It’s funny the things you can remember as you get older. For example, I can remember three albums that my parents had. They were Elton John’s Captain Fantastic, Barry Manilow’s Tryin’ To Get The Feeling, and the Carpenters. At the age of eight, these artists imprinted themselves on my brain, and to this day, I still listen to them.

I did not know much about the Caprenters until our first-grade class was assigned to sing “Top of the World.” I can recall heading home and listening to that song over and over to help me memorize the lyrics.

With Elton John’s album I remember laughing at the back cover where there is a creature pooping, and thought how weird is that. It also featured three songs that brought me into Elton’s World, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and my favorite Philadelphia Freedom. One year while traveling with The Blue Devils, we stayed in a hotel overnight, and when I turned on the local news in the morning, they were playing that song, and I thought to myself, well, of course they would have that song, and smiled as I watched the weather forecast.

With Barry Manilow, this was all Mom; she loved Barry’s music, and I could hear her singing from my room. She enjoyed his hits and the slower songs, but I loved his more upbeat songs from the album, including Bandstand Boogie, New York City Rhythm, and my favorite, Beautiful Music. Over time, I started to listen to his music and appreciated all his music, and when Mom got more albums, I was hooked on This Ones For You, Daybreak, Weekend In New England, and Looks Like We Made It. When in 1977 Mom brought home Barry Manilow Live, I would listen to this album over and over and loved every track, including discovering Riders To The Stars, A Very Strange Medley, and I Write The Songs. It’s A Miracle, and my favorite is Could It Be Magic. I have to say this album made me a Fanallow.