Category: News

The Washington Star

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 6, 2020

TOMORROW – the 07TH of August – is the 39TH anniversary of the end of my very first job. On that date back in 1981 one of the two major daily newspapers in our nation’s capital – ‘The Washington Star’ – published its final edition after over 128 years. It went bankrupt, and most of its equipment was bought out by its longtime rival ‘The Washington Post’.

I was a newspaper carrier / “paper boy” for The Star (and The Post). As a rare afternoon big city newspaper I delivered The Star to the homes around my McLean Virginia neighborhood every day after Junior High School. (I was in the 8TH grade at the time.) That final edition of The Star was a collector’s item, and many of those newspapers that were delivered on that final afternoon by carriers just like me all around the Washington D.C. area were stolen. It was also sold out at all of the stores. An institution had ended.

That was my very first paid job. Very soon after that I was pursued by a local distributor for the competitor – ‘The Washington Post’. They wanted me as their “paper boy” for my neighborhood, and I accepted. I delivered The Post every morning up until a few days before I left home and joined the Air Force right after my 18TH birthday.

I also delivered during the week for The Post’s new competitor – ‘The Washington Times’.

So I delivered a lot of newspapers around my neighborhood from early-1981 until mid-1985. Additionally I earned money cutting some of my neighbors’ lawns during the growing seasons (not winter). I made a lot of money from age 13 to 18. I learned how to interact with customers. I learned how to manage and save money during those critical teen years. I even got my own checking account back then. I got to buy a lot of my own things for fun. I also got to buy my first car to help me deliver newspapers. (That was a major upgrade from my previous newspaper delivery method – via 10-speed bike.)

Nowadays the newspaper carrier is pretty much an extinct job. In fact the newspaper itself is fading fast.

Tags 1981, Newspaper, Washington Post, Washington Star, Washington Times

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Saturday Night Retro

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date November 20, 2010

Saturday November 20TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 11 / Edition 108

31 years ago in November of 1979 66 Americans were taken hostage in Tehran Iran when the U.S. Embassy was invaded and seized by student radicals. This would begin an International crisis that would continue on for 444 days until January 20TH 1981 when President Ronald Reagan took the oath of office. President Jimmy Carter found opposition within his own Democratic Party, as Senator Ted Kennedy announced that he would seek the nomination for President in 1980.

I was 12½-years-old at the time and living with my Dad, Mom, and 4½-year-old brother on Red Wing Lane in Lanham Maryland. I was a 7TH grader at Robert H. Goddard Junior High School in Greenbelt Maryland – home of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Robert H. Goddard invented the liquid-fueled rocket back during the 1910s and 1920s. Many of my classmates were offspring of NASA employees. That would explain why many of them appeared to be ‘spaced-out’ most of the time.

In FM Stereo one of the hottest pop-country-crossover acts of the late-1970s was Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show out of New Jersey – although they certainly had a distinct ‘Southern Rock’ feel and style to them. As the Disco beat raged on in 1979 country music was quietly entering the pop music scene as an alternative to the club beat. One of Dr. Hook’s greatest hits was this cool track that kind of took on a subtle Disco beat to blend in with its pop chart neighbours. It even crossed the Atlantic Ocean to become a # 1 pop smash on the U.K. chart exactly 31 years ago this weekend. It tells the simple story of what happens “When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman”.

Tags 1979, Dr. Hook

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Saturday Night Retro

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date October 16, 2010

Saturday October 16TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 6 / Edition 103

11 years ago back in October and November of 1999:
– The Shops At Sunset Place was the hottest new joint to hang out.
– AOL released Version 5.0, and the entire free nation celebrated.
– Moviegoers were blown away by “American Beauty”.
– The population of the world reached 6 billion.
– The Yankees swept the Braves 4 games to 0 to win the World Series again.
– EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing all 217 on board.
– “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” skyrocketed to the top of the TV ratings.
– Exxon and Mobil combined to become ExxonMobil.
– The world prepared for the upcoming uncertainty that was Y2K.

1999 was certainly a party year as we ushered the end of a year, a decade, a century, and even a millennium. Even Prince made a big deal out of 1999 some 17 years earlier. He knew that it was gonna be big – and memorable. A lot of great party music came out in 1999. It was certainly a year to get up and dance !

Here’s the 1999 techno dance remix of the classic 1968 Steppenwolf track “Magic Carpet Ride”:

Tags 1999

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Saturday Night Retro

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date September 18, 2010

7 years ago during the Autumn months of September, October, and November of 2003 remember when these 7 notable events occurred:

– Once Cat. 5 Hurricane Isabel strikes N. Carolina causing $4 billion in damage.
– Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor of California.
– 11 die and 71 are injured in the Staten Island New York ferry crash.
– The Concorde flies for the very last time.
– Wildfires ravage San Diego County in California destroying over 2,200 homes.
– The Florida Marlins beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.
– Americans pay $1.40 to $1.60 for a gallon of gas.

European dance music had a spot on the South Florida radio dial via Party-93.1, and this was one of the hottest songs of the year on that memorable station that was an integral part of my life for two years. It’s a dance remake of the clasic Duran Duran # 1 smash “Ordinary World”. Here’s Aurora with Naimee Coleman:

Next week it’s the remarkable 100TH edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ – now my only remaining original weekly blog series from the 2008 heyday. I’m not planning anything out of the ordinary for the milestone edition. It will all be routine standard fare. How ‘Retro’ of me. We’ll flashback to 39 years ago to the Autumn of 1971. I want you to meet an Uncle. He knows this Admiral.

See ya next week !