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.