Flashback: July 11, 2003

 Good morning, everyone. It would have been good evening, but severe storms wreaked havoc across the Tampa Bay area. Close to where I live, the storms weren't too bad, but apparently it caused a number on a transformer nearby, because we lost power for over five hours while several other areas had their power restored much, much quicker. This is where I would probably make some snide remark about how WREC, the local electric co-operative here, needs to get their act together accompanied by a video from "Rick & Morty." If you are a keen observer of that program, or my social media pages (yeah, like THAT'S possible), you know which clip I'm referring to. But since the fine, hard-working folks that work for WREC, or any other electric company for that matter, have a thankless job cleaning up what these storms leave behind and getting our power back on, I should give them a break. They deserve one today; that sounds like an old commercial slogan.

Speaking of breaks, I think now's a good time as any to remove my break from posting Top 40 flashbacks, as it has been two months since my last one. Today we're going back to July 11, 2003; 7/11, oh thank heaven (that could be another commercial slogan). So, without further ado, here were the Top 40 songs in America loosely based off ClearChannel Mediabase24/7 as published in Radio & Records Magazine.

40. Why Don't You And I? by Santana f/Alex Band. As I recall this track had two particular lead singers, the aforementioned Alex Band and for some reason, Chad Kroeger of Nickelback. Why Carlos Santana did this I don't know and don't really care.

39. Crazy by Dream f/Loon. Remember when Dream tried to get in on the act of teen-oriented vocal groups (Backstreet Boys, *NSync, etc.) for a hot second at the turn of the millennium? I remember their other two hits, "He Loves Me Not" and "This Is Me." Don't recall this one though.

38. I'm Glad by Jennifer Lopez. The good news is that J-Lo had gotten out of that phase of totally rerecording songs to fit musical tastes at the time (think "I'm Real) and calling them remixes. The bad news? Gigli was just around the corner. 

same, Ben Affleck, same.

37. Hell Yeah by Ginuwine. Either he was trying to pay tribute to Stone Cold Steve Austin, or he was celebrating he had someone ride his pony. But definitely one of the two.

36. Never Leave You (Uh-Ooh Uh-Oooh) by Lumidee

35. I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me. Crossed out because this was a blatant attempt by the moral minority to cram religion down our throats, being the MercyMe is a contemporary Christian group. Of course, now you have groups like "He Gets Us" trying to do the same thing. As noted social media personality (and attractive redhead) Montemader says, to have freedom of religion, you must have freedom from religion. Plus, my belief system is slightly different from evangelical Christianity, but the same concept.

34. Right Thurr by Chingy. A couple of things came to my realization as I was writing this. The worst birthday experience I ever had was for my 40th in 2014 at a place called Capone's Dinner and Show off 192 in Kissimmee, Florida. Isn't it ironic the woman I had been crushing on for years works at a bar of the same name? Go see her by the way at 10463 County Line Road in Spring Hill, FL, and tell her Bony Scribe sent you.

33. Stuck by Stacie Orrico. Another thing I've come to the realization of is that I can be quite annoying. Yeah, I know, it's not the best quality to have, but I feel it's the best (if not only) way to get my name out there. I just hope I'm not as annoying as Morgan & Morgan, or those ads for Hard Rock Casino, or apps that you can download and play on your phone.

32. In Love Witchu by Da Brat. Yes, I still am by the way.

31. Ladies by Sarai

30. If You're Not The One by Daniel Beddingfield. Yes, that's the brother of Natasha Beddingfield, singer of "Unwritten" which came out a few years later. His first hit was the better of his two in my opinion, "Gotta Get Through This."

29. Calling All Angels by Train. They were just in concert in Tampa last night, undoubtedly trying to dodge lightning bolts and rain showers as well at the Ford 1-800-ASK-GARY MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater.

28. Sing For The Moment by Eminem. Speaking of annoying apps I had mentioned a couple of songs ago, there's one app which is an arrow removal game that for months (if not a year now) that had been called "Arrows Out." Well now in the past few weeks, they've all of a sudden called themselves, "Point Out," which really makes no sense if you think about it.

27. Girls And Boys by Good Charlotte. I mean the phrase point out implies that you're choosing something out of a lineup of group of items, not necessarily removing arrows to solve a puzzle.

26. Shake Ya Tailfeather by Nelly f/Diddy & Murphy Lee. This song sounded very similar to Florida State University's famous war chant, but I digress. 

25. Can't Let You Go by Fabolous f/Lil' Mo. As I was about to mention there's another arrow removal game that was called "Arrows Go" but is now called "Amaze Go" which makes absolutely zero sense at all. So, what happened? Did yet another arrow removal game put in a copyright claim and now the original name of your app can't be used? Or did you suddenly think that you're the Gulf of MEXICO or Department of DEFENSE and you just wanted to randomly change your name a la the Trump Administration? Jeez.

24. The Remedy (I Won't Worry) by Jason Mraz. Speaking of the Trump administration, they may be partially responsible for a sudden outbreak of explosive diarrhea that has plagued several states, including Florida. 

23. I Want You by Thalia f/Fat Joe. Of course, we're talking about cyclosporiasis, which is the parasite which is the cause of this explosive diarrhea. According to AOL (yes, they still exist), the CDC stopped monitoring said parasite under the guise of "GoVeRnMeNt EfFiCiEnCy." Damn you, Squealon, damn you to hell. 

22. No Letting Go by Wayne Wonder. Those of you who are ardent followers of "South Park" will know that explosive diarrhea occurs in a few of their episodes, including episode 6 of the first season where OH MY GOD, THEY KILLED KENNY comes down with a case of such before his (un)timely demise.

21. Swing Swing by All-American Rejects. This administration is already a clown show, but never in a million years that South Park would play a role in what's going on. What's next, Cartman as CDC head?

The second half of this flashback I'm just going to go ahead and breeze through.

20. When I'm Gone by Three Doors Down
19. Fighter by Christina Aguilera
18. Feel Good Time by P!nk f/William Orbit
17. Rock Wit U (Awwww Baby) by Ashanti
16. Addicted by Simple Plan (I wonder who that song could be for)
15. Magic Stick by Lil' Kim f/50 Cent
14. Intuition by Jewel
13. Don't Wanna Try by Frankie J
12. Drift Away by Uncle Cracker f/Dobie Gray
11. Are You Happy Now? by Michelle Branch (well...ARE YOU?!)

10. 21 Questions by 50 Cent
  9. Ignition by R. Kelly
  8. Rock Your Body by Justin Timberlake (the song that helped Janet Jackson's career)
  7. Get Busy by Sean Paul
  6. I Know What You Want by Busta Rhymes & Mariah Carey
  5. Crazy In Love by Beyonce f/Jay-Z
  4. Unwell by Matchbox 20
  3. Where Is The Love by Black Eyed Peas f/Justin Timberlake
  2. Bring Me To Life by Evanescence

and the number one song on this date 23 years ago was

  1. Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson.

There, my first flashback blog in two months, hopefully not as annoying as any other blog post I write. Hopefully I get back on the ball writing more irreverent and irrelevant in the weeks to come Two blog posts in a week is a good start.

Until next time

Bonyscribe

A Peculiar Flashback (May 10, 2010)

 Good late evening/early morning, everyone, except for a certain someone. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I started writing this entry as May 5 became May 6, but my depression (thanks to said liar) reared its ugly head again, and I put it off until 2am on Mother's Day. As Hayley Williams once pondered, "ain't it fun?"

Today, I thought I would produce one of my flashbacks but to a particular day in my history that only a select few know about. What is that day? Most of you will never know. With that said, these were the Top 40 songs according to ClearChannel Mediabase 24/7 for the week ending May 7, 2010. And of course, I'll give my thoughts on various other things as we go along.

40. Everybody In Love by JLS. Great, a song about love to kick us off. Who created this chart, Delilah? Pardon me while I barf.

39. Heart Heart Heartbreak by Boys Like Girls. Alright, that's more like it. So why am I upset this past week? Well remember around this time LAST year things were going haywire with a love interest as someone else forcing himself into the picture. Same person wound up with her and her mom on Father's Day weekend enjoying themselves, which set me off because I have NEVER ONCE been able to celebrate Father's Day since my daughter was born in 1999 not even as much as received a Father's Day card. As someone who has totally missed out on certain life events (whether it was my own fault or not), it triggered me in a bad way. 

38. Cooler Than Me by Mike Posner. Yeah Mike, that's what I'm thinking...

37. We'll Be A Dream by We The Kings. I think their greatest claim to fame was a song they penned for the 2008 AL Championship Tampa Bay Rays. WTK is from Sarasota IIRC.

36. Baby by Justin Bieber

35. Winner by Jaime Foxx f/Justin Timberlake

34. Somebody To Love by Justin Bieber. All this Justin Bieber talk makes wanna 1) puke and 2) talk about hockey, most notably the shortcomings of the Tampa Bay Lightning...again.

33. Heartbreak Warfare by John Mayer. Rather fitting song for what's happening to me currently. Anyway, the Bolts were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs for the FOURTH consecutive year. And I have a few thoughts on that...

32. This Afternoon by Nickelback. Interestingly enough, Nickelback plays a part (in my opinion) as to why the Bolts fell apart again. The Lightning for some unknown reason utilized their hit "Burn It To The Ground" as their goal song this season.

31. If We Meet Again by Timbaland. I think that the use of Nickelback as Tampa's goal song was bad juju. Yes, they had an incredible run leading up to the Olympics, but afterwards the team just wasn't the same.

30. Impossible by Shontelle. They never really got back to form and wound up finishing second in the division to Buffalo (barf, but not as bad as losing the division to the Broward County Pussycats, who thankfully missed the playoffs).

29. Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble. Either way, losing in the first round for the fourth straight year is infuriating. I want to think that there's two hidden factors not related to the players or the game itself that contribute to that.

28. Rock That Body by The Blackeyed Peas. Since the Bolts last reached the Stanley Cup Final, one former friend of mine wound up getting engaged to a Pussycat fan. In my opinion, that's almost the ultimate sin, kind of like sleeping with the enemy. Anyway, afterwards, the Pussycats wound up going to three straight Finals, winning the last two Cups.

27. Halfway Gone by Lifehouse. Speaking of which, another Lightning superfan wound up getting hitched to some guy from Colorado. The Lightning lost to Colorado in the '22 Final. Could these two cases be related? Who knows...

26. I Made It (Cash Money Heroes) by Kevin Rudolf. Oh, and one more thing about the Lightning, as I may have alluded to in a prior entry. Paul Porter, please retire. Your cheerleading act has more than run its course.

25. Billionaire by Travie McCoy f/Bruno Mars. As I recall, this song was supposed to be a diss track to Katy Perry, who dated Travie before she kissed a girl and liked it. Incidentally, the song also opened up a Pandora's Box of sorts in helping launch Bruno Mars's career, and on this blog, we don't talk about Bruno. At least we try not to.

24. Bedrock by Young Money f/Lloyd. No, they weren't talking about the Flintstones. Yabba dabba do. There was one chart song from 1994 involved them, but I don't think we want to rehash that now, do we?

23. Bulletproof by LeRoux. One hit wonder, at least here in the US. Not sure about overseas. They were English after all. BTW, Elly Jackson (the lead singer) looks like Rick Astley.

22. Say Aah by Trey Songz. Wow, a doctor on this flashback? Who knew? 

...I know he's not really a doctor...

21. Eenie Meenie by Sean Kingston & Justin Bieber. Unfortunately, their supposed follow-up (Miney Mo) didn't chart, then again, it probably would've been an early victim of cancel culture when one realizes the origins of Eenie-Meenie-Miney-Mo. 

20. Young Forever by Jay-Z f/Mr. Hudson. Their updated version of a 1984 song from Alphaville that has gotten significantly more run now than it did four decades ago. And yes, I strive to be young forever, which is why I regret not being able to raise my daughter, and probably why I want to be a stepdad. So I can relate stories of my youth...

19. Whattaya Want From Me? by Adam Lambert. What I really want is people to pay attention to what I write and what I say whether it be here, or Facebook, or Twitter, or any other social media platform that I am on. I don't like feeling like chopped liver at times...

18. Solo by Iyaz

17. All The Right Moves by OneRepublic. For which it stands, one Nation (under God) with liberty and justice FOR ALL.

16. Not Myself Tonight by Christina Aguilera. You're not alone Christina, I haven't really felt myself this whole month.

15. TikTok by Ke$ha. I still say that Kesha should get a cut of the profits from the TikTok app. A significant one at that. Oracle, work your magic.

14. Imma Be by Blackeyed Peas. Remember the website ytmnd.com? Still around by the way, though not as popular as it once was. Anyway, there are a couple of memes created from that song.

13. Naturally by Selena Gomez & The Scene

12. OMG by Usher f/Will.I.Am

11. Alejandro by Lady Gaga. The only Alejandros that come to the top of my mind are both MLB players. Alejandro Pena whose career spanned the 80's and 90's culminating in a World Series win with the Florida Marlins, and Alejandro Kirk, who currently plays for the Toronto Blue Jays.

10. Carry Out by Timbaland f/Justin Timberlake

  9. Your Love Is My Drug by Ke$ha. I wish someone felt that way about my love. By the way, thanks for the compliment on my beard ;)

  8. Telephone by Lady Gaga f/Beyonce. One of the last music videos I remember watching, and probably the one of last ones that was seriously hyped by MTV. Once you kill a cow, you have to build a burger, or whatever Gaga said to Bey in the video.

  7. Breakeven by The Script

  6. Need You Now by Lady Antebellum. There have been many times in my life that I have felt this way, especially the past couple of months. Wish the feeling were mutual...

  5. Break Your Heart by Taio Cruz f/Ludacris. Speaking of Ludacris, have you noticed his hit "Roll Out" is being used by Lowe's home improvement centers? A little bold considering Luda hails from Atlanta (my birthplace by the way) and Lowe's primary rival, Home Depot, is based in Atlanta. Lowe's incidentally is based out of Mooresville, NC. A little north of Charlotte.

  4. Hey Soul Sister by Train. I need to listen to that song again...

  3. Nothin' On You by B.O.B. f/Bruno Mars. I like B.O.B.'s hit "Magic" better because the Orlando Magic, or should I say Tragic, would play it after a win as of a couple of seasons ago. Now they play their hokey theme song from 1989. No, I'm not linking you to the song.

  2. In My Head by Jason Derulo. Yes, yes she is.

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

  1. Rude Boy by Rihanna. You know, that may be my whole problem. I'm generally too nice of a guy. However, rude isn't really my style. As The Offspring sang years ago, "your one vice is you're too nice." Nice sure doesn't apply to that motley crew that's running our nation right now.

Anyway, that's this week's flashback. I seriously should consider doing more writing, but my depression (and life) keeps getting in the way. Follow me on my socials for more..,

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Bonyscribe

Bony Scribe's Random Top 40 Flashback, Volume III

 Hello once again. If you didn't catch my last entry, we had snow in Florida yesterday, and south of Tampa, there still may be a threat of snow showers believe it or not. Later today, the NHL Stadium Series comes to Raymond James Stadium as the Tampa Bay Lightning face off vs. the Boston Bruins.  As of right now, the temperature in Spring Hill (about 45 minutes north of Tampa) is 31 with windy conditions and going down to about 25 by daybreak. Quite the start to my birthday month. 

Today marks the third edition of my random Top 40 flashback feature. In November, I did March of 1989. Then in December, I did May of 1987. Today, I'm going to do the fourth week of August 1997. For those of you who may be new to reading this blog, the way I do my flashbacks is that I take the data (depending on the date) from either the Billboard (Hot 100 from 1980-91, Hot 100 Airplay from 92 on) charts, the Radio & Records CHR charts, or both. For these random ones, I utilize both. A predetermined point value is given to a song in relation to the position of that particular chart, along with bonuses for longevity, or how long that song has been charting. I wrote how and why I did this several years ago on this site, I might have to repost it to give you a reference. Anyway, from the data given, here were the Top 40 songs for the week of August 22, 1997.

Before we begin, there were fifty songs that charted on the BB Hot 100 Airplay and R&R CHR pop charts, so ten missed the cut. Those were:

On My Own by Peach Union (#40 R/R)
Everything by Mary J. Blige (#40 BB)
Turn My Head by Live (#39 R/R)
Love You Down by INOJ (#39 BB)
What Do You Want From Me? by Monaco (#38 R/R)
Supernatural by Wild Orchid (#37 R/R)
Not Tonight by Lil' Kim (#37 BB)
Happy With You by Samantha Cole (#36 R/R)
Stomp by God's Property (#35 R/R)
Walkin' On The Sun by Smash Mouth (#35 BB)

40. Takes A Little Time by Amy Grant (#33 R/R--8 points)

39. G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T. by Changing Faces (#32 BB--11 points)

38. When I Die by No Mercy (#32 R/R--11 points). While both GHETTOUT and When I Die had 11 points, When I Die was on its ninth week on the R/R chart while GHETTOUT was on its eighth week on the Billboard chart.

37. I Belong To You (Every Time I See Your Face) by Rome (#34 BB--12 points)

36. To The Moon & Back by Savage Garden (#29 R/R--17 points)

35. Barbie Girl by Aqua (#36 BB, #27 R/R--19 points)

34. How Do I Live by Leann Rimes (#38 BB, #26 R/R--20 points)

33. I Wanna Be There by Blessid Union Of Souls (#30 R/R--21 points)
32. MMMBop by Hanson (#30 BB--21 points). MMMBop was a former #1 on both charts. I Wanna Be There merely reached the top 20 on the R/R chart and only charted for one week on the Hot 100 airplay chart. Interesting because IWBT was on its 18th week on R/R while MMMBop was on its 19th on Billboard; it had already reached recurrent status on R/R (Under #20 with 20 or more weeks since its debut). Kinda indicates some vast differences between the BB Hot 100 Airplay, which I assume covers all formats, and the R/R charts, which only covers mainstream pop. I wish I had worked in the radio business so I could better try to explain it and possibly give some insight as to why IWBT didn't get as much run on BB.

31. I Don't Wanna Wait by Paula Cole (#33 BB, #24 R/R--27 points)
30. Mo Money Mo Problems by The Notorious B.I.G. f/Puff Daddy & Mase (#19 BB--27 points). In this instance, the opposite of what occurred with the last two songs appears evident, as this was the only song by Biggie to chart on R/R (it hadn't reached the Top 40 yet), and when it did it only reached #29, doing so in October. I'll have another example of that featuring Diddy later.

29. Fly by Sugar Ray (#25 BB, #31 R/R--28 points)

28. Coco Jamboo by Mr. President (#31 BB, #20 R/R--33 points)

27. The Impression That I Get by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (#27 BB, #28 R/R--37 points)

26. Invisible Man by 98 Degrees (#28 BB, #18 R/R--38 points)

25. Say You'll Be There by Spice Girls (#29 BB, #34 R/R--39 points). Pause here to give some of you some eye candy:

...and you wonder why my affinity towards redheads comes from? Forever grateful, Geri.

24. More Than This by 10,000 Maniacs (#26 BB, #22 R/R--41 points)

23. Building A Mystery by Sarah McLachlan (#17 BB, #25 R/R--42 points). No, there wasn't a sappy commercial from the ASPCA that accompanied this song, nor was it featured in that infamous dead dog dedication. Maybe my next flashback will feature the song that was involved with that.

22. Barely Breathing by Duncan Sheik (14 BB--45 points). Already reached recurrent status on R/R.

21. A Change Will Do You Good by Sheryl Crow (#22 BB, #23 R/R--47 points). The song with one of my favorite lines, "Jack off Jimmy everybody wants more."

20. If You Could Only See by Tonic (#21 BB, #21 R/R--47 points)

19. The Difference by The Wallflowers (#23 BB, #16 R/R--47 points)

18. One Headlight by The Wallflowers (#11 BB--52 points). As was the case with Barely Breathing, One Headlight had also reached recurrent status on the R/R chart.

17. Honey by Mariah Carey (#18 BB, #14 R/R--53 points). I read recently that Mariah has only five Grammy wins. How is that possible?! Then again AMPAS voted Jethro Tull over Metallica for best hard rock performance in the early 90s and in 2001 had an album of the year win by Steely Dan. Steely Dan.

16. Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band (#20 BB, 19 R/R--58 points)

15. Push by Matchbox 20 (#13 BB, #12 R/R--73 points)

14. Foolish Games by Jewel (#12 BB, #10 R/R--76 points)

13. Return Of The Mack by Mark Morrison (#16 BB, #17 R/R--79 points)

12. Where's The Love by Hanson (#24 BB, #6 R/R--84 points). Coming off the heels of "MMMBop," this track proved that a strictly pop hit while almost a certain smash on R/R doesn't guarantee success on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.

11. The Freshmen by The Verve Pipe (#9 BB, #13 R/R--97 points)

10. I'll Be Missing You by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans f/112 (#6 BB, #15 R/R--103 points). Remember the earlier example regarding Biggie? Diddy reached #4 on Billboard with this tribute track to Biggie and Tupac (who were assassinated in separate incidents over the prior six months), and surprisingly got some rub on R/R yet only managed #13.

  9. Do You Know (What It Takes) by Robyn (#15 BB, #7 R/R--108 points)

  8. Bitch by Meredith Brooks (#10 BB, #9 R/R--110 points). Don't think that song would work today. Censorship has started to run rampant present day. Case in point, the E****** files.

Seriously, nothing makes sense anymore. That gets bleeped out on TikTok while Chappel Roan practically exposed her breasts on the red carpet of the GRAMMYs last night.

  7. All For You by Sister Hazel (#7 BB, #8 R/R--120 points)

  6. 2 Become 1 by Spice Girls (#8 BB, #4 R/R--137 points). Again, I ask for your indulgence:

  5. Sunny Came Home by Shawn Colvin (#2 BB, #11 R/R--167 points). Speaking of the GRAMMYs, remember Colvin's win for Best Song in 1998 and her acceptance speech got hijacked by Ol' Dirty Bastard? Come to think of it this was the same GRAMMYs where "Soy Bomb" interrupted a performance by Bob Dylan. Now, the whole WORLD is unhinged...

  4. Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) by Backstreet Boys (#5 BB, #2 R/R--190 points)

  3. How Bizarre by OMC (#4 BB, #3 R/R--195 points)

  2. Men In Black by Will Smith (#1 BB, #5 R/R--210 points)

and my top spot for the week of August 22, 1997 went to...

  1. Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind (#3 BB, #1 R/R--235 points).

A quick word about this week before I wrap things up for this entry. Not only is Sunday my birthday, but it's also Super Bowl Sunday. I pick Seattle to get revenge on what happened a dozen years ago in Arizona to the hands of New England. Friday I'm going to have some fun, but also the Winter Olympics begin in Italy. During the Opening Ceremony, wouldn't it be something if, given the state of matters in the US, a member or several members of Team USA as they're marching into the San Siro for the parade of athletes did THIS gesture:

Food for thought. Anyway, enjoy the week!

Bonyscribe.

Top 100 of 1994 and a Personal Note

 Good evening, except for you Megyn Kelly, you sick f**k. Haven't been very active on this here blog lately. That isn't because I've had nothing to talk about, but I haven't felt like doing much writing lately. Like I've said in previous entries, I've been a bit too depressed to write anything. This time it's a combination of what's been going on in the news, which is depressing enough to begin with, and not being able to see my love interest for almost a month. I hate it. Plus, the holidays are coming, which aren't what they used to be now that there's just the two sisters and I left...for now. I did have a somewhat good evening, minus one detail. Five of the teams that I root for won, and while the autumn chill has descended upon the Tampa Bay area, the weather hasn't been bad (except for last week, when it was colder than a well digger's a$$), so I thought I would submit this entry.

Tonight, I'm going to give you my Top 100 songs of 1994 based on data compiled by both Radio & Records Magazine and Billboard Magazine. So, without further ado, away we go.

100. Anything by SWV
  99. Loser by Beck
  98. At Your Best (You Are Love) by Aaliyah
  97. Mr. Vain by Culture Beat
  96. Dreams by Gabrielle
  95. I Wanna Be Down by Brandy
  94. The Way She Loves Me by Richard Marx
  93. Stroke You Up by Changing Faces
  92. I Miss You by Aaron Hall
  91. Something's Always Wrong by Toad the Wet Sprocket

A few things of note here, both 100 and 95 appeared on Billboard, but not R&R during 1994 (although Brandy did appear briefly on there the next year), the only two songs in this list that accomplished that feat. Also, Stroke You Up was backed by R. Kelly, who controversially was seeing Aaliyah at the time, who was only 14. But according to Megyn Kelly, it shouldn't be a big deal. Megyn...

  90. Never Lie by Immature
  89. Never Keeping Secrets by Babyface
  88. Misled by Celine Dion
  87. Circle Of Life by Elton John
  86. Beautiful In My Eyes by Joshua Kadison
  85. Basket Case by Green Day
  84. Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots
  83. Far Behind by Candlebox
  82. Rock & Roll Dreams Come Through by Meat Loaf
  81. You Better Wait by Steve Perry

In this group of ten, we have the breakout hit by Green Day, a song that my former roommate had a fixation for (Far Behind), and Steve Perry with a comeback hit of sorts that kinda ties into recent headlines, and someone I mentioned before on this entry.

  80. Sukiyaki by 4PM
  79. Understanding by Xscape
  78. Allison Road by Gin Blossoms
  77. Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden
  76. Lucky One by Amy Grant
  75. Groove Thang by Zhane
  74. Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  73. Love Sneakin' Up On You by Bonnie Raitt
  72. Regulate by Warren G. & Nate Dogg
  71. You Gotta Be by Des'ree

Among this group is a fantastic hip-hop track that could've been the song of that summer, Last Dance, which featured Kim Basinger in the video (and I didn't know Mary Jane was code at the time, I was 20), and You Gotta Be, which lasted on the charts about as long as the Energizer Bunny did.

  70. Round Here by Counting Crows
  69. Turn The Beat Around by Gloria Estefan
  68. You Want This by Janet Jackson
  67. Stay by Eternal
  66. Everyday by Phil Collins
  65. I Can See Clearly Now by Jimmy Cliff
  64. Living In Danger by Ace of Base
  63. What's The Frequency, Kenneth? by R.E.M. 
  62. Fantastic Voyage by Coolio
  61. Linger by The Cranberries

Every time I see the song "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" I'm reminded of a former shipmate onboard the Eisenhower that had the first name of Ken, although I never got to use that line when asking what the frequency of the generators on our ship were (it was always set at a certain frequency).

  60. Can We Talk by Tevin Campbell
  59. Amazing by Aerosmith
  58. Choose by Color Me Badd
  57. Again by Janet Jackson
  56. I'll Take You There by General Public
  55. Here Comes The Hotstepper by Ini Kamoze
  54. Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) by Us3
  53. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by Crash Test Dummies
  52. All That She Wants by Ace of Base
  51. Said I Loved You...But I Lied by Michael Bolton

Numbers 55-53 were noteworthy because they were from artists that were genuinely one-hit wonders. Neither of those three were really heard from again after their respective songs.

  50. Streets Of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen
  49. Until I Fall Away by Gin Blossoms
  48. Prayer For The Dying by Seal
  47. I'll Stand By You by Pretenders
  46. Always by Erasure
  45. Endless Love by Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey
  44. Bump N' Grind by R. Kelly
  43. I'm Ready by Tevin Campbell
  42. Back & Forth by Aaliyah
  41. Because The Night by 10,000 Maniacs

I had mentioned earlier about the controversy between R. Kelly and Aaliyah. Well if it weren't for Tevin Campbell, they would actually be together on this list. Eww.

  40. I'm The Only One by Melissa Etheridge
  39. December 1963 (Oh What A Night) by The Four Seasons
  38. Crazy by Aerosmith
  37. Found Out About You by Gin Blossoms
  36. On Bended Knee by Boyz II Men
  35. Shoop by Salt-N-Pepa
  34. Always by Bon Jovi
  33. Please Forgive Me by Bryan Adams
  32. 100% Pure Love by Crystal Waters
  31. Return To Innocence by Enigma

December 1963 wasn't actually the track that first appeared in the mid-70's; it was a remix by Ben Liebrand that got significant airplay thanks in part to John Garabedian's "Open House Party" back in the day. I don't know if that program exists anymore, last I checked it was being run by the former evening DJ at WFLZ radio in Tampa. Yuck.

  30. All For Love by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, & Sting
  29. Anytime You Need A Friend by Mariah Carey
  28. So Much In Love by All-4-One
  27. Anytime, Anyplace by Janet Jackson
  26. Now And Forever by Richard Marx
  25. Because Of Love by Janet Jackson
  24. Secret by Madonna
  23. Come To My Window by Melissa Etheridge
  22. Hero by Mariah Carey
  21. Whatta Man by Salt-N-Pepa w/En Vogue

"Secret" by Madonna was off her CD Bedtime Stories, which is noteworthy because a female shipmate (who I had one of my first...uh, relations with while driving around Norfolk) played the cassette in the car I had at the time, a 1985 grey Mercury Grand Marquis. Oh, by the way, she was a redhead.

  20. Shine by Collective Soul
  19. Breathe Again by Toni Braxton
  18. Another Night by Real McCoy
  17. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World by Prince
  16. Can You Feel The Love Tonight by Elton John
  15. When Can I See You by Babyface
  14. You Mean The World To Me by Toni Braxton
  13. If You Go by Jon Secada
  12. Without You by Mariah Carey
  11. The Power Of Love by Celine Dion

songs 17-11 seem like a list of songs that would be played during one of those Long-Distance Dedications that the late Casey Kasem used to do on his countdown shows way back when. Speaking of which, here is the most beautiful girl (woman) in the world to me:

  10. Baby I Love Your Way by Big Mountain

    9. Wild Night by John Mellencamp w/ Me'chelle Ndegeocello

    8. All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow

    7. Mr. Jones by Counting Crows

    6. I'll Remember by Madonna

    5. I Swear by All-4-One

    4. I'll Make Love To You by Boyz II Men

    3. Stay (I Missed You) by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories

    2. Don't Turn Around by Ace of Base

    1. The Sign by Ace of Base

Finally, we come to the top of the list. It was a consensus number one for the year, as The Sign (by a hefty margin) nabbed the top spot on both Billboard and R/R. In fact, eight of the Top Ten I tabulated from Billboard made the Top Ten, while nine came from Radio and Records. Interestingly, "Baby I Love Your Way" failed to make the Top Ten in either Billboard or R/R (14th and 11th respectively) but reached #10 when combining the data. 

Anyway, before I go, I wanted to express my dismay on what's going on back in North Carolina. President Trump this week has sent his ICE goons to both Raleigh and Charlotte in an "immigration crackdown" of those areas. I sure as heck don't like it and neither do the majority of folks that live up there. I guess he wants another distraction from The Epstein Files, which will be released this week. Heck, if what has been going around TikTok the last 24 hours is true, he'll start a war with Venezuela. Stay tuned. And F*** ICE.

Bonyscribe

 

 

 

It's 7/11...Oh Thank Heaven...(Flashback)

 Hello again everyone, except for TEMU Fred Durst and the management at Crazy Squirrel Bar. You may shut me out from patronizing your establishment, but you aren't shutting me down. And with that, it's 7/11 day, which will score you a free small Slurpee at 7-Eleven, if they still have that offer. Hell, with the way things are going in the world, I doubt that even they would be free. Thanks, Trump.  

Anyway today, I thought I would publish my second flashback this week, and third this year. Usually, I would have several more flashbacks under my belt this year, but this hasn't been your usual year by any stretch of the imagination. My mental and emotional health have been on a roller coaster to say the least, first sky high, then down in dumps. I'm trying to get back to the way things were in February and March. Kind of like my mental state in the summer of 1994, which is what this flashback is going to cover today. Here are the Top 40 songs according to Radio & Records Magazine of the week of July 11, 1994.

40. All I Want Is You by U2. Not my dream woman's genre of music per se, but a song I would definitely send to her. I think you know who it is...

39. Longview by Green Day. Incredibly, "Basketcase" was not the first top 40 hit from Green Day, this was.

38. It's Over Now by Cause & Effect

37. I Need Your Love by Boston. Kind of random since their heyday was about two decades earlier.

36. Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden. As I remember, Z104 in Norfolk, VA was all over this (as was MTV) that summer, too bad within two years, the station would go away from playing rock music that crossed over to pop altogether.

35. Selling The Drama by Live. Much like Green Day, one of their signature songs ("Lightning Crashes") didn't debut first. On a side note, as a younger man at the time and quite possibly naive, I thought that the voiceover dude from WDCG G-105 in Raleigh, which I would listen to on liberty from the Navy Base at the time, was actually the lead singer of Live because they had similar voices. Looking back, I could have done a lot of things differently back then...

