10/11 - What '90s Movie Was Cursed By Its On-Set Witch Consultant?
Plus trivia on Poison, John Travolta, Rudy, Paula Cole, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
October 11th, 2024 • Issue 225
Be Kind, Rewind
What happened on this day in the ‘80s and ‘90s — plus lots of bonus trivia
October 11th
1975 - Saturday Night Live premiered.
1980 - The Dallas Mavericks played their first game.
1983 - Lionel Richie’s album Can’t Slow Down was released.
1983 - The final hand crank phones in the U.S. went inoperational.
1984 - The first woman walked in space.
1984 - Mario Lemieux made his NHL debut.
1986 - Janet Jackson’s single When I Think of You hit number one.
1990 - Surface’s single The First Time was released.
1990 - The highest-rated Simpsons episode in the show’s history, Bart Gets an F, aired on FOX.
1991 - Little Man Tate hit theaters.
1991 - Jimmy Swaggert was caught with a prostitute.
1992 - Deion Sanders played for the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Braves on the same day.
1992 - The U.S. had its first three-way presidential debate.
1993 - Animaniacs featured Wakko’s America, its song about all 50 state capitals.
1997 - Elton John’s Candle in the Wind ‘97 hit number one.
Candle in the Wind ‘97 was Elton John’s last number one hit in the U.S.
Though Elton John has had other top 40 hits since then (including a strategic run recently when teaming up with younger artists like Britney Spears and Dua Lipa), his last number one hit was this 1997 Princess Diana tribute.
(It’s also one of the best-selling singles in history.)
2001 - Polaroid filed for bankruptcy.
October 12th
1979 - The NBA saw the debuts of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and the three-point line.
1979 - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was published.
1985 - Ready for the World’s single Oh Sheila hit number one.
1987 - George Harrison’s single Got My Mind Set on You was released, the final solo number one hit by a Beatle.
1988 - Poison’s single Every Rose Has Its Thorn was released.
Bret Michaels wrote Every Rose Has Its Thorn in a motel laundry room after he found out his exotic dancer girlfriend was cheating on him.
Michaels says he called his girlfriend at 3 AM while he was in Dallas on the band’s first tour.
He heard another guy’s voice in the background and realized, “There was my exotic dancer back in L.A., who I was positive would never cheat on me, or so I thought.”
So he grabbed his guitar, went to the motel’s laundry room, and started writing Every Rose Has Its Thorn.
The song became Poison’s first and only number one hit.
1989 - Herschel Walker was traded for 11 players.
1991 - Mariah Carey’s single Emotions hit number one.
1992 - Bret “Hitman” Hart won the WWF Heavyweight Championship for the first time.
1997 - John Denver was killed in a plane crash.
1999 - The six billionth person on Earth was born.
1999 - Wilt Chamberlain passed away.
October 13th
1984 - Stevie Wonder’s single I Just Called to Say I Love You hit number one.
1989 - Look Who’s Talking hit theaters.
Look Who’s Talking was the third John Travolta movie in 12 years to feature The Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive.
The song was in Saturday Night Fever in 1977, Staying Alive in 1983, and then Look Who’s Talking in 1989.
1989 - The Fabulous Baker Boys hit theaters.
1990 - George Michael’s single Praying for Time hit number one.
1991 - Jennifer Lopez debuted as a Fly Girl on In Living Color.
1992 - Boyz II Men’s single In the Still of the Night was released.
1995 - Demi Moore’s movie The Scarlet Letter hit theaters.
1997 - The Spice Girls single Spice Up Your Life was released.
1999 - Puff Daddy’s single Satisfy You was released.
2000 - The Ladies Man hit theaters.
2001 - Derek Jeter made a famous flip throw to get the New York Yankees an unlikely out in a playoff game against the Oakland A’s.
October 14th
1977 - Atari released the first home video game console.
1979 - Wayne Gretzky scored his first NHL goal.
1982 - Ronald Reagan declared a war on drugs.
1986 - The International Olympic Committee decided to start staggering the winter and summer Olympics instead of holding both in the same year.
1987 - Baby Jessica fell down a well.
1988 - The Accused debuted in theaters.
1989 - Michael Bolton’s single How Am I Supposed to Live Without You was released.
1994 - Pulp Fiction hit theaters, as did Little Giants, Exit to Eden, and Hoop Dreams.
1996 - Spice Girls’ single Say You’ll Be There was released.
1997 - Paula Cole’s single I Don’t Want to Wait was released.
There’s a re-recorded “Paula’s Version” of I Don’t Want to Wait — and it’s used as the theme song for Dawson’s Creek streaming.
Much like Taylor Swift, Paula Cole has re-recorded some of her old songs to gain ownership of the rights.
I Don’t Want to Wait was the theme song for Dawson’s Creek, but on streaming services, the song was removed — allegedly because Sony didn’t want to pay Warner Records the licensing money.
After Cole re-recorded her songs, Sony made a deal direct with her. So the streaming version of Dawson’s Creek features her new master.
1997 - Ma$e’s single Feel So Good was released.
1997 - Lisa Loeb’s single I Do was released.
2003 - Steve Bartman tried to catch a foul ball at a Cubs playoff game and became public enemy number one in Chicago.
October 15th
1980 - George Brett had to leave a World Series game due to hemorrhoids.
1981 - The first crowd wave was done inside of a sports stadium.
1981 - Metallica was formed.
1981 - Evil Dead hit theaters.
1987 - Bob Barker stopped dying his hair.
1988 - UB40’s single Red Red Wine hit number one.
1988 - Kirk Gibson hit his famous World Series game-winning home run.
1989 - Wayne Gretzky set the NHL scoring record.
1991 - Ugly Kid Joe’s album As Ugly As They Wanna Be was released.
1991 - Clarence Thomas was regrettably confirmed for the Supreme Court.
1993 - Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize.
1993 - Rudy hit theaters.
The real Rudy did not have an older brother like the movie portrays — nor an evil coach.
The movie Rudy sets up lots of antagonistic doubters of Rudy — in particular his football coach and older brother.
In real life, Rudy was the oldest of 14 children and didn’t have an older brother. And Notre Dame’s coach, Dan Devine, was actually supportive of Rudy and getting him into a game.
1993 - Bryan Adams’s single Please Forgive Me was released.
1999 - Fight Club hit theaters.
2000 - Curb Your Enthusiasm premiered on HBO.
2001 - Smallville premiered on the WB.
October 16th
1983 - The Baltimore Orioles won the World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies.
1987 - Baby Jessica was rescued from the well.
1992 - The never-before-aired and quite different Gilligan’s Island pilot episode aired on TBS.
1992 - Candyman hit theaters.
1995 - The Million Man March was held in Washington, D.C.
1998 - Practical Magic hit theaters.
Practical Magic hired a witch as a consultant — and she wound up putting a curse on the movie.
Practical Magic hired a witch as a consultant, but after she did some work on set, she demanded a percentage of the movie.
When the producers told her no, she told them she put a curse on the movie.
Director Griffin Dunne was so freaked out by the curse that he had an exorcism to try to break it.
1998 - The Bride of Chucky hit theaters.
October 17th
1981 - Christopher Cross’s Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) hit number one.
1983 - The Sally Jessy Raphael Show premiered.
Sally Jessy Raphael got her signature red glasses her first day ever on broadcast TV — after her real glasses broke.
Sally Jessy Raphael says she was heading to her first day of work when she tripped and her glasses broke.
She went to the closest store to find replacement glasses, but the only ones in her prescription had cheap, red frames.
So she wore those… and they became her trademark on the news and then on her talk show.
1987 - Hans and Franz debuted on Saturday Night Live.
1987 - Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam’s single Lost in Emotion hit number one.
1988 - The Traveling Wilburys’ debut album was released.
1989 - Billy Joel’s album Storm Front was released.
1989 - The World Series was delayed by an earthquake in California.
1997 - Warren G sued Garth Brooks over use of a “g” in his logo.
1997- The Devil’s Advocate hit theaters.
1998 - Jump, Jive, an’ Wail by the Brian Setzer Orchestra peaked at number 23.
1998 - Barenaked Ladies’ single One Week hit number one, and stayed there for exactly one week.
1998 - Jay Z’s single Hard Knock Life was released.
1998 - Halloweentown premiered on Disney Channel.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
In some outstanding marketing for the 30th anniversary of Green Day’s seminal album Dookie, the band created “Dookie Demastered” — songs from Dookie translated to antiquated tech. You could enter raffles to win the songs on Teddy Ruxpin, floppy disk, a Big Mouth Billy Bass, a Game Boy cartridge, an answering machine, a Hitclip, and others. (The raffles, unfortunately, just closed.)
Cheers is getting a remake — in the U.K.
Henry Cavill has signed on to star in Amazon’s live-action Voltron movie.
Amazon’s Freevee has decided not to move forward with their Who’s The Boss sequel series. Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano were both signed on to reprise their characters.
The reboot of The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson has been pushed from July 18th, 2025, to August 1st, 2025. Meanwhile the reboot of The Running Man got a release date of November 21st, 2025.
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves reunited at an event earlier this week for a Q&A about Speed in honor of its 30th anniversary.
Sarah Michelle Gellar says she won’t join her husband, Freddie Prinze Jr., in the I Know What You Did Last Summer revival because her character was killed. “I am dead” was her quote on the prospect.
Snoop Dogg successfully got his 1993 murder charge sealed this year. He was found not guilty in 1996.
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Have a great week!
-Sam