When I look back on my life, I wonder how I survived - my mother said I had a guardian angel.
And singing is a physical thing - your vocal cords are these muscles.
Ever since I was a kid, I've had an enormous interest in the sciences - everything from quantum physics to anthropology.
My parents were both in show business. My father was an actor, my mom an actress, and both singers, dancers and actors. They met in Los Angeles doing a play together and so I grew up in a show biz family.
They were looking for actors - real actors - who could play instruments. There was a lot of improvisation and scene work involved in addition to the music. The auditions went on for a long time.
My influences were Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry.
What happened was, my parents after 'Circus Boy' decided to take me out of show business for two years to go back to normal school. It was the smartest thing they ever did.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not a public democratic organization; it's a private club basically. It's like a private golf club and they decide who they're going to let in the club.
In 1962 I was 17, so I was definitely watching the dance shows on television.