Category: Music

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1986

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 23, 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 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday April 27TH 1986:

“Rock Me Amadeus” – Falco
“The Greatest Love Of All” – Whitney Houston
“Train Of Thought” – A-Ha
“The Things The Lonely Do” – Amazulu
“Living Doll” – Cliff Richard & The Young Ones

Amazulu – What a fun band while I was living and working in the United Kingdom. Their music could best be described as upbeat reggae pop. (Reggae was surprisingly popular in the British Isles in the mid-1980s.) They scored with 4 big cover hits in a row on my chart. The 1ST hit – “Don’t You Just Know It” – was a hit very soon after I arrived in the south of England late in 1985. It debuted on my 3RD chart ever, and it peaked at # 2. “The Things The Lonely Do” was their follow-up song. It peaked at # 3 – although it failed to make the BBC-Gallup Top 40. They would go on to score with 2 more hits on my chart and on the radio – “Too Good To Be Forgotten” and “Montego Bay”. (The latter of the 2 was actually a surprise smash on Canadian radio.)

Shortly after I left England behind (late in 1987) Amazulu broke-up, but their fun music still remains on my mind from that fun year of 1986 when I turned 19-years-old and I was fully entrenched within the British pop music scene.

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 1986, British, England, Music, Radio

Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 218

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 19, 2021

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 40+ years. Here’s this week’s chart:

COUNTUP MINISTRIES	FOR THE WEEK ENDING SUNDAY APRIL 18TH 2021	WEEK 218

TW	LW	WKS	SONG TITLE	ARTIST / SITE
1	1	9	Good God Almighty [2ND week @ # 1]	Crowder
2	3	13	Fires	Jordan St. Cyr
3	2	4	Child Of Love	We The Kingdom Ft. Bear Rinehart
4	8	2	God Of Revival	Brian & Jenn Johnson
5	6	6	Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight)	TobyMac
6	5	21	Every Step Of The Way	Cade Thompson
7	4	14	Say I Won’t	MercyMe
8	7	5	God Who Listens	Chris Tomlin Ft. Thomas Rhett
9	9	2	Gospel Song	Rhett Walker
10	10	2	No Hopeless Soul	Stephen Stanley

# 1 This Week In:
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Greatness Of Our God” – Newsboys
2018 – “Freedom Hymn” – Austin French
2017 – “Even If” – MercyMe

David Crowder and his band stick around at the top of my chart with their 3RD # 1 smash “Good God Almighty”. Nationally it’s # 4 at Christian radio (both large market and small market). It registered the “most increased plays” at large market radio stations this past week.

Moving up another notch to # 2 this week is the durable singalong “Fires” from newcomer Jordan St. Cyr out of Manitoba Canada. I say “newcomer” because this is his breakthrough smash at U.S. Christian Radio, but he’s been praising and worshipping Christ (and leading worship at his church) since he was a young teenager in the 1990s. Here’s his official music video to “Fires” – on the verge of hitting # 1.

This blog is now # 52 worldwide on the Top 90 Christian Music Blogs, Websites, & Influencers in 2021 chart. Thank You for including us Feedspot !

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again this upcoming weekend – with 4 new entries on Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday. I don’t blog on Saturdays. That’s my day of rest.

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 the 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.

Tags Blog, Christian, KLOVE, Music, Radio

1990s Blogging Career Home Military Music Radio Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1991

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 16, 2021

It’s the 3RD Friday of the month, so I go back 30 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday April 21ST 1991:

“Here We Go (Let’s Rock & Roll)” – C + C Music Factory Presents Freedom Williams & Zelma Davis
“Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” – C + C Music Factory Ft. Freedom Williams
“I Touch Myself” – The Divinyls
“Voices That Care” – Voices That Care
“Joyride” – Roxette

Written by David Foster, David’s future (and now ex) wife Linda Thompson, and Peter Cetera – this charity single for Operation Desert Storm warriors was released a few days after I left Al Kharj AB Saudi Arabia and returned home stateside. It was a hit at Top 40 and Hot Adult Contemporary radio during the Spring of 1991. I bought the cassette single during my rest and recuperation leave up in Northern Virginia (my home-of-record before I joined the United States Air Force). I wore out that cassette by playing it over and over again over the next several years. I still have it today. I’d love to buy the original version digitally, but it’s not commercially available today. The song always made me feel good, and it reminds me of a totally different U.S.A. that existed 30 years ago that we really haven’t experienced since.

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 35 years ago to April 1986.

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 1991, Music, Radio

Blogging Career Computers Driving Home Life Military Money Music Travel

Fun With Numbers

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 15, 2021

A few days ago (this past Monday) I did not get in my car and drive it for the first time in over 5 weeks. I ended a 37-day streak of driving that started on Saturday March 06TH and ended on Sunday April 11TH. During those 37 days I drove 609 miles – an average of about 16½ miles per day. The 37 days surpassed a 28-day streak this past November and December. It’s the longest streak since a 41-day streak in January and February 2020 just before the start of the global pandemic.

How do I know all of this ? I record my odometer’s starting and ending mileage each day on an Excel spreadsheet. I do it for fun. I’ve been doing it for over 6 years. I work with Excel spreadsheets all day long in my professional career, and I play with them and learn from them off-work at home on my computer. What I learn at home I apply at work. There’s very little time available at work to learn how to do something new on a spreadsheet, so I get smart at home. I have a bunch of unique spreadsheets that I use at home that keep track of the day-to-day operations of my life. I collect the data, and I analyze the data. I perfect the analysis expertise as well – because – that’s also part of my professional career. I analyze historical data in order to make wise and efficient financial decisions to successfully support the mission. I’ve been an Analyst for the USAF for the past 36 years.

Oh – one last thing – you know that music chart that I present every Monday here on my blog ? It’s been fueled by an Excel spreadsheet for the past 25½ years !

Tags Excel, Spreadsheet