Adam’s World Weekly 6/1

Today is the day of the memorial / celebration of life for my parents.

As I was jotting down notes for my speech, something pretty amazing happened – I saw a direct parallel from how I was raised to two of the columns I currently write.

It all stems from how my parents always made sure we ate together at the dinner table on weekends.

On those evenings we’d have the oldies station on, which would have a classic Top 40 countdown. My folks would tell me about the bands, and the songs, and share their thoughts on each. Sometimes a Beatles song would spark a larger conversation about John, Paul, George, and Ringo. At other times a bubblegum pop song would lead to them naming other songs of the genre.

After dinner we’d move to the living room, where my parents would start playing selections from their extensive record collection, and continue telling me about the artists. The Rolling Stones, CCR, The Who, Jim Croce, The Rascals, Fleetwood Mac, it seemed like they had everything, and like they knew everything about each artist and band.

I’d eventually have to go to bed, but I’d fall asleep listening to them playing their favorites.

As I thought about all of that, I realized I write two columns that are a direct result of those nights. I have my editions of Pop Shots where I dive into an old Billboard Hot 100, and I have One Hit Wondering, where I take an in-depth look at a specific artist.

Poetically, I have one of each of those in this week’s update.

Chalk it up to the universe knowing what it’s doing, or to my parents having a heavenly hand in it, but I love that it’s how things worked out today.

So as I put on my suit, and prepare for a difficult day, it brings a smile to my face to be able to bring you a few articles that so deeply represent how I was raised.

My latest One Hit Wondering is on Eurodance duo Le Click, whose story is beyond wild, and involves fellow Eurodance duo La Bouche, as well as Milli Vanilli creator Frank Farian.

Pop Shots features a look at the charts from this week back in 2006, which may not feel like two decades ago, but the calendar doesn’t lie!

Finally, I also have a fresh NYC Scene Report for you to check out, which includes two column debuts.

Read the full feature here

Read the full column here

Read the full column here

As always, thanks for reading, and have a great week.

– Adam Bernard