That time when Ben Kerr was the king of Toronto buskers Toronto BenKerr
If you spent any quality time in the downtown core of Toronto in the 1980s, 90s or early 2000s, you surely remember the legend that isA reedy elder sporting a ragged Blue Jays hat and weather-beaten guitar busking from his favoured spot outside the Bay at Yonge and Bloor, Ben’s blend of folksy American songbook and Eastern Canadiana could instantly brighten the darkest of days.
The fact Ben Kerr railed against it cast him as an outsider, a madman who wanted others to be free from second hand smoke. After his epic anti-smoking trek, Ben returned to Toronto and took to busking and recording new material. In 1985 he ran for Mayor of Toronto, an exercise which he repeated every municipal election up until the early 2000s.
Of his many twangy songs, “The Cayenne Pepper Song” remains a fan favourite. He even self-published a book – The Cayenne Pepper Does it All, and would sell it along with Cayenne recipes and best-of cassette tapes whenever he busked. This infamous “bottom-shelf VHS classic” was also a sleazy staple of Citytv’s Late Great Movies in the early 90s, and has finally been released on DVD by the splendid boffins at, with bonus features including a short appreciation of Ben Kerr by his good friend/campaign manager Jaymz Bee, and yours truly.
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