THE BLUES...and Mike Todd

The following is a brief interview that was pieced together from various segments of correspondence with a comrade of the Niagara Mixtape Union who goes by the name of Mike Todd. We picked his brain for some recommendations and thoughts about Blues music, since it’s been one of his driving fascinations for quite some time.

Mike is generally known for his contributions to skateboarding in the Niagara region, as he operated a number of stores throughout the late 90s until just recently. Although he no longer works in that field, he still lives to thrash and operates a Blog that we strongly encourage you to check out.

Enjoy…

Okay so you want to get into or learn more about the Blues? Well my brother Joe C. Blues once said,

"Blues ain't nothing but a good man being down."

You see a bad man can't have the blues, he is too busy in his crimes to find emotion, and since the day of the light cometh like a thief in the night, he will be blind to the sound of the blues. You on the other hand are a good man, full of emotion, but maybe you are feeling alone like a stone? Or work is hard to find? Or time off work is hard to get? Or the opposite sex pays no attention? Or love feels one sided? Four bald tires? Parents suck? The world is the shits? Best friend gone? Are the bad men keeping you down with their racket??? Not a racket per-se, but maybe some fuck stole your bike or broke into your car? Well let’s just say a blues artist steals our feelings and puts them into songs and lyrics we just can't. Now that’s a form of racketeering at its finest. And since you're a good man and not the first to be blue as the sea, you can now relate to the blues through someone who also has been in those troubled waters before you - or basically go read a book, or check out my mixtape below to find the artists I am backing.

The best things in life are the times you have getting somewhere; the searching. You'll find what suits you, so I won't drop names, my feet already hurt enough as it is. Just don't go out and buy an Eric Clapton or BB King record. Or even worse yet - that one where they are in a car together. For all I care they crash that shit the Mississippi River. Give me that kind of confetti I would throw it around too... Who needs a drink??? You can't be that rich and keep singing the blues.

Learn more here.

When was the first time you ever first made or received a mix tape?
Probably in grade 5 or 6, I got a ghetto blaster for X-mas. So I took my turn table, all my favourite albums, and recorded each of my choice songs onto a tape in the ghetto blaster... Funny thing, I was young and the tape player didn't have proper 'line in,' but did have a mic input, so I got a mic and closed the doors of my room. I told my parents to be quiet and put the mic to the speakers of the turn table... and I did that a lot. As a skateboarder most my life, I must say, making mixed tapes of songs from our favourite videos was the baddest shit, it just made you want to sk8. There were tons of those sk8 mixes around our group of friends.

What got you into the blues?
Well, my friend Jeff Hardy loved the Blues Brothers movie, and I met him in grade 8, so that was my intro. Than I realized my dad had a Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee album at home, so I rocked that and also went out and found the Blues Brothers albums at flea markets. But than it faded cause all I wanted to do was skateboard. Blues tunes aren't exactly tunes that light a fire under your ass to go jump down shit. But than I met my brother Joe C. Blues, he was into the Blues Brothers movie and records too, so we clicked and it turned into a friendly competition to find the most blues records. I would have to say Joe won, but we were both into finding the original tunes that The Blues Brothers had in them... when Joe brought home a Son House record... we lost our minds - that song "Grinnin' in Your Face" it caught our hearts in its hands.

What is your favourite blues artist?
Ahhhh, that’s so hard. How about, Big Bill Broonzy, Son House, Louisiana Red and Blind Willie Johnson

What is your favourite blues album?
Midnight Rambler by Louisiana Red

If you made a blues Mixtape right now, what would it include?
Artist – Song

Louisiana Red – Sweet Blood Call
Little Water – Key To The Highway
R.L. Burnside – Goin’ Down South
Tommy Johnson – Just A Dream
Big Bill Broonzy – Just A Dream
Big Bill Broonzy – When I Been Drinking
Louisiana Red – Too Poor To Die
Jessie Mae Hemphill – Lord, Help The Poor And Needy
Albert King – Born Under A Bad Sign
Jimmy Reed – Bright Lights, Big City
Blind Willie Johnson – Jesus, Make Up My Dyin’ Bed
Elmore James – The Sky Is Crying
Howlin’ Wolf – Little Red Rooster
Jimmy Reed – Big Boss Man
Blind Willie Johnson – It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine
Lightnin’ Hopkins – Bring Me My Shotgun
Little Walter – Boom, Boom Out Goes The Light
Louisiana Red – Midnight Rambler
Louisiana Red – Turkey Killer
Muddy Waters – Back Door Man
Son House – Grinnin’ In Your Face
Slim Harpo – I Need Money
Muddy Waters – Dust My Broom
Willie Mabon – I’m Mad
Willie Trice – Trying To Find My Baby
Louisiana Red – First Degree