Flashback: April 23, 1993

Hello, again everyone. Well, I finally decided to put my fingers to the keyboard after almost two weeks away from this blog. My mental and emotional state wasn't the best in the world during that time, unfortunately. However, writing is usually my way to get over what I'm feeling at the time, so I thought I'd give you another flashback. 

I had debated on which year to do at first, a couple of weeks ago I had rolled my D20 die (which I use in determining what year to do), and it came up at 16, which meant I was either going to do 1995 or 2015. However, a quick look at the 2015 chart at the time showed me that the song that I thought ruined pop radio for me, Bruno Mars' "Uptown (Sk)unk," was in there, I automatically decided to go with 1995, which interestingly enough was around the time my ship (USS Eisenhower) had returned from the Mediterranean/Persian Gulf. It was also the time of that hideous Oklahoma City bombing. But, like I said, my mental state was in the toilet, so that brings us up to this week. I thought about doing 1990, because in a Facebook post I shared last week, I said that my life had peaked (so far) during that year. Plus, the project I'm working on is covering 1990. But then I thought why not roll the die again. At first it came up 12, but I had done 1991 AND 2011 already this year. So, after another roll, it came up 14, which meant 2013, or 1993. 

Portion of old school Orlando skyline, from "Orlando Weekly"

After a quick analysis of what was charting this week in 2013, I decided against it because honestly, I didn't recognize half the songs on said chart. I mean there were back-to-back Taylor Swift songs, Maroon 5, Demi Lovato and Fall Out Boy, but near the top was that damned Bruno Mars, and much like the movie on Disney +, we don't talk about Bruno on this blog, plus it might trigger my emotional problems from last week. So, 1993 it is. I had just started Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando at the time, and in a way, I was kind of enjoying life. I got to see a few Magic games (it was Shaq's rookie season), I was able to hang out at the Edge on weekends, but other than that, schooling was tough; it was the first time in my life that I had struggled learning academically, but I persevered and made it through Power School...barely. Anyway, here were the Top 40 songs according to Radio & Records magazine for April 23, 1993.

40. So Close by Dina Carroll. Her only chart hit, and in a way, it somewhat describes my life...

39. That's The Way Love Is by Bobby Brown. This was right around the time Bobby and Whitney were an item. If only we could see the red flags coming from that relationship. 

38. Lost In Your Eyes by The Jeff Healy Band. Believe it or not, the late Jeff Healy isn't technically a one-hit wonder ("Angel Eyes" in 1989); this song began a three-week run this particular week.

37. What You Won't Do For Love by Go West. A remake of Bobby Caldwell's tune from 15 years prior.

36. Somebody To Love by George Michael & Queen.  Another remake of a classic. Recorded at Wembley Stadium in 1992 during a benefit concert for Queen's late lead singer Freddie Mercury. 

35. Come In Out Of The Rain by Wendy Moten. Outside of this song, she was virtually unknown to the general public at the time. It wouldn't be until she was runner-up on "The Voice" (a show I don't watch) that her star would fully shine. 

34. Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang by Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre. The song that launched everyone's favorite smoking buddy into super-stardom. No, I don't smoke, and that's likely why I'm not involved with anyone. 

33. Hip Hop Hooray by Naughty By Nature. To this very day, I can remember waving my hands with everyone else at The Edge to the chorus of this banger..."HEYYY! HOOOOOH! HEYYY! HOOOOH!"

32. Sleeping Satellite by Tasmin Archer. She was primarily known in England, but this song was a favorite of mine, and her lone hit in the US.

31. Silence Is Broken by Damn Yankees

30. Dedicated by R. Kelly and Public Announcement. You know, I wonder what R. Kelly thinks about all these allegations that have come out on P. Diddy.

 

29. I Feel You by Depeche Mode. As I recall, the video for this song was low-key kinda sexy.

28. That's The Way Love Goes by Janet Jackson. Speaking of sexy, remember the cover of her self-titled album that came out that year, "Janet?" How about the cover of "Rolling Stone" the week that said album was released?

27. That's What Love Can Do by Boy Krazy. Talk about an outlier, this song was everywhere in the spring of 1993. No, I never saw the video on MTV, so I don't know if that was why it was so popular. EDIT: I just watched this, and other than the lead singer looking like a blond Belinda Carlisle, it wasn't that spectacular. Maybe I'm not giving this song enough credit for being a banger. Maybe I should just shut up.

26. Cat's In The Cradle by Ugly Kid Joe. Remake of Harry Chapin's classic from 1974. 

25. Come Undone by Duran Duran. Follow-up to their widely successful "Ordinary World" from th band's "Wedding Album." I thoroughly loved both songs.

24. Tonight by Def Leppard. Speaking of tonight, game two of the Tampa Bay Lightning's playoff series against the Broward County LOLCats. Hoping for a better effort from the Bolts tonight. I swear I'm going to incorporate Florida sports into this blog soon, if I ever get my sh!t together.

23. Comforter by Shai. Speaking of getting my stuff together, remember the computer issues I was having? Turns out I ordered a lemon for a laptop. It was made by Shenzhen Global Industries, and I got it really cheap from Wal-Mart. You know, instead of our government going after TikTok, why don't they concert their efforts on preventing us consumers from getting hoodwinked by companies like SGIN, like an anti-lemon law for direct-to-consumer imports? Okay, rant over.

22. I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me) by Expose. I'll refrain from commenting at this time.

21. Livin' On The Edge by Aerosmith. Unforgettable video for this hit, and I think my sister still tries to imitate Steven Tyler's lip quiver at the end of it.

20. Tell Me What You Dream by Restless Heart. One of the very few country crossover hits from this era.

19. Angel by Jon Secada

18. Love Don't Love You by En Vogue. Speaking of entities that aren't very well loved, O.J. Simpson died this past week. Here's a general reaction from most people:

17. Connected by Stereo MC's. Another banger that I used to dance to at The Edge. Still one of my all-time favorites.

16. Buddy X by Neneh Cherry. I hope she wasn't seeing into the future and describing a potential friendship with none other than Squealon Muskrat himself.

15. Love U More by Sunscreem. Another favorite of mine from this particular year.

14. Don't Walk Away by Jade. One of the sexiest videos I've ever seen.

13. I'm So Into You by SWV. They had a monster 1993 and early part of 1994. Didn't hear too much from them after that though.

12. Two Princes by The Spin Doctors. A somewhat relatable song in the fact that I don't have very much compared to others at this time...BUT

11. Simple Life by Elton John. One advantage of not having too much is having a relatively simple life, I guess. 

10. The Morning Papers by Prince & The New Power Generation. I don't know about y'all, but I preferred Prince & The Revolution myself, which is not to say that the NPG weren't talented, because they were, but after this particular era is where Prince's career started going sideways.

  9. The Crying Game by Boy George. This song should be very fitting for this decade, if you know what I mean. This particular post by the way was not sponsored by RuPaul's Drag Race, seen about every night on VH-1, which used to stand for Video Hits One but now stands for gosh-awful reality television.

  8. Nothing My Love Can't Fix by Joey Lawrence. For some reason, I used to get him confused with that really annoying kid from later seasons of Diff'rent Strokes, Danny Cooksey. Altogether now, "WHOA!"

 

  7. If I Ever Lose My Faith In You by Sting. Turns out, I have lost faith in a particular someone. Sad.

  6. Who Is It by Michael Jackson. It wasn't a friend of his, nor was it his brother as sang in the song. Was it Macauly Culkin? No. Was it Liz Taylor? No. Wait, I know, it was propofol. Rest in peace, Michael.

  5. Freak Me by Silk. Freak me you ask? It's been a while hate to say.

  4. Informer by Snow. I've seen the lyrics, and there's absolutely NO way I could ever recite them, even if my voice wasn't somewhat affected by my stroke in 2017. Not at that speed. A licky-boom-boom-down. 

  3. Looking Through Patient Eyes by PM Dawn

  2. Love Is by Vanessa Williams & Brian McKnight. You know the skyline picture of Orlando from earlier? Well McKnight is from Orlando (although not a native), and he graduated from Evans HIgh School. Now why didn't I know this beforehand?? Last year, I did a flashback from 1993 (which I would hyperlink, but it was dedicated to someone I won't mention), and songs from "Beverly Hills 90210" were very prevalent in that chart. This I think is the only song from that soundtrack on this week's chart.

...and the number 1 song this date 31 years ago was... 

  1. I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston. Which come to think of it, describes what ideas I have in increasing the number of eyeballs to this blog. I guess a grassroots campaign is necessary for me to increase clicks on this blog. I'll get right on that.

Hey, I managed to get through this blog post without any technical errors, which I guess is an accomplishment. Seriously, I would like some feedback as to how I could make this blog even better in the future. I guess I can take a small nap before my sisters wake up for the day now. Until next time, enjoy your Tuesday!

BonyScribe

Total Eclipse Of The Scribe...

 Hello, hope you're all having a good week. A lot has happened so far this week, most notably the total solar eclipse that occurred on Monday. I missed the one in 2017; I was in the hospital because I had suffered my stroke just days beforehand. This one I had the privilege of sitting outside for, and I got a "picture" of the sun just as the moon passed over it:

I caught it off a reflection off my camera phone through the sunroof of the kitchen in my house. I wanted to try to get a better shot during the peak of the eclipse, which just shy of 60% here in the northern reaches of Tampa Bay, but my elder sister (who can be somewhat overprotective like my late oldest sister, just less annoying and petty) decided to hang out to smoke, so I couldn't really do that. But, I did notice the sky get a little darker, and the surroundings not as bright as they normally would on a clear spring day down here. And no, nothing monumental happened, like a rapture or the Apocolypse. I swear some people take things like an eclipse and overthink it, or what I called it in the Navy, "nuke it out." What's that? You mean "the rapture" will allegedly take place in a couple of weeks? Okay (makes cuckoo gesture).

I Like It When I'm Right...Sometimes.

Also on Monday, the college basketball national championship took place, and as I told you on this very blog a couple of weeks ago, Connecticut took it all, dominating every game they played in the tournament. They're the first to repeat since Florida in 2006-07 and have solidified themselves as one of college basketball's bluebloods. Now if only the ACC allowed them in several years ago. Speaking of the ACC, what a run by the NC State Wolfpack! They came up short against Purdue, but still, a magical run for what some college basketball fans as the third wheel in the three-team rivalry in the Raleigh-Durham area. Speaking of which, Duke appears to be the way too early favorite for next year, but don't be too surprised if UConn pulls off the threepeat, which I believe has only been done by UCLA.

Pro Wrestling Is Back!

For those of us who love the "sport" known as professional wrestling (like me), that particular term is back in the WWE. In the past generation, such a term was taboo in the powers that be (Vince McMahon) of the WWE, but since he's gone (and there's more beer for us) the term "Sports entertainment" has been put on indefinite hiatus, and "professional wrestling" is back. And did it come back with flair (WHOOOOOOO)! WrestleMania 40 this past weekend from Philadelphia was arguably the best WM of all time, carried by an outstanding program on Sunday. Cody Rhodes finished the story, ending Roman Reigns' 1,316-day reign as WWE Undisputed Champion. It was an emotional victory, heck I even cried after he won; Dusty Rhodes (his late father) was my favorite wrestler as a kid. In fact, the last two times I shed tears was over wrestling; Sting's final match a month ago being the other. You could hear the emotion in ring announcer Samantha Irvin's (who by the way, shot to superstardom) voice. All the babyfaces celebrated in the ring. It was quite the moment. 

The same cannot be said about the company he helped found, All Elite Wrestling. Last night on their weekly Dynamite program, footage aired of an incident involving former talents CM Punk (who was promptly scooped up by WWE after his ouster) and Jack Perry (who's working in New Japan Pro Wrestling) at 2023's All In event at Wembley Stadium in London, in which the latter goaded the former into a brawl. Punk on a podcast had some not-so-flattering things to say about his former employer, or his boss, Tony Khan. Turns out, Punk was speaking the truth, and in doing so, made Khan look like an idiot. There's one GIF that encapsulates the decision by Khan to air the footage, if you know, you know:

Tuesday Was A Good Day

Tuesday was my first day out since the disaster of last month, and it went well. I only drank water, but did have one shot of Fireball, and it didn't taste well. So, I promptly abandoned that idea, even though I made a toast to myself saying, "here's to someone else's bad decision with one of my own." I think you may know who I'm referring to there. I won't get into what was discussed, but I left 1) sober and 2) feeling much better about things. Afterwards, I went to Cracker Barrel to have lunch, and on the way there, I noticed a siren coming down US 19. However, it wasn't an ambulance, police, or sheriff's deputy. It was a truck for the US Forestry Service. I've never known Forest Trucks to carry sirens on them, but I guess they're allowed to, even though there wasn't a forest fire in the area; it was a hauler carrying two trucks. I have no clue as to why they were travelling on US 19 either, as Ocala National Forest is nowhere near that road, unless it was coming from the Panhandle (Apalachicola Forest). Rather curious to me. Anyway, I had a nice dinner a Cracker Barrel and an even nicer rest afterwards. Now, I'm back to burning the midnight oil again. I guess I'll never learn.

Coming Up

Tomorrow, I should have my flashback feature for y'all, even though I haven't rolled my D20 die to determine which year I will choose. This weekend is also The Masters golf tournament (yawn), and at the beginning of next week, my one sister turns (gasp) 70. Plenty to look forward to this weekend and beyond. So, until tomorrow, I hope, take care.

Bony Scribe 

April 3, 2011 Flashback and Other Goodies

Hello again, everyone. Been a couple of weeks since I last posted on here, but that definitely doesn't mean I haven't been around, and I'm glad that people have been paying attention to what I've said on other platforms (cue the crickets chirping) 

All kidding aside (it WAS April Fools Day), I would like to present to you a long overdue flashback since it has been a couple of weeks for that as well. This week, we're going back a mere thirteen years to 2011, when I had just moved back into my old house in Tampa with a friend from high school (that I initially wanted to take further, but didn't work out), but instead of having memories of that time frame (because I was at the Post Office working and not in school), I will submit random thoughts throughout this particular flashback. So, here were the Top 40 songs for April 3, 2011, loosely based on data from Mediabase 24/7.

40. Waiting For The End by Linkin Park

39. Back To December by Taylor Swift

38. Closer To The Edge by Thirty Seconds To Mars. Pause here since this week as a rather cruel April Fools joke, Jared Leto (the worst Joker in cinema history) came out instead of Pat Sajak as host of Wheel of Fortune alongside Vanna White. On behalf of almost everyone, Merv Griffin Productions, please don't do that again.

37. The Show Goes On by Lupe Fiasco. The only song to debut in the top 40 that week, replacing Rihanna's "What's My Name" (it was Ohnana).

36. Hit The Lights by Jay Sean f/Lil' Wayne. Not as popular as their previous compilation from 2009, "Down," which was one of the biggest hits of that year.

35. Sing by My Chemical Romance

34. Rolling In The Deep by Adele. I remember radio stations, apparently paranoid of being fined by the FCC, slightly edited this song because the powers at be (primarily Crap Channel) THOUGHT that one line of this song said, "I'll lay your shit there" when it was actually "I'll lay your ship bare." Goddamn I Hate ClearChannel (iHeartMedia iHateMedia nowadays)!

33. Backseat by New Boyz f/The Cataracts)

32. Bow Chicka Wow Wow by Mike Posner f/Lil' Wayne. Nope. Can't relate to that at this moment.

31. Marry Me by Train. Trying. Not. To. Get. Triggered. 

30. Rhythm Of Love by Plain White T's. I remember a song called "Rhythm Of Love" by Scorpions, as well as another song with that same title by Yes (both coming out in Summer of 1988), but I don't remember this one, at all.

29. Stereo Love by Edward Maya

28. I Need A Doctor by Dr. Dre f/Eminem

27. Moment 4 Life by Nicki Minaj f/Drake

26. For The First Time by The Script. Here's a pro tip, I guess. It helps to actually listen to the songs you're going to be discussing while writing in your blog. It helps jog memories. That said, this song is somewhat relatable to current times...

25. Price Tag by Jessie J f/B.O.B. Sad to say, it actually is about the money money money to some people. Ted Dibiase would laugh about this. Shameful.

24. Jar Of Hearts by Christina Perri. Speaking of which, Wrestlemania weekend is upon us. It's being held in Philadelphia this year. A lot of anticipation is going into it this byear and I'll definitely be watching, albeit on my phone because the computer I'm typing this on gets hot too easily and the newer one can't boot up properly. Time to have it looked at I'm afraid.

23. Hold It Against Me by Britney Spears

22. Rocketeer by Far East Movement f/Ryan Tedder

21. Pretty Girl Rock by Keri Hilson

20. Lazy Song. And this reminds me as to why I shy away from doing flashbacks from the 2010s; I loathe Bruno Mars. 

19. Yeah x3 by Chris Brown. Speaking of loathesome acts, we have Chris Brown. Maybe him and Bruno can tour together sometime...

18. Down On Me by Jeremih f/50 Cent. I remember there was some kid that was a YouTube sensation for lip-synching songs in front of the camera. One time, he made one such video with this song, and 50 himself made a cameo. I didn't really care for the kid doing these videos because he bore a striking resemblance to a particular Tampa radio personality who is quite polarizing. Then again, aren't most radio personalities in Tampa polarizing?

17. Firework by Katy Perry. I used to have a crush on Katy, then she got annoying. Still, I wonder how she shot fireworks out of her boobs...reminds me of someone...you know, nevermind.

16. On The Floor by Jennifer Lopez f/Pitbull

15. Written In The Stars by Tinie Tempah f/Eric Turner. As I recall, this song was used for Wrestlemania that year. 

14. Till The World Ends by Britney Spears. I think Kesha (yes, THAT Kesha) released this as a demo before Britney got a hold of it. I think this was before Kesha became famous and ultimately ruined by Uncle Luke. Yuck.

13. Just Can't Get Enough by Blackeyed Peas. This was right at the height of this group's success. Too bad Stacey Ferguson left the group a few years ago...

12. What The Hell by Avril Lavigne. I've been waiting for this one. The other day on Facebook, a post was made by College Sports Only, and I couldn't help nut notice the picture they posted regarding Indiana State's basketball team. They reached the Final Four of the NIT all despite getting the shaft by the NCAA selection committee. That group selected Virginia. Anyway, here is the photo that was posted:

Here you have Indiana State, and their star player, Robbie Avila, who let's be honest, kinda looks a bit dorky in this picture. Meanwhile, you have another dorky-looking white guy (below) getting passed over in favor of another substandard entity from Virginia. 

YEAH, WHAT THE HELL INDEED?!

11. Grenade by Bruno Mars

10. Blow by Kesha

  9. Coming Home by Diddy-Dirty Money. Uh, you sure about that?? You sure about that?? 

  8. Tonight by Enrique Iglesias f/Ludacris

  7. More by Usher. According to Wikipedia, this song was released under the deluxe version of his Raymond v. Raymond album, but after it was released as an iTunes exclusive, which just so happens to be the Jimmy Joker remix that played on the radio. The other version (that isn't available on Spotify) can be found here.

  6. Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor) by Pitbull. Mr. Worldwide was ubiquitous in 2011, yet on this chart, he only appears twice. I thought it was more...

  5. E.T. by Katy Perry f/Kanye West

  4. ...Perfect by P!nk. Pretty much what I think I have to be to snag someone.

  3. S & M by Rihanna

  2. Born This Way by Lady Gaga

...and the number one song thirteen years ago this week was...

 1. Forget You by Cee-Lo Green. Very, very relatable; just listen to the lyrics.

Tomorrow, I'll have the electric devices on overload; the Final Four, and Wrestlemania, will be going on simultaneously, and NC State is one of the semifinals (they begin at 6:09). My pick for the National Title game (UConn-Purdue) is still in it, maybe next year, if I'm feeling confident, I can make some serious bank from picking some games. But alas, not this year. Anyway, this weekend should be very exciting. I hope you all enjoy it!

As for this blog, I hope to have more on the way, as soon as I get over this chronic depression of mine. I wouldn't hold my breath though, as evidenced by the last couple of weeks. But, I really want to get back into the swing of things. 

Until next time.

BS