Every Friday night I post the Top 5 of one of my classic hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from either 10, 20, or 30 years ago (rotating each week). But not this week. This week it’s a SPECIAL #RETRO:
We’re just about 24 hours away from Saint Patrick’s Day on March 17TH. It’s the day when most people of Irish descent (like myself) observe and celebrate by wearing green, and eating green foods, and drinking green liquids, and talking Irish-like. I’m not that crazy. I just wear green. When I was a kid in school (many years ago) if you didn’t wear green on Saint Patrick’s Day then you were likely to get pinched over and over again by someone wearing a lot of green. That pretty much made everyone Irish for a day.
My family had a Manx cat named Fluffy for over 17 years. She was a brown cat, but sometimes when the light (or the sun) hit her fur just right she looked greenish. This much is certain: Fluffy loved me more than any other human. When I wasn’t around she looked for me. During her final few years she “came back to life” whenever I came home to visit her.
I lived away from Fluffy in the south of England for exactly 2 years and 1 week from November 1985 to November 1987. I served in the United States Air Force at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Saint Patrick’s Day was a big thing in England back then. I imagine it still is. I know it’s even bigger in Ireland and Northern Ireland. I never got to visit either nation while I was so close by in England. I saw a lot of England during those two years when I was 18, 19, and 20 years old. I also visited Scotland, Wales, The Netherlands, Belgium, and France. One day in the future I’ll make it to Ireland – maybe even the Isle Of Man – home of the Manx cat.
Back on my Top 50 personal hit music chart for the week ending Sunday March 29TH 1987 an unsuspecting Irish ditty about a great ship made its debut at # 47. It was a collaboration featuring The Pogues and The Dubliners titled “The Irish Rover”. They actually performed that song LIVE on BBC’s “Top Of The Pops”. They kicked-off the show that week. The following week it skyrocketed 40 notches on my chart from # 47 to # 7. It peaked at # 4 the week after that. It was a Top 10 U.K. pop smash, and a # 1 smash in Ireland. Here’s a video of a TV broadcast where the two bands joined forces and performed it LIVE before a studio audience:
It’s halftime. I’ll be back on Sunday and Monday with two more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Have fun. Make memories that will last a lifetime.
All rights reserved (c) 2019 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
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