This Is A Life? Chapter 6: The Journey Heads South in 1978

So, right around my fifth birthday, Mom packed us up and moved us to South Florida.  I spent a very short time with my grandparents in Tampa, but we wound up in the Fort Lauderdale area in a suburb named Lauderhill.  Looking back, those years were incredibly important in shaping whom I am now, especially from a "learning tolerance before I could learn intolerance" standpoint.  We weren't rich by any stretch of the imagination, and my mom worked very hard as a woman in the computer industry.  So, many could consider where we lived in those days to be "the hood".  That didn't really matter to me.  I had friends that I played outside with and rode bikes with, and that was all that really mattered.  Not the color of their skin or the place they came from.  They were my friends, plain and simple.

Before we settled in the area where my elementary school would be (Royal Palm Elementary, represent!), we spent some time living in a hotel called the Oakland Park hotel.  I went to a day care close to there for a while, and every time I hear this song, it makes me think of those times.  Seemed like it played every day when I ate breakfast.

See you Monday!

Rob

This Is A Life? Chpater 5: May 25th, 1977

If you want to truly pick the first day that shaped who I would be to this day, this would be it.  For the uninitiated, this was the day that "Star Wars" was released.  (For those of you too young, this is the original, even though it is listed as "Episode IV: A New Hope"... don't try to figure it out; your brain will explode.)  I remember the theater my mom took me to in Iowa to see it.

You see, there was a time when theaters only showed one movie because there was only one auditorium in the building.  There was only one concession stand, which was located in the lobby.  The auditorium itself was very plush and even had a balcony.  I remember the lobby of the theater being adorned with what are known as "lobby cards," which were letter-sized pieces of card stock which featured stills from the film that was being featured on that particular day.

The time that followed when the lights went down would activate and never let go an overactive imagination that carries me to this day.  If you know ANYTHING about me, you know how much of a "Star Wars" fan that I am.  I have them on just about every format (VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray).  Goodness, I even have the LaserDisc trilogy THX copies, which is the ONLY way you can get the original versions of the films digitally.  Yeah, I'm that geeky.  Not scared of it.

I have probably seen the films over fifty times each.  (The prequel trilogy is different; probably ten times a piece there.  Less time to do it.

More coming Friday!

Rob

This Is A Life? Chapter 4: Songs From The Madre, Part 4

The final part of this particular era of my life comes this song, which is probably the one that I most associate with my early life in Iowa.  Mom could play a heck of a guitar, and I often wonder what stopped her from playing.

I promise, the stories will get more interesting from here.

Rob

This Is A Life? Chapter 3: Songs From The Madre, Part 2

We are still in my early childhood here while still in Iowa in this series.  I actually remember quite a bit of those years, including doing the requisite bath in the sink (I even remember "Hee-Haw" being on the small black & white TV that we had in the place back then.

One year for Christmas, my mom even made me a denim jumpsuit and gave me a little Mickey Mouse guitar that had a wind up music box type thing inside of it.  (It was the '70s; leave me alone.)

Some of my best memories of the little apartment we had were those times of singing with Mom while she played acoustic guitar.  This is another one of those that I distinctly put in that time frame, and if you don't know Croce, you'd better get educated.  Dude was AWESOME.

I promise these will get more in-depth as time goes on.  No pun intended.

Rob

This Is A Life? Chapter 2: Songs From The Madre, Part 1

The next couple of entries in this journey are a couple of songs that are distinctly attached to my early childhood.  My mom was a music major for a bit in college (go figure, right?), and she could play the heck out of a guitar.  There was a repertoire of songs that she would sing to me, but a couple of them really stood out.  This entry's selection is one of them:

To this day, when I hear this song, I think of the guitar my mom used to play that she stripped and stained herself.  At one point, she also had a 12-string that she played, and I still love the sound of a well-played 12-string guitar.  For a bit, this song was even her ring tone on my phone when she would call.

The other part of this chapter comes Monday, so check back!

Rob

This Is A Life? Chapter 1: July 2nd, 1973

This is where we start the new series that should take us through the year of 2013.  I turn 40 this year, and I thought it might be fun to take a couple of entries a week and use the vast knowledge of both a career in the DJ arena and also the vast knowledge of my own life and combine them and tell the story of my life via music.  Kind of a "Soundtrack Of My Life" thing.

Where else to begin but the beginning?

I was born on July 2nd, 1973 in Greenfield, Iowa.  I am told that it was around 8:00 in the evening to Connie Ervin and Bob Ervin.  I can't personally tell you much more than that.  I mean, sure I was there, but I don't remember much.  From what I have gathered, I got out of the hospital before Mom did, and at a certain point, a makeshift bed was made for me out of a drawer in the dresser of the hotel my extended family was staying in.  I am named after both of my grandfathers (maternal and paternal, respectively), so no real exotic story there.

For the song that will go with this entry, I have decided to go with what was the #1 song in the country on that day.  I give you: Billy Preston's "Will It Go 'Round In Circles".

We will do this each and every Monday and Friday for the remainder of this year.  I can't wait to share some of the stories of my existence with all of you, so make sure you keep reading!  (It's good for my self esteem.  :-) )

Rob