Happy New Year, everyone! To kick off 2020 I welcome a very special and unique guest to the show. Jon McMurray has been described as the man with no memory, following a severe head injury he sustained in his 20s. However, he does remember music – and it’s the bridge back to his previous life. 

His attitude is incredibly inspiring, as is his story, which he graciously shares with us this week through the songs that helped him recover after he awoke from his coma.

McMurray’s playlist:

David Bowie – Space Oddity

Beastie Boys – Something’s Got To Give

Sloan – I Can Feel It

A Tribe Called Quest – Can I Kick It?

Rheostatics – Fan Letter to Michael Jackson 

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Welcome back to the 2019 No Sleep ’til Sudbury Christmas special, featuring none other than the legendary Rik Emmett. In Part II of this year’s special, Rik and I return to his home studio to chat about the controversy behind Christmas classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, who wrote the Jeopardy theme, the back side of the beat, and so much more. And, he performs another Christmas classic.

Once again, Rik approaches his favourite Christmas tunes with humour, passion, and insights that introduce a entirely new level of understanding of music most of us tend to enjoy superficially. Cheers to him for being an incredible guest once again this year.

This concludes the NSTS programming schedule for 2019, returning the first week of January. To all my valued listeners, all over the world – I wish you a very Merry Christmas and an amazing 2020. I appreciate your loyalty, and it’s been my privilege to have you tune in this past year. All the very best to you. Happy holidays!  

Emmett’s playlist:

Sammy Davis Jr. – Baby, It’s Cold Outside 

Diana Krall – Christmastime Is Here

Vinyl Cafe – Dave Cooks The Turkey

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He’s back! My pal Rik Emmett has joined me once again this year on No Sleep ’til Sudbury for two special Christmas episodes of the show, live from Rik’s home.  

I love working with Rik on this stuff, because he’s so enthusiastic about it and puts in so much preparation. He killed it again this year, with more compelling perspectives, historical insights, and hilarious stories – all while playing his guitar. And this year folks, Rik performs TWO songs. Do not miss this.       

Emmett’s playlist:

James Taylor – The Christmas Song

Michael Buble – Let It Snow  

Tuck Andress – Jingle Bells

Joni Mitchell – River

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Film director Sergio Navarretta and screenwriter Alessandra Piccione are the founders of SNAP Films, and they are also my guests on NSTS this week. They’re here to talk about The Cuban, their new movie starring Lou Gossett, Jr., and also Arctic Dogs, a new movie they worked on with Alec Baldwin, Heidi Klum, and John Cleese.     

We have a great chat about their NSTS playlist, in addition to the criticality of selecting the music for The Cuban, the best places to eat in New York, Afghan culture, and much more. 

The playlist:

Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah

Frank Sinatra – New York, New York

Lucio Dalla – Caruso

Billy Joel – Piano Man

Ibrahim Ferrer – Quizas

Zeb & Haniya – Paimona 

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Flute! We have flute!

British producer, guitarist, and Grammy & Juno winner Chris Birkett makes his return to the show, bringing with him Free Spirits collaborator and flautist Shari Tallon to talk about their new record, called 11:11.

They play two songs from the record, and as always, Chris has some entertaining stories – this time around, they involve Dexy’s Midnight Runners and Thomas Dolby. Check it out!  

Birkett’s playlist:

Thomas Dolby – Commercial Breakup

Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Geno

Steve Earle – Copperhead Road

The Free Spirits – The Power of our Love

The Free Spirits – Follow The Light 

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His story began with a broken neck.

Joining me this week is performance physiologist, author, speaker, and music fan Dr. Greg Wells, and he shares his incredible story of coming back from a life-altering injury to achieve extraordinary heights. The playlist he provides serves as a guiding soundtrack to this journey.     

Wells’ playlist:

The Who – Baba O’Reilly

INXS – Kiss The Dirt

The Tragically Hip – In View

Bryan Adams – Summer of 69

Foo Fighters – Times Like These

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This week I host someone I used to stay up late to watch as a teenage sports fan – broadcast legend Mark Hebscher. Since his days hosting the innovative Sportsline, Mark has done a number of other things including having written a new book entitled The Greatest Athlete You’ve Never Heard Of. 

Mark is also a massive music fan, and we chat about all sorts of stuff – Mick Taylor, Paradigm Phantoms, being introduced to Los Lobos, why catchers paint their fingernails, and how he got to hear an early version of The Hip’s “Ahead By A Century” as it was being written by the band. 

Hebsy’s playlist:

King Crimson – 21st Century Schizoid Man

Traffic – The Low Spark of High Heeled Shoes

The Rolling Stones – Can’t You Hear Me Knocking

Los Lobos – Theresa

The Tragically Hip – Ahead By A Century

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Sometimes people just blow your mind with their depth of musical knowledge. Professor and author Rob Bowman did that to me this week on the show. 

This guy operates on a completely different plane, folks. His musical knowledge is matched only by his passion for it. He’s been hired to write for the Stones, Dylan, Rush, and so many others. We talk about his latest book The Flyer Vault, and also Zeppelin’s first time in Canada, which Beatles song has eight different hooks, the importance of musical experimentation in live contexts, and the unusual way Keef recorded the demo for Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Unreal.     

Bowman’s playlist:

The Rolling Stones – Jumpin’ Jack Flash 

Bob Dylan – Trying To Get To Heaven

Patti Smith – Horses

Public Enemy – Fight the Power

James Brown – Cold Sweat    

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I finally talked former Tragically Hip manager Jake Gold into coming to the studio to do a NSTS episode.

As you can imagine, he told some terrific stories – how he came into contact with the Hip for the first time, what the Road Apples record was originally supposed to be called, the dark stories surrounding “Locked in the Trunk of a Car”. But also the special reason why a Cat Stevens song made his list, and what he and Andy Frost thought of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”. Don’t miss this.     

Gold’s playlist:

Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes

The Tragically Hip – Locked in the Trunk of a Car

Bob Marley – the Redemption Song

Cat Stevens – Father and Son

Genesis – Supper’s Ready

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I have so much in common with Steve Jones. We both grew up in small towns in Northern Ontario, used music to cope through our small town isolation, went on to write music-based books, and now we both speak on what can be learned from music and applied to various aspects of work and life. And this week, we sit down and shed light on our intriguing similarities.

We chat about Sudbury, The Violent Femmes, Bob Marley’s Canadian connection, the story behind that little laugh that can be heard if you listen closely at the beginning of The Police’s “Roxanne”, and how the music we both chose offered Steve and I the community we desperately needed as kids. A truly enjoyable conversation for me. 

Jones’ playlist:

Morrisey – Suedehead

Bob Marley – Redemption Song

The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter

Warren Zevon – Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run

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