June 4: Reading Rainbow, VHS, Singled Out
Plus Prince changes his name to a symbol
The Retro by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
June 4, 2021 • Issue 50
This week in nostalgic history
June 4th
44 years ago, on June 4th, 1977 - VHS was announced in the U.S.
The history of consumer electronics features a laundry list format wars — from AC versus DC current in the 1800s to things like USB-C versus lightning today. There was even once a battle over different player piano formats and how big the rolling sheet of paper would be that automatically played (I’m pretty sure) Hello My Ragtime Gal and nothing else.
But one of the most famous format wars ever kicked off in the late ‘70s — and arrived in the U.S. on this day. It was apparent home video tape recording and playing were inevitable, and as multiple brands scrambled to jump on this lucrative new market, Sony got there first with Betamax. A year later, JVC started licensing its alternative, VHS, to the world, and on this day in 1977, during a press conference ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, the first VHS system was announced in the U.S.
It was called Vidstar VHS and its killer feature was it could record on two-hour tapes, a contrast to Betamax’s one-hour tape. Its other killer feature? JVC let everyone make VHS-format VCRs while Sony kept Betamax proprietary. That meant within a year, there were tons of VHS options on the market… pushing down the price from its initial $1,280 (around $5,000 in today’s dollars) to a more affordable range.
The VHS format VCRs gained a 40 percent market share in their first year and, a decade later, were up to more than a 90 percent market share. Sony stubbornly refused to kill off Betamax until 2002 — and by that time, VHS had joined it on the path to obsolescence. Because in 2002, DVDs topped VHS sales for the first time — and VHS would never regain its lead.
You know, at least until VHS has a full-on nostalgic revival like vinyl and even cassette tapes are seeing right now.
Also on June 4th: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Poltergeist hit theaters (1982)… Bruce Springsteen’s album Born in the U.S.A. was released, as was Sheila E.’s album The Glamorous Life (1984)… an unknown man stood in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square (1989)… the USPS announced the “young Elvis” stamp won a nationwide vote (1992)… Life with Mikey hit theaters (1993)… 2pac’s single California Love was released, as were Keith Sweat’s single Twisted, 2pac and KCi and JoJo’s single How Do U Want It, and Jewel’s single Who Will Save Your Soul (1996)… Metallica’s album Load was released (1996)…Kobe Bryant threw a famous alley-oop to Shaquille O’Neal to win the NBA Western Conference Finals (2000)
June 5th
26 years ago, on June 5th, 1995 - Singled Out premiered on MTV.
In my research for writing about Singled Out, I watched an episode from roughly 1996 — the first time I’ve watched Singled Out since probably, well, 1996 — and perhaps the most surprising part is just how un-problematic it is. I mean, it really shouldn’t have passed modern standards. It was a dating show on MTV in the ‘90s. It was essentially guaranteed to hold up horribly today. But it doesn’t. (Other than both hosts, who are both still famous, still on TV, and have had their share of problematic revelations.)
The show is a full-on blind dating show, but here, superficiality comes in the aggregate (e.g., dismissing everyone who has brown hair) as opposed to a crueler individual level. The show features a female contestant narrowing down from 50 men and a male contestant narrowing down from 50 women in each episode. There’s innuendo, but it doesn’t feel untoward. Everyone’s in on the bit. It’s really just harmless, disposable entertainment.
While researching this, I also learned Quibi rebooted Singled Out during its brief run. And it’s notable they had to make far fewer changes to the show than most reboots; in fact, other than a few touches to modernize (more diversity, adding same-sex couples), the format was able to pretty much stay the same.
Also on June 5th: The Apple II went on sale (1977)… the CDC reported on a “rare pneumonia” which were the first recognized cases of AIDS (1981)… Harry and the Hendersons and the Untouchables both hit theaters (1987)… the SkyDome in Toronto hosted its first Blue Jays game (1989)… New Kids on the Block’s album Step by Step was released (1990)… Michael Jordan switched hands on a layup in the NBA Finals for one of his most iconic moments (1991)… Patriot Games and Class Act both hit theaters (1992)… Shaggy’s single Boombastic was released (1995)… The Truman Show, A Perfect Murder, and Mulan all hit theaters (1998)… Reese Witherspoon married her Cruel Intentions co-star Ryan Philippe (1999)
June 6th
38 years ago, on June 6th, 1983 - Reading Rainbow premiered on PBS.
It’s hard to think of any show that’s more universally beloved by ‘80s and ‘90s kids than Reading Rainbow. (And with it, LeVar Burton.) Reading Rainbow had a simple mission of extolling the virtues of reading; a mission it accomplished as that message was successfully ingrained in millions of children.
