July 26, 2008
Posted by Philly Markowitz on July 26, 2008 at 08:21 AM
Why get out of bed? Lay about instead and listen to 3 great shows coming your way this morning:
Stuart devotes all of this week's edition of the Vinyl Café to cover tunes. You'll hear Stuart's faves, plus a couple of - how can we say this politely? - ill-considered re-workings of well-known tunes. There's also one song Stuart had heard more than a hundred times before he learned, to his shock, that it was - you guessed it - a cover.
Today on
Deep Roots Tom Power will uncover the music of
Eva Scow, a young mandolin phenom who focuses on the music of Brazil. Eva started playing piano at age 3, later adding violin and mandolin. After studying classical music for 10 years, she discovered Brazilian music and her fate was set. She has played with the likes of David Grisman and Bela Fleck, and has even graced the stage of Carnegie Hall!
There's also music from a movie-star bluesman Chris Thomas King, who creates music that echoes the characters he’s played in such films as O Brother Where Art Thou?; James Hill, the Canadian Ukelele master (as he likes to say, "seriously!") who pushes the limitations of the four-stringed chordophone; and the latest from stalwart Canadian songstress Kathleen Edwards. Her latest album Asking for Flowers is garnering raves here at home, in the USA and worldwide.
And finally, today on Inside the Music we’re taking a look at legendary blues musician Buddy Guy, an artist whose dynamic guitar playing helped to define the sound of Chicago’s Chess Records. While he was on that label, Guy played with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson.
“First Time I Met the Blues: The Buddy Guy Story” is hosted by Dan Aykroyd, the Canadian actor who was one-half of The Blues Brothers. You’ll hear how deeply influential Guy has been, especially with English rock musicians who grew up worshipping his work. In addition to an extensive interview with the blues master himself, the program features comments from his longtime partner Junior Wells, Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Mick Fleetwood.
May 31, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on May 31, 2008 at 08:01 AM
Today Stuart McLean brings you a tale of wedding woe. So common, those wedding woe tales. In this case the woe begins when when Morley’s old friend Lesley announces that she is getting remarried and Morley realizes she has to not only don a bridesmaid dress, (probably in seafoam green), but also deal with someone's "issues."
The issues belong to Lesley’s daughter Kate, who seems angry and resentful that her mother is marrying a man who is closer to Kate’s age than to Lesley’s. While Morley struggles with whether she should tell her friend about Kate’s feelings, Kate struggles with her “toast to the bride” and Dave struggles to get into and then out of Lesley’s wedding gown. (!)
Non-regional regional note ("regions" no longer being proper CBC parlance): Today the Vinyl Café comes to you from Rosebud, Alberta, with special musical guest Corb Lund, the horse soldier guy.
May 24, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on May 24, 2008 at 06:00 AM
Earlier this month musicians including Stompin' Tom Connors, Bryan Adams, Edith Butler and Robert Charlebois were honoured when Canada Post announced they'd be issuing stamps featuring these performers in 2009.
"The mandate of the stamp program is to celebrate Canada and its diverse people, its major accomplishments, rich history, traditions and natural beauty" said Bob Waite, Chairman of the Stamp Advisory Committee and Senior vice president, Corporate Social Responsibility at Canada Post.
And then a biologist in the United States named a new species of spider after Neil Young, the Myrmekiaphila Neilyoungi. Young was "worthy of that honor" because he's been an activist for social and political issues, said East Carolina University biologist Jason Bond, quoted in Associated Press.
But none of that, none of that, can top this news: Taylor Urbshott of Wiarton, Ontario has named a cow after Vinyl Café host, Stuart McLean.
What qualities does Stuart embody that warrant this great honour? I don't know, but I have it on good authority that the cow is "troubled" and "high maintenance".
May 17, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on May 17, 2008 at 08:00 AM
Stuart McLean confesses this week. Yes, he owns up, comes clean. Again. There are more words he can't pronounce. And they include a surprisingly familiar fruit. (Stuart, apple isn't that hard, no, really, just think "ap" as in, um, "ap." Then "pple" like "pull." It's easy, really!)
As well as the fruit-pronunciation issues, today on the show he also offers an apology to the bay leaf (I'm not sure why, perhaps he's neglected to put them in spaghetti sauces all these years) and talks about the Theremin. Now to me Theremin is as easy to say as falling off an apple, but I guess if you are not a devotee of somewhat unusual instruments it might present a challenge. However, I offer another even more challenging instrument for Stuart's consideration: The Ondes Martenot.
Tune in to the Vinyl Café for a giggle, and to find out the truth about the unpronounceable fruit.
May 10, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on May 10, 2008 at 09:00 AM
Today on Le Café Vinyl, you can hear a concert from Smithers, B.C. with Murray McLauchlan. Not only that, but host Stuart McLean and Mr. McLauchlan apparently re-create an old-style radio drama, live on stage.
Not sure if they had a foley artist, but I hope so. Any good radio drama needs some banging together of coconut shells (galloping horses) and thumping of watermelons (punching).
The "drama" tells the story of “Eggs Blackstone,” by the way, and according to my sources, gets "a little out of hand."
April 26, 2008
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 26, 2008 at 08:52 AM
In a concert recorded in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Stuart McLean welcomes musical guests Rita Chiarelli, Rodney Brown and the Kam Valley Fiddlers to the Vinyl Cafe this weekend.
Stuart has the story of how Sam's friend Murphy finds his father's old chemistry set in the basement. When Sam and Murphy start to experiment with it, things go with a bang - a very loud bang.
Suggested companion reading: Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, by Oliver Sacks.
April 19, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on April 19, 2008 at 03:00 AM
Stuart remembers two late, great Canadian musicians on the Vinyl Café today -- Jeff Healey and Willie P. Bennett. As you may know, there are also two upcoming public tributes to Jeff Healey, which you can get more information about here.
The whole show is about music this week, as Stuart plays a recording of a brand new Danny Michel song: it was recorded on tour and it is one of the first times Danny ever played the song. He talks about Danny's new album, why he loves it, and why everyone should carry a mechanical monkey with them at all times. (And there I thought it was a rubber chicken...)
April 12, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on April 12, 2008 at 07:00 AM
The Vinyl Cafe comes from Winkler, Manitoba this morning, with musical guests Dala and Bob King.
And Stuart tells the story of how Stephanie’s boyfriend Tommy and his family become obsessed with an old lottery ticket Tommy’s grandfather left behind – unscratched – when he died.
The question they ask is should they scratch it and perhaps win, thus getting to hold up the giant cheque with stunned glassy eyes and fixed smiles, or leave it unscratched, forever a focus for hopes and dreams? Talk about potential pleasure deferred, not to mention self-discipline! Of course, I haven't heard how it turns out yet.
April 05, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on April 5, 2008 at 07:00 AM
Stuart McLean is back at the Vinyl Café after a five-week tour of the Prairies.
Today on the show he talks about some of the unique prairie encounters he had, from experiencing the most popular water in the west, to his newfound knowledge about why it’s a good idea to wear body armour if you’re planning to enter a hardware store in northern Saskatchewan.
Let's see...hardware-stores doubling as venues for musical theatre? Defense against killer mosquitoes? Or maybe proprietors who play darts when business is slow.
I really can't imagine. But Stuart can, he's been. And today he'll tell all.
March 29, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on March 29, 2008 at 02:59 AM
No, that's not the kind of woodsman Stuart McLean wants to be. (And who would, come to think of it.) But Stuart has always hankered after being the kind of woodsman who knows which plants are edible, how to make a fire by rubbing a pine needle against a blade of grass, that sort of thing. But, like so many of us woods-people wannabes, he has never acquired the know how.
Nonetheless, Stuart has other gifts, skills he says make him an urban woodsman -- and that you can hear all about on Saturday's broadcast of The Vinyl Café.
March 22, 2008
Posted by Peter Cook on March 22, 2008 at 08:02 AM
This week's Vinyl Cafe (10:00 am, 10:30 NT) is a new show from the Stephen Leacock Theatre in Keswick, Ontario. The musical guest is powerhouse singer/songwriter Serena Ryder (perhaps you'll tire of me saying this but Serena Ryder was another Canada Live/CoD discovery for me).
A little preview:
Dave's shoelace breaks at an inopportune time, and he hastily replaces it with the first shoelace he can find in the family's basement - a hockey skate lace. A week or two later, the forgotten lace still in shoe, Dave and the family are spending the weekend away in the Adorondak mountains. Dave decided to try the treadmill in the hotel fitness room and . . . .
March 15, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on March 15, 2008 at 02:00 AM
Saturday morning Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe presents music from the legendary Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, Quebec, with singer-songwriters Danny Michel and 17-year-old Meredith Luce. Then Stuart tells the story about how attending an odd funeral leaves Dave obsessed with planning the details of his own service. (Kind of a "Six Feet Under" meets the Vinyl Café moment, perhaps?)
March 08, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on March 8, 2008 at 04:39 AM
What is it about locked schools and kids? You'd think with all the time kids spend in school, they wouldn't long to go inside when the place was closed. (Or on the roof, speaking from ancient personal history.) And yet they do.
