2/9 - The Budweiser "Wassup?" Commercial's Origins
Plus trivia on Buster Douglas, Harrelson-Snipes, Whitney, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
February 9th, 2024 • Issue 190
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
February 9th
1979 - The Warriors hit theaters.
1983 - Prince’s single Little Red Corvette was released.
Little Red Corvette was not inspired by a Corvette.
Prince got the idea for the song when he took a nap after an exhausting recording session in band member Lisa Coleman’s 1964 Mercury Montclair Marauder. Corvette sounded more poetic and had more name recognition.
1985 - Dominique Wilkens defeated Michael Jordan in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
1986 - Halley’s Comet appeared, with the next appearance coming in 2061.
1991 - C+C Music Factory’s single Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) hit number one.
1991 - 2nu’s single This Is Ponderous peaked at number 46.
1992 - Magic Johnson, having retired earlier in the season, dominated the NBA All-Star Game.
1997 - The Simpsons aired its famous Poochie episode (and passed The Flintstones as the longest-running animated prime-time show).
1999 - NSYNC’s single God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You was released.
2001 - Saving Silverman hit theaters.
February 10th
1978 - Van Halen’s debut album was released.
1987 - Expose’s debut album Exposure was released.
All three original members of Expose were replaced during the recording of Exposure.
Expose began in 1984 when a group of producers hired three singers: Sandra Casanas, Ale Lorenzo, and Laurie Miller. The group recorded some singles which had success on the dance charts, so Arista Records approved a full album.
But during the recording, all three singers were replaced. According to Billboard, all three were fired for lacking star potential; according to People, two of them quit. Either way, the three singers on the album were not the original members of Expose; those were singers named Jeanette Jurado, Gioia Bruno, and Ann Curless.
1990 - Dominique Wilkens won the NBA Slam Dunk contest.
1990 - Paula Abdul and MC Skat Kat’s single Opposites Attract hit number one.
1992 - Mike Tyson was convicted of rape.
1993 - Oprah interviewed Michael Jackson at the Neverland Ranch.
1995 - Billy Madison hit theaters.
1996 - Garry Kasparov was defeated in chess by Deep Blue.
1996 - Brent Barry won the NBA Slam Dunk contest.
2000 - Jim Varney passed away.
February 11th
1983 - Bonnie Tyler’s single Total Eclipse of the Heart was released.
1983 - “Weird Al” Yankovic finished recording his self-titled debut LP.
1986 - The Super Bowl Shuffle by the Chicago Bears was certified gold.
1989 - Kenny “Sky” Walker won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
1989 - Paula Abdul’s Straight Up became her first of six consecutive number one singles.
1990 - Nelson Mandela was freed from prison after 27 years.
1990 - Buster Douglas upset Mike Tyson to become boxing’s undisputed world heavyweight champion.
Buster Douglas was world champion for eight months — and never successfully defended the title.
After Buster Douglas’s shocking upset over Tyson, he decided to make his first defense against Evander Holyfield.
They fought in October of 1990 and Holyfield knocked out Douglas in the third round.
Douglas earned almost $25 million for the fight, and retired right after. (Though, of course, he eventually returned as all boxers do.)
1991 - Another Bad Creation’s album Coolin’ at the Playground, Ya Know was released.
1993 - Janet Reno was named the first female attorney general of the U.S..
1994 - Blank Check and My Girl 2 both hit theaters.
1994 - Celine Dion’s song The Power of Love hit number one.
1995 - Harold Minor won the NBA Slam Dunk content.
February 12th
1985 - Johnny Carson shocked the world when he shaved his beard.
1988 - School Daze hit theaters.
1990 - MC Hammer’s album Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em was released.
1993 - Tiny Toon Adventures aired its series finale.
1993 - Groundhog Day hit theaters.
The Punxsutawney, Pa., scenes in Groundhog Day were shot in Illinois.
The Groundhog Day producers felt the town of Woodstock, Ill., had the right “look” — yes, more than the actual town of Punxsutawney.
But the town of Punxsutawney was so upset at the snub they refused to let the real Punxsutawney Phil groundhog appear in the movie.
1993 - Untamed Heart both hit theaters.
1994 - Isaiah Rider won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
1994 - The Winter Olympics opened in Lillehammer, Norway.
1994 - Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream was stolen.
1999 - Bill Clinton was acquitted by the U.S. Senate to avoid removal from office.
2000 - Charles Schulz passed away.
February 13th
1980 - The Winter Olympics opened in Lake Placid, New York.
1981 - The New York Times published its longest sentence ever at 1,286 words.
1983 - Marvin Gaye famously sang the national anthem at the NBA All-Star Game.
1986 - The Greatest American Hero aired its series finale.
1987 - Mannequin and Over the Top both hit theaters.
1988 - Michael Jackson bought the Neverland Ranch.
1988 - The Winter Olympics opened in Calgary, Alberta, Canada — an Olympics in which Canada would not win a gold.
Canada hosted two Olympics in an eight-year stretch — and didn’t win a gold medal at either.
Canada did not win any golds at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary… nor did they win any at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
(On the bright side, when Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, Canada won the most gold medals of any country.)
1992 - Jose Canseco rammed his Porsche into his wife’s BMW.
1993 - Double Dare aired its series finale.
1993 - SNL aired the famous “Chris Farley Show” interview with Paul McCartney.
1994 - Temple coach John Chaney threatened to kill UMass coach John Calipari during a press conference.
1996 - Tupac’s album All Eyez on Me was released.
1996 - The U.K. government set up counseling phone lines after boy band Take That announced their breakup.
1996 - Rent opened off Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop.
1997 - Shawn Michaels vacated the WWF championship because he “lost [his] smile”.
1998 - The Wedding Singer hit theaters.
1999 - Monica’s single Angel of Mine hit number one.
2000 - The last original Peanuts comic strip ran in newspapers one day after Charles Schulz’s death.
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.
Wildcats was the film debut of both Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson.
Snipes and Harrelson both played football players in Wildcats with Goldie Hawn as their coach.
Six years later Snipes and Harrelson co-starred in a more successful and enduring sports film with White Men Can’t Jump.
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.
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 - 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.
Whitney Houston’s How Will I Know was originally written for Janet Jackson.
Songwriters George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam (who were the ‘80s due Boy Meets Girl and had their own hit with Waiting For a Star to Fall) were hired to write for Janet Jackson’s next album.
They’d never heard of Whitney Houston when a record executive suggested that she could record the song for her debut album.
1991 - King Ralph hit theaters.
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.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
All six pairs of shoes that Michael Jordan wore in the six clinching games of the NBA Finals sold at auction for $8 million.
David Leitch, the director of Deadpool 2 and John Wick, looks like he’s going to be the director of the new Jurassic Park reboot.
Jim Carrey has decided to come back for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, even after he said it was highly unlikely he’d stay a part of the franchise.
After Tracy Chapman’s surprise performance of Fast Car at the Grammys, it hit number one on iTunes and has a shot at re-entering the Billboard Hot 100. (It peaked at number 6 when it originally came out in 1988.)
Phone companies are taking more aggressive steps to phase out landlines; one industry analyst believes only about 5% of landlines will remain by 2030.
On the 40th anniversary of Sophie’s Choice, Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline say it’s “as relevant as ever.”
Carl Weathers passed away last week at age 76. He starred in most of the best movies of the ‘80s.
Recommendations of the week
Articles and more about ‘80s and ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, and never knew existed
To get you ready for the Super Bowl the right way, here’s the untold story of the 1999 Budweiser “Wassup?” commercial.
Why the new documentary on the making of We Are the World is “incredible” and worth a watch.
Here’s a look at a ghostly radio station that’s been broadcasting a “dull, monotonous tone” from Russia since 1982… and no one knows why.
Have a great week!
-Sam