It is no secret that I am an Italian American, and a proud one at that. I was born on Taylor Street in Chicago’s “Little Italy.” Being a child of the early ’60s, I was fortunate enough to have experienced much of the music from the ’60s and ’70s now referred to as “Heritage Rock” and “Classic Rock.” But how I was really lucky was the fact that I had tons of cousins who absolutely loved music.

They were all a few years older than me, so I was exposed to the popular music of the time the way a teenager would be, even though I was only 10. My dad had the tailor shop in the neighborhood. It was located on Western Avenue at Taylor Street, which was the center of our local world. He was so good-natured and a truly fun guy. So everybody would hang in and in front of his shop.