Chicago – “They’re Playing Our Song…”

Lead Chicago Vocalist Peter Cetera from 1967-85

Do you remember high school dances and proms, your first love, and when you looked at your date and said, “they’re playing our song…” Coming of age in the 20th century was an exciting time of youth and discovery. There was so much to experience, and we were just getting started – with our whole lives ahead of us. We were the youth generation that was never going to grow old.

A popular rant was “Never trust anyone over 30…”

Well – 30 came and went a long time ago and we’re looking mortality in the eye much as our parents did a half-century ago, yet we’re still convinced we will never grow old or die. Well, you might as well hang on and enjoy the ride for as long as you can until we have to jump off this apple. Nostalgia satellite radio or Google Home plays our favorite music, and we get to relive our youth all over again. We weep for what was – that moment when we first heard “Color My World” by Chicago and it grabbed us emotionally by the throat when we fell in love for the first time.

The lust – the sweet embrace. The anticipation… Making out in the back seat of your first car or the family’s second car. Perhaps you married your high school sweetheart and the emotions still remain 50-60 years later. You look at each other and become overwhelmed with raw emotion – euphoria. Or you still feel the achy memory of a lost love from long ago.

I often think of the rock group Chicago and reflect upon my youth. Such innocence and sweet memories of the incredible music of our time. I focus on Chicago because their music impacted me back in the day. Chicago memories go way back to 1967 when it was formed as The Big Thing with Terry Kath on the guitar, Robert Lamm as vocalist, Danny Seraphine on drums, Walter Parazaider on sax, Lee Loughnane on trumpet, James Pankow – trombonist, and Peter Cetera’s unforgettable buttery smooth voice. I believe Cetera was on bass at the time.

Cetera performing with the U.S. Air Force Band

Chicago has provided us with the incredible talent that has brought us the memories. These guys have rattled the speakers of car radios and disc jockey electronics for decades. Whenever I hear their work, the tumblers in the corridors of my mind fall into place where I remember the exact moment when I first heard their work. They became the Chicago Transit Authority before becoming just “Chicago” in 1969.

Chicago was a unique chapter in American music history like no other. They described themselves as a rock and roll band – with horns – a most unique combination of jazz, classical music, rhythm and blues, and pop music. They spent a lot of time at the top of the charts.

Peter Cetera has filled our hearts and our memories with such incredible Top 40 singles including “Glory of Love” and “The Next Time I Fall” in the 1980s. “Glory of Love” is a personal favorite. “If You Leave Me Now,” written by Cetera, captured our attention in the 1970s. Cetera’s work has also aired in numerous motion pictures.

Laudir de Oliveira joined Chicago in 1974 as an additional percussionist. Drummer Terry Kath took his own life in 1978, which shook the band to its core. The band replaced Kath with Donnie Dacus shortly thereafter. Davus left the band in 1980 and was replaced by Chris Pinnack. The many changes to follow only served to refine the great sound of Chicago. Peter Cetera would leave the band in 1985 and go solo.

Chicago wasn’t your conventional rock group. It was the power of brass, coupled with incredible vocalists and instrumentalists that supercharged the windy city’s most memorable rock group.

They not only rocked the city – they also rocked the world.

Chicago continues to marvel audiences and listeners around the world more than a half-century later, yet baby boomers remember these guys most from our youth in the sixties and seventies.

May their incredible sound live on.