The legend of Elvis Presley is tremendous, but his entire story arc is tragic. Towards the end of his career, the poor kid from Tupelo, Mississippi who became the King of Rock and Roll was lonely, exhausted, and depressed, eventually succumbing to the pressures of his own fame. 

Is it conceivable to think that his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, a man with a dark history who lied about his real identity until the very end, was responsible for the death of Elvis Presley?  

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Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters caused a bit of a stir recently for speaking his mind.

This week on No Sleep ’til Sudbury I take a closer look at the man and all the things I’ve personally learned about him over the past couple of weeks.   

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I recently saw something on the internet involving one of my childhood heroes, Metallica’s James Hetfield, that gave me pause. 

Over the years we’ve seen a progressive humanization of Hetfield, but now we’ve gone beyond the expected arc. And it got me thinking about where we’ve been and where we are on a greater scale. And this week on NSTS, we talk about it.  

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Sometime next year, pop cultural icons KISS will play their final show after more than 50 years of fire, blood, and bombast. For the first time in half a century, KISS will no longer be.  

KISS masterfully deployed the power of nostalgia to leave a significant and indelible mark on millions of rock fans of my vintage. Now, as they approach their end, I look back at what the whole thing really meant.   

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Something terrible happened. 

The derecho thunderstorms that left parts of southern Ontario without power for two days on May 20 also left me without a podcast episode. 

The file containing part two of my chat with Nick Walsh was lost in the power outage, and while I’ve been trying to recover it since, it’s gone. Very, very disappointing, but Nick graciously agreed to do it over again so you can find out what his NSTS selected songs were.

However, Nick’s schedule is busy, so it may be a while. In the interim, I’ve decided to share a previously unreleased episode from 2018 I did with Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson about the upcoming tribute show for his recently-deceased bass player Garry Lowe. Gordie was calling in from his car and I initially shelved it because of the sound quality, but it’s actually not bad at all. 

Cheers everyone.  

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It took a while, but former Slik Toxik and current Famous Underground and Classic Albums Live singer Nick Walsh finally sat down with NSTS to talk about a few of the songs that make his skin vibrate.

Because our chat was so lengthy, we didn’t quite make it to those songs in part one of his time with us – but we did talk about his recent promotion at Classic Albums Live, Doin’ The Nasty on Spotify, what he learned when Slik Toxik opened for Yngwie Malmsteen, what his dad thinks of Famous Underground song “Love Grenade”, and why he’ll never do a Slik Toxik reunion. Come back to find out what Nick’s songs are in the next episode!     

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There haven’t been many times over the 240 odd episodes of the No Sleep ’til Sudbury podcast I’ve done where I’ve been lost for words. But I was here. 

The wonderful and immensely talented Sandra Bouza joined me at my home this week for the first live NSTS performance since 2020, and as usual, she was a delight. And this time I was not only impressed by Sandra’s performance, but also by her courage. 

Bouza’s playlist:

Alanis Morrisette – That I Would Be Good

Deftones – Be Quiet and Drive

Emiliana Torrini – On The Sunny Road

Ella Fitzgerald – Misty

Joan as Police Woman – Anyone   

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In the last episode of No Sleep ’til Sudbury, we paid tribute to the memory of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. But what about Dave Grohl? 

We thought it was important to celebrate an individual who despite his having brought joy to millions of people, has suffered some tremendous heartbreak.

This week’s episode is dedicated to Dave. 

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It’s always difficult when artists we admire pass on, but it’s a little more difficult when it happens so long before their time.  

This week on NSTS we pay tribute to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, an incredible musician and, as Queen’s Roger Taylor described him, “sunshine in human form”.   

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