1995

Filmed in the amusement park at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the video of the hit song 'Fairground' showed "swirling, carnival-like colors". The song topped the British charts in 1995 and became Simply Red's first and only No. 1 single in the United Kingdom. Speaking to Will Harris in 2015, Mick Hucknall explained, "Well, the reality is, apart from those two singles ('Holding Back the Years' [1986] and 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' [1989]), Simply Red don't have a career in America! 

"You know, we don't. And that's kind of been part choice, part lack of a full commitment because of being a 7-piece band. Some of the singers, someone like Rod Stewart or Tom Jones, they have an American band and they have a European band, and so they actually cut down their losses when they're traveling around. But I found early on - about 1987 - that I was making more of a living in Europe, and I was very much enjoying living and working in Europe. You know, the great thing about Europe is, it's all so close. You can enter Barcelona, you can go to Munich, and then to Vienna, and you can be in 3 completely different cultures." 

'Fairground' was said to be a song about making sense out of a relationship that was coming and going. Hence the heart-stopping roller-coaster rides. "Making a song that lives forever is actually extremely difficult," Mick Hucknall acknowledged. "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it! And getting it right is even more difficult so it's a huge challenge but that's the part I love – that's the reason I make music." Andy Wright created the unique sounds and beats displayed on 'Fairground' which showcased prominently a sample from Zki & Dobri's 'Goodmen' project. The album 'Life' was the band's 4th-biggest seller of 1995, reportedly sold over a million copies in Britain alone. 

In sport, Steffi Graf ended her 1995 tennis year with "a nine-for-nine record in finals" including winning 3 of the 4 Grand Slams. After winning the $2-million season-ending tournament, Corel WTA Tour Championships, at New York's Madison Square Garden, Steffi Graf told the press, "It's an unbelievable end to an incredible year; I've definitely passed a few barriers I didn't think I could. You win this tournament at the end of the year and it obviously makes it a lot sweeter, even if it was difficult to make this year sweeter." 

The 5-set match in the first all-German final at the Championships was the second 5-setter in the history of the event, the only final on the women's circuit with a best-of-5-set format. As reported, "The last time there was a 5-set final was in 1990, when Monica Seles defeated Gabriela Sabatini. The previous time a women’s match went 5 sets was in 1901 (some 94 years earlier), before women were limited to best-of-3 sets matches. While the 2-hour-26-minute final between Steffi Graf and Anke Huber didn't match 1990's 3-hour-47-minute final for longevity, it was unprecedented in its drama." 

In 1996, Steffi Graf took 2 hours 49 minutes to defeat Martina Hingis at the Chase Championships - the only women's tournament to test its finalists with a 3-of-5-set format since 1984. It was Martina Hingis's first trek into 5-set territory. Steffi Graf argued the 5-set format, though taxing, should stay. In 1999, the best of 3 sets resumed. ''To win a match in 5 sets is a little ironic, absolutely,'' Steffi told the press. ''It's been a really, really long year for me.''

For the whole of the 1995 season, Steffi Graf played despite back and foot problems. For the first 5 months of 1995, Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario traded the No. 1 ranking 6 times. At the U.S. Open championships, Steffi Graf equaled her predecessors, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for the total of Grand Slam singles won after winning her 18th Grand Slam title. "This is the biggest win I've ever achieved," Steffi Graf stated. "There is nothing that even comes close to this one." 

The match against Monica Seles marked the first time that a woman finalist was able to win the Open despite losing a set at 0-6. After the win, Steffi was asked about her foot. She replied, "Well, because I had it for a few days, I got a bone scan, an M.R.I. done last night just to be sure that I didn't hurt it or didn't do anything to it. I mean, everything looked real good. Only thing I have, again, one of those bone spurs, so that is what is causing little bit of irritation, but it wasn't anything big." 

When Steffi Graf returned back to the locker room, she received a beer shower from her fellow players. Steffi recounted, "It's been a dream; it seems unreal; I think I've won every Grand Slam now 4 times, so that's pretty amazing. It has been a dream. I mean, today, it is unreal right now. It seems unreal. Everybody has been so great up there and I came back into the locker room and they drenched me with beer. First I was thinking they were going to give me beer; everybody in the locker room, and they just poured the whole beer over me and they have been so great and just walking over people were so appreciative and so it has just been incredible."

Steffi Graf believed she held a good record playing in New York because, "Well, I guess it is the city, sort of. I think my game suits every surface. I don't think it has a lot to do with the surface. I think it has to do with the city. It is my own place. It is, you know, doing different things during the week, I mean, you get to do and see different things, I mean, you don't - you see sometimes all these crazy people walking around. It is just the pulse of the city."

In August 1995, Long Islanders got to watch Steffi Graf played an exhibition match against Lisa Raymond at the all-male tennis event, Hamlet Cup. For 15 years (or since 1980), the week-long tuneup tournament before the U.S. Open was exclusively male. In 1995, 'The New York Times' reported, "This year there was an added dimension. Organizers invited Steffi Graf, the No. 1 player in the women's game, to play an exhibition match at the all-male tournament. After the match Steffi Graf's 4 male guards accompanied her to the club's ladies locker room. But they had to stay out as she walked in, followed by numerous female fans wanting to use the restroom.

"Big names have long been the hallmark of the tournament, from its beginnings at the Hamlet housing development in Jericho to the last 5 years in Commack. Seeing professional tennis players up close and personal has always been a draw at the Hamlet Cup tennis tournament in Commack. To maintain interest, the week-long tournament will offer several promotions and special days."

The Tuesday of that week was called 'Ladies Day' where Rod Laver would be on hand to give an instructional clinic. The next day was the 'Kids Club/Kids Day', with youngsters invited to participate in 2 hours of on-court drills. Then there was the Stefan Edberg Celebrity Golf Classic which returned to the Deepdale Golf Club, the Fresh Meadow Country Club and the Hamlet Golf & Country Club. The proceeds would benefit the Child Life Program at North Shore University Hospital. The sponsor of the 1994 tournament, Waldbaum's, was replaced by Genovese, the drugstore chain, and several others. Proceeds from the tournament would go to North Shore University Hospital, the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Boy Scouts of America.