First off, you had to be there. I was young, dumb and full of it – (ok just full of energy and enthusiasm), it was 1981, and for the past year I had felt like we were stepping into the future,like anything was possible. Music videos were not quite yet on TV,mostly we had music variety shows like Musikladen.

And all of a sudden this guy shows up in leather and colorful cloths and with some warpaint on, and he’s like a Pirate! Lots of style and power in what he did. He started with a unique yell that was like a call to arms for indians! And the drums were sounding out a beat like at a pirate hanging. And then the guitars kick in sounding like a Spanish dance. During the chorus men were singing real deep in the background, it is really powerful!

So he performed the ultimate anthem against conformity and for fighting against being ridiculed. The perfect song for a kid in middle school. And it has stood the test of time, and I hope he still listens to it and believes in it because he has had to fight his own battles against people recently.