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Category: GenX

“Don’t eat meat, but she sure like the bone.” Dead Eye Dick and “New Age Girl” peaked at #27 on January 7, 1995 before mysterious disappearance

Published February 3, 2023

BrianWilkins.org
February 3, 2023

This song was a sign of the new times, the end of old humanity and the start of what we have today. It was readily apparent when I first left home for college in Sioux City, Iowa in 1993.

The girls in college asked questions like “what do you think of abortion?” I thought “WTF” and “huh”? I really only knew the word abortion from the 1986 gross-out movie “The Fly.”

Geena Davis wanted an abortion because she got pregnant by a dude (Jeff Goldblum) who was half human and half insect. The movie was funny, disgusting and disturbing at the same time. read more

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“You Light Up My Life”: 45 years ago today was the last of 10 weeks on top of Billboard Hot 100; original song was not about God

Published December 24, 2022

BrianWilkins.org
December 24, 2022

I was barely alive when “You Light Up My Life” graced the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks from October 15, 1977 to December 24, 1977. But the song was such an incredible cultural and musical phenomenon that you’d literally hear it ten times a day on the radio, in television shows, etc. for the next 10 years.

Here is the song that everyone knows, by then 21-year-old Debby Boone.

Boone told anyone who would listen that the song was about God. That story stuck for over four decades. But God was just Boone’s interpretation of the song, as she came from a very conservative Christian family. Pat Boone is her dad. read more

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Amy Grant: 31 years ago today, “That’s What Love Is For” was in its third and final week at #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts

Published December 17, 2022

BrianWilkins.org
December 17, 2022

I will forever and always miss these days. Amy Grant had a stellar 1991.

“Baby, Baby” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 27, 1991, and #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary (A.C.) Charts on May 4, 1991. “Every Heartbeat” peaked at #2 on the A.C. Charts on August 10, 1991, and #2 on the Hot 100 in August 17, 1991.

Both of those songs are tied to so many great memories. But not as many as “That’s What Love Is For.” The song topped out at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 23, 1991. But it hit the top spot on the A.C. Charts on November 30, 1991 and stayed there for three weeks. read more

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“Bust A Move”: 33 years ago this week, Young M.C. peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100

Published October 7, 2022

BrianWilkins.org
October 7, 2022

My cousin and best friend Boo always used to give me shit for loving “shake your booty” music over the conscious Public Enemy, X-Clan, etc. stuff when we were kids. I’ll always wonder what he and I could have accomplished as artists and rappers if my parents didn’t separate us via divorce.

Regardless, “Bust A Move” is one of the best end of the 80s tunes – and a great “shake your booty” song. It topped out at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 14, 1989. read more

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41 years ago this week, the Commodores and “Lady (You Bring Me Up)” peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100

Published September 17, 2022

BrianWilkins.org
September 18, 2022

You can’t get much more 80s than the Commodores “Lady (You Bring Me Up)” video. The short afros (compared to the 1970s), the short shorts and, of course, the ode to a special woman.

Yes, the short shorts that both men and women wore.

“Lady (You Bring Me Up)” peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 19, 1981. Not sure why it couldn’t get any higher, considering, in my world, only Juice Newton’s “Queen of Hearts” (one of the seven songs ahead of it) has equal or more lasting memories. read more

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“After All”: Peter Cetera and Cher hit #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts 33 years ago this week, April 22, 1989

Published April 29, 2022

BrianWilkins.org
April 29, 2022

The 1989 movie “Chances Are” isn’t exactly a classic. But it’s definitely weird and worth a watch if you’re bored one night. The short, spoiler version is that Louie Jeffries was a young lawyer in the 1960s. He was married to Corrine Jeffries, played by Cybill Shepherd. Louie get killed when he’s hit by a car while crossing the street. But when he goes to the “pearly gates” after death, he slipped through the cracks and was instantly reincarnated as baby Alex Finch (Robert Downey Jr.). read more

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Did You Know? Richard Dawson, the original host of Family Feud, met his second and last wife, Gretchen Johnson, in an episode of the show in May 1981

Published April 24, 2022

BrianWilkins.org
April 24, 2022

Once upon a time, circa 2000, I downloaded 90 episodes of Family Feud via Napster because I was bored and had broadband. The original show ran from 1976 to 1985. It was a daytime game show, wedged between a bunch of soap operas. So I only saw it when I was faking sick or really sick, and at home from school. There were a few prime time (night) special episodes of Family Feud, like the Three’s Company vs. The Love Boat vs. Soap vs. Eight is Enough casts episode in 1978. I saw the re-reruns, as obviously I was too young to remember this live. read more

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Blondie: “Call Me” reached number-1 on the Billboard Hot 100, 42 years ago this week, April 19, 1980

Published April 23, 2022

BrianWilkins.org
April 23, 2022

The year 1980 is to the oldest of Generation X, as 1990 is to the youngest of Generation X (i.e. ME). Those years transitioned from one era to the next. I talked about Disco Demolition Night in another blog post and in a 2006 podcast I created while a student at Arizona State University.

Disco (circa 1972-1980) was one of the grooviest eras in music history; and the last truly creative genre of Black American music. Synthesizers came along in the 1980s and trivialized pure music talent, meaning people who played actual instruments. The 80s, by far, is my favorite decade of music. But it was nowhere near the most talented decade for artists. read more

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27 years ago this week (February 25, 1995), “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan debuted at #93 on the Billboard Hot 100

Published February 27, 2022

BrianWilkins.org
February 27, 2022

“This Is How We Do It” gradually climbed the charts for the next seven weeks, until it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 15, 1995.

Montell Jordan dethroned Madonna and “Take A Bow,” which had been number-1 for seven-straight weeks. That’s a feat to be proud of.

Jordan and “This Is How We Do It” stayed at number-1 for the next seven weeks. Bryan Adams and “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman” knocked “This Is How We Do It” out of the number-1 spot on June 3, 1995. I like a lot of Bryan Adams songs, particularly “This Time,” “Heaven,” and “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started.” read more

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The Facts of Life: 41 years ago today, November 26, 1980, Season 2 debuted and introduced Jo Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon)

Published November 26, 2021

BrianWilkins.org
November 26, 2021So the headline isn’t 100% true. The Facts Of Life Season Two debut aired on November 19, 1980. But it was a two-part series. “The New Girl: Part 1” aired on November 19. Part Two aired on November 26, 1980.

Jo Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon) joined Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel), Dorothy “Tootsie” Ramsey (Kim Fields), Natalie Green (Mindy Cohn), and housemother Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) at Eastland, a private, upscale all-girls high school in upstate New York. read more

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