Saturday, June 25, 2011

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Songs

Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings is at it again with this week's Saturday Night genealogy Fun.

Hey geneaphiles - it's Saturday Night, time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Tonight, we're going to go down memory lane a bit.

1)  What was the #1 song on the day you were born?  Or on your birthday when you were 15?  Or when you married?  Or some other important date in your life.

2)  Go to http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/birthdayno1 and enter the date and select from UK, US or Australia record lists.  Note:  the first date available is 1 January 1946. 

Alternatively, go to http://www.joshhosler.biz/ and enter the month and date and see a list of songs for each year since 1940. 

3)  Tell us what your results are (If you are sensitive about your age, don't list the date or year... ) on a blog post of your own, a comment to this post, or in a Facebook status line or note. 

 This week's SNGF ties in with this week's 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History, which also covers songs.  I wrote in my post for that topic:

The week I was born, the number 1 song in the United States was Wild Thing by The Troggs.  I like that, as I've always liked the simple, straightforward nature of the song.  Basic power chords. 

Okay, since the blog prompts have overlapped, I'll play further and add some more significant dates.  When I turned 15 years old, the number 1 song in the United States was Jesse's Girl by Rick Springfield, another song I still very much enjoy.  In the UK, the top song was Green Door, by Shakin' Stevens.  I have no idea who that is/was, or what the song sounded like!

I enlisted in the Navy on 18 Feb 1987.  Top US song: Livin On A Prayer by Bon Jovi.  A decent rock song, though not one of my favorites.  I can say that while I was in boot camp, I recall two songs in heavy rotation:  The Beastie Boys' rock anthem, (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!) and the remake of Lean On Me by Club Noveau.  Both were so overplayed I hated them.  I actually liked the original version of Lean On Me by Bill Withers, and I've since come to appreciate the Beastie Boys' song as long as it doesn't come up too frequently.

I got married on 3 Jul 1987.  The US number 1 song on that date was I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston.  I've never been partial to that song.  It's far too pop/dance, and I prefer more classic rock for my daily listening.  I've never really cared what place on the charts any particular song had.  I've been one to listen to what I like, regardless.  That can be anything from classical music from Beethoven or Bach or Chopin or any of a number of other great composers, to medieval music to ragtime to 1930's and 40's big band music to early rock and roll all the way up to 80's new wave and rock.  I've never been partial to country or hip hop (rap), with a very few exceptions.


This an all other articles on this blog are © copyright 2011 by Daniel G. Dillman

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