By Amy Roth
Jim Peterik of Ides of March and Survivor bands’ fame was in Aurora July 7 to shoot a music video of a new song that was “inspired by nostalgia,” he said.
“Carry Me Back” was co-written by Ides of March member Larry Millas and is performed by Peterik and the band, Pride of Lions.
Peterik grew up in Berwyn, founded the Ides in 1964 while in high school at Morton West, and met his wife, Karen, in 1968 when he waited in line to see his favorite group, The Turtles.
The Rock and Roll songwriter and performer, who co-wrote “Eye of the Tiger,” the theme song from “Rocky III,” has several connections to Aurora.
The Ides of March played at the grand opening of the Santori Public Library June 15, 2015. Peterik shot a portion of his music video, “Delusional” at the Eola Road Branch of the Aurora Public Library in 2013, which featured West Aurora High School student, Maggie Perez. He wrote a theme song for the Fox Valley Park District.
“This is historic,” Peterik said of his latest visit to Aurora. The video, for Frontiers Records, was shot in several downtown locations, including in front of the Sam Cervantes mural “Hope Wings Aurora,” off of East Galena Boulevard, and in the mezzanine of the former Leland Tower, formerly a hotel, and now apartments.
Peterik especially liked shooting in the Leland building that was the site of the Bluebird Recording Sessions in 1937 and 1938 featuring artists including, John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, and Big Joe Williams.
“So much music has gone down in this downtown area,” Peterik said. “With a famous recording studio, performance venues and restaurants, Aurora has always been a happening city.”
The song, Peterik said, is the reliving of a 1983 love affair that “never went all the way, but the memories will be there forever. (The listener) can imagine if it lasted or not.”