It All Started With a Fox on a Windy Night

The first song I remember...

The very first song that I can remember is “The Fox” as performed by the Brothers Four.

As the very first post in this blog, it’s fitting for me to start at the very beginning.  The beginning from my perspective, that is.

My father enjoyed playing records on his early 1960s Telefunken HiFi Stero.  I can remember vividly sitting on the floor in front of that awesome mid-modern piece of technology encased in a gorgeous wood cabinet.  I remember how heavy and important the knobs felt while tuning into some distant foreign shortwave broadcast.  The dial glowed a rich emerald green.  The sound, due the old school vacuum tube technology, cranked up about 30 seconds after turning the ON/OFF switch.  After stacking four or five standard 33 records and loading them onto the record player, they would drop and play automatically.  What a beauty.

But, back to the song.  Why might I remember this song so well?  Surely, it wasn’t the very first song I ever heard.  The quick and easy answer is that I remember it because it is catchy and peppy and adventuresome.  What rambunctious little boy doesn’t like a catchy and peppy and adventurous song like that, right?  The deeper, more profound answer is unceremoniously obvious, at first glance.  The reason is because my dad used to love playing music.  This love showed in the way he acted when his music was sounding throughout the house.  His face would light up, and he’d half-dance around a bit.  So, these are some very early memories and feelings associated with my dad.

So, I think this song and my memories which surround this song played a large part in setting the tone for my life.  I have my dad to thank for that.

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Me & my dad (Thanksgiving 2010, Cascade Locks, Oregon)