No Sleep Til Sudbury With Brent Jensen

Last week, we were stunned by the news that guitar legend Jeff Beck had died. This week, No Sleep 'til Sudbury returns to pay tribute to a man who was considered by many to be one of the greatest guitar players ever.  Our tribute reflects on the highs and lows of Beck's haphazard musical journey - being fired from the Yardbirds, the brief triumphs of two different Jeff Beck Groups, throwing guitars off stage, his love/hate relationship with Rod Stewart, being temporarily deafened during a GN'R soundcheck, his collaborations with everyone from Seal to Ozzy Osbourne, and much more. Through it all, he'll always be recognized as one of the very best there ever has been.        

As the year comes to a close, I wanted to share a fun and personal Christmas music playlist that gets a lot of airtime at the Jensen house around this time every year. Last year's holiday playlist contained more familiar Christmas tunes - this one, less so. But I do hope there's something on it you like. Here's the playlist link on Spotify.  Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays to each and every No Sleep 'til Sudbury listener. It fills me with joy that I can share things like this with you, and I appreciate your support very sincerely. Cheers everyone!          

A few weeks back my pal former Brighton Rock and current Storm Force guitarist Greg Fraser and I sat down to chat about his new single, a cover of Alanis Morissette's "Uninvited".  As is usually the case when the conversation is good, the show ran long and we didn't get to Fraze's skin vibrating songs. So, here they are - welcome to part two of our chat. Fraze's playlist: Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow - Man On The Silver Mountain Boston - More Than A Feeling  Van Halen - Eruption/You Really Got Me  Vandenberg - Burning Heart  Alcatrazz - Island In The Sun   

An old friend of the show drops in this week to talk about his band's haunting new single - a cover of Alanis Morissette's "Uninvited".   Former Brighton Rock and current Storm Force guitarist Greg Fraser talks about how the band came up with the unorthodox choice, how former Honeymoon Suite keys player Ray Coburn helped develop the idea, and all the events that led up to the single's release. 

I love discovering new music, and I also love sharing those discoveries with others. This week's guest on NSTS is indie singer songwriter Annabelle Chvostek, and her music is definitely worth sharing. Annabelle’s latest record is called String of Pearls, recorded in both Canada and Uruguay, and features jazz, tango, and classical musicians from both countries. We chat about how the record was made, her relationship with Bruce Cockburn, 90s art rock, Joni Mitchell, and the influence of The Beatles' Abbey Road record. Chvostek's playlist: The Beatles – Come Together Joni Mitchell – Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire Sarah Vaughn – Honeysuckle Rose PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love Bruce Coburn – Night Train      

Former Spoons and Honeymoon Suite keyboardist Rob Preuss and I are working on a special and very exciting new project together, one that we originally started talking about five years ago. It's in full production now, and this week he calls in to NSTS to talk about it.  Specific details won't be divulged until the project is in its later stages, but in keeping with the No Sleep 'til Sudbury theme, Rob brought in a handful of instrumental songs that may or may not be part of it. Enjoy! Preuss' playlist (available on Spotify): Spoons - Trade Winds Split Enz - Wail Gary Clark - A Jackson in your Kitchen Andrew Lloyd Webber - Entr’Acte  Gary Numan - Trois Gymnopedies (First Movement) Elton John - Song For Guy – Elton John Walter Murphy - A Fifth of Beethoven  

Something rather unexpected, highly improbable, and absolutely moving happened to me last week, and I was so inspired by it that I wanted to share it on the show.  It's a personal story about how Metallica's very first record impacted two 14 year old kids, almost 40 years apart. One of those kids was my stepdaughter. The other kid was me.    

You're likely familiar with a question that's been all over the internet lately - "what's up with Bon Jovi's singing voice?"  There are a lot of theories and a lot of positions out there, but I personally think there's a little more to it than aging, COVID-19, the absence of Richie Sambora, or technical issues. And this week on NSTS I share my perspective. 

The legend of Elvis Presley is tremendous, but his entire story arc is tragic. Towards the end of his career, the poor kid from Tupelo, Mississippi who became the King of Rock and Roll was lonely, exhausted, and depressed, eventually succumbing to the pressures of his own fame.  Is it conceivable to think that his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, a man with a dark history who lied about his real identity until the very end, was responsible for the death of Elvis Presley?    

Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters caused a bit of a stir recently for speaking his mind. This week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury I take a closer look at the man and all the things I've personally learned about him over the past couple of weeks.       

I recently saw something on the internet involving one of my childhood heroes, Metallica's James Hetfield, that gave me pause.  Over the years we’ve seen a progressive humanization of Hetfield, but now we’ve gone beyond the expected arc. And it got me thinking about where we've been and where we are on a greater scale. And this week on NSTS, we talk about it.  

Sometime next year, pop cultural icons KISS will play their final show after more than 50 years of fire, blood, and bombast. For the first time in half a century, KISS will no longer be.   KISS masterfully deployed the power of nostalgia to leave a significant and indelible mark on millions of rock fans of my vintage. Now, as they approach their end, I look back at what the whole thing really meant.       

Something terrible happened.  The derecho thunderstorms that left parts of southern Ontario without power for two days on May 20 also left me without a podcast episode.  The file containing part two of my chat with Nick Walsh was lost in the power outage, and while I've been trying to recover it since, it's gone. Very, very disappointing, but Nick graciously agreed to do it over again so you can find out what his NSTS selected songs were. However, Nick's schedule is busy, so it may be a while. In the interim, I've decided to share a previously unreleased episode from 2018 I did with Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson about the upcoming tribute show for his recently-deceased bass player Garry Lowe. Gordie was calling in from his car and I initially shelved it because of the sound quality, but it's actually not bad at all.  Cheers everyone.  

It took a while, but former Slik Toxik and current Famous Underground and Classic Albums Live singer Nick Walsh finally sat down with NSTS to talk about a few of the songs that make his skin vibrate. Because our chat was so lengthy, we didn't quite make it to those songs in part one of his time with us - but we did talk about his recent promotion at Classic Albums Live, Doin' The Nasty on Spotify, what he learned when Slik Toxik opened for Yngwie Malmsteen, what his dad thinks of Famous Underground song "Love Grenade", and why he'll never do a Slik Toxik reunion. Come back to find out what Nick's songs are in the next episode!         

There haven't been many times over the 240 odd episodes of the No Sleep 'til Sudbury podcast I've done where I've been lost for words. But I was here.  The wonderful and immensely talented Sandra Bouza joined me at my home this week for the first live NSTS performance since 2020, and as usual, she was a delight. And this time I was not only impressed by Sandra's performance, but also by her courage.  Bouza's playlist: Alanis Morrisette - That I Would Be Good Deftones - Be Quiet and Drive Emiliana Torrini - On The Sunny Road Ella Fitzgerald - Misty Joan as Police Woman - Anyone         

In the last episode of No Sleep 'til Sudbury, we paid tribute to the memory of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. But what about Dave Grohl?  We thought it was important to celebrate an individual who despite his having brought joy to millions of people, has suffered some tremendous heartbreak. This week's episode is dedicated to Dave.    

It's always difficult when artists we admire pass on, but it's a little more difficult when it happens so long before their time.   This week on NSTS we pay tribute to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, an incredible musician and, as Queen's Roger Taylor described him, "sunshine in human form".     

The infinitely talented Nelson Sobral returns to the show this week, and I'm delighted to host him.  His new record Second Arrow just dropped, featuring the single "Dancing Fool" and soon-to-be megahit "In The Middle Of The Night". Nelson shares the context behind the Buddha-inspired title of his new album, and we chat about the old blues greats, difficult times, and how bad I am at rolling the 'R' when pronouncing his surname.    Sobral's playlist:   The Rolling Stones – Rocks Off Bettye Swann – Don’t Touch Me Ray Charles – A Song For You Mattie Leon – Boy Hank Williams – I’m So Lonely I Could Cry

Completely by coincidence, my guest on NSTS this week is none other than longtime CHUM-FM Morning Show producer Tom Jokic. He was scheduled to appear in my studio two years ago to the day for his episode, but was forced to cancel due to a new concern people were calling COVID.  Exactly two years later, Tom makes good on his appearance by turning up here in person to recount some of the great stories he's amassed not only as a producer, but also as the cohost of Famous Lost Words, the excellent podcast he hosts alongside MuchMusic alum Christopher Ward. Great stories, great conversation - Tom's among the best in the business.      Jokic's playlist:  The Rolling Stones – Shattered The Bee Gees – Nights on Broadway Crosby, Stills, and Nash – Suite Judy Blue Eyes Alanis Morrisette – You Oughta Know   Max Webster – The Party

Andy Curran's image occupied a space on my teenage bedroom wall. The guy is an icon. But he's also an extremely humble human being and a fantastic conversationalist.  Andy joins me on NSTS this week to talk about the new musical project he's working on with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson called Envy of None, an experimental, industrial-flavoured musical foray that sounds nothing like Coney Hatch or Rush. We also chat about his obsession with shinny hockey, Creem magazine, the letter he wrote to the Scorpions fan club as a kid, and his upcoming doubles tennis match with Alex, Geddy, and Steve Harris from Iron Maiden.  Curran's playlist: Massive Attack – Angel   Scorpions – He’s a Woman, She’s a Man     James Gang – Stop (live 1971) Stone Temple Pilots – Sex Type Thing Jeff Beck - Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers