Basically, this is how I remember things going down:
It was 1983. Barb and her sister Margie put an ad in the paper for musicians to back up their 5 girl quintet. I answered first and was with them when Dave came for his audition.
Of course, he knocked it out of the park. All 5 were "Yes! Let's keep him!" but I couldn't be swayed so easily so I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a crumpled, folded poem called "Check-Mate", handed it to him and said "Here... You have one week to put music to it."
Later that evening, that same evening, he called me at home and said "Here... Listen..." and plunked the handset, old-school phone on the edge of his parents' upright and proceeded to play this amazing melody singing my words back to me. (I can't express how many shivers I get every time I tell this story... Including right now.)
The next day, I ran over to Dave's place, old-school tape recorder in hand and we captured the only recording of this song we'd had until January 2024, when David's daughter Erin came to visit.
Dave's Mom, way back in 1983, had suggested changing the key word and title of the song to Stalemate. I was opposed to it for illogical reasons but she was absolutely right.
That original recording from 1983 is kicking around somewhere and, when I find it, I promise I'll upload it here as well. But here… for your listening pleasure is the version David and his daughter Erin recorded on January 10th, 2024.
And just for fun, here's the Reel Dave posted including my reaction in the comments and here's the post I made on my Facebook shortly thereafter.