Dec 16: Here Comes the Hotstepper, Eddie Murphy's turning point
Plus Die Hard Xmas trailer, Nintendo theme park opening, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
December 16th, 2022 • Issue 130
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
December 16th
1983 - The Who broke up for the first time.
1988 - Rain Man hit theaters.
1993 - Nirvana’s Unplugged performance aired on MTV.
1994 - Dumb and Dumber hit theaters.
1995 - The series finale of Ren & Stimpy aired on Nickelodeon.
1996 - The Spice Girls’ single 2 Become 1 was released.
December 17th
28 years ago, on December 17th, 1994, Ini Kamoze’s only hit, Here Comes the Hotstepper, hit number one.
Here Comes the Hotstepper was an improbably successful song that led to even more improbable results.
Ini Kamoze was a part of the Jamaican music scene throughout the ‘80s, eventually finding his way to Europe and then the U.S. as he grew in popularity.
Here Comes the Hotstepper was a American-ified remix of a dancehall track Kamoze made in 1990 called Hot Stepper.
The U.S. version was a hip-hop/dancehall hybrid — a formula that had just worked on another improbable one-hit wonder, Snow’s Informer.
The track was a Long Island iced tea of literally dozens of samples. Most famous are the “na na na na na nas” from Wilson Pickett’s Land of 1,000 Dances — but Hotstepper also features a little or a lot of many, many others.
Though “hotstepper” is a Jamaican slang reference to someone on the run from the law, that’s about all the Jamaican we get. Kamoze (wisely, considering the results) dumbed down every lyric for the mainstream American audience. (His allusions are all American pop culture too, e.g., Bo Knows and homie don’t play that.)
It took the track years to break through, finally finding success after Robert Altman (of all people) wanted it for his fashion satire film Ready to Wear. The movie wasn’t a hit, but it put Here Comes the Hotstepper on the radar.
And then… for a brief moment, Ini Kamoze, at age 37, became the hottest artist in the music industry. A massive bidding war broke out for his record contract and Elektra signed him to a seven album deal.
Unfortunately, Columbia Records screwed him over before that deal could go far. They owned the rights to Hotstepper and Kamoze’s previous work and released an unauthorized “best of” album one week before his debut album with Elektra.
That would be the only one of Kamoze’s seven contracted albums Elektra would release. Kamoze would never have another hit song… but he kept making music, releasing new albums in 2006, 2009, and 2016 on his own label.
1982 - Tootsie and The Dark Crystal both hit theaters.
1987 - Final Fantasy was released in Japan.
1989 - The Simpsons premiered on FOX.
1991 - MC Hammer’s Addams Groove was released.
1992 - The Chuck Norris-Jonathan Brandis movie Sidekicks hit theaters.
1993 - The State premiered.
1993 - The Pelican Brief, Beethoven’s 2nd, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape hit theaters.
1995 - Cleveland Browns fans destroyed the stadium after the team’s final home game before relocating to Baltimore.
1996 - Dru Hill’s single In My Bed was released.
1997 - The term “weblog” was first used.
1999 - Stuart Little hit theaters.
December 18th
35 years ago, on December 18th, 1987, Eddie Murphy Raw hit theaters.
I was nervous to re-watch Eddie Murphy Raw because of just how poorly I assumed it would hold up.
Turns out… it holds up better than expected and far better than Delirious. There’s only one short brutal-to-watch and utterly indefensible homophobic segment (I was expecting way more) and almost all of the material that treads into sexist territory keeps men firmly as the punchline.
What I did notice in Raw was how jaded Eddie already seemed. He was a mere 26 years old when this special came out and the joy already seems gone. (This special was a few years post-SNL and Beverly Hills Cop.)
There’s an unmistakable undercurrent of bitterness here.
The special starts out with a defensive bit about how Bill Cosby chastised him over his blue material. (He makes Cosby the bad guy in the bit for sanctimoniousness; of course we now know there’s a lot worse about Cosby than that. Still… you can tell 1987 Murphy already doesn’t like the guy.)
Murphy does a long bit about how unfathomable he finds it for a successful person to have to give away half of their money in a divorce (he’s still unmarried at this point in his life, but is pre-upset about this concept).
Later in the special, he tells the story of getting into a fight at a club, then laments how everyone in the fight sued him.
And unfortunately… he can’t overcome the bitterness with strong material. His joke writing and mechanics are prodigal and elite — but the material isn’t that good. It’s telling the biggest laugh he gets the entire show is when he breaks into an impression of an Italian guy charged up after watching a Rocky movie. He’d just done an hour on relationships and it was so meh that it’s a relief to see Murphy slip into a character and have some fun.
Raw is Eddie Murphy’s turning point because it’s the moment he hits the performer’s paradox. That is: When a performer rises to mega-stardom through being a relatable, authentic everyman, they inevitably hit a point where they’re no longer that everyman. Here, Eddie Murphy is no longer that everyman.
In 1987, he could still get away with B-level material because of his reputation. He could get away with using his concert film as a chance to air some grievances (and even pre-grievances).
But eventually, that shtick grows tiresome. And knowing what happened with Eddie Murphy’s eventual slump (and so many others who’ve ridden the same ride), this is a rare chance to see the turning point play out in real time.
1966 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas premiered on CBS.
1982 - Hall and Oates’s single Maneater hit number one.
1995 - Women’s wrestler Madusa appeared on WCW Monday Nitro and famously threw the WWF Women’s Championship belt in a garbage can.
1997 - HTML 4.0 was published by W3C.
1998 - The Prince of Egypt hit theaters.
1998 - You’ve Got Mail hit theaters.
1999 - After two years of living in a tree to protect it, environmental activist Julia Hill returned to the ground.
2002 - Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers hit theaters.
December 19th
1980 - 9 to 5 hit theaters.
1980 - Raging Bull hit theaters.
1986 - Platoon and Little Shop of Horrors both hit theaters.
1990 - Bo Jackson made the NFL Pro Bowl to become the first person to be selected for an all-star game in two pro sports.
1996 - The Oakland, Calif., school board passed a resolution declaring Ebonics a language.
1997 - Tomorrow Never Dies hit theaters.
1997 - Titanic crashed into theaters.
1998 - President Clinton was charged with lying under oath to a federal grand jury.
1999 - Bret “Hitman” Hart’s wrestling career was ended by a kick to the head from Goldberg at WCW Starrcade.
2001 - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring hit theaters.
December 20th
1985 - The Color Purple and Out of Africa hit theaters.
1987 - The Bangles’ single Walk Like an Egyptian hit number one.
1989 - The U.S. invaded Panama.
1989 - Born on the Fourth of July hit theaters.
1991 - Father of the Bride and JFK hit theaters.
1995 - LL Cool J’s single Doin’ It was released.
1996 - Beavis and Butt-Head Do America hit theaters.
1996 - Apple purchased Steve Jobs’s NeXT.
1996 - Scream hit theaters.
1999 - The Vermont Supreme Court ruled same-sex couples were entitled to the same benefits as opposite sex couples.
2003 - Joe Namath tried to kiss Suzy Kolber during a sideline interview.
December 21st
1985 - Lionel Richie’s single Say You, Say Me hit number one.
1985 - Heart’s self-titled album hit number one.
1988 - Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Scotland.
1988 - Working Girl, Beaches, and Dangerous Liaisons hit theaters.
1989 - The U.S. sent troops to Panama.
1989 - Vice President Dan Quayle sent out his Christmas card containing a typo.
1991 - Mr. Big’s single To Be With You was released.
1993 - Ace of Base’s single The Sign was released.
1993 - Shaquille O’Neal’s single I Know I Got Skillz was certified gold.
1994 - Little Women, Richie Rich, and Mixed Nuts all hit theaters.
December 22nd
23 years ago, on December 22nd, 1999, Man on the Moon hit theaters.
Man on the Moon came out less than two weeks before the turn of the century. And while we didn’t know it at the time, it also closed the door on a popular 20th century phenomenon: Light-hearted speculation over whether dead entertainers were really dead.
There was Elvis. There was Tupac. And there was Andy Kaufman.
Kaufman’s entire career was built on shattering expectations, doing the unexpected, alt-comedy, and taking the joke too far.
Had he faked his own death in 1984 at age 35 and let that “bit” play out for a decade and a half? He seemed capable — perhaps more capable than any other performer to date.
And if there was ever a time for him to re-emerge, this was it. Man on the Moon, the Jim Carrey-led biopic celebrating his life, hit theaters. The hype around the movie introduced Kaufman’s antics to a whole new generation. Plus the turn of the millennium really seemed like the moment to pull off this type of stunt.
But he didn’t re-emerge. Man on the Moon ended with a cliffhanger of whether or not Kaufman was still alive… but within weeks, we’d all know for sure he wasn’t. He didn’t show up to the premiere. He didn’t show up on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Eve special. He hasn’t shown up since. He’s dead. Unambiguously.
The popularity of celebrity death conspiracy theories faded after that.
I’m not saying their disappearing popularity is directly attributable to the disappointment of Kaufman not proving at least one celebrity death conspiracy theory true. That contributed to some degree but wasn’t the entirety of it.
