Nov 25: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Milli Vanilli, Rocky IV
Plus TRL, My Buddy, an obscure '80s board game, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
November 25th, 2022 • Issue 127
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
November 25th
33 years ago, on November 25th, 1989, Milli Vanilli’s single Blame It on the Rain hit number one.
Blame It on the Rain was the third of Milli Vanilli’s four number one hits off their debut album. They were a juggernaut.
The single was also the first to become a hit after the start of the Milli Vanilli lip syncing rumors.
The first whispers about Milli Vanilli not being all they seemed to be came in July 1989, when their concert backing track began to skip and they ran off stage. But information spread different in 1989 than it does now, so the incident was not enough to blow up into a career-altering expose.
So why did it eventually blow up?
In the end, their monstrous success was likely their undoing — as they got so big people emerged from all corners to try to get their piece. One of those people was a singer named Charles Shaw — no relation to the wine — who, in December 1989, told New York Newsday he was one of the actual singers on Milli Vanilli’s tracks.
Again, though, scandals moved slower in 1989. Despite mounting evidence, Milli Vanilli won Best New Artist at the Grammys in February 1990.
Finally, later that year, as the rumors became inescapable, Milli Vanilli themselves admitted they weren’t the singers on their tracks.
But, looking back… was it really so bad?
Sure, they were lip syncing… but clearly people liked something they were doing. They were a marketable act, powered by world-class writers and producers, who couldn’t sing very well.
Is that so much worse than subsequent generations of singers with marketability who were (at best) overproduced or (at worst) autotuned beyond recognition?
As much as their scandal broke slower in 1989 and 1990 than it would’ve today, it also saw a far more punitive result.
Back then? It was a career ender.
In a situation like this today, there would’ve been a few days of social media jokes — but Milli Vanilli would issue a denial, the zeitgeist would move on soon enough, Milli Vanilli a quick track on YouTube showing them really singing, and then they’d continue to make $0.0000013 cents every time someone streamed one of their songs on Spotify.
1979 - The John Madden-Pat Summerall broadcast duo called their first football game.
1980 - Roberto Duran said “No mas”.
1984 - The Band-Aid supergroup recorded Do They Know It’s Christmas?
1986 - Bobby Brown quit New Edition.
1987 - Three Men and a Baby and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles were released.
1992 - The Bodyguard hit theaters.
1995 - Whitney Houston’s single Exhale (Shoop Shoop) hit number one.
1997 - 2pac’s album R U Still Down? (Remember Me) was released after his death.
1998 - Babe: Pig in the City hit theaters.
1999 - Elian Gonzalez was rescued at sea.
2001 - NFL coach Jim Mora went on his famous “Playoffs?!” rant.
November 26th
1977 - NBC’s TV movie of The Hobbit aired.
1986 - MASK aired its series finale.
1987 - The first-ever WWF Survivor Series was held in Richfield, Ohio.
1990 - MTV Unplugged debuted, featuring Squeeze.
1992 - The Heights aired its series finale.
1996 - R. Kelly’s single I Believe I Can Fly was released.
1996 - MLB owners overwhelmingly voted to approve interleague play.
November 27th
37 years ago, on November 27th, 1985, Rocky IV hit theaters.
Rocky IV is my favorite of the original Rocky pentalogy.
I’ve always felt the first movie (the one that won an Oscar) is a poorly-designed underdog story — too much of the good that happens to Rocky is the result of luck.
The second movie is worse. Muhammad Ali forever reframed Rocky II, pointing out how its raison d’etre was giving white audiences a chance to see a white boxer defeat an Ali avatar (since it didn’t happen in real life).
The third movie again goes to the well of Rocky fighting a Black boxer, only one who embodies a different set of stereotypes. (And Rocky has to learn to take on even more Black stereotypes in order to train to fight him.)
The fifth movie should never have existed.
But the fourth movie? It’s everything you’re looking for. There’s a clear Cold War-era villain in Ivan Drago without any iffy racial elements to the matchup. The devastating death of Apollo Creed. A snowy Soviet twist on the Rocky training montage. An epic climactic boxing match. The spirit of America coming through so strong it de-brainwashes the communist boxing crowd. And even a Christmas element.
No, it’s not an Oscar movie like somehow the first Rocky was. But in terms of the original five Rocky movies, they never get better.
And then, with the modern sequels, the Creed series cements its own legacy when Creed II connects to the Rocky IV entire plot and takes the Rocky-Drago rivalry even further.
1980 - Bosom Buddies premiered on ABC.
1982 - Lionel Richie’s single Truly hit number one.
1991 - My Girl hit theaters.
1991 - The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series to become WWF Champion.
1992 - Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style aired.
1992 - The Crying Game hit theaters.
1994 - The Simpsons episode “Homer Badman” premiered.
1996 - 101 Dalmatians hit theaters.
1998 - Very Bad Things hit theaters.
November 28th
1987 - Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’s single (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life hit number one.
1989 - Technotronic’s album Pump Up the Jam: The Album was released.
1989 - Queen Latifah’s debut album, All Hail the Queen, was released.
1990 - The series finale of DuckTales aired.
1992 - Whitney Houston’s single I Will Always Love You hit number one.
1994 - Jeffrey Dahmer was killed in prison.
1995 - The nationwide 55 mile-per-hour highway speed limit was removed.
1997 - The series finale of Beavis and Butt-Head aired.
1997 - Tenacious D premiered on HBO.
1998 - Divine’s single Lately hit number one.
2001 - Enron, more or less, went completely out of business.
November 29th
1980 - The Vapors’ one hit, Turning Japanese, peaked at number 36.
1981 - Natalie Wood drowned in a boating accident.
1986 - Bon Jovi’s single You Give Love a Bad Name hit number one.
1991 - The sitcom Roc featured a gay wedding.
1994 - Mary J. Blige’s second album, My Life, was released.
1995 - The CNNfn financial network debuted.
1997 - Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping peaked at number six and Fiona Apple’s Criminal peaked at 21.
November 30th
1982 - Michael Jackson’s album Thriller was released worldwide.
1983 - Radio Shack announced the Tandy 2000 personal computer.
1985 - Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin’s single Separate Lives hit number one.
1987 - Bo Jackson had his legendary Monday Night Football debut.
1988 - Good Morning, Miss Bliss premiered.
1988 - LL Cool J performed the first rap concert in Africa.
1989 - The series finale aired of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.
1990 - Misery hit theaters.
1991 - Elton John and George Michael’s Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me was released.
1991 - What a morning for Saved by the Bell: the “No Hope With Dope” episode aired and was followed by the episode where Zack dreams the gang is a successful music group.
1991 - The U.S. won the women’s World Cup for the first time.
1992 - P.M. Dawn’s single Set Adrift on Memory Bliss hit number one.
1993 - The NFL announced it would be expanding to Jacksonville.
1993 - The Brady Bill became a law.
December 1st
33 years ago, on December 1st, 1989, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation hit theaters.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation became a classic Christmas movie because of its villain.
No, its villain isn’t Clark’s cheap boss or Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her yuppie husband who live next door to the Griswolds. It’s not Cousin Eddie, despite his felonious actions.
The real villain of the movie is: Holiday stress.
(I can’t totally speak to Christmas stress, as I am someone who would not be allowed to enroll at Donda Academy. But I still get holiday stress.)
People watching this movie identified with the stress of finding a tree. Of hanging lights (and all the potential for disaster therein). Of having a home overrun by relatives. Of the politics of juggling different sets of in-laws and other relatives. Of getting a disappointing holiday bonus. And of how holidays somehow turn into maddening rather than joyous times.
So it’s cathartic to see the slapstick responses to all of those stressful moments throughout the movie. To see the characters’ (especially Clark’s) over-the-top reactions and live vicariously through them.
And then, in the end, to see it all works out alright and somehow, in spite of a hundred things going wrong, a family still comes together to have a memorable and loving holiday.
Of course this movie became a Christmas classic. In spite of its cartoonishness and complete detachment from reality — it might be the most relatable and realistic Christmas movie that had been released to date.
1988 - Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest was released.
1988 - Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was released for NES in North America.
1990 - The series finale aired of the Legend of Zelda animated show.
1990 - Gerardo’s single Rico Suave was released.
1990 - The series finale aired of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
1990 - Pat debuted on Saturday Night Live.
1990 - Whitney Houston’s single I’m Your Baby Tonight hit number one.
1990 - Digging began on the Chunnel between England and France.
1991 - Britney Spears appeared on Star Search.
1992 - Positive K’s I Got a Man was released.
1992 - Apple ended its Apple II line.
1994 - Game Show Network debuted, as did HGTV.
1996 - America Online dropped its minutes restrictions and went unlimited.
1997 - Latrell Sprewell of the Golden State Warriors choked his coach, PJ Carlesimo, during practice.
1997 - Kenny G set a world record by holding a note on his sax for 45 minutes, 47 seconds.
1999 - Jay Z stabbed a record exec at a nightclub in New York.
5 ‘80s and ‘90s trivia facts
In 1999, there were two million pay phones in the U.S.
Two decades later, there were only around 100,000 left — 5% of 1999’s total.
Jada Pinkett met Will Smith when she auditioned for Fresh Prince — but didn’t get the role because at five-feet even, the producers said she was too short to realistically be Will’s girlfriend.
Keep my wife’s height out of your mouth.
Gmail was originally a way for fans of Garfield the Cat to get email addresses from his website.
Before Google got the Gmail.com domain and built their web email service, the domain belonged to Garfield the cat.
The Garfield folks registered the domain in 1995 and used it to offer vanity web email addresses to Garfield fans. Google purchased the domain from Garfield, who then gave its fans e-garfield.com addresses.
The green computer code in The Matrix started as a sushi recipe.
The production designer scanned cookbooks, then mixed around the characters to create the code.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s first on-screen kiss was a same-sex kiss with a future Harry Potter actor.
DiCaprio’s first onscreen kiss was in the movie Total Eclipse in 1995. He kissed David Thewlis, who would go on to play Professor Lupin in the Harry Potter movies.
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
Holiday weeks are always slow for news…
Harrison Ford will be digitally de-aged for the opening scene of the new Indiana Jones movie, which comes out on June 30th, 2023.
David Hyde Pierce will not be in the Frasier revival.
Las Vegas Raiders linebacker retired midseason after seven years in the NFL… after he sold a rare Pokemon card from 1998 for $672,000.
Jason David Frank of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers took his own life last week at age 49.
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
Here’s an article about the rise and fall of Total Request Live in the late ‘90s — and how it coincided with the last boom period for the music industry before the digital era.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
How do you make a generic doll stand out? By giving it a jingle you could never forget. Hasbro’s My Buddy and Kid Sister came out in 1985 and will Manchurian Candidate right back into the head of any ‘80s kids thanks to “My buddy, My buddy, Where I go, heeeee goes.”
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
Condomoneyum was a board game from 1985. It had some Monopoly elements but featured all paid sponsors (and came with coupons for those sponsors, including Subaru, Newsweek, Chiquita, and more). The game even gave away a $300,000 condo in a contest. But in spite of all that… it still never really took off.
Have a great week!
-Sam