34. When Can I See You Again? by Babyface. I liked this song at the time because I had met someone from Puerto Rico that spring while on port call, and this kind of applies now to the woman of my dreams; I haven't seen her since Mother's Day weekend...

33. You Let Your Heart Go Too Fast by The Spin Doctors. Well, maybe I did. I always do that.

32. I'll Be Loving You by Collage. The last gasp of the freestyle dance format, which was wildly popular amongst radio stations in Florida during the early 1990s but quickly fell out of favor. Could it be because it was popular in Florida???

31. Hard Luck Woman by Garth Brooks. Yes, you read that right. Garth Brooks hit the pop radio Top 40 thanks to a cover of a song first released by Kiss.

30. Backwater by The Meat Puppets

29. Fall Down by Toad the Wet Sprocket. Speaking of falling down, I'm feeling a bit down all of a sudden. I have an inkling as to why, but I'd rather not talk about it on here for now...

28. Sleeping In My Car by Roxette. This was the final top 40 hit for the Swedish duo. Reminds me of one of their iconic songs. It must have been love, but it's over now. Rest in peace, Marie Fredrikssen.

27. Misled by Celine Dion. With the exception of "That's The Way It Is" in 2000, I think every other song she released after this was a ballad.

26. The Way She Loves Me by Richard Marx

25. Round Here by Counting Crows. Round here lately, here being social media, I've seen posts about profiles being "stalked." I have a few thoughts on that.

24. I'll Take You There by General Public. One, isn't one the purposes of social media is to put yourself out there? Hell, I WANT my social media pages to be stalked to an extent, as long as I control what I put out there so that everyone can see...

23. Ain't Got Nothing If You Ain't Got Love by Michael Bolton. Two, if you're so paranoid about your social media being "stalked," there's always the "block" button. Just saying.

22. The Sign by Ace of Base. Now that I have that rant out of the way, this song was ubiquitous in 1994. Hell, Ace of Base was ubiquitous. You couldn't get away from them.

21. Return To Innocence by Enigma. I remember that the video was kinda like time going in reverse, with a white horse with a unicorn horn poorly attached to its forehead.

20. Back & Forth by Alliyah

19. Come To My Window by Melissa Etheridge

18. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World by Prince. I wonder who that might be??? 

17. Prayer For The Dying by Seal

16. Wild Night by John Mellencamp f/Meshell Ndegeocello. This was an amazing song that somehow didn't reach number one. It peaked at #3 on both R/R and Billboard.

15. Until I Fall Away by The Gin Blossoms

14. Baby I Love Your Way by Big Mountain. Loved this one as well.

13. Mr. Jones by Counting Crows. Gonna be big stars...

12. Always by Erasure

11. Shine by Collective Soul. Debut hit for a group that would help define mid-90s rock.

10. Can You Feel The Love Tonight? by Elton John. No, I actually can't. Not since March to be honest.

  9. Anytime, Anyplace by Janet Jackson

  8. Crazy by Aerosmith. Alicia Silverstone was so hot back in 1994. Why did she throw it all away and support RFK, Jr.???

  7. Anytime You Need A Friend by Mariah Carey. It's just a DM away.

  6. You Mean The World To Me by Toni Braxton. If only I meant the same to her...

  5. If You Go by Jon Secada

  4. I'll Remember by Madonna

  3. Stay (I Missed You) by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories

  2. I Swear by All-4-One. Without going into too much detail, I hated this group because at the time I thought they flat out stole it from John Michael Montgomery. Turns out there were two versions of the same song by two artists release concurrently, one for pop radio and one for country radio. I thought the country one was better.

...and the number one hit this week 31 years ago was...

  

1. Don't Turn Around by Ace of Base. See, I TOLD you that you couldn't get away from them in 1994.

Well, that puts a wrap on this week's second flashback. Long before there was such a thing as social media, or Jet2 Holidays, or TikTok. I'm going to spend part of Saturday meeting new friends and running other errands before possibly watching wresting tomorrow night. I might have another entry in me for later this weekend, that is if I'm feeling up to it. Until then, take care.

Bonyscribe. 

A Jet2 Holiday Flashback

 Greetings once again. If any of you have gone onto the TikTok app in the course of the last month or so, you have more likely than not ran across content of video of an epic failure or some other blooper, that's accompanied by the audio from a British commercial from Jet2 Holidays. If you don't know what it is I'm talking about, here's the actual ad:

Of course, the meme has become viral over the course of the past couple of months, and the song that's used in the advertisement, "Hold My Hand" by Jess Glynne, is the subject of today's flashback.

It wasn't until the meme became popular that I realized that the song in question reached the US Top 40 late in 2015, so with that in mind, here were the Top 40 hits roughly based off Mediabase 24/7 for October 11, 2015, which was the date that this particular song peaked on the chart:

40. That's How You Know by Nico & Vinz f/Bebe Rexha

39. Cake By The Ocean by DNCE

38. Break A Sweat by Becky G

37. Something Better by Audien f/Lady A(ntebellum)

36. 679 by Fetty Wap f/Remy Boyz

35. Marvin Gaye by Charlie Puth f/Meghan Trainor

34. El Pedron (Forgiveness) by Nicky Jam f/Enrique Iglesias

33. Lay It All On Me by Rudimental f/Ed Sheerhan

32. Confident by Demi Lovato

31. Feelings by Maroon 5

30. Fight Song by Rachel Platton

29. Hold Me Up by Conrad Sewell

28. Hold Each Other by A Great Big World f/Futuristic

27. HOLD MY HAND by Jess Glynne. Nothing beats a Jet2 Holiday!

26. Hide Away by Daya

25. Like I'm Gonna Lose You by Meghan Trainor f/John Legend

24. Powerful by Major Lazer f/Ellie Goulding

23. Same Old Love by Selena Gomez

22. Here by Alessia Cara

21. Hotline Bling by Drake

20. Uma Thurman by Fall Out Boy

19. Ex's & Oh's by Elle King

18. Cheerleader by OMI

17. How Deep Is Your Love by Calvin Harris + Disciples

16. Levels by Nick Jonas

15. On My Mind by Ellie Goulding

14. Love Myself by Halie Steinfeld

13. Renegades by X Ambassadors

12. Cool For The Summer by Demi Lovato

11. Downtown by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

10. Drag Me Down by One Direction

  9. Lean On by Major Lazer

  8. Photograph by Ed Sheeran

  7. Can't Feel My Face by The Weeknd

  6. Good For You by Selena Gomez f/ASAP Rocky

  5. Stitches by Sean Mendes

  4. Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift

  3. What Do You Mean? by Justin Bieber

  2. The Hills by The Weeknd

and the number one song on October 11, 2015 was...

  1. Locked Away by R. City f/Adam Levine

To be honest, I kinda stopped listening to pop radio for the most part in 2015, because in my opinion it had turned into a crap payola scheme pushed onto us by ClearChannel (iHeart Media), of which the majority of pop stations across the USA were part of. Oh, and who controls Mediabase 24/7? iHeartMedia, the same nitwits that have enabled blatant right-wing misinformation across their various stations (Rush, Glenn Beck, Hanniturd) for decades. But I digress.

I recognize some song on this list, but not all of them, including "Hold My Hand." Still though, nothing beats a Jet2 Holiday!

Until later this week...

Bonyscribe

Don't forget to follow on Twitter, Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok! (Bonyscribe1)

Flashback: 1983 Combined Chart

 Hello again. It's been a while since I last wrote on here. Let's just say that November was a difficult month for me personally. I really haven't felt like writing much as a result. But life goes on, and it comes at you fast, even in my sixth decade. I'm starting to come to grips about my own mortality, which is part of the reason I've been so down lately. That and a few other things I think you (if you pay attention to my posts on social media) might have a small idea about. Then again, maybe not.

Anyway, remember last December I made a few blog posts reviewing what I thought were the Top 100 songs of a particular year? Well, I thought I would do that again since it is December and we're approaching the dead of winter (seriously, it's 39 right now on Florida's west coast right now). Let's see, I believe I left off with 1983. I did my top 100 based off data from Billboard Magazine and Radio and Records Magazine and separate posts, but I didn't do the combined chart, So, this what I'm doing tonight. According to data from both charts, these were what I think the top 100 songs from 1983 were.

100. Owner Of A Lonely Heart by Yes--470 points (#102 BB, #93 R/R)
  99. Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant--471 points (#84 BB, #106 R/R)
  98. Breaking Us In Two by Joe Jackson--472 points (#117 BB, #77 R/R)
  97. I've Got A Rock & Roll Heart by Eric Clapton--473 points (#107 BB, 88 R/R)
  96. Burning Down The House by Talking Heads--479 points (#95 BB, #103 R/R)
  95. The Girl Is Mine by Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson--487 points (#53 BB, #205 R/R)
  94. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You? by Laura Branigan--501 points (#98 BB, #94 R/R)
  93. Baby Jane by Rod Stewart--505 points (#110 BB, #74 R/R)
  92. Even Now by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band--510 points (#105 BB, #80 R/R)
  91. China Girl by David Bowie--515 points (#90 BB, #95 R/R)

  90. Hot Girls In Love by Loverboy--518 points (#94 BB, #90 R/R)
  89. You And I by Eddie Rabbitt & Crystal Gayle--540 points (#43 BB, did not chart on R/R)
  88. She's A Beauty by The Tubes--544 points (#86 BB, #87 R/R)
  87. I Know There's Something Going On by Frida--560 points (#85 BB, #83 R/R. Song both received 280 points from each chart)
  86. The Other Guy by Little River Band--580 points (#87 BB, #76 R/R)
  85. Dirty Laundry by Don Henley--594 points (#52 BB, #137 R/R)
  84. Always Something There To Remind Me by Naked Eyes--604 points (#70 BB, #85 R/R)
  83. Promises Promises by Naked Eyes--605 points (#82 BB, #75 R/R)
  82. Church Of The Poison Mind by Culture Club--610 points (#93 BB, #70 R/R)
  81. Far From Over by Frank Stallone--619 points (#88 BB, #69 R/R)

  80. Take Me To Heart by Quarterflash--625 points (#106 BB, #58 R/R)
  79. I'll Tumble 4 Ya by Culture Club--628 points (#71 BB, #79 R/R)
  78. Union Of The Snake by Duran Duran--640 points (#76 BB, #72 R/R)
  77. Crumblin' Down by John Mellencamp--642 points (#81 BB, #71 R/R)
  76. Lawyers In Love by Jackson Browne--654 points (#96 BB, #61 R/R)
  75. Straight From The Heart by Bryan Adams--664 points (#99 BB, #57 R/R)
  74. You Can't Hurry Love by Phil Collins--688 points (#75 BB, #67 R/R) 
  73. Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair) by Sheena Easton--689 points (#61 BB, #78 R/R)
  72. I'm Still Standing by Elton John--698 points (#89 BB, #54 R/R)
  71. (she's) Sexy + 17 by Stray Cats--701 points (#55 BB, #81 R/R)

  70. Heart To Heart by Kenny Loggins--711 points (#97 BB, #50 R/R)
  69. Puttin' On The Ritz by Taco--719 points (#35 BB, #128 R/R)
  68. Heart And Soul by Huey Lewis & The News--720 points (#73 BB, #60 R/R)
  67. My Love by Lionel Richie--731 points (#58 BB, #73 R/R)
  66. Maneater by Hall & Oates--747 points (#39 BB, #111 R/R)
  65. Family Man by Hall & Oates--751 points (#65 BB, #64 R/R)
  64. Solitaire by Laura Branigan--753 points (#59 BB, #68 R/R)
  63. Cum On Feel The Noize by Quiet Riot--753 points (#51 BB, #89 R/R)*
  62. Come Dancing by The Kinks--755 points (#62 BB, #66 R/R)
  61. Suddenly Last Summer by The Motels--764 points (#69 BB, #56 R/R)

  60. Delirious by Prince--765 points (#64 BB, #63 R/R)
  59. (Keep Feeling) Fascination by Human League--774 points (#60 BB, #65 R/R)
  58. Allentown by Billy Joel--780 points (#79 BB, #48 R/R)
  57. Don't Cry by Asia--792 points (#78 BB, #45 B/B)
  56. Faithfully by Journey--801 points (#83 BB, #43 R/R)
  55. Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye--837 points (#34 BB, #91 R/R)
  54. Our House by Madness--838 points (#66 BB, #49 R/R)
  53. I Won't Hold You Back by Toto--839 points (#77 BB, #40 R/R)
  52. We've Got Tonight by Kenny Rogers & Sheena Easton--850 points (#36 BB, #86 R/R)
  51. Too Shy by Kajagoogoo--857 points (#56 BB, #52 R/R)

  50. Affair Of The Heart by Rick Springfield--880 points (#63 BB, #44 R/R)
  49. All Right by Christopher Cross--921 points (#72 BB, #34 R/R)
  48. Back On The Chain Gang by Pretenders--929 points (#42 BB, #62 R/R)
  47. Human Nature by Michael Jackson--939 points (#67 BB, #36 R/R)
  46. She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby--945 points (#29 BB, #84 R/R)
  45. Is There Something I Should Know by Duran Duran--977 points (#44 BB, #53 R/R)
  44. Little Red Corvette by Prince--985 points (#47 BB, #51 R/R)
  43. It's A Mistake by Men At Work--1,016 points (#57 BB, #32 R/R)
  42. Stray Cat Strut by Stray Cats--1,040 points (#30 BB, #55 R/R)
  41. Don't Let It End by Styx--1,046 points (#54 BB, #35 R/R)

  40. Say It Isn't So by Hall & Oates--1,089 points (#46 BB, #38 R/R)
  39. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' by Michael Jackson--1,097 points (#49 BB, #33 R/R)
  38. Der Komissar by After The Fire--1,104 points (#40 BB, #39 R/R)
  37. Africa by Toto--1,107 points (#31 BB, #47 R/R)
  36. Love Is A Battlefield by Pat Benatar--1,121 points (#50 BB, #30 R/R)
  35. Never Gonna Let You Go by Sergio Mendes--1,168 points (#24 BB, #59 R/R)
  34. Stand Back by Stevie Nicks--1,195 points (#45 BB, #26 R/R)
  33. One Thing Leads To Another by The Fixx--1,199 points (#37 BB, #31 R/R)
  32. One On One by Hall & Oates--1,204 points (#48 BB, #24 R/R)
  31. True by Spandau Ballet--1,288 points (#32 BB, #25 R/R)

  30. Baby, Come To Me by James Ingram w/Patti Austin--1,361 points (#18 BB, #46 R/R)
  29. Mr. Roboto by Styx--1,370 points (#28 BB, #29 R/R)
  28. King Of Pain by The Police--1,388 points (#41 BB, #13 R/R)
  27. She Works Hard For The Money by Donna Summer--1,391 points (#19 BB, #37 R/R)
  26. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey--1,396 points (#38 BB, #15 R/R)
  25. Making Love Out Of Nothing At All by Air Supply--1,401 points (#17 BB, #42 R/R)
  24. The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats--1,426 points (#22 BB, #28 R/R)
  23. You Are by Lionel Richie--1,481 points (#33 BB, #12 R/R)
  22. Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners--1,497 points (#21 BB, #23 R/R)
  21. Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran--1,504 points (#13 BB, #41 R/R)

  20. Time (Clock Of The Heart) by Culture Club--1,521 points (#23 BB, #20 R/R)
  19. Tell Her About It by Billy Joel--1,578 points (#25 BB, #17 R/R)
  18. Uptown Girl by Billy Joel--1,595 points (#20 BB, #18 R/R)
  17. Jeopardy by Greg Kihn Band--1,650 points (#26 BB, #11 R/R)
  16. Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant--1,685 points (#14 BB, #22 R/R)
  15. Shame On The Moon by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band--1,763 points (#12 BB, #19 R/R)
  14. Overkill by Men At Work--1,763 points (#27 BB, #4 R/R)**
  13. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me by Culture Club--1,772 points (#15 BB, #16 R/R)
  12. Let's Dance by David Bowie--1,776 points (#10 BB, #21 R/R)
  11. Islands In The Stream by Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton--1,817 points (#7 BB, #27 R/R)

  10. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) by Eurythmics--1,889 points (#8 BB, #14 R/R)

    9. Say, Say, Say by Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson--1,894 points #16 BB, #8 R/R)

    8. Down Under by Men At Work--1,977 points (#9 BB, #9 R/R)

    7. Maniac by Michael Sembello--2,007 points (#11 BB, #6 R/R)

    6. Beat It by Michael Jackson--2,147 points (#5 BB, #10 R/R)
    
    5. All Night Long (All Night) by Lionel Richie--2,185 points (#6 BB, #5 R/R)

    4. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson--2,308 points (#3 BB, #7 R/R)

    3. Total Eclipse of The Heart by Bonnie Tyler--2,460 points (#4 BB, #3 R/R)

    2. Flashdance (What A Feeling) by Irene Cara--3,013 points (#1 BB, #2 R/R)

...and my number one song of 1983 was...

    1. Every Breath You Take by The Police--3,222 points (#2 BB, #1 R/R)

*Cum On Feel The Noize had more BB points than Solitaire (490-401)

**Overkill had more R/R points than Shame On The Moon had BB points (1015-985)

This was the third time in four years there wasn't a consensus number one. Only Kim Carnes with "Bette Davis Eyes" had accomplished that. "You and I" by Eddie Rabbitt & Crystal Gayle didn't reach the Radio & Records pop charts and was the only song among my top 100 to miss a chart. Not many songs on this list had a wide disparity between BB and R/R. Next in this series will be what I think was the best year in music history, 1984.

Until next time.

BonyScribe (yes, I'm on BlueSky, not what used to be Twitter. Suck it, Squealon!)

Flashback: August 28, 1992

 Hello once again. I'm spending my Friday night behind the keyboard getting some writing done this weekend. For the first of what I hope is three blog posts this weekend is another Top 40 Flashback. This year we're going back (sorry Kamala) to August 28, 1992, when I was knee deep in Navy World at RTC Orlando and quite honestly was oblivious to what was going on around me. I do remember being out on the grinder (a large concrete slab that we utilized to march in formation to go to class, the galley, etc.) during this time because we had heard that Hurricane Andrew was bearing down on Miami, and I remember the outer band clouds drifting from east to west as well as a breeze. This week, I'm utilizing the Radio & Records chart because this was during a time that the pop charts, especially Billboard, were going a bit sideways; songs were peaking early in their chart life and hanging around longer. You could tell that we were entering a new era musically. Anyway, without further ado, here were the Top 40 songs this week in 1992.

40. Too Funky by George Michael--down from #33. The video for this song was one of my favorites because I got to see Tyra Banks for the first time, only covered up top with tassels.

39. Bang Bang by David Sanborn--Debut. We lost Sanborn earlier this year, and unbeknownst to me until his death, he was a Tampa native.

38. Just Another Day by Jon Secada--down from #36. This song doesn't mean as much to me now as it did then, probably because (anti)social media has basically reconnected all my old classmates from the past. Sometimes technology is a good thing.

37. Friday I'm In Love by The Cure--down from #20. Every time this song comes on, I want to sing along to the lyrics.

36. Constant Craving by k.d. lang--up from #40. From what I remember, she rose to prominence from her remake of Roy Orbison's "Crying." I never understood why she never capitalized her name, if that is her given name. I'd ask her twin brother, Clay Aiken, but he was unavailable for comment. 😂

35. Kickin' It by After 7--up from #39.

34. Come And Talk To Me by Jodeci--down from #27. One of the few things that came out of Charlotte that's worth mentioning. The Hornets have pretty much always been mid, the Panthers are currently an embarrassment to the NFL, but at least there's NASCAR, but even that organization has been more like WWE instead of racing lately.

33. Jam by Michael Jackson--down from #17. Speaking of the Hornets, their owner Michael Jordan made a starring role in the video for this. Hold up, he sold the team? Well, I have to pull this picture out since they never won a playoff series during his tenure as owner:

32. Take This Heart by Richard Marx--down from #21. The video featured Marx in a dream sequence winning the World Series for the Chicago Cubs. Something at that time was unimaginable but came true in 2016. Also in the video, Bob Uecker was the announcer instead of Harry Caray.

31. Life Is A Highway by Tom Cochrane--down from #24. This song has lasted the test of time very well.

30. Forever Love by Color Me Badd--Debut. Don't have a lot for this one, because I loathed CMB at the time.

29. Would I Lie To You? by Charles & Eddie--up from #35. No, you may not. I've been lied to one time too many, even by members of my own family.

28. Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad? by Def Leppard--up from #34. Abso-freaking-lutely. To this day, I love this song.

27. Nobody Wins In This War by Mitch Malloy--up from #28. Yeah, he's right. That said, Slava Ukraina!

26. Restless Heart by Peter Cetera--unchanged from the previous week. This was his last major hit single, spanning a career that started in the late '60s with Chicago.

25. Always The Last To Know by Del Amitri--up from #32. This song only exists so that Del Amitri wouldn't be called a one-hit wonder ("Roll To Me").

24. Divine Thing by Soup Dragons--up from #29. I enjoyed this group. Too bad this and "Freedom" was all they were known for on the radio.

23. Not Enough Time by INXS--up from #31. It seems like that's what everybody has these days; not enough time.

22. Please Don't Go by KWS--up from #30. I remember when Orlando DJ Just Plain Mark on XL 106.7 one night late in 1992 played this song, and as a joke or for shits and giggles decided to count the number of times KWS said "please don't go" in the song. I think the total turned out to be 81.

21. Keep On Walkin' by CeCe Peniston--down from #12. Peniston was on her way to becoming a bright star in the early 90s, but then she just kept on walkin' to oblivion.

20. Give It Up by Wilson Phillips--up from #25. Yet another case of a star fading quickly after 1992, after a monster 1990 and 1991. I think I saw Carnie and Wendy promote an appearance at a fan expo on Facebook just the other day. No, Chynna wasn't featured.

19. I Wanna Love You by Jade--up from #23

18. Move This by Technotronic f/Ya Kid K--down from #14. This song was more known for being featured in Revlon commercials featuring Cindy Crawford, who may or may not have been drinking a Pepsi. 

17. When I Look Into Your Eyes by Firehouse--up from #22

16. Give U My Heart by Babyface f/Toni Braxton--up from #19. This was where most first heard of Toni Braxton, though I wouldn't for another year because I don't remember this song during this time (remember, I was in boot camp).

15. Nothing Broken But My Heart by Celine Dion--up from #18. It was so good seeing her at the Olympics Opening Ceremony earlier this summer.

14. She's Playing Hard To Get by Hi-Five--up from #16

13. Even Better Than The Real Thing by U2--unchanged from the previous week. As I recall, Dana Carvey (as Garth Algar) played drums to this song during the MTV VMAs in '92 while U2 was on tour and did a satellite linkup with their concert.

12. Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough by Patty Smyth with Don Henley--up from #15. No, it isn't, and I don't really know why...

11. This Used To Be My Playground by Madonna--down from #4. I only saw the last part of the movie ("A League of Their Own") the song came from. Why did Geena Davis drop the ball? BTW, there is crying in baseball, just ask the 1986 Boston Red Sox.

10. Jesus He Knows Me by Genesis--up from #11. A very good track shedding light on the absolute hypocrisy displayed by various television evangelists in the 80s and early 90s. They still exist by the way, right Joel Osteen?

  9. Do I Have To Say The Words by Bryan Adams--up from #10

  8. Givin' Him Something He Can Feel by En Vogue--down from #5. This song had a rather cringeworthy video of a bunch of men at a cabaret drooling all over themselves at the sight of the Funky Divas. Reminds me of the lovesick wolf in that Tex Avery cartoon in days of yore.

  7. All I Want by Toad The Wet Sprocket--unchanged from the previous week

  6. Stay by Shakespear's Sister--up from #8. I didn't know at the time but one of the members from Bananarama was in this duo, the one married to Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.

  5. Humpin' Around by Bobby Brown--up from #9. Not at my house...yet.

  4. The One by Elton John--up from #6. This was a song I wanted to dedicate to a girl I knew back in the early 80s, before I knew what love was all about. Last I heard, she sells real estate near Orlando, and no, she was not the one.

  3. Baby-Baby-Baby by TLC--down from #2. This should have reached number one, but as you'll see in a moment, they were blocked out of that spot.

  2. November Rain by Guns N' Roses--up from #3. An iconic song from an iconic group with an iconic video (I think they won the Video Vanguard Award the following year). Should have been the #1 song of 1992, but like the song before this one they were shut out by...

...the number one song on this date 32 years ago...

  1. End Of The Road by Boyz II Men--unchanged from the previous week.

This took a lot longer than I thought; 24 hours and change later I finally completed this one with a couple more entries to go. I guess I'll sleep when I'm dead. Catch you later!

BonyScribe

  

Flashback: June 15, 1996

 Hello again. It's been a few weeks since I did a flashback Top 40 blog post (about three weeks ago to be exact). Usually, I roll a 20-sided die to determine which year I choose for this blog, however with the Florida Panthers, the team I called the LOLCats for the longest time, on the precipice of their maiden Stanley Cup titleprecipice of their maiden Stanley Cup title, I thought I would turn back the clocks to 1996, the year they first reached the Final (and only their third year of existence). Now unfortunately for them, they would get swept by Colorado (who had just poached the team from Quebec City), and it wouldn't be until last season that they won a Stanley Cup Final game, but the rat throwing craze hit fever pitch in South Florida. So, grab your rats and get ready to toss them, as we go over the top 40 songs (provided by Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart) for this week in 1996.

40. Standing Outside A Broken Telephone Booth With Money In My Hand by Primitive Radio Gods. Man, that was a long title. Anyway, this song got, despite having heavy airplay over the summer of that year, didn't reach the Hot 100 singles chart. Remember, I'm going off airplay here. 1996 was weird, man.

39. Your Loving Arms by Billie Ray Martin. Not to be confused with country superstar Billy Ray Cyrus or late baseball manager and New York Yankees legend Billy Martin. To me this song sounded somewhat familiar to AC/DC's 1980 classic "You Shook Me All Night Long."

38. Jealousy by Natalie Merchant

37. Children by Robert Miles. It was a later song by Miles that I enjoyed more, "One and One." Sadly, Miles passed away from cancer in May of 2017. F*** cancer.

36. Big Me by The Foo Fighters. This was their first crossover hit from their self-titled debut album. I didn't know at the time that frontman Dave Grohl formed the band (that's what being in The Navy will do to you; there are some things that you lose awareness of). The video for it was a spoof of those Mentos commercials that aired in the 90s.

35. Salvation by The Cranberries

34. Machinehead by Bush. Probably my favorite Bush song. I thought it was from the movie "Swimfan," but it actually came from "Fear." I knew it was from a movie, but it was that I didn't see.

33. Flood by Jars Of Clay

32. Mother Mother by Tracy Bonham. Add this song to Madonna's "Oh Father" in 1989, The Nixon's "Sister" from later in 1996, Avicii's "Hey Brother" from 2014 (has it really been ten years already?), and either the aforementioned "Children" or Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child Of Mine" and you pretty much have a family tree playlist. Don't know if songs from Sister Sledge ("We Are Family") or Sly & The Family Stone ("Family Affair") can be included, maybe if you're a boomer it could.

31. 1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New) by Coolio. As I recall, the pop radio station in Richmond, VA (I lived in Newport News at the time) played the unedited version of the song. Apparently, the n-word was acceptable on the radio up there, and to that I say...

30. Counting Blue Cars by Dishwalla. The first song, or anything for that matter, that I remember of the portrayal of God as a female. 

29. You're Makin' Me High by Toni Braxton. Excuse me while I stare at the following picture for a bit...

28. Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix) by Los Del Rio. I'm sorry if I triggered certain memories here. One of these days, I'm going to come up with a "Jukebox From Hell" and this song will be included in it.

27. The World I Know by Collective Soul. A favorite of mine from back then.

26. 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins. 1979 was a pretty decent year, what little I remember of it.

25. Champagne Supernova by Oasis. Loved loved loved this song. 

24. The Earth, The Sun, The Rain by Color Me Badd. I avoided CMB like the plague back in the 90s, kinda like I avoid Bruno Mars present-day.

23. Be My Lover by La Bouche. Another mind-numbing banger from the mid-90's, where it seemed like songs like this were a dime or dozen. By the way, the young woman that worked at the laundromat down the road from where I was staying in Newport News sort of resembled lead singer (now deceased) Melanie Thornton.

22. Closer To Free by The Bodeans. True story, just before I left the Navy, I was invited to see a concert featuring the Bodeans by a red-head. I didn't take her up on the offer though because she happened to be MARRIED to a guy on the ship I was stationed aboard that had left for the Mediterranean (I stayed behind because my EOS date was like a month afterwards.

21. Fastlove by George Michael. I had to look up exactly when Michael had that controversial bathroom encounter that kind of derailed his career. It was 1998, I thought it was sooner.

20. Sweet Dreams by La Bouche

19. Sittin' Up In My Room by Brandy. Fun fact: I never watched an episode of "Moesha."

18. Name by Goo Goo Dolls. This song brings up another thing about 90s music that I didn't like; songs stayed in the top 20 for a long, long, long time. This particular song was on its 44th(!) week on the airplay chart. Of course nowadays, some songs have lasted an entire year in the Hot 100 (I think "Levatating" by Dua Lipa comes to mind).

17. Everything Falls Apart by Dog's Eye View. The beginning of this song really spoke about how my outlook on life was back in 1996; "Don't look now, things just got worse..." You know Einstein's Theory of Relativity? Well, I joked that I had Tyn-stein's Theory of Negativity. Too bad I was an angry cynical young punk back then. Maybe if I had a lot more gratitude back then, my life may have played out different...or not. But definitely one of the two.

16. You're The One by SWV. Actually, she wasn't the one after all.

15. Who Will Save Your Soul by Jewel. She was rather cute when she first started out, her and her snaggle tooth.

14. Insensitive by Jann Arden. I know of a few persons that are in fact insensitive, couple of them have red hair, too.

13. Tha Crossroads by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. This was actually the number one song on the Hot 100 for this particular week, a wonderful tribute to the late Easy E.

12. Theme From "Mission: Impossible" by Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen. Otherwise known as the OTHER two members of U2 (besides Bono and Edge). I saw this movie while it was out in the theater, and I believe it is the ONLY Tom Cruise flick I've seen on the big screen. I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan.

11. Follow You Down by The Gin Blossoms. No comment.

10. Wonder by Natalie Merchant. When you talk about the ladies of 90s music, Natalie is just, kinda there. Sure, she was solid at what she did, but there was no real hype about her, I think she was more geared to VH-1 than MTV whereas Mariah, Alanis, Janet and Madonna got most of the run on that network.

  9. Old Man & Me by Hootie & The Blowfish. Debut single off their follow up album to Cracked Rearview, Fairweather Johnson. You know, come to think of it, this was around the era of those Big Johnson T-shirts that some guys used to wear, and if you combine it with the term "fairweather friend," and...

Shut up, Bonyscribe.

  8. You Learn by Alanis Morissette. After all this time, I finally figured out how to correctly spell Alanis's last name. I guess I did learn after all!

  7. Missing by Everything But The Girl. The name of the band fits my life to a T so far. I'm still hoping to change that part.

  6. Nobody Knows by Tony Rich Project. One of several one-hit wonders that permeated the decade of the 90s.

  5. Give Me One Reason by Tracy Chapman. This song sort of threw me off for the longest time. It started out like a lazy river but finished like a fast car (pardon the pun), and I have always had difficulty whenever I heard this song in pinpointing where the pace of the song subtly changed.

  4. Ironic by Alanis Morissette. None of the scenarios in this song are actually ironic. That's something you can't do on television, let alone songwriting (see what I did there?). 

  3. Killing Me Softly by The Fugees. The video to this song exploits one of my biggest pet peeves; talking aloud in a movie theater. That and making a mess of the theater. Don't they have any consideration for the poor teenager who has to clean up thier mess. Wait a minute, what if said teenager was a classmate of the group in the movie theater and they just wanted to prank that person? Doesn't make it right but still...

  2. Always Be My Baby by Mariah Carey

and the number one (most played) song this week according to Billboard Magazine this week in 1996 was...

  1. Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion. From the movie "Up Close and Personal" with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford.

So that puts a wrap to this week's flashback. On Saturday, the LOLCats Panthers will try to put a wrap to the 2023-24 NHL season. Now to dodge some raindrops for the rest of the weekend. Stay safe, everyone.

Bonyscribe