The 21st century attention span means less fixating on celebrity deaths (even massive ones, like Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant).
Lite conspiracy theories have more trouble spreading; people have far too many other entertainment options.
And, yeah, tabloids and conspiracy theories have taken a hard right turn, away from harmless speculation and into dangerous propaganda. Today the most prominent celebrity death hoax theories are JFK Jr. and Jeffrey Epstein — and neither is one rooted in fun, winking speculation like the theories of the past. Not even a little.
1979 - Rupert Holmes’ single Escape (The Pina Colada Song) became the final number one song of the decade.
1984 - Madonna’s single Like a Virgin hit number one.
1984 - Bernie Goetz shot four Black teenagers on the New York subway when they may or may not have been attempting to rob him.
1989 - Tango & Cash, Born on the Fourth of July, and Roger & Me hit theaters.
1989 - Castlevania III was released.
1990 - Kindergarten Cop hit theaters.
1993 - Philadelphia hit theaters.
1995 - Waiting to Exhale and Grumpier Old Men hit theaters.
1995 - The series finale aired of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
1997 - The FDA approved Propecia.
1999 - Any Given Sunday hit theaters.
1999 - The final game was played on the parquet floor at the Boston Garden.
2000 - Cast Away and O Brother Where Art Thou? hit theaters.
5 ‘80s and ‘90s trivia facts
The inflatable dancing tube men have only been around since 1996.
Though they seem like they’ve adorned the front of car dealerships forever, wacky waving inflatable tube men only date back to 1996 — when they debuted at the opening ceremonies of the summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Aladdin’s pants in Disney’s Aladdin were based on MC Hammer.
The animators creating Aladdin based the character’s looks roughly on Tom Cruise — and his parachute pants (and how he moved in them) on MC Hammer.
The Barenaked Ladies song One Week was the number one song… for one week.
It was Barenaked Ladies’ only U.S. number one hit ever.
Netflix has been around longer than Google.
Though Netflix rose to ubiquity far later than Google, it is older. Netflix started on August 29th, 1997… Google started on September 4th, 1998.
Major League Baseball was able to secure every team’s domain name in the ‘90s… except for three.
They weren’t able to secure Twins.com, Giants.com, or Rays.com. They finally got Twins.com this past August… but not the other two. Giants.com belongs to the New York Giants of the NFL… and Rays.com belongs to a seafood restaurant in Seattle.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
The Library of Congress announced 25 movies it’s adding to the National Film Registry this year for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically” significant. Ones from the scope of this newsletter include When Harry Met Sally, Hairspray, House Party (!), and The Little Mermaid.
The first Super Nintendo World in the U.S. opens at Universal Studios Hollywood on February 17th. Because I’ve done an excellent job as a parent, my kids are both hyped about it.
Mariah Carey’s 1994 song All I Want for Christmas Is You just hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the fourth year in a row. It’s the first song ever to hit number one in four separate years. (It never made it there back when the song actually came out.)
The Tampa Bay Times is celebrating Festivus from Seinfeld by giving you a forum to air your grievances. You can submit them via a web form and they’ll publish some of the best ones.
The teaser trailer is out for Scream VI, which comes to theaters on March 10th.
The Quantum Leap reboot has been renewed for a second season by NBC.
Snoop Dogg admits he’s so old (in music industry terms, at least) that when his career started, he wrote his rap lyrics on a typewriter. He says he used to type 65 words a minute.
Slash from Guns N’ Roses has debunked the rumor that his guitar riff from Sweet Child O’ Mine was just a warmup exercise.
Duran Duran and New Edition will perform on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve this year.
Here’s a list of the 20 Christmas movies with the most swearing. The ones at the top make sense — but even A Christmas Story and Home Alone crack the bottom of the list.
The website Loudwire picked the 50 greatest pop-punk albums of all time. Green Day’s Dookie from 1994 came in first.
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
The annual pineapple-on-pizza-esque debate rages once again on whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Here’s a minute-and-a-half trailer 20th Century FOX made that frames Die Hard as a light-hearted Christmas romp.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
There’s a new trailer for a three-part documentary series called Sometimes When We Touch on the soft rock movement. (The series begins January 3rd on Paramount+.) Get to know more about the Kenny Logginses, Air Supplys, Michael McDonalds, and Lionel Richies of the past than you ever knew before.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
A new video game called High on Life for Xbox and PC contains the entire 82-minute 1994 cult classic movie Tammy and the T-Rex. You can watch the entire movie (which is a horror comedy with Denise Richards and Paul Walker) right there in the middle of the game.
Have a great week!
-Sam