DJ DREW and I were privileged to have hosted LARRY and his son STEVE at a recent Chicago Cubs @ Detroit Tigers game.

Other than the displeasure of my Cubs losing 4-1 it was a brilliant evening.

Larry is an energetic and gregarious 91 year old from Hamilton. He kept me on my game all evening with his insightful and questions and sage obervations.

We discovered that despite being a generation apart in age we had much in common.

We both went to the University of Western Ontario [Ed. Note- Larry in the mid 50’s and rex in the latter half of the 70’s.]

I knew many of the Windsorites that he was friends of at Western from early days practising in Wïndsor. I dealt with his lawyer friend from Hamilton, Stanley Simpson, in my practice days as he was a union side lawyer for some of the unions whose employees were represented by my clients.

We also had a common interest in railroads. Larry is still involved in the railroad equipment business. I am a rail fan and worked for two railroads in my student days.

Finally, we discovered that we are both alumni of The Western Gazette- the student newspaper!

Larry advised he did photographic work. I wrote restaurant reviews for a few years and was the sports editor in my last year – 1979/80.

The one thing we didn’t have in common was, unsurprisingly, music.

Larry was somewhat mystified (as many are) by my passion for indie music. On the other hand he has a huge interest in symphonic music. He shared much information and asked me questions about a number of topics, including the Detroit Symphony premises over the years.

So do I bridge this variance in music interests for today’s post? Easy.

In late June of 2019, I took my son Hayden to see the first two MLB games ever played in the United Kingdom played by the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

I met Steve for the first time after the 2nd game on June 30. He was there with his son, Zach, to see their beloved Red Sox. Our mutual friend ERNIE knew we were both going and connected us. We met up for dinner and I had crafted a dastardly Red Sox Trivia quiz I fashioned that day.

Later that week we were guests of my pal PETER HOOK as his band, THE LIGHT, performed the songs of JOY DIVISION at Royal Albert Hall with the MANCHESTER CAMERATA ORCHESTRA.

Great music transcends genre. And so it is that the post-punk songs of this band are brilliant when played by a symphony.

Here is a video of the song “New Dawn Fades” from the “Unknown Pleasures” LP (Factory Records, 1979) played that evening (We were seated right below where this video was taken.)

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY LARRY!!! I hope you enjoy this!

SPOTIFY-

https://open.spotify.com/track/2u8Xt34j6vGWmPmBFmtiTv?si=dCbgzxvBRbCVQVOwuKVRzQ

(SONG 1131)

Play Loud or Perish

June 15, 2025