Tag: 1996

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 April 14TH 1996:

1. “One Of Us” – Joan Osborne
2. “I Want To Come Over” – Melissa Etheridge
3. “Insensitive” – Jann Arden
4. “Rock And Roll All Nite” – KISS
5. “The World I Know” – Collective Soul

KISS is arguably one of the greatest rock and roll bands in the history of the rock era, and “Rock And Roll All Nite” is arguably their greatest song ever. Some consider it to be one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever made. It was originally a minor hit on the radio in 1975 before it exploded in popularity early in 1976. It kicked-off a string of hits for KISS from 1976 to 1979. They were an alternate to the disco era of the time; although, they too would succumb to the discotheque sound with their often-maligned disco smash “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”.

But back to “Rock And Roll All Nite” – it was actually reissued as a single (both at retail and to radio) 20 years later early in 1996, and it became a Rock 40 smash all over again. You may remember the Rock 40 radio format. It was very popular during the early-to-mid-1990s away from both coasts – particularly in smaller radio markets – and it blended pop music (deemphasizing hip hop and rap) with hard rock music.

“Rock And Roll All Nite” has been in heavy rotation on my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace for many years. It’s garnered 1,007 plays over the past 9 years.

I’ve been to a lot of music concerts over the past 35 years, but KISS was regrettably not one of them. Some will say that you haven’t truly lived the concert experience unless you’ve been to a KISS concert. (I wouldn’t know.)

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 30 years ago to April 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 !

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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 March 10TH 1996:

1. “You Oughta Know” – Alanis Morissette
2. “The World I Know” – Collective Soul
3. “Close To You” – Fun Factory
4. “When I Come Around” – Green Day
5. “One Of Us” – Joan Osborne

Joan Osborne scored her first and only hit here stateside with the somewhat Christian track “One Of Us”. It was released early on in 1995, and it took nearly a year to build and emerge as a worldwide multi-format smash into 1996. On my chart it spent 23 weeks in my Top 20, and it was my # 7 hit overall in 1996.

Now obviously I didn’t understand the song back in 1996 when I was a 28 / 29-year-old of the world, but I knew it was about God because of its prominent lyrics that were easy to sing along to:

Eric Bazilian – one of the founding members of the longtime band The Hooters wrote the song. It’s often ranked as one of the greatest songs of the 1990s. It was nominated for several Grammy Awards including Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. It lost in both categories to “Kiss From A Rose” from Seal.

Here’s the official music video for “One Of Us”. You can watch it here, or link here on YouTube.

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 30 years ago to March 1991. Post-Desert Storm I’m back home stateside, and the American pop charts are heating-up !

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) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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 February 11TH 1996:

1. “When I Come Around” – Green Day
2. “You Oughta Know” – Alanis Morissette
3. “Hand In My Pocket” – Alanis Morissette
4. “Close To You” – Fun Factory
5. “Be My Lover” – La Bouche

Punk Pop and Eurodance topped my hit music chart exactly 25 years ago. After struggling a bit during the Grunge era of the early-1990s Top 40 Radio was on fire during the mid-1990s here in the U.S., and I was part of that fun scene. I loved the Eurodance feel, and I could listen to it all day. That Fun Factory song – “Close To You” – was one of the best of them all – and also one of the fastest as far as BPM (beats-per-minute) was concerned. It clocked-in at over 120 BPM – perhaps even closer to 130 BPM. I danced to it a few times in the clubs. I got quite the workout !

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 30 years ago to February 1991. I was serving in Operation Desert Storm at the time in Saudi Arabia, but I managed to produce a hit music chart over there on the pink desert sands.

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) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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 January 07TH 1996:

1. “Hand In My Pocket” – Alanis Morissette
2. “You Oughta Know” – Alanis Morissette
3. “I Wanna B With U” – Fun Factory
4. “This House Is Not A Home” – The Rembrandts
5. “Name” – Goo Goo Dolls

I recently saw Alanis Morissette perform the classic “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” on “LIVE With Kelly And Ryan”. I thought she did a great job with it. 25 years ago Alanis was at the peak of her career as her “Jagged Little Pill” album soared to the top of the charts around the world carrying 6 hit singles with it. “You Oughta Know” and “Hand In My Pocket” were the first 2 of 6.

Top 40 radio was a bit dormant here in South Florida during the early-1990s, as the lone CHR station here in the market at the time (Y-100) was more Hot A.C. than Top 40. But late in 1995 a new Program Director took over the station, and he flipped it back to full-blown Mainstream Top 40 (almost overnight). Both Alanis Morissette hits were part of that Top 40 revolution back then, and it was part of the rebirth of my own hit music chart at the time after a 3-year hiatus. 

1996 was a great year in Top 40 music, and I’m looking forward to sharing some of the biggest hits of that year with you once a month here at #CountUp. It’s hard to believe that 1996 was a quarter of a century ago, and that I was 28 (going on 29) back then.

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 30 years ago to January 1991. It’ll be a unique “look back”, as I didn’t produce my weekly hit music chart back then because I was serving in Operations Desert Shield / Storm in Saudi Arabia. I’ll share my thoughts on the music of the war from “Tent City”.

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) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries