No Sleep Til Sudbury With Brent Jensen

Rock documentary The Story of the Hard Luck 5 tells the fascinating tale of New Jersey band Rye Coalition, a group loved by Dave Grohl and signed by one of the world's largest record labels. They seemed destined to take over the world, until it all imploded. Rye Coalition drummer Dave Leto joins me this week to recount the unbelievable series of events the band experienced, along with some great stories about Dave Grohl and Interscope mogul Jimmy Iovine.        Leto's playlist (on Spotify): Neil Young - Birds Prince - The Beautiful Ones Donny Hathaway - Jealous Guy The Rolling Stones - She Smiled Sweetly Pixies - Where Is My Mind   

Shortly after it occurred, it was widely believed that the death of INXS singer Michael Hutchence was the result of autoerotic asphyxiation - a sex game gone wrong.  This week on NSTS I wanted to dig a little deeper to shed some additional light onto the circumstances surrounding Hutchence's unfortunate passing, because there was a whole lot more going on than just sex games - a larger, important truth exists under the tabloidification.          

The energy and enthusiasm that guitarist Sean Kelly brings to describing the songs that make his skin vibrate is unparalleled. Sean takes the notion of skin vibration very literally with his songs, and it was a joy for me to experience his excitement during our chat on NSTS this week.     In addition to his enthusiasm, Sean shares impressive musical insights and an honest sentimentality that makes this show special. Highlights include a funny Dee Snider conversation, why he never wants to meet Pye Dubois, the unique way the new Lee Aaron record was written, and so much more. Sean Kelly is living his dream, and it's a lot of fun to behold.      Kelly's playlist (in Spotify): Kim Mitchell – Kids In Action Urge Overkill – Sister Havana Mott the Hoople – All The Young Dudes Thin Lizzy – Cowboy Song Daniel Lanois – The Maker  

Andy Curran is back on NSTS this week to talk about the five-ish songs that make his skin vibrate - he actually sneaks a few extra tunes in! Before that, we finish up last week's discussion detailing how Coney Hatch's excellent new new live record Live at the El Mocambo came together.      Along with the song discussion, there are more incredible stories. Andy recounts how Robin Zander took his request and played his favourite Cheap Trick song for him during their Toronto show, what it was like seeing an unknown opening act called AC/DC open for UFO at Massey Hall in Toronto, and much more.  Don't miss this.    Curran's playlist (on Spotify): Aerosmith - Nobody's Fault Cheap Trick - Auf Weidersehen Tom Petty - Into The Great Wide Open Deep Purple - Highway Star AC/DC - Overdose (Van Halen - Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love)

As a Coney Hatch fan from waaaaay back, it was a privilege for me to host Coney singer and bassist Andy Curran this week. The band has released their new live record, Coney Hatch Live at the El Mocambo, recorded in October 2020 at the historic Toronto venue.  Andy has some tremendous rock stories, and he shares many of them with me in this episode - playing tennis on the road with Iron Maiden's Steve Harris and getting pelted with cutlery on stage opening up for Judas Priest among them. You don't want to miss this.          

Since its inception, Heavy Metal has spawned a countless number of subgenres. Black Metal is one of them, and in the early 1990s Norwegian Black Metal became more than just a musical subgenre. It developed into a violent, deeply sinister belief system.  In this episode of No Sleep 'til Sudbury, we examine the dark origins and horrifying transgressions associated with the genre - Satanism, murder and corpse mutilation, church burnings, and the disturbing extremism of Norwegian Black Metal's purveyors.       

Longtime NSTS listeners know that I love speaking with up-and-coming musical talent on the show. And I anticipate that country singer songwriter Nelson Sobral will be a well-known name fairly soon.    Nelson's imaginative with the instrumentation he utilizes in his country-inflected material, a nod to his sophisticated musical tastes - something he credits to his mother. We talk Crowes, Otis Redding, The Ronettes, Howling Wolf....and we see things very, very similarly.  Sobral's playlist (available in Spotify): The Ronettes – Be My Baby The Black Crowes – Sting Me Willie Nelson – Can I Sleep in Your Arms Otis Redding – I Love You More Than Words Can Say Howlin’ Wolf – 300 lbs of Joy

This week on NSTS I welcome back one of the industry's 'good guys', Jitters frontman Blair Packham. Blair is a friend and it's always a pleasure to have him on the show.  In addition to chatting about the new record he's currently working on and his skin-vibrating songs, we also discuss how his dad inadvertently named his last record, the interesting story behind how Blair became acquainted with Crowded House's Temple of Low Men record, what Malcolm Gladwell sees him as, and how he really feels about Elvis Costello's lyrical cleverness.  Packham's playlist (available in Spotify): Ron Sexsmith - Speaking With The Angel Elvis Costello - Shipbuilding Tom Petty - Dreamville Crowded House - I Feel Possessed John Legend - Everybody Knows      

This week on NSTS I speak with someone whose parents I watched on television as a kid - her mom is Cindy Williams, who played Shirley from Laverne & Shirley, and her dad is Bill Hudson of the Hudson Brothers. Her name is Emily Taylor Hudson, and she's a super talented singer songwriter with brand new music available.     Emily and I have a really great chat in this episode. Her new single is "Hearts We Wanna Break", from her EP entitled Love is a Dirty Word. We also talk about her deep appreciation for the classics - old school Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles' "Julia", and more.  Wonderful discussion.  Hudson's playlist (found here on Spotify) The Beatles - Revolution Enya - Caribbean Blue Marvin Gaye - Ain't That Peculiar Joni Mitchell - The Last Time I Saw Richard Sting - If I Ever Lose My Faith In You   

As he did in life, Doors frontman and rock icon Jim Morrison also commands mystique in death. The circumstances surrounding his death are mysterious and unclear - if he did in fact even die.  This week No Sleep 'til Sudbury examines the multiple theories associated with Morrison's passing, including the assertions made by some who claim he's alive and living on a farm in Oregon under the name Bill Loyer.   

It's here. NSTS episode number 200! While much has changed since the very first episodes of No Sleep 'til Sudbury were released in April 2017, the premise of the show remains the same - to celebrate music's power to connect us and enrich our lives.  The last four years have been quite a trip, I must say. The conversations and exchanges, the new friendships, and the shared music have all made for some truly life-enriching experiences, ones I feel very fortunate to have enjoyed. I wasn't sure what would happen when I clicked on 'publish' that very first time back in 2017. But I couldn't be more glad I did.  Episode 200 is a tribute to all of these experiences, and a tip of my hat to all of the people who delivered them to me.  As No Sleep 'til Sudbury turns 4, I sincerely thank everyone, guests and listeners alike, for making it all possible.               

My guest this week is Jonathan Gross, a former rock critic, Rolling Stone contributor, and music promoter who brought Run DMC, The Beastie Boys and other New York City hip hop acts up to Canada in the early 80s.  The chat that Jonathan and I have about his songs is sentimental, funny, and fascinating all at the same time. Bad breakups, getting to first base (and a half), the beauty of nostalgia, the 70s Toronto music scene, Steve Rubell, Jon's relationship with Ric Ocasek of The Cars, The Beatles versus The Stones... it all gets covered in this episode.   Gross' playlist (Spotify – NSTS Episode 199 - Jonathan Gross): Hall & Oates - She's Gone Goo Goo Dolls - Name Boston - More Than A Feeling The Cars - My Best Friend's Girl The Beach Boys - Surfer Girl               

Back in November when he was still known as Jordan Paul, Ellis Meek was scheduled to appear on the show as part of the NSTS Steam Whistle live on location series. He declined as a safety precaution, feeling slightly under the weather, but as it turned out Ellis became seriously ill with COVID. This week he returns to NSTS to talk about his recovery, how his illness impacted him, and his new outlook on life. His Spotify playlist is available here: Spotify – NSTS Episode 198 - Ellis Meek       Meek's playlist: The Beatles – It’s All Too Much   Lonnie Holley – All Rendered Truth Harry Nilsson – One Neil Young – Bandit Jefferson Airplane – Today      

Ray Coburn, original Honeymoon Suite keyboard player and current Roger Hodgson keys man, is my guest this week on NSTS, and we have a wonderfully giddy chat about our favourite music.  We cover all kinds of ground in this episode - the genius of Brian Wilson, the peculiar ambivalence of The Carpenters, the spirituality of George Harrison, what it's like to perform alongside former Supertramp frontman Roger Hodgson, the beauty of musical nostalgia, and so much more. And to close the show, Ray also very graciously asks what my skin vibrating songs are. Highly enjoyable conversation.       NEW FEATURE! A Spotify NSTS playlist is now available to you so that you can listen to the songs as we discuss them. Here's the link to this week's playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5A2fPMtOs5QMo5LQW1yCJO     Coburn's playlist: George Harrison – Isn’t It A Pity Emerson Lake & Palmer – Endless Enigma and Fugue Joni Mitchell – Court & Spark The Carpenters – Goodbye To Love The Beach Boys – Surf’s Up

Goddo bassist, rock icon, and author Greg Godovitz is my guest this week on NSTS. His new book is called Up Close and Uncomfortable, reaching back to his earlier days before the musical career he describes in his first book, Travels With My Amp.       Greg shares a few of his stories on the show, including his adventures with the Sinister Scout Master, his friendship with famed producer Eddie Kramer, his exposure to Black Magic in England, and much more. We also talk about his next book project, which I suggest should be called "The Third Verse Is The Same As The First" (Goddo fans will get it).  Godovitz's playlist: The Beatles - Here, There, and Everywhere The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset The Beatles - In My Life The Beach Boys - God Only Knows The Rolling Stones - Time Is On My Side  

If you want to have a great chat about music, Montreal-based radio personality, podcaster, and musician Jeremy White is your guy. He's my guest this week on NSTS, and it was a discussion I thoroughly enjoyed.  Jeremy touches on all kinds of topics - how Yngwie Malmsteen almost killed him, the bionic ears of Mutt Lange, why Eddie Van Halen should never be called a shredder, how the 80s impacted KISS and Alice Cooper, and so much more. But most importantly, his outlook on music reminded me how important it is to be less critical and to just enjoy music for what it is - that a good song is just a good song. White's playlist: Van Halen – Top of the World Shania Twain – She’s Not Just a Pretty Face Def Leppard – Armageddon It   KISS – Unholy Bryan Adams – Don’t Drop That Bomb On Me    

I haven't seen my pal, former VH1 veejay and current Q104.3 New York on-air personality Ian O'Malley, for more than a year. We decided last week we'd catch up via the show and talk about the songs that have been making his skin vibrate lately given the current times.  O'Malley can always be relied upon to bring some very compelling conversation, and some great stories too - this time around we chat about John Mayer, Judas Priest's Rob Halford, and an incredible tale about Stevie Ray Vaughn.       O'Malley's playlist: Stevie Ray Vaughn - Life Without You John Mayer - In Repair Judas Priest - Tyrant Extreme - When I'm President   

Famed music producer Phil Spector died in jail a few days ago, and his legacy begs the question - was he a musical genius who committed murder, or a murderer who happened to be a musical genius?  This week NSTS breaks down the bizarre life of Phil Spector, from the question of his parents being relatives, through his legendary successes as a songwriter and producer, his culture of abuse and cruelty, his alcohol and drug-crazed gun-wielding episodes in the studio, and his conviction for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson.        

Given the interest in NSTS Episode 171, "Bizarre Musical Conspiracy Theories", I elected to return to the territory this week and examine perhaps the greatest rock and roll hoax of them all - the 'Paul is Dead' conspiracy theory.  Such an interesting phenomenon to delve into - the assertion that Beatle Paul McCartney secretly died in a car accident in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike, with all kinds of hidden clues subsequently provided by the remaining Beatles on album covers and in song lyrics. This week's episode looks at the most intriguing aspects of the theory, including the impacts the phenomenon would have on pop culture in the decades to follow.             

It's my pleasure this week to host Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's on NSTS from her home in Austin, Texas to chat about her fantastic memoir All I Ever Wanted, and of course, the songs that make her skin vibrate.  Kathy and I have a great down-to-earth discussion about the incredible events she's experienced in life, both good and bad. She also shares what she had really hoped to convey in her book, how music helped her to feel normal, and how that unorthodox electronic handclap found its way into my favourite Go-Go's song, "Head Over Heels".             Valentine's playlist: David Bowie - Rebel Rebel Rod Stewart - Maggie May Kenny Burrell - 'Round Midnight The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U