I once believed that my first post would be the most important post. Much like the first paragraph of a short story or novel. I was wrong. Not only is that mindset WAY to much pressure but the truth is, by the time this blog gains any momentum, this post will be way back in the archive. So, without any pressure, I welcome you to El Cinco's Rock Blog. I gained the dubious nickname, "El Cinco" during a late night game of Taboo about 20 odd years ago. I had a bad night coming up with answers, never achieving more then 5-- so my brother-in-law starting calling me, El Cinco. It was an instant hit and after 25 years I FINALLY had a nickname. My love for rock and roll started much earlier, however. My amazing sisters were much older (6 and 7 years) and they initiated me very early. My oldest sister, Sara, played The Kinks and The Stones for me. Joanne played Haircut 100 and Weather Report and Bonnie Rait. Mom and dad would blast Mozart's operas and Pucini and Ravel. I firmly believe that I owe my love of heavy metal to them. I'm pretty sure this is irony but I'm confused about this ever since that stupid song caused all that hubbub. I heard my first Rush song at Chuck McCarren's house back in Junior High but it was in Mike Masse's basement beginning in 9th grade that I sold my soul to rock and roll. I have a Spotify playlist titled, "Mike's Basement" and I'll be referring to it often. [I'm looking for a way to link Spotify to this blog though I'm not sure it's possible.}We listened to a lot of music that takes a helluva beating these days: Def Leppard, Dokken, Motley Crue and others. But we also listened to Yes, and Marillion, and IQ, and of course Rush. Above all, there was always Rush-- The band that was not just 3 guys from Canada-- Rush was a statement about who YOU were. By 1988, cool people did not listen to Rush. That lasted for about 30 seconds during the fall of 1981. Ohh, to much on that. More later. From there I moved into some punk and hard-core as well as industrial metal and then back to progressive metal. Nowadays, you'll find my playlist ranging from Tesla to Tesla Girls (OMD), Mastadon to King Diamond, Rush to Iron Maiden, Social Distortion to Minor Threat. What you won't find, though I've tried, is Allman Brothers, Phish, Dead or any of the other truly talented 'Jam-Bands'. It just doesn't resonate with me. I can't say why. You also won't find a whole lot of modern country on my playlists but you will definitely come across some early Hank Williams Sr. As I listen to Alice in Chains, "Angry Chair", I feel I should say that my grunge era knowledge is pretty limited. I'm definitely a student of the 70's, 80's and 90's progressive rock and metal. That said, this blog is about exploring music long forgotten and music missed. Rock On!