.
And maybe any one of the artists today.
People like them,
and there's people
that don't like them. I've never
met anybody that doesn't like this
guy.
Have you? I have not.
It's just,
you talk about
universal, all-encompassing,
invite you in music.
And globally
too. Globally.
The entire world enjoys Bob Marley music.
Now tell me,
regardless of your mood,
how this song wouldn't put you in a good mood.
And listen,
the shit is played out of it.
You hear it everywhere, at resorts,
at bars, everywhere.
And the thing is almost bordering on,
okay, okay, but
that album Legend by bob marley
it's just unbelievable and again this song to me epitomizes bob marley and epitomizes
what reggae is and can be and uh it had to be on my list
he he gets hard to even speak about
how big a deal Bob Marley is
throughout the world. I mean, and he was
40, I think, when he passed. 36.
Is that right? Yeah. 1980
or so, I'm thinking. Yeah, and he
got
sort of like
gangrene in his toe
and thought he could
fix it herbally and then turned into cancer. I thought it was cancer in his toe and thought he could fix it herbally and then
turned into cancer.
I thought it was cancer in the toe that he thought he could
treat herbally and then it spread and he ended up
brain cancer and done.
But I think it started as some other
thing and then became cancer
or whatever the story is. He was 36
years old and you know he probably
it was only his toe,
probably could have saved himself.
And maybe, can you imagine another 30 some odd years
of Bob Marley music, how great that would have been?
Now, I find those mind thoughts,
those are frustrating to me
because it almost hurts to wonder
what would they have done?
What different things would they have tried?
It's aggravating to consider the fact
that we could have had you know jimmy hendrix for example i always wonder like a guy like jimmy
hendrix he was 27 when he died like what was he going to do next where was he going to go in 10
years from then like we'll never know what a genius kurt cobain the list goes on all amy
winehouse i love you know there was so much other music I could have put on here. Like, people
might think, you know, with the CFNY roots,
where's Tragically Hip? I love
Tragically Hip, but, you know, Bob Cajun
might crack this list for,
because I go up north and I just,
that's a wonderful song.
I mean, so many other. Amy
Winehouse, because I just absolutely
adore her. Adele, I love, but
you couldn't put it all here.
It's tough to whittle
it down to 10. Just glancing
at your list, I see we only have the one
Canadian act. Now, there is no
CanCon regulation here,
so you didn't need a Canadian act, but the Barenaked Ladies
are here, and it's good to see
some local representation.
But this is a solid list, and Fred, I thoroughly enjoyed not only hearing your 10 tracks,
but hearing you talk about why you love them.
Well, I thank you.
I mean, you know, it's a bit embarrassing, again, where I've said this a million times.
Music is very subjective.
Some people like stuff, and they don't like stuff, and I sit here and indulge you for,
or you indulge me for an hour and a half. I hope
people like it.
People, whether they love the songs
or not, they're going to love hearing you talk about it.
And I think that's the key here.
Let's hear what Freddie P
why Freddie P loves Sarah's smile
and isn't she lovely and lovers in a dangerous time.
Great tracks.
Kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight, my friend.
We'll try to get you and Howard back maybe for the 300th episode.
How does that sound?
That sounds great, Michael.
Anything for you.
And that brings us to the end of our 256th show.
You can follow me on Twitter.
I'm at Toronto Mike. Fred is at Freddy P55. Our friends
at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. And propertyinthesix.com is at Brian Gerstein.
See you all next week. I want to take a streetcar downtown Read Andrew Miller and wander around
And drink some Guinness from a tin