Tag: England

Categories
1980s Blogging Career Driving Geography Military Music Radio Travel

London To Fairford England

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It was exactly 37 years ago this morning – the 10TH of November back in 1985 – that I arrived in a foreign country solo for the first time in my life – as a young 18-year-old.

It was a cold Sunday morning at London’s Heathrow Airport, and I had flown all night from Washington Dulles Airport. Of course I lost 5 hours overnight with the time difference.

I made my way to the British Rail station at the airport. I took that to Reading – where I got off the train. Oops. I wasn’t supposed to get off there. I got confused. I ended-up waiting at that station until the next train arrived. That didn’t take very long. I got on it, and I continued on to Swindon. At the Swindon station I hired a cab to take me to my new home and workplace – RAF Fairford – about 13 miles away.

The cab driver was nice and friendly. He welcomed me to the U.K., and he turned up the radio for us to listen to. I think we were listening to GWR. An eerie song came on that I had never heard before. It was Talking Heads with “Road To Nowhere”. How appropriate for that song to play on the radio as this young 18-year-old teenager was being driven on the left along narrow and curvy farmland roads from Swindon to RAF Fairford.

That was the start of my 2-year and 1-week adventure in the south of England as an 18, 19, and 20-year-old. I got to see a lot of England, Scotland, Wales, France, Belgium, and Netherlands. I wish I had seen more of the European continent, but I’m grateful for the areas that I did get to experience while I was over there.

I’ve attended about 150 concerts and live events in my life (100 since 2000), and the first 17 all occurred during those 2 years in England.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll return home stateside – just like I did exactly 35 years ago. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
1980s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1987

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, 20, 25, 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 November 01ST 1987:

  1. “Love In The First Degree” – Bananarama
  2. “Got My Mind Set On You” – George Harrison
  3. “You Win Again” – Bee Gees
  4. “Come On Let’s Go” – Los Lobos
  5. “Crazy Crazy Nights” – KISS

The end was near. I was in my final couple of weeks of living and working in the south of England in the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire. I was there for 2 years and 1 week, and I made the most of it by immersing myself into British culture as an 18, 19, and 20-year-old. It was the greatest 2 years of my life at the time. I vowed to return to the United Kingdom when I left 35 years ago. I haven’t been back since. Someday though it may happen.

Among the highlights of my Top 5 – Bananarama spent a 2ND week at the top with their Stock Aitken Waterman produced pop-dance smash – “Love In The First Degree”. George Harrison scored a comeback smash with what turned out to be his biggest smash since his debut solo smash in 1970 – “My Sweet Lord”. It was a long-lasting hit on my chart, as it straddled the end of my British-based pop chart and the start of my American-based pop chart. Many songs did that. What was big in the U.K. in 1987 was big in the U.S. in 1988, and my chart continued on. You’ll see that as #RetroFriday continues on the 4TH Friday of the month from 35 years ago.

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to November 2007. It’s when a young man from the east side of Columbus Ohio was cashing in.

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) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
1980s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1987

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, 20, 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 September 27TH 1987:

  1. “Let’s Work” – Mick Jagger
  2. “Toy Boy” – Sinitta
  3. “What Have I Done To Deserve This ?” – Pet Shop Boys With Dusty Springfield
  4. “Heart And Soul” – T’Pau
  5. “Some People” – Cliff Richard

Rolling Stone Mick Jagger scored an unexpected # 1 smash on my chart exactly 35 years ago. “Let’s Work” was the lead single from his September 1987 solo album “Primitive Cool”. Written and produced by Mick and David A. Stewart (Eurythmics) – its expectations were quite high. But Mick’s fans didn’t care for it all that much – the single or the album. I liked the song a lot. It spent 4 weeks in a row atop my Top 50 chart.

Early in September 1987 the legendary “Top Of The Pops” on BBC-1 recorded an over-the-top (for the era) LIVE performance of the song featuring a cast of kids and Mick enjoying free reign of the entire studio – catwalk and all. Forget the fact that Mick is lip-synching. His frenetic performance is one for the books. It was vintage Mick dancing (strutting) and clapping the way that only he can do. When the song was struggling just outside the BBC-Gallup Top 40 at # 41 (and threatening to drop from there) #TOTP broke longtime policy and aired the LIVE performance even though it was not in the Top 40. (The following week it climbed 8 notches to # 33, and then it peaked the week after that at # 31.)

Thursday September 24TH 1987, BBC-1, London England

It’s a moment in #TOTP history that – for some reason – I still remember to this day.

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 50 years ago to October 01ST 1972. It’s when the late great Mac Davis scored the biggest smash of his career – a song that I still hear almost every day at my desk at my workplace.

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) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Career Military Music Radio Travel

Luxembourg

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It’s the start of a brand-new month – September. With this new month it’s all about the continents. I’ll be writing about a place in a different continent each #TravelThursday this month. That’s 5 continents in 5 weeks – starting with – Europe !

Today I’m visiting the curious small country of Luxembourg. Interesting story: Back in the mid-1980s when I was living in Gloucestershire England serving for the USAF and living in the dorm on-base my weekly hobby of writing down my favorite songs of the week was in full force. At one point it was up to a Top 50 chart. I also tracked the BBC-Gallup U.K. Top 40 and the Billboard Magazine American Top 40 amongst other pop music charts and weekly music-based shows on the telly. (This is starting to sound like an edition of #RetroFriday.)

Let’s get back on-track with #TravelThursday. One day I was scanning the AM (“medium-wave”) radio dial. That was by far the dominant radio band (over FM) back then in the U.K. and Europe. I discovered what is known in the radio frequency business as a “blowtorch” – a powerful station from afar with crystal clear reception. They played really good pop music, so I stayed tuned. It was Radio Luxembourg !

It was broadcasting at 1440 AM (208 MW), and it was known at the time as “Planet Earth’s Biggest Commercial Radio Station”.

So what’s a “Luxembourg” ? I had never heard of it at the time. I had to do some research – 1986-style (no smart phone, no Internet).

Luxembourg is a small country located in northern Europe surrounded by Belgium, Germany, and France. It’s just shy of 1,000 square miles in area. That makes it over 200 square miles smaller than Rhode Island here in the U.S. It’s 1 of the 30 smallest countries in the world. Its population is just under 650,000, and the south of the country – known as the “Gutland” (or “Good Land”) – is more densely populated than the north. Per capita it’s 1 of the 3 richest countries in the world.

Luxembourg City is the capital and largest city with about 20% of the nation’s population.

I’ve never been to Luxembourg – the country or the city. The closest I’ve come is about 2½-hours away by road (140 miles / 224 kilometers) in Brussels Belgium to the northwest. If I ever get the chance to tour Europe during my upcoming retirement then Luxembourg needs to be part of that itinerary. It’s the country that I discovered simply by turning the radio dial some 36 years ago.

VISIT LUXEMBOURG

From Europe to Asia. Next #TravelThursday I’m visiting a province in the south of China. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp