Feb 19 - Cherry Coke, Homer at the Bat, Lauryn Hill
Plus Radiohead, Bell Biv DeVoe's Poison, and more
The Retro by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
February 19, 2021 • Issue 35
This week in nostalgic history
February 19th
36 years ago, on February 19th, 1985 - Cherry Coke was introduced by Coca-Cola.
It was inevitable that Coca-Cola would eventually start selling Cherry Coke (or its eventual Poochie-fied name, Coca-Cola Cherry) — they needed to control and regulate the market. Pre-1985, plenty of restaurants (and also, I assume, neighborhood drugstore sodie fountains with greasers shooting pennies outside and whatnot), sold their own versions of cherry Coke — regular Coke with grenadine or other cherry-flavored syrups mixed in. That, of course, assured an inconsistent cherry Coke flavor from one venue to the next.
Cherry Coke would, in 1985, become the first flavored version of Coke to hit the market and only Coca-Cola’s third soda line (Coca-Cola and Diet Coke). And it was delicious right out of the gate.
But that’s not the only reason for its success.
No, Cherry Coke wound up gaining an even bigger market share because just two months after its release, Coca-Cola introduced New Coke — which everyone infamously hated. That made Cherry Coke look even better in contrast, and even drove up its popularity as customers looked for alternatives to New Coke in droves.
Cherry Coke has remained a mainstay in Coke’s product line ever since, and has survived even as the company has tried but failed to launch so many other Coke flavors. Most of those have been relegated to Freestyle machines at this point; Cherry Coke remains a fountain-worthy mainstream product.
Also on February 19th: Adobe Photoshop was launched (1990)… REM’s single Losing My Religion was released (1991)… Public Enemy boycotted the Grammys after rap categories were left off the main telecast (1991)… Army of Darkness hit theaters (1993)… Martin Lawrence received a lifetime ban from Saturday Night Live (1994)… Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee got married (1995)… Oasis’s single Don’t Look Back in Anger was released (1996)… Office Space and Jawbreaker both hit theaters (1999)
February 20th
29 years ago, on February 20th, 1992 - The Simpsons episode “Homer at the Bat” premiered.
The early timeline of The Simpsons has some universally-recognized milestones — and season three’s “Homer at the Bat” is indisputably one of those milestones. This episode brought in nine of the biggest names in Major League Baseball (well, eight plus Steve Sax) — who brought along with them lots of extra eyeballs to the already thriving Simpsons.
This would be the first episode of the show ever to beat The Cosby Show head-to-head — and, in an important moment for the show’s enduring success, the people who tuned in weren’t disappointed. The episode, inspired in part by The Natural but with plenty of originality of its own, is roundly considered one of the best episodes in series history. It now even has its own spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Also on February 20th: The Chunnel was officially announced (1986)… Contra hit arcades (1987)… Harold Miner won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest (1993)… Snoop Dogg was found not guilty of murder in the case that they gave him (1996)… Celine Dion’s single Because You Loved Me was released (1996)… Ben & Jerry’s introduced its Phish Food ice cream flavor (1997)… Tara Lipinski became the youngest figure skating gold medal winner at age 15 (1998)… Gene Siskel passed away (1999)
February 21st
35 years ago, on February 21st, 1986 - Pitcher Rollie Fingers made his choice between retirement and shaving his signature mustache.
Rollie Fingers is a Hall of Fame pitcher who won multiple World Series, a Cy Young, and even a (rare for a pitcher) MVP. But if you ask most baseball fans to sum up his career in one word, it would be: “mustache.”
And clearly, he understood quite well where his bread was buttered. It was buttered with mustache.
Early in his career, Rollie Fingers grew a handlebar mustache, which he curled at the ends, Rocky & Bullwinkle-villain style. He became so well-known for that mustache he kept it for his entire career. But as that career was in its twilight, and Fingers had the chance to sign with the Cincinnati Reds, he was faced with a conundrum. The Reds’ controversial (to say the least) owner Marge Schott didn’t like facial hair and banned it across the organization. So if Fingers wanted to play for the Reds, he’d have to shave.
He chose retirement.
