Tag: Movies

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1996

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date September 10, 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 2ND Friday of the month, so I go back 25 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday September 15TH 1996:

“Jellyhead” – Crush
“C’Mon N’ Ride It (The Train) – Quad City DJs
“Ooh Aah … Just A Little Bit” – Gina G
“This Is Your Night” – Amber
“Counting Blue Cars” – Dishwalla

All right let’s talk about the elephant in the room – Dishwalla’s “Counting Blue Cars”. First the facts. It spent 26 weeks in a row on my chart from July 1996 to January 1997. 18 of those 26 weeks were in my Top 10, 10 weeks were in my Top 5, 3 weeks were in my Top 3, and it peaked at # 2 for a single week. It was my # 6 hit of all of 1996 (out of 177 hits that charted). It spent over 11 months on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a long-running rock, alternative, pop, and hot adult contemporary smash, and it was even featured in a couple of movies – most notably “Empire Records” in 1995. (The story of “Empire Records” in itself is very interesting, and I could write a blog post just on that movie and its groundbreaking music.)

I’ll do that some day, but for now it’s the controversial “Counting Blue Cars”. It wasn’t controversial for me. I thought it was cool to hear a hard rock song on the radio that was about God. (This was a full decade before my salvation had started.) Apparently it was controversial for some Christians who objected to God being identified as a woman:

♫ Tell me all your thoughts on God
‘Cause I’d really like to meet her
And ask her why we’re who we are
Tell me all your thoughts on God
‘Cause I’m on my way to see her ♫

I can’t imagine ever getting upset about a song on the radio that refers to God as a her. The song was inspired by a young 10-year-old boy and his spiritual journey discovering and exploring God. Apparently Dishwalla and their lead singer even received death threats at the time from angry Christians. That’s not so Christ-like. Nowadays our God is mocked and ridiculed, and His followers are persecuted and discriminated against by the world. I don’t get angry about that. I pray about it. It’s in God’s hands. He’s in control.

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

Tags 1996, Dishwalla, Movies, Music, Radio

1990s Blogging Movies Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1996

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 13, 2021

It’s the 2ND Friday of the month, so I go back 25 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday August 11TH 1996:

“Jellyhead” – Crush
“Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand” – Primitive Radio Gods
“Ooh Aah … Just A Little Bit” – Gina G
“This Is Your Night” – Amber
“C’Mon N’ Ride It (The Train) – Quad City DJs

Good music during the Summer of ’96. Fun season when I was 29.

The “Motiv8 Pumphouse Remix” of “Jellyhead” from British girl duo Crush was a regional pop hit here in South Florida. It spent 8 weeks in a row at # 1 on my chart, and it was the 10TH biggest hit of the entire year. I still hear it almost every day at work, as it’s in heavy rotation on my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace. It’s aged wonderfully over these past 25 years. I still consider it to be one of the greatest ’90s HI-NRG Eurodance tracks ever made.

At the movie theatre I saw “Kingpin” and “A Very Brady Sequel” 25 years ago this month.

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

Tags 1996, Movies, Music, Radio

1990s Blogging Movies Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1996

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 9, 2021

It’s the 2ND Friday of the month, so I go back 25 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday July 14TH 1996:

“Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand” – Primitive Radio Gods
“Ooh Aah … Just A Little Bit” – Gina G
“C’Mon N’ Ride It (The Train) – Quad City DJs
“The Crossroads” – Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
“Follow You Down” – Gin Blossoms

I never saw “The Cable Guy” in the movie theatres in June and July 1996. It made over $60 million at the box office here in North America, but it was considered a box office disappointment because it didn’t make as much money as Jim Carrey’s previous movies. It just didn’t seem appealing to me to go to the movie theatre to see it. I saw the movie after-the-fact on either VHS or DVD. Fun Fact: From 2005 to 2010 I was a member of the original Netflix subscription service – receiving, watching, and returning DVDs via the mail and their red envelopes.

I mention “The Cable Guy” because my # 1 smash 25 years ago (and a surprise North American rock and pop smash) broke-out from that movie. It’s got a quirky title that has nothing to do with the quirky song that heavily samples a B.B. King track from 32 years earlier (in 1964) – “How Blue Can You Get (Downhearted)”.

“Standing Outside …” actually went straight-in at # 1 on my chart – a rare feat. Back in 1996 I was compiling and publishing online a Top 30 hit music chart each week. “Standing Outside …” has stood the test of time. I still enjoying hearing it today. It’s in medium rotation on my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace with 417 plays over the past 13 years.

Incidentally – at the movie theatre I saw Eddie Murphy’s “The Nutty Professor” on July 20TH 1996.

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

Tags 1996, Movies, Music, Radio

Driving Home Movies Travel

Saturday Morning Shenanigans

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 30, 2008

Here at my undisclosed location somewhere within the great state of Florida I’ve been able to go to bed early – during the 9 PM hour – and wake up late – during the 7 AM hour. I’m certainly not getting a MASSIVE 10 hours of sleep, but I am getting plenty of relaxation time whether it’s sleeping, laying in bed, or chillin’ on a chair watching television. It feels great to be on vacation, but I also can’t wait until I get back home again where all of my junk is. It’s only been about 59 hours (as I type this at 5 PM on this Saturday afternoon) since I left my junk behind, but I already miss it all. No worries though, for I’ll be back home again in less than 24 hours from now. I always appreciate Homestead once I’ve been away for awhile.

This morning I took the ‘Saturday Morning Shenanigans’ to the regional-famous Orange Park Mall (southwest of Jacksonville Florida). I saw a movie at the constantly-busy yet well-maintained AMC-24 there. There were a whole bunch of comedy movies that I wanted to see this weekend (such as “College“, “Disaster Movie“, “Hamlet 2“, “Pineapple Express“, “The Rocker“, or “Step Brothers“), but I ultimately decided on the sleeper smash of the late-summer box office season – “Tropic Thunder” – based mostly on my brother‘s glowing recommendation. I agree with him. I laughed hysterically all throughout the movie in unison with my fellow movie patrons. It was one of the most star-studded original screwball comedies I’ve seen on the big screen in awhile !

Those are my ‘Saturday Morning Shenanigans’ for this 5TH and final Saturday of August in 2008. Be sure to catch me next time – ‘At The Movies’ – for some more box office monkey business !

Tags Movies