After 'Sports' came out in the fall of 1983, everything changed for me. Four of the album's singles became top-10 hits, and by the end of June in 1984, the album was No. 1 on the Billboard chart. It was quite a ride, and for the first time I had enough money to live the way I wanted.

Today, it's very tempting to create songs by cutting and pasting in the studio.

I may be the most recognizable name in the cast, but I can guarantee that I am not the most talented.

Now the old boy may be barely breathing, but the heart of rock and roll is still beating.

When you get in the pocket, there is a place where the music begins to play itself. When you can find that spot, it's the best feeling in the world.

Step by step, one by one, higher and higher. Step by step, rung by rung, climbing Jacob's ladder.

I grew up in Marin County north of San Francisco, and in the 1950s and '60s it was a natural paradise.