Also on February 21st: Charles Rocket dropped an f-bomb on Saturday Night Live (1981)… The Legend of Zelda was released in Japan (1986)… Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot hit theaters (1992)… Kristi Yamaguchi won the gold medal in figure skating (1992)… Star Fox was released for Super Nintendo (1993)… TLC’s single Red Light Special and Joan Osbourne’s single One of Us were released (1995)… Wheel of Fortune switched to its all-digital letter board (1997)
February 22nd
28 years ago, on February 22nd, 1993 - Radiohead’s debut album, Pablo Honey, was released.
I’m not a diehard fan of Radiohead by any means, but I was loosely aware of them when this album came out, entirely because of Creep’s heavy radio airplay. What I appreciate most about this album in retrospect is how it showcases one of the inherent and persistent flaws in music criticism — it’s impossible to separate an artist’s reputation from the perceived quality of their music.
When Pablo Honey came out in 1993 by the mostly unknown group Radiohead, it received somewhat middling reviews; mostly in the B-/C+ type range, mostly describing the other brands they seemed to be ripping off (The Smiths came up a lot). But as Radiohead grew as a band and gained recognition as one of the best in the world, suddenly the perception of their first album changed. Newer reviews that looked back on the album said things like “a promising collection that blends U2’s anthemic rock with long, atmospheric instrumental passages and an enthralling triple-guitar attack” and like “one of rock’s most impressive debuts.”
Also on February 22nd: The Miracle on Ice happened at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York (1980)… Andy Warhol passed away (1987)… Milli Vanilli won the Grammy for Best New Artist (1990)… The Adventures of Gummi Bears aired its series finale (1991)… Dolly the Sheep was cloned (1997)… The Spice Girls single Wannabe hit number one (1997)
February 23rd
33 years ago, on February 23rd, 1988 - A 13-year-old Lauryn Hill was booed during her performance on It’s Showtime at the Apollo.
Lauryn Hill has had a low-key fascinating career. From staring in one blockbuster movie (Sister Act 2, obviously) and calling it quits to having one monster hit album with the Fugees and calling it quits to making one of the most commercially- and critically-successful solo albums of all time and then calling it quits to going to prison truly out of nowhere for calling it quits on paying her taxes — there’s just more to unpack than anyone will ever unpack. But there’s been one consistent thru line in her career, and that is: It’s clear, without a shadow of a doubt, that she DGAF.
And that overpowering personality trait seems to be what, more or less, saved her fledgling career from ending before it ever really started on this day in 1988.
This was the day Lauryn Hill appeared on the classic TV show It’s Showtime at the Apollo for its weekly amateur night competition. The crowd at the Apollo was known for being notoriously harsh; a shaky performer’s dreams would quickly be drowned out in a sea of unrelenting boos, followed by a man in a clown suit giving that unfortunate soul the hook.
The crowd was so harsh, it turns out, they would even brutally boo a child. Which is what happened then Lauryn Hill performed. As you can see in the video of her performance, she starts out clearly nervous — and the crowd starts to boo. But even at 13, Lauryn Hill already had that aforementioned DGAFedness in place — so she ignores the boos, finds her footing in the song, powers through, and eventually turns quite a few of the boos into cheers. It’s hard to imagine any other 13-year-old would’ve been able to finish that song and not run off crying, to never perform in public again.
But not Lauryn Hill.
Also on February 23rd: Queen’s single Crazy Little Thing Called Love hit number one (1980)… Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight threw a chair during a game (1985)… the show Gimme a Break aired live, the first live sitcom since the ‘50s (1985)… En Vogue’s single Hold On was released (1990)… Buster Douglas replaced Mike Tyson as the referee for Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage’s championship match on NBC (1990)… the Cranberries’ single Linger was released (1993)… Naughty By Nature’s album 19 Naughty III was released (1993)… Gary Coleman won a $1.3 million lawsuit against his parents (1993)… NBC aired Schindler’s List uncensored (1997)… Eminem’s major label debut album, The Slim Shady LP, was released (1999)
February 24th
31 years ago, on February 24th, 1990 - Bell Biv DeVoe’s single Poison was released.
Poison is one of the enduring songs of the early ‘90s pop-friendly hip-hop era, but stands apart from many of the others because… I’m pretty sure it’s actually good. It’s hard to give an objective assessment of any song from that era; between nostalgia and having heard then one billion times, it’s more or less impossible to evaluate their merits. But Bell Biv DeVoe’s Poison really does feel like it’s worthy of its success, not just because I was the right age to fall in love with it and not just because it’s been featured in every single piece of media in the subsequent three decades. No, it’s because Poison is a well-written song. There’s the R&B side, the rap side, the slick beat, even better-than-the-standard-for-the-era lyrics.
However, Poison seems to have been something of a fluke. Do Me!, Bell Biv DeVoe’s other top-three single from their debut album, lacks the musicality or grace. They never had another single after those reach that level of success, either commercially or artistically.
But we’ll always have Poison. And I do mean we’ll always have Poison. It’s among the ‘90s songs that’s still inescapable today, right up there with Baby Got Back and All Star.
Also on February 24th: The U.S. followed up the Miracle on Ice by actually winning the gold medal in the final game (1980)… Charles and Diana announced their engagement (1981)… the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Larry Flynt (1982)… Kurt Cobain married Courtney Love (1992)… Ice Cube’s single It Was a Good Day was released (1993)… the FDA approved the morning after pill (1997)… Fastball’s single The Way was released (1998)… Juvenile’s single Back That Azz Up was released (1999)… we just talked about her, and now 11 years after getting booed, Lauryn Hill won five Grammys for her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1999)
February 25th
23 years ago, on February 25th, 1998 - The Soy Bomb guy crashed the Grammys.
It speaks to the fleeting (and, more cynically, vapid) nature of awards shows that over time, we only remember the big outlier moments. I’m pretty sure no one reading this could tell you anything about the 1998 Grammy Awards, but when I mention the “Soy Bomb” guy, it gets at least a glimmer of recognition somewhere in the back of your brain. The same spot in your brain where Jack Palance is doing one-armed push-ups, Roberto Benigni walks on top of chairs, and Kanye West tells Taylor Swift “Imma let you finish.”
The Soy Bomb guy was an outsider artist named Michael Portnoy, hired to be a background dancer for a Bob Dylan performance at the Grammys — an opportunity Portnoy used to deliver his chest-written Soy Bomb message to the masses. He says the message meant “a spontaneous explosion of the self” (a disappointingly banal explantion) and wound up not getting arrested for his stunt when the Grammy organizers decided not to press charges.
Even so, it’s still the only enduring memory of the ‘98 Grammys. The reality of the Soy Bomb guy just isn’t all that interesting; although, yes, more interesting than Shawn Colvin’s Sunny Came Home winning both Record and Song of the Year. (Who knew that happened!?) or Jamiroquai beating The Rolling Stones for Best Pop Performance (Ibid). Actually, never mind. That’s all way more interesting than the Soy Bomb guy.
Also on February 25th: Van Halen’s single Jump hit number one (1984)… the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action (1987)… TLC’s album Oooooh on the TLC Tip was released (1992)… Madonna’s single Take a Bow hit number one (1995)… Monica’s single For You I Will was released (1997)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
A company used machine learning to turn Rick Astley’s video for Never Gonna Give You Up into 4K 60 frames-per-second and it will Rickroll you right to the uncanny valley.
What’s Up by the 4 Non Blondes somehow just became the fifth ‘90s music video to pass one billion views on YouTube.
In honor of the 25th anniversary of Billy Madison, Adam Sandler drove a golf ball Happy Gilmore-style. And Shooter McGavin posted a video response. Also, Julie Bowen talked about her time making the movie.
Someone on TikTok just noticed in Home Alone, when they’re counting the kids to go to the airport, they actually are off by two, not just one. So was someone else left behind with Kevin? Someone should write fan fiction about that other child’s solo adventure during that week.
Trailers were released this week for the Mortal Kombat reboot film on HBO Max and the new Notorious B.I.G. documentary coming out on Netflix.
Ice Cube launched a line of legal marijuana called Fryday Kush named after Friday. You know, marketing and such.
Brandy and Monica reunited on TikTok to lip sync to The Boy Is Mine.
Throwbacks and recommendations
A data-driven-ish list of the most hated rock bands features many of the usual suspects from the ‘80s and ‘90s. But not the 4 Non Blondes. Apparently people still love them.
A study found ‘80s pop is the genre of music that’s best for reducing anxiety. You can find some of the songs they used on a Spotify playlist and see a full ranking of genres here. (Techno and ‘70s rock anthems led to the highest increases in anxiety.)
Read/listen about the conspiracy theory that Kurt Cobain faked his own death and became Rivers Cuomo of Weezer.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam