Happy New Year, friends. We're back at it with none other than drum colossus Mike Portnoy, formerly of Dream Theater and now playing with rock supergroup Sons of Apollo. Mike is an elite musician, widely considered to be one of greatest drummers in the world. He's also a great guy and a great guest. During our conversation we geek out on Bowie, KISS, and Radiohead, and he shares his experiences playing drums for Twisted Sister, his theory about Rush fans, the recent spate of rock and roll deaths...
Jan 09, 2018•56 min
Alright, we're doing something a little different tonight. Episode 41 is a previously unreleased, impromptu episode recorded during a night of drinking with my neighbour and close friend, mister Johnny Belton. The episode was recorded in early 2017 and shelved, but I decided recently it would be fun to put out there. We had a lot of fun doing it, so I thought the listenership may enjoy this organic, more informal version of NSTS. And hey - it's Christmas. On that topic, this will be the last epi...
Dec 19, 2017•28 min
Former Lowest of the Low frontman Stephen Stanley joins me on episode 40 to do a Christmas edition of No Sleep 'til Sudbury . We chat about his new group The Stephen Stanley Band and their excellent new record, Jimmy & The Moon , and then we get into the holiday tunes that make his skin vibrate. Also discussed is the ironic fact that many Christmas songs were in fact written by Jewish composers, the amazing career of Darlene Love, and how Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" continues ...
Dec 12, 2017•46 min
Joining me on the show this week is author and radio & television host of Living Fearlessly Lisa McDonald, who brings in all manner of musical genres with her No Sleep 'til Sudbury skin vibration playlist. We chat about Led Zeppelin drum samples, the Radiohead Toronto stage collapse disaster (she was there), and lovely "Mimi on the Beach" composer Jane Siberry. All this in less than 25 minutes - Lisa could have brought in a second playlist! And by the way, the name we can't come up with at t...
Dec 05, 2017•23 min
Everyone's favourite curmudgeon Chris 'The Pink Chief' Long calls into the show - not to talk about songs that make his skin vibrate, but to share his view of the world from the DJ booth. He gets a pass for flouting the show format though, because music is still the theme, and the stories he tells about the people he's interacted with as a DJ are so sad, bewildering, and compelling. People may open up to the bartender, but according to Long, they REALLY open up to the guy responsible for their s...
Nov 28, 2017•30 min
If you're a Canadian music fan of my vintage, you'll surely remember The Spoons and Honeymoon Suite. Rob Preuss played keyboards in both those bands, and he tells some great stories from those days in Episode 37 of No Sleep 'til Sudbury. He joined The Spoons when he was only 15 (!), went on to Honeymoon Suite from there, and then later became the associate musical director for Broadway production Mamma Mia, and also played some piano in the Phantom of the Opera orchestra pit. During our conversa...
Nov 21, 2017•47 min
Episode 36 of No Sleep Til Sudbury takes place in Wilton, Connecticut, conducted from two comfy chairs inside the home belonging to my pally from the valley, mister Ian O'Malley. I'd heard a lot of the hilarious stories from his VH1 days previously, but not these - among them his drunken nickname for Sting, Keith Richards' preferred method of quaffing scotch, and Roger Waters' rules when meeting fans. O'Malley is one hell of a storyteller, and he blends sentiment with humour without peer. You go...
Nov 14, 2017•47 min
Want your mind blown? Listen to this episode. Semiotic researcher Charles Leech drops by to explain how and why we get goosebumps when we hear certain songs, and how rock music almost didn't exist if not for a guy called Palestrina. Charles relates some utterly fascinating facts and logic surrounding the science of music in this episode. I'm still shaking my head. Leech's playlist: Palestrina - Missa Papae Marcelli Richard Wagner - Prelude, and Liebestod New Order - The Perfect Kiss Grouplove - ...
Nov 07, 2017•45 min
Jamie Blaine is a guy I could talk music with for days and days. In Episode 34, Jamie and I contemplate Halloween and talk about some Halloween-ish bands and their music. You know - KISS, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, and so on. No real playlist this time, but the chat is great and gets a little deeper than I anticipated. Happy Halloween!
Oct 30, 2017•49 min
Hunters Bay Radio 88.7FM's on-air personality and afternoon drive host Sarah Coombs joins me for Episode 33 of the No Sleep 'til Sudbury episode series. Sarah is doing some very cool stuff at Hunters Bay Radio - no format! Just like WKRP! Sarah's playlist features a little bit of everything - some aggression, some sadness, some happiness, and some chill. And, something impossibly cool happens at 4:03. Check it out! Coombs' playlist: Sinead O'Connor - Troy Rage Against The Machine - Killing In Th...
Oct 24, 2017•27 min
Making his triumphant return to the No Sleep 'til Sudbury show for episode 32 is mister Jay Jay French, back to talk about Lou Reed, David Bowie, The Beatles, and loads of other things. Jay Jay also concedes that the Canadian Rockies are better than the American Rockies, what he stole from Judas Priest, the songs he used to soundcheck with Twisted Sister, and the Eagles song they used to cover(!). He also gives me a metaphor that I'm totally stealing for my next book. French's playlist: The Beat...
Oct 17, 2017•42 min
Stephanie Riley drops by the show in NSTS Episode 31 to discuss some very personal sentiments related to her having read All My Favourite People Are Broken . I'm fascinated that her stories actually lend validation to the purpose of Broken , which is to urge people to look more deeply into the reasons why they're so emotionally compelled by certain songs. So not only are people actually reading my books, they're learning things from them!! All this, folks, and the soothing calypso sounds of Bone...
Oct 09, 2017•44 min
The Dock 104.1FM on-air personality Josh Duncan joins me in Episode 30 to talk Motorhead, Sabbath, Nirvana, and a little Simon & Garfunkel. Josh and I have a great chat, including the strange emotional dichotomy of The Hip's final show, the last record I was actually excited about buying upon its release, the irony of alternative becoming mainstream, and Ozzy's unfortunate 80s Bea Arthur phase. And by the way, Josh's dog is named Ronnie James Dio. True fact. Duncan's playlist: Motorhead - Ac...
Oct 03, 2017•42 min
In Episode 029 of No Sleep Til Sudbury, my pal and massive punk rock fan Colin Lumsden returns to the studio to further discuss the songs that stir him emotionally, all the while continuing to impress me with incredible degrees of knowledge. During our discussion we consider the contradictions of punk as a mainstream concept, that the lack of musicality in punk is in fact the entire point, and the fact that I may or may not have a soul. Not many people I know get more out of music than Lumsden d...
Sep 26, 2017•26 min
It's my distinct pleasure to host one of the nicest guys in rock and roll in Episode 28 of NSTS, Def Leppard guitarist extraordinaire Phil Collen. Phil and I cover a lot of ground in our chat - Hysteria's 30th anniversary, Sting's sublime bass lines, that he was asked to join Iron Maiden in 1981, his blues band Delta Deep, what he learned about being a guitar player from Mutt Lange, and the fact that my high school art class pencil sketch of he and Steve Clark was given an A+. Wish I had saved t...
Sep 19, 2017•47 min
In Episode 27 of NSTS, Brad Jemmett and Kent Bailey both return to the studio for the fourth and final installment of their Golden Age of Hip Hop segment, and it's Bailey's turn to trash talk Jemmett's playlist. And he doesn't pull punches. House of Pain, 2 Live Crew, and Jeru the Damaja all get talked about, but Bailey saves the best for last when he critiques Jemmett's last pick. Check it out!
Sep 10, 2017•33 min
My jackass friends Brad 'Jammer' Jemmett and Kent 'Blaze' Bailey are back for the third installment of their little hip hop exercise, and after we finish winding Blaze up for playing the French horn in high school band, Jammer goes through Blaze's playlist from Episode 10. Quite critically. Lots of trash talk. Listen along as we talk Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, Wu Tang Clan, and how Blaze's high school girlfriend looked like MC Lyte....
Sep 05, 2017•31 min
Colin Lumsden is a personal friend, a highly intelligent business executive currently working in the field of higher education, and a massive music fan. In the first of this two-part series with Colin, he eloquently shares his deep knowledge of punk rock, the personal reasons why it compelled him so much as a younger man, as well as some incredibly insightful perspectives on the genre and others. We also discuss the very unique and scientific way in which he derived his playlist, which impressed...
Aug 29, 2017•32 min
Canadian rock journalist Mitch Lafon joins me in NSTS episode 24 with a classic hair metal playlist that brings me back to my high school days. Join us as Mitch talks about the disappointment that was Montreal rock radio in the 80s, and why he's tight with Slash and Alice Cooper. He even teaches me a dirty little secret I didn't know about German rockers Scorpions! Lafon's playlist: Bon Jovi - Wanted Dead or Alive Metallica - Enter Sandman Whitesnake - Still of the Night Scorpions - Big City Nig...
Aug 22, 2017•38 min
Twisted Sister founder and guitarist Jay Jay French joins me in episode 23 to discuss Sister, his slew of new and intriguing projects, and of course, his playlist. Jay Jay and I talk about my first ever concert (Twisted Sister opening for Iron Maiden) and his frigid trek across Canada in December 1984, how his guitars (like his wife's shoes) seem to copulate overnight, how Johnny Cash approached him for his autograph in Toronto, why 1967 was such an important year in music, and what it was like ...
Aug 15, 2017•42 min
Seattle editor and author of Welcome Thieves Sean Beaudoin joins me via Skype to talk about one of the most unique and compelling playlists ever submitted to the No Sleep Til Sudbury podcast series. Sean supports his playlist with eloquence, interesting facts, and hilarious stores surrounding his experiences with these songs. Listen along as he tells us what his father thought Husker Du really meant, why being at a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds show is akin to witnessing the inner workings of a cu...
Aug 08, 2017•46 min
In the most candid episode of No Sleep Til Sudbury to date, comedian and Sirius XM on-air personality Allison Dore shares some very honest and personal insights from her formative years as reflected through the playlist she created for the show. Musically and emotionally, there's a little bit of everything. Allison takes us through her love/hate relationship with cowboys, her perspectives on Steve Earle, and our weakness for the 'crafty' types. But most importantly, Allison shares an important m...
Aug 01, 2017•49 min
In NSTS episode 020, I'm joined by New York filmmaker Chris Cassidy to talk about his upcoming documentary Dennis and Lois , which chronicles the fascinating story of a couple who have lived out their rock and roll dreams for more than 30 years. Chris' playlist is centred around the film's soundtrack, featuring an assortment of bands that interacted with Dennis and Lois. As we discuss the songs, Chris shares the details behind the towel containing Joe Strummer's DNA, how Dennis and Lois procured...
Jul 25, 2017•33 min
Killer Dwarfs singer Russ Dwarf and I get his birthday festivities started a day early in Episode 019 of No Sleep Til Sudbury , as Russ takes me through the playlist of songs that make his skin vibrate over a few Sapporos. All the important stuff gets covered - classic Sudbury landmarks like The Coulson and the Brockdan, opening for Iron Maiden at Wembley and Hammersmith, The Dwarfs' very first gig in Oshawa, and what it's like to sing Rush songs alongside Rush's own Alex Lifeson. Happy birthday...
Jul 18, 2017•36 min
Look who's back! The Pink Chief, Chris Long, makes his triumphant return to the No Sleep Til Sudbury podcast. In this episode, The Chief completely flouts my format and does something completely different - no playlist in favour of his confession of a guilty pleasure. And it wouldn't be Chris Long if there wasn't some controversy. Fun episode. I love this lunatic.
Jul 11, 2017•39 min
Canadian kid and fleet-fingered guitarist for hot new heavy blues band Crown Lands Kevin Comeau brings his guitar into the studio for Canada Day, replacing my usual intro music with some tasty slide guitar. He even plays us out with a little bit of Rush in the spirit of the day. Kev's band Crown Lands just won the 97.7 HTZ-FM 2017 Rock Search and their new album, called Rise Over Run , drops shortly. Kev brought in an incredible playlist of the songs that make his skin vibrate, and he makes me l...
Jul 01, 2017•35 min
Canadian TV personality and MuchMusic alum Bill Welychka finally gets his invite to guest on NSTS Episode 16, fresh off of my appearance on his morning show on CKWS TV. During our chat Bill touches on The Hip's take on Jacques Cartier, his Aerosmith backstage listening experience, Liam Gallagher always being on his best behaviour in his presence, and just how expensive Justin Bieber's time can be. Welychka's playlist: The Tragically Hip - Nautical Disaster Oasis - Live Forever The Cure - A Hundr...
Jun 27, 2017•30 min
Following in the footsteps of his childhood Scarborough bestie, my old dorm brother Brad 'Jammer' Jemmett drops by with his own hip hop playlist, and trash talks his old mate Kent Bailey (whom you'll remember from Episode 10) and his rap preferences. I personally learned a lot in this episode, albeit things I should have probably already known. But I refuse to embarrass myself in text - you'll have to listen to the episode to find out just how little I know about Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest, ...
Jun 20, 2017•57 min
In Episode 14 my homegirl from the South, Jo Watson, joins me to discuss the songs that make her skin vibrate, and to hack on each other a bit as we always do. Listen as Watson confesses her love for sexy women and her crush on Tom Petty, props up the Zac Brown Band, and pulls one of my favourite songs from the Stones' Exile On Main Street out of her playlist hat. Watson's playlist: Bruce Springsteen - My City of Ruins The Black Crowes - She Talks To Angels Credence Clearwater Revival - Green Ri...
Jun 12, 2017•30 min
In Episode 13 leading Canadian music correspondent, public relations wizard, and Sirius XM radio host Eric Alper joins me via Skype. Among other things, we discuss the Genesis gateway between Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, the jazz inflections that can be found Talk Talk's "Life's What You Make It", and the importance of Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly. We also count the number of genres Sheena Easton has performed within over the course of her underrated career. And, of course, KISS find their...
Jun 06, 2017•42 min
