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