We kick off Season 11 with the question: “what have we learned so far?” Our listeners chimed in with their comments and Christopher and Tom expound on lessons both sublime and absurd.

Then, we get to the good stuff, with an incredible lost 1993 interview with Paul McCartney that was only discovered in the Famous Lost Words archives a few weeks ago!

Paul talks about how he chooses what songs to play in concert, how The Beatles would hash out songs in the studio, plus his dedication to vegetarianism and environmental causes. It’s an excellent chat with Paul and interviewer Dale Smith, a Beatles fan who is totally in his element.

Then, Tom & Christopher share some Cool Song Facts about the Beatles post breakup. This is when things were getting pretty ugly between the Fab Four. Nevertheless, there are touching moments too, like when Paul helped out George during his final weeks.

And we end things off with a tribute to the R&B vocal groups from the early days of rock and roll. Ben E. King talks about his days with The Drifters, Leon Hughes reflects on the hitmaking days of The Coasters, and in a rare audio clip, Frankie Lymon talks about his music career.

Famous Lost Words, hosted by Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, is heard in more than 100 countries worldwide and on radio stations across Canada, including Newstalk 1010 Toronto, CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 610 CKTB St Catharines, CFAX Victoria, AM1150 Kelowna and 91x in Belleville. It is in the Top 20% of worldwide podcasts based on the number of listeners in the first week.

When we heard about the death of Supertramp founder Rick Davies a few hours ago, we wanted to pay tribute to him. Rick and the rest of the group were no strangers to us. Since Canada was very instrumental in the story of Supertramp from the mid ‘70s on, they visited our CHUM-FM Toronto studios often.

As a Supertramp fan, I am intrigued by the dueling personalities of Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson. By 1979, when they were promoting Breakfast In America, they admitted that they hadn’t worked closely together since Crime Of The Century, which in my opinion still stands as a masterpiece.

To hear more from Supertramp, check out episode 606 when we hear from both Rick and Roger as they deal with their fracturing partnership.

Today I discovered an interview that I hadn’t previously heard. It’s from 1988 and Supertramp is still coming to terms with the departure of Roger Hodgson. But we also hear Rick’s fierce determination to carry on and to continue making music that’s meaningful to him… whether it sells millions of copies or not. In this chat, they are talking about their 1988 tour and the most recent (and final) Supertramp album, "Free As A Bird".

From February of 1988, it's Rick Davies of Supertramp in conversation with Gord James.

Rick Davies died on Sept 6, 2025 at the age of 81.

Ozzy Osbourne has passed away at the age of 76, mere days after his "Back To The Beginning" concert on July 5.

We revisit this segment from our first season, which featured an interview with Ozzy from the early '80s. He's in great spirits. Hope you enjoy it.

Connie Francis has passed away at the age of 87.

Here from the archives is an extraordinary interview with Connie and broadcaster Brian Thomas from 1985. (Recorded at CHUM-FM in Toronto)

Connie talks about her big break (on American Bandstand) and the incredible personal battles she dealt with in her life. A true survivor.

It’s a celebration of the 40th anniversary of Live Aid!

Live Aid was grand in scope and ambition. It was largely the brainchild of an unlikely hero, Bob Geldof, the Irish singer who fronted The Boomtown Rats, and who had helped assemble the all-star cast of Band Aid. Watched by 1.5 billion people, Live Aid eventually raised $127 US million for famine relief in Africa.

But beyond that, Live Aid was also a cultural touchstone that showed the power of pop music and the determination of millions of people to make a difference in the world.

Hours before the event took place, Christopher Ward had a chat with organizer Bob Geldof, who, in his intense way, told of the importance of Live Aid. He disputes the cultural significance in favour of the pragmatic view of delivering much needed aid to African famine relief. It’s an extraordinary interview with a man who is firing on all cylinders, almost to the breaking point.

And of course, we also talk about the music, including:

• Although Geldof didn’t want them in the lineup, Freddie Mercury and the band provided the most memorable 22 minutes of the day, perhaps the best ever performance in music history.
• U2 – We have the full story of why they played only two songs that day… and how it became a major moment on their road to superstardom.
• David Bowie’s set was also memorable. But he almost didn’t play that day. And it was all because of a CBC report on the famine. We have the full story.
• Duran Duran. Simon LeBon made a considerable gaffe during one of their songs. He considers it the most embarrassing moment of his career.
• Led Zeppelin - why Jimmy Page blamed Phil Collins for Zeppelin’s less than perfect performance.

There were also a number of artists who chose not to perform that day, including Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Prince, Culture Club and Huey Lewis. At least two of those acts regretted that decision.

And we talk about the importance of Live Aid as a cultural milestone.

Famous Lost Words, hosted by Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, is heard in more than 100 countries worldwide and on radio stations across Canada, including Newstalk 1010 Toronto, CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 610 CKTB St Catharines, CFAX Victoria, AM1150 Kelowna and 91x in Belleville. It is in the Top 20% of worldwide podcasts based on the number of listeners in the first week.

In light of the passing of Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, we feature some extraordinary audio of Brian from the mid '60s. Wilson is exuberant as he talks about listening to the radio and dissecting his favourite songs. He also explains why he decided to retire from touring with the Beach Boys in the mid '60s.

We will also hear highlights from Christopher's late '80s interview with Carl Wilson, who pulls no punches when he speaks of Eugene Landy, Brian's guru who held an inordinate amount of control and power over Brian's life and career.

In a 1995 interview, Mike Love talks about Brian's prowess in the studio, particularly his creation of the "pocket symphony", "Good Vibrations".

We also discuss Brian's struggle with mental health and his comeback years later.

A few days ago, Tom finally got to speak with Canadian guitar legend Rik Emmett of Triumph. Rik was a bucket list guest for Tom, who could hardly contain himself!

There’s a very special reason why Rik was talking to us.

On Monday, May 5, 2025 Coalition for Music Education will celebrate Music Monday with a cross-country sing-along to raise awareness for music education. The annual event celebrates the unifying power of music as thousands of Canadians join in singing and performing the Music Monday anthem at their schools and other community events. Hold On the uplifting, inspirational song by classic Canadian hard rock power trio, Triumph has been chosen as the 2025 Music Monday anthem.

Rik tells us about the creation of “Hold On” 46 years ago and how it marked a change in his artistic growth as well as the fortunes of the band.

He also discusses the importance of music education, a cause that is deeply personal to him.

You can see Rik perform in person at a special “Intimate Evening with Rik Emmett” – Friday, March 21 at Black Bellows in Collingwood Ontario. It’s an interactive evening of performances and storytelling, hosted by Brent Jensen of the “No Sleep Til Sudbury” podcast.

Rik’s excellent memoir, “Lay It On The Line”, is now available.

This special bonus episode of Famous Lost Words is brought to you by Storyphora. Storyphora is a media company that offers communications solutions, recently expanding to include digital content like promotional video clips, video podcast production, social media design, and much more. Go to Storyphora dot com for details.

This episode of Famous Lost Words is dedicated to legendary Canadian broadcaster John Donabie, who passed away a few days ago. John’s interviews have been prominently featured on Famous Lost Words and he also joined us on a couple of occasions to share his incredible stories. And great broadcaster and a wonderful man, John Donabie will be missed.

For this, the last episode of season 10, we have quite a collection of artists. First up is a rather feisty 1988 interview with Canadian legend Gordon Lightfoot. We already have lots of Lightfoot content in the archives, which we put together for our tribute to him upon his passing in 2023 – one of our most listened to episodes. But we came across this 1988 interview just a few days ago – and it’s a good one. Gord is looking back on his career as he approaches his 50th birthday. But Lightfoot is pretty spirited in this chat with Gord James.

Next up is a fascinating chat with Todd Rundgren. We’re date stamping these clips at about 1979 as Todd talks about his solo music, his work with the band Utopia and his fascination with new technology, including the early days of music videos. This guy’s mind never stops.

Then we have an early ‘80s chat with Pat Benatar as she chats with broadcaster Ingrid Schumacher about life on the road and the price of fame. Plus, we have a special bonus cut as Pat ponders her long-term influence on other aspiring musicians.

And we finish up with some Cool Song Facts, and we run the gamut here – with information spanning centuries, from Beethoven to Paul Simon to Earth Wind & Fire.

Famous Lost Words, hosted by Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, is heard in more than 100 countries worldwide and on radio stations across Canada, including Newstalk 1010 Toronto, CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 610 CKTB St Catharines, CFAX Victoria, AM1150 Kelowna and 91x in Belleville. It is in the Top 20% of worldwide podcasts based on the number of listeners in the first week.