Mar 17: En Vogue's biggest hit, Jim Carrey in Liar Liar
Plus the best movie sequels, Ask Jeeves, and waterbeds
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
March 17th, 2023 • Issue 143
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This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
March 17th
31 years ago, on March 17th, 1992, En Vogue’s single My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It) was released.
En Vogue had a unique marketability hook, one that differentiated them from the other R&B singers of the era — though the hook may have gone unnoticed at the time by a large swath of the young pop music audience. (Including me, for sure.)
En Vogue was the answer to the question: What would happen if you dropped a mid-century girl group into the modern era?
The women of En Vogue dressed like a classic ‘50s girl group, often with long gloves, sleek dresses, and retro hairstyles. They also sang irresistible, catchy pop songs where they harmonized like a ‘50s girl group.
But that’s where the history lesson stopped and the modern twist began. Their music blended the best of the doo wop era with the emerging ‘90s funkier, hip-hop-inspired R&B style. And they sang songs the women of earlier eras didn’t or, more likely, felt they couldn’t. Yes, En Vogue sang love songs, but these songs were proudly focused on the female empowerment side of the equation.
Never was that more evident than in My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It), which came out on this day in 1992.
The song was a fast hit; the unique a capella harmony during the bridge made the song an unforgettable standout on radio. By the late spring, My Lovin’ made it to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks (it could never get past Kris Kross’s Jump). It was one of En Vogue’s three number two hits without ever having a number one.
But En Vogue’s blending of multiple generations of R&B gave them a timeless sound, so My Lovin’ has aged well. It’s received quite a few flowers over the past three decades, regularly finding its way onto lists like “best songs of the ‘90s” and “best female R&B songs” from major publications and being featured in movies and TV shows galore.
1988 - Apple sued Microsoft for copyright infringement over Windows.
1990 - Biz Markie’s one hit, Just a Friend, peaked at number nine.
1992 - Reforms to end apartheid passed in South Africa.
1995 - The first chickenpox vaccine was approved by the FDA.
1997 - The Eagles’ album Their Greatest Hits tied Michael Jackson’s Thriller as the bestselling album in U.S. history.
1998 - K-Ci and JoJo’s single All My Life was released.
2000 - Erin Brockovich, Final Destination, and Beyond the Mat all hit theaters.
March 18th
1981 - The Greatest American Hero and its theme song premiered on NBC.
1988 - Police Academy 5 hit theaters.
1990 - The largest art heist in the history of the world went down in Boston.
1992 - Leona Helmsley was sentenced to four years in prison for tax evasion.
1993 - Duice’s single Dazzey Duks was released.
1993 - Santa Clara upset Arizona in the NCAA tournament.
1994 - Naked Gun 33-and-a-Third hit theaters.
1995 - Michael Jordan announced his comeback to the NBA.
1996 - Mark Morrison’s single Return of the Mack was released.
1997 - Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves hit theaters.
1997 - Ben & Jerry’s introduced its Phish Food ice cream flavor on stage at a Phish concert.
2000 - Destiny’s Child’s single Say My Name hit number one.
2003 - The Da Vinci Code hit bookstores.
March 19th
1982 - Porky’s hit theaters.
1983 - Nancy Reagan appeared on Diff’rent Strokes to kick off her “Just say no” campaign.
1985 - Spin magazine debuted.
1987 - Televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as host of The PTL Club over a sex scandal.
1993 - Collective Soul’s single Shine was released.
1995 - Michael Jordan played his first game after coming out of his first retirement.
1995 - The first futuristic episode of The Simpsons aired, “Lisa’s Wedding” — and five years later to the day, the second futuristic episode, “Bart to the Future”, aired.
1996 - Tracy Chapman’s single Give Me One Reason was released.
1999 - Forces of Nature hit theaters.
2002 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe premiered on FOX.
March 20th
1982 - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ single I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll hit number one.
1989 - Major League Baseball announced Pete Rose was under investigation for gambling.
1990 - Sinead O’Connor’s album I Do Now Want What I Haven’t Got and Bell Biv DeVoe’s album Poison were both released.
1991 - Eric Clapton’s young son tragically died after falling out of the window of their New York City apartment.
1992 - Janice Pennington was awarded $1.3 million for an accident on the set of The Price Is Right.
1992 - Basic Instinct hit theaters.
1993 - Positive K’s one hit, I Got a Man, peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1994 - Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon had their famous ladder match at WrestleMania X.
1995 - A new Beatles single, Baby It’s You, was released.
1996 - The Menendez brothers were convicted of murder.
1998 - Primary Colors and Wild Things both hit theaters.
1999 - Legoland opened in California.
March 21st
26 years ago, on March 21st, 1997, Liar Liar hit theaters.
Liar Liar marked the start of the Captain Ahab phase of Jim Carrey’s career.
By 1997, Carrey was a bona fide A-list movie star, and he got there through over-the-top, slapstick comedy.
Liar Liar was a (no doubt) meticulously chosen, highly intentional bridge between his off-the-wall characters and the types of roles he wanted to start playing. Liar Liar wasn’t one of the latter, but it was 75% of the way to the latter.
The movie’s high concept premise (the main character is suddenly unable to tell a lie) gave Carrey opportunities to use his physical comedy as he reacted to an endless parade of awkward situations. But he wasn’t Ace Ventura or Lloyd Christmas or Harold W. Mask (?) in those situations. His Liar Liar character was more grounded; a real person. Carrey showed real emotion and acting range in the movie.
Because that’s where he wanted to go with his career. Movies like The Truman Show and Man on the Moon and The Majestic and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind would get even further away from Carrey’s rubber-faced antics of the past as he chased prestige acting glory.
Famously, he never attained it — no matter what he did, he could never score an Oscar nomination.
Eventually, he found peace with both types of acting — balls out comedy and serious performer. And as Brendan Fraser just proved, there’s no guarantee Jim Carrey will never get an Oscar nomination; he has the requisite fame, now he’s just one role away.
1980 - Someone shot J.R. on Dallas.
1981 - REO Speedwagon’s single Keep On Loving You hit number one.
1982 - Annie hit theaters.
1983 - TIME magazine had a typo on its cover for the only time.
1984 - Part of Central Park in New York was named Strawberry Fields in honor of John Lennon.
1986 - Police Academy 3 and RAD both hit theaters.
1987 - Club Nouveau’s single Lean on Me hit number one.
1987 - U2’s single With or Without You was released.
1989 - Madonna’s album Like a Prayer was released.
1992 - Queen’s single Bohemian Rhapsody returned to the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time since 1975.
1992 - Vanessa Williams’s single Save the Best for Last hit number one.
1994 - Steven Spielberg won his first Oscars, for Schindler’s List.
1995 - NewsRadio premiered.
1997 - Selena hit theaters.
1999 - Shakespeare in Love and Gwyneth Paltrow won at the Oscars.
1999 - Roberto Benigni walked on the chairs after winning at the 71st Academy Awards.
2000 - NSYNC’s album No Strings Attached was released.
2001 - Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance for the first time, in Japan.
March 22nd
1979 - The NHL voted to admit four WHA teams: the Oilers, Jets, Nordiques, and Whalers.
1980 - PETA was founded.
1980 - Pink Floyd’s single Another Brick in the Wall hit number one.
1986 - Heart’s single These Dreams hit number one.
1986 - Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald’s single On My Own was released.
1991 - Wayne Gretzky purchased a rare Honus Wagner baseball card.
1993 - 95 South’s single Whoot There It Is was released.
1993 - Intel shipped its first Pentium chips.
1997 - Prodigy’s one hit, Firestarter, peaked at number 30.
1997 - Puff Daddy and Ma$e’s single Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down hit number one.
1999 - Stone Cold Steve Austin drove a beer truck to the ring in a signature moment of the late ‘90s wrestling boom.
1999 - Lonestar’s single Amazed was released.
March 23rd
1982 - Joanie Loves Chachi premiered on ABC.
1983 - President Reagan announced the Star Wars initiative.
1983 - Barney Clark, the first recipient of an artificial heart, died after 112 days.
1984 - Police Academy hit theaters.
1984 - The Breakfast Club met for detention.
1985 - Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley got married.
1987 - The Soul Train Music Awards debuted.
1990 - Pretty Woman hit theaters.
1991 - Extreme’s single More Than Words was released.
1991 - Timmy T’s single One More Try hit number one.
1991 - Oleta Adams’ one hit Get Here peaked at number five, and Susanna Hoffs’s one solo hit My Side of the Bed peaked at number 30.
1992 - Billy Ray Cyrus’s single Achy Breaky Heart was released.
1994 - Wayne Gretzky set the NHL goals record.
1996 - The Roxbury Guys debuted on Saturday Night Live.
1996 - The Tony Rich Project’s one hit Nobody Knows peaked at number two.
1996 - Celine Dion’s single Because You Loved Me hit number one.
1997 - WrestleMania XIII featured a bunch of so-so matches and then one of the all-time best between Bret Hart and Steve Austin.
1998 - Titanic cleaned up at the Oscars.
1999 - Ricky Martin’s single Livin’ La Vida Loca was released.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
With two former Encino Man actors winning Oscars, Pauly Shore says he’s happy for them… it hurts when people (like Jimmy Kimmel in the Oscars monologue) use it as a chance to mock him… and he hopes to get his shot at acting again soon.
The A League of Their Own reboot series will wrap up with a four-episode second season on Amazon Prime.
The Willow reboot series has been canceled by Disney+ after one season.
Freddie Prinze Jr. says he almost quit acting over how poorly the director of I Know What You Did Last Summer treated him.
The Simpsons is bringing back the season one character of Jacques for an episode in season 34. While Jacques has appeared in the background plenty, it will be the first time he has lines since his season one debut.
Long Islanders, cover your eyes and skip this one to preserve your childhood. Billy Joel says he wishes he could take back “at least 25%” of his songs which were “real stinkers.” He called out two of those songs by name: When in Rome from 1989 and C’etait toi (You Were the One) from 1980.
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
Variety put out a list of the best movie sequels of all time, many of which are either sequels from the time frame of this newsletter, sequels to movies from the time frame of this newsletter, or both.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
Ask Jeeves was ahead of his time? Here’s an article connecting the intention behind the ‘90s search alternative and the present and future implementation of artificial intelligence in search.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
Believe it or not, there’s still a loyal community around a relic of the ‘80s and ‘90s which I thought was extinct: The waterbed. Here’s a story of the rise and fall of waterbeds — and the people who keep on using them.
Have a great week!
-Sam