I'm not sure I'd ever been to Guelph before yesterday. We hopped on the 401 and make the drive to The Royal City to see Hawksley Workman perform at the Sonic Hall. It was a great little venue and perfect for Hawk, who was spot-on. I was a little surprised
According to Billboard, an AI singer named Xania Monet is “the first known AI artist to earn enough radio airplay to debut on a Billboard radio chart.” I've heard this song, and it's rather underwhleming, but it's fine. I'd compare this AI voice to Beyonce. If you asked the software
Starting in 2018, Dave Hodge has unveiled his 100 favourite songs of the calendar year on Toronto Mike'd. I'm honoured to help facilitate this. VP even maintains hodge100.com. Dave's Hodge 100 for 2025 is scheduled for November 27, two days before TMLX21 at Palma's Kitchen. This is year 9.
Tonight is game 7. The last time the Blue Jays played a game seven, it was 1985 and Jim Sundberg broke my 11-year-old heart when he hit a wind-blown, three-run triple off Dave Stieb in the sixth inning. Here's hoping tonight is different. Here's seven songs with the number 7
Exciting news for Rush fans. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson return to the stage for a 2026 tour they're calling Fifty Something. It's "in celebration of RUSH’s music, legacy, and the life of late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart". Here's the full announcement from Rush.com. Monday, October 6th,
A CBC article on Canadian hits that didn't chart in the USA linked to a Nielsen Music Canada document put together for Canada's 150th birthday. That was way back in 2017. There are many interesting lists in this PDF, with two key caveats: This is from the Nielsen Music Canada
Yesterday, I had a great chat with Jim Moore, the bassist for One Free Fall and Rusty, and Jeff Rogers's name came up. Jeff Rogers dropped by in April 2023 and we talked about how he steered the careers of The Pursuit of Happiness, Crash Test Dummies, Rusty and other
I recently wrote about picking up a single lawn ticket for about twenty bucks to see The Who during their farewell tour. Yesterday I biked to the Freshwater Stage (shout out to Neil Young) and enjoyed a great set by Tom Cochrane. That alone was worth more than the price
I wouldn't consider myself a big fan of The Who. I've never bought any albums, although I did rip their greatest hits CD to MP3 in the early 2000s. And of course, because I'm a pop culture savvy adult on planet Earth, I know several of their songs. But when
This wasn't my first Neil Young experience, but it was my first outdoors Neil Young experience. I love my summer concerts outdoors, so I was more than happy to buy a lawn ticket at Budweiser Stage to see one of my favourite musical artist of all-time. Neil opened with the
The other day, I played Alice In Chains's Dirt in its entirety. I've always loved this album, and during a previous chapter in my life, would throw it on to plow through an office workday. It's 13 tracks, and if we consider "Intro (Dream Sequence)/Iron Gland" as an intro
During yesterday's #TOAST, Indie 88's Bob Willette cracked a joke that I was stuck in the 90s because he felt the majority of my #TOAST jams were from that decade. While it's true I still listen to a lot of music released in the 90s, I asked the VP of
I've been ironing out an annoying frame rate issue on recorded videos that were also live streamed. I think I have it sorted now. We'll find out at 2pm with Gill Deacon. This issue, in a roundabout way, had me revisiting a recording of Broken Social Scene co-founder Brendan Canning's
Just before recording with Skye Wallace on Friday, I started singing "Nowhere To Run" by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas. I shared with Skye that I first discovered the song in the movie Good Morning Vietnam. I also owned that soundtrack on cassette and "Nowhere To Run" was the first
Is there a greater chasm between quality of content vs. quality of cover than Pet Sounds? Pet Sounds is a great album, no doubt, but that's one bad album cover.
There's this song I only know from a Simpsons episode - I always thought the title was "That's My Boy" but it's actually called "Watching Scotty Grow" and it's by Bobby Goldsboro. So I found myself diving into this guy's catalogue and it's a lot of slop but this guy
I realize I'm a couple of days late with this one. Ode to Billie Joe opens with Bobbie Gentry singing on June 3rd... Was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay And at dinnertime we stopped and
Yesterday, Dr. Cliff Redford dropped by to kick out the jams. That's what we call it when a Toronto Mike'd guest returns to play and discuss their favourite ten songs of all-time. One of Dr. Cliff's songs was from Billy Idol, a singer I just loved in the mid-80s. I
I biked to The Sound Garage on Geary Ave last night to take in Change of Heart at The Sound Garage. It was my first show at this venue, and I dug it. It's small, but the sight lines are fab and the sounds was good.
Chris Murphy Toronto Mike’d Podcast Episode 229: Chris Murphy from SloanIn this 229th episode, Mike chats with Chris Murphy about his 25 years with Sloan, his new Trans-Canada Highwaymen project and why he lied to us about the word “underwhelmed”. This episode is exactly 1:30:42. You can
Earlier this month in Punta Cana, Tool played the inaugural Live In The Sand festival where they promised they'd deliver "two unique sets." If you asked me what the means, I'd assume it means no song would be performed twice over the two days. In actuality, four songs were played
I fell in love with rock via rockabilly band The Stray Cats. You can hear more about this moment in my personal musical journey when I kicked out the jams for my 50th. The cassette I owned was titled Built for Speed and it came out in 1982. It had
Title : Speed Demons Composer : Simon Holland CD Title : The Champions CD Number : FCD 105 Publisher: Focus Music Library
