Mike Ferro's love of music started at home. He was the son of well-known newspaper photographer Mike Fish, who went on to Hollywood to be the director of photographic stills at Warner Bros. Nat King Cole, Norman Granz, and Jimmy Durante weren't just names on the radio, they were family friends. Later, his father owned a popular Chicago restaurant and played host to Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Oscar Peterson, and Quincy Jones, as well as local celebrities. Ferro grew up with jazz as his lullabies.

And he could sing.

In the sixties, Ferro played Rush street - Pigalle, The Back Room, Scotch Mist, Le Bistro and all the other joints on the strip.