I have seen rock and roll's future and its name is Bruce Springsteen . . . Last night, my wife and I saw Bruce Springsteen for the very first time. I'm here to tell you that the pre-concert hype was literally 40 years in the making, as I've been hearing about Bruce's live

Yesterday, Jeremy Hopkin dropped by to talk about 10 great Toronto ghost stories. One involves the University of Toronto and when Jeremy mentioned Convocation Hall, I mentioned that my graduation ceremony took place there and that Ivan Reitman was the keynote speaker. Ivan, of course, directed Ghostbusters, the perfect movie

I was at Massey Hall tonight for the 2024 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. What a wonderful night of music. It kicked off with Tom Cochrane and ended with the dude from Rascal Flatts and in between we heard music from Sarah McLauchlan, Nelly Furtado, Metric, Sam Roberts, Jim Cuddy,

SinglesPulp FictionReservoir DogsJudgment Night TrainspottingO Brother, Where Art Thou?Boogie NightsDazed and ConfusedForrest Gump

Last night I went on a double date to see Souls of Mischief and Cypress Hill at the CNE Bandshell. It was all part of TFOB (Toronto Festival of Beer) which means plenty of fresh Great Lakes Beer along the way. The crewIt was awesome. Great night, great vibes, and

I heard this song in 1989 and the lyrics were imprinted in my brain so I'd periodically sing this song over the past 35 years. I don't think I've heard this song since 1989, unless you count the many times I've sung it aloud. The songs I heard in 1989

I live with a Swifty, so I was hearing the new Taylor Swift album on Friday morning before school. It's called The Tortured Poets Department, and 31 songs in total were dropped. There's one that's a bit of a riddle in terms of who it's about, but if you listen

This past weekend, we had a party for my third-born's 10th birthday. My mom used the m-word for little people. We had to educate her that this m-word is no longer acceptable. That got me thinking about the g-word for Roma people. That g-word was everywhere. Band names, song names,

At noon I received an email from Warner Music Canada with the subject line "A STATEMENT FROM MONOWHALES". Monowhales are a Canadian alt-rock band that have appeared on Toronto Mike'd a bouple of times. First there was the COVID-19 remote appearance, then the much better in-person debut. Here's the statement

The Arrows are mentioned on Toronto Mike'd periodically, including today. I'm not familiar with The Arrows, but my brain is full of trivial facts including that Joan Jett's I Love Rock N' Roll was a cover of a song by the Arrows. That's the Arrows, not to be confused with

Thanks to Fortnite, the online video game my kids are obsessed with, my 9 and 7 year olds are really into Peter Griffin's Surfin' Bird. That's right, even though they've never seen an episode of Family Guy, they know Peter Griffin and his favourite song of all-time. Surfin' Bird has

I just watched the Netflix documentary about the night USA For Africa recorded We Are The World. It's worth a viewing if you haven't seen it yet. There are a few mind blows in there, and plenty of fun facts. For example, I always wondered by Prince and Madonna were

We need to talk about Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree". I'm sure I heard it in the zeitgeist as a kid, but my first specific memory of this holiday staple is its appearance in 1990's Home Alone. Since then, it's seemed unavoidable. Brenda Lee recorded this Johnny Marks

Aretha Frnaklin is the undisputed Queen of Soul, but in the late-60s, she was beat by British blue-eyed soul singer Dusty Springfiield. In 1968, songwriters John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins wrote Son of a Preacher Man for Aretha Franklin, but Aretha turned it down because her father really was a

What the heck was that Cheap Trick cover of Don't Be Cruel all about? I realize I'm 35 years late in asking this pertinent question, but I was just reading an article about Elvis Presley's September 9, 1956 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Here's Elvis performing his hit "Don't

The moment at which a song hits me is very important. There are mediocre songs I adore to this day becuase they hit me at precisely the right time. When Oasis released Be Here Now in 1997, they had already peaked. Be Here Now was the follow-up to (What's the

#TMLX13 is Thursday from 6-9pm at Great Lakes Brewery (30 Queen Elizabeth Blvd) and I'm trying to mimic the vibe of our recent park gatherings. There's no live recording or band, just a good bunch of people collecting to enjoy fresh craft beer and delicious Palma Pasta. I sincerely hope