An amusing little tune for Friday morning: “Toast” by Streetband

If you grew up in Toronto in the ’80s and you preferred alternative music, chances are that you listened to CFNY, the radio station located at 102.1 on the FM dial on an old technology called “terrestrial radio” presently. CFNY are still the call letters for the station, although it goes by the name “The Edge” these days, despite being far less edgy than it used to be.

CFNY’s weekday morning drive show was hosted by “Pete and Geets“, who peppered the usual early- to mid-80s alt-rock playlist of Depeche Mode, U2, New Order and The Smiths with some oddball tracks including Toast, a charming jazzy ditty recorded in 1978 by a short-lived UK group called Streetband. Many a Friday morning during my high school years started with this:

If you came of age in the 1980s and think that you’ve seen or heard the lead vocalist before, it’s probably because you have. He’s Paul Young, as in the guy who had a solo career that included so-eighties-it-hurts hits like Every Time You Go Away and Come Back and Stay.