You've Got To Live and Learn

I love 90s music. The 90s were when I graduated from high school and college and became a young professional. I also went to concerts by myself for the first time (not counting seeing Debbie Gibson in the late 80s).This was a foundational part of my life.

Over the weekend, while flipping around stations on SiriusXM, I came across a 90s "Back in the Day Replay" where they played the top 30 songs from this week in 1992. While I'm not sure if the songs in the countdown are the same as the Billboard chart, they seemed to be similar. Let's take a look at the top 30 songs according to Billboard (since I have this and not the SiriusXM list).

1. Save the Best for Last - Vanessa Williams

2. Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton

3. Remember the Time - Michael Jackson

4. Masterpiece - Atlantic Starr

5. To Be With You - Mr. Big

Is this an adult contemporary countdown? These are all slow songs that might be played at the end of a high school dance. Well, no one is playing Tears in Heaven, the song based on Clapton's 4 year old son tragically dying from falling out of a window at prom or homecoming. Not a romantic song for teenagers (or anyone else). Of the other songs, I barely remember Masterpiece. All five of these songs are okay at best. In any event, these were your top 5 songs in the first week of April 1992? Yikes!

6. I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred

7. Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes) - Mint Condition

8  Make It Happen - Mariah Carey

9. I Can't Dance - Genesis

10. Beauty and the Beast - Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson

I'll admit that I'm a fan of I'm Too Sexy. It's just fun. And after seeing this, I know you want to tell your significant other that you're too sexy for your shirt or your hat or your car. Otherwise, we have more adult contemporary hits. We have early Mariah, and the absolute worst Genesis song. I also have no recollection of Breakin' My Heart or Mint Condition. Don't remember them getting airplay on B-94.

11. Justified and Ancient - The KLF featuring Tammy Wynette

12. Good For Me - Amy Grant

13. I Love Your Smile - Shanice

14. Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg  TLC

15. Hazard - Richard Marx

The KLF had a great song called 3AM Eternal. They followed it up with a similar sounding song and an extremely odd pairing with Tammy Wynette in Justified and Ancient. Even at the time, I remember being confused about what was happening. Good For Me is fine though the video is um, not good, and makes me dizzy. I Love Your Smile is a happy song, and TLC is just great. Even though my 14 year-old did not like Hazard, I think it's a fantastic song and has been the one stuck in the my head since I decided to create this post.

16. Thinkin' Back - Color Me Badd
17. Human Touch/Better Days - Bruce Springsteen

18. Everything Changes - Kathy Troccoli

19. Missing You Now - Michael Bolton

20. We Got a Love Thang - CeCe Peniston

All five of these songs are completely forgettable. I have no recollection of Color Me Badd having a second song. Human Touch probably doesn't make one of Springsteen's top 75 songs. I really hope that Kathy's last name rhymes with Broccoli. I also remember music videos being better than what I'm sharing in this post. 

21. If You Go Away - NKOTB

22. One - U2

23. Tell Me What You Want Me To Do - Tevin Campbell

24. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

25. Oochie Coochie - M.C. Brains

How about this for a group of five songs? You have two absolute classics by Queen and U2. Tevin Campbell always amazed me since it seemed like he was putting out hits at the age of 10. I'll give New Kids on the Block credit for having massive and catchy songs with You Got It (The Right Stuff) and Step by Step. If You Go Away is not one of these songs. Adding M.C. Brains here reminds me of the part of the movie A League of Their Own where the league makes a reel of its players. And how 'bout M.C. Brains? What a hitter.

26. Live and Learn - Joe Public

27. Romeo & Juliet - Stacy Earl featuring The Wild Pair

28. My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It) - En Vogue

29. Uhh Ahh - Boyz II Men

30. I'm the One You Need - Jody Watley

I thought Live and Learn was an awesome song in 1992. Not sure if it still holds up today. Now My Lovin' absolutely holds up. Just as good as 33 years ago. 

Overall, this is not a very good group of songs. In the top 20, you have some of the greatest selling artists of all-time, but these aren't close to the best songs by Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Springsteen, Celine Dion, and even Michael Bolton. So many ballads. Without looking, I'm just going to hope that the charts later that year were much better!

In case you're wondering, there are some amazing and memorable songs beyond the top 30. Prince's Diamonds and Pearls was #31, Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit was #32, and the one song I remember by Color Me Badd, All 4 Love, was #34 after reaching the top of the chart weeks earlier. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me by George Michael and Elton John was just outside the top 40. Two other notable songs that debuted in the top 100 that week: Jump by Kris Kross and Under The Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Maroon 5's Sugar Sounds Like Michael Jackson's Beat It

I don't understand Maroon 5. I mean, I understand that they have a string of catchy pop hits, but they're as big as they are solely because of Adam Levine. Having a charismatic lead singer appear weekly on The Voice and get People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive does good things for a musical career. In my mind, Maroon 5 is Lifehouse without Adam Levine being Adam Levine. That's not a knock against Lifehouse either since I think their best songs are better than Maroon 5's best songs.

Anyway, I heard Maroon 5's latest song Sugar on the radio recently (yes, I still listen to the radio) and thought one part sounded a lot like Michael Jackson's Beat It. Apparently, Ben Schuller, as seen in this video below, agrees with me. Specifically, check out the part around the :23 second mark.



This isn't quite a Sam Smith-Tom Petty situation, and I'm not a lawyer or play one on the internet, but I think the Jackson family has a case to get some royalties here.

Vegas Vacation - Part II

Now that I wrote about my gambling experience in Vegas, I thought I would share notes from the rest of my vacation.

- I spotted Alexander Ovechkin lying out at the Bally's pool with an attractive female companion. At least, the guy looked like Ovechkin. Naturally, this prompted a discussion among our group. A female member of our group didn't think it was him because she thought Ovie would be in better shape and that his guest would have bigger breasts. My opinion was that it couldn't have been Ovechkin since he would probably rent a cabana or be at Mandalay Bay or the Bellagio as opposed to Bally's. Unfortunately, we did not see whether or not he is missing any teeth, so this remains a mystery.

- Pushing the automatic revolving door at the casino entrances does not make the door move faster.

- When I was in Utah a few years ago, I wrote about a newscaster named Big Budah. Is there a rule that every Mountain West city must have a newscaster with an odd name? As Messiah correctly predicted, I discovered KTNV's Rikki Cheese in Las Vegas. Yes, this is a real person, and I have proof. She was arrested earlier this year and here is her picture:



- At a restaurant I do not want to name (since she or someone who works there may read this*), we had Angel from Greensburg as our waitress. Her breasts are likely not from Greensburg.

- The Planet Hollywood sports book had both the Penguins and Red Wings at 5-1 to win the 2010 Stanley Cup. At the Caesar’s sports book, Detroit was 4-1 while the Penguins were 6-1. I also remember seeing the Steelers as 6-1 to win the Super Bowl. The Pirates were not 6-1 to win the World Series (although that was before the team acquired Milledge & Hanrahan!).

- The local ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates all show the national news at 5:30pm. That seems odd to me since they are either at 6:30 or 7:00 in Washington.

- I’m debating whether or not to share stories about the timeshare presentation. If I do, it deserves a separate post.

- We ate breakfast on Thursday morning at Harrah's buffet. They played a nice selection of 70s music followed by several Michael Jackson songs. During Billie Jean, a kitchen staff member danced near us, so naturally, we smiled and he started talking to us. We learned that loves Billie Jean since he recently discovered that a child that he supported for numerous years was not his son. He was happy about the fact that the kid was not his son and that now he is getting money back. He even showed us three paystubs in his hand. As everyone knows, Michael Jackson died several hours later.

- The highlight of my craps experience came courtesy of two guys at the table, Wayne and Jerry. Wayne was probably in his late 20s/early 30s, slightly intoxicated, and extremely social running around the table introducing himself to everyone. For some reason, he thought my name was Paul and continued to refer to me as Paul even though I corrected him several times. Wayne also revealed to everyone that he had a 2-inch penis, so I referred to him as Hal Gill (#2) for the rest of the evening. The casino staff was mortified. Meanwhile, Jerry was in his 50s or 60s, constantly smoked, had an impressive mustache and did not put up with Wayne’s shenanigans. He was there to drink, smoke and play craps. Naturally, Wayne wanted to become Jerry’s best friend. Oh, have I mentioned that Wayne thought Jerry’s name was Gary? At one point, Wayne had a big roll and went around the table to high-five everyone. Jerry/Gary ran away before Wayne could get to him. The entire Wayne/Jerry/Gary experience was highly entertaining. With Jon & Kate on the way out, Bravo should air Wayne & Jerry. It could be a ratings bonanza!


* It could happen!