August 30, 2010 @ 09:14
Radio
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Today With Jeff McArthur
Today With Craig And Matt
August 25, 2010 @ 08:58
Today With Bruce Barker
August 10, 2010 @ 08:54
Today With Craig And Matt
July 28, 2010 @ 08:51
Today With Craig And Matt
July 21, 2010 @ 08:56
Today With Jeff McArthur
July 19, 2010 @ 09:57
Today With Neil Morrison
July 16, 2010 @ 17:29
Today With Bruce Barker
July 13, 2010 @ 08:27
Today With Jeff McArthur
July 5, 2010 @ 09:47
Today With Craig And Matt
June 30, 2010 @ 08:56
Today With Bruce Barker
June 29, 2010 @ 08:51
Today With Craig And Matt
June 16, 2010 @ 08:50
Category: Radio
Today With Bruce Barker
June 15, 2010 @ 09:13
Today With Jeff McArthur
June 14, 2010 @ 09:56
Today With Jeff McArthur
June 7, 2010 @ 09:51
Today With Matt And Craig
June 2, 2010 @ 09:53
Today With Jeff McArthur
May 31, 2010 @ 08:50
Today With Neil Morrison
May 28, 2010 @ 17:35
Today With Craig And Matt
May 26, 2010 @ 13:11
Todd Won't Be My Friend
May 19, 2010 @ 22:58
Since the playoffs started I've received a lot of "friend" requests. It seems I'm not the only Hab hater in the world. But that's not what this is about. This is about Todd Shapiro, the Todd part of the Dean Blundell Show. Todd's a good fella, I've known him for more than ten years now. He came to the Edge as a Humble and Fred intern a couple of years before we made the brilliant decision to try talk radio on the AM band. Anyway, while I was in the facebook area where you accept friends, I got the notification that I might want to be the friends of several other people, and on the list was Todd. I was surprised because I thought Todd was already my friend. I just assumed that since I joined facebook two years ago that somewhere along the line Todd and I would have become friends. I was wrong, so naturally I clicked on the tab that said "send request." Well slap my ass and call me Henry, guess what happened? A message came bouncing back immediately that said "Sorry, this user already has too many friends." What the fuck does that mean? How can you have too many friends on facebook? I mean really, what does it matter whether your have 49 friends, or 49 hundred like Todd does? It's not like you have to invite everybody over to your goddman house for dinner. It goes without saying you can have too many real friends. Friends that actually have your phone number and are bugging you to do stuff all the time. And there are those people who you meet casually face to face and they show way more interest in being your friend than you do in being theres. But facebook friends? Give me a goddamn break. I have about 750 friends and I haven't made a commitment to any one of them. Sure there are family and friends who are my facebook friends, but I'd have to deal with them whether they were facebook friends or not. Todd's a good guy and everything, but does he really think that by allowing me to be his facebook friend he's going to have to service me in some way? Maybe I'm not aware of all the facebook rules. Maybe your not allowed to have more than 4975 friends, that's what Todd has. Maybe that's the limit. Maybe he'd like to be my friend but facebook won't allow it. Then again, maybe there is some kind of a limiter or monitor that Todd controls. For all I know maybe he's complied a list of people that he doesn't want to be his friends and for some reason I'm on the list. Maybe he's a Hab fan. I don't know. What I do know is that its pretty weird when you click on the "send request" button and it tells me that Todd Shapiro has too many friends. Todd, the nice young fella who wandered into the Humble and Fred studios so many years ago wanting to be a radio star. At the time we thought, fat fuckin' chance. But look at him now. One of the most popular guys in the city. And he doesn't have room to be Freddie P's friend. What gives ya pecker!
Today With Craig And Matt
May 19, 2010 @ 08:45
Today With Jeff McArthur
May 17, 2010 @ 09:58
Today With Jeff McArthur
May 10, 2010 @ 09:58
Hey Freddie. Just got this e-mail in response to our conversation about foreign call centres.... McArthur Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
May 5, 2010 @ 08:48
Today With Bruce Barker
May 4, 2010 @ 09:10
Today With Jeff McArthur
May 3, 2010 @ 08:26
Father And Son On The Wolf
April 29, 2010 @ 07:55
TJ became the morning man at the Wolf last summer and like his old man did with Q-107 back in the 1980's has made a quick and powerful impact on the market. Scruff is a travelling man these days, having just spent the winter in Arizona, now he's planning a train trip out to British Columbia. But every so often he rolls through Peterborough and Saturday night will be one of those occasions. It will be father and son night on the Wolf. TJ and Scruff. Eight till midnight. You can check it out by clicking here. Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
April 28, 2010 @ 08:51
Today With Bruce Barker
April 27, 2010 @ 09:49
Today With Bruce Barker
April 20, 2010 @ 11:48
Mourning Mojo
April 19, 2010 @ 13:12
Phil was Promotions Director at the Edge during the Humble and Fred days, while Wasylyk is still Promotions and Marketing manager for Q-107 and what is now am 640. It brings back bitter sweet memories for me. I hated to leave the Edge after 22 years, but the MOJO project seemed like so much fun and the timing was perfect, so Humble and I wanted to give it a shot. Unfortunately, the original five year MOJO project quickly became a two year project and one thing led to another and the next thing you know, Humble and Fred are at the MIX. But such is radio. I remember getting into a few heated battles with people back when MOJO was launched, especially those who never bothered to give it a chance. There was many a "dweeb" who thought the format was misogynist and dumb, but nothing could have been farther from the truth. All you had to do was look at the MOJO lineup. It included Ripken, John Derringer, Mike Stafford and Scruff Connors, four of the most intelligent and creative broadcasters in the country. As for the misogynistic tag, that was hilarious. I was always impressed with our women listeners because they "got it". They understood what we were doing and without fail they were smart. Often we'd say that on the air. "MOJO Radio, talk radio for guys.... and cool chicks." It was a bloody good radio station, and with some tweaking and time I'm convinced it could have served a viable audience in Toronto. It was more than all sports and it was more than talk radio for geezers. It was brief, but looking back, it might have been my two most enjoyable years in radio and ironically they came on the heels of definately my two worst years in radio.
Category: Radio
Today With Neil Morrison
April 16, 2010 @ 17:59
Today With Craig And Matt
April 14, 2010 @ 08:54
Today With Bruce Barker
March 30, 2010 @ 22:09
Humble And Fred's Podcast Of Resurrection - Call Us
March 29, 2010 @ 18:14
We're going to try something different this time. We'll have the phone lines open between noon and 1pm on Saturday. 416-870-1039. For old time sake, let's do a segment of "Ask Humble and Fred" We'll "twitter" when the lines are open. 416-870-1039. Category: Radio
E-mail - A Guy Named Ryan
March 29, 2010 @ 17:32
Hi Ryan Actually I'm not a straight ahead rock and roll guy. And no, I didn't get all squirmy during my days at CFNY when it was at its alternative best, on the contrary, my IPOD is full of old CFNY stuff that not only brings back great memories, its great music. The only problem I had with the music at CFNY was that it wasn't very accessible. Humble and I knew the tunes were great, the problem was, not enough people caught on, remember this is the city that has made CHFI and CHUM-FM number one since you were shitting yellow. It was frustrating to be working at the station delivering the city's best radio, but not getting the recognition through ratings. I'm just being honest. But to address another point, why is it so hard to believe that somebody could like Hall and Oates, but also like The Smiths, New Order and The Clash. For the most part, I liked it all. Having said that, there are bands that I didn't like so much. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Sex Pistols, but I don't care much for Led Zeppelin either. I was a huge UB 40 fan in the 80's, but pretty much ignored Bruce Springsteen. I think music is all about feel and emotion. It's subjective. There's really not such thing as bad music because whatever it is, there's somebody who likes it. I don't care for rap or hip-hop but I love reggae. I'm not big on classical but I enjoy Jazz. Right now I can't stand Nickleback but I really like Cage the Elephant and Metric. And yes, while at CFNY we were focused on our "talking" segments, but the music went a long way in positioning our show. Edgy and different, exactly what we wanted our show to be, and often we were fuelled by the great tunes. I hope that answers all your questions. Frederick Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
March 24, 2010 @ 12:01
Today With Craig And Matt
March 17, 2010 @ 08:53
Today With Jeff McArthur
March 15, 2010 @ 09:28
Today With Neil Morrison
March 12, 2010 @ 18:47
I Can See I Can See
March 11, 2010 @ 19:48
I was there to drop something off for a friend when I ran into Liz Janik. Liz and I go way back to the formative days of CFNY. The late 70's and early 80's when a special group of people made a meager living while having a whole lot of fun at a great little radio station. Liz left the station in the late 80's and went on to become a programmer, consultant and researcher which led to the formation of Janik Media. But that's not what this story is about. It's about Liz and her eyes. About seven years ago Liz developed a disease that slowly took her sight away to the point where two years ago she was declared legally blind. It was horrible. Still very young with a lot of life to live and a lot of knowledge to share she was literally grounded by the disease. I saw Liz a couple of times over the past few years and it was sad to see what had happened to her and whenever I'd hear her name mentioned or see her picture in trade magazines I'd get a lump in my throat and a twist in my stomach. But today that all changed. I walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder expecting I'd have to identify myself, but when she turned around she burst out with a greeting I didn't expect. "Freddie, it's great to see you." She was wearing glasses and she knew exactly who I was because she could see who it was and as she gave me a hug she told me the wonderful story. She had undergone several diagnosis' and tests and eventually doctors attempted a surgery that could have gone either way. Lucky for Liz it went the right way. She woke up after the operation and the first thing she saw was something she hadn't seen in a couple of years. "I saw the back of my hand and saw how old I had gotten" she said "And now I can see how old you've gotten Freddie, but you're not bad for an old guy." It really was a great moment. As I've said many times on this blog I will always have a special place in my heart for the old crew from CFNY. We were family. I've kept in touch with some, lost touch with too many and a couple of others have passed away. Liz Janik is doing just fine.
Today With Craig And Matt
March 10, 2010 @ 08:55
This billboard promoting the Craig and Matt morning show in Windsor has been removed because of a handful of complaints. Another disgusting case of a few dictating to the masses based on their own moral standards. Crazy thing is, its a huge backfire for the prudish pinheads. The backlash has created huge reaction in Windsor and only enhanced Craig and Matt's original plan. Get lots of attention during ratings. Racy billboards called disgusting.
Category: Radio
Today With Jeff McArthur
March 8, 2010 @ 09:56
Blogs We Like - Rick Hodge
March 2, 2010 @ 13:10
Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
February 24, 2010 @ 08:45
Today With Jeff McArthur
February 22, 2010 @ 18:09
In The Can
February 21, 2010 @ 14:18
Subject matter includes the Olympics, Tiger Woods and Bingo Bob's sperm. It should be availabe on this site within a couple of days. Category: Radio
Ted Bird
February 20, 2010 @ 10:46
Apparently Ted ran into a few creative-freedom issues at the radio station, so rather that suck it, he spat it out and walked away. He has mighty big nuts. But all that aside, Ted has done the right thing. During his sabbatical Ted has decided to do what I did after I was tossed out of 2 St. Clair back in '05. He's decided to blog. It's good therapy. Ted and I go way back to the early 80's when I was doing the sports beat for CFNY and he was doing the same thing for CFTR Bookmark this. You'll enjoy it.
Today With Craig And Matt
February 17, 2010 @ 08:56
Good Move For Good Guy
February 12, 2010 @ 17:49
I love it. While Carroll prepares to move his family to Los Angeles to begin a job that I'm sure pays big fat wads of cash, there's a pack of skunks and weasels (you know who you are) scrambling to think up reasons it's a bad thing. Beautiful. But all that hilarity aside, what a great day for Billy Boy. KFI 640 Los Angeles is about as big time as you can get in talk radio and they came after him. Not too shabby. Carroll will hold down the noon to 12 lost which means you'll be able to catch him between three and five Eastern Time. I was one of the few people who knew that Bill had been doing some Sunday shows on KFI a few months ago and I listened in. KFI's style is not to have their hosts take too many calls, if any, so it's a huge test for any talk show host. Bill pulled it off flawlessly, and that was obviously proved over the past couple of days when he presumably signed a deal that would make most people dizzy. Excellent. Good luck Bill. You deserve it. Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
February 10, 2010 @ 08:55
Today With Jeff McArthur
February 8, 2010 @ 09:57
Today With Craig And Matt
February 3, 2010 @ 08:50
Today With Jeff McArthur
February 1, 2010 @ 09:01
Today With Jeff McArthur
January 25, 2010 @ 09:50
Humble Birthday
January 24, 2010 @ 08:32
Today my friend and former radio partner Humble Howard turns 50 and it is milestones like this that make your head spin. How could Howie be 50 already? I first met Humble Howard in July of 1989, he was 29 and I had just turned 33. Danny Kingsbury was Program Director of CFNY at the time and it was he who thought we'd work well together. So one day Danny and I flew to Montreal and I met Howard and it marked the beginning of a 16 year association that ended professionally in 2005. Thanks Gary?? But this post isn't so much about Humble and Fred as it is about time. When you're 29 and 33, turning 50 seems like an eternity away, but its amazing how quickly it catches up to you. The years clip by and then one day you wake up and you're 50. And the scary thing is, 40 to 50 goes a lot faster than 30 to 40, so I imagine it will be far too soon before I'm writing about turning 60. I think of all the things that Howard and I went through in radio and it leaves my head spinning, him getting married, both of us buying new homes, watching our kids grow up and amazing highs and lows that very few will ever experience. If I'm left with anything, it's that we all tend to take so much for granted and its not until it's gone that you realize how much you had. It always makes me think one of the many profound lines that John Lennon wrote. "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" But there's an encouraging aspect to this. The older you get, the more you tend to focus on what really matters and that's good. The older you get the more you realize you're not invincible and your stay on this planet isn't indefinite. It's great for perspective and it's a point that Humble makes in a little piece he wrote about turning 50. Let's be doing it. "I have been thinking a lot about age lately, mainly because it's not everyday you turn half a century old and it seems like a big deal, at least to other people. For me it's just a number. When I hit 30 or 40 those numbers didn't vex me and I'm not too freaked out by this milestone... it beats the alternative of "not turning 50!" Humble. Happy Birthday Howard. See you in a couple of weeks for Humble and Fred's Olympic Podcast of Bronze.
Today With Craig And Matt
January 20, 2010 @ 08:38
Today With Craig And Matt
January 13, 2010 @ 08:50
Today With Bruce Barker
January 12, 2010 @ 08:55
Today With Craig And Matt
January 6, 2010 @ 09:58
Today With Bruce Barker
January 5, 2010 @ 08:48
Things Go Boom For Humble And Maie
December 24, 2009 @ 12:40
Howard fully appreciated EZ Rock and the opportunity it gave him, but it's no secret that he was somewhat misplaced on that station. The new Boom 97.3 will be more in-line with the type of radio he has done and likes to do. Although it will not be CFNY re-visited, Boom 97.3 will flirt with it a bit, while playing other hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's. 97.3 will move from a soccer mom station, to a cool mom station. It will still have an eye to a female audience, but will be much more palatable to men. It will not pretend it's an old time AM station on the FM band; instead it will feature timeless music and relevant talk.
