Speaker 1: Welcome everybody. We have entered our number three newmerow trace
Matt Connorton Unleashed and we are live from the studios
of wm NH ninety five point three FM and Glorious Manchester,
New Hampshire. Of course, you can stream the show from anywhere.
Go to Matt connorton dot com slash live for all
your live streaming options, social media links, contact info, show archives, etc.
Et cetera. Today is Saturday, November twenty nine, two thy
twenty five. Hello everybody. We have a great guest we're
going to be introducing in just a moment who will
be familiar to some of you because he's kind of
a member of the extended family here at WM and H,
but it's his first time appearing on this program, so
very very excited about that. But before we do that,
just quickly, if you are listening live on Saturday, we've
got a big event tonight, the Pop Punk Pop Up,
Live Music and Arts Market. This is happening at Terminus Underground,
presented by New Hampshire Underground at one thirty four Haines
Street in Nashua. And part of the reason we're talking
about this it's a great event of course, and there's
gonna be some great bands there. Let's see, We've got
Island of Alaska, grim on what You're on. They're all
gonna be playing. But also Jenny's art will be Jenny's
gonna have a table there. Jenny and I will be there,
so come say hello. The art vendors include not only Jenny,
but Dennis Layton of course from the band The Gray Curtain.
He's also a visual artist Let's see with Love from
Faith Elements and Fantasy, Brenda Drew Designs, Cosmos Creations, Andre
Dumont of course from Dead Harrison Prospero's paintings, Mystics, and
Chelsea Purington photography. They will all be there tonight as well,
So doors open at seven. It's all ages fifteen dollars
entry twenty for the VIP lounge and that is tonight,
so that starts at seven pm, So come see us.
Jenny and I will be there. I believe it goes
until ten, I think so. But yeah, come down, say hello.
I've got my brand new business cards. I'll hand one
to you if you come see us. No, but Jenny's
gonna have her amazing artwork there, so please come tonight
and again the band's playing Island of Alaska, gr im
and on what You're on will all be there as well,
so it's gonna be a great night. One thirty four
Ain Street, Nashua, New Hampshire. You can find out more
information go to New Hampshire underground dot org and they're great.
We love Eleanor and Andre and everybody involved in that.
So come see us tonight and let me get this
microphone up here. Let's see because he's got his guitar
with him. Brooklyn Mike is here. Hello, Brooklyn Mike, and
I can't hear you. Let me let me figure out
why think I figured out? Why still can't hear you?
Why can't I hear you?
Speaker 2: Six?
Speaker 1: I think, oh, I think I hear you a little bit.
Speaker 2: Check check there we are. Good morning, Matt and everybody.
Good morning.
Speaker 1: Let's see. I'm gonna turn that down and turn that
up and it's uh yeah. Mike's got his guitar with him,
so he's gonna play. So this is exciting because again
for those who are not familiar, Brooklyn Mike has been
well this morning on the Morning Show because every Saturday
morning Peter plays a classic episode of the Morning show.
This Morning Show was from twenty eighteen. It was from
the end of twenty eighteen, and you were.
Speaker 2: On it, Yeah, twenty eighteen. And at that point I
had been already listening and participating with the Morning Show
for probably at least a year or two at that
point already. Yeah, so I know it was you know,
when Moose was still and Moose was off the show
at that point in twenty eighteen, Jaral was there. So
at the very least twenty seventeen. Yeah, so we go
back good eight years, eight nine years something like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, So this is the first time. So you've
been on the Morning Show many times. Have you ever
been on a Rob's show, Robber's Video show?
Speaker 2: In fact, I've never had the good fortune to meet
Rob yet.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, so you haven't even met Rob yet. I'm
sure you will at some point. Yeah, but you've been
on so you've been on Retrospection Radio obviously recently for
the first time.
Speaker 2: So that was that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: That was great.
Speaker 2: I look forward to coming back in next Friday.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And this is your first time on this show,
so welcome.
Speaker 2: Thanks, well, you know, being I retired from my regular
job at the beginning of this year. And so this
is affording me, you know, time to do things that
have been back Bernard for a quarter century. Yeah, so
including you know, performing and playing music. You know. I
moved here January of two thousand in one from New Brooklyn,
New York, and you know, got it, you know, started
working and had to pay bills and be an adult.
So I kind of back burned the music. I didn't
really have the time and the energy. I was working nights, so,
you know, working weekends, so my schedule was not conducive
really that much to to playing out and yeah, I
mean certainly if you could always find the wherewithal to
do it, yeah, but I just didn't have it in me.
I was more focused on, you know, just building a
new life here in New Hampshire.
Speaker 1: With my wife.
Speaker 2: Yeah, which has worked out beautifully.
Speaker 1: No, that's wonderful. We have a call. Oh no, nobody there.
Someone was calling the studio line. All right, I thought
it was one of your fans, but whoever it was,
they hung.
Speaker 2: Up, Yeah, well one of them. Yeah, Daryl the Dragon's
Ion should be listening this morning. If you're listening, Daryl,
good morning.
Speaker 1: Oh excellent, good morning, Daryl. Yeah, I haven't spoken with
him in a long time, but you had lunch with
him recently, right at breakfast or something. Yeah, yeah, we're
good friends. Now that's X. That is excellent. He's a
good man. Yeah, absolutely, Well, he's a musician himself, he is.
You guys are gonna do? Uh?
Speaker 2: We were we know, you know, we we totally had
plans because in additions playing guitar and bass, my first
instrument was trumpet and I love jazz and uh. Darrell
plays saxophone and uh and clarinet.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: And we had plans. We had it all mapped out.
We were going to do a duet. We had a
name for the duet, and we had repertoire ready to go.
And then he took an unfortunate fall and he's recovered
quite well, but he feels he doesn't have the proper
dexterity in his fingers in his hands anymore to play.
So we had to kind of shelf that that project.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Fortunately, let's see it. Oh, I think our caller
is online. Hello caller, who's this.
Speaker 3: Ricky?
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, Ricky Man Simpleton? Hello are you so?
Are you familiar with Brooklyn?
Speaker 2: Mike I'm yes, I am a big go ahead.
Speaker 3: I'm I learned about in front of your show.
Speaker 1: Oh wonderful, wonderful. So see you already have a new fan.
Speaker 2: Hopefully it will be disappointing. Good morning, rick Yeah, morning.
Speaker 1: Ricky Mapleton is gonna be on with us in the
uh in the not too distant future. So and it's
been on the show many times.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I think I'm coming on in February.
Speaker 1: I think so. I don't have it in front of you,
but that sounds right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well I'm good to have you. Thanks.
I was starting to call up with thanks, give me
to you guys, Oh, thank you. Yeah, just a big,
big fan of the show. I'm glad you're still rocking.
Speaker 1: And rolling absolutely well. Thank you very much. We appreciate
that and we look forward to, uh look forward to
seeing you in February and with your new project.
Speaker 3: Ah, I got a project coming up called The Breadman Cometh,
a rock opera.
Speaker 1: Add Yeah, very excited about that. I'm a big fan
of sandwiches myself in French doasts, so you know I
like bread.
Speaker 3: Oh well, I'll bring some in and have a great
show and I'll talk to you guys, let keep going.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, by bye.
Speaker 2: It's funny that he mentioned bread, because you know, the
first thing you think of is you know bread that
we eat. Yes, And I think I only learned recently
that the band bread, uh, which I always thought, you know,
bread that we eat, but it was actually you know bread,
the nickname for money. Yes, I think that's that was
the the meaning of the band.
Speaker 1: You only learned that recently?
Speaker 2: Yeah about Wait about uh that that the name bread
of the band?
Speaker 1: Oh? Oh, I thought you meant No, No, I knew
that that was that was I was confused.
Speaker 2: No, no, we yeah, amen, let me some bread solid No, No,
but I only learned learned recently that that that was
the meaning of the of the name of the band.
Speaker 1: Oh. I got you, I got you. Yeah either way. Now,
you had said, I don't remember if this was an
on air or an off air conversation during Paul's show,
but you mentioned back in New York you had worked
with Walter Egan.
Speaker 2: Correct, we didn't work Yeah, actually we did work in
New York. Walter Egan is originally from Queens from Forest Hills,
Queen's same town. Coincidentally as Simon and Garfunkle and I,
you know, I was playing in many, many bands, and
he wound up working with one of the bands that
I was working with, not on a permanent basis, a
little bit more than subbing, but we we would go
up to that band. The band leader, so to speak,
Ray Passenen, is from East Millinocket, Maine. Okay, yeah, so
we would he booked us. Ray would book us at
this in Brewer, Maine, at a uh kind of a
motel that would have a lounge there and we'd play
there for the whole week. It was called Stacy's. Doesn't
exist anymore, it's gotten torn down, but this was in
the nineties and when we'd go up for the week
to Maine, Walter would would go with us and play
for the whole week. And in fact he would he
would carpool like I would drive, and he'd carpool with me,
so I'd have his guitar and his amp in my
car and it was a lot of He's he's a
lot of fun. But he lives in Nashville now, Yeah,
so yeah, Walter is a fun guy, is very talented,
very talented guitarist. So his biggest hit was Magnet ste
pretty much a one hit wonder, but very very good songwriter. Yeah,
great guitarist, good singer, just all around good guy.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, that was fun. Is there anyone else like
that that you worked with back in the I.
Speaker 2: Don't remember the guy's name. It was only one night.
Again with a lot of the bands that we you know,
you were mentioning earlier about you know, one of one
of the downfalls of being in a band is when
somebody can't make it. But we were fortunate, you know,
in in New York City. I mean there's I mean,
there are a lot of musicians everywhere, right, but we
had quite quite a circle of bands that we all
knew each other on the on the circuit, so to speak.
So if like if we if our drummer couldn't make it,
we had our pick of drummers. Same thing with guitarists
and all that. So there was one one night where
our drummer couldn't make it, and I don't know how
our band leader, her name was patients More, she found
this guy but he was again I don't remember his name,
but he was the drummer for Paul McCartney and Wings.
So we worked with him for one night oh yeah,
English guy, super super nice. Of course, great drummery.
Speaker 1: There. I don't know.
Speaker 2: There was a guitarist from the Left Bank, you know,
walk Away Renee that song. Just every now and then
we'd come across, you know, we'd wind up working with somebody. Yeah,
and it was just you know, main job, main thing
was to get the job done right. But it was
all it was all a lot of fun, right right.
There was never a lot of money in it. I
mean yeah, you know, for many years and it's still
my approach where whether it's right or wrong, I'm happy
with it. Where the music that I decide to perform
or do this is when I'm doing solos. But or again,
back in New York, all the bands I was in
I played bass.
Speaker 1: Okay, So we were doing.
Speaker 2: Cover music mostly believe it or not, because it was
in the nineties, mostly country bands really.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So and we were super busy. I mean there was
a month I remember we did like thirty two jobs
in one month.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. Yeah, wow, like doubles.
