1010 - Gordon Lightfoot, Pat Benatar, Todd Rundgren & Cool Song Facts

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.