Jan 7: Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Master P, iTunes
Plus the Leaning Tower of Pisa's lean correction, Next Friday, and more
The Retro
by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
January 7, 2022 • Issue 81
This week in nostalgic history
January 7th
32 years ago, on January 7th, 1990 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa was closed for repairs after leaning too much, and stayed closed for 11+ years.
All things considered, it’s impressive there’s only one centuries-old building in the world famous for leaning; you’d think with the technology 500 years ago it would’ve been harder to construct architecturally-sound buildings but that’s simply not the case.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, however, *was* constructed on too soft of ground during the building in the 12th through 14th centuries. On completion, it had a cute mild lean… which, over several more centuries, worsened to become a problematic lean.
So on this day in 1990, construction began to take the tower from a dangerous 5.5-degree angle back to a tourist attracting 3.97-degree angle. (Straightening it altogether, I would guess, was never on the table.)
The tower was reopened 11 years later, in 2001, and has become an even more popular tourist attraction than ever in the selfie era.
Also on January 7th: The U.S. government gave Chrysler a bailout (1980)… AT&T introduced the first video telephone (1993)… Cabin Boy hit theaters (1994)… Tonya Harding won the U.S. figure skating championships one day after her goons took out Nancy Kerrigan (1994)… one-hit dick day on the Billboard charts: 20 Fingers’ Short Dick Man peaked at #14 and Deadeye Dick’s New Age Girl peaked at #27 (1995)… Puff Daddy’s single Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down was released (1997)… the Spice Girls’ debut single Wannabe was released in the U.S. (1997)… President Clinton went on trial before the Senate (1999)… the Apple iBook was released (2002)… The Apprentice premiered on NBC, setting off a nuclear launch sequence that may still take down the entire United States (2004)
January 8th
30 years ago, on January 8th, 1992 - President H.W. Bush threw up on the prime minister of Japan during a dinner in Tokyo.
Presidential gaffes were viral news fodder even in the pre-internet days, and President H.W. Bush vomiting on the prime minister of Japan was certainly qualifies.
The story: Bush was on a diplomatic visit to Japan, played tennis in the afternoon, then vomited on the prime minister of Japan and fainted into his lap during the evening’s dinner. Barbara Bush and the Secret Service rushed to assist the president and he was whisked away with the official story being “he has the flu.”
I’m sure the conspiracy theories would rage like crazy today, and maybe some folks had conspiracy theories back then — however, without a centralized place to spread those theories, they remained in their little fringes instead of, say, driving a few hundred people to abandon their families to head to Dallas for a bleach-drinking seance.
Also on January 8th: The NCAA announced its postseason tournament would feature 64 teams (1984)… Super Contra and Metal Gear were both released for NES (1988)… Sinead O’Connor’s single Nothing Compares 2 U was released (1990)… Eric Clapton’s single Tears in Heaven was released (1992)… the “skinny Elvis” postage stamp was released (1993)… the first Leprechaun movie hit theaters, despite it being neither anytime near St. Patrick’s Day nor Halloween (1993)… WCW Thunder premiered (1998)… the Music City Miracle occurred in the NFL as the Tennessee Titans defeated the Buffalo Bills (2000)
January 9th
21 years ago, on January 9th, 2001 - Apple introduced iTunes as a music player and audio file organizer.
Considering where music is just two decades later, the idea of an mp3 app being a game changing piece of software seems odd — but that’s absolutely what happened when Apple released iTunes. (Even though, initially, iTunes was only available for Mac — a platform with far lower adoption rates in 2001 than today.)
I, like many, was still using Winamp at that time, believing it to be the best music player; I guess I bought into its llama-focused marketing claims. Ultimately, however, once iTunes made it to Windows I switched over (as did most people); iTunes was necessary for iPod syncing and, more than that, just felt like the inevitable future of the music player.
Over time, Apple overstuffed iTunes with features (video, podcasts, a random social network, phone and tablet syncing, and more). The app became more and more bloated and less and less relevant — so when the streaming era arrived and mp3 collecting dwindled, Apple demonopolized iTunes into a variety of single-purpose apps.
The core music organization functionality of iTunes remains today in an app now called Music — which many people colloquially still call iTunes — however, iTunes’s two-decade journey is over.
The main legacy of iTunes may be its role as one of Apple’s first chess moves to trap users in its ecosystem. A person would want an iPod. That required iTunes. Songs were cheap enough you’d buy some — and those only worked on iTunes or an iPod. Suddenly, it felt expensive to leave Apple for another music option. And hey, all of the above works better on a Mac… so maybe get that too.
Also on January 9th: TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes premiered (1984)… Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” commercial aired for the first time (1984)… Van Halen’s album 1984 was released (1984)… Whitney Houston’s single So Emotional hit number one (1988)… The Pat Sajak Show premiered (1989)… Inside Edition premiered (1989)… Pete Rose was officially banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame (1991)… Richard Marx’s single Now and Forever was released (1994)… 3rd Rock from the Sun premiered (1996)… Antiques Roadshow premiered (1997)… Ghetto Cowboy, the one hit by Mo Thugs, peaked at number 15 (1999)… Malcolm in the Middle premiered (2000)
January 10th
40 years ago, on January 10th, 1982 - Dwight Clark of the 49ers made “The Catch.”
I have no particular affinity for this famous Joe Montana-to-Dwight Clark pass-and-catch, a play which decided the NFC Championship to send the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl.
Mostly, it’s just nice The Catch happened against the Dallas Cowboys and was not a legendary “the” moment involving one of my Cleveland teams. In just my lifetime, various Cleveland teams have been victims of The Fumble, The Drive, The Shot, and The Decision; before I was born, Willie Mays had baseball’s own The Catch against Cleveland as well.
So yeah, thanks Dwight Clark and Joe Montana for spreading the “The” wealth.
Also on January 10th: Fraggle Rock premiered (1983)… Time Warner was formed (1990)… Gloria Estefan’s single Coming Out of the Dark was released (1991)… The Hand That Rocks the Cradle his theaters (1992)… the Lorena Bobbitt trial began in Virginia (1994)… The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder premiered (1995)… The Sopranos premiered (1999)
January 11th
23 years ago, on January 11th, 1999 - Jon Stewart took over as host of The Daily Show.
The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn was not, as history might tell, a bad show. Kilborn brought his particular energy to the proceedings (the least self-deprecating talk show host ever), but the show was still pretty funny. Plus, in that era with a limited number of talk shows on air, Comedy Central’s foray didn’t need to reinvent the wheel to work.
However, the Daily Show never would’ve become a political force without Jon Stewart, who took over when Kilborn was plucked to host the Late Late Show on CBS.
Stewart initially saw the Daily Show gig as a stepping stone — talking openly about his desire to move on to a network hosting gig in interviews . However, in the meantime, he built a political juggernaut — one that coincided with the rise of Fox News and became a fifth estate for the fourth estate. As Fox News grew, The Daily Show grew in parallel, calling out its natural foil at every turn.
After ABC picked Jimmy Kimmel over Stewart as its first late night talk show host and Stewart’s work turned The Daily Show from a low-budget cable TV peculiarity into a bona fide talk show powerhouse, he stopped trying to leave — and started really trying to use the platform to both entertain and inform.
By the time Stewart left The Daily Show in 2015, he’d won 22 Emmys and was widely recognized as the top talk show host — and one of the most influential political voices — in the country.
Also on January 11th: The Pretenders’ self-titled debut album was released (1980)… John Elway orchestrated “The Drive” in the NFL playoffs against a team I can’t recall right now (1987)… Monday Night RAW premiered on the USA Network (1993)… the WB Network premiered (1995)
January 12th
22 years ago, on January 12th, 2000 - Next Friday hit theaters.
Friday was a much bigger hit than expected, especially after it was out of theaters and became a home video cult classic.
One of the movie’s biggest strengths was its lived-in universe of ridiculous characters, none of which shined as large as Chris Tucker. Before Friday, Tucker was an established Def Comedy Jam comedian; after Friday, he was on the short list to become the next gigantic movie star. His character of Smokey was both the comedy and the heart of Friday. (Ice Cube was ostensibly the hero, but really just the straight man.)
Well… Chris Tucker decided not to participate in Next Friday. (We do not know the definitive reason; it was most likely a combo of Tucker finding religion and wanting to avoid typecasting.) So as the story took Ice Cube out of the city and into the suburbs, it tried to replace Chris Tucker’s energy with two characters. One was Mike Epps sliding into the Ice Cube sidekick role; another was a fast-talking drug dealer character named Joker who played one of the main antagonists.
The magic was gone. Not only was the sum of the two replacements less than one Chris Tucker, but the new array of wacky suburban characters felt less authentic, less entertaining, less believable than the array of wacky South Central characters of the original Friday.
But Next Friday coasted on name recognition and a hungry fan base to make nearly six times its budget, which brought us Friday After Next a few years later — a movie so much worse than Next Friday it killed the franchise altogether.
The idea of a fourth film has been kicked around for years now, however the studio dragged its feet so long two of the main cast members of the originals have passed away (John Witherspoon and Tiny Lister) and the prospects seem dwindling at best.
Also on January 12th: Sugarhill Gang’s one hit, Rapper’s Delight, peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 (1980)… Dynasty premiered (1981)… the Chicago Superfans debuted on Saturday Night Live (1991)… the O.J. trial began (1995)… Dunston Checks In, Bio-Dome, and Don’t Be a Menace [etc.] all hit theaters and the theaters said “no mas” (1996)… King of the Hill premiered on FOX (1997)… The Price Is Right featured the game SuperBall for the final time (1998)… Britney Spears’ debut album Baby One More Time was released (1999)… Save the Last Dance hit theaters (2001)… the National Geographic Channel premiered (2001)
January 13th
24 years ago, on January 13th, 1998 - Master P’s single Make ‘Em Say Uhh! was released.
The time has finally come to talk about Master P’s MasterP-iece.
Make ‘Em Say Uhh! isn’t a good song. It might be an early ancestor of modern mumble rap, but it’s not good. However, it is Master P’s most successful song, reaching number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and selling 1.2 million copies.
Fortunately for Master P, his rap career wasn’t really about rap. It was about business. And whatever Master P lacked in musical talent, he made up for with his mindset: Treating rap like a business from day one. He was one of the first rappers to see the vast entrepreneurial potential in hip-hop stardom, negotiating for more lucrative rights to his label’s music, diversifying into numerous businesses, and always keeping his eyes focused on financial opportunities above all else. In 1998, the same year he released Make ‘Em Say Uhh!, he made the Forbes list of the highest-paid entertainers — with by far the weakest actual entertainment portfolio of the bunch.
And while he wouldn’t set an artistic standard for rappers to come, he absolutely set a business standard. In the quarter-century since Make ‘Em Say Uhh!, there are now multiple rapper billionaires; rappers who smartly leveraged their fame and their platform into a massive variety of business ventures, some of which, like Beats headphones and Yeezy shoes, have really paid off.
Also on January 13th: The YMCA sued the Village People over their song, YMCA (1979)… Johnny Cash performed his legendary Folsom County Jail show (1986)… MC Hammer’s single U Can’t Touch This was released (1990)… serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer pleaded guilty by insanity (1992)… Tonya Harding’s goons were arrested for clubbing Nancy Kerrigan (1994)… Higher Learning hit theaters (1995)… White Town’s single Your Woman was released (1997)… Michael Jordan retired for his second (of three) time (1999)… Bill Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft (2000)… ECW held its final show ever (2001)… President W. Bush fainted after choking on a pretzel (2002)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
A judge has dismissed Spencer Elden’s lawsuit, in which he claimed his appearance as a naked baby on Nirvana’s Nevermind album was child abuse.
Macaulay Culkin appeared on Freddie Prinze Jr.’s wrestling podcast and revealed he turned down the opportunity to be a writer for WWE. (Freddie, on the other hand, did write for WWE.)
Vinyl had its biggest sales week since 1991 during the holiday season; 2.11 million vinyl albums were sold in the U.S.
Ralph Macchio says he still has the “wax on, wax off” car from Karate Kid.
Michael Keaton says he left the Batman franchise before the third movie because he and director Joel Schumacher disagreed on the tone; Schumacher didn’t want the movie to be so “dark” and “sad.”
A new Ghostbusters Blu-ray, coming out on February 1st, will feature a preview cut of the original 1984 film featuring nine extra minutes.
It looks like GoldenEye 007 from Nintendo 64 is surprisingly going to resurface for Xbox.
Converse is releasing new Pokemon shoes in honor of the game’s 25th anniversary.
In honor of Castlevania’s 35th anniversary, Konami is releasing Castlevania NFTs.
Omarion of B2K fame released a video clarifying he is not Omicron.
Maybe you heard this already, but Betty White passed away on December 31st at age 99. People magazine released an issue celebrating her 100th birthday just a few days earlier.
Throwbacks and recommendations
Mike Judge tweeted a picture of middle-aged Beavis and Butt-head in advance of their new movie later this year.
Check out the most popular movie the year you were born.
Here are 25 songs turning 25 this year. Time is linear.
Here’s a video of pre-famous No Doubt performing the original version of Don’t Speak in 1994 — when it was an accordion-heavy love song, not an accordion-free breakup song.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam