2/14 - What '80s Classic Was Originally Called "Depot Bar & Grill"?
Plus trivia on Office Space, the night Michael Jordan wore number 12, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
February 14th, 2025 • Issue 243
Be Kind, Rewind
What happened on this day in the ‘80s and ‘90s — plus lots of bonus trivia
February 14th
1982 - The Night of 100 Stars was taped at Radio City Music Hall.
1985 - Whitney Houston’s self-titled debut album was released.
1986 - Wildcats hit theaters.
1989 - Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie.
1989 - The first GPS satellite went into orbit.
1990 - Michael Jordan wore the jersey number 12 in a game.
Michael Jordan’s one night wearing number 12 managed to make it onto another player’s basketball card.
Jordan wore the number 12 in a Bulls game against the Orlando Magic when his number 23 jersey was stolen from the locker room.
The Bulls didn’t have a replacement — and even asked around in the Orlando crowd — so they gave him the spare #12 jersey they had with them.
That game, including Jordan’s #12 jersey, showed up on the 1990-91 NBA Hoops basketball card for the Orlando Magic’s Sam Vincent.
1991 - The Silence of the Lambs hit theaters.
1991 - Boyz II Men’s debut album, Cooleyhighharmony, was released.
1992 - Wayne’s World hit theaters.
1996 - Tony Bennett’s Live by Request, a live concert where viewers picked the songs, aired on A&E.
1997 - National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation and Fools Rush In hit theaters.
1998 - Usher’s song Nice and Slow hit number one.
2002 - The final episode of the initial run of Family Guy aired on FOX.
February 15th
1980 - Caligula hit theaters (maybe? if any showed it).
1985 - The Breakfast Club hit theaters.
1986 - Whitney Houston’s single How Will I Know hit number one.
1991 - King Ralph hit theaters.
King Ralph is based on a novel — and not a comedic one.
King Ralph — a John Goodman comedy that gets about as much mileage as possible out of the British food “spotted dick” — was based on a novel.
Well… very, very loosely based.
The movie is credited as an adaptation of Headlong, a 1980 novel by Emlyn Williams. That book is a non-comedic “alternate history” novel about a search for a British royal heir in the 1930s after a freak accident.
Outside of King Ralph also being about the search for a long-lost British royal heir, it does not resemble Headlong.
1991 - Nothing But Trouble hit theaters.
1992 - Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison.
1998 - Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 for the first time in 20 tries.
1998 - The Simpsons episode “Das Bus”, a Lord of the Flies parody, aired.
2000 - Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? debuted on FOX.
2002 - John Q, Crossroads, and Super Troopers all hit theaters.
2002 - Russian judges cheated during Olympic figure skating.
February 16th
1980 - Captain & Tennille’s single Do That to Me One More Time hit number one.
The Captain of Captain & Tennille’s real last name is Dragon.
The Captain’s actual name is Daryl Dragon. Not sure why he needed a stage name with that as his real name.
Tennille is Toni Tennille. She didn’t pick a fake last name.
1992 - Magic Johnson’s jersey was retired by the Los Angeles Lakers.
1993 - Tupac’s album Strictly for My [Folks] was released.
1996 - Happy Gilmore hit theaters.
1996 - Muppet Treasure Island hit theaters.
1997 - Real McCoy’s single One More Time was released.
February 17th
1984 - Flashdance hit theaters.
The original title for Flashdance was “Depot Bar and Grill”.
It’s hard to imagine it would’ve been anywhere close to the cultural phenomenon it was with the original title.
1989 - Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure hit theaters.
1995 - The Brady Bunch Movie and Heavyweights hit theaters.
1996 - The series finale aired of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
1996 - Everything But the Girl’s one hit, Missing, peaked at number two.
1996 - Garry Kasparov defeated Deep Blue in chess.
1998 - Jermaine Dupri’s single The Party Continues was released.
1998 - Destiny’s Child’s self-titled debut album was released.
February 18th
1983 - The Sting II hit theaters.
The Sting II is both a sequel and not a sequel to The Sting.
The Sting II probably shouldn’t be a sequel to The Sting, it’s more of a reboot.
In this movie, Paul Newman and Robert Redford are gone and replaced as the leads by Jackie Gleason and Mac Davis. The lead characters’ names have gone from Henry Gondroff to Fargo Gondroff and Johnny Hooker to Jake Hooker.
So it would be fine as a reboot except… the entire movie hinges on a gangster wanting to get revenge on Gondroff and Hooker for the con from The Sting. And though the actor changed, that gangster’s name is Doyle Lonnegan in both movies.
The director of The Sting II has always maintained it wasn’t a sequel, but was rather “inspired by and… an expansion of” the first movie. But the plot disagrees.
Oh, and while The Sting won the Oscar for Best Picture and is considered an all-time great film, The Sting II has a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Maybe the con all along was The Sting II itself.
1985 - The WWF’s special The War to Settle the Score aired on MTV.
1991 - The NBA Dream Team concept was revealed.
1993 - Silk’s single Freak Me was released.
1993 - Wrestler Kerry Von Erich passed away at age 33.
1994 - Reality Bites hit theaters.
1994 - Blue Chips hit theaters.
1995 - Blessid Union of Souls’ single I Believe was released.
1998 - Legendary Cubs announcer Harry Carey died.
1998 - Andrea Bocelli made his operatic debut.
2000 - The Whole Nine Yards and Boiler Room both hit theaters.
2001 - Dale Earnhardt tragically died in a crash at the Daytona 500.
February 19th
1968 - Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiered.
1980 - AC/DC’s Bon Scott died from alcohol poisoning.
1982 - Ozzy Osbourne was arrested for peeing on the Alamo.
1983 - Patti Austin and James Ingram’s duet Baby, Come to Me hit number one.
1985 - Mick Jagger’s first solo album, She’s the Boss, was released.
1990 - Adobe Photoshop was released.
1991 - Public Enemy boycotted the Grammys after rap categories were left off the main telecast.
1993 - Army of Darkness hit theaters.
1994 - Martin Lawrence received a lifetime ban from Saturday Night Live.
1995 - Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee got married.
1995 - The Australia episode of The Simpsons premiered.
1996 - Oasis’s single Don’t Look Back in Anger was released.
1999 - Office Space hit theaters.
The famed red stapler in Office Space wasn’t a real Swingline color option — until after the movie, when fans demanded it.
Swingline was the only major stapler brand that would allow their product in Office Space, Swingline only made gray and dark blue staplers.
Director Mike Judge didn’t feel like those stood out, so the props department painted it red.
After the movie, Swingline had so much demand for the red staplers that they started producing them.
1999 - Jawbreaker hit theaters.
2000 - Mariah Carey’s single Thank God I Found You hit number one.
2000 - Blink 182’s only top 40 hit, All the Small Things, peaked at number 6.
2002 - Bobsledder Vonetta Flowers became the first Black gold medalist in Winter Olympics history.
February 20th
1979 - This Old House premiered on PBS.
1986 - The Chunnel was officially announced.
1987 - Contra hit arcades.
1988 - Expose’s single Seasons Change hit number one.
1992 - Ross Perot announced he would run for president.
1993 - Harold Miner won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
1996 - VH1 Storytellers premiered.
VH1 Storytellers got its name — and format — from a tour by The Kinks lead singer Ray Davies.
Ray Davies, who was the lead singer of The Kinks, went off on a solo career when the band broke up in the ‘90s.
He wrote his memoirs, called X-Ray, then went on a tour he called “Storyteller.” His concerts were a mix of acoustic versions of his songs and him reading stories from his book.
VH1 liked the format so much that they filmed Davies for the pilot of a new series.
And that series became VH1 Storytellers — with Davies as the first episode in 1996.
1996 - Snoop Dogg was found not guilty of murder in the case that they gave him.
1996 - Celine Dion’s single Because You Loved Me was released.
1998 - Tara Lipinski became the youngest figure skating gold medal winner at age 15.
1999 - Gene Siskel passed away.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced the 14 nominees who could get voted into the 2025 class including ‘80s and ‘90s acts like The Black Crowes, Mariah Carey, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, Oasis, Outkast, Phish, and Soundgarden.
The “I Want My ‘80s Tour” is coming this summer with Rick Springfield, John Waite, Wang Chung, and more.
Get Your Book-It Stickers Here
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Have a great week!
-Sam