Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Martin Streek Tribute: Toronto Mike'd #82

Episode Date: June 30, 2014

Mike chats with Alan Cross, David Marsden, Brother Bill, Todd Shapiro, LoriAnn, Fred Patterson and others about the life and death of Martin Streek on the 5th anniversary of his death.

This is White Zombie, More Human Than Human from Martin Street's Club 102. Keep it locked on all the time. This is 102.1. Uh-huh. The Edge. I am the crow in the air. I'm sending you the bombshell. I win your legacy. As in a suicide. I'm in your mother's life. In your fucking life, yeah. Smash off the broken skin.

Tear it through my heart. Make me do it again, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. More human than human.1 was my station. One of the biggest personalities on the station was Martin Streak. I spent many a late

night listening to Martin Streak host live to airs and the Thursday 30 was appointment listening for me. Naturally, when he was relieved of his duties at CFNY in May of 2009, I wrote about it at torontomic.com. As a result of that entry, I ranked number one in Google for Martin Streak's name. On July 6, 2009, former CFNYer Steve McCauley did just that and left this comment on that entry. I just heard that Martin has passed away.

Very sad to hear. I was a CFNY staffer back in the 80s and just heard this from Earl Jive. Reading that comment, my initial reaction was disbelief. Surely someone was pulling my leg. I exchanged emails with Steve and quickly realized that this was no prank.

Martin Streak had taken his own life. It's been five years since Martin Streak passed away. And in this 82nd episode of Toronto Mic'd, I'd like to share some memories of Martin from those who knew him and worked alongside him. some memories of Martin from those who knew him and worked alongside him. We'll hear from Alan Cross, David Marsden, Fred Patterson, Brother Bill, Laurie Ann, and others. Todd Shapiro was a part of the Dean Blundell Show for over a decade. We recorded episode 67 together. Here's what he said about Martin. Were you friends with colleague Martin Streak? Oh, yeah.

Marty. Do you mind if we just spend a couple? I don't mind at all. Talk to me a couple of minutes about your relationship with Marty and what unfortunately inspired. Listen, Martin, I didn't know him well the one thing i know about him is that um he was so welcoming and he was such a big personality i always said he reminded me of like um robert downey jr he's just this good looking high energy really that's a good comparison yeah he was just the coolest dude i remember you know again even though i started in radio late 27 28 and stuff

when i met all these people i was like i was nervous and i was excited these are these are guys i'd been listening to for years and and were big names in the city a city that i was born in and grew up in um and and to meet martin and to see how kind he was saying hey anything you need or you know and i did a club night with him once and he like he helped me and he was just really cool and i didn't seem a lot again he was mostly nights and obviously i was mornings but the odd crossover halloween parties he would always dress up in elaborate costumes and was the life of the party man he was just the life of the party and and and very positive he's just a very and to me he had no ego no ego. He was just that guy that was the center of attention because that's who he was. He never sought it.

It's just he had that much charisma and that much presence. You know, past guests on this podcast, I had Humble once. I had Fred. I had Bingo Bob. Oh, Bingo's a great guy too. Yeah, he was great. He was just a few weeks ago. He was sitting in that very seat.

Okay. Is he in Sochi now? No. I don't know if he went. Bingo Bob? He's at Proud FM. Oh, Bingo Bob. I was sitting in that very seat. Okay. Is he in Sochi now? No, I don't know. Bingo Bob. He's at Proud FM. Oh, Bingo Bob. I mistook him. Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my goodness. Now you feel terrible. No, no, no. Because I just recently, I saw Bob at Humboldt Fred's. You were there, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the Evanoff group's a great group, too, by the way. Well, that's where he works.

Yeah, Bingo Bob. Those guys are great. Scott Fox. That's nearby. That's at like Dundas. Yeah, good dudes. And there's a lot of good dudes in radio. Oh, and Alan Cross. So I asked all of them about Martin Streak and they all echoed similar sentiments that you're echoing. feel to find out somebody you respect and like and work with takes his own life two months after he was uh let go from uh 102.1 the edge i will say that um clearly the first response is sadness

first you're shocked first first there's actually is this true can't be true yeah there's no way it's right yeah you do that and then you know a lot of that goes on the facebook and you try and figure out what people are saying and you look up things that. And then, you know, a lot of that goes on the Facebook and you try and figure out what people are saying and you look up things like Toronto Mike and, you know, that kind of stuff. And then, and then you find out it's true. And I also knew, you know, I knew some people close to him at the time and it was a terrible time. Listen, and I didn't know him well.

You know, I didn't know him well enough to even call him Marty. I knew him well enough to see him once every couple of months. Mr. Streak. Yeah, yeah. And he just made me laugh. And I love guys. I love guys who make me laugh. I love people who make me laugh, who entertain me. That is my favorite thing in this world, who grabbed my attention. And he always did. Me too. And, and, uh, it was, it was, listen, what can I say? It was a terrible time. It was, and, and, you know, for those really close to him, I can't even imagine

how terrible it was for them. And, and, through, unfortunately, there have been people around me in the past who have also committed suicide. And it's just, it's a really tough time. And there's also all the questions that come with it, which make it even tougher in terms of people trying to understand why. And then there's always a debate. Is it a selfish act? Is it, you know, and then we can't get in the minds of these people no you can't did you uh happen to listen to episode 66 with alan cross i've been too busy you're gonna get to it after the wedding yeah i have not listened to episode 66 and i am a little upset you didn't wait two

more episodes for me by the way oh for episode 69 you know i thought of it i had to go there i thought i had to do it but you might want to listen to what Alan Cross had to say about Martin Streak. It was super revealing and very interesting in why he refused to let, why he refused to fire Martin Streak while he was program director, while Alan was program director, because he knew the demons, et cetera. So did you have a sense that Martin was battling his own demons? I heard, I never saw anything. Okay, just curious.

No, I mean, listen, I heard, I always heard his stuff. And, you know, whether you make assumptions or not, you know, there's, I don't understand. Listen, there's really big personalities in this world. Look at Philip Seymour Hoffman. Look at these characters. And I put Martin Streak with a guy like that. He was so talented and had so much energy

and, again, engaged everyone everywhere he went. And who knows what they go through? So, you know, you hear, and it's difficult. It's even thinking about that time right now, knowing who the people close to him were and what they were going through, I'm thinking of those people right now as well. And it was extremely traumatic, and I'm sure continues to be.

Alan Cross was a fixture on the old CFNY, who eventually became Martin's program director. We chatted about his relationship with Martin in episode 66. What kind of relationship did you have with Martin Streak at one or two points? A really good one. Actually, Martin was one of the first friends I made at the radio station because he was in charge of the CFNY video roadshow back in the day.

And as the low guy on the totem pole, I would try to do as many of those roadshows as I possibly could simply because I needed the money. So I knew Martin. Martin was one of the very first people I met. I stayed in touch with Martin the entire time that we were there. It was one of those – it was a weird sort of situation when – and it wasn't just with Martin, but when I became program director with The Edge,

I ascended from being everybody's coworker to being everybody's boss. And I wouldn't recommend that for anybody because that's a very difficult transition to make um but uh one of the people you know so i was martin's boss and there were some challenges there because martin had his demons but i uh refused i absolutely categorically refused to um do as i was told on a couple of occasions and get rid of him. I would not do it. Because I said that if Martin goes, he has no structure in his life and he will be in danger. So I refused to do it. And, you know, without going into any detail, I by martin for the entire time i was there kudos to

you that's uh takes you know that's a takes a big gonads to it was tough it was it was really tough because martin didn't make it easy we don't need to go into the details but martin did have his issues uh that uh i was determined to help him through and by by the time I left, I was confident that he had gotten over the worst of it. I really was. Remind me what year you left? July of 2008, July 1st, 2008. And why did you leave? I was offered another position in what I believe to be a very important growth part of the company, which was the interactive online division of the radio part of Chorus. And we were going to head up a new thing, this exploremusic.com thing, and we were going to

revolutionize radio. And, but, you know, here's the problem with that sort of thing. I mean, it was, I thought it was a really good, we were making some really good progress and we were doing some really cool things, but there are certain parts of the online world that seem to be incompatible with thinking in the radio world. And there were many clashes on that level. And again, we don't need to get into them and just say that the outlook and the way of doing business and the return on investments are all very very different

and uh over the course of a couple of years um things morphed technology changed greatly which impacted what we were doing and uh ultimately it was decided that uh now this is uh we're gonna we're gonna deep six this whole thing and uh you know here's your choice you could either um maybe we need to pay you out or you can go do afternoons in hamilton that was my choice and i decided that no i'm i'll take the i'll take the risk i'll go do something else so that's what i did and when who succeeded uh took over as program director at edge that was that ross winters yeah okay and he's the one who eventually deep six uh let uh martin streak go yeah and barry taylor i think was on the same day yeah same day that's right and two months of

course after uh martin streak was let go he took his own life yes uh i remember seeing martin the last time i saw him was at a Jane's Addiction show at the Molson Amphitheater. And he was, looked fine to me. You know, I've talked to several people who were close to Martin at this time, and they all have the same comment that he seemed positive about the

future. And he did, he did. I mean, he had been at the radio station for a very long time. So any severance deal he would have received would have been pretty good. He was very well-known personality um martin was always um at that point he had become quite the entrepreneur he had brought some new business to the radio station which was

pretty cool um so when when when he did go it was quite a bit of a shock to a lot of us and i don't think we'll ever understand his motivations or understand his reasons or state of mind which of course doesn't make it any easier but um you know that's one of those things that's going to stick with me forever and ever and ever because uh of the relationship that we had while I was his boss and I was always his friend and what I thought of the road that I thought he was on after I left and it shows that you don't understand people sometimes well this week there's been a lot of talk about mental health issues and I don't expect you to know what martin was thinking uh how could you but is it there's two sides to this there's like a sound mind and body individual deciding to just

opt out you know check out i'm done and then there's of course the demons and and mental health issues that cause depression etc and then you take your own life do we have any no i i honestly i honestly don't know mart Martin was sober. He was clean, but he was obviously distressed. One thing that does happen to a lot of radio people, they don't necessarily take it that far, but when you do radio for a living, you tend to make that a gigantic part of your persona and a part of who you are. You have that microphone, you have that podium, you have that forum. And in order to do radio right, you have to give a lot of yourself as a person to it. Do it for a very long time, it becomes very difficult to separate you as the person from

you as the radio person. Some people can do it. I'm pretty successful at it because I've never, I've always kept it separate from the beginning. But there are many people who do it. I'm pretty successful at it because I've always kept it separate from the beginning. But there are many people who can't. Once they lose the radio end of things, who am I? What can I do? I'm no longer well-known. I'm no longer special in terms of pop culture in my city. longer special in terms of pop culture in my city. And let's face it, radio doesn't necessarily leave you with a lot of portable skills. I mean, if you're an accountant at one firm and you're let

go, well, you can get a job as an accountant at another firm. What do you do with radio? Radio involves you sitting in a room by yourself, talking to a piece of metal that's hanging in front of your face. If this were any other situation, they would institutionalize you. But, but that's what radio is all about. These one way conversations to an imaginary audience and, you know, without making it sound too dramatic, it does mess with your head because you have no idea whether you're making any impact on your audience when you're on,

on the air until six months later when the ratings come out. And even then you don't know what you did or didn't do to make it good or bad. Right. But you know, that, that's, people still recognize you. People still appreciate you. They'll come up to you and they'll quote you back stuff you said or stuff, stuff you played or something that would happen to happen on your show, or they simply get all, you know, googly eyed when they meet you, but all of a sudden that's gone. And,

They simply get all googly-eyed when they meet you. But all of a sudden, that's gone. And that is a huge part of your life. Because, again, that was your job. You were paid to do that. You were expected to do that. And if you didn't well, you were in danger of losing your job. But when your job is taken away, it's like, oh, God, who am I now? And he literally had the logo of the station tattooed on his ass.

Like that's how much he identified with the spirit of radio. He was there hardcore from, I want to say it was 82 or 83. I mean, forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Which is amazing in itself, that in radio, somebody could stay at one station on air that long. Yeah, I mean, he was not on the air until Chris Shepard left, which would have been, he was just like a bit player on the,

Chris Shepard left, which, 92, I think it was. And then he became the de facto club guy. And he was... Live to air with Martin Streak. You know, on Friday, Saturdays and Sundays for, you know, for a couple of generations of radio listeners. Absolutely. People grew up thinking one day I'm going to be able to go to one of Martin Streak's live to air broadcasts in the club. I'm going to have my first drink as an 18-year-old in the club. And that happened, see, the people that would go to these live-to-airs,

there's an age range, 18 to 22, before you decide that you're going to go do something else. The bulk of people were 18 to 22. And the number of generations in that age group that lived through, that moved through Martin's life to heirs. I mean, do the math. It's huge. I mean, when that all happened in that tragic day

where he took his own life, just the number of people commenting and communicating, you know, via my site, torontomic.com, was overwhelming. The amount of people who were – first of all, he was beloved in this city by people who like a certain genre of music. Just beloved. And he was the voice. And the other thing that always disturbed me is that he had the face for television, if you will.

He had – to me, he could have done something else besides radio. He had so many possibilities. Well, we had those conversations. And for whatever reason, it just didn't work out. Bingo Bob Willett produced The Humble and Fred Show and worked many club shows of Martin Streak. We spoke about Martin in episode 61. Okay, so the first... marty was a great guy and everybody you know obviously posthumously everybody says nice things but he really

was this larger than life guy um he uh i'll tell you why like a story the first time i started working with him he's like i always he he one of the things that i learned from martin is he always thanked everybody who was anybody who was in the booth working in the booth he's like al i always he he one of the things that i learned from martin is he always thanked everybody who was anybody who was in the booth working in the booth like he's like aloha bobby rose lighten it up or um or uh scary jerry doing all these different like i can hear him doing that yeah yeah and it would be like you know dj dwight and anyway he didn't want to call me bingo bob he's like that's not cool you cannot i'm not calling you bingo bob what can i call you i said you can call me what are we bob he's no, no, got to come up with something. And he's like, what's your middle name and what street do you live on?

I said, my middle name is Richard and I live on Queen Street. He goes, we're going to call you Dick Queen. I was like, no, you're not. You're not calling me Dick Queen. He goes, okay, RQ, RQ, RQ. And at this time, I think like the Phantom Menace or something. Anyways, he's RQ, RQ, RQ, R2D2, RQ, RQEQ. You equalize things. You're RQEQ.

And that was it. I was RQEQ. And so some people still know me as RQEQ. When I say, when people are like, you know, Bingle Bob, there was a whole generation of people, I think of our age, who probably didn't even get up in time for the morning show. So they knew of Humble and Fred, but they didn't necessarily listen to it. But there's a whole bunch of people uh who loved those shows and uh marty was um he was a he was a party guy he was fun he was a fun guy to work with and we're talking

tight quarters like we were sitting in like small dj booths three four men grown men sitting together or standing or whatever the case may be and uh you know i never had an issue i don't think i ever had an argument with them the whole time i worked with them i've had others from cfny on the show who talk about marty and his demons is that something you did you ever uh i never saw you know what he would he uh we all drank we all drank like fish uh we there was a lot of drinking. I witnessed, I never witnessed any hard drugs. Because, I mean, first of all, everybody has nice things to say about Marty.

It sounds like he would say hi to everybody. He didn't have some kind of a hierarchy or whatever, or you were beneath him or whatever. No, no. I mean, he was an alpha male, though. He would put you in your place in his way. I've seen him do it. He was an alpha male, and you knew he was an alpha male, though. He would put you in your place in his way. I've seen him do it. He was an alpha male, and you knew he was in charge all the time. And there was some issues.

At different points, I know there were some issues with him and DJ Dwight. But again, none of that was ever part of my world. I was always lucky in that way. I never had a problem. After Martin the Streak was let go by Edge 102, did you talk to him? Yeah, texted with him. So what kind of mind space was he in? problem after martin the streak was let go by uh edge 102 did you did you talk to him yeah yep texted with him so how what kind of uh what kind of mind space was he in uh he literally as i understand and i didn't know marty personally i was just a fan but uh he literally had the spirit

of radio logo tattooed on his ass yeah so he i mean for he truly identified with this station absolutely uh let go yeah you know what uh i i texted him i said i said hey dude sorry to hear what happened and he texted me back i blame you you know and he said he's all good and i ran into him um sometime between you know his passing and him and it was like two months i know about two months yeah and i ran into him and we talked and he was like i got he had all these great projects ready to go. He's I'm going to do this. I'm going to be fine. It's going to be great.

I've seen trailer. He had a show he was going to do called Backstage Pass. And he had I know the first episode I saw he was talking to the guys from USS. That's right. Yeah. And I because I used to do some work with Redfish now defunct Redfish and they were involved in that project. So I got all the footage. That's right.

So it definitely looked like he you know, the future was bright for Martin Streak. Yeah. And in July 2009, of course, he killed himself. Yep. Obviously, I think I know on Facebook because I'm the guy who posted the Facebook message on TorontoMic.com, but he wrote something about let the questions begin or something to that. What I remember was it read like a suicide note and it was let the stories begin. Let the stories begin.

Yeah. And it was it was like something about flipping the game board. I'm done playing or something. And I got a call from Lana Gay, who was a bean girl. That's how we got to know Lana. She was a Ryerson student who came in to take part in one of Humble and Fred's really tough contests. She had to sit in a in a bucket of beans, essentially. And I got a I got a I got a call from her and before it went public and she told me and it was just a horrible moment.

It was not good. That was a bizarre night because I was getting I was getting I was getting correspondence from people in the know, people I vetted and saw who they were and knew that they wouldn't be joking about this. No. And I went I remember when I wrote that entry that night, it wasn't on the Web and I wrote an entry. Martin Streak is dead. And I had this this it was just that night uh i think i became a go-to source almost like in the comments amongst like alumnus of cfny alumnus and it was just so sad and interesting at the same time like it was so tragic somebody

who just seemed so full of life just would take his own life at that point. Yeah. You know what? What I think what what bothers me when I think about it is I can't I think about how sad he must have been or angry to do that while his mom was still alive. Because he loved his he had his mom's signature tattooed over his heart. He was a big fan of his mom's. Uh, he was a big fan of his mom's. So for him to go and do that with his mom still being around, I, it, it, it really, it saddens me to think about how, how, just how low he must've been. It just seems like such a, uh, conscious decision though. He seemed, it seemed like he just decided to check out. Yep.

And I mean, as someone who actually knew him, do you have, I guess, do you have any idea what was in Marty's brain or was it just these demons I've heard others speak of potentially? Or was he just not interested in continuing to play this game? I don't know if I'm qualified. No, you're not. No, because well, for a lot of reasons, you know, Marty and I work together very closely for a couple of years. And then, you know, what happens when you don't work with I worked together very closely for a couple of years. And then what happens when you don't work with somebody? You just see them every now and then.

And I would consider him a friend. And he was one of the people who I did try to stay in contact with. But I didn't as much. It's one of those things. I wish I had a blah, blah, blah. So knowing the Martin Street that I knew, it was a live fast, die hard mode, you know, like I'm just, you know what, I'm better to burn up and fade away that. Yeah.

Like Neil Young. Yeah. That kind of thing. It was just like, you know what? And again, I don't, I think it was a, you know what? I, I, I can't live the way I want to live. So I'm not going to live. And really it's impossible for us to to know considering you

know mental health issues and everything this is this is very serious complex stuff we can't know but uh while i have somebody who actually worked alongside him and knew him i've got to ask the question because it's so looking back at that period like it's just so sad and bizarre yeah you know let go two months later to end it all just so tragic it doesn't make any sense and and i think i think that's kind of the common thread with suicide in general is it doesn't make any sense and we're the ones left with the questions and you're right you mentioned his mom like those who loved and cared for him are left kind of holding the bag with terms of like could i have done something you know yeah no and i i still every now and then

when i'm on the air on proud fm i uh i find myself uh emulating him in it and i always try to give him do the locked and loaded thing again uh keep it tuned locked and cranked that's it yeah and it was like where is it what it was i used to be able to do it pretty well it was uh it was a um what do we uh well 410 410 410 uh 410, 410, 410, no, 410. What was in the street? It was the club in Burlington, he ended up calling it, right? It was the kingdom. Kingdom, yeah. Kingdom, 410 Plains Road East.

410 Plains Road, yeah. In Burlington. In Burlington. Keep it tuned, locked and cranked. Nice. Yeah, it was good. He had a few. He had a few of them.

They're escaping me right now, but he had a few of them. I can't, they're all, they're escaping me right now, but he had a, he had a bunch and you know, I, I just, I learned a lot from him as a broadcaster and just had a really good time with him. The Mars bar needs no introduction. David Marsden was program director at CFNY from 1977 to 1987. And now hosts the Marsden theater on Saturday and Sunday nights on 94.9 The Rock

out of Oshawa. We recently spoke via telephone about Martin. Are you the one who hired Martin Streak? I am, actually. I am, indeed. I think he was 17 or 18 years old. And I guess, tell me the story about why you hired him and how you knew Martin. Well, I didn't know him at all until he came in for the interview. And, um, I was hiring someone for, uh, what was called the CFNY road show, which was a, a big video road show that we put on three or four shows a week at various high schools

and universities. And, uh, he just seemed to be, I liked his spirit. I liked his, his energy, uh, everything about him just fit the job very well, and so he was hired. It's interesting because the day he was fired from The Edge, I happened to be at Andy Poole Hall doing a DJ gig, and he came in, and he came up on the DJ booth, and he gave me a big hug and so on, and he whispered in my ear, and he whispered, I've just been fired.

And I was, was like in shock and i said what what what what what what happened he said well i don't really know and then he said but i i need to talk to you and i said absolutely and he's no he said you know you're the i said i don't know what to do in an interview i've only done one interview in my career, and I got the job because you gave it to me. Right, right. And it was at that moment that we arranged to have coffee. After receiving, he was at the edge, I guess, for over 20 years.

I think he was there. I can't tell you the exact figure because my memory doesn't work that well about anything. But I think it was close to 25 years when he went in there. And what kind of, when he got this pink slip from the Edge chorus, what kind of reaction, what kind of spirits was he in? What was his mood like following that bad news? Well, I think he was shocked. I can't really speak to what his emotional state was. really speak to what his emotional state was.

When he talked to me on that night, he certainly seemed to be in shock and, of course, very distraught as anyone would be. We talked about having a cup of coffee so I could give him some advice. And he said, okay, so I'm going to go to California for a week or two. I don't know if he went to California for fun or if he went to California to try and find a job. But I know that he was in L.A. At least I believe he was in L.A. California, to try and find a job.

But I know that he was in L.A. At least I believe he was in L.A. When he came back from L.A., he and I, we talked briefly by email. And we had arranged to have a lunch or something. And I was going to give him some help to get back in the business. In fact, the people at the rock were interested in the station I'm at currently. They had already expressed interest in sitting down and meeting with him. So when he got back, he said, I'm back home. And I said, again, I think it was an email discourse.

And I said, okay, let's arrange to get together. And the following day, I was looking at my Facebook and I saw the message that he left on Facebook. I don't know if anybody's addressed that with you. The let the stories begin, that one? Yes, yes. And I looked at it and I immediately recognized there was something wrong with that message. I think I reached out for Ivor Hamilton, who was a good pal of both of us.

And again, I'm not sure I'm remembering the story exactly, but this is my memory of it. Right. So I reached out for Ivor, and within the hour, we knew that we were told quite clearly that something really, really, really terrible had happened. And that was how the news got out. I can only imagine. It sounds like you were a mentor of sorts. Somebody who he looked up to and could give him some professional advice and help guide him through the rocky waters.

Go ahead, sorry. No, no, that's exactly what I felt. From the time that I left CFNY until Martin's death, we would bump into each other occasionally, and he was pretty happy to be somebody. But, you know, I'm sure you know, and certainly I've been through this, when your identity is entirely surrounding what you do uh and usually this is this is a result of being on the radio or on the air or on the internet or whatever and being uh having a lot of fans and and it defines you uh even to yourself it it defines you. And I spoke at Martin's, the celebration of Martin's life, and I spoke about that very thing that when you're on the radio, as for example, Fred Patterson, Humble Howard, whomever, it doesn't matter who it is, being on the air and talking to tens of thousands of people, you define yourself by that one single element.

And when that single element is taken away, sometimes it's very difficult to figure out who you really are and do you have an identity anymore? Alan Cross echoed, yeah, Alan Cross echoed similar sentiments. In fact, he said that he was, I don't know if the term is ordered, but he was told to let Martin go. He says at least twice and he basically,

he flat out refused because he said the way he knew martin he said that martin he knew it wouldn't be good for martin's health and that he just refused to do that firing uh so it's interesting to hear your comments echoing what what alan said uh with regards to martin's personality well i i think that's i think it's that way for all of us who have spent many, many years behind a microphone.

You're kind of mysterious in that people can't see you, so you can actually, not unlike Nash the Slash, before Nash would put on his bandages, he could go stand in the audience and nobody would know who he was.

But when he put on his bandages, he became somebody. When you're, you know, you know enough about this to know that when you sit down in front of a microphone, you become whatever it is you choose to identify yourself as. And then over time, that becomes your completed entity. Very true.

And he literally had the Spirit of Radio logo tattooed on his ass. Quite literally. I didn't know where it was. Yeah, that's what I hear. I didn't know where it was. Yeah, that's what I hear. I didn't know where it was. And I did not have the joy of seeing it. Now, at The Rock, you mentioned... Go ahead, sorry.

No, I mean, I did get to know his... I knew his brother for years. I had never met his mom and uh of course after uh after the the terrible incident i got to know his mom quite well uh and and she was just a wonderful person who she said something to me and i think it's fair I don't yeah I it was personal but I I think I can tell you what it was and and then we'll we'll have to decide whether or not it goes to um it goes into your your special okay um when I went to the um the celebration of Martin's life, it was at some kind of an event place,

Archimedes' Saga, a really nice event place, like this old house that had been turned into a place where you could gather. And when I arrived, Ivor Hamilton and Kevin O'Leary immediately came to my car. And when I got out, they took me personally, almost by the hand, and took me in to meet Martin's mother.

And she was sitting on a chair, and I went over and I spoke to her and she stood up and we chatted and she was very warm. And I sat down beside her and she said, you know, David, I supported Martin all his life for everything that he did. Whether I agreed with it or not, I always supported him. And she said, I have no choice but to support him in his final decision. And she's since passed away herself. She's passed away herself. Yes, yes. She was a very strong woman, even though she was extremely petite.

After that, she always came to my birthday parties with the man that she loved, and I don't recall his name. But she would always come to my birthday parties. And one of the final birthday parties that she came to, she had a gift wrap up for me, and she gave it to me. And I opened it up, and it was a box. I'm actually sitting here looking at it even as we speak. box. I'm actually sitting here looking at it, even as we speak.

It was a huge box from Life Magazine called A Life's Work. It was, oh, you can tell it's heavy. Hang on. I want to make sure I get this right. Sure. What it was, was this huge, what do you call it? Coffee table books by a photographer called Phil Stern, S-T-E-R-N, who at one time, apparently in the 50s and 60s, worked for Life Magazine, and he was their number one photographer.

I'd have to explain for a moment that Life Magazine was a very popular magazine, and it was primarily about photographs and small stories. Right. This book is, I don't know how, you'll have to translate this to Imperial, because I don't know Imperial when it comes to things like inches, I think inches. things like inches, I think inches. This book is probably a good 12 by 15, 12 being one foot. So what is that?

Okay. That's what, 20 centimeters or something? Yeah, I think it's 2.2 centimeters in an inch, I think. Yeah, and it's about 15 inches in length. And it's the most beautiful book of all the photographs that this man ever took. Wow. And I said, you know, she said, I, I cleaned Martin's place out and she said, this was one of his favorite objects. He's sit and look at the photographs for hours. Wow.

It's a glossy book. And she said when I was cleaning out his apartment, I decided that I wanted you to have this book. It was one of his favorites. And it was a book that he really enjoyed looking at. So it sits here in my bookshelf. And I could it's heavy. And every time I, it sits there, and every time I see it,

I think of both her and Martin. And I also think of his brother, too. His brother's had some struggles in life. had some struggles in life. Right after Martin passed, you aired a five-hour tribute special on The Rock. Could you tell me a little bit about putting that together, if you don't mind? No, I don't mind at all. You know, I rarely, if ever, pre-plan a show. I just ride on the seat of my pants.

I have about 8,000 tracks available to me. And as I, quite frankly, as one is playing, I'm looking for the next song and hoping to hell it'll fit in a nice textural fashion. However, with the martin five hour i i just knew as soon as i heard the news on that on that dreadful i think i can't remember what day it was might have been a wednesday i don't remember yeah it's a wednesday or thursday yeah i can't remember either yeah it was close to the end of the week, but I knew I had to do something.

And so I went about my business of trying to find all the music that Martin loved, more importantly or equally important, all the music that he would play on his shows because I used to listen. And I gathered it all together. I was watching on Facebook, there was just a continuous string of people making comments. And I don't know if that stuff's available, if it got archived anywhere or not.

And I would follow that as well, because a lot of people would say, well, Martin loved such and such a song. And I worked about, it seemed like I was working about 18 hours a day to find all the music that Martin would have played. And I kind of assembled it in the fashion that I thought I wanted to. So I would say I was 50% pre-programmed and 50% just as I thought of it, I would find a song and in it would go. But everything that was in that show was Martin's music. but everything that was in that show was Martin's music. I also, I did send out notes to all the ex-CFNY people and so on,

saying, you know, if there's something you'd like to say about Martin, send me an email. And so I read a lot of those on the air. You've heard the show. I love the show. Yeah. It was, I mean, I will tell you that I was, I was extremely nervous and, and, you know, after about 7,000 years on the air, I don't get nervous anymore. Right, right, right.

But I was extremely nervous. I opened the show, and then I play until 20 minutes after 7, and that's the first time I really talk, other than my opening welcoming people into the theater. And I really didn't know what I was going to say on that opener, on that 20 minutes into the show opener. I can't even probably remember now what I said, but you have it on your site. I wondered if you knew that, actually.

I'm sorry? I wondered if you were aware that I had archived the five hours. Oh, yeah, no. I must tell you that I'm very pleased that you do. I'm very pleased that it's available there. And when people ask me about Martin, one of the things I do is give them the address for that show and sitting in the archive on your site.

So that pleases me tremendously. Oh, good. But I was very nervous. I think I probably I'm trying to recall. I did. I probably played my spots, which I have to do. And then I had a few words to say. to do and then i had a few words to say and then i effectively from that point on it really was for martin and i believe that the song that i opened at 20 after seven i believe it was depeche mode uh black celebration because i just seemed to be right right that just that just seemed to be what this was, a very, very black, not gothically black, just a very somber occasion. Interesting to note that the internet feed that night was actually knocked off the air or off the internet because so many people were trying to get in to hear the show from all across Canada.

And that's not about me. That's about Martin and how many fans and how many friends he had who were coming in to hear whatever it was I was going to do. I remember you were hosting the audio files on your website for the longest time. And then at some point I realized they were, I got 404 errors when I went to those links and then. Yeah. I think I changed something.

But then at that point I, I just wanted them to be somewhere. I just wanted people to like be able to Google and hear it because I thought it was the perfect selection of music and the perfect note. And you were you managed to put this together the first Sunday, I believe. So he passes on whatever it was, Wednesday or Thursday. I can't remember. But then on the Sunday, you air your tribute. And I talked to Rob Johnston recently who put together a three-hour similar tribute, but three weeks later he put together a three-hour tribute

to Martin Streak on The Edge. And that one was not bad either. That was good too, but yours was perfect. Well, I mean, it was done with probably more emotion and passion than anything I've done for a long time. Because, Martin, I was... You know, it's one thing when people put on their wings and fly away just because of an accident or because of an age.

But when someone makes that final decision to leave the earth, there's something about it that is overwhelming to those who are left behind. It could be construed as a selfish decision. In this instance, I do not think that in terms of Martin. But I fully understand the dark place that he went to when he didn't any longer know who he was. He didn't any longer have that identity.

I've been there. Obviously, since you and I are talking, I didn't take it to the extremities that Martin did. Right. But I understood it. And I, when I sat down to do the show that night, I remembered the times in my career that I was in a similar place. And I somehow I understood why he did what he did. and somehow I understood why he did what he did.

I didn't understand how he could do it in the face of realizing how many people, like his mom and his brother, and then the fans and his friends. But that was the tone that drove me to do the show. You know, I do pretty much as I want on the air so that I didn't have to ask anybody to do it. But when I finished several days later, one of the management people said, he didn't say it to me, I overheard him saying it to someone else, actually.

He said to someone else, that was an incredibly compelling radio show that David did. And I suppose that's an interesting word. But this was a man who never met Martin, never knew Martin, probably never thought about Martin. He's an older gentleman. And for him to say that means that I really believe that that show somehow said stuff that needed to be said about Martin for Martin. I think the people who gathered that night to hear it,

somehow I hope they knew that I was doing it, that I was being driven entirely on my compassion for Martin and the emotion which his death had stirred in me. I think it was very cathartic. I think that's the word. And I think a lot of people... For me, that is true. Yes, yes. Fred Patterson is the

Fred in Humble and Fred. But his days at CFNY go back much further than that. Here's Freddie P. chatting about his friend Martin in episode 80. Marty! Actually, I was friends with

his brother first, Rob, because at CFNY there was a group of us working in Brampton, and again, CFNY was always like a family. It was so much different than what corporate radio is like nowadays. Again, they were like brothers and

sisters, and I'm, you know what, I'm not going overboard when I say that. There was just a special feeling at that station in Brampton. You know, and a lot of the guys that worked at the station lived in and around Brampton. So, you know, we would work together all day and we'd play baseball at night or sit in a bar at night. The Wankies? The Wankies or, you know, Monday night football and everybody would be at my townhouse sitting in my basement watching the game. We were pretty tight. Well, part of that group was Rob Streak.

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

And then eventually Marty was just in the halls. And again, he was an upbeat, fun kid who was absolutely thrilled to be part of the environment. I think Marty would have been 50. I'm 58. So he was about eight years younger than me. So at the time, when I'm in my, you know, I'm 24 or 26 and he's 18. He was a kid to me. So when I say kid, but he was a guy that totally embraced the opportunity and jumped right into it. And again, Marty was just the type of guy he was fun to have around. He was off the wall and goofy. And again, key when it comes to interns or people starting at a radio station, willing to do anything. And again, he played with the baseball team and was part of all the social

activities we were part of and eventually his brother Rob wasn't around so much and Marty was and nothing but great memories of those days and his days with the station again started in on Kennedy Road in Brampton mid 80s early 80s maybe and he was uh doing the traveling road show or not what is it the video road show whatever they called it how did they call that the uh yeah cfny road show was there another word there no so he would be the guy who had put that together logistically it was huge at the time and uh you know it was an industry for cfny actually so uh high schools colleges and everything friday saturday nights they'd be out there with all the equipment and, oh, CFNY Video Roadshow. That's what it was called. Yeah. And he was part of that. And I think he went from working on it to actually running it. Another great story,

you know. Eventually he became an on-air personality. So he ascended through the ranks at CFNY. And again, every minute that he was doing it, you just knew he was loving it. He had an obvious passion for the music. I think that was what he liked the most because he had that great voice and persona. But you could tell he loved the music. Yeah.

And the tricks, they loved him. Unbelievable. Marty had no problem that way. So I guess that was a force to be reckoned with when marty and george stromalopoulos hit the town right this would be watch out watch out yeah but uh yeah and the thing is i never worked closely with martin because he tended to do those road shows he was never really part of the morning show. And then he started doing, I think, hosting the Thursday 30s when he became an on-air guy. So I often wouldn't see Martin for long periods of time because when I was at work, he wasn't and vice versa.

You know, it would be social gatherings and what have you. Or maybe some weekend stuff or station events. But again, he's a guy from, he was day one-er so we were all really really tight i know even after i left the radio station i used to see him quite often or send him notes back and forth and yeah it was just shocking when this all came down well before before that uh he was let go the same day as barry taylor i guess they were both let go i guess a couple of months before he ended his life he was uh fired essentially from his job his lifetime job at cfny uh did you talk to martin after that news did you speak to him well you're talking to neil morrison today

we knew him as brother bill on the radio station let's see if we want. He got married. He is since not married anymore, Neil. But we had a stag for him on Stony Lake up near Peterborough. And it was a golf stag. Go golfing. All the guys get together and then go back to a cottage and have a big meal. Well, Marty was there. And this had just come down at the edge where he had been fired. was there. And this had just come down at the edge where he had been fired. So he wanted to talk to me because I had recently been fired. And he wanted to know what the process was because he felt he was being screwed by cars. I'm just going to be honest. He was. He was sort of obsessed with it. Not only had they fired him and he really couldn't understand why. Number two, they were trying to get out from some money they owed him or whatever the deal was. Again,

do I have actual proof of that? Do I know the details? No. But when the man looked me in the face and told me this, of course, I felt this compassion. And he said, what happened to you? Well, I really couldn't help him because when I was let go from the mix, I had this, you know, and I tell announcers this nowadays, as important as the numbers are, what you're going to be paid, what your benefits are, always have an exit clause. Know exactly what's going to happen to you should you be fired for whatever reason. Get that in there nowadays because it goes back to where we're talking about corporate Canadaada in the lap in the lack of uh compassion and companies worrying about bottom bottom line but that's what really upset him number one he had been fired number two he thought he was being treated unfairly by a company that he had really

given his life to for i guess it was over 20 years yes apparently there was some game being played well you weren't really a full-time employee this long. You were a full-time employee this long. And just petty stuff that tore at his heart. It did. And, you know, the advice I, the only advice I could give him was, no, this, what's happened to you didn't happen to me. But show a little faith, you know. Take the high road. You you know talk to certain people within

that company who i perceived as compassionate and i'm sure everything will work out and that's really the last conversation we had um i said what he had all sorts of ideas like what he was going to do he was going to ask you so he had yeah because i've talked to a bunch of people who said during this period he was very enthusiastic about new opportunities he was going to do he was going to ask you so he had yeah because i've talked to a bunch of people who yeah during this period he was very enthusiastic about new opportunities he was going to do some uh this music show television show listen marty would have been fine on some level he had he had a name he had a he had his own brand out there that i'm sure somebody would have latched on to like anything it would have taken some work and it would have taken some'm sure somebody would have latched on to. Like anything, it would have taken some work, and it would have taken some hours, and it would have taken, you know, maybe a little

hidden income along the way, but I'm sure there was a future there. Who knew that these demons were inside, you know, eating away at them? And again, the day that I talked to him, the last thing that I would have ever thought that within a couple of weeks this guy would be dead. Again, I knew he was upset, but we had fun. We golfed. He was horsing around. We had a great meal. I think I sat beside him. But I didn't come away going, boy, they should keep their eye on that guy. He's pretty down. I never got that. There were no signs. No. And again, it was only one afternoon. And the conversations we had were more

he was he was pissed off horribly disappointed he was there which that's a good sign yeah he's there engaging socializing with friends his heart was broken that this had happened to him or they were doing this to him but again i never dreamed that it would come to that. I don't know if anybody did. And what, I guess this is a silly question, but what was your reaction when you, when you heard the news?

Oh, I was stunned because I was, um, I was up North and, uh, I got a phone call from Phil Evans. Captain Phil. Yeah.

Is he on your list of people to talk to? You might want, he was. Oh, let me tell you, I'll touch base with him. Marty was the best man of his way. Okay, I'll talk to Phil, because we're on Twitter. So Phil Evans sent, you know, called me and told me, and I just, Lord, I just couldn't believe it. It was too much. Really, I just, Couldn't believe it. It was too much. Really, I just... Again, you know, we all have these things along the way in our lives. First, and this was really the first guy, a peer, a buddy, that this had happened to. You know, since then I've...

Well, I shouldn't say that. I had another guy in the career. A guy that had taken his own life. He was really the second guy sort of in my peer group that I had interacted with, who I would call as a bud that had died, but the first one that had taken his own life. So it was sort of multidimensional. I was like everybody else. I just absolutely could not believe it and you think why why why and then you go back to the conversations you have and you know and i had written on my

blog if he had just would he have said it to me were we that close where he could say fred you know i'm really feeling dark about this like i'm like i'm really fucked up over this i need some help you just wish maybe he had said that to somebody to get the help or go talk to somebody. That's what I'm thinking. It's like, bye, those conversations that we had that day, is there anything that I could have taken from that that I could have helped him? Like that, you might as well bang your head against the wall. Yeah. It's as, and I never knew Marty.

I only know him as the radio persona he was and a long time listener i was a long time listener of his the station he was on and i was a fan of his because he had always been there and he'd always been you know the voice since since i guess since chris shepherd left he was the live to air guy and i remember his phrases and i remember you know just he was a big part of my you, some of the best years of my life. Well, this is the thing, too. You know, we say it's all businesses, but radio. And, you know, I think, again, I don't know the details of his situation.

I don't know the separation from Chorus, how nasty or dirty or... I don't know. I can only go by. He was upset, what was coming down. I don't know I can only go by he was upset what was coming down I didn't have I knew there had to be something there he wouldn't have been that upset to talk to me about it but again upset from the stand from a business standpoint not take your life stand of course you know what I mean yeah there's a big leap there so there had to be something there but when you look at that you think okay he gave 20 years of his life he was a significant player everybody knows him so many of the listeners love him.

Is there not a better way? Why does it always have to be this way? Call you into an office and sever you like you didn't exist. It seems like in radio you never get to say goodbye. No, could there not have been some secession thing? It's already, you know, this is a new era of the radio station. We don't think you fit in. We're going to do this and we're going to ease you out this way,

or here's an opportunity over here somewhere else in the company. I mean, really. Andrew Stokely is now responsible for the audio you hear when you tune in a Jays game on Sportsnet. But he used to work in radio. He shared some great memories of Martin in episode 11. What about Martin Streak? Did you know him? Yeah, I knew Marty. He shared some great memories of Martin in episode 11. as everyone else um you know he was really close with with chris pack and and and bobo and i mean those three guys were the road show the video road show you know and i'd go out the odd time and

and and help out but i was strictly a fill-in guy just if if chris or bobo wasn't available i would just go out and just kind of have a blast but you worked with chris pack yeah i know you know chris from the other channel and yeah he did my voting he did my wedding video. Oh, really? Holy crap, he did mine too! You're not serious. I'm dead serious Chris. I did my wedding video. Now he owns a renovation company. That's hilarious. 808 Renos.

He's very talented at the home reno stuff. He's a great guy. Chris was, yeah, Chris is great. Chris is really nice. Do you stay in touch with Bobo as well? No. Bobo, if you're out there, please get in touch, man man he was the nicest guy ever they were a cool trio of those guys and he knew bobo bobo was like martin martin you know for martin's persona and and if he went out like my favorite thing to do was i used to go to whiskey saigon on sundays when i'm still downtown and i was going to school and you know all the the retro, you know, and Martin was in his element and he loved that.

Rosie, don't hit our guests. That's the second guest you hit. I'm beating up Andrews. I'm so excited. Don't hit Andrew. You hit Elvis too, as I recall. You're slappy. Stop hitting our guests.

But, you know, like as, you know, Martin and his persona. But if you ever saw Martin's record collection, he had one of the most extensive collections I've ever seen on goth and industrial. Oh, yeah. I mean, he had stuff, rare imports from Germany, like in the late 70s, early 80s, stuff that you would never, ever hear of. He had it. I mean, you know, Alan Cross has an amazing record collection. And I personally packed Earl's and Bev's record collection when they were

moving from their house and lived in North Bramley I helped them move that and that was insane he but I mean Martin had an amazing collection you know so I was really I don't know if people know this but you painted a picture of Martin just now that I don't know people know he ran the video roadshow which was the cornerstone of that station There was no other reason to have that station at the time unless they had that video roadshow because it generated audience. And he was the face of the station for seven years before anybody really put him on the air, maybe more. But he ran the show. Like, professionally, he dealt with the schools. He organized the crews.

He organized the schools. And that was how he came into the business. And he was really good at it, as Andrew points out. That's the other thing. Because they would have – if you had the dance, they'd advertise the Steve and Y Video Rose Show with special guest Alan Cross or Don Burns or Scott Turner. It wasn't Martin, but Martin was the guy who did everything, and Chris and Bo were there. Martin would deal with the electricians at the school. He would do the lineups

for the videos. He would have that and then the DJ would just come on and go, hey, welcome. Do the DJ thing, but it was Martin's baby. He was all pro and a very good businessman for that station for a lot of years. So you found Toronto Mike's site by

looking up for Martin's information. Isn't that interesting? Somebody emailed me and said the news and so I didn't know at first really what had happened and then I found Mike's website and followed that really

extensively. For people who don't know, we could probably tell them what the news was I guess, but that Martin Street killed himself for those who are listening. Do you think a lot of people found your site through that? We don't know. We could probably tell them what the news was, I guess, but that Martin Street killed himself. So, Mike, would you think a lot of people found your site through that story? Yeah, well, it's still that day. The night that Martin was found dead is by far the most traffic my site ever saw. And it's 10 years old this month. In November, it's 10 years old. And it's by far far but not even close like uh

well that's because a guy literally put his hand inside the hands of other people all day and all night like he met he must have met hundreds of thousands of people a year right you know he was for me you know the station changed a lot of the talent left the people that i grew up with and listened to had left but But he was, you know, when Brother Bill left to go to Vancouver, that was a knife right in the heart. But I'm happy for him. He's having a blast out there. Brother Bill, another great guy. Oh, my God.

He's on CFOX out there in Vancouver. What's his real name? He goes by his real name, right? Neil Morrison. Neil Morrison. I didn't know if I was allowed to say that. Yeah, he's going by that out there. But Martin was the last, I guess, link.

He was the link to that spirit of radio. That era, yeah. He really was. You know what? That's what it was about Martin. You're 100% right, man. He was beloved because he was everybody's connection to the past, and he seemed to be a good visionary for the future with music.

Yeah, that's cool. In the early 90s, Mike Wixon, who is now known as Mike Adam and is on the air in Markham, was known as Mobile Mike. He spoke with me about Martin way back in episode five. You worked with some pretty cool cats that we know and love from back in the day like uh martin the streak for example oh yeah god i miss marty so much and in fact just before we lost him he was developing a series with us called martin streaks backstage where he added we i guess the last one that we did was an interview with seether and it's online if you want to check it out it's on youtube um marty he was so much fun. One of the funniest guys I've ever met.

Well, you'll remember when that tragic day, that tragic night when we learned that news that Martin had taken his own life. That was pretty much the first time you and I had connected. I was already friends with Humble Howard and Fred, but you and I never really interacted. And then you were suddenly on my site because when people were finding out this shocking news, they were hitting up Google. And they all ended up on my page because it's the only place that was writing about it. You were the first. You were the breaking news on it, I believe, right? Yeah.

It's not something I wanted to ever break. Like you say, it was a resource for a lot of us to find out what was going on. And I know people were reporting back to you at that time. But I remember communicating with you, not realizing you were the Mike Wixon who was pals with Humble Howard. And I remember the worlds all colliding at the time. Yeah. And it was just a bizarre night.

It was charming that we were all able to come together at that time, and a lot of us did, but he's missed, and certainly I think about him all the time. I will tell you something that I've never told anybody about Martin Streak in that time. Go ahead. I spoke to him what seems like moments before he left us, maybe a week. It was his birthday. He was going to Vegas.

He was on top of the world. He had resolved his moving on from CFNY. I didn't see any remnants of it if there was any at all. Laurie Ann worked alongside Martin on 102.1 doing live to airs and can now be heard on Indie 88. She was nice enough to share this story with me. She was nice enough to share this story with me. Oh, Martin, I have so many great memories of our time together. We went from mentor and student to friends to coworkers. But this memory sticks out the most only because I never would have thought someone as cool and as high in status would do something like this for little old me, you know? I was still in radio college, didn't even have a job yet.

Had to do a project about CanCon in radio and I asked for his help. So he invites me to his house. That already blew my mind. So I go. We sit on his couch and we start talking. I'm taping this, by the way, on a cassette recorder. He's telling me stories, giving antidotes and, you know, being his super charming self. And I'm just in awe, probably drooling with big stars in my eyes, right? The cassette stops. That side of the tape was done. And at this point, I already felt that I

was overstaying my welcome. So I say, you know, wow, thanks so much. That was great. I really appreciate it. And he says, is there not another side to the tape? I flipped it over. We talked until that side ran out and I just couldn't believe it. He was so gracious, so willing to help a college student he barely knew. And that's how our relationship started. Brother Bill was on the air on 102.1 until taking his act to Vancouver and returning to his birth name of Neil Morrison. I chatted with Neil Morrison on the phone from Vancouver. So tell me, if you will, a little bit about your relationship with Martin Streak when you were at 102.1 The Edge.

Okay. I'll try and encapsulate it the best I can. I started it at CFNY y in 1988 uh as an operator and then started in the music department and uh martin would come in and you know uh lighten up the room like he always did it'd be neil mann iver hamilton and myself and and he'd come in and he was working for the video road show with a couple other guys and uh he would come in and always you know he was a really a really a guy who would walk in a room and just light it up and he'd come in with all kinds of quirky humor and jokes and you know even if we're having the worst day ever he would come in and just it would disappear for a little bit you know listen to listening to his humor he had this amazing sense of humor

that was unmatched by anybody. Did you guys have any great conversations about music? I know he was passionate about the music. We had great conversations about the music when they were changing the music. You know, there were some changes in the late 80s that nobody who worked there was particularly thrilled with. More of the top 40 format came in. But, you know, Martin and I worked for the Video Roadshow together for, God, it had to be two or three years at least. And we saw each other quite frequently when we were on the road together. And, you know, at the end of a video road show at one of the high schools or wherever we were, we'd have to drive the truck back to the area.

It was just him and I. And we talked about a lot of things. And I can't really remember a specific, you know, moment where we talked about specifically music, but we became really, really good friends at that time, I thought. And it was at that time for me, I always sort of looked at them, pardon the expression, but as a brother. And it just continued on. Our friendship grew and grew and grew, and we both got put on the radio at the same time, with his club gigs and me doing the overnights or weekends

or whatever shift they needed me to do. So we kind of came along. Our careers were kind of parallel for a lot of years. And so we remained really, really good friends, kind of looked out for each other. Because the radio industry, you can get a little carried away with it, and it can get carried away with you. And you just have to find a nice balance. And Martin and I were always good at, I think anyway, for a time there, you know, making sure that we just kind of kept each other in check.

What year did you leave the edge again for Vancouver? 2004. 2004. So you were not around. He was, Martin was let go by the station in 2009. Did you, did you hear from Martin after that? Do you know what spirits he was in after getting that bad news? Well, yeah, not as much as, say, I would have if I still lived in Toronto. I'll backtrack just a little bit to 2004 when I had left and taken the job opportunity in Vancouver. 2004 when I had left and taken the job opportunity in Vancouver.

He was a little upset by it because he I don't I wouldn't I wouldn't say jealousy because that wouldn't be the right word. But I think he really thought't have a next step. And the trick to our business, I think, is you always need to know what you're going to do next, if you come become complacent you're going to you know things are going to happen to you that aren't necessarily good and so when i back to 2009 um when i heard he got fired yeah i gave him a call but see this was the thing about martin streak is even if he was really really down in thes. He would never share that with you because his attitude was always, you know, nobody wants a downer. Nobody wants a guy being down around them.

So even if he was really, really down in the dumps, which I mean, towards the end, I presume he was, he never made me know about it. And as far as I know, the people that were closest to him, he never made that known to them either freddie p tells a story about meeting up at a there's a stag party for you was it for you yeah it was for you no it's for phil evans phil evans oh no no no no no no you're talking about when i got married right Right. I forgot about that mistake. I heard that was undone. So, yeah.

So what was that? What was that like? I know just speaking with Fred, he said that Martin, you know, opened up about some issues he was having with his former employer. But otherwise, he seemed to be positive about the future. What did you think? Exactly the same. He didn't say too many things about my employer, which was his employer. Right.

Because again, it goes back to what I was saying before. And that is, you know, no one likes a negative guy. And Martin was not a negative person. I mean, if he was down about something, he may say something off the cuff, but he's the first guy to turn it around to something else so you don't focus on the negative. He never liked to talk about that. So when he came up to Stoney Lake for my stag, he made some offhand comments, yeah, which kind of, I wish I could have paid more attention to

it, but i was a little overwhelmed by what was going on with me getting married and my stag and stuff and perhaps that's a little selfish you know but i never pulled them aside and said hey buddy is everything okay uh but really pressed him because if i just said is everything okay i know he said oh no no problem bill everything's good don't worry about it buddy no worries you know which is the way he was but um yeah i agree with freddie i think that there was probably deep down something uh bothering him and still to this day i'm not 100 sure what it was i know that again back with what i said that he had i think that he didn't have a plan and he and and unfortunately, he got kind of cut off midstream and didn't know what to do. And, you know, maybe finances were not great for him because he made some, you know, he made some

good money back in the day, that man. And I guess the lifestyle he was leading was kind of spiraling downward around him. And he really didn't know what to do. I mean, this is just me theorizing. I don't know if this is the truth or not because we never got into it. But, you know, the thing about friends that you really should take some time to – with friends, real friends, you should take the time to sit down with them and pry them until you find out whether they're doing okay or not, whether they really are. And something, you know, I'm sure many of us that were dear friends of his regret that we didn't push a little harder.

And how did you find out the horrible news that he had taken his own life? A guy named Mike Rice, who was a producer at the station. Also, he used to produce the club gigs with Martin occasionally, or he used to be the DJ, to tell you the truth. Mike Rice called me here in Vancouver, and I picked up the phone, and he said, hey, buddy, how you doing? I said, great, and he said, Marty's gone. And I just said, what? And he said, Marty's gone. And I just said, what?

And he said, Marty's gone. I said, what the F? What happened? And he basically told me what happened. And it was a rough, incredibly rough day. It was an incredibly emotional day. It was like somebody hit you in the solar plexus, man. That's the only way I can describe it.

If anybody's ever had a friend, lost a friend to suicide, you get angry, you get sad, you get so many different emotions. And still to this day, when I think about them, sometimes I can get a little upset. Like I can, you know, I can hold myself together. But, you know, Martin is buried. They are cremated. He was cremated. His ashes are spread about an hour north of Vancouver at a place called Shannon Falls, which is just outside of Squamish.

And I know the tree that he's, his ashes were spread because I went to the memorial where his mother spread them, his late mother. And I go up there once in a while and, you know, pour myself a little, even though I can't stand it, but Martin used to love Jägermeister. So I grab a little bottle, do a shot, pour it on where his ashes are, and leave it behind the tree so no one can see it kind of thing. And it gets a little emotional, that. Well, it goes without saying that I'm sorry for your loss.

I was a fan. I wasn't a personal friend. I was a fan, and I remember being just devastated by it because he seemed so passionate and full of life. And he just seemed to have so much going for him. And it was hard to kind of comprehend that he would just decide to check out. And I can only imagine what it would be like for somebody like yourself who was a good friend of Martin's. So I'm very sorry about that.

Oh, thanks, Mike. I appreciate that. I'll just say that it kind of comes back to what I was saying before about your friends, you know. I mean, Martin, you're absolutely right. The number one thing that people seem to remember about Martin when I talk to them about it is his passion for music. And that is a valid point, a valid thing to say, because Martin cared more about music than probably anyone I knew.

And he, you know, don't call it musical snobbery because it wasn't musical snobbery. He was the guy that would say, listen to this, check this out, you'll love this, you know. And if people didn't, he'd just go, all right, no problem. Try this. And he'd have something else for you, you know? Um, and you know, everybody has a dark side to them. They do. And some people are just better at masking it than others. And unfortunately with Martin, he had that dark side, which I saw occasionally, but never to the point where I thought, hey, buddy, are you OK? I mean, he used he at the end ended up using social media to kind of express the dark side. And the day that he had killed himself, he had gone on Facebook and had said some strange things and then said the last thing he wrote on Facebook was let the stories begin,

dot, dot, dot. And that's the last we heard from him. And that essentially was his, uh, suicide note, essentially, I suppose. Uh, I, I, I guess you could look at it that way. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I mean, there was people, you know, like Mike, my friend, Mike Rice, uh, was a lot closer to him at the end than I was. I don't know if you're talking to him or not, but he might be a good guy to talk to as well because he probably knew him the best. At the end, they would play pool together because Martin loved pool. They were hanging out quite a bit.

Yeah, Mike would be a great guy for you to talk to, man. Will do, and I really, really appreciate you taking some time from Vancouver, beautiful Vancouver, to talk about Martin with me. Thanks for doing that. Deal, Mike. No problem. And let me just wrap up by saying this. It's incredible.

Martin would have been 50 in June. I knew him since he was 20. And it's hard to believe that it's going to be five years. It just floors me, and I'll make sure, and I promise you and all his friends this, I will be up at Shannon Falls on his birthday, and I will be raising a little Jägermeister, and I'll take care of that for people who can't be there.

Another CFN wire who is close to Martin and is now living at West is Captain Phil Evans, who shared some great Martin stories with me. As you'll hear in this next clip, Martin Streak made one hell of a best man. Hello? Is this Captain Phil? Indeed it is, Mike. How are you? Good. Nice to finally speak to you in person. How are you doing? Well, I'm an avid follower of your writings and your comings and goings and your expanding family, Mike.

Oh, thank you. That's cool to hear. Everything I've heard about you has been very positive. I had Freddie P. in my house for a couple of hours today, and he dropped your name a couple of times and said I have to speak to Phil. It's very kind, yeah. Well, they were a good bunch. It's interesting, Mike, there's a snapshot of a time in your life when everything was sort of steaming along at high speed, of a time in your life when everything was sort of steaming along at high speed. And that group of original CF and Wires, 10 years worth, still keep in touch, still follow each other. It's quite an interesting brotherhood and sisterhood, really.

Yeah, it's a good term for it because Fred describes it as a family. He says it was like a family. Yeah, it is, and it's a snapshot in time. And we all still keep in touch. There's a couple of us out here on the West Coast. There's me, Neil Morrison, Joe Faluna, who used to work in Canadian talent development. And we all still keep in touch. It is quite remarkable after all this time. I just got off the phone with Neil Morrison.

I almost called him Bill a couple of times. Well, I know it's funny. When people call you those names, you think they're taking the mickey out of you, but it's just the way you know them. I still call him Bill occasionally. He's a real thing out here. He's got a very popular midday show, and he does a great job. I would love to hear about your relationship with Martin.

As I understand, he was the best man at your wedding. So I'd love to hear. It's interesting. I first met Martin at a ranch party at Ivor Hamilton's house, and he lived out in country north of Brampton with a bunch of other guys from the station. and he lived out in the country north of Brampton with a bunch of other guys from the station. And when I got there, strangely enough, that night, Teenage Head played. I think Blue Rodeo played, and Dr. Demento made an appearance on the roof of their old farmhouse.

And Martin was dancing around the fire, and he had this really long hair. And I think, you know, this is when I just started there in the, in the mid eighties. And he was the kind of guy who would, uh, he was the ultimate host. It wasn't his party, but he would welcome you there. So that's where I met him. Cool. And, uh, you guys, I guess, hit it off and became fast friends as they say. So, uh, following that, um, I was, uh, uh, Captain Phil on the, the Molson Canadian CFNY houseboat,

and I didn't have anywhere else to live. So when they finished using the houseboat at the end of the summer, Martin let me stay at his house, which was in Mississauga, and he and his mom lived there. And one night coming home, I usually went back with Martin after work, and one night coming home, I'd never been there without Martin, so I forgot which floor he lived on, and I knocked on every door. I still couldn't find him, so I slept under my desk at work. Wow.

Yeah. And then we were friends for the whole period of time there. He had lots of adventures. He told great stories, and he was great to go out with. great stories and he was great to go out with. And we were at a party at another staffer's house in downtown Toronto. It was, I don't know, six months before I was getting married or three months, I think. And I'd have a couple of beers and I said, you know, Martin, I want you to be my best man. And he said, Phil, you've got to think about this. You've had a couple of beers. And I said, no, I'm serious. I'm absolutely serious. I want you to be my best man. And he said, Phil, you've got to think about this. You've had a couple of beers. And I said, no, I'm serious. I'm absolutely serious. I want you to be my best man. And it was because he was the most giving, vested guy you could ever meet.

It sounds like he'd make a great best man. It was remarkable. And he threw me this stag where a whole bunch of people from the station, and Humble Howard, who at that time was working at The Mix and not CFNY, we got on this big yellow school bus, and Martin had gone to all the record companies and all the clients at the radio station, and he had draws all night as we traveled around downtown Toronto going to a number of bars where Freddie P. danced on the stage at many of them, along with the ladies. number of bars where uh freddie p danced on the stage at many of them along with the ladies um and then everybody left the the event with uh with some kind of prize he had he had uh made deals for you know vcrs and cd collections and stereos and uh boom boxes and all kinds of

things when he did something he was all in and whether you were his friend or you worked with him uh he was all in all the time he was never part way in and it was the same thing uh as a friend all in when did you leave 102 i left in um in 2002 um martin had already been doing the uh the club shows on the Thursday 30. He had taken over from Chris Shepard five, six years before that. And it was funny. I don't think many of us could see him in that spot, but the management of the station actually had tons of vision at the time, and he became the face of, you know, the street face of CFNY.

It was Martin Streak. And that's in 2002. We kept in touch, traded emails. Obviously, he got on Facebook kind of late. So we traded Facebook messages after that. He came out to the coast a couple of times to visit, and he was still the same old Martin Streak. Did you speak to him after he was let go in 2009?

Yes, I did. And, you know, after an email, then we talked on the phone and he was going to go and do some traveling. And we went out to California. That was shortly after. And I think he said he was going out for three or four weeks. And I think then after that, there was another four week period. And strangely enough, the way I kind of find out, I was working at a top 40 station here, and I was trying to find someone in California to cover the Michael Jackson funeral at the Staples Center. And I said, I know a guy out there. Martin's been out there for about a month.

And I went on his Facebook page and sent him a message. And then I got a call a couple of hours later from Alan Cross. Wow, so you heard the news from Alan. That final Facebook message, I guess you didn't see it until after you got the news. I did, but I didn't make much of it he was always uh he always uh you know uh let his feelings out so um i don't know if anyone could intuit what it was about unless you know um i i do i did see it it was the same time that i was dropping him a message and i thought well that's martin just being a bit extreme in his presentation.

Sure, and hindsight, of course, is 20-20, but I understand there'd be no way to see that and assume it was what it was. So I take it you were pretty shocked by this sad news. Yes, I mean, I think you'd be shocked at any news like that. Like I said, in anything that Martin did, he was all in. He was a great friend, a great entertainer, and yeah, shocked. And it lasted for weeks with all of us, I think. I think, you know, the grieving and the sorrow. Sorrow is a word you rarely use, but that's what it was,

because he was a great guy. It sounds like it. And I'm just speaking as a fan, and I felt the loss. I can only imagine how you guys, who were so tight, you know, during your your your careers there at CFNY, how it must have felt to lose somebody so young and full of life. I can only imagine. Absolutely. And again, Mike, you know, we all reconnected. We all reconnected on the phone, Freddie and Humble and me and Alan, and I talked to Bookie at the time,

and all of our contemporaries were on the telephone all night talking about it, and, you know, I don't know what else you can say about that. He was a life force. He was a great guy, and I don't think, like you said, anyone would say different. There are tons of stories. I mean, when you're living through them, I don't think you consider them stories. You consider them life.

You know, the way he threw himself into being my best man was one thing that I tell people to this day. into being my best man was one thing that I tell people to this day. I don't have anything, any stories that are not Martin as the 100% full of life guy. That's the Martin I knew and loved, and that was the Martin I knew till the end, really. Rob Johnston worked with Martin from 1989 until he was let go in 2009. He also put together the three-hour tribute special that aired on 102.1, two weeks after Martin passed away. I'll let Rob tell you the rest of the story. So how did you know Martin Streak?

I knew Martin from when I first started working back with CFNY at Kennedy Road in 1989, the fall of 89. I started as an intern there and I did a few things with the road show and then I got into operation stuff. So I didn't work directly with Martin a lot then, but certainly knew Martin and we did stuff, you know, that's just what you do with the station.

Right. So that's when I first got to know Martin. And then I guess you're still at CFNY. I am still here. 20 some years later. Oh, wow. Yeah. Different responsibilities over the years, but still here working way up to uh, working way, way up to the food chain.

And, uh, I've been the creative director for, I don't know, 10 years or so now. And okay. So as you, I guess you worked throughout the nineties with Martin and then you guys, uh, at some point you guys became closer. Yeah. I mean, the thing with Martin is, you know, when we, when, when the station was having somewhat of the golden age through the 90s, there weren't a lot of us, right? And my role in production, my first role directly working with Martin was I was producing the Thursday 30 when they were down at Bloor and Bathurst. Right. So I'd work that show every week with him and then uh you know i do weekend uh overnights and things like that so i'd run into him in the

station during changeovers and stuff like that and then uh when i got into commercial production doing a lot of voice work with them and directing them on stuff and you know again we weren't a huge crew so everybody knew everybody and you always hung out. And inevitably, you'd be at the Phoenix or the Kingdom or Whiskey Saigon or whatever from time to time or at somebody's house from time to time or whatever. You know, it was it was a different time then. Right. So that's how the front, you know, how you really got to know Marty. What kind of guy was Martin Streak? Marty was the most outgoing person you'd probably ever meet.

What you saw with Martin, if you ever ran into Martin, was how Martin was. He didn't hold back. He had his convictions. He had his opinions. But he always was there for you. You could pick him up and say, Marty, I don't know if you're busy, but I got to I need someone to voice a spot for this, that and the other. And say, OK, I'm on my way. I'll be there in 20 minutes or whatever.

And he invariably show up with his longboard, you know, 15 minutes later. Martin was you really hoped a lot of people who wanted to get into broadcasting saw the dedication he had to what he did he was an incredible people person I mean everybody always speaks fondly of Martin and he always had time for everybody and he always met let made everybody feel like they were part of what's going on I mean the way you saw Marty with people in the clubs playing like the consummate host that's exactly what he was like if you were over at his place, you know, dinner party or after somewhere, you know, whatever. He was the same way. You know, I recently chatted with Captain Phil Evans. Yeah.

And Captain Phil, if I can call him that, tells a pretty story about uh Martin Streak being his best man and how basically you give him this you give him a task and it's like go big or go home you know he's gonna kick ass with that responsibility and he's like the greatest best man you could ever ask for yeah I mean his go big or go home for certain I mean god his his halloween costumes were legendary in their scope and scale and execution so um but you know i also knew martin it wasn't all you know fun and games i mean martin he he he had his demons he had his challenges it wasn't all sunshine and roses right and that's i think the thing a lot of people didn't know and they didn't need to know because it's it's his own personal life right and and of course i respect that but i've been hearing the term it's funny you call them

demons because that seems to be the term uh people use for the other side if you will of the coin and is there any any insight at all without, you know, I understand you don't want to give away too much detail that you might deem private, but is there any more insight into that you could give us? Nothing that really pops into my mind. I was never witness to it, but I'd like to think I knew Martin well enough that I knew there was an underlying. Underlying things going on wasn't my wasn't my territory to get involved in, nor did I want to.

But but are we talking are we talking something potentially like a mental illness? Are we talking like substance? I think I don't know. I think a lot of it we talking like substance i think i don't know i think a lot of it probably came from substance i mean i'm i'm not going to say for certain but i mean you look at the kind of environment the culture he hang out he hung out hung out in right right and i'm certainly i wouldn't be the first one to make that association but whatever the case you know um it is just part of who martin was and um but it never really made me think anything differently from him um he was always just an incredibly vivacious guy and and and just you kind of always wanted to have him around but it wasn't in that style where somebody does those things

to compensate for something else. It was just how Martin was. And he was always that way. When he was in high school, he became class president and he decided to raffle off a case of beer. That's just who Martin was. So, I mean, from a very early beginning, that was Martin. That was Marty. But I'll never forget the last thing i

said to him and i don't know how i remembered it but we were up at um we were up at a cottage in halliburton and it was for brother bill stag party right yeah and uh we were all up there and it was the sunday morning and i was heading out and I saw Marty and I knew he was going away for his birthday in a couple of weeks time. And this was the end of May. Oh, yeah. End of May 09. Right. And I said to Marty, all right, see you later.

Take care. Don't do anything stupid. Hmm. And I, you know, meant in a kind of a joking way because I was always sort of the way it was. But I didn't know how prophetic that sentence would be at the time. So was he on that trip? I talked to Fred Patterson. He was on that trip. And so I guess Fred had recently been let go from he was working at the Mix 99.9, and then he was let go.

And, of course, just prior to that trip, I guess on the same day, Barry Taylor and Martin Streak got their pink slips, if you will, from the station. And did Martin Streak seem to be in decent spirits? Did he seem hopeful about his future or did he seem depressed? Oh no, Marty was Marty. There was no,

there was nothing that struck me as odd at all. No. And the, I guess it was, I don't know what day exactly, early July, when you heard that Martin Streak took his own life, what was,

what was your reaction? I was sitting on my couch in my family room watching tv and the phone rang and i looked at the call display and it was alan cross and i thought what's alan calling about now because we at that point you know we were in re-rolls for the ongoing history or something i just thought oh see what's going on i picked up the phone and uh and he just told me you're not going to believe this but this is what's going on. I picked up the phone and, uh, and he just told me, you're not going to believe this, but this is what's happened. And I, like most people was just completely dumbfounded. And, you know, when you hear news like that, it takes a little bit of a few sentences for all,

for it all to sink in. And you think what the hell you know did uh were you his facebook friend by any chance i i was but i was never really into facebook at that point in time and i still haven't been but um you know then i heard some alan had mentioned something about what was on Facebook and all that. So I took a look to see what was going on, but I, you know, I didn't know anything about it at that time. What was going on? No. And I think, uh, hindsight is 2020 with that one. I mean, you know, after the fact you're like, okay.

Yeah, it was, it was. And I remember sitting there and I was afterwards, I got off the phone and I was just like said to my wife, you're not going to. It's a good thing we're sitting down because you're not going to believe this. So then I thought, OK. I've got to call some people and tell them news that I don't want to tell them, but I have to tell them before they hear it from somebody else or see it on social media or see it on Facebook or get a tweet or whatnot. see it on social media or see it on Facebook or get a tweet or whatnot, because I don't, I didn't want them to hear about it that way.

They needed to hear about it from someone who knew about it and who knew Martin. You know what I mean? I know exactly what you mean. So I put in a call to some people that I worked with and then I put in a call, I put in a text to Ben Koalowitz. He was out west touring i put a text into strombo and you know they called me back within minutes and you know and let them know what was going on and i said i got some very shitty news to tell you you're the one who uh so you had to break this news to uh george strombo lopolis well i didn't have to but i well i meant

you did i said what was that yeah i did i did because i said george stromolopoulos well i didn't have to but i well i meant you did i said what was that yeah i did i did because i said george you have to hear this from i i hope i'm not the first to tell you but i and i hope you haven't heard this somewhere else but you know i just want to tell you what's going on he's like holy shit but i'm glad you told me because i just knew odds were somebody was going to send something to ge, we'd get broken telephone on it. Right. And that's not, you know, that wasn't, that wasn't what needed to happen. Wow. Yeah. This is, um, I really appreciate, and I really appreciate you spending some time to, to talk about this.

Cause I am, um, as I mentioned, I'm putting together a little collection, if you will, Alan cross. And I actually talked to Brother Bill, even though I know he's not calling himself Brother Bill these days. But I have a few people and I'm actually supposed to speak with David Marsden later this week. Well, I can tell you if you want, if you have a few minutes, the story about that radio show. I would love to hear the story.

Okay. So David did his show that week. It's the story about that radio show. I would love to hear the story. Okay. So David did his show that week. It might've even been that night. I can't recall. It was the Thursday night. Anyhow, immediately you think,

okay, what, what are we going to do? Something has to be done. And I know there's a lot of politicking and I know there's a lot of people out there who are still mad at the edge at that point in time and still, you know, pissed off about what happened. But you know, it is what it was, and you couldn't change it. So I tried to stay away from the social medias, because it just got me very pissed, very mad that people were going on about why isn't this edge doing something they're not going to do,

you know, they're chickening out and all this. And I'm thinking, you guys have no clue that there are people like us there who are still trying to process this. And you just kind of have to blow that off to the side. So I said to the programming team at the time, I said, you know, we have to do something for Martin. I want to put something together. I need three hours on a Sunday night, commercial free, no restrictions, nothing.

I said, you got it. So Tara and I got together and we mapped out some music that we wanted to put in. That would be Martin music. Because this was a show for Martin. This wasn't a show for the listeners. You know what I mean? Oh, I know. This was a show for Martin about his music.

And then I thought, let me get a hold of as many people as I can, like the Brother Bills, the Mays and all them. And get see if they want to share some thoughts and then get some listener input. And just put it together as like a coda, as like a tribute for Martin. And it was extraordinarily difficult to do hardest thing i've ever had to do but at the same time probably the most rewarding thing i've ever done because it spoke to the power of what martin accomplished who he was and what he meant to people what he still means to people and what the music he listened to and liked, what it did for people as well. I had an interesting perspective on this. So I listened to the Marsden. I think he did five hours, I think. In fact, today I host, I don't know if

this is legal or not, but I am hosting the five hours and you can get them on my site and uh i thought he did a great job and then i listened to your your three hour block on that sunday night and i thought it was great too i mean the musical choices were were excellent and hearing from people like you know strombo and some people I know personally, like Freddie P and Alan Cross and people like that. Yeah. I mean, I'm, I'm again, and this is probably, you know, I could get a cease and desist from chorus tomorrow, but I'm hosting the three hours from you as well.

Well, so don't tell them. Okay. I'll try not to. But, but, you know, I mean, it was like, it was, I didn't listen to it actually the night it aired. I did not listen to it. I listened to it enough by that point in time. Right. And I was shopping, I think, at like a Lowe's that night or something when it was on.

And my phone just kept buzzing and going off. And I kept getting these amazing messages about it. And I just thought that's exactly what it was supposed to do. It was supposed to, I don't want to say closure, but at that point it was like almost two weeks after the fact, people had time to process it, come to terms with it. All of us involved in it had time to go through our own, you know, at least go through some of the own emotions that were involved in it.

And there was no interference uh who's is it ross winters who had to kind of sign off on the on that you know decision to give you like a three-hour block without without interference yeah with the management yeah ross was the gipd at the time and no nobody nobody nobody had a problem with it at all was there any uh requests to avoid like one little thing i wondered listening as a just a fan who's not in the business or whatever is it just uh was there any like just don't allude to the fact he was let go two months ago is there anything like that or was it okay no cool no i guess people had faith in enough that we would do it in a tasteful proper and uh because again it wasn't about the situation it wasn't about what happened it wasn't about what

preceded it it was about the music and the man that's it do you know what his favorite song was no i i you know what no i'm just i'm actually just curious uh i don't think he honestly had one he had so many i think it probably depended on the mood the day sure of course i know he was a big fan of tool for example and he's a huge fan of tool yeah i remember sitting there listening to the uh to the lateralis album with him at Mantra Studios on these headphones. And we were all just sitting there listening and just like a gap. Holy crap, this is insanely good. Tool, Clash, Nine Inch Nails, Portishead. Again, depended on the day.

I think it depended on the day, the month, the year. Well, the Clash thing was obvious because I remember his his bio his biography on uh 102.1 the website the edge website was uh joe strummer's bio i just because i remember uh some confusion in the media when he passed sort of reporting on his age and stuff from i remember this because it was joe strmer's age. He was a little older. He had this quote on his email that was, some say cooler than Bono. And I thought it was quite funny on their last album, the track Breathe.

It says 15th of June is the beginning of the track Breathe. 15th of June, man comes to my door. Well, Martin's birthday was the 15th of June. 15th of June, man comes to my door. Well, Martin's birthday was the 15th of June. On July 6, 2009, Martin updated his Facebook status for the last time before taking his life. Here's what he wrote. So I guess that's it. Thanks, everyone. I'm sorry to those I should be sorry to. I love you to those that I love. And I will see you all again soon. Not too soon, though. Let the stories begin. All around me are familiar faces

Worn out places, worn out faces. Bright and early for their daily races. Going nowhere, going nowhere. Their tears are filling up their glasses. No expression, no expression Hide my head, I wanna drown my sorrow No tomorrow, no tomorrow And I find it kinda funny, I find it kind of funny. I find it kind of sad.

The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. I find it hard to tell you. I find it hard to take. When people run in circles, it's a very, very mad world. Mad world. Children waiting for the day they feel good. Happy birthday, happy birthday. And I feel the way that every child should.

Sit and listen, sit and listen. Went to school and I was very nervous. No one knew me, no one knew me. No one knew me. Hello teacher, tell me what's my lesson. Look right through me. Look right through me. And I find it kind of funny.

I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad. The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take. When people run in circles, it's a very, very mad world. Very, very mad world. Mad world. Mad world. Mad world. Mad world Mad world Mad world

Enlarging your world Mad world Man world