Apr 14: Simpsons debut on Tracey Ullman, Montell Jordan
Plus Mario enshrined in the Library of Congress and Volkswagen made a Bon Jovi car?
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
April 14th, 2023 • Issue 147
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
April 14th
1980 - Iron Maiden’s self-titled debut album was released.
1980 - Kramer vs. Kramer won Best Picture at the 52nd Oscars.
1984 - My Little Pony premiered.
1989 - Say Anything hit theaters.
1989 - Tom Petty’s first solo album was released.
1990 - Tommy Page’s single I’ll Be Your Everything hit number one.
1993 - A fan in gold shoes hit a near-full court shot to win $1 million at a Chicago Bulls game.
1995 - Jury Duty and Stuart Saves His Family hit theaters.
1996 - The Simpsons episode “22 Short Films About Springfield” premiered.
1996 - Greg Norman famously blew a lead at the Masters.
1999 - Tal Bachman’s single She’s So High was released.
2000 - 28 Days, Keeping the Faith, and American Psycho hit theaters.
April 15th
28 years ago, on April 15th, 1995, Montell Jordan’s single This Is How We Do It hit number one.
Montell Jordan’s This Is How We Do It rise to the number one in the country was a more pivotal moment than it seemed at the time.
And not just because, “at 6’8 he stood,” he was and still remains the tallest singer ever to make it to number one.
This Is How We Do It is an R&B song that samples a rap song: Slick Rick’s Children’s Story.
Since the beginning, rappers sampled R&B and funk songs.
But here, about a quarter of a century into rap, things finally flipped. And while this Montell Jordan song wasn’t the first R&B song to sample a rap track (it started at least a few years earlier; Mary J. Blige does it on Real Love), This Is How We Do It was the first to hit number one doing so.
It’s also of note that Jordan’s track is a pure party song, while Slick Rick’s rap is thematically bleak and depressing. Everything was in flux. Everything was up for reinterpretation, remixing, and reintroducing to a new genre in a new way.
The cross-pollination between the genres only accelerated after that — so much so that we’d reach a point where collaborations between rappers and singers became the expectation, not the exception.
1983 - Flashdance hit theaters.
1983 - Tokyo Disneyland opened.
1989 - “Sprockets” debuted on Saturday Night Live.
1989 - Fine Young Cannibals’ song She Drives Me Crazy hit number one.
1990 - In Living Color premiered on FOX.
1994 - Space Ghost premiered.
1994 - The World Trade Organization was established.
1996 - No Doubt’s single Don’t Speak was released.
1997 - Hanson’s single Mmmbop was released.
1997 - Jackie Robinson’s number 42 was retired across baseball.
2001 - Joey Ramone passed away.
April 16th
1993 - Benny and Joon hit theaters.
1993 - Culture Beat’s single Mr. Vain was released.
1994 - Crash Test Dummies’ one hit, Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, peaked at number four on the Billboard charts.
1994 - 12 Gauge’s one hit, Dunkie Butt, peaked at number 28.
1994 - All That premiered on Nickelodeon.
1999 - Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement.
2000 - Love & Basketball hit theaters.
April 17th
1987 - Bill Murray filled in for Harry Carey with the Chicago Cubs.
1996 - The Menendez brothers were sentenced to life in prison.
1999 - The Vengaboys one hit, We Like to Party, peaked at number 26 on the Billboard charts.
April 18th
1983 - The Disney Channel premiered as a cable network.
1985 - Tulane University ended its basketball program over corruption.
1987 - Aretha Franklin and George Michael’s duet I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) hit number one.
1989 - Great White’s album Twice Shy was released.
1992 - Adam Sandler’s Opera Man character debuted on Saturday Night Live.
1995 - Joe Montana announced his retirement from the NFL.
1998 - Marcy Playground’s one hit, Sex and Candy, peaked at number eight.
1998 - Peyton Manning was the top pick in the NFL Draft.
1998 - Jesse Camp won MTV’s Wanna Be a VJ contest.
1999 - Silk Stalkings aired its series finale.
April 19th
36 years ago, on April 19th, 1987, the first “Simpsons” short appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show.
The Tracey Ullman Show is remembered today for being the place where The Simpsons got its start (with this sketch on this day) and, well, that’s about it.
That’s probably unfair.
Believe it or not, The Tracey Ullman Show — only the second show ever on FOX, after Married, With Children — lasted four seasons and 82 episodes. It could’ve gone longer had Ullman herself not pulled the plug from creative exhaustion.
