June 11: Ferris Bueller, Mariah Carey, MC Hammer
Plus an investigation into whether All-4-One was a secret experiment
The Retro
by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
June 11, 2021 • Issue 51
This week in nostalgic history
June 11th
35 years ago, on June 11th, 1986 - Ferris Bueller’s Day Off hit theaters.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a great movie — one of the best of the entire decade, and one that was so transcend in its coolness it’s continued to effortlessly resonate with future generations. But one of my favorite parts of the movie is just how much of an ode it is to Chicago. There were so many iconic ‘80s movies set in the city (or its suburbs), and have been so many movies since, but few have celebrated Peak Chicago like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. As the saying goes, if the weather were better, everyone would want to live in Chicago, and the whirlwind tour via Ferris Bueller’s Day Off shows many of the reasons why.
The other meta aspect of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off I deeply appreciate is the now-famous anecdote that John Hughes went from pitching the movie to selling it to finishing the script in less than a week. Some might think that’s a sign the movie was a slapped together, half-baked cash grab that accidentally turned out to be good; I think the opposite. It’s evidence of just how good of a story and movie this really is. In all the time I’ve spent writing, I’ve always found the faster I write something, the better it is — you want an idea that pours out, not one that has to be extracted with medieval torture tools. And that’s quite clearly the case with John Hughes and Ferris Bueller.
Also on June 11th: 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)… 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)… Amazon.com expanded from just selling books to also selling CDs (1998)… Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me hit theaters (1999)… American Idol debuted on FOX (2002)… I launched my website, 11 Points (2008)
June 12th
31 years ago, on June 12th, 1990 - Mariah Carey’s self-titled debut album was released.
Mariah Carey’s first album did not make Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 best debut albums of all time. Perhaps that’s because it was late ‘80s/early ‘90s pop music; not exactly an era known for artistic musical achievement. However, Mariah Carey’s debut album made one thing clear from the very first track (Vision of Love): She was going to be a superstar. (I remember hearing Vision of Love on the radio as a kid who was essentially just discovering music and knowing I was hearing something impressive. Previously, I’d only felt that way about New Kids on the Block, Milli Vanilli, and the California Raisins. So my tastes were clearly quite refined.)
Mariah’s debut album was number one on the Billboard chart for 11 straight weeks and produced four number one singles. And, of course, it was no fluke, considering three decades later she’s one of the most successful recording artists in history.
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)… 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)… MLB’s first interleague game took place (1997)… the U.S. Treasury unveiled a new $50 bill (1997)… Can’t Hardly Wait hit theaters (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)
June 13th
35 years ago, on June 13th, 1986 - Rodney Dangerfield’s movie Back to School triple lindy’d into theaters.
Back to School is sort of an underdog sports movie (maybe the only one ever about competitive high diving?)… sort of a fish out of water movie… and sort of a classic ‘80s college party movie. But mostly, it’s just a Rodney Dangerfield movie. Every frame is about what Rodney Dangerfield is doing, whether he’s talking, just bugging out his eyes, or even not on screen at all. (Although there are very few moments in the film when he’s not on screen.) Even with other high-powered actors on screen, from Rodney Downey Jr. to Sam Kinison, no one is able to steal even a single scene from Dangerfield. (The kid they cast as his son is so overmatched he never even bothers to try to steal one.) This movie is straight from the cult of personality around Rodney Dangerfield, and your sentiment toward the film is going to then hinge on how you feel about that.
And… people in the ‘80s were much more into it than I guessed. I always thought Back to School was more of a cult classic, more of a Hollywood “alright, you were great in Caddyshack, go ahead and make whatever you want” participation trophy. Turns out it was critically acclaimed (86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and the number six movie in box office in 1986.
Also on June 13th: 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 as was Bjork’s album Post (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
32 years ago, on June 14th, 1989 - The groundbreaking for the world’s largest shopping mall, Mall of America, was held in Minnesota.
1989 seems like just about the right point in history for the creation of the Mall of America. With mall culture peaking in the ‘80s and, of course, rock solid and not at all usurpable say 25 years later, the owners of the largest mall in Canada (West Edmonton Mall) deigned to create the largest mall in the U.S. So keep your expectations up, Mexico, you never know when the Ghermezian brothers are going to go for the three-peat.
The Mall of America opened in August of 1992 as the largest mall in the U.S. — a designation it still holds today. Although, with the evolution of shopping, even the country’s largest mall is in the process of innovating to keep up. Stores like Macy’s and Sears are gone; a water park is moving in, and certainly more changes are coming in the future.
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 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)
June 15th
29 years ago, on June 15th, 1992 - Vice President Dan Quayle misspelled the word “potato.”
Vice President Dan Quayle had a public image of not being the brightest bulb; this is the moment that codified the narrative. While guest judging a spelling bee at an elementary school in New Jersey, Quayle corrected a kid who spelled “potato” correctly, telling him there was an “e” on the end. The “potatoe” spelling was on the card provided to Quayle by the school, so while he wasn’t wholly to blame for the mistake, he didn’t know or wasn’t confident enough in the actual spelling to go off script.
Of course, it’s mind addling to try to think of how an incident like this would go down now, in the era of Four Seasons Landscaping Company and covfefe. One can only imagine how the news cycle would go today if a vice president misspelled the word “potato” while holding an otherwise innocuous photo op at an elementary school spelling bee.
Also on June 15th: Rocky II hit theaters and Rocky actually got to win this time (1979)… 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)… The Lion King hit theaters (1994)… O.J. Simpson struggled to get the glove to fit at trial (1995)… Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s single First of the Month was released (1995)… Enrique Iglesias’s single Bailamos was released (1999)… the Real World season eight in Hawaii premiered on MTV (1999)
June 16th
31 years ago, on June 16th, 1990 - MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.
It’s weird that U Can’t Touch This isn’t MC Hammer’s most successful single, right? It is, by far, the song for which he’s the most famous and quite possibly the only one anyone born in the past two decades knows. Also, from the radio stations I was listening to in 1990, it was a big enough song to play once an hour, every hour, for about six straight months.
But on this day, it peaked in popularity on the charts at just number eight. (The seven songs ahead of it: Roxette’s It Must Have Been Love, Wilson Phillips’ Hold On, Bell Biv DeVoe’s Poison, New Kids on the Block’s Step by Step, Madonna’s Vogue, Heart’s All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You, and Janet Jackson’s Alright.)
MC Hammer would have three other songs fare better on that chart: Pray, which reached number two in 1990; 2 Legit 2 Quit at number five in 1991; and Addams Groove at number seen in 1991.
Also on June 16th: Grease hit theaters (1978)… Jimmy Buffett’s Cheeseburger in Paradise topped out at #32 on the Billboard charts (1978)… Ghostbusters II hit theaters (1989)… Roxette’s single It Must Have Been Love hit number one (1990)… Batman Forever, with Val Kilmer taking over for Michael Keaton as the lead 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)
June 17th
26 years ago, on June 17th, 1995 - All-4-One’s single I Can Love You Like That was released and it makes me very suspicious.
Over my year of doing The Retro, I’ve done quite a few deep dives into fleeting ‘90s sensations and, as much as I thought I had a great grasp on the pop culture of the decade, I’ve learned a lot of surprising things.
One of my biggest surprises? I’m decently sure the group All-4-One was secretly just invented as an experiment to see if record companies could double dip by repurposing and laundering country songs as more mainstream R&B songs.
I mean, I know that’s probably not true. As I found out during my last investigation into All-4-One back in April, they were a group comprised of two childhood friends in Antelope Valley, Calif., and two other good singers from their local area who managed to win a recording contract through an open casting call.
But… All-4-One really got on the map in 1994 with I Swear, which was an R&B/pop cover of John Michael Montgomery’s country song of the same name.
Their second album, And the Music Speaks, came out in 1995. It had just one song become a hit. That song was the one that came out today in 1995, called I Can Love You Like That… which was also a country song… and also by John Michael Montgomery.
All-4-One had three top-five singles during their career. Two of them were covers of John Michael Montgomery songs (the originals of which did not make it anywhere close to the top five on the Billboard Hot 100). The only question is: If the “repackaging John Michael Montgomery songs as smooth R&B to see if they become hits” experiment worked… why did it stop?
Also on June 17th: Superman III hit theaters (1983)… The Great Outdoors hit theaters and introduced steak eating contests to the masses (1988)… New Kids on the Block’s single I’ll Be Loving You (Forever) hit number one (1989)… South Africa abolished apartheid (1991)… the body of president Zachary Taylor was exhumed to test for arsenic poisoning but none was found (1991)… the Phoenix Suns pulled off one of the biggest blockbuster trades in NBA history, acquiring Charles Barkley (1992)… DirecTV launched (1994)… the O.J. Simpson car chase aired live on TV (1994)… Third Eye Blind’s single Semi Charmed Life was released as was K-Ci and JoJo’s album Love Always (1997)… the NHL announced it would be moving to Nashville, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Columbus (1997)… Adam Sandler’s movie Big Daddy hit theaters (1999)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
Indiana Jones 5 began shooting this week with 78-year-old Harrison Ford back as the lead. Josh Gad, who’s apparently in the movie, posted a photo on Instagram.
A Friends-themed cruise is happening next May. None of the cast is scheduled to be on board so… fun?
Lots of new Ghostbusters merchandise was released this week in honor of something called “Ghostbusters Day.”
Joe Jonas made a line of shoes which, he says, drew inspiration from ‘80s pop culture like Tron, The Goonies, Duran Duran, Boy George, The Police, and Wham! Joe Jonas was born in 1989.
Clarence Williams III passed away at age 81. Most of the obituaries seemed to lead with The Mod Squad. But as my friend Steve texted me, “Are we the only people who saw this and said, ‘Oh, it’s Sampson Simpson from Half Baked’?)
Throwbacks and recommendations
Esquire did a big dive into the rise and fall of Planet Hollywood.
The full trailer for LeBron’s Space Jam reboot has been released.
The official teaser trailer is out for Kevin Smith’s Masters of the Universe animated reboot on Netflix. It’s set to Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero which works weirdly way too well.
Here are the “most shocking rock star fashion reinventions.”
Thanks for reading!
-Sam