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Neil and I hadn't been in touch for around six months. I ran into him one day in front of his new house on Brunswick. The Customers had a falling out and Neil and I began hanging out again and recording tunes. A few months later the guys made up and although each one went seperate ways they would jam sometime. 'One Step' was recorded in a studio owned by a friend of Neils. We had Uncle Johnny and Joel from the Customers at the session. We used electric drums, so maybe Johnny programmed them but we all sang harmonies. I think Neils song 'Love Talk' was also recorded there. 'True Lovin' was recorded at Kensington Sound along with Neils song 'Serious Thing'. It may have been just Neil and me on that session, as Neil can play practically every instrument well. We may have had Cyrus, a guitar player doing the skank. 'Waiting' was another home recording done at my little studio on College street.

'How Can You Do This' has a good story to it. Johhny and I went to Jamaica for reggae Sunsplash. We heard that Reggae legend Sugar Minott was performing close to our hotel in Montego Bay. Of course we were the first ones there. As the band was setting up in the day we met a man called Winston. He was like Sugar's attendent. I had been to Israel for the first time that year and I remember commenting to Johnny how there were certain things that felt similar. In Jamaica Reggae musicans are like royalty. They have attendents and cooks and drivers. It is much the same as some Rabbi's in Israel. They also have drivers and attendents to do the mundane things so that they can focus on their studies and give blessings to those who visit them. The Reggae Stars also have their attendents that take care of the physical things so that they can be where they are needed most, in the studio recording.

So Winston introduced us to Sugar and told him we were musicians from Canada. Sugar invited us to his studio in Kingston and of course we came the next day and stayed overnight. Johnny recorded 'How Can You Do This' and I played the solo on the 12 inch miniature piano I brought with me. The whole neighborhood was full of superstars who would pop by and lay down tracks. Jamaica is a very mystical place and there is a primal energy there that feels connected to the origins of creation. I beleive there are geographical places on earth that are like pressure points of the body. I remember expressing this idea to Johnny at the time. Just as studying Torah in Toronto is not the same as studying Torah in Israel, listening to Reggae in Toronto is not the same as listening to Reggae in Jamaica. The Reggae is just pumping out of the ground in Jamaica, just as Torah is falling from the sky in Israel. It's important to feel things from their source.

In the last few years Johnny re-connected with Sugar and has recorded a bunch of songs in Jamaica with lots of super stars. Check out Uncle Johnny's new site and videos.

The next four songs are from a live recording at the Comfort Zone in Toronto. We called the band True Tones and had Neils brother Dr. 7 on Bass, Uncle Johnny on drums, Neil on Guitar and me on keys. The 2nd version of 'Feel' was from a live recording at the Bamboo Club. Rafa; Toronto's best Reggae drummer was playing the drums. He is world class. He played a number of other gigs with me over the years. You can hear him on Ron Wiseman Live (coming soon). 'How it Happened' is one of the first songs recorded at Dave's studio. Till this day whenever I am in town we go to Dave's studio. He has everything set up to go so when we meet and jam, it's always instant groove. What would take some people a month we do in a few hours; play a few chords, roll the tape, and record 1st takes.

'Thirty Years Old' was a song I wrote for my older brother on his 30th birthday. When I was a teenager my brothers friend Sam Berger was the coolest guy because he had all these Beatles English Imports. That meant that the tracks were mixed differently so you could hear the same song orchestrated completely different with the stereo sound. You can hear me making fun of those days in the song. My brother is a huge Dylan fan who I think was quoted once as saying 'I don't trust anyone over thirty'. Hence the chorus 'thirty years old - I can't trust myself anymore'. I recorded it with Neil in his basement on Brunswick.