It received 33 Emmy nominations and won 10 — FOX’s first Emmy wins. It also won a Golden Globe, with Tracey Ullman beating three Golden Girls and Cybill Shepherd to win Best Actress in a TV Comedy or Musical.
It received near-universal critical acclaim. It attracted giant guest stars, including Mel Brooks and Steve Martin. Its writing staff went on to write for and create many of the biggest shows of the ‘90s.
But The Tracey Ullman Show never had much ratings success. Nothing on FOX did… until The Simpsons.
So while few people saw The Tracey Ullman Show, everyone saw The Simpsons. And as a result, as time passed, The Tracey Ullman Show became a footnote to the juggernaut it created.
The Tracey Ullman Show was too small to be, say, Destiny’s Child to Beyonce or WWE to The Rock. Destiny’s Child and WWE achieved higher levels of notoriety before they launched their transcendent stars.
No, The Tracey Ullman Show and The Simpsons were more like Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place to Ryan Reynolds.
1980 - Blondie’s single Call Me hit number one.
1982 - Sally Ride was named the first female astronaut.
1986 - Prince’s single Kiss hit number one.
1990 - Wings premiered on NBC.
1991 - Evander Holyfield defeated George Foreman to retain the boxing heavyweight title.
1994 - Nas’s debut album Illmatic was released.
1995 - The Oklahoma City bombing occurred.
1996 - Celtic Pride hit theaters.
1999 - Lou Bega’s single Mambo No. 5 was released.
2000 - The character Timmy debuted on South Park.
April 20th
1982 - Pitfall! was released for Atari 2600.
1986 - Michael Jordan scored a record 63 points in a playoff loss to Boston.
1991 - Rocket Ismael signed with Toronto in the CFL for $26 million.
1991 - Wilson Phillips’ single You’re in Love hit number one.
1992 - Benny Hill passed away.
1992 - Metallica’s single Nothing Else Matters was released.
1992 - The Freddie Mercury memorial concert was held in London.
1993 - Aerosmith’s album Get a Grip was released, as was Shania Twain’s self-titled debut album.
1993 - Janet Jackson’s single That’s the Way Love Goes was released.
1996 - The Chicago Bulls won a record 72 regular season games, but unlike when Golden State won 72 a few decades later, Chicago would actually win the title.
1998 - During a demo of Windows 98, the operating system crashed when Bill Gates plugged in a scanner.
1999 - The Columbine High School shooting occurred in Colorado.
2001 - Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles and Freddy Got Fingered hit theaters.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
A “mini-riot” broke out at a performance of The Bodyguard musical in Manchester, U.K., because some members of the audience wouldn’t stop joining in on singing I Will Always Love You.
The official trailer is out for the fifth Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It comes out on June 30th.
Alan Ruck, who’s now I guess a bigger deal on Succession than he was in the ‘80s, says he only made $40,000 for playing Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and had to work at a Sears warehouse after the movie.
There’s a Twister sequel coming next year. But it’s not one that was in development in 2021 with Helen Hunt and Daveed Diggs. And Diggs says theirs was scrapped for reasons that are “potentially shady.”
James Cromwell became a vegan after starring in Babe. He recently helped save a pig that jumped off a truck headed toward a slaughterhouse (and named the pig Babe).
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
The Library of Congress’s announced its 2023 inductees to the National Recording Registry based on their “cultural, historical, or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.” Their selections from the ‘80s and ‘90s are:
Flashdance… What a Feeling by Irene Cara
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by The Eurythmics
Synchronicity album by The Police
Like a Virgin album by Madonna
Black Codes (From the Underground) album by Wynton Marsalis
The Super Mario Bros. theme by Koji Kondo — the first video game track on the registry
All Hail the Queen album by Queen Latifah
All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey
Pale Blue Dot audiobook by Carl Sagan
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
In 1996, McDonald’s unveiled the Arch Deluxe. It famously flopped. But maybe it was… good?
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
In 1996, Volkswagen made a special Bon Jovi edition of its Golf model which included a Bon Jovi logo on the back, splatter painted seats, and I guess various other features that were supposed to say “ROCK!” Maybe the windshield wipers say slippery when wet or something? Anyway, I just learned about it when a used one in pretty good condition went up for sale in Massachusetts and went for a disappointingly low $8,700.
Have a great week!
-Sam