April 16: Like a Prayer, Windows 98, Jesse Camp
Plus Crash Test Dummies, Al Capone's vault, and more
The Retro
by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
April 16, 2021 • Issue 43
This week in nostalgic history
April 16th
27 years ago, on April 16th, 1994 - Crash Test Dummies’ one hit, Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, peaked at number four on the Billboard charts.
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm is an odd hit, to say the least. Somehow, despite being a mellow, droning song with uncomfortable subject matter, it became the Crash Test Dummies only major international hit and one of, perhaps, the most widely known songs of the ‘90s. We were awfully prone to hypnotic chanting in songs back then. (See: Mmmbop, Blue (Da Ba Dee), Tom’s Diner, et. al.)
I’ve always thought the three stories in the song were all transparently about hidden child abuse (e.g., the “birthmarks all over her body” weren’t actually birthmarks). And then, in all three stories, when the evidence of the abuse finally came to light in shocking public moments, people just played dumb and said mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm — a commentary on bystander effect indifference.
Well… nope. According to various interviews from the band (in particular its lead singer/the writer of Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm), the stories are just supposed to be peculiar and/or uncomfortable stories from the lead singer’s childhood. The kid who gets into an accident, misses school, and comes back with white hair is a reference to the lead singer’s childhood car accident and a phenomenon he’d heard of where trauma survivors see their hair turn prematurely white. The girl with birthmarks on her body is a reference to the lead singer’s own birthmark about which he was teased. And the kid who threw up in church is a reference to the lead singer’s childhood in the Pentecostal church, where people would sometimes speak in tongues. Hmm.
Also on April 16th: Benny and Joon hit theaters (1993)… Culture Beat’s single Mr. Vain was released (1993)… All That premiered on Nickelodeon (1994)… 12 Gauge’s one hit, Dunkie Butt, peaked at number 28 (1994)… Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement (1999)
April 17th
22 years ago, on April 17th, 1999 - The Vengaboys one hit, We Like to Party, peaked at number 26 on the Billboard charts.
I really love exuberant ‘90s dance music, and the Vengaboys made some of the exuberantest. I’ve chosen to spotlight this day of their peak performance on the U.S. Billboard charts because, frankly, I’m shocked they were only a one-hit wonder. Some of their other songs, like Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom and We’re Going to Ibiza, failed to make any sort of major impact in the U.S. but were massive hits in most European countries, especially the Vengaboys’ home of the Netherlands. And boy, were they big in the Netherlands.
The Vengaboys — which started when a stock trader in Amsterdam befriended a radio station DJ and decided to manufacture a pop group who'd masquerade as party people from Spain — were called the “most successful Dutch pop group of all time” by a newspaper in the Netherlands just two years ago.
Also, as far as the Google Translate version of that article tells me, the back story of the Vengaboys is a podcast waiting to happen. The two men and two women who were recruited to be in the act were "carefully protected... don't have surnames... interviews are excluded... and dress in over-the-top costumes because that makes them 'comic characters' who are 'replaceable.'"
Also on April 17th: The USPS introduced its new LOVE stamp (1985)… Bill Murray filled in for Harry Carey with the Chicago Cubs (1987)… the Menendez brothers were sentenced to life in prison (1996)…
April 18th
23 years ago, on April 18th, 1998 - Jesse Camp won MTV’s Wanna Be a VJ contest.
MTV has reinvented itself more than once, but few of its incarnations compare to late '90s MTV. That was the TRL era, where a live, unpredictable show became appointment television and the show of record for the teen-friendly music dominating all genres at the time.
MTV was making stars all over the music business during the era, so they decided to bring that process in-house. They set out to expand their VJ roster with a buzzworthy contest; essentially taking the voting of TRL and applying it to an election for the network's next big on-camera personality. They must not, however, have ever imagined they'd wind up with a winner like the one they got.
Rather than the fans rallying behind a seasoned pro or a glossier, more made-for-TV personality, the fans got behind a skinny, eccentric, disheveled dude named Jesse Camp. He portrayed himself as being a street kid which, in a really nice piece of inadvertent commentary on all things music industry and MTV, turned out to be a total fabrication — he was actually a graduate of a high-profile Connecticut boarding school who received a drama scholarship to UCLA.
Camp won the contest, even though allegations of online vote rigging abounded and, frankly, probably happened; there were virtually no safeguards against that kind of thing in 1998.
But the public (or some combo of the public and bots) had spoken, and Camp wound up with about a year-long career at MTV. He hosted a few shows, did some man-on-the-street interviewing for TRL, and eventually started his own band whose debut album sold only 10,000 albums.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2014, he referred to Jesse Camp as a "character... kind of an Andy Kaufman sort of thing."
Also on April 18th: Tulane University ended its basketball program over corruption (1985)… Adam Sandler’s Opera Man character debuted on Saturday Night Live (1992)… Roseanne and Tom Arnold got divorced (1994)… Joe Montana announced his retirement from the NFL (1995)… Marcy Playground’s one hit, Sex and Candy, peaked at number eight (1998)… Peyton Manning was the top pick in the NFL Draft (1998)… Silk Stalkings aired its series finale (1999)
April 19th
28 years ago, on April 19th, 1993 - David Koresh and 75 of his Branch Davidian followers died after a federal raid of their compound in Waco, Texas.
The Branch Davidians were not a particularly groundbreaking cult; everything was straight out of the generic cult handbook. They had a Leader Guy who looked like no big deal to anyone on the outside but had that squirrely cult leader charisma you see across generations. (David Koresh was not his real name; he was Vernon Howell and changed to the more Biblical-sounding David Koresh in 1990.) He abused his power for selfish gains, "married" most of the women in the cult fathering numerous children, was credibly accused of sexual abuse against female members of the cult who were teenagers, and was credibly abused of child abuse as well. A horrifying track record — yet one that happens over and over with cult leaders. Perhaps that's the only upside to America's current top cult leaders being a father-son duo in the Philippines who turned running a cult into remote work.
The raid on the Branch Davidians' compound was, however, an indisputably dark moment in history with more than enough blame to spread around. The end of the two-month standoff between the ATF/FBI and Branch Davidians (over the cult stockpiling illegal weapons) resulted in the deaths of four ATF agents and 76 Branch Davidians, including 25 children. The FBI would adjust its approach to dealing with cults after that (three years later, the Ruby Ridge standoff would end with no deaths) — but this was a tragic path to get there.
Also on April 19th: Sally Ride was named the first female astronaut (1982)… the first Simpsons short appeared on the Tracey Ullman Show (1987)… Wings premiered on NBC (1990)… Evander Holyfield defeated George Foreman (1991)… Nas’s debut album Illmatic was released (1994)… the Oklahoma City bombing occurred (1995)… Celtic Pride hit theaters (1996)… Lou Bega’s single Mambo No. 5 was released (1999)
April 20th
23 years ago, on April 20th, 1998 - During a demo of Windows 98, the operating system crashed when Bill Gates plugged in a scanner.
Windows 95 coincided with the PC boom, so, for many, Windows 95 was their first foray into the concept of graphical operating systems. And for all its positives (and there were many; Windows 95 was a generational leap from Windows 3.1 and a game changer), it was prone to crashing. A lot.
Windows 98 wasn't meant to be a complete reimagining of an operating system like its predecessor. Instead, it was meant to make a handful of iterative, but crucial, improvements: weave Internet Explorer into the very core of the computing experience, handle the rise of USB peripherals, and, yes, smooth some of the rough and unstable edges off the Windows experience.
So it did not portend well when Bill Gates (along with a terrified Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer Chris Caposella) plugged in a USB scanner during a Windows 98 live demo only to crash the computer and find themselves face-to-face with the infamous Blue Screen of Death.
Perhaps the enduring takeaway from that moment is just how much it didn't doom Windows 98. Jokes were made, sure, but Windows 98 still found its way onto more than 60 million computers during its three years as the flagship Windows OS. That pattern has repeated since: high-profile, embarrassing demonstrations not dooming a product like one might predict. As Steve Jobs' malfunctioning wifi during his Apple 4 presentation and Tesla's not-so-bulletproof glass windows would attest — jokes will follow, but so will sales.
Also on April 20th: Pitfall! was released for Atari 2600 (1982)… Michael Jordan scored a record 63 points in a playoff loss to Boston (1986)… Rocket Ismael signed with Toronto in the CFL for $26 million (1991)… Benny Hill passed away (1992)… Metallica’s single Nothing Else Matters was released (1992)… the Freddie Mercury memorial concert was held in London (1992)… 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 (1993)… the Chicago Bulls won a record 72 regular season games, and unlike when Golden State would match them years later, Chicago would go on to win the title (1996)… the Columbine High School shooting occurred in Colorado (1999)
April 21st
35 years ago, on April 21st, 1986 - Geraldo opened Al Capone’s vault on live TV and found nothing.
Geraldo Rivera today has zero journalistic credibility. In the mid '80s? He was teetering right at the brink and could still go either direction. After getting fired by ABC the year prior for criticizing their journalistic integrity, Geraldo needed a win. So when he got the opportunity to host a live, two-hour syndicated special opening Al Capone's mysterious vault in Chicago for the very first time, he went all-in. It had all the potential to be his star making moment.
But there's a problem that comes with opening a secret vault for the first time ever on live TV — you never know what's going to be in there. (It's why, I assume, they never run live episodes of any of those reality shows that open abandoned storage lockers. "So let's see here, we've got some boxes half-full of hangers and... oh look, here are issues of Time from 47 of the 52 weeks of 2005.")
Geraldo's live special, called The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults, hyped, hyped, and overhyped what might be in the vault. IRS agents were present in case the vault was filled with valuables or money. A medical examiner was there in case it was filled with dead bodies. And when finally, finally, the vault was opened, Geraldo looked inside and found... a bunch of empty, dirty bottles.
30 million people watched the special. Did that affect Geraldo's career? Well, one year later, his talk show began and kicked off, in earnest, the era of daytime trash TV.
Also on April 21st: Rosie Ruiz cheated during the Boston Marathon (1980)… Weird Al Yankovic made his national TV debut on the Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder (1981)… Footloose unseated Thriller as the top album in the U.S. after 37 weeks (1984)… the Nintendo Game Boy was released in Japan, along with Super Mario Land (1989)… Field of Dreams and Pet Sematary hit theaters (1989)… George W. Bush became CEO of the Texas Rangers baseball team (1989)… Sinead O’Connor’s one hit, Nothing Compares 2 U, hit number one (1990)… the Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue special was simulcast on all major networks (1990)… Walker Texas Ranger premiered on CBS (1993)… Herman’s Head aired its series finale (1994)… While You Were Sleeping and the Basketball Diaries both hit theaters (1995)
April 22nd
32 years ago, on April 22nd, 1989 - Madonna’s single Like a Prayer hit number one.
There might not be any song that better represents Peak Madonna than Like a Prayer. Early Madonna was controversial in her approaches to religious and sexual themes, but never blended both better than in Like a Prayer. And while courting controversy was one of Madonna's great talents, she possessed another: Making some of the best dance songs of the '80s and maybe ever. That also came through in Like a Prayer, a song regarded by many as the crown jewel in Madonna's endless catalog of massive hits.
But putting the catchy dance elements aside for a moment, Like a Prayer was one of Madonna's peaks of controversy. Sure, in her famous performance of Like a Virgin at the MTV VMAs in 1984, Madonna's signature cross dangled as she writhed in a revealing wedding dress. But in Like a Prayer, Madonna uses the entire damn chorus as a double entendre for prayer and sex. Then, in the music video, she also incorporated the burning crosses of the KKK to shine a light on yet another controversial usage of religious iconography. It's a smart message, daring the religious world to ask who's really misusing their symbols more, Madonna or a hate group. But the religious world didn't want to work through that entanglement. Instead, the Vatican spoke out against the video, Pepsi canceled their endorsement contract with Madonna, and all of the usual pearl clutching organizations in the country got to clutching.
That controversy only served to make the song even bigger. Now it wasn't just an addictive dance song, it was a symbol of rebellion. The song's popularity and legend grew and grew, as did the mythology of Madonna.
Over time, the controversy has faded. Country singers and gospel choirs now cover the song, taking the religious message at face value and ignoring the blatant sexual undertones. Plus, lots of envelopes have been pushed a lot further in the three decades that followed. However, the "religious controversy creates cash" blueprint which Madonna fully codified thanks to Like a Prayer has not. It's taken on other forms through the years, but continues to be a lucrative and battle-proven formula; even today, it's still nice and reliable, up to last week with Lil Nas X making Satanic Nikes and giving the devil a lap dance.
Also on April 22nd: The Blues Brothers made their first appearance on Saturday Night Live (1978)… Prince’s album Around the World in a Day was released (1985)… Guns N’ Roses’ single Patience was released (1989)… Johnny Carson announced he would be retiring from the Tonight Show the following year (1991)… the Mosaic 1.0 web browser was released (1993)… Richard Nixon passed away (1994)… Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened in Florida (1998)… Elian Gonzalez was seized by U.S. federal agents during a raid (2000)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
As people have been remembering DMX, a little-known story surfaced about how DMX was a big fan of Golden Girls.
Hallmark is releasing 13 classic video game Christmas ornaments this year, including one of a Super Nintendo with Super Mario World in the cartridge slot. They go on sale right at the heart of the Christmas season, July 10th.
The bee girl from the Blind Melon No Rain video just gave birth to a baby boy.
Several O.G. ER stars including George Clooney are reuniting for an episode of the YouTube series Stars in the House to raise money for Earth Day.
Jaleel White is launching his own Purple Urkel cannabis line.
John Corbett says he's in the new Sex and the City reboot.
Janet Jackson is auctioning off a bunch of items including her Rhythm Nation leather jacket.
Throwbacks and recommendations
A new scientific paper explained a theory of reducing poverty with a method modeled after Mario Kart item distribution.
Buzzfeed made a Buzzfeed list of facts that will "completely alter your mind" about iconic '90s and '00s videos. There were a few things I learned in here though, so I'll click the "win" sticker on this one.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam