10/6 - What Mega '80s Hit Thrived After Dropping "Hobo" From Its Lyrics?
Plus a plea to bring back the '90s legal thriller
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
October 6th, 2023 • Issue 172
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
October 6th
1985 - Jem (aka Jem and the Holograms) premiered in syndication.
1986 - Double Dare premiered on Nickelodeon.
1987 - George Michael’s single Faith was released.
1990 - Maxi Priest’s single Close to You hit number one.
1991 - Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.
1992 - Soul Asylum’s album Grave Dancers Union was released.
1992 - Ross Perot aired his first presidential infomercial.
16.5 million people watched Ross Perot’s first infomercial.
Perot’s campaign strategy of airing infomercials was unusual — and did pique some curiosity.
His first effort drew a respectable 16.5 million viewers — though none of his subsequent infomercials would hit that mark again and the strategy did not revitalize his floundering third-party presidential campaign.
1993 - Michael Jordan announced he was leaving the NBA to play baseball.
1998 - Matchbox 20’s album Back 2 Good was released.
2000 - Meet the Parents hit theaters.
2000 - CSI premiered on CBS.
October 7th
1982 - Cats premiered on Broadway.
1988 - Punchline hit theaters.
1989 - American Bandstand’s series finale aired, ending its 37-year run.
The final artist to perform on American Bandstand was The Cover Girls.
The Cover Girls, a mid-level ‘80s pop group, performed their songs My Heart Skips a Beat and the top 10 hit We Can’t Go Wrong.
1989 - Janet Jackson’s single Miss You Much hit number one.
1992 - The bubble boy episode of Seinfeld aired.
1993 - Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1994 - The Saved by the Bell special with Zack and Kelly’s wedding in Las Vegas aired.
1996 - The FOX News channel debuted.
1997 - Eagle Eye Cherry’s single Save Tonight was released.
1998 - Charmed premiered.
2000 - Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon became anchors of SNL’s Weekend Update.
2001 - Barry Bonds continued to extend his new record with his 73rd homer. That record would not be broken until this year, when Aaron Judge hit 11 fewer home runs to claim it.
October 8th
1986 - The Color of Money hit theaters.
1988 - Empty Nest premiered.
1988 - Def Leppard’s single Love Bites hit number one.
Love Bites is Def Leppard’s only number one hit in the U.S.
Believe it or not, no other Def Leppard song reached that height — not even Pour Some Sugar on Me (it peaked at number two).
Then again, Def Leppard never had a number one hit in their native England.
1992 - The video game Mortal Kombat was released.
1993 - Demolition Man and Mr. Nanny hit theaters.
1993 - Ted Danson appeared in blackface at a Friars Club roast of Whoopi Goldberg.
1993 - Howard Stern’s book Private Parts was released.
1996 - Matchbox 20’s single Long Day was released.
1997 - Seven Years in Tibet hit theaters.
1999 - Superstar and Boys Don’t Cry both hit theaters.
2001 - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was established.
October 9th
1981 - An unknown Prince opened for the Rolling Stones in Los Angeles.
1986 - The FOX network debuted with The Late Show with Joan Rivers.
1986 - Phantom of the Opera premiered for the first time in London’s West End.
Phantom of the Opera ran in the West End from 1986 until COVID finally ended it in March 2020.
That made Phantom of the Opera the second longest-running musical in West End — and world — history, behind only Les Miserables.
1992 - Under Siege hit theaters.
1999 - Mariah Carey’s single Heartbreaker hit number one.
October 10th
1980 - Pac-Man hit arcades.
1983 - Adam, the TV movie about the kidnapping of Adam Walsh, premiered on NBC.
1987 - Whitesnake’s single Here I Go Again hit number one.
Whitesnake originally released Here I Go Again in 1982 — then reimagined it as a glam metal song for its 1987 release.
The original version of Here I Go Again, which sounds more bluesy than metal, also has a noticeably different lyric than the better-known 1987 version.
In the version we all know, the line goes: “Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.”
In the 1982 version, the lyric is: “Like a hobo.”
1987 - Bruce Springsteen’s album Tunnel of Love was released.
1992 - House of Pain’s one hit Jump Around peaked at number three.
1997 - Boogie Nights premiered.
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.
Deion Sanders was the first two-sport pro athlete to suit up for both sports on the same day.
Though Bo Jackson had played baseball and football before Deion, Bo never did it on the same day.
On October 11th, Deion played with the Falcons against the Miami Dolphins in Miami. Then he flew to Pittsburgh to play on the Braves in their playoff game against the Pirates.
The only downside? Though he suited up for the Braves, he never actually got in the game. (He played in the football game and made three tackles.)
1992 - The U.S. had its first three-way presidential debate.
1993 - Animaniacs featured Wakko’s America, a song with all 50 state capitals.
1997 - Elton John’s Candle in the Wind ‘97 hit number one.
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 - Steve Jobs’s NeXT computer debuted.
The NeXT computer cost $6,500 — the equivalent of almost $17,000 today.
The NeXT computer was a programming workhorse, aimed at universities, the government, and financial institutions.
But even targeting those high-end markets, NeXT still had trouble selling.
Then again, the world’s first web browser and many huge early PC video game hits (like Doom and Quake) were built on NeXT machines.
1988 - Poison’s single Every Rose Has Its Thorn was released.
1989 - Herschel Walker was traded for 11 players. There’s no word on how many children he had with any of them.
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.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
A man has been arrested and charged with Tupac’s murder.
Mayim Bialik says the entire cast and original creator are in for a Blossom reboot — but not as a sitcom, as a drama.
Beetlejuice will be back in theaters for one night only, on October 18th, in honor of its 35th anniversary.
The CEO of Mattel says the new Barney the Dinosaur movie is “taking a fresh approach” but “it will not be an odd movie.”
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
It’s not just clickbait, it’s good clickbait: Movieweb made a list of the 20 best ‘80s kids movies. They get it totally wrong, but at least they tried.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
GQ is advocating for a return of a beloved but forgotten movie genre: the ‘90s legal thriller.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
Learn about the odd behind-the-scenes battle between Parker Lewis Can’t Lose and the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off TV spinoff.
Have a great week!
-Sam