Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - TOAST 15: Toronto Mike'd #1226
Episode Date: March 28, 2023In this 14th episode of Toast, Mike is joined by Rob Preuss and Bob Willette as they kick out Spring Jams. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral ...Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.
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Just toast.
I'm going to think about it.
FOTMs.
Do you know what time it is?
It's toast time.
Toast.
Featuring Stu Stone, Cam Gordon, and Toronto Mike.
That's toast.
Yeah,'s toast. Yeah, it's just toast.
Welcome to episode 1226 of Toronto Mic'd.
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Electronic Products Recycling Association.
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And Ridley Funeral Home.
Pillars of the community since 1921.
Joining me today for this 15th episode of Toast
is Rob Proust
and Bob Ouellette.
Welcome back, Rob and Bob.
Good day, Mr. Toronto.
Hello, Mike. Good day, eh?
Good day, eh?
So let's let the listenership know that the great Bob Ouellette is live in the TMDS studio.
He's right here.
I can reach out and scruff his head and play with his hair.
If you wish to.
Although, you know, I don't know what that will accomplish, but you could do it.
I can reach you from here.
And Rob, where do we find you today?
Queens, New York.
Home of the Ramones.
Forest Hills, New York
We are looking for Brooklyn
We are looking for Brooklyn, Queens
It's a third bass
Do you remember this, Bob?
Third bass, the Cactus album
Yes, very, very vaguely
Okay
Yes
I had the Cactus album
And then they put out something
They called the Cactus Revisited
Which was like remixes of all their songs, and I
bought that again. It's like I bought it again.
You're a big third bass fan. Who knew?
I'm a big third bass fan.
So, Rob, you're in Queens, but
what's the exciting news about the next
episode of Toast, which I believe is scheduled
for April 11th? Give us the exciting news.
On April
11th, which is literally like only
like less, it's like two weeks
from now
we're going to be
in person
all three of us
we three will
reunite in person
again
all three of us
reunited
and there's some
more exciting news
are you sitting down
Rob
I can see Bob
is sitting down
I want to make sure
you're sitting down
okay
so
I'm sitting down
one of the great
FOTMs
is a woman
named Moose Grumpy
I pause for effect there just pausing here woman named Moose Grumpy. I paused for effect there. Just pausing here. Okay.
Well, Moose Grumpy's son is a gentleman named Matt. And Matt is going to be shadowing us on
the 11th of April because he's going into media or broadcasting. And he's going to watch us record
that episode of Toast to just fuel his passion, maybe check things out,
and maybe tap into Bob Ouellette's big radio programmer brain.
Where is he going?
Cumber, Seneca, Centennial?
Oh, actually, I had this info earlier today, and it left my brain.
I'm a former faculty member at Seneca.
I did teach at Seneca.
I think it's at Oakville or something or others. Oakville would be Sheridan? Yeah. Oh, yeah, Sheridan. Very nice. I did teach at Seneca. Oakville something or others.
Oakville would be Sheridan?
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Sheridan.
That's very nice.
I think so.
Excellent.
Good for him.
Do we call him Matt Grumpy?
That's great.
We told him that.
Matt Grumpy's birthday.
If we're going to continue,
if we're going to pretend
like this is an old school radio show,
we have to give him
a demeaning nickname.
That's what you do.
Is that true, Bingo Bob?
That's right.
Chicken Shawarma, Scary Pete, Hawk Lick, and all the other ones.
And that terrible nickname that Howard gave Todd Shapiro,
which I will not repeat on this show.
No, that was, yeah.
I mean, it was a different time.
I'm not judging it.
I'm just saying I'm not repeating it.
We also used to shave pucks into people's bodies
when they won hockey games.
Like, there were so many different things.
Oh, the 90s were wild.
Oh, man.
So Matt, who's going to be here with us as well on the 11th,
and I think maybe Moose Grumpy will accompany him.
Share it, according to Moose Grumpy.
Thank you.
Oh, cool.
So I thought it was shared.
Excellent.
But he recorded it.
So I said, okay, so yeah, you can shadow us,
you know, learn how we
professionals operate here.
But I said, you can also be kind of like
a producer of sorts. You can assign us
our theme for that episode.
So today,
this is smart of me, right? See, I'm always thinking.
So today's theme is
spring jams. Okay, that's locked and loaded.
We're going to kick out spring jams. But do you
guys want to hear Matt tell you what the theme will be for next week?
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, let's do it.
Why wait?
Here's Matt.
Hi, I'm Matt.
I'm a high school student with plans on getting into journalism.
Mike has invited me to shadow him while making the next episode of Toast.
I've even been given the special honor of picking the topic.
And the topic I have picked,
Toronto Mikeheads, is
musical theater. I figured
that Rob especially would find this topic
to be pretty fun, since he himself
has experience in musical theater.
Anyways, it will be going live
on the 11th of April. If you can,
why not join us? I think it'll
be very fun.
Rob, let's go to you first since you work in musical
theater what do you think of this theme we're gonna kick out musical theater jams i think it's
a very broad topic and i think that anything goes which is the name of musical so i'm already in it
i'm already working on it yeah no it's gonna be amazing bob what do you think i don't know how
i'm gonna pick only three my gosh right I was such a huge musical theater nerd.
Did a bunch in high school.
Saw everything at the peak of the season.
When Rob was running all those shows,
I was in the audience getting rush tickets to see all these shows.
Oh, my gosh.
I can think of so many.
My gosh.
I honestly don't know how I'm going to only pick three.
Well, we're going to.
I mean, are there parameters that we'm going to only pick three I mean
are there parameters that we could use to narrow it
like I mean musical theater is very broad
it's like saying we're going to do a show on rock music
almost yeah you're right
let's see if Matt
cooks up any more parameters
we can put around this thing
and I'll send it to you guys via email
but at least we know the arena
of what we're kicking out
thanks Matt so Matt will be here and we can And I'll send it to you guys via email. But at least we know the arena of what we're kicking off next week here.
Thanks, Matt.
Thank you, Matt.
So Matt will be here and we can meet him.
And very nice enunciation on your...
His elocution was quite nice.
See, that's where you want to talk to Bob Willett.
There you go.
He's a programmer.
There you go.
Bob, I had a guest over here earlier today who wants me to say hello to you.
So hello to you, Bob Willuellette from Wayne Webster.
Legend.
Legend.
He's the first music director to allow me to sit in on a music meeting when he was at Mix 99.9.
Wayne Webster was.
And like the calmest human being ever in the world.
The guy has the lowest blood pressure of anybody I've ever met.
I learned so much from him.
Smart guy. Wow. Well, he says hello to you met. I learned so much from him. Smart guy.
Wow.
Well, he says hello to you.
I say hello to him.
We're practically neighbors.
He lives in the East End as well, but we rarely cross paths, unfortunately.
There's a gig that occurred since the last time we recorded Toast.
It was at the Moonshine Cafe in Oakville, and I attended it with Canada Kev.
You were great, Rob Pruse.
How was that night from your perspective?
It was amazing.
And I was trying to remember if I thanked you again
for coming out to the show with Canada Kev.
You know, my car got stuck in the snow.
Do you know this?
So my car, which is actually my wife's car,
but I was going to bike to your event.
And then there was a big snowstorm the night before.
And I realized I'm never going to get there on a bike in this icy, slush snow.
Therefore, I drove, and even driving, like when I parked to go to the Moonshine Cab,
but when I went to my car to leave, spinning wheels, and then I tried everything I could do,
and I needed assistance.
I would have pushed you out.
I would have helped.
Well, I got Canada Cab to help, and I finally got free.
But you were uh
awesome brittle star was there thank you sandy horn was there it was just a great night yeah
it was so fun and i was so glad you were there like like i keep thinking about it like
just for my first real solo kind of a show to have friends in the audience like that in like
in sort of an intimate space like that it just felt really fun and i'm gonna be back there
april 13th actually so a of days after our next toast.
Yeah.
That's a big week for you, Rob.
Holy smokes.
Quick question for Bob Ouellette,
who is a program director for radio stations in Ontario.
Now, see how specific I was?
In Ontario, there's a town in Ontario
that has Bob Ouellette as the program director.
They shot a movie once
in that hometown.
Everybody was in it.
Would you or your bosses
fire on-air talent
if they repeated Snoop Dogg's catchphrase?
Which I won't say the whole thing because I don't
think I'm allowed to anymore, but I will say
fo' shizzle my
N-I-Z-Z-L-E, I think.
If you said that on the air would that be i don't think i
don't think that's um i i think her intentions i you know it's hard to talk about what intentions
are my immediate reaction is no they would not be fired they could be reprimanded perhaps they
would be uh written up um but or even just advise that you can't say that. But I honestly don't think she made the connection that that N-word is associated with the N-word.
I don't know this person at all.
I'm with you.
But I think it was just an honest mistake.
And the woman's got 20 plus years in the biz.
She probably deserves a little bit better.
And I probably shouldn't even have an opinion because I have never been affected by that word.
So perhaps I shouldn't even have an opinion because I have never been affected by that word. So perhaps I shouldn't even say anything.
Well, here's where you get fooled because fo' shizzle my N-word.
But no, it's not N-word.
No, it's not.
It's N-I-Z-Z-L-E.
That term, you hear it on like basic cable television.
Like it's not, we don't know it as a word you can't say.
But Rob, do you know this expression Snoop Dogg drops all the time?
I have heard it, but not in the context to which you are referring a woman on uh some i don't know like cbs affiliate or somebody somewhere in the states she said it in a joking manner uh she's
white there was a black person on the panel uh during the clip and they laughed uh but i don't
know yeah if there was like a bunch of
FCC complaints or whatever it was
it seemed a little much but again I
pretty much sitting here with three
middle aged white dudes I'm not sure I should have
anything to say about it. Right and you'll
notice I didn't say it so that's where
I'm at like but I can see
somebody saying it on this show and I don't think
I would stop down and like apologize or whatever
I think I'd just go right by
me but interesting
times we live in so Rob anything else new
in your life since the Moonshine Cafe
um
not really
I got I've been working on a couple of remixes
I got a song coming out with the band from
Ottawa called Church of Trees
and I've done a remix for them for an EP that I've
worked I've done some music with them over the last five or six years and they've got a new thing coming out
you know i played church of trees when carol pope was on my program
oh of course it was at the world's bitch tune that's the one that's the one yeah i i helped
carol up with with bernard who's the the leader of the band um so yeah i've done a new remix for them that's coming out and booking more shows i got some shows planning into the summertime more solo
stuff beyond the moonshine cafe like in the toronto area and beyond in ontario which i'm very excited
about nice good stuff and uh bob how's your life going uh things are very good thank you i uh i
literally haven't recorded a podcast since the Loretta Swit episode.
I was going to have Mr. Pruce on, but he had a...
Yes, you were.
He did reschedule.
We haven't rescheduled that yet.
These things happen.
Yeah.
But also, in the meantime, what I've been doing...
You know, I did three episodes today.
This is your job, though.
This is your job.
So, you know, neither of these... My passion. It is your passion. You're very lucky. Your job is your job though this is your job so you know this neither of these my passion it is your
passion you're very lucky to your job is your passion so when was loretta sweat was that
february yeah it's been a while it's this might be the longest i've gone without right now um but
uh i've actually also i've gone back to second city i'm doing improv um Wow. Yeah. I did improv in high school,
did theater sports in the Canadian Improv Olympics
and went back and coached my high school team.
And as we were talking about off the air
before we got on the air,
I'm not on the air right now at all on any radio station.
I'm really kind of feeling that itch to perform.
And I come on here now with Toast,
which is definitely scratching that itch a little bit.
However, I just
kind of miss doing the live thing
with people
around. And when I was between
Mixed 99.9
and Proud FM,
I did a play. I actually auditioned and did
a play at the Diesel Playhouse with a bunch
of people from Second City. Anyways,
I've gone back to Second City. So on Thursday
nights, I'm doing improv
and going to continue on.
That's super cool.
Yeah, you know what?
It feels really good.
And this is my joke,
and people think I'm crazy for it.
But I say,
if Leslie Jones can get on Saturday Night Live
at 42 years old,
why can't Bob Ouellette get on at least the main stage?
Yeah, but Leslie's funny.
I'm hilarious.
Yes, and? Yes yes and exactly uh why can't yes and i uh start doing some gigs so we'll see um at 50 you know at 47 years old maybe
in two three years who knows but yeah that's kind of been taking up a lot of my energy it'll also
help you on toast right because we're live you know i don't edit anything so this is you know
this is essentially improv yeah Yeah, everything we do.
I mean, that's why I haven't done improv
is because of morning radio
for so many years
with those yahoos that you work with
and a bunch of other,
and the other yahoo that you work with.
A bunch, you know.
So yeah, I miss it.
I miss performing
and it's a lot of fun.
So stay tuned.
Who knows,
maybe there'll be some performances
to plug next time I'm on.
But I do want to get back on
doing the podcast and I want to open this beer.
Okay.
Crack open the beer, and then I want to give you a compliment.
Oh, thank you.
There we go.
What are you drinking?
The lager.
I love the lager.
It's my favorite.
Thank you.
Excuse me.
The Great Lakes lager.
They're premium lager.
Okay.
I'm going to crack open a burst.
Do it.
Thank you, sir. Cheers. Okay. Rob, you'll have to talk. We're going to be open a burst. Do it. Thank you, sir.
Cheers.
Okay, Rob, you'll have to talk.
We're going to be drinking for a little bit here.
Well, Bob and Mike have currently cracked open the Great Lakes Brew,
and they are each enjoying a sip at this moment.
My compliment for Bob.
I'm drinking tea.
You're drinking tea.
Okay.
My compliment for Bob is that he looks like he shed a little beef.
A little bit.
A little bit. A little bit.
I also have joined, get it?
Apparently I'm a housewife from the 80s.
I'm doing Weight Watchers.
Wow.
The newly.
What's going on here?
Yeah, WW, they're calling it now.
It's all new.
Improv, Weight Watchers, your life has radically changed.
Midlife crisis.
Yeah, exactly.
No, my weight's been up and down ever since the very first Chubby Bob Challenge on the Humble and Fred show.
And then the second Chubby Bob Challenge.
What can you remind us?
Because I have no memory.
Okay, so the Chubby Bob Challenge, we were at Mojo Radio.
And I was 240 some odd pounds.
They challenged me to lose 25 pounds in two weeks or in two months.
You don't want to be flabby anymore.
That's right.
And I lost it in six weeks because had I not lost that weight,
the punishment was they were going to duct tape me to a street lamp,
Young and Dundas Square, in an adult diaper
and allow people to spread lard all over my body.
Again, it was a different time.
Wow.
And that's not even the 90s.
We're in the 2000s.
That's the 2000s.
And so what they had to do is they dressed up as school girls
at the Club 279, the old Hard Rock Cafe
in the middle of a Toronto Maple Leaf hockey game
with Jessica Baker, who was on the show.
Traffic specialist.
Yeah.
And they sang You don't bring me flowers
dressed up as uh school girls that was the first chubby bob challenge second one was that mix 99
it was a little more tame but yeah so i my weight's been up and down a whole bunch but i am
100 behind this weight watchers thing it's not like it used to be it works really well there's
all kinds of free food i can eat as much of a bunch of stuff and uh yeah i've lost lost, I haven't weighed in in a couple of weeks,
but out of the gate,
I lost nine pounds in a couple of weeks.
So wow.
Good for you, Bob.
Okay.
And I feel pretty good.
We encourage fitness on this program here.
Well, yeah, you, I mean,
when I met you,
you were just a tub of goo.
And they used to call me Mr. Goo Head.
You were not a tub of goo.
But you did lose so much weight.
And I know it's all cycling related.
I'm wondering if you could help me.
So good on you for that.
I started singing that jingle.
Rob, do you remember this jingle? I know Bob
will, but I'll sing it anyways. Don't want to
be floppy anymore.
Don't want to be a fat guy.
Rubbery, blubbery,
out of shape, dude. Look at me.
I'm a pear. Look at me. I'm a pear.
That was Jamie Watson. So you
worked with him at Mojo, right?
Jamie Watson. Yeah. And also
he's also the imaging voice for 94.9 The Rock.
Okay. So there's a fun
fact for you, Rob, that Bob Willett
worked with the guy who did
Don't Wanna Be Floppy Anymore.
I love that jingle. It's great. I used to sing it
all the time. What was it for?
It was, which gym was it? That's funny. A premier. I don't remember. It was a gym. Yeah. It's great. I used to sing it all the time. What was it for? What was it for? It was, which gym was it?
That's funny.
I don't know.
A premier.
I don't remember.
It was a gym.
Yeah.
It was some gym.
That probably doesn't exist anymore.
It was a gym.
I have no idea.
I've never been a member of a gym.
I'm gonna be a fat guy.
Look at me.
I'm a pear.
Rubbery,
blubbery,
flubbery,
out of shape dude.
Jamie Watson,
also responsible for the
Cito Gaston bit
where he does not sound
anything like Cito Gaston. It's one of the funniest bits ever. Cito is upbeat. And that he was doing the Cito Gaston bit where he does not sound anything like Cito Gaston.
It's one of the funniest bits ever.
Cito is upbeat.
And that he was doing a Cito.
He was pretending to be Cito Gaston.
And it was comedy.
It was just bizarro.
Oh, the 90s, Rob.
Oh, my goodness.
Okay.
Ah, the 90s.
So to get us warmed up here.
Yes.
To me.
This is the one.
This is the obvious, Cham.
Does Rob know these guys? Rob. Who's this to me... This is the one. This is the obvious, Cham. Does Rob know
these guys?
Rob?
Who's this?
The Gandarvis.
You know the Gandarvis?
Yeah, vaguely,
but not really.
I mean, I know of them.
I don't...
I'm not well-versed
in the Gandarvis.
Here's a couple of
fun facts about
the Gandarvis.
A couple of remixes
on this one, too.
So they're for
London Band,
London, Ontario.
Yeah.
The main guy, whose name will come to me
in a minute, but he actually is now
a scientist in British Columbia. I was chatting
with his brother because I wanted
to have him on to drop
on the first day of spring.
Right. This was a great idea I had.
I'm full of big ideas, okay?
So the Gandharvas episode would drop
the first day of spring and blow your minds. And then full of big ideas, okay? So, the Gandharvas episode would drop the first day of spring and blow
your minds. And then the brother was
like, I'll talk to my brother. And then he's like,
he's too busy
because he's a scientist. Because he's actually
like, curing things?
Yeah, I gotta dig up what kind of scientist he is.
But he's doing important work. Interesting.
Yeah, and he's the guy from
the Gandharvas. Okay, so. Wow.
Here's the parameters. So now that I think okay so wow here's the parameters so now that i think
about it we absolutely can't just say go kick out your favorite musical theater jams even me who's
not a big musical theater guy that's too much of a universe so yeah matt's gotta narrow that down
but when we said we're kicking out spring jams there was only two two rules as far as i was
concerned we couldn't kick out this song i felt felt it was too low-hanging a fruit.
Too on the nose. And Bob and I would fight over it.
Yeah.
The second rule is, this is
actually a theme we did on Pandemic
Fridays. Right!
The other rule was, you couldn't kick out any
Spring Jams we already kicked
out on Pandemic Fridays. Yes.
Do you guys remember the original hosts
of Pandemic Friday?
Do you remember their names?
What were those guys called?
Does Rob know?
I'm legit curious.
Does Rob know their names?
Nope.
Nope.
Do Pandemic say
Toast Guys?
Do not.
Is that real?
Are you doing a work
or a shoot?
He wasn't sure.
It's fine.
So it's
Stew Stone
and Cam Gordon. Was it really Stew and Stan? Yeah. So it's Stew Stone and Cam Gordon
Was it really
Was it really Stew and Stan
Yeah
So it was
It was the A team
Well I didn't say that
Okay
The A team
No B.A. Baracus
Okay
So
By the way
I had
On St. Patrick's Day
I
Had a beverage
With Cam Gordon
At his home
Oh that was
Like I was invited
To his house party
So that should
like cool the internet's thoughts.
There's a beef between Cam and I.
There's no beef. I was at his home on
March 17th.
There you go.
I miss Rob being here.
I want to shake him up, but he's
Queens here. But you'll be back here next time.
Okay. So basically you can't kick out
this jam. So I'll bring down Gandarva's.
Here's a song.
Go ahead.
I heard the breathing.
Because I was going to say that Gandarva song is like the one song of theirs.
I feel like I know from like 89 or whatever it was on their first album, right?
No, it's like 98.
Maybe was it too recorded?
Is it that late?
Really?
Oh, you know what?
You're right.
They actually, the one...
Because there's another song I know by Gandarvis pretty well.
No, but there's actually two versions of First Day of Spring.
And that is...
This particular one is the later remix,
that one that you just played.
Okay.
It got a fair amount of play on Edge 102 back in the day.
Yeah, that's how I know it.
And the other big Gandarva song that I would hear
was Downtime.
Do you guys remember Downtime?
I'd probably hear it.
If I played it,
you'd know it.
It was a big CFY jam.
But this is the jam.
I'm going to play
a bit of it right now.
This song was kicked out
by Cam Gordon
during the original
Spring Jams themed episode.
And I almost lost
my fucking shit.
Okay, so here's your Spring Jam for today. jams themed episode. And I almost lost my fucking shit. Okay.
So here's your spring jam for today.
Great tune. We'll be right back. Please, babe Please I won't let it
I won't let it
Bob Willett, what song is this?
March of the Pigs from the Downward Spiral
Amazing
Nine Inch Nails, oh what a great tune
What was the association with spring though?
Rob, do you know?
No, but the song is in seven
that's all I know it goes one two three four five six
seven one two three four five six seven one
two yeah which is very odd
it has a weird beat because it's in seven
seven wow that's why you're here
you're the musicologist okay
March of the Pigs March
being a munch
spring arrives in March
I didn't even think of that
so when he drops this,
and he's, you know, Cam,
he's like all serious about it.
This is my spring jam.
I almost lost my mind.
I'm like, this is just,
my goodness gracious.
Okay, so I'll bring that down
and I'm going to play,
it's kind of a bonus jam
before we get to the real jams.
This is kind of a bonus jam
that was sent by Rob Pruess,
but I think you and I, Bob,
will absolutely, did I call you and I, Bob, will absolutely...
Did I call you Bob Pruse, Rob Pruse?
Your names are too similar.
I'm having trouble over here.
Robert, Robert, and Robert.
This song is called Spring Flowers.
Oh, yeah, come on. you gonna hit the post i didn't know it's such a big build up here
but
where else on the radio can you go from Nine Inch Nails to this dude?
Right.
Good point.
Yeah.
Wow, he's still okay.
Did you know it was this long a build-up?
What's going on here?
Is this the instrumental version?
This is all there is.
So there's no words to this song?
Srafi? Man, it's an instrumental. Srafi? words to this song? It's Rafi.
Man, it's instrumental.
It's Rafi?
I'm waiting for the fucking lyrics.
Okay.
No, it's the sound of flowers growing.
Okay, I'm such an idiot.
Didn't you think there was like lyrics to that song?
No, okay.
There's a Quiet Time with Rafi album, a CD that I had for my kids.
And it has this on it, kind of back to back with this other really hippy dippy one.
Friends are like flowers. And it has this on it, kind of back to back with this other really hippy dippy one. Friends are like flowers.
What jam is this?
Friends are like flowers,
beautiful flowers.
Friends are like flowers
in the garden of love.
Do you guys know this?
No, but I love it.
No, I love it.
Isn't that Raffy?
It probably,
sounds like it.
Sounds like it's
in his wheelhouse.
I think Friends are like flowers and Spring Flowers got conflated in my mind this is a great tune this
reminds me of my kids rob yeah rob talk to us about raffy's spring flowers i well you know i
just looking for for spring music and i kept like wanting to be drawn towards things that had spring
in the title and a lot of like what you'll see later like like theatrical kind of things came up for me
um but this raffy thing came up that i didn't know at all and i fell in love with it instantly
because it's just a beautiful instrumental yeah um it was came out of the 90s and he put it on
an album called banana phone first yes which and that's all i know and so like like it's new to me
as well but like that album you mentioned the is it called quiet time
there's a yeah um uh yeah i think yeah something yes and it's got all it's got douglas mountain
and like all his super chill songs yeah quiet i think it's exactly so right yeah yeah so this is
on there as well yeah and there's no introduction like on this version on banana phone there's a
little voice that says this is this is spring flowers and then this then it goes into the song but on the quiet time compilation quiet
time it just goes into the song but i just i think it's a beautiful song it's a little springy
absolutely okay well rob brought more heat before we get to it i want to play a bit more of this
song and hear what rob has to say about this why does he get five songs no he does yeah he gets three songs these are like uh
what the fuck when rob prue sends you bonus songs you just say yes i know i yeah fair enough Now the fun is over
Where do words begin I'm trying to find the path ahead
Any way you say
The charade goes on All right, Rob, talk to us about this Talk Talk Jam.
So whenever I think of spring, first of all,
when I was going to come up with songs for this magical episode,
whenever I think of spring, this Talk Talk album is the first thing
on the top of my brain and on the tip of my tongue.
So the album came out in 86 called the color of spring.
And the song that was a huge hit off the record was life's what you make it,
which had a super cool,
weird video and stuff.
Right.
Right.
And I think,
I think for me,
the idea of spring and the idea of music and spring associations is a very
personal thing.
Like,
like,
so I was like looking up songs with spring in the title and stuff,
but I feel like the idea of the rebirth every year of the world we all bring our own shit to it and we all
have music that means a lot to us and somehow for me this album when i think of spring i think right
i go right to talk talk even because the album is called the color of spring but there's so now
for me after all these years there's something in this music that feels sort of spring-like to me i
don't know steve winwood's playing the organ on this album like those little interjections in the music
and stuff was super cool he was like a like a guest yeah he was a guest musician on the album
and which was just about the time when he was about to release back in the high life which
you know was a real resurgence for him in the 80s as well but his collaboration with talk talk was
like this magical thing you know so the album's got spring in the title, and that's why it ties to your brain.
Okay, nice.
All right.
I like it.
Vibe's cool on that song.
I have to admit, I don't know that song.
It's a great vibe.
The whole album is, you've got to listen to the album, talk to the bottom, and it's magic.
Love it.
Okay, so we're going to get into it now.
We're going to kick out our spring jams. There's some
mind blows and fun facts
along the way. Bob and I
are enjoying Great Lakes beer. I have
a measuring tape for Bob Willett
courtesy of
Ridley Funeral Home.
Pillars of this community since 1921.
Shout out to Ridley
Funeral Home. And of course
as always, Toronto Mike just brought to you
by Palma Pasta.
Four locations. Three are in
Mississauga. One is in Oakville. Go to
palmapasta.com. They just
catered my daughter's seventh
birthday party. And it was
delicious. Excellent.
And last but not least,
recyclemyelectronics.ca. That's where
you go to find out where you can drop off your old, antiquated, obsolete tech
so they can safely recycle it.
And it doesn't end up in the landfill.
Sometimes I feel like I'm doing those monster truck rallies on this show.
Okay.
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday at the Ontario Motor Raceway Speedway.
Bob's got the pipes for that.
I don't have the pipes for that.
But we'll sell you the entire seat, but you'll only need the edge.
Okay.
This is the big leagues now.
This is everything.
Okay.
By the way, friends are like flowers.
I did a quick Google.
It's not Rafi.
It's somebody named Kerry Landry.
But I remember this.
Rafi released it, though.
Did he?
Yes.
Can you verify that while I'm doing the first year? Oh, friends are like flowers? Oh, the one you were just saying released it, though. Did he? You verify that while I'm doing the first
year. Oh, friends are like flowers?
You were just saying? No, no, I have no idea.
Friends are like flowers.
Beautiful flowers.
Friends are like flowers in the garden
of life. I remember this from the
70s. This was a 70s jam, I
remember. Okay, so somebody
find out what's going on there.
Are you ready, Bob Willett, to kick out your first jam?
What are we doing first?
Spring jams.
Well, just close your ears and enjoy.
Open your ears.
Open your ears.
Don't close your ears, but close to you.
Oh, yeah.
There you go.
This is Homer and Marge's wedding song or something like that, isn't it?
That's right. wedding song or something like that, isn't it? Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time you are near
Just like me
They long to be close to you
Why do stars
fall down from the sky
every
time
you walk by
just
like me
they long to be
close to
you
on the day that you were born
The angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair
And gold and starlight in your eyes of blue All right, Bob, bury me in Carpenter's fun facts.
Well, first of all, I wanted to say that, you know, like I know I'm known as the Pearl Jam guy and, you know, we're always going on about, you know, our our similarities and theragically Hip and all this stuff.
I love a great pop tune
and I love a great schmaltzy pop tune.
I grew up, my introduction,
I'll let you know,
so I'm not going to do this song.
This one came down to,
for a spring jam for me,
it was this
and I'd Really Love to See You Tonight
by England Dan and Jeff.
Those were my,
like I was like literally kind of
tearing my hair out. Which of these am I going to pick?
Because both of them have a
spring vibe to it.
In this particular song, yeah, I mean
there's a warm breeze blowing on the
I'd Really Love to See You Tonight song,
but this one, I will
admit, like, what year did
Karen Carpenter die? She's
early 80s? 83 right so i'm only 40
years ago six seven years old when she dies and my exposure to the carpenters was my first and
it's still to this day is the christmas portrait it to me is my absolute favorite christmas album
of all time um i find find this is right now.
I'm not facting here.
I'm giving you my opinion.
She's pitch perfect, but not boring.
She's got this beautiful voice.
I always joke.
I tell my one of the first things I ever taught my children was that
Karen Carpenter has the voice of an angel.
She just has this.
Her voice is so, so beautiful. And this song, to me, just feels like spring. It feels an angel. She just has this her voice is so so beautiful. And this song
to me just feels like spring.
It feels anew.
You know and
one of the things
I could stop talking or I could say
we could move into my mind blow
which I don't know if it is in my mind. Well you don't need to stop talking.
I do like this song is sort of like
epic. We should talk more about it.
I'd love to hear what Rob and yourself think. Well let's shout out the writer of this song is sort of like epic. We should talk more about it. I'd love to hear what Rob and yourself think of this song.
Well, let's shout out the writer of this song.
Well, there's two people who wrote this song,
but one of whom passed away like last month.
Burt Bacharach.
Yes.
Yeah.
So this is a Bacharach jam.
Yeah.
And they came to, you know, the Carpenters came to be,
they were on all, it was the 70s.
It was all these
uh uh variety shows right they had their own variety shows and they got to be known
on these variety shows and richard obviously is the brother he did all the work i mean you could
probably tell me more uh rob but i mean he did all the arrangements right he did all the
production essentially right yeah and all the background vocals i mean
the the vocals are all richard and karen together like layers and layers of their voices together
which is magical yeah i that's exactly the way i feel about it and uh the interesting thing about
her she was uh you know i found this old clip of her on the it was called like the american college
show or something and it was you, she's like 18 years old.
But you could just see she had it, obviously, of tortured soul.
But she was quoted in saying she wanted to be known as a drummer who sings.
A lot of people don't know that she was a drummer.
Do you want me to play this?
Do it.
Like, this is her drumming.
This is solo.
Oh, we dance, love.
Dance on the street. Dance on the street. solo.
There she goes.
That's Karen Carpenter drumming while crazy yeah she was in like an unbelievable drummer
if you google it you can find this five minute compilation of her going around a tv studio
playing different drum sets uh it's amazing amazing yeah it's it's amazing and you know
what i just why do birds suddenly appear come on on, that's spring, isn't it?
Absolutely.
And also, let's not forget,
this is also a parenthetical jam.
Oh, yes.
Because the album,
Carpenter's named the album Close to You.
But this song is They Long to Be in parentheses and then Close to You.
I brought a little fun fact.
I know we have another one coming for you,
but I would like to play,
hold on, make sure I've got this right.
Okay.
No, I don't have this right. There is
a... Give me a moment. Here,
Rob, you talk about Close to You while I dig this up.
Okay.
No pressure. Close to You is a Carpenter
song by Burt Bacharach
and Hal David.
Hal David wrote the lyrics
and Burt Bacharach wrote the lyrics and Burt Backer wrote the music
what was your first exposure to the Carpenters Rob?
like you're a pop guy
you love pop music
what do you remember about them?
my memory of like
it's my childhood like these songs on the radio
like they had a song called Top of the World
I'm on the top of the world
like songs like that
were on the radio when I was a kid.
So when I was first tuning into the top 40 and like the radio was on,
in our house nonstop. So whatever song was on the radio,
I just loved.
And so carpenters were just a part of that soundtrack of my life.
Yeah.
So that's why these songs are just,
they're just in my,
in my consciousness,
you know,
like,
like as soon as it started for you,
I thought this for you is like what talk talk is for me.
It's like the sound of spring,
the feeling of spring.
Absolutely.
Would you find what you're looking for there,
Michael?
No,
but I do have a jam that you,
you sent me over.
So do you want me to play,
uh,
the,
uh,
the,
uh,
Christmas song?
Oh,
you want like,
is that for a different,
is that for this jam now?
Is that,
is that related to this?
No,
no,
no,
that's for,
that's for the other one.
Okay.
Okay.
Then don't,
don't,
don't,
don't do that.
Okay.
Okay. No, no, that's for the other one. Okay. We. Don't do that. No, no. That's for the other one.
Okay, we're good to go. Sorry. In my defense.
You know, it's my third episode of the day. Yeah, you're
exhausted. That's fine.
It's your fourth beer. It's fine.
That's right. Rob Pruce,
are you ready to kick out your first jam?
Kick it.
We use the term jam loosely.
Yeah, you can't really kick this jam out, actually. Rob's really classed this joint up.
Here we are kicking out some...
What are we listening to here rob
pruse this is antonio vivaldi and this is uh from his composition called the four seasons
and this is called wait for it spring yeah appropriate spring okay how and this is the
kind of music you just kind of know like it's in the world and you hear it in commercials and you
hear it in tv shows and it's one of those things that i music you just kind of know, like it's in the world and you hear it in commercials and you hear it in TV shows.
And it's one of those things that I think people just sort of know without knowing that they know what the heck it actually is, you know.
But it's called Spring.
As part of all four of the seasons.
Yeah, that's right.
Starts it off.
That's right.
So this was from, this is almost 300 years old.
Like 17, 1724, 25-ish, it was published and composed and and presented to the
world um tso puts this on kind of yearly don't they they'll do vivaldi's uh four seasons for
sure it's part of their this is one of those staples that that like orchestras will program
this in their seasons the way that they'll do you know the hallelujah chorus with handles
christmas time stuff as well.
This is one of those things.
It's a little overdone sometimes.
But if you take it out of the context of just like overplayed and you take it for what it is, it's still like a freaking beautiful kind of cool piece of music.
Beautiful.
No, like too good for this program.
I feel like.
It's too classy.
It's too classy here.
Too classy.
program i feel like it's too classy too classy too classy hey would have would it offend you rob pruse if i actually did play the song i was looking for for the last 10 minutes that i finally
finally found okay so that's really classy okay bring on the rusty what's that about okay so here
i want to know if bob lillette and yourself, Rob, know what I'm playing here.
Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?
Just like me, they long to be close to you.
Why do stars fall down from the sky
every time
you walk by
just
like me
they long to be
close to you
on the day that you were born
angels got scared
and decided to create a dream come true.
So they spread hope and death in your hair, gold and starlight in your eyes of blue.
So as we've discussed here, of course, this is the breakthrough hit for the Carpenters.
This is their first big smash hit.
It was written, of course, by Hal David
and Burt Bacharach. But did
you know that this song was
written or given to
Herb Alpert?
He got a number one hit with
This Guy's In Love With You. We're going
back to 1968 and Bacharach
and David gave this song to
Herb. But
he recorded the song and he didn't like it.
So he actually decided, I'm not releasing this shit.
Like, this is the song we're listening to now.
He's like, I'm not releasing this.
And then the Carpenters took it.
And then, of course, the rest is history.
If you go even further backwards in that history,
as you were playing that,
I remember that this song had been covered by so many people
that the actor Richard Chamberlain recorded it
even before Herb got it in the early 60s he released it even and it was like a flop
wow so it's even older than that so it sort of like was bounced around for a while and it was
like destined for the carpenters right because it was it was not even 10 years later but herb you
know didn't really do anything with it but richard chamberlain who was like at that time pretty a pretty young actor but like acting and singing like as as people did in those days you know, didn't really do anything with it, but Richard Chamberlain, who was like at that time, pretty,
a pretty young actor,
but like acting and singing like as,
as people did in those days,
you know,
he released it.
And I think I've heard that version.
It's pretty interesting too.
Why?
But 1963,
he did it.
Okay.
So rich from Ripper,
Richard Chamberlain to her about part to,
uh,
carpenters who finally had the crazy with it.
Okay.
Good stuff here.
Everybody's learning something on,
uh, on Toronto Mike today.
Hal Blaine is on drums.
He's a session drummer who's in all these big jams,
but I remember he's the one when the 60s girl group,
he had that drum at the beginning of the Ronettes song
from Phil Spector here.
He does that thing at the beginning
that's kind of like immortalized by Brian Wilson
in the... Okay, Jeff Woods over there. Nice job.
I don't tell Jeff Woods.
Don't get me started. All right. My turn
now. Okay. I've been patient. Go.
So, by the way, your song, just
for the record, Rob Proust's song
was like, I don't know, 20
minutes or something.
Each season's about 20, 22 minutes.
But you got the vibe. You got the vibe here.
This is spring,
right?
Spring,
man.
Of course.
And then we can find out what Rob thought of these guys. See yourself
In a brand new way
My open arms
through your troubled day
wish for your smiling
I'm battled and torn
to see it
through
to God I've
sworn, I've sworn
no April Fool
Behold today
When my heel falls
And yours will stay
Chalk Circle, April Fool.
Which we can play next week, I guess. Later Fool which we can play
later next week I guess
later this week we can play it
Saturday
okay wow
April Fool
so I have questions for Rob Proust
about Chalk Circle
but I'll just give you a few
a few facts
one is that this is the first band
I ever saw live in concert
oh cool
at the Ontario Place Forum
nice
wow
do you guys know where
Newcastle, Ontario is?
Yes.
Yes.
Do you know?
Okay.
East of Toronto.
Yeah.
It's just like east of Bowmanville.
Yep.
Shout out to Bowmanville.
And their zoo is no more.
So between Port Hope and Bowmanville or whatever, that's where these guys are from.
Chalk Circle hails from Newcastle, Ontario.
Amazing.
Amazing.
Yes.
Thank you very much.
Now, there's another cool new wave band from Burlington,
but we'll talk about them later, okay?
I've heard of it.
Chalk Circle, Chris Tate on vocals and guitar.
You got Brad Hopkins bass.
You got Derek Murphy on drums.
Tad Winklers, I think that's a cool last name.
He's keyboards.
Was he like somebody you knew, like the competition? What's going on, Rob?
Didn't know him at the time because when they came out, I was like about to join Honeymoon Suite.
I was moving into rock and roll circles.
So I definitely knew these guys when the record came out and it was played everywhere.
But I didn't really know them.
I admired them from afar.
You were admiring them from afar.
Okay.
So they formed in 82.
And then just to round out the band, of course,
Patrick Miles was their lead guitarist in their band here.
So they did win the CASB award.
It all comes back to CFNY.
CASB, Canadian artist selected by you
for most promising non-recording group in 1985.
Most promising what group?
Non-recording group.
Non-recording group?
What does that mean?
I don't know, but...
I guess it probably meant at that time
probably a band without a record deal.
Oh, like unsigned, right.
Yeah.
Okay, yeah, that makes sense.
Okay.
And then they put out The Great Lake,
which was an EP that had six songs on it,
including this, and that was produced by had six songs on it, including this.
And that was produced by FOTM,
Chris Wardman.
Yeah.
And they put that together in Oshawa.
And I don't know,
April fool to me still holds up.
Like,
I think this was a great single.
Uh,
fucking great.
Sure.
Do you think this now with this song,
did you pick it because it actually feels like summer or just cause it has
April in the title?
Because it's,
it's April Fool
so it makes me think of April
and April makes me think of spring.
Okay.
Because you're getting close to the March
No.
Bob, we're in March
in the title. That was a different
March, right? March of the Pigs
is a different March. Yeah, but April
still. This is April Fool, the month of April.
It's a fine song.
I just don't know if...
I think you're out to lunch on that one.
I'll get Wiseblood in here for a ruling.
This is the right April
and it's absolutely a spring jam
if you ask me.
Fair enough.
When the single came out,
there was an A side, a B side.
This is April Fool, in parentheses
they put April 1st.
And then on the back was April Fool,
in parentheses it said April 2nd.
Do you guys want to hear how that sounded?
Sure. Is that the B side?
B side, yeah. B side wins again,
as Public Enemy said. Listen to this.
Eagle drop.
No April Fool Oh, I like that. So this is the very rare B-side to April Fool by Chalk Circle.
That's awesome.
That's really good.
Love the harmonies off the top.
Absolutely.
Here, let me hear what happens here. So similar but different here.
Okay.
Yeah.
Bob Ouellette, you got a second jam in you, buddy?
I'm ready.
Do you have anything I should ask?
Do you have anything you want to say before the jam?
I wanted to kick out a different jam by this artist
but i've already kicked it out i think as one of my favorite songs uh that particular song and
actually now that i think about it i also pretty sure i kicked out the remix of this on my can
con jams that aren't can con episodes that remix that's different that's not toast no no but i did
but i have kicked out. This will be my
third time I've kicked out
something by this artist. Alright, here we go.
Make you want to move
Your dancing feet
To the rescue
Here I am
Want you to know you're
Where I stand.
talk to me bobby so obviously it's Bob Marley, sun is shining.
I wanted to do Three Little Birds because, to me, that is a true spring jam,
but I've already kicked that out before.
I don't have, like, Bob Marley's been around,
and been kicked out so many times, I think, on this show.
Not on Toast in particular, but on this podcast.
But I wanted to share a very uniquely Toronto
story about Bob Marley.
I grew up in the East End
and way on the East End of Queen
Street was a
used CD
store, and I think there was one at Young and
Eggling too, called Sound City.
And Sound City
had a big hand in shaping who I am musically. And Sound City had a big hand in
shaping who I am musically.
And they always had these really
neat
triple
CD collections
in the big, you know, look like a double disc.
And I will be
the first to admit a very large
portion of my musical knowledge came
from Greatest Hits compilations.
Me too. And I have no shame about
that. How could you have shame about
that? Well, because some people are like,
The Cure galore.
That's how I learned about The Cure.
The Pixies' Greatest Hits.
Even
Aerosmith's Big Ones. Didn't we all learn about Bob
Martin's Legend?
I know, but didn't we all?
You did too, right, Rob?
Yeah, and Legend is the greatest
hits package.
There was this package that you could, I think it was like
$19.99 for three CDs.
And there was three CDs. One was Lively Up
Yourself. One was Sun is Shining
and I honestly don't remember the name of the last
one. Maybe Exodus. But it was all
there's so many recordings of Bob out there,
of varying quality as well.
Like this, even this is not the version that I know,
but I was like, I know the song.
There's so many different versions of songs out there,
but this Sun is Shining CD is,
I can remember putting on in my backyard
when it was beginning spring.
Spring had sprung and it just had that
perfect vibe and i grew up with all kinds of jamaican kids so i knew a lot of dance hall and
i knew a lot of roots reggae as well peter tosh and different things and so i when it came to
spring jams uh if i couldn't do three little birds birds it was this one but it was it it was that
that place that sound city which again i think there was one at young and which again, I think there was one at Yonge and Eglinton.
I know there was Ed's at Yonge and Eglinton, but there was another one that had these strange
little imports that were honestly not the greatest quality, but they had songs you'd
never heard before.
And I bought so many CDs there.
Wow.
I love those stories of how you got introduced to music in Toronto.
What do you think of this jam, Rob Bruce? I love it. I love it. And I think you get introduced to music in Toronto what do you think of this jam Rob Bruce
I love it I love it and I think you're totally right
about the Legend album like getting
introduced to an artist by a Greatest Hits
collection is sometimes the best
thing ever because it gives
you that introduction and then
you either just live with it in that world
and then you have the opportunity to go back and see
where these songs came from and like
with Marley it's still like Legend to me i still think of that album as like one of his albums and
i see these songs on other collections i'm like i don't even recognize it like i i've never really
dug much deeper i never really felt like i needed to dig much deeper like to really get into these
other than legend because i love it so much and i get to know the songs in the order that they're played on the album.
Yes. I don't think
there's a person listening to us right now
who didn't pick up Legend at some point in their
life. I'm almost
embarrassed of this fact. That's the only Bob
Marley album I've ever owned is Legend.
I never even went back and bought. I only owned
Legend. I have a few
different. I mean, on
vinyl, I've got a couple. I felt so fulfilled by Legend. Legend's perfect. Legend is a few different. I mean, on vinyl, I've got a couple. I felt so fulfilled by
Legend. Yeah, Legend's perfect.
Legend is a perfect album,
and it happens to be a greatest hits, but
I mean, Hot Rocks by the Rolling Stones,
the Blue Album. So I'm with you on that one, too.
The Blue Album and the Red Album for the Beatles.
These are all things. These are greatest hits
compilations that shape
that I... The Eagles. Yeah,
Eagles greatest hits. I actually remember... Yes, Billy Joel Volumes 1 and 2,
Elton John's greatest hits, all those.
Decade by Neil Young was...
Yeah, they're all great.
This is where I really cut my teeth on music on my own,
and then, yeah, you go deeper on other things.
Because if you weren't there for the release cycle,
that is the best way to rock.
It's like the biggest bang for your buck.
Yep.
You're going to get nothing but the hits.
And then go from there.
Yeah, exactly.
For sure.
So that's a great summer song.
Three Little Birds,
you had said you had already mentioned it
on another podcast today,
or at least to somebody.
So you know what it was?
Wayne Webster was talking about how
he programs all the music that you hear
on Boom 97.3 and the software or whatever.
Yeah, music master.
Bob knows this.
Bob knows this inside radio stuff.
So it's all preloaded.
And then I was asking the obvious.
