3/4
Chuck went on to attend a different high school than I did, and like most school classmates, our paths diverged. In high school, everyone fortunately started to grow up. Getting picked on was mostly a thing of the past after freshman year, and I made many friends. Then I went on to college, got a degree in architecture, and pivoted to a long career in software engineering. But this is really a story about Chuck.
4/4
Fast-forward to a few years ago, when someone recommended an album by a singer-songwriter-guitarist with an oddly familiar name, Chuck Prophet. The music was incredibly good and Chuck's voice was full of world-weary coolness. How many people with that name could there be? Reading his bio, I realized this was the same kid from 7th grade. He had moved to the Bay Area to find his future, just as I had done. Chuck is a massive talent who deserves to be better known.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er6FLVbqkY4
@_the_cloud I was reading your story and saw the picture with "Prophet, Charles" and chuckled:
"Hey that kid's got the same name as the guy who wrote "Balinese Dancer", a neat song that featured on a compilation CD put together by the Belgian record label PIAS over 3 decades ago!" (my brain is weird).
Next thing you know, it's HIM! What are the odds?!
(This is the CD: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/comp/various-artists/play-it-volume-2-in-the-summertime/)
@onegeekarmy That page doesn't load for me (error 503), but yes, Balinese Dancer is a great blues song. He was recording his first solo album in 1990, same year that I got a job offer from Apple. The thing that struck me is how we're all connected in some way, whether we realize it or not. It's easier to realize now that we have social media, but the six degrees of separation concept is real.
@_the_cloud It's crazy, isn't it? A bit vertiginous, even. I almost fell off my chair :)
This is the cover of the promotional CD he was on, and a screenshot of the track listing. He's in very good company :)
