Where Colorful Myths Meet Microphones and Legends Groove

WEBVTT

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Jim Conrad: Welcome to
the Conovision podcast.

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I call this the spirit of storytelling.

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I am Jim Conrad.

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Let's have a word about what
stories are and how important

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stories are to all of us.

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A story doesn't breathe,
but it does have life.

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It all started when someone said,
I was here and this happened.

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Then another story, there's something
out there and I have an idea.

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And then the story spread.

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Wait till you hear this one.

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He won't believe what happens.

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And naturally we fell in love
with stories and storytellers.

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We came to depend on
the stories they told.

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Our shared stories unite us.

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They tell us what is possible
and what is real or unreal.

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They teach us our values
and they tell us who we are.

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We are sisters and fathers,
brothers and mothers.

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Sons and daughters.

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We are lovers and fighters.

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We are believers and beginners.

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We think in stories.

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Stories are the vehicle that move
metaphor and image into experience.

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Stories communicate what
is generally ineffable.

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And ultimately inexpressible.

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In seeking to understand these realities
through time, stories provide us with a

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perspective that touches on the divine,
allowing us to see reality in its full

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context as part of its larger whole.

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Stories invite a kind of vision that gives
shape and form even to the invisible.

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Making the images move, clothing
the metaphors in contextual fabric,

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throwing color into the shadows.

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And ultimately of all the devices
available to us, stories are the surest

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way of touching the human spirit through

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the human voice.

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Gather around

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children.

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It's story time.

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Today, the story of Hansel and Grendel, an
old English fairytale, by Francis Heaney.

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Hansel and Grendel lived in the Old
Oak Woods with their father, a kindly

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woodcutter and their mother a gigantic
evil monster with claws and fangs.

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Hansel took after his father, while
Grendel took after her mother.

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One day, a hero passing through
the forest slew their mother, so

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the woodcutter decided to remarry.

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His new bride was a bitter woman and
she didn't like Hansel and Grendel.

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After many months of extremely tense
and unpleasant mealtime conversations,

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she took the woodcutter aside.

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Husband, it's been a
very lean year for us.

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I don't think we can afford to
feed the family, especially with

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Grendel eating 40 pigs a day.

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You are right, the woodcutter sighed.

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We all must tighten our belts
and learn to do more with less.

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Actually, said the wife, I was
thinking more along the lines

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of taking the children into the
forest and leaving them to die.

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No, no, said the woodcutter,
I could never do that.

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Oh, come on, said his wife.

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Well, said the woodcutter, if
it's really important to you.

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The next morning, the woodcutter awoke
with a heavy heart as he did every morning

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because he had a mega cardiac condition.

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He led Hansel and Grendel deep into
the forest where he lied to them

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about their fate in a pathetically
transparent fashion and ran away.

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Hansel, what are we going to do?

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How will we ever find our way home?

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Grendel asked.

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Don't worry, Grendel, said Hansel,
I suspected something was afoot,

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so I left a trail of breadcrumbs.

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Oh, that's what those were for.

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I ate them, said Grendel.

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Don't tell me you ate the trail of
roast pigs as well, said Hansel.

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Grendel nodded, ashamed.

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This is terrible, said Hansel, now
we are sure to starve to death in the

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forest, unless you are somehow able to
capture some wildlife with your razor

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sharp claws and lightning fast reflexes.

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Wait, Hansel, said Grendel,
perhaps all is not lost.

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Look, a house made out of candy.

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Hansel and Grendel could
hardly believe their eyes.

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Grendel, said Hansel, what a
delicious feast that house would make.

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If only we weren't diabetic.

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Yes, it's really too bad, said
Grendel, let's keep moving.

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For there is sure to be a house
made of broccolini nearby.

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But what Hansel and Grendel did
not know is that they had wandered

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into a planned community that
was zoned only for candy houses.

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Although legislation was advancing in
the city council that would allow for

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vegetable houses and vitamin supplement
houses, it was sure to stall in

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committee for several months at least.

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So they continued on, eventually finding
themselves in 10th century Denmark in

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the realm of the Mighty King Hrothgar.

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They stood in awe of his rough
yet majestic castle, which

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was made entirely of candy.

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What is it with the candy
already, asked Grendel.

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Let's get out of here.

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This place gives me the
creeps, said Hansel.

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Suddenly a strapping young man
emerged from, uh, a box or something.

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Halt beast.

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I am Beowulf.

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I slew your mother and
I shall slay you too.

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Grendel gasped as Hansel, who was quite
upset at this remark, slapped Beowulf

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with a wrongful death suit that pretty
much bankrupted him, and then they

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threw him in an oven just for spite.

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With Beowulf slain, Grendel ran
excitedly to explore the castle.

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Hansel followed, finding gold, precious
jewels, and thousands of Danish soldiers

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with their heads recently bitten off.

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Hansel and Grendel filled their pockets
with as many jewels and heads as they

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could carry and trotted back into
the woods to find their way home.

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How will we ever figure out
how to get back, Hansel?

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Said Grendel.

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I don't know.

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I guess we'll just have to wander around
aimlessly and hope that by an incredible

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coincidence, we just happen to stumble
across the correct path, said Hansel.

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But alas, they never did.

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However, eventually they did settle
down in Kamloops and use the jewels as a

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down payment on a Dairy Queen franchise,
and they lived happily ever after.

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Alright.

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This is the Conovision podcast.

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Bill Reiter: Not with a K though.

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Jim Conrad: No.

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With a C.

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Bill Reiter: And I, I apologize.

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But it's just that ever since,
you know, you, Cono, right?

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When youth adopted that nickname.

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I always saw it with a K.

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Jim Conrad: Well, the Hawaiian version.

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Bill Reiter: Maybe that's why.

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Jim Conrad: Is with a K. The C
version, uh, has a more global impact.

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Bill Reiter: Well, one can dream, can one.

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You can laugh.

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That's okay.

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Jim Conrad: On the Conovision podcast
today, my good friend, Bill Reiter.

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Hello, Bill.

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Bill Reiter: With a B.

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Jim Conrad: With a B. And an
R. Billy, we've known each

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other for such a long time.

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Bill Reiter: Well, you know, I
mean, I am your greatest fan.

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But how many people have said that to you?

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Jim Conrad: Uh, not many.

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Bill Reiter: Really?

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Jim Conrad: Not many.

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Bill Reiter: Well, because
you're so bloody good, you know.

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Do you know how good you are?

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You do.

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See, that's the problem.

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No.

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No.

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Because if you are as good as you
are, you know how good you are.

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Because if you didn't know how good
you are, you'd fade into obscurity.

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But you are so bloody good.

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You are so good.

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You are probably, you may be the greatest
announcer in the English language.

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Jim Conrad: Well, that's hyperbole.

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Bill Reiter: No, no, that's
the English language.

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Oh, I get it.

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Oh, yeah.

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Yeah.

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I'm from the East End of Vancouver.

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Jim Conrad: Okay.

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We're gonna get to that.

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We're gonna get to that.

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Because I want to give you the
opportunity to give me your bio

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starting with where you were born.

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Bill Reiter: Born Verdun, Quebec.

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Yes.

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Which I, I'm sorry East End pals, but
Verdun might even be even rougher.

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I think it is.

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It's rougher than, uh, the East End.

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Uh, moved out to Vancouver four times.

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Moved back three because my mom
and dad couldn't stand the rain.

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Went to Templeton High School.

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Britannia High School, loved radio.

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Stan Freberg was my idol.

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Uh, I use Stan Freburg so much in the
5,000 plus radio commercials that I did.

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Uh, you know, I mean, yes, film, I
was on Beach Combers and all of that.

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I went back east and did stuff.

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But, uh, they would always wait
for you back east, like here in

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Vancouver, uh, where most of, uh,
during a time and you can tell, you

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know what time it was, what age.

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We were doing some of the best radio
commercials in the English speaking world

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in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

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And uh, you know, we'd come into
the studio, we'd joke around, we'd

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fool, I mean, we had guys like
Miles Ramsay, I'm getting shivers.

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Miles Ramsay, Fred
Latremouille, Fred Latremouille.

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Oh man.

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What a genius.

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What a wonderful, and it wasn't genius.

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It was, he was just funny.

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Just a wonderful, wonderful guy.

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You know, we'd joke around, we'd have
fun for 20 minutes, half an hour,

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and then we'd do the commercial.

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We'd, we'd look at the commercial.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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I'd ad-lib something.

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Freddie had ad-libbed something.

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Sometimes we'd even, this is amazing.

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We'd do it in one take.

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One take and, uh, okay.

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See you.

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We go home.

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It was just so much fun.

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Whenever I went out to Toronto to
do commercials, I'd take the cab

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from the hotel, go to the studio,
I'd be there 10 minutes early.

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They'd be outside looking for me.

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Because they,, they'd think I was late.

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There'd be no fooling around,
no cracking jokes, no.

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Having fun.

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You know, and they'd want
you to work right away.

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That's, that's not comedy.

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No.

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So it's the Vancouver laid back,
the way it was, totally different.

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Totally different.

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Seattle opened up, did Seattle Radio,
but you know before that I did a lot

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of radio, people don't know this,
a lot of radio drama on CBC radio.

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And that was a real, uh, I don't, you,
you notice I've got my eyes closed, right?

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Because I,

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Jim Conrad: It's the Conovision.

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It's the Conovision.

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Bill Reiter: That's right.

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And I'm visualizing, when I
was a kid on CBC radio with

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wonderful, wonderful actors.

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Ted Stidder, uh, the fellow that was,
uh, on, uh, Beach Combers, uh, Relic,

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Jim Conrad: Oh, uh, we
will fix this in post.

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Bill Reiter: Yeah.

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Thank you.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Little voice will come in.

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But wonderful, Bill Buck,
wonderful actors, you know,

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and they taught you so much.

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Jim Conrad: Well, let's, let's
go back, let's go back, uh,

00:13:01.491 --> 00:13:02.468
to growing up in East Van.

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You went back and forth and
back and forth, but when did

00:13:08.276 --> 00:13:10.062
you get your posse together?

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What was that about?

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And was that around music?

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Bill Reiter: It was never
my posse, although, guys my

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age and I'm 81 years old.

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I was born in 1943.

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Guys my age will turn
them onto black music.

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Jim Conrad: Okay, and
when did that happen?

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Bill Reiter: That was probably 1959.

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Jim Conrad: 59, 60.

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Bill Reiter: Yeah.

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Yeah, because in 1959.

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Jim Conrad: And you weren't hearing
any of it on local radio anywhere.

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Bill Reiter: No, no, no.

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Yeah.

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Well, you know, to be fair,
Jack Cullen would play things,

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uh, that were fantastic.

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And it was Jack Cullen.

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We listened to, I told Red this, you know.

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Red, I love you.

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Jim Conrad: That's Red Robinson.

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Bill Reiter: Yeah.

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Red, I love you, but Jack
Cullen was our guy in East End.

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It was Jack Cullen that was playing stuff.

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Confidential, like a lovers prayer.

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Nobody else would be
playing stuff like that.

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Jim Conrad: Okay.

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Who was that?

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Bill Reiter: Uh, Sonny Knight.

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Jim Conrad: Sunny Knight?

00:14:13.273 --> 00:14:13.630
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

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And nobody else would be playing
things like that except for Jack.

00:14:17.915 --> 00:14:22.558
And Jack would, uh, he'd, he'd F
around with the, with the kids.

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Jim Conrad: You can say the word
fuck on the Conovision podcast.

00:14:26.129 --> 00:14:28.272
You can say anything you like.

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Bill Reiter: There'll be times when
that, that word will be appropriate.

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Maybe a little later.

00:14:33.104 --> 00:14:39.343
But he would, he would F around with
the kids, you know, that were listening.

00:14:39.343 --> 00:14:45.771
Like, he'd say, oh, I don't want to do
this, but you know, I just don't, uh, I

00:14:45.771 --> 00:14:48.392
don't like this music, but here you go.

00:14:48.462 --> 00:14:51.842
Here's, uh, Larry Williams,
followed by Little Richard.

00:14:51.842 --> 00:14:54.513
I don't know why I am do.

00:14:54.613 --> 00:14:57.083
Well, I mean, that's a second.

00:14:57.140 --> 00:15:01.841
You know, he and the kids
are going, oh boy, oh boy.

00:15:01.841 --> 00:15:03.984
You know, but he knows what

00:15:03.984 --> 00:15:05.770
Jim Conrad: And management was going well.

00:15:05.770 --> 00:15:06.127
Okay.

00:15:06.127 --> 00:15:06.841
Bill Reiter: Oh no.

00:15:06.841 --> 00:15:12.980
Management loved it because he got
great numbers on the Owl Prowl, right?

00:15:13.050 --> 00:15:13.730
Jim Conrad: Yeah.

00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:14.220
Yeah.

00:15:14.220 --> 00:15:17.150
The Owl Powl.

00:15:17.180 --> 00:15:20.055
So you heard, you heard Jack
playing some of this stuff.

00:15:20.055 --> 00:15:23.269
Bill Reiter: So I had to
find out more about it.

00:15:23.269 --> 00:15:26.483
Jim Conrad: And so you went
to the local record store?

00:15:26.483 --> 00:15:29.034
Bill Reiter: Yeah, but
I would order records.

00:15:29.274 --> 00:15:32.054
'Cause they never had them in, right?

00:15:32.414 --> 00:15:38.268
So I'd ordered them in, but uh, I would
get on the Greyhound, go down to Seattle,

00:15:38.268 --> 00:15:40.768
walk up the hill to Eagles Ballroom.

00:15:40.768 --> 00:15:45.768
Uh, the guys I went with were all
East Enders, so they were either

00:15:45.768 --> 00:15:47.553
Chinese, Japanese, or black guys.

00:15:47.553 --> 00:15:50.053
In that Eagles auditorium
were 3000 people.

00:15:50.053 --> 00:15:54.984
I, one cop, and three women were the
only Caucasians, that in those days, to

00:15:54.984 --> 00:15:58.981
see James Brown and the Famous Flames,
Hank Ballard and the Midnighters.

00:15:58.981 --> 00:15:59.696
Jackie Wilson.

00:15:59.696 --> 00:16:03.624
The show sometime went on to
three o'clock in the morning.

00:16:03.624 --> 00:16:04.338
One o'clock.

00:16:04.338 --> 00:16:08.267
You've gotta run down the hill
to the Greyhound bus depot.

00:16:08.267 --> 00:16:11.774
'Cause the last bus for
Vancouver left at 1:15.

00:16:12.195 --> 00:16:15.490
And if you miss that, you know I'm a kid.

00:16:15.490 --> 00:16:17.600
16 years old.

00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:19.694
All the guys with me were kids.

00:16:19.694 --> 00:16:22.909
We haven't got money to stay in Seattle.

00:16:22.909 --> 00:16:28.265
You know, we're, so, you get on the
bus, you buy some chocolate bars or

00:16:28.265 --> 00:16:30.408
candy bars as Americans call 'em.

00:16:30.408 --> 00:16:31.837
Buy some chocolate bars.

00:16:31.837 --> 00:16:36.479
Go and sit in the back of the
bus, eat the chocolate bar.

00:16:36.479 --> 00:16:41.836
Did you see what James Brown did
when he did the thing with the fan

00:16:41.836 --> 00:16:46.479
and the Oregon player comes out with
that big Fats Gonder guy playing?

00:16:46.479 --> 00:16:47.193
Oh man.

00:16:47.193 --> 00:16:51.479
And we'd talk for half the
way back to Vancouver and then

00:16:51.479 --> 00:16:53.978
maybe go to sleep for a while.

00:16:53.978 --> 00:16:59.335
And I said to my mother when I
was 50 years old, she was sitting,

00:16:59.335 --> 00:17:01.478
had a Japanese garden by then.

00:17:01.478 --> 00:17:04.827
Thank you uh, Actra
Fraternal Benefit Society.

00:17:04.857 --> 00:17:10.763
Yeah, for, for, for taking 16 cents of
every dollar that I made on commercials.

00:17:10.763 --> 00:17:13.620
Boy, Actra Fraternal Benefit
Society, God bless them.

00:17:13.620 --> 00:17:18.977
Because as Ava, my wife, said to
me when I, I looked one day, I

00:17:18.977 --> 00:17:22.641
said, geez, I got $60,000 in the
Actra Fraternal Benefit Society.

00:17:22.671 --> 00:17:26.818
She says, And, and none
of that was your doing.

00:17:26.988 --> 00:17:29.822
Because I didn't, I didn't save a cent.

00:17:29.822 --> 00:17:31.822
I didn't save a cent.

00:17:32.191 --> 00:17:33.468
Jim Conrad: You weren't
thinking about anything.

00:17:33.468 --> 00:17:33.708
Bill Reiter: No.

00:17:34.548 --> 00:17:34.818
No.

00:17:35.178 --> 00:17:39.908
It's the Actra Fraternal Benefit
Society that's saving the money for me.

00:17:39.908 --> 00:17:41.778
God bless the Union.

00:17:41.778 --> 00:17:43.976
Jim Conrad: So this, you're
coming back from Seattle.

00:17:43.976 --> 00:17:46.833
This is your first
immersion into black music.

00:17:46.833 --> 00:17:49.690
Uh, what is, what is it that, about?

00:17:49.690 --> 00:17:54.611
Bill Reiter: And a friend of mine,
Mike Cvetkovich, who was 10 years

00:17:54.611 --> 00:17:57.171
older than me, he went down by car.

00:17:57.189 --> 00:17:58.618
He was a mentor.

00:17:58.618 --> 00:18:02.903
Mike Cvetkovich was a mentor for
me, and he had his girlfriend.

00:18:02.903 --> 00:18:05.403
So he'd stay in a hotel overnight.

00:18:05.503 --> 00:18:10.403
And he would tell me that he
would go to the Penthouse in

00:18:10.503 --> 00:18:12.763
Seattle, which was a club.

00:18:12.893 --> 00:18:17.903
And at 3 o'clock in the morning,
3:30 in the morning, 4 o'clock in

00:18:17.903 --> 00:18:20.045
the morning, who would come in?

00:18:20.045 --> 00:18:25.045
James Brown, the Famous Flames, and
all the band, and they'd get up on

00:18:25.045 --> 00:18:30.548
stage and do another 2 hour show on
stage at the Penthouse, you know?

00:18:30.578 --> 00:18:31.488
Jim Conrad: That's amazing.

00:18:31.488 --> 00:18:31.878
Amazing.

00:18:31.878 --> 00:18:36.116
Your first immersion into black music
was a bonding experience with you and

00:18:36.116 --> 00:18:42.437
your pals in East Van, and this was
almost kind of like a secret club.

00:18:42.507 --> 00:18:46.473
'Cause you, you weren't hearing
any of this music on local radio.

00:18:46.473 --> 00:18:50.758
Bill Reiter: No, and I'll tell you,
there was a place called, and my

00:18:50.758 --> 00:18:55.758
friend Dennis Joe said, wasn't the
Chinatown Y. It was the Pender Y. Okay.

00:18:55.758 --> 00:18:56.472
All right.

00:18:56.472 --> 00:18:57.543
Geez, settle down.

00:18:57.543 --> 00:19:02.543
I always knew it was the Chinatown
Y, you know, it was in Chinatown.

00:19:02.543 --> 00:19:04.093
It was the Y-M-C-A.

00:19:04.463 --> 00:19:09.686
But I heard when I was a kid that,
oh, you know, the only place where

00:19:09.686 --> 00:19:14.685
you can hear great records and they,
if you went there they were playing

00:19:14.685 --> 00:19:16.114
Little Richard, Larry Williams.

00:19:16.114 --> 00:19:18.971
I always remember, I always
mention Larry Williams.

00:19:18.971 --> 00:19:21.168
It's funny what humans do.

00:19:21.248 --> 00:19:23.256
You know what you just did.

00:19:23.256 --> 00:19:25.042
Jim Conrad: What did I just do?

00:19:25.042 --> 00:19:28.256
Bill Reiter: You covered your,
you have Jimmy's sitting here now.

00:19:28.256 --> 00:19:33.970
He's got his hand in front of his
chin, but when I said Larry Williams,

00:19:33.970 --> 00:19:38.613
you covered your mouth with one finger
so that you wouldn't say anything.

00:19:38.613 --> 00:19:43.255
And that's because I was gonna
say, and I think you knew it.

00:19:43.255 --> 00:19:45.921
It's funny how people never
mentioned Larry Williams.

00:19:46.041 --> 00:19:48.231
Do you know Larry Williams?

00:19:48.255 --> 00:19:50.755
Jim Conrad: I have never
heard of Larry Williams.

00:19:50.755 --> 00:19:51.469
Bill Reiter: Larry Williams.

00:19:51.469 --> 00:19:54.425
You know when people
talk about great voices?

00:19:54.655 --> 00:19:59.326
They never mention Larry Williams, Larry
Williams has got one of the greatest

00:19:59.326 --> 00:20:01.469
voices in rock, rhythm and blues.

00:20:01.469 --> 00:20:05.800
He sits there below Little Richard, who's
got the greatest voice in black music.

00:20:05.800 --> 00:20:08.968
But Larry Williams is absolutely fabulous.

00:20:08.968 --> 00:20:13.611
And people who don't know him, I
say, find out about Larry Williams.

00:20:13.611 --> 00:20:17.182
He's the guy that had, uh, short
fat Fannie she's my heart desire.

00:20:17.492 --> 00:20:18.812
That's Larry Williams.

00:20:18.812 --> 00:20:18.892
Yeah.

00:20:19.222 --> 00:20:23.967
Anyway, you go to the YMCA in Chinatown
and that's where the music is.

00:20:23.967 --> 00:20:26.935
So I went to the YMCA in Chinatown.

00:20:26.935 --> 00:20:28.610
Jim Conrad: Pender, Pender or Chinatown.

00:20:28.610 --> 00:20:29.681
I'm not sure.

00:20:29.681 --> 00:20:31.467
Bill Reiter: What are you, Dennis Joe.

00:20:31.467 --> 00:20:33.253
Gee, how quickly they turned.

00:20:33.253 --> 00:20:35.395
You're picking his side now already.

00:20:35.395 --> 00:20:38.967
I went to the Pender YMCA,
not the Chinatown YMCA.

00:20:40.367 --> 00:20:40.737
God.

00:20:40.752 --> 00:20:41.466
People today.

00:20:41.466 --> 00:20:45.682
So I went there and, uh, I, I'm a big kid.

00:20:45.682 --> 00:20:47.992
I'm big for my age.

00:20:47.992 --> 00:20:51.109
I walk in and, uh, Eddie
Ostapovich right away.

00:20:51.109 --> 00:20:53.406
You know you shouldn't.

00:20:53.636 --> 00:20:55.394
Don't fuck around with Eddie.

00:20:55.394 --> 00:21:01.980
See, there's where you can use, see,
you gotta pick where you use the F word.

00:21:01.980 --> 00:21:02.290
Jim Conrad: Yeah.

00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:06.108
Because it becomes meaningless
when you use it way too much.

00:21:06.108 --> 00:21:06.822
Bill Reiter: That's right.

00:21:06.822 --> 00:21:07.179
Yeah.

00:21:07.179 --> 00:21:09.335
Don't fuck around with Eddie Ostapovich.

00:21:09.605 --> 00:21:12.179
Because Eddie Ostapovich was a boxer.

00:21:12.179 --> 00:21:17.810
He's this blonde kid, skinny blonde
kid who loved to fight and he was the,

00:21:17.810 --> 00:21:21.730
he was the scourge of the East End.

00:21:21.730 --> 00:21:23.250
And this is the East End.

00:21:23.250 --> 00:21:24.678
Jim Conrad: You don't cross Eddie.

00:21:24.678 --> 00:21:27.013
Bill Reiter: You don't even look at Eddie.

00:21:27.103 --> 00:21:27.483
So I'm there.

00:21:27.483 --> 00:21:30.067
Slightly overweight perhaps,
you know, buck teeth.

00:21:30.537 --> 00:21:33.249
I'm digging the music, right?

00:21:33.249 --> 00:21:37.178
You are Eddie ostapovich, you're
there, and that's where he lives.

00:21:37.178 --> 00:21:41.512
He lives in the East End in
the toughest part of Vancouver.

00:21:42.322 --> 00:21:44.320
He looks around, he sees me, right?

00:21:44.320 --> 00:21:47.874
Oh God, I don't, I don't
know who Eddie Ostapovich.

00:21:47.892 --> 00:21:53.714
I live slightly up on the hill, you
know, sort of more in, almost in Burnaby.

00:21:55.224 --> 00:22:00.391
Comes over and, you know, says a couple
of things that if I thought I was tough,

00:22:00.391 --> 00:22:03.108
I would take offense at, you know?

00:22:03.188 --> 00:22:03.738
That's, that's,

00:22:03.962 --> 00:22:06.462
Jim Conrad: I have to make a choice here.

00:22:06.462 --> 00:22:09.301
Do I think these are offensive to me?

00:22:09.801 --> 00:22:15.033
And if I, if I do make that choice
it, what are the consequences?

00:22:15.033 --> 00:22:20.390
Bill Reiter: It would be, yeah, it would
be like if, say you were in Gastown and

00:22:20.390 --> 00:22:26.461
some little guy came up to you and said
something and then you got in a fight.

00:22:26.461 --> 00:22:31.102
My dad always said to me, so maybe
your dad didn't teach you this.

00:22:31.102 --> 00:22:32.272
My dad taught me.

00:22:32.762 --> 00:22:39.317
Only fight if, A, there's no other way
out, or B, you really want to do it.

00:22:39.317 --> 00:22:42.760
Like you have to be very committed.

00:22:42.760 --> 00:22:46.460
And I thought, I'm looking at this guy.

00:22:46.460 --> 00:22:53.602
He looked as if he, he could kick the shit
out of me, and, and then it wasn't, then

00:22:53.602 --> 00:23:00.031
later I found out, 'cause I asked one of
the guys I knew, Chinatown guys, you know.

00:23:00.031 --> 00:23:01.102
Hey, Sonny Wong?

00:23:01.102 --> 00:23:01.459
Yeah.

00:23:01.459 --> 00:23:03.959
Have you ever heard of this guy?

00:23:03.959 --> 00:23:04.656
Eddie Ostapovich.

00:23:04.673 --> 00:23:06.238
Oh, Sonny, what's the matter?

00:23:06.238 --> 00:23:07.658
Eddie Ostapovich!

00:23:07.658 --> 00:23:08.959
What do you know about him?

00:23:08.959 --> 00:23:13.244
Well, I, he, he wanted me to
come outside and fight him.

00:23:13.244 --> 00:23:13.601
Silence.

00:23:13.601 --> 00:23:14.316
Ah, okay.

00:23:14.316 --> 00:23:18.244
So, so I did the right
thing by not going outside.

00:23:18.244 --> 00:23:21.458
Jim Conrad: Um, down at the
Y listening to this music.

00:23:21.458 --> 00:23:23.244
You began to collect records?

00:23:23.244 --> 00:23:26.434
Bill Reiter: Yeah, well, I had,
uh, 20,000 albums, 7000 45's.

00:23:26.458 --> 00:23:28.958
I've sold a few of them since.

00:23:28.958 --> 00:23:32.172
I sold all of my reggae
collection pretty well.

00:23:32.172 --> 00:23:35.029
I sold all of my classical
music collection.

00:23:35.029 --> 00:23:37.529
I sold most of my jazz collection.

00:23:37.529 --> 00:23:41.159
I sold a lot of my CD collections.

00:23:41.189 --> 00:23:43.149
I had 8,000 CDs.

00:23:43.189 --> 00:23:45.385
But I've still got a
lot of the collection.

00:23:45.385 --> 00:23:48.956
Jim Conrad: You've culled, you've
culled everything down to, to the, the

00:23:48.956 --> 00:23:51.455
special stuff that you just wanna keep.

00:23:51.455 --> 00:23:53.937
Bill Reiter: That's what
I tell my wife, Ava.

00:23:53.954 --> 00:23:54.311
Jim Conrad: Yes.

00:23:54.311 --> 00:23:59.310
Uh, collecting that music then led
to you getting a job offer or, or

00:23:59.310 --> 00:24:04.308
someone saying to you, or you had,
you worked with in a record store?

00:24:04.308 --> 00:24:05.022
Bill Reiter: I didn't.

00:24:05.022 --> 00:24:07.522
I never worked in a record store.

00:24:07.522 --> 00:24:09.307
Jim Conrad: You owned a record store?

00:24:09.307 --> 00:24:13.234
Bill Reiter: I owned a record store
called Bill and Bob's records in

00:24:13.234 --> 00:24:15.376
the narrowest store in the world.

00:24:15.376 --> 00:24:17.876
Jim Conrad: Narrowest
building in the world right at

00:24:17.876 --> 00:24:20.732
Bill Reiter: Pender and
Carroll, uh, it was, uh, in,

00:24:20.732 --> 00:24:22.874
um, Ripley's Believe It or Not.

00:24:22.874 --> 00:24:24.302
Jim Conrad: The narrowest building.

00:24:24.302 --> 00:24:24.659
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:24:24.659 --> 00:24:26.801
Narrowest building in the world.

00:24:26.801 --> 00:24:31.535
As a matter of fact, it's owned by
a guy called Jack Chow who happens

00:24:31.685 --> 00:24:38.584
to be my good pal's Buddy Chow and a
whole bunch of kids in that family,

00:24:38.584 --> 00:24:40.565
it's their uncle Jack Chow's building.

00:24:41.205 --> 00:24:43.939
But so I, I had a record store.

00:24:43.939 --> 00:24:47.509
Jim Conrad: So what was the
genesis of owning a records store.

00:24:47.509 --> 00:24:50.366
Bill Reiter: Bill and Bob's
record shop with Bobby Garrison.

00:24:50.366 --> 00:24:50.723
Jim Conrad: Right.

00:24:50.723 --> 00:24:51.080
Okay.

00:24:51.080 --> 00:24:55.364
Bill Reiter: So we were porters
on the C and R at the time.

00:24:55.364 --> 00:25:00.363
I thought, well, porter would be a
good 'cause black guys are porters, and

00:25:00.363 --> 00:25:03.219
then I could talk to them about music.

00:25:03.219 --> 00:25:07.146
Everything I do has has another,
another, there's another thing level.

00:25:07.146 --> 00:25:08.575
Jim Conrad: There's a musical dimension.

00:25:08.575 --> 00:25:08.932
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:25:08.932 --> 00:25:11.871
There's that, many times
there's a musical dimension.

00:25:12.351 --> 00:25:12.941
You're right.

00:25:13.521 --> 00:25:18.929
So, uh, this kid came in one day buying
records and he said to me, he said,

00:25:18.929 --> 00:25:21.785
would you, uh, sign your name to this?

00:25:21.785 --> 00:25:28.211
It's a, a group of, uh, businesses that,
'cause uh, I'd like to do a jazz show on

00:25:28.211 --> 00:25:31.425
CKLG fm. Would you like to be a sponsor?

00:25:31.425 --> 00:25:33.210
And I said, oh yeah.

00:25:33.210 --> 00:25:33.924
Sounds great.

00:25:33.924 --> 00:25:34.281
Wow.

00:25:34.281 --> 00:25:34.638
Congratulations.

00:25:34.638 --> 00:25:35.709
That sounds fabulous.

00:25:35.709 --> 00:25:41.065
He said, or better still, would you
go down and maybe say that you would,

00:25:41.065 --> 00:25:44.790
uh, now that I know this sounds weird.

00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:49.991
And it sounds like one of those stories
where, you know, the bad older kid goes

00:25:49.991 --> 00:25:55.703
down and riffs this kid, but honest
to God, this kid did say, would you go

00:25:55.703 --> 00:26:00.344
down and, you know, tell Frank Callahan
that you'd be interested in, uh,

00:26:00.344 --> 00:26:02.130
Jim Conrad: Coming on the show and,

00:26:02.130 --> 00:26:04.986
Bill Reiter: No, just be
a sponsor on the show.

00:26:04.986 --> 00:26:07.485
Jim Conrad: Just be a sponsor on the show.

00:26:07.485 --> 00:26:09.984
Bill Reiter: So I said,
sure, I'll do that.

00:26:09.984 --> 00:26:15.340
You know, so I went down and, uh,
talked to Frank and we talked for,

00:26:15.340 --> 00:26:18.074
Christ, about two hours, you know?

00:26:18.074 --> 00:26:22.838
And at the end of it, Frank says,
well, listen, that kid that came

00:26:22.838 --> 00:26:27.836
into your shop, he's one of about 12
people that we've been talking to,

00:26:27.836 --> 00:26:31.032
but how would you like to do the show?

00:26:31.049 --> 00:26:32.121
I was like,

00:26:32.121 --> 00:26:36.191
Jim Conrad: So it wasn't exactly
poaching a gig, but, uh, but Frank

00:26:36.191 --> 00:26:37.621
was making the decision, so, hey,

00:26:37.711 --> 00:26:37.881
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:26:37.881 --> 00:26:42.475
And I was like, yeah, that sounds great.

00:26:42.475 --> 00:26:43.546
Jim Conrad: How old now?

00:26:43.546 --> 00:26:45.307
Bill Reiter: I would say 22.

00:26:45.331 --> 00:26:45.688
Jim Conrad: Okay.

00:26:45.688 --> 00:26:49.615
And you own the record store
with your, with your buddy?

00:26:49.615 --> 00:26:49.972
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:26:49.972 --> 00:26:52.229
Bill, uh, Bobby Garrison.

00:26:52.229 --> 00:26:55.454
Who was the right hand
man of Danny Baceda.

00:26:55.454 --> 00:26:57.094
Oh, you don't know Danny Baceda?

00:26:57.113 --> 00:26:57.470
Jim Conrad: No.

00:26:57.470 --> 00:27:00.194
Bill Reiter: Oh, he's
legendary in Vancouver.

00:27:00.444 --> 00:27:03.374
He owned, uh, the Pink
Pussycat nightclub in Gastown.

00:27:03.374 --> 00:27:04.664
He owned Oil Can Harry's.

00:27:04.968 --> 00:27:05.682
Jim Conrad: Oh, okay.

00:27:05.682 --> 00:27:07.110
I've heard of that.

00:27:07.110 --> 00:27:07.467
Yes.

00:27:07.467 --> 00:27:07.824
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:27:07.824 --> 00:27:08.895
Oh my God.

00:27:08.895 --> 00:27:11.734
I can't believe you
don't know Danny Baceda.

00:27:11.751 --> 00:27:12.108
Jim Conrad: Okay.

00:27:12.108 --> 00:27:13.537
I, now I do.

00:27:13.537 --> 00:27:16.036
Bill Reiter: Many people thought
he had mafia connections.

00:27:16.036 --> 00:27:18.178
I'm here to tell you that.

00:27:18.178 --> 00:27:21.748
He was my, one of my best pals growing up.

00:27:21.748 --> 00:27:27.461
I'm here to tell you that he, as
far as I know, I never saw that.

00:27:27.461 --> 00:27:28.889
Never heard about that.

00:27:28.889 --> 00:27:31.388
But his mom, Ruby, was a gem.

00:27:31.388 --> 00:27:35.250
I used to call her my
second mom at one time.

00:27:35.290 --> 00:27:38.172
So where was I going with that?

00:27:38.172 --> 00:27:38.869
Jim Conrad: Danny Baceda.

00:27:38.886 --> 00:27:39.957
The clubs downtown.

00:27:39.957 --> 00:27:45.237
You had a record store, but now
you're on your way to working

00:27:45.377 --> 00:27:48.017
radio, doing the radio show.

00:27:48.017 --> 00:27:49.954
Having no experience whatsoever.

00:27:49.954 --> 00:27:51.291
Bill Reiter: No experience whatsoever.

00:27:51.611 --> 00:27:51.981
Every Saturday.

00:27:51.981 --> 00:27:53.881
Jim Conrad: But you knew the music.

00:27:54.421 --> 00:27:56.831
Bill Reiter: I knew the music really well.

00:27:56.861 --> 00:28:01.022
And more importantly, I loved the
music with all my heart and soul.

00:28:01.452 --> 00:28:01.602
Jim Conrad: Passion.

00:28:01.602 --> 00:28:01.662
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:28:01.662 --> 00:28:06.242
So every Saturday, six o'clock
to eight o'clock, Groovin' Blue.

00:28:06.392 --> 00:28:12.939
And I stole that name from a record
album, a jazz record album, Groovin' Blue.

00:28:12.939 --> 00:28:16.375
Uh, Groovin' didn't have a G on the end.

00:28:16.375 --> 00:28:17.803
Jim Conrad: No, of course not.

00:28:17.803 --> 00:28:18.160
Bill Reiter: IN.

00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:22.087
It was October, I believe
that Groovin' Blue started the

00:28:22.087 --> 00:28:23.872
end of October, around april.

00:28:23.872 --> 00:28:27.443
Callahan came to me and said,
we're going progressive rock.

00:28:27.443 --> 00:28:31.370
It's a new form of music that's
happening in San Francisco.

00:28:31.370 --> 00:28:36.726
It's actually a new format where they
play album cuts, et cetera, et cetera.

00:28:36.726 --> 00:28:41.367
How would you like to do your
Groovin' Blue show, I think

00:28:41.367 --> 00:28:44.311
it was seven nights a week.

00:28:44.311 --> 00:28:45.461
Could have been six nights a week.

00:28:45.951 --> 00:28:51.364
They thought initially that the
Groovin' Blue Show was a blues show.

00:28:51.364 --> 00:28:52.435
Well, it wasn't.

00:28:52.435 --> 00:28:57.215
It was a black music show, so
it, my show played Nina Simone,

00:28:57.245 --> 00:29:00.105
Muddy Waters, John Coltrane.

00:29:00.175 --> 00:29:03.503
Jim Conrad: But in the era of
progressive radio that was perfect.

00:29:03.503 --> 00:29:03.860
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:29:03.860 --> 00:29:04.931
And it was,

00:29:04.931 --> 00:29:07.073
Jim Conrad: Because it
was an evening show.

00:29:07.073 --> 00:29:11.001
It wasn't, it wasn't the main
day part where, where they

00:29:11.001 --> 00:29:13.365
played, uh, the Rolling Stones.

00:29:13.565 --> 00:29:14.825
It was in the evening.

00:29:14.928 --> 00:29:15.285
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:29:15.285 --> 00:29:18.856
I mean, I played people
that had never been heard.

00:29:18.966 --> 00:29:20.616
Sly and the Family Stone.

00:29:20.616 --> 00:29:21.696
Bobby Womack.

00:29:21.696 --> 00:29:26.244
People who had never been
heard in Canada before.

00:29:26.584 --> 00:29:28.139
So for two years, that show ran.

00:29:28.139 --> 00:29:33.494
Ironically, when he offered me it, I
guess he thought it was a blues show.

00:29:33.494 --> 00:29:39.207
This kid that came in thought it was
a jazz show, so I don't know what

00:29:39.207 --> 00:29:41.706
the hell was going on, you know?

00:29:41.706 --> 00:29:43.848
Jim Conrad: But yeah,
they couldn't define it,

00:29:43.848 --> 00:29:45.276
Bill Reiter: But I defined it.

00:29:45.276 --> 00:29:46.704
Jim Conrad: Yes, you defined it.

00:29:46.704 --> 00:29:50.632
Bill Reiter: And it became the first
black music radio show in Canada.

00:29:50.632 --> 00:29:51.346
Jim Conrad: That's remarkable.

00:29:51.346 --> 00:29:53.607
Bill Reiter: This is
where I don't say a word.

00:29:53.607 --> 00:29:57.415
Also, I had my career as an actor.

00:29:57.415 --> 00:29:59.558
Jim Conrad: Where was the spark for that?

00:29:59.558 --> 00:30:01.700
Bill Reiter: Well, I told you I loved

00:30:01.700 --> 00:30:03.128
Jim Conrad: CBC radio drama.

00:30:03.128 --> 00:30:03.485
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:30:03.485 --> 00:30:07.412
And more importantly, and
why I, you and I love it.

00:30:07.412 --> 00:30:12.054
You loved every time you went
into the studio with me and with

00:30:12.054 --> 00:30:14.671
Miles and, uh, Freddy, Marla.

00:30:14.671 --> 00:30:15.341
Jane Mordefi.

00:30:15.581 --> 00:30:17.409
You loved doing radio commercials.

00:30:17.409 --> 00:30:18.123
Jim Conrad: Oh yeah.

00:30:18.123 --> 00:30:18.480
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:19.551
You loved it.

00:30:19.551 --> 00:30:24.550
Jim Conrad: When I would go in, uh,
when I was first exposed to you and

00:30:24.550 --> 00:30:29.436
that whole group was Kokanee Beer
from the Columbia Brewing Company.

00:30:29.436 --> 00:31:10.946
Free plug for Kokanee.

00:31:10.964 --> 00:31:17.748
I would go in, do my tag, and then I
would sit there with a cup of coffee with

00:31:17.748 --> 00:31:23.461
Darrell She, and then you guys would come
in and do exactly like you just described

00:31:23.461 --> 00:31:25.782
for 20 minutes, you'd fuck around.

00:31:25.782 --> 00:31:28.816
And I, I'd never been exposed to that.

00:31:28.816 --> 00:31:30.601
I just thought, that's amazing.

00:31:30.601 --> 00:31:35.600
And then when it came time to
do the stuff, you did it and

00:31:35.600 --> 00:31:37.028
then you ad-libbed everything.

00:31:37.028 --> 00:31:40.598
And then Darrell would count
on Fred for a punchline.

00:31:40.598 --> 00:31:41.669
Is this, Fred?

00:31:41.669 --> 00:31:42.740
You got anything?

00:31:42.740 --> 00:31:43.812
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:31:43.812 --> 00:31:45.597
And the same with you?

00:31:45.597 --> 00:31:45.954
Yeah.

00:31:45.954 --> 00:31:47.025
You got anything?

00:31:47.025 --> 00:31:47.382
Yeah.

00:31:47.382 --> 00:31:47.739
Okay.

00:31:47.739 --> 00:31:51.309
Bill Reiter: I used to this,
this is neat, guys like Darrell,

00:31:51.309 --> 00:31:53.236
directors and ad agency guys.

00:31:53.396 --> 00:31:59.164
Would you know, phone me up and say,
are you free Tuesday at 10:00 AM okay.

00:31:59.164 --> 00:32:03.448
Well we've got a commercial
for, you know, for you to do.

00:32:03.448 --> 00:32:05.948
I, i've only got a few ideas.

00:32:05.948 --> 00:32:07.019
10 o'clock GGRP.

00:32:07.019 --> 00:32:07.376
Yeah.

00:32:07.376 --> 00:32:07.733
Okay.

00:32:07.733 --> 00:32:08.804
See you there.

00:32:08.804 --> 00:32:13.802
And then they'd bring the idea in,
and they'd say, you know, we, we

00:32:13.802 --> 00:32:15.945
wanna mention this, this, and this.

00:32:15.945 --> 00:32:19.515
Jim Conrad: So you've been kind
of writing copy on the fly?

00:32:19.515 --> 00:32:22.728
Bill Reiter: I'd write the
copy as, yeah, on the fly.

00:32:23.008 --> 00:32:25.508
Jim Conrad: Which is improv.

00:32:25.508 --> 00:32:25.588
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:32:25.588 --> 00:32:27.013
Does it get any better than that?

00:32:27.013 --> 00:32:27.103
Jim Conrad: No.

00:32:27.103 --> 00:32:27.873
No it doesn't.

00:32:27.873 --> 00:32:29.683
I was fascinated.

00:32:29.933 --> 00:32:35.582
I was so entertained and that's where
I, I got the real spark to understand

00:32:35.582 --> 00:32:41.294
where I needed to go to continue to
work, which was, as you told me, many

00:32:41.294 --> 00:32:43.793
years later, Jim, you're a voice actor.

00:32:43.793 --> 00:32:45.579
You're not just an announcer.

00:32:45.649 --> 00:32:49.149
Bill Reiter: Was I the first
person to tell you that?

00:32:49.149 --> 00:32:49.506
Jim Conrad: Yeah.

00:32:49.506 --> 00:32:50.220
Bill Reiter: Oh, great.

00:32:50.220 --> 00:32:51.050
Jim Conrad: So thank you.

00:32:51.050 --> 00:32:52.719
Bill Reiter: Nice to hear.

00:32:52.719 --> 00:32:54.406
Oh, you're very welcome.

00:32:54.526 --> 00:32:56.226
I love you very much.

00:32:56.336 --> 00:33:01.846
I'm getting emotional, no,
well, I do love you very much.

00:33:01.846 --> 00:33:06.644
Jim Conrad: You know, that emotion
was felt every time I got into the

00:33:06.644 --> 00:33:11.285
studio with everyone that I eventually
had a relationship with in this town,

00:33:11.285 --> 00:33:15.926
everybody, you know, I could feel, I
understood what the, what their job

00:33:15.926 --> 00:33:18.426
was, they understood what my job was.

00:33:18.426 --> 00:33:20.683
I understood what my job was.

00:33:20.683 --> 00:33:24.852
And I delivered it and had
fun and they appreciated it.

00:33:24.852 --> 00:33:27.352
And that's where the love came from.

00:33:27.352 --> 00:33:27.709
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:33:27.709 --> 00:33:33.778
Well, can you imagine, you know the guy
that I hooked up with at CHUM in Toronto?

00:33:33.778 --> 00:33:34.225
Mike Occomore.

00:33:34.345 --> 00:33:35.545
Jim Conrad: Oh, Mike Occomore.

00:33:35.563 --> 00:33:35.920
Yes.

00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:36.276
Yes.

00:33:36.276 --> 00:33:37.704
Bill Reiter: He, he eventually became,

00:33:37.704 --> 00:33:40.588
Jim Conrad: And he was a funny writer.

00:33:40.748 --> 00:33:41.518
Very funny writer.

00:33:41.548 --> 00:33:41.608
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:33:41.630 --> 00:33:44.735
And eventually he became
the head writer at CHUM.

00:33:44.842 --> 00:33:46.626
And this is our relationship.

00:33:46.626 --> 00:33:51.266
What it led to was me going,
oh my God, i'm a writer.

00:33:51.266 --> 00:33:56.262
Because he would send the commercial
out to me, written, I would rewrite it.

00:33:56.262 --> 00:33:58.046
Send it back to him.

00:33:58.046 --> 00:34:00.544
He would always say, oh, that's fabulous.

00:34:00.544 --> 00:34:01.258
That's great.

00:34:01.258 --> 00:34:07.682
Then I would hire you and Miles and
Phil Buck and Jane Mordefi, or whoever.

00:34:07.682 --> 00:34:08.753
Jim Conrad: Whoever was appropriate.

00:34:08.753 --> 00:34:09.903
And Norm Grohmann.

00:34:10.503 --> 00:34:14.463
Bill Reiter: And Norm Grohmann, and
we'd come into the studio and do it.

00:34:14.463 --> 00:34:18.388
And so that was a whole
new thing for me now.

00:34:18.438 --> 00:34:19.678
Jim Conrad: Writing and producing.

00:34:19.808 --> 00:34:23.368
How did the television career,
on camera career start?

00:34:23.385 --> 00:34:28.660
Bill Reiter: Well, people don't know how
much television I did when I was a kid.

00:34:28.770 --> 00:34:33.021
Because I was on shows that
people never heard about and I

00:34:33.021 --> 00:34:34.805
can't even remember, you know?

00:34:34.805 --> 00:34:36.946
And I was a kid, really?

00:34:36.946 --> 00:34:40.184
I was, I was really young, you know?

00:34:40.314 --> 00:34:43.816
Like just doing little
bit things, you know?

00:34:43.816 --> 00:34:44.516
Not a child.

00:34:44.516 --> 00:34:47.296
I wasn't a child, but I was like,

00:34:47.296 --> 00:34:48.010
Jim Conrad: 12, 13?

00:34:48.010 --> 00:34:49.300
Bill Reiter: No, no, no, no.

00:34:49.470 --> 00:34:49.850
Late teens.

00:34:49.850 --> 00:34:49.940
Jim Conrad: Okay.

00:34:49.940 --> 00:34:52.140
On the CBC.

00:34:52.450 --> 00:34:52.510
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:34:52.510 --> 00:34:57.380
And CBC was very, very good for me.

00:34:57.620 --> 00:35:01.571
But then I, then Mulligan and
I, Terry, Terry, David Mulligan.

00:35:01.571 --> 00:35:07.199
Jim Conrad: Oh, we have a
Mulligan story, incoming.

00:35:07.499 --> 00:35:11.921
Bill Reiter: Well, we got three shows
that, I don't know if they were national

00:35:11.921 --> 00:35:14.638
or not, but they were shown nationally.

00:35:14.768 --> 00:35:15.438
Hey, Taxi.

00:35:15.438 --> 00:35:16.560
Piffle & Co.

00:35:16.560 --> 00:35:21.091
Jim Conrad: And Hey Taxi, you
were the taxi cab driver and

00:35:21.091 --> 00:35:22.984
Michael, a young Michael J. Fox.

00:35:22.984 --> 00:35:25.455
Bill Reiter: Well, no,
that's when I did Leo and Me.

00:35:25.675 --> 00:35:30.334
Yeah, that was Michael J.
Fox and, uh, Brent Carver.

00:35:30.574 --> 00:35:36.545
But I wasn't, I only did two or three
bit parts on Leo and me, but the

00:35:36.545 --> 00:35:42.256
other three that, you know, I was
the main lead with Mulligan, but I,

00:35:42.256 --> 00:35:47.252
you know what, I loved radio so much
more than any television or film.

00:35:47.252 --> 00:35:51.534
I enjoyed being on stage too,
doing plays, but you know, I

00:35:51.534 --> 00:35:53.676
love radio is what I loved.

00:35:53.676 --> 00:35:57.601
Jim Conrad: And one of the greatest,
uh, radio play comedy shows of

00:35:57.601 --> 00:36:02.598
record that I remember as a kid
listening to on the CBC was Dr.

00:36:02.708 --> 00:36:09.065
Bundolo's Pandemonium Medicine Show.

00:36:09.505 --> 00:36:12.215
How did that come about?

00:36:12.234 --> 00:36:16.159
Bill Reiter: Another one of those totally
different, but you'll see why I've

00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:19.341
framed it the way I am about to frame it.

00:36:19.341 --> 00:36:24.368
Another one of those kid comes
down to the record store and

00:36:24.368 --> 00:36:27.223
says, I want to do a jazz show.

00:36:27.223 --> 00:36:33.758
And I was wondering would you go
in and talk to the guy, in a way.

00:36:33.798 --> 00:36:36.502
Don Kowalchuk, the producer.

00:36:36.502 --> 00:36:40.784
Jeff Groberman, the writer, Donny
Thatchuk, who later changed his name to

00:36:40.784 --> 00:36:42.908
Colin Yardley, really liked JB Shayne.

00:36:42.925 --> 00:36:53.195
And in Vancouver and

00:36:56.045 --> 00:36:57.095
in

00:36:59.175 --> 00:37:06.035
Byron's a legend.

00:37:08.978 --> 00:37:09.335
Yeah.

00:37:09.335 --> 00:37:12.190
And a guy that some
people absolutely adored.

00:37:12.260 --> 00:37:15.742
So Kowalchuk, because Jeff
Groberman and Danny  Thatchuk,

00:37:15.758 --> 00:37:19.629
really liked JB Shayne 'cause of
his quirkiness, phones JB Shayne.

00:37:19.684 --> 00:37:25.037
And says, you know, we're doing a show
called, I think it was called Saturday

00:37:25.037 --> 00:37:29.677
Satiracon, but in point of fact, Saturday
Satiracon was the forerunner of Dr.

00:37:29.677 --> 00:37:31.104
Bundolo's Pandemonium Medicine Show.

00:37:31.104 --> 00:37:34.049
And, uh, we're doing a show
called Saturday Satiracon.

00:37:34.316 --> 00:37:36.101
I'm Don Kowalchuk, CBC producer.

00:37:36.101 --> 00:37:38.956
We'd like you to be part of it.

00:37:38.956 --> 00:37:42.525
Wednesday morning could you
come down here to the studio?

00:37:42.525 --> 00:37:42.881
Yeah.

00:37:42.881 --> 00:37:43.595
Okay, great.

00:37:43.595 --> 00:37:45.736
9 o'clock Wednesday morning, no JB.

00:37:45.736 --> 00:37:47.164
9:30, no JB.

00:37:47.164 --> 00:37:48.948
Quarter to 10, no JB.

00:37:48.948 --> 00:37:50.019
They phoned JB.

00:37:50.019 --> 00:37:50.376
Hello?

00:37:50.376 --> 00:37:53.945
Yeah, JB, uh, we're waiting
down here at the studio.

00:37:53.945 --> 00:37:54.302
Oh.

00:37:54.302 --> 00:37:55.015
Oh, yeah.

00:37:55.015 --> 00:37:56.086
Um, oh yeah.

00:37:56.086 --> 00:37:57.870
Um, uh, are you sleeping?

00:37:57.870 --> 00:37:58.227
No.

00:37:58.227 --> 00:37:58.584
No.

00:37:58.584 --> 00:38:00.012
I'm, I'm up now.

00:38:00.012 --> 00:38:00.725
Okay, good.

00:38:00.725 --> 00:38:06.436
Well look, um, what we, let's just cancel
today and we'll give you a call back.

00:38:06.436 --> 00:38:07.506
They call me.

00:38:07.506 --> 00:38:11.432
Jim Conrad: Ah, isn't it interesting
how chance and luck plays such a

00:38:11.432 --> 00:38:13.930
huge part in all of our careers.

00:38:13.930 --> 00:38:16.071
Bill Reiter: But don't
tell a businessman that.

00:38:16.071 --> 00:38:18.213
Jim Conrad: No, no,
they don't believe that.

00:38:18.213 --> 00:38:22.138
Bill Reiter: 'Cause my friend Terry
Wong, who's one of my best friends

00:38:22.138 --> 00:38:27.447
along with the Sonny Wong I told you
about earlier, he would deny that.

00:38:27.447 --> 00:38:28.562
Jim Conrad: No, no way.

00:38:28.562 --> 00:38:29.276
Hard work.

00:38:29.276 --> 00:38:32.488
Bill Reiter: Because Terry's a very
successful businessman, and businessmen do

00:38:32.488 --> 00:38:35.700
not like to hear that luck plays a part.

00:38:35.700 --> 00:38:37.841
Jim Conrad: They don't like to hear it.

00:38:37.841 --> 00:38:42.806
But I having known a number of really
successful business guys, one in

00:38:42.806 --> 00:38:46.812
particular who's been on the Conovision
podcast, his name is John Goode.

00:38:46.812 --> 00:38:52.473
Been very successful in, as I call
it, the serengeti of Wall Street

00:38:52.473 --> 00:38:54.615
and Bay Street and Howe street.

00:38:54.615 --> 00:38:55.328
Bill Reiter: Oh, yes.

00:38:55.328 --> 00:38:56.756
Jim Conrad: And he acknowledges it.

00:38:56.756 --> 00:39:00.682
He says, luck and chance,
you know, guys will deny it.

00:39:00.682 --> 00:39:06.749
They, they'd like to PR that it was all
of their hard work, but sometimes in deals

00:39:06.749 --> 00:39:08.866
or in business right place, right time.

00:39:09.176 --> 00:39:11.936
JB Shayne didn't wake up.

00:39:11.936 --> 00:39:13.529
Bill Reiter was available.

00:39:13.529 --> 00:39:13.886
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:39:13.886 --> 00:39:17.098
Well, there's two things
that came across my mind.

00:39:17.098 --> 00:39:18.805
I don't wanna forget.

00:39:18.805 --> 00:39:19.115
Uh, calendar.

00:39:19.455 --> 00:39:20.465
Just remember that.

00:39:20.755 --> 00:39:23.565
Jim Conrad: Calendar, the word calendar.

00:39:23.825 --> 00:39:23.915
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:39:23.915 --> 00:39:27.448
But I've come down here, Griff
phoned me once and said, Bill,

00:39:27.448 --> 00:39:29.589
so and so didn't show up.

00:39:29.589 --> 00:39:32.801
Can you come down here
as soon as possible?

00:39:32.801 --> 00:39:33.871
I said, whoa.

00:39:33.871 --> 00:39:35.299
Well, gee, I, um.

00:39:35.299 --> 00:39:37.440
Bill, you know, this is important.

00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:39.582
It's a heavy customer of ours.

00:39:39.582 --> 00:39:40.295
Heavy client.

00:39:40.295 --> 00:39:43.507
Uh, can you, could you
come down right away?

00:39:43.507 --> 00:39:47.433
So what I did was I, I was in my pajamas.

00:39:47.433 --> 00:39:49.574
I put my house coat on.

00:39:49.574 --> 00:39:52.786
Jim Conrad: I thought that
that was just your style, Bill.

00:39:52.786 --> 00:39:53.857
Bill Reiter: Well, it was.

00:39:53.857 --> 00:39:55.284
So it fit in.

00:39:55.284 --> 00:39:57.426
But I, I put the plaid,

00:39:57.426 --> 00:40:01.708
Jim Conrad: Comfy pants and
the slippers, and the robe.

00:40:01.708 --> 00:40:02.065
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:40:02.065 --> 00:40:04.920
And got in my car and came down.

00:40:04.920 --> 00:40:07.775
Jim Conrad: It was just,
just coming from a shoot.

00:40:07.775 --> 00:40:10.630
It was a, it was a breakfast scene.

00:40:10.630 --> 00:40:10.987
Bill Reiter: Yeah.

00:40:10.987 --> 00:40:13.568
But it was well received.

00:40:13.598 --> 00:40:17.768
Uh, but I said, well, you,
you know, I mean, the line is.

00:40:17.768 --> 00:40:18.588
Now, calendar.

00:40:20.266 --> 00:40:26.690
As, as far as this luck thing goes, I
was coming from a meeting, it's a meeting

00:40:26.690 --> 00:40:29.545
that I went to at this particular time.

00:40:29.545 --> 00:40:32.757
I, I had to go three times or something.

00:40:32.757 --> 00:40:38.467
And the first two times I walked up this
one street, Howe street or something.

00:40:38.467 --> 00:40:42.750
The third time I thought, nah,
I'm gonna take this other route.

00:40:42.750 --> 00:40:47.746
And I walked up this other street,
which was a little outta my way,

00:40:47.746 --> 00:40:53.099
but I thought, oh, I wanted to see,
and a woman, I can't remember who

00:40:53.099 --> 00:40:55.240
it was, was walking towards me.

00:40:55.240 --> 00:40:56.311
She said, Bill.

00:40:56.311 --> 00:40:57.025
Oh, hi.

00:40:57.025 --> 00:40:58.095
How are you?

00:40:58.095 --> 00:40:59.166
Are you good?

00:40:59.166 --> 00:41:01.743
She was in advertising.

00:41:02.283 --> 00:41:02.713
She said, oh my god.

00:41:02.735 --> 00:41:05.590
You know, I just came from this meeting.

00:41:05.590 --> 00:41:10.959
We're all sitting around thinking, who
should we get for this Eaton's campaign?

00:41:11.019 --> 00:41:14.869
And we're going over names and
da, da, da, and nobody could.

00:41:14.869 --> 00:41:19.508
You are the perfect guy for it,
but nobody could think of it.

00:41:19.508 --> 00:41:21.293
And I thought, oh, great.

00:41:21.293 --> 00:41:26.646
You know, well, I took it with a
grain of salt because, you know, like,

00:41:26.646 --> 00:41:28.073
Jim Conrad: Yeah, you never know.

00:41:28.073 --> 00:41:29.103
Bill Reiter: No, you don't.

00:41:29.103 --> 00:41:30.113
You don't.

00:41:30.633 --> 00:41:31.999
Jim Conrad: Don't count on that.

00:41:31.999 --> 00:41:32.389
Bill Reiter: Oh, great.

00:41:32.389 --> 00:41:35.925
And then as soon as you, Oh, good.

00:41:35.925 --> 00:41:37.352
Have a great day.

00:41:37.352 --> 00:41:41.992
Soon as you let them pass by,
throw it outta your brain, right?

00:41:42.102 --> 00:41:44.847
Don't think about it.

00:41:44.847 --> 00:41:46.274
Jim Conrad: Don't think about it.

00:41:46.274 --> 00:41:50.914
Bill Reiter: So three days later
they phone me and it was a great gig.

00:41:50.914 --> 00:41:55.910
It was a campaign and I was the
major voice in the campaign.

00:41:55.910 --> 00:42:00.907
So I, I thought about it after
like, is that how fickle it is?

00:42:00.907 --> 00:42:04.118
What can I do to make it less fickle?

00:42:04.118 --> 00:42:09.829
Like what can I do so that my face
is at least, now this may sound

00:42:09.829 --> 00:42:14.825
stupid and naive, et cetera, but you
remember that calendar I used to put

00:42:14.825 --> 00:42:17.836
out with three photos of me on it?

00:42:17.836 --> 00:42:19.516
And I'd give it to people.

00:42:19.706 --> 00:42:23.033
Like, and it was a huge calendar.

00:42:23.033 --> 00:42:28.386
Maybe that sounds stupid, but that's
why I did it so that one of those

00:42:28.386 --> 00:42:33.026
people in that office or in that
boardroom would go back to their

00:42:33.026 --> 00:42:35.524
office and there would be my photo.

00:42:35.524 --> 00:42:37.308
Jim Conrad: And they would go, right.

00:42:37.308 --> 00:42:39.899
It was Bill that we wanted.

00:42:39.899 --> 00:42:39.959
Yeah.

00:42:40.599 --> 00:42:41.519
I get it.

00:42:41.519 --> 00:42:41.649
Yeah.

00:42:41.649 --> 00:42:42.662
Let's not, um,

00:42:42.662 --> 00:42:44.446
Bill Reiter: That didn't
go anywhere, that.

00:42:44.446 --> 00:42:44.803
Jim Conrad: Calendar.

00:42:44.803 --> 00:42:45.160
Bill Reiter: Calendar.

00:42:45.160 --> 00:42:45.517
Yeah.

00:42:45.517 --> 00:42:46.587
But, but yeah.

00:42:46.587 --> 00:42:51.212
Jim Conrad: But I can't let you at all,
but I can't let you go, um, without

00:42:51.212 --> 00:42:56.937
talking about two of our dear friends,
uh, Miles Ramsay and Brian griffiths,

00:42:56.937 --> 00:42:59.078
your memories of Miles and Griff.

00:42:59.078 --> 00:43:02.719
Bill Reiter: Well, Griff, once
I said to him, I exposed him.

00:43:03.269 --> 00:43:04.409
I ripped the veneer.

00:43:04.431 --> 00:43:08.000
Because you know, Griff, he
didn't like to be exposed.

00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:10.855
He always played the bass
playing Smothers Brother.

00:43:10.855 --> 00:43:16.922
He didn't want anybody to say what I
said to him, and it suddenly came to me

00:43:16.922 --> 00:43:22.275
one day when I heard him on the phone
and there was probably a juxtaposition

00:43:22.275 --> 00:43:26.558
of hearing him on the phone and
hearing him talking somewhere else.

00:43:26.558 --> 00:43:29.770
And I, there was this
juxtaposition of two conversations.

00:43:29.770 --> 00:43:33.696
One after another here in Griffiths
Gibson Ramsay production building.

00:43:33.696 --> 00:43:37.978
And I said to him, holy
fuck, you are the smart guy.

00:43:37.978 --> 00:43:39.406
I never knew that.

00:43:39.406 --> 00:43:41.547
I never realized it until now.

00:43:41.547 --> 00:43:47.257
You are the guy, it's not Miles or,
or hoot, it's you and you are the

00:43:47.257 --> 00:43:52.610
guy that always seems to be the least
of, you know, effective of the three.

00:43:52.610 --> 00:43:54.395
Like the laid back guy.

00:43:54.395 --> 00:43:56.536
The guy, oh, I'm just here.

00:43:56.536 --> 00:44:02.412
I just do music and I just, but
you are the fucking smart guy here.

00:44:02.412 --> 00:44:07.599
And that's a little rude of me to
say, you're the fucking smart guy,

00:44:07.599 --> 00:44:09.010
Jim Conrad: But it's a compliment.

00:44:09.027 --> 00:44:11.168
Bill Reiter: I know it's the, I know.

00:44:11.168 --> 00:44:12.578
Jim Conrad: One of the
highest compliments.

00:44:12.596 --> 00:44:16.165
Bill Reiter: And, and if he
had taken offense or if anyone

00:44:16.165 --> 00:44:20.866
takes offense, I feel, and this
is my ego, raw ego on my part.

00:44:20.866 --> 00:44:25.443
If someone does take offense,
would I say something like that?

00:44:25.443 --> 00:44:27.228
I probably will discount them.

00:44:27.228 --> 00:44:28.935
Like, I can't be honest.

00:44:28.935 --> 00:44:32.105
Like basic rudely honest with you.

00:44:32.255 --> 00:44:34.585
Because I am giving you a compliment.

00:44:34.585 --> 00:44:41.503
I'm giving you a real honest from
the dirt compliment, but I, but I

00:44:41.503 --> 00:44:44.454
didn't realize it until this one day.

00:44:44.454 --> 00:44:50.782
He talked to, he talked to a client
on the phone and I thought, I'm, wow.

00:44:50.782 --> 00:44:56.185
I'm listening to what you're talking to
this guy and how you have to talk to him.

00:44:56.255 --> 00:44:57.505
Holy macro.

00:44:57.505 --> 00:44:57.585
Wow.

00:44:57.655 --> 00:44:59.347
What a brain.

00:44:59.347 --> 00:44:59.704
Yeah.

00:44:59.704 --> 00:45:00.418
Jim Conrad: And Miles?

00:45:00.418 --> 00:45:03.987
Bill Reiter: I get, I'm getting
emotional again see, you triggered it.

00:45:03.987 --> 00:45:06.320
You, you turned on the switch.

00:45:06.320 --> 00:45:06.910
I love Miles.

00:45:07.100 --> 00:45:13.622
Miles was fabulous, but Miles, uh, maybe
it's 'cause he's a yank, but he, but he's,

00:45:13.622 --> 00:45:20.046
there was a, I don't know if it was a
coldness, but there was a stand, you know,

00:45:20.046 --> 00:45:26.470
there's a arm's length, arm's length, and
it could be the yank in him, I don't know.

00:45:26.470 --> 00:45:26.827
But,

00:45:26.877 --> 00:45:28.207
Jim Conrad: Detached bemusement.

00:45:28.637 --> 00:45:34.063
Bill Reiter: Yeah, but it, it's more than
bemusement, but you're on the right track.

00:45:34.063 --> 00:45:34.303
Detached.

00:45:34.303 --> 00:45:34.373
Yeah.

00:45:34.373 --> 00:45:34.663
Smart.

00:45:34.678 --> 00:45:35.749
And, uh, streetwise.

00:45:35.749 --> 00:45:40.494
Uh, and, and it, there's the
yank in them too, you know?

00:45:40.524 --> 00:45:44.314
Like I'm a firm believer in that
whole canadian American thing.

00:45:44.314 --> 00:45:46.812
Like, you know, when
Canadians become Americans.

00:45:46.812 --> 00:45:47.526
That's okay.

00:45:47.526 --> 00:45:50.024
Jim Conrad: But Americans can
never truly become Canadian.

00:45:50.024 --> 00:45:51.928
Bill Reiter: Oh, I wouldn't say that.

00:45:51.928 --> 00:45:53.908
No, I wouldn't go that far.

00:45:53.938 --> 00:45:59.249
But when Canadians become Americans, I'd
sure like to understand why you did that.

00:45:59.849 --> 00:46:04.656
Like, you know, I, my nephew,
when he was like 17 or something.

00:46:04.656 --> 00:46:10.010
He wanted to, he said to me, well,
I'm gonna join the American, uh, Navy.

00:46:10.010 --> 00:46:12.077
I didn't jump on him.

00:46:12.077 --> 00:46:17.861
But I did say to him, I said, maybe
when we were having a hamburger in

00:46:17.861 --> 00:46:22.500
Seattle or something, 'cause that's
where he saw these ships and he said,

00:46:22.500 --> 00:46:24.642
I'm gonna join the American Navy.

00:46:24.642 --> 00:46:30.352
You know, that's what I, I sort of,
my dream and I said, if there was

00:46:30.352 --> 00:46:35.348
a reason that America had to attack
Canada and you were in the America,

00:46:35.348 --> 00:46:37.333
American Navy, what would you do?

00:46:37.333 --> 00:46:38.913
I'm just asking.

00:46:39.313 --> 00:46:40.263
You know?

00:46:40.263 --> 00:46:45.698
Anyways, I feel very strongly about it,
but you know what, we've all got American

00:46:45.698 --> 00:46:52.122
relatives, so I have a phrase too that,
uh, may not go through a lot of Canadian's

00:46:52.122 --> 00:46:54.263
minds, Americans, they're so like us.

00:46:54.263 --> 00:46:54.977
Jim Conrad: Great ending.

00:46:54.977 --> 00:46:56.047
Thank you, Bill.

00:46:56.047 --> 00:46:56.357
Bill Reiter: You are welcome.

00:46:56.357 --> 00:46:59.259
Jim Conrad: That's the Conovision podcast.

00:46:59.259 --> 00:46:59.973
Episode two.

00:46:59.973 --> 00:47:04.612
Storytelling is the essence of
Conovision and to a larger degree, life.

00:47:04.612 --> 00:47:09.609
From a story about why stories
are so important to us to a rather

00:47:09.609 --> 00:47:13.534
fractured and crypto Grimm Brothers
tale of innocence in the woods.

00:47:13.534 --> 00:47:18.057
And finally, a master of story, my
friend and fellow actor, Bill Reiter.

00:47:18.174 --> 00:47:21.029
We are indeed all stories to be told.

00:47:21.029 --> 00:47:22.457
Until next time, kids.

00:47:22.457 --> 00:47:23.527
I'm Jim Conrad.

00:47:23.527 --> 00:47:24.598
Thanks for listening.

00:47:24.598 --> 00:47:26.008
This has been Conovision.