Month: March 2023

Categories
1980s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1988

Hello again retro music fans. Every Friday I post the Top 5 of one of my classic hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from either 15, 20, 25, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday March 27TH 1988:

  1. “Out Of The Blue” – Debbie Gibson
  2. “You Don’t Know” – Scarlett And Black
  3. “Just Like Paradise” – David Lee Roth
  4. “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car” – Billy Ocean
  5. “I Get Weak” – Belinda Carlisle

Surging 30 notches from # 32 to # 2 on this week 35 years ago was an obscure duo known as Scarlett And Black. One was a keyboard player for The Big Supreme – who I actually saw LIVE in concert on October 28TH 1986 in Oxford England. (They opened for Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark.) The other was a back-up singer for Doctor And The Medics – who scored a couple of # 1 smash hits on my chart in 1986. Together – they produced a single hit – “You Don’t Know”, and it hit the radio airwaves sounding just like this:

That was actually a big Spring Break hit in 1988, so if you were singing and dancing along to that track at a sunny and warm beach back then – then you must be my age.

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 45 years ago to the end of March 1978. It’s when all of America was dancin’ the night away.

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday and Monday with 2 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going retro with me !

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Geography Home Humor Television Travel

Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about the main campus of South Florida State College (#SFSC) near Avon Park – home of the 1,460-seat Alan Jay Wildstein Center For The Performing Arts. I got to see my first 2 concerts there last month. It’s just 2 miles away from my new home.

This week I’m about 100 miles away at a longtime favorite – the 1,874-seat Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall at Florida SouthWestern State College (#FSW) in Fort Myers. I’ve seen 8 shows / concerts there since 2011 including Chicago (the legendary band), Jay Leno, Brian Regan, and Frank Caliendo. I would’ve seen more shows there if I lived nearby, as it’s 3 hours away from my Homestead home – and 2 hours away from my now Sebring home. It’s my favorite small performing arts venue to see shows. A show at the #BBMANNPAH means a stay at a local hotel for the night – because – frankly – I don’t like driving long distances late at night. Scary things happen on the road in the dark.

Last Thursday night – after final closing of my new home 100 miles away – I saw Michael Carbonaro: Lies On Stage there. It was a great show. I’m glad I attended and experienced it. (I had thought about skipping the show and staying in my new home, but I decided to continue with my plans.)

Michael put on a fun comedy and magic show with lots of audience interaction. I was a big fan of his 2014-2020 truTV show The Carbonaro Effect. I saw every episode of it over the course of its 5 seasons. He essentially brought that show to our LIVE audience, and it was fun to see.

The show was actually postponed from an earlier date in mid-October – 2½ weeks after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian. (The venue suffered some roof damage, but shows resumed about a month after the storm.)

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write about some delicious fried chicken I found close to my new home. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 318

Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back nearly 45 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday March 19TH 2023 – the 318TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 9 The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)
[4TH week @ # 1]		 Matt Maher
2 2 16 I See Grace Micah Tyler
3 4 5 Running Home Cochren & Co.
4 3 14 My Story Your Glory Matthew West
5 7 7 I Believe It (The Life Of Jesus) Jon Reddick
6 5 14 First Things First Consumed By Fire
7 9 3 This Is Our God Phil Wickham
8 8 6 I’m So Blessed Cain
9 6 4 That’s Enough Brandon Heath
10 – 1 Believe Blessing Offor

# 1 This Week In:
2022 – “Brighter Days” – Blessing Offor
2021 – “Say I Won’t” – MercyMe
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Confidence” – Sanctus Real
2018 – “No One Like Our God” – Lincoln Brewster
2017 – “I Have This Hope” – Tenth Avenue North

BLESSING OFFOR – He’s back with his 3RD hit overall (and 2ND solo hit). “Believe” is his follow-up to his # 1 debut smash “Brighter Days”. It was actually released late last year. It took a while to finally reach my chart, as the song and its lyrics are catching on with me.

THE JOY FM – K-LOVE is not available over the radio airwaves up in my new area of Florida (Highlands County). Driving towards the area – I lose the last of 3 signals broadcasting K-LOVE in South and Southwest Florida just south of Lake Placid – about 25 miles from my new neighborhood. That’s when I switch over to THE JOY FM to continue listening (and singing along) to my favorite hits on the radio. I also listen to it on my radio in my new home. Of course – I can still listen to K-LOVE online via their app on my iPhone and iPad, and as soon as I get an Amazon Echo Dot (already ordered) for my new home – I can simply ask Alexa to “play K-LOVE”.

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again with the new weekend – and 4 new entries – known as #TravelThursday, #RetroFriday, #SundayScripture, and #Top10Monday.

Your likes, follows, and comments are always appreciated. Thank You for being part of my online ministry to share God’s Good News and win souls for Christ through His music. I’m also on Twitter and Flickr.

Be blessed my friends !  May our God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday March 19TH 2023, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this great new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.

That day finally happened. I got the long-anticipated news last Monday at around lunchtime. Final walkthrough of my new home would occur on Wednesday afternoon, and final closing would occur the next day. I would be handed the keys to my new home by the sellers (husband and wife) on that Wednesday afternoon, and informal turnover would occur right then and there. In other words – I could start moving-in, live, and sleep in my new home on that very first night prior to final closing. And so – I did just that. I shall remember that date forever – March 15TH 2023 – my first night in my retirement / forever home !

Fun Fact: My first night in my longtime Homestead home was June 13TH 1995, and it was 2 days prior to my official move-in date.

For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God. (Hebrews 3:4 NLT)

I got to settle-in to my new home over the next 3 days. This morning I’m doing what I plan to do for most Sunday mornings for the rest of this year, and that is to drive southward from my new home to my old home. It’s 183 miles to my Sunday morning home – my church family of the past 8 years and 1 week.

You know I’ve told my church family this often during sermons and at other times. My “prayer room” is my car. I do my most effective praying while driving – especially long distances. I pray for my family in Texas. I pray for my church family in Homestead. I pray for my coworkers in Homestead. I pray for everyone driving around me along U.S. 27 and S.R. 997. I pray for the whole world. I pray silently. I pray out loud. And as I pray – the scenery along both sides of the highway plays out in living color before my eyes. That’s God’s scenery. It’s His beauty. There’s an abundance of it along that mostly rural “countryside” 183-mile drive from new home to Sunday morning home. I’ll be ready to celebrate my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ with my church family after that 3-hour and 20-minute drive.

Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor, and you will see a land that stretches into the distance. (Isaiah 33:17 NLT)

If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. The best is yet to come !

Thank you for reading my blog for this day, and may:

The LORD bless you, and keep you.
The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp