Behind the Vinyl Podcast

Join us as we drop the needle on some of their biggest hits and uncover the tales behind them. We were honored to have Alan Longmuir in our studio before his passing, sharing memories from his time with The Bay City Rollers. Get ready to hear how the iconic 'Saturday Night' came to life, complete with Alan's charming Scottish accent.

We also feature The Northern Pikes, a Saskatoon band still rocking the stage today. Listen in as they recount the creation of fan-favorite 'Girl with A Problem'.

Plus, Ian Thomas takes us on a journey back to the making of his first hit, 'Pilot', with a story that involves a night spent in his 'French truck'. Ian's humor and storytelling prowess shine through in this segment.

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In this episode of Behind The Vinyl: The Podcast, host Stu Jeffries takes you on a nostalgic journey with iconic artists. Featuring Ra McGuire of Trooper "We're Here For A Good Time" and Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, and their song "Try". The spotlight then turns to Tiffany, who shares the story of her rise to fame at age 14 with the hit remake of "I Think We’re Alone Now."

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This episode features Canadian legend Randy Bachman revealing the unexpected twists that led to the creation of "American Woman." Plus, hear Andy Kim share a secret about "Be My Baby" and feel the energy of Sass Jordan's "Tell Somebody." Dive into the vinyl grooves and discover the tales behind the tunes. Don't miss out!

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In episode 1 of season 4, hear Rob Thomas reveal the universal appeal behind "3AM," Mike Levine of Triumph break down "Lay It On The Line," and Amanda Marshall unpack the power of "Let It Rain."

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Lisa Loeb, 'Stay (I Missed You)', swings by with a great story of how a phone call from “an acquaintance” Ethan Hawke, landed her the gig of a lifetime.

Fred Penner... What you may not know about Fred is, he’s an amazing guitar player along with being a naturally born storyteller. Fred explains how he transformed an old folk song into an ear-worm from our childhood, 'The Cat Came Back'. 

Jay Semko and Don Schmid of The Northern Pikes shed some light on their song 'Girl With A Problem'.

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Lou Gramm of Foreigner enlightens us with how a simple drum beat evolved into lyrics for one of their biggest hits, 'Juke Box Hero'.

Margo Timmins of The Cowboy Junkies recalls some memorable experiences that came to be due to their song 'Sweet Jane'.

Lead singer/bassist from Platinum Blonde, Mark Holmes tells us how the idea of “living in the moment” helped them achieve the success they were hoping for with 'Standing in the Dark'.

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Paul Young sheds some light on his song 'Every time You Go Away' and how it was originally meant for a TV show.

Sam Reid and Alan Frew of Glass Tiger. Here’s the guys on the song 'Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)', the writing process and having a few beers with Bryan Adams to pitch him on being part of the song.

Jean-Marc Pisapia of The Box who (I kid you not) recorded this episode while wearing green Wellington rubber boots. Jean-Marc talks 'Closer Together'.

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Alex Lifeson of Rush goes into detail about recording 'Tom Sawyer' in the winter.

Gino Vannelli talks 'Black Cars' and how it’s not really about, black cars.

Bassplayer/singer and founding member Sandy Horne from the Spoons on their song 'Romantic Traffic'.

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In this episode, Randy Bachman explains how one of his biggest songs, 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet' , wasn’t really meant to be a song at all, but more of a sibling rivalry thing.

'Jane' from the Barenaked Ladies and former member, Steven Page giving his side of song’s story.

Michael Sadler of Saga reminisces about the hoops he had to jump through and the dangers he put himself into to “achieve a certain sound” for the producers and the song 'On the Loose'.

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Fred Schneider of The B-52's joins us to give some background on their biggest hit, “Love Shack” and what exactly a love shack is.

Ian Thomas talks about life on the road, strip joints and missing home with "Painted Ladies".

Freddy Curci and Steve DeMarchi of Sheriff stopped by our studios to give some insight on “When I’m With You”.

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Keith Hampshire has an amazing story about how a song you could only buy at the ballpark got stuck in our heads forever.

Gowan tells a good story about how a visit to a jail cell inspired a 7 minute song about the thought process of a criminal.

What’s the deal with “Mr. Roboto”? What does it mean - how did it happen - what do you hear if you play the song backwards?

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We kick off episode 3 of Behind the Vinyl with the very charming, total gentleman and legend Andy Kim with his song “Baby, I Love You”.

From the rockin’ Canadian trio Triumph, bass plater Mike Levine gives his take on “Magic Power”.

And Mike Score from A Flock of Seagulls explains the inspiration behind their monster 80s hit song “I Ran” (So Far Away).

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In this episode of Behind The Vinyl: The Podcast, where we continue to feature artists playing their biggest hits on a turntable and giving us the back story...

Lorraine Segato from The Parachute Club with a song that’s not a song. It’s a universal anthem of freedom and equality, "Rise Up".

Niagara Falls, Ontario rockers, Honeymoon Suite’s Derry Grehan and Johnnie Dee stopped by our studios with their album in tow to go into detail about their hit “New Girl Now”.

Midge Ure gives us the goods on his song “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes” and some of his influence. The meaning of the song, his musical inspirations and much more.

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Welcome to another season of Behind The Vinyl, where artists stop by, drop the needle on their songs and roll out their take on how the song came to be. In this episode, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister sheds some light on “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and how the key line from the song, was years ahead of the rest of the lines.

Tom Cochrane goes into detail about how his fascination with a poet turned gun runner lead to a great song called “White Hot”.

Legendary blues rocker, David Wilcox sheds some light on his song “Bad Apple” and how it was inspired by true events including him and a stink bomb.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: The always charismatic Alex Lifeson of Rush shares some insight on the song “Limelight” and how an extremely cold winter helped the band record one of their biggest hits. Myles Goodwyn of April Wine gives us an amazing math lesson about their song “Roller”. Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace had a challenging time when it came to recording their song “Clumsy” but finding their vulnerability seemed to make it all come together.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Howard Jones had an encounter with a fan about the song “Things Can Only Get Better” that left him with a memory and moment, he’ll never forget. Sam Reid and Alan Frew of Glass Tiger shed some light on the Glass Tiger song “Thin Red Line” and how they used movie clips to elevate the song. Barney Bentall talks about using his musical influences when it came to record his song “She’s My Inspiration”.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Producer, singer and songwriter Midge Ure tells us the story of how “Do They Know It’s Christmas” came to be along with the challenges of recording it with so many stars. Taylor Dayne shares her story of very humble beginnings and the support from her family to help her dream come true. Gord Deppe of the Spoons had a revelation about recording of “Arias & Symphonies” and the huge names he met while the song was being recorded.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Steve Earle destroys every pre-conceived notion we had about the bagpipes intro of his song “Copperhead Road”. Gowan takes a few minutes to explain his song “Strange Animal” and how a certain Beatle popped by the recording studio to give a thumbs up for the cowbells in the song. Neil Chapman and Tony Duggan-Smith of Pukka Orchestra share some insight to their song “Listen To The Radio” and how it was the only song on their album NOT written by them, but who it was co-written by, may surprize you.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Tom Cochrane goes into detail about his song “Lunatic Fringe” and why the song and album had to be totally re-recorded after 9 months of hard work. Andy Kim tells us how long it took to write his song “Sugar Sugar” and his cassette player made every song a hit song. Metal Queen, Lee Aaron shares insight on how she wrote the song “Whatcha Do To My Body” to change the norm of thinking when it comes to women in music and music videos.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Ed Robertson and Tyler Stewart of the Barenaked Ladies do a deep dive into their song “If I Had A $1,000,000” and reveal how many original versions actually exist! Paul Humphry and Chris Wardman of Blue Peter explain how they managed to save a pile of cash to record their song “Radio Silence” by being strategic. Moe Berg of The Pursuit Of Happiness sheds some light on the recording of “She’s So Young” and how the experience taught him to be a better producer, thanks to Todd Rundgren’s tutelage.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Lou Gramm, former Foreigner frontman talks about his solo hit “Midnight Blue” and how lyrical inspiration came from wise words a family member used to say. Bryan Potvin and Don Schmid of The Northern Pikes sat down to shed some light on their song “She Ain’t Pretty” and how simplicity worked on a lot of levels. Saga’s Michael Sadler, reveals the amazing way the engineers captured a part of his vocals for the song “Wind Him Up”.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Darryl McDaniels of Run D.M.C. is a master storyteller! Darryl not only sheds light on the making of their biggest hit “Walk This Way” he wraps it up with an amazing lesson we can all benefit from. Rich Dodson of The Stampeders explains how the plucky sound of their song “Sweet City Woman” was borrowed. Guitarist Derry Grehan and singer Johnnie Dee of Honeymoon Suite explain the dangers of shooting music videos at Niagara Falls.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Kim Mitchell gets to the bottom of his song “Go For Soda” and how it really has nothing to do with drinking, but rather... relationships. A rap history lesson from Canadian hip-hop legend Maestro Fresh-Wes about how “Let Your Backbone Slide” was influenced by rocker Billy Squire. Darby Mills, formally of the Headpins shares one of her favourite memories about meeting a “demon” while going into detail about their song “Don’t It Make Ya Feel”.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Singer, songwriter, political activist and author goes into great detail about how the song “I Don’t Like Mondays” came to be and how it still resonates today. Tom Cochrane talks about how the changes in his life at the time were instrumental for the lyrics and vibe of his hit song “Boy Inside The Man”. Jean-Marc Pisapia of The Box reflects on how being labelled a politically oriented band by the press for their song “Ordinary People” was a constant frustration.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Terry Draper of Klaatu explains the creative process behind their hit “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” along with a big thank you to The Carpenters for covering their song and the confusion of them being The Beatles. Ian Thomas stops by to discuss his song “Hold On”, how it helped pave his driveway (thanks to Santana) and peforming the song on SCTV. We wrap up the episode with Dennis DeYoung, formally of Styx where he reveals he was an accordion player before joining the band along with how a dark period in his life helped him write the song.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Lorraine Segato of Parachute Club sheds some light on their song “Rise Up” and how it became an anthem for many people and what the song means to them. Moe Burg from The Pursuit of Happiness excitedly tells the story of how their song “I’m An Adult Now” was released as a video before it was on the record. Finishing up the episode is Gary Numan with an amazing story about how his song “Cars” was inspired by a driving incident involving him trying to avoid hitting pedestrians while driving on the sidewalks in London!

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: David Wilcox shares his thoughts on one of his biggest songs “Riverboat Fantasy” and how a homemade raft was inspiration for the song. Colin James turns total fan boy about his memories of working with producer Tom Dowd for the song “Voodoo Thing”. Ending the episode, George Thorogood explains the meaning of “Bad” and how he finally managed to incorporate it into a hit song called “Bad to the Bone”.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Ra McGuire of Trooper reveals how the producer of the album wanted to change the lyrics from “Raise a Little Hell” to something less, devilish. Neil Osborne and Brad Merritt of 54-40 explains how they blended 2 songs to make their hit “I Go Blind”. Finishing up the episode, Howard Jones has so much to say about his biggest hit “No One Is To Blame” but the coolest thing (we think) is how he came up with the line “you can look at the menu, but you just can’t eat”.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo gives us the scoop on their song “Bad Timing” and how the song was a perfect choice for their acoustic album recorded at Greg Keeler’s cottage. Kim Mitchell explains how a wacky buddy helped their song “Let Go The Line” become a better song and why the Toronto Symphony Orchestra just “got up and left” during the recording session. Wrapping up the episode is Paul Young sharing his story about how “I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down” and how the bass guitar may have hindered the song from being a bigger hit.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Andy Kim explains how “Rock Me Gently” came to be a huge hit thanks to someone tuning a guitar before they started to record the song. Steven Page formerly of Barenaked Ladies chimes in on how “Be My Yoko Ono” received an official vote of approval from Yoko Ono herself! Speaking of Yoko, we finish the episode with Fred Schneider of The B-52’s explaining how Yoko became an important part of their song “Rock Lobster”.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Alan Frew and Sam Reid of Glass Tiger shed some light on the perils of shooting the video for “I Will Be There” when you include snow, a mountain edge and a helicopter. Emily Sailers from the Indigo Girls explains how bare bones it really was to write, record and shoot the video for “Closer To Fine”. Closing out this episode we have Rik Emmett of Triumph explaining how a childhood transistor radio was his catalyst for their massive hit “Magic Power”.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Robbie Grey of Modern English explains how he wrote a hit song in less than 2 minutes! Gowan shares his experiences first venture in co-writing was not only successful but educational for their song “All The Lovers In The World”. We wrap up the episode with an amazing story from Randy Bachman of BTO/The Guess Who where he talks about how a pizza delivery guy landed the gig of piano player for the song “Takin’ Care of Business”.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Ivan Doroschuk of Men Without Hats explains how their song “Safety Dance” became a hit thanks to dance clubs and a certain dance called “Pogoing”. Barry Harris and Kevin Wynne of Kon Kan share their memories about the song “I Beg Your Pardon” and the many challenges involved with making a hit song. We close the episode with a very charismatic Dennis DeYoung of Styx reminiscing about “Babe” and how it was never meant to be a Styx song, but rather a gift to his wife.

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Dropping the needle in this episode of Behind The Vinyl: Mike Score from Flock Of Seagulls talks about how long it took before their song “Wishing” took over a year to make it to their record. Mark Holmes of Platinum Blonde reluctantly sheds some light on what their song “Situation Critical” is really about. Tony Hadley and Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet find humor in the fact that they haven’t cued a record in decades and talk about that “moment” they first knew they had something big with their song “True”.

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