Nicki Minaj is originally from Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago. Her parents were of mixed Indo-Trinidadian and Afro-Trinidadian descent. Her real name is Onika Tanya Maraj. She moved to the Queens (New York) when she was five years old.

While I never actually owned one of her albums, in the age of MTV I didn’t need to have one to become a fan. (It is a shame MTV doesn’t provide that service anymore, but that is a whole other post in itself.) Houston became the first black artist to get heavy airplay on the network. That combined with her great talent and huge voice catapulted her to the top of the pop world. If not for her “troubled years” in the 1990s and 2000s she might have still been at the top.

R.I.P. Whitney Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012)

The criteria used for this list is as follows:
1 )  Most time spent at #1 on the Billboard Music Charts
2 )  Record Sales (If designated Gold or Platinum)
3 ) Total Weeks on the U.S. Chart
4 ) Number of countries in which the song charted.

Now onto the Top 11 Most Successful Whitney Houston Songs

All of the images used are from the music video for the given song. the above image is from the video for, “I’m Every Woman” which didn’t make it onto the list because it stalled out at #4 on the charts. I tried to show the many (mostly smiling) faces of Whitney in the images.

Please note: You can purchase an MP3 of the song from Amazon.com by clicking on the linked song title.

Houston was born to be a superstar. Her mother was gospel and blues singer Cissy Houston, and her cousin was Dionne Warwick. Also, her Godmother was the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin. All the right influences were there from the start.

Read the full story here on our newly launched site News of the 80s

The name of Billy’s extermination company is Vexcon. They service the Bossier-Shreveport, Louisiana metropolitan area for the most part. Most of Billy’s family also work for the company, his mom Donnie, father Big Bill, and brother Ricky.

Gracie Allen ran on the “Surprise Party” ticket in 1940 with the campaign slogan, “Down with Common Sense”.

The 2000 film, “Almost Famous” was where actress Kate Hudson got her big break. In the film she portrayed a musician named Penny Lane.

Keep in mind that this list does not ask for people to vote for the hottest, or sexiest woman, but the most desirable overall women. The “total package” if you will. I will include a link to their full list of 99 at the end of the post so you can go see where your favorites ranked on the list.

That is why you will see the following commercial during this weekend’s Super Bowl XLVI from Indianapolis. The commercial is for the Honda C-RV, and while it is a far cry from the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California it does manage to get Ferri…umm Matthew around town on his day of playing hookie from work.

As you can see it incorporates a lot of things from the movie and puts its own little spin on them. The famous scene where Ben Stein as the Economics teacher is taking attendance. Broderick’s almost perfect recreation of that memorable cough. The scene where Ferris is in a cab next to his father is replaced with one where he is next to his agent. Be sure to keep your eye on the stuffed panda. The scenes in the museum, included a redoing of Cameron’s reflection in art scene. Horse Track replaces the Cubs game, Chinese parade where he stops and sings on a float, the valet taking off in the car.

One of the best inclusions from the film is the iconic song, Oh Yeah by Yello playing throughout the whole commercial.

It then comes to a close in the perfect way, with one of my favorite quotes from the movie. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Well, this is the “extended” version of the commercial, so don’t stop watching yet.

I think it is a great commercial, and probably one of the best that will air this Sunday. I do wish they would have included Alan Ruck and Mia Sara at least a little bit. Perhaps put Ruck in a Gordie Howe jersey and have Broderick pass by him in the museum where they give each other that little nod to say hello. Or instead of having the little girl sitting next to Broderick on the rollercoaster have it be Mia Sara screaming, and when Broderick turns to calm her she gives him a peck on the cheek.

In the classic 1986 film, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” during Ferris’s, Cameron’s, and Sloane’s big day on the town they take in a ball game at Wrigley Field. When Principal Rooney sees the game on TV while out searching for Ferris you can see that the Chicago Cubs opponent in the game is the Atlanta Braves.

While Quincy Jones always gets most of the credit for pulling everyone together to create the We Are The World recording it was not his idea. It was actually Harry Belafonte’s idea. He presented it to Jones, Michael Jackson, and Lionel Ritchie and the rest is music history. Jones arranged to have everyone meet at the recording studio after the American Music Awards show on January 28, 1985. They started at 10PM and worked through the night. In the morning they emerges with the groundwork to be edited together to create the finished song the world now knows. Five weeks later it was released.