11/8 - The 1st Animated Movie Up for Best Picture Was...?
Plus trivia on Eminem, Murphy Brown, The Santa Clause, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
November 8th, 2024 • Issue 229
Be Kind, Rewind
What happened on this day in the ‘80s and ‘90s — plus lots of bonus trivia
November 8th
1986 - Boston’s single Amanda hit number one.
Amanda was Boston’s only number one hit. (No, More Than a Feeling didn’t hit number one.)
Amanda reached number one despite Boston’s reluctance to release it (it sat on the shelf for six years before they put it on an album) and despite not having a music video.
1988 - George H.W. Bush was elected president of the United States.
1990 - The “Dancin’ Homer” episode of The Simpsons aired.
1996 - Ransom hit theaters.
1999 - The world’s first “internet murder” occurred when a woman in Michigan convinced her online boyfriend to kill her husband.
1999 - Andrea Bocelli’s Sacred Arias album was released, and would become the top-selling solo classical album ever.
2000 - Al Gore prematurely conceded the U.S. presidential election, giving the presidency to George W. Bush.
2001 - The Tick premiered on FOX.
2002 - 8 Mile hit theaters.
November 9th
1982 - Sugar Ray Leonard retired from boxing for the first time.
1984 - Larry Bird and Dr. J got into a mid-game fight.
1985 - Jan Hammer’s Miami Vice theme hit number one.
1988 - Child’s Play hit theaters.
1989 - The Berlin Wall came down.
1990 - Dances with Wolves hit theaters.
1990 - Child’s Play 2 hit theaters.
1990 - Madonna’s album The Immaculate Collection was released.
1991 - Prince’s single Cream hit number one.
1993 - Queen Latifah’s single U.N.I.T.Y. was released.
Queen Latifah is technically a one-hit wonder — and U.N.I.T.Y. is that hit.
Despite being a fairly prominent name in hip-hop, Queen Latifah has just one song that qualifies as a “hit.”
U.N.I.T.Y. reached number 23 on the Billboard Hit 100 in 1993.
No other Queen Latifah song has cracked the top 40 hit threshold. Her next closest was Paper in 1998, which reached 50th.
1993 - R. Kelly’s album 12 Play was released.
1996 - Evander Holyfield defeated Mike Tyson.
1996 - Blackstreet’s single No Diggity hit number one.
1996 - The Montreal Screwjob occurred at WWF Survivor Series, changing pro wrestling forever.
November 10th
1969 - Sesame Street premiered.
1983 - Microsoft formally announced Windows.
1984 - The famous He-Man episode “The Problem with Power” aired.
1990 - The series finales of Charles in Charge and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse both aired.
1990 - Mariah Carey’s single Love Takes Time hit number one.
1990 - Candyman’s one hit, Knockin’ Boots, peaked at number nine.
1992 - The single Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) by Digable Planets was released.
Digable Planets’ Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) beat Dr. Dre and Snoop, Naughty by Nature, Cypress Hill, and Arrested Development at the 1994 Grammy Awards.
Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
It beat some real heavyweights: Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg’s Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang, Naughty by Nature’s Hip Hop Hooray, Cypress Hill’s Insane in the Brain, and (though this isn’t a heavyweight on the level of those other songs) Arrested Development’s Revolution.
1992 - The episode of Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper where Mr. Cooper joined the Golden State Warriors aired.
1993 - John Wayne Bobbit was acquitted of marital sexual assault.
1997 - WorldCom and MCI announced their merger, the largest in history at the time at $37 billion.
2000 - Little Nicky hit theaters, ending Adam Sandler’s hot streak.
2001 - The first iPods were shipped.
November 11th
1987 - The series finale of Transformers aired.
1987 - Anthony Kennedy was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court.
1987 - Van Gogh’s Irises sold for a then-record $53.6 million.
1988 - Iron Eagle II hit theaters.
1989 - Bad English’s single When I See You Smile hit number one.
1991 - Michael Jackson’s single Black or White and Mint Condition’s single Breakin’ My Heart were both released.
1992 - Aladdin hit theaters.
1992 - Shaquille O’Neal played in his first NBA game.
1994 - Interview with the Vampire hit theaters.
1994 - The Santa Clause hit theaters.
The original title for The Santa Clause was a line from “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (a.k.a. Twas the Night Before Christmas).
The original title for the movie was going to be Such a Clatter.
That comes from the line in the poem “When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter.”
In the original script, that clatter was going to be the movie’s main character accidentally killing Santa Claus.
1995 - The Spartan cheerleaders debuted on Saturday Night Live.
1995 - Take That’s one U.S. hit, Back for Good, peaked at number seven.
1996 - Toni Braxton’s single Unbreak My Heart was released.
1997 - Boyz II Men’s final top 10 hit, A Song for Mama, was released.
1997 - Columbus announced its new expansion NHL team would be called the Blue Jackets.
2000 - Creed’s single With Arms Wide Open hit number one.
November 12th
1983 - Lionel Richie’s single All Night Long (All Night) hit number one.
1984 - Madonna’s album Like a Virgin was released.
1987 - The Jetsons series finale aired.
1988 - The Escape Club’s single Wild, Wild West hit number one.
1990 - The Philadelphia Eagles defeated Washington in the “body bag” game.
1991 - The episode of Full House where Becky and Jesse’s twins were born aired.
1993 - Michael Jackson canceled his world tour, citing a painkiller addiction.
1996 - Jewel’s debut single You Were Meant for Me was released.
1996 - Duncan Sheik’s single Barely Breathing was released.
1996 - Eminem’s debut album, Infinite, was released.
Eminem’s debut album did so badly that he created his Slim Shady alter ego and rap persona.
Eminem’s album Infinite was not a major label release; he sold copies out of his trunk.
After he sold less than 1,000 copies, he decided he needed to change his style.
On Infinite, he tried to make his songs radio friendly (it was a gambit to get them played on radio stations, which didn’t work).
So after the album flopped, he came up with the much more hostile Slim Shady persona — which he channeled from that point on.
1996 - The first Ultimate Fighting Championship event was held.
1999 - Dogma hit theaters.
2003 - The Casa Bonita episode of South Park premiered.
November 13th
1982 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C..
1982 - An arcade player set a record score on Asteroids that stood for 27 years, longer than any other record in video game history.
1987 - Sonny and Cher performed together for the final time, singing I Got You Babe on Late Night with David Letterman.
1990 - Tesla’s single Sings was released.
1991 - Beauty and the Beast hit theaters.
Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
The movie didn’t win (it lost to The Silence of the Lambs), but did take home awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.
1992 - Bram Stoker’s Dracula hit theaters.
1992 - Riddick Bowe defeated Evander Holyfield to become boxing’s undisputed heavyweight champion.
1994 - The “Lisa on Ice” episode of The Simpsons aired on FOX.
1997 - The Lion King musical opened on Broadway.
1998 - I Still Know What You Did Last Summer hit theaters.
1999 - BG’s Bling Bling peaked at number 36.
1999 - Lou Bega’s Mambo No. 5 peaked at number 3 on the Billboard charts.
1999 - Len’s one hit, Steal My Sunshine, peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.
2000 - The Beatles compilation album 1 was released.
2001 - Shakira’s first English album, Laundry Service, was released.
November 14th
1986 - Hoosiers hit theaters.
1988 - Murphy Brown premiered on CBS.
Murphy Brown had 93 different secretaries across the show’s 247 episodes.
Murphy Brown’s running joke that no secretary could last very long led to a true revolving door — an average of a new secretary every 2.65 episodes.
1990 - L.A. Lakers star James Worthy was arrested on solicitation charges.
1991 - Michael Jackson’s video for Black or White premiered on FOX after an episode of The Simpsons.
1992 - The single from the TV show The Heights, How Do You Talk to an Angel, hit number one.
1995 - Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s single One Sweet Day was released, as was Collective Soul’s The World I Know.
1996 - The series finale aired of Ren and Stimpy.
1996 - Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe got married.
1997 - Anastasia hit theaters.
1998 - The series finales aired of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain.
1998 - Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman were married.
1998 - Lauryn Hill’s single Doo Wop (That Thing) hit number one.
2000 - Marilyn Manson’s album Holy Wood, featuring album art of him on a crucifix, was released but banned by several retail chains.
2003 - Love Actually hit theaters.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
Tom Cruise is in talks to make a sequel to 1990’s Days of Thunder.
Whoopi Goldberg says the script for Sister Act 3 needed “readjustments” after Maggie Smith passed away. (Maggie Smith played the Mother Superior at the convent in the original Sister Act.)
Robert Zemeckis wants to turn Back to the Future: The Musical into a movie. Following that classic “the movie based on the musical based on the movie” path that rarely ever goes well.
Speaking of Robert Zemeckis… He says there’s a “good script” at Disney for a Who Framed Roger Rabbit sequel. But “this current Disney… can’t make a movie with Jessica in it.”
Elwood Edwards, the voice behind AOL’s “You’ve got mail” greeting, passed away this week at age 74.
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Have a great week!
-Sam
*1997 for the Montreal Screwjob.