Greetings, everyone! Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July holiday, even though it was hot, like excruciatingly hot. This morning I was thankful to see rain for the first time all week, if only for a brief respite considering how hot it has been. Today, I'm flashing back to the year in which I was called a Brillo pad because of my short haircut, 1987. And, along with it are my thoughts from back then as well as what's going on currently, and there have been lots to talk about this week. So, without any further yapping, these were the Top 40 songs according to Radio & Records Magazine for the week ending July 10, 1987:
40. Since You've Been Gone by The Outfield. Not to be confused with the Kelly Clarkson smash from 2005 ("Since U Been Gone"). Just realized something that will make you feel old. It has been the same number of years between the two songs I just mentioned as it has between Kelly Clarkson's hit and now; 18 years. No, this note was not sponsored by Metamucil nor Geritol. Do they still make Geritol these days?
39. Living In A Box by Living In A Box. As I alluded to in the last flashback post I did, the smackdown between Squealon Muskrat and Mark Zuckerberg is taking place, but little did we know until a couple of days ago that this fight would take place online.
38. Moonlighting by Al Jarreau. On Tuesday, Zuckerberg launched "Threads" as an alternative to Twitter, and man has it been a breath of fresh air. I didn't delete Twitter, but I did uninstall it from my phone. I've yet to configure it so that my feed is in chronological order, and I'm not sure as of right now that can be done yet but expect to find much more of me on there and much less of me on Twitter. Sorry, Squealon. By the way, since the song listed here is from a TV show, we don't hear much of that anymore, I think the last TV theme that charted was the theme from "The Sopranos," and that was over 20 years ago.
37. Flames Of Paradise by Elton John & Jennifer Rush. Flames of Paradise sounds like either the title of a primetime soap opera, or a Harlequin romance novel. It is neither, however it could be used to describe exactly how scorching hot it has been this week, and not because I saw my love interest on Monday.
36. La Bamba by Los Lobos. Planet Earth set a record for the hottest day ever. For three consecutive days. According to one tweet, scientists speculate that it may have been the hottest day on Earth in 125,000 years. That I think is more than all of recorded history...EVER. I hope the Earth doesn't literally catch fire before I'm dead and gone, although I'm not confident of that.
35. Just To See Her by Smokey Robinson. We go from a song at #37 talking about flames to a song by a man named Smokey. Remember, only you can prevent wildfires.
34. Always by Atlantic Starr. Arguably the #1 prom song of that spring, and although I never attended one, it's like I told my love interest, "Always."
33. It's Not Over ('Til It's Over) by Starship. This song pays homage to Yankee great Yogi Berra, albeit in title only. But, that's one of the whimsical phrases Berra was known for. Another one being, "when you come to a fork in the road, take it."
32. In Too Deep by Genesis
31. Head To Toe by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam. Another song thjat got people on the dance floor in 1987.
30. Hypnotize Me by Wang Chung. There was a kid at my school named Louis in which some people in my class called "Wang Chung." To this day, I have no clue why nor do I want to know why he was called that. But then again to quote Peter Gabriel, "the place where I come from (I lived in St. Pauls, NC at the time) is a small town, a town so small, they use small words..." and undoubtedly small minds.
29. Only In My Dreams by Debbie Gibson. One of my dream girls growing up, because she was close to my age. Tiffany was the other one.
28. One For The Mockingbird by Cutting Crew. A couple of weeks ago, John Sterling, longtime radio voice of the New York Yankees had a scary yet rather humorous (in hindsight) incident as he was calling a game between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
27. Who's That Girl by Madonna. Sterling was calling the action as Justinn Turner of the Red Sox was at bat. Suddenly, a foul ball came screaming toward Sterling and somehow, he didn't realize it until it was too late.
26. Rock Steady by The Whispers. The video of it is even more hilarious, which is in the same link by the way because Twitter for some reason is down. Gee, I wonder why?
25. Hearts On Fire by Bryan Adams. Anyway, that incident of another radio broadcaster being plunked by a foul ball. In the infancy of the Tampa Bay Rays (1999 to be exact), Paul Olden, who interestingly enough is the current PA voice of the Yankees, was in the Rays radio booth at Fenway Park when Bobby Smith fouled a pitch back behind home plate.
24. Don't Mean Nothing by Richard Marx. Footage of it no longer exists, and this was before play-by-play people had cameras in their respective booths, but sports station WDAE had a clip of it at the time:
Paul: "Here's the pitch to Smith, and it's swung on and fouled back towards ME! (thud)
Charlie Slowes (now with the Washington Nationals): "You okay, Paul?
That was Smith's lasting legacy with the franchise, and up until 2008, was probably (other than Wade Boggs hitting a HR for his 3,000th hit) the most memorable moment in franchise history up to that point.
23. I'd Still Say Yes by Klymaxx
22. Seven Wonders by Fleetwood Mac
21. Every Little Kiss by Bruce Hornsby & The Range. I think Hornsby doesn't get enough credit for how good he was in the late 1980's maybe it was because it was in the middle of an era where "image is everything"
20. Back In The High Life Again by Steve Winwood. SPEAKING OF HIGH...what kind of a party was going on at the White House the other day? Apparently, there wasn't a party, although one could've wrongly speculated that Don, Jr. and Hunter may have had some sort of bizarro bonding session there. I know Don, Jr. is going through an alleged breakup with Kimberly Guilfoile but, dude...get a grip!
19. Wot's It To Ya? by Robbie Nevil. That's what people on the right wing would probably say to me about that last article.
18. The Pleasure Principle by Janet Jackson
17. Happy by Surface. I seem to forget that this was that group's first foray into the Top 40. I remember that they had some hits in the early 90's but I didn't know they went as far back as 1987.
16. Luka by Suzanne Vega. This was actually a very sad song concerning child abuse. A little catchy, but it shouldn't overshadow the message behind it.
15. Songbird by Kenny G. Something you don't hear much of anymore; instrumentals
14. Girls, Girls, Girls by Motley Crue. Tropicana (Field)'s where I lost my heart.
13. I Want Your Sex by George Michael. In rural NC where I lived in 1987, a grand total of zero radio stations played this song. I don't think the stations in Raleigh even played it. I only heard this song on MTV. Nowadays, you have a song called WAP reach number 1 on Billboard magazine. So much for the "moral majority." I told y'all that Mayberry was dead.
12. Cross My Broken Heart by The Jets. You know, I wonder if fans of the New York Jets would sing this now that Mr. Discount Double Check is their QB? Nahhhh...
11. Kiss Him Goodbye by The Nylons
10. Rythym Is Going To Get You by Miami Sound Machine
9. Funkytown by Pseudo Echo. I don't care what anyone else says, THIS version is better than the 1980 version by Lipps, Inc.
8. Something So Strong by Crowded House
7. Heart And Soul by T'Pau. I remember an old school buddy of mine would pick on my cousin because she looked like the lead singer of this group.
6. Point Of No Return by Expose. Remember when I did a flashback in which Nu Shooz had a song with the same title as Stevie Nicks called "I Can't Wait"? Well this is the other song that I referenced, and yes, Expose is still around.
5. Don't Disturb This Groove by The System
4. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by U2. Here Bono and Company paid tribute to Mr. Magoo.
3. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston. I definitely do, and I will...soon.
2. Shakedown by Bob Seger. When this song first came out, I thought the title of it was "You're Busted." Thankfully I was wrong.
...and the number one song this week thirty-six years ago was...
1. Alone by Heart. Still love this song to this very day.
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