Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - In Memory of Andrew Krystal

Episode Date: May 23, 2022

FOTM Andrew Krystal has passed away. He was 63 years old. In this episode, recorded in April 2020, Mike chats with broadcaster and marketer Andrew Krystal about his years at Mojo Radio, being The Fan 590's morning show host, speaking with Rob and Doug Ford at CityNews, his new show on SiriusXM 167, and so much more.

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I'm Mike. zoom url for their virtual open house hosted by yours truly i'm mike from toronto mike.com and joining me is andrew crystal what's going on brother hey you sound good thank you very much oh is that a good let's rock. When do you want to start recording? I'm already recording, but what kind of microphone are you using? I don't know. It looks very phallic. I have no idea. All right, let's do this, brother. Yeah, speaking of phallic, I wanted to talk about Mike Stafford, if I could. But I want to preface that by saying a know a lot of people are wondering how do you survive

in this covid environment how can you possibly continue on well you see the key is to diversify with revenue falling out of broadcasting you've got to do something you've got to be inventive you've got to be creative so i have gotten into as you know i have my own organizations called crystal nation and can i and i'm developing uh delivery apps So I have gotten into, as you know, I have my own organization. It's called Crystal Nation Inc., KNI. And I'm developing delivery apps. And it's the only way to go. But my difference is with my delivery apps, I'm targeting towards specific communities.

It's not all things to all people. No, no, no, that's old school. You've got to target towards communities who are predisposed to order with you. It's not about the food. It's about the culture. So I'm developing an app right now, just letting you know, targeted towards gay women. Okay. It's called Skip the Penis.

Now, interesting, our first two offerings are the man, which very big. I'm surprised you had a man, which chip, which I used to eat chip, which is in the 80s. I thought you mentioned one time when you were 13 and you were experimenting. But never mind. But the man, which and the butch beef stew are huge offerings. So look for it. Skip the penis. OK, skip the penis now uh andrew uh how are you doing during this uh i'm very well and you know something uh i'm not the only broadcaster involved in the delivery app development game john oakley is also involved although he's doing the theatrical side you know that john is heavily influenced by the theater you know that right of course

he's involved in a Mirvish webcast. They're going all digital. Yes. And he's starring in a production called The Mailman. Do you know about this? No, tell me. It's a reimagining of James M. Cain's 1934 novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Only in this one, John plays a high school guidance counselor who becomes a grocery delivery boy but decides to develop a grocery delivery app. But the weird thing about it is that it allows people to pay for the same things over and over again and all John has to do is mail it in. I like how you're just out of the gate. I love it, Andrew. It's fantastic. That's all he has to do is mail it in. But you're not an Oakley fan?

I think John is a great guy. I have a lot of admiration for John. And, you know, Mike Stafford is not to be outdone. He heard about what Oakley is doing. He's involved in Mirvish Webcast now. So he's doing Scrooge, The Final Days. Did you hear about this? No, no, this is an exclusive.

Let me hear more. It's a one-woman play written and produced by Mike Stafford. It takes place at Christmastime, of course, at a call center in the Philippines. Mike plays a transgendered operator, and it's funny, it's sexy, it's compassionate. Only something Mike Stafford can do.

Now, Stafford was there when Mojo Radio launched. He was there and you were there, right? This is when I first discovered Andrew Crystal was Mojo Radio. You know what I like about Stafford? Stafford had one of the best shows there. He did a show about nothing, very Seinfeldian. But it was about something. It was about Stafford making great content out of non-subjects. It was his attempt to

counter-program current events. And Stafford's got great voice, smart guy, good broadcaster. I like Mike Stafford a lot. He was on Jeopardy, you know. He was on Jeopardy. The closest I got to Mike Stafford, however,

was a conversation we had about Tracy Lourdes in 2003. All right, so let's do this. He'll remember that. Well, I hope he listens. He's been on the show a couple of times. I consider him an FOTM, regardless of what he says about me on the air. I'm sure he's been on your show many times.

He has less and less to do. Go ahead. How do you get the gig? Take us back. Sorry about that. You got to take your meds? Is that what that is? No, no, no.

My meds. Every time the bell rings, my mouth waters. No, it's just a client. You see, I... I know, you got lots of clients, but I want to... Right now, radio works for me. I no longer work for radio. So you're, you're actually, uh, invoicing the big radio companies. No radio works. Yes. And radio works for me. I don't work for radio and Sirius XM will have me on, uh, every day at four, uh, starting the next two weeks. So I've got a new home studio. I've revved it up, jazzed it up,

and I'll be performing naked every day at four. Be specific. Only on SiriusXM. Yeah, which station? Channel 167, Canada Talks. Okay, congrats. That's great news. People get to hear you every day.

As I said, though, the key with broadcasting these days is to have radio work for you as opposed to you work for radio. These things are so specialized that if something happens with your job, and there will be layoffs, or big salary cuts, and if you have all your eggs in one basket, using that old

analogy, you're screwed. And so it's important when you live in Toronto to take advantage of the city. This is my town. I was born here. And I'm still living in the same penthouse that I had when I was doing the morning show on the fan. And I think that that says a lot because you need all the skills that got me

into radio when I started, because you've got to be middle-aged to do radio properly. So I was early middle-aged when I got into radio 20 years ago. Like I had just turned something like I was just in my 30s, early middle-aged, 35 or something. And all of those skills I use in the graduation from broadcasting, which can never pay me what I need. There's no morning show that could pay me what I do now. What did they pay you at the fan? Nobody can frigging fire me.

So I do my radio. I enjoy myself. I behold the nobody. And, you know, I'm nobody's bitch. Okay. So, Andrew, I don't know if you've heard an episode. Except John Oakley's. Except John Oakley's. I am Oak nobody's bitch. Okay, so Andrew, I don't know if you've heard an episode. Except John Oakley's. Except John Oakley's.

I am Oakley's bitch. Oakley took over for Humble and Fred. I know that Humble and Fred had that morning show. Nobody can take over for Humble and Fred. Humble Howard is both Humble and Fred. Fred is a fantastic broadcaster, but Humble Howard is an extremely good and rich talent. He is a very bright guy. And in the 90s, he was unstoppable.

Everything is time and place. But the fact that he's so talented, he can reinvent himself, his sense of performance. He was the first person to say to me, Andy, he used to call me Andy, we're ourselves. We're the same person to say to me, Andy, he used to call me Andy. We're ourselves. We're the same people on the air as off the air. So don't be phony. And there's a lot of broadcasters I can tell you about, Mike, and I don't know if you know them. Most of them, I would say 70% got their personalities in a car crash. In other words,

you talk to them off the air, they got nothing to say, and they're not interested in speaking with you. The only time they turn on their personality is when they got a mic in front of them. Otherwise, they're boring as hell. I'm not kidding. Do you want to name some names? Don Cherry is the same guy. Ron McClain is the same guy. There's some people that are the same people.

And God bless them for that. But some guys, really, there's nothing going on when they turn off that mic and i don't know i don't know how that can be but i was always disappointed by that so you know and i'm not i'm not going to say a name i'm not going to say names but um some people i just wonder like you know anyway and the other thing is these some of these guys that will share stuff, but they really have no empathy for other people. I've seen that before, too.

So they're phony. Look, guys like Agar, soldier, soldier of war, traditional talk show host. Adler, traditional host, competent. Both guys, competent, long tenured, competent, traditional talkers. I have a lot of time for those guys. Adler got you. Bill Carroll. Bill Carroll.

Survivor. You know, Bill Carroll's my favorite times with Bill was hearing him work at KFI. When I heard him on the air talking to Angelenos who didn't know him and didn't care, I could hear him working. I could hear his voice go up. I could hear him pumping it out. He was phenomenal go up. I could hear him pumping it out. He was phenomenal. I loved those broadcasts. They were great.

Oakley in the 90s on CFRB? Yeah. Unbelievable stuff. Unbelievable stuff with a joy, et cetera, that was fantastic. Derringer still pumps it up. That's a solid cat. R.J. Derringer keeps it rocket aaron davis one of the greatest roger ashby for that format um you know aaron could do any format yeah you're naming people though who haven't been on the air in a while because i know well i'm just

talking about the greats i mean oakley hasn't been on the air for years either i still talk about him are you isolating with oak Oakley? Is he there with you? It's weekend at Bernie's broadcasting. I don't count. Okay. Let me if it's okay. John is a good guy. I'm just joking around. No, it's all fun.

You know what I like best about Mike Stafford? What? His charity. You'll never find a kinder man. Go ahead. I can't tell when you're being sincere. I'm just going to take a sarcasm shower. Would you give me five minutes?

Adler got you. I don't know if he got you, but something you said to Charles Adler on CTV Newsnet got you banned. Yeah, I was fired from it. It was great. Do you remember what you said? Of course I do. I loved it. Adler is like,

if you're going to ask a partisan about something, you know, you just get the traditional response. Right. And my particular issue I took with, with Charlie that day at Charles, can I call you Charlie? Okay, thanks, Charles.

I have a lot of imaginary friends. He's just one of my skits. Hey, can I call you Andy? You can call me anything. But you can't go from... Anyway, we talked about that. Yes, but I heard Howard called you Andy. I wondered if I could call you Andy.

Oh, whatever. He doesn't matter. But what he said was he was talking about Harper or something, and the pretense was that he was measured. He was some kind of logic-driven, impartial, stoic, not-choosing-sides umpire weighing in with you know as I mentioned a measured sort of independent fair broker assessment of things

which is total BS he was you know he was just going to do his conservative line which is fine but don't try and come off as somebody who's making a considered judgment when it's the same knee-jerk bullshit right so i was saying charles what are you talking about you'd vote for hitler

if he was a conservative that was hyperbolic sure and it made the cameraman jump out of his out of it he spilled his coffee remember this is like 7 or 7 30 or something like that so to make a cameraman move that's's good. You're moving the needle and the cameraman spills his coffee because he's laughing. That's a good thing. Now, clearly I was being hyperbole. But then he had all this fake moral outrage, right? Oh, I do not find that entertaining

or amusing like you have outraged him. I bet I've been to shul more times than him and I'm not even Jewish. Anyway, anyway, I move on. Okay, I got questions about Mojo though. Maybe give us a little bit. Firstly, is Crystal your real name?

Because that's a pretty... That's my name. Yes, sir. That's a pretty cool name. Andrew Glenn Crystal. Okay, so Andy, tell us about how you end up at Mojo Radio and then let us know a little bit

about why they canned you because that was kind of a cool station. I wanted, they wanted me to do a split and I asked for more money and they wanted to put, they had, they were, my friend Ken Dryden had wanted a different brand for Mojo. When I went on, they said, Andrew, you're too boring. You've got to, you know, we're going to kick you off. You're too bookish. So I became the dirtiest talk show host in the country. I also, I would have Henry Kissinger on, and then I would have Heidi Fleiss on, right? And Kissinger would

say, how can I follow Heidi Fleiss? I said, well, you said that power was the biggest aphrodisiac, Henry, so surely you can follow Heidi. And that was one of Kissinger's former Secretary of State statements. So I would marry the absurd with the, you know, I had Noam Chomsky on three or four times, the international relations specialist, former linguist, fabulous, fabulous American critic, American foreign policy critic. I had, you know, a lot of luminaries on, and I loved it. But what we also tried to mix,

because a talk show host should be doing something like Bill Maher does. You inform, you educate, some polemics obviously in there, but you have conflict and you have humor and you also have empathy you make people laugh derringer once said to me he said you're the only talker andrew that makes me laugh and that's true because most of them are humorless f's they're humorless they're not funny they're not entertaining they're not you know it's the same boring every day and we approach journalism we are not journalists we are entertainers we approach journalism so the stuff they're doing in sports journalism now which used to have similar attitudes about itself uh like um the guys on on sports net

who are they tim and sid tim. Tim and Sid, yeah. Yeah, they have a sense of humor, and I like that about them. It's good. I mean, I don't watch them a lot because there's nothing to watch with sports now, but they deliver, and Rogers is back to my good for Rogers because you've got to have a sense of humor. You have to have it all. You have to cry on the air.

You have to, when my mother was dying, I remember being on antidepressants and discussing it on the air. I mean, I don't know. It was great. But you have to have a range. Humor, conflict, empathy, information. And most talkers don't give you all of those. But, but, you know, Mojojo is was a really good time in radio but i'm not this sony board you know looking back remembering my day my day is here

my day is now my i just i had roger stone on yesterday i had ronan bergman from israel one of the best investigative journalists in the world on the day before that. I mean, I'm, I love what I'm doing. I love the control that I have. I love the fact that I'm unfireable. And I love the fact that I'm outbilling every single person in broadcasting. So we're going to get, we're going to get to this current day. I'm with you. Living well is your best revenge on life. And I'm happy for you, but I got to ask a few of the pertinent questions.

People want to hear from you. Like we want to hear about Mojo. It sounds like you wanted more money and they didn't want to give it to you. So you. Yeah, well, they had Brumel. Okay. So Kendra and getting back to that story for being so elliptical. Ken Dryden wanted a brand that was more conventional.

At that time, the folks there, and they made a bonehead decision to hitch their horse to Leaf Broadcast. Now, the Toronto Maple Leafs, as a format covering the Leaf games, was bounced around. Nobody cared about Leafs rights. The Leafs rights was a dog. Leafs rights were a dead dog. It was a bad stock.

It had bounced around Q. It had bounced around AM640. Nobody really wanted Leafs rights. Mojo got it, and we made it fun. We made it sexy. We had humor. We got that all going, but it was humor married to, you know, what guys were talking about or thinking about. Right. So we, we married, I remember one thing

where I was talking about, I really liked this new relationship I'm in because I can commit to oral genital relations with my girlfriend and still watch the leaf games above her pubis. Right. Right. Just whatever kind of absurdity or humor. And that's, that's, that was an effective brand. But when Mojo, a couple of things happened. They lost Mojo. They went to a conventional talk brand. So they lost their share.

They lost their market. They became like everybody else. So they gave up on their brand, genuflecting to MLSC. And MLSC, the Leafs took a big dump. They stunk the house out for ages. Right. And I think the numbers showed that even if the Leafs went to the Stanley Cup final, that they would have only generated about $300,000 in extra revenue.

That's if the Leafs win the Stanley Cup. Well, the Leafs win the stanley cup well the leafs right for a loss leader they were never anything to write home about they were a big cost well they never they they only collaterally would generate revenue and i'm saying you don't need to own the leafs rights to talk about the leafs you can still talk about the leafs whether or not you're playing the games of course of course now leafs radio, nobody cares about because they broadcast every frigging game. Right. So, you know, Leafs rights don't matter anymore in terms of broadcasting. Now, that was that was the deal.

So they genuflected to Dryden. They decided to make a and Dryden was a friend of mine. It was Ken and I, the popularized Maple Leaf Nation. Nobody. I said Mojo Maple Leaf Nation Awaken. Nobody had popularized the term Leafs Nation until I did it on Moho Radio in 020304. And then you took it for Crystal Nation. Well, exactly. And Ford and all the rest of it.

But Rob used to listen to me. Right. And I covered the Fords at City hall when I was doing city news there. That was a fun time. Well, we'll get to that. Speaking of Oakley. I mean,

that was the big, the big Rob Ford counselor thing. Victor, Victor Machado, Oakley's producer. And I don't think in 10 years he even bought Victor a coffee. I took Victor out for lunch every day. Cause I know they paid him nothing and I was getting decent a coffee. I took Victor out for lunch every day because I know they paid him nothing, and I was getting decent money, so I took him out for lunch every day.

I don't think Victor Machado, I don't think Oakley ever bought him a coffee, but some people are like that. Okay, Andrew. I want my guys around me that work with me to want me to win. I want them to be motivated. I want them to know I care about them. Now, to borrow a line from, I'm sorry, to borrow a line from fellow Mojo Radio alumnus, the late great Scruff Connors, the listenership might need to be reminded that Mojo Radio was like

Maxim Magazine on the radio. It was talk radio for guys. This, this, and it sounds like Ken Dryden didn't think that was politically correct enough. No, Ken's a conservative wasp, right? He's one of my people. I'm a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, but he's a super wasp, right? Sure. So, you know, he was, he's more of the John Tory school of being a wasp. And which is fine, decent, upright, all the rest of it, all the things that I'm not. And, say tongue-in-cheek to some extent.

But I never courted that. You know, that's my gene pool, actually, which is white Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, devout, pious. That's, you know, my grandmother only knew hymns that was the only music that she knew gotcha god bless him god bless him but i'm more of a a secular modernist is it true it was not into the miracles i don't think those tricks happen go ahead sir is it true that the same day you were fired from 640, you did a shift on 1010? Yeah, because they didn't do a proper contract

out on my contract so it could go on the air on CFRB. That's kind of amazing. I don't think anyone's done it. Not that it matters. No, but you're fired in the, I don't know, the afternoon or morning or whatever, and that night you're doing a fill-in shift on 1010.

Let me just say this. They didn't renew my contract. They didn't throw me out. They didn't have any extra pay filling shift let me just say this they didn't renew my contract they didn't throw me out it didn't have any extra paydays my contract was up and they didn't renew it okay which is fine and by the way when andrew crystal gets fired it's a big news story when stromolopoulos gets his ass canned nothing there's no strombo's fired he was fired strombo was fired he was freaking fired. When I heard Glenn Healy, very interesting story. I'm kicking back watching TV, and I wonder if any listeners remember this. Healy is on Hockey Night in Canada. I think I wonder if Merrick remembers this.

I love Jeff Merrick. I have no idea his fixation with wrestling, but whatever. So I still think it's homoerotic, but that's just me. That's my interest. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm just kidding. I'm joking. God bless America.

So I'm watching the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. And Healy, I won't call him Jeff Healy, Glenn Healy. He's alive again. I love Jeff Healy. That guy was great. Next up, the Braille review. Anyway, so we've got Glenn Healy talking to Strombo, and Strombo's got the pointed shoes on.

He looks like he's just ready to go to the junior high prom every night. And at one point, Glenn Healy looks at Strombo and calls him Tinkerbell on the air on hockey night in Canada. Right. So in front of that macho male audience, he refers to George Strombo, Lopolis and Georgie knows this. If he heard it,

he hears this. You'll know Glenn Healy called him Tinkerbell. And I could see the hurt and shock on his face tv really does capture things live you can't hide some stuff on tv right and i said to my wife i i said to her both those guys are gone they're both done and they both were that's uh that's homophobic in my opinion to to it's outrageous well of course because you're using it as a uh a negative he's calling him he's calling him an fag on the it's what he's saying right it's absolutely that's what he's calling him and it's uh it was strombo did not do anything to deserve that

level of opprobrium and first of all had he irked healy which i couldn't discover at all i couldn't divine that uh it certainly wouldn't doesn't deserve that kind of retort that's outrageous do you think they gave uh strombo enough time in that role no he it wasn't happening because it wasn't the right fit he wasn't fitting in with them but look yeah i think i think he's a very engaging man and the reason is is that he's really comfortable on camera that's a great strength he is and i think that they should have i would have liked in retrospect i would have liked to see them given give him more time correct. I think it's good to go a bit off format with some things and go a bit different, but the audience wasn't

you know. Well, they wanted James Duthie. The story is they tried to get James out of TSN and James didn't want to go. He wanted to stay where he was, where he is today and because they didn't get James Duthie they tried the Strombo route. But, you know, I mean, the thing about my stuff is I always covered Leafs.

In my current events broadcasting, I always covered the Leafs. And some of the guys, you know, didn't. Like, you know, what had they done in terms of the format? I hadn't been strictly sports format. Look, the other thing too is for me, I mean, I have 3,690 something books in my home. Okay. Well, I have a big place, two level penthouse. It's huge.

And I need it to be large because I have a lot of books. I don't, I think maybe six of them are about sports. Maybe three of books. Uh, I don't, I think maybe six of them are about sports, maybe three of them. One is my council book and some stuff that I had when I was at, uh, the fan. I don't read about, I don't read sports books.

Okay. I read Cox. I read hockey stories. I still Google the Leafs Leafs. I still Google that, but I'm, I'm reading about economics, geopolitics, war, military history.

You know, that's the Wall Street Journal. Do you think you were too smart for the Fan 590? Hello, FOTMs. I hope you're enjoying my conversation with Andrew Crystal. I need to thank some tremendous organizations and people that have helped fuel The Real Talk. They're proud sponsors of this program, and I really hope you support them and let them know

they're doing a great thing by partnering with Toronto Mic'd. In no particular order, thank you Garbage Day. I use Garbage Day, especially with this COVID-19 pandemic. They're moving things around. When is the yard pickup? When is the yard waste pickup, I should say? When is the yard pickup? When is the yard waste pickup, I should say? When is the garbage pickup? When is the recycling?

The easiest way to keep track of all this and take the guesswork out of it is to sign up at garbageday.com slash Toronto Mike. I'd appreciate it. Garbageday.com slash Toronto Mike. Easy to sign up. It'll take you like 10 seconds and you'll thank me later. I saw a tweet from great lakes brewery that the electric circus beer is going

to be available this week and you can get free delivery. If you live in, uh, within certain boundaries of Toronto, you can get free delivery, but you can do curbside pickup. This is very cool. In fact, you can drive to Great Lakes Brewery.

They're at 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard. And from the parking lot, using your phone, you can place your order. Let's say you want two cases of Electric Circus because it reminds you of Toronto Mike. And like right away almost, they'll come out safely and put it in the trunk of your car and uh it's like no contact curbside pickup it's slick they're also at lcbo's and some grocery stores so enjoy great lakes beer palma pasta they're still open they're doing everything very safely it's a great way to get your groceries because you get the fresh authentic taste of it italy uh great people to happy 96th birthday to oh mike don't screw up his name marcelio petrucci from the petrucci family

that's anthony's dad go to palmapasta.com and uh order your groceries there and visit them in Mississauga and Oakville. If you have any questions about Toronto real estate, they're still selling houses at the Kytner Group. They're still helping buyers find their dream home. Text Toronto Mike to 59559. Do it. Austin will take care of you they are tremendous people and I can't wait to give guests like Andrew Crystal their Toronto Mike sticker from stickeru.com upload an image to stickeru.com

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StickerU.com. And now, back to Crystal Nation on Toronto Mic'd. on a mic. No, it's not about being too intelligent. My interests were a bit too polymathic to be confined just to talk about sports. Okay, can I ask you, I know that you went off to Halifax and you were a big deal, right? You were a big deal.

Not too smart for sports. That's, that's kind of, but I'm just, my interest range is beyond sports. Right. And besides I find golf boring. Okay.

Yeah. I do too. Basketball. Basketball was fine when, when the Raptors were on the roll. I love that. And they're a competitive team and I love watching the Raptors. That's great.

Okay. I'm not interested in tennis. I think tennis is sucks. And I like hockey. I am interested in hockey. I like the Leafs. I like hating Montreal. You know, I like hockey, right? Hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey. That's what I like. So, you know, in terms of my sports interest, that's okay. NFL, maybe a little bit of my sports interest that's okay nfl maybe a little bit near the end i hated the last super bowl you know so you know whatever okay but andrew um just to get you to the fan uh you see fl forget it jesus christ well then you probably want to work for a roger station if that's the case because i don't want to work for any station brother i'm on serious exam i run my business. Right, right.

Now, after you leave Toronto for Halifax, you're a big deal in Halifax. So can you just tell us how you end up with the Fan 590 morning show gig? I was interviewing Bob, getting him on to talk about the NHL playoffs. It was good radio. And I like talking hockey they heard me they started monitoring

my casts and they liked what they heard and they said look 75 of what we talk about is leaves so and the jays suck i mean until they get better that's okay i i wouldn't mind a little jays i like going on with wilner i like going on with those boys. I like going on with those boys. But, you know, honestly, my attention without hockey, it's – so they liked what I talked about. They liked how I did it. They liked the fact that I was able to deliver other – I remember when Osama bin Laden was shot, and I heard the guys on the morning show

struggle with the news topic because they have no background in it. Gord Stelic and Don Landry. No. No, Stelic. I like Gord Stelic, by the way, very much, both as a person and as a broadcaster. I think he's a fine human being.

Who was the fellow? Brady or... Oh, Greg Brady and Gene Lang? He's brady and uh he's a nice guy they're all let's have a lot of respect for people who are in this okay that's after you though right i made by the way and i made jokes i like stafford a lot of a lot of respect from stafford probably hates my guts i don't give a shit um oakley uh always hated my guts i'm sure i think he saw me as a threat i've got no problem about with either of those guys. As a matter of fact, I really like Stanford.

But whatever. Anybody who's in this business, God bless them. It does get a bit catty and a bit high schoolish at certain levels. But I don't compete with anybody. I do my own thing. Okay, but to take us back to September 2010 here. Go see The Mailman, the Mirvish production.

Oakley's fantastic in that. Always mails it in. Go ahead. Okay. Now, prior to the summer of 2010, the morning show on the Fan 590 is Gord Stelic and Don Landry. Okay. Fact, if you will. Then they bring in what they call

a summer replacement, sort of, to keep just until they, because they were going to launch a new show in the fall of 2010 the guy who comes in by the way has been on toronto mic he's a good guy jeff lumby he's just there for the summer he's a wonderful man i met him with uh with howard glasman oh they're buddies yeah by the way let's honest to god yeah as i said some of the the brightest radio I ever heard was Oakley on Arby in the 90s. Stafford has a voice that's golden. Lumbee, multi-talented, great attitude, great person. I actually like everybody in the business.

Just don't need them as a friend, but I like everybody in the everybody. Well, you can't like them all, right? No. You know what? I actually do. Scruff Connors is a very, when I had my, my wife threw a, organized a big, you know, going away party. And a lot of the city showed up for it when I was in Halifax. And they threw money at me, right? And I wanted, Toronto is my hometown.

So I came back. They threw money at me, right? And I wanted, Toronto was my hometown. So I came back. And Scruff happened to be in Halifax and happened to be outside in the courtyard at that specific time in Halifax that day. Unbelievable serendipity. You know, yeah.

But remember when Moho Radio, right? I would have Tracy Lords on and then I would have Christopher Hitchens on. Right. Like that was a special time in radio and I loved working with Scruff. So who specifically was listening to you on 95.7 in Halifax and thought that's our new morning show?

Is that Don Collins? I was, well, probably Bob. Probably Bob told Don. Bob McCowan. And Don listened and he liked it. Because Bob had a lot of power. He wielded a lot of power in that station. He could make or break you, so to speak.

Well, I don't know. Bob is a classic talk curmudgeon. Again, a guy with a broad range of interests. And a very devoted fan base. Classic guy. It's a shame that whatever happened there. But as I said, look, they can trade Gretzky. They can fire anybody.

It's a naftop business. But the worst thing you want to do is these people who are whining little weasels. They whine, oh, someone wasn't nice to me, or this didn't happen. It's a tough game. You either have a pair or you don't. Who cares?

When you're canned, it's very personal, and you take a pair or you don't who cares when when you're canned it's very personal and you take it personally to develop a personal brand etc but tough s so that's what that's what it takes it's like pet ownership they die the way it works in this business is you either fire them or they fire you you You either know when to leave, make the right moves, or forget it. And you, with your podcast, Michael Boone, you have been like this herpetic rash that won't go away, that returns every autumn. You stay there, the blistering sore that you are in the firmament, and you are loved.

There's no salve or penicillin topic alignment that will get rid of you and you've done a great job and it's your passion and your commitment that has made it so that now the entire industry moves to this kind of this kind of driven broadcaster which you are whether you're formally hired or not, doesn't matter. You've stayed with it. You've, you've not given a damn. You do what you love. And I think that that's amazing. I think that you're very unique in Canada for what you do. Oh, thank you. I didn't see that coming. That's great. If you need more time to elaborate, just let me know.

We'll make time for that. Well, look, I mean, you just, it's the force of will. And I think that anybody, and that's why, you know, it's all about force of will. I remember talking to William Shatner and not too long ago, I said, how are you doing? He goes, I'm still running as fast as I can. And I think that's great. I think, and wherever you are, whatever stage you are, it's always adapt adapt or die but don't bemoan

what's going on oh we that the horse was better why use these mechanical cars just enjoy it go with the ride you know move it if you've got something to say and you can deliver it and you can engage people you don't bore people because that's the number one thing don't bore people if and i'm probably doing that right now. But the bottom line is, that is the content, either you have content or not. What I do resent, though, are some of the broadcasters that are getting checks from somebody

because they went to somebody's wedding party, or they're somebody's best man, or they fellated somebody in the hallway, but they don't have any depth. They have nothing to say. They're not well-read. They're not, you know,

funny. There's nothing going on. And yet they don't even have great voices. And I love this pension now for putting people on who sound like shit. What's that all about? I started that trend. Get it. Get somebody.

See, good for you. Good for you. Good for you. You're good. But the format, it's radio. You don't have a pinup that looks like Roseanne Barr, right? Like, why does, you know, it's got to be wedded to its medium. You need a voice that works and a brain behind the voice or a sense of humor, something.

Okay. So why do they people that have no information that don't sound good and have nothing to say? And that's why maybe the money is going out of broadcasting because they're not, not actually developing people. I don't know what they're doing. Well, okay. Well, let's, let's, let's find out, uh, in your opinion, why did they give you such a

short leash? Like we just talked about, did Strombo have enough time? They gave him a couple years or something. You had months, right? You start in September 2010, but they... The new CEO came in. The new CEO, Keith Pelley, came in and wanted his own people in there. I told you some things off, Mike,

that I'm not going to go on this recording, which will exist for all time, and do that because I don't want to slag people. But Keith Pelley came on. Now, he himself left, quote, unquote. Let's just use that, get those exclamation points out there, quotation marks.

He left. Nadir Mohammed left. Right? So everybody gets it. But he came in and fired my bosses and fired me so and i knew him in the 90s but i didn't play that card he forgot that we were old friends at one point not good friends we had people in common i didn't really know him but you know keith But Keith realized he reached out, to his credit, he reached out many times after the move. And I don't know why he did that, but God bless him.

But he was really trying to get a fit for me somewhere afterwards. But it didn't really matter. But I brought my wife here and this and that, so I was sort of pissed off because they recruited me, recruited me, hiredruited me. Hired me for mid-mornings. Promoted me to mornings. Fired me.

Rehired me for the afternoons. Fired me and rehired me at Sydney all within six months. It sounds like they didn't quite know what to do with you. That is a friggin' record. Like they knew you were a talented broadcaster, but they weren't sure where you fit because you're not conventional. No, no, they want, no, that's, that's bullshit. Well, that's why you're here to set the record straight.

Keith had wanted his friends in. He wanted, he had another idea. Him and Burke, Burke is funny. Burke's got a short leash. Burke won't be there very long, but Burke was always running and trying to get people fired at the sun. He was doing the same with me.

What a thin-skinned, insecure guy Burke is. I got a cease and desist from him. Did you? Yep. You got a cease and desist from Burke? Yeah. From Heine, whatever the name of it is. Blake and Heine. Is that it? Blake and Heine? It's good for you.

And I posted it on TorontoMic.com. I know. He's so insecure. And he's just a little man. Brian Burke, he knows he's full of shit. It's just a matter of time with Brian Burke. Right? So did you enjoy those four months or whatever?

If somebody wants to say, okay, he's not saying nice things about me, hates the Leafs, stunk then. The Castle trade was terrible. He stunk, right? He didn't get, you know, he gets the trades. We could have had, oh my God, we have Taurus again. Could have had Taurus again. But I don't think, yeah,

he gambled that we wouldn't be that bad. And he says truculence and he hires Castle. Right. No, he's so full of it. And by the way, yeah. Uh,

Brian Burke is the biggest co-tailor. The copy one was because of Murray's coattails. He is, he, the GM set him up to win when he went to Anaheim. That's not even his cup. Brian Burke is a huge false God. If he ever was anything.

Yeah. To avoid another, to avoid another lawyer letter. Again, if somebody can go in and shake the bushes and influence somebody to get hired or fired or whatever, that's just the way it goes. If you're not good enough to stick it out and fight the slings and arrows,

it's no one's fault. For the CEO makes the decisions. Right. But you know, I can, I can list a whole bunch of names of guys that were making a million dollars a year as, as senior broadcast executives who were fired.

Like major talent. Some of them have been at my to my parties right my wife and i host these big parties back when people could have them so we'll have 60 or 80 people here they come out on the roof oh i've heard i we have some mutual friends who have been at these parties and tell me they're fantastic howard howard's howard uh ralph ben murgy is that possible that he was one yeah r. Ralph. I love Ralph. Ralph's the super gentleman. So yeah. Howard Glassman.

Ralph Ben-Murgy. That's two right there. For sure. Bob. Of course. I think Bob thinks I'm somebody else. I don't think he knows. Bob McCowan.

Who I am. Yeah. He thinks I'm Mike in Boston who writes on a different blog. Mike in Boston. Yeah. We could be on the one. I've never. I'm not Mike in Boston.

So wait. So you can make it kind of like a Tinder thing. Hi, Bob. Mike is a rather common name, but there's a lot of us. Andrew's a common name, actually. I know a lot of Andrews. Bob, what are you wearing? If you can get Bob to make an appearance on Toronto Mike,

that would be kind of fun. Do you have your camera on? What are you wearing? It's Mike in Boston. And where were we? All right, so you're at the Fan 590. It's only like four months or so. Did you enjoy your time there? It was good. It was good. Of course I liked it. But the problem was is when the new CEO came in, when Keith came in,

he wanted to do his own thing. And so that stressed out Collins. It stressed out everybody because he wanted to do his own thing. And Bert was mad that I was crapping on the Leafs every day, but the team was garbage. So Greg Brady and Jim Lang are your replacements after your removal from the morning show.

Did you ever listen to Brady and Lang? Did you ever listen and think, oh, they're not as good as me? Are they better than me? Did you ever listen to them? Well, no, you don't do that. No broadcaster does that. Have you ever broken up with a girl? Do you follow her to the drive-in theater?

No. No. Do you follow your ex-girlfriend to a restaurant see who she's talking to no first of all i don't need to listen to sports radio right i'll read you know cox and these other guys i love reading them sports net whatever i'll read it but as far as unless there's something big going on you know as i said you know, Timothy and Sidney. I'll have a couple of them now and again. But, you know, no, I wouldn't listen.

I remember when Osama bin Laden was shot. I couldn't stand what I was listening to there. Because I would have been perfectly placed to discuss that. I mean, me and Peter Bergen, I've interviewed Bergen six times. He interviewed Osama bin Laden. But do you think people tune in? Do people tune in to 590 to hear conversations of that nature?

Or are they basically, they're just, I want sports. I want to hear people talking about the Leafs or the Raptors if they're on a run or the Jays if they're on a run. Because it's an escape, right? Like sports is pretty,

its only purpose is really is like an escape from reality, right? I think one of the best brands is the 680 News brand. I think broadcasters that are intelligent, gracious, and filled with decorum, people like Scott Metcalf, who is a glorious individual, a really, really good human being, and an incredible newsman.

And Rogers is a wonderful broadcast institution. They're very, very good. And they have very, very good people. Right? So, but look, this is the business. You're in a, it's a lion's den. It's a crazy business. and you got to accept it and you go in and you do your best. And if it works, it works. No guts, no glory is whining about whatever happened. The new CEO comes in and wants a new thing. Good for him. Bad for me, but good for him. It's the way it rolls. You know, you don't, you don't complain. Oh, everybody's an a-hole except me. No, you're the a-hole. I'm the a-hole. They're right. That's their structure. That's what you sign on for.

If you want security, don't join broadcasting. The only thing that annoys me are guys that aren't that great. And I could sit down with Stafford or Oakley or whatever, and if I got some beer into them and said, okay, what do you really think of this guy? How good is he? And they would say the same thing I'm telling you. I'm not naming names, but the old lions,

the guys that know what time it is, would agree with my determinations about certain people that aren't that great on the air. That's all. But who cares? Again, so what? And I know you didn't listen, but Brady and Lang didn't actually last that long as a, because Lang was ousted and replaced with Andrew Walker. I really liked Lang.

I thought Lang was a fine human being. So I was sorry to hear that that had broken up. In fact, he was booked on this show when the pandemic struck and for what that's worth. So at some point when this all gets back to normal. Brady's a good father. He's a decent man. And it's a tough game.

And Lang is a good person. People are trying to survive and do their best in a crazy business. And all the jokes I made about these people, look, they're all good warriors and they're all honorable men. They go in and fight the battles and deal with it. And I remember conversations that others have had with me about how close certain people were to getting fired that had been on the air a long time, but they were, they were fortunate.

But the bottom line is having control of your own world and being able to control your own destiny where no one can fire you is glorious. You're preaching to the choir there. There's nothing more rewarding than having gone. I was speaking to a program director today. I won't bother saying his name and you know, they're all worried about loss of revenue. They're all worried about this or that or the other. And they're, they're, they it's like hats off to you for, you know,

being away from the fray, being able to do it. And I'll do broadcasting on my terms. And, uh, I'll tell you something. Some of the best fun I've had is on SiriusXM because people download SiriusXM, they subscribe to it, and unlike amplitude modulation, with all due respect to 680, which only wins because of its sheer content,

and it's got great reach, but amplitude modulation is no longer sexy. It hasn't been since the 60s. Shrinking pie. When FM radio became the sexy option. But amplitude modulation radio is so arcane now that some people that I hire that are in their 20s, they'll say, I said, I'm on SiriusXM.

And they won't even say their father listens to it. They'll say, is that like a podcast? Right. AM radio. And we're talking. So think let's move this, this, this clock forward 15 years. There's no AM radio brother. Now a brand as strong as six 80 news might do something else in terms of

internet radio or whatever, but am radios are not going to be in cars that won't exist it's and you know when you take a look at um some of these stations i mean what are they selling it's the acorn chairlift catheter crowd i mean come on seriously and they'll eventually die right right? Like this is just nature. They are dying. Right. I remember going into a hundred years ago, CFRB, when Wally was on the air and I was a kid. And they're saying, you know, it's the number one morning show.

It's going to go on the air in an hour. So early in the morning, I was doing some production. And they were complaining then that their audience was old and that their audience was dying off. This is when Wally was there. So, and that's just the nature of the beast. And when it comes to media, it's a moving object.

Buzzfeed won't be there forever. You name it. It's, it's a river. It's a moving target. So whatever the media property is or its delivery system, it's going to be eclipsed. And that's great.

That's good. That's just the way it works. No, I hear you. I hear you in Sirius XM where we can hear you and remind us what time you're on. And it's every day at four o'clock starting. As soon as I get my microphone,

I'm waiting for delivery. That's exciting. I'll be down there. It'll be fun. I'll have you on. We'll talk about, is this the, uh,

the official and like the first time you've announced it publicly yeah for the first time i'm honored i'm officially telling everyone that every day at four o'clock i think it's next i don't have a start today because i've got to get the microphone right but i have a new comrex system and i'll be broadcasting from the penthouse in yorkville and i'll be kicking ass it's gonna be great so you must be making some decent coin if you can still live there uh because because because i know i know we had an off the record chat and i've been very good about not bringing up anything that was said in that chat but you did say you were making these pretty damn good coin right now yeah i have i have a very good business i'm very lucky so tell us though how you make your money

because you can't be making all that money from SiriusXM. A lot of it's novelty pajamas, the glow-in-the-dark production. I've been very successful with that. And no, it's a communications company, because before I got into broadcasting, because I was too young to be a talk show host, I didn't want to do news. So if you don't want to do news,

and you're too young to be a talk show host, what didn't want to do news. So if you don't want to do news and you're too young to be a talk show host, what do you do? So I started working for ad agencies. I worked for some good ones. So I run integrated marketing campaigns. I produce national TV commercials. I produce integrated marketing campaigns, social media campaigns, communications, strategic planning, all the elements of marketing, media buying, all of it. Do you work with an ad agency? Do you work with Terry O'Reilly?

Vickers and Benson. That's going back. Because I hear your voice on the podcast. You'll tell me now if it's not you, but I've decided it's you. There's a little stinger at the top of Under the Influence, if you listen to the podcast from CBC. No, I haven't.

No, I haven't. So that's not your voice. You must have a beautiful voice if he sounds like me. There is. Actually. It's just the name of some production company that I tell you that I'm growing male breasts.

Fred Patterson had surgery to remove his male breasts. You know, well, I've decided I'm going to eat myself out of this pandemic. Eat my way through it. Serrano's bakery. Yes. That's the place to be just on paper.

No, I have a custard fixation. the mill fweath problem. But other than that, no. Okay, that's not your voice on that. I apologize. I thought it was you. I'm running. I am running these days, and I'm happy with my exercise.

But I have been eating a lot, so I have to stop that. I know you made a few jokes about 1010 being God's waiting room or whatever it was exactly. I didn't say that listen what did you say my older older crowd listens to it if you're if you're programming you start to tell what are you supposed to do you have your audience you're doing well what are you supposed to do you're never going to grab young people with a damn band right you're going to play it out you're going to play it out you're going to do what got you there and what's successful. I hear they're doing well.

I wish them the best. But anybody, whether it's 640, name your AM station, with the exception of 680, because of their very strong content branding. A talk station, you know, it's just on AM radio. It's a struggle. And they know that. I'm not saying anything new. This is a blatant truism so you don't think i'm not i'm not calling it god's waiting room that was me i'm sorry i'm not

putting down anybody's audience right it's uh you know i'm waiting for i've actually ordered a catheter on amazon right okay good i've been i've been i've been doing the John Oakley thing because John Oakley likes to sit on wax candles. So I have a version of that. Anyway, I'm just experimenting. Okay, before, because I do want to hear about your friendship with Rob Ford

because I find that very interesting, the late Rob Ford. Rob Ford wasn't friends with anybody. Rob Ford wouldn't look at anybody in the eye. Anybody that was a peer, he wouldn't make eye contact with. He was incredibly shy. Rob Ford wouldn't look at anybody in the eye. Anybody that was a peer, he wouldn't make eye contact with. He was incredibly shy. Rob Ford, my relationship with Rob, Doug has been to my home,

but my relationship with Rob and Doug was that I wasn't going to gleefully burn them. I was going to do interviews with them, and I was going to ask the same question, because when you're in TV, it's not like talk. When you're in talk radio, you're on your own show. When you're doing TV news, the producers tell you going to ask the same question because when you're in TV, it's not like talk. When you're in talk radio, you run your own show. When you're doing TV news, the producers tell you what to ask. We need to ask this, find out this, ask them this. I would ask the same questions. I just wouldn't twist the knife.

And it's all about how you ask the questions. So I would do, because remember, they were an anti-Ford newsroom at City, right? Everybody hated Ford. And Ford, you know, they were an anti-Ford newsroom at City, right? Everybody hated Ford. And Ford brought things upon himself to some extent, but he was doing the whole fake news thing. So in inner city Toronto, in the suburbs they liked him, but inner city Toronto, city news was very inner city mental side. So I said, give me access to you and I won't burn you. You won't find answers that come out wrong.

I won't twist your words and I won't, I won't ask questions and twist the knife with relish. And they said, great, you'll give it, you'll be fair. And I said, yeah, that was it. And that's why I got interviews with those guys that nobody else got because now let me tell you something if the newsroom loved rob ford and loved doug i would have done the opposite in order to stand out i did it as a tactic because i needed to create a niche for myself and i needed access in this case it was great because i needed access to the mayor and it was an exciting story

and i was one of the few tv guys that they would trust and i did it intended upset some counselors but i did it because i wanted access to the forts and i got access nobody else got and i asked the same freaking questions so's, that's the deal, but nobody was close to Rob because Rob was shy. That's why he liked doing the high school coaching, et cetera, because he felt more comfortable around, around those people,

right around those younger men. It, uh, it's just, he was a very shy man and they had a hell of a mean father. And both those boys did very well so and why we love Doug Ford is because he gets up there and poops his pants he gets up there and shows the strain and the weight of the office on his shoulders Doug communicates empathy

he communicates pain so when Justin gets up there and says, oh no, it's going to be weeks, we need to see him suffering. We need to see how painful that statement is for people who have lost their jobs or who can't make the lease payment. Instead of the diffidence and aloofness, which is natural to him. His empirical reaction is that of a trust fund individual, a person who is bought and paid for and looked after, not someone who actually suffers the workaday tortures, the vagaries of the business day, and how to maintain clients or keep a job or look after a family

or buy a can of beans. This is a guy who hasn't looked after. The road has always been paved. And that comes out in his voice. Doug Ford is way overweight and still smokes and is stressed every night. Probably he sleeps with a CPAP machine so that he can breathe properly at night.

And he worries every frigging day about people losing their lives. You can see it when he's up there. And Ontarians don't know the specifics. They don't know any specificity with regards to his governance or how he's actually implementing things that are a benefit to combat this crisis in terms of policy or how he's changed testing. What he's done, what they see is a guy who cares, a guy who's suffering, a guy who's overwhelmed and who really deeply cares about shutting the province down. That's what we see. That's why when people say, we think he's doing a good job, they can see him sweat. They see he cares. And I don't see Justin sweating as much. The numbers are good for him, apparently.

But I don't see the sweat. But how can he sweat? Because, you know, if it wasn't, if he wasn't prime minister, he would be teaching school, right? He'd be a drama teacher. That's what he was doing. And his trust fund looked after him. Well, he was an MP before he was prime minister. Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? He's looked after. I don't have a trust fund. But Doug Ford hardly is a self-made man, right? No, he's not. But he's what we care about. I don't care about the trust fund. I'm just using why is someone not freaking out and not showing the way to the office?

And maybe Justin Trudeau is pained by the fact that people are losing their jobs. But I need to see it. And he's supposed to be a drama school teacher. Show some, even if you don't believe it, show some concern and worry on your face. Like, impart, be empathic, convey emotion, convey pain. Doug gets up there and you see it. You see him squirming under the weight of this news. Andy, I see him pained. Do you understand what I'm saying?

I totally respect your opinion on the subject. I am a little surprised you used the royal we for why we love Doug Ford, but I don't name one person who doesn't think that he's done a good job or isn't trying to. If I may, if I may, and I have not been critical of him at all during this pandemic, but if I may, I think most of us are just glad he's not like Donald Trump. But come on, even people that hate his guts, even the Toronto Star. Right, because he's not like Donald Trump. And I think we're all just relieved to see a sense of proper leadership during such a traumatic time. I'm a Martin liberal, by the way.

I'm a Paul Martin liberal. So those are my political strives. I have voted for every party federally except the NDP. Okay, I haven't voted for the Green Party. Well, Ralph's going to be disappointed to hear that. Ralph's a big Green Party guy. If I may, Andrew,

because I know you don't have much time because I know you've got an important business call. Yeah, we're going to have to shave soon. We've been on so long. Well, let me just, I need to know the answer to this question, which is, you know, following the fan. I said bilingual. Only bilingual.

That's it. Just me and the wife. Following the Fan 590 debacle. My words, not yours. You were on City TV as you're talking. This is where you kind of became a person who would speak to the Fords, Doug and Rob Ford at City News.

What happened at City News that you left? Did you leave or did they... Contract. It's all about money, bro. It's all about the cash. All about the Benjamins. Yeah, so I was making too much money. So they brought in somebody for 30k listen brother if i'm on the air it's because i'm being i'm monetizing things okay

if things aren't monetized i don't show up right it doesn't say salvation army in front of my place like i am a a a you know i'm a mercantilist you're in a Yorkville penthouse I'm a mercenary and what I want is I want to make sure that I deliver the goods that I do the best job I can to entertain people and that I'm compensated that I have control over my life

and I'm not I'm not I don't live in fear of anyone anymore all right let me close with an apology for me I know you got to go, but let me just say that we've now had a good hour together and I enjoyed the conversation and I apologize that... It's only been an hour. It seems like at least two.

I apologize to you that on my podcast, in public, I may have called you weird. It's a good weird. Everyone who's interesting is a little weird. I'm going to tell the folks what happened. Mike has been trying to get me on for a long time.

I didn't want to go to his place and do it, and I really didn't. When the world turns back to normal, I will come over to your home. But I'm pleased that we can do it in this disembodied format. But, you know, it's just about convenience, et cetera. But I didn't mean to be rejectionist. And I appreciate your interest, Mike.

Yeah, I don't remember the story that way. There was a gentleman who was encouraging me to have you on. He was working with you and he was saying, oh, you got to have Crystal on. He'd be great. And I said, sure, I'd have Crystal on. And then it would go into these annoying... Who the hell was that? I will know the name if I hear it. Hemsher? No,

somebody at SiriusXM. Because I paid him. It wasn't Hemsher. And that thing about him and I living together in that same sex thing, Mark Hemsher, that's all a lie. Hemsie's a dear friend, and I only accept good things about him. All a lie. But this gentleman I'm thinking of, he might have been a producer at SiriusXM possibly.

The name, when I hear it, I'll say that's the guy. I can't remember it now. And he did some production work. I mean, Humble and Fred were on SiriusXM for a while, you might have heard, for five years. And he was working with them on the SiriusXM part. And that guy was working with you, I think, at SiriusXM. Kyle Herstrup. Yes.

Now, that's a hard-working talented decent man um actually uh kyle hershorn is one of the best people i've met in broadcasting a really decent guy belalva canny one of the hardest working people in broadcasting I've ever met. Both those guys are incredible. Joe Thistle, fantastic guy. John Lewis, wonderful broadcast executive. There's a lot of really good people. And you know who I really enjoy? Jeff Samet.

Yeah. I enjoy listening to Jeff. Okay, he was on Stellic. If you have to go, that's fine. We can leave it there. No, it's okay. Stellic and Landry worked very closely with Jeff Samet on that morning show that you eventually replaced.

Very decent man. Good father, decent man. He's a good guy. Yeah, he's a good guy. Good Maltese guy. Good man. Well, I won't hold that against him. I've been to Malta.

I love Malta, actually. My wife and I went to Malta. We loved it. Nice, nice. Back when you could travel. I love Malta, actually. My wife and I went to Malta. We loved it. Nice, nice. Back when you could travel. Every place we'd go to, like we did this big European tour this summer. My wife was saying,

when we leave, what's going to happen? We went to Greece, their economy collapsed. We went to California, fires broke out. So what's going to happen to Europe? Look what happened. We left. Disease pandemic. It's all our fault.

You didn't go to Australia, did you? No, I didn't. But i do produce a lot of methane so i'm sure i'm assisting the fire somewhere andy crystal now i can call you andy we're buds uh thanks for doing this man maybe we'll we'll do it again and i'd love to come on your show that'd be great to talk to you again listen and honestly honestly just personally because i care about your health, I really hope that rash heals. Okay? Now, by the way, I think, you know, I told my wife, I said, I think I have COVID-19 because every time I urinate, it burns. That's coronavirus, isn't it?

That's coronavirus. You better self-isolate, man. Keep getting these sores. Okay, listen, take care. All the best to you. And go with God God I will do so thanks man take care brother

bye for now and that brings us to the end of our 630th show you can follow me on Twitter I'm at Toronto Mike Andrew is at Andrew Crystal. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer.

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