Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Jeff Woods Returns: Toronto Mike'd #370

Episode Date: August 30, 2018

Mike chats with broadcaster Jeff Woods about his podcast, his sexuality, his favourite songs of all-time and more....

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to episode 370 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery located here in Etobicoke. Did you know, Jeff, that 99.9% of all Great Lakes beer remains here in Ontario? I think I've heard you say that before. GLB, brewed for you, Ontario. And propertyinthesix.com, Toronto real estate done right. And Paytm, an app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. Download the app today from paytm.ca. And Census Design and Build, providing architectural design, interior design, and turnkey construction services across the GTA. I'm Mike from torontomike.com. And joining me this week is a broadcaster.
Starting point is 00:01:21 You know the voice, Jeff Woods. Now, just read that phone book in front of you, Jeff. That's all I ask you to do today. It is rather thick. I don't think I've got that kind of time. We're binging The Office and it's stuck in my head now that that's what she said. So if I say that, I apologize.
Starting point is 00:01:40 Sometimes I get stuck on that too, the that's what she said thing. That goes back to, what's his name? Mike Myers. Yeah, I didn't remember the origin story, but all good things go back to Mike Myers. Somehow. Swing.
Starting point is 00:01:55 Buddy, welcome back. It's good to be back. I guess it's been two years? Two years-ish. Yeah. I'll tease people. Okay yeah I'll tease people okay I'll tease people right off the top
Starting point is 00:02:06 that if you want to go back and hear Jeff's first visit and this includes like the A to Z of your illustrious career but even the great detailed story
Starting point is 00:02:16 of getting let go by how dare Chorus they let you go even though you're sort of on the air there but we'll talk about that
Starting point is 00:02:23 oh yeah we'll have to talk about that because the way it turned around was curious. We need an update. So here it is. Go to episode 177. Mike chats with former Q107 broadcaster Jeff Woods about his life in radio, the legends of classic rock,
Starting point is 00:02:41 why Q107 fired him, and his new book, Radio Records and Rock Stars. And that episode was an hour and 40 minutes. So go back to 177. But it sounds like we have some catching up to do. But first, we bumped into each other super recently. That was fun, wasn't it? So I might, I'll just tell the story quickly.
Starting point is 00:03:02 This is, it's funny because when you came to the door, I didn't shake your hand because I have a broken pinky. What did you do? On the way home from that event. So I'm biking home from that USS birthday party. So, okay. So a couple of Mondays ago, I'm playing USS. Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker had a birthday party,
Starting point is 00:03:19 like 10 years of USS, which I can't believe it's been 10 years. Those guys are amazing. Yeah. And although I've, I don't think I've't believe it's been 10 years. Those guys are amazing. Yeah. And although I don't think I've ever talked to the human kebab, I always gravitate towards Ash, who's been on this show,
Starting point is 00:03:33 so maybe that's why, and we're kind of friendly. But yeah, they're great. But I'm at this birthday party, and there's pulled pork, right? So I have a huge plate of pulled pork. And then I'm on, like, there's a deck or something out there. And I see in the corner like i see at first i see a beautiful woman okay that's
Starting point is 00:03:49 what i see first i just left her a few minutes ago i was gonna say you just left a relationship no i just brought her just left her bed you could have brought her she sleeps in all right so i see this beautiful woman and i you know i'm a happily married man, but I do notice beauty. She's ridiculously stunning. And then I look beside this beautiful woman, and oh, there's Jeff Woods. Bastard. And I said, yeah, that's his ink. Have you had any new tattoos since I last saw you?
Starting point is 00:04:20 Probably. Well, this hand one, I think, was right around that same week. Wow. Is there any body parts left? Oh, gosh, yeah. There's lots of room. But don't do the neck. You're not going to do a neck tattoo.
Starting point is 00:04:30 I am. Are you? Yeah, why not? The only warning about neck tattoos always seems to be, how are you going to get a job? Oh, yeah. I wouldn't want to work for anyone who had a problem with this color of my skin, including tattoos. That's a good point. Remember, when you were program director at Q, I guess you kept dressing Jeff Wood styles.
Starting point is 00:04:50 That was the test. I thought, this place is going rather corporate, and let's put them to the test. I used to wear, in the summertime, flip-flops, which I'm wearing now because it is summertime. Yes. And pardon the expression, wife beater t-shirts, tank tops. We need a new expression for that one.
Starting point is 00:05:07 Right? I guess tank tops. Tank tops. What they were before that, I guess. And I thought I'm going to continue doing that. And if they still like me and want to keep me around, then I'll stay. And they did somehow.
Starting point is 00:05:18 And I ended up not wearing the tank tops and the flip flops all year. When you have the guy who's like, you're the records and rock stars guy, I think you want some ink. You want a cool guy, don't you? Well, I think so, but there are a lot of so-called rock stations
Starting point is 00:05:35 in this country and probably throughout North America that literally have dress codes where you have to wear khaki pants and not running shoes. Even the on-air people. Oftentimes, yeah. Usually smaller markets, right, where it's a little bit conservative. And I thought that's complete BS.
Starting point is 00:05:52 Yeah, no, that doesn't pass my sniff test. Particularly because it's radio. This is not television. Not only is it radio, but it's creative. Like, to me, when you want a creative, artistic person, that comes with stuff. Maybe not a three-piece suit or whatever. I mean, I don't know. I think, yeah, like, looking at yourself, you look like a creative, artistic person, that comes with stuff. Like it comes with maybe not a three-piece suit or whatever. I mean, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:06:07 I think, yeah, like looking at yourself, you look like a creative type. Well, jeans and a t-shirt and then the John Lennon t-shirt. Very cool. We'll get that in the photo after. It's rock and roll. May I ask, is that hair, that's a natural hair color?
Starting point is 00:06:20 Because the beard is white. Only my hairdresser does for sure. And the hair is yellow. Well, it's pretty white. You know, it goes a little golden in the summer because of the sunshine. I won't ask you if the carpet matches the jewelry. I don't think you want carpet in 2018.
Starting point is 00:06:35 Even the dudes, right? Is that true? Well, yeah. I don't know if you watch a lot of porn. I mean, I don't, clearly. But you don't need that mess down there. You need to, what is. You need to trim the hedges or whatever to make the
Starting point is 00:06:49 trees taller. Go hardwood. Hardwood floors. This is lifestyle tips from Jeff Woods. I love it, man. I'm taking notes, by the way. Okay, so to finish that USS story. There's a beautiful woman in the corner and I know there's a beautiful woman and that's nice. And then I. So yeah, there's a beautiful woman in the corner.
Starting point is 00:07:06 And oh, there's a beautiful woman. And that's nice. And then I see, oh, there's Jeff Woods beside her. So I went over and said, hi. We took a selfie together. It was nice to see a friendly face there. It was nice to see you. It was great to see you.
Starting point is 00:07:16 It was a nice surprise. I didn't know what to expect in that room. I didn't know if it was a complimentary bar. It wasn't. That was a first date with that girl. Is that right? The band's publicist who had had me have them on my bar. It wasn't. That was a first date with that girl. Is that right? The band's publicist, who had had me have them on my podcast,
Starting point is 00:07:28 Tiffany. Yeah, she's been here. Invited me, and I thought, yeah, what the hell? I'll go into the city. I don't come in very often. I live near Blue Mountain,
Starting point is 00:07:36 but I like to come in for a dirty weekend or a couple of days here and there for an event or for business. But that was a first date? It was a first date. I sent her a note and said, hey, I've got an event. Why don. I sent her a note and said, hey, I've got an event.
Starting point is 00:07:46 Why don't we go together? And she said, yeah, let's do that. And you just left this woman's bed so the date went well. Is this the same date
Starting point is 00:07:52 or is it another one? Well, I went back home after that and then I tripped into the city a couple weeks ago on a Sunday
Starting point is 00:07:59 and saw her again and that went well. And now I'm spending a few days with her. Can I ask you when you date somebody new, do they know you as a radio guy, or are you just like... Some do and some don't, right?
Starting point is 00:08:12 Does it work in your favor or does it work against you? I suspect sometimes there's some apprehension, this guy, radio, and some think it's okay. And please tell me, I hope I'm right about this, before you meet a first date, please tell me there's a phone conversation because I think if I had your voice, start with the phone conversation
Starting point is 00:08:32 because they'll be sort of in lust with you before they meet you. Well, the funny thing, and thank you, I think, the funny thing is that, you know, because there's audio everywhere on all of us, anyone who's spoken into a phone or a story on Instagram or Facebook, your voice is out there.
Starting point is 00:08:51 And so I think people do their homework now in the dating world. They want to know what they're getting into, so to speak. Oh, sure. There's a lot of us who have our voices out there. And then there's a voice like yours that's so prominent. And I mean, I've had many discussions with radio professionals on this show and broadcasters. And I think you're the voice we all talk about. Like if we could exchange our voice
Starting point is 00:09:13 for another voice, we'll take Jeff Wood's voice. Because you were drinking, you told me last time, you started your, was it scotch? And I mean, I don't know, you tell me, but scotch and smokes at like the age of nine or something? More like whiskey. Well, that is a type of whiskey, but rye whiskey.
Starting point is 00:09:30 I'm a bourbon guy now. But I prefer beer. It's a little calmer. All right. Or a glass of red wine. Okay, because if you had stopped at beer, I was going to thank you for the segue. But a glass of red wine is good, too.
Starting point is 00:09:44 It might be good for the heart, too. Maybe I'll crack a... No, it's too early for that. Great Lakes Brewery beer, brought to you by... Yeah. So, yes, that's yours. Okay. Did you get a six-pack last time?
Starting point is 00:09:55 I did. Oh, look at you. Thank you. I'm going to take that back now. You've had your six-pack. I thought one with every visit. That's right. No, it is one.
Starting point is 00:10:03 Here's our guests who beg me, can I come on again? They're looking, I realize, they did the math. Yeah, I did the math. It's like, oh yeah, they're getting like 20-something bucks
Starting point is 00:10:09 worth of beer. So please, Jeff, you take that six-pack of local craft beer back to Thornbury? Back to Thornbury, Ontario. It's a beautiful little town. It's a town
Starting point is 00:10:20 of the Blue Mountains, which really encompasses everything from Craigleith over to Thornbury, and then beyond that, it's Meaford and Owen Sound and so on. It's such a lovely town. It's like the people that got tired of being in Toronto moved north,
Starting point is 00:10:32 west, they went to Thornbury. Don't tell anyone. Well, I'm going to tell the world right now. Sean Hammond, you saw this tweet, because there's a spoiler alert, you replied to it, but most people haven't seen it, so let me read Sean's question. He says, does he still live in Thornbury? And if so, what bars,
Starting point is 00:10:48 restaurants does he frequent? I have a place in Meaford and would love to run into him sometime and say hi. So first of all, before you reveal this, realize lots of your groupies and fans are going to flock to these venues, hoping to spot you and maybe a visit from this lovely lady that you've met
Starting point is 00:11:04 here. But do you want to tell the world some bars and restaurants in the Thornbury area that you frequent? Interestingly, Mark McEwen, the great internationally acclaimed chef, just opened a place. Because he has a place near Thornbury and he has for years and we'd hung out up there. But he just opened a restaurant called Fabrica. Okay, Fabrica. And it's every bit as cool as the other restaurants he's opened in Toronto. And it's right on the main street in Thornbury.
Starting point is 00:11:30 And it just opened last week. And I haven't been yet, but I'm going to go next week. That's cool. There's a Bruce Wine Bar. There's the Mill Cafe. There's the Dam Pub with like 982 whiskeys. People flock to that place. I'm sure you're there every night to keep that voice.
Starting point is 00:11:46 And there's Bridges Tavern, which used to be really great, and then it changed hands, and it's less great now. But, you know, they could pop back into the mainstream and be a place I go to. I think I used to spend $6,000 or $7,000 a year
Starting point is 00:12:00 at Bridges Tavern, because they'd have live bands every weekend. And good ones, too. We've had the Sadies at Bridges Tavern. they'd have live bands every weekend and good ones too. Yeah. We've had the Sadies at Bridges Tavern. Sadies are amazing. Right?
Starting point is 00:12:09 Yeah, they're amazing. Favorite live band. I saw them over for the hip ones at Fort York, I think. And yeah, they're amazing. Ridiculous. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:12:16 I should point out my ex-wife's grandparents used to live in Thornbury. Really? So I would make that drive often. So you know it. I know it. And Bridget,
Starting point is 00:12:24 she's passed away sadly, but that does happen to everyone you know it. I know it. Bridget, she's passed away, sadly, but that does happen to everyone, I suppose. But she had these custom-made Blue Jays chairs because she was a big Blue Jays fan. She was from England, like a war bride from England, and she adopted the Blue Jays as her own. And we used to talk about Carlos Delgado and Roy Halliday. And this is a true story.
Starting point is 00:12:42 So that marriage ended, and i have a new marriage now you know what that's like but uh uh so after i sort of left the marriage and everything uh bridget passed away i was very sad to hear but she in her will she left these blue jay chairs to me are they here uh i have them in the shed yeah and uh i've never it's the only time in my life i've been named in a will, like to this date. What an interesting thing to be willed. Yeah, because of our Blue Jays. She loved our Blue Jays chants in the mid-90s. I went to my second Blue Jays game last year,
Starting point is 00:13:14 second in about 25 years, and it was my second and last. I just can't do it. Well, you need a better team. Well, last year. No, I get so bored. You sound like my son. And everybody had their Blue Jays gear on, which I applaud. I mean, you're going to be a fan, be a fan.
Starting point is 00:13:28 And then I saw a picture of a bunch of us, all my friends, acquaintances with their Blue Jays gear. And I'm dressed, you know, completely in black and blue. And I realized maybe I'm in the wrong place. I don't know, man. I like going to a live baseball game. But my 16-and-a-half-year-old son, I have to pay him to come to a game because he says it's super boring baseball.
Starting point is 00:13:50 He loves hockey and basketball. Same, same. Those are my two favorites. Ellen, he's upstairs. I'll introduce you to him. Yeah, this is your future, but I'm going to tell him no neck tattoos for him. You have to be at your age
Starting point is 00:14:02 and already your status in the rock creative universe before you can get the neck tattoo. Listen, I love getting tattoos as much as having them. In fact,
Starting point is 00:14:11 the ritualistic experiences. Because you like the pain? Is it that? I don't mind the pain but you know, you get a tattoo artist that you like who becomes your friend
Starting point is 00:14:19 and it's a visit. It's like, hey, I haven't seen you in a while. Can I come by? And you know, ostensibly to get ink. It's a very permanent thing. Like, why don I haven't seen you in a while. Can I come by? And, you know, ostensibly to get ink. It's a very permanent thing.
Starting point is 00:14:25 Like, why don't you meet a massage therapist and then enjoy that visit? Because you can do that and keep doing that. You know what I mean? Because yours is very permanent. I'm not anti-tattoo. I don't have one. People talk about the permanence of tattoos.
Starting point is 00:14:38 And I think, permanent, really? Our body is a vessel that lasts, if you're lucky, 85, 90 years. That's not very permanent. That's a good point. But now you can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery, you realize. Well, you know, I don't expect to be, being not Jewish.
Starting point is 00:14:55 I had a Jewish wife, as you know. Did you? Yeah, okay, right. But you didn't convert. Hell no. She was barely Jewish. She was Jewish for the holidays, I think. That's right. Oh, there's a big one coming up.
Starting point is 00:15:07 So, in fact, you're in Thornbury, so this, unless you're at your lady friend's home, on September 12th, yeah, right? So, two weeks yesterday. So, September 12th from
Starting point is 00:15:17 6 to 9 p.m. at Great Lakes Brewery, who gave us that nice six-pack for you, we're having a Toronto Mic'd listener experience. Cool. Very cool.
Starting point is 00:15:25 Free beer, no cover, live music. In fact, some stand-up from some prominent sports writers like David Schultz and Gear Joyce, who think they're stand-up comedians now, and they want 10 minutes apiece. But some interesting people will be there. Hebsey, Wilner, like a lot of past guests are going to be there. Just so you know, and I know it's quite the trek from Thornbury,
Starting point is 00:15:45 I wouldn't expect to see you make that drive from Thornbury, but you, of course, are invited. Imagine people can see the great Jeff Woods there. And where are you going to do it? I guess it's private. Great Lakes Brewery. Oh, you're going to do it at the brewery. Sorry, you said that.
Starting point is 00:15:57 They have a great patio there. It's near Royal York and Queensway. That's how I describe it. But just to let everybody listening know, and why did I bring it up? There's That's how I describe it. Just to let everybody listening know. And why did I bring it up? There's something you said that prompted it. I'm going to come back to town that week to do some more press. And bring a lady friend.
Starting point is 00:16:14 What's her name? Does she have a first name? I think you better leave that out. Lady friend. Bring her, please. Increase the attendance. You just want to see her I just like to see people you know
Starting point is 00:16:28 I don't play favorites she has a neck tattoo I did notice ink on her oh boy she has 28 or 29 tattoos does she have a face tattoo or does it stop at the neck well you know
Starting point is 00:16:39 technically she does have a face tattoo because she has this how you say beauty mark on her cheek. And she enhanced it by putting a little black dot on it. No, not like a teardrop.
Starting point is 00:16:49 Oh, because that's like a gang thing. That's like a one percenter thing. No, just, you know. Okay, good. No, I mean, if you have the confidence to do it, go nuts. To each his own. It's sexy. She's not Jewish, right?
Starting point is 00:17:00 Because I'm worried about the burial in the Jewish cemetery. Don't be worried about that. These things don't concern you Mike oh yeah and back to the USS I gotta wrap up this to the string so then I'm
Starting point is 00:17:10 I wanted to talk to Ash because he's been here and he's such a nice guy and he's so speaking of creative guys like yourself he's super creative
Starting point is 00:17:19 like the way he thinks and sensitive yeah and he's a great songwriter great singer oh gosh yeah we're both in love with Ash. We'll have to fight over him.
Starting point is 00:17:26 Ash is a hero. So I got some one-on-one FaceTime with Ash. We did a selfie, too. That's what I do now, selfies. Who would have thunk it? And I said to Ash, I said, hey, Jeff Woods is here. And he goes, Jeff Woods is here? And I said, yeah.
Starting point is 00:17:40 He's in the corner right there right now. And Ash is like, I got to go. And I lost him to you and I was happy to do it. But yeah, he was very excited to go chat you up right after my FaceTime. He sat at our, thank you, by the way, he sat at our table and his fans were all around him and waiting for autographs. We had a great little chat. He was that week up near me in Meaford, just down the street, and doing some roofing. You know what? He does roofing. You know what?
Starting point is 00:18:05 He does roofing. That's right. And I love that about Canadian musicians. They're like, on one weekend, they're like, I don't know, they're playing a big show to their legion of fans, and then they're whatever, cook. Like the guy from Rusty was here. He lives in Sudbury now.
Starting point is 00:18:20 He's a bricklayer in Sudbury. But right after Rusty broke up, I just told this story, but right after Rusty broke up, he was a short order cook at a restaurant in Blue West Village. Like, this is how we rock here. Richard Bell was a great keyboard player. He died a few years ago of cancer. And Richard played with Janis Joplin. And Richard played... He was keyboards for Janis Joplin? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:41 So was, I don't mean to take off, I'm sorry, but Bill King. Yes. So Richard and I were chatting at a Sony Music Convention in the middle of the 90s and Richard was talking about drywalling
Starting point is 00:18:53 and the world famous keyboard player who played with Janis Joplin and you do what you gotta do to cobble together a living, particularly if you wanna make a living being creative,
Starting point is 00:19:03 particularly in Canada. Only so many get through and make the kind of money that the hip made or Rush made or Sarah McLachlan. Well, see, Sarah and Rush, I mean, they broke in the States. And to me, that's the big money change here, right? Where the hip managed to
Starting point is 00:19:17 do it here, but it's a very examples of that. Yeah, like that's like the unicorn or whatever, the anomaly, the outlier sure but uh this is topic a recent topic that came up uh i had molly johnson you sure did and i heard the whole episode can i get your feet you're honest by the way and be straight up with me don't blow smoke up my ass not that you would there was a bit of passion aggression on her part uh i thought you were great she didn't understand the intention And you have great intention You always have had
Starting point is 00:19:45 She didn't give you The benefit of the doubt She went to a dark place And I was It was uncomfortable Luckily it was only A smidgen of the podcast Episode
Starting point is 00:19:54 Well it starts rough It starts to get better It gets rough again Then it gets better Then it gets what I would call Really rough When she's like We're coming for you
Starting point is 00:20:03 Get the Black Lives Matter She couldn't help herself. But then after that, I felt it got better. It did get better. It was misdirected anger and frustration on her part, and you held it together. A lot of lesser men would have said, get the fuck out of my studio.
Starting point is 00:20:17 I thought about it. I had a moment pretty shortly after the wire exchange. It's good you didn't. Don't stoop to someone's level. Well, I thought maybe I would be doing her a favor by letting her go on about her day. Like, I know she was going to do a lot of media appearances about Aretha Franklin and things.
Starting point is 00:20:33 And I thought, I had a moment where I'm like, set her free. Like, she doesn't want to be here. She doesn't seem to like me. She doesn't want to do this. She has other things she'd rather be doing. Why don't I just give her her freedom? Like, I had that moment. Like, other things she'd rather be doing. Why don't I just give her her freedom? I had that moment. Maybe this is what I should do. And then I'm like,
Starting point is 00:20:50 or, this is a true story, Jeff, or, what if I try to save this? Can I save this? Wouldn't that be quite the challenge? And I tried to save it, and I think I did my best anyway. Thank you for your kind words. It's funny, that's been a topic. When Mark Hebbshire from
Starting point is 00:21:05 Sportsline, he comes over here twice a week. He came over Monday morning to record Hebbsy on Sports. I saw him walking down the street. I go, hey, buddy. He goes, I just listened to the Molly Johnson episode. Then he wants to give his feedback. I'll bump into people lately. I was at my mom's house for a barbecue thing. My brother and his
Starting point is 00:21:21 wife were like, we just listened. Then they give you your feedback. And I now crave the good and the bad feedback about that episode. I think it's a good thing. Sometimes things seem awful and then there's a reason why they happen. And it got people talking. People that didn't know, perhaps, talking about this podcast and going and revisiting
Starting point is 00:21:38 some of the older episodes and taking an interest in it and telling their friends about it. It's like when Billy Bob Thornton years ago was on cue with What's His Face. What's His Face. And everybody shat upon Billy Bob for the way he acted. And I was probably one of the only people
Starting point is 00:21:54 in a conversation that said, actually, Billy Bob didn't do anything wrong. He got upset that the interview went so poorly because the weird thing, as i say this i can't even remember oh gian right i was gonna say i can't even remember his name this guy goes away from the spotlight for a while and once he was the king of spain barely but i think he fucked that interview up so badly because here's the thing and i talk about it in my book um when you're told not to talk about something
Starting point is 00:22:26 or certainly not to lead with something, and in that case it was, don't talk about Billy Bob in the context of acting. Talk about him. He's here to be a musician because he was playing, I think, Massey Hall that night. Of course, Gian couldn't help himself. It led with the fact that... All other things aside, in that instance,
Starting point is 00:22:42 Yes, please. Don't you think that having somebody like Billy... I'm thinking of my own show, which is not nearly going to get the guests that Q gets. But if someone came over... Let's say you came over now and you said, I just want to talk about this. I'm not going to discuss my radio career,
Starting point is 00:22:57 my podcast, or something significantly different. That's not really fair. Here, let me put it into perspective. When you don't talk about the thing that you're not supposed to talk about the artist misses it and invariably brings it up himself or herself and case in point when i was about to speak to courtney love and her band whole the thing was don't talk about nirvana don't talk about kurt don't talk about well anything related to kurt's death sure and so i didn't knowing that she would do it for me when you comply the artist misses the thing that you're not supposed to talk about what if she brought it for
Starting point is 00:23:39 you they always bring it up they always bring it up she talked always bring it up. She talked about Kurt. She talked about Nirvana multiple times within 10, 12 minutes. Okay, let me ask you this then. Let's say, remind us, the name of your podcast is? It's Records and Rockstars, as is the radio series. It's a spinoff from the book Radio Records and Rockstars. So let's say Records and Rockstars. Let's say Louis C.K. wants to come on your show, okay? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:24:05 And the only rule is you can't talk about you know what. You can't talk about any allegations, any Me Too stuff or whatever. You can just talk about stand-up or whatever. My belief is consistent that he will somehow go to that because you didn't. So we have mutual friends, and this is going to be a nice segue too. So we have mutual friends, Humble and Fred. You ever heard of these guys? I thought about them this morning.
Starting point is 00:24:28 I'm going to give them a call when I'm back into more press. You could have done a double-decker here. I'm going to come back the 12th, 13th of September around your party and do some more press. Well, if you come on the 12th, come and hang with me and we'll go together to be here. This is what I'm thinking about. Great, thanks, Bruce.
Starting point is 00:24:39 September 12th, if you're going to do that. I think they'll be on 820 Hamilton at that point. So they're starting, yeah, so on the 10th of September, Humble and Fred're going to do that. I think they'll be on 820 Hamilton at that point. So they're starting... On the 10th of September, Humble and Fred are going to do... Because they're not on Sirius anymore. They're going to do 820... There's a comedy station. Funny. Funny 820 in Hamilton
Starting point is 00:24:55 is going to be broadcasting Humble and Fred every morning. Good. That's the week. If you're going to go on their show, go on that week. Theoretically, there'll be more listeners because it won't just be a podcast. I should. You know, to talk about Humble and Fred ever so briefly, they're a great example of what, I don't know who said it, Einstein.
Starting point is 00:25:14 Man's greatest strength is not his intellect. It's his adaptability. And those guys can reinvent themselves because they're going to do the same great content over and over and over. Where they do it doesn't really matter. The only change, because I was chatting with them about this,
Starting point is 00:25:28 they can't swear on 820, so they just came off SiriusXM and they don't have to watch their words. Now they have to watch that. That's the footnote. That's, yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:38 Well, we can fucking swear if we want on this show, Jim. Well, you know, people ask me, do you swear on the podcast? And like I said, not gratuitously. If it comes up in context of the conversation, then what the hell? know, people ask me, do you swear on the podcast? And like I said, not gratuitously. If it comes up in context
Starting point is 00:25:45 of the conversation, then what the hell? Same here. I don't gratuitously swear, but if it punches up a statement a guest is making or whatever, I think it just enhances things.
Starting point is 00:25:54 Like, I won't just swear because I can swear. Authenticity is... Both episodes don't have swear words. Well, you know, I think all you have to do is it really, so iTunes podcast
Starting point is 00:26:01 is put explicit. Yep. And explicit could mean you say shit once in 92 minutes. Right. And they're not policing that anyways for what it's worth. But yeah, it's a courtesy for the parents, I suppose. You want to listen to it in the car with the kids in the back.
Starting point is 00:26:13 That's the courtesy. So why did I mention Humble and Fred? Because, okay, what were we talking about that I mentioned Humble and Fred? That's the second time. Oh, I can guess. We're all over. But no, but that's coming soon, my friend. But first, I brought up Humble and Fred. Oh, yes time I've lost. Oh, I can guess. We're all over the place. No, but that's coming soon, my friend. But first, I brought up Humble and Fred.
Starting point is 00:26:27 Oh, yes, I just remembered. So Humble and Fred had Jeremy Piven on through the phone. Jeremy Piven was promoting an appearance at, I don't know, he was doing something at Casino Rama or something like that. So he did a phoner with Humble and Fred. And Humble and Fred agreed to a condition. The condition was they weren't allowed to ask him anything about the Me Too allegations. There's several big, in the news, you could read about many Me Too allegations, I call them, against Jeremy Piven.
Starting point is 00:26:52 And Humble and Fred agreed to that. And then they had Jeremy Piven on, and they talked only about his, basically, entourage and stand-up stuff. Okay, that's it. And I was hearing this, and I found uh interesting because uh i don't think i would have jeremy pivot on uh with conditions like that and i feel like that's what gian gomeshi was dealing with with billy bob thornton i don't think there should be conditions like that personal things there are things like in fact we i cleared something with you before this podcast began because i wasn't going to go there if you weren't comfortable with it but that to me is
Starting point is 00:27:23 different i think there's nothing you should be uncomfortable with and you can deal with it. I don't think there needs to be any conditions. You can deal with it on the fly. In other words, if you said something that offended me or I didn't want to talk about, I could find a way quite easily to avert that road. Here's a topic I wouldn't
Starting point is 00:27:40 bring up unless somebody gave me permission or they were public about it. It would be someone's sexuality. Right. For example, I'm not going to out somebody on the show. Or I'm not going to talk. To me, that's a personal thing. And if you tell me you're okay talking about it or you're public about it, then I feel licensed to bring it up. I respect that. And outing someone
Starting point is 00:27:56 is unfair. It's almost criminal, I think. Yeah. Unless they've done something to hurt you in a way that's criminal. And then you feel like you want to get retribution. And also, once you do that, I think once you did that to a guest, you might not have many more interesting guests lining up to come into that basement, but I wouldn't do that. But we mentioned that because we mentioned you just met a lovely young lady.
Starting point is 00:28:17 Are you, are you, like, do you... I'm an 80-20. Okay, tell me what this is. What's 80-20? I'm an 80-20. Okay, tell me what this is. What's 80-20? You know, I have a proclivity to be fluid or pan, sexual.
Starting point is 00:28:33 I believe that we're all born with that proclivity. I believe that we're conditioned to like what we like, partly because of a personality in our DNA and who we are, but a lot to do with our conditioning. I believe that every man on the face of the earth has considered, at least in his own mind, if not spoken about, being with another man. I believe that. Whether it's a fantasy, whether it's a fleeting moment.
Starting point is 00:28:55 I mean, I don't know about you, but kids in the schoolyard, as I recall growing up in Oshawa, the number one slur, slag, jab that all little boys use was, suck my... Right. Right? Right. And they probably said it 42 million times while they were growing up. I think that they visualized that, either getting or giving.
Starting point is 00:29:20 And a lot of men still do. They may never act upon it. Right. But it's part of who you are it's it's in the the psyche it's in the mainstream now i'm an advocate for lgbt how could i not be and be a sensitive creative decent human being i think that those who protest it so vehemently um obviously you know that protest too much so i think I'm an 80-20. I go down that road sometimes.
Starting point is 00:29:48 I always have. And the thing is, I was afraid for so many years to be honest about it because I figured nobody would ever want to date me. I want to have a relationship with a woman. I prefer to have sex with women. Well, that's 80, right? The 80 is the woman? There's the 80. But I used to think no woman's going to want me if I reveal the other 20% of me.
Starting point is 00:30:10 So I didn't. Not as a way of, I'm going to hide this because I'm a dishonest person. Because of fear and back in the day, there was no advocates for LGBT in the mainstream. It was still pretty underground. So then I grew up and went, you know, I don't want to have anyone go out with me who doesn't accept and understand and believe in my value as a person with authenticity. It's just like the tattoo test, right? It kind of is that test. Yeah. You grow up and you think, I can be honest. And if they don't like it, that's okay. There's someone who will. And the great learning that I've had in the last two, three years is that it's incredible how many people, women, actually go, that's cool.
Starting point is 00:30:56 I like that. That's actually a turn on. Okay, cool. And some of my greatest experiences since becoming honest about it have been with women who think that way. Well, first of all, I'm happy for you because you should be comfortable in your own skin. And I wondered if maybe there's a rock, an old school rock culture that made you sort of... Probably.
Starting point is 00:31:17 I want to say stay in the closet, but it's fluid, right? You're not gay. Your sexuality is fluid. I believe that's true. You know, some days you want chocolate ice cream and other days you might try vanilla. You know, so I think I put my foot in my mouth not as bad as with Molly when I said she was diva-like. Not like that. But with Avery Haynes,
Starting point is 00:31:38 I think, so Avery Haynes is married to a woman. But she was married to a man for a long time and has children. And I think I made the mistake of asking her, My brain was stuck in some binary mode or whatever. It's long gone now. But I was thinking, oh, I was thinking some people are gay, but they're in a different sex relationship because that is the norms of society and religion or whatever. This is what they believe to be. They have to do, and there's pressure. So you can spend a long time in a different sex relationship and then sort of come out of the closet. I am gay
Starting point is 00:32:09 and then you go into a same-sex relationship. So I thought maybe that's what Avery experienced. And she explained to me the fluidity of this. And it totally makes sense now that I've reprogrammed myself. Of course, it can be fluid. And you described 80-20. So it sounds to me like that sounds to me like you're saying 80% of your lovers will be women and 20% will be men. Ish. Something like that. Yeah, there's no... You didn't keep a scorecard. There's no app for this. No.
Starting point is 00:32:35 This is 80-20. Well, you know, the easiest way to articulate it is 100 women on the street, I might be attracted to... Oh, what number? I'm curious now. It's like 10, right? I would probably say 20% of them. What street are you on?
Starting point is 00:32:52 Are you a York film? By comparison, 100 guys on the street, I might be attracted to two of them. That kind of thing. Very interesting to me. I cleared it with you before we started recording. Because I didn't know how public you were about it. By the'm glad. And I just, I cleared it with you before we started recording if I may ask you because I didn't know
Starting point is 00:33:06 how public you were about it or whatever. By the way, Avery Haynes always had a crush on Avery Haynes. What a beautiful woman and an adept personality, adept broadcaster.
Starting point is 00:33:16 I think part of her, the attractiveness of Avery Haynes to me, part of it is her intelligence. Like, I like a smart woman and Avery comes across as a very sharp tack. Sharp and confident.
Starting point is 00:33:28 And her sister's not too bad either in metric. Emily Haynes is her sister. I had no idea. It all makes sense now. Speaking of really sexually charged looking women, Emily, my gosh. Well, I'm happy to only discuss that if you wish. So there we go.
Starting point is 00:33:48 80-20. You would consider your sexuality as fluid. You're not going to label it with bisexual or anything like that. Well, you know, I've used that too. But fluid seems to be a term more consistent with now. Can you update us all
Starting point is 00:34:04 on what you alluded to earlier, which is that you can hear Jeff Woods' voice. I talk about you in the third person like you're not here. You can hear it on cue, right? Yeah, that's funny. The full circle moment as it relates to chorus. Tell me everything. You know, and you mentioned, and you're not wrong, well, technically, you said, you know,
Starting point is 00:34:21 Q107, let me go. It was the parent company, Chorus Entertainment, which I was with since the beginning, the early 2000s, and previous to that with WIC, Western International Communications, owned Q and 640, and Shaw owned The Edge, and they came together, and Chorus was born with all the other properties within TV and so on. When Chorus let me go, because they, you know,
Starting point is 00:34:44 discovered on their balance sheet that, oh my God, look at these people are making way too much money. You were making more than $35,000 a year, so this just can't be. I was making killer money because I had gotten into management and managed multiple properties across the country.
Starting point is 00:34:58 And then I got out of management and they don't reduce your pay even though your job has changed. So now i'm just doing a radio show on some special programming and making the salary of a manager and they went oh my god look how much we're paying this guy so they let me go put a target on your back very much so and i knew it was coming i mean i didn't didn't know for sure but i knew it was probable that that day would come and the day did come. So I'm out of the company.
Starting point is 00:35:26 But I'm still, and I lose the legends of classic rock, because when you are an employee of a corporation, they own that intellectual property. They own the name, they own the content. Similar to how the ongoing history of new music is owned by Chorus, not by Alan Cross. Yes, when they, so years ago, I was still with the company, they let Alan go.
Starting point is 00:35:41 And then Alan came back and then they let me go it's like they can't have two at the same time it's just too much money point being so I'm out of the company for a while now
Starting point is 00:35:51 I started up the new show which is the same show with a different name Records and Rockstars Records and Rockstars better name by the way Records and Rockstars well thank you
Starting point is 00:35:59 I like the alliteration of it and then Q107 Blair Bartram who now no longer works there oh we're gonna get to that. Good God. He calls me when he was still working there and he goes, you know what?
Starting point is 00:36:09 I really like the show you're doing now. I'd like to put it on cue. I just laughed. I said two things. Isn't that ironic? And you have to call my syndicator. The day before he called, I'd gone into a syndication deal
Starting point is 00:36:25 with Momentum Media Network out of Vancouver. And now we were splitting whatever revenue came in related to the show. So I had to defer to them. If he'd called a day earlier, I wouldn't. Then you would have pocketed more cash. Yeah, either way, it's not a ton of cash, but yeah. So I said, yeah, thank you for believing in the series.
Starting point is 00:36:44 And here's their number and I've been on cue ever since which is a couple of years now. And are you on any other chorus stations? That's the only one. The funny thing is
Starting point is 00:36:53 Dave FM which is one of their stations down in Cambridge, Kitchener Way. Right. They continue as of a couple of months ago to run old
Starting point is 00:37:00 Legends of Classic Rock episodes so I called them and said, you know, this thing hasn't been in production in three years. It's a disservice to the listener to keep running the same shows for years and years and years. And no one has, you know, typically at radio,
Starting point is 00:37:14 no one really has budget to do anything outside of their own four walls, typically. There are exceptions, and I'm in talks with another group of radio stations who would like to take my new series. And hopefully that'll happen this fall. So is there any other stations syndicating it yet, or is it just Q that's syndicating it? There's five stations taking it. One, oddly, I found a fan through the syndicator in, of all places, near Sturgis, South Dakota, Rapid City, South Dakota,
Starting point is 00:37:43 30 minutes south of Sturgis. Somehow they found out about my show and love it. They run it for two or three hours a week every Saturday. Wow. Yeah. Cool. Good for you, man. It's kind of great. Very, very cool.
Starting point is 00:37:53 The Fox. You record it from Thornbury. I record it from my little home studio in Thornbury. What more do you want, man? Let's live in the life. It really is. That's cool. Good for you.
Starting point is 00:38:00 Good for you. Thank you. Now, you mentioned Blair Bartram. Hell of a nice guy. One of the nicest guys. I only hear good things. I've never met him. And a really smart and a really funny guy. Derringer and he got along famously. I think because Derringer respected his intellect and his humor.
Starting point is 00:38:16 Well, there have been other changes. I don't know if you keep track of these things. Of course you do. But, okay, so let me see. Where do I start? Al Joines. Ever heard of that guy? Everyone gets fired.
Starting point is 00:38:29 It's just a matter of when, not if. Al got it. Andy Frost. That's a big one. He did leave briefly and come back. We like to forget that. Andy and I go back to the 80s. They hired me to help him with Psychedelic Sunday.
Starting point is 00:38:45 I knew that day would come too because we either all make too much money or we're not congruent with the vision of the corporation. Did he have a target like yours on the back possibly, Andy? Is that what happened there? It wouldn't have been the same target because I... You were in management. I was in management and he wasn't.
Starting point is 00:39:03 At some point, yeah. So there's been a lot of cue changes. They took Fearless Fred... because I... You were in management. I was in management and he wasn't. At some point, yeah. But that... So there's been a lot of cue changes. They took Fearless Fred... John Scholes, too. I don't want to forget John. Yeah, Johnny.
Starting point is 00:39:11 He was an intern when I first started at Q back in the 90s, came back to Q. And Johnny's a great guy, too. Listen, yeah, there's new management in chorus,
Starting point is 00:39:22 upper management. There's a new radio president. There's been four or five since I started there. And what happens is in every company, it's not specific to radio, you know this, Mike, people bring in the people they know. They're unfamiliar with the people that are in the chair. They want to bring in their own people.
Starting point is 00:39:38 That's why Blair was replaced by someone from Winnipeg who... Who's also doing Edge 102 program director. There's an ebb and flow on radio where we have two managers for two properties, then we get rid of one to save money, and we have one manager for two properties, and then we realize that's too much work for one person, then we
Starting point is 00:39:57 go back to two, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Fearless Fred has moved from 102 to Q. He's doing afternoons on Q now. I guess, and I like Freddy, my guess is they want to contemporize. They want to find a way to be successful now and tomorrow. And their fear is that what they're doing
Starting point is 00:40:18 isn't contemporary enough. We want to bring fresh blood into the radio station. And it has two effects. One, it does bring in some new audience. And two, it does alienate some of the older audience. But it's anyone's best guess. And radio people don't do a ton of research. They go with their gut.
Starting point is 00:40:35 Right. Right? Do you have any insider, do you have any friends on the inside who have tipped you off as to what the heck 102.1 is doing? Because they turfed the morning show and weighed from the weekends. And they moved Fearless Fred to Q, which means that right now there's a lot of key vacancies at 102.1. Yeah, I don't have the inside track on who and what and where. But it still comes down to new manager, new vision. The old manager might have had the greatest vision in the world, but the minute he or she was gone, the new manager's got the next great vision. The old manager might have had the greatest vision in the world, but the minute he or she was gone,
Starting point is 00:41:06 the new manager's got the next great vision. And none of them are really necessarily great. They're just their best guesses. It's like when you've got a new GM for your hockey team or whatever, you've got to put your stamp on it. That's exactly it. You've got to piss in the corner. So we'll see what Edge is up to. They used to always do this stuff in time
Starting point is 00:41:22 for the day after Labor Day, but I don't know if that's true anymore, but that used to be the tradition. The funniest thing about that, and I've always said this, and I allude to it in my book again, is radio is infamous, legendary for making changes and expecting people to notice, expecting people to care. We all have our habits from day to day. We do the same thing day in and day out,
Starting point is 00:41:44 without a lot of change unless there's a great reason to do it. And that's usually personal. Radio decides August 15th that they're going to break everything down and change it all up. And then, yeah, like you say, after Labor Day, it's all new. And then they wait for the great results to come in. And when the great results don't come in within 30 or 60 or 90 days, they're like, oh, I guess we fucked up. I guess we better blow it up again and try over. What they have to do, and Stuart Myers, the great radio programmer who made the Edge a great radio station in the 1990s. Stuart Myers is still in the business, a manager out west.
Starting point is 00:42:20 He always said, this is the most important thing radio people need to know. It's a goddamn marathon. It's not a sprint. If you're in it for the sprint, you're going to be disappointed. You have to develop this shit, make it work, be committed to it, and go with the two- or three-year plan. But nobody has the patience to wait for the money to roll in, and there's a reason for that.
Starting point is 00:42:41 It's shareholder returns. It's profits. Nobody can wait three years. It's quarterly. It's that. It's shareholder returns. It's profits. Nobody can wait three years. It's quarterly. It's monthly. It's weekly. It's funny you mention Stu because his daughter is the only personality at the edge who was not removed from the station
Starting point is 00:42:56 this last month. She's outstanding. She's one of the best. Carly Myers. She's a chip off the old block, as it were. She's a pro. She's funny. She's kind. She's hungry to be the old block, as it were. She's a pro. She's funny. She's kind. She's hungry to be great. And she is great. Cool. Good. So
Starting point is 00:43:11 we'll see. By the way, as a guy who writes about radio when not many other places do, here's what I can tell you. So they usually do these. They do let people go like mid-August, okay? Or early August, mid-August. They let people go like regulars. Then they do the news show will start off usually the day after Labor Day, but maybe the next Monday, but whatever.
Starting point is 00:43:28 But it's usually a couple of weeks into September when the masses realize that their favorite host is not on vacation. This happens every day. It happens like clockwork, I can tell you. So I don't know. Mid to late September, somebody will clue in. Oh, I haven't heard John Smith on
Starting point is 00:43:46 whatever, this station. That's not a vacation. It's been a long time. In the summer when you disappear, it's always assumed it's to go on a vacation or whatever like this. And then they're going to go to Google, and they're going to type in, for example, Jeff Woods Q107 fired or something like that. And they're all going to end up on my
Starting point is 00:44:01 website and my entry about this because in real time, I'll say, Jeff Woods let go from Q. What were they thinking? Are they stupid? And then these people will leave a comment like, I'm boycotting Q. They made a huge mistake. How dare you fire the great legendary Jeff Woods? That's how this will go.
Starting point is 00:44:20 That's how I discovered you. Am I right? Yeah. Somebody tipped me off. Did you see that piece, Toronto Mike? And I'm like, what? And they sent me the link. And I'm like, wow, that's a lot of nice support.
Starting point is 00:44:30 I've got to make sure I write nice things about people. This is how they're discovering me. No, just be real. That's right. I'm trying to be. Nice thought here from Jason Beattie. He says, no questions, but please let him know I'm looking forward to his audio book. I'm a Patreon supporter of it
Starting point is 00:44:47 and can't wait. Fantastic. Jason Beattie. So you did an audio version of your book? Well, yeah, it was always in the plan, so it took me a couple of years
Starting point is 00:44:56 to get it together. So I just finished the production. My producer, by the way, is the great Rob Johnson, who has long produced... You forgot the T in there. It's Rob Johnston. I like, and he pointed it out the other day, I think it's a soft T. Robbie J. Rob Johnson.
Starting point is 00:45:10 Robbie J. That's a strong one. I don't like Johnston, you know. And he's cool with that, because I've been saying special thanks to Rob Johnson in all of my shows, because he produces my Records and Rockstars series, and he's got no problem with it. He just kicked out the jams on the anniversary of Martin Streak's death. He came over and kicked out the jams. At the time he came over here, which was not very long ago, July,
Starting point is 00:45:32 he was a postal employee delivering mail for the post office. Another man who knows about adaptability. But there's significant change since then. Oh, I know. I know you know. He's back in the, he's got a pass to the chorus,
Starting point is 00:45:48 chorus key building again because he's on some podcasting team that Troy Reeb is building. Yeah, I mean, let's face it. Radio has come to the party, albeit late often, but years ago before Alan did, I did,
Starting point is 00:46:03 ran sort of the online division for Chorus Radio, and we started podcasts and we started blogs. Chorus was kind of first in all that, to really notice that it was important. That was back in 2005. I remember. Just now, people are starting to realize that what you do and what I do
Starting point is 00:46:20 and what lots of people do, podcasts, is a thing, a thing that needs to be looked at more closely, and radio's starting to do it. And so Robbie's joined that team, the podcast team. Because it sounds like he was doing work with you, but he continued to do what Alan would say, digital production by Rob Johnston. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:46:39 He continued to work just at nights and evenings. So he would deliver mail during the day, and then he'd do things for you and for Alan, I guess in his free time or whatever. Still does. The other night we were chatting cause he, he finished mastering my audio book and we put it to bed two nights ago and put it in for approvals at the publisher.
Starting point is 00:46:58 So we're waiting any minute, any day now for it to go to retail because it takes some time for them to do approvals. And Robbie did an amazing job on the audio. He's good at what he does, that's for sure. Now, Troy Reeb, are you friendly with this individual? I don't know Troy, but my syndicators are
Starting point is 00:47:16 certainly familiar with him. I just think if Troy's listening, or maybe Robbie J's listening, he could tell Troy to listen, but I don't... Would you be interested in some kind of a more formal relationship here with this new chorus podcasting division? Mike, I'm always interested in talking about opportunities, and that might sound a little bit...
Starting point is 00:47:36 No, but that's the truth. But it's true because I don't like giving things away because the problem is with giving things away is that it's not a matter of uh if it's a matter of when they decide it's not important anymore and i don't really want my podcast living on their servers so that six years from now they dump it all and then it's yesterday's business and then i have no equity well i have no content other than to reload 492 episodes i have it on my own website jeffwoodsradio.com,
Starting point is 00:48:05 and I prefer it to stay there. If they want to partner with me and share some sort of agreement, but I still want it to remain where it is. Smart. I just launched my own digital services company, and I'm doing other people's podcasts now. And yeah, own your shit, man.
Starting point is 00:48:20 You have to. Don't hand over any keys to any big conglomerates where you become like a number. You don't want to become like a line on some balance sheet because you're Jeff Woods, a creative person. You're an individual. I don't want to be considered milk. There's a shelf life to milk. I want to be me at least as long as I breathe.
Starting point is 00:48:38 Right, because after you stop breathing, who cares? You're not going to know what's going on. The tattoos have a shelf life, so does the radio career. That's right. Sock Theo, I hope I'm saying that right. This is his or her handle on Twitter. Ask Jeff what his favorite concerts were and what
Starting point is 00:48:53 artists were disappointing live. And then I'll just read the whole thing and you can answer what you like. How does he prefer to listen to his music, CD, vinyl, or digital? And ask him which artist was the most difficult to interview and how he, what you want to do. So there's a lot there. Please share what you're willing to share there.
Starting point is 00:49:10 Concerts, digital. Okay, let's start with records, because I've been going through my records and alphabetizing them. And have we told people you're here to kick out the jams? Oh, we're going to do that. That'll be fun.
Starting point is 00:49:20 I never told the people. So it's 10 songs, right? We're going to play your 10 favorite songs, and you're going to tell us why you dig these jams. I'm excited about that. We'll do fun. I never told the people. So it's ten songs, right? Ten of my favorite songs. We're going to play your ten favorite songs and you're going to tell us why you dig these jams. I'm excited about that. We'll do it. Let me answer that question first. I play a lot of vinyl at home. I also, I'm kicking
Starting point is 00:49:33 and screaming into the Spotify world, only because I love the idea of music discovery. Show me something that I don't know. Play me something that I don't know. Suggest something that I don't know. That's a wonderful thing. That's the reason for streaming for me. But otherwise, I like having a collection.
Starting point is 00:49:49 And I do have a collection. I've kept 500 or 600 CDs just because they're physical and they're there and if the world blows up and there's no more internet, at least I have that. I have vinyl records too, which I love collecting. The price has gone up so dramatically to buy used vinyl that it's a bit prohibitive. But I do still look for deals.
Starting point is 00:50:07 The other day I went to do a store and they found new vinyl going out of vinyl business sale. I got two $35 records for $14. Wow. So I bought them. That was wonderful. I have maybe 300, 400 records. I'm just slowly rebuilding my record collection because I used to have 20,000 records. When you move as often as I do, that's also a difficult
Starting point is 00:50:27 thing. Love playing vinyl. Got an old vintage Marantz receiver. I've got a newer turntable. I spin vinyl every day. But more often than not, I put my iPod on and hit shuffle and rediscover the 30,000 songs that sometimes I forget I even own. Sure.
Starting point is 00:50:44 Concerts, do you have a favorite concert? I have a couple. God, I'm going to forget the year. Earlier in the 2000s, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, when the brothers were still alive at Massey Hall. It was absolutely mind-blowing. Still, I mentioned earlier, the Sadies are my favorite live band. Seeing them play outdoors on the Mill Pond in Thornbury at Bridges back in like 2011
Starting point is 00:51:08 was a highlight of my life. These guys are the real deal. If you have not seen The Sadies, it could very well be your favorite musical output because they mean it. They live it. They sweat it. They bleed on stage practically. They're the best. They're the sons, Travis and Dallas, of the Good Brothers family. They live it. They sweat it. They bleed on stage, practically. They're the best.
Starting point is 00:51:25 They're the sons, Travis and Dallas, of the Good Brothers family. Oh, wow. I didn't know that. And it was Gord Downie's favorite band, too. Yeah. No, that's great. Any bands that you saw live that were super disappointing? Oh, tons. But it's not good to point out the crap.
Starting point is 00:51:41 Not even one? We can't get one? The one thing, and I love some of his songs. I love some of Dave Matthews' band songs, but I absolutely hate going to the concerts. I used to go to the amphitheater a couple times with friends. Would you go to see Dave Matthews? Okay. Because I want to see you, and we'll have beers.
Starting point is 00:51:59 But I've never seen a whiter audience. And I don't mean white versus black, but I kind of do. I've never seen a whiter audience. And I don't mean white versus black, but I kind of do. Just that boring, vanilla... I don't want to be in that room again. I've never been a fan. People, I've never...
Starting point is 00:52:14 Forget concerts. I've never been a fan of their recorded material. Like, very few Dave Matthews band songs I can even tolerate. I don't know why. They just never did it for me. Crash Into Me is kind of sexy. Lift Up Your Skirt and Show Me Your World.
Starting point is 00:52:29 Do they do Don't Drink the Water? Is that them? Christ, I don't know that track. Something where maybe Alanis is on that? I feel like Alanis might have been on that too. But I don't like going to the negative. But, you know, push to it. There I did.
Starting point is 00:52:40 It's all Sock Theo's fault. Last thing is you do a lot of interviews. In fact, I'm going to... You In fact, right after your answer here, I'm going to play a question from Brian Gerstein, who is a real estate sales representative with PSR Brokerage. He's a proud sponsor of the show. He asks a question about an interview you did.
Starting point is 00:52:58 But did you have a Molly Johnson experience? No, but I'll tell you one thing. And this is live and learn. Years ago, and I was a fan of, still am, Steve Earle. Oh, I listened to him last night. He didn't do anything wrong. Okay, good. I did something wrong.
Starting point is 00:53:15 So here it is. It's like 11 a.m., which is kind of early for an interview in the music business. We're at a hotel in Toronto somewhere, probably four seasons. We're chatting. we're at a hotel in Toronto somewhere, probably four seasons. We're chatting. And mid-chat, like 10 minutes into it,
Starting point is 00:53:30 the woman, the hotel rep, rolls in a cart, a buffet cart, into his suite. It's loud and it's kind of interrupting, but I carry on. What I should have done, because I could just tell he was salivating. He was like, you know, the cartoon character with a fork and knife.
Starting point is 00:53:45 And I should have said, hey, why don't you eat and then we'll resume the interview. But I was so stuck in my, you know, radio head that I've got a schedule to keep and the mics are already on. And I kept talking to him and he was so distracted and so hungry for his breakfast that he couldn't focus and he didn't give me much. He did give me something, though. It was so great. He talked about the value of the Beatles and why the Beatles were so incredibly famous. And it had to do with recording, in Steve Earle's mind.
Starting point is 00:54:16 It had to do with how hot, that is, how it was recorded. Those songs were recorded at peak level without over-modulating. It was burned onto the tape, as Steve put it. And to him, that was the value of the Beatles' recordings. how it was recorded, those songs were recorded at peak level without over-modulating. It was burned onto the tape, as Steve put it. And to him, that was the value of the Beatles recordings. And I didn't disagree.
Starting point is 00:54:30 Well, you got that, which is, that's gold right there. That's never left me. Since you mentioned Steve Earle, I have to share that. Last night, so this is like,
Starting point is 00:54:37 I don't know, 10-ish last night, my daughter was at her friend's and I said I'd pick her up because I'm borrowing a very large automobile. You might have saw it on the driveway,
Starting point is 00:54:44 but General Motors has let me a Yukon XL Denali, which is massive. That's all I could see when I came down the street. I thought, somebody famous must be in here and that's their ride.
Starting point is 00:54:54 That's me. That's me. I'm famous. But I only have it for a week. I have to give it back. But I'm planning some road trips. But anyway, last night I went
Starting point is 00:55:01 and picked her up in this. And this car has Sirius XM in it, which I don't normally have. And I'm listening, the station I'm listening to is, believe it and this car has Sirius XM in it which I don't normally have and I'm listening, the station I'm listening to is, believe it or not, it's Outlaws Country it's called.
Starting point is 00:55:10 My buddy down the street says you have to listen to Outlaws Country. What do you think? I was shocked by how much I loved it and I was listening so I'm listening
Starting point is 00:55:15 it's late at night and I'm picking up a dime and I'm listening and Steve Earle is on and he's talking about his favorite songs from 1970. This is what Steve Earle and I was thinking in my mind, I'm thinking he's kicking out his favorite songs from 1970. This is what Steve Earle,
Starting point is 00:55:26 and I was thinking in my mind, I'm thinking, he's kicking out the jams by year, and I'm like, oh, I can do that. And I love that shit anyways. That's why I do it. I love it. I can't wait to kick out the jams with you. This is my favorite thing I do of Toronto Mic'd.
Starting point is 00:55:37 And I'm listening to Steve Earle and his stories, and he's playing music. He's playing some Crosby, Stills, and Nash. He's playing, there's some Neil Young he's playing. He's playing,. He's playing some Crosby, Stills, and Nash. There's some Neil Young he's playing. He played James Taylor. I think Sweet Baby James came out. And he was playing these songs. And I'm loving what he's playing,
Starting point is 00:55:53 but I'm clinging to every word he says about these songs. Steve Earle has so much knowledge and so much integrity and so much talent. I love everything he does. And he's in The Wire. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, he's Waylon in The Wire. Cool.
Starting point is 00:56:09 And he's in a lot of, the creator of The Wire, even though Molly thinks it's her brother, the creator of The Wire is a guy named David Simon. And he puts, I think he puts Steve Earle
Starting point is 00:56:18 in like everything he does. He's in Tremie. He's in, I've seen him in everything Steve Earle shows up. But I love The Wire. There's a box set right there. Yeah, it's an amazing show. I plan to read the seen him in everything. Steve Earle shows up. Love The Wire. There's a box set right there. It's an amazing show.
Starting point is 00:56:27 I plan to read the liner notes and everything. Steve Earle's in there and I think he's great. There's our Steve Earle. I'm glad you mentioned his name because he was top of mind from listening to him on Outlaw Country last night. He was fantastic. No more questions for you.
Starting point is 00:56:44 I'm going to play that song. Sorry, song. that question from Brian because it ties in nicely with your interviews. You've done many, many big-time interviews. Let's hear from Brian. Propertyinthe6.com Hi, Jeff. Brian Gerstein here. Sales representative with PSR Brokerage and proud sponsor of Toronto Mike. You or Mike's listeners can reach out to me directly by call or text at 416-873-0292
Starting point is 00:57:14 for all of your real estate needs. Jeff, I'm a huge fan of the band and of your many awesome rock interviews you did, one was with them, but I couldn't find it on YouTube. Was it with the whole band, or just with Robbie, who always took the limelight and was a spokesperson? I love Robbie, as the band never would have lasted as long without him, kind of like McCartney keeping the Beatles together longer than their shelf life, but at some point resentment builds in and things tend to fall apart. I am curious what you personally think of Robbie Robertson. Did he take advantage of the rest of the band financially, or was he just looking after himself properly while the rest of them just wanted to party? Wow.
Starting point is 00:57:56 Mike, thank you. I'm a big fan of the band. Remember I mentioned the Sadies a few minutes ago? Yes. So when I met, i'll preface with this when i met travis uh on the uh on the grass next to the pond at bridges tavern in thornbury i knew he was a fan of this band known as the band right i so i went up to him and said travis nice to meet you i'm jeff my wife put this show on good to have have you here. I said, what are your three favorite bands?
Starting point is 00:58:26 He said, well, Jeff, I'll tell you. The band, the band, and the birds. And the birds. I thought that was cool. I have interviewed,
Starting point is 00:58:37 I've got a long history with the band in that I've interviewed Robbie and Garth Hudson. I think that Garth Hudson is on YouTube. I did that Garth Hudson is on YouTube. I did that in a video at the Chorus Studios a few years ago, and Garth played for me. He played the piano. It was amazing.
Starting point is 00:58:54 Robbie I interviewed a number of times over the years, the last being at Chorus. That interview with Robbie is in my book, Radio Records and Rockstars, which is available on Amazon right now and paperback, and if you email me through... But people want to... They're waiting for this spoken word version.
Starting point is 00:59:11 The audio, yeah. Robbie did not make the audio book. I didn't think the quality of the audio was sufficient to go into the book. But you could just read the transcript and we'd all be happy. Yeah, well, you can read the transcript in my book, right?
Starting point is 00:59:26 Your voice, but it's all good. Well, that's funny because Robbie said to me, he goes, I could do what you do. I sound like you, or you sound like me. It was cute. I like Robbie a lot. Yeah, yeah. But his question about,
Starting point is 00:59:38 did Robbie take advantage of the other guys financially? Not solely Robbie, but Robbie and Albert Grossman, the manager, Dylan's manager, the band's manager. There were certainly some business meetings that only Robbie and Albert were in. And the way the paperwork went down
Starting point is 00:59:57 left the band, the other members of the band, out of dealings they rightly should have been in, in my estimation, in an estimation of hundreds of thousands of band fans around the world. Whenever Robbie's name comes up online, you see the hate and the venom around the fact that the other guys in the band got stiffed financially as compared to Robbie. I love the whole true mythology, if you will, like the whole Ronnie Hawkins, not my Ronnie Hawkins, the other Ronnie Hawkins,
Starting point is 01:00:30 Ron Hawkins and the band and Dylan and this whole universe. All stories about it I find fascinating. I just recently had John Donabee on this show. I know John, yeah. At Q107. Yeah. But he was close personal friends with Levon. And I just got Levon
Starting point is 01:00:50 stories from John and then unbelievable. I loved Levon and his daughter Amy Helm is great. Keeping the Levon Helm name alive. I tripped down on my motorbike to Woodstock, New York, Bearsville, that whole area and went to one of the midnight rambles
Starting point is 01:01:06 when Levon was still alive. Went in and saw him play in his house, his studio, next to the little lake. You couldn't drink, which made sense because it's an intimate venue. They don't want people loud and leaving to the bathroom every four minutes because they had nine beers.
Starting point is 01:01:22 But everyone's smoking weed by the little lake, everyone who partakes. And then the performance was amazing. But years before that, in the 90s, the band, as they were called,
Starting point is 01:01:33 was still with Rick and, no Robbie, Rick and Levon. I got to meet Rick Danko, who was one of my favorite bass players. What a voice.
Starting point is 01:01:42 And Levon, and after the show, Levon said, Jeff, come. Want to meet everybody? what a voice. And Levon, and after the show, Levon said, Jeff, come. Want to meet everybody? Such a country gentleman, right? And so I went on the bus
Starting point is 01:01:52 and he got me a drink and he was the most hospitable dude you'd ever want to meet. And what a drummer. And what a singer. Love it. The band. So I'm glad we got some... I'm glad Brian asked the band question. I get you talking about the band.
Starting point is 01:02:07 Brian's sweet. Thanks, Brian. Brian's a big music fan, but he's also a big tennis fan. And I believe as we talk, maybe today, I hope I got this right, but he's going to the U.S. Open
Starting point is 01:02:16 in New York. He's a big tennis fan. Do you want a funny little story about tennis? Of course. I mean, we're going all over the map. The blue color of the tennis courts, U.S. Open,
Starting point is 01:02:24 and I think Canadian Open, the blue's going all over the map. The blue color of the tennis courts, U.S. Open and I think Canadian Open, the blue's been adopted as the color. In my town of Thornbury, Ontario, there is a guy named Jerry Sprackman. Jerry Sprackman owns, is it called Rebel now? Used to be the Docs. Yeah, that's Rebel. It was called...
Starting point is 01:02:39 It's been called three things. Yeah. Docs and then something else and then Rebel. Docs, I thought that was separate. Oh, maybe it was a separate place. Same building, though. Yeah. What was it called before Rebel? What was it called before Rebel? It was not that long ago. I can't remember.
Starting point is 01:02:53 Max Webster played there. I didn't look at the Public Enemy shirt because I caught them there like five years ago. We'll remember as soon as the mics go off. So Jerry Sprachman, he's probably 85 years old now. He owns everything in the world. Almost. So I sawachman, he's probably 85 years old now, he owns everything in the world, almost. So I saw Jerry's tennis court, and it's blue, right? I go, oh, cool color, right?
Starting point is 01:03:12 He goes, do you know why the U.S. Open has blue? He goes, because of that court right there. He said one of the tennis upper emperors was at my house visiting, and they saw my blue court and next minute you know everything's blue
Starting point is 01:03:29 I just remembered the name it was the Sound Academy of course it was right well done it would have
Starting point is 01:03:35 driven me crazy I wouldn't be able to focus on your jams if I didn't do a little cheating here is this the special intro no this is for this is The Fixer by Pearl Jam because a little cheating here. Is this the special intro? No.
Starting point is 01:03:46 This is for, this is The Fixer by Pearl Jam because census, design, and build, if you're not going to buy and or sell with Brian, he's a beast. If you're ever looking
Starting point is 01:03:54 to move back to the big smoke, Brian's your guy. You know that. Sounds like. But if you've got to fix up your home, census, design, and build provide architectural design,
Starting point is 01:04:04 interior design, and turnkey construction services across the gta i don't know if thornbury is the gta i don't think it is but you never know you should go give him a call find out 416-931-1422 or go to censusdesignbuild.ca today to schedule your zoning and cost project feasibility study. By the way, earlier I read a question of somebody who's a Patreon of yours. Do you want to tell people how they can become like a Jeff Woods patron? Well, you know, I did a GoFundMe for the audiobook
Starting point is 01:04:43 to produce it, and people were hugely responsive to the tune of like $9,000. And I don't have a GoFundMe up right now. Oh, I hear you. So it's not Patreon. It was not Patreon as such. It was a GoFundMe. But everything I do is JeffWoodsRadio.com, including a link to the audiobook the minute it's available at retail in all usual audiobook retail locations. I was going to piggyback on your, as you promoted your Patreon, I was going to say, while you're in there giving Jeff, you know,
Starting point is 01:05:13 a hundred bucks a month or whatever, chip in a little money for me too at patreon.com slash Toronto Mike. Cool. Oh, you know what I brought for you? What, you brought me something? Yeah. I have to get it out of the car. It's a Records and Rockstars with Jeff Woods t-shirt which soon comes to retail too.
Starting point is 01:05:27 Are you kidding me? Do you know the Rubber Soul album by the Beatles? Of course. That font though, that faddle, 70s looking
Starting point is 01:05:35 but actually 60s font. I adopted that font for the Records and Rockstars logo. I will wear it all the time. I'm wearing today just for the first time.
Starting point is 01:05:43 I got a brand new Lost Indie City Pete Fowler. Oh yeah wearing today, just for the first time, I got a brand new Lost Indie City Pete Fowler. Oh, yeah, Pete, right. Yeah, Pete OPP. I want to get his title right. Sergeant? What is he? But he does the Lost Indie City, and he sent me the brand new white t-shirt, which I'm wearing in our picture.
Starting point is 01:05:57 Mine's like black with bright orange like rubber sole. Oh, dude, I can't wait. Don't forget. Don't drive off. Medium? Medium is my size. I hope I got a medium. I think I have a medium. I'm hoping Oh, no, dude, I can't wait. Don't forget. Don't drive off. Medium? Medium? Medium is my size. I hope I got a medium. I think I have a medium.
Starting point is 01:06:08 I'm hoping so too, buddy. Oh, before Pink Floyd runs out here, I want to talk about Paytm. So what I will say, I'm going to say more about them next week because they're doing a whole refresh and I have some good details about it.
Starting point is 01:06:18 But Paytm is how you pay all of your bills. So if you go to Paytm.ca and download the app for your smartphone, you can easily set up so you make all your bill payments. You can put all your bills. So if you go to paytm.ca and download the app for your smartphone, you can easily set up so you make all your bill payments. You can put all your bills on your credit card. I put them all on my MasterCard to get the President's Choice money.
Starting point is 01:06:33 But it's super convenient. I seriously pay every bill with Paytm. But you can get $10 right now if you use the promo code TorontoMike when you make your first bill payment. So use the promo code TorontoMike and they'll give you $10 in paid TM cash that you can use towards any future invoice.
Starting point is 01:06:51 Jeff Woods. I love that laugh too. I don't even want to talk over it. Jeff Woods, are you ready to kick out the jam? Let's do it. Oh, yeah. When we came so close to love before Hold on Good things never last Nothing's in the past
Starting point is 01:07:33 It always seems to come again Again and again Again and again Again Again, again and again, again Cry out to legions of the brave Time again to save us from the tempers of the street Ride out, protectors of the realm Captains at the helm
Starting point is 01:08:05 Sail across the sea of life Circles and rings Dragons and kings Weaving a joke and a spell Blessed by the night Holy and bright Called by the Tower of the veil
Starting point is 01:08:30 Bloody angels Fresh descending Moving on They've never been denied Black Sabbath Neon Knights That'll wake them up. You know, that's a perfect rock song.
Starting point is 01:08:48 There was a time I worked at a rock station and they decided that was too heavy to play anymore. So I kept playing it. Smart. That was 1980, right? Dio's first album was Black Sabbath, replacing Ozzy Osbourne, who'd effectively been fired. I can see
Starting point is 01:09:06 the devil horns now. Dio was a great interview too. I interviewed him on Q107 some Saturday afternoon when he was in town playing a concert in the late 80s. And we talked about that record, Heaven and Hell. I just think it's a perfect production. And the funny thing
Starting point is 01:09:22 about that song, Neon Nights, to me is that it was the last to be recorded for the record they didn't have enough songs and oftentimes when there's not enough songs lucky man by emerson lincoln palmer is another one becomes the song to define the band for many people you're so it's so true we need i mean there's a lot of examples of exactly that where we need one more song okay and that song becomes like the big hit single. I think it's the pressure. I don't know. And bands are the least likely to know what their best songs
Starting point is 01:09:51 are going to be. The ones they think are going to be the hit or the tracks that really matter aren't usually. And the ones that are throwaways or castaways, not even a consideration,
Starting point is 01:10:00 are the ones that really kill. And that's one of them, Neon Knight Sabbath. I love it. I think that concert, I think it was 89 because I was working the C&E the summer of 89 and I remember at the grandstand, Ronnie James Dio, and I still remember I used to work the game booth
Starting point is 01:10:13 and you could tell who was at the concert by the kind of crowd that was showing up. It was a Ronnie James Dio crowd that night. I loved him. Rest in peace, Ronnie James. He's the littlest man on earth with one of the biggest voices. Tiny guy. I loved him. Rest in peace, Ronnie James. He's the littlest man on earth with one of the biggest voices.
Starting point is 01:10:26 Tiny guy. What a voice. That's from my buddy Brian McKay. We used to listen to this album endlessly in his house when his parents were away, drinking bad wine.
Starting point is 01:10:47 So it takes you back? Oh, God, it really does. That's part of it. It takes me back, but the way it was produced, so crisp and clean and perfect in 1980, I think it sounds as contemporary as anything you could play right now on the radio. All right, this is kind of related.
Starting point is 01:11:01 So there was an album. I'm trying to get the right one. What's the album? Okay, so Ozzy Os So there was an album. I'm trying to get the right one. What's the album? Okay, so Ozzy Osbourne had a solo album. The one about, you're coming home, there's blood on the walls, and Charlie and his family made health,
Starting point is 01:11:15 blood bath in paradise. And I think it had Miracle Man on it too. Anyways, there was something about the devil. They're all about the devil. 90s, 90s Ozzy. This is 80s Ozzy. 80s Ozzy 80s Aussie I don't remember that one
Starting point is 01:11:26 so this was the album at my buddy Joe's house I still don't remember his home it was near like near kind of like where Dundas and St. John's kind of meets in like Little Malta
Starting point is 01:11:38 anyway he used to play it at like 11 like the stereo went to 11 and that album would play and the Aussie was like a wall of sound it was just so loud
Starting point is 01:11:46 and every time I hear anything I'll still put on something from that album just because I'm back in that living room listening to Ozzy you know what I mean? When Blizzard came out and then Diary and Bark and I was kind of done after that
Starting point is 01:11:58 and then he sort of came back for me in the 90s Ozzy's just a gem isn't he? I don't know that song though yeah yeah anyway Bloodbath in Paradise I think is the name of the jam I'm thinking of about Charles Manson in the 90s. Ozzy's just a gem, isn't he? I don't know that song. Yeah. Anyway, Bloodbath in Paradise I think is the name of the jam
Starting point is 01:12:07 I'm thinking of about Charles Manson. Oh my God, there's a TV series about Manson on right now, Aquarius. Is it good? It's not great
Starting point is 01:12:15 but it grows on you and then you start thinking it's great. I like that shit. I'll check that out. Because it goes back into Dennis Wilson and Terry Melcher
Starting point is 01:12:22 and all those cats. I was going to say, right, because famously Guns N' Roses recorded a Charles Manson song on the Spaghetti Incident, like a hidden track or
Starting point is 01:12:29 something like that. So he was a wannabe beach boy. That's right. All right, let's play this. Oh, I like it. I like it a lot.
Starting point is 01:12:42 Oh, yeah, I picked it. I was going to say, I hope you like it, buddy. And Phil, you can talk over the music. I'll try to shut up until a certain point, but if you want to talk, we'd love to hear you. A little bit. Here comes the clock and time for lunch. Bum-de-dum-de-dum.
Starting point is 01:13:02 When the sun beats down And I lie on the bench I can always hear them talk There's always been Ed Lowe She could wake up We've got a tiny yugum now And there Mr. Lewis Isn't it time that he was out on his own Over the garden wall
Starting point is 01:13:28 Two little outfits Could go to you Keep them moving, they'd show I know what I like And I like what I know Getting better in your wardrobe Living one beyond your show Genesis.
Starting point is 01:13:58 1973, man. Wow. What's the full title of this song? I Know What I Liked in Your Wardrobe. Peter Gabriel era With the first charting Genesis hit Not a huge chart yet But who cares Thank you. And I like what I do
Starting point is 01:14:45 Getting better in your world Stepping on beyond the shore I know what I like And I'm not what I know Genesis is a fascinating band because how often do you see bands kind of have like change up a lead singer and kind of continue to maybe have more success, dare I say?
Starting point is 01:15:20 There's a handful, you know, obviously ACDC. Black Sabbath, we just played. Maybe you only like bands that change up their lead singer. I've done shows about that on my radio series. Bands that actually not only survived, but thrived in the loss of their lead singer. Genesis being one, but I like going back pre-Phil Collins. I mean, Phil was playing those drums, and there's not drums that sound better than that on record. But Gabriel's voice to me
Starting point is 01:15:46 is, it's Bowie Gabriel, Gabriel Bowie. Those are my favorite male vocalists. Just the tone and the quality and the range of his voice is astounding. A song that is a song about a guy who
Starting point is 01:16:02 was happy just to be a normal guy. Rather than, you know, ascend great heights. I can just cut lawns for a living and be happy with that. Or be a roofer. Or be a roofer. Or paint houses, which I do from time to time. You gotta pay the bills. I might have a gig for you. We for you. I only work up north now.
Starting point is 01:16:29 All right. That's the life. Yeah, that's the sound of a Mellotron, that crazy instrument in the 60s. The Beatles used it, the Moody Blues used it before them. It's a little keyboard and you hit a note and it activates a length of recording tape, old school tape, which has the sound of anything in
Starting point is 01:16:55 the symphony or the orchestra. Very cool. That's the shit. Bury me in those fun facts. Don't hold back. Don't hold back. I think everybody needs to try a Mellotron. It's kind of freaky. Here comes another beauty. And forgive me, I'm getting mellow.
Starting point is 01:17:20 We started out with Neon Nights, which led you to believe it's going to be heavy-ass, kick out the jams, but really, my favorite songs tend to be a little lighter, atmospheric. I just got those chills up my spine. This song just melts me. Looking out the door, I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners. Parading in the wake of celebrations as their shoes fill up with water.
Starting point is 01:18:31 Maybe I'm too young. To keep good love from going wrong. But tonight. You're all my mind So I never know Broken down and hungry for your love But no way to feed it Are you my child? You know how much I needed Too young to hold on
Starting point is 01:19:19 Too old to just break free and run Sometimes a man gets carried away He feels like he should be having his fun But much too blind to see the damage he's done. Sometimes a man must wait to find a Billy who has no one. So I wait for you and I'll burn. Will I ever see your sweet return Oh, will I ever learn Oh, oh, oh, oh, lover
Starting point is 01:20:16 Should have gone over It's not too late Damn it, Jeff. This is beautiful, buddy. Isn't it ridiculous? Lover, you should have come over. Jeff Buckley. Buckley.
Starting point is 01:20:36 Buckley died at the age of 30 in 1997. He was good friends with Chris Cornell. In fact, Chris and Jeff's mom, Mary, got together and took the songs Jeff was working on upon his death and put an album out called Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk, which is a double album set that featured largely nearly finished songs that Jeff had been working on and some sort of demos, but really refined demos.
Starting point is 01:21:09 So we got to have two more records from Buckley, even though he only put one out in his lifetime, and that's a song from Grace, 1994's Grace. Columbia Records. I worked for Columbia shortly after that came out, Mike. And nobody cared about Buckley. I shouldn't say nobody, but very few people
Starting point is 01:21:31 had discovered Buckley before his death. We gave away so many copies of Grace just to spread the word because as a record label employee, we wanted to spread the word to the artists we love so much and Buckley was the top of that list
Starting point is 01:21:45 when we worked with Columbia. So get this. Yeah. Fade that down a bit. I hate talking over Jeff. It's almost sacrilege. Jeff's mom was doing press around sketches, the record that she put out after he died
Starting point is 01:22:05 that she put together with Chris Cornell. She called me from L.A., and we spoke on the phone for about an hour, and I kept that interview, and it's in the audio book. And it's one of my favorite conversations because as she speaks in memory of her son, you can hear the tears. Wow.
Starting point is 01:22:27 And she was so graceful and so sweet and so kind. So we did the interview. And I made a special, and it ran on Q107 in the late 90s. I went to my boss, Pat Cardinal, rest his soul. And I said, you don't know who Jeff Buckley is, do you? He goes, no. I said, no, not many people do. But here's the thing. He just died. I want to do a radio special. I said, you don't know who Jeff Buckley is, do you? He goes, no. I said, no, not many people do, but here's the thing.
Starting point is 01:22:46 He just died. I want to do a radio special. I said, I get it. It's Q107. We play stuff that's pretty familiar generally, but I think this guy deserves, and I said, I'll do a contest to prove to you there's fans out there that get this guy. So I did a snail mail contest.
Starting point is 01:23:01 I said, write in and tell me why you love Jeff Buckley. And I'll send you a guitar pick, an 8x10 glossy photo, whatever I had related to Jeff. And I sent all these prizes out. And I promoted this special. And we did a 90 minute special with that interview and with songs from both Grace,
Starting point is 01:23:19 the record from which that comes, and from Sketches, all these posthumous releases. Awesome. And people loved it. I played it at midnight, you know, late night. It's a great late night sound. Well, many people will say the definitive version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is on this album.
Starting point is 01:23:36 Yeah, it really is. And I could have gone to that, but I wanted to play something that maybe people hadn't heard before. So, Lover, You Should Have Come Over. It was a song written about a real-life story of a breakup with a girl that he was seeing. Beautiful, beautiful. And that's amazing that you were given the license to do a 90-minute special.
Starting point is 01:23:55 Because that is a bit off-brand, I want to say, for the Mighty Q at the time. Arguably, it was. But, you know, two things. I thought, it's after midnight. So, there's no ratings after midnight technically. So if I needed that, I used that. And the show went off quite beautifully and people seemed to really enjoy it.
Starting point is 01:24:14 And there was probably confusion. You know what? They thought this was Jeff Beck. They thought there was going to be a Jeff Beck. That's what happened there. Maybe. Well, that's like Beck Hanson, the artist. People hear about Beck. old school people are like,
Starting point is 01:24:26 hey, that doesn't sound like Jim Beck. That's right. The last jam kicker kicked out a Beck Hanson song for what it's worth, just a small world story there, Sea Change by Beck. Oh my God, this is my favorite Beck album. That is a beautiful record. Yeah, and so that was played last time.
Starting point is 01:24:41 Oh, and by the way, did you see this? Is it here? What's that? Did you see... Oh, my God. Does this mean anything to you? What do you see in my hands right here? Well, I remember that store, but...
Starting point is 01:24:52 This is a real deal. This is a vintage Byway bag. Byway. So you're going to give me a T-shirt, which is amazing. And the last guest, Cam Gordon from Twitter, who kicked out that Beck song,
Starting point is 01:25:02 he gave me this Byway bag. That would make a good T-shirt. Yeah, you're right. If you know what I mean. And I think you do. You're right. By the way, I tweeted a picture of this Byway bag yesterday and it got a lot of traction. People love nostalgia, right? It was a discount-ish store, was it not? Like a Bargain Herald
Starting point is 01:25:19 kind of deal. It was definitely discount department store stuff. Yeah, that's Byway bag. Let's move on to another Jeff Woods jam. I listen to this once a week at home. It sounds like Marvin Gaye could have done it.
Starting point is 01:25:47 But it's not Marvin Gaye. If only you believe in miracles, so would I If only you believe like I believe, like I believe We'd get by If only you believe in miracles So would I I might have to move Heaven and earth to prove it to you baby So we're making love
Starting point is 01:26:41 I feel the power I feel the power I feel the power And there's really nothing we can't do You know we could, you know we could If we wanted to You know we could, you know we could We could exist on the stars If it's so easy
Starting point is 01:27:04 Now baby, oh we gotta do get a little faith in you oh I've been so many places I've seen something I know love is here keeps holding this world together ain't nothing better
Starting point is 01:27:27 ain't nothing better than all the answers to our prayers yeah it's the same everywhere it's just the same now nothing ever breaks at the heart of the world of Jesus
Starting point is 01:27:43 it is the same now then you're right where I found you Thank you. Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, Only our bodies were apart That was so easy So easy I had a taste for the real When I went out on the road Only you believe Only you believe I believe we could find Only you believe, my God, believe we get by. If only you believe, if only you believe in miracles, so would I.
Starting point is 01:28:53 If only you believe, my God, believe we get by. If only you believe, if only you believe in miracles, so would I. Jefferson Starship Miracles. It's another example of a song that a member brought to the table and the other band members were like, eh, that's kind of weird. He goes, no, trust me. And that was the highest charting Jefferson Starship song,
Starting point is 01:29:31 pre-Starship when the band just turned into it. Before they built this city. Oh, good God. That was the end for me. But this was 1975, the Red Octopus record, and to me, six minutes, 52 seconds. They did an edit for the
Starting point is 01:29:45 my first question was because I remember as a kid hearing this on radio and there must have been so Chum A.M. would have played the edit I think
Starting point is 01:29:52 there must have been a radio edit I think but the reason they did the edit wasn't just because it was so long the line just went by
Starting point is 01:30:00 that said I had a taste of the real world when I went down on you yeah no I heard that line I went down on you yeah no I heard that line yes yes
Starting point is 01:30:06 down on you girl right only James had the radio hit late and it has that line she only comes when she's on top
Starting point is 01:30:16 and I always thought that was how did that come to me that's amazing that got by because it's kind of I know it's
Starting point is 01:30:23 double entendre that's the trick you gotta be cute. Marty Balin in The Jefferson Starship. That was another deal, true life story about a woman he was in love with, and he believed in it, clearly. This song, I hadn't heard it in a long time before it showed up in your list. Like, it's been a long time since I heard Miracles,
Starting point is 01:30:43 but all these memories keep flushing back. It's such a... It's so quintessential 70s listening to the radio on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I love it. It's a little wimpy. People are like, yeah, he's playing some wimpy songs,
Starting point is 01:30:55 but you know what? It's those lighter ones that seem to really strike a chord emotionally. The rock songs are just rock songs, right? And Jeff, this is what I like about kicking out the jams is you kind of have an idea what somebody you're going to get a bunch of this and then you're expecting this
Starting point is 01:31:10 and you get something else and that's what I like about it. Good, yeah. I think it's a great feature. I think Steve Anthony kicked out the jams and I remember as I'm playing his jams because this would have been one of the heavier jams for Steve Anthony.
Starting point is 01:31:20 Oh, wow. And I remember being pretty surprised like he had a Sade in there and stuff, and it's like, okay. He was a super, like, he's like a yacht rock kind of guy, too. And I'm like, okay. That's what Steve Anthony is.
Starting point is 01:31:33 And it's all good. It's all good. Yeah, yacht rock. I love that expression. Yacht rock and dock rock. Yacht rock is big right now, but it's mainly Chicago, I noticed, or no, Doobie Brothers, Chicago,
Starting point is 01:31:52 there's sort of Yacht Rock bands. 70s Americans. If I had to pick a country that the most great music came from, it would be a toss-up for me between England and America. America, because great music came from. It'd be a toss-up for me between England and America. America, because the blues came from America, but England because, man, post-British invasion,
Starting point is 01:32:11 just so much that, as little Stephen put it, that bulge between 68 and 73, that era, is unbeatable. It's really unbelievable. Yeah, from The Who to Zeppelin to Stones, Beatles. I mean, oh my God. You can go on all these major rock bands. These iconic rock bands all come out of that little island. What's that about? What's in the water over there?
Starting point is 01:32:34 Let's get it tested. Here's a jam. By the way, you gave me the wrong title for this jam. I know. I thought of that this morning, but I knew you were sharp enough to get it right. Only slightly wrong. Just wrong enough that I knew what you meant, and get it right. Only slightly wrong. Only slightly. Just wrong enough that I knew what you meant, and that's what matters.
Starting point is 01:32:48 But let's hear it. Now for something completely different. This sums up my life, so much of it. Wait till you hear the words. Go! Then tell me that I'm satisfied Are you satisfied? Are you satisfied? Look me in the eye Then tell me that I'm satisfied Are you satisfied
Starting point is 01:34:06 And it goes So Slow it off Everything I've ever wanted Tell me what's wrong Look me in the eye And tell me Ever wanted Tell me what's wrong Look me in the eye and tell me That I'm satisfied
Starting point is 01:34:40 You're satisfied Look me in the eye and tell me that I'm satisfied Now are you satisfied? Satisfied replacements. Are you satisfied? I am more now than ever. But so much of my life I was unsatisfied as it related to relationships. And I remember discovering that Replacements song in the late 80s. It was from 1984.
Starting point is 01:35:17 The only band with balls enough to call an album Let It Be. I was going to say, yeah. After the Beatles, right? That does take a pair. Paul Westerberg. I think when he goes someday, he'll be regarded in the way that Alex Chilton from Box Tops is regarded.
Starting point is 01:35:33 Just one of those songwriters that songwriters aspire to be as authentic and passionate as. And you can hear it in that song. It's a rough and ready recording, obviously. It's not that refined, but the intention's solid. And also, sometimes I like it when
Starting point is 01:35:47 it sounds a bit raw. Like, if you're over remastered and it's too pristine. And even the, you're right, even the vocal delivery, it's just like, I just went in the studio and that was like take one and he had too many cigarettes that day and it was a little off, but it was good.
Starting point is 01:36:03 Like, would you want Tom Waits to have a, you know, a pristine voice? That's a good example, right? No, no, no. Or you. If you came in here and you sounded like an opera singer,
Starting point is 01:36:12 I'd kick you out of here. Get out of here. Welcome to my program. You can't even do it. Replacements were a pretty cool band. Had a ton of great records. It's one of those bands worth discovering.
Starting point is 01:36:20 Minneapolis, St. Paul area band that so many other bands. I remember seeing, remember Goo Goo Dolls became a massive band in the 90s? Yeah, with Iris and all that. Yeah, yeah. They early opened for replacements
Starting point is 01:36:32 at the concert hall and it was a triumph. That was an amazing trip. Different lead singer too, right? Because John Resnick took over and they had the big hits. But wasn't the other guy singing before that? Johnny was there then.
Starting point is 01:36:42 He was there, but I don't think he was. I think there was another guy in the band. Robbie, the bass player, and Mike, the drummer, but I always remember Johnny singing. Maybe it's my memory.
Starting point is 01:36:50 Maybe there was early days of Goo Goo Dolls. I remember maybe they took turns singing or something. Maybe you're right. Yeah. I love Goo Goo Dolls. I like bands where multiple guys
Starting point is 01:36:59 can do the lead singers. You don't know which one you're going to get. Sloan's a good example, but the Beatles. Sloan's a great example. No better example than the Beatles. Sometimes you don't know which one you're going to get. Sloan's a good example, but the Beatles... No better example than the Beatles. Sometimes you don't even know that it's George and not John and Paul. Even Ringo sang
Starting point is 01:37:11 a couple of good ones. Some of the greatest Beatles songs are George Harrison songs. Here Comes the Sun and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. George's songs almost made it into this kick out of the jazz. Ten songs. Stuff off of All Things Must Pass. Are you friendly with
Starting point is 01:37:25 Mike Stafford? I am. He says Harrison had the best solo career of any Beatle and kicked out a George Harrison song. I can't blame a guy. I was John, John, John, John, John my whole life. Only in the last 10, 15 years I've
Starting point is 01:37:41 become more of a George fan. There's an Instagram account that I encourage everyone to follow called That Eventuality. And it focuses on George with really great stories. And a lot over the last few years about his relationship with Tom Petty. They were best friends. And they had the best things to say about one another. And Tom says that George was the funniest guy he ever met. And you always hear about the quiet Beatle.
Starting point is 01:38:06 He said there was nothing quiet about George. He had something to say about everything, and he was never afraid to tell him. Petty's an unsung hero in rock, because he's always just there. Even in the Sirius XM, when I'm flipping around, every other station's playing a Petty song. Not just the Petty station.
Starting point is 01:38:20 He's got a station or whatever. And he was always there, always consistently great, but never got the kind of like, he never got the same, I don't know, like Bruce Springsteen or whatever. He was never on this echelon of A, but he was so good. He always showed up.
Starting point is 01:38:36 And I think people sort of just got used to him being there and expected him to be there forever, which is really a reason why I think everybody was so shocked when he died. He was out of the blue. It did seem out of the blue. It did seem out of the blue. Now, you mentioned that you're now satisfied.
Starting point is 01:38:51 May I pry a little further here? So what changed? Like you mentioned off the top the 20-80 thing that you're comfortable in, or 80-20. You're more comfortable in your own skin, I feel. That's a huge part of it. Accepting who you are. But not only that, starting to make better choices. An ex-girlfriend of mine wrote me a couple of weeks ago. We were back and forth about some things.
Starting point is 01:39:14 Were we ever. And she said, it's about time you started getting honest with yourself about your choices of who you're going to go out with and why. I was always super attracted to edgy girls with lots of tattoos and I never went out with any of them. I don't know why. I always kind of went safe. Interesting.
Starting point is 01:39:32 And now that I'm making different choices, it just feels so much better. I was living a really safe life when I had my first number of marriages. So how many marriages have you had? Four marriages, three divorces. Four marriages, three divorces.
Starting point is 01:39:50 But you're separated right now, or what's the status? None of my business? Yeah, legally separated. The funny thing is my fourth wife, Lori, she's an amazing woman. But we never should have, you know? She just moved to Colling calling wood 20 minutes down the street from my place in thornbury yeah she's one of the great event planners of the country and she just started up the very first uh dinner dinner the white dinner denis en blanc oh i've
Starting point is 01:40:16 heard i've in calling i've heard about this well they're all in the world yeah they started in paris started in paris but now the very first one in... And it's like a mystery where it is and stuff. Yeah. And of course, people are assuming... A lot of rules, you wear white. People assume that I'm going to go, and I think it's a wonderful event,
Starting point is 01:40:33 but me all in white, that's a beach thing. Yeah, and you've got to do it too because you can't be that guy who came in his black t-shirt to go white. You can't be that guy. I have an unrealistic fear
Starting point is 01:40:44 of shitting my pants while wearing white. It makes no sense. Well, then don't wear white for all of us, please. Let's kick out another Jeff Woods jam. If you don't know who this is, you're gonna.
Starting point is 01:41:08 You're gonna. Okay. Sake and strange. You'll make it. Passion. Takes him away to war. Don't fake it. Sadness and the strings. Don't fake it Selling the sand or strings You'll make it Ooh We'll level out insane
Starting point is 01:41:56 Battle cries and champagne Just in time for sunrise Ooh We'll never Let it Say Motor Sensation On
Starting point is 01:42:11 Paris Or maybe Hell I'm waiting Batches of Saturn In my hands Wait for
Starting point is 01:42:22 Aladdin Saying You'll make it Ooh, we'll love a light insane Millions we can fountain Just in case the sun rises Ooh, we'll love a light insane We'll love Aladdin Sane.
Starting point is 01:42:47 Love Aladdin Sane. Aladdin Sane. David Bowie. We're fading it now, but if you don't have that on record, or get it where you stream or whatever you need to do, 1973, Aladdin Sane was the record. That was the title track. And this piano just goes off like insanity.
Starting point is 01:43:12 The piano player was Mike Garson. And I met Mike, I'll tell you how and where, and it was a trippy thing. David said to Mike, I want you to do a solo on this. Like, I want this song to be dominated by your piano. And Mike started doing some stuff. And David was like, no, no, no, no. I want you to do it because I know the way you sound.
Starting point is 01:43:32 It's weird. It's offside. It's outside. I want it to sound the way you sound. Don't try to do anything to please me. Do who you are. And it's off the goddamn hook. It's the most insane.
Starting point is 01:43:45 It's nice and low in the background here. Yeah, it's so pretty, right? Think about this. It's the mid-70s. Well, it's actually 73. I pick a lot of music from the early 70s. It's 73. Bowie's in his mid-20s.
Starting point is 01:43:57 That's a pretty sophisticated and outside-sounding song for a guy in his 20s, to me. Is this an album he recorded in Berlin? Is this part of the coked-out Berlin years for David Bowie? Pre-that. Pre-that, okay. Berlin came later in the 70s when he and Iggy were living over there after they escaped the U.S. to get away from their cocaine-induced haze.
Starting point is 01:44:17 This was early 70s. This was just after David went back from America to England after the Ziggy tour. He took a ship back to England and I think it was on that ship that he wrote Aladdin Sane. It's an inspired choice to be, let alone forget your top ten, but to be, this is my
Starting point is 01:44:36 favorite David Bowie song. I bet you you could interview right now a thousand people and say, name your favorite David Bowie song and I bet you, I'd be surprised if one person picks Aladdin. I think so. It had a lot to do with Garson's piano, because I'm a piano player too, not to that degree.
Starting point is 01:44:52 Who is? So I was in Chicago in the late 90s to interview Smashing Pumpkins, to interview Billy at his studio. I just saw them. And people warned me, Billy's a bit weird, it might be difficult, and it wasn't at all. He quickly understood that I was a huge Pumpkins fan from the first album, Gish. And we got along like a house on fire.
Starting point is 01:45:11 And after the interview, I walked into the outer area of his studio, and I see a guy over there with headphones on at a piano. And I'm like, holy shit, that's Mike Garson. That's the guy that played piano. Wow. So I strolled over and I'm like, holy shit, that's Mike Garson. That's the guy that played piano at Aladdin Sane. So I strolled over and I gave him like 10 feet because he was working. And he looked over, kind of smiled,
Starting point is 01:45:32 and took his headphones off, and he motioned for me to come over. And I said, I just want to say hello and say how much I loved your work with David Bowie. It was so great that you're going to be on the Pumpkins tour. Billy respected his work on Aladdin Sane and hired him, and he hired John Mellencamp's drummer,
Starting point is 01:45:49 to go out and be Pumpkins live. Wow. It was pretty great. I just saw them in, I saw the Pumpkins. How was it? Well, way better than the last time I saw the Pumpkins. The last time I saw the Pumpkins was 2000
Starting point is 01:46:03 on their farewell tour at Molson Park in Mary. They were closing out Somersault. Remember the Somersault? I do, yeah. Oh, God, I forgot about that. Yeah, but the Bill had it. Foo Fighters was on there and Our Lady Peas, of course. So maybe after that,
Starting point is 01:46:16 I was so disappointed by the pumpkins. Billy didn't seem to give a shit. No encore, which I think is a dick move for the headliner, but played very few hits, if you will, and changed things up just enough that you couldn't quite recognize the song. I was so disappointed, but then I saw them recently at the what's it called now? Scotiabank Arena.
Starting point is 01:46:36 That's what it's called now, by the way. They keep changing the names of our arenas, but just like the Sound Academy. Hey, throw $20 billion or something and you get your own name. There you go. But I was very pleased. I was surprised at how good they sounded.
Starting point is 01:46:49 Well, you know, the greatest, the most creative types in the world are there to lay this and to let us down. And you never know which one you're going to get.
Starting point is 01:46:57 Right, right. Now, you know, when David Bowie passed away, I'm sure you got, I mean, just when, the day Aretha Franklin passed away is the day Aretha Franklin passed away
Starting point is 01:47:05 is the day Molly Johnson came over. And she was telling me her phone was blowing up because everybody wants to talk to Molly Johnson about the death of Aretha Franklin. And Alan Cross, he's been here a few times, he kicked out the jams. And it's like, if a modern rock musician like Billy Corgan dies, heaven forbid,
Starting point is 01:47:22 but if that happens, Alan's phone blows up and he's got to do a million different spots or he wants to do them anyway. I envision it's the same with you. Quite often, TV stations and radio stations and different outlets have called when something
Starting point is 01:47:36 happens, something tragic like that or a big tour. Pick somebody. I hate to do it, but let's say David Crosby passes away. I don't like doing that stuff. I'll do it on my own show. I have a show. I'll do a tribute on my own show. I'm not there to work.
Starting point is 01:47:51 And people would say, well, arguably, it's good for your brand. Go on CBC or whatever. I think that's what the thought is. And I'm like, no, you know what? My brand will be fine. If you want to hear Jeff Woods' opinions, you have two places you can go. You can go to the Jeff Woods podcast. That's where you should go.
Starting point is 01:48:05 And then come here. I'll make you come here when the greats die. That I would do. This is cool. Long drive from Thornbury, but we'll do it. Well, you're not living in a soundbite world. Those things are like they chop 18 seconds out of your answer. I'm not doing that for you.
Starting point is 01:48:18 They want 90 seconds. Tell me 90 seconds on why David Crosby was important to the world of rock and roll. But that's not fair to anyone. And they'll play a little clip of a song, and you'll be out of there. And I'm not into that. I'm into some in-depth sharing with the audience, some depth. Well, let's put it this way. We have four jams to go, and we're at an hour and 48 minutes.
Starting point is 01:48:38 Shocking. Oh, my goodness. Okay, let's kick one out. guitar solo She lifts her skirt up to her knees Walks through the garden rows with her bare feet laughing I never learned to count my blessings I choose instead to dwell in my disaster I walk on down the hill
Starting point is 01:49:49 through grass grown tall and brown and still it's hard somehow to let go of my pain on past the busted back of that old and rusted Cadillac that sinks into this field collecting rain Will I always feel this way? So empty So where this is changed
Starting point is 01:50:29 Wow, right? Beautiful. This is empty. Ray LaMontagne. That was from his second album back in 2006. It was called Till the Sun Turns Black. I discovered Ray late because his first album, Trouble, came out in 2004. And it was the summer of 2007. I was going through a really bad breakup.
Starting point is 01:50:59 And I stumbled on this album. And there's a chapter in my book called The Album That Saved My Life. And I don't mean that flippantly. I mean, I listened to that album like six times a day for about four months. And knowing that someone had it way worse in breakups and heartache than me was sort of solace.
Starting point is 01:51:22 Sure. I mean, Ray LaMontagne sounds like his heart was ripped out, stomped upon, stuffed back in his chest. Repeat. And that song empties, certainly. That line,
Starting point is 01:51:34 I never learned to count my blessings. Still, I dwell in my disasters. And I lived a lot of my life doing that. You know, dwelling on the past and not moving forward. Sounds like he did too. Yeah, it's good to know you're not alone, right? It's a human quality.
Starting point is 01:51:52 Like, you're not alone. Feels good. There's a relatability. You can't listen to happy songs when you're in the shit. You have to listen to something relatable. Ray did a record a couple years ago. He's had one since. called Ouroboros. That's the snake that eats its own self head.
Starting point is 01:52:11 There's a symbol for it. And this Ouroboros record by Ray, it sounds like every Pink Floyd record. It sounds like he listened to every Pink Floyd record. And this is a compliment, by the way. Who doesn't love Floyd? And then wrote an album. And yet I can't find an interview anywhere where he talks about the influence of Pink
Starting point is 01:52:29 Floyd. And I mean, it's Dark Side, it's metal, it's The Wall, it's 60s Floyd. It's astounding. But he talked to you, right? No, that's the crazy thing. I wrote about him not even having had an interview with him because I respect and admire him so much for his artistry. It's the one person I need
Starting point is 01:52:47 to sit down with. I feel like we can make this happen. You're Jeff fucking Woods. I think he's reticent to get too deep into the meanings. He really does. But I should try. It might be a careful what you wish for.
Starting point is 01:53:04 You don't want to meet your heroes. It can be dangerous. But all those records are great. It might be a careful what you wish for. Yeah, you don't want to meet your heroes. Remember that. It can be dangerous. But all those records are great. He's got a pile of them. But that one in particular, Till the Sun Turns Black. Nothing but good things.
Starting point is 01:53:13 But this is a guy I think, I'm sure he's still flying well below the radar. He's one of those critical darlings. Yeah, but if he comes and does Massie or wherever he plays usually theaters they sell that in 14 seconds I mean
Starting point is 01:53:27 he has a big enough following that where are the guys who would typically go to Massey Hall where are they
Starting point is 01:53:32 going now are they going to like the Danforth Music Hall it's a great point well Roy Thompson redid some stuff so that's
Starting point is 01:53:38 Sony Center for Performing Arts is still there Sony Center is great too yeah that is great venue I'm trying to
Starting point is 01:53:42 think of where you go if you're not going to do the amphitheater or whatever. Whatever they call them now. Speaking of changing names, that's the Budweiser stage.
Starting point is 01:53:49 I refuse. I mean, I get it. Yeah. Mercy. I'm calling Mercy. It's too difficult to keep track. Even the Rico Coliseum where the Marlies play. Even they are now.
Starting point is 01:54:01 I hope I get it right. I don't even know if it matters. But the Coca-Cola Coliseum or something. Oh, boy. I still call right. I don't even know if it matters, but the Coca-Cola Coliseum or something. I still call Sky Dome Sky Dome. I still call, well, ACC's hard because that was also planned. Well, the Sky Dome's a no-brainer. We built that thing for half a billion bucks. That is Sky Dome, okay?
Starting point is 01:54:15 But the ACC's always had a corporate name. Yeah. Well, amphitheater's still the amphitheater to me. The amp. There's no p in amphitheater. FYI. I think it's a radio. How do you say the city we're in amphitheater. FYI. I think it's a radio. How do you say
Starting point is 01:54:26 the city we're in right now? It's Toronto. It's a soft T. It's kind of fun. You don't find it fun sometimes to nail that second T.
Starting point is 01:54:35 I know this is very unpopular opinion. Maybe I told you the story last time of Colleen Rushong was a great Oh, tell me because she's
Starting point is 01:54:41 kicked up the jam. She has? Yeah. We used to be together years ago. Do tell because she's a beautiful woman. Oh, tell me, because she's kicked up the jam stand. She has? Yeah. We used to be together years ago. Do tell, because she's a beautiful woman.
Starting point is 01:54:48 Of course she is. Like all the woods women. Of all the girls I brought home to my parents, she was the favorite. They still talk about her. Sweetheart.
Starting point is 01:54:57 And my brothers, they all love her. I have a crush myself. How can you not? Yes, absolutely. You know, when I met her, it was 97
Starting point is 01:55:05 and the first week of 1998, she was working AM640, and I was APD at Q. Right. And I saw her in the hallway after her morning show, and I said, have lunch with me, or have dinner with me. And so we did. And we were together about four years.
Starting point is 01:55:22 She's happily married now, as you know. But what was my point? Toronto. Toronto, Toronto. She was on the air on 640 with Larry Silver and that morning show. She would say Toronto. And I said, and then she was working on Q,
Starting point is 01:55:39 so I had a vested interest in managing. And I said, Colleen, drop the hard tea. And she was reticent to do so. She argued with me a bit, which is fine. I love her passion. I said, no, it's just, if you're from here, it's Toronto. If you're from here, it's Toronto. This is what I'm told.
Starting point is 01:55:55 I'm from here. That's what I'm told. It's not Maryland. It's Maryland. It's not New Orleans. It's New Orleans. Right. So it's like that.
Starting point is 01:56:03 Gotcha. By the way, I can't wait to play this jam. What a great fucking song this is. Let's kick this out. Yeah, yeah. Get some tempo back into the kick out the jams feature. This is my favorite driving song.
Starting point is 01:56:22 You got to open the windows for this and turn up the volume. Start speeding. That's groove right there, that's groove baby guitar solo Well a tickle in lived down about an hour ago Took a look around, they went with a wind blow With a little girl in a Hollywood bungalow Oh, you were like a little lady in the city of life
Starting point is 01:57:23 Are you a lucky little lady in the city of life? Or did you not lost in your city of night? City of night City of night City of night Woo! Go! Thank you. L.A. Woman L.A. Woman L.A. Woman's on the afternoon
Starting point is 01:58:22 L.A. woman, Sunday afternoon L.A. woman, Sunday afternoon L.A. woman, Sunday afternoon Chide through your suburbs Into your blues Into your blues, yeah Into your blues, blues, blues Into your blues Oh, Jeffy, L.A. Woman, The Doors. There's another example, like Bowie, like Gabriel.
Starting point is 01:58:57 He does not sound like a man in his mid-20s. Jimbo was like 27 then. He sounds like a grizzled old rocker. Younger, right? Because he dies at 27 You know what? This album came out three months before he died Is that right?
Starting point is 01:59:10 Is he 27 when he records this? That's crazy, right? Yeah, it's crazy And you know, their producer had given up on them They didn't want him, not given up But he was just tired of making records with the Doors So the engineer, Paul Rothschild, did the record And he put them all in a room together.
Starting point is 01:59:26 Jim actually sang those vocals in the bathroom because he loved the echo in there, natural reverb, right? And Mr. Mojo Risen. I mean, that in itself is brilliant because that's an anagram of Jim Morrison. Oh, man. You know, I didn't know that. Yeah, you write out Jim Morrison, then pull out the letters Mr. Mojo Risen.
Starting point is 01:59:44 Mr. Mojo Risen. Hold on, I absolutely love this song. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, you write out Jim Morrison, then pull out the letters, Mr. Mojo Risen. Mr. Mojo Risen. Hold on, I absolutely love this song. Oh, I do too. Midnight alleys roam. It's just all groove. Cops in cars, the topless boss, never saw a woman so alone. So alone. I saw a woman so alone, so alone, so alone, so alone Motel money, letter madness
Starting point is 02:00:18 A chain of moods, glad, and saddened So cool, man. Mr. Mojo Rising Mr. Mojo Rising Mr. Mojo Rising Mr. Mojo Rising Got to keep on rising Mr. Mojo Rising Mr. Mojo Rising Mojo Rising
Starting point is 02:01:44 Mr. Mojo Rising Hold your rises Got to hold your rises Ain't no hold your rises You got to keep on rising Riding, riding Come riding, riding Come riding, riding Got to ride to ride it, ride it. We're going to ride it, ride it. We're going to ride it, ride it. Hey, ride it, ride it.
Starting point is 02:02:12 I got one, yeah, right. Oh. Yeah. What a trip, yeah? It's got it all. And I got to give props because maybe I was, I grew up a very big Billy Idol fan, okay? Yeah. I thought he was the coolest guy.
Starting point is 02:02:38 Like, man, that greatest hits he had, Vital Idol it was called. That's right. I played that every day, Vital Idol. And I like that live version of Money, Money cover. But at some point he has a comeback where he covers this song. He did a good job. And I thought he did a great job. Billy, isn't that unlike performance-wise?
Starting point is 02:02:58 Jim, obviously he wasn't as... That's a bad... I apologize for that. Oh, don't worry about that. I apologize too, Jim. By the way, I've been to his grave site in Paris to pay my respects, Jim Morrison.
Starting point is 02:03:09 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of people have and it's one of those pilgrimages that means a lot to a lot of people. Billy, by the way,
Starting point is 02:03:17 I won't say her name, but a friend of mine rode Harley with Billy in L.A. a couple of years ago and said he was an absolute cool-ass gentleman. Oh, good.
Starting point is 02:03:26 But on the flip side of that, let me give you this quick one. My old friend Claudia Neff from MCA, used to be called MCA Records, became part of the Universal group. She was a rep for Billy Idol back in his heyday when he was probably... Like Rebel Yell or... Yeah, back in those days.
Starting point is 02:03:42 White Wedding stuff, yeah. And a little later than White Wedding. But he was lying on a couch in a green room or backstage or whatever, and he called her a C-U-N-T. And Claudia clocked him in the side of the head, and nobody in the room lifted a finger. Nobody in the band, nobody in the crew. He had it coming.
Starting point is 02:04:02 But we all have our bad days, and certainly rock musicians had lots of theirs. Now, in his defense, he had it coming. But, you know, we all have our bad days and certainly rock musicians had lots of theirs. Now, in his defense, he's British and that word is less volatile over there. It totally is.
Starting point is 02:04:12 They drop it on radio stations. Although what you call your female record label rep in another country. It's totally disrespect. He deserved that. Let's kick out another jam. Two to go.
Starting point is 02:04:40 Play me a song. Play me a song. Thank you. I got what I wanted and you showed up I got what I wanted and it's never enough I drove out to the white trash beach On a brief vacation I felt freer than I had in a long time I wondered if it's cause you were gone You were gone You were gone I got what I wanted when you showed up I got what I wanted and it wasn't enough
Starting point is 02:05:42 I got what I wanted when you showed up I got what I wanted, it's never enough Pete Yorn, Paradise Code. The way I can tell you about Pete Yorn, because not a lot of people know his name. He's had more than half a dozen records out, and the latest one he did again with Scarlett Johansson. They have this collaborative relationship. Pete Yorn was signed to Columbia, as was Jeff Buckley,
Starting point is 02:06:11 as was Bruce Springsteen, as was Bob Dylan. So I have an affinity for him just for his Columbia days. So years ago, my ex-wife Lori, the Collingwood girl, she was, I don't know why, but she's working at House of Blues concerts.
Starting point is 02:06:27 And there was a party at which Pete Yorn was attending. They were playing pool. It was probably one of the bars downtown Toronto. And so Pete was a new artist then, late 90s. And he goes to Lori, is that who I think it is over there? She goes, yeah. He goes, oh my God, Chris Murphy from Sloan? So Pete Yorn, out of the US, is this huge Sloan fan, it turns out.
Starting point is 02:06:54 And to him, Chris Murphy was the pinnacle of Canadian rock superstardom. You think you can introduce me? She goes, yeah, I know. He goes, wait, though, I gotta call my friend. So he picks his cell phone up, calls his friend. He goes, Chris fucking Murphy's here from Sloan. Can you believe it?
Starting point is 02:07:10 I'm going to meet him. I love that. I love that, too, because that's a gentleman who came to my home and sat in the seat you're sitting in, Chris Murphy. And I love hearing
Starting point is 02:07:20 the Canadian rock stars being recognized. Being recognized as icons. Yeah. So Pete Yorn, that goes back to his fourth album was called
Starting point is 02:07:28 Back and Forth, F-O-U-R-T-H. He had a band on that record. Previously, he did everything himself. That song is Paradise Cove.
Starting point is 02:07:37 And I played that song. This might sound super weird, but I just got hooked on it. I do this with songs. Yeah. I played it every morning for no less
Starting point is 02:07:45 than three years it was the way i started every day coffee and that song is that sort of like a mantra type thing is it sort of it was yeah and i got what i wanted when you showed up got what i wanted but it wasn't enough kind of the story of my life. Making these rash decisions about getting into relationships and then going, what have I done? You've got to get to know somebody before you choose them. And I would choose them based on a photograph.
Starting point is 02:08:15 And then I would idealize them. They must be the perfect woman because they certainly look perfect. It's backwards. It sounds like you tap into lyrics like that and it essentially becomes a mantra of sorts where you might get somebody might wake up and do some kind of a om some kind of a mantra or whatever and you you tap into that in music they the poetry you're right oddly the songs
Starting point is 02:08:36 remind me of my mistakes but they also just the sound of them and a lot of them i'm just noticing from listening to what you're playing back to me, is that there's always a nice, strong bass line, whether it's Jerry Sheff from Elvis' band playing on L.A. Woman, or it's the sound of the bass in that song. I always find L.A. Woman, if you kind of just listen to the music,
Starting point is 02:08:58 it sounds like an Allman Brothers tune, you know what I mean? Like it's got sort of an Allman Brothers tune. That melody, that sort of epic and rolling bass line with the melody and the strong guitars. And it sounds like it could go on forever. It really does sound like you could jam in the middle of that
Starting point is 02:09:10 and that could easily be a great 20-minute song. Yes. Like a Roadhouse Blues or something like that. Yes. Are you ready? Oh, by the way, there's a Robbie Krieger interview in the audio book. Robbie Krieger, the great bottleneck slide player
Starting point is 02:09:22 from The Doors. Sweet man. Wrote Light My Fire. He's got stuff to tell you about Jim Morrison in the audio book. Robbie Krieger, the great bottleneck slide player from The Doors, sweet man, wrote Light My Fire. He's got stuff to tell you about Jim Morrison in the book. I bet you there's stories about Jim, yeah.
Starting point is 02:09:31 So we're coming down to the top song, and this might surprise some people because it's a simple, big, bad hit, but it's a song for all seasons
Starting point is 02:09:40 and all ages. Seems like yesterday, but it was long ago. Jane, it was lovely. She was the queen of my night. There in the darkness with the radio playing low And the secrets that we shared The mountains that we moved Caught like a wildfire out of control
Starting point is 02:10:21 Till there was nothing left to burn and nothing left to prove and I remember what she said to me how she swore that it never would end I remember how she held me oh so tight wish I didn't know now
Starting point is 02:10:44 what I didn't know then. Against the wind. We were running against the wind. We were young and strong. We were running against the wind. Bob Seger, Against the Wind. It's a perfect song, really. I will never forget I recorded that in Toronto. He tells me this story about it in the book, which is really cool. He's cool to hear in audio form because he remembers it like it was yesterday. That song, by the way,
Starting point is 02:11:34 what was the song we were just talking about? Not this one, Against the Wind, but the Bob Seger song you just mentioned. Night Moves, right. Has been kicked out by a few jam kickers. Oh, good. That's a popular choice. It's such a beaut.
Starting point is 02:11:44 But Against the Wind, for me, he said, you know you've written a career song when you see it on coffee mugs. That line, I wish I didn't know then what I didn't know now. I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then. Well, you know it's a definitive piece of American music when it appears on the Forrest Gump soundtrack.
Starting point is 02:12:02 Right? That's a great point. Bob's a sweetheart. I gotta say, who is it? I want to get the right guess. Actually, you know who it was? You mentioned you're a Raptors fan. Well, Brad Faye sometimes. He's a Sportsnet guy. You sometimes see him at Raptor games, doing the telecast
Starting point is 02:12:18 for Sportsnet. And he took a road trip. I think he took Damien Cox with him, of all people. And I think they went to Detroit or something because Bob Seger was closing some... He was playing off some venue there. I can't remember the exact details. But Seger, like
Starting point is 02:12:34 this guy, such a treasure. Turn the page, whatever. So much great music. A songwriting treasure. I mean, we've got Tonight that other artists covered. What a perfect song. He had a way of assembling the finest musicians,
Starting point is 02:12:51 both on the road and in the studio, and certainly producers. The Muscle Shoals rhythm section he used. What a gem. And that Floyd Kramer-esque piano, that rolling piano. A lot of classic sounds rolled into a song. No, it's great. 1980 the year for that piano, that rolling piano. It's just a lot of classic sounds rolled into a song. No, it's great. 1980 the year for that one, Against the Wind.
Starting point is 02:13:11 I think Glenn Frey and Don Henley helped with vocals, backing vocals on that. Is that right? I think, if memory serves. I'm still running against the wind. Against the Wind They're old friends, right? Yeah, I hear them. Just, I know, I mentioned, I listened to Steve Earle last night at Outlaw. Against the wind I'm still running Against the wind I'm still running Against the wind Against the wind
Starting point is 02:14:11 Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind
Starting point is 02:14:23 Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind
Starting point is 02:14:24 Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind
Starting point is 02:14:24 Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind Against the wind and Bob Seger. There's something about those guys. I always put them in the same class. Well, yeah, both American songwriting heroes, treasures.
Starting point is 02:14:28 Not dissimilar voices, too. Like, they got a bit of sandpaper going on. I like that in the vocal quality. I would have loved to have met, could still do,
Starting point is 02:14:36 Chris Thompson. Yeah, you can still meet him. But me and Bobby McGee, so my daughter, my 14-year-old, I'm playing, he's singing. It's his version.
Starting point is 02:14:43 She's underwhelmed by it. You know, she's only 14. What does she know? But I'm like he's singing it's his version she's underwhelmed by it you know she's only 14 what does she know but I'm like okay you need to hear the Janis Joplin version
Starting point is 02:14:50 I dare you to be underwhelmed by the Janis Joplin anything Janis did oh my god oh man that was really fun you know what I'm gonna do
Starting point is 02:15:00 I mean not to steal any thunder from this cause this is I'll steal I give you permission I won't have time in an hour-long episode. I'm going to make that into a radio show.
Starting point is 02:15:09 I'll do a new version of it. It's too much music, though, for an hour, if you play the full-length version. Yeah, you need the free-form, podcast-only freedom, if you will. And I don't want to cut down... Did I say freedom? You know, freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. That's the most dangerous person in the world, right? Someone with nothing left to lose.
Starting point is 02:15:31 Yeah, that's exactly right. And the way I always phrased it, I always said, yeah, the person who's out of fucks to give. Yes. Don't put a knife in their hand. Right. But on a lighter note, the best podcast guests, they're out of fucks to give. They just tell it like it is.
Starting point is 02:15:49 That's real talk, my friend. This was a distinct pleasure to be here again. Thank you. The pleasure was all mine. I can't believe I got Jeff Woods to come over and we not only got to hear your 10 favorite songs of all time,
Starting point is 02:15:59 but we got to hear you and your voice in real time tell us why you love the song. I loved this, so thanks so much, buddy. And I'm getting that T-shirt, right? I'm going to go to the car now and get it. And we've got to get that photo so I can show people my new Lost Indie City shirt, and we can see your John Lennon shirt.
Starting point is 02:16:15 And I'll take the beer. Enjoy, enjoy. And that brings us to the end of our 370th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Jeff, you're at JeffWoodsRadio. JeffWoodsRadio.com JeffWoodsRadio.com
Starting point is 02:16:30 And on Twitter, you're JeffWoodsRadio. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. PropertyInTheSix.com is at Raptors Devotee. Speaking of the Raptors. And Paytm is at Paytm Canada. But here, I should have been more clear at the event on September 12th
Starting point is 02:16:48 one of the bands performing is the Royal Pains who played the first Toronto Mike listener experience and they're fantastic and they're available you can hire this band they're tremendous live Jeff if you're there on September 12th you'll hear them but follow them at the Royal sorry at Royal Pains
Starting point is 02:17:04 band and send them a message and Al will get in touch with you. Book the Royal Pains. See you all next week. I've been under my skin for more than eight years. It's been eight years of laughter and eight years of tears. years of laughter and eight years of tears and i don't know what the future can hold or do for me and you but i'm a much better man for having known you oh you know that's true because everything is coming up rosy and green yeah the wind is cold

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