Category: Movies

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1996

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date September 10, 2021

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, 25, 30, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 2ND Friday of the month, so I go back 25 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday September 15TH 1996:

“Jellyhead” – Crush
“C’Mon N’ Ride It (The Train) – Quad City DJs
“Ooh Aah … Just A Little Bit” – Gina G
“This Is Your Night” – Amber
“Counting Blue Cars” – Dishwalla

All right let’s talk about the elephant in the room – Dishwalla’s “Counting Blue Cars”. First the facts. It spent 26 weeks in a row on my chart from July 1996 to January 1997. 18 of those 26 weeks were in my Top 10, 10 weeks were in my Top 5, 3 weeks were in my Top 3, and it peaked at # 2 for a single week. It was my # 6 hit of all of 1996 (out of 177 hits that charted). It spent over 11 months on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a long-running rock, alternative, pop, and hot adult contemporary smash, and it was even featured in a couple of movies – most notably “Empire Records” in 1995. (The story of “Empire Records” in itself is very interesting, and I could write a blog post just on that movie and its groundbreaking music.)

I’ll do that some day, but for now it’s the controversial “Counting Blue Cars”. It wasn’t controversial for me. I thought it was cool to hear a hard rock song on the radio that was about God. (This was a full decade before my salvation had started.) Apparently it was controversial for some Christians who objected to God being identified as a woman:

♫ Tell me all your thoughts on God
‘Cause I’d really like to meet her
And ask her why we’re who we are
Tell me all your thoughts on God
‘Cause I’m on my way to see her ♫

I can’t imagine ever getting upset about a song on the radio that refers to God as a her. The song was inspired by a young 10-year-old boy and his spiritual journey discovering and exploring God. Apparently Dishwalla and their lead singer even received death threats at the time from angry Christians. That’s not so Christ-like. Nowadays our God is mocked and ridiculed, and His followers are persecuted and discriminated against by the world. I don’t get angry about that. I pray about it. It’s in God’s hands. He’s in control.

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 30 years ago to September 1991.

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 1996, Dishwalla, Movies, Music, Radio

1990s Blogging Movies Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1996

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 13, 2021

It’s the 2ND Friday of the month, so I go back 25 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday August 11TH 1996:

“Jellyhead” – Crush
“Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand” – Primitive Radio Gods
“Ooh Aah … Just A Little Bit” – Gina G
“This Is Your Night” – Amber
“C’Mon N’ Ride It (The Train) – Quad City DJs

Good music during the Summer of ’96. Fun season when I was 29.

The “Motiv8 Pumphouse Remix” of “Jellyhead” from British girl duo Crush was a regional pop hit here in South Florida. It spent 8 weeks in a row at # 1 on my chart, and it was the 10TH biggest hit of the entire year. I still hear it almost every day at work, as it’s in heavy rotation on my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace. It’s aged wonderfully over these past 25 years. I still consider it to be one of the greatest ’90s HI-NRG Eurodance tracks ever made.

At the movie theatre I saw “Kingpin” and “A Very Brady Sequel” 25 years ago this month.

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 30 years ago to August 1991.

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 1996, Movies, Music, Radio

1990s Blogging Movies Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1996

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 9, 2021

It’s the 2ND Friday of the month, so I go back 25 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday July 14TH 1996:

“Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand” – Primitive Radio Gods
“Ooh Aah … Just A Little Bit” – Gina G
“C’Mon N’ Ride It (The Train) – Quad City DJs
“The Crossroads” – Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
“Follow You Down” – Gin Blossoms

I never saw “The Cable Guy” in the movie theatres in June and July 1996. It made over $60 million at the box office here in North America, but it was considered a box office disappointment because it didn’t make as much money as Jim Carrey’s previous movies. It just didn’t seem appealing to me to go to the movie theatre to see it. I saw the movie after-the-fact on either VHS or DVD. Fun Fact: From 2005 to 2010 I was a member of the original Netflix subscription service – receiving, watching, and returning DVDs via the mail and their red envelopes.

I mention “The Cable Guy” because my # 1 smash 25 years ago (and a surprise North American rock and pop smash) broke-out from that movie. It’s got a quirky title that has nothing to do with the quirky song that heavily samples a B.B. King track from 32 years earlier (in 1964) – “How Blue Can You Get (Downhearted)”.

“Standing Outside …” actually went straight-in at # 1 on my chart – a rare feat. Back in 1996 I was compiling and publishing online a Top 30 hit music chart each week. “Standing Outside …” has stood the test of time. I still enjoying hearing it today. It’s in medium rotation on my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace with 417 plays over the past 13 years.

Incidentally – at the movie theatre I saw Eddie Murphy’s “The Nutty Professor” on July 20TH 1996.

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 30 years ago to July 1991.

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 1996, Movies, Music, Radio

Blogging Driving Food Movies Nature Photography Travel Weather

My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date June 24, 2021

It’s Part 3 of my multi-part Thursday blog series on my recent 77-hour / (4-day / 3-night) / 472-mile road-trip spanning Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties (in that order). It was my first extended visit ever along Florida’s Treasure Coast. While there I was always within about 5 miles of the Atlantic Ocean and the adjacent Indian River.

Last Thursday we left off at the Elliott Museum on the barrier island off the coast of Stuart known as South Hutchinson Island. From there I headed north along Florida’s scenic State Road A1A. I soon entered St. Lucie County, and once I reached the Fort Pierce Inlet I headed inland (along A1A since there is no bridge over the Inlet). In downtown Fort Pierce A1A and U.S. 1 share a concurrency for a little over a mile. A1A then heads back out to sea to the barrier island on the other side of the Inlet. I stayed on U.S. 1, and I took that most of the way up to Vero Beach – my hotel destination for 3 nights. Once I entered the city limits of Vero Beach I believe that it was the first time in my life that I had done so – as a 33½-year resident of South Florida.

After I checked-in to my hotel and room I walked over to the nearby Bonefish Grill. I got there a few minutes before they opened for the day at 3 PM. I was not only their first customer of the day, but I was their only customer during my entire meal ! The service was great, and the food was great. I think I’ve eaten at Bonefish Grill once or twice before in my life (while on vacation). There’s actually one about 18 miles from home, but I’ve never been to that one. (I should visit sometime. They are actually open for Lunch.)

After my early dinner I drove over to the local movie theatre in town to see “A Quiet Place Part II“. It was my first movie seen in a movie theatre in 2021. I saw 3 last year in 2020. During much of the 2010s I was averaging about 35 movies per year !

After the movie I headed over to South Beach Park (a city park) on the Atlantic Ocean. When I got there at about 6:35 PM I noticed that lots of people were leaving the beach and heading for their vehicles. I was the only person getting out of his car and heading towards the beach. Once I arrived surfside I realized why everyone was abandoning the scene – including the lifeguards. A raging thunderstorm was quickly blowing in from the sea. I took a few photos of the darkened sky, and I too headed back to my vehicle. I drove back to my hotel 2½ miles inland. It was starting to rain lightly as I walked inside my hotel. As it turns out the thunderstorm was a complete bust. It pretty much fell apart as it swept inland, and only light rain fell from it for a few minutes. I should have stayed in my car at the beach until the storm passed, and then enjoyed the beach after.

That’s the end of Day 1 of my road-trip adventures. That was Wednesday June 02ND 2021, and I drove 203 miles on that day. I’ll present Part 4 for you next Thursday, and we’ll head back over to the barrier island, and we’ll visit some fun places on both sides of A1A and U.S. 1 in the Fort Pierce area.

Tags Florida, Travel