It's the week of March 8th...

Coming to a radio near you...another edition of the Strombo Show kicks off today at 5 pm EST on these Corus Radio stations:

The Edge 102.1 (Toronto)
The Fox 99.3 (Vancouver)
Power 97 (Winnipeg)
Y108 (Hamilton)
FM96 (London)

This week on The Hour....

Monday, March 9th


"In war, truth is the first casualty."
~ Greek playwright and soldier Aeschylus (b. 525 BC d. 456 BC)

Back in Aeschylus' time this quote was indeed accurate. Today, the combination of modern technology and the work of embedded journalists brings the truth about war into our homes. "AT WAR" is the story of award winning documentary filmmaker Scott Kesterson's experiences watching the front line through his camera lense.

The following clip is an example of Scott's work (not suitable for children). The soldiers are our guys, Alpha Company, 2nd Platoon, the "Red Devils" from Edmonton. The scene is a dawn raid on a Taliban compound in 2006. It's the TRUTH of what our soldiers face in Afghanistan everyday. I love the comment the soldier makes at the end of the clip.

And on a much lighter note, Natalie Brown, star of the CBC series "Sophie"

Tuesday, March 10th

Boy meets girl. Boy asks girl to marry him. Boy needs to find a best man. Boy finds best man, but alienates his fiancee in the process. This is a synopsis for the soon to be released movie, I Love You, Man. The two male leads, Paul Rudd and Jason Segel are on The Hour.

If you are a regular CBC News viewer, then the name Joe Schlesinger is likely familiar to you. Born in Austria in the late 20's, Schlesinger eventually emigrated to Canada, working as a translator for the Associated Press. In 1966 he began a nearly thirty year tenure with the CBC. Schlesinger is one of the most respected foreign correspondents this country has ever seen and he has witnessed some of the most signifcant events in history. This June, Joe Schlesinger will be the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Journalism Foundation.

Wednesday March 11th

As we all know, things are not going well with global economy. Many Canadians are worried about job security, while others have already felt the effects of the crisis and are among the growing numbers of the unemployed. Need help? Author and career coach Alan Kearns, founder of CareerJoy, may well be able to offer some insights as to how best one can navigate the bumpy waters of today's job market.

Tattoos. What do you think when you see one? Do you make a judgement about the wearer of the body art? I think tattoos, particularly on women, are more accepted today then they were years ago, in part due to the success of shows such as Miami Ink and LA Ink. In my teen years, I remember my paternal grandmother commenting 'nice girls don't get tattoos". I'm sure if Grandma were still alive and viewed a photo of Kat Von D and her body of work, she would be completely mortified. Fortunately, the apple fell far from the tree and while I myself do not have any tattoos, I appreciate the artistry of the craft. Kat is currently on tour to promote her new book, High Voltage Tatoo.

Thursday, March 12th

In an EXCLUSIVE interview, Juno Award winning musician Bif Naked will sit down for a one-on-one chat. Bif was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and first announced this publically during a radio interview with George during the Strombo Show. You can check out Bif's website here.

That was then...

...this is now.

To say that John D. Roberts has done okay for himself would be an understatement. Canadians remember him as "JD Roberts", host of The NewMusic and co-host of Canada AM. Our neighbours to the south know him as a weekend anchor on CBS and currently as the co-anchor of CNN's American Morning. This week, John, the winner of three Emmy Awards, will be inducted into Canada's Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame.

Friday, March 13

In case you missed them the first time...

Legendary Canadian band RUSH.

Funny man Howie Mandel.

In other news...

In case you missed it on their blog, in June, The Hour will win a Gracie Award in the Outstanding Talk Show Category - Public Television Division. This is an award sponsored by the American Women in Radio and Television, honouring programming for, by, and about women.

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The Strombo Show Observed

As you may know, The Strombo Show is hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos. It can be heard nationally on the Corus radio network every Sunday afternoon (5-8 pm EST / 2-5 pm PST). The show feeds to Y108 (Hamilton), FM96 (London), Power 97 (Winnipeg), 102.1 The Edge (Toronto) and The Fox (Vancouver)...

Let’s talk about what goes on at the radio station when George is doing his radio show.

You can find The Edge just outside Toronto's Eaton’s Centre on Yonge Street between Dundas and Queen Street. This past Sunday I was shopping in the Eaton’s Centre spending a little gift card money and I decided to stop by The Strombo Show to drop off a friend’s CD I was telling George about.

When I arrived in the street level studio, George was still prepping for the show with his radio crew. I got greeted, and waited my turn to chat with George about Blake Walters' CD, specifically my enjoyment of the song Mr. Exorcist. Not exactly The Edge’s style… but George might enjoy it. I give you the link to Blake Walters myspace page because you might enjoy it too.
I decided to stay in the studio and observe for a little while. I noticed Jim Richards of CFRB walking in to talk to his good buddy George. I made sure I had a chance to talk to Jim before he left. I am a fan.

Another person that was at the show that night was the publicist for Bif Naked. I saw her obvious concern for her client. She looked as worried as any relative or friend would be because Bif Naked was about to publicly reveal for the first time on air that she had breast cancer. It had been diagnosed very soon after her honeymoon. It was sad and inspirational to listen to Bif talk about her experiences with it. She has Punk attitude and she will need it. Good on her for being so brave and I wish her the best.

At the commercials I talked to Bob Mackowycz Jr. I told him stories I am not telling you, and asked his advice about stuff that will never go on air... is all I am saying and, he gave me a donut. I know, you're jealous about the donut. I understand.

I watched George's myspace page and facebook page from the other side. Not as a commenter and listener like I would be on any other Sunday but as an observer of the crew that monitors and reports to George on the comments being made by the participating audience (many of whom are friends).

A hopeful young musician also walked in that night to give George his band’s brand new CD called "Only Human". George asked him a bit about it, and played about 20 seconds of it, then let Matt know to hang around, he may play it on the show. As soon as I heard the 20 seconds of that track I had to go talk to that musician. I was impressed with what I had heard and I told him so. Matt Coatsworth is the 22 year old drummer in a young Toronto band called Isle of Thieves. {Vocals/Guitar: Japeth Lead Guitar: Mike Marsh Synths/Vocals: Justin Kwan Bass Guitar: Charles Canovas.}

Matt and I got to talking. I asked him about what brought him to this moment. The band had been together 2 years but they had not played in front of an audience more than 15 times. The five of them had worked hard in those two years rehearsing and working day jobs, pouring every spare penny into producing that CD. They had budgeted a good chunk of change to get it done right.
You can find some of that story on their myspace page.

That was not the only story going on behind the scenes at The Strombo show. A half dozen more musicians showed up to give George their CD’s and hoped for airplay too… They all chatted and networked as they listened to the radio show going on in front of them.

Near the end of the last hour of the show I saw George ask his tech to set up that Isle of Thieves CD... 'get it ready'. You could tell Matt was excited to have this opportunity to have his band's hard work played on radio for the first time. It was kind of like being at a baptism.
The CD was born and needed to be introduced officially to society.
I took pictures with my cell phone of Matt talking about the CD on air to George and of the moment the song was played on air to the nation wide audience of The Strombo Show.

Great moment!

Bob was very impressed with the way Matt promoted the band like a pro and was impressed by the song as well as he tells this to Matt off air in this photograph.


The Strombo show was finished for another Sunday night.

I walked out of the studio that night feeling like I saw a bit of magic happen.
I said goodbye to Matt and wished him the best of luck with his career.
As Matt walked across the street... he leaped in the air and gave a great cheer to express his joy about the outcome of the evenings events. I don't think his feet touched the ground for the rest of the evening... Another great moment!

I got a quote back from Japeth who is the songwriter and does vocals and Guitar for the band.

I wanted to know what the bands reaction was when they heard the song on the radio.
This is what he told me.

"I actually didn't hear the song on the radio directly - I heard it through a cell phone. Our guitarist, Mike, called his girlfriend and she placed her phone against the radio speakers. So there we were, the entire band sans Matt, gathered around a cell phone in a pub. I think the circumstances just added to the uniqueness of the experience. We did not we plan on sending Matt to the Edge studio on that night. The plan for the night was to go to a pub and simply celebrate the completion of the album. When Matt told us he was going to give the album to George, I didn't really think it was going to end up on the air. So it was quite a surprise. I was definitely excited, and happy to hear the track on the radio. We all were. I had always dreamed of hearing my songs on the radio since I was a kid, so when it happened, it felt right. It felt nothing less than perfect.I missed Matt's interview but I do know that he is a natural at promoting us. lol. Do you know if transcripts of the show are available? The gathering around the cell phone was nice, but hearing the whole thing clearly might even be better!!"
Japeth

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