Who do you credit for your love of mucic?

For me, it was my Mom. When I was a kid @ 6-7 years old, she had a nice, small 78rpm player in the living room and a stack of records. I used to get up early in the morning and quietly play Frank Sinatra, Al Jolson, Perry Como, Jo Stafford and the big bands. My Mom made it a point to take me to every musical movie she could. Man, I reveled in Dan Daily, Fred Astaire, Doris Day, Carmen Miranda and Xavier Cugart. Then there was The Wizard of Oz, Snow White, and all of the cartoons that featured really good music at the time.

At one point in my childhood (circa 1941-1943), my Mom worked at a concession down at the beach in Ocean Park (right next to Santa Monica). There was a dance hall across the boardwalk that featured the big bands of the time. I'd walk over there and sit at the door listening to the greats like the Dorsey Brothers. Yes, it was during WWII ... and I was just a tyke, but even then I was in love with music. The shame of I all? I have absolutely NO musical talent other than being an accomplished listener.