Category: 1980s

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Stateside

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my arrival in the south of England 38 years ago on November 10TH 1985. Tomorrow is the 36TH anniversary of the date (November 17TH 1987) that I left England behind and arrived back home stateside.

I actually don’t remember much about that day. My memories are quite vivid from the Sunday morning 2 years and 1 week earlier when I arrived in England, but when I left England – not so much.

A friend of mine drove me from our (military) dormitory over to Billeting / Lodging at dawn, and from there I got on a shuttle that I think took me all the way to the airport. I don’t think I did the whole British Rail trek going to London (like I had when I arrived). I got on my flight at Heathrow, and I was back in the Washington D.C. area a few hours later that afternoon. (I got those 5 hours back that I lost 2 years and 1 week earlier.)

My Dad picked me up at the airport, and we went home. My cat – Fluffy – went ballistic with joy and happiness when she saw me. It was a wonderful stateside homecoming.

I got to hang out with my family – dad, mom, brother, and cat – for almost 2 weeks through the Thanksgiving holiday week. Again – I don’t remember much from those 13 days, but I know that it was a good time because I was back home with my family again.

I’m with my family right now – mom, brother, sister-in-law, nieces, and dog. We’re continuing our annual November tradition that goes back almost 20 years – #ThanksChristmasGiving – or #Thanksmas. It’s where we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas combined in a single week. The Christmas tree and decorations have been up for a couple of weeks, and we are actively engaging in Christmas shopping and gift-wrapping. We’ll open all of the presents by the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving morning. Shortly after that the entire house will be filled with the aroma of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

Next #TravelThursday is in 2 weeks – when I celebrate my 36TH (and final) anniversary in Homestead Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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1980s Blogging Career Driving Geography Military Music Radio Travel

London To Fairford England

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It was exactly 38 years ago tomorrow morning – the 10TH of November back in 1985 – that I arrived in a foreign country solo for the first time in my life – as a young 18-year-old.

It was a cold Sunday morning at London’s Heathrow Airport, and I had flown all night from Washington Dulles Airport. Of course I lost 5 hours overnight with the time difference.

I made my way to the British Rail station at the airport. I took that to Reading – where I got off the train. Oops. I wasn’t supposed to get off there. I got confused. I ended-up waiting at that station until the next train arrived. That didn’t take very long. I got on it, and I continued on to Swindon. At the Swindon station I hired a cab to take me to my new home and workplace – RAF Fairford – about 13 miles away.

The cab driver was nice and friendly. He welcomed me to the U.K., and he turned up the radio for us to listen to. I think we were listening to GWR. An eerie song came on that I had never heard before. It was Talking Heads with “Road To Nowhere”. How appropriate for that song to play on the radio as this young 18-year-old teenager was being driven on the left along narrow and curvy farmland roads from Swindon to RAF Fairford.

That was the start of my 2-year and 1-week adventure in the south of England as an 18, 19, and 20-year-old. I got to see a lot of England, Scotland, Wales, France, Belgium, and Netherlands. I wish I had seen more of the European continent, but I’m grateful for the areas that I did get to experience while I was over there.

I’ve attended about 150 concerts and live events in my life (100 since 2000), and the first 17 all occurred during those 2 years in England.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll return home stateside – just like I did exactly 36 years ago. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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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 May 01ST 1988:

  1. “I Should Be So Lucky” – Kylie Minogue
  2. “Always On My Mind” – Pet Shop Boys
  3. “Together Forever” – Rick Astley
  4. “You Don’t Know” – Scarlett And Black
  5. “Shattered Dreams” – Johnny Hates Jazz

At the very end of 1987 – exactly 6 weeks after I left The United Kingdom after living and working there for 2 years as an 18, 19, and 20-year-old – an unsuspecting HI-NRG pop song entered the U.K. pop charts way down near the bottom of it. By late-February of 1988 – “I Should Be So Lucky” was a # 1 smash, and it stayed there for 5 weeks. It became one of the best-selling singles in the U.K. in 1988. Its success continued on pop charts worldwide including here stateside, and it kicked-off the music career of Ms. Kylie Minogue – which continues to this day. Kylie was 19 when she recorded and released the single, and I admit it – I had a crush on her back then when I was 20 and 21.

“I Should Be So Lucky” (and Rick Astley’s “Together Forever”) were products of the #SAW (Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, Pete Waterman) hit music factory of the mid-to-late-1980s and into the early-1990s. They wrote and produced over 100 U.K. Top 40 hits during that era. They created Eurodance before we even knew what Eurodance was. I was a big fan of their sound, and I still enjoy it to this day.

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to the start of May 2008. It’s when Sonny was addicted.

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
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