Tag: BBC

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1987

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 22, 2022

Hello again retro music fans. 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 July 26TH 1987:

“A Little Boogie Woogie” – Shakin’ Stevens
“La Bamba” – Los Lobos
“Misfit” – Curiosity Killed The Cat
“My Pretty One” – Cliff Richard
“F.L.M.” – Mel & Kim

Some would say that the legendary Shakin’ Stevens jumped the shark with his Summer of 1987 hit – “A Little Boogie Woogie” – a cover of Gary Glitter’s wild track from a decade earlier, but it was one of the anthems of the greatest summer of my life – living and working in Gloucestershire England as a 20-year-old.

#Shaky kicked-off a special LIVE edition of “Top Of The Pops” on the BBC on Thursday July 09TH 1987, and the young 39-year-old got the nation dancing in unison via an over-the-top performance complete with back-up dancers. He did not do a “dad-dance”, but rather a very hip and frenetic dance that was quite worthy of the London nightclubs of the era. His performance of the 133 BPM track made an impact. The very next week it soared to # 1 on my chart, and it moved up 13 notches from # 26 to # 13 nationwide (BBC-Gallup). 2 weeks later Shaky did it again on “The Roxy” on ITV on Tuesday July 21ST 1987. 2 days after that he did it for the 2ND time (a rarity) on “Top Of The Pops” on Thursday July 23RD 1987. It peaked at # 12 nationwide the following week, and that’s as high as it got on the charts. Promotion for it ended after that.

It’s 35 years later, and I still love that song !

Every “Top Of The Pops” episode ended with a music video, so I’ll do the same here with “F.L.M.” – # 5 – 35 years ago:

Mel Appleby (1966-1990)

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 45 years ago to the end of July 1977. I’ll share which songs on “American Top 40” that Sunday July 31ST 1977 that I still hear almost every day via my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace. I’ll also reveal which songs from that chart that I plan to buy immediately on iTunes.

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 1987, BBC, England, Gloucestershire, ITV, Music, Radio, Shakin Stevens

1980s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1987

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date June 24, 2022

It’s the 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday June 28TH 1987:

“Star Trekkin'” – The Firm
“Let’s Dance” – Chris Rea
“Don’t Dream It’s Over” – Crowded House
“When Smokey Sings” – ABC
“It’s A Sin” – Pet Shop Boys

Has it really been 35 years since this 20-year-old teenybopper danced like a maniac in his dorm room to “Star Trekkin'” (across the universe – on the Starship Enterprise under Captain Kirk !)

What a corny song that was, but it was a # 1 smash on my chart – # 1 nationwide in the United Kingdom, and it was also huge at the record stores on the European continent and also in Australia and New Zealand. Dr. Demento made it a cult favorite here stateside as well.

But allow me to share more on my # 2 hit exactly 35 years ago. It’s Chris Rea. You may remember him for his Summer of 1978 radio hit “Fool (If You Think It’s Over)”. It was his biggest hit here stateside. But it wasn’t his biggest hit worldwide. That would be “Let’s Dance”. I took an instant liking to “Let’s Dance” as soon as I heard it for the first time in late-May 1987. The very fast-paced song (175 BPM) spent 11 weeks on my chart – peaking at # 2 for 3 weeks in a row. To this day I still hear this song almost daily via my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace. I consider it to be one of the greatest pop songs ever made, and it’s part of the amazing soundtrack of the greatest summer that I’ve ever seen – the Summer of 1987 – living and working in Gloucestershire England.

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to the start of July 2007. It’s the week that a hard rock band was in my Top 5, and they showed me how I can my rock face off to my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.

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 1987, BBC, England, Gloucestershire, Music, Radio

1980s Blogging Music Radio Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1987

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 25, 2022

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 March 29TH 1987:

“Let It Be” – Ferry Aid
“Lean On Me” – Club Nouveau
“(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” – The Beastie Boys
“I Get The Sweetest Feeling” – Jackie Wilson
“Respectable” – Mel And Kim

During the early evening hours of Friday March 06TH 1987 the MS Herald Of Free Enterprise car and passenger ferry – on its way to Dover England – capsized off the coast of Zeebrugge Belgium in the North Sea. 193 passengers and crew perished in shallow frigid water. There were 346 survivors.

A little over a week later a large ensemble of mostly British musicians got together to record a special version of The Beatles’ classic “Let It Be”. It was released as a single a week after that, and it went straight-in at # 1 on the British pop chart. All proceeds of the single went to a charity that supported the victims of the disaster and their families.

Here’s the official music video of this single:

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to April 2007. It’s when my favorite pop-punk band scored a # 1 smash with a fast-paced song that can wait another week.

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 1987, BBC, British, England, Music, Radio

1980s Blogging Music Radio Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1987

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date February 25, 2022

It’s the 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday March 01ST 1987:

“Live It Up” – Mental As Anything
“I Get The Sweetest Feeling” – Jackie Wilson
“Skin Trade” – Duran Duran
“Coming Around Again” – Carly Simon

Last week on #RetroFriday I hinted at a long-running Australian band who scored a # 1 smash on my chart that is one of my favorite songs of all-time that I still hear nearly every day on my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace. And I sing along to it every day. And I’ve probably played it more times than any other American, as it’s a virtual unknown song here in the U.S.A.

That would be Mental As Anything’s “Live It Up” – their biggest hit ever. It was an International pop smash in Australia / New Zealand and Europe – reaching # 3 on the U.K. pop chart. I absolutely love this song 35 years later. It still sounds as fresh as it did back in 1987 when I was a late-teenager (not quite 20 yet) living it up in England.

Here’s the band from their iconic Thursday February 26TH 1987 LIVE performance on BBC-1’s “Top Of The Pops”:

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to March 2007. It’s when a guy from my former hometown scored his first # 1 smash on my chart. His second # 1 smash would come 10 years later and help resurrect my weekly hit music chart after a 7-year hiatus.

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 !