4/12 - What Famous '80s Dance Song Was Originally About Murder?
Plus trivia on 21 Jump Street, Crystal Pepsi, Disney Channel, and more.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
April 12th, 2024 • Issue 199
Be Kind, Rewind
What happened on this day in the ‘80s and ‘90s — plus lots of bonus trivia
April 12th
1979 - Mad Max hit theaters.
1985 - Girls Just Want to Have Fun hit theaters.
1987 - 21 Jump Street premiered.
21 Jump Street didn’t just launch Johnny Depp’s career — it also featured some of the earliest acting roles for Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn, Rosie Perez, Jason Priestley, Pauly Shore, Blair Underwood, Shannen Doherty, and Jada Pinkett Smith.
The casting team at 21 Jump Street apparently had a pretty good eye.
1988 - Sonny Bono was elected mayor of Palm Springs, Calif..
1989 - Garth Brooks’ self-titled debut album was released.
1991 - The children’s game show Fun House aired its series finale.
1992 - Disneyland Paris aka Euro Disney opened.
1994 - Hole’s album Live Through This was released.
1995 - Drew Barrymore flashed David Letterman during an interview.
1995 - The L.A. Rams received permission to move to St. Louis.
1996 - Fear hit theaters when the movie Fear hit theaters (boom) as well as Jane Eyre.
1996 - James and the Giant Peach hit theaters.
1999 - The Backstreet Boys single I Want It That Way was released.
April 13th
1984 - Friday the 13th: Final Chapter (which was a lie) hit theaters.
1985 - We Are the World hit number one on the Billboard charts.
1990 - The Gods Must Be Crazy II and Crazy People both hit theaters on one crazy day.
1990 - The Pat Sajak Show aired its series finale after less than one-and-a-half years.
1991 - The Bingoboys one hit, How to Dance, peaked at number 25.
1992 - Crystal Pepsi hit test markets.
The food scientist tasked with making Crystal Pepsi taste exactly like regular Pepsi was never given the actual recipe for Pepsi.
Dr. Surinder Kumar was the food scientist who’d previously created the nacho cheese Doritos flavor.
He got the assignment to make Crystal Pepsi taste like regular Pepsi. But he didn’t have the original recipe to work from — so the process was just a ton of trial and error.
Mostly error — since Crystal Pepsi never did wind up tasting quite like Pepsi (despite its marketing).
1997 - Tiger Woods won his first major, the Masters, at age 21, the youngest golfer ever to do so.
1997 - ECW aired it first-ever pay-per-view.
1998 - Dolly the cloned sheep gave birth.
1999 - Brandy’s single Almost Doesn’t Count was released.
2001 - Bridget Jones’s Diary hit theaters.
April 14th
1980 - Iron Maiden’s self-titled debut album was released.
1980 - Kramer vs. Kramer won Best Picture at the 52nd Oscars.
1984 - My Little Pony premiered.
1989 - Say Anything hit theaters.
The boombox scene from Say Anything was filmed in a park, not outside a house.
The scene was filmed at the entrance to a dirt path into a park (which is pretty clear when you look at it).
There’s not actually a house across the street — just more of the park.
1989 - Tom Petty’s first solo album was released.
1990 - Tommy Page’s single I’ll Be Your Everything hit number one.
1993 - A fan in gold shoes hit a near-full court shot to win $1 million at a Chicago Bulls game.
1995 - Jury Duty and Stuart Saves His Family hit theaters.
1996 - The Simpsons episode “22 Short Films About Springfield” premiered.
1996 - Greg Norman famously blew a lead at the Masters.
1999 - Tal Bachman’s single She’s So High was released.
2000 - 28 Days, Keeping the Faith, and American Psycho hit theaters.
April 15th
1983 - Flashdance hit theaters.
The song Maniac was originally written for a horror movie, not for Flashdance.
Maniac was made for a 1980 horror movie called Maniac — and the lyrics were “He’s a maniac, maniac, that’s for sure. He will kill your cat and nail him to the door.”
When the Flashdance team liked how the song sounded and wanted to use it for their movie, the songwriters changed the lyrics to make them about dancing.
1983 - Tokyo Disneyland opened.
1989 - “Sprockets” debuted on Saturday Night Live.
1989 - Fine Young Cannibals’ song She Drives Me Crazy hit number one.
1990 - In Living Color premiered on FOX.
1994 - Space Ghost premiered.
1994 - The World Trade Organization was established.
1995 - Montell Jordan’s single This Is How We Do It hit number one.
1996 - No Doubt’s single Don’t Speak was released.
1997 - Hanson’s single Mmmbop was released.
1997 - Jackie Robinson’s number 42 was retired across baseball.
2001 - Joey Ramone passed away.
April 16th
1993 - Benny and Joon hit theaters.
Winona Ryder was going to play Joon, opposite Johnny Depp — until Depp and Ryder broke up.
Winona Ryder dropped out of the movie shortly before filming began. Mary Stuart Masterson came on as a replacement just days before shooting.
1993 - Culture Beat’s single Mr. Vain was released.
1994 - Crash Test Dummies’ one hit, Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, peaked at number four on the Billboard charts.
1994 - 12 Gauge’s one hit, Dunkie Butt, peaked at number 28.
1994 - All That premiered on Nickelodeon.
1999 - Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement.
2000 - Love & Basketball hit theaters.
April 17th
1987 - Bill Murray filled in for Harry Carey with the Chicago Cubs.
1996 - The Menendez brothers were sentenced to life in prison.
1999 - The Vengaboys one hit, We Like to Party, peaked at number 26 on the Billboard charts.
April 18th
1983 - The Disney Channel premiered as a cable network.
The first show to air on The Disney Channel was a compilation of animated shorts.
The show was called Good Morning, Mickey! and was just repurposed Disney animated shorts strung together as a show.
The first episode included two Mickey Mouse cartoons (one from the 1930s, one from the 1950s) and two Three Little Pigs cartoons (both from the 1930s).
1985 - Tulane University ended its basketball program over corruption.
1987 - Aretha Franklin and George Michael’s duet I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) hit number one.
1989 - Great White’s album Twice Shy was released.
1992 - Adam Sandler’s Opera Man character debuted on Saturday Night Live.
1995 - Joe Montana announced his retirement from the NFL.
1998 - Marcy Playground’s one hit, Sex and Candy, peaked at number eight.
1998 - Peyton Manning was the top pick in the NFL Draft.
1998 - Jesse Camp won MTV’s Wanna Be a VJ contest.
1999 - Silk Stalkings aired its series finale.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
Melrose Place is getting rebooted (again). Heather Locklear, Laura Leighton, and Daphne Zuniga will all be back in their original roles. The prior reboot was on The CW from 2009 to 2010.
The Blair Witch Project is getting a reboot. Though it’s impossible to reboot the cultural mystique that turned the movie into a sensation in 1999.
Pat Sajak, who has been hosting Wheel of Fortune since its nighttime debut in 1983, is retiring at the end of this season. His final episode is June 7th.
A Transformers - G.I. Joe crossover film is coming from Paramount.
A reboot is coming of The Running Man, with Glen Powell taking over the Arnold Schwarzenegger role.
Every time there’s an eclipse, Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart gets a boost. With the total solar eclipse this week, searches on Spotify were up 50%.
The Quantum Leap reboot has been canceled by NBC after two seasons.
CBS has un-canceled the SWAT reboot for the second time. The network just picked up an eighth season, even after this season’s finale was referred to as the “series finale.”
O.J. Simpson died on Wednesday at age 76.
Get Your Book-It Stickers Here
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Have a great week!
-Sam