• Friday Playlist

    November 30. This is when my music listening patterns begin to change. I’ve been listening to some Christmas music, but not as much I have in the past. I think I’m waiting for December 1 to really dive in. This week has been largely devoted to rounding out my Favorite Songs of the Year list. But more about than in…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 18

    Chart Week: November 15, 1986 Song: “Human” – The Human League Chart Position: #2, 10th week on the chart. Peaked at #1 the week of November 22. I only got to listen to a few minutes of the local countdown two Sundays ago. I felt obligated, though, to write about it as that was the last old AT40 we will…

  • Friday Playlist

     Not exactly the most promising start to the 2019 winter season. Yesterday morning we had an ice storm roll in at just the wrong/perfect time (depending on your perspective) and had a snow day because the roads were just bad enough to force our principal’s hand. We went four years without a snow day; now we’ve had two this calendar…

  • Reaching For the Stars, Vol. 17

    Chart Week: November 3, 1984 Song: “Penny Lover” – Lionel Richie Chart Position: #18, 5th week on the chart. Peaked at #8 for two weeks in December. Usually these entries are about great songs, forgotten songs, or just songs that have some kind of special meaning to me. This week is a little different: this song was selected purely for…

  • Friday Playlist

    I wish I understood how Spotify works with WordPress. Some weeks, after I put these posts up, I’ll check them and get an error on in my browser window that Spotify can’t load. I’ll check it in a different browser and it works fine. So I don’t know if you all are running into the same issues, or if it…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 16

    Chart Week: October 13, 1984 Song: “Strut” – Sheena Easton Chart Position: #31, 8th week on the chart. Peaked at #7 the week of November 24. To me, at least, it seems like Sheena Easton’s career was longer than it actually was. She exploded onto the scene in 1981 with the world-wide smash “9 to 5 (Morning Train),” which went…

  • Friday Playlist

    We’ll start with a playlist. If all goes well, I’ll have a video for you later in the day. https://open.spotify.com/user/224aiwksicafjldlua6nnpo4y/playlist/2ouMHMU9OKGQ1ndmnmOhb6?si=n3Z5BNG0SACqe-bPSflRKw “Rain Check” – Carl Broemel. I’m not sure if I totally missed Indy native Broemel’s new album earlier this year, or if I listened to it and it just didn’t connect. I’m guessing it is more option A because this…

  • Friday Vid

    “Steppin’ Out” – Joe Jackson. Wait, is it Friday already? These fall break weeks mess with my mind. The girls were arguing yesterday about what day it was; one insisted it was Saturday while another claimed it was Friday. And they only get two days off, so it really shouldn’t be that tough. We’ve had a couple sleepovers and another…

  • Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 15

    Chart Week: October 7, 1978 Song: “Whenever I Call You ‘Friend’” – Kenny Loggins (with Stevie Nicks) Chart Position: #10, 11th week on the chart. Peaked at #5 for two weeks in November. Controversy! A countdown from the 1970s?!?!?! SiriusXM rebroadcasts original ‘70s AT40 countdowns on its 70s on 7 channel. Unlike their updated version of 1980s countdowns on 80s…

  • Friday Vid

    “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” – Queen. I haven’t been able to cobble together a playlist this week, so only a video for this Friday. But it’s an epic one. Believe it or not – given it was only 1982 – but this was the final Queen performance in the US. And their only appearance on SNL. Despite losing his…