My question is always like,
an example I used on the program today was like,
and I don't want this to happen,
shout out to Ridley Funeral Home,
but if Brian Adams dies in a car crash right now,
like you got to go wall to wall
with Brian Adams on Boom 97.
Probably, yeah, you do.
So I was curious, what's the process?
Like, can KJ just start playing a Bryan Adams?
Yes.
So apparently KJ can't do it.
He's got to go call this guy, Wayne.
And if Wayne's not available, there's a backup or whatever.
But there's a process where you can kind of break into the software or whatever.
But KJ had told Wayne that he had had this idea
for a story that would
tie to Three Little Birds. So they
broke into their automation to play
Three Little Birds. So KJ could tell this story.
So that's my
Three Little Birds. But Bob Willett
who I've known for many years now. I met him
at Dan Duran's house in
December 2006.
That's when I first shook the soft hands of Bob Ouellette.
Okay?
That's a true story.
Bob Ouellette will kick out Three Little Birds
every fucking episode of Toast
if he can figure out a way to make it fit the theme.
Sure.
I would.
It's one of my favorite songs of all time.
It's one of your favorite songs.
So I had to put my foot down on this one
because he had already kicked it out
and we've only done Toast for like four weeks,
four months or something.
This is also, this will be my
first time not, and I'm going to be
spoiler alert, this is my first time not
kicking out a Pearl Jam song.
First time ever. Spoiler alert, my next
song is not a Pearl Jam song. Wow.
Do they have a good spring jam? I couldn't think of
anything that reminded me of spring.
I wanted it to be legit. I wanted it to be something
that actually reminds me of spring.
Okay.
I'm going to shout out quickly on the live stream.
I see the video camera flickering,
but Leslie said,
I think she's referring to chalk circle when she says they played her
school in Glen,
Glendon,
Glendon,
Glendon.
Where's Glendon?
Is that a school?
Uh,
yeah.
Hey,
ref loves the carpenters.
I'm going back.
I haven't checked in a little bit here.
And I want to say hi to Tobias Vaughn, who's laughing at something.
The rock star of the 1700s.
And that would be Beethoven.
Vivaldi.
Also, it looks like
Matt Grumpy is also at Second City.
So there you go.
Oh, there's another tie. So Matt Grumpy,
who's going to be intern Matt.
When I meet him, we've got to come up with something much more degrading.
Sorry, Moose.
It's just the way it is.
Okay, so it's Glendon College.
Oh, Glendon College, York University.
Right, the French one, I think.
Okay.
Well, you know what?
I happen to know because I know who Leslie's father is.
Okay.
You want to know who Leslie's father is?
I'll break format for a quick second here.
Oh, what format?
All right. Are you ready for this? Listen to this. You want to know who Leslie's father is? I'll break format for a quick second here. Format.
All right.
Are you ready for this?
Listen to this.
One and one pitch on the way.
Swung on.
Sharp grounder.
Wills has it.
Bottles it.
Throw to first.
In time.
He did it.
A no-hitter.
A no-hitter.
A no-hitter for Bill Stoneman.
That's the first no-hitter in the history of the Montreal Expos, and that voice you heard is Leslie's dad,
Russ Taylor. Wow.
Isn't that a wild story right there? That is a wild story.
Yeah, the late, great Russ Taylor.
All right. Okay.
Let's get down to business. Let's get
serious here. Okay.
I'm going to remind myself.
This is your second. Is it my second? Okay.
No, it's not. It's Rob's. Rob, any words to say before. This is your second. Where is that? Is it my second? Okay. No, it's not.
It's Rob's.
It's Rob's.
Rob, any words to say before I kick out your second jam?
Well, I don't know which one is going to be number two, but I'm going to guess that one
of them is.
The one you put the number two in front of, it said two dash.
Okay, then.
I know what it's going to be.
You're punchy tonight, Mike.
No, just bring it on.
You're smartass tonight, Mike.
This is my third recording and I'm getting cranky.
Here we go.
You're smartass tonight, Mike. This is my third recording and I'm getting cranky. Here we go. You're punchy.
The world is busy in a regular tizzy and the obvious reason is because of the season.
Ma nature's lyrical with her yearly miracle.
Spring, spring, spring.
All the henfolk are hatching while their menfolk are scratching
To ensure the survival of each brand new arrival
Each nest is twittering, they're all babysittering
Spring, spring, spring
It's a beehive of budding son and daughter life
Every family has plans in due The End Rob, what am I listening to?
I think it's something about spring.
I'm not sure now.
But is this a musical theater?
It sure is.
We're ahead of our next episode apparently um it's from
a musical called seven brides for seven brothers okay which was a film musical uh from 1954
and um i sort of came across it because i was searching for songs with spring in the title and
lots of musical theater things came up and this is one that was sort of new to me as well but i
fell in love with it because it sounds like something that I've heard
a thousand times because it's just like a song stuck in a musical for a
dance break.
There's a big dance break coming up,
but you don't have to play that.
It's very visual.
So this was a movie.
It was just like a MGM movie.
Like one of those big.
1954.
Yeah.
So one of those big studio.
Yep. Is John Wayne in this
musical?
I don't think so.
Howard Keel is in it. He was one of my favorite
musical theater singers and actors.
So the lyrics
are by Johnny Merster who wrote
a lot of songs in the 30s and the 40s
and like things that people would know
like that Judy Garland sang and Sinatra sang.
Sounds like something that would have been like
Peter Cottontail.
Exactly. It's got just that
familiar sound to it, right?
That's a good spring jam. Here comes Peter Cottontail.
I just thought of it when I heard that.
I actually have a Peter Cottontail
album from the 60s that
was my mother's that I could have
but it just came to mind as soon as I heard this start.
Peter Cottontail
doesn't get the cred he
deserves these days. I'm not even sure my
kids are even aware of Peter Cottontail but he was a
big deal for us. Right?
Hopping down the bunny trail. Hippity hoppity.
Easter's on its way.
There you go. But that's what that's totally reminded
me of. There's actually
there's actually a whole,
there's an album,
and I think like,
do I want to say like Rosemary Clooney sings on it?
Like it's like crazy from the late 50s,
early 60s of Peter Cottontail,
but very spring.
That's so,
spring, spring, spring reminds me of,
and I don't want to ruin anybody's,
but the Mel Brooks,
Springtime.
Springtime for Hitler and Germany.
Winter for Poland and France.
Yes.
We are going to have a great musical theater time.
Oh my gosh, yes.
I feel like.
Oh yeah.
And I mean, you're actively working on Broadway, right, Mr. Pruse?
Yes.
actively working on broadway right mr pruse yes um and and having worked on broadway and in the world of musical theater for over 30 years and what's been the most fun thing for me is is always
learning about new songs and like finding this song that i'd never heard before yeah i i sort
of had this feeling that i like i love this music instantly because it sounds so familiar like bob
for the way it makes you think of peter cottontail like out of the blue you're like oh my
god i forgot about peter cottontail and i think this kind of music it triggers memories that are
just a part of our culture that is a beautiful thing which is why it's so good to just stay open
to all kinds of music because it all exists around us all the time and it's 70 years old
but it might as well just be now it might as well just be now. It might as well just be today, you know, which is great. Sorry. It's interesting. You say that. And I think,
and I'm going to sound like a real old guy right now. I think you're right. It does do that for
all of us around our age. But if you get a bunch of 20 year olds, they're going to hear that and
have absolutely no emotional reaction to it because they've never had to listen to anything
they don't want to well that is their
problem and i feel sorry for them bob willett you just said a sentence they've never had to
listen to anything they don't want to so why the hell would young people listen to the fucking
radio that's exactly that's a huge issue trust me i know don't you worry i've gotten into plenty
an argument with some fotms along the way and other people.
You're right.
We have huge issues right now.
And at the very least, what we need to do is make sure that the people who are introducing songs have something to fucking say and actually have something that brings something to the table so that they do want to listen.
Like, think about all the people who are listening to this show right now.
They're listening because they want to hear what you have to say.
They want to hear what your guests have to say.
And they want to be introduced to new things.
I think that that, I don't think that that's exclusive to people who are 40 plus.
I think there are younger people who want that.
I just don't know the methodology in which they're going to try to get it.
But Bob, you listen to the radio, right?
Like, the voice you'll hear for that 30-second break or whatever
is talking about how they Uber ate,
that they had an Uber delivery of some food
and it went to the wrong house.
They're sharing some anecdote,
but they're not talking about the music.
It depends on the station you're talking about.
Generally speaking, the music does exist outside.
So here's an analogy that has been given.
Back in the day,
back when I got into radio 25 years ago,
the music was the bricks and the people around it were the mortar.
That's changed now.
The people are the bricks and the music's the mortar.
So what are we doing to create new fans?
And that's our biggest challenge.
Not to get way off topic here.
I think that's that's our biggest challenge not to get like way off topic here but i think that's okay because we're actually yeah it's related though because because you do want to
inspire new generations and and you're right though you think about kids who don't have to
choose to listen to anything they don't want to and given the possibility of of everything in the
world that you could choose from i believe that they're choosing less they're they're not they're
narrower and they're playing it safe from yep and narrow and narrow which is unfortunate and algorithms are deciding on
youtube what they're going to see next and like my kids right yeah like i mean i can i can give
anecdotal evidence of my kid for hearing a song by this artist jacks jax uh she had a song called
victoria's secret poppy tune she's got a new single out it's not on radio yet it's not on even on Sirius yet but she knows it
because it came up in her algorithm on either her Spotify or her uh or her uh or her YouTube so
you know as as an industry what I my my world has has a lot we have a lot of work to do we're not
quite going the way print print has so far but it's pretty close it's it's not close yeah the
road is there we have to do something to stop it.
Well, you have an audience, like a 40-plus
audience. It's a question of what happens
when that 40-plus becomes 50-plus and then
becomes 60-plus and then there's nothing back
filling. Yep. We have just nothing
but Ridley Funeral Home advertising.
Well, Wayne Webster
was here. Yeah, well, Wayne Webster
and I, we had our chat
and then we did have a pretty good lengthy
chat afterwards after we start.
But basically, he says he's done.
Like, Bob, you need to milk what?
Another 20 years out of this industry?
Yeah.
Well, if I'm going to go to 65, yeah, I got 22 years.
Okay.
So you got 20 years.
Well, Wayne's got like two years or something.
No, I know.
I know.
So he can go off whatever, but I don't know how you milked
22 years out of this industry.
I told you I'm going to Second City.
I'm leaving.
I'm going to get on Saturday Night Live
by the time I'm 51.
I did just do an episode
with a couple of Second City people.
They were Colin Mockery
and Debra McGrath.
I love that episode.
It was so good.
Thank you very much.
Okay, great.
No, thank you so much.
And Spring, Spring, Spring, I will say I didn't know what that was. I had never heard Spring, Spring, Spring. episode it was so good thank you very much okay great no thank you so much and spring spring spring
i will say i didn't know what that was like i had never heard spring spring spring i've never seen
seven brides for seven neither had rob so yeah i've seen clips of the movie and i knew i knew
a few other songs from the film but only as as single pieces of music but this was a whole new
one to me so i loved it you You guys ready for my second jam?
Let's do it.
Here we go!
Let's do it.
Let's do it. I step out into the pouring rain
I feel it trickle down my cheeks again
And each drop just seems to wash away
And each thought, another passing day
Brings hope and joy
It's one in a swirl
Alone and uncloth, on top of the world
I'm standing in the pouring rain
It's almost too deep
I'm naked in the pouring rain
Again I heard this song for the first time on 102.1.
And this song, I liked it right away and I still like it.
It's Walton's The Naked Rain.
Right.
This album, you must remember, this album, Lick My Tractor.
And lick is spelled L-I-K.
So they're from Regina, Saskatchewan, this band, the Waltons.
And yeah, this is the big, I think, I don't,
I actually will play like a bonus jam in a minute,
but this was forever the only Walton song i ever heard in the wild so i think yeah it's a this was a big jam
rob did you ever uh cross paths with the waltons never did just as this song was starting i was
like the dim recesses of my memory were like i know this song what is this and yes so i only
know it from just hearing them but i never encountered them i know this song. What is this? And yes, so I only know it from just hearing them,
but I never encountered them.
I love this song, though.
I love this album.
I love this album, too.
And I always thought it was Lick My Tractor,
but actually on Wikipedia,
it says that it's L-I-K,
which I always thought was Lick My Tractor,
but they're saying it's Like My Tractor,
which I'm shocked by right now.
I'm floored by this.
Forever I've been calling that lick my tractor.
And they're saying it's like my tractor.
I'm sure you can get a hold of somebody from the
Waltons, the band, to find out. I might have to,
Bob. You may have to. This is absolutely
That's the kind of power you have. And don't go,
don't you dare follow up your
Loretta Swit episode with somebody from the
Waltons. I don't want to.
I see Jason Plum might be my guy.
If anyone listening is friends with Jason Plum,
I would like an introduction.
He's the vocalist we hear on this great jam,
and he's the guitarist for the Waltons.
Jason Plum.
We'll get him on,
and we'll get to the bottom of this right here.
What year is this from?
91, I want to say.
Let me see.
Yeah, 91.
Interesting.
Very, so they're from Saskatchewan? Are you, Bob Lillette, unfamiliar with this jam? 91, I want to say. Let me see. Yeah, 91. Interesting. Very.
So they're from Saskatchewan.
Are you, Bob Lillet, unfamiliar with this jam?
I know the band.
I've heard of the band, obviously, and the television show from the 70s that they're named after.
But I don't know the song at all.
Nope.
Very Queen West-y sound of that era, you know?
Yeah. very Queen West-y sound of that era, you know? Yeah, sure. You know, like I know they're from Saskatchewan,
but I can imagine they were gigging around the bamboo
and the horseshoe and all that.
No, I hear it too.
I hear it too, absolutely.
Now, here's a couple of fun facts about the Waltons.
One is that they also won a CASB award from CFNY.
Actually, I'm going to say that's not true.
They were nominated.
You said it with such conviction.
Because they were nominated for two Caspian Awards.
When you find out the couple of weeks I've had, Bob,
you'll be impressed I'm actually functioning here.
How's your ticker?
Or your brain?
No, it's my brain.
It's not my ticker.
Sorry, not your ticker.
My ticker's good.
Oh, my God.
There goes my ticker.
Okay.
Most Promising Band and Best Western Canadian Band. Those are the two nominations they got. my ticker's good oh my god there goes my ticker okay most promising band and best western
Canadian band
those are the two
nominations they got
I don't know
who the hell beat them
for best western
Canadian band
but they didn't win
these
brought to you by
best western hotels
Caspian Wars
so they did eventually
sign to Warner Music
so here's another jam
you know
they did tour
with the Barenaked Ladies
so they did a big tour
in 1993
and they opened
for Barenaked Ladies and then they did a big tour in 1993 and they opened for Bare Naked Ladies
and then they actually won a Juno
for Best New Group.
Okay, that's pretty cool, I think.
They won for Best New Group in 1994.
So I'm going to play
because for the longest time
that was the only...
I'll bring it down here.
That was the only Walton song
I ever knew was Naked Rain, and I loved it.
But then I was reading up on them, and apparently there are radio stations in Canada that did enjoy playing In the Meantime.
And it's not by Space Hog.
It's by the Waltons.
You know her.
Funny thing, I know her too.
She knows the her too. Got a Britpop live going here a bit.
Mm-hmm.
Knows the rest who knows what's true
and talking to and growing.
Like Travis?
Or like There She Goes, The Laws, that kind of thing?
Yeah, because it's a bit of like a, yeah, the Travis.
Yeah.
Why does it always rain on me?
Yeah, right.
Which would be a good spring jam.
Here it comes.
So, why is this a spring jam?
I think of it as a spring jam
because I associate rain with spring.
Fair enough.
That makes total sense.
And the naked rain.
So, I believe the first time I kicked out spring jams
with the original members of Toast,
I forget their names as well, but...
R.I.P. to them. I kicked out No Rain, I think,
by Blind Melon, for example.
Oh, yeah.
Which is a non-Rain jam,
actually, because it says No Rain.
Right.
So The Naked Rain, The Waltons,
and coming soon to Toronto
Mic'd will be Mr. Plum from
this band here.
You guys ever heard this song?
It's catchy, right?
I feel like I heard this song.
I feel like I know this one
better than the other one.
Might have been a bigger hit
in this country.
I just don't remember this one.
I remember the other one.
In this country?
Well, the only country
they hit in, I'd say.
All right, Bob.
You're down to your final jam here.
Can that be true?
Yes, it can.
And also another selection that could work on next week's show.
Or in two weeks.
Yep.
You want to kick it?
Yeah, do it.
Hit it up. Standing on a corner
Watching all the girls go by
Standing on a corner
Watching all the girls go by
Brother, you don't know a nicer occupation
Matter of fact, neither do I
Than standing on a corner
Watching all the girls, watching all the girls
Watching all the girls, watching all the girls go by.
I'm the cat that got the cream.
Sing it, Bob. Bob's singing this song. Come on, buddy.
But I can dream.
I haven't got a girl, but I can wish.
So I take me down to Main Street.
And that's where I select my imaginary date.
Standing on the corner, watching all the girls go by.
You got good pipes, Bobby.
Okay, talk to me.
What are we doing here on the corner?
We're standing on the corner.
We're standing on the corner watching all the girls go by
from the Broadway musical from 1956,
The Most Happy Felon.
That, of course, is the one and the only Dean Martin
on the lead vocals of this one.
Oh, so good.
Love it.
And, you know, so when this becomes a spring jam i can still remember
working at a certain working at a radio station one time and it was probably march or april and
somebody came in and said and it was beautiful and i'd been there since the morning you know
because i'm working on and somebody came in hey do you know that day? Because when we were right downtown,
you know that day when all the girls are out
and they're not wearing their jackets?
I was like, yeah,
today's that day.
And so everything,
and you know,
it's one of those,
it's, yes,
it's men look at women,
hopefully not in a creepy way,
but at the time,
in the early 2000s,
late 90s.
We don't look at them anymore?
Well,
are we recording?
Are we recording?
No.
Bob's waiting.
So,
when I heard,
and then I got to know this song,
I'm a huge Dean Martin fan.
Again,
got to know him
through his Greatest Hits collection
as well,
and it's on there.
Yeah.
The,
the,
the Platinum Collection, the Essentials Collection that came out on, I think, well, it would have there uh the uh the the uh the platinum collection
the essentials collection that came out on i think you know it would have been so anyways
doesn't matter it's got like 25 hits on it and this is on there and i was like what a great song
and it totally reminded me of that now that song uh was written by uh frank lozer who is a lesser
lesser sorry i didn't know how to pronounce it.
That's right.
I knew you'd know.
And it's a bit of a song that probably could be canceled today because it's about men leering at women on the street, standing on the corner.
There's actually a line.
You brother, you can't go to jail for what you're thinking.
That's actually a line in the song, which is amazing, by the way. Brother, you can't go to jail for what you're thinking. That's actually a line in the song, which is amazing, by the way.
Brother, you can't go to jail for what you're thinking.
And when Dean does it,
you can just see him with his rye and his cigarette.
It's harmless, in my opinion.
However, Mr. Frank, how do you pronounce it again?
Lesser.
Lesser.
The lesser of two evils.
Also responsible for writing another quote-unquote controversial
song. This is your mind blow.
So if you know that song,
standing on the corner watching...
Oh my!
Oh my!
But baby, it's cold.
Oh yeah. Yeah!
Frank wrote this. Problematic
jams. I love it. Yeah! Frank Robbins. Problematic jams.
I love it.
Been hoping that you'd drop in.
I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice.
Beautiful, what's your hurry?
Listen to the fireplace roar.
Beautiful, what's your hurry?
Put some records on while I pour.
Same guy.
Maybe it's bad out there.
He had a style, a unique style of rape and intrigue.
I don't know.
No, he doesn't like that.
So the Dean Martin version of Stan.
So anyways, this Frank guy was a pretty interesting fellow, to say the least.
But he also...
Yeah. He had also... Yeah.
He had issues with consent.
Well, it's a different time.
Dean wrote that.
The Dean Martin version that we played actually made it to number 22 on the Billboard charts.
Amazing.
Just standing on a corner?
Yeah.
What year again?
56.
I was just a young man back then.
There you go.
Yeah.
So that, to me,
I mean, obviously now we're playing a Christmas song
or a song that has an association with Christmas,
but that's a cold weather song,
a cold weather song,
but standing on the corner watching all the girls go by.
It might snow tomorrow.
It might, yeah.
Standing on the corner watching all the girls go by,
to me, sums up spring.
You've just been canceled, Bob Willett.
I just want you to know
that you're having these impure
thoughts of these poor young women
who walk by in the springtime.
Yeah, I didn't know that song
standing on the corner. Oh, you don't know it? I know.
Tonight I'm getting hit with a bunch of songs
I simply don't know. You're getting edumacated. I'm getting edumacated.
Wow. And here I am restricting
my Bob Marley diet to legend.
I feel embarrassed by that. I've really
been exposed today.
Woo!
Rob Pruess,
how's it going so far for you
of these spring jams?
You feeling warm in your heart
and your cockles of your heart?
Yeah, I'm feeling spring is springing
and we're like ahead of the musical theater
game for our next episode.
So I think like you said,
we're going to refine that musical theater
because it's easy to find these kind of inspiring songs in that world. So I think, like you said, we're going to refine that musical theater because it's easy to find
these kind of inspiring songs
in that world.
Although I actually think
I might have a little bit
more difficulty than you guys.
Well, here's the thing.
Everything you choose
is from the 90s.
So...
Well, Chalk Circle
is from the 80s at least.
That was good.
Yeah, Chalk Circle
is from the 80s.
There you go.
So there you go.
You can get something
from Andrew Lloyd Webber.
And you haven't heard
my next jam,
which is not from the 80s
or 90s, Bob. So maybe you owe me an apology. Oh, Andrew Lloyd Webber. And you haven't heard my next jam, which is not from the 8490s, Bob.
So maybe you owe me an apology.
Oh, so you're not doing springtime in Vienna?
A couple of media updates for everybody.
I don't know who still cares, but I used to kind of talk about this stuff with Wise Blot,
but he's on hiatus.
He's holding out for more Great Lakes beer.
So the big update in the sports media world is that,
and I don't even think Rob would know what we're talking about here,
but Tim and friends has been canceled.
Bob,
what are your reactions?
You,
uh,
you're a fan of Tim and friends.
Did you tune into Tim and friends?
Uh,
I,
I would say I am a fan of Tim McAuliffe.
Uh,
I rarely had the show.
I don't really turn my TV.
I only have one TV in my whole house.
Um,
and I don't,
I don't got two,
but I don't twice as many as you,
but I don't turn rich.
I don't turn the TV on to just have but I don't... Twice as many as you, Bob. I don't turn... I don't turn the TV on
to just have it on.
I grew up in a TV household.
We had three TVs
in each room.
We had a TV in every room
and as soon as you walked in,
first thing you did,
you turned the TV on.
I don't do that either.
That is what I grew up with.
I don't do that.
So I would have watched
back in the day
before I was married,
I would have watched,
you know,
I used to watch PTI and OTR all the time, right?
Those would have been my sports.
Pardon the interruption and off the record for you, Rob Pruth.
I'm here to translate.
But I like Tim McAuliffe.
I liked Tim and Sid together.
I don't watch Sid on the breakfast show that he does.
It's called Breakfast Television.
Sure, whatever.
But you know what?
Tim McAuliffe is a smart guy.
He'll be fine. It's fine.
On the
real talk here, he's got to be our age, right?
He's totally our age. Almost exactly our age.
I bet you he's 46, 47 years old.
He'll be fine.
He'll be fine. He'll figure it out.
But I don't think
sports media places are going to hire
a guy our age. I'm just saying. Oh, I think you're wrong. I think sports media places are going to hire a guy our age.
I'm just saying. Oh, I think you're wrong. I think
that's all they do is hire.
I mean, you know, Kyle Bukaskis
or whatever his name is
on Hockey Night in Canada. But I think
generally speaking, yeah, they want to hire younger
and they want a more diverse
crowd. I think a guy though like
Tim McAuliffe will be fine given his
track record and what he brings to the table, his knowledge. I think he guy though like Tim McAuliffe will be fine given his track record and what he brings to the
table his knowledge I think he'll be
fine I think he'll stay
at Rogers I don't think from what I saw
stay at Rogers you think so
he's not fired he just said the show's done
I haven't had time because I literally just saw the tweet
I mean if he was fired he wouldn't have
had the opportunity to go on and say
this show's done I don't think he's fired
they let you have that opportunity.
Oh yeah, tell that to... What's your name on CTV?
Tell that to...
Lisa Laflamme. Lisa Laflamme, yeah. Okay, so speaking
of CTV... Sorry.
Who just... Somebody...
Austin Delaney just announced
he's taken a retirement package
from Bell Media and he'll have
his last CTV news show.
Classic guy.
He's been around forever, right?
Like he's a long time CTV guy.
Yeah, reporter.
I chatted with him this morning
because I produce a show
for Dana Levinson
and Dana and Austin
are good friends
who go way back
and I was chatting with Austin
about jumping on a chat
with Dana Levinson next week.
Nice.
When he's got lots of time
on his hands.
So there you go.
That's your,
I don't know why I dropped a media update in the middle but I saw I had five minutes so I thought I'm going to just 11th and next week. Nice. When he's got lots of time on his hands. So there you go. That's your key.
I don't know why I dropped a media update
in the middle but I
saw I had five minutes
so I thought I'm going
to just bore the hell
out of Rob Pruess and
do this.
Okay Rob you ready for
your final jam?
I am so ready.
All right here we go.
Kick it.
I don't know any of
these fucking songs
tonight.
Rob you know this one? I don't know any of these fucking songs tonight. Bob, you know this one?
I don't know. Let me hear it.
The things I used to like, I don't like anymore.
Sound of music?
I want a lot of other things I've never had before.
This is Julie Andrews, right?
It's just like mother says.
I sit around and moan.
Pretending I'm wonderful
And knowing I'm a dope
I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm
I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string
I'd say that I had spring fever
But I know it isn't spring
I'm starry-eyed and vaguely discontented
Like a nightingale without a song to sing
Oh, why should I have spring fever
when it isn't even spring?
Did she just say it's not spring, Rob?
Disqualified!
Keep listening.
All right, talk to me about this jam.
Got to get to the end of this verse.
Oh, okay, never mind.
I'll bring it back up.
My apologies.
From a man I've yet to meet
I'm as busy as a spider
spinning daydreams
I'm as giddy as a baby
on a swing
I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud or a robin on the wing.
But I feel so gay in a Madame Colley way that it might as well be spring.
It might as well be spring.
Good triangle action there.
It might as well be spring.
I mean, it is spring,
but it might as well be spring because she's like,
this girl's falling in love with some guy
and it feels like it's spring.
It might be the winter time.
Who really knows?
But it feels like spring.
Feels like spring.
It might as well be spring.
And you are correct.
That was Julie Andrews.
How could you mistake Julie Andrews?
Well, she's Mary Poppins, right?
I know Mary Poppins,
but I don't know that song.
And she's, no.
What musical is that from?
This is from a musical called State Fair
from 1945,
written by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
So it's in the pantheon
of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic songs.
This is like,
in our era now, it's a bit of a lesser known
song unless you really know the world of musical theater and and just for fun you should type this
title into spotify or apple music or anywhere and see how many bazillions of versions there are
because what i feel is really cool about the musical theater uh canon of songs is that in the
old days pop songs these were pop songs right and they were covered
by people and they were on the radio like your dean martin song bob yeah people would all different
people would take these songs and do their own versions you'd have instrumental versions you'd
have men and women singing the songs and this is one of those songs that's it's not a really well
known song right off the bat but you realize oh like when people needed to do songs they would
dig into the rogers and hammerstein catalog And this was like a really popular one for jazz musicians to do
instrumentally as well. So yeah. And I know this song mostly because my wife,
she, when she was studying musical theater, when she was young, this is a song she sang and she
loved it. So she introduced me to it and we teach it to our vocal students and it's a good challenging song for kids to learn to sing so i love the song um but you have to play my my
alternate version because that's my favorite thing of all time before you do okay no go ahead okay
no i want to hear what i want to hear it bob yeah you talked about artists uh you know picking up
all these songs the beatles the very first time they went on on Ed Sullivan, they did a song from the Music Man.
Yeah.
They did There Were Bells all around.
Even the Beatles.
It's not Twist and Shout.
What was the song that they did?
No, they did five songs.
They did like four songs.
Yeah, one of the songs they did was from the Music Man.
Yeah.
Right.
That's a fun fact.
By the way, you guys are blowing your wad of musical knowledge.
You have no idea how much more musical knowledge.
You know what?
In two weeks, you don't even have to be here.
Just Rob and I will do it.
Tune in on April 11th and you'll find out.
Just press go.
You two and Matt maybe can do this yourselves.
Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.
I just thought it was an interesting observation on Rob's part about this.
But I will kick out.
This is for you, Rob Pruce.
It's like a bonus jam.
Here we go.
Yeah.
I found this by accident.
I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm.
I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string.
Why should I have a suffering of fever
when it isn't even a suffering?
I'm a starry-eyed and vaguely discontented, like a nightingale without a song to sing.
But why should I have a suffering fever when I know it isn't a suffering
I keep wishing
I were somewhere else
Who am I listening to, Rob?
There's a guy named Jerry Colonna.
What is that? It's amazing.
I like it.
I am so lost this episode of Toronto Mic.
I have no idea. You're exhausted and we're pushing you. I am so lost this episode of Toronto Mic.
You're exhausted and we're pushing you. I have no idea.
You know, one thing about Cam and Stu is I knew what I was going to get.
There's going to be a smash on Pumpkin Song.
We blew out all the stereotypes this one here.
Okay, so Jerry Colonna did a cover of that.
Wait, get to the end of this.
Get to the end of this.
It's a good finish.
Good finish. Might as well be It might as well be a-suffering
It could be winter, summer, autumn, almost any other thing
So it might as well be a-suffering I love it.
We'll be right back after this message.
Yeah, it might as well be spring.
Okay, good stuff today.
A lot of, if I review the three jams Rob kicked out,
there was a classical song, a classical music jam.
Yeah, Vivaldi.
And then Vivaldi.
Then there was a couple of like, there was a musical theater that was like a film, a
film, musical film.
Yeah.
And then there was musical like theater, Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Yeah.
Okay.
Wow.
This, wow.
Okay.
I love it.
I love it.
Bob, Rob, are you ready for my final jam?
Looking forward to it.
Do it.
Do it.
jam. Looking forward to it. Do it.
I can see clearly now the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are No, it's not Johnny Cash, everybody.
It's Johnny Nash.
Don't confuse those two guys.
Different voices.
Okay.
Johnny Nash.
This is a jam.
You guys said I kicked something out from the 80s and the 90s.
Well, this is from the 70s.
1972.
1972.
I can see clearly now this was not only performed by Johnny Nash.
He wrote this song.
Good for you, Johnny. And it went all the way to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
Rob, did the spoons ever crack the Billboard Hot 100. Rob, did the spoons ever crack the
Billboard Hot 100?
I don't think we ever did.
Well, that
upsets me greatly, Rob. I'm telling
you, you were more than
deserved of cracking the... I cracked it
with Honeymoon Suite, and I
cracked it with Sheena Easton, actually. I played on a Sheena Easton
song, which got on the charts once, which is weird.
That's fun.
Amazing.
Yeah.
So we live in a world where the crash test dummies can crack the top 100 and the spoons don't.
I don't know about that.
Superman never made any money from whatever.
Saving the world from Solomon Grundy.
Sometimes I just fear the world will never.
I can't get to that.
Bob can do it.
The world will never see another man. How come I can't do that?
When will my balls drop?
Holy smokes.
Okay.
Tarzan wasn't a ladies' man.
He just...
Mike, this is a good spring jam, by the way.
Yes, it is.
This is a good summer Johnny Nash jam.
When Bob was doing his Superman song,
I was going to come in and do the Ellen Reed part.
Nice, yeah.
I'm glad to see they're talking again,
because they weren't for a while.
See?
Why didn't you tell me that before they came on?
I'm looking for that guy.
I had no idea.
Oh, yeah.
No, no.
There was a part where they were talking.
Because then I could explore that with them.
When he lost his mind, he went to Harlem,
and he lived in the States for a while.
Well, he's still living there.
Yeah, yeah.
There was a lot of New York traffic in the, not romantic traffic, Rob.
Don't get excited.
So going back to your Johnny Nash song.
Yeah, I have more things to say about it, yeah.
Jimmy Cliff also.
Like, isn't that the most famous kind of, wouldn't you say, version?
Okay, here's what I thought about this long and hard, okay?
Johnny Nash, I believe, is the most famous version, okay?
I believe, is the most famous version. Okay. I believe so. And Johnny Nash was inspired by your friend, Robert Nesta Marley.
Bob Marley inspired Johnny Nash.
That's why there's some reggae styles.
Yeah.
And I can see clearly now.
But.
No refuting.
That's a spring song.
But.
And I'm about to.
Oh, I'm going to go out of order for you.
But.
Yeah. a spring song. But, and I'm about to, oh, I'm going to go out of order for you. But. This is the 80s for sure, right?
Stay tuned.
I have all that for you.
There's that sequencer.
This is Jimmy Cliff.
Yeah.
Most definitely the 1990s.
90s, eh?
Yeah.
In fact, do you know what movie this was covered for?
Sleepless in Seattle.
That's a fine guess.
Keep going.
Do you know, Rob?
Nope.
Cool Runnings.
No. Nice. You know what? This actually, now that you say that, it's got that new Jack Swing to it. Nope Cool runnings No Nice
You know what
This actually
Now that you say that
It's got that
New Jack swing to it
That vibe
It's got
A little bit
Like ABC
BBD
East Coast Family
Never skipped a beat
No
That guy's got a deep voice
That Boyz II Men guy
Yes he does
Name all the guys
With deep voices
Hang on
You're a deep one Mr. Grinch Oh with deep voice I thought you wanted me To name all the guys In new edition Hang on You're a mean one Mr. Grinch
Oh it's deep voice I thought you wanted me to name all the guys in new edition
I was like I can do that
No I want to talk about Boyz II Men
Ronnie Bobby Ricky Mike Ralph and Johnny
That's Boyz II Men
Well that's new edition
No you're thinking of BBD
Oh yeah Ralph Trestman
And you're in fucking radio
So Jimmy Cliff.
You're punchy, man.
I love it.
Jimmy Cliff.
Yes.
This one went to number 18 on the Billboard.
Oh, interesting.
Where Johnny Nash went to number one.
And this is 1993.
But if you're Canadian like me,
you might remember another cover of this song.
You guys know what it is?
I already know who it is.
Holly Cole Trio?
Yeah. And what was it about this
version being jammed down our throats
in this country? Like, this video, I saw
all the time. Because
Canadian Radio gets a cover
song of a familiar song by a Canadian
band that is actually a decent
cover. They're going to play the shit out of it.
Because it's got familiarity out of the gate.
It's exactly that.
And it's CanCon.
The Tea Party did Paint It Black, for Christ's sake.
Right.
So did Gob do Paint It Black? Gob did Paint It Black as well, yeah.
No, no, it's a huge thing. There's a whole world
of, especially Christmas music, but yeah.
Canadian radio gets like, ooh.
And it's Holly Cole who
already had a following, so it was an easy ad. That's why it was, quote, and it's Holly Cole who already had a following.
So it was an easy ad.
That's why it was,
quote,
jammed down your throat,
as you said.
And I would like,
you know,
Holly Cole's dad,
fun fact,
Holly Cole's dad was a,
Bob Cole?
No,
actually.
Glenn Cole?
A very famous
CBC radio personality.
He's no longer with us.
But yeah,
so this is the
Holly Cole trio
and I can see clearly now
and it was a hit in this country
because I used to hear it all the time.
Yeah, all the time.
So here's my mind blowing.
I don't think it'll blow anyone's mind,
but I'm hoping maybe Rob's, I don't know,
his mind looks blowable to me.
Phrasing, Michael, phrasing.
That's a little inappropriate.
But Johnny Nash, I can see clearly now.
That's Johnny Nash's biggest hit, right?
I would say so.
Not in my heart!
Hercules,
hero of song and story.
Hercules, winner of
ancient glory. Fighting
for the right. Fighting with
his might. With the strength of ten ordinary men.
Hercules, people are safe when near him. Hercules, only the evil fear him.
Softness in his eyes, iron in his thighs, virtue in his heart, fire in every part of the mighty Hercules.
Victory is here. Wow.
Johnny Nash, everybody.
The Mighty Hercules opening theme song.
I don't know.
I want to hear what you guys think of
when you hear that song,
but I watched so many hours
of the Mighty Hercules,
that cartoon.
Herc, Herc. Daedalus, like the whole, Helena. I watched, of hours of the mighty Hercules, that cartoon. Herc, Herc.
Daedalus, like the whole, Helena.
I watched, of course, Newton.
I watched a lot of that shitty cartoon.
You're an early riser.
You're an early riser then.
Because it was very early.
So here's my, sorry, Rob, I didn't mean to jump in there.
We'll go Bob, then Rob in alphabetical order.
The Hercules was on at like 5 a.m. or something.
I wasn't waking up at 5 a.m. No, no, but it was Hercules. Here at like 5 a.m. or something. I wasn't waking up at
5 a.m. It must have been another time.
Here's the thing. The A4 mentioned
Hilarious House of Frankenstein,
Hercules, and
Rocket Robin Hood.
The three of those, and then Davy
and Goliath.
That's just Sunday.
During the week, Hercules and
Rocket Robin Hood were back-to-back on
47 on CFMT or...
Yes, yes.
I watched...
Yes.
My dad used to work shift work
and I'd get up in the morning
and my dad would be watching
Hercules and Rocket Robin Hood,
honest to God, at 6 a.m.
Yeah.
That's my memory of Hercules.
Hercules, Rocket Robin Hood,
Hilarious House of Frightenstein,
and...
Okay, so I only remember seeing Hilarious House of Freightenstein, and... Okay, so I
only remember seeing Hilarious House of
Freightenstein on CHCH.
Okay? Yeah.
That's the only time I... I could be wrong.
Again, I could be wrong. But I
thought it was... Because on my TV,
on my converter or whatever...
Yeah, your converter. It was either 4
or 3. 4 was CFMT. 3
was Global. Yep. Okay.
I thought maybe, I
think it might have been global. Three, yeah.
I was seeing Hercules. Yeah. Well,
so my memory is it was 47
going way back before I even had a converter
and I took it. I think I had 47
as well. On UHF, which is CFMT.
Cable Fun. Yeah, which was
CFMT and then you
could go up all the way up to 79 at one point for City TV
before it went to 57.
That's way back.
Yeah, I remember.
I feel like I saw Hilarious House of Frightens on 11.
On Global?
No, 11 to CHCH.
Okay, so we have some.
Tobias Vaughn is chiming in.
This is going to match up with more of my memory.
He says Hercules was on Global around 7.30
in the morning in the early 80s.
Because there's no way I was up at 5.30 or whatever
to watch it. And I remember it on
Global. I do want to shout
out real quickly here because
he's shouting out He-Man. DJ
Dream Doctor who says hello to you Rob
Pruce and says that I have
a bit of a Morrissey
hairstyle circa 1990 right now.
As long as you don't have his politics, you're okay.
Not yet.
Come on.
I don't have his politics yet.
So thank you, Tobias Vaughn.
And Rob, what are your memories of The Mighty Hercules?
Well, This Mighty Hercules, it's like a 60s cartoon, right?
Which was just an endless syndication for sure.
It was definitely. Because that young Johnny Nash voice, that's like a 60s cartoon right which was just an endless syndication yeah for sure yeah it was definitely uh because that that young johnny nash voice that sounds like a
60s cartoon which we i mean i loved i got up early for all that shit as well but it makes me think of
do you remember a weird cartoon that was like 15 minutes long called professor kitzel do you know
professor kitzel or is that before your time you're too young so leslie's with you rob and that
leslie was watching the uh hercules that I remember from the early 80s.
She was watching in the early to mid 70s.
Yeah.
There's a guy called Professor Kitzel.
Okay.
I don't know Kitzel either.
No, he was on like all these weirdly syndicated cartoons like Davy and Goliath and Rocket Robin Hood.
They all were just interchangeable and interspersed.
But I think eventually we all saw them at some point in our childhoods.
Well, I definitely remember spending way too many hours of rock at Robin Hood.
And I still remember the waste when, was it Fry or Tuck?
He'd take a bite out of the drumstick and then he'd throw it away.
Like he would take one bite out of it and throw the rest away.
And even as a kid, he used to drive me crazy.
I'm like, all that food's being wasted.
The wonderful stories
of Professor Kitzel from 1972
now that I see a picture
of it I totally recognize it
Do you? Oh yeah I think so
Yeah I've seen that for sure. He was related
to Dr. Snuggles I think they were
cousins or something but
so to
put a bow on this thing so Hercules
was it the same production company as Rock and Rock?
I think so.
Or is it just that they were bought and syndicated real cheap and just aired?
I think it's the same production company.
It's also the Spider-Man one from that.
But then that's Toronto-based.
That means you're Toronto-based.
That's going to be the same guys who did the Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
That's those guys.
Because that's now there are actually,
okay, so Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
right?
Hold on here, Mike.
Yeah, no, but that was, yeah,
and actually that music counts as can't.
Ooh, hey, Rocket, okay, I just Googled it
because we have the power to do it.
I didn't know that Rocket Robin Hood
was a Canadian animated series.
Yeah, it was.
That's what we're saying right now.
Oh, it's CBC?
It was CBC originally from 66 to 69.
Come on now.
Mind blow.
And being shown all the way well into the mid-80s.
Okay, because Rankin Bass did Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Yes.
Rankin Bass, I think, might have been behind Rocket Robin Hood
no not Rocket Robin Hood
maybe Hercules
maybe Hercules
Bernard Cowan who his friends would call him
Bunny Cowan but I've had Bernard Cowan's
two sons on this program
1963 only one season by the way
wow
it was NBC
done out of Toronto
with Toronto voice actors
128 episodes
in one season though
wow
wow
that's how they rolled back
that's amazing
I bet you Bernard Cowan
was doing voices
on that program there
but shout out to the
hilarious House of
Freidenstein
and shout out
because you're wearing
that shirt there Rob
and shout out to the
I don't know who made
the Hercules show.
That wasn't made here in Canada, was it?
Hercules does not look like, no, it was American.
American.
Yeah.
God, I watched a lot of that shitty show.
And he put on the ring and he put up his hand and he'd go, Olympio.
They also, so the same company also bought Speed Racer.
Speed Racer.
Oh, right.
So there you go.
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
There's a deep dive on crappy Saturday or weekday mornings.
Took a left turn.
Yeah, we took a left turn from spring there.
Yeah.
Thanks, Johnny Nash.
There you go.
It's all Johnny's fault.
Johnny Nash, Jimmy Cliff, Rob Pruse, Bob Ouellette.
What a great way to spend a Monday night.
And I'm just tickled pink that next time we're together you're here, Rob, and we can have
a big threesome hug. See you in a couple
weeks. A threesome hug. Yeah, I can't wait
to see you guys. It'll be fun.
And again, if you missed it,
intern Matt, I think we're calling him
Matt Grumpy,
will be here as well to shadow
us. I hope it doesn't make me nervous.
I hope Moose Grumpy doesn't mind if I give
Matt a Great Lakes beer. I hope that will be appropriate for the occasion. I'll ask for't make me nervous. I hope Moose Grumpy doesn't mind if I give Matt a Great Lakes beer.
I hope that will be appropriate for the occasion.
I'll ask for ID beforehand, of course,
because I'm a responsible person.
But thanks for everyone for tuning in.
We kicked out the Spring Jams,
and next time we'll kick out a variation of
a musical theater.
Love it.
And that
that brings us to the end of our
1,226th
show
you can follow me on twitter
I'm at Toronto Mike
Bob is at Bob
Willette rhymes with Gillette
but it's Willette
Rob is at Rob Pruce with an X at the end.
If you can figure out how to spell Pruce.
Why did you cancel on Bob again?
You were busy, Rob.
Why did you cancel on Bob's basement?
Oh, I had a film shoot actually in our house.
It's a long story, but we had a TV show come film.
Oh.
Ah, a TV show called Blue Bloods. I've heard of that. I've heard of Blue Bloods. Have you heard of that, but we had a TV show come film. A TV show called Blue Bloods.
I've heard of that. I've heard of Blue Bloods.
Have you heard of that, Bob?
Okay, so we're going to see your home
in an episode of Blue Bloods. Okay, very exciting.
Are you going to do a rain check?
Yeah, we're going to make it happen.
Oh, yeah.
Our friends at Great Lakes
Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer.
Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.
Recycle My Electronics
are at EPRA underscore
Canada. And Ridley
Funeral Home are at Ridley FH.
See you all
tomorrow
when I drop the 2023
Blue Jays Primer
with Keegan Matheson.
Don't you dare miss it. And your smile is fine
And it's just like mine
And it won't go away
Cause everything is rosy and green
Well, I've been told
That there's a sucker born every day
But I wonder who Yeah, I wonder who.
Yeah, I wonder who.
Maybe the one who doesn't realize there's a thousand shades of gray.
Because I know that's true.
Yes, I do.
I know it's true.
Yeah.
I know it's true.
How about you?
They're picking up trash
And they're putting down roads
And they're brokering stocks
The class struggle explodes
And I'll play this guitar
Just the best that I can
Maybe I'm not.
And maybe I am.
Because everything is coming up.
Rosie and gray.
Yeah.
The wind is cold,
but the smell of snow warms me today.
And your smile is fine.
It's just like mine
and it won't go away
cause everything is
rosy and green
well I've kissed you in France
and I've kissed you in Spain
and I've kissed you in places
I better not name
and I've seen the sun places I better not name.
And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour.
But I like it much better going down on you.
Yeah, you know that's true. Because everything is coming up rosy and green.
Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms us today.
And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away.
Because everything is rosy now.
Everything is rosy, yeah.
Everything is rosy and everything is rosy and gray.