I join Reshmi Nair of the NewsTalk 1010 afternoon show “The Rush” to talk about the late Robbie Robertson and his influence over generations of musicians.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Robbie Robertson passed away today at the age of 81. Here is my “Pop Life” interview with him from September of 2019.
On the season five opener of “Pop Life” the panel, Kelsey Miller, author of “I’ll Be There For You: The One About Friends,” Steve Jordan, founder and Executive Director of the Polaris Music Prize and Wesley Williams (aka Maestro Fresh Wes), the “godfather of Canadian hip hop,” discuss how to define a disruptor in the arts and what it means to be a game changer. Then legendary musician Robbie Robertson talks about his earliest musical inspirations, how he was booed by Bob Dylan’s audience and how he once almost turned to a life of crime when he couldn’t get gigs.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting, Meat Loaf and Robbie Robertson, musicians Josh Groban, Shania Twain and superstar jazz pianist Diana Krall, You Tube superstar Gigi Gorgeous, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Gail Simmons and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
Over the next few months Richard and Retrontario raid Richard’s archives to spotlight some of his older telephone interviews with fascinating local characters. The third in the series features a vintage chat with rockabilly legend Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins.
Watch the whole thing HERE! (audio only on YouTube)
On the season five opener of “Pop Life” the panel, Kelsey Miller, author of “I’ll Be There For You: The One About Friends,” Steve Jordan, founder and Executive Director of the Polaris Music Prize and Wesley Williams (aka Maestro Fresh Wes), the “godfather of Canadian hip hop,” discuss how to define a disruptor in the arts and what it is like to be a game changer.
“Coming out of Toronto, you know, we knew anything we did was going to be groundbreaking,” says Wes Williams on his influential hit “Let Your Backbone Slide,” “within the parameters of Toronto and within the parameters of hip hop which was at our time was Toronto, New York City, New Jersey and then there was a guy named Ice-T on the west coast. That was it really, so we thought within our parameters we thought whoever comes out with a hit first is going to be the one. I remember the first day I heard my song played in the club. Oh my goodness. They mixed it in with Heavy D and The Boyz. Me my man Farley Flex, we just jumped around the club like like idiots because we finally reached the final destination. We were considered innovators and we were disrupting what was known at the time.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting, Meat Loaf and Robbie Robertson, musicians Josh Groban, Shania Twain and superstar jazz pianist Diana Krall, You Tube superstar Gigi Gorgeous, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Gail Simmons and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
This week on the season five opener of “Pop Life” legendary musician Robbie Robertson talks about his earliest musical inspirations, how he was booed by Bob Dylan’s audience and how he once almost turned to a life of crime when he couldn’t get gigs.
“It was a revelation to me,” Robertson says of visiting his relatives on the Six Nations Reserve, “because I grew up between Toronto and Six Nations, and when we would go to Six Nations it seemed to me as a young kid that everybody played an instrument or sang or danced. I thought, ‘I just have to join this club.'”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting, Meat Loaf and Robbie Robertson, musicians Josh Groban, Shania Twain and superstar jazz pianist Diana Krall, You Tube superstar Gigi Gorgeous, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Gail Simmons and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
The first episode of season five of “Pop Life,” featuring an in-depth interview with Robbie Robertson, airs Saturday September 28, 2019 (8:30 pm on CTV NewsChannel, midnight on CTV). The legendary solo artist and leader of The Band talks about finding a love of music on the 6th Nations reservation where his mother was raised, going electric with Bob Dylan, where the idea for the song “The Weight” came from and much more.
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s all-new talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting and Meat Loaf, musicians Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, superstar jazz musician Diana Krall, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
We’re back! Pop Life returns on Saturday September 28 at 8:30 pm on CTV NewsChannel and midnight on CTV, coast to coast to coast. We’ve been working away over the summer putting together shows and I’m excited to share them with you. This week we start with an in-depth interview with Robbie Robertson. The legendary solo artist and leader of The Band talks about finding a love of music from his relatives on the 6th Nations reservation where his mother was raised, playing at a nightclub called The Skyline because the roof was missing and more! Set your PVR or stay up late with a glass of wine or non-alcoholic beer (whatever floats your boat) and hang out with us.
Later in our fifth season we have great chats with Shania Twain about stage fright, legendary photographer Bob Gruen on his friendship with John Lennon, YouTube sensation Gigi Gorgeous on being true to yourself, Tegan and Sara on high school life and how they knew music was a perfect fit and much, much more.
I’m really happy with Pop Life. In the beginning we set out to make a show that put talk and storytelling at the forefront, that engaged with hot button topics and was fun but not frivolous. I think we’ve done it. That’s a credit to everyone who works on the show from our guiding light Lis Travers, to producer Krystle Hewitt, directors Lesley Hunter and Allan Myers, editor Angelo Altomare, stage manager Steve Trebelco, our wine sponsor Domaine Queylus and the crew who make sure the show looks great every week. A special shout out to Randy Lennox and Wendy Freeman who make it possible for us to do this every week. It’s a pleasure to work with them all and I hope to see their faces at work for a very long time.
While I’m thanking people I want to take a moment to thank everyone who watches. It’s a cliché, I know, but without you tuning in I’d just be screaming into the void, making faces at a camera. I know you have a lot of choice in how you spend your time and I appreciate you spending some of that time with us.
See you all (I hope) on Saturday night!
Richard sits in on the CTV NewsChannel with news anchor Marcia MacMillan to have a look at the weekend’s big releases including the big screen adaptation of “Downtown Abbey,” Brad Pitt’s trip into outer reaches of space and his own psyche in “Ad Astra” and the music doc “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard has a look at the new movies coming to theatres, including the big screen adaptation of “Downtown Abbey,” the punk rock genre film “Riot Girls,” Brad Pitt’s trip into outer reaches of space and his own psyche in “Ad Astra” and the music doc “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