This weekend on the Vinyl Cafe Stuart has a tale of one such incident, when Sam and his pal Murphy, in an effort to right some mysterious wrong, sneak in to their school after hours. (OK, so they have a motive, in this case. Although the possibility of a cache of overthrown balls seemed not a bad one at the time either, as I recall. Why did that janitor have to show up right at that moment?)
But back to the Vinyl Café -- this weekend the concert comes from Fredericton, where you can also hear singer-songwriters Dan Hill and Jill Barber.
Also on the VC tip -- have you seen the Vinyl Café's new and improved website? Fun.
March 01, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on March 1, 2008 at 12:00 AM
I don't think it's actually a genre, but you can hear at least one example Saturday morning on the Vinyl Café, when Stuart tells a story about how Dave’s neighbour Jim finds out his 20-year old Tabby cat has a problematic thyroid. This results in having to give her a pill everyday, and he ends up hiring a obsessive cat-sitter to look after her.
There's also music from The Be Good Tanyas on today's show. Now, their biggest "hit" is probably The Littlest Birds (...sing the prettiest songs...). Hmm, cat stories, bird songs, could there be a connection? Probably not. But you'll have to listen to the show today, which comes from Whistler B.C., to know for sure.
February 23, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on February 23, 2008 at 12:00 AM
In an attempt to google the word "Pluto" Vinyl Café host Stuart McLean accidentally typed in "Pluots" and this led to a world of wonders...about fruit.
So today he explores a topic you have all been waiting for him to one day explore -- the crossbreeding of fruits. Why, it's almost as obsessive and weird as the world of cross-bred dogs, Scnoodles and the like. Only here it's plums and apricots, watermelons with cumquats and even some inter-species breeding. (Ooh la la!)
Maybe (although we hope not) one day the two pursuits will marry, as it were, and we'll have cross-bred fruits n' pets. A dog and an apple? A Dapple, of course. A cat and a peach -- A Pat. You know Pats, they always sit around carefully washing their fuzzy selves.
February 16, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on February 16, 2008 at 09:00 AM
It’s a tough time of year. Bad weather. Not enough holidays. (Except in Ontario, where they get Family Day on Monday. Hey, gimme a break, Family Day, let's just admit it's February Blues Day.)
But for others, there is little of good cheer at this time of year. (Poet, know it.) So Stuart McLean, on the Vinyl Café, decides to take the blues route to curing the blues -- sometimes the way to make yourself feel better is by listening to sad songs. So get out the handkerchiefs and start chopping onions, because this week, Vinyl Café is going to make you cry anyway.
February 09, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on February 9, 2008 at 08:00 AM
This week on the Vinyl Cafe, Hayden plays music off his just-released album In Field & Town and Stuart McLean has a brand new Dave & Morley story. Dave and Morley set sail on a cruise of the Caribbean, and after the ship leaves port they realize that the are the youngest people on the boat by a generation, maybe two. This, apparently, is not what they had in mind!
February 02, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on February 2, 2008 at 09:05 AM
In the Vinyl Cafe this morning, the story of a car trunk and a rat. Really. Host Stuart McLean will explain how Dave’s shopping trip to buy a gift for Sam winds up with him locked into the trunk of his car with a rat. Now, just the other day I heard an interview on The Current about how rats are much maligned, that new research shows that really, they're kind of nice, if only we'd give them a chance. I have a one word response to that. Willard!
On the non-rat, musical front, you can also hear part of a concert recorded in Stirling, Ontario, with musical guests Cuff the Duke.
January 26, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on January 26, 2008 at 08:00 AM
Today on the Vinyl Cafe, Stuart talks about his good friend and neighbour who has shown him many kindnesses over the years, and about his intentions to repay her. He could actually shovel her snow himself, but instead pays a fellow who’s down on his luck to do the job. When a key goes missing he wonders if he did more harm than good? Uh oh.
January 19, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on January 19, 2008 at 08:00 AM
Funny how when you start talking dentists, often someone sheepishly admits they haven't gone in (Fill In The Blank) years. I don't know how dentists feel about this, although when I trundle in for the rest of a root canal this week I may ask -- if I can manage that in between the little saws sawing, the jaw propped open, and the general atmosphere of terror.
OK, stop right there. That last description explains EXACTLY why people sometimes stay away.
Case in point, on the Vinyl Cafe this morning, after a ten-year hiatus from the dentist (following an event where Dave ended up gnawing on the dentist's finger like a dog with a bone -- talk about occupational hazards) Dave ends up back in the chair. Both he and the dentist are nervous about Dave’s return and, as a result, they go overboard on the freezing.
On a much jollier front (and what wouldn't be, you may ask), musical guests today are the classical comedy group The Joe Trio, and banjoist Rae Spoon.
January 12, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on January 12, 2008 at 08:00 AM
Or at least, of five-year-olds. Such a child recently asked Stuart McLean, "Why do we have a new year? What's wrong with the old one?" and today on the Vinyl Cafe Stuart takes a stab at answering that question. I've often wondered myself, particularly since if we didn't have a new year, we'd all be spared all the New Year's Eve hoopla. I'm sure Guy Lombardo would have felt differently though.
January 05, 2008
Posted by Li Robbins on January 5, 2008 at 08:00 AM
There's been a fair number of "best-of" moments on radio shows in the past week. But most shows have pulled clips etc. from the past year. The Vinyl Café goes far deeper into the vaults though, by presenting the most-requested moments from the past fifteen – yes fifteen – years this morning. Highlights include the story of Roger Woodward, who, as a young boy, went over Niagara Falls protected by nothing but a life-jacket. Stuart McLean tells this incredible – but true – story.
Fifteen years, egad. I wonder how many producer/listening hours that took? (Thinking as a some-time radio producer myself.) I'm sure it's worth it for V. Café fans though, so if you count yourself among that number, don't forget to tune in today!
December 29, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on December 29, 2007 at 09:00 AM
The other night I was watching the Coen brothers movie movie "Fargo." There's a scene where two people are standing in a driveway talking about police business, and it's a little awkward, until one of them looks to the sky and makes a comment about the weather.
Ah yes, weather, the great leveler. The one topic, in northern climes, we seem never to tire of. Some of us, in fact many of us, even find the extraordinarily neutral music on the Weather Network so soothing that we are able to watch the local forecast every ten on the tens in a state akin to a Zen calm.
So it's no surprise that the Vinyl Cafe 10:00 (10:30 NT) takes on weather -- today it's all about snow squalls, and white Christmas' and, yup, weather.
Say, what's it doing out your way? Been crazy here lately, snow then rain then a little warm patch, looks like we won't get any more snow here 'til the new year, though you know, it is possible we could get the odd flurry today...
December 22, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on December 22, 2007 at 08:45 AM
I could have sworn just last week Dave was becoming too attached to a turkey he raised, but I didn't hear how it all turned out. Hopefully not with his pet bird in this week's oven, but maybe that's hypocritical of me, as an eater of fowl.
Regardless of Dave's relationship with this bird though, he can't get the stove to work to cook it, so he scarpers off to a hotel, hoping that their kitchen will do the deed.
If this is sheer nonsense to you but you'd like to make it make sense, tune into the Vinyl Cafe this morning, where all will be explained. Also, host Stuart McLean will play all kinds of Christmas music for you, whether or not you've been naughty or nice.
December 15, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on December 15, 2007 at 09:00 AM
No one could accuse the Vinyl Cafe of ignoring Christmas, as Christmas concert #3 comes your way today with some great music -- western swing orchestra The Bebop Cowboys and blues singer Roxanne Potvin.
Plus, forget the Tofurkey, Dave becomes deeply involved with a real bird -- he doesn't just COOK the turkey...he RAISES it! I sure hope he didn't give it a name...
December 08, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on December 8, 2007 at 08:00 AM
Another Christmas concert on the Café Vinyl, as they call it in Paris, featuring music from Owen Pallett (a.k.a. Final Fantasy, the He Poos Clouds guy, which is musically far, far more attractive than that album title), and young New Brunswick slide wizard Joe Grass, plus award-winning blues vocalist Suzie Vinnick.
Also a Dave and Morley story. For those of you who know Dave, imagine what could happen if Dave ended up driving a float in the Santa Claus Parade. Imagine!
December 01, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on December 1, 2007 at 09:00 AM
This week, it's a Vinyl Cafe Christmas Concert! Recorded at Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto, it features the Vinyl Café Orchestra: John Sheard on keyboards, vocalist Lisa Lindo, Chris Whiteley on guitar, trumpet and harmonica, and Dennis Pendrith on bass. And the story? Sam brings home the class ferret for the holidays. Weird. Or am I just being ferretist?
November 24, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 24, 2007 at 09:00 AM
...is probably never such a good idea, but that's what happens on the Vinyl Cafe today, when Morley find out that her son Sam only has one pair of underwear that fits, so she takes him on a shopping trip that’s destined for failure.
And music from a fav. band of mine today on the show (which comes to you from Gananoque, Ontario), the Great Lake Swimmers.
November 17, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 17, 2007 at 08:16 AM
Today the Vinyl Café goes home-made, no vinyl, just old particleboard. This is how it worked.
Because host Stuart Mclean loves homemade music so much, he asked a handful of Canadian musicians to record their songs and send them in. Some used their computers (hey, isn't that cheating?) while others worked with tape machines, and one person even recorded his song onto a phone answering machine. (Better, but I was hoping for wax cylinders, though admittedly they are cumbersome to send by Canada Post.)
November 09, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 9, 2007 at 03:00 AM
Growing up with folkies as parents ensures a number of things. You develop a taste for jazz. (Sorry, parents, couldn't resist.) You can sing basic harmonies, most of the time. And you experience the power of song as a way of rallying people.
Having marched (or been dragged/carried, I was very young) along with thousands of people singing against one war, I can appreciate that it isn't only bagpipes that can cause other hearts to quake. Not being snarky about out-of-tune singing either -- people singing together can feel like a pure expression of humanity.
But do songs of protest -- specifically against war, or in response to war -- make any actual, tangible difference, quaking aside? Do they make governments or politicians or even individuals change their minds about involvement in war? I think not.
Over at the "Your View" section of CBC's website, there's an in-depth feature about how musicians have responded to war through songs -- and many people have chimed in with war-related music to add to that list.
But for all those songs, some of them great and moving, it still leaves me wondering whether we should even expect songs written about or against war to have any tangible impact. But maybe that's not the point. What SHOULD music written about war do? Should it indeed "do" anything? I'd be curious to know what you think.
My best hope is that now, with the days of mass anti-war rallying seemingly in the past, music can at least provide an opportunity for deeper reflection. And that's a valuable thing in itself -- in fact for me that's really what Remembrance Day is about. Not protest, and certainly not glorification.
On Radio 2, Remembrance Day programming begins on Friday, with Here's To You, playing Remembrance Day requests, including: Jenkins' Benedictus from Armed Man - A Mass for Peace.
And on Studio Sparks, music written for a day of remembrance by Kingston, Ontario composer, John Burge -- two movements from his work, Flanders Fields Reflections.
Friday evening The Signal broadcasts Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, which he wrote while imprisoned in a concentration camp.
On Saturday morning on The Vinyl Cafe, host Stuart McLean's special musical guests are Martha Wainwright and John McDermott, and he tells the story of how Dave, while renovating his house, finds a postcard of an old soldier caught between the walls.
Then Rick Phillips plays a recording of music composed by inmates in the Terezin concentration camp, that's on Sound Advice.
On Sunday -- the 11th -- on In The Key Of Charles, Gregory Charles plays music inspired by war: renaissance polyphony by Clément Janequin, symphonic poems by Franz Liszt and Gustav Holst, contemporary choral music by Stephen Chatman and David del Tredici, and pop songs featuring Edith Piaf, Harry Nilsson, Sting and others.
Later on Sunday, on Canada Live, a concert called Of War and Peace, featuring Canadian baritone Russell Braun and Canadian soprano Monica Whicher, performing a programme featuring songs by Mahler, Britten, Morawetz, Pete Seeger, Jacques Brel and Sting.
This is followed by America and the Black Angel, a concert opening with Black Angels, a string quartet inspired by the Vietnam War as “a parable on our troubled contemporary world” by George Crumb, performed by the Art of Time ensemble.
Also, Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson sing protest songs by Dylan and Pete Seeger, and Ted Dykstra narrates Allen Ginsberg’s iconic 1955 poem Howl, in a new CBC commission from Jonathan Goldsmith.
And finally, the Sunday night broadcast of The Signal explores music that honours those who fought -- and the lives of those not lucky enough to have returned from battle. Music featuring Canadian composer Oscar Morawetz, Coleen, The Most Serene Republic and a concert by John Kameel Farah and Hauschka. The evening will end with the epic piece An American Requiem by Richard Danielpour, which celebrates life -- and the afterlife.
November 03, 2007
Posted by on November 3, 2007 at 09:00 AM
The Vinyl Cafe comes from Belleville Ontario this morning, with special musical guests, indie-popster Harmony Trowbridge and guitarist Joe Grass.
Stuart will also tell the story of Dave’s daughter's stuffed bunny rabbit, which Dave develops an attachment to once she heads off to university. Perfectly understandable, who doesn't like a stuffed bunny, particularly when it reminds you of a loved one.
October 20, 2007
Posted by on October 20, 2007 at 07:55 AM
I would think it difficult to get lost in the winding cobblestone streets of Quebec City -- the area isn't all that big, after all -- but nonetheless, this is the fate of Dave's son Sam today, as you will hear if you tune into the Vinyl Cafe.
Perhaps it takes Pied Pipers to lure him safely home? If so, that function is provided by special musical guests Les Batinses.
October 06, 2007
Posted by on October 6, 2007 at 08:01 AM
"The importance of the unimportant," I wonder if that's at all like having "a show about nothing?" Or perhaps even the aphorism, "God is in the details?"
Anyhoo, The Arthur Awards, named after Dave's dog, Arthur, are handed out by Stuart McLean this morning, and they do indeed recognize the "importance of the unimportant," as well as those who have "performed small acts of kindness."
That's on the Vinyl Cafe. Come to think of it, aren't they "not big, but small?"
September 29, 2007
Posted by on September 29, 2007 at 08:44 AM
There are some things that should be universally understood. Anniversaries are best spent doing things agreeable to both parties, the tried and true. Sometimes the grand romantic gesture may backfire.
Although I can't say for sure how Dave and Morley’s anniversary will turn out – the one Dave was left in charge of planning. Stuart McLean can, he'll have the story this weekend on the Vinyl Cafe, which comes to you from Salt Spring Island. (Apparently even though D&M haven’t been in a canoe together since their honeymoon, Dave is planning a trip into Algonquin Park. I sure hope it's not one of those with the longgggggg portages, speaking from recent experience!)
Stuart also welcomes musical guest Harry Manx, a really quite remarkable multi-instrumentalist who blends the music of India with everything from blues to jazz and Celtic.
September 22, 2007
Posted by on September 22, 2007 at 09:00 AM
I didn't know that Stuart McLean has been walking around town wearing a shirt that proclaims that he’s fond of Conrad Black, but apparently he has been. And now that I know, and you know, we all want to know one thing. Why. Why? Only Stuart can tell us, and he will -- today on the Vinyl Cafe.
Actually, some of us want to know a second thing too. Is Stuart wearing socks as he walks around town?
September 15, 2007
Posted by on September 15, 2007 at 07:24 AM
The Vinyl Café goes where it has never gone before, no, not to a Trekkie Convention, to Quebec City. Stuart welcomes 3 Gars S’ul Sofa – Three Guys On The Couch, a Quebec band with really nice harmonies. And their sofa's not bad either -- if you click on that link you can see for yourself.
Coincidentally, Dave and Morley were also in Quebec, and Stuart has the story of what doesn’t go according to plan when they rent a cottage there. (What DOES go according to plan when you rent a cottage? Invariably there are difficult mice or neighbors, or you forget the beer and someone sulks.) Anyway, to find out what happens to Dave and Morley, tune into the Vinyl Café.
September 08, 2007
Posted by on September 8, 2007 at 08:00 AM
They’ll be holding the Olympics of Osculation this week at the Vinyl Cafe. Goodness.
Stuart observes as seven couples try to break the Guinness World Record for longest kiss ever. (Well, it certainly sounds more interesting than the Olympics of Obfuscation, at any rate.)
Also, a look back at the history and evolution of popular music in Quebec.
And, in a leap from lips to song to the afterlife...Stuart reflects on this startling new wrinkle to coming back as a______(fill in the blank). Apparently if you live in Tibet and wish to be reincarnated, you now have to seek permission from the Chinese government. (What about if you DON'T wish to be reincarnated -- but other forces have different ideas? That's for a future show.)
September 01, 2007
Posted by on September 1, 2007 at 08:33 AM
It's such a cliche, but of course it is true. Breaking up is hard to do. Even if you only see them once every six weeks or so. Once you've said to them, "Oh, that looks so great!" they assume you're theirs for life.
But hopefully the breakup doesn't trigger marital discord as well, as it does on the Vinyl Cafe today. When Morley enters a difficult period with her hairdresser and begins meeting another stylist on the side, Dave gets the wrong idea about the nature of his wife’s infidelity.
Oh dear. And there she was, just looking for someone who truly understood her (hair).
August 25, 2007
Posted by on August 25, 2007 at 08:00 AM
You know how sometimes you decide you just can't live without something, a need that others perhaps find difficult to understand? Say, a parrot or a collection of antique salt shakers, or a wood stove...even though you live in a bachelor apartment.
Dave knows about this. Or at least Stuart McLean does -- on today's Vinyl Cafe, brought to you from Yellowknife, Stuart describes what happens when Dave decides he can’t live without his own pinball machine.
Of course Dave is not alone, who wouldn't want a pinball machine like this in their home? (Sorry, couldn't resist, though I guess it's a little "inside baseball.")
August 18, 2007
Posted by on August 18, 2007 at 07:20 AM
...could keep Stuart McLean from heading north to the Arctic circle, and today on CBC Radio 2 he talks about his recent trip. He ate whale meat! He hiked down 30 feet into the permafrost! He flew in a small plane over the Beaufort Sea! He battled the mosquitoes in the Land of the Midnight Sun! (But did he get cold and scratchy and cranky? That's what I want to know.) All will be revealed today on the Vinyl Cafe.
August 11, 2007
Posted by on August 11, 2007 at 08:54 AM
This just in! Sam McGee was NOT from Tennessee! On today's programme, Vinyl Cafe host, Stuart Maclean, will tell all.
Not only that, Stuart also gives us the lowdown on his recent tour across the Canadian prairies, where he saw everything from Douglas Cardinal's wonderful church in Red Deer, to a giant sausage in Mundare, Alberta.
I just took a look at that sausage, it's a little scary, don't you think? But I bet Stuart will have the sausage back-story.
August 04, 2007
Posted by on August 4, 2007 at 08:01 AM
To the dump to the dump to the dump dump dump...now who didn't hear The William Tell Overture upon reading that? (No one who's ever asked the burning question: where does the Lone Ranger take his trash, anyway.)
Today on Vinyl Cafe Stuart goes dumpster diving, not with lame jokes as above, one hopes, but by explaining why the Yellowknife Dump is, in his opinion, the best in the country. Didn't know there was a rating system, but I'm sure Stuart has the inside scoop on that. (Though maybe "scoop" is not the word we want to use in this context?)
Anyhoo, tune in today for this cautionary tale as well: what happens when Dave tries to boost business at Kenny Wong's Scottish Meat Pies by starting a contest.
Plus musical guests -- Blues Ladies of the North, a.ka.Tracy Riley and Brodie Dawson.
July 21, 2007
Posted by on July 21, 2007 at 08:30 AM
Stuart salutes reality TV -- or perhaps does whatever the opposite of a salute is -- by coming up with shows based on his chaotic life. Shows with names like Office Makeover or Where is Your Stuff? (My own show would be called So You Think You Can File.)
And on another subject entirely...according to Stuart, cherries are the last truly seasonal fruit -- they’re just about the only summer fruit you almost never see in stores in January. And so he salutes them. (A lot of saluting on today's show.) We don't know if that involves some kind of fancy bow, a full-military dress parade or what. But if you tune into the Vinyl Cafe you can find out.
Music-wise you can hear the Bar Mitzvah Brothers, and a new spin-off group of theirs called Habitat, plus new discs from Vinyl Cafe alumni Danny Michel and Rae Spoon.
July 14, 2007
Posted by on July 14, 2007 at 08:45 AM
There's a frog on the bump on the log on the hole in the bottom of the sea. There's a this on the that on the this on the that on the toe on the frog on the bump on the log etc. etc....
If the above immediately brings back some weird memory combination of pb & j and dust, of car sickness and a loathing for school buses, chances are you've either been a kid who grew up in the country...or you've been to camp.
Stuart Maclean is the latter, and on today's show he visits the camp he went to -- yes, the Vinyl Café comes to you from Kamp Kanawana in Quebec.
So Stuart tells the stories and the campers sing the songs and the campers play the music and there's a holllllllleeeeee, there's a holllllleeeeee...
July 07, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on July 7, 2007 at 07:07 AM
This morning in the Vinyl Café, host Stuart McLean talks about why he has been spending a lot of time in graveyards lately and about the run-in he had in a bad neighborhood in downtown Toronto late at night.
He was surrounded by these law-breakers.... guerillas of a sort.... dirty to look at.... holding menacing looking sticks... they were...... gardening in public space !!!!!
And, speaking of gardening, he explains why he has been launching potatoes and canned food and buckets of water into his backyard.
Hey, who hasn't been there?
June 30, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 30, 2007 at 08:16 AM
Just in time for Canada Day, this morning's edition of the Vinyl Café with Stuart McLean presents “Songs in the Key of Canada”, a tribute to Canadian Music.
June 23, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 23, 2007 at 08:08 AM
It's the start of summer; it's the end of school. So this morning's edition of The Vinyl Café with Stuart McLean is for the students. One last academic hoorrah and it's all about writing.
Stuart asked young writers to send in their stories. They had to be true and they had to be short...after that it was up to them. Stuart will read some of those stories today on the show and talk about writing from his own point of view … what he likes about it and about what he finds difficult.
June 16, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 16, 2007 at 08:13 AM
Stuart McLean's Vinyl Café has its virtual home in Halifax this morning where Stuart's stories share the stage with the extraordinary one-man orchestra Owen Pallett (aka Final Fantasy) and up and coming singer-songwriter Joe Grass.
June 09, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 9, 2007 at 08:14 AM
If you walk down to the bottom of my street in Toronto, then take the footbridge over the Gardiner Expressway and Lakeshore Boulevard, you'll find yourself in front of a piece of music history - the Palais Royale. Before the expressway, the whole area was once an amusement park - and it's fitting because the poor old Palais has been on quite a roller coaster ride over the decades. After years of neglect - punctuated by the occasional punk night or surprise Rolling Stones gig - the venue has recently been restored to its former glory.
This morning on The Vinyl Café, Stuart McLean visits the Palais Royale where he pays tribute to the era of the hall's original heyday with his special musical guests the Toronto All-Star Big Band.
Stuart also has the story of Dave’s shock when he returns home to Cape Breton to find that he is no longer the only man in his mother’s life
June 02, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 2, 2007 at 07:48 AM
This morning in the Vinyl Café, Stuart McLean will tell us why he's not allowed to buy another book. Ever. Never. Not even one...And about why he hates squirrels.
And he makes a remarkable apology to one of the provinces in our country.
There’s also new music to be heard featuring Lori Yates, Feist, and Shaye - an extraordinary array of sirens if ever there was one - calling you to the shores of the VC.
May 26, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 26, 2007 at 07:45 AM
This morning in the Vinyl Cafe from St. John's, Stuart McLean welcomes special musical guests Hey Rosetta and the Great Big Three (wonder where they got that name?).
Stuart also has the story of what happens when Sam takes advantage of his parents' absence to sleep late and avoid eating vegetables - with the result that he turns green!
May 19, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 19, 2007 at 07:59 AM
I was working at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto managing a friendly Sunday afternoon music programme geared toward introducing new talent - mostly local. That's how I first met Ron Sexsmith. He was the most humble and shy kind of guy. The simplest request he was reluctant to make, lest he be "any trouble".
Continue reading "Ron at the Vinyl Café" »
May 05, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 5, 2007 at 07:10 AM
Well, I'm not sure what Peter's got lined up for the Weekend this week but it's always impeccable so you're good to go as the sun begins to creep into the room and the coffee starts to drip.
Once you're up, washed and have cracked the papers, you'll be ready for the Vinyl Café.
Newfoundland songsmith Ron Hynes joins Stuart this week in a concert from St. John's.
Also on the show, the story of Dave's daughter Stephanie and her brief career as a waitress.
Ahhh, waiting tables. I'll write about that tomorrow.
April 28, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 28, 2007 at 09:56 AM
Stuart McLean is in a revolutionary mood this week in the Vinyl Café. In fact, you may never peel another banana, as long as you live!
He also reflects on the merits of summer jobs, imagining what the world would be like if we all got up from our desks and walked away from the assembly lines of our lives and got ourselves a summer job. Wouldn't it be a better world if our politicians, for example, spent the summer flipping burgers?
I'm not sure about that, actually. It seems to me that politicians spend an awful lot of time on the campaign trail flipping pancakes and burgers and roasting corn and it doesn't seem to make a difference.
April 21, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 21, 2007 at 07:45 AM
I have a terrible admission to make: it wasn't junior high history class that illuminated for me the intrigues, machinations, betrayals and sheer drama of the story of Louis Riel. It was Chester Brown's graphic novel that really blew the dust of the history books and brought the whole story off the page for me.
It may be a similar reason why the story on today's edition of The Vinyl Café with Stuart McLean is his most requested piece ever: "The History of Canada". As someone once said: History is too serious to be left to historians.
This history, featuring Stuart with the CBC Radio Orchestra, is a humorous story about the colourful characters of Canadian history set to music by Cameron Wilson of Joe Trio.
March 24, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 24, 2007 at 08:16 AM
There's a very special event taking place this week at the Vinyl Café - the National Debut of the new surprise tribute CD to the Rheostatics. Join host Stuart McLean for the great unveiling - and of course, great music! Stuart also confesses that he thinks about the Queen while he's in the shower - nothing disrespectful, you understand - but he wonders whether Her Majesty sings in the shower at the Palace - and if she does, whether she ever catches herself singing a particular national anthem.
Stuart will be glad to know that all questions will be answered by Helen Mirren in the DVD extras on "The Queen".
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Why get out of bed? Lay about instead and listen to 3 great shows coming your way this morning: