Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Greg Brady Returns: Toronto Mike'd #354
Episode Date: July 4, 2018Mike is joined by Hebsy as they chat with Greg Brady about Mike Richards, Three Lions, Pitch Talks, and more before playing and discussing his ten favourite songs of all-time....
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Welcome to episode 354 of Toronto Mike's, a weekly podcast about anything and everything.
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I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me is Fan 590 morning show host
Greg Brady.
When did people
start numbering episodes?
I invented it, I think.
I don't know.
I've always done it
as a way to
internally track stuff
and then I remember
at like episode 80 or 90,
my brother Steve,
who's a loyal listener. Hi, Steve.
He said, oh, you got to stop counting the
episodes. You got to stop numbering them. But did someone
really come up to you and go in the street and they're like, I
love 268.
They never say that. Sometimes.
Especially because 268 was terrible.
You'll have to look up afterwards who it was
and I'm in trouble with somebody again.
Like Mark Hebbshire is sitting right here
trying to be anonymous.
He's not going to host Sportsline,
give you thanks for allowing us into your homes
and drop, and that was, it's Welcome to
Sportsline, episode 4,238.
Like he broke
Pete Rose's record. Did you notice he
dropped the earring? Remember he had an earring on
Sportsline. Like that was a big, Mark Hebbshire,
he was the cool guy with the earring. I remember very
distinctly that earring. He doesn't want to remind you of some of the suits.
Those suits were great.
I got to just let the people
know. I kept the mic open. So there is a
mic open for Hebsey. Should he be
inspired to speak upon it? He's
promising to make this all about
Brady here, but you don't have to.
He told us he couldn't stay and now he's staying.
You can say hi to the audience.
What do you want me to say, Mike?
I'm here all the time recording my podcast.
Hebsey on sports.com.
You have a podcast.
Right.
And so we just finished recording it, and now Greg's here.
And it's like, well, should I stick around?
Sure, of course.
I want to hear the podcast.
I thought you were here to babysit the four-year-old.
Did I not offer to babysit Jarvis?
Is that kid wandering around on the lawn right now?
Oh, shit, where is he?
I need to just say, that's a good example.
I'm going to think.
What is it called?
Nike Sports Camp.
So I just want to say hi to the Nike Sports Camp people because Jarvis is here because he's going to tennis camp at 1 p.m.
So I'm watching him and then I'm going to get him to tennis camp.
That's great.
He's young for tennis.
He's like Agassi age.
I don't think I started really playing until I was like 11,
and then it became my favorite sport, my go-to sport.
I was a late bloomer.
Spoiler alert, there's going to be a tennis question for you later
from Brian at propertyinthesix.com.
He knows you're a big tennis...
He actually confused you.
I think he asked a tennis question of Elliot Price when he was on Toronto Mike.
Big mistake.
I can't ask him those on Fan 590. Well, that's what he said.
Big mistake. You need to ask Brady, I think,
is what he said. You get a good answer about Rod Laver.
But everyone
still knows who Rod Laver is.
I'd like to get my kids in the
camp with Jarvis. Now, they're 12 and 10, but
it's already July 4th, and I'm tired of them
for the summer. That lasted four days.
That's funny. It's early
days for the... They don't know what to... That's a a tough age because they don't know what to do and they're not
old enough to
take the GO train downtown.
I can't drop them. I can drop
them in a movie on their own because they're not
going to just wander off to Home Depot.
My teenagers are literally wandering
the city right now. That's fine, but that's what we all
did, right? Go out, don't
die. That's what your parents would say.
Go out, don't die.
Ride your bike 15 kilometers
to your friend's house
down a dirt road.
Don't worry about an abduction.
There's not an Amber Alert coming.
Everybody will be fine.
And generally speaking,
we all were.
That's exactly right.
So how are,
I'm going to add right off the top,
since both Elliot Price
and Hugh Burrell
have been on this podcast,
how are they doing?
How are they? You want a 1 to 10? Great. Therell have been on this podcast. How are they doing? How are they?
You want a one to ten?
Great.
The show's been on the air.
I think the last time I saw you was about a month before the show was about to start
because it all led up to some fanfare, right?
They announced the show was happening.
Right.
Because Blundell.
I mean, okay, let's do that first.
Can I tell you what I did?
I'll tell you what I did now.
Yeah, of course.
Yes, yes.
Dean was on.
I remember those days.
And long days for me.
Not for him.
Because you were bumped from mornings in order.
You went to one to four so that Blundell could get the morning show.
Is that right?
That's sort of how it worked, yeah.
And then at some point they said they sent you home, but they kept paying you.
Something like you were sent back to Ajax.
Well, we don't have to talk.
I don't.
I can't remember the specifics.
And then your partner at the time, Andrew Walker, did it by himself until they sent him all the way to Vancouver.
Well, that was a great opportunity for him to do an afternoon drive there on a brand new station.
And how's he doing?
I think great.
Does he still talk to you?
We don't talk that often.
Very often.
That's concerning to me.
But no, it's not.
It's not because here's what i'd say i'm
always i think it was harder for me to stay in as much touch with him when i wasn't doing the
show with him because i think he still wanted to keep doing the show and he's like 25 years younger
than you but i think it's like would you ask sting if he's spoken to andy summers lately yes well you
would ask him that why my first question. I listen to their show.
It's Andrew Walker and Scott Rintoul, and they do great.
I'm a big Vancouver.
Now, he's had a tough time sometimes.
Some Vancouver locals have given him a tough time because they think, like, he's a Toronto guy.
They didn't do their homework because he's a West Coast guy.
Some people think it's tough.
Toronto is tough on outsiders.
I think Vancouver is tougher.
Now, I'm a lifelong Canucks fan. I'm weird.
I'm a Southern Ontario kid who suddenly had an affinity for Tony
Tandy or Dennis Vervagard.
I love the old hockey stick uniform.
And when they got Tiger Williams,
Mark would know this, Rick Vive
and Builder Lego
for Jerry Butler and Tiger Williams.
Now, who knows? You don't know Vive's going to score
50 goals three seasons in a row, but you also don't know Tiger Williams. Now, who knows? You don't know Vibe's going to score 50 goals three seasons in a row,
but you also don't know Tiger Williams was exactly what that team needed
with Stan Smeal and some softy guys like Thomas Gradine and Lars Lindgren
and Jim Nill to get all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals that year in 82.
How did you end up a Canucks fan, though?
I don't know.
I don't know.
They were never on TV.
I liked the uniform.
I liked Richard Brewer, and I'm one of the rare defenders of the
O'Henry Bar uniform.
I even like the home ones better
than I did the road ones.
The root beer, they look like hire's root beer.
Because you're right.
Like Mark would know, you'd get maybe,
maybe, maybe
you'd get two Canucks, I don't even think,
two Canucks home games a year on Hockey Night in Canada
when they had one game at 8pm. But you'd get the highlights. It's like you'd go right Canucks, I don't even think, two Canucks home games a year on Hockey Night in Canada when they had one game at 8 p.m.
But you'd get the highlights.
It's like you'd go right to the Pacific Coliseum and you'd get highlights of them with their yellow helmets on.
But it was always Toronto.
Let's face it, Canadiens fans here didn't think they could see the Canadiens enough because the Leafs were terrible.
And the Canadiens were great for about seven, eight years in a row after Ballard dismantled that 78 group.
Didn't they have Channel 12 or 13?
I can't remember which one, but there was a French CBC affiliate that would have the Habs games.
Van Senck.
Cano Van Senck.
I always called that Channel 40 because I could get that on UHF.
So it wasn't 12 or 13?
Okay, so I don't know how the channels worked.
Okay, so where I lived, it was 12 and 13 were French channels, if I remember correctly.
And if you want, this is almost London nerdiness.
Channel 11, where Mark used to work, CHCH.
Oh, we don't talk.
It's a very touchy subject.
Oh, come on.
Listen.
He gets very upset.
But he'll know this.
They had a repeater, which is something you put on UHF, and it was Channel 42, and I think
it was out of Oil Springs.
That's right.
So I could watch Leafs games Wednesday night until I figured out that I could. I didn't. And then Leafs games were on Channel 42 out of Oil Springs. That's right. So I could watch Leafs games Wednesday night until I figured out that I could.
I didn't. And then Leafs games were on Channel 42
out of Oil Springs. And so you could get
those Wednesday night Leafs games.
Yeah, the Channel 11.
I couldn't even tell you who was involved in those.
At some...
Paul Hendrick, probably.
Well, it depends which era you're talking about here.
Early 80s, mid-80s, before Global got
the games. Yeah, it wouldn't have been Paul Hendrick.
It would have been Dick Beddoes in between periods.
Yes, no, no, overtime with Dick Beddoes.
And it would have been Dave Hodge.
Dave Hodge would have been hosting those mid-week games.
Even during CBC?
I believe so.
I believe so.
Oh, that's right, because didn't he get a job
with the Minnesota North Stars after CBC?
He was in Minnesota, yeah.
Yes, he did.
After the CBC pen flip, he went to Minnesota.
I'm the Dave Hodge expert here.
With John Shannon, right?
He and John Shannon did the Minnesota North Stars local broadcast.
It's hard to remember before the internet.
Like how Dave had, was that a phone call?
Do you leave a, like you can't even leave a,
like there's no LinkedIn to look at Dave Hodges' page and go,
he's a free agent now, we can go grab him.
It was a phone call and he,
because he was never actually fired by CBC.
That never happened.
Like they suspended him or something. And then he just took a job somewhere else and said i'm gone like
there was no moment where somebody sat down dave hodge and said you're no longer did they not want
him to apologize and he was like apologize for what everybody watching television wanted to watch
you know the and why is it why is it the pen flip more than the comment it's known as the pen flip
and the comment is was sort of yeah that's the is was sort of i've often been told in let for lack of a better term and i've probably learned my lesson more than
a few times harshly don't crap where you eat right but uh so i understood that even then
but i at the same time i as a dave hodge fan a huge dave hodge fan i remember being disappointed
this tells you about broadcasters too i couldn't't stand Ron McLean the first three or four years. I couldn't stand
him. And now he's beloved and
he's awesome and I'm
glad he came back.
So you're saying if they had stuck with Strombo,
if they had stuck with Strombo at some point,
you're saying that everybody would have loved Strombo.
Is this what's happened in the last 60 months?
You take a comment out of context.
I'm clarifying here. Let me set the table.
So you're saying that you hate
person...
No, not at all.
Let me read your mind here.
Okay, so your first visit,
Greg Brady,
was the 76th episode.
That's early days
for this podcast,
so thank you for doing that.
I believe it was
my buddy Elvis
who somehow used
some Western connection.
Yeah, he mailed me
out of nowhere
because we'd both been
CHRW.
And he sat in, right?
That's right.
So I think there's two interviews ever where Elvis was in the room,
yours and David Alter, who was another Western buddy of his.
Yeah, see, I'd say for CHRW Campus Radio,
though I did the Mustangs games for three years,
and they won the Vanity Cup the first year I did it,
which was amazing, in 1994.
They had that great game, Mark might remember it, at Skydome.
They beat Saskatchewan, and it was in double
overtime because you played...
You did it like soccer now. You played a full
I think extra 20 minutes,
and I think they won something like 50-40
when Warren Goldie was the quarterback.
But I am not on
the first level of CHRW
famous alumnus
by far, alumni by far,
includes Kevin Newman,
Elliott Friedman,
Christine Simpson,
Dan Schulman.
I am like two or three or seven levels below that.
I couldn't get into Western.
They didn't accept me.
Party?
Everyone got accepted to Western,
as I recall.
Except for me.
Except for you.
Is that true?
Where did you go to university?
Conestoga College.
Oh, Conestoga.
Conestoga University.
Yeah, Conestoga Comedy College. Were they in the OUAA? Conestoga? I feel like they were. Yeah, yeah, they were. Yeahestoga College. Oh, Conestoga in Kitchener. Conestoga University. Conestoga Comedy College. Were they in the OUAA?
Conestoga? I feel like they were. Yeah, yeah, they
were. Yeah, they were.
No, no, no. OCAA.
Ontario College's Athletic Association. That's like when you hear about
a juco in
college, right? You're like, oh, he got into a
juco, and then he went to Florida State or
Auburn for football. All right, the 76th
episode. I've got to read the description really quickly here.
You don't have to. Yeah, I do. I want to tease people.
They want to go back and listen.
Mike and Elvis chat with Greg Brady,
morning show host at the Fan 590.
He talks about working in Detroit,
working at AM640,
his move to the Fan 590,
and why it didn't work out
with Jim Lang.
That's the terrible way to...
That's how I wrote it at the time.
You didn't squawk at the time.
Why don't you go write
for General Hospital or something instead of...
This episode is exactly what I'm talking about.
You're causing way more controversy than is necessary.
But you came back.
This was like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
You came back for episode 220.
Oh, I stayed away a long time after that first one.
Many don't come back because...
No chance.
Many don't have the...
I don't get the invitation.
Mike chats with the Fan 590 Morning Show host, Greg Brady,
about being bumped from mornings for Dean Blundell,
losing his job, and coming all the way back with Elliot Price and Hugh Burrell.
Fighting off several fatal diseases, surviving the car crash.
So let me ask you this.
One of your competitors, I think this was back when your first morning show stint on the Fan 590,
you were competing with Mike Richards on 1050.
Mike would have been on at the time with,
I think sometimes with David Bastel and sometimes not.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Now, did you watch slash listen to Mike Richards?
He did a big, like he, although, by the way,
he said all of this on Toronto Mike.
He's been over a couple of times,
but he didn't uh play audio clip evidence like he was like a a lawyer presenting evidence
he did a very i think 25 minute rant if you will about how tsn radio uh screwed him when he had
like like like took advantage maybe let him go when he was suffering from uh when he was being
treated for cancer.
This was quite the 25 minutes.
Did you, Greg Brady, and you too, Mark, if you want,
did you watch this video?
I don't want, so just Mark, how about that?
No, I know, I heard about it and then I watched it.
I watched it.
How could you not, right?
And you were, I think you were named,
they showed numbers, like they'd say,
here's what, I think it was,
I get confused between Brady and Lang and Brady and Walker,
but they said, here's the numbers,
Brady and whoever was getting Walker. And here's the numbers Brady and whoever was getting Walker.
And here's the number.
And the numbers that he shows, Mike Richards, kind of show that he presents it like in his target demo,
he says he was kind of getting better and beating you.
Is that possible?
I think that's possible in a younger demo at times.
Now, they switched from Diaries,
which we've talked about before, to PPM, where it's
judged automatically, and I think
sports radio has always
echoed
the sense that this will be harder
to compete with, because when you go to work,
and I think, I found this out at 1 o'clock,
if we're just talking ratings, it's hard to
get a big number at 1 o'clock. It really is,
because guess where a lot of people are at work and guess what plays in workplaces, music.
Right. And so you'd have a better chance, obviously in morning driver, afternoon drive, getting more legitimate numbers.
Because when we replaced, when Andrew and I replaced Tim and Sid, and again, I think there's, those guys are great, but I don't, there's this misconception.
They were like a massively, like they had great social media presence, but I'm sure they still looked at the numbers.
And I had conversations with those guys, and they're like, geez, like it's – we don't have Bob's numbers or we don't have the morning show numbers.
And I'm like – and then I got there, and I'm like, oh, God.
Well, there's only two – in radio, there's only two times for us that get real numbers, right?
Like your morning drive and your afternoon drive.
At a dentist's office, right? At a physio office.
You're not putting the Fan 590 on in your lobby because I guess you'll be out of business as a dentist's office or a physio office soon.
Maybe a sporting goods store.
But anyway, yeah, so I couldn't speak to some of the numbers that I guess Mike showed.
He's obviously very angry about it.
I'm in tune with some of the emotions.
I think everybody wants him to be healthy, and I think everybody wants him to be happy and not feeling –
I think he's got a toxicity towards his former employer.
He's bitter.
Bid him, too.
But I think it's one of those.
But he's right about that.
That 2014 ratings book was really good for them.
And it was really good for us.
It was kind of, I don't want to call it fluky good,
but nothing good was happening on the Toronto sports scene.
Let me set it up for you.
Raptors made the playoffs loss in seven games to Brooklyn.
Home game seven loss, which almost never happens.
F Brooklyn. Sure. You can swear on this seven games to Brooklyn. Home game seven loss, which almost never happens. F Brooklyn.
Sure.
You can swear on this show.
Fuck Brooklyn.
The Leafs lost 12 of 14 to miss the playoffs.
And the Jays started really slowly out of the gate in 14.
That was sort of the second time round for the Melky Cabrera, Mark Burley.
Exactly.
After the Marlins trade.
So I think, I bet you, I can't speak to it, I really don't know,
but I would guess TSN Radio would have hoped that's a really,
they could really build off a strong ratings book for their morning show.
I mean, they did start from nothing, because they were simulcasting CP24 on that station.
Mark would know this too.
First in usually wins.
First in wins with a format. You come in second
format, you need a game-changing switch.
You gotta get all the rights to all the teams, which
is now impossible with the MLSC
Bell Rogers ownership thing.
It is.
Put it this way. If an announcement came out tomorrow
that 1050 had all
the Leaf games next year, we'd walk
around our building at Rogers and go, well, that's
too bad. I mean, I still think we would hope that we would do
better. I think we would hope we would do better shows.
But this is like athletes
saying they don't read papers and they don't watch TV shows
and they don't listen. We all listen to each other.
Now, I will tell you, I listen to a lot less than I
did two years ago
because I don't want shows to make me, and I said I would when I
came back, and that's proven to be true. I listen a lot
to
what J.D. Buckus and Ben Ennis do at one because that's kind of in my wheelhouse, and I'll go back and that's proven to be true. I listen a lot to what J.D. Buccas and Ben Ennis do at one
because that's kind of in my wheelhouse and I'll go back and listen on the podcast.
When I get in the car at nine, it's no offense to anybody. I'm out of there. I'll listen to
satellite. I'll listen to news. I'll listen to a news podcast. And I'm hardly ever in the car
and around between four and seven. And there's games on at night. So and obviously I'll go back
if Bob has a big interview, I'll listen to it. I listened to the John Tavares interview,
um,
around eight 30 last night.
Cause I could,
so I don't know.
I,
I,
I,
Mike had a really good book.
I'm not sure then,
but all we went down in the fall.
So just to chart this out,
they plummeted their numbers in the fall.
And maybe at that point management said,
gee,
I don't know.
We didn't build off this at all.
And our numbers, Andrew and I went down and we're like oh damn because the jays didn't give us
anything in the fall or august or september uh and that's when remember uh they announced uh dean
would replace us january of 15 and we're like oh so that was that was happening because we have we
felt on a real high in the spring and um put put it this way, I think I might have mentioned this to you about 16 months ago.
I was a lot more ready for them to call me in 16 and go, we can't keep doing this, so this was your last show, than I was to get moved to 1 o'clock.
1 o'clock was like an absolute blindside when I started to hear about it.
And it started to leak out as well
so whatever happened around our building the the the show this time around with with Elliot and I
and Hugh was kept a lot better secret than the Dean stuff because I think I remember telling you
Dean had come in our building done it a week of shows he'd filled in at nine o'clock and I think
I think it was a struggle I think it was i think dean would tell
you it was a struggle and i think everyone thought well that's not going to work in that format
and they went with it uh anyway about 10 11 months later and the thought prevailing thought was
there's really smart people that were in on this really smart people but guess what like like um
when a square peg goes in a round hole i respect a broadcasting exec that says we got to change this fast instead of letting it go on for five, six, seven years and never admitting the mistake.
And I don't know that it was a mistake to even try it.
Hey, did you – was that morning show not supposed to be Dean Blundell and Andrew Walker?
Sure was.
That's how it leaked, yeah.
And Greg Brady was supposed to be –
I was either going to be with 1 o'clock or I was going to pick a host and I felt
really strongly. I went to bat for Andrew
because I knew he didn't want to do the show.
I just did.
And I think had
and I was worried they wouldn't let me have a
great say as to who my
partner would be. I was very concerned
about getting pigeonholed in with
somebody that wouldn't bring out the best in me, I thought
at that point. And I thought, especially if I'm going, I knew Tim and Sid had an audience,
and Mark knows what this is like.
You'll go somewhere, audiences hate change, they hate TV change, they hate radio change,
they just hate change.
So if you can weather that early storm, get in and feel comfortable,
eventually you become the thing that they don't want to change.
But if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.
Look, there's been many an experiment right um uh when i first got to the fan and this is
well documented i started at noon to three and they bumped darren millard off radio briefly
put me in with doug and nick who are great to me mclean and kiprios and i love that and then i had
my own show from one to three and they didn't know who was going to be in mornings and mike
richards put out great numbers in Calgary,
was a Rodgers guy, and they had tried to get
him, but TSN 1050, at
the time, and that was the right thing for them to try,
astutely hired him away. They're like,
let's get a no-name who knows Toronto.
Mike said he was making $50,000 a
year in Calgary, and then he said he got offered
$400,000 a year by TSN. I would bet you those
numbers are accurate. So, to go back
to Mike, they paid him extremely well. Way more, way more than anybody else at TSN 1050, way more, way more.
And, um, and I'm not sure. Uh, I think, I think the bell folks might argue, we didn't quite get
the return that they were hoping for. So at that point, it's like you bring in, you know,
if Mike Babcock has two more first-round exits,
he's going to be fired.
He might get fired with one more.
I don't know.
But at that point, you'll be like, well, we paid $8 million,
and we didn't want to go out in the first round four straight times.
That would be shocking to me.
I think if Babcock, let's say we go out in, I don't know,
six or seven games in the first round next year,
Babcock getting fired would shock me somehow.
It's a conversation point if there's certain things like,
oh, God.
Dwayne Casey, didn't it just happen to Dwayne Casey?
Yeah, but he wasn't the Babcock bringing in the guy
for the big bucks to kind of go eight years
or whatever they signed.
It just seems like they were thinking long before.
I think four first-round exits in the NHL playoffs
would be really rough, really rough.
But anyway, I just think the bottom line is
everybody wishes Mike the best of health and happiness.
What more would you want for somebody?
None of these are – and again, everyone thinks rivalry this, rivalry that.
No, because Mike's a great guy, right?
I keep saying Mark's been through this.
But God, you never dislike – like no one has done me wrong.
If he feels wronged and feels a need to vocalize it and name names and bring the fire, okay.
I've never felt like somebody has
screwed me in this business you're gonna be on the winning end of things and i'll say
i was way more emotional walking in and quitting on i had to quit on gordon harris to leave am 640
in the bill watershow to go to the fan and i was in i couldn't get in the room i was flowing with
tears and when you're fired you're kind of numb but you walk out of the room. I was flowing with tears. And when you're fired,
you're kind of numb, but you walk
out of the room and you go, what's next?
You really do. It's like someone busting up
with you is often
a lot easier than you deciding, I've got to call
this off, whether it's a marriage, a relationship,
a best friend, or whatever. That's what I think.
Because the decision's made for you. Totally.
Now you just need to kind of adapt
or die. But even if you make the decision, you're going to get questioned by people.
Why would you leave?
When I left Global to go to radio, people said, why would you do that?
Why would you take away my enjoyment at 1130 at night for your own personal gain?
That's what I say.
That's kind of the thing.
I'm a viewer.
I'm used to watching you every night at 11.30. Now you're going to
radio? Why would you do this to me? And I remember
saying, look, no offense. It's got nothing to do with you.
It's my life. I'm the one who
made the choice. And unless I told
them in detail
how much I was making, the fact
that I wanted to be play-by-play for the Leafs
and the Argos, and I'd done
television and all that, they still didn't understand. I said,
you don't get it. When I turn my TV on at 11.30 and you'regos, and I'd done television and all that. They still didn't understand. I said, you don't get it.
When I turn my TV on at 11.30 and you're not there,
I'm pissed, and I'm mad at you for leaving my television.
We're all like this.
Turn that down for one sec.
Before you do this, I'm just going to make the point
that in our entertainment business,
everybody wants sequels to popular movies,
and everybody wants bands to stay together.
They really do.
Everybody's like, hey, why don't, you know,
come on, Roger Waters, why don't you and, you know,
Dave Gilmour take Pink Floyd out?
Doesn't want to.
Doesn't have to, doesn't want to,
wants to do different stuff.
Like, I was thinking the other day,
how many bands, when you two put out their last album,
and I saw them on the Joshua Tree Tour last year,
how many bands have all four original members
that you can think of that never broke up once
that have lasted 35 to 40 years?
Anybody at all?
No, the closest I can come up with,
which is not quite that long, is Pearl Jam.
No one's left Pearl Jam, man.
Nobody?
Well, the drummer.
They did change drummers.
So that counts.
It's okay, yes.
The drummer was swapped out.
They have Matt Cameron in there.
But if you two kicked Larry Mullen Jr.
out after 15 years and brought another guy in,
like how the Eagles kicked Don Felder out a couple of times,
that counts,
right?
That counts.
And,
and so everyone wants that.
Everyone wants Mark Hemsher and Jim Taddy to do sports line the rest of
their lives.
And he doesn't want to.
And you could say that with me about my,
my partners.
There's,
I've had great partners.
God,
have I had talented partners.
And I count Jim in there and Andrew and Jamie Samuelson in Detroit.
But maybe you don't want to work with the same.
It's not a marriage.
It's not a marriage.
And maybe you don't want to work with the same person forever.
You don't know when the end is,
but you know you don't want to go back and feel like you're taking,
sometimes you do,
but you don't want to feel like you're going back and taking backward steps in your career, I guess.
Spinal tap taught me that the drummer
doesn't really matter. None of my partners have
exploded. Well, in anger,
yes.
A producer, Greg, had me shut
this down, but...
By the way, you're here to kick out the jam, so there's
going to be a lot of Greg Brady music talk
later, but do you know what we're listening to,
Greg?
Yeah, this is Three Lions by Badil and Skinner from 1996.
I sure do.
Is that the Lightning Seeds?
Is that what they were?
Yeah, it's two comedians and David Badil from Lightning Seeds.
Right. We still believe. We still believe. It's coming home.
It's coming home.
It's coming home.
The football's coming home.
It's coming home.
It's coming home.
It's coming home.
The football's coming home.
So, Greg, tell me, of course you were watching the, of course, the England versus Columbia yesterday.
What are your thoughts?
They deserved to win.
They were the better side.
I thought the Colombian tactics were, even for soccer's levels, and I love soccer, shameful in terms of the diving and the dirty play.
They accumulated six, six of 11 players accumulated yellow cards.
And yet England was terrible
in the last five minutes of regulation.
Terrible in the first extra time period.
Much better in the second.
And it's such a coin flip with penalty kicks.
All these guys are heroes now, right?
Pickford, the keeper.
But, you know, Dyer for scoring the goal.
And, like, they're no better or worse than, like, Frank Lampard,
Steven Gerrard, and David Beckham are like goats in comparison.
It's a little ridiculous.
It's a little ridiculous.
But I will say, English people like this team.
England supporters like this group of guys.
I think they think they got better guys than John Terry and a couple
other guys who were, I don't
know, somewhat nefarious. You know,
your typical jerk athlete
I suppose. And this Harry Kane
fellow, ice in the veins. This guy is
the real deal. Yeah.
Spurs, baby. Spurs.
Five Spurs on that team.
I never thought... England's
had a long run here.
Wayne Rooney was a phenom.
Michael Owen was too banged up and injured after a while.
But he was a phenom in 98 when he scored that goal against Argentina.
Alan Shearer was just consistent.
Kane might be a better finisher than all of them when it's all said and done.
People were giving Ronaldo the golden boot after two matches.
Two matches.
Like, oh, Ronaldo's a lock to win the golden boot.
I'm like, what if he goes out in the round of 16?
And he did.
And didn't score.
Now, I'm not a, you know, I was actually kind of rooting for Colombia.
I didn't have a horse in that race, but I was kind of rooting for Colombia.
Why were you rooting for Colombia?
Because you like chaos?
You like British people being angry?
Right.
I kind of do like it when English people are pissed off.
Like, it's kind of fun, I think.
It happens a lot.
What if someone said that about Leafs fans?
Well, that's it. There's a camaraderie there, right? Neither team has accomplished what they want to accomplish in 50-plus years.
But this song, which I believe is from 98, I want to say.
Yeah, they made the original in 96 when they hosted Euro 96,
lost in the semis to Germany.
And then in 98 at the World Cup was when Beckham got the red card
and they lost to Argentina on penalties.
Right.
So I'm just saying this is a great jam.
If I were an English soccer fan, I think I'd have this on repeat all the time.
And I want a Maple Leaf version now that we've got Tavares.
We don't have a great hockey song.
I like Alan Frew, but that song was much derided
because it was not a good era for the Leafs.
Oh, right, right.
Plus, there's a little something to say that they're Canada's team,
and then the rest of Canada's like, hold it.
Like, I still think it's fascinating to see what the Leaf support,
love, and hate would be when they make the Stanley Cup final.
I record a podcast here with a guy named Mark Hebbs here,
Hebbsy on sports.
And Hebbsy, you brought up this jam.
It was before my time, but this is like a late 70s.
The band is called Tavares, right?
Right.
So this is the, is it Heaven is Missing an Angel?
What's this called?
Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel.
This is from the disco era.
And so popular songs around this time would have been by Donna Summer, the Bee Gees, and the Mighty Pope, Heaven on the
Seventh Floor, if you're from Ontario.
Because he played every single bar in Ontario.
This was the kind of music everyone
danced to.
I had an album called Disco Fever, and this was on it.
As was something by
an artist named Joe Tex.
And his song was something called
Games People Play.
His song was Ain't Gonna Bump With No Big Fat Woman No More or something.
And I'm like, I don't...
Okay.
I don't feel you can make that in 2018, but no one's covering that and hitting the charts
probably.
Well, it's like Queens, Fat Bottom Girls.
They make the rock and roll go around.
Prove that they don't.
So I don't know if Mark thinks they're going to play this after every Tavares goal.
God, no.
Is this the new goal song?
Only when Tavares scores.
Okay, so I'm playing Tavares.
Of course, this is like one of the, you know, God's gift to sports radio, right?
When the Maple Leafs have landed a 27-year-old perennial all-star top five, top ten, top five,
depending on how you define it, player in the game.
This never happens.
Like, this is amazing.
But I did liken it, and I think I'm right about this.
Wrong about a lot, but I think I'm right about this.
I don't know that it's bigger than Curtis Joseph leaving Edmonton
and saying, I'll come be your goalie in the summer of 98,
because a lot of pieces followed after that.
Gary Roberts signed, Shane Corson signed. Trade for Darcy Tucker.
Get Ty Domi back.
They put a lot of good infrastructure around Matt Sundin.
Drafted Caberle, traded for McCabe.
They stole McCabe away in that trade for Kar-Potsev.
I know he's dead.
He's passed away.
I know.
The plane crash, right?
Talking about the dead.
But I think Cujo was a massive signing in 98,
even though they already had Felix Potvin,
and people pointed that out to me yesterday when I mentioned it on the show,
but they missed the playoffs in a few years.
Wendell had already come back and then gone again by 98, 99.
I think they needed Cujo to reaffirm what it meant to be a Leaf,
and they made the playoffs that year and won a round.
They won seven rounds in six years.
Now, if this team wins seven rounds
in the next six years, that's great,
but that'll feel almost like underachieving a little bit.
And they better win four in one year.
Well, we got it with one.
I think what we need now is, you're right,
you talked about maybe Babcock doesn't even survive.
All right, take that down.
You can't do it?
You're going to be hearing a lot of jams today.
You want to talk about another Frank Tavares?
Frank Tavares.
The greatest Tavares ever to play baseball.
Was there not a Julian Tavares
that played for the Pirates also?
No, that's Frank Tavares.
Is it?
Frank Tavares and Omar Moreno
were at the top of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
I remember Omar Moreno.
Very fast.
He was an average shortstop,
but his name was Tavares.
Tell you why I know this.
The only baseball in London
that I could get on cable or aerial,
because my parents had an aerial until I was like 19.
They lived out in the country.
I could get WUAB from Cleveland.
I could get WKBD from, but the Tigers were on WDIV then
with George Kell and Al Kaline, George Kell.
But I could get WSEE Channel 35 in Erie,
and they put Pirates games on, so I could see Pirates games.
Omar Marino, Rennie Stennett.
I love that 79 Pirates team.
Loved it. I want to ask you about
Twitter here. I had a good
question for you about Twitter,
but I want to find it here. Oh yeah, Brent.
Why did he decide to be
so active on Twitter? He never used
to be. He's hilarious and a great
follow. It's good to see
his personality. Makes him more
likable. So that's from Brent.
And I've noticed it, of course.
I follow you on Twitter as well.
And you're right.
There's been a noticeable uptick in Brady tweets.
Sometimes I leave it alone, and sometimes I feel it's better.
But if it's stuff to do with sports or stuff to do with the show,
there's a lot of things I'm just not touching anymore
because I don't feel like it's changing anybody's mind.
Oh, politics.
Yeah, I am. I'm leaving it. I don't feel like it's changing anybody's mind. Oh, politics. Yeah, I am.
I'm leaving it. I don't feel
I'll need ever again to put, and I never
have put, you know, tweets are mine,
not my company's, or tweets are me,
not the workplace, like whatever.
I can't, I'm not changing
anybody's mind by my voice
in the mainstream. Unlike the TSN,
unlike those fuckers at TSN, I think
Gabriel's with it. For heaven's sake. I love that tweet.
Great people there, and you stop this.
A lot of friends there.
Hey, Jay and Dan are my buddies.
So I can say this.
You at Rogers seem to be encouraged, or at least it's completely allowed,
that you can be political on Twitter,
but you won't get political tweets out of the TSN folks.
That's what Rogers said.
I've never been told to delete a tweet.
I've never been told to slow my roll a little bit on Twitter.
But I think I'm having a better sense now than anything of holding my breath a little
bit and, you know, wiping it out.
And look, this is a little bit like people debate when people are uh drinking and
they'll say i had three or four beers and i said this so is that less of the real you right or is
that more of the real you that's that's a great debate because more of the real you that's what
some people say like mel gibson did that like was in the back of a cop car and said a bunch of
terrible things racist and anti-semitic things, awful things, misogynist things.
And he did a lot of that when he was sober also.
But his excuse was, well, I had a few drinks.
Well, isn't that, are you holding back when you're sober and you're letting the real you
out when you have a couple beers?
I don't know what the answer is.
But I know on Twitter, I'm trying to not be, I'm trying to not look like I've had three
beers on Twitter and speak more freely.
Because, look, Bill Simmons said this ages ago when he was with ESPN.
He said, I don't know what I should do with it because right now I can't monetize it,
and right now I can get fired from it.
I can get fired from it, and I can't make any money from it.
And that's how people feel about it now, I think, in our business.
Your colleague, Stephen Brunt, for example, is not.
At least he's got a Lurker account.
On Twitter, at Brunt underscore Stephen 00.
Right.
His Lurker account, I haven't figured it out yet.
B Colangelo 96.
His burner account, right?
So there are some, you're right, like Stephen Brunt,
that are just not going to play the game.
I'm using it more as a news service and be like,
oh, England should put this player on.
And I'm also liking tweets so I can remember it for show content i'm really and i call it arguing
with eggs and i think there's mark would know there's people in our business that still will be
like somebody will buzz them about something and disagree and they'll be like uh well i have a show
and you don't or i'm like what you're either real you got a lot of time on your hands i don't remember
the i have a lot of time on my hands but I don't want to spend the time that way.
It's totally unproductive.
And I'm not trying to change anyone's mind.
Like when you put an opinion out there, I'm like, this is what I think.
I'm not waiting for my opinion to be changed.
I'm not.
How many times, though, have you written a tweet and you're about to hit send and you go, wait a minute, and you look at it again and go, do I need to send this now?
Do I feel the urge as if you were on talk radio and some caller said, hey, minute, and you look at it again and go, do I need to send this now because I feel the urge?
As if you were on talk radio and some caller said, hey, Greg, what about this?
Instead of thinking about what you were going to say,
your gut reaction would be, I don't know, you're full of it,
or I disagree or whatever.
It's the same with a tweet.
Many times I've had to say, don't send this.
It's an ego thing.
You want to send it so that someone goes, oh, look at that, Hepsher.
Is he ever a sharp guy?
What a great tweet that is.
I'm going to retweet it, and then I'm going to sit there,
and my ego is going to be satisfied.
And I think Twitter is a lot about how many likes and retweets people can get,
and I have no interest in that stuff.
I really follower count none of that stuff.
If it ever intrigued me, it sure doesn't now,
and I just think people are like they'll take a story that's just so obvious
to everybody.
I don't want to say that many people have done this, but take the awful tragedy with the Humboldt Broncos.
Or when someone famous dies that you liked.
Like, everybody, like the RAPs are just, God, would you walk up to somebody on the street and just start talking about the terrible tragedy in Humboldt?
Or, you know,
the missing kids in this cave in Thailand.
I'm fascinated by that story over the last couple days
that they're alive and they can't get them out right now.
I think there's just too many people going,
well, this will get 50 likes, and they just do it for that
reason. And it's just like,
you should not hit women.
If I tweeted that, I'd get 100 likes.
Of course you shouldn't.
Who would say that? I wouldn't associate with anybody who would think that.
Right.
Roberto Osuna, I don't want to see him play as a Blue Jay.
Okay, yes, thanks.
But give me a little more substance and meat on the bone than an obvious opinion, if you will, from like-minded individuals.
You did tweet, and I think it was before the signing of Boogie, just in your defense, but you did tweet,
you think the Celtics could beat the Warriors, but you don't think that anymore.
I'm just reading you right now. You still think the Celtics
could be the Warriors? I do. Absolutely, I do. I'm surprised by that.
I mean, literally, the
Warriors are going to start five
All-Stars and three of the top ten
players in the league. Well, they're all a year older. There's a little
fatigue in their game. If Chris Paul stays
healthy, I don't think they win that series. I picked
Houston at the start of that series. I did
and I picked Boston to and I picked Cleveland to beat Boston.
And I didn't change my pick when Cleveland was down to nothing.
And LeBron won four of the next five games, including on the road.
And I think LeBron isn't going to the finals this year, but I think he knows that.
And Michael Jordan didn't go to the finals the first year he came back
to Chicago. Orlando
drummed them in the second round, not the conference
finals. So next year,
when LeBron's got Kawhi Leonard, and
maybe a John Wall, and maybe somebody
else, and Kuzma's a year older,
and Ingram's a year older, and
maybe Lonzo's still there and is a year older,
I think LA makes the finals. This year
I think they're probably like fourth in the conference, and they'd be happy playing the T- a year older, I think LA makes the finals. This year, I think they're probably, like, fourth in the conference,
and they'd be happy playing the T-Wolves,
or they'd be happy playing, wouldn't they, Lakers?
Oh, God, who was I thinking about?
Not necessarily Lakers-Spurs, but Lakers.
God, Memphis?
Who was I thinking that?
I'd love to see them play in the first round.
Either way, they might get Golden State in the second round.
But I think LeBron, like, what are we doing? like tom brady doesn't make the finals every year and there's no
other sport hockey or baseball we wouldn't go oh that guy's no good he like mike trout's played
three playoff games no that i mean what are we doing and i know basketball players can have way
more there's way much more of an individual influence on the on the game i thought this
i thought this week was just interesting in that in Toronto sports, and Mark may have talked about
it,
it's like the Raptors, you finally get LeBron out of
the conference after a decade and a half.
And I'm not sure you feel closer than
you did a year ago to winning the title.
Or to winning the East. I think you do.
I think it's just because it's the LeBron. You mentioned
one guy. If he wasn't there, what were their
chances of winning? Much better. But almost
before LeBron may have executed some of those trades uh and they re and they rejigged their whole roster
before the trade deadline they were getting they were getting losing by 35 40 game 40 points
many a night many a day and i think people were almost like bring on the calves in the playoffs
even if it's in the second round well sure when you're winning 59 games during the regular season
you got to believe that you can knock off any team in a best-of-seven.
But I don't know if anybody thinks they're going to knock off Boston.
I think Boston's going to—Boston feels like an inevitable 60-win team,
and the Raptors were sort of a surprise 59 win.
And I'd bring all—don't get me wrong, I'd bring all the guys back.
There's so many dumb NBA narratives.
Uh, the Raptors should call LeBron.
Uh, the Raptors are going to trade up and get into the top 10,
and Masai wants to get into the top 10 and make a high pick.
And the third one is that they shouldn't bring the same guys back.
They absolutely should bring everybody back for one more year
because they're stuck with guys anyway.
So compete.
Compete as hard as you can.
You've got younger players that are going to look better in their second
and third years.
Ananobi,
Purtle,
Siakam,
love the look of all those players.
And,
and let's see what happens.
I don't sweat Philadelphia at all in the second round.
Not yet.
No,
no.
So that's,
God,
is that,
is that where we're at?
Like,
but play game one against the Celtics in the East final and you're somehow,
Oh,
how disappointing.
Are you kidding?
Two rounds,
win two rounds.
Four teams get that far.
Now, if it is a Warriors-Celtics final,
and I think that would be the money would be on a Warriors-Celtics final.
I think if you're betting right now,
I mean, without some barring several key injuries,
I cannot envision the Celtics beating the Warriors in a best-of-seven series.
I can't see it, but we shall see.
That's what I love about sports.
Kyrie's healthy.
Kyrie's going into free agency.
Gordon Hayward
never got to play.
Yeah, but look at
those five guys
on Golden State.
I mean, these are
all nice players.
But can they all play?
Can they play as a team,
though?
Because there's lots
of examples of great teams
that had fabulous
individual players
and couldn't get it
done together
with one basketball.
I think Klay Thompson's
going to sign with
the Lakers after this year.
Wow.
And I think Kawhi's
going to sign with
the Lakers after this year. So they got all these,whi's going to sign with the Lakers after this year.
So they got all these, everyone's worried about all these head cases, Rondo and Stevenson.
These are all one-year deals.
That's right.
LeBron wants them out of his way.
He's hoping it can happen.
He's well aware.
Well aware it may not.
And expectations are going to be lower for the Lakers this year.
But him out there with Kawhi and Kuzma and another year, Brandon Ingram, I wouldn't trade either of those guys, and I'd wait for Kawhi.
Kawhi can sit out.
Kawhi can do whatever.
And I'll say this.
The Cavs, fatal mistake.
Call Kyrie's bluff.
Make him sit out.
You're playing.
You're under contract.
We're not going to make a bad trade for stupid Isaiah Thomas
coming off a catastrophic injury as it is.
We're not doing this.
You're playing or you sit.
You want to fake a knee injury and have surgery?
Go ahead, but you will sit.
And they gave him to Boston.
Gave him to Boston.
Brad says, why is he such an Ajax advocate and local hero?
As a follow-up, when is he running for town council?
That's a Brad on Twitter. I'd want to be an MPP and work at Queens Park. Mark when is he running for town council? As a brat on Twitter.
I'd want to be an MPP and work at Queen's Park.
Mark, everything about running for office?
What party would you be affiliated with?
Just curious.
I don't know.
You know what?
I've voted for...
I think I voted for every party.
I voted for the Reform Party in 1993.
Oh, wow.
Then you really have run the gamut there.
I did. I voted for Preston Manning in 1993. And I voted for the NDP. And I voted for the Reform Party in 1993. Oh, wow. Then you really have run the gamut there. I did.
I voted for Preston Manning in 1993, and I voted for the NDP, and I voted for the liberals.
I'm not sure what I would do.
I think it all – look how a lot of people probably switched their vote this past provincial election based on the circumstances of the race.
Right.
And a lot of people – this is my observation – had Kathleen Wynne thrown herself on the sword months ago a lot of
people would have stayed with the liberals but she didn't and they were and but the same thing
happened to mike harris and the same thing happened to brian mulroney or sorry kim campbell like the
like you if you drive the party down so far in the popularity polls and this is what the republicans
and the states will have to deal with potentially this november uh is what are we going to do? When's the time to get out?
When's the time to say
we're not aligning with Trump,
we've got to serve our constituents?
I don't know.
Now, I received...
Like I said, I'm not talking politics.
I received a DM from somebody who was planning,
I guess the Ajax mayor was retiring or something.
Steve Parrish is retiring.
And I got a DM and it was like,
hey, you know about biking
and you have famous people
on your show.
And this email,
basically the DM was,
do you know anybody
who both cycles
and would be interested
in cycling with the mayor of Ajax
because they were going to plan
some kind of a group ride.
I guess he cycles.
This is my guess.
I don't know anything
about Ajax politics.
But I dropped... You don't know about cycling. I do. And? This is my guess. I don't know anything about Ajax politics, but I dropped...
You don't love cycling, though.
I do.
Cycling politics.
I told you,
because as you know,
when I was doing
the ride to conquer cancer,
I think my tag's over there,
you were very helpful.
We had lots of conversations,
so I knew what to expect,
because you have done
that many times.
But I did tell this person,
I said,
your guy is Greg Brady,
cycles,
and is a proud Ajaxian.
No one ever contacted me.
No, I know.
It's interesting.
And she was so like, oh, thanks so much and everything.
Maybe she looked into you and said, no thanks.
We need a bigger celebrity.
People end up being disappointed.
I can disappoint with the best of them.
We need a bigger celebrity is what I think she was looking for.
Good luck in Ajax.
Yeah, I know.
I thought that was a perfect guy.
You're the perfect guy for that.
Glenn Healy.
Glenn Healy's the most famous person in Ajax.
That's who I would have called.
I got a question about
podcasting at Sportsnet.
There's been some big Sportsnet podcasts
lately with Swinging a Belt and 31
Thoughts.
What about you doing a podcast that's
not your show?
I did
that with Carolyn Cameron.
I would say we called it Point Taken.
We did a lot of different stuff. But I think we found found it i don't know that we won't do it again this is like the
proverbial band that's on hiatus right um carolyn's so busy with what she does i'm busy with what i do
we sometimes meet in the middle of the day and she's just woken up and i'm dying to go to bed
and um this would be be like probably me dating somebody
or being married to somebody
who works all evenings
and I got to get up at three
and your ship's passing in the night.
So professionally,
I think that's what was happening with us.
And she went to Sochi.
We haven't done one since she,
or she didn't go to,
not Sochi,
but she did the 18 Olympics
in Pyongyang.
Yeah, not Pyongchang.
That would be different.
It's different.
It was close.
Very close. A lot of confusion, I think. That would be different. It's different. It was close. Very close.
A lot of confusion, I think.
Just turn left and stop at the lights.
Well, she's great, too.
Carolyn's great.
And I did...
My apologies.
I forgot about that you did that,
because, yeah, you need to bring that back.
She's...
But I think about...
You two would know a lot more about where it's headed
than I potentially would,
but I do think, finally,
it's nice to see a mainstream company.
And it's not like, look, TSN's doing that too, right?
James Duthie's got a great one.
Bob McKenzie was doing it, like some of the big heavy hitters
there who I'd say I'm friends with
and respect so much. Jay and Dan have one?
Right. So there's a lot more people tending to
swing that way
with it. I'd say this about pods.
I think when I
was not working from February 16 on,
and Mark and I would have conversations, and I had no idea what I would do next, not a clue,
I think the landscape of it's changed to where I would know what I would do, and I would know how
to do it, but I didn't know how in February of 16. And I think maybe there's people who are not
necessarily voluntarily
getting out of the business,
but they're a lot more ready for the next step.
Whereas I think writing is,
I think you can do it with radio and pods
a lot easier than if you lose your newspaper job.
That's really, really difficult.
I know The Athletic is doing what it's doing,
and I hope it's sustainable.
Like I said, I wish there were three sports radio stations here. I wish there were tons of options
for people in our business. And again, as Mark knows, you step out of schools. I have a tough
time advocating. I used to teach at college of sports media i taught
there three semesters and i i would have a tougher time doing it i really feel like now telling people
that the future looks really really bright now that said there's more concentration in major
cities there's more chance you'll work in toronto or vancouver at a network there's less chance to
go out and sort of it's like a farm system, right?
Right.
Go to Leamington, go to Sarnia.
My first job I was so lucky was in Windsor, but it was going to be in Owen Sound, which
is a smaller place than Windsor.
Okay.
And I love the proximity to Detroit and the proximity and networking and marketing.
Myself got me a job in sports radio for nine and a half years in Detroit to where you're going to
Michigan games and you're covering teams on the road and you're in California with a Wings Duck
series when you're 27 and making 25 grand a year. All those things were incredible experiences.
And I worry now there's no, I hate using third person, there's no future Greg Brady's that'll
get to do that coming out of journalism school. There just aren't. Every department's a lot
smaller than it used to be. Or it doesn't exist at. Or doesn't exist at all. Yeah. Yeah. Your
newsroom of nine people is now two. And now when I started in the business, someone said,
why would you go into sports broadcasting? There's no jobs available. There were six jobs available
in sports broadcasting. There were the three radio stations and the three television stations,
and that was it. So people thought I was out of my mind. And if I would have
asked, like people are asking today,
what would you say to someone who wants
to get into sports journalism?
People told me at the time, you're out of your mind.
There's no jobs. There's three
newspapers. They all have writers.
There's three radio stations. There's a
couple of TV stations. That's it. This was
well before sports radio
and sports television. So when did the fans turn on?
Fall of 92? Right around
the time Jays Braves?
The timing could not have been better.
It could have been better, and the Leafs were about to rise up. They weren't
very good in the spring of 92, but that's my
point. All I wanted to do was radio from about
1986 on, but I think I thought I was going to
be a DJ. I think I thought I
wanted to play Top 40 or play rock music.
But by the time
sports radio was in the upswing, that stuff was into voice tracking and cutting costs. And here's
your songs, play them anyway. Don't take phone calls. Like I grew up calling radio stations at
age 11 going, can you play Prince? Can you play Huey Lewis in the news? Can you play the cars?
We know that stuff doesn't take place. It really doesn't take place the way it used to anymore.
And I love radio. I like, I'm glad my kids like it. They'll put on, um, you know that stuff doesn't take place. It really doesn't take place the way it used to anymore. And I love radio. I'm glad my kids like it. They'll put on Kiss FM. They'll put on stations.
They'll put on Q107. And I like that they ask to listen to specific stations. And yes, I have
satellite in the car too, because I just want the broadest experience I can have. But I love
commercial radio still. And it's the one thing. Everyone said, this will kill it. That'll kill it.
This will destroy it. That'll kill it. This will destroy it.
That'll destroy it.
It hasn't.
It hasn't at all.
Satellite was supposed
to be a death knell.
The internet,
podcasts were supposed
to be a death knell
for AM and FM radio.
Still around,
still kicking.
It's still pretty,
it still is the most
immediate way
to find out something.
That's for sure.
When I started,
I wanted to be a sportscaster.
They said,
you know what?
There aren't any jobs available.
Well,
why don't you learn broadcasting?
Why don't you learn to do news and rip wire copy and rewrite stuff?
Learn the entire business.
And then you can specialize in sports if an opportunity comes along.
And that's what happened.
When an opportunity came along, and Bob McCowan was the first guy to hire me, I had experience in radio.
Not sports, but as an announcer, doing news, doing weather, doing traffic,
being a reporter, going out and doing interviews and cutting tape and putting stories together.
And nowadays, I think people just, I want to do sports and they just want to get right
into sports.
And I think the problem may be is they don't learn to be, if they want to be a journalist,
they don't learn proper journalism techniques because they've never interviewed politicians
or business people to put a story together. It's strictly
the athlete, the coach,
the general manager. That's it.
Everybody needs reps. How much better are you at doing this, Mike,
than three years ago? Oh, much better. Right, you are.
You are. Of course you are.
But you don't listen. You know how I know you don't listen?
Because I asked...
You track my downloads?
You're tracking my internet usage?
Your IP address. I know because you were
unfamiliar with the Kick Out the Jam format.
Not really.
I know the format.
Because there's been 45 of those.
And how did you not even listen to Hebsey's Kick Out the Jam episode?
I knew you needed 10 songs.
Yeah, that's good.
How much Janis Joplin can I listen to?
Unless you're Dave Hodge.
And then you get to play.
Oh, he did 100.
And then you do 100 songs.
My wife spotted Dave Hodge at the Gordon Lightfoot show Sunday night at Massey Hall.
Like, what a shock that he was there to see Gordon
Lightfoot at Massey Hall. I've never seen
Dave at a show. Do you go to a lot
of shows? I don't think he announces his presence
there. He sat in front of me at a Jays game.
Dave's not going to Depeche Mode or
Noel Gallagher. He's not going to those shows.
That's true. I think there's a
cut-off point for Dave.
Here's what I say about Dave. He'll go
old school like the Gordon Lightfoot,
but you're right.
Those bands...
You think he's at war on drugs?
He's actually...
Yes, yes.
Oh, okay.
He's way more current
than I am, for example.
He's way into the new bands.
Him and Brunt are...
Yeah, Brunt's another guy.
They're crazy
for their music college.
Here's what you're going to do.
You're going to drive back
to Ajax today.
Listen to Stephen Brunt
kicking out the jams.
How's that?
The stat I saw says people on average
stop trying to discover
new music when they're 32.
They're like, this is my library, this is my
universe. I'm surprised I'm not 22. I'll stay with the bands
I'm with. But if you name,
if you said, give me five new bands
that you like in the last three years, I can't even do it.
I want to. You're probably the most recent band you like.
I'd say Florence and the Machine.
Oh, they've been around 12 years.
Or White Stripes, right?
Oh, yeah.
You mean that 20-year-old band?
That's like saying, you know, what's your favorite television show?
Could you name five TV shows that are on now?
But, of course, when you were in your 20s, you remember all the shows that you grew up
with.
So I think that's for everyone.
It's what you grew up with.
That's your musical.
Well, Brady and TV is a whole different story.
Well, nowadays, how many people in their 40s or 50s or 60s are like, oh, I like this new, unless it's Netflix, mind you.
Well, Blue Jays Central, Hockey Central.
Oh, Jays in 30.
Baseball set.
Jays in 30, the best.
Jays in 10.
Well, one of my favorite Brady tweets, he's been kicking it up a notch,
like I said, but he wrote, this is him, this is Greg Brady tweeting,
just me or are all of us just plain bailing on more TV shows than ever?
Me?
And he wrote
a list. The Twin Peaks reboot,
Westworld
season 2, The Leftovers season 3,
Divorce season 2, The Affair
season 3. By the way, The Affair season 3
was terrible, but season 4
is good. Everyone's telling me
to go back. Because I'm still with The Affair
because I just... And they're just
pretending like season 3 didn't happen. My wife and I
said last night though, is there a single likable character?
Is the Joshua Jackson character the only
likable character on the affair?
Everyone else is a jerk.
And you're not even going,
you never know what happens in marriages.
But I
think it's funny how
they've portrayed Noah as just this
asshole and he had the affair.
And then you're going, oh God, she's terrible.
Maybe he almost had a quote unquote excuse.
She is terrible.
For like nuts.
Like again, you enter into.
And he took the fall on that,
the whole, the whole, the death of,
what's his name's brother.
And I don't want no spoilers here.
I guess I already spoiled it.
Yes, he did though.
You're right.
He's like, to me, he's, he's a bit like.
Well, he's not a sympathetic character. No, but he's kind of he went to jail right crime he didn't commit
to protect people he cared about yes that's pretty uh hardcore uh martyrism i don't know
martyrdom as they say but uh and he of course i watched the affair my my wife heard good things
and we started watching and i said oh mcnulty from the wire is in it i was in right there like i'll watch it because dominic west is in but you're trying to introduce a
i'm always conscious of a show if i do the introduction to a show to my wife and we've
been married 14 years and and like things are are great oh good why do i need to reassure you guys
of that but um but you introduce a show like there was a show on hbo called you me her and i heard
great things about it and she's like what's it about and I'm like
it's about a guy and he and his girlfriend
and they decide to introduce another
female and they start having threesomes and she's looking
at me like
and she gave it three episodes and she's like
not for me and it was more a comedy
it's not like we're watching, it's not
Cinemax at 1am and I'm in a US hotel
room or something. Yeah it's HBO right?
Yes and I'm going. That's like the good housekeeping
seal of this is going to be quality content.
It's like if you said, I really want to watch
Divorce, which had Thomas Hayden
Church and Sarah Jessica Parker. People know those
people. I'd be like, but we should watch Divorce because it's
about a couple and they start splitting apart and the
kids are... And it's great and it's
just... No, it's okay.
It's like if I... Serial killer stuff,
right? I gotta get us to... I realize I got to get us to jams
so I can get the boy to tennis camp, his Nike sports camp.
But let me, so let me ask one more thing here.
Have you ever participated in like a pitch talks event
or one of those puck talks events?
Greg Brady.
No.
Okay.
I was going to ask because so many Rogers personalities
are on these things, but they,
I know they've been recently told
that they are no longer allowed to participate,
is what I've been hearing.
I've never been, no, I may not be on the radar to do that stuff.
I had somebody suggest to me that it's, you know,
you really have to love the concept of doing it.
You're on stage with a lot of different people.
It's not like my evenings are precious, but it would have to be.
Well, you can't do it now anyways, unless you quit your job.
Is that what you're telling me? I can't?
And I'm surprised you didn't get
CC'd on this email. I envisioned
some executive sending an email to all...
Or am I pretending that I did, and I didn't?
Can I see the email? Because
my understanding, in fact, this was from the
pitch talks. I can't remember what they're called. What are they called, Mark?
Something Talks. Whatever that company is
that puts on these events, put out a release
to say, Sportsnet personalities
are no longer permitted to appear at their
events. But every time I hear about these events,
it's littered with Sportsnet, like
Blair and Wilner
and Brunt and Madani.
Arden Swelling, Ben Nicholson-Smith.
Just like half of the roster
is usually a Barker.
I see him.
He was at that Kelly Gruber one.
Oh, yeah.
You know what I mean?
All I know is they've been really, and I did make it clear when I did my very first contract there that I do a lot of freelance UK stuff.
And I think they're okay with, I know that they're okay with that.
Well, is that the competition?
No.
No, no.
I think that's everything, right? But I think we're to the point where, and I understand it too, is that you are a representative
of the company.
I couldn't tell you the reason why or why not.
Actually, like I said, it's news to me because I'm just not involved in it.
I'm surprised there's no blanket email, right, Mark?
They should put an email and say, hey, FYI, you're not permitted to do this.
But here's what I would say.
I would say at some point, these pitch talk and puck talk and hoop talk events
were deemed competition, and that's what the difference is.
If you're on something that's competition, I can see them not liking that.
That's my two cents on that.
That's your executive podcast expertise.
As a purveyor, as the overseer of your industry,
there's not many of us out there actually paying attention to your space. But also the fact that
not only were they charging admission
to these events, they were recording
and streaming these events.
Yeah, so I can see that.
There were a number of revenue streams.
Well, that is exactly right, Mark.
And if you're Rogers, and someone's saying,
wait a minute, why would I pay someone
to be on television on my station, and
I see that they're on another service somewhere else.
As Rogers employees, we're not getting any money.
I realized this early on where when I was in Windsor, you'd have a guest on,
and then you'd ask the guest again, and then you'd ask the guest again a few weeks later,
and they'd be like, okay, so when do I start getting paid?
And that was my introduction to the industry is like. I can go on and you're like,
Mike, I can be a guest of yours,
but you can't have me every other Wednesday.
You know what I mean?
And you don't want to,
and the audience certainly doesn't want that.
Because then I think Rogers would step in and say,
okay, you're almost providing a broadcast service.
Well, except I'm not a sports podcast.
I think that's the key difference.
This is not a sports podcast.
I don't think it matters. I feel like that's key difference. This is not a sports podcast. I don't think it matters.
I feel like that's key.
Well, I don't think they want me doing a podcast on Middle Eastern politics either.
But if this was a music, which it is, we're going to kick off the show.
This is about everything, right?
You keep saying that.
Right.
Teasing my audience here.
Two things.
One is that I feel like if I were a hardcore sports podcast, maybe you wouldn't be here right now.
Maybe.
But we'll see if you appear on Hebsey on Sports.
We'll have to invite him to find out if I'm correct.
That'd be an interesting one. I don't know that I'm not allowed to.
We don't have guests on Hebsey.
You're definitely allowed here.
Definitely you're allowed here because I'm just
not a sports podcast. But you said
I don't pay my guests. I just need you to know
right now, I'm giving you a six-pack
of beer. Right now, I'm giving it to you.
This is courtesy of Great Lakes Brewery.
And before you tell me there's only five
cans in there, there's a short can in there.
I saw the short can. I was worried you were going to
call me out for that. So
enjoy this going home with you, Great Lakes
Brewery. And I look like I have a mug
Toronto Real Estate done right, which is okay.
So if I ever need to buy or sell again.
Well, I mean, eventually you've got to come back
to the big smoke, right?
I do?
Yeah, at some point.
Oh, no, Ajax.
There's room in Mimico for you.
Is there?
I think so.
Or New Toronto.
Not as much room as you have in Ajax.
There may not be room in the bank account for Mimico.
Tell you that.
So, okay.
So, yes, the beer, by the way, if you are,
I know you're in Ajax,
so you're not going to be interested,
but on July 19th,
there is an event at Great Lakes Brewery for
Toronto Mike listeners, and I would love
some guests to come. I know where that is. I'm not in Belleville.
I'm in Ajax.
It feels really far, Ajax.
What am I, at Quinty Bay?
Do you think I'd take a... Oh, that's where Steve Anthony
is, right? Is he really? Is that Prince Edward
County? Yep. Yeah, Prince Edward County.
He owns stuff, and he's buying lots of
real estate up in Prince Edward County. That's him and his
wife do that. Beautiful there. That's what he
tells me. I never get an invite, but I guess he would rent it to me
at an exorbitant price. But
there's your six pack of beer. Enjoy. If you're
around on July 19th, I would love
to have you at the event.
I'll even buy you one of the $5
pints. I'm going to...
You're going to think about it. I'm going to think about it. That's a long
drive for you. My whole July is confused. That's a long time.
I was trying to think
what today is
and it's obviously July 4th.
Right.
And you mentioned the pint glass.
Propertyinthe6.com.
Brian actually,
Brian Gerstein,
who bought that pint glass for you,
he's got a question for you.
So let's hear from Brian.
Property in the 6.
Technical difficulties.
Hi, Greg.
Brian Gerstein here, sales representative with PSR Baroque Bridge and proud sponsor of Toronto Might. Technical difficulties. Homer condo for the highest price includes a pre-sale home inspection, professional floor plan and photography and videography,
plus extensive print and online advertising.
Greg,
when Elliot price was on,
I asked him a tennis question and he admitted he was out of his element.
And you are the tennis expert.
I am going to the U S open this year for the first time.
So I'm curious if you have gone before yourself and what to expect,
especially for those crazy
night matches. And if not,
how come?
Awesome. Give me that number one more time, Brian.
Is he still there?
Brian! Brian! No, don't worry.
I jotted the number down. He hung up.
Have I gone to the US?
Yeah, I went to the US Open
in 99.
I've been to Wimbledon twice and the US Open once. And I went to the US Open in 99.'ve been to Wimbledon twice and the US Open once and I went to the US Open in 99
and I went on the
I would go early in the week because you got
way more courts and way more walking around
now admittedly I had a media pass
because Tim Henman was there and they were actually getting me
to do some freelance stuff and Tim Henman
lost his opening match but I saw
Patrick Rafter
two time defending champ lose to Cedric
Pioline.
Who?
Yes.
Italian.
French.
Oh, he's French.
He's French.
Pioline.
Yeah.
You might be thinking of Claudio Pistolese.
That's who I was thinking of.
Okay.
We just had the PI word, and the guy threw everybody off.
But he lost to Francis Cedric Pioline in a night match on the Monday evening.
But the night matches are amazing.
They've redone both the stadium courts since I've been there. But I always
want to go back. New York
is... I like New York
a lot more than my wife does.
A lot more. And
I don't know why that is.
But I had a great time at the
US Open. But I'd go early in the week. And if you can go on that
say Tuesday and Wednesday and go to two night matches,
God, that's a great time.
And that was the first year I went to the old Yankee Stadium.
I went there once and I went to the new Yankee Stadium once.
No competition.
The old one was better.
I know that, by the way, I am aware the cable cut out.
I can envision a lot of people listening right now are like trying to adjust their headset or whatever.
So I'm going to fiddle with it for a second.
So bear with me for one second.
Sure.
Well, that wasn't bad, actually.
Okay. fiddle with it for a second. So bear with me for one second. Sure. That wasn't bad, actually.
The one thing, live recording,
is that the cable making that fuzz, there's nothing I can really do to stop it
because I don't know it exists until it happens.
But I think we're okay. Mark, you'll be the
quality assurance person.
If you hear anything cutting out, you let me know.
You tap me on the shoulder.
Shouldn't you be golfing?
It's beautiful. You're always golfing. There's pictures of you golfing with your lovely wife. You're on the shoulder. Sure, Mike. No problem. That's your role. Shouldn't you be golfing? Why? It's beautiful.
You're always golfing.
There's pictures of you golfing with your lovely wife.
You're on the fourth hole here.
You're on the eighth hole. His model wife.
He likes to refer to her as his model.
She's a model.
I know that.
That's right.
I'm well aware of this.
I actually want to play tennis more.
I've only played tennis a couple times this year.
I'm dying to play tennis.
But my buddy who I play tennis with has such a bad shoulder.
He can't even lift his shoulder.
I said to him, you can serve underhand.
I'll let you.
He still... Is he a tournament player of some sort?
No.
Just a weekender?
Yeah, just a hacker like me.
But I enjoy the sport. I never professed
to be a good player. And in golf, Mike asked me
the other day, what's good in golf?
It's all relative. Are you a good golfer?
The answer is, I can be.
And I can be a horrible golfer.
And that's... 85 is what you said, right?
If I break 85, yeah, I'm thrilled.
That's great. No, that's a great round.
I've basically retired from golf. I won't play
again until I know I can play like 25, 30
rounds a year. And I don't want to play five
times a year.
Your phone is
ringing while you're playing the theme here.
My teenage son.
I'm not answering.
Let's not talk about money. Do you want to explain to
people what's going on in this room
here?
What's actually happening in the studio? It's bananas.
There's a four-year-old over there. The teenager just called
me. The cable I need to fix.
I also don't want to set a record for the longest kick
out of the jam. I don't want it.
That record's safe. Is it safe?
Yeah, it's Dan O'Toole.
I thought Jeff O'Hara went over two hours.
Yeah, but we're two and a half hours, Dan O'Toole.
But he was drinking during that though, wasn't he?
Yeah, Greg hasn't cracked one open yet. So, let me please
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Now, I want to give everybody listening $10 towards a bill.
So all you have to do, and you've got to do this, go to paytm.ca,
download the app for your Android or your Apple phone,
and when you make your first bill payment,
use the code TORONOMIKE, all one word,
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And that $10 can be used towards a bill payment or a reward purchase.
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And we're so close to kicking out the jams.
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Really well thought out.
There's a synergy happening here.
Do you want to get some designing done here in the basement so people can whack their heads?
Yeah, I love what you've done with the place.
That's actually true.
How about that?
Or else there's going to be some liability issues.
If you would stop having children,
all this would be possible.
I haven't had a child in two years.
Oh, sorry.
Okay, great.
Greg.
So fertile.
Are you ready?
How many kids you got?
Two.
We had two boys.
We talked about a third.
I did want to give my wife a daughter and me a daughter.
And I said, you know what's going to happen?
They'll both be boy twins.
And we didn't talk about it much after that.
Yeah, you can't really control that.
I don't want four boys in my house.
I went boy-girl, and then I went boy-girl.
And I always joke that it was intentional,
because that's how I would probably do it, if I could control it.
There should be better analytics about how...
What time of day?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But even then, it's like 52 versus 48.
You still have a pretty good chance.
It's pretty tough.
But I can't be the only dad that was sort of...
My wife, the first time around, especially, was checking clocks,
checking algorithms.
Oh, for ovulations?
And she's like, get in here.
And I'm like, oh, does something need to be folded?
Did I forget to pay a bill?
And she's like, no, not that.
And I'm like, you're on the job?
No, I remember with Sweet Jarvis.
Are you listening?
I remember she'd come home from work, because I worked from home.
And she'd come home from work, and it'd home and she'd come home from work and be like we're screwing right now
listen see I was just
I need you in here sounds better than that
I know
are you ready to kick out the jams
if I said more than ready don't take it personally Thank you. Any man could bear Rescue me before I fall into despair
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle.
Message in a bottle.
The Police, Message in a Bottle.
Tell us why you like this band. So, well, The Police is one in a Bottle. Tell us why you like this band.
So, well, The Police, one of my favorite bands.
The band that I think I missed getting to see them probably by three or four years.
They were 11 when, I was 11 when Synchronicity came out.
But I remember hearing this on the radio in the late 70s.
And I related to this also.
I know Roxanne's really popular off of Outlander's D'Amour.
I was six when Roxanne came out.
And even, Mike, even if I'd been 12,
I couldn't really relate to red light districts and prostitutes.
And I still feel that way about myself.
So, yeah, Message in a bottle
and many of their
subsequent hits
were a lot more
relatable
than Roxanne.
And this is bad, though.
I'm scared to admit this.
When they reunited,
I bought tickets
and then for some reason
I didn't go.
I don't know why.
You can't remember
why you didn't go.
I was super excited to go
and then I sold my tickets
for face value to a friend
because I was just...
I don't know why I never
so I've never seen the police and I never will. They're never doing that
again. Never doing that again, are they?
That's unusual. I'm surprised that you'd
have the ducats in your hand for a band
you love. I know.
Somehow you think
wild horses couldn't keep you away from that one.
I think they were too big by synchronicity.
I wish I'd seen them like
Ghost in the Machine. They were probably still playing arenas in 1981 and maybe even the album before that.
But it's very close.
Ghost of the Machine, they must have been playing Maple Leaf Gardens then.
Oh, for sure they were.
They were playing that probably after Zenyatta Mondata.
Yeah, that was 1980.
This is from 79.
This is outlandos to more.
Right.
And then Zenyatta Mondata, then Ghost of the Machine.
Now, I've seen Sting three or four times in person
and I far prefer the police's
output. I mean, what
male doesn't?
Honestly.
But they're also very
Toronto synonymous for the police
picnic because they had two or three of those
Sunday afternoon, hot as blazes.
And if you see the opening act, I'll still
Google sometimes to remember.
The Pretenders were one of the openers.
Simple Minds, Echo and the Bunnymen.
And you had local acts.
Who's that band?
Blue Peter.
Yeah.
Oh, my God.
Blue Peter was great.
Right.
Don't Walk Past and Video Verite.
Those are great Toronto songs.
Yeah, I'm trying to remember.
And I wish I'd seen it.
If someone had dragged me to the police picnic when I was 10, I would have been so happy.
And so I take my kids to concerts against their will, even at a young age, because I want them to experience it.
They're not going to ask me to go like I was, but I'm going to make them live it.
Let me ask you about your adoration for Gordon Sumner.
Now, does it go so far that you'll listen to like Sting with Shaggy?
No.
No.
No way.
So he can't just do anything
and you'll be interested.
No.
Desert Rose thing I hated.
I'm trying to think
when in Sting.
I love the first two albums.
Dream of the Blue Turtles.
Yeah, I like that.
I like Nothing Like the Sun better.
I like We'll Be Together.
I like Lazarus Heart
off that album.
Lazarus Heart, great song.
It is, yeah.
It's a great opener. But that's about it and i love stewart copeland's
a fantastic drummer uh so but i understood it too it's and and mark mentioned this about careers
everyone just would have said hey just be the police the rest of your existence
sting uh no just be the police and things like no i want to do other stuff and to his credit
he doesn't make the same
I don't have to love it, and he's not one of my
favorite artists, but you can't argue
that he's doing what he wants to do, and he loves
doing it. He's probably, you know,
they said, I'm going to make it, he said, I'm going to make
my first album with jazz
musicians, and they're all black. And people
are like, what? What's that got to do
with every little thing she does is magic, or don't
stand so close to me? He's like, I don't care.
This is what I'm doing.
There's going to be saxophone.
Branford Marsalis is going to play on every track.
And people weren't that into that idea.
Still a hit anyway because he stank. I love you. Stop playing with my heart. Finish what you start when you make my love come down.
If you want me, let me know.
Baby, let it show.
Honey, don't you fool around.
Just try to understand.
I've given all I can
Cause you got the best of me
Borderline
Feels like I'm going to lose my mind
You just keep on pushing my love over the borderline.
Borderline.
Feels like I'm going to lose my mind.
You just keep on pushing my love over the borderline.
Borderline.
Madonna, Borderline.
Tell me, I'm not doing this because I wanted to be,
but am I the first guest that's had a Madonna song?
Yes, you are.
Isn't that incredible?
Oh, wait.
Oh, I was going to have to try that.
Live to Tell was on my top 15 list, but I had to cut it.
But not your top 10.
No, not my top 10.
Live to Tell is one of the great songs.
Isn't that from the same album, from Like a Virgin?
No, it's on True Blue. Oh, the second one.
And it was in that great movie. Oh, third one.
True Blue is third one. Like a Virgin
is the second. This is from the self-titled
Madonna album. This was her first
hit. Also featuring Holiday and Lucky Star.
Right. Holiday was technically
the first single, but I don't think it really
hit as big. Everybody knows it now. This was the first hit. Right, it was the first hit before Lucky Star. Right. Holiday was technically the first single, but I don't think it really hit as big. Everybody knows it now. This was the first hit.
Right. It's the first hit before Lucky Star.
And
I think it's so well produced.
I think it holds up.
I wish I'd bought stock
in Madonna hearing this single
because it just sounded so different.
And I'm a big fan of female
artists. And here's who I don't hang around with.
And Mark saying this is a big reason I like Mark.
So many guys, I think, are so self-conscious.
And they're like alpha male about their music.
And they'll never admit that they love Madonna.
There's not too much she's done that I haven't liked.
There's been the odd misstep.
But what artist hasn't had that?
And this is fantastic.
I think it's less, it's less commercial
than Material Girl Like a Virgin.
And
I think I knew, remember
every artist comes out, Britney Spears,
no knock against her, but everyone's like, that's the next
Madonna. I'm like, you won't remember Britney.
This song, Mike, is
34 years old. 34.
And you're not going to remember
Britney Spears songs 34 years from now.
Maybe, baby, one more time.
The only artist, the only artist since Madonna 34 years ago that's got a shot at that is, I think, Taylor Swift.
I think a few of her songs are holding steady.
What about Rihanna?
No.
No.
And not Beyonce.
I'm going to get Beyonce fans very mad at me with that.
Do you remember when you first heard the song?
Was it on the radio or was it on Sportsline as music underneath the sports highlights
that maybe...
Is that right?
For sure.
Well, that's not when I first saw it or heard it.
Now, maybe I think I have.
Oh, I don't know about that.
And I'll tell you why.
I think I'm pretty sure I had a seven-inch EP mix version of this song before it was
a hit on the radio.
version of this song before it was a hit on the radio.
Because I remember I had a budget, and I'd get these seven-inch mixes of songs, house mixes or whatever.
And when I first heard it, I said, this is phenomenal.
It's a great song.
And it's got to be, I'm going to say, 84.
Well, the album came out summer 83, but it's a hit in June 84.
Okay, so it would have been right around the time I started on Sportsline,
and I'm pretty sure we had this and other Madonna songs, early stuff,
because she would make house mixes of her songs.
That's right.
There'd be a lot of 12-inch songs.
And remember, they had to be instrumental on our show.
There was no vocal.
You'd either have to cut the vocal,
or you'd have to find 30 or 40 seconds or a minute's worth of just music.
There's a great track called Burning Up on that first album.
There's a great track called Physical Attraction.
That solo album, that debut album, is a strong debut album.
It's only got eight songs, and six are jams, if you will, Mike.
And again, I haven't loved everything Madonna's ever done.
Yeah, you didn't like the American Pie cover, for example.
Which one was that?
Wasn't there an American Pie?
She had an album called American Life.
No, I remember a Madonna American Pie.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
She did do that.
But I like Beautiful Stranger from the Austin Powers movie.
Terrific.
There's some stuff that I've really loved of hers,
and there's some stuff that I'm just indifferent to.
But those first, she's got so many songs on those first three or four albums,
and Live to Tell is fantastic.
If you heard Papa Don't Preach on the radio now,
it would fit still now.
Though we talk a lot less about teen pregnancy kids.
And I'm just, you know, be careful.
I like the Reservoir Dogs opening where they talked about the song.
I don't.
See, I don't.
That ruined the song for me.
But she said that's not true.
I've heard a quote from her where she said that's
not true. That's probably not true. And you guys are talking about
funk and whatnot. Nile Rodgers
produced Like a Virgin, and
Nile Rodgers, look at everybody he
helped. The Reflex with Duran Duran, Thompson Twins.
Gord Depp from The Spoons. Yeah, he
produced the album with Old Emotions
on it. Nile Rodgers is like
a musical freaking genius and has saved
not saved careers, but at least enhanced
so, so many. I'm a big
Spoons fan. Those guys are great.
So, awesome.
Awesome!
I'm in fact three. I don't even know want to call it Still blows down the lane
And it's the finest burnhouse
There's only fire to blame
Oh, back to the rain
No time for worry
Cause we're on the road again Oh, back to the rain. No time for worry cause we're on the road again.
Hold back the rain.
The clouds don't get up and we ride the outside rain.
Hold back the rain.
Now you know so help me please.
Hold back the rain.
Duran Duran, hold back the rain.
What even more obscure Durand track?
Did you know that?
Did you recognize that right away and know who it was?
No, this is not it.
And I actually considered myself a big Durand, Durand fan.
That's on Rio.
Never a single.
And I've never listened to it maybe or recently with headphones on although it comes on when i run sometimes so maybe i'm not i i forgot how great the drums are on it
and the john taylor bass line is obvious like if i could put a super group together i've already
mentioned stewart copeland he plays my drums and john taylor plays my bass there's nothing
sexual about that although man if i'm crossing over, John Taylor's on that list.
So, anyway.
Yeah, I love
the Duran. I think it took me
them breaking up, coming back
around for me to love
Duran Duran. Because I'll tell you what happened in
elementary school, Mike.
You'd be jealous,
weirdly, of bands that
girls liked. You'd be jealous of Culture, of bands that girls liked.
You'd be jealous of, like, ah, Culture Club.
All the girls liked them.
And, you know, Duran Duran.
Bon Jovi.
Wham.
I didn't like Wham because all the girls loved George Michael.
And even then, we were like, oh, my God.
George Michael must be getting so many ladies to have sex with him.
Okay.
So, but the Durans, you, I think I really started to think they were cool when they broke up and did power station and arcadia and i love that power station album in 1985 with robert
palmer singing on it and that those were the seeds for him to make uh addicted to love the next year
on his riptide album but i love this track and uh and you can give that to me over i think i've
heard too many you know how you can love a band and you're like that to me over I think I've heard too many
you know how you can love a band and you're like
you can hear a track over and over again
and it's good, but some tracks, like if I hear Rio again
I'll turn off Rio if I hear it in the car
I've heard it too many times, Save a Prayer, I've heard it too many times
Hungry Like the Wolf, Please Tell Me Now
I like that one, I can hear that one
What about Union of the Snake?
Yeah, I don't look right away on that
I stay with that
Notorious I stay with
Planet Earth I've heard too much
Girls on Film I've heard too much
but this one I can hang with
I saw them two summers ago
Nile Rodgers and Sheik opened for them
and then Nile came out for two songs
a newer one called Pressure Down
Pressure On
and he obviously played on Notorious
because he produced the whole Notorious album.
Love it.
We talked about you love the music you loved as a teenager.
We had this conversation at some point
that the music you love as a teenager sticks with you forever.
Yeah, as a teenager into your 20s.
Although I have to tell you that when this came along,
I was in my 30s and just
starting on sports line and the opportunity came along to like i said play tracks of me prior to
that on sportscasts when the guy was doing hey here's the highlights you would hear the sound
of the original announcer on on the tape you'd hear in the background right the sound of bob
cole going similar scars and that would be in the background, right? That would be called BG, background,
while the announcer was going,
and now here's a goal by so-and-so.
And then I decided to say,
well, why do we have to hear,
it's distracting to hear the original announcer
in the background.
Plus, if the original announcer goes,
he scores, it doesn't sound as good when I go,
he scores.
So we put music underneath.
And it was my job to find all these tunes.
So at that time, when I,
I guess I was in my late 20s.
Taddy didn't bring any songs to the show.
No, no.
You knew from watching the show,
Mark was the musical driving force.
So I was in my late 20s.
But as Greg had mentioned before,
I started as a disc jockey in radio.
I couldn't get a sportscaster job, so I played music.
Sometimes music I didn't know anything about,
like country music.
But then there were times where I got to play
really good music.
And when I was at Sportsline, I volunteered.
I said, look, let me choose music.
And what we'll do is we'll strip the audio off of the highlights.
We'll put music in underneath as the background.
And then when we do our voiceovers, it's not going to be as –
No one else was doing that then?
No one was doing it.
I know that from watching.
And some of the music was stuff like this or Depeche Mode.
And people would go, what's that?
And I'm just about to note that the very first time I ever heard
Just Can't Get Enough is your show using it as a music bed.
Wow.
Because the first Depeche Mode song to really get on radio here
was People Are People, and that's 1985.
Just Can't Get Enough would be from 81 on their very first album
called Speak and Spell.
Right. So that was so unique. Just Can't Get Enough would be from 81 on their very first album called Speak and Spell.
Right.
So that was so unique. But that music became available.
At that time, to edit a song, to put a song down and then say, we've got to edit the vocals out, you would physically have to edit tape.
You'd have to get a razor blade and cut out the vocals and then try to splice the two together so it sounded good, like a nice mix, which was very difficult to do.
So what happened was, at that time,
these house songs, these 7-inch or 10-inch singles,
house mixes of songs,
would give you extended instrumental,
and you wouldn't have to worry about cutting out vocal,
and I would take those.
Yeah, you needed a DJ,
like a Grandmaster Flash or somebody like that.
Plus, what this show, Sportsline,
was so smart at doing.
This was one of the songs?
Right.
They put the standings on.
As they're going to break,
it's like, here's the Major League Baseball standings.
But when would you see them
until the next morning's newspaper?
There's no other way to see them.
So you're like, okay,
well, I need to know the NL West standings
after the games tonight.
And that's how you know.
With this music underneath. That's right. It was called an info bumper. As you're like, okay, well, I need to know the NL West standings after the games tonight. And that's how you know. With this music underneath.
That's right. It was called an info bumper.
As you're going to commercial, these stats would come out and music like this would be underneath
it and go into commercial and people would go,
hey, I kind of like this.
Way to hit the post there.
And I said,
it's fine.
Take my back, take my back, my heart And those hands that stand
Take my back, take my back, my heart
The smothering of your eyes Keeps me alive
And the smoke within your eyes
Keeps me alive, keeps me alive
The world
And the world turns around
The world and the world, yeah The world turns around The cult.
He sells sanctuary.
Off their debut love.
First single.
Actually, it's not their debut.
It's the first album that really hit the radio.
And here's how late I was coming to them they played at centennial hall in london
and we had a um student teacher like a like a mat like you'd go to a teacher's college and this guy
was teaching his grade nine math and he came in one day you could tell he didn't look the same
he was like little bags under his eyes. I hadn't started drinking then.
I'm in ninth grade.
Right.
Being a good boy.
Tenth grade is when I started.
And he just looked rough.
And we're like, Mr. What's his name?
Like, what?
And he's like, oh, long night. I went and saw The Cult last night.
And then later that day, I distinctly remember hearing this song on the radio for the first time.
Like, that's the band that substituted the student math teacher song.
And this album, I find I argue more about this album with fans of the cult
because I find way more of them prefer the next album, Electric,
which sounds a little more, this is a little more new wave.
Like, Rain is on this album and it's great
but that has Love Removal Machine, Wildflower, Lil Devil
and I didn't
I didn't like the direction as much
I love this stuff
and She's Still Sanctuary
I think it's still their biggest hit
maybe it's Fire Woman
but it's still my favorite by Country Mile
yeah me too
and he's from Hamilton.
Ian Asbury was born in Hamilton?
Born in Hamilton.
Yeah.
Sebastian Bach and Ian Asbury.
Hamilton guys.
Both, right?
Sebastian Bach from Skid Row.
Ian, I don't know if he was born in Hamilton,
but he spent some formative years there.
You know, I had no idea he had a connection to...
He's got a big connection to Hamilton.
Big connection.
There was no bigger band amongst...
In my grade 9 class, this was the biggest band on the planet.
When you first heard this song, did you not go, who's this?
He moved to Hamilton when he was 11.
Okay.
And then...
I did not know that.
He was back in Glasgow when he was 17 or 18, but he's British born.
And there's a very Doors influence.
He sang with some of the Doors.
And I think he went on tour with the Doors briefly in the mid-90s.
He was the lead singer for the Doors for a bit, yeah.
Ray Manjaro, yeah, got it.
Now, I'm not...
The Colts playing a triple bill this summer
with Stone Temple Pilots and Bush,
and I honestly have no interest in either band.
I'm not really a 90s grunge guy.
I'm really not.
I'm more a Britpop, Oasis, Blur, that stuff.
But I'm told the cult's playing
first. If I can scan a free
ticket. Do you know who's singing for Stone Temple
Palace? Not a clue.
We know who isn't singing first. That's true.
Scott's not there. And there's another case where
lots of breakups, back and forth,
false starts for the cult, but it's still been
as far as I know, it's always been Ian Asbury
and Billy Duffy, and that's going on 35,
38 years now. That's a great tune.
I love that song. Great high school dance song.
No, that was fantastic.
Give me that or Desposito,
kids. Any day. bass
vision dreams of passion
Blowing through my mind
And all the while I think of you
High and bright
A very strange reaction
For us to unwind
The more I see the more I do
Something like a phenomenon
Baby
Telling your body to come along
But white light
Blows away baby.
Grandmaster Flash and Melly Mel White Lines.
Well, as you know, Mike, I've been a strong
advocate
to speak out about the dangers of
cocaine and drug smuggling.
That's really been a mission of mine
to stop that in my community.
I saw you
on Narcos.
I'd love to be on Narcos.
83.
And this is a...
The first time I heard this was at Camp Manitou
in Perry Sound, or outside of Perry Sound.
It felt like a camp song.
That's right.
That's right.
That's a tennis camp.
Peter Burwash, does that name ring a bell?
Well, sure, because he used to promote that during the tennis telecast, right?
Did he really?
I'm pretty sure they either had commercials.
Yeah, I went there and played tennis for three years there and was a camp counselor for one of the years.
And this is the first time I heard that song was up here because
it just growing up in london um radio was not that homogenized not not so much but you would
never hear this song on uh conventional radio in in uh smaller probably anywhere outside of toronto
in all of canada so yeah i love it i love the i love the bass line duranduran actually famously
covered this and it's not as good.
It's not as good as this.
It just isn't.
They would probably tell you that.
But this is fantastic.
And I'm more into funk than I am rap.
But this was on, yeah, this is more like out of the chic Nile Rodgers.
Obviously, I'm a massive Prince fan.
So this is great.
Do you have Netflix?
Yes.
There's a documentary
series called Hip Hop Evolution
hosted by Shad.
It's only four episodes, which is my only
complaint about the series is it's only four episodes.
But it's about, they go back to the origins
of hip hop and there's a whole bunch of Grandmaster
Flash on this and Melly Mel.
And it's honestly, it's a fantastic
look into the origin
and evolution of hip hop. Clinton too? No. See, it's a fantastic look into the origin and evolution of hip-hop. George Clinton, too, and Parliament Funkadelic.
No, no, no, no.
See, that's where funk, the word funk, kind of gets me.
Well, there's a thing they're referenced, of course, in the origin,
but they're not on this one.
I think Sly and the Family Stone, to me, was funk.
Yes.
It had funk elements to it, and then, I mean...
That's not really R&B. That's funk. That's funk. And Grand It had funk elements to it and then, I mean. That's not really R&B.
That's funk.
That's funk.
And Grandmaster Flash is fabulous,
but George Clinton
and Parliament Funkadelic,
man, that's great stuff.
Yeah.
You got your Furious Five.
You got,
they talk about like
who's the original rapper
and there's like
a New York DJ
who was rapping over
the instrumental beats
and stuff.
It's very interesting.
Of course,
it all comes out of New York.
I find it fascinating to hear white artists that sound black
and black artists that sound white.
Like if you heard Tom Tom Club's Genius of Love,
that sounds like black artists in the early 80s.
Rick Astley sounded black.
Everybody knows that, right?
You're never going to give you up.
They called it Blue-Eyed Soul.
He sounds like Luther Vandross, but he isn't.
Also, too, in the 50s and early 60s,
you would have white artists taking the songs that blacks had done.
Well, Elvis, right?
They recorded them, well, Pat Boone or whatever.
Oh, yeah.
They would take songs that were written by Chuck Berry or Little Richard
or, you know, name the black artist,
and they would do their own version of it.
But I don't think people listened and said,
hey, that guy's, hey, that's a white guy doing a black song.
He tried to sound, emulate the black sound.
And he may, you know, a lot of the white artists,
like Johnny Rivers, may have sounded black.
Yeah.
You know, for that particular song.
It's weird how, and I was like 11, 12, 13, 14
when songs like this were on the radio.
And yet you would talk with your friends about like,
every movie felt, so many movies and TV shows
just felt like they had cocaine in it.
You'd be like, I'm a little young for this.
And then it's all of a sudden like no movies subsequent were until they brought back Narcos and Breaking Bad and things like that.
And it's like, well, there was no meth.
Meth was never mentioned, I don't think, on Miami Vice once.
Not once.
Just all coke for five seasons.
Non-stop coke.
There was no meth.
There was no meth?
No, but there was an episode of Fresh Prince
where speed was an issue, I remember.
The amphetamines. And Saved by the Bell.
Oh, yeah. When Jesse started singing
I'm So Excited.
That might be the definitive Saved by the Bell
episode. I would edit in that clip.
I'm so scared.
You've got to take this clip out of the show. This is the sub-referencing
of all sub-referencing.
No way. I loved Saved by the Bell. I'm not even ashamed to admit it. I don't care. I watched a lot of Saved by the show. This is the sub-referencing of all sub-referencing. I love Saved by the Bell. I'm not even ashamed
to admit it. I don't care. I watched a lot of Saved by the Bell.
Absolutely. I was embarrassed how much
I wasn't a fan, but my college
roommates watched a lot of
Tiffany Amber Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley.
Ridiculous. Absolutely.
Here's another jam. Thank you. The summer's gone
Winter's in your eyes
I can feel
The thunderstorms inside
I wake every morning when the cold winds cover me
All I've got's a toast of what could be
If you could see the lights shine in front of me Simple Minds, See the Lights.
So that's from 1991. I wanted to pick a Simple Minds, See the Lights. So that's from 1991.
I wanted to pick a Simple Minds song,
and like I said, I wanted to avoid, you know,
Don't You Forget About Me.
Probably Alive and Kicking, though, that's great.
This song, they put this album out called Real Life,
and it was basically the first summer I lived on my own.
I finished one year at Western.
I'm 19, and I'm so busy.
I'm playing competitive baseball. I'm 19 and I'm so busy. I'm playing competitive baseball.
I'm teaching
tennis. I'm taking business 20 because I dropped
a course in first year. You guys can
probably relate to this. Dropping a course,
trying to make it up, and I was way too busy
to take it. So you're taking like summer school and
university. And
you know, dating life
is, I think that's where you really
not start to hit your prime in your
dating life but you're figuring out like you know in all honesty you're figuring out women
you really are starting to figure out uh what you like and what you don't and what works and
what doesn't and i guess you're you're you are kind of transitioning from boy to man in a lot
of ways you are right you are so i had a few girlfriends that summer.
And you're just like, that's life.
And I can't wait for my sons to experience that and listen to Simple Minds.
See the lights.
I may be reaching for too much there.
But that first summer, I think you live on your own and you feel like I'm a man.
I'm making my own money.
I came, drove up from London to see Simple Minds at Massey Hall.
And they did an appearance at Sam's on Yonge Street.
And that's very, you've got to understand,
if you're not in Toronto, to come to Toronto when you're not in Toronto before you live in Toronto
is really, really special.
So when you came up for a Blue Jays game or a concert,
it was really, the very first show I ever saw in Toronto
was REM at Maple Leaf Gardens in 89.
Nice.
And you're like, wow, that's like,
it just feels like a huge night.
And I think the three of us, look at the lives we get to lead in the city.
We get to lead it in.
And yeah, yeah.
You kind of forget what it's like to come all the way into the big city.
No matter what.
Like I grew up in a city of 300,000 people.
That's not a small town.
But coming to this show that summer, you know, you are living paycheck to paycheck.
I was waiting tables at Joe Cool's.
It's just a great, great summer.
This song always reminds me of that.
I had a lot of car trouble that summer, too.
God damn it.
A lot of bills.
A lot of mufflers.
Catalytic converters.
A lot of bills.
They make cars better now.
It's true, though.
When you come, we have discussed this on my podcast.
Remember, someone says, oh, am I going to the Dome
or am I going to the ACC?
Yeah, we do it.
Take the subway, whatever it is.
But to come from out of town and to make it,
the reason you're going to Toronto is you're going to the game
or a concert.
We don't understand that because we're from here. You know, big deal. But if you're from, like is you're going to the game or a concert we can't we don't understand
that because we're from here you know big deal but if you're from like you say somewhere else
and it's like guess where we're going this weekend we're going to see the Jays we're going to go see
a show we're going out to these great clubs and restaurants that we've heard about and then we're
going to go back to our little small town in wherever and live our but this so this was a
this is like a vacation for people yeah not to be a sarcastic jerk about it,
but that's like the three of us going to Paris.
That's what it is.
That's how unique it is to be like,
you come from far away.
There'd be people who come from Saskatchewan
to see the Jays, right?
Or see their Rough Riders play on the road
because they like to do that.
And that's their big trip.
That's a huge trip.
You'd save up for that trip.
I'm trying to take my kids to L.A. L.A. or San Diego in the next year.
And my wife and I want to take our kids out there.
Because as you guys know, you guys have both had teenagers.
At a certain point, if you try and take a – I think, Mark, your kids probably still handle it because you travel with your kids.
When they're 17 and 15, you almost got to convince them.
When they're 12 and 10, they're like, let's go.
They're super excited.
When they're 17 and 15, there's an opportunity cost with dragging
them away which is why parents send them away a lot of times like you don't get like that's what
my parents did when i was 15 when they sent me to manitou was like you're driving us crazy you
don't have your driver's license yet we're dropping you off everywhere we're dropping you off to
baseball tennis movies jerk around with your friends dates and you go away for three weeks
so we can have a break from it.
And that changed my life going to camp.
That's because you're from London.
You see, Mike and I were the kind where our parents would just say,
okay, see you at dinner, or if not, let me know.
And gone for the day, maybe the entire, maybe to stay overnight.
And they were more than happy to get you out of the house.
That's right.
And they knew you were safe with your bike and your baseball glove
and your buddies, and there you go.
Despite, as Grandmaster Flash and Melly Melly point out,
the amount of cocaine dealers.
They're on every corner trying to get you to dance to the Bolivian marching powder.
I've yet to see cocaine.
I've never seen cocaine.
Wait a minute.
Is that amazing?
I think it's Peruvian, but anyway.
Colombian.
What a Colombian.
I was thinking about that.
The things I was saying around my house during the England-Columbia game.
They weren't
racist, but they were anti-
That was it.
The two Escobars.
Those Swiss players that lost to Sweden aren't worried
about going home and getting a leg cut off.
They're not. That Escobar
story is amazing from 1994.
That happened. When I saw you for the first time
I was the color of the ocean
Something moved inside of me
Long forgotten, lying broken Something moved inside of me Long forgot to lie unbroken
Now I can't turn away
Watching you as you lay sleeping
Can you hear winds of change?
Is there something to believe in? This is Bangles' Something to Believe In.
I love this song.
I love this song so much.
I kind of rediscovered it a couple months ago.
It's off their third album,
which has people would know Eternal Flame,
because it was a big hit,
and In Your Room.
And the album before had obviously Manic Monday
written by Prince, if she knew what she wants.
And that terrible song, Walk Like an Egyptian.
That's their worst song.
How many bands have their worst song be their biggest hit?
So many.
That's their sticks, Mr. Roboto.
Oh, come on.
Babe is worse than Mr. So many. That's their sticks. Mr. Roboto. Oh, come on. Babe
is worse than Mr. Roboto.
Anyway.
But I love...
This goes back to the Madonna thing. It's like...
I'm not pumping my tires,
but how many guys are like, I really love
the Bangles. I love the Bangles.
Their first album
is very power pop. It reminds me a lot of the
Replacements.
But it's a girl group.
Okay, so what?
And I thought, I've always liked female artists like Chrissy Hine and this group.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts?
Joan Jett and the runways before that.
Patti Smythe.
Is it Smythe?
Yeah, from Scandal, you mean.
Warrior.
I'm not a big...
I'm not Patti Smith, really.
Oh, I was talking to Patti Smith.
But Patti Smythe is married to John McEnroe
with The Warrior. And I love not Patti Smith, really. Oh, I was talking to Patti Smith. But Patti Smith, who's married to John McEnroe with The Warrior.
And I love that.
I love Scandal.
So I thought...
This is Michael Steele, the bass player, singing this.
And it's great.
And I always...
Big crush on Susanna Hoffs.
But I have a big crush on all the bangles, really.
I thought they were a great, great act.
There weren't a lot of girl bands back then.
I remember Bananarama was like... You had Bananarama and you had the bangles. But there weren't a lot of girl bands back then. I remember Bananarama was like, you had Bananarama
and you had the Bangles, but there weren't a lot of
Right.
They play their instruments and write their own songs
so I think that left me a little short with Bananarama
because I'm not really into the whole
just singing.
And yeah, that too. What about Belinda Carlisle?
Right around that era too, right?
She had a solo career after the Go-Go's.
Big solo career.
Yeah.
I think the Bangles harmonies are as amazing as almost any band I've ever heard.
So they sound great together.
And I wish they hadn't broken up after three albums.
But it's funny because this is, and this can happen in media sometimes,
they found Susanna was getting all the attention and she's like, what?
I'm not asking for the attention.
And they're like, yeah, but you're for the attention and they're like yeah but you're
getting the attention so she was the beyonce of destiny's child or the diana ross it's funny you
say that because i have a friend who loved destiny's child and he was like i'm telling you
and i've had so many bad sports opinions so this shouldn't even count he's like kelly roland is
going to be the biggest star out of destiny's Child? No one thought that. He did. He did.
And it's sort of like, yeah, when a band
breaks up and you're like,
it's like going, Genesis, you know,
that Mike Rutherford is really the
whole... He's the living years.
He's the whole key.
He's the whole key. Okay, let's say Tony Banks.
Not the quarterback, but the
keyboardist
from Genesis.
Way more important than Phil Collins or Mike Rutherford.
Or any of the guys from Roxy Music, right?
They all, Phil Manzanero left them alone.
Eno left them alone.
Everybody, you know, once you're part of a group like that,
you can go out on your own and give it a shot.
And if someone says, well, where's this guy from?
They say, well, we're just going to name his original band.
I think the Beatles did okay.
I felt bad for Ringo after the fact, but it was kind of like. He had the first big hit, right?
First big solo hit. I felt bad for Ringo after the fact, but it was kind of like... He had the first big hit, right? First big solo hit.
I was thinking this the other day.
Yes.
So even Led Zeppelin,
even Page and Plant went out on tour
and made at least one original album,
and maybe they did two tours.
Do you guys think John Lennon and Paul McCartney,
had Lennon not been shot,
at some point would have done some big project together?
I say yes.
They may not have even called it the Beatles, and maybe even George Harrison's not. They would have done something big project together. They may not have even called it The Beatles.
And maybe even George Harrison's not. They would have done something,
right? They only were separated for
nine years. The Eagles were separated
for 19. And there's many
other bands. Guns N' Roses were separated
for, God, 24
before Axl and Slash got back together?
Right.
I think they would have done something, right? And it would have just shook
the world. They could have gone out on tour with Billy Preston
they could have taken Ringo
or any drummer
Nicky Hopkins
think of the guys that played with the Beatles
or Lennon or McCartney on his own
Denny Lane, all the great musicians
didn't Harry Nielsen play
have something to do with the Beatles
he was their favorite musician
so that Bangles song is from 89 the Stones did Did Corey Nielsen play or have something to do with John Stones? Oh, they loved him. He was their favorite musician, right? Yeah. So, yes, the Beatles.
So that Bangles song is from 89.
The Stones did the Steel Wheels thing in 89.
Everyone's like, the Stones, they're back together.
They're reunited.
That was three years between albums.
They made Dirty Work in 86 and didn't tour off it.
And Mick made a couple solo albums and Keith made one.
Right.
And then it's like, oh, my God, the Stones are back together.
I'm like, even then, I'm like, what's the big deal?
They've been separated
two and a half years.
Yeah, that's the last
good Stones album
if you ask me.
It probably is.
And Mixed Emotions
was a great first single.
I could put that on here.
I could almost hear you sigh.
That was great too.
And Rock in a Hard Place.
Yeah, Rock in a Hard Place
was a big hit too.
Yeah. Panic on the streets of London Panic on the streets of Birmingham
I wonder to myself
Could life ever be sane again?
The leadside streets which have slipped down
I wonder to myself
Hopes may rise in the glass mirror But honey pie you're not safe here The Smiths panic. Come beside, I wonder to myself.
The Smiths.
Panic.
A, it's short.
Trying to save you time here.
They don't want to pick, like.
And I love a good steak, so I couldn't play meat is murder.
I'm not that big a hypocrite.
So, and again, I absolutely missed.
Missed on the whole Smiths era. I am a retrospective Smiths fan from probably starting to like Morrissey around the mid-90s.
And really, Johnny Marr has now made three solo albums, and I saw him a month ago.
And I can't recommend him enough because he'll sing Smiths songs.
He's never been known as a vocalist, but he'll sing.
I've seen him do this live.
Big Mouth Strikes Again, he'll do that live.
How Soon Is Now, he'll do that live.
But I love the message of the song.
And they got in a lot of trouble.
They were a very outspoken band on political socioeconomic issues.
And they said, hang the DJ.
They got in trouble for that line.
And they said, what's the line in the song?
The music that they play says nothing to me about my life.
And sometimes I think that's where Top 40 Radio falls in, right?
Like, if you're living in tougher circumstances,
and this is where I think we get radio now where you end up hearing stuff that you don't relate to
because you end up you know how can you relate to bands
that are talking about bling and millions of dollars and and like bruno mars has that song
right like silk sheets and flying here and pink champagne or whatever and you're going god i don't
i don't have that kind of cash or cachet yeah And so the Smiths said, you know, the stuff that was on, I guess, more British radio then,
because they really never cracked in America, really didn't.
I never heard a Smiths song on the radio in America.
Well, How Soon Is Now got lots of CFNY play for it.
It did, yeah, yeah.
And again, I missed out on CFNY because obviously you couldn't listen to it online.
And honestly, I'd come to Toronto maybe six times in a calendar year.
So even though you're two hours away, we couldn't pull it in.
You get Toronto television, but you couldn't get Toronto radio.
Big difference.
So they said, like, the band you mentioned earlier, Bananarama or Rick Astley or sort of shallow pop.
And there's nothing wrong with a good pop love song.
But that wasn't speaking to, you know, Thatcherism.
And that wasn't speaking to economic circumstances,
and again, Pop really got socially conscious with Live Aid in 85, and I'm a child of the 80s,
I'm a child of Live Aid, to where, and you guys talk about Ride to Conquer Cancer and big things,
there's two things from the 80s I think people need to take away from that changed how we give
in terms of charity, Terry Fox and Live Aid.
And without both those things, you didn't even think about, well, I'm going to run and
people are going to pledge money and I'm going to donate it to this.
And now there's almost, you can't donate to every cause everybody asks you for.
And we know that, right?
Like Ride to Conquer Cancer is a great thing.
And I've done it four times.
And, but you got to ask, you got to get $3,000 together to ride.
That's five.
I think it's five.
Some of you can set a goal at five if you so choose to.
But I think it's three to ride.
So you've got to find 50 people to give you $60 each, let's say.
That's stressful.
That's a lot of people to pull it off.
But I love that Smith song,
and I think Morrissey's gotten in a lot of trouble
with some more sort of right-wing leaning comments.
And I'm such...
Johnny Marr's coming back and playing the Phoenix.
And I invite both you guys to join me.
That'll be a great concert.
Friday night, sometime in October at the Phoenix.
Let's do it, buddy.
Johnny Marr going solo.
Can I bring my friend Dave Hodge?
If you can get Dave Hodge and or Stephen Brunt to that show. Well, I probably can.
Unless Brunt's in Newfoundland,
of course. I won't list you to the Toronto Mike
guest side. You're not allowed to bring
a few. There's not that many.
I'm not in the business to make enemies.
I know you have Netflix, so you've
probably seen the...
You laugh.
The most
recent season of Black Mirror
has an episode.
There's an episode called Hang the DJ
that closes with that jam. I think you're going to love it.
I will love it then.
This is bad that I don't even recognize the song
and I put it on the list.
Okay, yeah, yeah. I just can't help thinking what you've done to me
You put a wall of love and toy right down in front of me
And you think you know what's going on
You keep telling me that I am wrong
I don't care about what you do
Cause if you mess with me, I'll get rid of you
The picture you see is no portrait of me.
It's surreal to be shown to someone I don't know.
And it's driving me wild.
It makes me act like a child.
New order, round and round.
Kudos to you.
I think that version I've very rarely heard.
That's not the album version, so whatever you found, I really like it.
It's got a couple little added tweaks to it.
Oh.
Is that the video version?
I did not know I did that.
You didn't know what version you pulled out there?
I'm not trying to ask how you make the donuts, but that's a different version than I know.
Surprise.
I never heard that version.
So they rise out of Joy Division,
and the lead singer, Ian Curtis, kills himself.
He hangs himself on the eve of a North American tour.
They already had Love Will Tear Us Apart and Transmission,
a couple other songs.
They're starting to get going.
Hangs himself.
Little recovery time, quite obviously would bet i would wager i love their story and i love their songs maybe more than joy divisions for sure and uh i want to pick this and not uh people
would know bizarre love triangle blue monday right again i can i can i can watch sports
and i feel like i'm looking at the Pacific Division NBA standings from 1991.
How are they doing?
Yeah, Dominique Wilkins is doing something.
But I love this song.
It's off the 1989 album Technique, which came out in the spring of 89.
I'm picking a lot of 1989 stuff, I'm noticing.
When I was 17 turning 18.
That makes sense.
Doesn't make sense, yeah.
That adds up.
And still, they're actually playing
Budweiser's stage
although without Peter Hook.
They've split from the bass player, which is a very
distinctive bass player, but it's
reasonably replicated.
And I can't wait.
They played Sony Center back in
fall of 12. You ordered it.
But I will be there. I can promise you that.
I love that song. I love this song.
New Order had a big World Cup song, right?
World in Motion, they wrote for
1990's World Cup when they actually
made the semifinals.
And that's the Gary Lineker's great,
Paul Gascoigne crying because he knows
he won't be able to play in the final. He got a second yellow card
in the semi against Germany.
And that's the first cup Germany played as Germany.
No, no, they were West Germany.
Right.
But that's what I mean.
That's the first reunited Germany cup because it's after the Berlin Wall
goes down by about eight months.
See what I'm saying?
So they're Germany in 1990, but they were West Germany in 86
when Maradona beat them.
Political history.
That's great. You're 100% right. The wall comes West Germany in 86 when Maradona beat them. Political history. That's great.
You're 100% right.
Walt comes down in, was it 89 or 92?
Late 89.
Okay.
To get away from music, eight teams have made the World Cup final since 1966.
That's it.
Eight.
I find that incredible.
I was surprised to learn that only eight teams have made it.
Only eight teams have ever won the World Cup.
Yes.
Only eight countries, I should say.
Yeah.
And Uruguay was away for a while.
The last time Uruguay won was 1950.
Right.
And they won twice.
And the ball weighed 18 pounds.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They were kicking a kettle ball.
They won the first World Cup, didn't they?
Kettle bell back around.
I think that they did.
What's that, 1936?
In 1930.
I think they won the first World Cup because it was played in Uruguay and they had a huge
home field advantage.
A little home advantage?
A little home cooking? Yeah. All the referees? Yeah. I wonder when the first World Cup because it was played in Uruguay, and they had a huge home field advantage. A little home advantage? A little home cooking?
Yeah.
All the referees?
Yeah.
I wonder when the first World Cup was they started using neutral officials,
because that American guy almost got a little out of hand yesterday
between England and Colombia.
Yeah, we talked about that.
We did, on Hepsi on Sports.
We talked about it because the head-butting,
and then the upward head-tick to the jaw,
and the no-call, and then the...
That guy gets 10 games in the NHL
that's right but also through that American referee
was accused by Falcao
of if you recall in the game between
Morocco and Portugal he asked the Portuguese
player for his jersey you can't do that
if you're an official those optics are weak
you just can't do it because people would go wait a minute
you're a Portugal fan because you got a jersey
and now you're refereeing a game with
no I thought there was a jersey and now you're refereeing a game with no. I thought there
was a referee and he got grabbed
before he could, but there was a referee who
was about to take a, maybe it was like
the fourth official or it was just an off, but it was
a FIFA guy and he tried to take a messy
selfie at the end of their messy
match. But they're going like
this is, yeah, there's a little
objectivity that's necessary to not do that.
Now before I play the final jam, there was a question that ties in nicely.
I want to find this question here.
Bear with me here.
Where is the question section here?
Okay, Stephen Leggett.
Stephen Leggett had a question for you.
His question was Liam or Noel?
That was his question.
So let's kick out this final jam, and then maybe you can answer the question, Liam or Noel? That was his question. So let's kick out this final jam and then maybe you can answer the question, Liam or Noel. If I had a gun, I'd shoot a hole into the sun
And love would burn this city down for you
If I had the time, I'd stop the world and make you mine
And every day would stay the same with you
And every day would stay the same with you
I...
I...
Give you back a dream Show you now what might have been
If all the tears you cry would fade away
I'll be by your side
When they come to say goodbye
We will live to fight another day
Excuse me, have I spoke too soon
My eyes
have always
followed you
above the wall
Cause you're the only
God that I
would ever need
I'm holding on
and waiting for the moment
to find me.
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
If I Had a Gun.
You like this?
Yes. It's great. It's just great.
I'm actually shocked there was no Oasis song
on your top ten. I did.
This is Noel now and I'm not anti-Oasis,
but I don't want them to get back together.
And I want Noel to stay out on his own.
And I'm not a big fan of his younger brother.
That's quite the hot take there.
It is?
I don't.
I don't want them to...
Everyone else wants them to make amends
and get back together.
No, I want to be able to see him at, like,
Sony Center instead of them playing
Scotiabank Arena.
Did I get that right?
SBA.
No one's ever going to call it SBA.
Eventually.
They're not. They're not going to say, let's go to the SBA and watch the TNL.
Give it time, Hebsey.
The ACC never became the hangar, and I thought it would.
I really thought it would.
I said the vault, maybe.
I think SBA will eventually.
I love
soaring vocals
and I love the concept that
I think life is this clock.
I always feel this way about
vacation. People can't wait to go on
vacation and then they can't wait to come back
and I've always wondered why that is.
Nobody just sort of wants to stand still
and you have those moments. You can have them with your kids. You can have them with wondered why that is. Like, nobody just sort of wants to stand still. And you have those moments.
You can have them with your kids.
You can have them with that someone that is really, really special to your heart.
And you, or even your employment moments, you're like, just freeze time here.
Don't move forward.
And I always feel that when I listen to this, that you want the other person to keep experiencing what they're experiencing.
And you want to keep experiencing that also. And you can't. Mike, you can't. You can't just, you've got to keep experiencing what they're experiencing, and you want to keep experiencing that also.
And you can't.
Mike, you can't.
You can't just.
You've got to keep moving forward and getting older.
And that part sucks in a way.
No, very profound.
I like this.
All we want to do when we were younger is get older,
and all we want to do when we were older is stay a bit younger.
You're right.
You're right.
So the answer to Steve Leggett's question is Noel.
I'm not on Team Liam.
I'm not. I can't do it.
And apparently he's disappointing when you see him live because my buddy
was so excited to see him at the Sound Academy.
What do they call it? The Rebel. Rebel?
He was terrible. And he was terrible. And he didn't do an
encore and he just left very abruptly
and my buddy's pissed. But maybe that's really rock and roll,
right? Like the Sex Pistols and
GNR early days had that reputation.
It was dangerous.
You didn't know what you were going to get.
You could have riots and overturned cop cars outside.
Now everybody's taping the gigs on their phones.
So that doesn't seem so rock and roll when you end up on like TMZ or EW.com.
Gregory.
May I call you Gregory?
No one calls you Gregory.
No.
Greg. No. That is the birth name. Greg or Gregory? Gregory. Gregory may I call you Gregory no one calls you Gregory no Greg
no
that is the birth name
Greg or Gregory
Gregory
Gregory Peck
probably was the inspiration
he was
no
there was no inspiration
and I've said this a million times
I was born
a year before the show started
the Brady Bunch show
oh right
Greg
yeah yeah
we covered that
if anyone wants to hear me
make fun of him
and playing Greg Brady
it doesn't make any sense.
My parents wouldn't do that to me.
They cared too much.
Right.
And Johnny Bravo was really the best of Greg Brady anyways,
if you watch that show, Johnny Bravo.
And then those damn movies with Gary Cole and Shelley Long.
Which were pretty good.
That first one was pretty good.
Yeah, it was pretty good.
Pretty good.
I think Tim Matheson's in that one.
It was pretty good.
And that.
I think he was in Grandmaster Flash, actually.
I know he's in Animal House.
That's for sure.
Simple Minds.
That's right.
By the way, always a pleasure.
This is your third visit.
We're going to do a fourth.
Always a pleasure.
I got a little.
I like the songs.
The show's going well.
I'm a happy human being right now.
It's great to see Mark.
Thanks for hanging out.
My pleasure.
This way I won't have to listen
to the podcast later. Today I was...
You have one fewer download, Mike, and I was here
so I won't download it either.
That's right, Mike. I'm sorry. I will download it.
It's just the guy who never heard of
Kick Out the Jam episode. Does that work, by the way, if you
subscribe, unsubscribe, subscribe, unsubscribe?
Do you get more hits for that? I don't monetize
that way, so it doesn't matter to me.
You should look into that. I was going to say, Hebsey, I wish I had a video here
because you were rocking out to these jams.
Very animated. I loved it.
I liked nine of the ten songs.
Which one didn't you like?
You'll be left to guess.
You're not going to tell us.
Why would I do that?
I liked nine of the ten songs.
Can I say that about anyone else that kicked out the jams?
Just your own jams. You liked ten out of ten.
I did.
And I didn't have the Madonna song that I wanted in there either. I didn't own jams. You like 10 out of 10. I did. And I didn't have
the Madonna song
that I wanted in there either.
Live to tell.
Me and Vic Rauter.
Huge Madonna fans.
Oh, by the way,
listen to the Vic Rauter
kick out the jams.
It's fresh and it's amazing.
All right.
It's amazing.
Give me one song that he picked.
Would you remember one song?
Hebs, did you remember any?
I haven't listened to it yet.
It's number three on my list.
Okay.
All I can tell you
is he tells the story
of his life.
He goes,
and then I took my father's radio and I turned it from 1010 to 1050 and I heard this.
And then a Beach Boys song will play. I was at the TFC game, sweltering in the heat Sunday.
And he did the match because the other guys are doing a great job doing the World Cup.
Luke Christian and Steven.
And I didn't know Vic was, I would have taped it if Vic was doing it. I love Vic's soccer stuff.
I'm right back to the Toronto Blizzard
again. And that brings
us to the end of our 354th
show. You can follow
me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike.
Greg is at Greg Brady T.O.
even though he lives in Ajax.
That's okay. Our friends at Great
Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer.
Propertyinthe6.com is at Raptors Devotee and Paytm is at Paytm Canada. See you all next week. And they're broken stocks, the class struggle explodes
And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can
Maybe I'm not and maybe I am