Category: 1980s

My Least-Favorite Music Decade

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date November 5, 2020

Last Thursday I blogged about “My Favorite Music Decade” – the 1970s. This week I’m blogging about “My Least-Favorite Music Decade” – the 1980s.

I was not a fan of early-1980s music at all – not back then – not now. It reminds me of my high school years – which were not fun at all. MTV was huge back then, and they redefined how we not only heard – but also saw the hottest hits in the land. I didn’t watch much of it.

For a couple of years (1983 and 1984) I completely abandoned Top 40 music in favor of an all-comedy AM radio station in the Greater Washington D.C. area – WJOK. I was actually a “regular” on “The Funny Button”, as I called all of my favorite deejays on there on a fairly regular basis requesting comedy bits, telling jokes, and contributing comedic material.

At the end of 1985 I discovered the British pop scene – and I thorough immersed myself in it for the next 2 years – attending the first 17 concerts of my life. That was the peak of that music decade – those 2 years when I was working and living and having fun as an 18, 19, and 20-year-old in the south of England.

When I returned home stateside it was like a year of reruns. All of the great music that I enjoyed over in the United Kingdom in 1987 was just starting to make it big here in 1988.

1989 was a great year for pop music, but I’ve always considered it to be the start of 1990s music – which was a great decade overall.

So to recap there were only 2 good years of pop music from 1980 to 1988, and I had to go overseas to find it !

1980s Blogging Career Driving Life Military Music Radio Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1985

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date October 30, 2020

Every 2ND, 3RD, and 4TH Friday of the month 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, or 30 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 5TH Friday of the month, so it’s a special. Back in 1985 I was an 18-year-old USAF Airman Basic living in a dorm at Chanute AFB near Rantoul Illinois. I was there for technical training related to my future job. During those last days of October of 1985 I was still there, but I shouldn’t have been. You see I was held-back. While my 3 classmates moved on to their next destination I was still there with my instructor. I failed the final exam (barely). I didn’t study hard enough for it. Perhaps I partied just a little bit too much during the days and nights leading-up to the final exam.

So my instructor summarized the material of the past 12 weeks, quizzed me on it over and over again, and prepared me to take the final exam again. I passed it on the redo, and I was soon on my way out of that dorm, off the base, and on the road in my 1980 Chevy Citation. I drove 700 miles eastward across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and into Northern Virginia (my home-of-record at the time).

These were the hottest hits in the land during that memorable 700-mile drive – exactly 35 years ago this weekend – for the week ending Sunday October 27TH 1985:

“Saving All My Love For You” – Whitney Houston
“Part-Time Lover” – Stevie Wonder
“Take On Me” – A-Ha
“Miami Vice Theme” – Jan Hammer
“Head Over Heels” – Tears For Fears

That was the longest solo road-trip of my life (up to that point). That was in my very first car that I didn’t get to keep long enough, as I would soon be on my way overseas to The United Kingdom. (That car would eventually be sold by my Dad.)

Big changes are coming to RETRO starting next Friday. I’ll be removing 20 years ago from the monthly rotation, and I’ll be adding 25 years ago and 35 years ago. My hit music chart began 35 years ago next month in England, and 25 years ago this month it was resurrected after a 3-year hiatus. The beginnings of both of these distinct eras are intriguing, and I’m looking forward to looking back at these music memories of my life.

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 !

Tags 1985, Music, Radio, Top 40

1980s Blogging Career Driving Life Military Music Radio Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1985

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date September 4, 2020

It’s the 1ST Friday of the month, so it’s a special. Back in 1985 I was an 18-year-old USAF Airman Basic living in a dorm at Chanute AFB near Rantoul Illinois. In September I was in my 2ND month of technical school – learning how to do my future job. We were approaching the halfway point of our 12-week class. For the first 6 weeks class started early in the morning, and it continued until the middle of the afternoon. For the remaining 6 weeks we went to a “swing shift” schedule – starting in the middle of the afternoon, and continuing until late at night. That got us accustomed to the various schedules that we could face while working our job at our first permanent duty station.

I’m still having fun over on Facebook at the Chanute AFB Veterans page – enjoying the classic photos and reminiscing about my short time there on that base surrounded by cornfields. I wish I had photos to share, but sadly I didn’t own a camera or take pictures back then. I had a lot of fun though with my classmates and dormmates !

These were the hottest hits in the land exactly 35 years ago this weekend – for the week ending Sunday September 08TH 1985:

“St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion)” – John Paar
“The Power Of Love” – Huey Lewis And The News
“We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” – Tina Turner
“Freeway Of Love” – Aretha Franklin
“Summer Of ’69” – Bryan Adams

Good solid pop / light-rock music set back then. That’s what played on my static-filled AM radio in my 1980 Chevy Citation (my first car). #MusicRadioWLSChicago

Next week on RETRO it’s back to my regularly-scheduled program. I’ll go back 15 years to the 2ND week of September of 2005.

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with 3 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going RETRO with me !

Tags 1985, Music, Radio, Top 40

1980s Career Life Military Music Radio Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1985

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 7, 2020

It’s the 1ST Friday of the month, so it’s a special. Back in 1985 I was an 18-year-old USAF Airman Basic living in a dorm at Chanute AFB near Rantoul Illinois. I was in my first week of technical school after 6½ weeks of Basic Training at Lackland AFB near San Antonio Texas. It was my first week ever in Illinois. I lived (and trained) there for about 3 months, and I haven’t been back since. I’m actually having a lot of fun over on Facebook reminiscing with my fellow Chanute AFB colleagues about my short time there.

These were the hottest hits in the land exactly 35 years ago this weekend – for the week ending Sunday August 11TH 1985:

“Shout” – Tears For Fears
“Everytime You Go Away” – Paul Young
“If You Love Somebody Set Them Free” – Sting
“Never Surrender” – Corey Hart
“The Power Of Love” – Huey Lewis And The News

Good solid pop / light-rock music back then. It was the soundtrack of my 3RD month in the Air Force. I remember listening to a local Hot Adult Contemporary radio station at the time out of Champaign Illinois. Once I got my car (which only had AM radio) I listened to MusicRadio WLS – the “blowtorch” out of Chicago. (They made “Chi-CA-go” sound so nice during their top-of-the-hour station identification jingles.)

Next week on RETRO it’s back to my regularly-scheduled program. I’ll go back 15 years to the 2ND week of August of 2005.

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 !