Friday 80s Flashback for April 27, 2012

[April 1968 Week 4] -- All this month, the Flashback has focused on reviewing tunes from April 1986, the month and year in which I turned 18. Also this month, I have been asking folks to help me celebrate my birthday by supporting one or more of my favorite charities (details are in the post titled Forty-Four). It is hard to believe we have already covered Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3. April has positively flown by. But now we have arrived at the final Friday of the month, so it is time to savor a few of the songs that charted during the week of April 26, 1986 -- 26 years ago this week! After finally achieving the top spot in the Hot 100 on April 19, 1986, Prince held on for another week. But there were a few changes in the top 10. Do you recall any of the artists who jumped a few spots that week?

We'll look at three of them after the break.

Forty-Four

Sign of the state road no. 44 in Austria (Bundesstrasse 44 Oesterreich) via Wikipedia

If you have been following my Friday 80s Flashback posts this month, you know that April is my birth month and that I shall turn forty-four (44). In fact, I might already be 44 by the time you read this. But I tend to draw out the celebration of my Born On date even while I decline to provide the specific day so it is never too late -- or too early -- to join in my revelry. Now, 44 may not be as auspicious as "forty-two (42)," but it does have its fair share of symbolism. It is part of a group of numbers known as master numbers in numerology. I don't necessarily carry a master number as my life purpose number is 4, but turning 44 could present a double-helping of the energies present in life path #4 (or some such thing), right?

Well, whether numbers pose an influence beyond bank accounts and cholesterol counts, reaching the age of 44 is an achievement. To mark my latest journey around the Sun, I will not have a party, nor will I seek presents. But I do have a request (and if you recall my Forty-Two post from 2010, you can probably guess where I'm going this time around). If you choose to participate in celebrating my Born On date, I ask that you donate time or money to your favorite charity or not-for-profit organization. If you do not have a favorite, I happily suggest a few of my own (in addition to the causes listed in my Activism tab):

• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society -- My father-in-law would have celebrated another birthday on Monday (4/26) -- if he had not succumbed to cancer in March 2005. My own father was diagnosed with a recurrence of Myelodysplasia syndrome (MDS) in November 2009. He has since had a successful mini transplant. And while the doctors are pleased if not downright surprised at his progress to date, it is still a somewhat slow recovery process. So, yeah, I'm all for funding cancer research and treatment.
• Cleveland Clinic -- My father had his bone marrow transplants performed here. They have an excellent medical staff and wonderful family support programs.
• School of Sacred Ministries -- Independent divinity school that offers a 27-month program of spiritual training with ordination as an Interfaith Minister upon conclusion. I was ordained here, I continue to work with them, and they can always use money to continue their programs and further the cause of interfaith dialog.
• Montgomery Theater -- A small professional theater in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Montgomery Theater is my home-away-from-home. Like many not-for-profit enterprises operating in the arts, they are often in a budget crunch. Donations can help pay actor salaries and utility bills, or keep the education programs running (Young Actors Workshop, Girl Scout Badge Program, Montgomery Theater Too, Artist in Residence Program).
• Philabundance -- The Delaware Valley’s largest hunger relief organization. Working to end hunger and malnutrition since 1984.
• KidsPeace -- Top notch (and kind of local, for me) facility helping children and their families. Founded and headquartered in PA in 1882, they have services in "Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia."

Thank you in advance!

Friday 80s Flashback for April 20, 2012

[April 1986 Week 3] -- If you have been following the Flashback this month, you know that we are reviewing tunes from April 1986, the month and year in which I turned 18. This time around, we are looking at a few songs that charted in the week of April 19, 1986. That's 26 years ago this week! After ruling the top spot in the Hot 100 for three weeks (March 29 through April 12, 1986), Falco finally yielded #1 to another artist. Do you recall who that was? Do you know what else was ruling the airwaves that week? Read and hear more after the break.

Friday 80s Flashback for April 13, 2012

[April 1986 Week 2] -- Here we are in the second week of my birth month. If you visited the Flashback last week, you know that we are reviewing tunes from April 1986, the month and year in which I turned 18. This week we'll spotlight a few hits from the week of April 12, 1986. Can you remember what was in heavy radio rotation 26 years ago this week? Read and hear more after the break.

Friday 80s Flashback for April 6, 2012

Year Artwork from ArtGenEeRing

[April 1986 Week 1] -- Hopefully regular 80s-philes realize that this series of weekly blog posts is part music appreciation and (sometimes) part autobiography. Yes, the primary function of these posts is to share my love of 80s music, But I will also, on occasion, share some of my personal memories about growing up in the 80s. I point out this small fact because the collective theme for this month's flashbacks is a little more about me than just my attempt to group songs according to a real or imagined similarity. You see, I will turn 44 at some point in April 2012. So each weekly post this month will have the Friday 80s Flashback featuring music from April 1986: the month in which I turned 18!

Our guide for this month's flashbacks. (Courtesy of rocketcalendar.com)

Ready to find out what was on the charts 26 years ago this week? Read and hear more after the break.

A Heathen Speaks on Palm Sunday

On Sunday -- April 1, 2012 -- I led the celebration at Pebble Hill Interfaith Community Church. This entailed me guiding folks through the day's agenda and delivering a message about Palm Sunday.

Given that I am an ordained Interfaith Minister as well as Certified Heathen Clergy, my first reaction upon being asked to lead the celebration was to say no. Why should I participate in such a deeply Christian event? But then I realized two things. For one, Pebble Hill -- located in Doylestown, PA -- is a truly interfaith community. Its membership is comprised of lapsed Catholics, Wiccans, Buddhists, Atheists, Neo-Pagans of every stripe, and many other flavors of "spiritual but not religious." For another, Pebble Hill is my ordaining institution. I also realized that I could certainly contribute by focusing on the work of myth.

So, I said yes, and accepted the challenge.

Now, reading my Palm Sunday "message" is quite a different experience from hearing it. One does not speak at Pebble Hill; one speaks with Pebble Hill. But I thought I should archive it here on my blog anyway. If you have an interest in how I unpacked the Palm Sunday story, read on after the break ...

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Friday 80s Flashback for March 30, 2012

Playwright and sometimes gangsta, Mariah MacCarthy

[Singing for Our Supper | A Fractured Atlas Project] -- I apologize for not posting a flashback last week. Between a Friday evening attending the live taping of the Nerdist podcast in Philadelphia and a Saturday derailed by a migraine, I just never had the time to make a post. But this week, we have something a little different. It's also kind of special. Playwright Mariah MacCarthy and her merry band of artists are running a unique fundraiser to help defray costs of producing her new play, The Foreplay Play. In a nutshell, Mariah and her cohorts will perform any song you desire and post the video on YouTube. Now, whether they do the full song depends on the extent of your donation:

• 10 gets you at least 30 seconds of a song (most likely a verse, chorus, or bridge).
• $20 gets you at least a minute.
• $50 gets you the whole song.

For details about this fundraiser, called "Singing for Our Supper," or to make a donation, go to http://igg.me/p/75428.

As luck would have it, Mariah and friends have done a few 80s tunes! So I am featuring three of their clips this week. (Don't worry, I'll also include links to the "real" versions of the songs. Yeeesh, you're so pushy, Internets!)

Which songs were requested, and how did this courageous band of artists perform them? Read and hear more after the break.

Zealots Gonna Zeal! (Santorum)

I thought I would make a little poster for Rick Santorum. This accurately sums up his campaign, doesn't it?

(I would not cast a vote for this guy as dogcatcher, let alone the President of the United States!)

Hail Spring!

On this, the day of the Spring Equinox, I wish the blessings of Ostara (Eostre, Oschder, Alban Eilir, etc.) upon all my family, friends, and kindred spirits. Here is a little something I wrote for an Ostara observation in 2008 (it was later featured on this blog in 2009):

Frigga, ever wise, Mother of all 

Freya, our Lady of love, beauty, and fertility 

Nerthus, earth Mother, womb of the world 

Sunna, Lady of the heavens, bright and glorious in your return 

Ostara, the spring Maiden, it is in your name we gather this day 

  Winter is over 

The land is awakened with your creative and sustaining powers 

Flowers long to bloom 

The light quickens, lengthening the days 

And, soon we hope, warming them as well. 

  Thus the cycle continues. 

Spring is nigh upon us: 

Ostara takes root in our hearts 

And then blossoms in our deeds. 

We depart knowing her blessings.

© Brian Weis 2008 

Friday 80s Flashback for March 16, 2012

[When Irish Eyes are Rocking] -- I posted the other day about why I am not celebrating St. Patrick's Day. So, I'm sure it is a tad surprising that the Flashback this week is about Irish bands. Well, I can be opposed to the celebration of St. Patrick and still be in favor of great rock music that just happens to have come out of Éire. Now, when most Americans are asked, "Who is the best Irish band of the 80s?" they will invariably answer: The Pogues. However, the Pogues -- although they do play punk rock with a certain Celtic flair -- are from London, so they will not be making an appearance in today's Flashback (sorry, Gary). And this Flashback post is not about the "best" Irish rockers of the 80s, it's about the most overlooked Irish bands of that era. That means we will be short on chart burners, but long on quality today. Well, I think these bands are long on quality, and I hope you enjoy them as well. To find out who made this week's list of underrated performers, you can read and hear more after the break.