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,
Several years ago, Joel Goldberg gifted me a poster of this cover of Graffiti celebrating Toronto’s new VJ superstars. Featured are FOTMs Shirley McQueen and J. Gold (Joel Goldberg) of CFMT’s Something Else, Samantha Taylor (who went from CFMT to CBC’s Video Hits) and John Majhor of
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
Fear not, I'm not feverish. In fact, I feel great. I just finished a chilly 25km bike ride and now I'm listening to Neil. Neil's the guy who had the fever. In late 1968 Neil Young had a 39.5 °C fever and in this state wrote three of his
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
I often listen to podcasts while I bike, but sometimes I run out of fresh content, because I'm picky! That's when I switch to a biking playlist. This happened today when I was 30 KM from home, and while listening to "Laid" from James I was thinking about how that's
Drake has his 13th chart-topper, not that this all means what it once did. With the current rules and importance of streaming, it feels like a new Drake drop is guaranteed to score him a #1 or two or seven. Here's the complete list of 66 songs performed by a
Admittedly, I'm a sucker for anything created by David Simon. The Wire is my all-time favourite television show, ahead of Six Feet Under and The Sopranos. Another David Simon series is The Deuce which ran for three seasons. This post is about The Deuce's theme songs. I love all three
Last night, I attended the Phoenix Saturays Reunion celebrating Martin Streek and 30 years of Phoenix Saturday Nights. Let's do the time warp again! You can go home againUnlike the recent 35th anniversary of Electric Cicus I attended recently, I actually did dance at the Phoenix for many of these
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
I've recorded a few episodes about Attic Records, the Canadian record label that was formed in 1974 by Al Mair and Tom Williams. There was my conversation with Kevin Shea and Steve Waxman, and my chat with the late Al Mair. Not to mentions chats with Lee Aaron, Maestro Fresh-Wes,
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
I was chatting with Jane Siberry yesterday and that put Mimi on the Beach in my head. I still love that song. Mimi on the Beach is one of a great trifecta of Toronto beach songs, all with the word "beach" in the title. Mimi on the Beach - Jane
Do I ever love Radiohead's "Creep". It was their first single, and unlike anything else you've heard from Radiohead, but I fuckin' love it. The melody, the guitars, the lyrics... the band may not love "Creep", but I do! "Creep" is similar enough to "The Air That I Breathe", a
