No Sleep Til Sudbury With Brent Jensen

CHUM-FM producer, Famous Lost Words podcast host and friend of the show Tom Jokic makes his return to NSTS this week with a brand new angle. Tom does a segment on his podcast called "When Rock Stars Attack", a hilarious take on snippy-ish musician interviews found in the CHUM-FM and MuchMusic archives. Today he graciously shares some of these clips with us, featuring Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr, Jann Arden, April Wine's Myles Goodwyn, and a Beatles skirmish involving George Harrison and Paul McCartney. Lots of laughs and great conversation.       

Ah, the eternal question - of all of those truly great Beatles albums, which one is the best? In this special episode of No Sleep 'til Sudbury, we go through the discography of the one of the greatest musical groups of all time, and arguably, the band that started it all, to determine their best work. Which album is it? Press play and find out.   

Jazz singer songwriter Lori Cullen calls into No Sleep 'til Sudbury this week to talk about The Thunder and The Bay, her new record dropping this Friday, June 7.    Lori goes in a slightly new direction with this release, introducing elements of electronica and taking the material to new places - the songs are airy, colourful and dynamic. And with her selection of songs that make her skin vibrate, she completely stumps me - I'd never heard of any of them, a first for NSTS. But as always, it's all about the discovery.     

We'd crossed paths previously over the years, but today Andy Kim sits down with NSTS for his first complete episode. The occasion is significant - on May 10, 2024 Andy's megahit "Rock Me Gently" turned 50.  Andy shares the tremendous story of growing up in Montreal tenement housing and hearing "Be My Baby" for the first time, which compelled him to move to New York City and co-write smash hits like "Sugar Sugar". This gave way to him being handed his gold record for "Rock Me Gently" by John Lennon, hanging out with Phil Spector, Cher, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and others, and forging an unforgettable career in music.        

In the NSTS interview seat this month is Eye Eye and Bill Wood and the Woodies frontman Bill Wood, talking about the songs that have shaped him over the course of his life.  In tandem with these songs, Bill shares some fascinating behind-the-scenes details of Eye Eye's success and navigating the pressures of their record company, his Steve Earle-inspired revelation, the early days on the road with The Oh Nos, and the many projects he currently has in the works, including a reunion project of sorts with Eye Eye guitarist Andy Ryan.     

Singer songwriter and friend of the show Stephen Stanley makes his long awaited return to NSTS this week, joining me live to chat about his excellent new record, Before The Collapse Of The Hive.  The new record is a triumph - Stephen once again weaves vivid visual landscapes as an accomplished lyricist, but this time he goes further by fusing his familiar brand of rootsy Americana to new elements, resulting in a much different record than Jimmy & The Moon. We go through the songs together, and Stephen dissects them with his usual wit and insight. No wonder the guy's been on the show like, 46 times.          

Friend of the show and vocal powerhouse Sandra Bouza drops by for a cup of coffee and a chat about her incredible new record, A Sound in the Dark.  Sandra turns the tables and asks me to go through MY favourite tracks from the record, followed by an exclusive live performance of a brand new and very personal song she just wrote.  

A few months ago filmmaker Sean Menard released his MuchMusic documentary entitled 299 Queen Street West, celebrating the history and cultural significance of what would come to be known as "The Nation's Music Station".  I attended the premiere screening at Roy Thomson Hall in downtown Toronto, spoke to Rick Campanelli, Denise Donlon, Ed the Sock, Sook-Yin Lee, Bill Welychka, and other Much alum as they walked the red carpet, and offer my personal thoughts on the film here.     

In the last episode of 2023, No Sleep 'til Sudbury welcomes legendary pro football running back Michael 'Pinball' Clemons, a man who's equally celebrated for both his athletic achievements and his neverending kindness and generosity.    Pinball and I discuss the accomplishments of his charitable foundation and the upcoming "Christmas with the Clemons" gala, a fundraiser in service of marginalized youth. We also find out what Christmas songs can be heard in the Clemons house over the holidays.    

This week on No Sleep ‘til Sudbury I’m joined by writer, musician, and fellow Sudbury kid Sean Barrette. Sean has written a book entitled Heartstrings – First Guitars, and it’s a very interesting project involving some notable guitar players and the stories they share with Sean about their very first guitars.  Of course, we also talk about the songs that make Sean's skin vibrate, as well as the ever-compelling Friday night pizza playlists he puts together using his old iPod.  

Welcome to part two of my latest NSTS chat with the very talented and always entertaining Rik Emmett, live from his home. Last week we talked about his new book entitled Lay It On The Line, and this week we discuss some of the other stuff he’s been working on - including reworked versions of some old Triumph classics and a new project called Ten Telecaster Tales. And guess what? Rik was kind enough to give us our own exclusive little taste of some of these songs. 

He's back!  Rik Emmett's new book, Lay It On The Line, is the focus of our latest chat live from the newly renovated music room of Rik's home. As usual, the discussion is funny, insightful and highly entertaining - not unlike his new book.  In part one of our two-part conversation, the insights are particularly interesting. Rik sheds light on his motivations behind writing songs like "Fight The Good Fight", "Magic Power", and "Hold On", how a Triumph album cover tried to capture a Beatles motif (but with lasers!), how "Suitcase Blues" prepared his fans for a post-Triumph Rik Emmett, and so much more.     

I have no idea how this happened, but my pal Famous Lost Words host Tom Jokic and I taped an episode of the show in early May of this year that's just getting up now.  Anyway, Tom is in fine form once again, recounting stories from his interviews with Lisa Marie Presley, Meat Loaf, and the late great Gordon Lightfoot (who had passed just days before we taped this). Tom even brought along a clip of Gino Vannelli telling him the amazing story of how he was signed by Herb Alpert. Enjoy, and be sure to check out the podcast Tom co-hosts with Christopher Ward, Famous Lost Words. It's a fantastic listen.        

The previous episode of little known behind-the-scenes facts about your favourite rock artists and records that aired a little while back was so popular with you guys that I decided to do another one.  This time around, we look at stuff like what the actual "song from 1962" referenced in Bob Seger's "Night Moves" is (and that it was in fact from 1963), how OMD and Depeche Mode's influence over ZZ Top resulted in the biggest hit record of their career, what that strange noise is at the beginning of The Police's "Roxanne", and SO much more!    

Speaking of The Redwood Theatre... It was the site of my conversation with my pal Rob Preuss as we talked about his exciting new project, Rob Preuss and Friends. This episode was taped back in April, but I explain why in the intro - before Rob does his own show intro (and outro at the end of the show).  If you're in the Ottawa area this weekend, you can see the Rob Preuss and Friends show at Bar Robo on Saturday July 22. He also plays the El Mocambo on Saturday, August 26th. Don't miss it!        

I knew it would be enjoyable, but I have to say that this was one of my favourite all-time NSTS conversations. Songwriter to the stars Rob Wells joins me at my home this week, and the musical geek out session we have is off the charts.  In addition to bringing in some fantastic songs, Rob shares his astonishing story about how a kid from Peterborough was eventually tapped to write songs with Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Nick Lachey, The Backstreet Boys, and Weezer. We also discuss his imaginary finger theory, and the similarities between Neil Degrasse Tyson and Bruce Springsteen. Do NOT miss this.       

This week on NSTS I welcome Chris Sisam, formerly an executive with Corus Radio and The Edge and manager of 90s pop band Wild Strawberries, who's now doing some very interesting things in the music publishing and royalties space.  Chris offers some interesting insights into how the financial aspect of the music business works, and touches on Clarence Clemons' sax solo in Jungleland, Springsteen's rehearsal requirements, Don Henley's acerbic comment to the crowd at an Eagles Toronto show, and one of his favourite lyrical lines of all time.              

This may be the first time a live banjo performance is heard on No Sleep 'til Sudbury. Former Stompin' Tom bandleader and banjo player Duncan Fremlin returns to the show this week, and he brings along his Doogie and Dun partner, Juno-nominated singer songwriter Douglas John Cameron. In addition to sharing the albums that were formative in their musical lives, the two perform a medley of songs from their shows, including a take on Stompin' Tom's "Sudbury Saturday Night" that you have to hear to believe. Talented chaps and great people.     

Most of us like the trivia and the behind-the-scenes stuff. So this week on No Sleep 'til Sudbury, we feature some little-known facts related to some of your favourite musical artists. For example: The unusual recording request Axl Rose made during the Appetite for Destruction sessions. The hilarious misunderstanding that led to a lyric change for The Cars. Why Aerosmith whipped themselves with an actual bullwhip in the studio. Scorpions singer Klaus Meine's confusion over American female fans who flash the band during shows. Metallica's sly nod to David Bowie in "Master of Puppets". And so much more. 

Whiskey Jack frontman, former Stompin' Tom Connors bandleader, and author Duncan Fremlin drops by this week to chat about his new book entitled My Good Times With Stompin' Tom.  Duncan's a Soo boy, and he ignites the Sault Ste. Marie - Sudbury rivalry right out of the gate. We do manage to have a civilized conversation about his years spent touring with Stompin' Tom Connors however, and about the songs that make his skin vibrate. He even got invited back for another episode - maybe Soo guys aren't so bad after all.