June 10 - 1st of the Month, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Amazon
Plus a deep dive into the Fat Boys suing Joe Piscopo and Miller Lite
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
June 10th, 2022 • Issue 103
This week in the ‘80s & ‘90s
June 10th
33 years ago, on June 10th, 1989 - Bette Midler’s single Wind Beneath My Wings hit number one.
Two important things I learned while researching Wind Beneath My Wings:
One: Bette Midler’s version is not the only version. Not even close. From the moment the songwriters completed Wind Beneath My Wings it’s bounced from artist to artist. Almost all of Billboard’s genre charts have seen someone’s version of Wind Beneath My Wings — though Bette Midler’s version is the only one to top the big chart.
And two: Bette Midler’s version came from the soundtrack for her movie Beaches. And I now learned was a reboot of Beaches. Never knew. It starred Nia Long and Idina Menzel (the latter covered Wind Beneath My Wings, in one of the most obvious singer-song pairings in the history of music) and aired on Lifetime in 2017.
Also on June 10th: John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John’s single You’re the One That I Want hit number one (1978)… Octopussy hit theaters (1983)… Tales from the Crypt premiered on HBO (1989)… the Damn Yankees single High Enough was released (1990)… Twin Peaks aired its series finale (1991)… Miami and Denver were announced as the new cities for MLB franchises (1991)… Speed hit theaters (1994)… City Slickers II: The Search for Curly’s Gold hit theaters (1994)… the paid TV networks like HBO and Showtime started showing a screen before movies letting you know what explicit content to expect (1994)… The Rosie O’Donnell Show premiered (1996)… the Backstreet Boys single Quit Playing Games was released (1997)
June 11th
24 years ago, on June 11th, 1998 - Amazon.com branched out from just selling books to also selling CDs.
There’s a Wall Street Journal article from May of 1998 (so back before its fascist propaganda days) that discusses Amazon’s decision to branch out from just books to music and, soon after, video.
The article is a glorious read now, a quarter century later, as we know how Amazon’s decision to branch out went — and how virtually all of the competitors name checked in the article are long gone. Most aren’t even a blip in history.
The thru line of the article was: Massive, broad eCommerce “everything stores” hadn’t worked. (The article mentions marketplace sites from MCI and IBM, neither of which I remember.) So the article hypothesizes niche stores are the future of eCommerce. But… the music niche is already crowded, with incumbents like Columbia House and CDNow. So the article wonders: Will Amazon’s move beyond books backfire?
The answer, of course, is a laughable no. As dot com companies far and wide made bets on the future of eCommerce, Amazon’s approach turned out to be the perfect one. Start with one niche, build a large customer base (with stored credit cards in their accounts) and sparkling reputation, then expand gradually and strategically. Repeat for another niche. Then another. Then another.
Of all the companies mentioned in the article, Amazon was the only one that took that approach. Was it luck? Vision? Brilliance? Some combo? Whatever the recipe, we now live in Amazon’s internet — in large part due to the strategic decision the company made on this day.
Also on June 11th: John Wayne died from cancer (1979)… the first MLB players strike began (1981)… E.T. and Grease II hit theaters (1982)… Naked Eyes’ one hit, Always Something There to Remind Me, peaked at number eight (1983)… Ferris Bueller’s Day Off hit theaters (1986)… Nolan Ryan pitched his sixth no-hitter (1990)… Microsoft released MS-DOS 5.0 (1991)… Natalie Cole’s album Unforgettable… with Love was released (1991)… Jurassic Park hit theaters as did What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993)… Hulk Hogan signed with WCW on live TV (1994)… Michael Jordan won the “flu game” against the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals (1997)… Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me hit theaters (1999)… Fear Factor premiered (2001)… American Idol debuted on FOX (2002)
June 12th
25 years ago, on June 12th, 1997 - MLB’s first interleague game took place.
Most major sports divide their teams into two conferences. MLB has leagues. And they’ve always taken that semantic difference serious. The leagues are empowered to maintain separate sets of rules — at least on aspects of the game not legislated by MLB itself. The designated hitter rule was the most famous; the leagues maintained different policies until MLB finally made the National League adopt the DH ahead of this 2022 season.
The leagues also never crossed paths, except to compete in the All-Star Game and play in the World Series. (This, as well, differed from other sports where interleague play was standard.)
So… when MLB decided to try to stave off signs of a decline in popularity by starting interleague play, it was a big deal. And the game 25 years ago today, between the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers, was a big deal.
The novelty would fade over the years — and did not help baseball stop its sliding popularity. Now, 25 years later, interleague play has essentially merged into traffic.
So starting next season, MLB is shaking up interleague play in a way that just might reinvigorate the interest of a quarter-century ago: Instead of playing a handful of teams in interleague play each season, every MLB team will play every other MLB team every season. (Which is also fantastic news, because it means they’ll stop playing teams in their own division one million times per year.)
Also on June 12th: Raiders of the Lost Ark hit theaters (1981)… the Boston Celtics defeated the L.A. Lakers to win the NBA Championship (1984)… Ronald Reagan gave his “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” speech (1987)… Predator hit theaters (1987)… Hulk Hogan’s movie No Holds Barred hit theaters (1989)… so did Dead Poets Society, less notably (1989)… Mariah Carey’s self-titled debut album was released (1990)… Final Fantasy debuted on NES (1990)… the Chicago Bulls defeated the L.A. Lakers as Michael Jordan won his first title (1991)… Robin S.’s one hit, Show Me Love, peaked at number five and Green Jelly’s one hit, Three Little Pigs, peaked at number 17 (1993)… O.J. Simpson (allegedly, but, well, you know) murdered his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman (1994)… The Bridges of Madison County hit theaters (1995)… the U.S. Treasury unveiled a new $50 bill (1997)… Can’t Hardly Wait and Dirty Work both hit theaters (1998)… The Geraldo Rivera Show ended after 11 seasons (1998)… Courteney Cox married David Arquette (1999)… Jennifer Lopez’s single If You Had My Love hit number one (1999)… the Style Network debuted (1999)… Big Momma’s House hit theaters (2000)
June 13th
27 years ago, on June 13th, 1995 - Bjork’s album Post was released (1995)
Sure, Post is a legendary album and made Bjork the most famous Icelandic singer alive, but now I just want her to play Jaja Ding Dong.
Also on June 13th: Rodney Dangerfield’s movie Back to School triple lindy’d into theaters (1986)… Atlantic Starr’s single Always hit number one (1987)… Paula Abdul’s album Forever Your Girl, featuring four #1 singles, was released as was George Harrison’s This Is Love (1988)… the Detroit Pistons defeated the L.A. Lakers to win their first NBA Championship (1989)… The National all-sports daily newspaper stopped publishing (1991)… Hulk Hogan wrestled his last match for WWF before jumping to WCW, losing to Yokozuna at King of the Ring (1993)… Exxon was found liable for the Exxon Valdez crash (1994)… Alanis Morissette’s breakthrough album Jagged Little Pill was released (1995)… Del Amitri’s single Roll to Me was released (1995)… Disney’s Hercules and Speed 2: Cruise Control hit theaters (1997)… the Chicago Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz to win the NBA Championship (1997)
June 14th
34 years ago, on June 14th, 1988 - The Fat Boys sued Miller Beer and Joe Piscopo over the Miller Lite Rappin’ Fats ad.
Of the three entities mentioned in this topic, the only one requiring no explanation today is Miller Lite. Three-and-a-half decades later, The Fat Boys and Joe Piscopo may require context for some readers.
The Fat Boys were talented ‘80s hip-hop pioneers, among the first ever to employ beatboxing. However, since hip-hop wasn’t close to mainstream in the early ‘80s, the Fat Boys relied on gimmicks to improve marketability. One gimmick was their size (they were three very large gentlemen); their original name was the Disco 3 but they changed it to get more attention. Other gimmicks included rap novelty remixes and duets (e.g., a version of Wipeout with the Beach Boys and a version of The Twist with Chubby Checker). They even starred in three feature films. None of this is meant pejoratively — they made smart career decisions, their music is wonderful old school rap, and why not make movies if you can?
Joe Piscopo was a star of Saturday Night Live in the ‘80s — often named right after Eddie Murphy as the show’s most talented performers. He also represented a new wave of comedians (a wave Andrew Dice Clay would ride and perfect) — the brash, loudmouth, cocky, not self-deprecating stand-up comic.
In 1988, the Fat Boys were riding their peak of success… and Joe Piscopo, having left SNL a few years earlier, was becoming the poster child of why you should stay on SNL.
So Piscopo took a Miller Lite commercial. In which he wore a fat suit and performed a Fat Boys-style rap about Miller Lite. The Fat Boys sued for $5 million, in particular citing Piscopo’s use of their beatboxing signatures “brrr” and “hugga-hugga.” The Fat Boys ended up winning the suit (though I couldn’t find a record of the amount they received).
The Fat Boys would break up in 1990 as the public’s taste in hip-hop grew away from the jovial ‘80s sound. Two of the three members have now passed away. Joe Piscopo is still around but never saw anything close to a Travolta- or Rourke-style career renaissance; now a full-on MAGA guy palling around with the My Pillow guy.
Miller Brewing Company is still pumping out Miller Lite and Miller Lite commercials.
Also on June 14th: Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald’s single On My Own hit number one (1986)… the L.A. Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics to win the NBA Championship (1987)… Zsa Zsa Gabor was arrested for slapping a police officer (1989)… the groundbreaking for the world’s largest shopping mall, Mall of America, was held in Minnesota (1989)… the Detroit Pistons won their second consecutive NBA title, defeating the Portland Trailblazers (1990)… Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves hit theaters (1991)… the Chicago Bulls defeated the Portland Trailblazers to win their second straight NBA title (1992)… Ruth Bader Ginsburg was nominated for the Supreme Court by President Clinton (1993)… the public freaked out over syringes allegedly found in cans of Pepsi (1993)… the New York Rangers won their first Stanley Cup in 54 years (1994)… Michael Jackson and his wife, Lisa Marie Presley, had a live televised interview with Diane Sawyer (1995)… the Houston Rockets defeated the Orlando Magic to win the NBA Championship (1995)… The Cable Guy hit theaters (1996)… Puff Daddy and Faith Evans’ single I’ll Be Missing You hit number one (1997)… the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz to win Michael Jordan’s final championship (1998)… Eminem married his wife Kim for the first time (1999)… Destiny’s Child’s single Bills, Bills, Bills was released (1999)… Scooby-Doo and The Bourne Identity hit theaters (2002)
June 15th
27 years ago, on June 15th, 1995 - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s single 1st of tha Month was released.
1st of tha Month has a lot of staying power to this day not just because of its hypnotic earworm of a chorus: “Wake up, wake up, wake up, it’s the first of the month.” But also because every time it’s the first of any month… people think of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and listen to the song.
Here’s Google Trends data for the past five years. Every single one of those spikes in search volume happens on the first of the month. Sometimes it’s a huge spike in searches. Sometimes the spike is modest. But, without fail, when the first of any new month rolls around, people want to listen to this song.
Also on June 15th: Rocky II hit theaters and Rocky actually got to win this time (1979)… Compuserve created a new GIF format allowing for animation (1987)… Bull Durham hit theaters (1988)… Nirvana’s debut album Bleach was released (1989)… Dick Tracy hit theaters (1990)… Tony Toni Tone’s single Feels Good was released (1990)… Paula Abdul’s single Rush Rush hit number one (1991)… Vice President Dan Quayle misspelled the word “potato” (1992)… The Lion King hit theaters (1994)… O.J. Simpson struggled to get the glove to fit at trial (1995)… Enrique Iglesias’s single Bailamos was released (1999)… the Real World season eight in Hawaii premiered on MTV (1999)… the L.A. Lakers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers to win the NBA Championship (2001)
June 16th
44 years ago, on June 16th, 1978 - Jimmy Buffett’s Cheeseburger in Paradise topped out at #32 on the Billboard charts.
Kids of the ‘80s and ‘90s know Jimmy Buffett. But I’m not sure any of us understands the phenomenon of Jimmy Buffett. And the success of Cheeseburger in Paradise further muddies the water.
Here was a song that was not a smash hit (it peaked today in 1978 in the lowest quartile of the top 40). Yet it helped spawn and propagate the cult of Jimmy Buffett. That Jimmy Buffett — the guy up there in the captain’s hat with the six-mile grin on his face.
Everyone knows and has heard this song — and can likely rattle off the full list of Jimmy Buffett’s condiment preferences. This song sparked its own restaurant chain (which only went under during the early pandemic) and still lives as a menu item at Buffett’s other, more successful restaurant chain, Margaritaville.
I can’t explain it. No one has ever sufficiently explained it to me. But it sure an outsized impact for a song about the generic-est of cheeseburgers.
Also on June 16th: Grease hit theaters (1978)… Ghostbusters II hit theaters (1989)… Roxette’s single It Must Have Been Love hit number one (1990)… MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 (1990)… Batman Forever, with Val Kilmer taking over for Michael Keaton as the titular superhero, hit theaters (1995)… Disney’s Pocahontas, a word I am still never able to properly spell on the first try, was released (1995)… the Chicago Bulls defeated the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA Finals to win their fourth title (it was Michael Jordan’s first season back from his baseball-playing version of a European backpacking gap year) (1996)… Will Smith’s Men in Black rap tie-in to the movie was released, as was The Verve’s single Bitter Sweet Symphony (1997)… Real World season seven, in Seattle, premiered (1998)… Disney’s Tarzan hit theaters (1999)… a court ruled digital music players were legal, opening up the door for legalized mp3s (1999)… Al Gore announced his candidacy for president; he’d go on to win the election but not become president (1999)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
37 years after its release, Kate Bush’s song Running Up That Hill has cracked the Billboard top 10 at number eight. (It peaked at number 30 in its time). The reason: It’s in the new season of Stranger Things. It’s Kate Bush’s first top 10 hit.
Def Leppard just became the ninth music act to have a top 10 album in the ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, ‘10s, and ‘20s.
The Backstreet Boys brought their kids on stage to perform with them on Tuesday, so that should age you nicely.
Julia Garner from Ozark will play Madonna in a new biopic.
Neve Campbell has survived all the Scream movies but won’t be in the sixth one over a pay dispute. The sixth film comes out in March of next year.
Tim Burton says he was upset about the nipples on the Batman costume in Batman Forever. “You complain about me, I’m too weird… then you put nipples on the costume? Go [f] yourself.”
E.T. and Jaws will get Imax releases in August and September, respectively. In honor of their 40th and 47th (?) anniversaries, respectively.
Remastered versions of the old Beavis and Butt-Head episodes coming to Paramount+ will include the original music videos.
A songwriter is suing Mariah Carey because he released a country-pop song called All I Want for Christmas Is You five years before she did. The songs have different lyrics and melodies.
The CW has canceled its Legends of the Hidden Temple reboot.
Throwbacks and recommendations
In 1995, there were three Jim Carrey cartoon series released in the span of five months. Here’s a look back at that period in time.
Check out the teaser trailer for the A League of Their Own reboot on Amazon Prime. It debuts on August 12th.
Here’s the teaser trailer for the Martin reunion, coming to BET+ on the 16th.
With the new Jurassic Park movie now in theaters, here are 20 facts about the original Jurassic Park.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam