MUSIC Episodes

Freed Developments’ Glen Baxter talks about making the move from Montreal to Toronto, doing CBC French language traffic reports without ever owning a car, getting ‘the call’ in 1991 from Moses Znaimer, his 20 years at 299 Queen Street West for MuchMusic/CityTV/CTV's In Fashion, his excellent interactions with David Bowie/Drake/Rihanna/Deadmau5/Jeanne Beker/Tim Blanks/Jay Levine/Rick Campanelli/Dave Foley/Alex Lifeson/Joe Mimran/Michael Budman/Don Green, his NOT so excellent interactions with Bar...

Strange Advance founder Drew Arnott talks about touring for the 40th anniversary of their debut album Worlds Away, why Steven Tyler did NOT like the band name, bigtime encouragement & friendship from Bryan Adams, having the late Bruce Fairbairn [Loverboy, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, AC/DC] produce their first album, Scott Litt mixing their 2nd album before moving on to work with a small band called REM, memories from the Juno Awards, shooting their first video for MTV before MuchMusic even l...

Professional Guitarist/TCDSB Teacher/Author Sean Kelly shares a lifetime of surreal moments:

Inspired by Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider...eventually collaborates with Dee Snider!

First concert ever attended growing up in North Bay was Helix + Honeymoon Suite...eventually plays in both bands!

Loved Corey Hart...eventually plays Corey Hart’s songs [note for note] live in front of him at his Canadian Walk of Fame induction!

Named his band Crash Kelly after his hockey playing maverick Uncle Orville...

Legendary heavy metal bassist Rudy Sarzo talks about rejoining Quiet Riot [his 3rd stint!], playing with Ozzy Osbourne/Whitesnake/Dio, and his friendships with the late Randy Rhodes/Kevin DuBrow/Frankie Banali. Rudy shares memories of the stellar ping pong table & overwhelming portrait of Queen Elizabeth at Maple Leaf Gardens, the controversy behind the scenes of the 1990 KISS/Whitesnake concert at the CNE Grandstand [KISS without pyro?!?!?], his admiration for Paul Stanley and KISS, his ‘sister...

Ed the Sock Creator Steven Kerzner remembers North York’s Newton Cable, shares Ed’s origin story [involves the Crafts Closet] and namesake [think Lou Grant/Carl from UP], talks about Ed’s Night Party transitioning from community cable to CityTV to a national MuchMusic audience, why he thinks Moses Znaimer is responsible for the greatest phase of creativity in Canadian TV history [people love to watch people], and presents the REAL STORY behind the conspicuously similar Robert Smigel/Conan O’Brie...

Former MuchMusic & Entertainment Tonight Canada host Rick Campanelli talks about morphing from ‘Rick the Temp’ into ‘Rick the Franchise,’ how his father unplugging the house phone almost prevented his MuchTemp contest win, meeting both an AMAZING and a HORRIBLE celebrity within the same band interview [spoiler: involves Aerosmith], the endless sea of people at Woodstock ’99, going from 2 suits at MuchMusic [‘funeral + wedding’] to a personal stylist/full wardrobe at ET Canada, experiencing a car...

LyricVids.com co-founder Anthony Craparotta explains the WHAT and the WHY about Lyric Videos, talks about the inspiration for his rap moniker ILLVIBE [from A Tribe Called Quest], opening for Kehlani and Chris Brown in Croatia, turning an audio artpiece into a visual digitally animated asset, the utility of lyric videos for both current and legacy artists, the challenges of interpreting lyrics when the artist is currently in jail, the necessity of resuming cold calls & emails as he pursues his go...

Original MuchMusic VJ Christopher Ward checks in from ‘temperate’ Santa Monica to talk about being chosen AHEAD of Mike Myers for the Second City touring company, Mike’s iconic Wayne Campbell character making his TV debut on City Limits, kicking off the inaugural broadcast of The Nations’s Music Station at 6pm on Aug 31 1984 with current Fox News anchor John ‘JD’ Roberts, an inspirational Greyhound bus ride to Memphis with 40 Elvis impersonators, writing Black Velvet [and winning a Juno] for Ala...

Radio veteran/record label rep/bestselling hockey author Kevin Shea shares his music & sportswriting experiences with Borje Salming, the Parachute Club, Eddie Shack, Blue Rodeo, Matthew Barnaby, Weird Al, the Hockey Hall of Fame, Steven Tyler/Joe Perry, Slash, Honeymoon Suite & Don Henley...and in a worldwide exclusive he reveals his radio DJ on-air ‘nom de plume’ [spoiler: ‘Sky Kelly’]!

