Enjoying dinner, our 8-year-old son Sam posed the following question to Charlene and me, “What was your first favorite song?”  Well, that answer was easy.  The year was 1981 and the song was “Centerfold” by the J. Geils Band.  Really, it was hard to resist their sing along hook that went something like this, “Na na na na na na na na na.”  I loved it.  I even had a 45 record of “Centerfold.”  This, plus Eddie Rabbitt’s “Drivin’ My Life Away” comprised my entire record collection and as you can see, I had varied musical tastes for such a young lad.

As for “Centerfold,” I was 9-years-old and had no clue as to what the song was about.  “Those soft and fuzzy sweaters, too magical to touch.  To see her in that negligee is really just too much.”  Yep, the whole thing went over my head.  This of course begs the question, “How did a 45 of ‘Centerfold’ end up in my sparse record collection?”  Hum.  I think it may have had something to do with my teenage sister, Kathy.  Perhaps some sort of payback for the time I promised to tape all 100 top songs of the year on New Year’s Eve, while Kathy went out with some friends.  I made it to about song number 96 before I lost interest and joined my parents in the living room to watch a bowl game on television.  Epic little brother fail and not to mention all of those cassette tapes that went unused.  What a sad tale.  My guess is that I was never paid for taping those four songs, so in some ways getting that 45 of “Centerfold” was really more than I ever deserved.  “My blood runs cold.  My memory has just been sold.  My angel is a centerfold.”  Yep, all over my head.

So back to the question at hand, the one posed by my 8-year-old son, “What was my first favorite song?”  Looking back at Sam and with all sincerity, I answered, “I was into sports.”