In July 1978 I was offered a job playing at a Chrysler corporation international trouble shooting event.
The event featured teams of students from Canada, the US and Mexico competing to be the first to reassemble an engine and diagnose/repair malfunctions planted in the car.
The day’s activities typically ended with a celebration at the bar until the early hours of the morning.
The job I and a fellow bandmate David were hired to do was simple and extremely devious. A twisted mind decided it would be funny to do an impromptu wake up call mere hours after the festivities ended. Even now over 30 years later I bow to their genius.
It went like this, on a Wednesday at 6:30 am David fired up the pipes and we marched up and down the hallway of the 30th floor of the Toronto Harbor Castle Hilton.
The guys that hired us followed closely behind yelling at me to pound the drum harder while laughing hysterically at the people that popped their heads out the door.
I’d like to say I learned a few new phrases that morning but after a few years with a military pipe band I’d heard it all.
The pillows thrown our way were way off target, morning after shakes?
We posed for a few staged photos, were taken for an excellent steak and egg breakfast and featured in the next days Toronto Sun.
My treasures include several copies of the newspaper and a print copy of the photographers photo.