- The Hollies: He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
- Phil Collins: Groovy Kind of Love
- U2: Desire
- Womack & Womack: Teardrops
- Bill Withers: Lovely Day [sunshine mix]
- Jason Donovan: Nothing Can Divide Us
- Pet Shop Boys: Domino Dancing
- Whitney Houston: One Moment in Time
- Inner City: Big Fun
- Rick Astley: She Wants to Dance with Me
- The Proclaimers: I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
- Yello: The Race
- The Pasadenas: Riding on a Train
- Bros: I Quit
- Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine: Anything for You
- Yazz & The Plastic Population: The Only Way Is Up
- Bon Jovi: Bad Medicine
- The Commodores: Easy
- Erasure: A Little Respect
- Duran Duran: I Don't Want Your Love
- Bomb the Bass: Megablast / Don't Make Me Wait
- Salt 'n' Pepa: Shake Your Thang (It's Your Thing)
- Brother Beyond: The Harder I Try
- Alexander O'Neal: Fake '88
- Bobby McFerrin: Don't Worry Be Happy
- Jane Wiedlin: Rush Hour
- Coldcut featuring Junior Reid: Stop This Crazy Thing
- Bananarama: Love, Truth and Honesty
- Hazell Dean: Turn It Into Love
- Transvision Vamp: Revolution Baby
- Michael Jackson: Another Part of Me
- Bruce Springsteen: Tunnel of Love
- Julio Iglesias featuring Stevie Wonder: My Love
- Wee Papa Girl Rappers: Wee Rule
- Belinda Carlisle: World Without You
- Marc Almond: Tears Run Rings
- T'Pau: Secret Garden
- Sinitta: I Don't Believe in Miracles
- Breathe: Hands to Heaven
- Kylie Minogue: The Loco-Motion
~~~~~
Breakfast at the University of Sussex dining room. Everyone was tucking in to their eggs and sausages. My sister and I were pledging to stay in touch with the new friends we made at the exchange teachers conference - which we never did. At some point someone came in with an announcement.
"Ben Johnson won!"
"Ben Johnson won!"
Our table erupted - indeed, it felt as if the entire canteen suddenly exploded into cheers, even though there must have been more than a few apathetic Australians and Kiwis. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate that we were attending a Commonwealth exchange teacher's conference: Americans pretending to like Carl Lewis for the sake of another gold medal were conspicuous by their absence. The joyous news brought down the curtain on a fun and lively weekend in Brighton. Things were looking up.
At school the next day I was enjoying the status of no longer being from a country which my classmates knew nothing about. Ben Johnson, the world's fastest man, the man who ran the 100 meters in 9.79 seconds, was from Canada and so was I. So what if my school chums had never heard of The Frantics, Men Without Hats, Joe Nieuwendyk and Owen Hart?
That night I was getting ready for bed when was called down to the living room. My parents had the news on. There was a breaking report that a member of Canada's athletics team had tested positive for a banned substance. The news reader couldn't confirm if the guilty individual was Ben Johnson but they promised to keep viewers updated. I went to bed with the glum feeling that that's exactly what they'd be confirming - although it didn't stop me from lying in bed imaging that it was all a big mistake, that they mixed up his sample, that it was in fact a different Canadian sprinter.
"All Canadians use steroids!" was something I heard throughout the next day. The notoriety of having a famous Canadian had now been turned on its head. A day earlier Canada was the home to a man who destroyed the 100 meters; now, it was the country that produced the world's biggest drugs cheat. Suddenly I could see the appeal of everyone thinking I was American. Luckily, the negative publicity at school was already beginning to die down by the end of the day and we were beginning to make light of it (Mr. Basset, one of my P.E. teachers, made a crack about the positive test and then shot me a wry grin) By the end of the week it was all but forgotten.
(I have to say as an aside that I'm very disappointed in the total and utter lack of imagination in the above taunt. Surely my schoolmates could have come up with something more colourful like "Canada is moping cos Ben's been caught doping!" or "Steroid Ben! Steroid Ben! Lost himself the gold to cleaner men!" Not to mention the fact that one look at my then rake-thin body with its long, terribly awkward chicken legs should have disproved any notion whatever that Canada was a nation of juicers)
Three years ago I visited the Currency Museum of Korea in the city of Daejeon. On prominent display alongside a history of counterfeiting and a vast collection charmingly out-of-date banknotes from around the world was a glass case with commemorative coins from the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Iconic images of the Games feature as well: one is of the lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremonies; another shows the Korean women's archery team kickstarting their remarkable - and still ongoing - gold medal streak; and then there is Ben Johnson, his right arm aloft, his visage all business as usual, a dejected Carl Lewis in the background. I saw this in the display and couldn't believe my eyes: how could they have possibly wanted to use this picture to commemorate the legacy of what was then Korea's proudest moment. But they probably knew that this was a defining, iconic image of the Games. Official Olympic records may have tried to expunge Johnson from the record but curators in Daejeon knew better: this was a moment no one would ever forget - whether we'd like to or not.
~~~~~
young Paul's favorite: Domino Dancing
older Paul's retro pick: A Little Respect
At school the next day I was enjoying the status of no longer being from a country which my classmates knew nothing about. Ben Johnson, the world's fastest man, the man who ran the 100 meters in 9.79 seconds, was from Canada and so was I. So what if my school chums had never heard of The Frantics, Men Without Hats, Joe Nieuwendyk and Owen Hart?
That night I was getting ready for bed when was called down to the living room. My parents had the news on. There was a breaking report that a member of Canada's athletics team had tested positive for a banned substance. The news reader couldn't confirm if the guilty individual was Ben Johnson but they promised to keep viewers updated. I went to bed with the glum feeling that that's exactly what they'd be confirming - although it didn't stop me from lying in bed imaging that it was all a big mistake, that they mixed up his sample, that it was in fact a different Canadian sprinter.
"All Canadians use steroids!" was something I heard throughout the next day. The notoriety of having a famous Canadian had now been turned on its head. A day earlier Canada was the home to a man who destroyed the 100 meters; now, it was the country that produced the world's biggest drugs cheat. Suddenly I could see the appeal of everyone thinking I was American. Luckily, the negative publicity at school was already beginning to die down by the end of the day and we were beginning to make light of it (Mr. Basset, one of my P.E. teachers, made a crack about the positive test and then shot me a wry grin) By the end of the week it was all but forgotten.
(I have to say as an aside that I'm very disappointed in the total and utter lack of imagination in the above taunt. Surely my schoolmates could have come up with something more colourful like "Canada is moping cos Ben's been caught doping!" or "Steroid Ben! Steroid Ben! Lost himself the gold to cleaner men!" Not to mention the fact that one look at my then rake-thin body with its long, terribly awkward chicken legs should have disproved any notion whatever that Canada was a nation of juicers)
Three years ago I visited the Currency Museum of Korea in the city of Daejeon. On prominent display alongside a history of counterfeiting and a vast collection charmingly out-of-date banknotes from around the world was a glass case with commemorative coins from the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Iconic images of the Games feature as well: one is of the lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremonies; another shows the Korean women's archery team kickstarting their remarkable - and still ongoing - gold medal streak; and then there is Ben Johnson, his right arm aloft, his visage all business as usual, a dejected Carl Lewis in the background. I saw this in the display and couldn't believe my eyes: how could they have possibly wanted to use this picture to commemorate the legacy of what was then Korea's proudest moment. But they probably knew that this was a defining, iconic image of the Games. Official Olympic records may have tried to expunge Johnson from the record but curators in Daejeon knew better: this was a moment no one would ever forget - whether we'd like to or not.
~~~~~
young Paul's favorite: Domino Dancing
older Paul's retro pick: A Little Respect
No comments yet? I guess I will be the first. How (or should I ask why) do you remember your timetable? But one thing you should include in the future for those of us with less knowledge of music, is a weekly follow up to your titles and how they relate to the top 40.
ReplyDeleteDad (or for some of you, Doug)