Category: History

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History Music People Radio

Saturday Night Retro

Long before The Jonas Brothers, ‘N Sync, The Backstreet Boys, Hanson, New Kids On The Block, Leif Garrett, and David Cassidy there lived another HUGE teen pop idol that all of the young girls swarmed after. I’m talking of course about the incomparable Neil Sedaka.

From the age of 19 until the age of 24 (1958 to 1963) young Neil racked up an amazing 14 TOP 40 hits including the # 1 smash “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” and the TOP 5 smash “Calendar Girl”. But then the American music landscape radically changed in the mid-1960s, and young Neil was no longer the hot thing. (He wasn’t British for one thing.)

Fast forward more than 15 years after his initial debut, and Neil Sedaka started hanging out with Elton John who was at the peak of his long career. Elton helped to pull Neil out of his extended slump, and Neil returned to the top of the pop charts as a middle-aged dude. He took his classic “Laughter In The Rain” straight to # 1 at the start of February of 1975, and just 8 months later in October of 1975 his funky “Bad Blood” (with Elton on back-up vocals) hit # 1.

Here now is that very funky middle-aged version of Neil Sedaka from 1975:

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History Music Radio

The Major’s Friday Night Disco Party

Kool & The Gang have been together for longer than I’ve been on this Earth – over 45 years. They’ve been known as Kool & The Gang for the past 40 years. In fact their very first radio single in 1969 was titled “Kool & The Gang”, and it was from their debut album “Kool & The Gang”. They got more creative – more funkier – and more rambunctious as the years and the decades rolled on. Their biggest success occurred during the early-to-mid-1980s when they racked-up 10 TOP 10 hits. But a full decade before that they scored this early TOP 5 funky Disco smash that had the whole nation movin’ to the “Jungle Boogie”.

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Blogging Career Computers Driving Food History Holidays Internet Music People Travel Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– For the first time ever I’ve got 2 systems connected to the ‘Net simultaneously.
– I bought a ‘Wireless-N USB 2.0 Adapter‘ for my antique laptop.
– That’s the laptop that was my main system before I bought my new desktop.
– It’s so old that wireless technology was a mere option when it was new.
– Now I can access the Internet whereever there’s Wi-Fi.
– OK so I’m about 5 years behind the times here – at least I arrived.
– This suddenly rejuvenated laptop is going on a long road trip with me !
– Next Thursday night at this time I’ll be on vacation.
– I’m actually working for about 5 hours next Thursday morning.
– After that I’m off for the rest of the month.
– I return back to work to celebrate my 22ND anniversary at the air base.
– I’ve got an early departure time to hit the road next Friday morning.
– I’ve got about 825 miles to cover on the first day of my road trip.
– I can’t wait to get out on that open road.
– Late this morning I ventured over to Beef ‘O’ Brady’s for Lunch.
– I rarely eat cheeseburgers nowadays, but when I do Beef’s is the place.
– They also serve up some mightly tasty buffalo wings !
– Pretty much everything that I’ve ordered there was hot and delicious.
– Well the cold air from the north is advecting our area as I type this.
– Once the skies clear out our temperatures will tumble rapidly.
– I’m forecasting a low of 56° for Homestead from 6 AM to 7 AM on Friday.
– But wind chills will actually be closer to 50° !
– Tomorrow (Friday) we will struggle to reach 75°.
– It’ll be another chilly morning on Saturday.
– I can’t wait until I can walk around my neighbourhood in it !
– That’s right – I’m doin’ a ‘Walk-A-Thon’ on Saturday morning.
– This Saturday night on the ‘Retro’ I’ve got a funky Neil Sedaka from 1975.
– But first before that we’re gonna do the “Jungle Boogie” at the ‘Disco Party’.
– Be sure not to miss those weekend shenanigans.
– Those are my ‘Mini Thoughts’ for this Thursday night.
– I thank you for checking them out, and I’ll see ya back here tomorrow.
– In the meantime – REMEMBER THIS !

Chris At The Beach

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Career History Holidays Music Radio Television Travel Weather

Saturday Night Retro

Whenever the first two weeks of November roll around I think of cooler and drier weather, the upcoming holiday season, and The United Kingdom.

Cold fronts from the northwest are sweeping through America’s Riviera for the first time since last Spring dropping temperatures down below 72°F on a nearly nightly basis.

Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day are all within the next 8 weeks. Season’s Greetings Everyone !

These first two weeks of November also remind me of my two-year stint living in The United Kingdom serving as a young airman in the USAF. It was 24-years-ago this weekend that I departed stateside and arrived on British soil on my own to begin duty at my first permanent duty station. I served my country for two years in the U.K., and I took in all of the mid-1980s British and European culture at the time. It was a fun fun time for me and my friends that I spent it with. Good Times Forever.

22-years-ago next weekend I left the U.K. behind en route to my follow-on duty station at the original Homestead Air Force Base. Some time later on in my Life I plan to return to the U.K. to check up on the land across the sea I left behind.

Back in June of 1987 English novelty act The Firm scored one of the most unusual songs to ever hit # 1 on a major national hit music chart. It was a # 1 radio smash for 2 weeks all across The British Isles, and its unprecedented mainstream success reached deep into the European continent eastward into Asia and southward into Australia.

Here’s the original-length music video of that multi-continental # 1 smash, and it’s all about the legendary “Star Trek” television series from 20 years earlier: