CGCM Podcast

Please have your boarding pass and travel documents ready. It\'s time to travel \"Around The World In 80 Episodes\". This time up, the Canadian Geeks are off to Italy. \n\nWidely known for it\'s delicious food, excellent wine but also for an enormous amount of amazing hard rock and heavy metal. Wallygator and The Meister deliver a long list of mind blowing Italian facts. More importantly they uncover some incredible rock and metal music.\n\nAs always, the Meister shares tales of his globe trotting trips including watching world cup soccer at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, interesting plumbing issues and the lovely scent that permeated one Italian city. Facts about wealthy cats, volcanoes, artists\' feces and some unusual laws kill some time as does a conversation about the most incredible fact about Italy! It seems they have a wine fountain that provides free vino for all!!! Did we also mention there is some killer tunes?

So a while back the Canadian Geeks devised yet another stupid idea to randomly select some music to play. Based on the Milton Bradley game "Battleship".  The Meister's massive music collection plays the part of the ocean. Secretly, before the start of the game he wrote down the co-ordinates of the hidden fleet of battleships. Wallygator yells out co-ordinates attempting to hit one of the randomly placed battleships. Each co-ordinate uncovers one of the Meister's albums. From there they randomly pick a tune to play. Quite simply it's an excuse to drink and play some tunes.  So far, Wallygator has yet to actually hit one of the Battleships but part 5 might just be day. Truth be told, he doesn't really care one way or another. His real agenda is to actually uncover some embarrassing secret skeletons in the Meister's closet. Abba? Beiber? Streisand? Yanni? His massive country collection? One of these days the Meister's secrets will be revealed via Battleship!

It was almost 4 years ago when the Canadian Geeks embarked on the "Battle Of The Playlists". It's a competition of epic proportions. The Geeks each prepare a 6 song playlist of songs that were released in the calendar year they are battling.  Each playlist is played uninterrupted in it's entirety. Identified as simply playlist "A" and playlist "B". You the listener will have no idea which playlist was created by which host. It's all about the music and nothing to do with which host is better looking. Good thing because Wallygator makes a damn sexy David Lee Roth on the show's artwork this time! The rules are simple. Listen to the show and then head over to the our CGCM Radio Facebook Group page and cast your vote for the playlist you dig the most. This battle is #9 in the bigger war that is being waged. So far the score is tied 4 - 4 with only 3 more battles left to decide the Champion in this Decade of Decadence!

Twenty-twenty brought forth the Age Of Fear! No, I am not talking about the Covid 19 global pandemic. I am not talking about the deadly virus that turned our world upside down in 2020. I am referring to Storm Force's release, "The Age Of Fear". Storm Force hails from Niagara Falls of the Great White North. Turns out that good friend of the station Greg Fraser (Brighton Rock, Fraze Gang) was looking to create a new vehicle for his music. In 2019, he quietly went about recruiting his next project and Storm Force was born. Hand selecting his new bandmates, Patrick Gagliardi (vocals), Brian Hamilton (drums) and Mike Berardelli (bass), this new band got to work creating the Age Of Fear! After first listen CGCM fell in love with the Age Of Fear! Plans for this interview were brewing in early 2020 and then of course the world hit the pause button. In the shadow of the global pandemic, Storm Force was yet to actually play a single live show! They say timing is everything. Thanks Covid, now please go away! As it turned out the Age Of Fear went on to be named CGCM Radio's Number One Album of 2020! Although we would have preferred to conduct this interview properly over beers and ideally at a live show, we just couldn't wait any longer. We couldn't wait any longer and used the pandemic technology of ZOOM to finally sit down with the guys.

Remember when Kickin Valentina kidnapped CGCM's Buzzsaw Beaver and then took over the station? We sure do! Here are the highlights...

Part 2 of the CGCM Rock Radio Kickin Valentina Takeover!

Tonight is the final instalment in our Top Albums of 2020 here at CGCM Radio. You have already heard Wallygator and the Meister's Top Tens. The DJ's at CGCM Radio have all produced their own individual Top Ten shows. So all that is left to do now, is to take a deep dive into the lists from the NON-DJ staff.  With so many albums up for consideration this year, there is no doubt that the Canadian Geeks likely missed something. That is why the Team Top Tens has now become an annual tradition.  Our team here at CGCM Rock Radio are as musically obsessed as Wallygator and the Meister. They volunteer their services writing articles, reviewing albums, photographing shows (when we had shows!) and assisting us with other tasks behind the scenes. We would not be where we are today without them and this show is just a small thanks to our entire team for all that they do. Every year they uncover something we completely missed!

Looking back at the year 2020, there is certainly lots to discuss and reflect upon. A year of challenges is an understatement. A year of political turmoil it certainly was. It was also, a year of amazing music being released around the globe. Grab a cold one, make yourself comfortable and join the Canadian Geeks in this annual tradition. Wallygator and the Meister dive in and countdown their personal top ten albums of the year 2020. It was reported by one of the CGCM staff that over 600 rock and metal albums were released this year. So a top ten finish is quite an accomplishment. Hours and hours of painstaking deliberation and bleeding ear drums have gone into each of these lists. Consider this part one of our deep dive into the music of last year. Please join us next week for part two as we deliver the Team Top Tens! Rock is alive and well on the CGCM airwaves.

"Why would you ever name your band that?!?" One of the most difficult tasks in any bands history is deciding upon a band name. A carefully chosen band name can effectively describe the music within. Combine that with a well crafted logo and it becomes a complete marketing tool. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth. You pretty much know exactly what to expect before placing the needle in the groove. Then there is the "use the artist name approach". Van Halen, Dokken and Dio. Simple but effective. Sometimes, however a band decides upon a moniker that simply misses the mark. Obviously just like music, the effectiveness of a band's name is purely subjective. That said, there are band names out there that are just simply unfortunate. You could also use the adjectives "wrong", "offensive" or "wimpy" or just plain "dumb" Sometimes it seems band names are chosen for simple shock value. "Aborted Hitler Cock" or what about an order of "Menstrual Pancake". Lastly, who could ever forget the delightful tones of "Brutal Sphincter".

Let's get ready to rumble! A battle has been raging for over three years and it continues tonight. It was the decade of decadence. The golden era of hard rock and heavy metal. A decade where the greatest music went mainstream and ruled the airwaves and charts across the world! In April 2017, the "Battle of the Playlists" began. The hosts secretly create a 6 song playlist of songs that were released during the year of battle. This time it's 1987.  Both playlists will be played in their entirety. Identified simply as Playlist A and then Playlist B. You wont know which list belongs to the Meister and which on belongs to Wallygator. After the show you can head over to the facebook page and vote for which playlist you enjoyed the most. Your votes will determine the winner. Voting will close midnight New Years Eve!  For those that are keeping score 1986 was taken by the Meister. Wallygator was unimpressed that he lost to a playlist that featured Europe's The Final Countdown. "Total cheeseball, overplayed rubbish" was his comments upon hearing the news. This victory moves the Meister into the lead with the running score; The Meister - 4    Wallygator - 3

The boys are back for round 4 of Battleship here at the CGCM Podcast. What is CGCM Battleship you ask? It is just one of the many idiotic ideas that the Canadian Geeks have come up with to randomly play some great music. In the Milton Bradley game (that was debuted in 1967), the objective is to fire blindly at the opponents navel fleet. Hitting and sinking all of the enemies ships wins the game.  Wallygator calls out random coordinates in an attempt to locate the enemy ships. Each and every coordinate uncovers a different CD from the Meister's collection. We then play a random song from the selected album. In the first 3 parts, Wallygator has yet to locate a single ship. Will the Meister finally yell "you hit my battleship!"?

"All right, Cincinnati, it is time for this town to get down! You've got Johnny... Dr. Johnny Fever, and I am burning up in here! WHOA! We ALL in critical condition babies, but you can tell me where it hurts, 'cause I got the healing prescription here from the big 'KRP musical medicine cabinet! Now I am talking about your 50,000-watt intensive CARE unit, babies! So just sit right down, relax, open your ears REAL wide and say "Give it to me straight, doctor, I can take it!" I almost forgot, fellow babies... BOOGER!" This week the Canadian Geeks salute one of the greatest television sitcoms of all time, WKRP in Cincinnati. The show ran for 4 seasons (1978-1982) and followed the staff of a fledgling rock and roll radio station. The ensemble cast unknowingly influenced a couple of Canadian Geeks who years later would meet, become friends based on a love of music and then launch their own internet radio station. CGCM Radio - "What Rock Radio Should Be". Tonight's episode celebrates the show and its loveable characters and features some of the music that was heard on the airwaves of the mighty WKRP! Open You Ears Real Wide!

June 1st, 2020 will go down in the annals of music history as the birth of CGCM Radio. The motto "What Rock Radio Should Be!" is the philosophy  that bonds the entire CGCM team. A team of misfit geeks determined to create the ultimate hard rock radio station.  From the word go, the first wave of radio shows came to life. Shawn "Animalize" Irwin is one of the DJ's spreading the disease of hard rock and heavy metal. You can catch his own show every Tuesday night at 8pm EST (with repeats Thursdays at 4pm and Saturday's at 4am EST).  Tonight on the podcast it's time to "Meet the DJ" and learn more about Shawn and his show. The Canadian Geeks fire some hard hitting questions his way and of course there will be some hard rock and heavy metal music all selected by Shawn himself. So grab a cold Trooper beer and let's get to know CGCM's Tuesday night host...

October is most definitely the most rock n roll month of the year. There isn't really any scientific proof to that statement but let's face it you cant add ROCK to any other month quite as effectively. June? March? Nope ROCKTOBER it is and the Canadian Geeks are here to celebrate all that is October. Over the years many, many great albums were released in the month of Rocktober. Wallygator and the Meister dig into some of these albums. Also Wallygator digs up some interesting rock and roll facts that went down in this, the tenth month of the longest year of our lives. As the pandemic continues to suck all the fun from 2020, we might as well curl up with CGCM Radio and grab an ice cold Trooper Beer and a shot of Cloven Hoof Rum and listen to a couple idiots fight and play some great tunes! Stuff like Motorhead, Hellsmoke, Def Leppard, Pretty Boy Floyd, Accept, Diamondhead and more!!

Wallygator and the Meister continue this week with Part 2 of their virtual trip of Sweden. There is just so much amazing music coming from Sweden that one episode was just note enough. So, the Canadian Geeks extended their visit. Be prepared! This was the second episode recorded in the same evening. Usually when this happens the massive quantities of beers usually kick in during the second episode. This night was no exception. As always the show kicks off with a couple of DITD tracks before diving head first into nothing but Swedish hard rock and heavy metal! You will hear another dozen killer tracks and learn that Chris Laney has his hand in almost all Swedish rock and metal. Wallygator breaks out some interesting facts courtesy of the new found website "Kick Ass Facts.com". Drunken ridiculousness and uncontrollable laughter follows. Sweden Part Deux...

It's another virtual trip for the Canadian Geeks as Wallygator and the Meister continue on with "Around The World In 80 Episodes". This time out they board the CGCM hot air balloon and set sail for the far off land of Sweden.  As usual, the geeks take turns choosing music from bands that hail from the chosen country. As it turns out, Sweden is a flaming hotbed of amazing hard rock and heavy metal music. It was soon decided that there was too much music for one episode! Sweden would simply require 2 parts to even scratch the surface.  Wallygator comes equipped with a crap ton of Swedish facts and the Meister surprisingly holds back from singing any Abba Karaoke and instead concentrates on uncovering some of the more lesser known Swedish hard rock and metal acts. Buckle up people, it's about to get loud!

B - 27! You sank my Battleship! The Canadian Geeks never cease to come up with weird and stupid ways to shoehorn songs into the podcast. This is actually one of the fun ones. In a play on the Milton Bradley board game, Wallygator attempts to sink the Meister's battleships. Instead of the game board he is selecting co-ordinates from the Meister's library of over 8000 albums. With that many albums it is sort of like finding a needle in a haystack but that's ok. It's not really about the ships, it's about the songs he randomly uncovers. Every attempt randomly identifies an album and then a song is played from it. You never know what might be uncovered. As we continue to live through the year of the Covid, we could all use a little musical distraction. With battleship you might get some classic metal, thrash or sleaze. On the other hand, you might get Abba, disco or even Christmas music! One thing is for sure it won't be boring as the Geeks return to actually record in the same studio! It's ok they now have CGCM Radio masks so it's socially distanced podcasting at it's finest!

Welcome everyone to the 116th episode of the CGCM Podcast. This week, the Geek’s resume the “Battle of the Playlists!”. This concept for this actually started back before the launch of the podcast over 3 years ago and it debuted back on episode #3. This week, Wallygator and the Meister battle it out for the year 1986 in the quest to crown a champion from the decade of decadence! The concept is simple. Each of the host creates their own 6-song playlist comprised of songs released in the chosen year. You the listener have no idea which playlist belongs to who. Which playlist do you like the best?  The listeners get to decide the winner simply by voting for which playlist that they like best. Visit the CGCM Podcast Facebook page and cast your vote! For those keeping score, the geeks are now ties up at 3 each, so 1986 could turn out to be pivotal in this epic contest. You have only 2 weeks to get your vote in and help decide who will win the battle for 1986! There will be 4 more playlist battles and the grand champion will then be crowned.

The Canadian Geeks have come up with yet another ridiculous idea. It seems they continue to come up with ridiculous ways of selecting music to enjoy on the show. It worked out pretty well the first time, so let's do it again! In a spin off of the “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” , episode #115 delivers SIX DEGREES OF HEAVY METAL PART 2! Wallygator came up with the idea early one morning. That lead to an expletive filled phone call as he attempted to explain the intricacies of how the episode would unfold. The planning for this episode would have made for very entertaining show in of itself. The concept is really simple. The geeks used Wally’s Ipod to randomly select the starting song. The metal gods randomly selected “Feel Your Love” from Van Halen! Thanks goodness it didn’t select something from Wallygator’s secret Banarama collection. From there each geek had to select a song that somehow connected to Van Halen's "Feel Your Love" From there Wallygator had to connect the Meister‘s selection and the Meister had to connect Wallygator‘s. The process continues until there were 12 songs all interconnected. They kept their “connections” a secret and were revealed during the recording. How does Autograph's "Turn Up The Radio" connect to Vince Neil's "Your Invited But Your Friends Can't Come" ? You will soon find out right here.

"We're not worthy! We're not worthy!" Jut like the scene in Wayne's World, the Canadian Geeks still buzzing about Iron Maiden Beer Canada coming on board as the Official Beer Sponsor of CGCM Radio. So they decided a huge salute to one of the most influential and legendary heavy metal bands of all time was in order.  So, as a special thank you to all of the fine folks at Iron Maiden Beer Canada, this celebration of all things Iron Maiden is dedicated to you! Things get started with a pair of beer themed Dick in the Dirt Tracks before moving into a set of opening acts. Three bands that have opened up for Iron Maiden that are near and dear to our hearts. From there we dive into some Iron Maiden songs covered by some other bands and then we dive into some music that feature members of Iron Maiden both past and present. Then of course it's the headliners themselves as we feature some tracks from the band of the hour. Up The Irons! It's Iron Maiden!!