Jim Peterik talks with Pleasantdale Middle School students after his presentation and performance May 15. The singer-songwriter said he started performing because “I was trying to impress girls.”

Having a cool car got Jim Peterik a music career and the love of his life.

The member of The Ides of March, formerly of Survivor and of 38 Special fame, said his former girlfriend asked him for a ride to modeling school because he had a cool car.

“She said, ‘It’s not a date,” Peterik remembered during a talk and performance May 15 at Pleasantdale Middle School in Burr Ridge, where his son, Colin, attended.

Hoping to rekindle the romance, Peterik agreed — on two separate occasions — to provide the sought-after driving services.

Getting a “thank you,” but not a kiss either time, a frustrated Peterik said after the second time, “All I am is your vehicle, baby.”

It led him to write “Vehicle,” which reached No. 1 on the charts for his band The Ides of March. When the song reached No. 1, the inspiration for the song gave him a call and said maybe they should try again. Forty-six years later, he and Karen are still together.

“So, guys, if you ever want to get a girl back just write a No. 1 song. That’s all you have to do,” Peterik quipped.

The Burr Ridge resident has had a hallowed musical career and has a collection of nearly 200 guitars. He featured some of them on a 2018 calendar, “Guitars that Followed Me Home,” copies of which he provided to the students.

Peterik said he got started in music at 4 or 5 years old, playing the ukulele. Always around music, he went to gigs with his father, who was a saxophone player. He even joined his father on stage at times.

“I enjoyed that feeling of being before an audience,” Peterik said.

Singer-songwriter Jim Peterik performs for students at Pleasantdale Middle School in Burr Ridge. The Berwyn native, who wrote the Grammy-award winning “Eye of the Tiger,” has been part of the bands Survivor and The Ides of March, and written songs for 38 Special, Rascal Flats and other artists. (Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media photos)

He got involved with a band when in the eighth grade.

“I was trying to impress girls,” the Berwyn native admitted. “The plan worked. I played music and got popular.”

He became involved with a group called the Shondels (not to be confused with Tommy James and the Shondells), which cut a record and caught the eye of a producer. At the age of 14, Peterik was touring the country.

Peterik then started performing with some Berwyn schoolmates in The Ides of March, producing hits “You Wouldn’t Listen” and “L.A. Goodbye,” in addition to “Vehicle.” The band would break up in 1973, but reunite 17 years later.

He would then help form the band Survivor.

“We had quite a following in Chicago,” he said of the band.

That following eventually grew to regional and then national to that point that in early 1982, there was a message on his answering machine from Sylvester Stallone.

“He said he liked the band Survivor, that he liked our sound. He said the movie (“Rocky III”) was done, but that there wasn’t a title song. He said he wanted an anthem,” Peterik remembered.

Peterik said he wanted a tune that carried the energy of the movie. He said the melody he created went along with the punches thrown in a fight sequence.

He built the lyrics around the line from the movie about Rocky needing the “eye of the tiger.”

The anthem became a hit, spending seven weeks at No. 1.

Having penned hits for 38 Special and other artists, Peterik told the students he is still an active songwriter, providing material for Rascal Flats and others.

Asked about his purple hair, Peterik said it was a decision he made nine years ago.

“I said, ‘Let’s try something crazy.’ I’ve always liked the color purple,” Peterik said. “It’s a very expensive habit, though.”

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— Ides of March’s Peterik continues iconic rock career —-