Chris Cruise never had a radio career; he's always been a content creator. The Detroit native was let go from Entercom's Amp Radio 98.7 and attempted the sales thing before returning to his roots as a teacher at Chris can be heard on a number of station's across America already, but you're about to hear a lot more of him with the launch of Throwback Nation 2K in January. The original classic hits juggernaut Throwback Nation is a the creation of Tony Lorino, and will now branch out in the next millenium with the music millennials grew up with. (Yes I had to ask - that's Brittany, NSync, Soul Decision. In this episode, you will hear about Chris' radio journey through great radio markets like Fort Wayne, Indiana and Boise, Idaho. The social media strategies that made him an industry leader, and what's ahead for his YouTube Channel and Throwback Nation 2K which launches in January. I referenced other podcast episodes about these markets. I am thinking specifically about the one with Big Rick Daniels who spent some time in Boise, and Scott Howard who continues to sell at WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As promised, here are the connection points if you want to have Throwback Nation or Throwback Nation 2K on your radio station. Also subscribe to Chris' You Tube channel for video suggestions. Things like what sort of speaks and microphones you should have in your studio. Chris also has a cool Linktree page which houses everything he does. You can connect to it here.

Lili Wexu is a voice actress based in Los Angeles but started in Montreal. You might say this is all Howard Stern's fault. Back in the late 90's Howard Stern was syndicated to Q107 in Toronto and CHOM in Montreal. The result for the former was a failed venture, the latter was a near disaster. CHOM's longtime competitor at the time was Mix 96, who courted disenfranchised francophones to their station but using Lili as imaging talent. Rob Braide was general manager at Mix 96 and had been apart of a bilingual era at CHOM in the 70's where French and English co-existed in harmony on one frequency. Lili grew her business with the help of afternoon Drive personality and voiceover talent Rob Wreford who mentored her. In this episode, we hear about Lili's evolution through the voice industry and discuss how it has changed throughout the years. She also provides us with some incredible tips and tricks to steer through the tricky world of voiceover in 2020. As promised, here are the links to access her e-book series. If you would like to book Lili to be the voice of your brand, you can go to her website which has demos and so much more. Part 1: Get Clever About Voice Acting & Announcing Part 1, Becoming An Artist Kindle Edition Part 2: Get Clever About Voice Acting & Announcing Part 2, Recording & Editing Voiceovers Kindle Edition Part 3: Get Clever About Voice Acting & Announcing Part 3, Running Your Voiceover Business Kindle Edition Mentions and References: Lili made mention of George the Tech who is a great resource for technical help and he also makes great stacks for voice talent. Lili also made mention of two voice coaches including Nancy Wolfson and Jeannie Elias. If you want o succeed in voiceover - you need a coach. Rob Wreford does voiceover in Ontario, but we managed to dig up this piece of YouTube glory from around the same era when Rob met Lily. (Which would have made a title) And my thanks to John Biggs who reminded me that I would have the Howard Stern text of his inflammatory comments on this blog. and then I forgot to put them in: Here they are courtesy of the website Miquelon.org that monitor French bashing. Howard Stern - September 2, 1997 - CHOM-FM Howard Stern: Good Morning everybody, welcome back to the program that never ends. You know, a two week vacation you figure you come back all fresh and ready to go but it’s worse than ever. Yeah, back to work, back to the same battles, back to the same old crap. We are international now. For the first time this broadcast is international and I couldn’t be happier because I’m sick of just being on in the United States of America. Yes, we have two affiliates in Montreal, Canada and Toronto and let me tell you something, this is no small feat. If you’re thinking, “well, big deal, Canada is just the United States anyway”, well, I’m thinking the same thing, but it’s still very difficult to get this program on in Canada. All hell has broken loose. In fact, I’ll ask Gary later in the program to bring in all the different articles that have come out, particularly in Montreal, where the French-speaking people are out of their minds. They are insulted, you know, they’re a bunch of peckerheads. In Montreal, the French, the English-speaking people are fine, they’re like us. The French are jack-offs. Robin Quivers: Now, what is their problem? Howard Stern: There is something about the French language that turns you into a pussy-assed jack-off. I swear to God. Robin Quivers: How could they have a problem with us already? Howard Stern: Oh, are you kidding? When it was announced that we were coming to Toronto and Montreal, Montreal in particular, the newspapers were filled with outrage, people protesting. Robin Quivers: Ha, before they heard us? Howard Stern: In Toronto, one sponsor of the Toronto station which has about seven affiliated radio stations said he was pulling all his advertising off of every radio station. All hell is breaking loose, people have been writing mad letters frantically to their version of the Canadian FCC. Robin Quivers: Well, how long do you think we’ll last with this kind of onslaught? Howard Stern: Two days, at tops, three. Robin Quivers: How wonderful. Howard Stern: But the biggest scumbags on the planet as I’ve said all along are not only the French in France but the French in Canada. Robin Quivers: Anybody who speaks French. Howard Stern: Anybody who speaks French is a scumbag. It turns you into a coward, just like in World War Two the French would not stick up for us. The French were the first ones to cave in to the Nazis, and certainly, certainly were over-productive for the Nazis, when they became their puppets. Just like them, the French-speaking people in Quebec have been fighting this, in Montreal, rather, they are upset, they are dismayed that I would be taking work away from Canadians. Robin Quivers: Oh, God! Howard Stern: They go,’Isn’t there somebody in Canada who can fill this job requirement?’ like I’m a plumber. You know, I’m sort of one of a kind. Robin Quivers: And why can’t the French people hear you? Howard Stern: Because their way of life will be disturbed, which is God knows what, speaking French. Robin Quivers: Yes, ruin that culture. Howard Stern: Yeah that culture, like that’s an important culture. Look into your culture. You know what your culture is? A bunch of snivelling cowards. I swear to God they’d be less upset if the Eiffel Tower fell over. So the French are up in arms, all good-speaking English people want me on the air, all people who are for truth and freedom and the American way, including Canadians, want me on the air. Robin Quivers: Well, Canadian people are in America. Howard Stern: Yeah, that’s right. You are Americans. You are the 51st state. So we welcome Montreal 97.7 CHOM, pronounced “shome”. Ralph: “Shome”. Robin Quivers: “Shome”? Howard Stern: [Laughing] That’s French. I am not pronouncing our station “shome”. [Everyone laughs.] It is “chom”. Ralph: Howard, I got a huge lesson on that from the people that run the station, it’s got to be “shome”. Howard Stern: No, I am changing that officially this morning . CHOM is “chom”, “shome” indicates French. We are anti-French. All people in Montreal should speak English, and that’s that. Robin Quivers: See this is what happens when you don’t declare a national language. Look at them. Howard Stern: Exactly, Robin. We should be off the air in about hour. [Everybody laughs.] In Toronto, we are CLQ, Q 107 That’s easy to say, it is not “clue” it is CLQ, it is not “qua” [both said with French accent] it is Q. Robin Quivers: It’s not “clue” [spoken in a French accent]. Howard Stern: [Phonetically] Agherrrue! It is Q107 and CHOM 97.7, it is not “shom” or “shome” [laughing]. Other comments relating to the French and French-Canadians and related issues were made during the course of the episode of September 2. A number of these follow. Howard Stern: That must be to appease the French. I’m kissing the French off anyway, I figure they won’t listen to us anyway. Robin Quivers: Well, they speak French! Howard Stern: Yeah. Merci, you bastards. [Laughing] I love it. I love broadcasting up in Canada. Robin Quivers: Au revoir. Howard Stern: Au revoir my ass. … Howard Stern: Yeah, the press has been dizzying. I can’t even explain to you the resistance, and how difficult it is to put together a deal in any Canadian market. There is such resistance. It’s never easy actually to make a deal to go on any radio station: the stations always have fears, they always have, “gee, is this going to work?” kind of thing. It’s hard to believe after all the success we’ve had – Robin Quivers: People still think there is still something special about the market they’re in. Howard Stern: Yeah. And Toronto and Montreal created problems. Montreal in particular because of the French there who are complete pussies who think that somehow speaking French is the most important thing in the world. … Robin Quivers: Oh, I love that, “we don’t need anything new, we’re tired of the new”. Howard Stern: Yeah, well how about we take away electricity, you dick. These are people – Robin Quivers: They can’t cope with new. Howard Stern: These are all letters from people who are hung up on the French way of life which is the coward’s way of life. … Caller Darrell: Howard, this is the greatest day. We are so proud that you’re up here. Ignore all those editorials; that’s Montreal and they don’t know better up there. Howard Stern: It’s a big day! [Playing Howard Stern song and singing along with it] Is in Montreal and in Toronto! Turn it on baby! Got a little penis, baby! Yeah, baby, conquering Canada! Yeah, and Robin, too! Yeah, baby! There’s a lot of angry people but we’re on in Canada! Hey, I’m singing, Frig the French! Screw the French! You’re going to have to listen to Americans now! Screw your culture and we’re invading your ass! For as long as it lasts! Sorry. Caller Darrell: Howard, let me tell you, I’ve been listening to Toronto morning radio all my life and all these just suck. Finally we have something we can enjoy and wake up in the morning and listen to, but I got to put a little damper. I don’t know if Gary has the clippings, but what they’re doing here in Toronto is putting you on a sixty second delay. Howard Stern: That’s all right. Caller Darrell: Is that okay? Howard Stern: I don’t care. Robin Quivers: Usually it’s a seventy. Howard Stern: Yeah, usually seventy. They’re actually daredevils out in Toronto. The reason they so that, by the way, let me clear that up, is not for censorship reasons. Caller Darrell: Well, that’s what they’re saying here, though. Howard Stern: The reason they do that is they need time to in our commercial breaks link up with us to know when our last commercial is. That’s all that is. Caller Darrell: But in the articles – Ralph: I didn’t have a chance to show you everything. I was going to get to this. Toronto put out this really strange press release talking about how your show is not for everybody. Howard Stern: And you know why? First of all, the deal was very difficult to put together. It was on-again off-again because first of all, when word even leaked out that we were possibly going on in Toronto, all hell broke loose. I can’t begin to tell you how insane. I could write a book just about this one deal. It was almost cancelled about ninety times because the second that anyone caught wind of it, major sponsors said they were going to pull off, not only our show but all the radio stations the group owned. Robin Quivers: The whole stations? Howard Stern: Yeah. Then, the Canadian version of the FCC was being written to before we got on the air, before the deal was even done. Caller Darrell: Yeah. Howard Stern: It’s completely out of control. Robin Quivers: Well this is going to be a fun, short ride. Caller Darrell: You’ll be number one in Toronto within six months. Howard Stern: Six months? As of seven o’clock this morning we were number one in Toronto. Ralph: There was one funny line in this press release that was interesting. They said, “that obviously the Howard Stern Show generates lots of strong public reaction, both positive and negative.” Howard Stern: And that’s why it’s here. Ralph: “Naturally, don’t expect the show to be everybody’s first, or second, or even third choice.” Howard Stern: Really? Is that what they say? Robin Quivers: Huh? What do they want, number four? Howard Stern: Wait, that’s my station? No wonder they’re dead last in the ratings. Robin Quivers: I’ve never heard of anyone saying they want to be number four. Howard Stern: Maybe they’re trying to say, you know what we’re hoping the show won’t be that successful so that people will leave us alone. They won’t complain. [Laughter.] “We don’t expect the show to be everybody’s first, or second, or even third choice.” It’s like we expect two or three listeners at the most. Please, don’t get your panties in a snit. Robin Quivers: Only our employees will listen. It’s like an in-house radio station. Howard Stern: Yeah, we control the sixty second delay in Toronto which would allow us to block content should we deem – you know what this is for, the sixty second delay, by the way, they’re not contractually not even allowed to hit it, the only time they use it is so that they can – Robin Quivers: Link up with commercials. Howard Stern: Yes. Don’t worry about that. They had to put that out so the press wouldn’t be all over their ass. Caller Darrell: Well, I’ll be part of the Howard Stern radio network and monitor things for you here. Howard Stern: You’ll be our CIA, thank you. All right, there he is, our first CIA – Robin Quivers: Wonderful. Across the border. That’s wonderful. Maybe they’re just playing on that whole controversy thing, too. To pump things up. Howard Stern: No, they don’t want any kind of diversity. And in Montreal it’s even worse, it’s unbelievable because of the French speaking – Robin Quivers: Ugh. Can we go there? Why are we here? I want to be where the action is. Howard Stern: Well, maybe we’ll take a little visit to Canada. Robin Quivers: Yeah, I would love to do that. … Howard Stern: Right. That I understand. Steve, you’re on the air. Caller Steve: Hi, Howard. Thank God you’re finally on in Montreal, I’ve been waiting for this for years. Howard Stern: So you’re an English speaking dude. Caller Steve: Yeah, I hate the French, and… Howard Stern: Everyone there hates the French. Robin Quivers: Where are you from? You have a strange accent. Caller Steve: Well, I’m Italian. Robin Quivers: Ahhh. Howard Stern: That’s okay. Italian is fine. Later in the radio program of the 2nd, there was a press conference with reporters in Montreal. The following are some of the exchanges from that press gathering. Robin Quivers: We are now open for questions. Howard Stern: I’m open for questions, Robin. Reporter Joe Singerman: Good morning, Howard. I work for CFCF television here in Montreal. You were saying earlier this morning that all you want to do is good radio and make people laugh. Howard Stern: That’s correct. Reporter Joe Singerman: Why are you doing that at the expense of French-Canadians? Why not the folks out in Iowa? Howard Stern: Well, only today I’m concentrating on the French Canadians. By tomorrow I’ll be on the people of Iowa. Robin Quivers: Why do you say it’s at the expense of? Howard Stern: I’m not doing it at their expense, I for a long time have been miffed by this Canadian attitude that if Howard Stern comes from America, therefore it’s bad for the culture or something. I mean, American culture is pervasive, we are the largest export of programming in terms of television and now radio, well of course, why would it be bad? Why is it that I’m bad but yet, you know, American television shows are allowed all over the place? Why is the controversy with me? Why is it bad to have me on? Certainly you have enough Canadian broadcasters on the dial, why shouldn’t I be allowed to broadcast into your fine country? Robin Quivers: And anything good generally breaks through. Howard Stern: Right. And quite frankly, what does it have to do with borders and all that kind of stuff. Good radio is good radio and you put it out there. Robin Quivers: You want us to stop sending you movies. Howard Stern: Yeah, we’ll do that if you want that. Reporter Joe Singerman: If I could just interject. I’m not questioning good radio or why you’re here or diversity in radio or cross cultures etc. What I’m questioning is why you’re picking on French people. Howard Stern: Oh, I’ve been picking on the French people for 15 years. I don’t like French people. I felt that during World War II France betrayed us. I believe that what they did was the most cowardly act. That when the Nazis marched into France, the French bent over. They not only accepted the Nazis and did little to fight them, but they produced. Do you know they were the number one producers of products for the Nazis during WWII? When you’re a conquered people, you can slow down production a little bit. I never saw people enthusiastically and vigorously support the Nazi regime like this by producing and putting out the greatest output of goods for the Nazis. In recent history, the French have been abusive toward America, anyway, when we were involved with our troubles in the Middle East, with Iraq and Iran, and we asked the French if we could use their air space. And of course, once again they backed down and said, “No, we don’t want to get into trouble” [imitating French accent]. Robin Quivers: I think you were talking about the Libyan raid. Howard Stern: That was the Libyan raid, right. Thank you, Robin, for correcting me. The French once again afraid. What are they afraid of? We are their ally. When I was over in France recently, Americans are looked at as dirt, as filth. We are the people that liberated them during WWII. They would be Nazis, they would be under the Nazi regime right now. They should only be kissing our asses, singing our praises. And if the French are protesting my entrance into the market, I only say bend over like you did for Hitler now that I am here and accept me. Thank you. … Ian: Okay, we have a question from Bernard St. Laurent. Reporter Bernard St. Laurent: Hi, two questions. First of all, what difference do you make between French from France and French from Quebec? Howard Stern: None. I think that the French from Quebec are as silly as the French over in France. Sitting and worrying about “we have to preserve the culture”. What culture? What culture are they preserving? What, a building? What, they have to force people, they can’t put up an English sign? It’s absolutely absurd. English is the predominant language, English is the language of big business, of productivity. Most of the people of the world speak English or Spanish. Why would you hold onto that archaic language anyway? It’s absurd. French is as relevant as Yiddish. Reporter Bernard St. Laurent: My second question is, 65% of CHOM’s audience is French-speaking, what are you going to do to keep – Robin Quivers: We’ll clear them out. Howard Stern: Well, they’re pretty much gone at this point. [laughter] Is that really true? Is 65% of the audience French-speaking? Ian: That’s right. Robin Quivers: Wow. Howard Stern: That doesn’t make sense. Ian: 65% of our audience, Howard, are bilingual Francophones. Howard Stern: Oh, that’s fine. Robin Quivers: Francophones? Howard Stern: Frankenphones. [laughter and grunting sounds] What’s a Francophone? Robin Quivers: I have no idea. Howard Stern: Well, listen. I’ll tell you this: those people – Robin Quivers: Are gone. Howard Stern: (laughter) Yeah, we’ve got bad news for ya. I had no idea. You should have told me ahead of time. I would have been a little more polite. I thought they were all English-speaking. I got some bad information. Ian: So what are you going to do? Howard Stern: Nothing. There’s nothing I can do. Robin Quivers: It’s too late. Howard Stern: It’s too late. I can’t backpedal at this point. I would have an hour ago but I didn’t realize. Robin Quivers: (laughter) You should have called. Howard Stern: French? I love ’em. (laughter).

Kevin Getz is the swing announcer at 102.1 The Edge in Toronto. He recently came out with a brand new album. What makes the album unique is that it is a spoken word album full of his radio breaks. The collection of audio is an attempt to make his audio more durable, sustainable, marketable, and less disposable. In this episode, Kevin and I talked a lot about how breaks are put together, but what happens after that break is aired. He admits he is a hoarder and that he keeps everything he airs on hard drives. By keeping all his audio, he finds there are different moments for different pieces of audio. It's also a great opportunity to be self-checking your work. We also discussed show prep and the uncomfortable subject of digital rights. This was where I used the audio super power of reaching for a past piece of audio which has context for this episode. No one has done a better job of explaining digital rights to performers than Sheri Lynch. Our episode with her in 2017 was epic. To buy Kevin's Album - go here. Net proceeds go to Thank Dog I am Out. Kevin also appeared on the Broadcast Dialogue Podcast.

This week I have fled to Quebec on business and family visiting. I did manage to get something that has been on my mind for the last couple of weeks. Why is it that the CRTC regulates the amount of Canadian music we play, but not the talk? And I am not talking about the enrichment and foreground type talk that radio did away with in 1991. I'm talking about the power of the spoken word as a form of art. A break. A bit. Think about it. Canadian radio regulations need to be reviewed and instead of focusing on Cancon for music - maybe the CRTC should be focusing on regulating who is doing the talking and from where. We also made mention of Kevin Getz's from 102.1 the Edge. He just releases an album where he monetizes his audio content. You can buy it on Apple Music, Amazon and Google Play.Kevin recently appeared on the Broadcast Dialogue podcast and you can hear the full episode and interview with Connie Thiessan right here. As for those comedians I made mention of, Joey Elias and David Acer were likely strategizing about how to manage their businesses and brands in a pandemic. In other times, I would have joined them for a coffee, but it had to be a wave and a hello from a distance. Both gentleman have made careers with comedy and performance. Joey hosted a late night show on CJAD for ten years.

He said what we were all thinking: "It's a retirement it's not a boot in the back." More often than not it's a company decision rather than a personal one to step away. This time it is the latter. After 40 years of working at Montreal's legendary CHOM 97.7, Tootall will be doing what he considered doing a year ago, before management politely asked for one more year. It's not just the radio shows he will be remembered for, but his tireless efforts at promoting Canadian music. The annual L'Esprit competition had a great run for many years and bands like the Respectables, Jonas & the Massive Attraction, Mobile and Slaves on Dope can trace their roots to that competition. Jason Rockman was a member of Slaves on Dope and took to Facebook live to salute Tootall: Tootall also interviewed just about every Canadian band before they were signed to a major record label. That includes the Tragically Hip, Moist, and Our Lady Peace. The station has always been scrutinized for the songs it plays, and the songs it doesn't play; such are the dynamics of a radio market where French is the dominant language but English music is more in demand. There's also additional legal regs beyond the well known 35% Canadian Content quota. I had the chance to work with Tootall twice. The first time in 1992 when I was an overnight DJ, and the second when I returned as Assistant Program Director in 2002. Standard Radio had just purchased CHOM from CHUM ltd., and what ensued were a bunch of nasty firings and layoffs. (Tootall made mention of that difficult time in leaving Greene Avenue altogether) Tootall's last show will be on Friday September 29th, 2017. #tootall #chom #montreal

Tom Webster is a Senior VP at Edison Research. There are a few spots on our company calendar we circle in anticipation of Tom. It's either a data release for Edison's Share of Ear, an Infinite Dial Study, or an address at Podcast Movement. This month we would have heard Tom at PM20 but with 2020 being as it is, this episode will have to serve as our fix. In this episode you will hear about some of the differences between Canadian and U.S. radio listening habits, our discussion around Pandora being unavailable in Canada, and the effects the CBC is having on our listening. We also get into podcasting's growth and what's ahead for an industry closing in on $1 Billion in ad revenue. We also revisited two of Tom's talks from Podcast Movement and discussed if your podcast needs to be in places beyond the RSS feed and if enough mainstream content is being created to satisfy America's podcast appetite. Finally Tom offers lots of advice for the independent podcaster who might be feeling the squeeze from large podcasting creators occupying most of the discovery space. We mentioned that Tom has a newsletter worth signing up for called I Hear Things. Towards the end of the episode, Tom told us how he starts his day. From his smart speaker he (and his wife) will access Up First and Curiosity Daily. Other shows mentioned included Twenty Thousand Hertz and Song Exploder. I mentioned that I have James Cridland Podnews on a flash briefing - although over 15,000 people prefer to read it instead. I referenced Tom's 2018 Podcast Movement talk - he wrote about Podcasting's Manifesto for Growth here. In 2019, Tom spoke of the two type of podcast listeners and suggested that podcast success means being in more places beyond the traditional RSS feed. A podcast may not be what you think. Thanks to Catherine O'Brien for submitting a question to the episode. Catherine does a great job making podcasts for people in Louisiana. Check out her company and her work here.

In no particular order, Julie James is the Assistant Program Director, Music Director, and an on air host at CHFI. She also oversees music for the Adult Contemporary radio stations at Rogers, and is an imaging voice for a number of them as well. For many years Julie and I worked at the same companies at the same time. We both moved out west to become program directors at about the same time. We left Standard Radio sat about the same time. We both programmed but got got into radio because of our love for music. One of the things I did not know about until we re-connected on this podcast was the struggle of being away from family. I can relate having lost my father to cancer very quickly in 2008, while being many miles from home. In this episode Julie and I talk about working from home, having to adjust while doing multiple radio tasks including imaging, music programming, music meetings, and building a home office. It's the little things like an extra monitor or a chair to endure prolonged periods of work. I also asked Julie about the AC format and how it has evolved over the last few years, some of the tools she uses to help make music decisions and what it all takes to keep great radio stations sounding awesome. We also talked about her time in Edmonton and London, Ontario programming and her eventual move back to Toronto where she has worked with Rogers since 2009. You are also going to hear the name Greg Simpson appear early in this episode. Greg was one of Julie's instructor's at Fanshawe College and many remember him form radio, as a song tracker, or Canadian Music Week organizer. (I'm adding "teacher" to the list now) Greg passed away June 15th, 2020. Julie also shared one of her Spotify Playlists which she curates to listen to some new music. Now you too can listen like Julie. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4EqvgTceuIK1q7HfCTo0TJ?si=zudwruThRxyrM24mwE5hVg Julie mentioned that she is a big fan of Rob Thomas - I was thinking about the Matchbox 20 cover of Time After Time the other day.

When we had Jenna on our podcast 18 months ago, she was in the throes on getting ousted from a gig she loved on a station where they were working hard and building a following. It's a tall order to compete in a market like Ottawa where their direct competition is #1 and have been for 15 years. Since then, Jesse and Jenna launched a podcast and with the help of Blast The Radio, they have found the podcast strut after 200 episodes. Like any podcaster who is in it for the long haul, they had to make decisions of what worked and what didn't work. What didn't work was doing a radio show on podcast. Instead they looked as each episode as a long form break. And then the numbers took off. In this episode, I catch up with Jesse and Jenna and tremendous news everyone... they are still willing to work in radio. They come equipped podcast ready, social media savvy and ready to rock quarter hours again. They are making content and much of it can be repurposed for radio. It's not all sex ya know. This is our first episode where we streamed the show and then took the audio to podcast. You can click above for the podcast stream and below to watch it all on Youtube. I'd love your feedback about this as there is a push amongst podcasters to be everywhere - and YouTube doesn't make the my cash register ring the way a podcast download does. But if you could do me a HUGE favour and Subscribe to the podcast on YouTube - that would be helpful.

Here's something you need to know about Jay Richardson. He's a really nice guy. Know what else? He's a true empathetic soul who cares. Which is why he always feels a little uneasy about the present and especially the future. However, we spoke a lot about the past in this episode. Jay is the afternoon drive host at Power 97 in Winnipeg, which is where he started the on-air portion of his radio career back in 2007. One day while worrying about the future, he came into my office and we can up with a plan that would include him being an on air personality. It wasn't long before he worked at two other radio companies, a credit union and as a salesman outside radio before return back to where he felt most comfortable - on air. Jay has also been the voice of the Winnipeg Jets inside the building. Yes, that's him announcing all the penalties, goals, assists and in-house announcements at Bell MTS Place. It's a job he has had since the days of the Manitoba Moose and we spent a fair amount of time talking about what it was like to have the Winnipeg Jets come back in 2011. Jay took a leave of absence last November from both his roles at Power 97 and the Winnipeg Jets and shares where he is at and what he has been up to. Jay was there for the opening of the Jets return to NHL action in 2011; announcing the starting lineup on National TV. He admitted in the podcast that he threw up because of sheer nerves. We also talked about the late Devon Zelmer who left us far too soon back in 2014. I made reference to the Biased Sports Report which was as funny on air as it is now online.

Lochlin Cross is the morning show host at Cruz 95.7 in Edmonton along with Grant Johnston and James White. He spent time in Winnipeg and Edmonton programming two heavy hitter rock stations in Power 97 and K-Rock 97.3. Which got switched back to K97 at some point but we were too lazy to look it up. He also did on air stints at other rock powerhouses like 100.3 The Bear in Edmonton and the Max in Prince George. And why doesn't he play Rush? And what's the deal with the Harmonica he whips out at concerts and on the LRT? And is it true he doesn't like to appear on podcasts? Well apparently that last part isn't true. He has appeared on a few podcasts including this one with Dean Blundell. Also does Rush really hate Winnipeg? No. They just hadn't played the market until 2012 because it's easier to play 50,000 at the Rose Bowl instead of 5 in the Peg. Here's the Loc'r serenading Edmonton's LRT after a few beers.