Speaker 2: You know you do an afternoon and you know, on
a Saturday afternoon at like a fair or something, and
then yeah, play a bar at night.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: So where was I going with that? Oh, my choice
of music that I play, So back home again. I
was playing in these cover bands, and family members and
people I knew would say, you know, why don't why
don't you join a wedding band? You can make so
much money. I'm like, I'm not doing that music. I
don't really care at this point about the money. I
should have cared a little bit more about the money, honestly. Luckily,
you know, my wife was very patient with me, and
you know, she worked, and I worked the day job too,
but I'd work part time jobs, full time jobs, depending
on how busy I was with music at any given point.
So as a result, I worked a lot of different
types of jobs I can imagine in my life. And
so yeah, so still to this day, like the repertoire
that I do is not primarily songs that people know.
I mean, there are a fair amount of those songs.
But for example, everybody, anybody who knows me through the
station knows Gordon Lightfoot is like my hero, and I
don't really do his.
Speaker 1: I do.
Speaker 2: I think two songs of his, well, now three, because
I learned sundown I do, so I do three songs
of his that were popular songs that were hits that
people would know. But then I'll do ten songs of
his that unless you're like a Gordon Lightfoot fan or
had his albums or have his albums and were really
into his music, you wouldn't know them. But I love
the songs. And it's a little bit selfish on my part.
It's like three parts to it. Part of it is
selfish because I enjoy it. Yeah, okay, And I think
that if a performer is doing songs that he or
she enjoy really enjoys, you're going to get the best
result usually, you know, because it's it's from the heart.
So that's one thing. And the other thing is I
think it's a little more interesting for audiences unless they
just want to hear songs that they know. And that's
why it really want to play like primarily like in
a bar setting because people are drinking, you know. I
did that for years and years and years, even my
first band with my brother, which was all classic rock,
and it was fine, you know, because people are drinking,
you know, they want to sing along and they want
to know the songs. But hopefully I could find some
venues a little more low key where it's more of
a listening experience. So I could do these songs, for example,
by Gordon Lightfoot and my other hero Dan Fogelberg that
the people might not necessarily know, but I think they'll
wind up really enjoying it hopefully. And the third thing
is that at any given point, if I'm performing and
somebody is in the audience or more than one person,
let's take Dan Fogelberg for example, that is a Dan
Fogelberg song. And then I'm doing these cuts like off
albums that when never on the radio, I'm hoping they'll
be like really happy about it, that it's like, oh
my god, he's doing For example, it was I used
to play this place in Greenwich Village called the back Fence,
and I played their solo many times with many bands
over the years. And my favorite America song is Daisy Jane.
And it got some airplay, but it wasn't like, you know,
it wasn't Ventura Highway for example. You know, it wasn't
like a huge ute hit and there. So I was
at the back Fence one night and played Daisy Jane
and there was this guy there just at the bar,
and he loved the song and he went nuts, and
he said, every I'm gonna make sure i'm here every
time you're hear just because I want to hear that song.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: So to me, that's like it's not even about the money,
Like that's the payoff right there. You know, it's like
mission accomplished.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely absolutely. You mentioned your brother, so you were
in a band with your brother, and then.
Speaker 2: My brother he passed away, unfortunately a couple a couple
of years ago, passed away. But he's seven years older
than I am. And I you know, I know you're
an only child, but I think it's kind of normal
for let's say.
Speaker 1: Especially, I should just clarify, Mike, I'm not an only child,
just in case any of my siblings are listening. I
often feel like I.
Speaker 2: Will sorry, sister, right, it's okay, okay, yeah, I have
I'm just remembering.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's okay. I have two half sisters and
a half brother. I'm sorry, and everybody scattered. And I
was already yeah, I was already older when the first
one was born. So I often feel like I grew
up like an only child. Okay, So that's okay. Just
I'm only correcting you just in case any of them
are listening, which is unlikely, but I don't want anyone
to be mad at me. I apologize. It's all good.
Speaker 2: I did know that and I forgot totally okay, but
the reference is it's still relevant in that. So my brother,
being older than I am, I always kind of looked
up to him. I just wanted to like emulate him. Yeah,
And he was a musician from early early on. First
played drums. We had a drum kit in the basement
and I'd go down and play the drum, you know,
just by ear. That was actually the first instrument.
Speaker 1: That I played.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then he was a great guitarist and keyboard
player and singer. My sister is a singer. My father
was a singer, and so my first band when I
started studying guitar, and my brother had already been playing
for years and he was in a band. Then that
band split up, you know the way it goes, and
then he and the lead singer rhythm player wanted to
form another band, and I was just learning to play,
and I joined them, and we were three acoustic guitars
at that point. And then about a year later we
had the idea I started studying bass, and then my
friend John Sheridan, who I played with in like a
ton of bands. He's like my best friend back home
in New York while he's in New Jersey now. So
then I then my brother went he Like I said,
we started out as three acoustic guitars, and then when
we supplemented the band with the drummer, my brother went
to electric guitar and I went to bass. Okay, and
then we were like a legit four piece, you know,
with acoustic rhythm.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and it was great. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The name of the band was County Line, and I
came up with the name for the band from a
song by the Poussett's Art band, John Poussett's Art Who
you interview was a great interview. That was a great
feather in your cap.
Speaker 1: Oh thank you. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And if you ever get the chance to see him,
he plays over at the Rex. I've seen him there
a number of times. You will not be disappointed. He's great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the last time we had him on. That's why
it was because he's great.
Speaker 2: I've seen him a few times.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So anyway, that was my first band that was all
classic rock.
Speaker 1: And then and then what why did that end?
Speaker 2: Work started drying up?
Speaker 1: A little bit. Yeah, So that we.
Speaker 2: Started that band County line. That was about nineteen eighty
six or seven, and we went strong for a good
three or four years, and then in nineteen ninety but
we're going we're going one hundred and eighty on this one.
In nineteen ninety, my wife and I bought a pizzeria. Okay,
so I started working when I was eight years old.
I'm going to backtrack real quick a little bit. I
started working I was eight years old in pizzerias.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: And I know it's not legal, but it was a
pizzeria and it was in Brooklyn, so it was okay.
Speaker 1: Okay, gotcha.
Speaker 2: So eight years old, I started working in pizzeri's. I
did that straight through thirteen years until I was twenty one,
through all pretty much all my school years.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: And then then I wasn't working in pizzer anymore. So
from twenty one that was whatever year that was nineteen
eighty two, and I was a bank teller and I
did a whole bunch that worked for coffee company, industrial
hardware company, all kinds of stuff. But in nineteen ninety
an opportunity came up in our neighborhood. Actually a block
from my mom's house. There was a pizzeria for sale.
And I wasn't really involved in a career or anything,
and I knew how to do the you know, run
the business. I did it pretty much all my you know,
thirteen years, all my young life, and my wife and
I decided to buy the buy the pizzeria. So then
I couldn't play music anymore because I was there like
seven days a week.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah.
Speaker 2: And then we got rid of the pizzeria in ninety two,
and I mean I didn't even lock the door the
last day, and my friend John Sheridan and it's like, okay,
you're ready to join the band again. And then we
were off and running. And then, like I said, country
music was like really up and coming then with you know,
the coming on the scene of like the likes of
Clint Black and Garth Brooks and Brooks and Dunn and
you know, Dwight Yoakum and all these guys, and it
just country music exploded, and believe it or not, in
New York City and Long Island and New Jersey, you know,
all the line dancing and all the you know, all
the bars and clubs were doing it.
Speaker 1: Oh I believe it because I remember that super busy
wave in the nineties wave a lot of country was huge,
and it was very very mainstream in that in that sense.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, but it's you know, my kind of one
of my running jokes is, yeah, what you'd expect, you know,
nice Italian boy from Brooklyn playing country music, you know,
but you know, I have all the accouterment, you know,
the Western boots and the Western shirts, and I never
want I have a couple of stetsons. I only wore
I think once when we played. We actually did do
a wedding. But they were country music fans, so we
were to our country music. That's what they wanted.
Speaker 1: By the way, I'm curious about the pizzeria. Why so,
so you owned it.
Speaker 2: For a couple of years and yeah, three years, ninety
ninety to ninety two, and then why did you give
it up?
Speaker 1: It failed? Oh?
Speaker 4: Really?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we were a small guy in town. You know,
there was a pizzer on every block. And there were
two main drags in our neighborhood, Manhattan Avenue and Nasa
Avenue that kind of intersect at one point. Yeah, and
all the pizzeris and businesses are on that on those
two streets. We were on a boulevard. Parking was hard,
there were no other stores there, and you know, we
were a new guy in town. Yeah, we you know,
we made enough just like to pay the bills. But
after three years, I'm like, I'm not doing this. I'm
marking like ninety one hundred hours a week. I can imagine, Yeah,
I'm done. And we couldn't even say I'm like I said,
I'm an open book. I'm honest. We couldn't even sell
the business because we couldn't show a profit. Yeah, so
we just we we sold whatever, liquidated whatever equipment we could,
yeah ours, and said, you know, just chalk it up
to experience.
Speaker 1: Right right, you know, yeah, yeah exactly.
Speaker 2: And life went on. Yeah yeah, you know. But I
always say, you know, if we hadn't done it, we'd
always be kicking ourselves in the butt, saying, what is
exactly what could have happened?
Speaker 1: So absolutely it was.
Speaker 2: It was a great learning experience, which what I took
away from there is I'll never own my own passess again.
Speaker 1: Ever. No, thank you, I don't blame you, by the way,
So should we talk about where the name Brooklyn Mike
comes from? Because you weren't always Brooklyn Mike.
Speaker 2: No, I've always been Mic from Brooklyn, So it's got
to be over it's got to be over fifteen years ago,
because I know when we moved to New Hampshire, we
lived on the East side. We were on Harvard Street
and we lived there for about ten years, and then
we moved to the West side, which that's where we
are now. We're just like a couple of blocks from
the Bedford border. So I know this came up. This
Brooklyn Mike nomenclature came up when I was still at
the old house, So I know it's more than fifteen
years ago. So I say between maybe seventeen eighteen years ago,
something like that. Well, I used to watch this show
on Manchester Public Television called Norman Friends, which was on
the great late Norm Moody was the host, and even
greater than Norm was his co host, which happened to
be mister Matt Connerton. And so that's where how we
you and I first met, not in person, but we
came to know each other because Norm would take calls
on you know, while the show was going on. He
would take phone calls, which was fun, and you know,
no big surprise, I called in, which you know, that's
how I came to know Peter and I started calling peters.
And it's kind of funny because when I think back
to it, I would do it in New York too.
I would call in like I've won some like prizes
on radio shows. Like I wasn't like a prize hog,
but every now, if it was like something that interested me,
I'd say I won like two or three things in
New York over the years. So it was always kind
of fun to like connect with the disc jockey. I
thought it was always fun, you know, because I wanted
to hear myself on air. I couldn't care about that.
So so anyway, I called in Norman friends the first
time that I called in, and you know, you'd say,
you know, oh who's online? Or what's your name? Actually
you would answer the phone, and so I said, oh,
my name is Mike. And I don't know if it
was right right on the spot or eventually I just
I guess I didn't feel comfortable giving my last name.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: It was either that or I remember saying, well, you know,
there were so many mics and there are other mics
probably that do call in, so just to make it
easy and differentiate. I'm from Brooklyn, so just call me
Brooklyn Mic. Yeah, and that's how it started. Yeah, you know,
I kind of gave myself, you know, you know, my
own stupid nicknames.
Speaker 1: It works, it works. Yeah, you've been Brooklyn Mic ever
since Peter asked me.
Speaker 2: Peter asked me recently, says, you know, when hopefully you
start performing out places, are you, you know, going to
book yourself as Brooklyn Mike.
Speaker 1: I'm like, no, no, it's like.
Speaker 2: Why not. Yeah, it's kind of it's kind of pretentious.
I think, I think, I think you should. I don't know,
I said, I'm going to think about it. A funny
little anecdote about that is that I did one another
place in Greenwich Village that used to do plenty of them,
that would do open mics, and I only did an
open mic one time in Greenwich Village. Again, this is
like mid eighties, and like, I'm gonna do it. It's
gonna be kind of fun. I even played on the
street one time with the guitar case open in the village.
It's just a fun experience. So it's something I made.
One thing I never did though. I never played on
the subway that I wouldn't do. Okay, So I played
this open mic once at this bar in Greenwich Village,
and again, my last name is like very ethnic, not
that it's that difficult, but my joke was always, you know,
usually when people get married, the woman takes the husband's name,
and I always said I would have preferred to take
my wife's name because I just like it better, you know.
And so I booked myself as Mike, and then I
used her last name.
Speaker 1: Oh no, kidding, interesting, Oh that's funny, that's funny. Well,
do you want to play something for us? Yeah, okay,
if you're just joining us, Brooklyn, Mike is here with us,
live in studio. He's got his guitar, and I'm going
to bring the level up on that guitar, and uh,
you know we're already live, so no chance to do
a proper soundcheck.
Speaker 2: But I have the level set right at midway, both
volume and tone, so I could always adjust it if
I that's great. It's plenty of plenty, plenty of loud.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, okay, yeah, sounds good in the headphones.
Speaker 2: Make it a little less bright here, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1: So.
Speaker 2: Not to be redundant, but Gordon Lightfoot. I just feel
I have to start with a song of his. Okay,
So here's a song again. This is a real old one.
This goes way back, I don't know, sixty eight, sixty
nine and certainly not a song anyone would know unless
you know you're a Gordon Lightfoot fan or have his
albums and you know, would be familiar with it. Even
if you're not a fan, if you have the album,
you might.
Speaker 1: Know the song. Yeah, but I'm gonna start this one.
Speaker 2: I played this once years ago on Peter's show. He
really liked it, and I think it's apropos for today
because it's entitled Saturday Clothes and it's a little tale
about I kind of envision a young guy going out
to live on his own for the first time, maybe
going going away to college, and having his own little
place and really kind of something I think a lot
of us could relate to, like learning how to do
things on your own for the first time, you know,
away from mom and all that good stuff, you know.
And so he's really going through that process in his
own place here, and every Saturday he has a gathering
at his home or his apartment, whatever it may be,
and his old friends come over every Saturday night, you know,
and at the end of the night, everybody leaves, and
he's already looking forward to the next Saturday.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: He's like cleaning up after the mess that they've left.
And that's kind of what this little tune is about.
And it's called, like I said, Saturday clothes.
Speaker 5: I feel a little blue because I can't sew. There's
still a lot of things that I should know. Anyone
can guess. I don't know how to press my Saturday clothes.
Everyone who's going home. I feel a little sad to
watch them be. But I'll be cool because I don't
believe the happy times are gone. I could still put
on my Saturday clothes. Every warmbody knows I've got two
That was a swell time. So now we'll take the
bucks away and put the glasses on the train. I'll
see you all next Saturday, two three. I feel a
little off because they're gone, and if my own work here,
i'd still be full. Put in a week or two.
There's lots of things to do in my Saturday clothes
and everyone's gone home.
Speaker 2: I've got to.
Speaker 5: Bad was a swell time. So now'll take the butts
away and put the glasses on the tray. I'll see
you all next Saturday Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Hmm, that is wonderful. Wonderful Brooklyn. Mike is here with
us a live in studio and uh so that was
Is Gordon Lightfoot your your favorite Did you say he
was your favorite.
Speaker 2: Favorite singer songwriter? Absolutely?
Speaker 3: What what is it like? Is it?
Speaker 1: Is it possible to sort of describe what it is
about him that connects with you so much? Yeah?
Speaker 2: This has been asked of me. Well, on the surface,
I love his voice, his singing style, but just his
the music in general. I mean, uh, you know, he's
the consummate storyteller people usually refer to him.
Speaker 3: Is that.
Speaker 2: And there's something about Uh It's kind of funny because
many of my favorite musicians singer songwriters are Canadian, and
I think it's something about, you know, you're from a
different place. Wherever you're from, you kind of have different
sensibilities and I think it comes out in the songwriting.
Joni Mitchell is my favorite female vocalist. She's Canadian. Another
one of my favorite songwriters singer songwriters is Bruce Coburn,
also Canadian. Dan Hill. I don't know it's just something
I've just always loved his music and just something different
about it. Certainly, you know, started out as straight folk,
but then like a lot of music.
Speaker 1: Of that was coming.
Speaker 2: Folk music that was popular in the sixties and those
singer songwriters and bands that carried through into the you know,
late sixties into the seventies.
