It was a golden morning in the waning days of June 1979 and I had just turned ten years old. The school year was ending for my grade four class and the promise of infinite summer adventures beckoned. The pending holiday feeling was bittersweet as I also knew that I would soon be moving away to a larger city, leaving behind all the friends and teachers I had ever known.

My teacher announced that for the last day of class we would have a party and students were invited to bring our own music. Most kids had no clue but I was a budding vinyl head having dug through my parents collection of Beatles, Rolling Stones and Frank Zappa many times. Rather than use my dad’s records I came to school ready with my first personally owned vinyl that I had received for my birthday (along with a sweet skateboard) the day before. The album was Jim Croce’s greatest hits which offered a number of potential fourth grade party rockers. Do I play “I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song ” for the ladies or maybe go with the superman referencing “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” for the boys?

The choice was easy for me, when it was my turn to play a song I went full on hardcore dropping Croce’s best hit “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” on the school turntable and letting those kids know what was up. The track went off like a firecracker and my sugar buzzed classmates leaped around the room like wild animals. As all parties do it eventually drew to a close and I bid farewell to my friends, knowing I had left with a bang. It was an awakening moment and I’ve been chasing that fire ever since.