TORONTO LEGENDS is hosted by Andrew Applebaum.

Matthew Barnaby: Unfiltered and all of Kevin Shea’s books ar...

Founder/Frontman of The Box Jean-Marc Pisapia talks about being Men Without Hats keyboardist pre-Safety Dance [and meeting Ivan at German language class], the influence of spending a month in the Soviet Union as a teen, the origin of L’Affair Dumoutier, opening for The Spoons on their first tour, the confusion around Sass Jordan’s membership in the band, filming Closer Together in the Dominican Republic, memories of playing Kingswood Music Theatre and the rotating stage at the Ontario Place Foru...

Chalk Circle’s lead singer & co-founder Chris Tait talks about getting grounded for playing ‘God Save The Queen,’ the band’s friendship with Blue Peter, breaking out with the support of CFNY & MuchMusic, touring with Rush/Crowded House/Tears for Fears, Geddy Lee convincing them to try playing wireless [spoiler: so much fun it was a fail!], Geddy restringing his bass for Brad Hopkins to play upside-down, the Sam the Record Man connection [‘Son of Sam’], risking electrocuting Neil Finn [and themse...

Blue Rodeo bassist Bazil Donovan talks about learning the ‘guitar boogie shuffle,’ growing up in the Junction, Tiny’s beeper leading to his first gig for $30, listening to/learning from/eventually opening for John Fogerty, cutting his teeth on the baptism/confirmation circuit, answering the famous ‘bassist wanted’ ad in NOW magazine, the bandname origin story transitioning from the The Hi-Fi's, playing 1st out of town gig in Kingston and meeting the boys from some band called The Tragically Hip,...

Glass Tiger frontman Alan Frew talks about the New Year’s Eve name changeover from ‘Tokyo’ to Glass Tiger [and how author George Plimpton inspired the new name], opening for Boy George & Culture Club, sharing urinals at the Grammy Awards with Roger Daltrey & Doc Severinson, how being last to the bus gave him his ‘Beatles’ moment in Saskatoon, confusion with Rod Stewart about who actually was the first to play SkyDome, Bryan Adams singing backup on Don’t Forget Me, knocking out TWO smash hits in ...

Filmmaker & Marketing Executive Barry Avrich talks about RENT-A-FAN CLUB, getting stuck in an altercation between Jackie Mason & Jerry Stiller, why you need to treat ‘yelling’ as performance art, why his Bob Saget anecdote was far too filthy to share, whether we can expect an update to Unauthorized: The Harvey Weinstein Project, how Hollywood is the “only place you can die of encouragement,” his father’s best advice [“look at the audience, not the movie” and “DON’T blend in”], working on docs ab...

Publicist and Music Industry Expert Eric Alper talks about music entering his bloodstream via his Grandfather Al’s Grossman’s Tavern, the influence of American Hot Wax & Music World at Promenade Mall, why Snoop Dogg travels with his own personal joint roller, launching Nickelback’s 1st EP, The Wiggles’ roots in punk rock [!!!!], why Bill Wyman hitting on his wife was cool, recollections of Ringo Starr/Ray Charles/Duran Duran/Chickenfoot/The English Beat/Matt Dusk/DJ Khaled/Maestro Fresh Wes/Sine...

Multiple-time Manager of the Year Jake Gold talks about his first concert [Beatles at Maple Leaf Gardens 1964!], 17 years of managing The Hip/a 17 year break/starting anew in 2020, music’s most important North American cities [NYC, LA, Toronto], getting creative backstage with Robert Plant, earning bona fides from the Rolling Stones by playing through a cross-storm hurricane, Dan Aykroyd’s advocacy to appear on Saturday Night Live, the impact of the Another Roadside Attraction music festival, wh...

Singer/songwriter Matt Dusk takes a 'Matt Dusk Sings Sinatra' tour break to talk about dining with the Queen & Prince Philip, his graduation interaction with Oscar Peterson, his breakout role on Mark Burnett’s The Casino, Michael Buble: friend? enemy? frenemy?, his celebrity status in Poland, fond feelings for The Reservoir Lounge and The Rex Hotel, how building relationships in Las Vegas is like ‘planting a flower in the desert,’ his preshow ritual [hint: Two Shots], and taking over for the Cha...

Iconic radio personality/podcaster/author Jeff Woods talks about the enduring appeal of classic rock, getting along with Alan Cross & Eric Alper, how his trademark voice developed [hint: smoking, alcohol, lack of sleep], his upcoming podcast Blue Hotel, and how often his is mistaken for Metallica’s James Hetfield (spoiler alert: daily)!

TORONTO LEGENDS is hosted by Andrew Applebaum.

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