10/27 - What '90s Nick Kids Show Did Ryan Gosling Turn Down?
10/27 - What '90s Nick Kids Show Did Ryan Gosling Turn Down?
Plus trivia on Jay-Z, Nirvana, George Michael, Microsoft Windows, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
October 27th, 2023 • Issue 175
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
October 27th
1981 - Queen and David Bowie’s single Under Pressure was released in the U.S.
1982 - Prince’s album 1999 was released.
1985 - Billy Martin was fired by the New York Yankees for the fourth time.
1990 - NBA Inside Stuff premiered on NBC.
1990 - SNL’s famous “Chippendale’s” sketch aired.
1990 - Janet Jackson’s single Black Cat hit number one.
1991 - The Minnesota Twins completed a worst-to-first turnaround and won the World Series over the Atlanta Braves.
1992 - Tipper Gore admitted she covered her VCR clock with tape to not watch the time blink 12:00.
1994 - The first ever banner advertisement appeared on the internet.
1995 - Leaving Las Vegas hit theaters.
1996 - Pop-Up Video premiered on VH1.
1997 - Monica’s single Angel of Mine and KP and Envyi’s single Swing My Way were both released.
1998 - Jay Z’s single Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) was released.
Danielle Brisebois, whose Annie performance is sampled on Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem), did not receive royalties.
Brisebois (who played one of the orphans in the original Broadway cast of Annie) has talked about Jay-Z’s hit in a few interviews.
“It was kind of fun hearing yourself on the radio on a rap song,” she told the now-defunct website Grantland back in 2014, “The bittersweet part of it was that none of us orphans got paid a penny for our vocals. It’s always been a bit of a sore spot for me. I love Jay Z. I’m a huge fan. I don’t even think it’s his fault. I think it lies more with [Annie songwriters] Martin Charnin and Charles Strouse because they are the ones who could have revised our contracts.”
1998 - 112’s album Room 112 was released.
1998 - The CHiPs reunion aired on TNT.
1998 - Lion King II: Simba’s Pride went straight to video.
1999 - The New York Yankees won the World Series over the Atlanta Braves.
October 28th
1989 - The Oakland A’s won a World Series interrupted halfway by an earthquake.
1991 - Metallica’s single The Unforgiven was released.
1992 - Windows for Workgroups 3.1 was released.
Microsoft first included its Hearts game on Windows for Workgroups as a way to show off its networking capabilities.
Microsoft often used games to help acclimate users to new Windows features. (For instance, Minesweeper taught left and right clicking and Solitaire taught dragging and dropping.)
Windows for Workgroups 3.1 was the first version of Windows to allow networking for local users. So they included Hearts, which allowed players to compete across a local network, as a way to help get users comfortable with that feature.
1993 - The Simpsons aired its fourth “Treehouse of Horror” episode.
1993 - 2pac’s single Keep Ya Head Up was released.
1994 - The Road to Wellville hit theaters.
1995 - The Atlanta Braves won their only World Series during their highly successful ‘90s run after their pitchers were gifted a strike zone the size of Georgia (the country, not the state).
1995 - Mary Katherine Gallagher debuted on SNL.
1997 - The first female NBA referees were hired.
1997 - Robyn’s single Show Me Love was released.
October 29th
1982 - John DeLorean of car fame was indicted for drug trafficking.
1982 - Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson’s duet, The Girl Is Mine, was released.
1983 - Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s duet, Islands in the Stream, hit number one.
After Islands in the Stream hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, it took 17 years for another country song to reach the top.
That song was Amazed by Lonestar, which became a number one hit in 2000.
1988 - Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s one hit, It Takes Two, peaked at number 36.
1993 - The famous Aaron Burr “Got Milk?” commercial aired for the first time.
1998 - John Glenn returned to space at age 77.
1999 - Being John Malkovich hit theaters.
October 30th
1982 - Men at Work’s single Who Can It Be Now? hit number one.
1987 - George Michael’s debut solo album, Faith, was released.
Faith was the first album by a white solo artist to reach number one on the Billboard Top Black Albums chart.
Faith reached number one on the Billboard Top Black Albums chart in 1988. (That chart is now called Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.)
In an interview with Jet magazine in September of 1988, Michael said reaching number one on that chart gave him “Much more of a sense of achievement” than reaching number one on the overall Billboard 200.
1990 - Madonna’s controversial single Justify My Love was released.
1991 - The Seinfeld parking garage episode aired.
1993 - Snoop Dogg’s single Who Am I? (What’s My Name?) was released.
1993 - Haddaway’s What Is Love? peaked at number 11 and Blind Melon’s No Rain peaked at number 20.
1994 - The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror V” aired.
1995 - Oasis’s single Wonderwall was released.
2001 - Michael Jordan returned to the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
October 31st
1984 - India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated.
1988 - Debbie Gibson held a seance at her Halloween party.
1991 - Are You Afraid of the Dark? premiered on Nickelodeon.
Ryan Gosling turned down Are You Afraid of the Dark? to join The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.
The creator of Are You Afraid of the Dark? wanted to hire Gosling as a regular… but Gosling chose Disney over Nickelodeon.
Gosling would eventually guest star in an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? in 1995 (pictured above) after the Mickey Mouse Club was canceled.
1992 - The Pope apologized for the Church condemning Galileo.
1992 - Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle’s single of A Whole New World was released.
1992 - Prince’s album named with his symbol was released.
1993 - River Phoenix died at age 23 outside of the Viper Room in L.A..
1993 - Tupac Shakur was charged with aggravated assault.
1994 - TLC’s single Creep was released.
1994 - Venus Williams made her pro debut at age 14.
1995 - Alanis Morissette’s single Hand in My Pocket was released.
1998 - A genetic study confirmed Thomas Jefferson had at least one interracial child.
November 1st
1982 - The Playboy Channel debuted.
1987 - The video game The Goonies II was released for Nintendo even though there was no sequel to The Goonies movie and no The Goonies I for Nintendo.
1990 - Enigma’s single Sadeness Part I was released.
1990 - Mega Man III was released.
1993 - The EU was established.
1993 - Flavor Flav was arrested for attempted murder.
1994 - Boyz II Men’s single On Bended Knee was released.
1994 - The Nirvana album MTV Unplugged in New York was released.
Nirvana’s only Grammy win was for their Unplugged album.
Despite Nirvana’s now-legendary status, the Grammys didn’t really honor them in kind.
Nirvana lost the first six times they were nominated for various Grammys and only won on their seventh and final nomination.
MTV Unplugged in New York won in 1996 for Best Alternative Music Performance, beating out a real smorgasbord of ‘90s alt-rock acts: Bjork, Foo Fighters, PJ Harvey, and the Presidents of the United States of America.
1994 - Michael Jordan’s number 23 was retired by the Chicago Bulls.
1996 - Romeo + Juliet hit theaters.
1996 - ESPNews debuted.
November 2nd
1983 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day finally became a federal holiday.
1983 - Michael Jackson’s single Thriller was released worldwide.
1985 - Stevie Wonder’s single Part-Time Lover hit number one.
1987 - Children’s game show Finders Keepers premiered.
1988 - The Morris Worm was the first internet-borne computer virus.
1990 - The Prince rock musical and Purple Rain sequel Graffiti Bridge hit theaters.
Madonna turned down the lead in Graffiti Bridge; the actress who replaced her then wrote a hit song for Madonna.
Prince offered the lead female role to Madonna, who turned him down.
After several other actresses also rejected the role, Prince rewrote it and gave it to one of his big collaborators, Ingrid Chavez. (It remains Chavez’s only movie role ever.)
During the filming, Chavez and Lenny Kravitz wrote Justify My Love — which became a major hit for Madonna.
1991 - The two-part Saved by the Bell with Jessie’s wicked stepbrother aired on NBC.
1991 - Karyn White’s single Romantic hit number one.
1992 - Magic Johnson retired from the NBA for the second and final time.
1993 - A less insane (or better at hiding the insanity) Rudy Giuliani was elected mayor of New York City.
1996 - The Eels’ one hit, Novocain for the Soul, peaked at number 39.
1996 - The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series aired its series finale.
1997 - The Simpsons episode “The Cartridge Family” aired on FOX.
1998 - Whitney Houston’s single When You Believe was released.
1999 - LFO’s single Girl on TV was released.
2000 - The first crew arrived at the International Space Station.
2003 - Arrested Development premiered on FOX.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
Earlier this month, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s daughter married Tony Hawk’s son and R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe was the officiant.
In John Stamos’s new memoir, he says in the ‘80s he caught his then-girlfriend Teri Copley in bed with Tony Danza. She’s now responded by saying they were on a break.
Paramount+ has canceled the Fatal Attraction reboot series after one season.
Disney’s third Hocus Pocus movie is “still in the story phase.”
According to a very unsubstantiated rumor, Nintendo is discussing the idea of remaking Super Mario Bros. 3. The only source is “a leaker named Zippo.”
Former child star Adam Wylie — who you’ll recognize from his photos, as he was in pretty much every ‘90s movie and TV show — was arrested earlier this month for allegedly stealing at a Target self-checkout.
Fight Club director David Fincher says he hasn’t watched the movie in 20 years “and I don’t want to … it’s like looking at your grade school pictures or something. ‘Yeah, I was there.’”
I always want to know what Cam’ron is thinking about all topics, and this week he weighed in on why the Los Angeles Lakers cut Scottie Pippen Jr. He believes it’s because Scottie Jr.’s mother (and Scottie Sr.’s ex-wife) is dating Michael Jordan’s son. According to Cam’ron: “It only takes one call. Michael Jordan calls Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson calls Jeanie Buss, shut it down.”
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
In honor of Microsoft Word turning 40, the BBC examined how it “changed the way we use language.”
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
Ultimate Classic Rock put together a list of the 40 biggest one-hit wonders. When they were done they realized “nine of our top 10 one-hit wonders come from [the ‘80s].”
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
Freddy Krueger’s red-and green-striped sweater was an intentional choice when Wes Craven was making 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. Craven says the choice was a matter of color science.
Have a great week!
-Sam