American Top 40 PastBlast, 5/15/82: Aldo Nova, “Fantasy”

When Canadian rocker Aldo Nova came stateside in the spring of 82 with “Fantasy,” for some reason I figured he might have staying power. I suppose I thought it was a pretty hot tune and was therefore a tiny bit surprised when it stalled out at #23 (it’s three spots short of that this week). The eponymous debut album was one my first roommate at Transy owned and played a couple of times during our time together. I have to say, though, that none of the other tracks made any particular impression; that should have been a clue that Nova’s time in the sun would be short (I might have had help in reasoning that out if I’d seen Aldo in the leopard-print get-up in this video, too). I don’t believe I ever heard anything more of him.

In my world, May is always a time of transition (we like to call it “commencement”), and so it was, even back when “Fantasy” was on this chart. I was two-and-a-half weeks away from my high school graduation ceremony, to take place June 1. Eight days earlier, on May 7, I’d attended a dinner with some of my future classmates—we were all awardees of a new scholarship program at Transy. That evening, I met several folks–Mark, Angela, Pat, Cathy, Michelle, and Michaela–who wound up playing sizable roles in my life, particularly over the next four years.

PS. This is post #300 on this thing. They sure accumulate quickly…