Hiring Maie, arguably the top female talent in Toronto, to do mid-days on this station gives you an idea of where it's going. EZ Rock 97.3 will officially become Boom 97.3 on Boxing Day, and then Humble becomes the first jock to open a microphone on January 4th. He will do mornings with the sweet and wonderful Colleen Rushholme, and to answer the flood of e-mails I've received over the past several hours, no, I will not be part of it. I'll still be givin' er and lovin' it in Peterpatch. Good luck Howard, and Maie and Colleen and KJ and good guy Andy Wilson and everyone else involved. It sounds like a fun project, but more importantly, it's made several people very happy.
Category: Radio
180 Second Humble And Fred Re-union
December 21, 2009 @ 09:51
He wanted me to come on for a break just after 8:30 to talk about some old Humble and Fred memories, of which this season is rich. It was the first we've actually been on the air together since August of 2005. Thanks Howard!
Category: Radio
Today With Jeff McArthur
December 21, 2009 @ 09:50
Today With Neil Morrison
December 18, 2009 @ 17:44
Kind Of A Drag
December 18, 2009 @ 08:53
Instead, it will be "best of" Son of bitch! I was looking forward to it! Maybe next year! Category: Radio
Slimedogs From Hell
December 18, 2009 @ 08:52
The Slimedogs From Hell were the 'NY house band that played for a few of us who'd get up and perform at listener parties. Every year I'd do "Snow Removal" and "Santa Claus is comin' to town." The picture features l to r, Mike, Jo Jo and Grant from the band, and then Alan Cross, Captain Phil, me and Hal Harbour from the radio station... the dog is Alan's but I can't remember its name. ...a fun photo on one freezing day out by Alan's old house near Orangeville...
Category: Radio
Today With Bruce Barker
December 15, 2009 @ 16:06
Proud Times For Humble And Fred
December 13, 2009 @ 19:49
Turns out we're not really calling this one a Christmas podcast because it had very little to do with Christmas, it just happened to be close to Christmas. Thanks to Bingo Bob Willette for providing the facilities which will make the job for Dan Duran a lot easier this week. He didn't have to screw around with laptop computers and bunch of different microphones and a Mickey Mouse mixing board; we just sat right down and started barkin' like a real radio show. Humble and I covered several different topics and as usual, had a lot of laughs. Dan should have the finished product ready to go by the end of the week, and then all you peckers can decide if the laughs were warranted. It was nice to see young Andy Wilson on Saturday, he is Howard's current producer at EZ Rock. We also placed a call to Jason Barr (Danger Boy) and it was great to finally have him as part of one of our podcasts. Twas fun! Category: Radio
Mustard Cuts It
December 13, 2009 @ 11:58
Freeway Is Bloggin'
December 11, 2009 @ 17:30
"I thought it would only be fair to provide an update to the many great people who have followed my radio career over the years. It amazes me that I still get emails everyday from people who listened to my show on Energy and I still hear from folks who tuned me in on the Mix in Toronto and Z95 in Vancouver. Thanks so much for caring. Thanks for asking me when I'll return to the airwaves and thanks for always being there when I cracked that microphone as we shared a laugh or two. I'll be back soon and when it happens you'll be the first to know."........ more Category: Radio
Humble and Fred's Every So Often Annual Christmas Show
December 10, 2009 @ 08:39
The last Christmas podcast was back in 2006. It's amazing how time flies. This Saturday Humble and I will be getting together at a downtown location to record our latest podcast and it should be up on the web and available through i-tunes by late next week. More details to follow. Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
December 9, 2009 @ 08:56
Guest Jason
December 8, 2009 @ 09:06
Wow. It's crazy how things come around. During all my years at the Edge, whenever I was away on holidays Humble would have somebody guest Fred. Guest Freds included Paul Romanuk, Nick Kypreos, Lance Brown, John Gallagher and Tyler Stewart of the Barenaked Ladies. Humble would also give out free dinners to "Fred's Not Here" on King St. I should also mention that during the last couple of years of the Humble and Fred Show at The Edge, Jason, who was our producer, started reading the sports when I was away. Now on the 21st and 22nd of December, I'll be filling in for him. I'm pumped, for so many reasons. I'm honoured they asked, I look forward to working with Dean and Todd, and it will feel great, I'm sure therapeutic, to sit in my old chair at the Edge again. The last time I was part of morning show was August 8, 2005. It's been a long time, much too long and I look forward to contributing whatever I can to one of the most popular morning shows in the city. December 21st and 22nd. Let's be doing it. Category: Radio
Today With Bruce Barker
December 8, 2009 @ 09:04
Rick Hodge Checks In
December 3, 2009 @ 14:31
It has to be Howard! Believe me Fred it's not as Hodgie Category: Radio
Sleep In Time For Rick Hodge
November 28, 2009 @ 01:48
This is so similar to my situation its scary, so I know what he must be going through. I was lured to the same building back in 2003 and was gone within two years as well. I can only hope that Hodge got a similar parachute. If you did Rick, try to enjoy the next three years while you wrestle with your new reality. Here's a tip. I know you live near Barrie, so why don't you try to become a Program Director of one of the stations up there. Working with a good crew from the management side can be very rewarding and enjoyable at this point in your life. Try it, you'll like it...... but know you'll never shake the on-air bug. The city and the industry owe you a great deal of gratitude for more than three decades of exceptional entertainment. Category: Radio
The John Downs Show
November 20, 2009 @ 21:57
However, that doesn't mean I don't want to crawl through the radio sometimes and grab the guy by the throat. I guess in a way that's a compliment because a talk show host is supposed to push buttons and John often pushes mine. Filling in for Mike Stafford today, Downs spent 40 minutes after one o'clock discussing the Taliban torture issue and I desperately tried to get through on my cell phone. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Downs positioned the segment this way. He basically called out Conservatives, saying even if the government knew that detainees were being tortured, we wouldn't care. He also seemed to think that our military should be able to somehow determine who the good guys are and who the bad guys are before handing them over to Afghan authorities. But as I explained in the above posting, that isn't entirely the issue. The bleeding hearts don't think "anyone" should be handed over to the authorities if there's a threat of torture. Anyway, it was interesting to hear Downs defend his position and handle the majority callers who really didn't give a shit who was being tortured over in Afghanistan. As a staunch Liberal, Downs shrewdly belittled them and in the process took a few shots at the Prime Minister for not being aware, or not admitting he was aware that some detainees had been tortured. I tried; I tried very hard to get through because I desperately wanted to engage John Downs. But the line was busy. Johnny boy had struck a chord and had obviously made more than my blood boil. It was great radio! Category: Radio
Today With Neil Morrison
November 13, 2009 @ 17:32
Captain Phil Back In The Game
November 12, 2009 @ 17:08
"You try to get out - but they pull you right back in - I just took the gig as Promo Director at Jack FM and News 1130 in Vancouver. At least I won't have to live in a cardboard box." Phil (Phil in an obviously happy moment with Strombo) Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
November 11, 2009 @ 12:46
Today With Bruce Barker
November 10, 2009 @ 10:31
Reunion / Audition
November 8, 2009 @ 20:52
The mixture of emotions has one part happiness and one part jealousy. I'm happy because it will be good to hear Jesse and Gene back on the Toronto airwaves after an absence that I would guess is going on fifteen years now. They were significant players in Toronto radio through parts of the 80's and 90's and to hear them back together again, even for just three nights, will bring back a lot of good memories for someone like me, who was a direct competitor. From 1989 until 1996 it was Jesse and Gene or Humble and Fred if you were into "fun' Toronto radio. Howard and I enjoyed a little more stability that Jesse and Gene as they were hired and fired and worked for four different radio stations during that time including Q-107 twice. Humble and Fred remained at CFNY from 1989 until 2001. I might add that The Humble and Fred Show was a consistent ratings winner over Jesse and Gene during that time as well, but who's counting and who'd believe it. I feel good for these guys because I know they'll have a lot of fun this week but I'm also jealous of them for the same reason. Hell, just doing a few podcasts with Humble over the past couple of years was a hoot. I really don't know what the motive is for the reunion but I do know one thing, if it's an audition CFRB is on the right track. Of course talk radio should inform but it should also entertain and Jesse and Gene will probably do that over the next few days by pushing the envelope a few times. I feel jealous again. You can deal with the issues and still have fun. You can talk about just about anything with a certain degree of irreverence and still connect with an audience. You can shed the authoritative talk show serious guy image and still make your point. You can show a humorous side and still get serious at times. You can talk to your listeners like they would talk to each other and still gain respect. (I think I just described John Oakley and Mike Stafford) You can be Jesse and Gene and fit nicely at CFRB. Hats off to new CFRB Program Director Mike Bendixen for having the balls to put this thing together and to think outside the box. . I'm sincerely happy for Jesse and Gene and I hope they do well this week even if it does make me jealous. I'll be listening. Category: Radio
The Brother Barfs Big
November 6, 2009 @ 08:29
Look what it's done to his hair! Freddie - I have been away all week after contracting the H1N1 virus. Category: Friends | Radio | Stuff
Today With Craig And Matt
November 4, 2009 @ 14:16
Today With Bruce Barker
November 3, 2009 @ 11:08
Today With Craig And Matt
October 28, 2009 @ 15:08
Today With Neil Morrison
October 23, 2009 @ 18:56
Today With Bruce Barker
October 20, 2009 @ 08:54
Today With Jeff McArthur
October 19, 2009 @ 09:58
Today With Craig And Matt
October 14, 2009 @ 08:49
Number One With A Bullet
October 13, 2009 @ 18:20
When you know something, feel something and downright want something you tend to not let it go. That's the way I've been with Mike Stafford who's been delivering the goods in this city since he was an 18 year old kid reading the news on CFNY way back in the late 70's. Mike Stafford is the most talented talk show host in the city of Toronto, but it's taken way too long for recognition to play out. Finally it has. I won't get into all the tedious details because to most people it really doesn't matter, but recently the major radio markets in Canada adopted a new ratings system called PPM. PPM stands for "portable people meters" and they record the actual minute to minute radio listening habits of people in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. Excuse me if I've left anyone out, but it doesn't matter towards my point. My point is, PPM although open from criticism is a far better methodology the old diary system (BBM - Bureau of broadcast measurement) where listeners filled out ballots by memory, and more often than not, mom would end up filling them out for the whole family. Over the years, the old method was extremely frustrating for a lot of people in the business because we knew if was inaccurate and it was disheartening to see decisions made and people lose jobs over a system that basically sucked. Now to a large degree that has been corrected and it's great to see justice served in a couple of areas in particular. CFNY / The Edge has always had way more listeners than it was ever given credit for because its target demographic was young males. Young males don't / didn't fill out ballots. It was tough to take in the 90's when the Humble and Fred Show performed well in every goddamned survey under the sun, except the one that mattered, BBM. Well now, through PPM, the Edge has lurched forward and the boys in the morning are kicking some major league ass. Way to go fellas, justice prevails. Same with am 640. When Humble and I were part of the MOJO launch we knew there were a lot more people listening than we were given credit for. It was crazy, we were getting weak shares in males 25-54, but everywhere we went people claimed they were listening and it remained that way til last week. Although 640 was delivering a much better product than heritage stations CFRB and The Fan, when it came to results on the AM band, 640 lagged. That is until last Thursday when the first PPM results were announced and more justice prevailed. In the prime 25-54 demographic 640 is now ranking right up there with the other AM players in the market. In fact in some cases, it's trouncing them, especially that station that your grandparents listen / listened to. And this brings me all the way back to Mike Stafford. When Mike is on the air there is no equal on the AM band. He has the clear cut number one show, and why wouldn't he? Stafford is by far the best in the city. His balance of humour, intelligence and irreverence has been enjoyed, but obviously not fully recognized in Toronto for years, but now that has changed because there is justice in the numbers. Problem is, it took way too long and that's a bloody shame.
Comments We Like - Mike Stafford
October 7, 2009 @ 12:57
Today With Craig And Matt
October 7, 2009 @ 08:35
Freeway Frank Exposes Himself
October 2, 2009 @ 10:25
LEAFS SUCK -You outshoot us but we still beat you. LOL. Your team is bad. Watch out for Gionta, Gomez and Cammy and Price looked amazing." This from a man who grew up in Montreal and because of that automatically thinks he knows everything about the game. Obviously, he does not. He exposed himself as a hockey fraud. Yes, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in over-time last night, but they were widely outshot, outplayed and outhustled. Goaltending was the difference. How this turns into "your team is bad" is something only a delusional Hab Fan could explain. It's obviously the ramblings of a Hab fan who is scared for his team which obviously is too small and timid to compete in the NHL over an 82 game schedule. The ramblings of a Hab fan that's got to enjoy the few special moments this season will offer a team that barely made the playoffs last year, a team that is actually weaker this year than it was last. The ramblings of a man watched his team litterly ground into the ice last night by a team that he refers to as "bad." The ramblings of a man who chooses to ignore the Leafs were missing three regulars last night, while the Habs had their full complement of small frys who will slowly disappear as the season wears on. The ramblings of a man who knows Carey Price, the only reason the Habs won last night, will get worn out by Christmas and have trouble stopping a beach ball again. The ramblings of a man who will probably respond to this posting by accusing me of rambling myself. And he'd be right. NO PLAYOFFS FOR THE HABS THIS SEASON Category: Friends | Radio | Stuff
Today With Craig And Matt
September 30, 2009 @ 08:55
Today With Bruce Barker
September 29, 2009 @ 08:31
Bill Carroll
September 24, 2009 @ 17:02
Among them is another change for veteran Bill Carroll. He moves back to mid-mornings after a couple of years of being Ted Woloshyn's replacement in the breakfast show. I don't know why this move was made and I don't really give a damn because at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. The powers that be at CFRB decided this was the best way to go and that's the way it's going to be, so beginning a week from Monday, John Moore (who's never done mornings before) will become the new morning man. (Good luck with the alarm clock week after week after week Johnny boy. You have no idea.) I like Bill Carroll. Always have and always will. Bill's a professional and whether the switch at 'RB was made because of Bill's performance or Bill's preference doesn't take away from his ability as one of the elite broadcasters in Toronto. He's great at what he does and that's why I find it so aggravating to see what's been written on particular radio forum about Carroll over the past couple of months. It's a nasty little website that ranks slightly below a shit stain. At this point I'll stop down and address what you're thinking. If I don't like shit stains, why do I go there? Because I'm an idiot I guess. I'm playing right into the hands of these jerk offs who are legitimized by being recognized. Anyway, this place website really has no set of rules. If certain people are attacked, the comments are quickly removed. But if you're not part of the inner circle you're fair game for whatever anybody wants to say about you. Over the past year, Bill Carroll has been relentlessly attacked on "the board" and most of the stuff has been petty, vindictive, and personal, spurred on through jealousy. I guess it's one of those brotherhood things. Bill Carroll works for a competing company and at one time worked for a competing radio station. I was on MOJO Radio while he was at 'RB. But that doesn't matter because to me, he's still "one of the guys." And what does "one of the guys mean?" It means a guy who's paid his dues, put in his hours, experienced exceptional success and knows exactly how tough that journey is. But instead of showing Bill a little respect, he's been attacked personally. Admittedly, we radio guys take shots at most things under the sun and we should be prepared to take what we dish, but when it becomes personal the rules change. You move from commentator to weasel. Good luck Bill. Dive into the new job, kick some ass and enjoy your beautiful family along with everything else you've earned. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
Today With Craig And Matt
September 23, 2009 @ 14:51
Today With Bruce Barker
September 22, 2009 @ 17:27
Today With Neil Morrison
September 11, 2009 @ 18:01
Today With Craig And Matt
September 9, 2009 @ 13:19
Today With Bruce Barker
September 8, 2009 @ 11:41
Today With Jeff McArthur
August 31, 2009 @ 12:14
Today With Craig And Matt
August 26, 2009 @ 19:38
Today With Bruce Barker
August 25, 2009 @ 13:02
Today With Jeff McArthur
August 24, 2009 @ 10:57
Today With Craig And Matt
August 19, 2009 @ 08:42
This Morning On The Dean Blundell Show
August 10, 2009 @ 17:39
Category: Radio
Shitty Week
August 7, 2009 @ 20:55
First it was my long time pal Captain Phil Evans who was let go by the Astral cluster in Vancouver. He was promotions manager. Then yesterday, Freeway frank was given the boot by Energy Radio in Calgary. Both are fine radio guys but even better human beings. I love em' both.
I met Freeway in 2003 when I made the brilliant move of joining that micro-managed mixed up mess known as the MIX. Frank did evenings for several years before taking the morning show job in Calgary. Franks only flaw is that he's a Hab fan. Phil doesn't care for hockey. I'm sure both he and Captian Phil will land on their feet.
Monday On The Dean Blundell Show
August 7, 2009 @ 12:58
We'll talk about CFNY/Edge mornings from 1979 until today. At 9am Geets and I will sit and shoot the shit with Dean, Jason and Todd. It's pretty cool when you think about it. I started at CFNY in 1979 with a morning guy named Al Spring. Shortly after that Pete and Geets joined the station and I worked with them until 1987. After that I worked with Steve Anthony, Randy Taylor and Skot Turner before Humble Howard joined the team in 1989. Humble and Fred stayed until 2001 when Blundell took over. It should be a lot of fun. Three eras of CFNY mornings will be discussed and compared. A lot has changed in 30 years. Category: Radio
Today With Bruce Barker
August 4, 2009 @ 08:53
I'm Dan Duran
August 1, 2009 @ 10:54
Dan was almost the first producer of the Humble and Fred Show. He came to Toronto a couple of months after Howard and he sat in front of the buttons for a good five years before his freelance career allowed him to stay in bed past four in the morning. Dan Duran's voice has been used across Canada and around the world and now it will be added to one of the top three radio stations in the country. Duran will be heard Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings from seven till midnight, then again from noon till six on the weekend. Congratulations ya pecker!
Today With Craig And Matt
July 29, 2009 @ 13:31
Today With Bruce Barker
July 21, 2009 @ 08:51
Today With Jeff McArthur
July 20, 2009 @ 11:35
Today With Craig And Matt
July 15, 2009 @ 08:50
Today With Bruce Barker
July 14, 2009 @ 08:49
Today With Bruce Barker
July 7, 2009 @ 09:51
Today With Bruce Barker
June 30, 2009 @ 14:24
Today With Craig And Matt
June 24, 2009 @ 08:48
Today With Bruce Barker
June 23, 2009 @ 08:33
Today With Jeff McArthur
June 22, 2009 @ 09:04
Podcast Of Memories Video
June 20, 2009 @ 12:05
The video was filmed by two gentlemen who deserve a great deal of credit. Ric from ACME Pictures took video and put together this video with Dan Duran's audio and @geoperdis took additional video that helped flesh out this piece. Thanks to all, and be sure to talk to ACME about all your corporate video and television production needs.
Today With Neil Morrison
June 19, 2009 @ 18:55
Today With Craig And Matt
June 17, 2009 @ 13:42
Today With Bruce Barker
June 16, 2009 @ 08:45
Kiss Me Where It Counts
June 7, 2009 @ 20:12
Are there any other ways to spell Kiss? According a press release, there was a hole in the Toronto market for a hit radio station. I guess Chum-FM, Z-103 and Virgin radio are all playing non-hits. Regardless, the best part of the Rogers flip to Kiss-FM is that the rumour will finally die that Humble and Fred are going to Jack, although I must say, those rumours which started in 2002, were always quite amusing. There was never so much as a sniff. Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
June 3, 2009 @ 12:20
Category: Radio
Today With Bruce Barker
May 26, 2009 @ 08:54
Today With Craig And Matt
May 20, 2009 @ 08:49
Quote Of The Day - Jim Balsillie
May 15, 2009 @ 08:54
"We're the source of the game, the players, and the money, and I think we should have a seventh team. I spent five years looking for a front door. We couldn't find a front door. I found a side door."
Bill Hutton
May 14, 2009 @ 08:47
Like many NYer's of the 80's I have several stories that involve Bill Hutton, but more than anything else, he taught me how to say more in less time without talking faster. It was all in the writing. I could go on, but rather than do that, I thought it more fitting to post something that David Marsden wrote about Mr. Hutton. "Bill Hutton was an amazing guy!!! When Selkirk took over CFNY they sent Bill Hutton in to find out what The Spirit of Radio was all about. He took me to lunch and let me explain it all to him. He listened intently and ask extremely good questions. I didn't know it at the time but bill had a nick-name of - The Fireman. But for all of us at CFNY that name meant nothing. After a few more meetings together Bill Hutton let us all run with what we loved. And he made sure Selkirk kept the cheque book open to help me make my dreams come true. When Selkirk owned CFNY - Bill Hutton truly was the guy behind the scenes who allowed it all to happen. Many of the ideas I would put forth probably would have scared the Hell out of most traditional radio Vice Presidents. Bill Hutton would smile that special smile of his, ask me a few questions and say - let's do it. Bill Hutton we shall never forget you. And may I say it one more time - THANK YOU!!!!" David Marsden Category: Radio
Today With Bruce Barker
May 12, 2009 @ 08:49
Today With Jeff McArthur
May 4, 2009 @ 09:50
Thanks Everybody
May 3, 2009 @ 10:25
Both had hockey commitments. Danger Boy pretty well runs Brampton Minor Hockey, while Marek has got himself a nice little gig on Hockey Night in Canada in case you didn't notice. Dan Duran was there, so was Chicken Shwarma, Bingo Bob, Scary Pete, Andy Wilson and even lil' Spanky showed up. Lil' Spanky's one of the guys who pulled his pud in the studio washroom during one of our Really Tough Contests. Thanks to Nick Kypreos for taking time out of his busy schedule to pay a visit and we received a surprise appearance from Tyler Stewart of the Barenaked Ladies. It was great to see Edge production chief Rob Johnston as well. Lou Schiziz from am 640 was there and so was one of Howard's current side-kicks Colleen Rusholme. And two people from the Wolf in Peterborough came all the way down to lend their support. Production whiz Ryan Lalonde and the super sweet Catherine Hanrahan. The incomparable Psychic Niki came by and predicted that the Humble and Fred franchise is not dead. It will be revived, although considering current commitments I guess she means through Viagra commercials when we're 60. We had listeners show up like Buffalo Mike and faithful twins Pam and Trish. Blog regular Horonymous was there and so was blog king and master mind Toronto Mike who will make sure yesterday's production will be available to the masses over the next few days. Humble and me both had our families there, including my mom Junie P. who wouldn't have missed it for the world. Neighbour John was there too, and he's just like family. How did Charlie grow up so fast? Everything I've mentioned was fabulous, but not quite as fabulous as sitting at a table with a microphone in front of me and Howard to my side. What made it so great is that it didn't feel any different. We just picked up where we left off and started pissin' our pants. Thanks Howie. It was fun...... and thanks Dan, we know it wasn't easy pushin, twistin' and workin' all those buttons and knobs.
Category: Friends | Radio | Stuff
Mike Stafford
April 30, 2009 @ 21:18
"For some reason April 30th always brings a smile to my face. Category: Friends | Radio | Stuff
Today With Craig And Matt
April 29, 2009 @ 08:49
Today With Bruce Barker
April 28, 2009 @ 08:43
Today With Bruce Barker
April 21, 2009 @ 08:55
Today With Craig And Matt
April 15, 2009 @ 08:39
Today With Jeff McArthur
April 13, 2009 @ 11:43
Bring Kiss To Peterborough
April 10, 2009 @ 13:03
Until now. Could you please support an initiative to bring a Kiss concert to Peterborough? Kiss is holding an on-line contest that will determine 40 dates on their upcoming tour and the way its set up, absolutely any town, village or hamlet in North America could host a concert. It's being done on a per-capita basis. In other words, one vote out of Peterborough could be worth a thousand out of Toronto. There is a twist to this. We don't play a lot of Kiss on the Wolf, in fact its restricted to our request shows, but in this case we're steppin' out to help bring what would be a huge event to Peterborough. It would be mega-huge in Peterborough and the Wolf would like to help make it happen. Do us a favour would ya, go to this site and vote for Peterborough. Toronto gets enough stuff. In the past day, thanks to our listeners, we've moved from way back in the pack of about six thousand to crack the top 100. Here's a promo we're running on the radio station right now.
Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
April 8, 2009 @ 08:55
Geets Gets The Boot
April 1, 2009 @ 17:37
He was chief engineer for the entire radio division. For those of you who don't know the name David Haydu, you might know the name Geets Romo. He was the Geets part of the Pete and Geets Show which graced the Toronto radio airwaves from the mid-70s to 1987 when it all came to an abrupt end at CFNY-FM. They started at CHUM-FM in the late 60s and in the mid 70s they became Canada's very first comedic FM morning team. In 1980 they moved to The Spirit Of Radio. Pete and Geets mean a lot to me because it was on this show that I got my first taste of morning radio. Just 18 months out of college, through a wonderful series of events, I became Sports Director at CFNY and shortly after that I became part of the Pete and Geets Show. I did sports and the marvelous Mike Stafford, just 19 years old at the time, did news. Working under the direction of David Marsden there were no rules, no parameters and no limits, just the constant encouragement to be creative and have fun on the radio, and believe me, we had a lot of fun. Following is a piece from something I've been working on for a couple of years now: A RADIO STORY by Fred Patterson. "Let me tell you, the years between 1980 and 1987 were fabulous and Pete and Geets deserve a lot of credit for trail-blazing, their style of morning show was way ahead of its time. They were Howard Stern without all the tits and ass. Pete and Geets rarely went there. They did clever bits that always had a beginning, middle and end. They pushed the envelope in an intellectual way. They didn't have to bring a woman into the control room and have her masturbate to get a reaction. They'd just say or do something funny. And to continue the Stern comparison, Pete and Geets did irreverent contests, games and parodies while Stern was still in college. In fact I'll take it this far, early Howard Stern was nothing more than a weak Pete and Geets imitation with a naked chick thrown in. I take nothing away from Howard Stern. He is a legend, and will go down in history as probably the greatest ever, but give credit where credit is due. There were hundreds of Howard Sterns out there, but every time somebody tried to exercise the shock-jock angle, they were snuffed, so was Stern the first few times. The rest is history. I just happen to be under the impression that if not Stern, it would have been somebody else, maybe somebody more talented and funnier, it just happened to be Stern, and he was the first, so he gets all the credit. Pete and Geets will never get that kind of credit in Canada. They should. Every year during something called "Canadian Music Week", the radio industry falls all over itself handing out cheesy awards and recognizing industry achievement and contributions to the business. Pete and Geets were loved. They created an atmosphere of fun and warmth and it worked extremely well for CFNY, a station that was more down to earth and personal than anything else on the dial." After Pete and Geets broke up as a radio team in 1987 Geets stayed on as chief engineer at CFNY until 2001. Pete lives in Ottawa where he does a lot of gardening and fixin' shit. Here's an interview I did with Pete last year, I'll try and catch up with Geets in the next little while and do one with him.
Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
April 1, 2009 @ 16:17
Comments We Like - Ted Woloshyn
March 31, 2009 @ 08:59
Today With Craig And Matt
March 25, 2009 @ 08:47
E-mail - Valerie Geller
March 19, 2009 @ 12:06
Hi Freddie! Valerie Geller sent me the link to your blog...thank you for your kind words! You made me blush. LOL It was great to see you at CMW. I am glad you are back in radio again full time. Hi to the rest of the gang too! Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
March 18, 2009 @ 12:48
Freeway Frank And George W. Bush
March 17, 2009 @ 17:27
Category: Radio
Today With Bruce Barker
March 17, 2009 @ 08:39
The Day That Was A Week
March 14, 2009 @ 12:41
For those of you who don't know what Canadian Music Week is, go here and then come back and read this, or go there after you're done with this. Figure it out! Anyway, I sat in on three panels yesterday. The first one dealt with PPM's or portable people meters, a new and long overdue form of audience measurement. Instead of using the archaic and flawed system of BBM ballots hundreds of people in the major markets across Canada will be equipped with PPM's that will record and tabulate data from every radio station they come in contact with during a day. No longer will ratings be based on re-call, which was a hopelessly flawed system; it will now be based on real time exposure to radio signals. Before, if you came into contact with a radio station you didn't like, say the station at work, you probably wouldn't give it credit during your recall on a physical BBM ballot. Under the new system, that station will get credit so it's expected to provide some big surprises when the first results are revealed this fall. Montreal was the first test centre for PPM's, it started last September, and there have been some shocking results. Stations that have depended on heritage and long time personalities and allowed their product to slide because of it, have received a rude awakening. Another panel I went to dealt with music scheduling and automation. I won't bore you with the details although I must say, there is some wild new shit out there and I felt obligated as a Program Director to learn about it. The last panel of the day was host by a woman named Valerie Geller. She's a consultant out of New York City who wrote a book called "Creating Powerful Radio.' She's a fascinating woman who offers some simple yet productive answers on how to get, keep and grow an audience. Here book is a must for any announcer who wants to work at his or her show. Yes, the panels were great and I walked out of the Royal York Hotel a little more knowledgeable, but the best part of the day was catching up with some old radio colleagues. People like Maie Pauts who was there with her beautiful daughter Lauren. Jim McCourtie who worked at production at the Edge before moving on to Program FM 96 in London. Dave Farrough who was my Program Director at the Edge for a brief time before moving on to General Manager for the Corus cluster in London. Good guy JJ Johnston who was my GM at the Edge when I took that fateful step and put my life into the hands of Gary Slaight. And speaking of Gary Slaight, I saw him across the room yesterday. Have you ever seen a middle aged billionaire in black high top sneakers? The cheap kind? I also saw Bob Harris who engineered the Humble and Fred move to the Mix before going to Montreal to manage the Standard /Astral stations there. I saw Blair Bartrum who was my PD at the Mix before his brilliant move to Q-107. I saw former CFNY colleague Scot Turner who's now the PD of the Corus cluster in Kitchener, and Wayne Webster who is music director of the old Mix, or the new Virgin or whatever the hell they're calling it. I saw sweet Michelle Williams who's the Promotions Manager at the Astral stations in St. Catherines - A young woman who deserves a ring from former Humble and Fred co-producer Andy Wilson. I also saw and sat with Bonnie Hislop who's the Assistant PD at Newstalk 610 in St. Kitts. I saw the sensational Brian Rodney, Music Director at Q-107 and a guy who's been extremely helpful to me in Peterborough. I met Brad Gibb who's the Program Director at the Corus cluster in Kingston and I had turkey panini's with my best buddy Darren Wasylyk who's Promotions and Marketing Director at Q-107. I also saw somebody who I consider a long a dear friend, and somebody who my heart aches for. Liz Janik was at CFNY when I started there way back in 1979 and we went through a lot together, including a few ownership changes and ownership changes. Liz now runs her own company called Janik Media, despite being legally blind. She contracted a degenerative eye disease a few years ago and it has slowly taken its toll. But she has a positive attitude and has stayed in the trenches while leaving her mark on the industry. She's a darlin'. Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
March 12, 2009 @ 08:37
Today With Jeff McArthur
March 9, 2009 @ 08:52
Today With Neil Morrison
March 6, 2009 @ 19:44
Today With Craig And Matt
March 4, 2009 @ 08:45
Today With Jeff McArthur
March 2, 2009 @ 08:44
Today With Neil Morrison
February 20, 2009 @ 19:08
Today With Jeff McArthur
January 26, 2009 @ 17:05
Today With Neil Morrison
January 23, 2009 @ 18:27
Today With Neil Morrison
January 16, 2009 @ 18:45
Today With Craig And Matt
January 14, 2009 @ 08:51
Today With Bruce Barker
January 13, 2009 @ 08:51
World Wide Radio
January 6, 2009 @ 08:49
Every year they become mildly annoyed when Christmas approaches and I don't give them any ideas about what I want for Christmas. I usually come up with the usual dad thing and say "nothing, save your money for something important." This year was a little bit different, while driving back and forth between Brampton and Peterborough I kept hearing a Bay-Bloor Radio commercial on the Edge talking about "internet radios'. I found this intriguing and I wanted one and I let it be known. I spend a lot of time checking our radio stations on line from all over the world. I think it's so cool to be able to call up any station anywhere, and within seconds be listening to it. The problem is, or was, that do this you have to be by a PC or have your laptop open. Even the mobility of a laptop made listening to internet stations a bit of a chore because you have to find the station, then click on the listen live feature and then stream the player. With an internet radio, there's none of that. It sits on your night table and remains ready for action either manually or with a remote. For it to work, you have to have wireless capability in your house, but that's the extent of it. You simply configure the radio like you would your laptop. You lock onto your network, punch in your WEP and the radio is ready to go, and when I say ready to go, I mean ready to go. You can choose a country by scrolling through literally every country on earth, and then you can choose a genre. Thousands of radio stations are at your disposal without having to use a computer. Somehow this wonderful little box by-passes everything and takes your directly to any radio stations streaming system. It buffers like it does on a computer but in makes cases it takes mere seconds and offers eight pre-sets which allows you to move quickly and freely between your favourite stations. I love the bloody thing. Since Christmas I've listened to live talk radio out of Jerusalem, following the on-going conflict over there. Saturday night I found a sports radio station out of San Diego that was celebrating the Chargers victory over Indianapolis. I enjoy listening to talk radio out of New York on WABC, the Fox Radio Network and hundreds of other stations spread across this earth. It's also handy for my work situation. While in Brampton I can listen to The Wolf and The Kruz, and while in Peterborough I can listen to Toronto radio stations. Every stinkin' one of them. When I opened this wonderful package on Christmas morning I was "tickled pink" to begin with, but since then my love for this contraption has increased tenfold, and sometimes I just look at it and stroke it without even turning it on. And sometimes I wonder where the saying "tickled pink" came from. Anyway, if you're a radio junkie like I am, and you love to surf the radio net, this is the thing for you, and from what I understand, Bay-Bloor Radio is about the only place you can get them right now. Mine is a Sanyo. Thanks Mel, thanks Dan - you made Christmas the most joyous occasion. Who uses the word "joyous" anymore?
Category: Family | Radio | Stuff
Today With Bruce Barker
December 30, 2008 @ 08:50
Category: Radio
A Marsden Christmas
December 24, 2008 @ 17:57
But what the hell, it's Christmas and I feel like giving. Giving you the heads up. David will perform his annual Christmas Show on the 94.9 The Rock at 7pm Marsden started doing these Christmas shows on CFNY back in the late 70's, and if you've never caught one, do yourself a favour and catch one tonight. A great mix of Christmas music, regular music and classic Marsbar. Category: Radio
Today With Bruce Barker
December 23, 2008 @ 08:55
Category: Radio
Today With Neil Morrison
December 19, 2008 @ 17:09
Peterborough Gives
December 19, 2008 @ 12:16
The people at the station are great, but so are the citizens of Peterborough, and their willingness to give was played out in two ways this week. This morning The Wolf and 980 Kruz hosted the annual Three Loonies simulcast, a fund raiser for Kawartha Food Share, held out on the street, out in the cold. The Three Loonies are three local businessmen who "shake down" the city every December to raise money for the food bank. This year they raised 75 thousand dollars with a lot of that coming this morning during the radio broadcast hosted by two fine morning men, Jay Sharp and Mike Melnik. But that's not all. You may have heard in the news earlier this week about a fire in Peterborough last weekend. Several families lost their town homes and one of those families lost a child. It was horrible. But once again, Peterborough came to the rescue. Last night at the Peteborough Petes game, in conjunction with the Wolf and 980 Kruz, close to 14 thousand dollars was raised in support of the Herbert St. fire victims. And then to cap it off the two Canadian Tire locations kicked in another three thousand dollars. Not too shabby. In these tough economic times the city of Peterborough managed to give 90 thousand dollars to the needy in the past 24 hours. Way to go Peter Patch.
Category: Radio
The Good Old Days
December 19, 2008 @ 12:15
I call it Humble's Show for two reasons. First of all it takes too long to list all the people he works with now , and secondly, I know what happened on EZ Rock this morning was probably Howard's brain child. A Christmas show was always very important to Humble, something we initiated way back in the early 90's in the CFNY studios in Brampton. Howard had the idea to invite our families and close friends into the studio one morning and it grew from there. Eventually we were doing the show from our satellite studio at Bathurst and Bloor, and from there it went to the Horseshoe Tavern. We changed locations because every year it grew. The Barenaked Ladies were the first band to hop on board and to their credit, even though they became a huge North American act, they never forgot the Humble and Fred Show and always made an appearance. They even made an appearance at the two Humble and Fred Christmas Shows while we were at the Mix, but we'll forget about those shows because like everything else that happened at the Mix, they were a mere shadow of what Humble and Fred were all about. Somebody paid us not to be us. Go figure. Instead of an earthy bar and passionate fans crammed into the venue in a fun way, at the Mix we ended up at a pretentious nightclub with a more than lovely breakfast buffet of healthy stuff and an indifferent crowd that made it quite apparent they were there more for the free stuff than the "spirit" of it all. One guy fell asleep. In the eyes of our faithful we had compromised. But I digress. Listening to Humble's Show this morning I had to smile. It was warm and fuzzy in the usual Christmas way, Howard did a great job and it was fabulous for EZ Rock, but the texture was sure a lot different than the Edge days. The last CFNY/Edge Christmas Show we did at the Horseshoe, which was in 2000 I do believe and it featured a packed room of passionate fans of all ages, pounds and pounds of wings and ribs, The Barenaked Ladies, the Headstones and if I'm not mistaken, Sloan, along with our good buddies the Doo-Wops. These shows were down to earth, planned, but with a spontaneous feeling and warmth that would be hard to duplicate now a days because things are different. Don't ask me how or why they're different. They just are. I'm sure Humble didn't have a problem with a guest refusing to go on stage this morning unless he got a beer and a joint. That happened at the Horseshoe. You know what they say, you can't "go" back. But you can sure "look" back. Pic 1 - Humble and Fred listening to the Ladies. (92)
Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
December 10, 2008 @ 08:50
Our First Consultant
December 9, 2008 @ 21:20
I didn't really get to know Steve Young during our brief relationship because it was somewhat strained, so I can't honestly sit here and write glowingly of the man. It wouldn't be genuine. I can tell you that Steve Young seemed like a decent enough guy, but our meeting would never have happened if it wasn't for Howard Stern. It was the spring of 1998. The spring BBM has just been released on the Howard Stern Show on Q-107 had stolen literally one third of the Humble and Fred audience on 102.1 the Edge. Stern had come into the market the previous fall amidst an avalanche of media coverage. Toronto newspapers and TV chose to ignore radio at the time, still does, but when Stern came into the market it was a whole new ball game. There were feature articles on the guy in the Sun, The Star and the Globe. The television entertainment reporters couldn't contain themselves and the anticipation of Stern's debut on Q was something any radio station would die for. And it was all free. No wonder they called him the King of all Media. Meanwhile Humble and I had to weather the storm on the Edge. Given Stern's format and our format, you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out where most of the sampling audience would come from. The Humble and Fred Show was an irreverent show that pushed the envelope so the invasion of Stern and his reputation was something that any Humble and Fred listener would at least want to try. In fact that became a sore point for us. Stern blasted onto the market doing things on his show that we were led to believe were against the rules in Canada. Eventually that would prove to be true, but in the meantime the Humble and Fred Show had to battle a freakin' giant. It really wasn't that much of a surprise when the spring book came out and Stern had kicked us in the nuts. Humble and I sort of expected it because a lot of people we talked to, Edge listeners, told us they were checking it out. Despite the ratings results, Howard and I were told to relax. We'd weather the storm they said, there was no need to panic they said. That was fine with us, but something crazy happened along the way, they hired a consultant and his name was Steve Young. He was brought in from a company called Joint Communications to work with the Humble and Fred Show and get it back to where it was. We sat in offices and we sat in board rooms. We talked about bits and we endured focus groups, all in the name of getting our audience back. Young gave us ideas we used and he gave us several we didn't. He was nice to us on occasion and at other times he was a bully. He was a consultant. Eventually Steve Young drifted out of our lives and our audience drifted back and everything was normal again. I can't honestly say that Steve helped us because of the circumstances that surrounded his hiring. What we did before Stern was pretty successful so part of us was worried that changing it might screw things up when the audience came back. Young insisted we do some rather elementary things that weren't part of what got us to where we were. Number one 18-34. But we survived and we learned a few things along the way. That can never hurt. RIP Steve. Category: Radio
Today With Bruce Barker
December 2, 2008 @ 18:11
Category: Radio
Today With Craig And Matt
November 26, 2008 @ 08:48
Today With Craig And Matt
November 19, 2008 @ 08:53
The Wolf's New Website
November 18, 2008 @ 13:44
Although the Wolf was one of the first radio station's in Canada to have a website back in the mid-90's, it hadn't been updated in some time. That has changed. Check it out! Category: Radio
Today With Bruce Barker
November 18, 2008 @ 08:30
Category: Radio
Today With Jeff MCarthur
November 17, 2008 @ 12:00
Today With Neil Morrison
November 14, 2008 @ 21:52
Today With Craig And Matt
November 12, 2008 @ 08:40
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Topless in Guelph and father of the bride.
Being violated, Chilean miners and boobies.
Refugee boat.
McCartney, the Ti-cats and corn on the barbeque.
I was clicking around facebook last night and I went into that area where you accept friends.
It should be a fun time on Peterborough's Best Rock, 101.5 The Wolf on Saturday night. Legendary morning man Scruff Connors will co-host the all-request show with his son TJ.
I got an e-mails today from two of my good old buddies in the radio business. Both Phil Evans and Darren Wasylyk reminded me that today marks the ninth anniversary of the launch of MOJO Radio.
Yes, all the boys will gather at the fine studios of Proud-fm again this Saturday to record the latest installment, and then Dan Duran will almost immediately upload the show to the masses. Promise.
Hey Freddie, 
I attended a full day at Canadian Music Week today and I was inspired. Not so much by the panels I attended. I was more inspired by a meeting that took place in the Business Centre of the Royal York Hotel.
Toronto radio legend Rick Hodge has joined the "unemployed radio guys blogging world."
Ted Bird is a Montreal broadcaster who recently left CHOM-FM on his own accord. After 32 years in the business, including 25 years of getting up in the middle of the night to co-host a morning show, Ted decided to pack it in.
I don't know what makes me happier. That good guy Bill Carroll has been hired by North America's biggest talk radio station, or that it makes a few "yellow" boys look even more ridiculous.
Vancouver's abuzz.
Wow. Where does the time go?
I spoke with a very excited Humble Howard yesterday. His will be the first voice heard on the new Boom 97.3, and he's pumped.
It's interesting that a few weeks ago Maie Pauts was named as the new mid-day host, and I thought it odd that she wouldn't be starting until the New Year. Now it makes sense.
My phone rang just before seven o'clock this morning and it was Humble Howard calling me live and direct from the EZ Rock studios in downtown Toronto.
Due to a last minute scheduling change, the entire Dean Blundell Show will be on holiday next week, which means I won't be filling in for Jason on Monday and Tuesday.
My buddy Grant Ivens sent me this photo. It's a promo shot from a CFNY Christmas party from way back in the late 80's.
It was a real pant pisser. We gathered at the studios of Proud-fm on Wellesley Street on Saturday for the fifth Humble and Fred Podcast.
American syndicated morning men Opie and Anthony had a great "bit" on their show recently.
Freeway Frank, despite being your classic A-1 aggravating Hab fan is a good shit. He got fired from his morning gig in Calgary a couple of months ago, but in the meantime, like so many others, he's created a blog. Check it out ya peckers!
Fred: Don't you see the 
Let me preface this by saying I'm a big fan of am 640's John Downs. I'm not a fan of his politics, but I think he's a bright young talent who's going places.
Hey Freddie
It was with mixed emotions that I received word that Jesse and Gene will reunite on CFRB this week. They'll fill in for Ryan Doyle during the 7-10 pm shift on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Neil Morrison aka Brother Bill from his CFNY / Edge days sent me this e-mail yesterday. Neil does afternoon drive at CFOX in Vancouver and H1N1 has kicked him in the nuts.
I've been pounding the same message on this website for years and I'm sure some of you have grown tired of it. But I don't really give a shit.
If you read this blog with any regularity, you're probably a radio fan and have become aware that there have been some changes made at CFRB in Toronto.
Me and Geets Romo paid a visit to the Edge to talk about 30 years of CFNY/Edge mornings.
It was a rough week for a couple of my buddies. They got fired.
Phil and I go back to the 1980's when he joined CFNY as assistant Promotions Director under Darren Wasylyk. When Darren left in 1991, Phil got the big job and stayed there until 2002 before moving within the company to Vancouver.
CHFI just became better radio station. They've added my good friend Dan Duran to their roster as swing announcer starting mid-August.
Congratulations to those at Rogers Radio for the launch of their new radio station Kiss-FM which used to be Jack which used to be Ciss.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
It was with a heavy heart I received the news yesterday that former CFNY General Manager 
Thanks to all of you who showed up yesterday for Humble and Fred's 20th Podcast of Memories. Pretty well everyone we wanted to be there was there, short of Jason Barr and Jeff Marek.
Toronto's best talk show host wrote this on his
Hey ya buggers, I like to think I give all you regular readers a small measure of entertainment with my musing on this site each day and let's be completely honest, I don't ask for much in return.
It's with heavy heart that I received the news today that David Haydu has become one of the latest victims of cutbacks at CTV Globemedia.
Dear Freddie,
Whacky radio bit with number one Hab fan Freeway Frank on his morning show in Calgary. Meg is his sidekick.
I spent the day at Canadian Music Week yesterday, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was the most joyous of Christmas's thanks to my kids.
Maybe I shouldn't do this because I work for Corus Entertainment, while David Marsden works for a competing broadcast company.
Since I became Program Director of the radio empire that is Corus Peterborough I have to say one of the more impressive aspects of the job has been the people.
It was brought to my attention today that Steve Young died. For those of you who don't know who Steve Young is, he was a veteran radio Program Director and consultant.
One of the projects we've been working on since I joined the Wolf back in September, was a new and improved website.