Sadly, today’s kids don’t have Reading Rainbow because the powers-that-be took a look into a legal book and the show’s ownership became the subject of a lengthy lawsuit between LeVar Burton’s production company and a PBS affiliate in Buffalo, New York. The suit was settled out of court in 2017 and the PBS affiliate got the rights — with no LeVar Burton. The show has been tied up in pre-reboot development ever since.
Also on June 6th: Tetris was released in the USSR (1984)… Kevin McHale of the Boston Celtics nearly decapitated Kurt Rambis of the L.A. Lakers with a clothesline during a game (1984)… Kim Wilde’s single You Keep Me Hangin’ On hit number one (1987)… a judge in Florida rules 2 Live Crew’s album was obscene and therefore illegal to sell (1990)… NBC announced Jay Leno, not David Letterman, would be taking over the Tonight Show (1991)… Seal’s single Kiss from a Rose was released as was Notorious B.I.G.’s One More Chance (1995)… Con Air hit theaters (1997)… Farrah Fawcett had an infamous interview with David Letterman (1997)… Brandy and Monica’s single The Boy Is Mine hit number one (1998)… Sex and the City debuted on HBO (1998)… the Anaheim Angels debuted the Rally Monkey, which would feature prominently in their run to the World Series championship a few years later (2000)
June 7th
28 years ago, on June 7th, 1993 - Prince changed his name to a symbol.
Prince wasn’t exactly the most by-the-book fellow, so while it was a good publicity stunt when he changed his name to a symbol, it wasn’t exactly an out-of-character shocker. He said the symbol was “unpronounceable … [its] meaning has not been identified” — but that wasn’t true. His motivation behind the name change, beyond his lifelong quest for postmodern oddness, was relatively transparent: It was a shot at his record label, Warner Bros.
In a “secret letter” hidden on his website in February 1996, he admitted as much. “Warner Bros. took [my] name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool to promote all of the music I wrote. The company owns the name ‘Prince’ and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros.”
I guess you could say changing his name was a symbolic gesture.
Ahem.
Anyway, Prince changed his name back from the symbol to Prince in 2000 — after his Warner Bros. contract expired.
Also on June 7th: Sony introduced Betamax (1975)… Graceland opened to the public (1982)… The Goonies hit theaters (1985)… Universal Studios Florida opened in Orlando (1990)… City Slickers, Jungle Fever, and Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead all hit theaters (1991)… The Rock hit theaters (the Sean Connery/Nic Cage movie, not the wrestler) (1996)… Mark Morrison’s one hit, Return of the Mack, peaked at number two on the Billboard charts and The Verve Pipe’s one hit, The Freshmen, peaked at number five (1997)
June 8th
30 years ago, on June 8th, 1991 - Extreme’s single More Than Words hit number one.
There’s a sharp contrast between a band named “Extreme” and the glacial ballad-to-end-all-ballads that is More Than Words. And that’s because More Than Words, despite being Extreme’s biggest hit and enduring legacy, is not at all representative of the band. Outside of More Than Words (and, to some degree, their other hit song, Hole Hearted), Extreme was a glam funk metal band. The success of More Than Words is akin to Chumbawamba’s success with Tubthumping despite being an anarcho-punk band; sometimes bands had to go way against their style to have that big commercial hit.
Extreme is, believe it or not, still going today (after a hiatus from about 1997 to 2008) with two-fourths of their original lineup. And they’re still a glam/funk/hard rock band who, no doubt, have closed every show for three decades with their one mollassal ballad.
Also on June 8th: The New Orleans Jazz moved to Utah and inexplicably kept the name “Jazz” (1979)… the L.A. Lakers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers to win the NBA Championship (1982)… Trading Places hit theaters (1983)… Ghostbusters and Gremlins both hit theaters (1984)… Tears for Fears’ single Everybody Wants to Rule the World hit number one (1985)… the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship (1986)… a record store owner in Florida was arrested for selling 2 Live Crew’s album to an undercover cop (1990)… the series finale of It’s Garry Shandling’s Show aired on FOX (1990)… Washington, D.C., hosted the Gulf War victory parade (1991)… Blind Melon’s single No Rain was released as was RuPaul’s debut album (1993)… 98 Degrees’ single The Hardest Thing and the Goo Goo Dolls’ single Black Balloon were both released (1999)
June 9th
22 years ago, on June 9th, 1999 - Mets manager Bobby Valentine was ejected from a game and came back in a disguise.
Baseball managers get ejected from games all the time. Not daily, but certainly weekly. However, there’s only one time in history an ejected manager has tried something like this.
In 1999, the New York Mets were struggling and their manager, Bobby Valentine, was on the hottest of hot seats. So when he was ejected during extra innings of a game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he decided he needed to get back to the dugout to keep managing the game — after all, his job was on the line. So he put on sunglasses and two of those “eye black” stickers to form a fake mustache, and went back to the dugout. The improvised disguise wasn’t very good, and the TV cameras picked him up immediately. The umpires didn’t, so he finished the game in the dugout (the Mets won in the 14th inning); he got a two-game suspension afterwards, however, plus a fine. And for what it’s worth, the Mets actually did turn the season around under Valentine, won nearly 100 games, and made their first playoff trip in more than a decade.
Side note: The Mets pitcher on the mound when Valentine was ejected was Pat Mahomes. His four-year-old son, Patrick Mahomes, who’s now the top player in the NFL, was in the clubhouse for Valentine’s whole Pink Panther shtick.
Also on June 9th: Richard Pryor was burned in a freebasing accident (1980)… Donkey Kong hit arcades (1981)… Cyndi Lauper’s single Time After Time hit number one (1984)… the L.A. Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics to win the NBA Finals (1985)… Magic Johnson hit a sky hook to lift the L.A. Lakers over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals (1987)… Prince’s single Batdance was released (1989)… Wilson Phillips’ single Hold On hit number one (1990)… the NHL’s Minnesota North Stars left the hockey hotbed of Minnesota to relocate to Dallas (1993)… Heidi Fleiss was arrested (1993)… TLC’s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes set fire to her boyfriend, NFL star Andre Rison’s, house (1994)… Married With Children aired its series finale on FOX (1997)… Pras’s solo single Ghetto Superstar was released (1998)
June 10th
27 years ago, on June 10th, 1994 - The paid TV networks like HBO and Showtime started showing a screen before movies letting you know what explicit content to expect.
As cable took shape in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the premium pay channels got to play by a different set of rules than everyone else. Channels like HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime could air explicit content — violence, swearing, nudity, et. al. — without any real limitation. Naturally, lots of the louds in society had a problem with that. So (most likely) to stave off the MPAA or FCC getting involved, the pay networks decided to institute a voluntary content warning system. Before every movie or show, they’d have a content warning screen to let viewers know what hedonistic horrors to expect. (And, as a side note, to let teenage boys know if watching a late-night movie was worth their time. No getting fooled by movies like Naked Lunch for us. Them. I mean them.)
On this day in 1994, the pay networks began showing those screens, featuring up to 10 different icons (e.g., “MV” for mild violence, “BN” for brief nudity, etc.).
Somehow, this rating system has still survived to this day. Even some non-pay channels have adopted the ratings, blending them in with 1997’s TV ratings system (“This program is rated TV-MA-V. Viewer discretion is advised.”)
On the pay networks, after 27 years, the ratings are still totally voluntary — proving the networks’ pre-emptive effort to keep the bureaucrats away worked even better than they ever could have imagined.
Also on June 10th: Octopussy hit theaters (1983)… Tales from the Crypt premiered (1989)… Bette Midler’s single Wind Beneath My Wings hit number one (1989)… the Damn Yankees single High Enough was released (1990)… Twin Peaks aired its series finale (1991)… Speed and City Slickers II: The Search for Curly’s Gold both hit theaters (1994)… the Backstreet Boys single Quit Playing Games was released (1997)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
A Nintendo museum is going to open in one of the company’s old plants in Kyoto, Japan — from back when Nintendo made playing cards.
After 37 years, the United States Football League is returning. The USFL originally ran from 1983 to 1985; a rebooted version is launching next spring.
Atari’s long-delayed throwback console just received a release date after four years: It will come out on June 15th. And they’re not giving ‘em away — it will cost $299, the same price as actual modern video game consoles.
Seth Rogan’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated reboot got a release date of August 11, 2023.
Members of Backstreet Boys and NSYNC have teamed up for a “special” collaboration for Pride Month. The nature of that collaboration is TBD.
Scott Stapp of Creed sang Higher before a Nashville Predators playoff hockey game. The Predators, of course, then went on to lose the game/series.
Stephen King says he was too scared to watch The Blair Witch Project all the way through when it came out in 1999.
Throwbacks and recommendations
Check out 9 ‘90s sitcom stars available on Cameo. Fran Drescher is $500?
Here are 20 songs “rock’s biggest stars” won’t play live.
Pop Rocks were a cultural phenomenon in the late ‘70s; here’s the story.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam