Obituaries: Talk Show Host/Comic Mike Bullard, Radio Pioneer George Johns & More
This week we also acknowledge the passing of teenage Flaming Lips collaborator Nell Smith, legendary soul artist Cissy Houston, Allman Brothers Band member Johnny Neel and Bon Jovi collaborator Jack Ponti.
Mike Bullard
Mike (Michael) Bullard, a Canadian stand-up comic and broadcaster, died on Oct. 12, at age 67. A heart attack is believed to be the cause of death, as reported by Global News.
He is best-known as the host of two Toronto-based late-night talk shows, Open Mike with Mike Bullard, on CTV from 1997 to 2003, and The Mike Bullard Show, on Global from 2003 to 2004. He also hosted a midday radio show, Beyond the Mic with Mike Bullard from 2010 to 2016 on CFRB in Toronto.
A resident of Mississauga, Ontario, since he was 14 years old, Bullard worked briefly as a police officer and at Bell Canada while working as a stand-up comic at area comedy clubs.
He had a long-time association with the Yuk Yuk's chain of popular comedy clubs, as both an emcee and headliner, since first appearing at the Toronto club in July 1988. That relationship continued up to his death.
In 1997, he became the host of Open Mike with Mike Bullard, one of few successful Canadian late-night talk variety shows. The show aired nightly for six seasons on The Comedy Network and the CTV Television Network and won two Gemini Awards during its run. At its peak, Open Mike had higher Canadian ratings than The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Show with David Letterman. It also notably provided a stage to many Canadian bands and musicians, including Sloan, Alexisonfire, The Sadies and many, many more.
He left CTV acrimoniously after his contract expired in 2003, then signed a multi-year deal with Global to host The Mike Bullard Show in the same timeslot. However, the new show lasted just 13 weeks, and was then cancelled for poor ratings, attributable to being in the same slot as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on CTV.
Bullard released a comedy CD, Stick 2 Comedy, in 1999 and hosted a short-lived morning satellite radio show on XM Canada's Laugh Attack channel in 2006. Other work included hosting a TV real estate series and having a year-long stint hosting The Mike Bullard Show on Talk820 Radio (CHAM-AM) in Hamilton. That ended in July 2010 when CHAM switched to a country music format. From 2010 to 2016, Bullard hosted Beyond the Mic with Mike Bullard weekdays at noon on Newstalk 1010 in Toronto.
His career and reputation then took a hit when he was charged with criminal harassment of his ex-girlfriend Cynthia Mulligan, and later on charges of allegedly breaching bail conditions and obstructing justice. The criminal harassment charge against Bullard was dismissed in 2018, but he did plead guilty to some other related charges. He was given a conditional discharge, put on six months of probation and was required to attend a domestic violence program.
In late 2018 he had a short spell co-hosting afternoon drive time show, The Getaway, on Sauga 960 AM in Mississauga, then, from 2019 to 2020, Bullard produced a podcast, You Too with Mike Bullard.
He made headlines again in November 2022 by going to Ukraine to volunteer with humanitarian organizations and document the impact of the war with Russia on civilians, remaining there until February 2023.
Mike Bullard won two Gemini Awards forIn 2013, he received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for his volunteer work, including supporting charities such as the Trillium Health Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and emceeing many charitable fundraisers.
Of note: Mike Bullard's younger brother is U.S.-based comedian, television writer, host and producer Pat Bullard and his older half-brother is Downchild Blues Band lead singer Chuck Jackson.
As word of his passing spread, social media tributes followed, including many from musicians grateful for the career boost provided by performances on Bullard's TV shows.
In an interview on Toronto's CITY-TV, Yuk Yuk's head Mark Breslin praised Bullard "as a man with a heart of gold and a real populist. He was also highly supportive of other comics."
Toronto musician/producer Derek Downham posted this tribute on Facebook: "Mike Bullard gave a smalltown kid from Port Hope a national stage to perform his music on with his friends. I was very fortunate to play his show several times. Mike was a fan of Grindig (my then band).
"My fave time playing will always be the first, but playing the Halloween episode dressed as a “wedding band” was the most fun I’ve ever had on a tv show…as well as meeting Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman and playing at 888 Yonge, The Concert Hall in Toronto [the venue used for taping the show].
"I am forever grateful for the opportunities Mike blessed upon me and saddened to hear of his untimely passing. I know the stand-up community will be posting tributes, but Mike Bullard did more for Canadian music than he ever got credit for. Thank you for believing in us, Mike..."
Toronto actor and musician Raoul Bhaneja (Raoul and The Big Time, Blue Standard) offered this on Facebook: "Being a guest on The Mike Bullard show with my first movie, Extraordinary Visitor, AND sitting in and playing harmonica with Orin Isaacs and his band in 1999 was a real Canadian showbiz moment for me. It meant that maybe, just maybe, I had a chance at a career in Canada. Of course it was a humble version of the giant US late night shows, but you were never getting on those as a Canadian Blues artist or to promote a humble comedic feature film from Newfoundland… and you still wouldn’t.
"He had his issues in life and career but he did a lot to promote Canadian talent and more recently spent months doing tough humanitarian work in Ukraine that few would have known about I imagine. He also had many connections to the music community and my condolences to his brothers and family and many friends. RIP Mike Bullard."
Veteran Toronto arts journalist Jim Slotek covered Bullard during a long period on the comedy beat for The Toronto Sun, and he provided Billboard Canada with this tribute: "No one is all good or all bad, but I was lucky enough to see the best of Mike during the decades when I covered comedy.
"When we first met, I believe it was at the Canadian Comedy Awards, I mentioned I’d met his brother Pat. This was a bad start, since, career-wise, Mike was always chasing his brother, who had Hollywood looks (and indeed lived in L.A. by that point). Mike, by contrast, could be the guy sitting next you at the bar. But Mike took it upon himself to get to know me. When I suffered serious health problems at the turn of the century, he left a phone message saying, 'I took all that trouble to get you to notice me, I’m not losing you now.'"
"At one point, we ended up working together. I was (and still am) a writer for Canadian Music Week, and Mike hosted the Industry Awards for years. There’d be the inevitable meeting with the CMW guys, me and Mike, and we’d all agree on some scripted gags. Come the night, he wouldn’t use a word of it. He’d just work the audience of 'suits.'
"I never saw a comic who worked the audience more than Mike. It was his happy place. I’d tease him about it – 'What do you have, like five minutes of actual material?' But bonding with the audience was his thing. And when he got his daily CTV talk show, it was a dream come true, albeit an under-budgeted one. Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien had dozens of writers. Mike, if I recall correctly, had three – all talented and funny. It could have been a more seamless show with a bigger budget, but it was all Mike.
"Maybe there’s something about attaining your dream, because that was Mike’s pinnacle, and we know what follows that. There were wrong turns and bad decisions, professionally and personally, with the added stress of your worst days being reported on. But there was a big heart there. And when the spotlight effectively was no longer on him, the good he did (much of which I’ve only heard about in the past few days) was done without notice except by the people he helped."
Toronto broadcaster, musician and filmmaker Jaymz Bee recalled to Billboard Canada that "I first met Mike Bullard when he was the host at Yuk Yuk's. I loved his dark humour - 'if Don Rickles was a hoser' was my first thought. He had me as a guest on his show a few times. The first time he got my parents on the phone from North Bay and interviewed them about me, while I just sat there. I thought it was really funny.
"I hired him to emcee The Mr. Dressup Retirement Party at the King Edward Hotel for Ernie Coombs - a.k.a. Mr. Dressup. When I was casting for my first short film, I needed to find an actor to play a record company boss. I called Mike. "You want me to fire you in a movie? Hell, I'll fire you for free." I paid him. He did a fine job. At the shoot, he confided in me that he'd be leaving for Ukraine the next day. He said it was a secret for now, but soon people would know he was going to see how he could help. We spoke several times on the phone after that but that day on the set was the last time I saw him."
As Bandleader for Open Mike with Mike Bullard and The Mike Bullard Show,Toronto musician-composer Orin Isaacs worked closely with Bullard. When contacted by Billboard Canada, he contributed this tribute and anecdote: "Mike Bullard was one of a kind! I remember when we first started the show and I wasn’t sure if it was going to work so lets just say I wasn’t running out to buy any major purchases like a house.
"So Mike and I decided to start hanging out and we get invited to a golf tournament. Turns out the MC doesn’t show up and they ask Mike if he wouldn’t mind stepping in. He says sure, and with no prep, he gets up, looks at the sponsor board at the back of the room and starts with the first sponsor on the list with his classic 'what’s your name, where you from and what do you do?' For the next half hour he had everybody in the room rolling in laughter with his off the cuff quick wit and call backs. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing, I’ve never seen anybody faster, nobody could work a crowd better.
"After the event I called my wife and said 'we're going to be alright, we can go and pick out that house.' When Mike heard we were looking to move on up. Mike met with my bankers to get our mortgage and personally met the sellers of our dream home to make sure I wasn’t outbid. That was Mike."
Bullard left a complicated legacy. Tara Slone, now a TV and radio personality, was a musical guest on Open Mike with Mike Bullard with her band Joydrop.
"...at the time, was so grateful," she wrote on Threads. "But as I see these glowing reminiscences after his passing, I must add that he made life a living hell for journalist Cynthia Mulligan, and pleaded guiltily and was convicted of criminal harassment. Whatever he was, this was part of it, and it wasn’t okay. Nor is it okay to omit this chapter while extolling his virtues. Believe women. ✊"
George Johns, a Canadian musician and radio programmer and executive credited as being one of the pioneers behind Adult Contemporary radio, died on October 3, at age 83
Prior to his radio career starting, Johns was in a few '60s rock bands in his Winnipeg hometown. In a blog post on his website, Johns recalled that "Long before my radio career began, in Winnipeg I played in a few bands along with the likes of some other Winnipeggers like Burton Cummings of The Guess Who, Randy Bachman of BTO and also the legendary Neil Young.
"I began first as a background singer in a vocal group called Shayne and The Devines based in my hometown of Transcona. However, not being much of a singer, I began recruiting some great players and we became The Rebel Raiders. We played in all the Transcona community clubs, then changed our name to The Phantoms. Next, we got Donny Burns to join us as our new singer and then started playing not only all over Winnipeg, but in Manitoba and in the northern States."
After Burns left, the group morphed into The Jury, and signed to London Records. They released tracks like “Until You Do," “I Tried To Tell Her," “Back In My World” and “Please Forget Her.” That latter song spent three weeks in the Top 40 in September 1966, giving the band their only hit, and its B-side, "Who Dat?, later became something of a cult favourite. The Jury later reunited to perform at a legendary show at the Winnipeg Convention Center that also featured Neil Young, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings.
Johns' radio career started in the 1970s as a program director at stations including CKOM Saskatoon, CKSO Sudbury, CFRA Ottawa, and CFTR Toronto.
By the end of the decade, he had moved stateside, rising to National Program Director of Fairbanks Broadcasting, overseeing WIBC and WNAP Indianapolis, KVIL Dallas/Fort Worth, WVBF and WKOX Boston, WIBG Philadelphia, and WRMF and WJNO Palm Beach.
Johns also helped develop nationally syndicated promotion, Magic Ticket, and was also instrumental in the creation of Boston country station WKLB. He went on to become a principal in such stations as KLLS San Antonio and WMET Chicago, and others in Portland, Indianapolis and Milwaukee.
He consulted radio stations in the US and Canada through The Johns Company, before merging it with Fairwest, where he syndicated continuous country programming and in other formats.
In its obituary, the Radio Ink site stated that "Known for his innovation and leadership, Johns left an indelible mark on stations across North America, reshaping the way listeners experienced music and entertainment." This obit also included a tribute to Johns from McVay Media President Mike McVay.
Read more of George Johns' blog observations on the music industry here.
Nell Smith, a young Canadian singer-songwriter known for collaborating with The Flaming Lips, died on Oct. 5, in a car accident, at age 17.
A Billboard obituary reported that at a Flaming Lips concert on Oct. 6, frontman Wayne Coyne shared the sad news. "Before playing 'Everything Has Changed,' Coyne said: “We have a very sad announcement to make tonight. We have a Canadian friend, her name is Nell. We recorded an amazing album with her three years ago, an album full of songs by Nick Cave. She was killed in a car accident last night. We are reminded once again of the power of music and how encouraging it can be to be around people that you love.”
Smith was planning to release her debut solo album in 2025, on noted U.K. indie label Bella Union.
The Flaming Lips connection began in 2018, when Smith attended one of their concerts and developed a friendship with Wayne Coyne. He encouraged her musical aspirations, then suggested she record a cover of Nick Cave songs.
Billboard notes that "the result was Where the Viaduct Looms, a 2021 album featuring Nell’s haunting renditions of Cave’s songs, backed by The Flaming Lips."
International
Cissy Houston (born Emily Drinkard), a successful American soul and gospel singer and the mother of superstar vocalist Whitney Houston, died on Oct. 7, at age 91. She had been in hospice care for Alzheimer's disease.
Houston was a founding member of the R&B group The Sweet Inspirations, and sang backup for artists such as Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, and Chaka Khan. She launched a solo career in 1970, and won two Grammy Awards in the Traditional Gospel Album category.
Houston was the mother of singer and actress Whitney Houston, the aunt of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, and a cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price. Houston was also the grandmother of Whitney Houston's only child, Bobbi Kristina Brown.
Houston's singing career began in 1938 in the family gospel singing group the Drinkard Four (later The Drinkard Singers). They recorded a live album for RCA called A Joyful Noise, becoming one of the first gospel acts to release a gospel album on a major label, and also earned success performing at Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival.
In 1963, she formed The Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and niece Dee Dee Warwick. During the mid-1960s, the Sweet Inspirations provided backup vocals for a variety of artists, including Van Morrison, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls, The Drifters, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield and Houston's niece Dionne Warwick.
In 1969, they were hired to sing backing vocals for Elvis Presley in Las Vegas on his return to live performances during July and August 1969.
She then focused on a solo career, releasing a debut album, Presenting Cissy Houston, in 1970. Covers of "I'll Be There" and "Be My Baby" both made the R&B charts. Subsequent singles had little success, until she scored a big disco hit "Think It Over," which climbed to No. 32 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1979.
Houston remained in demand as a session backing vocalist, appearing on hits by Paul Simon, Bette Midler and Linda Ronstadt, and on albums by Burt Bacharach, Herbie Mann, J.J. Cale and more. She also performed her own shows, sometimes featuring a young Whitney Houston.
In 1996, Houston received the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album for Face to Face. The same year, she contributed one song to the gospel soundtrack album for the film The Preacher's Wife, which starred Whitney Houston. In 1998, she won her second Grammy for her album He Leadeth Me.
Houston authored three books: He Leadeth Me, How Sweet The Sound: My Life with God and Gospel and Remembering Whitney: A Mother’s Story of Life, Loss and The Night The Music Stopped.
Read the full Billboard obituary here.
Johnny (John Allen) Neel, a songwriter and keyboardist and former member of the Allman Brothers Band and the Dickey Betts Band, died on October 6, at age 70. No cause of death has been given.
Billboard noted that "the Delaware-born Neel joined the Allman Brothers Band on keyboards and harmonica in 1989 and worked with the group on the 1990 album, Seven Turns, on which he co-write four songs including the hit single “Good Clean Fun.” He also co-wrote “Maydell” from the group’s final album, 2003’s Hittin’ the Note."
In 2019, Neel suffered a stroke but recovered and soon returned to performing.
In a social media post, Neel's former bandmate Warren Haynes called him "an amazing musician and singer, and one of the funniest people on the planet — a true character. Whenever we were writing together, he was an endless fountain of ideas, and the same on stage or in the studio. His uncanny ability to draw from so many musical styles and genres was amazing and his gift for improvisation was unmatched. We wrote a lot of music together, we played a lot of music together, and we traveled the world together, and maybe most importantly, we had a lot of fun times and created a lot of beautiful memories. Miss you Neely.”
Jack Ponti (born Giacomo Pontoriero), an American artist manager, musician and songwriter, died on Oct. 7 at the age of 66.
Ponti started as a musician in New Jersey band The Rest, with a then young and unknown Jon Bon Jovi as its lead singer.
Ponti contributed to early Bon Jovi albums, co-writing ‘Shot Through The Heart’ on the self-titled debut with Jon and co-writing six of the 12 song on Alice Cooper’s ‘Hey Stoopid’, including the title track.
Australian music news siteNoise11 noted that "Ponti also had a co-write on John Farnham’s 1996 album Romeo’s Heart, with the track ‘Little Piece of My Heart’. He then went behind the scenes as the manager of India.Arie."
Ponti also contributed music biz opinion pieces to Noise11. Check those out here.