Speaker 1: You know, there was a change.
Speaker 2: There was like an infusion of country, and so then
we get you know, country rock. And it's also kind
of funny because growing up, when I was really young,
there was an elderly woman we had. We lived in
a six family apartment house that my parents owned, and
downstairs from us, we were on the second floor, and
the first floor there was elderly woman and she lived
with our son, and we'd go down when we were
really really young, like you know, five, six, seven years old,
and we just like spent time down there because we
were just like friendly with the neighbors. And she would
have I don't remember what program it was on TV,
but she loved country music, but I mean country western.
Speaker 1: And I hated it.
Speaker 2: It's just I just felt like it was just so corny,
you know, because you know, I wanted to hear the
Beatles and you know all that, and so I was
always in the back of my I think subconsciously thought
I don't like country music. I hate country music, right,
And then the evolution of I should say, the infusion
of country music into rock, so many of the bands
that we grew up with that I wound up loving.
I'm thinking, oh, these are great rock bands.
Speaker 1: I love them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, But looking back on it, there was like a
lot of country influence, so Eagles, Poco, even Crosby Stiel's nesh.
You know, you went from folk, you know, and then
there was rock elements. But then and even if you know,
when you see videos and pictures of these guys, they
were wearing like country outfits, Like the shirts were like
all deck down and stuff.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 2: It was a style, you know, and so unbeknownst to me,
it was like I was absorbing that, you know, and
not really putting a label on it, you know what
I mean, Not that that's necessary. It's just kind of
funny how things turn, you know, Oh yeah, absolutely, and
then how wind up being a country bands? Figure we
have we have a call Hello, call her? Who's on
the line.
Speaker 4: Good Gene Simmons, Gene Simmons.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, Jean Simmons of Kiss, Welcome, sir.
Speaker 4: I was just doing in doing my early Christmas shopping
for and I it unleashed. Wow, and I heard Mike
on your show? Is that correct?
Speaker 1: Brooklyn Mike is here, you know, Gene Simmons of Kiss,
another real New Yorker.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, that's right.
Speaker 4: In fact, that's why I was calling. I know that
Brooklyn Mike is a very humble guy and he will
never admit. They actually said it with Wicked Lester for
four shows.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he left that out. He did not mention that
earlier when he was talking about his will.
Speaker 4: He'll he will deny it.
Speaker 2: Jean, I you know, I'm I'm I'm humbled by your
call this morning, but.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you're.
Speaker 2: At first, I was thinking, this is the first time
you and you and I have ever spoken, But now
it just you just sparked the memory that one night,
way back in the good old days, you and I,
uh spent a fun evening at Studio fifty four. Wow,
oh the memories.
Speaker 4: That was the night that you and I were doing
lines off the smaller Carlyons bat Hey.
Speaker 2: Well she didn't mind, so I mean, you know, get it. Well,
the getting's good. I guess it was consensual, right mm.
Speaker 1: Memory memories. Wow, well, this is amazing. It's wonderful to
have this kind of reunion happening. Geene Simmons of Kiss, Well, Mat, I.
Speaker 4: Am absolutely mess Maris that I have my old friend
Brooklyn Mike the studio. I hang up now and continue
my Christmas shopping, all right, And I just wanted to
point out that for the next fifteen minutes, if you
go to Kiss online dot com, fifteen percent of all
coffee monks.
Speaker 1: Wow, by one at Kiss online dot com only for
the next fifteen minutes.
Speaker 4: Wow, for the next fifteen minutes, by one coffee munket
full price. Get the next.
Speaker 1: Oh that's a deal. That's that's fantastic. Wow.
Speaker 2: As amazing as we New Yorker say, such a deal.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 4: And we do have the four cups where false Stanley's
on Wanton, Gene seven Kisses on another, uh huh ay,
and of course Peter Chris from Chills.
Speaker 1: Wow. Well that's amazing. So you can get all four,
that's that's great. Collect them all, Mat, that's wonderful. Got
to collect them all professional math.
Speaker 4: But I will say that if you buy the Paul,
you will get the Ace and Peter at the next
fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1: Wow, oh boy, it just gets better. I hope you'll
extend that, because you know, I am doing a radio show.
I don't think I can make that purchase in the
next fifteen minutes.
Speaker 4: That's something you're gonna have to work out with your people.
Speaker 1: Math, I understand. Jean Simmons of Kiss, I.
Speaker 4: Am taking up Brooklyn Mike's time. Nice to hear your
voice again, Brooklyn Mike.
Speaker 1: Thank you, my friend.
Speaker 4: Maybe you can make a stop on that nighttime show
there on Friday night.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you. All right? Oh wow, he's gone,
Gene Simmons of Kiss.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he mentioned Peter Chris. Peter Chris is from my
neighborhood in Brooklyn Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Oh yes, yeah, actually the
same street that might that I lived on for a
little while that my brother lived on. Oh o kidding,
and on the same street also down the other end
Barry Manilow.
Speaker 1: Oh no, kiddyest wild wow that is yeah. So did
you ever interact with Peter or what about Barry? No, no, no,
It's nice to be able to reunite, reunite you with.
Speaker 2: G I'm just you know, I'm playing it back in
my in my mind that it was quite quite the affair.
Speaker 1: I can imagine. Well, do you want to you want
to play another song for us? I'd love to hear more.
Speaker 2: All right, do you mind if I keep it a
little low key?
Speaker 1: I don't mind at all if I whatever, whatever you
want to play.
Speaker 2: Okay, here's a song again. Dan Fogelberg is my other
singer songwriter hero Man from Peoria, Illinois. And yeah, I
mean if I had to describe myself musically and what
I do, I'd just say the mellow music man, you know,
like it or not. I mean, that's just just what
I am and what I do. Sure, but it doesn't
mean I don't do any up tempo stuff. But my
heart is with like the sentimental, really mellow kind of stuff.
So okay, this one's entitled song from Half Mountain.
Speaker 1: All right, Brooklyn Mike live in studio.
Speaker 5: Mm hmm sounds good.
Speaker 1: All right, Okay, here we go.
Speaker 5: Now the windows. In a moment, it will be raging.
Now my sole is young. In a moment, it will
be aging and high of the pines. I wrote several
lines and left them in a bottle for you to fine.
Now the dream is rising. In a moment it will
be passed. This breath is my first, it will at
you soon be my last, and on me with the coast.
I made several toasts to you and me and the sea,
and no one heard.
Speaker 1: M hmm.
Speaker 5: Nowst In a moment, it will be raging. Now my
soul is young. In a moment it will be aging
and higher both their pines. I wrote several lines and
left them in a bottle for you too, fine.
Speaker 1: Wow, beautiful, beautiful. So that's uh, that's Dan Fogelberg. Yeah, Fogelberg.
What I feel like, I've never really listened to much
of him. I mean, what are what are his big hits? Again?
Speaker 2: I forget, Well, there's the leader of the band, Uh,
the one he talks about.
Speaker 1: His funt leader of the band. Oh yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2: And then it's longer, longer than anything.
Speaker 1: Oh that's the big big one is that's actually my.
Speaker 2: Wife and I and mine. That's our wedding songkidding longer
and then uh yeah. But I do like twenty his songs,
and wow, none of them are let me see, none
of them are really are hits?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, No, that's cool though. Actually you know why uh,
I mean, why be predictable? Yeah, you know, dude, it's
cool that you do some some deep cuts there. Yeah.
Speaker 2: How about a song by Coburn? Yes, yes, so this
is called Lord of the Starfields. Again he was really,
I mean, this guy is a prolific songwriter. He is
virtuoso guitarist and really a one hit wonder Wondering where
the Lions Are nineteen seventy five. I don't know if
he had well, Danny rocket, rocket launcher, rocket launcher. Yeah,
in the eighties, that's when I first became aware of
a right. So yeah, yeah, yeah, and this one is
kind of Lord of the Starfields, not really a religious song,
but kind of giving acknowledgment or praise to what I
would refer to. And it's not my own term source.
Everything emanates from. Yeah, yeah, and it's entitled Lord of
the Starfields.
Speaker 1: All right, Brooklyn Mike Livin studio, m hm.
Speaker 6: Word of the star feels.
Speaker 5: Ancient of days, you nursemaker. Here's a song in your praise,
Wings of the star cloud.
Speaker 3: Beginning, and then.
Speaker 5: You made my heart.
Speaker 2: Like a banner in the wind.
Speaker 6: Oh the Fire's son keeping Birded, Oh my, the fires
of song, be birded, Lord of.
Speaker 1: The Star, fel souler of life.
Speaker 5: Heaven under far throt of your life, Voice of.
Speaker 1: The No smile what you all?
Speaker 3: The warrior.
Speaker 7: Only comes home to you on the fire sun keep
the fires sun keeping. Oh, the fires sun keeping.
Speaker 1: Well, that is cool. Yeah, I've never heard that before.
That's an old Yeah. Yeah. He's known more for producing, right,
He's produced a lot of albums, hasn't he He I'm
not certain about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, But what I will tell you is his albums
are engineered. They're like the finest sounding, like sonically y
albums that I that I own, and I own like
three hundred albums. They just sound so good, yeah, the
way they're produced and engineered.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then it's funny because I saw him a number
of years ago and when Vinyl was coming out again
and he had a new album and it was on Vinyl,
and I bought it, and I'll never buy Vinyl again. Honestly,
it just sounded horrible. Really, Yeah. I was really disappointed
with it, especially in comparison to like his old albums
from the seventies, which sounds so good.
Speaker 1: I know, I don't know what it is. I know
that some vinyl now is it's not like there's a
cheaper way to do it where it's not like uh
where it's basically just they how do they do it?
It's not I don't I don't remember exactly, but it's
it's there's a cheaper way to do vinyl now that's uh,
it's not like the original. It's it's you're basically listening
to a CD, but it's on the record, okay, instead
of uh, you know, instead of listening to actual vinyl. Yeah,
but uh no, that's interesting.
Speaker 2: It wouldn't surprise me though, if he were a producer,
because the guy's brilliant. Yeah yeah, and I've met him
a couple of times. Super nice.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah. But he's still tours.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's still plays Yeah yeah good. I mean as
far as touring, I don't know, but he still does
shows for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: But even like Gordon Lightfoot, I mean he died a
couple of years ago and he was almost eighty five
years old, he's still doing like one hundred shows a year.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, crazy? Yeah wow. Do you want to do
We have time? If you want to do one more,
you want to do one more.
Speaker 2: See what should I do?
Speaker 1: What should If you're just joining us, We've got Brooklyn
Mike here in studio, a long time member of the
extended family around here. But this is uh, this is
Brooklyn Mike's first time on this show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's fun.
Speaker 1: I'm very excited about it.
Speaker 2: Like I said, I've started saying before being that I'm
not working a regular job anymore. Now now it affords
me time to do you know, be able to come
here in the morning or yeah, you know, because I
was working weekends, i was working nights and just wasn't
conducive to doing too many other things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, should we do?
Speaker 2: Would it be crazy to do another Gordon Lightfoot song?
Speaker 1: Not at all, Not at all. Okay, he's your favorite
after all.
Speaker 2: Again, it's very uh, very selfish of me here.
Speaker 1: No, that's that's quite all right. Plus, you do you
do songs that a lot of us haven't heard before.
Speaker 2: So well, see that's see, that's my thing. It's like, hopefully,
you know, whatever the songs are, you know, people are
enjoying them, and hopefully it makes it more interesting rather
than hearing a song that you've heard three hundred, you know,
a thousand times, like I told Peter, like I do
a couple of Eagles songs, but you know, nothing against
take it easy. But I'm not doing it anymore now.
Speaker 1: I know how to do it.
Speaker 2: If somebody requests it, I could do it, but it's not.
My choice is not to do take it easy. Yeah,
do we really need to hear it again?
Speaker 1: I don't blame you, you know what I mean, I
don't blame you.
Speaker 2: So let's see. So this is actually this is kind
of a moody song. This is also an old one.
This goes back I don't know, sixty six, maybe nineteen
sixty six, sixty seven, can remember. I mean Gordon was
you know, he was performing way back in the early fifties.
Speaker 1: I think it was.
Speaker 2: So this song is about the four seasons, which you
know is kind of apropos right now, we're kind of
changing seasons here. He starts starts with this. It's four
verses and starts with the spring, summer, autumn, you know,
ends with the winter, but then by the end of
the last verse it's returning to spring again. And he
kind of describes it as you could if you really
listen to it. It could be related to a relationship
between two people. So there's that analogy, so to speak.
And this was actually the first day that I started
that I studied guitar. I was determined to play a
full song the first day. So I had my lessons
and I went home and I learned. I played this
song the first day. So this is the first song
that I learned how to play on the guitar. And
it's entitled Pussy Willows Cattails.
Speaker 1: Okay, so all right, good luck with this one, Brooklyn
Mike live in studio.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 5: Pussy whooos, cat tails, soft winds and roses, rain pools
in the woodlands, water to my knees, shivery, quivering, the
warm breath of spring. Pussy willows, cattails, soft winds and roses,
catted birds and corn fields. Day dreams together, riding on
the roadside. The dust gets in your rise, reveling, disheveling.
The summer nights can bring pussy willows, cat tails, soft
winds and roses, slendid rays and colored days, dark blue horizons,
naked limbs and wheat bills, hazy afternoons. Voice rejoice, seeing
the wine cups still spring, Pussy willows, cattails, soft winds,
and roses, harsh nights and candlelights, wood fires, ablazing, soft
lips and fingertips, Resting in muscle treasurey, remembering the permise,
soft spring, pussy willows, cattails, soft winds and roses.
Speaker 1: Oh beautiful, beautiful.
Speaker 2: I'm wondering if I could substitute my music for sedation
at the doctor's office.
Speaker 1: No, you sound great. You sound great, Brooklyn, Mike, thank
you so much, my friend. This has been wonderful.
Speaker 2: It's really been my pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Matt. Absolutely, and you're gonna be on Retrospectrum
Radio right next Friday. Yeah, it's coming from this coming Friday.
I should say very good, very good, by the way,
before we run out of time too. I just want
to remind everybody for those listening live on Saturday tonight
the pop punk pop up at Terminus Underground, of course,
presented by New Hampshire Underground. Jenny and I will be
there the event doors at seven pm. All ages fifteen
dollars entry, twenty dollars VIP lounge. Come see some great bands,
Island of Alaska on what You're on gr im and
of course some great artwork. Jenny will have a table setup. Also,
Dennis Layton will be there with his art with Love
from Faith, Elements and Fantasy. Brenda Drew Designs, Cosmos Grations,
Andre do My Prospero's Painting's Mystics and Chelsea Purington Photography.
That is tonight doors at seven at one thirty four
Hayines Street and Nashua, New Hampshire. You can go to
New Hampshire Underground dot org for more information. So we
look forward to seeing you there and I believe this
is part of the Winter Stroll in Nashua, so great events,
so come see us. By the way, if you're wondering
what happened to Jenny, she went home because we had
a very important package delivered, so she took an Uber
home microphone, a new microphone for my podcast studio at home,
and it's an expensive item, so she went home to
make sure that the ports pirates didn't get to it.
But Brooklyn, Mike, thank you again, my friend. This has
been absolutely wonderful to have you here and we'll do
it again in the future. You're coming back in January
right to this show. Yeah, I believe we're booked for
January twenty fourth, outstanding. I'll look forward to it. Thank
you very much. Absolutely anything people should know about where
to find you online if they want to book you
or now that you're taking bookings or gearing up to
do that.
Speaker 2: You know, I've got a couple of videos on YouTube, okay,
but they're under my name, which is Michael Plotino pl
O T I n O. Okay, first time I've given
it out. Oh yes, but there's just I've just got
a couple of videos on there. I'm just starting to
try to have some kind of online presence. It's very
very new to me. Yeah, you know, I'm still used
to recording on a four track cassette, which I love doing, right,
you know, so certainly if anybody listening really wants to
get in touch with me through any of the radio shows,
all you guys know me and have my contact so
that would be awesome.
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely all right, Brooklyn, Mike, thank you so much.
And of course if you missed any part of today
should it will be up in just a little bit
at wmnhradio dot org and at my website Matt Connorton
dot com. And that's gonna do it for us.
Speaker 4: For now.
Speaker 1: We'll talk at y'all a little bit later, Bye everybody,