Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Fred Patterson: Toronto Mike'd #80

Episode Date: June 18, 2014

Mike chats with Freddie P from the Humble and Fred Show about sports, politics, radio and Martin Streek.

Welcome to the 80th episode of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything, often with a distinctly Toronto flavour. I'm Mike from torontomic.com and joining me this week is Freddie P from the Humble and Fred Show. Hey! Welcome back, Frederick. Yeah, this is my second appearance on Toronto Mic'd. Let's let the new people know if they're looking for that. Like typically I do like the, the ongoing history of, and then we'd go through your career. And if anyone's looking for that kind of content, go to number 34.

Episode 34 is the, the life of Freddie P. There's a lot of good feedback to that. That was a while ago now. This is 80, but that was a lot of good feedback to that episode. Oh, the life of Freddie P. It took 20 seconds of listening.

It was at least an hour of good stuff there. So how's it going? You came straight from the Humble and Fred Studios, which is exactly three kilometers away. And you had some VIP guests today. Well, we had B naked ladies um what is the bare naked ladies now jim kevin tyler and uh and uh kevin two brothers right no no the cregan brothers am i right there were two brothers yes but one Oh, the redhead left? So there's Kevin Hearn, Jim Cregan, Ed Robertson, of course, and Tyler Stewart. Right.

Yeah. And they were there. And, you know, more than an hour. And that's available at HumbleAndFredRadio.com. As we speak, it's already up. It's fascinating. You know, if you are a Barenaked Lady fan, you were, you still are. Even if you weren't, it's interesting because, again, in that forum where we get to sit down and sort of air it out and not have to break for a whack of commercials and music.

They sang, I think, five songs, but there was a lot of talk about their careers and the breakup or the breakaway of Stephen Page. Right. Very candid. It was a lot of talk about their careers and the break up or the break away of Steve and Paige. Right. Very candid. It was a lot of fun. It was a great sort of reunion because they were very kind to the Humble and Fred show traditionally right from the outset. Yeah. I mean, that station you were on, 102.1, was instrumental in those early days. The yellow cassette.

I guess we called it the yellow tape. Yes. Which I own two copies. You still have yours? Yeah, I still have mine. Yeah. Oh, I i wouldn't let that go and it's amazing to think back that we bought this cassette and i think i was buying both at the time i just switched to cds but i was still buying some cassettes and i remember that one was cassette only and i got it twice because i think i lost it once but it was amazing because it even had that cover at the end

of fight the power and i was a big public enemy fan uh still actually right here yeah still am but um my question is when they play songs now do they avoid songs that had steven on lead uh they touch on that on the show um no they don't as i had explained he sings some uh kevin sings a, uh, Kevin sings a couple, uh, Tyler sings now. Um, they don't avoid, at first he admitted it was a bit weird, but they got over that. Now they just plow through and do them because they are bare naked ladies songs.

They weren't Steven page songs. Okay. Cause, uh, it would be, and I have to admit, I was a big fan of their naked ladies and I haven't been into them since the split. Um, I think it just didn't feel right to me as a longtime fan that there were these two parts,

and they really complemented each other well. We talked about that. Yeah. And they even admitted, they admitted that by the time Stephen had left, they weren't having a lot of fun as a band. And then, you know, after Stephen left, they just got together and decided, are we going to go forward? Are we going to stop?

Are we going to go forward as bare naked ladies? Or are we going to go forward, uh, as, as four guys with a new name? And they decided, uh, in the end,

they go forward as bare naked ladies without Steven page. And, uh, they're really enjoying themselves. And it was funny, um, because at one at one point we were talking about Steve and Paige and I said something, oh, it's something on the more positive. And Tyler said, no, this is positive. Sort of intimating that Steve and leaving ultimately was positive.

Then he went on to explain it gave the rest of them a lot more room. As Tyler said, you know, I didn't get as, there's more room on the stage now. I get to sing more. I get to do more. So from, from as far as he's concerned, it's better. And you got to remember all these guys are independently wealthy now. So then it's a fun experiment to go forward and see where it takes them. It's not like they're worrying about where the next paycheck comes from. Now, as I recall, like when this steven page controversy erupted and i think it involved prostitutes and cocaine like there's some heavy duty uh allegations etc at that time

if i remember correctly the bare naked ladies were about to embark on some kind of a disney thing i have this memory of like they were gonna do a disney album or some kids thing at the same time as this broke and it was very bad for the brand as they say yeah it was bad for the brand um we didn't get into steven's problems because that's not necessarily fair you know i played by that rule how would i how would i want this to be handled if i was steven page i wouldn't want a bunch of guys sitting around talking about my perceived problems my alleged actions, without being there to defend myself. And I don't think you really want to put those guys in that position.

We talked about the breakup from their perspective, from their stance. I'm going to listen. And that was being fair, I thought. I'm looking forward to listening. I was at your 20th anniversary show when Tyler was there. So Tyler Stewart was there, as I recall. Tyler's going to co-host one of our shows this summer he's going to come in and sit in for the whole show because years ago um when we were at the edge uh whenever i went on holidays howard would have guest friends right and once or twice tyler was the guest fred where he would come in and co-host and read the

sports another when i was away too you know that restaurant it's still there downtown called Once or twice, Tyler was the guest Fred, where he would come in and co-host and read the sports. Another, when I was away too, you know that restaurant that's still there downtown called Fred's Not Here? Yes, I do. It's on King's, King, yeah. When I would go on holidays, they would have guest Fred's and give away dinners to Fred's Not Here. That's smart. Isn't that clever, Mikey? That's so clever. I was watching, we'll get into this later, but whenever I watch Brazil play in the World cup i always laugh when i see fred you know like you know it's not his real name they just pick i don't know how it works you're the wrong guy to ask i bet i gotta ask uh elvis when

he's back on but these guys they have this one guy named hulk and it says hulk on the back and he's known as hulk but his name's not hulk so i would love to know how this works. You just pick a cool name and that's your name? Fred. That's funny. I noticed that. And for a fleeting moment, I thought, I wonder what that's all about. And then I forgot about it. Don't spoil your World Cup.

I'm going to ask you. We're going to dive into the World Cup soon. I don't want to spoil Freddie P's analysis of the World Cup. We'll wrap up the Barenaked Ladies chat. I just want to say that I can't imagine them playing something like Brian Wilson without Stephen Page there. To me, it just doesn't feel right. But they're still very popular because that number one comedy that I don't watch opens with a Bare Naked Ladies song every week. Big Bang Theory.

And I'm sure that's been good for them. Yeah, thank you. They tell the story. I don't want to give too much away, because I want your listeners... There's an hour you said? Don't worry, you're only giving a piece of Jesus. I want your listeners, of which there are many, to go and listen to our podcast.

But they tell a story of Tyler at the beginning of that show, and I think was sent sort of an, what do they call it, a proof of the show before it had even been produced or whatever. Yeah. About the show.

And Tyler read through it and thought, oh, this is cheesy and stupid. It's not going anywhere. But Ed phoned him one day and said, come on down. He was at his cottage. Tyler was at his cottage and Ed called him and said, come down. I need you to play some drums so I can send this thing down and he said uh ed do i have to i'm relaxing at the cottage it's stupid done why are we even gonna bother and uh finally ed said no i really need you to do this so just before he hung up tyler said well i'll tell you this better be the next fucking seinfeld

funny and the rest is history it may be from some um perspectives bigger than Seinfeld which is shocking because I've watched I've caught up here and there and it's kind of cheesy and stupid and but then again I never liked did you ever watch two and a half men yo yeah love it because it's the same guy right Chuck Lorre he does so no I like two and a half I love it. Because it's the same guy, right? Chuck Lorre. Yeah.

No, I like Two and a Half Men. So, yeah. Not so much with Ashton Kutcher. Right. But there was another story, too. Again, not to give too much away. Along those lines, so Tyler thought that was stupid. There was another story, you know, their song One Week, which may have been their biggest hit ever.

Yeah, right. Tyler hated that song. Didn't think they should do it. So, basically, the barometer is if Tyler hates hates it it's going to be a massive hit so it was great because we're doing our 25th anniversary show this fall uh sirius xm uh extravaganza do you have a date yet no no but details to follow and um we said hey it'd be great if the bare naked ladies could play at this show so tyler leaned in and said no i think it's a lousy idea great so that means they'll be'll be there. For sure. That's awesome. And then you'll have your little plan with Stephen Page in the back and he'll come on stage while the Bernagles are performing just to see what happens.

I'll tell you, listen to the show. That ain't going to happen. So listen to our show today, hummellandfredradio.com. And you know what? You'll get the answer to that question. So you've been doing the podcast for almost three years. Yes, sir. And I don't think people realize how you've been, you've naturally divvied up the chores, but I've had a good perspective on this. Let me share it. So you are the guy, you actually edit the XML file after the show and you update the website. Yes. While, uh, Howard, Humble Howard, looks after the actual audio creation. So he is more responsible for the creation, recording, and the encoding of the MP3 file. So basically... And then I get it.

Yeah, so he creates MP3 uploads. You get the pertinent details like size of file and length of podcast. And then you do your thing. And you guys have this down. It's been three years. You've got this down cold now. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah.

So I'm responsible for getting it onto iTunes and the streaming player on our website and the archive download portion. Yeah, that's what I do. You're the digital guy. Plus, you know, and it goes beyond that. You know, Howard's always been fascinated by sales. Me, not. So Howard goes out on sales calls, and then Howard helps bring the the money in of which there is money believe it or not i do believe it and then once the money comes in then it's mine and i do all the banking i do the bookkeeping with a help with

the help of my wife so it's interesting operation we have yeah it's interesting how your your natural skills and passions sort of complemented each other perfectly in this partnership no absolutely and the thing is with us our relationship we're a lot like brothers like it's hard to explain it's not i mean it's all a good thing you get each other like exactly idiosyncrasies and stuff after 25 years i know what he's all about he knows what i'm all about and you can you can preempt strike like you know how he's all about. He knows what I'm all about. And you can preempt strike. You know how he's going to react to something, and he can probably read how you're going to react to something. That's exactly it.

And the result is, and listen, this isn't saying a lot. The end result is, and you know, this is so un-Canadian to say. I think we're really doing the best radio show in the country. I really believe that. I really believe that. I really believe that. And the thing is, I say that from the perspective that there are a lot of talented people in this country who don't get the opportunity to do the best show that they could possibly do. Right. Because there's too many people in the way.

Too many rules, right? Too many rules. Like Jim Richards, for example, he has to do X minutes and then segue out of this and then back sell that. Governing bodies, CRTC, Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, too much music, too many commercials. So many things that so many talented people could really produce a much better product. All that stuff gets in their way. Us, I mean, the vehicle that we have and the freedom we have it allows us and i'm not going to say by consolation but the end result is we produce a product that i think is

i just think it's the best as far as a talk radio station goes i talk radio show or a mixture of talk because we often play music like we did today. Five songs by the Barenaked Lady. Yeah, I'm a little biased here, but I listen every day. And I wouldn't listen just because you're a pal. Because time is precious, and I'm listening because I enjoy it. Mike, here's something else. You know, when I say so Canadian. Do you realize, well, I want you to appreciate.

You know, when I say so Canadian, do you realize, well, I want you to appreciate, I would say from every 10 calls we get to the show in the morning, I would say seven or eight, maybe seven, are from the United States. People really like our show in the United States, the Facebooks, the email. And you know what? It's not, you know, in Canada, oh, it's the Canadian show. It can't be that good. And people love Stern, and he's fabulous, and people like Opie and Anthony, and they deliver a product which is quality for a certain group.

There's no doubt about it. And there's some other guys, Fez and Rez or something. Pez Dispenser. Whatever. They all deliver great shows. They're Americans. I think Americans sit down there and then they were part of that world now

so they hit on Humble and Fred and they just listen to the show as a couple of guys doing a show. Where in Canada, it's almost like, oh, is that a Canada? It's Humble and Fred. It's on Sirius

where Opie and Anthony are and Howard's, oh, it can't be that good. So it's just, my point is, we've really been received well in the United States, and it's blown us away. It really is.

Interesting, because you're starting from ground zero there, because here there's a brand equity. I mean, everyone my age knows Humble and Fred if they're from the GTA, but down there they're coming in cold and just saying, I like these guys. Yeah, and here we sort of like to eat our own. We do. Canada, yeah, that's why everyone, great talent, ends up having to go to the States. There's very few coming in cold and just saying i like these yeah and here we sort of like to eat our own we do

canada yeah that's why everyone great talent ends up having to go to the states there's very few examples of people have stayed stayed back um i actually brought up okay so that howard creates the audio and just to tell a quick story just in case this uh applies to anybody out there so i record using garage band on this macbook pro I'm pointing to right now. And last week, I had Barb DiGiulio sitting in that chair. And like I do every week, I went to plug in, I plug in a cable into my headphone jack, which allows me to play music on my MacBook and then record it through this mixer here. And simply, the cable would not go in. And I ended up having to go without any music the world went without the

Toronto Mike theme song and then I realized later that the the laptop thought a headphone was in the jack so it was basically you couldn't play external audio it was like the MacBook was tricked into thinking there was headphones in there when there was nothing in there and it took basically I got a toothpick and I ended up playing around inside the port, and I tricked it back. But if anyone ever has this issue, because you can't insert a cable, there's a red light on inside when you're playing music. It thinks headphones are in there, but they're not. And it's rather annoying and frustrating. So that happened last week. That's all.

That's a fascinating story. That's for anyone out there who encounters the same stupid thing. Freddie P., did you watch the stanley cup finals not really so yeah you didn't even you didn't even care it was an overtime and flip over i went to bed after um regulation time wow it was tied uh tied game five was it yeah um and i just i was up that was friday night yeah i was up north i Um, and I just, I was up Friday night. Yeah. I was up North. I was tired and I just, here's what I thought. Tell me.

It's not the Leafs. Um, I've seen the Stanley cup one before. If, if it hadn't have been the, if it had have been the LA Kings first shot, I may have watched. Right.

Um, you've seen that show two years ago. Yeah. Like another year of watching another team raise the stanley cup i thought you know i've i've seen this before so i'm just going to bed and get up in the morning saw the kings had won walked over to the television like most people do and i just put on uh whatever sports net connected and saw highlights yeah that was good enough for me yes it was a to me i wanted uh i wanted my oldest son to watch

to enjoy it so i would have stayed if that went five overtimes we would have stayed up it was a friday night and we were gonna stay all night if we had to and i do still have that like that kid in me that comes out that enjoys when the cup comes out and i just like to watch that like i watched the nba finals and then it's nothing like the NHL. Like, it's so, first of all, they give the award to the owner in the NBA. So there's this hoopla, the owner gets the award. I can't imagine the NHL, like, the first thing they do is they would get out this cup and hand it to the owner. No. No, you give that to...

Does the NBA trophy even have a name? It's got a name, but no one, I can't remember the name. That's how well known it is by the name, but it does have a name. This is the one, and I think this is the one thing really working for the nhl is that name of that the trophy is recognizable in the even in the united states where people that don't follow hockey they know the trophy they know the name it's so quirky compared to the other stores uh sports baseball but they have that trophy there's no name for it it's the. Isn't it called the World Series trophy? Oh, maybe.

But you're right. You can't drink beer out of it. Yeah, it's just, it doesn't, it just doesn't have the same sort of depth. In the NBA, what's the trophy called? I don't know, but it's a round thing, like it's a basketball. Yeah, I don't know what it's called. And the Vince Lombardi trophy's okay, but it's the little thing with the football on it. You're right. It really helps the NHL having that trophy.

And I love that custom of handing it to the captain, and then one by one they kind of skate around the ice. There's nothing like that. It's my favorite sport to watch the conclusion of anyways. Can you imagine that feeling? No. As a Canadian kid to have your name engraved on there. Oh, that.

I thought you were going to ask me if I could imagine watching my Leafs lift the cup. Because do you remember this okay yeah i do but you were pretty young yeah i think uh i i was eight years i hadn't even turned nine yet oh no wait a minute no i would have been 10 it's uh yeah so guys like my age we can't even imagine we've never been to a finals like we can't imagine it i was falling falling asleep, believe it or not. Oh, you were 10. Yeah. And my dad kept waking me up.

Good. That's what dads are for. George Armstrong put the empty netter in. I remember watching the cup. But again, at the time, you just assumed many more were on their way because they had won quite a string in the 60s. I can imagine. It's like, don't worry.

I missed this one. I'll catch the next one. And then like 50 years later, you're still waiting. I know, it's brutal. It really is. And it's the longest, I mean, now that Chicago's won it, we're the longest streak of futility in the NHL. Yes, we are.

We are. Although the St. Louis Blues are right there because they came into the league the year after and they'd never won it. Buffalo Sabres Vancouver came in 1970. But I was thinking that's different because it is slightly slightly it still gives us the win in this awful category but you're right technically i guess that would be a tie well no actually we're longer but they didn't exist the last time we okay but didn't didn't they okay but we win it in 67 and then the very next season the blues show up so theoretically we've played the same number of seasons without a title

yes but we get it on a technicality so that would be yeah uh you know in la was part of that for a while and st louis is part of another team uh is there another team no there was the california golden seals but they they were oakland seals when they first came in but they they became cleveland and whatever i don't know where they are. Whatever happened to them. Right. But I don't even think the remains of that team is around anywhere. And then there's Buffalo and Vancouver since 1970, just two years. Okay, so just St. Louis is in the same ballpark. Wow. And, I mean, we're at the – this is the time of season

where they're talking about buyouts and trades, and the draft is coming up. Any hope, I guess? Nope. Not a lot, and the draft is coming up. Any hope? I guess not a lot, right? No. No. I mean, the Leafs continuously seem to do the wrong thing. I don't see why that, any reason to change.

Seriously. Brendan Shanahan, super. He's the president of the club. Great. Never done that job before. No hockey team management experience. I wish the man the best. I hope I'm wrong, but really, what reason is there to be enthused?

Well, he did go to my high school. Yeah. Is that a good reason? He lived right around here. He's Mimico, yeah. So anyway, yeah, no. And, you know, on and on. You look at other teams.

Alex Steen for St. Louis was a Leaf. They gave up on him, and I'm sure they're going to give up on whoever. And Tuka Rask is lights out. They traded him. And I'm sure, you know, whether it's Jake Gardner or the other kid. Well, the other kid I heard is untouchable, but what do I know? Yeah, right. Riley. We've heard that before. Luke Shen, right? Remember i heard is untouchable but what do i know yeah right we've riley i know we've heard that luke shen right remember luke shen was untouchable remember

we've heard it all before so again when they're when they actually when they actually uh become competitive i'll get back into it so the good question so let's say it's an opening night in in montreal on a saturday night you must still have that desire to grab a beer and tune in. Oh, I see. Okay, okay. So you're still there. Because I'm still watching preseason games that come around. I'm still there.

Because I still get such enjoyment out of it, even though I'm just rooting for eighth place in the conference. Oh, no, I'm not saying I don't watch it. I will watch it. I won't go out of my way to watch it anymore. Like it's not must-see TV. No, in the beginning of last season, I was into it, and they seemed to be doing well, but when they fell off the cliff, it was

just predictable, and you could see it coming, and then as it was unfolding, I wasn't going to go out of my way to, you know, be part of the anguish. I sort of gave up. When you realized David Clarkson wasn't going to score 40 goals? No. Yeah. Just another thing. The,

uh, quick question about the, uh, I was going to ask about the Stanley Cup finals if you watched, because I have a question. You're a interesting sports minded person who would probably have a strong opinion on this. I personally love Bob Cole calling a game.

Like to me, a game is a good game is amazing with Bob cole and a bad game is good and so forth like i find bob cole makes a good game much better and they always he he called the la chicago series and it was awesome like maybe because it was really good hockey also but bob cole was amazing and a lot of people criticize bob cole because he might misidentify a player once in a while like that's the big knock on him because he's 80 years old or whatever personally i don't care if you occasionally misidentify a player i'd rather get the sense of the drama and the timber in his voice and that oh baby i love it what do you think of bob cool he's all right i'm not the fan you are i mean remember it was bob cole in the early 90s when

the leafs had that run yeah um so i sort of think of that when I think of Bob Cole. Bob Cole and Harry Neal. And, you know, in recent years when he's sort of lost it a bit, I understand. He's older. He was sick for a while, too. He was pretty sick. So he's okay. But if you had a choice for, let's say it's Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and you

could have Jim Hewson or Bob Cole. Who do you pick? Probably Bob Cole. But I'm not wildly in love with Jim Hewson. The one that I really have trouble with is Gordon Miller on TSN. Forget the fact that I don't think he's the greatest. Far from it. They never have his mic loud enough. Have you ever noticed that?

I actually noticed that with Jim Hewson. Like with Jim Hewson, I find the background noise is stronger than his line or whatever. And I find when Bob Cole, I find that it's the opposite. Like it's better balance for some reason. You want to talk about fate? Yes. Paul Romanuk, who I'm a big fan of as a play-by-play guy very exciting and i loved romey doing the play-by-play you know he was the main play-by-play game guy on tsn it is over he

did all those junior championships yeah then he made that fateful move to go to uh at the time the team 10 50 the team sports radio and that all went in the shitter. Well, the benefactor of that was Gordon Miller, because he was sort of the second guy and became the primary voice of hockey on TSN, which I think is odd, because I'd rather hear Chris Cuthbert call a game than Gordon Miller. And again, I'm always trying to hear what Miller... He's not loud enough. And I'm not saying that's not his fault. I'm not necessarily saying that it's his fault.

But I just don't enjoy games that he calls. And I don't think he got sucked up by Sportsnet. No, he didn't. He's not involved. Because the thing is, the only games now that TSN is going to have, but I think they kept the World Juniors. I guess he'll do that. Yeah, that's a big thing anyways, really, I think. Well, no, he's the primary NHL guy.

Plus, I imagine he'll do... Oh, no, he can do them. Joe Bowling will do those games. Yeah, Joe Bowling does... So I don't know what Miller's going to do as far as NHL. World Championships and World Juniors. I don't know what else there is. Memorial Cup or something.

Is that enough for a full-time job? I don't know. They have a lot of hockey guys at TSN. Well, this is it because the handful of Leaf games they have, that's all they have because they own half the club. I think it's like 20. That's right. Bowen does those.

Yeah. So that won't even be Gord Miller. It'll be interesting. But roll me to finish that thought because I'm a big Romanuk fan too. And, yeah, he did that 10-50 switch and it didn't work out. But you know he's coming back. I do do he's gonna be part of the crew i i do yeah he's one of the one of the big one of the big voices at rogers and in fact i just saw yesterday they signed up elliot friedman and scott oak too so they actually yeah i didn't see that yeah so those two are now part of the rogers deal too so you mean we got, we got our friend Jeff Merrick, and of course you got Strombo as like a host guy,

and Bob Cole's back, and Jim Houston, and you got some, you know, all the big guys. They've signed up. It should be interesting to see what it looks like next year. Oh, I didn't see that Elliot Panscotto. Yeah, just yesterday, I think, they broke that news. Oh, okay. And those two guys, I enjoy both of them. Oh, Elliot's a good guy.

Yeah. Elliot, he went to Western University, and my regular co-host went there, and I think there's some hookup there where he's coming in to sit down with us this summer. Nice! So that'll be cool. Did you actually hear, did you happen to listen to the Jeff Merrick interview? Yeah. I'm putting you on the spot here.

I see the hot seat. You wink at me if you just don't know me. You know what? It's fine. I want to become 100%er on your show. I've got to catch up. You're falling off? Okay, because we talk a lot about you guys.

Jeff Merrick has some nice things to say about you guys. In fact, it seems to be a common theme because Todd Shapiro's episode, he had nice things to say, and then Barbiro's episode, he had nice things to say, and then Barb DiGiulio had nice things to say. Well, that's nice. Some good karma. Yeah, you got it.

Well, you know what? Be nice to people and they'll be nice to you. It's very simple. Barb DiGiulio, when she's guested on our show, has been great. She's such a pro. when she's guested on our show has been great. She's such a pro. You know, and it's just, I just shake my head sometimes at the industry when I think, you know, she's sort of a fan institution.

Barbara's one of the ones, you turn the fan on, you hear her voice, it sort of puts you in a comfort zone. You know, and to save a few bucks, are you kidding me? Come on. Just not right. Well well when you listen to uh that was episode 79 i guess but when you do go back and check it out um i asked her like how is it the percept how does it feel like when rogers is spending x billion dollars on nhl rights at the same time as they're letting you and i know a couple of 680 women at 680 so these

are essentially people you know professionals in their woman in their 40s, essentially. And the perception from my, and I told her, I got nothing to lose. I don't work in radio, but it looks like you were making too much money. And they could find somebody to do it for a third of the salary. I guess. I don't know. Because it's not like you turned the radio on and heard Barb and thought, oh, she's awful. She doesn't know what she's talking about.

She was smooth. And she's talking about. She was smooth. And she knows her stuff. And I don't know. It's hard to explain. It's a shitty business. I mean, you now work for yourself. They're all shitty businesses nowadays. True.

Really. You know, and I'm a capitalist. You know that. But this whole corporate atmosphere now, bottom line, I mean, you know, you've got to show some balance. I mean, seriously, to save a few bucks, this is a person that has a family and a house and a mortgage. You know, they have to lead a life. I mean, if somebody deserves to be cut, fine. But in the big picture, to save a few bucks,

like, we've lost the compassion. Well, you're just a number. Like, you're not a person, you're a number. And you know, you're told as a manager to think that way. Don't get too close to these people. Don't get too involved. You know, big decisions have to be made. Well, that's great. It's just, where is it all going? That's all. That is my question. And you question you're right it's not just radio we're talking radio because that's where you're from but everything but it's everything you're absolutely right and i mean if they can out you know that's why i always say like be creative and have big ideas and be you know a good communicator because there's certain things they can't outsource but if it's you know you just do this like you make you put the widgets like this they'll and they can find someone to do it for 40 cents an hour they'll do it like it's a you're just a

commodity but i have this optimistic belief that the next generation the 30 somethings are going to turn this around i really i really think they are because when i've worked for certain radio companies you know they bring these kids in and they know, especially in the city of Toronto, in this market, they know they're sending kids out the door at night not earning enough money to live in the market they're asking them to work in. There's a certain responsibility there. And it's just, you know, watch that bottom line, get them for as cheap as you can. But again, where is the compassion? Where's the fairness that you know when you're sitting in a boardroom that I'm paying this kid this much, I'm paying this kid $28,000 and asking them to work in the most expensive city in Canada, if not one of the most expensive in North America. How does that not play on your mind? How does that not bother you?

But it's so widespread. My point is the kids being affected by that now, I think are going to help turn it around. I really do. I think there's going to be more fairness brought in. There's going to be a little more compassion. You know, everything's cyclical, Mike. Won't we be working for robots by the time these guys are 30-something? Well. Robot overlords? I don't know. You know, I'm just hoping that those that aren't robots, a little more compassion will come into the world when it comes to the workforce. Do you listen to much Toronto radio these days?

Yeah, well. Okay, here's my question. That's a tough one. Specifically, and it's tough for you because you work from 7 to 9, but have you ever heard the new 102.1 morning show, Diamond and Die? Yes. So what do you think of Diamond and Die? No comment.

Did you know Jeff Merrick dated, you probably know this, Josie Dye? Yes, yes. How come I didn't know that? Am I the only one who didn't know that? know that josie die yes how come i didn't know that am i the only one who didn't know that yeah i uh i've heard the 102 show i don't i don't get it but all the best of them all the best and you can make that work go ahead where did remind me do you know where diamond he's a scottish fellow do we know where he worked at q so i guess i i missed his i don't listen to yeah he worked no either one he he worked at apparently, and he's really great to have in the building.

I understand. And then he went out to Halifax and was doing a morning show, and then when the Blundell stuff blew up, apparently he was, like, top of the list, and they brought him in. One thing I will say, given, you know, Pete and Geetz, then Humble and Fred, Dean Blundell, there was a certain feel to those shows. Irreverent and off the wall and not

cheesy. This seems to be like a 180. This seems to be the typical, hey, how you doing? And they have a third voice who and I don't tune in a lot, but I put it on in the shower. I actually, for some reason, in the bathroom I have a little

radio in the corner, but it, for some reason, in the bathroom, I have a little radio in the corner, but it doesn't, it won't get 88.1 properly for some reason. Like, I just can't, so I actually listen to only 102.1 there

because I can't get a couple other stations I want to listen to and I listen to it because it's clear and I, so today, for example,

I'm listening and I, you always forget there's a third boy, Greg Beharal and he doesn't get much mic time. Like,

maybe, I never, he never, it seems like a crowded room, and I'm just not sure about that show. I just wondered. I know no comment is a fair assessment, but. Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't be, listen, everybody deserves this chance.

They're in the early stages. I wish them nothing but the best. One thing I'll say, I know they're playing a lot more music, and that I don't understand, because I said it again tomorrow, this morning when we're having a conversation with the Barenaked Ladies in my lifetime you know and I'm not young I'm 58 years old in my lifetime probably long before my life ends hopefully people are going to say do you remember they used to play music on the radio I think that's coming and I think it's coming

sooner than we think and And it just seems funny. So many of these radio stations are still pumping out the nine, ten songs an hour. And then I'll tell you, it's going to happen overnight. They're going to realize, oh, we've missed a boat here. Do you think this is a knee-jerk reaction to the Dean Blundell? What? So for years we have Dean Blundell, and then that's cancelled. And then it's like, okay, now let's do the opposite.

Because this morning team seems very opposite. Oh, that's what I'm saying. So is it just uh like you know how the pendulum swings and now it's swung too far the other way essentially because they're so and then how much influence is 88.1 having on this because 80 point is i know you i don't know if you've heard their morning show but it's kind of similar it's a a woman and a couple of guys uh having similar chats and playing lots of music it's awfully similar actually you know howard and i played a lot of guys having similar chats and playing lots of music. It's awfully similar, actually. You know, Howard and I played a lot of music at the Edge, too, but I think our content and our attitude was more in tune with the Edge CFNY traditionally than this new one is.

But, hey, you know, if they think this is the way that radio station has got to evolve, all the power to them. And what people have to realize, you know, a SharePoint's worth a lot of money in Toronto. It takes a lot of balls to make these decisions, because if you drop a SharePoint or two, you cost the company millions of dollars. And I know the edge has been on a steady decline, so has Q for that matter. Rock radio, it's not the healthiest format to be in. So, I mean, listen, you got to make these decisions to try and turn things around and this is what they've come up with again i know the people involved there and i wish them nothing but the best what i wish though is i wish one of these companies

would come along and you know they all know where it's going to actually take a hit in the short term because in the long term it's going to pay off because shows like you know like we're doing on Sirius XM and uh talk radio on FM that's the future and not and not issues and politics and bike lanes on church street it's it's going to be talk you know the the stuff that people talk about day to day the people the stuff that people talk about day to day the people the stuff that people talk about over the kitchen table or or at the bar or around a picnic table in the summer that's my belief where it's going uh regarding dean blendell did you catch any of his he did a he appeared on a 590 program fan 590 and then shortly thereafter he was heard on a 1010 program.

Yeah. Do you have any insight into what, is that just they're trying him out, or do you have any insight into that at all? No, no insight at all. No, they tried him out. I heard a bit of it. He seemed to hold his own. You know, that's a tough thing for a guy like Dean.

You know, you're the main player on a show of a certain flavor and texture, and then all of a sudden you're asked to co-host a news talk issue-oriented show. I think he did fine. I think when you do that, you need more than one or two days. You need some time to get in there and feel comfortable. I know he's not doing it this week, but, again, I don't have really anything negative to say. Have you heard his podcast? I heard a couple of them.

As a man who's been doing podcasts daily for three years, what did you think of Dean Blundell's podcast? Well, I'm surprised. I noticed there's no opening music or introductions or anything like that, which doesn't surprise me because Dean always, you know, presents himself as the rebel, does things differently. And again, to his defense, it's the Dean Blundell podcast. So you're going to DeanBlundell.com. I know it's his site. You know it's his podcast. You click on. Do we need anything else but him to jump right into it? So I can sort of understand that thinking.

I'm just surprised from the standpoint because when we started doing our podcast over the past couple of years, he was somewhat, but again, he's a morning man and he was trying to do bits. And he was quite critical of ours or the fact that we were doing a podcast calling it the cute little podcast or something and you know no you're being kind because we essentially we couldn't find jobs and everything so we're doing a podcast and it just if i just find it a bit ironic that he's he's he's jumped into that pool well that's he was a pretty vocal and i mean i this audio i think you played it on your show, but I put it on my site at some point where basically he goes off on. He doesn't name you. He doesn't name you.

No, which I thought was sort of spineless. He goes off on you guys. And pretty much, I don't remember his exact quote, but definitely the tone was, you know, only losers podcast. That was the takeaway message. And he's podcasting like a few months later. You know what bothers me about that more than anything else? Is that when I wasn't working for a couple of years, a couple of times he had me on his show.

I liked Deep. We had a pretty good relationship. And I understood his show. I didn't always like it. And sometimes I listened and thought, oh, man, instead of saying this, you missed it. You guys could have said that. I think his comedic, radio comedic ability isn't that far advanced. But I had nothing but respect for the show that he performed and the results it's got.

How could you show anything but respect? Look at the results it's got. Yeah, it's all demos and radio, right? So if you're looking for young men, that's who you target and that's all you care about. You don't care how many old ladies are listening. No, and he was the benefactor. There was a guy, Ross Winters, that went there and he turned it into a New Rock sort of top 40 station, which really helped as far as audience goes.

But again, he still did a morning show that was wildly successful. You may not like it. You may not agree with it. That's all immaterial. And I used to go out of my way to show that respect when I did my blog and whenever I talked about it, I would defend him. Sometimes I'd defend him to my kids who were of that demographic and say, yeah, but look at it this way. And that so I was deeply,, but look at it this way. And that, so I was deeply, deeply disappointed when I heard that rant. I thought, ah, like why? Right. Like

I've shown nothing. I've shown you nothing but respect over the years. Like even Howard, um, has shown him a lot of respect over the years and said a lot of good, positive, encouraging things. So to hear that was really, really disappointing, whereby, conversely, he could have embraced it. He could have come on. Listen, right from the out of the gate, we asked him to be on the show many times. And first, he ignored us until I sent him an email saying, Dean, one way or the other, and he declined. And I thought, that's too bad. Because now that he's doing podcasts, if he had done ours a few times, it could have been a nice, because we want to grow the podcasting world. Of course.

It's better for everyone. It just could have been a lot nicer than it turned out. Fred, you're in good company. I invited him on this podcast, and he turned me down as well. You're in good company. No, that's fine. It's just too bad because again to to work together and um support each other is just a lot more fun than the alternative agreed i'm going to change

the channel here and ask you about the ask you about the recent provincial election in ontario and one thing in specific that was brought up on my blog all the time torontomic.com but firstly I know from listening to you every day that you uh are not a fan of the Liberal Party and you feel like this particular yeah right uh and but I also know from your podcast that you could you did not vote for Tim Hudak's party the Progressive Conservative Party. I guess my question is, because I think you wanted to vote PC. What is it about the PC party that made you park your vote with the Green Party?

Because in my writing, it's just landslide liberal every time. In fact, this time it was liberal NDP PC. And it's hard to believe. I live in a somewhat affluent area of Brampton. I'm not sure what that's worth.

It's just the way it... It's just the makeup of the community. That's the way it falls. So you basically... Your candidate had no shot, so you wanted... Well, then I bet... Because you did vote for someone who had no shot. No, but what I decided to do was

vote the issue. And the issue was the Green Party. However, I will say this. The Green Party, also, if you look at their economic plan, a lot more consistent with the Conservatives than it was with the Liberals. It was, if we don't have the money, we're not going to spend it. Imagine that. That was basically what their thinking was.

But the issue of doing away with the two uh two school systems so i thought you know i'm gonna vote the issue here i strongly believe in that you know remember what john tory went through he went the other way but the green way was going to be one system public system that's it take it or leave it i really like that um so i thought i'm just gonna i know they don't have a shot. I could never vote Liberal. I wouldn't vote NDP. So I went that way, just because I have to vote. So I went for the issue.

I mentioned on my site there was this discussion, and I'm trying to remember who is the big... There were a few people behind this. They called one guy Corey, who is a fan of your show as well, and a guy calls himself gump and there's a few others who they were advocates of something called spoiling your ballot so you don't stay home and not vote you go in and there's a process where you are technically you're spoiling your ballots you're not voting for anyone but it's counted as a spoiled ballot

or something you mark an x in between names is that it okay well whatever but that's different i think that's different than this i can't remember the details but this is something anyways it's counted specially so you did vote but you did not vote for a candidate and my my feeling on this is you're better to do what you did which is find some issue that matters something to you and vote for somebody who has shares your values and opinions on that issue in my opinion that do that if you don't like any of the candidates let's say you don't like any of these top three parties find something in common like find some compromise where you can put your vote somewhere that to me is more democratic and a better use of your the power of your vote than going in and

spoiling your ballot which is essentially to say none of the above. No, I agree. I find it, you know, embarrassing, disappointing. You know, the voter turnout was up four points to 52%. So you go out in the street, every two people you look at, one of them didn't even bother to vote. I just, that boggles my mind. Doesn't that blow you away? You know, it doesn't blow me away at all

because if your circle is a bunch of people who are listening to CBC radio and they're discussing things, those are the people who vote. There's actually a wealth of people out there who are just, they couldn't tell you who was running. They're so unplugged and disconnected. They have no clue what's going on and they don't care.

There's so much ass with you out there. I'm not even surprised. I'm actually a little surprised it's as high as 50%. It bothers me, but then of the people that do vote, they have no idea. You know how many times during that campaign I heard people mixing up federal issues with provincial issues? Yeah, I know there's a lot of ignorance. Even some city issues

with provincial issues and it's like they're just pissed off and they're not voting for that tim hudak because of the pipeline yeah you know you're actually right there's a lot of that oh it's huge uh there's a lot of like miss mis-education i guess you'd call it but uh there's a great even more than that i noticed this this general apathy there's so many people out there who don't give a shit but i'll tell you that you know this whole thing which was huge in this election was i don't like any of them yeah i don't want to vote for any of them i think that was a lot of liberals so embarrassed by their party that was their excuse it was an excuse it was to find an excuse not to vote ndp or conservative which i hate them all

right but you have to ask yourself because i also heard on your podcast that you and Howard are befuddled that this Liberal Party just won a majority. Who could vote for the Liberals after that? And clearly, a lot of people, I don't remember, I think it's 37%, whatever. But the fact is, this to me, it's less a vote for the liberal party and more a vote against hudak without a doubt and so in your opinion if somebody falls as closely and is conservative leaning uh is that fair yeah oh definitely what was wrong with hudak and why was he so uninspiring well it's like you know it's like the, it's like, what year was it?

The New England Patriots won every game of the Super Bowl. Right. Against the, yeah, right. Well, it was just a bad game plan. It was. It was a horrible game plan. Why did you have to bring numbers up? I'm going to fire 100,000 civil servants.

Again, given what we just said about how people tune in, it's on the peripheral. They don't really care. They just read the headlines, 100,000. And he had said no frontline workers. It was going to be through attrition. Nobody cares about that detail. 100,000 people were going to get fired. That's all that mattered. And then all this math about creating the million jobs. So I'm thinking, okay, so you know what the liberals have done. You know how this woman Kathleen Wynne was part of it. Her fingerprints, her signatures, all over everything.

You know how they've screwed us up for the past ten years. You know what they're capable of. You know what they've done. You choose that over speculating what Hudak might be like? It all comes down to who you trust. And the more people you trust.

So you trust the people that fucked you up the ass. To be honest, this riding here was the only riding Hudak ever had in Toronto, is the one you're in right now. And I guess it worked too. So this is holiday. And they won it just before I moved in. So I was not responsible. But they did have this for less than a year.

And it's the only time Hudak ever had a seat in Toronto, ever. And it's gone back to the Liberal Party, obviously, last week. And Mr. Hudak, and I said this from the beginning, because we saw it at the Writing on the Wall last time. Yeah, they should have changed that. Not only does he inspire nobody, but he's not even, and I understand he's very different in person, but the persona he presents is nobody I could vote for ever. Ever. And I'm not alone. And that's why Toronto is completely red with a little orange.

Okay, Mike, that doesn't make sense to me. So you could, I'm not saying you voted Liberal, I'm not even going to ask you who you voted for. could, I'm not saying you voted Liberal, I'm not even going to ask you who you voted for. But you could vote for this woman who has her fingerprints and her signature over all this scandal that cost us billions of dollars. That's okay. But this guy

who doesn't look good on TV and might not be a nice guy. Fred, do you read my blog? I'm not voting for a PC candidate anyways. No, I understand, but the point is, Mike, the point is, you connect some dots that I don't think everybody has accepted as fact. Right. I don't think people hold me responsible for that.

The sad thing is, we may have been robbed. He might have ultimately been a pretty good premier. Maybe he's a bad campaigner. Maybe the game plan, the strategy wasn't the best. But we know that she's not a very good politician. We know. It's been proven. She's been around long enough. We know. We know the party. We know her. And we also

know that now that they're elected, they're going to go back on a bunch of promises. Well, let's see, because honestly, I find her to be an exceptional politician. I think she's an amazing politician. Why? Based on what? Based on how she can actually take this Liberal Party riddled with scandal where everybody's screaming anyone but liberals and actually lead them to a majority. She had nothing to do with it.

She had a lot of it. She had nothing to do with it. She had something to do with it. Why? Because when people are looking to park their vote, right, and they say, I can't give it to Hudak and I don't like the NDP here, and they go to Wynne, it's because they find some, in my opinion, W in my opinion win to me is a quality leader in that i i trust her i feel like uh she's gonna make the right decisions and do the right thing even though she hasn't in the past this is this you present these things as fact which a lot of us uh aren't convinced that she's responsible for anything so her signature on the gas plant stuff

yeah her involvement with e-health she wasn't the leader you know what it's like right it doesn't mean you got to do stuff in your stuff happens you're finding excuses you're finding excuses for lies and scandal and that's what that's what this whole election was all about i hate tim hudeck so much that i'm going to find a room a space in my, I'm going to open my mind up for the proven liar's scandal-ridden party. It just blows my mind away. You didn't have to vote Liberal. You've got to vote it for somebody else.

Even I was surprised at the majority. I actually thought Liberal minority, like most people. So did I. But, I mean, it was clear that Hudak had lost this, but I didn't think he'd blow it quite as extraordinarily. Here's the problem. They have to reinvent themselves from the center you know they got to move more to the center which i thought under john tory and although

tory's a whole different story um bringing these numbers into it i mean if the election was theirs to lose and they lost it there's no excuse for losing the last two elections based on dalton mcginty you know may go down as one of the worst, vile, underhanded, corrupt, lying politicians in the history of this country. But he doesn't lead this party to victory.

No, I understand. But he wouldn't. And then he weaseled away. Yeah. Because the heat was on. Right. Great backbone. He cuts and leaves

when he knows what heat's coming. Nice guy. Listen, you know, you read my blog for years. That man never fooled me from day one. But again, she was a significant part of this. But it's just slid off her back, just like John Crutchend, the Teflon man. It's amazing. I mean, yeah.

Reminds me of a mayor of the city. Right. It is what it is. Yeah, but no, that's changed. He's never going to get elected. You promise? I think the people of Toronto have seen enough now, and there's enough on the table that I don't think he'll be elected.

You know, and the issues are different that are attached to him. But listen, you know, what's done is done. We're going to live with the Liberals for the next four years, and the Liberal legacy is to go back on your promises, prove that you're a liar. This is the Ontario Liberals I'm talking about, and people will see. Let's see what happens to the pension plan.

Exactly. I think that Wynne is a better leader than you give her credit for. I hope you're right. You know why? Because I live in the province too. So I hope you're right. So your writing went liberal, as it always does, you mentioned. Yes. And this writing went back to liberal. My old writing was one, there's an MPP from the

NDP party who won again, who I always quite liked, actually. The radical Reverend Sherry DeNovo. But it'll be very interesting, you're right, to see who ends up leading this PC party. Well, they better do it right this time. Frank Cleese or somebody like that?

I don't know. He's old, isn't he? I don't know. But whatever they do, they better do it right, and they've got a better part of five years now to get it right. But I'm with you. I hope she turns out to be a great leader, and I hope that they can turn the face of the Ontario Liberal Party around,

which is nothing but mismanagement, lies, and scandal. And it has been for 10 years. And hopefully that changes, because again, I'm a citizen. My kids are. I only want the best for the province. Hopefully they turn it around. And final thoughts, and then I want to have a serious discussion with you about a former colleague and friend of yours, but last thought on this election is that budget that was defeated by essentially

Andrea Horvath of the NDP party was very NDP-like. It was actually a budget that they should support. It's exactly the benefit of having to, of the Liberal Party needing support from others in order to pass things. This budget was very NDP.

Some people say it was the most NDP budget, like, ever. So what about it? That, to me, it was a gross miscalculation to vote it down and force the election. Because it took, an NDP party, though, had a lot of power with a Liberal minority, and now have much less power. Yeah, but from that standpoint, I agree, because NDP economics don't work. So if we'd have been forced into an NDP budget, that would have been big drop. Well, this budget's going to pass now, because now they have the numbers.

Like, this budget will be passed. First thing that will happen will be this budget will pass, because they don't need to have anymore. Well, let's see what happens to it between now and then. All right. You can never take anything for granted with that party. Today as we speak, it's June 18. And five years ago this July, Martin Streak took his own life. And I wanted to have you in today because I'm preparing a special episode of this podcast

in which I have people who worked with and knew Martin talk about him. And basically I have some people like Alan Cross, Bingo Bob is actually on this. I'm talking to Brother Bill who is now Neil Morrison working out of Vancouver. At CFOX. At CFOX. And there's others like Todd Shapiro and Andrew Stokely and others are on this special episode. But I wanted to have you in here.

If you wouldn't mind spending a few minutes telling me, sharing your memories of Martin and how you knew him. Well, Marty, actually, I was friends with his brother first, Rob. Because at CFNY, there was a group of us working in Brampton. And, again, CFNY was always like a family. It was so much different than what corporate radio is like nowadays. Again, they were like brothers and sisters. And, you know what, I'm not going overboard when I say that. And I'm, you know what, I'm not going overboard when I say that.

There was just a special feeling at that station in Brampton. You know, and a lot of the guys that worked at the station lived in and around Brampton. So, you know, we would work together all day and we'd play baseball at night or sit in a bar at night. The Wankies? The Wankies or, you know, Monday Night Football. And everybody would be at my townhouse sitting in my basement watching the game. We were pretty tight. Well, part of that group was Rob Streak. Now, he didn't work at the radio station,

but he was friends with guys that did work at the radio station, so I knew his brother. In fact, I went to his brother's wedding. I think I may have been the emcee at his brother's wedding, actually. I don't know. I can't remember. I think so. I've got a plaque that says that.

Cool. And then eventually Marty was just in the halls. And again, he was an upbeat, fun kid who was absolutely thrilled to be part of the environment. Now, I think Marty would have been 50. I'm 58. So he was about eight years younger than me. So at the time, when I'm in my, you know, I'm 24 or 26 and he's 18, he was a kid to me. You know, I'm 24 or 26 and he's 18.

He was a kid to me. So when I say kid, but he was a guy that totally embraced the opportunity and jumped right into it. And again, Marty was just the type of guy he was fun to have around. He was off the wall and goofy and, again, key when it comes to interns or people starting at a radio station, willing to do anything. And again, he played with the baseball team and was part of all the social activities we were part of and eventually his brother rob wasn't around so much and marty was and nothing but great memories of uh those days and his days with the station again started in uh on kennedy road in brampton mid 80s early 80s maybe and he was uh doing the traveling road show or not what is it the video road show

whatever they called it what did they call that the uh yeah CFNY road show was there another word there no so he would be the guy who had put that together logistically it was huge at the time and uh you know it was an industry for CFNY actually so uh high schools colleges and everything Friday Saturday nights they'd be out there with all the equipment and, oh, CFNY Video Roadshow. That's what it was called. Yeah. And he was part of that. And I think he went from working on it to actually running it. Another great story, you know. Eventually he became an on-air personality. So he ascended through the ranks at CFNY. And again, every minute that he was doing it, you just knew he was loving it.

He had an obvious passion for the music. I think that was what he liked the most because he had that great voice and persona. But you could tell he loved the music. Yeah, and the tricks, they loved him. Unbelievable. Yeah, Marty had no problem that way. So,

I guess that was a force to be reckoned with when Marty and George Strombolopoulos hit the town, right? This would be watch out, watch out ladies. Yeah. But, yeah. And the thing is, I never worked closely with Martin because he tended to do those road shows. He was never really part of the morning show. And then he started doing, I think, hosting the 30 yes when he became an on-air guy so i often wouldn't see martin for long periods of time because when i was at work he wasn't and vice versa you know

be social gatherings and what have you or maybe some weekend stuff or station events um but again he's a guy from he was was a day-wonner. So we were all really, really tight. And I know even after I left the radio station, I used to see him quite often or send him notes back and forth. Yeah, it was just shocking when this all came down. Well, before that, he was let go the same day as Barry Taylor. I guess they were both let go, I guess guess a couple of months before he ended his life.

He was fired, essentially, from his job, his lifetime job at CFNY. Did you talk to Martin after that news? Did you speak to him? Well, you're talking to Neil Morrison today.

We knew him as Brother Bill on the radio station at CFNY. He got married. He is since not married anymore, Neil. But we had a stag for him on Stony Lake up near Peterborough. And it was a golf stag. Go golfing. All the guys get together and then go back to a cottage and have a big meal. Well, Marty was there. And this had just come down at the edge where he had been fired.

So he wanted to talk to me because I had recently been fired. And he wanted to know what the process was because he felt he was being screwed by cars. I'm just going to be honest. He was. He was sort of obsessed with it. Not only had they fired him and he really couldn't understand why. number two, they were trying to get out from some money they owed him or whatever the deal was. Again, do I have actual proof of that?

Do I know the details? No. But when the man looked me in the face and told me this, of course I felt this compassion. And he said, what happened to you? Well, I really couldn't help him because when I was let go from the mix, I had this, you know, and I tell announcers this nowadays. As important as the numbers are, what you're going to be paid, what your benefits are, always have an exit clause. Know exactly what's going to happen to you should you be fired for whatever reason.

Get that in there nowadays because it goes back to what we're talking about corporate Canada and the lack of compassion and companies worrying about bottom line. But that's what really upset him. Number one, he had been fired. Number two, he thought he was being treated unfairly by a company that he had really given his life to for, I guess it was over 20 years. Yes. And apparently there was some game being played. Well, you weren't really a full-time employee this long.

You were a full-time employee this long, you were a full-time employee this long, and just petty stuff that tore at his heart. It did. And, you know, the advice I, the only advice I could give him was, no, this, what's happened to you didn't happen to me, but show a little faith, you know, take the high road, you know, talk to certain people within that company who I perceived as compassionate. And I'm sure everything will work out. And that's really the last conversation we had. I said, he had all sorts of ideas, like what he was going to do. He was going to ask you. So he had.

Yeah, because I talked to a bunch of people who said during this period. He was very enthusiastic about new opportunities he was going to do some uh this music show television show listen marty would have been fine on some level he had he had a name he had he had his own brand out there that i'm sure somebody would have latched on to but like anything it would have taken some work and it would have taken some'm sure somebody would have latched onto. But like anything, it would have taken some work, and it would have taken some hours, and it would have taken, you know, maybe a little hit and income along the way, but I'm sure there was a future there. Who knew that these demons were inside, you know, eating away at them? And again, the day that I talked to him, the last thing that I would have ever thought that within a of weeks, this guy would be dead. Again, I knew he was upset, but we had fun. We golfed.

He was horsing around. We had a great meal. I think I sat beside him. And when do you wait? But I didn't come away going, boy, they should keep their eye on that guy. He's pretty down. I never got that. Yeah, there were no signs. No. And again, it was only one afternoon. And the conversations we had were more... He was pissed off, horribly disappointed. Well, he was there, which that's a good sign. He's there engaging, socializing with friends.

His heart was broken that this had happened to him or they were doing this to him. But again, I never dreamed that it would come to that i don't know if anybody did and what i guess this is a silly question but what was your reaction when when you heard the news oh i was stunned because i was um i was up north and i got a phone call from phil evans captain phil yeah is he on your list of people to talk to? You might want, he was. Oh, let me tell you, I'll touch base with him. Marty was the best man at his wedding. Okay. I'll talk to Phil because we're on Twitter. So Phil Evans sent, you know, called me and told me, and I just, just floored. I just couldn't believe it. It was too much. Really. I just,

it was too much. Really, I just... Again, you know, we all have these things along the way in our lives. First, and this was really the first guy, a peer, a buddy, that this had happened to. You know, since then I... Well, I shouldn't say that. I had another guy in the church. A guy that had taken his own life. He was really the second guy sort of in my peer group that I had interacted with, who I would call as a bud that had died, but the first one that had taken his own life. So it was sort of multidimensional. I was like everybody else. I just absolutely could not believe it.

And you think, why, why, why? And then you go back to the conversations you have. And I had written on my blog, if he had just, would he have said it to me? Were we that close where he could say, Fred, I'm really feeling dark about this. Like I'm really fucked up over this. I need some help. You just wish maybe he had said that to somebody to get the help or go talk to somebody that's what I'm thinking it's like bye that those

conversations we had that day is there anything that I could have taken from that that I could have helped it like that you might as well bang your head against the wall you know yeah it's uh as and I never knew Marty I only know him as the radio persona he was and a long time listener i was a long time listener of his the station he was on and i was a fan of his because he had always been there and he'd always been in the voice since since i guess since chris shepherd left he was the live to air guy and i remember his phrases and i remember you know just he was a big part of my you know some of the best years of my life well this is the remember, you know, just it was a big part of my, you know, some of the best years of my life. Well, this is the thing, too, you know.

We say it's all businesses, but radio. And, you know, I think, again, I don't know the details of the situation. I don't know the separation from Coris, how nasty or dirty or... I don't know. I can only go by he was upset, what was

coming down. I didn't have... I knew there had to be something there. He wouldn't have been that upset to talk to me about it. But again, upset from a business standpoint. Not take your life stand. Of course. You know what I mean? Yeah, there's a big leap there.

So there had to be something there. But when you look at that, you think, okay, he gave 20 years of his life. He was a significant player. Everybody knows him. So many of the listeners love him. Is there not a better way? Why does it always have to be this way? Call you into an office and sever you like you didn't exist.

It seems like in radio you never get to say goodbye. No, could there not have been some secession thing? It's already, you know, this is a new era of the radio station. We don't think you fit in. We're going to do this and we're going to ease you out this way or here's an opportunity over here somewhere else in the company i mean really but again to be fair to the company i don't know maybe they you know somebody could sit down here and have a completely different story i don't know well thank you no i appreciate you sharing your memories and thoughts of marty and we're gonna put this out uh well this is gonna be on

this podcast episode 80 but it's also going to be a part of the episode I put out in early July, the fifth anniversary of his passing. Well, you know what? That's a very nice tribute for a very nice guy. Yeah. Everybody who talks about him says he was a great guy, so at least we can do it.

How's your grandson? Great hair, too. Yeah, great hair. And he's hating. The hair, the long, the wavy hair. Right, right, right. Crazy. My grandson is fabulous. So you met my newborn just moments ago. Beautiful child.

He's asleep against his mother's belly in a little papoose or whatever you call that thing. A carrier or whatever. And beautiful. You should be proud, Michael. That's all that matters, isn't it? Oh, I'm very proud. And I want to ask you, what's the difference between being a grandpa and a dad? Like, what is the biggest difference?

It may be different for you. When I became a dad in my 20s, mid-20s and to late 20s, at that point, you're pretty naive. You're somewhat immature, you're not prepared, and just ignorance sort of gets you through it. Well, I was 27 when James was born. And I, a lot of ignorance gets you, you get a lot of help from your family, which I did, which I was very lucky. But a lot happens along the way that you don't realize you should sort of stop down and concentrate on and appreciate. And remember, my kids were in the 80s, so video cameras were $2,000 each, and there was no digital cameras.

It cost a lot of money to take pictures and have film develop. So you don't have that, like your child now, this one. Every day, hundreds of pictures, right? Ridiculous. Their life is going to be there in pictures from the beginning. Like they were featured in a documentary, essentially. The difference being now with my grandson, I look at him in all the ways that I wish I had looked at my own children. And you know, my wife will often say, we did. You just, you just forget. Right. But every little thing he does, every little moment, I just want to sort of cherish because it's so significant and they grow up so fast and they're gone so quickly that this one I

just I don't know I just you stop to smell the roses exactly you're not in the eye of the hurricane sort of you get a nicer perspective that's it and you know it's like things get out of hand, he goes home. You're right. I think that would be the best because I'm a while from being, a long way off from being a grandpa, but I keep thinking that might be the greatest. You can kind of have the good parts and then you can kind of walk away from them. But not even, you know, he's been a great kid.

He really has. And I'm closer to him than a lot of grandpas because just, again, this new world that we live in and my daughter and her husband they stagger their work days so that they don't have to have daycare and there's two hours in between every day between like sort of 4 and 6 30 that they needed somebody and you know I'm there and my wife's there and we pick up the slack so I see him three or four times a week that's awesome no it's fabulous so we have a bond that a lot of gram and he looks like you yeah i know i know a lot of people say that so um yeah

we have this great bond and he knows me he sees pictures of me and papa and it's fabulous the other day apparently not only because his dad drinks beer too but he's walking around the other day and his dad had left a beer bottle he picked up the beer bottle and said said, pop, pop, pop, pop. That's a great association. Isn't it? Yeah. Was it a light beer? It was a light beer? It was, yeah, a Michelob Ultra.

There you go. Goat piss. Good stuff. Thanks for coming in and recording another episode. Again, if anyone wants to hear all about, you know, how Freddie P got started at CFNY and more stories of his days in radio, that's episode, what did I say, 34? Do you remember? You don't remember.

39, I thought you said. 34. Oh, 34. Yeah, and remember, humblerfredradio.com. Check out our shows and scroll down. I guess if this isn't being released until July, is it? No, this one is going to be released today. Oh, but you're going to take it away.

So extract your Martin Streak story and put it in another. It'll be a double-edged sword. Okay, well, it'll be released today. But I'm going to extract your Martin Streak story and put it in another... Okay, well it'll be released today. Then go to HumbleInfredRadio.com and check out The Barenaked Lady episode. Yeah, I'm going to do that for sure this afternoon. Alright, Mikey! Good boy! Thanks, Freddy. And that

brings us to the end of our 80th show. You can follow me on Twitter, at TorontoMike, and Fred, at FreddyP55. Fred, you haven't embraced Twitter yet. No. You're more of a Facebook guy. Yeah. But it's a closed ecosystem.

Like, Twitter, to me, it's sky's the limit. No, I know. I've got to get on it. Try it again. I'm going to start blogging again in the fall, too. That's good news. I've got to get my it. Try it again. I'm going to start blogging again in the fall, too. That's good news. I've got to get my writing skills back up to where they should be. Awesome.

See you guys all next week.