No Sleep Til Sudbury With Brent Jensen

Sandy Horne and Gord Deppe of The Spoons join me this week for Episode II of the No Sleep 'til Sudbury multi-show series live on location from the Steam Whistle Roundhouse facility in downtown Toronto. Sandy and Gord have both been on the show solo previously, so we thought it would be cool to have them come in together and play, and fool around with the idea of skin vibrating songs. They attempt to guess each others' selections, which results in a lot of laughs and also sheds light on some interesting Spoons trivia. And, they perform a great song from their new record called "Landing Lights". Really fun episode.  Deppe's playlist: Liam Gallagher - It Doesn't Have To Be That Way Post Malone - Circles The Weeknd - Feel It Coming Horne's playlist: Original Theme From Star Trek Styx - Light Up Beethoven - Moonlight Movement Number 14              

Welcome to the special NSTS five-episode series created in partnership with the Steam Whistle Brewery, recorded live on location at their Roundhouse facility in downtown Toronto. This is a cool project I've been working on for a while, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.  Steam Whistle is a brand I've always liked, but it wasn't until I learned more about their deep affinity for music and the arts that I became a real fan. As such, the collaboration between Steam Whistle and No Sleep 'til Sudbury was a natural fit, and I was happy to put together a series of episodes with them that showcases some of my favourite talents and favourite people - Stephen Stanley, The Spoons, Sandra Bouza, and Suzi Kory. As an introduction to this series, I wanted to speak with Steam Whistle VP and music fan Tim McLaughlin, who shares some history and some of the great things they've done for indie artists, as well as how Steam Whistle came to be known as The Cathedral of Beer. And trust me, if you're into music and

This coming Friday, October 30, Glass Tiger will be doing something they've been waiting to do for more than three decades. And in what I believe is a global exclusive(!), Glass Tiger keyboard player Samuel Reid is on No Sleep 'til Sudbury this week to talk about it.  I don't want to ruin the surprise, and if I list the songs Sam brought in, I'd be giving it away. So what are you waiting for? Press play already!!!         

If you're a regular No Sleep 'til Sudbury listener, you know that I love hosting up-and-coming artists whom I think are special. And this week, I welcome a very special talent - R&B singer Sandra Bouza.  There's a story behind this episode - one that didn't start out so well, but now has a happy ending. This episode was originally recorded live at The Spoke Club on Friday, December 13, 2019, but for unknown reasons there were technical issues with the file that rendered it unusable (the Friday the 13th thing freaks me out a bit). Recently, I was finally able to recreate a copy of the episode, and it sounds great - particularly Sandra's incredible voice. My biggest disappointment initially was that Sandra did something special for me during our chat, a totally spur-of-the-moment gesture that was potentially lost forever - but thankfully, it's been reclaimed for the whole world to hear. Check it out!               Bouza's playlist: Buffalo Springfield - For What's It's Worth Amy Winehouse - What Is It About

As an Edward Van Halen fan from the age of twelve, it was necessary for me to commemorate him on NSTS upon learning of his passing last week. I feel fortunate to have a platform to offer this tribute.       Even though we didn't know each other at all, I felt like I'd lost an old friend. Without him knowing, we made some pretty incredible memories together, Eddie and I. We should be so lucky in our lives to have experienced something that thrills us with so much intensity. And for me, Ed did that. He'll be missed, but never truly gone.   

Hey! This is part two of my chat with author and MuchMusic veteran Christopher Ward. We finally get to the songs that make his skin vibrate, and hearing Christopher's take on them was a great experience for me. Highlights of our music geekfest discussion include Bob Dylan's revenge themes, the inspiration behind him writing Alannah Myles megahit "Black Velvet", who "Son of a Preacher Man" was initially written for, and the time he danced with The Temptations on Much. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.       Ward's playlist: Aretha Franklin - Chain of Fools The Beach Boys - Till I Die Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man The Temptations - Just My Imagination  

Yes, original MuchMusic VJ, author, and songwriter Christopher Ward and I geeked out gleefully over little-known music facts this week on NSTS. And yes, as a result it's a two-episode series. Hey, we had a lot to talk about! Since his earliest days as part of the Second City troupe befriending an unknown Mike Myers, Christopher has had a lot of stories to tell. He's interviewed Paul and George of The Beatles, attended Live Aid, dined with Robert Plant, raised the ire of Elvis Costello, danced with The Temptations, and embraced the chaotic madness that was MuchMusic in its heyday. And in this first episode of two, we cover most of that and more. Enjoy!     

Remember Wide Mouth Mason? I never forgot 'em - always loved the band, and I listen to them regularly. In November they're celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album Stew by releasing a special version of it on vinyl, and WMM drummer Safwan Javed called into the show to talk to me about it (and of course, the songs that make his skin vibrate).  Safwan is an incredible musician and a great dude, and we have some good laughs during our chat. He's got some incredible stories from Wide Mouth Mason's days opening up for The Rolling Stones and ZZ Top - having dinner with Charlie Watts, being invited to Billy Gibbons' house for BBQ and homemade guacamole, and more. And what a playlist! Really enjoyed this chat with Safwan, check it out.  Javed's playlist: Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues Black Uhuru - Anthem Kool Moe Dee - I Go To Work Tinariwen - Cler Achel Amjad Sabri and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Rang    

It's here! The third and final part of the special No Sleep 'til Sudbury Honeymoon Suite series featuring HMS singer Johnnie Dee and guitarist Derry Grehan. It was a real pleasure to be a part of this very laid-back conversation between two legendary musicians who have been in the trenches together for decades.    In this series finale, Johnnie and Derry discuss the music that makes each other's skin vibrate - they chat about their playlists in terms of what they expected to see from each other, what surprised them, what they would add to their own lists, and which specific Honeymoon Suite songs give them goosebumps. Plus more great stories, including the time Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy visited their tour bus.     

Welcome back to No Sleep 'til Sudbury's three-part Honeymoon Suite musical discussion series. This week is part two, in which fleet-fingered HMS guitarist Derry Grehan joins me to chat about the new single and the songs that make his skin vibrate.  He immediately won me over with his playlist, particularly the Van Halen and Deep Purple picks. There's a song I wasn't expecting in his list but Derry shares the reasoning behind it, along with some other great stories and a great Ted Templeman impression to boot! Don't miss this.  Grehan's playlist: Grand Funk Railroad - Are You Ready Alice Cooper - Eighteen Van Halen - I'm The One Peter Gabriel - Don't Give Up Deep Purple - Burn          

In the first of a three-part Honeymoon Suite series, HMS singer Johnnie Dee joins me this week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury to talk about the band's new single, "Find What You're Looking For", and also of course, the songs that make his skin vibrate.  For Johnnie, it's all about lyrics and melody in music. The songs he brings to the show reflect his love for sentimentality and purity in music, and in our discussion, I was reminded of how important it is for him to convey a genuine purity of his own through Honeymoon Suite's songs. Really enjoyable chat.  Dee's playlist: Chris Cornell - The Promise Bruce Springsteen - Stones Coldplay - The Scientist Sting - Fragile Ian Hunter - Standing in my Light  

CHUM-FM Morning Show producer and Famous Lost Words cohost Tom Jokic is my guest this week on NSTS. Tom's been in the music industry for decades, and has some great stories from his time spent interviewing some of the biggest names in the business. His Famous Lost Words podcast, which he hosts alongside MuchMusic alumni Christopher Ward, unearths those archived interviews for our listening pleasure.   During our chat Tom shares some tales from his past, along with the songs that make his skin vibrate - not to mention the one that makes his skin crawl.           Jokic's playlist:  Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah Bruce Springsteen - My City of Ruins Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime KISS - Detroit Rock City    

Following our examination of the conspiracy theory surrounding Kurt Cobain's death, this week on NSTS we look at other music-related conspiracy theories - ranging from the ridiculously far-fetched, through to the maybe kinda believable.  Did Supertramp and the Freemasons try to warn us about the September 11 attacks with clues hidden in their Breakfast in America album cover, 22 years earlier? Did David Bowie reference Kanye West's rise to fame with Ziggy Stardust and Blackstar? Did Elvis fake his own death in order to hide from the mob? All of these theories and more are addressed in detail this week on the No Sleep 'til Sudbury podcast. 

It's here! The second half of my chat with the lovely Erica Ehm is now live, complete with the songs that make her skin vibrate (and that John 'JD' Roberts cliffhanger conclusion). Erica's playlist was compiled as a retrospective of her life thus far, documenting childhood memories, her time at MuchMusic and the artists she befriended, motherhood and her connection to her mother, and driving Bono and the rest of U2 around Toronto in her mom's car. Erica also shares the silly reason why she was never permitted to interview U2 as a MuchMusic VJ. Enjoy!             Ehm's playlist: CSNY - Helpless U2 - I Will Follow Emmylou Harris - Ballad of a Runaway Horse 54-40 - I Go Blind Cassandra Vasik - Which Face Should I Put On Tonight Jann Arden - Good Mother   

It's a wonderful thing when you find out someone you've admired as a younger person is actually worthy of that admiration. And Erica Ehm certainly is.  Following her stint as an original MuchMusic VJ, Erica went on to write and produce Juno-winning songs, publish books, establish two successful companies, launch a speaking career, and more. In part one of our chat this week, Erica takes me through the journey that led to her MuchMusic career and beyond, with a sharp focus on the details of her 1994 Seattle interview with Kurt Cobain, one of the last he would ever give. Our discussion was so fluid that I didn't even get to the songs that make Erica's skin vibrate! But worry not - that's part two, next week's episode.         

This week on NSTS we examine the events leading up to the unfortunate death of Nirvana singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain, considered by many to be the primary architect of a musical movement that changed the face of music in the early nineties.  Despite Cobain's death being ruled a suicide, there have been plenty of assertions that he may not have died by his own hand. A number of peculiar and inexplicable events have given rise to conspiracy theories that Cobain was killed, all of which are laid out for consideration on this week's show.               

When music fans share the songs that really mean something to them and the reasons why, they're sharing a part of themselves in doing so. And Spoons singer Gordon Deppe truly does that with us this week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury. He graciously provides the backstories for the songs that have made his skin vibrate over the course of his life, and we go pretty deep in reinforcing the idea that music provides a significant connective power.  Talking with Gord about these songs was like talking to an old friend, and I appreciated the level of sentimentality he demonstrated. I could have gone on for several more hours, but that just means Gord gets an invite to come back with more songs anytime. Don't miss this.    Deppe's playlist:          The Verve - Lucky Man Oasis - Don't Look Back in Anger Jason Wade - You Belong To Me Procol Harum - Whiter Shade of Pale When In Rome - The Promise Dooley Wilson - As Time Goes By  

My pal Stephen Stanley just released an incredible live record, and he joins me to talk about it this week on NSTS. The record is called Live Static Roots, recorded in Oberhausen, Germany during his 2018 European tour. And it's killer - check it out wherever you access your music. In keeping with the live music theme, Stephen brings in seven live tracks that have made his skin vibrate over the course of his life. And as it always is with Stephen, the discussion is rich and rewarding. Does he get his No Sleep 'til Sudbury members club jacket promised to him during his last appearance on the show? Listen to find out!    Stanley's (live) playlist: Barbra Streisand - Stoney End   Harry Belafonte - Carnival Melody     Rush - Working Man / Finding My Way   The Band - Stage Fright   The Flaming Lips - The Golden Age    Bob Dylan - Desolation Row    Nina Simone - Mr. Bojangles

The great Kim Mitchell joins me this week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury for an incredibly enjoyable chat about the songs that make his skin vibrate, and his new single 'Wishes'. Kim is easily one of Canada's most accomplished musicians, from his days leading Max Webster through an illustrious, hit-laden solo career. The coolest thing about Kim is that in talking with him, you'd never know it. He's humble, funny, insightful, and very engaging, and as you'll hear, he's got some great stories - the one involving Eddie Van Halen is my favourite. If you like NSTS, this will likely be one of your favourite episodes.     Mitchell's playlist: Van Halen - Dreams Bonnie Raitt - I Can't Make You Love Me  Kacey Musgraves - Slow Burn Arc Angels - Sent By Angels Don Henley - Boys of Summer  

Last week on NSTS we talked about how Metallica formed in 1981. This week we look at another band that formed a few months earlier in the same year - Motley Crue.  Motley Crue's early years are full of wildly unbelievable events - fatal car crashes, overdoses, jail sentences, drug and alcohol debauchery, and even a conspiracy theory when you consider the mysterious tale of Matthew Trippe, who claimed he stood in for injured Crue bassist Nikki Sixx during the Shout At The Devil and Theatre of Pain periods. And in this episode, we cover it all.