4/5 - Where Did the Name "Toad the Wet Sprocket" Come From?
Plus trivia on Teletubbies, Newsies, Crocodile Hunter, and unlikely Oscar nominees
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
April 5th, 2024 • Issue 198
Be Kind, Rewind
What happened on this day in the ‘80s and ‘90s — plus lots of bonus trivia
April 5th
1982 - Jerry Lawler wrestled Andy Kaufman in Memphis.
1984 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar set the NBA career scoring record.
1987 - The FOX network debuted and premiered with Married… With Children and The Tracey Ullman Show.
1992 - Hulk Hogan defeated Sid Justice at WrestleMania VIII.
1993 - Assault charges were dropped against Mark Wahlberg after he reached an out-of-court settlement with the man he attacked.
1994 - Kurt Cobain committed suicide.
1997 - The Crocodile Hunter premiered.
The first episode of The Crocodile Hunter consisted of footage of Steve and Terri Irwin trapping crocodiles on their honeymoon.
Yes, they spent part of their honeymoon trapping a crocodile. And a documentary crew filmed it — and it wound up being the pilot of The Crocodile Hunter.
1998 - A woman in France caused a fatal accident while distracted by a Tamagotchi.
2002 - Van Wilder hit theaters.
April 6th
1984 - The Gods Must Be Crazy hit theaters.
1987 - Sugar Ray Leonard defeated Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
1987 - Baseball executive Al Campanis made racist remarks on Nightline.
1990 - Cry-Baby and Ernest Goes to Jail hit theaters.
1992 - Windows 3.1 launched.
1992 - Barney the Dinosaur premiered.
1992 - Duke defeated Michigan to win the NCAA Tournament.
1996 - Marlon Brando made anti-Semitic comments on Larry King Live.
1997 - WCW wrestler Booker T (a Black man) accidentally called Hulk Hogan (an orange man) the n-word during an impassioned promo.
1998 - Teletubbies premiered.
The Teletubbies costumes were close to nine feet tall.
It was hard to tell because everything on the show was to scale, but the costumes the performers wore in the show were enormous.
1998 - Citicorp and Travelers Group merged to form Citigroup.
1999 - Carmen Electra divorced Dennis Rodman.
2001 - Blow and Along Came a Spider hit theaters.
April 7th
1981 - Rick James’s album Street Songs was released.
1986 - WrestleMania II took place at three locations.
1989 - NBA players got the green light to compete in the Olympics.
1989 - Major League hit theaters.
1989 - The Dream Team hit theaters.
1990 - A Robert Maplethorpe photo exhibit at Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center led to multiple obscenity arrests.
1990 - Taylor Dayne’s single Love Will Lead You Back hit number one.
1992 - Toad the Wet Sprocket’s single All I Want was released.
Toad the Wet Sprocket’s name came from a Monty Python sketch.
In the sketch, a music journalist delivers a report about how “Rex Stardust, lead electric triangle with Toad the Wet Sprocket, has had to have an elbow removed.”
Years later, when this new band in Santa Barbara, Calif., was trying to pick a name, they went with the band from the Monty Python sketch. They now say that name was “a joke that went on too long… it was probably meant to be temporary.”
1993 - Indecent Proposal was released.
1994 - Civil war erupted in Rwanda.
1995 - Bad Boys and Rob Roy hit theaters.
1995 - A Goofy Movie hit theaters.
1998 - The Goo Goo Dolls song Iris was released.
1998 - George Michael was arrested for solo sex acts in a Beverly Hills bathroom.
1998 - Mary Bono won a special election to serve out her late husband’s congressional term.
2000 - Ready to Rumble, Rules of Engagement, and Return to Me hit theaters.
2001 - The Mars Odyssey launched.
April 8th
1983 - David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear.
1984 - Los Angeles passed Chicago as the second-biggest U.S. city.
1986 - Clint Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel, California.
1988 - 18 Again hit theaters.
There was a recent South Korean TV series based on 18 Again.
18 Again was a standard old-young body-switching film (with George Burns as the “old”).
In September 2020, a body switching TV series called 18 Again premiered in South Korea, drawing its inspiration from the movie three decades earlier.
1989 - Roxette’s single The Look hit number one.
1989 - Mike Myers joined the cast of Saturday Night Live.
1990 - Twin Peaks premiered on ABC.
1992 - Arthur Ashe announced he had AIDS.
1994 - Kurt Cobain was found dead, three days after committing suicide.
1995 - 2 Unlimited’s one hit, Get Ready for This, peaked at number 38.
2000 - The “More Cowbell” sketch aired on Saturday Night Live.
2000 - Santana’s single Maria Maria hit number one.
April 9th
1979 - The Deer Hunter won Best Picture at the 51st Oscars.
1984 - Terms of Endearment won Best Picture at the 56th Oscars.
1986 - Patrick Duffy’s return to Dallas was announced, even though his character was killed off.
1988 - Billy Ocean’s single Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car hit number one.
The title of Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car came from a line in a Ringo Starr solo hit.
A song called You’re Sixteen contained the line: “You walked out of my dreams and into my car.”
You’re Sixteen was a hit for a few different performers, including Johnny Burnette in 1960 and Ringo Starr in 1973.
1988 - Dave of Sam & Dave was killed in a car accident.
1990 - Billy Idol’s single Cradle of Love was released.
1993 - The Sandlot hit theaters.
1994 - R. Kelly’s single Bump n’ Grind hit number one.
1997 - Soundgarden broke up.
1999 - Never Been Kissed and Go both hit theaters.
2001 - Tiger Woods won the Masters to hold all four golf major titles simultaneously.
April 10th
1987 - The Secret of My Success hit theaters.
1992 - Newsies hit theaters.
Newsies was not originally a musical.
The original Newsies screenplay was a straight drama. When director Kenny Ortega signed on, he and Disney reimagined the movie as a musical — hoping and believing live-action movie musicals would make a comeback.
Christian Bale had no singing or dancing experience when he was cast as the lead.
1992 - Ferngully: The Last Rainforest hit theaters.
1993 - SWV’s single Weak was released.
1995 - Monica’s single Don’t Take It Personal and Boyz II Men’s single Water Runs Dry were released.
1998 - City of Angles and My Giant both hit theaters.
1999 - TLC’s single No Scrubs hit number one.
April 11th
1981 - Hall and Oates’ single Kiss on My List hit number one.
1983 - R.E.M.’s debut album Murmur was released.
1983 - Gandhi won Best Picture at the 55th Oscars.
1986 - Kellogg’s stopped giving factory tours due to suspicion of serial cereal spies.
1988 - The Last Emperor won Best Picture at the 60th Oscars.
The 60th Academy Awards included nominations for Throw Momma from the Train, Mannequin, Beverly Hills Cop II, Lethal Weapon, Predator, and RoboCop (twice!) — though none won.
Anne Ramsey was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Throw Momma From the Train… Mannequin and Beverly Hills Cop II both had Best Original Song nominations… Lethal Weapon was nominated for Best Sound… Predator was nominated for Best Visual Effects… and RoboCop was nominated for Best Sound and Best Film Editing.
1997 - Anaconda and Grosse Point Blank both his theaters.
1997 - Savage Garden’s self-titled debut album was released.
2000 - No Doubt’s album Return of Saturn was released.
2001 - Joe Dirt, Kingdom Come, and Josie and the Pussycats hit theaters.
What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
A new Matrix movie is on the way, the first that will not involve the original creators, the Wachowskis. It’s going to be a continuation of the universe and not a reboot of the 1999 film.
Adam Sandler is working on Happy Gilmore 2 and says he wants to honor all the Happy Gilmore cast members who’ve passed away (Carl Weathers, Bob Barker, Joe Flaherty, Frances Bay, and more). One of his ideas is to have Drew Carey pay homage to Bob Barker.
An Air Supply biopic is in the works and scheduled for next year.
Patricia Richardson, who played Jill Taylor on Home Improvement, says Tim Allen is “lying” about a revival. She says he never asked her or Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
Brandy says she’d “love” to do a reunion special of Moesha… even though it sounds like she’s not in touch with anyone from the cast anymore.
John Oates is releasing a new album called Reunion. But it’s a solo album and not indicative of a reunion with Daryl Hall.
The Scorpions say the original title for 1984’s Rock You Like a Hurricane was going to be [Eff] You Like a Hurricane but their record label intervened.
Get Your Book-It Stickers Here
Recommended articles about ‘80s and ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, and never knew existed
Ars Technica looked at time travel in 20 movies to look at how time travel storytelling has evolved, its entertainment value, and the scientific merit of different films’ approaches.
Here’s a list of “title twins”: 50 sets of rock songs that share the same name.
Finally, here’s a playlist of (mostly ‘80s and ‘90s) eclipse/darkness/sun songs to listen to for Monday’s total solar eclipse.
Have a great week!
-Sam