Bruce Hornsby & the Range "Lost Soul"

Before striking gold with "Sunny Came Home", Shawn Colvin turned up as a backup vocalist on "Lost Soul" from Bruce Hornsby & the Range. The mellow tune hit #16 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1990.

Smokey Robinson "Everything You Touch"

An out-of-work radio pal of mine just finished checking his voicemail, shook his head and told me he was sure someone was pranking him. "How so?" I asked.

"I got a message from some guy named Smokey Rivers," he explained.

"Smokey Rivers?" I asked?

"Yep," my friend said. "A guy told me a Program Director friend of his was looking for a new morning guy and that he'd be contacting me. There's no way his name is Smokey Rivers."

Having seen the name in the trades, I assured him Smokey Rivers was real.

The two eventually connected on the phone but Smokey didn't hire my friend. To this date, he still thinks he was punked.

Jill Sobule "Too Cool to Fall in Love"

A few years before her breakout hit "I Kissed a Girl" found its way onto the Clueless Soundtrack, Jill Sobule charted "Too Cool to Fall in Love" on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

Linda Ronstadt "Adios"

I didn't intend to make my teacher cry, but it happened. Tasked with writing a paper about someone I loved and lost for my 8th grade Literature class, I quickly got to work putting my still raw feelings about my grandfather to paper. Grandpa John passed away October 29, 1989. His sudden death marked the first major loss I experienced. That date and day remains etched in my memory some 30 years later. That day in early 1991, I lowered my guard and candidly wrote about my feelings on Grandpa John and the loss it took on my family. When I walked to the front of the classroom and handed in my paper to my teacher, Mrs. Hoess, she broke down in tears.

- - - 

The 29th day of October 1989 was the final day of my school's fall break and another unseasonably warm October afternoon meant another opportunity to make a few bucks mowing the lawn of my other grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Ganz lived two houses away while Grandma Emily and Grandpa John lived two towns away. While cutting the grass, I vividly remember seeing my parents' car speed down our block, but I thought nothing of it. A bit later while I was struggling to empty the grass clippings into a garbage bag, Grandma Ganz emerged and shared the bad news. "Your grandpa John had a heart attack," she calmly told me. Even though the news stunned me, I swallowed hard to remove the lump in my throat and tried to carry on as though I didn't hear what I was just told. Clearly recognizing this, my grandma suggested I come inside to take a break.

Four days prior,Grandpa John proudly stood next to my brother at his Confirmation ceremony at our family's church in Dyer, Indiana. A very religious man, Grandpa John was beaming to be my brother's Confirmation sponsor. Even before he retired from American Steel, Grandpa spent most of his time volunteering as an usher, commentator and parish board member at St. John Bosco Church in Hammond, Indiana. The night of my brother's confirmation, my mom baked a lasagna, and I remember my grandpa wasn't feeling well. He recall he spent some lengthy time in the bathroom after dinner while we all waited. During the Confirmation ceremony, the Bishop quizzed the ninth grade students about the Bible, Catholicism and Jesus all the while Grandpa John whispered all of the answers in my brother's ear. He proudly (and incorrectly) told my brother that he was batting 100. After the ceremony, we all said our goodbyes in the church parking lot and then walked toward our respective cars. Just before reaching his Chevy Firenza, Grandpa John turned back and yelled in my direction: "You're next!".

That fateful October 29th, my grandparents took part in Polish Heritage Days at the East Chicago Public Library. Grandpa John and Grandma Emily performed in their own Polka band known as "The Musical J.E.M.S." and took the stage that afternoon. I never knew any of the songs from the 1920s and 1930s that they played, but I remember they were entertaining and could work a room. Both dressed in these white outfits with red trim (the official Polish colors!)...Grandma with her accordion and Grandpa with his kazoo and boomba (also known as a stump fiddle). While performing one of their signature songs that afternoon, Grandpa John fell. He suffered a massive heart attack that afternoon and died instantly.

- - - 

Wiping away the tears, Mrs. Hoess shared that she knew Grandpa John and, next to her husband, loved him dearly. "A special man," she called him. Her husband and my grandpa were friends and both volunteered at church. After Grandpa John died, my grandma decided the best way to deal with her grief was to get rid of all my grandpa's belongings: clothes, landscaping, tools...they all went...the majority of it during a garage sale. Mr. Hoess attended that garage sale and purchased a bunch of my grandpa's tools...not out of necessity, but because he wanted something tangible to remember my grandfather. A few days later, Mr. Hoess died.

My literature assignment dredged up layers of painful memories both for teacher and student. I never expected to watch my teacher's tears as she read my words. It was one of the first times I realized that teachers were people too. They didn't live at the school. They didn't live to assign tests and homework -- that was their job. As much as teachers and students never cross over to being friends, I felt like that incident made Mrs. Hoess my friend. She wasn't just someone who taught me poetry, she and I shared a love of the same people...just in different ways.

After I went into high school, I kept in touch with her via Grandma Emily (who lived near her and also saw her at church). A few days after I graduated from high school, a package arrived in the mail with the return address "me". I knew it was from Mrs. Hoess. "me" was how she always signed her notes and cards to me. Tucked inside her package to me was an inspirational book coupled with a note congratulating me on finishing high school. She wished me the best in college and also shared that she also was going away to a new school. She accepted a new department head position at a different school and would be moving away from Northwest Indiana. I never heard from her again. I recognize I could Google her name, but I fear what obituary Google might return. I'd rather believe she's still busy teaching her unbridled love of literature to young minds...

Steve Winwood "One and Only Man"

Steve Winwood reunited with his former buddy from Traffic, Jim Capaldi, for "One and Only Man" in 1990. Winwood sang and jammed on the keys of his Hammond organ while Capaldi played drums on the uptempo deep cut that the duo co-wrote.

Mariah Carey "Someday"

Mariah Carey's final big note in her 1990 pop song "Someday" hit such a unique pitch, it caused a garage door to go up and down. Mariah Carey even shared the story of a little girl who used "Someday" as an audio garage door opener much to the dismay of her mother.

Tommy Page "I'll Be Your Everything"

You may remember Tommy Page from a 1992 episode of Full House that featured Page playing himself. In the episode "Crushed", Page surprised Stephanie Tanner on her 10th birthday with a special serenade. Instantly in puppy love, she pictured herself Mrs. Tommy Page. But, Stephanie's warm fuzzy feelings soured the following day when she saw Page lock lips with her sister D.J. As with every edition of Full House, all bad feelings were resolved within the 22-minute time frame of the syrupy Friday night TGIF classic. Page made a name for himself in 1990 when his ballad "I'll Be Your Everything" spent a week atop the Hot 100.

James Ingram "I Don't Have the Heart"

James Ingram passed away last week, but leaves my generation with some of the smoothest R&B ballads from the '80s and '90s. In particular, I'll always remember Ken Cocker on Chicago's 100.3 WPNT-FM on the air one afternoon sharing the meaning behind Ingram's signature tune, "I Don't Have the Heart". The song encapsulates what some of us may have struggled with at one point.

What set Ingram apart among most of his contemporaries is he sang about love as it really is -- not how it's imagined to be in all those Hallmark Channel movies. Love is as dangerous as it is wonderful. As warm as it could be cold. For love to be complete, it must be reciprocated. The love you give has to be received back. Ingram knows he's not in love with a woman who loves him in "I Don't Have the Heart". He painfully recognizes he cannot return this love. With both a heart that can't love her and a heart that doesn't want to hurt her, Ingram sings of his struggle as gently as he can. The song clearly struck a chord as it went to #1 in 1990 (#2 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Chart).

Kenny Rogers & Gladys Knight "If I Knew Then What I Know Now"

While the halftime show gets all the attention tonight, don't forget about the voice behind our National Anthem. You may remember Whitney Houston turned her rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the 1991 Superbowl into a #1 song on the radio at a time when the world waged war in the Persian Gulf. Tonight, Gladys Knight takes her turn at Superbowl LIII.

Rod Stewart "Downtown Train"

During one of his world tours, Phil Collins admitted to spending his days shopping for...model trains. Yes, miniature trains. In his autobiography Not Dead Yet, he writes:

"So how do I alchemize my four-nights-at-Wembley golden-god status? Not with champagne, cocaine, supermodels, and speedboats. During the Invisible Touch tour I've been visiting local model railway shops the world over, shipping fun-sized rolling stock back to the U.K. There I intend to fill the basement...with a...layout that will have Rod "the Mod" Stewart sobbing with HO-gauge envy."

Roxette "Dangerous"

"Hold on tight. You know she's a little bit dangerous." 

Concrete Blonde "Joey"

Remember when receiving mail was exciting? Granted we were probably 10 years old, but still. My Aunt Laura always addressed our birthday cards to "Master Todd" which always made me feel special. Nowadays, we just get bills and advertisements from Comcast. Receiving packages, however, was something altogether different. Today, it's the familiar smile on the box from Amazon, but back in my teen years it was the familiar Columbia House logo that put a smile on my face. Once day after returning from Spring Break 1994, a Columbia House package sat resting on my bed. I quickly dropped my luggage and tore open the tiny cardboard box and found an album from Concrete Blonde. Concrete Blonde? Who ordered that? I know I didn't order that album, but before calling to complain, my brother admitted that he ordered it for me because he thought "I would like it" which translated to "he wanted it".

Fleetwood Mac "Save Me"

Our doorbell rang late one chilly autumn night. Standing outside was a frazzled woman who claimed her boyfriend was threatening her. Being all of 19 years-old, I didn't know what to do so I invited her inside. I lived with my mother at the time in a remote subdivision filled with new construction duplex homes. We didn't know but one or two of our neighbors,but this distraught person wasn't one of them. After a phone call to the local police, the girl disappeared with a cop. A few days later, a detective stopped by our house and asked my mom if she planned to press charges against the guy who threatened her. My mom informed the detective that she wasn't the victim -- the victim simply called the police from our house. After not accepting her answer the first time, the detective eventually left the house. To this day, I still wonder what happened to the woman.

Nikki "Notice Me"

Walking past the windows of a local Mexican restaurant, my friends Pat and Jeremiah noticed me sitting inside opposite of my coworker, Nikki. Thinking I was on a date with her, the duo saw an opportunity to embarrass me. They detoured into the restaurant and asked to be seated next to our table. It took a good minute or two to realize the folks seated next to me were my friends. When I introduced Nikki, I stupidly said, "This is Nikki. Her husband is out of town."

"Whoa," the two of them shot back.

"No, no, no. She has a hard time sleeping when her husband is out of town," I again stupidly replied.

"Uh huh. Sure." Jeremiah responded.

"She bought too many potatoes, so I'm gonna pick them up from her after dinner."

"Todd, you call it whatever you want."

Nikki and I worked together and whenever her husband traveled, she'd purposely book things to do because she didn't like staying home alone. On this particular night, we chose to eat at a restaurant nearby her house so I could pick up an excess bag of potatoes she bought. It all sounded worse than it was and it only got worse from there.

When I walked Nikki home, it was so much colder than I expected, so I asked if she had an old hat that I could wear as I continued home. She directed me to a box filled with hats, gloves and scarves. The first stocking cap I grabbed proudly wore the word "SNATCH" across the front of it. The hat was a promotional item for the 2000 movie she received at an old radio job. Believing this would make a perfect ending to the story, I grabbed the hat, Nikki's potatoes and headed for home where I would inform Pat and Jeremiah that I indeed took Nikki's snatch home...

Bonnie Raitt "Have A Heart"

Bonnie Raitt kicked the booze and drugs in the late-1980s with the help of Stevie Ray Vaughan. She said, "I thought I had to live that partying lifestyle in order to be authentic, but in fact if you keep it up too long, all you're going to be is sloppy or dead." 

Michael Bolton "When I'm Back on My Feet Again"

In early-2002, Michael Bolton stopped by the radio station where I worked to promote his latest album. At the time, Bolton's career was in a slump after a healthy decade of sporting long hair, Nicollette Sheridan and heavy exposure on Adult Contemporary radio stations. His days of putting his name on an old Motown song and watching it make the climb to #1 were over. That day I escorted Michael Bolton and his entourage into the radio station, he wore leather pants. Somehow the conversation shifted to basketball as his hotel had a basketball court and how he wanted to play that afternoon. He asked me if I played. I informed him that I last played for the St. Joseph Warriors in the 5th grade and averaged 0.0 points during my first and last season. Despite my impressive resume, he still welcomed me to shoot some hoops with him later that day. I imagined myself speaking to the hotel concierge: "Hi, I'm Todd. I'm here to play basketball with Mr. Bolton." Needless to say, I didn't play. Fast forward another decade, and Bolton has survived another Nicollette Sheridan breakup and continues to live off the royalties of "How Can We Be Lovers If We Can't Be Friends?" while turning up in roles that no one would expect. First, he appeared in an SNL Digital Short as Captain Jack Sparrow, Two & A Half Men and even had his own Netflix Valentine's Day special. Here's a guy who has found his next niche--one where he doesn't take himself too seriously. Just like leather pants, Michael Bolton is back. 

Roxette "It Must've Been Love"

It's impossible to picture anyone other than Richard Gere playing opposite Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, right? The movie's producers originally sought Burt Reynolds for the leading role, but Burt turned them down. Thank goodness. Can you imagine Burt Reynolds being afraid of heights? Nope.

Quincy Jones "The Secret Garden"

Quincy Jones enlisted some heavy-hitting voices for "The Secret Garden" -- Barry White, James Ingram, El DeBarge, and Al B. Sure all perform in what may be the greatest example of audio seduction. One listen to this song and your windows start to steam...

Billy Joel - "I Go to Extremes"

Why do musicians get the ladies? Well, they're able to write and perform songs about their significant others. But what happens when those relationships end? In the case of Billy Joel, he's still out touring and performing songs about his now ex-wife of nearly 25 years, Christie Brinkley. but not all of those songs are love songs. Billy has also written songs to say he's sorry. His 1990 hit "I Go to Extremes" is an audio apology to Christie for his unpredictable personality.

UB40 "The Way You Do the Things You Do"

Just two songs placed on the Billboard Top 40 during the 1960s, '70s, '80s, and '90s in the United States. One of those songs is "The Way You Do the Things You Do" which came via The Temptations ('60s), Rita Coolidge ('70s), Hall & Oates ('80s), and UB40 ('90s).