Alan Cross is an internationally known broadcaster, writer, blogger and speaker. In his 30 years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music. He’s also written four reference books on alt-rock, recorded four audiobooks, written liner notes for dozens of CDs and contributed to magazines and other publications in Canada and the US. He’s also a sought-after college and university lecturer, writes a weekly national music column for Metro and travels to music festivals all over the world. His new radio show is The Secret History of Rock, which runs across Canada and in the US. Alan has been deeply involved exploring the present and future relationships between music, technology and social networking.
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TOQUE is a world-class Rock act, comprised of 4 incredible Rock musicians:
Todd Kerns,(Slash’s Conspirators, Age of Electric)
Brent Fitz, (Slash’s Conspirators, Phil X, The Dead Daisies)
Shane Gaalaas (B’z – Japan)
Cory Churko (Kelly Clarkson, Shania Twain)
This summer TOQUE is playing across Canada starting in July of 2025 at festivals alongside Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Bret Michaels, Foreigner, Streetheart & more. In addition to the exciting live shows, TOQUE will be touring in support of their new single “FIGHTERS” which will be released JULY 9th via DECM Group.
Previous singles include, “BROKEN” which debuted last fall, with the song’s energetic LIVE video. “Broken” was co-written by Honeymoon Suite’s – Derry Grehan. The band’s LIVE show staple, & Fan Favorite “Never Enough” is Featured in the # 1 Netflix film – AFTERMATH in 2025.
In June, TRIUMPH’s reunion show in Edmonton during Game 2 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final was backed by TOQUE’s Brent Fitz and Todd Kerns, along with our friend, Phil X of Bon Jovi. Since their inception in 2012, TOQUE’s live set includes classic hits by legendary Canadian Rock acts like April Wine, Loverboy, and Rush. Many of their shows also include Special Surprise Guest appearances including: Dallas Smith, Jeff Neill, Corb Lund, Jason McCoy, Darby Mills, Paul Dean, John Donnely.
When not on tour, writing, & producing with other Major acts, TOQUE’s members can be found in many eclectic projects. Todd Kerns and Brent Fitz call Las Vegas home, & appear regularly on Rock’s daily authoritarian program “The Eddie Trunk Show on Sirius XM. Brent Fitz is featured in the film “DEANER 89” playing the part of Dokken’s Jeff Pilson, and is currently touring with The Dead Daisies. Shane Gaalaas and Cory Churko, based in LA are the masters of all the band’s music videos. Cory also produces the band’s material.
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Strange Advance was initially made up of Drew Arnott (keyboards, percussion, vocals), Darryl Kromm (lead vocals, guitars), and Paul Iverson (bass). The three met in Vancouver and founded the group in 1980. Initially called Metropolis, they changed their name after discovering a band in Germany using “Metropolis”.
The group’s first album, Worlds Away featured the title track, “Worlds Away”, which saw modest airplay in North American markets in 1983. The album was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, known for his work with Loverboy and Prism, but featured a very different sound from those groups. Rather than commercial hard rock, Strange Advance’s music was a fusion of progressive rock and new wave, with a heavy reliance on synthesizers and keyboards.
Iverson left the group after the first album and was not replaced. The group’s 1985 album 2WO also went gold in Canada and was produced by Arnott, using an extensive array of session players, and brought the band their first big Canadian hit with “We Run”. Strange Advance had never played a live gig prior to 1985, so Arnott and Kromm added musicians Ric deGroot (keyboards), Ian Cameron (guitar, violin), Joey Alvero (bass) and David Quinton (drums) to the line-up as session players, and supported the first two albums with a tour of Eastern Canada.
Strange Advance’s third album, 1988’s The Distance Between also used well-known session musicians (including Randy Bachman and Allan Holdsworth), and produced the top 20 single “Love Becomes Electric”. Following this album’s release, the group became essentially inactive. Arnott stated in 2021 that other music genres such as grunge were gaining popularity, and he wasn’t interested in changing the group’s sound.
In 1995, the Strange Advance compilation album Worlds Away & Back featured a mix of previously released material, outtakes, remixes, demos, and three newly recorded tracks—one from 1991, and two from 1995.
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A native of Toronto Canada, Juno Award winner Suzie McNeil was born into a musical family. She was practically raised singing with her mother and sister, learning to collaborate from a very early age.
Suzie is a musical Jack-of-all-trades. These have ranged from live shows beside some of North America’s top artists, to becoming a multi-instrumentalist in her own Nashville based country / rock band, to consummate professionalism in the studio, to Broadway level musical theatre, to commercial jingles, to performing in front of crowds of up to 200,000 people.
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Men Without Hats formed in 1977 amid the Montreal punk scene. They became pioneers of electro-pop in Canada after adopting a New Wave sound that made extensive use of keyboard and drum synthesizers. Their sound is characterized by infectiously simple melodies, socially and politically idealistic lyrics, and the distinctive baritone voice of lead singer, principle songwriter and chief member Ivan Doroschuk.
The band enjoyed phenomenal success in the 1980s with the worldwide hits “Safety Dance” and “Pop Goes the World.” Both songs were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in September 2020.
Ivan’s in the studio recording new material, and will take some time to join us for an update on Men Without Hats!
We opened Ivan’s fortune at the end of today’s episode:
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After nearly three decades with Saga – including 18 albums with worldwide sales over 8 million – Michael Sadler has an impressive track record to fall back on. From his beginnings as the lead singer of the Canadian rock outfit in 1977, through his many guest appearances (Justin Hayward, Bobby Kimball, Ozzy Osbourne, Chain and many others), and in his long awaited solo career; Michael Sadler consistently proves his knack for crafting high quality songs that combine irresistible melodies with great lyrical detail. It has earned him respect from his peers, praise from critics and admiration from his devoted fan base.
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Darby Mills began singing back-up vocals for Canadian bands in the late 1970s, most notably the British Columbia-based band Steelback.
After signing on with the Headpins in 1981, the group began a three-album run at the top of the Canadian charts. Their debut album “Turn It Loud”, quickly went platinum and topped the charts for six weeks. It spawned the hit single “Don’t It Make Ya Feel”. Their follow-up, “Line of Fire”, produced the hits “Celebration” and “Just One More Time”. The Headpins toured Europe and North America while opening for bands such as KISS, Whitesnake, ZZ Top and Aerosmith, among others.
Darby released her debut solo LP, Never Look Back, backed by the Unsung Heroes. She returned to re-form the Headpins with Bernie Aubin and Ab Bryant a year or so later, without guitarist Brian MacLeod. In 2005, Mills was nominated for a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Formed in 1980, an intrepid young band from Burlington Ontario would soon make “Spoons” a different kind of household word. Together with Derrick Ross and Rob Preuss, Gord Deppe and Sandy Horne would help define the sound of pop and New Wave in the 80’s, with hits including “Nova Heart”, “Romantic Traffic”, “Old Emotions” and “Tell No Lies”.
Their album “Arias & Symphonies” would go on to be named one of the 20 Most Influential Albums of The 80’s by “the Chart” Magazine, and their song “Nova Heart” was recently included in Bob Mersereau’s book “the Top 100 Canadian Singles of All Time”. Not bad for a bunch of kids from Burlington, Ontario!
Their first album, “Stick Figure Neighbourhood”, was recorded in 1981 at Grant Avenue Studios in Hamilton, Ontario, with a then unknown engineer by the name of Daniel Lanois. The album garnered rave press reviews and reached the #1 slot on college radio. But it wouldn’t be until the release of their song “Nova Heart”, produced by John Punter of Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry fame, that the Spoons became a household name. The Arias & Symphonies album, recorded at George Martin’s famous Air Studios in London, England, solidified the Spoons’ presence on the new wave music front.
With the commercial radio success that followed, the band saw themselves opening for such acts as the Police, Culture Club, and Simple Minds. A little TV show called MuchMusic had also just been launched, and the young Spoons were tailor-made for a whole new video-driven generation. In fact, the very first episode of the show began with, “Welcome to MuchMusic. Coming up we have brand new videos by Duran Duran, Howard Jones and the Spoons.” A new era was launched with those words.
A special 30th Anniversary edition of the “Arias and Symphonies” album followed, released by Sparks/Ready Records/Universal Music, complete with extensive liner notes, historical photos, and live tracks. It also saw the reunion, after twenty-six years, of the original band line-up, for an incredible sold-out release party in Toronto.
In 2019, Spoons Released a bold new album, “New Day New World”, the first studio project to be released by the Spoons in over eight years, once again Produced by Jeff Carter. Their new album plays on the band’s earlier edgy electro-80s sound and evokes the fun, pop sounds of their biggest hits while transporting them firmly into 2019. Four video singles have been released so far: For the First & Last Time, All the Wrong Things (In the Right Places), Landing Lights, and the title track, New Day New World. Three of these videos have been directed by Peter Sacco, winning multiple awards worldwide.
The retro 80s movement, now almost a decade old, shows no signs of slowing down. Not one bit. And as far as Sandy, Gord, and a lot of fans are concerned, that is a very good thing indeed.
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One of the primary VJs in Canada’s “Much Music” channel, Michael has been a pioneer in band discovery and a champion for worthy causes in the Great White North. We’ll talk music television, radio and the current state of the industry. Join us Wednesday at 3pm Pacific!
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Founder of Flirt Factor, Barb Katz is a professional facilitator, dedicated to helping people gain confidence and have better connections with others in their lives. She has developed several events over the years, pairing people together and mastering the art of being a wing (wo)man.
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