Anywhere You Wanna Go

You probably don't know his name, but you should know his music. Jim Peterik turns 60 this year. He's written songs for a lot of artists, and is probably best known for his band Survivor, and wrote and recorded their #1 hit "Eye Of The Tiger." But forget all that.

Something he did when he was still a teenager was great enough that he could have retired after that--"Vehicle." It topped out at #2 on the Billboard charts exactly 40 years ago today.

How did the song come about? It's a long story:

On April 9, 1968 while I was waiting to see one of my favorite groups, The Turtles, at Riverside Brookfield High School in the Chicago Suburb of Riverside, my eyes wandered to the girl standing in front of me - she was a vision in knee socks and orange culottes - long silky hair and huge blue eyes. As I was trying to screw up the courage to say hello, she turned to me and said, 'Aren't you Peterik?' Turns out she had seen the Ides Of March a month previously when we opened for the New Colony Six at Morton West High School. I said, 'Yeah,' and from there the conversation just seemed to flow.

Never had I met a girl I had so much in common with. Karen and I sat together at the show, and by 'Happy Together' she had placed her leg on top of mine (A very positive sign for a first date). After about 6 months of great dates, good times, meadows, making out and serenades, Karen informed me that it was over between us, that she wanted to 'See other people." I was thoroughly heartbroken. I spent the next few months writing sad songs, depressive melodies, introspective garbage, and forcing the Ides to do long Blues jams for our show encores (as the audience streamed out of the Grand Ballroom at State Pier).

I was also on a mission to find another Karen. There was a girl who looked a lot like her, but when we started dating, I realized that personality was 9/10's of the law. I guess I had to somehow win her back! One day I got a call from Karen. My heart jumped into my throat. She asked me if I could drive her to modeling school (she knew I had a pristine white '64 Valiant with mag wheel covers). Instead of playing it cool, I found myself saying, 'I'll be right over.' I figured our proximity would remind her how much she really loved me.

It was great riding next to her again, though I had to make sure I controlled my hands and my heart. This pattern continued for a few weeks with Karen asking me to drive her to various appointments and functions. We even sang at a few coffee houses as a duo (we called ourselves "Genesis" predating the famous group by about 3 years). Though it was great to be with her, the newly platonic nature of our relationship was bummin' me out.

One day in a fit of frustration, I heard myself blurt out to her 'You know, all I am to you is your Vehicle' (The word baby was added later). Just then the light bulb popped up on top of my head and I thought about all the guys like me who don't mind being taken for a ride by a beautiful girl. I said 'See you later' and started writing the song.



What happened to Karen? She and Peterik got back together and are still married.

To this day, she doesn't like to be in audiences where I tell that story. She feels very embarrassed by it. She knows it's true, but at the same time, she doesn't want to be thought of as this opportunistic woman who just wanted her guy to drive her around and then when the song goes to #1, calls up to do it again. It happened, but that's really not her.

P.S. My favorite moment ever on American Idol is probably when Bo Bice sang "Vehicle." The night was dedicated to disco, and for some reason he was allowed to end the show with this song, and blew the roof off.



P.P.S. Then there's Sammy: