Nov 26: Zelda II, Thriller, The Crying Game
Plus the national speed limit change, Billboard Music Awards debut, and more
The Retro
by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
November 26th, 2021 • Issue 75
This week in nostalgic history
November 26th
31 years ago, on November 26th, 1990 - The first-ever Billboard Music Awards were held.
There are plenty of music awards shows, all of which have one thing in common: They’re not all that popular. The Grammys are the ostensibly the biggest name, but even they have always been in a struggle for eyeballs — even before recent years when all awards shows of all types have begun to crater.
Back in 1990, even though there were several prominent music awards shows already in existence, the folks at Billboard dared to ask: Do people want another?
And the answer was… sort of?
The Billboard Music Awards became an annual event after their debut on this day in 1990, finally ceasing in the mid 2000s due to lack of interest but then coming back a few years later due to, I guess, name recognition. After all, in a niche viewing landscape, a legacy brand name is legal tender.
While researching the not-that-well-documented history of the Billboard Music Awards for this write-up, I found the Billboard Music Awards are actually considered part of the “Big Three” music awards shows (along with the Grammys and American Music Awards). Still, I was hard pressed to find any artist whose biography leads with “Billboard Music Award winner”; even after more than three decades, the prestige of the Billboard awards has never touched the prestige of actually making it to the top of the Billboard charts.
And since the Billboard Music Awards are determined solely by chart performance, they’re a byproduct of actual success, not a huge success in and of themselves. In that way, they’re essentially the ESPYs of music.
Also on November 26th: NBC’s TV movie of The Hobbit aired (1977)… MASK aired its series finale (1986)… the first-ever WWF Survivor Series was held in Richfield, Ohio (1987)… America’s Funniest Home Videos premiered (1989)… MTV Unplugged debuted, featuring Squeeze (1990)… The Heights aired its series finale (1992)… R. Kelly’s single I Believe I Can Fly was released (1996)… MLB owners overwhelmingly voted to approve interleague play (1996)
November 27th
29 years ago, on November 27th, 1992 - The Crying Game hit theaters.
I’ve talked in past issues about ‘90s movies that hold up horribly (Reality Bites, Ski School), but no discussion of that topic is complete without The Crying Game.
The movie itself, a story of war and loyalty and romance, was at the time and is still today completely overshadowed by the movie’s “twist.” That twist: The lead female character turns out to be a transgender woman.
The main character’s violent reaction to discovering he’s with a transgender woman, suffice to say, disqualifies the movie from modern times. However, to the movie’s credit, ultimately the characters do fall in actual love; a rare-for-the-era acknowledgement that a heterosexual male and transgender woman can be a legitimate, no-asterisk couple.
Still, this movie is only on the radar to this day because of one thing, and that’s centers around how it framed the transgender reveal as a movie twist on the level of Empire Strikes Back or No Way Out. And that, full stop, would never happen in our more progressive society today.
Also on November 27th: Bosom Buddies premiered on ABC (1980)… Lionel Richie’s single Truly hit number one (1982)… Rocky IV hit theaters (1985)… My Girl hit theaters (1991)… The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series to become WWF Champion (1991)… Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style aired (1992)… the Simpsons episode Homer Badman premiered (1994)… 101 Dalmatians hit theaters (1996)… Very Bad Things hit theaters (1998)
November 28th
26 years ago, on November 28th, 1995 - The nationwide 55 mile-per-hour highway speed limit was removed.
The best part of the repeal of the national 55 mile-per-hour speed limit (which was enacted a couple decades prior during the gas crisis)? Part of the repeal banned the use of federal funds to put metric conversions on speed limit signs.
That’s right, states: You may now exercise your 10th amendment rights to make your speed limits whatever you damn well please, but over our dead bodies will you get any federal funding to multiply those speed limits by 1.6.
Also on November 28th: Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’s single (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life hit number one (1987)… Technotronic’s album Pump Up the Jam: The Album was released (1989)… Queen Latifah’s debut album, All Hail the Queen, was released (1989)… the series finale of DuckTales aired (1990)… Whitney Houston’s single I Will Always Love You hit number one (1992)… Jeffrey Dahmer was killed in prison (1994)… the series finale of Beavis and Butt-Head aired (1997)… Tenacious D premiered on HBO (1997)… Divine’s single Lately hit number one (1998)… Enron, more or less, went completely out of business (2001)
November 29th
41 years ago, on November 29th, 1980 - The Vapors’ one hit, Turning Japanese, peaked at number 36.
So yeah. While we’re talking about pop culture of the ‘80s and ‘90s that wouldn’t be made today, Turning Japanese seems like a slam dunk candidate.
The song, by a British band comprised of four white dudes, was widely rumored at the time to reference masturbation. That is: someone’s facial expression during the climax would make them “turn Japanese.” People knew that was racist back then and people really know it now, but it was still the type of rumor that managed to even spread via whispers in the pre-internet era.
In the ‘80s, The Vapors wouldn’t confirm or deny the rumor. They rode the song’s popularity, popularity perhaps even driven a little bit by that rumor, to their only top 40 hit.
In recent times, they’ve come out to say the song was not about masturbation. Rather, they say it is about teenage angst and “turning Japanese” is a metaphor for feeling like you’re an alien in a completely foreign world. Lead singer and songwriter Dave Felton says, “Turning Japanese is all the cliches about angst and youth and turning into something you didn’t expect to. It could have been Portuguese, Lebanese, anything that fit with that phrase. It had nothing to do with the Japanese.”
That’s better than the masturbation thing for sure, but still definitely not ideal. Especially since they haven’t addressed how the song uses the stereotypical so-called “Oriental riff.” Not sure that would’ve also worked if it had been “Portuguese, Lebanese, anything that fit with that phrase.”
Also on November 29th: Pong was released as an arcade game by Atari (1972)… Natalie Wood drowned in a boating accident (1981)… Bon Jovi’s single You Give Love a Bad Name hit number one (1986)… the sitcom Roc featured a gay wedding (1991)… Mary J. Blige’s second album, My Life, was released (1994)… the CNNfn financial network debuted (1995)… Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping peaked at number six and Fiona Apple’s Criminal peaked at 21 (1997)
November 30th
32 years ago, on November 30th, 1989 - The series finale aired of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.
It was inevitable that Nintendo would unleash Mario onto any number of other mediums after he became among the most recognizable characters in America. What wasn’t inevitable was how poorly those attempts would go.
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show was the first Mario TV show, a mix of live action (with pro wrestling manager Captain Lou Albano as Mario) and an animated show. Kids tuned in like crazy to see Mario on TV but… then basically stopped. The show, unfortunately, wasn’t all that good. The live action segments definitely weren’t what kids watching wanted; the animated segments felt generic and not uniquely Mario.
The show got 52 episodes, which sounds like a lot, but that’s just one season of daily kids syndicated programming. It was on air for a mere three months before it was shuttered.
In the next few years, Nintendo would try two more Mario animated series. Both also flopped. So paired with the failure of the live action Super Mario Bros. movie, Nintendo just stopped.
And they stayed “stopped” for a very long time. Only now are they making another go of Mario on screen with a new Super Mario Bros. Movie — one already drawing some eye rolls and controversy online over its voice casting decisions.
Also on November 30th: Michael Jackson’s album Thriller was released worldwide (1982)… Radio Shack announced the Tandy 2000 personal computer (1983)… Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin’s single Separate Lives hit number one (1985)… Bo Jackson had his legendary Monday Night Football debut (1987)… Good Morning, Miss Bliss premiered (1988)… LL Cool J performed the first rap concert in Africa (1988)… Misery hit theaters (1990)… 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 of Saved by the Bell 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 (1991)… P.M. Dawn’s single Set Adrift on Memory Bliss hit number one (1992)… the NFL announced it would be expanding to Jacksonville (1993)… the Brady Bill became a law (1993)
December 1st
33 years ago, on December 1st, 1988 - Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was released for NES in North America.
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, while a different style of game than Super Mario Bros. 2 (released a few months prior in 1988), had one major, overarching commonality with its sequel brother-in-arms: It was jarringly different than the first game in its series. And, in both series, those first games were instant hall-of-famers and billion-dollar franchise-establishing classics.
The Legend of Zelda featured a top-down view, walking and fighting, and a small handful of weapons. Zelda II had side scrolling action with running and jumping, multiple lives, a magic meter, experience points, and many other role playing staples.
But much like Super Mario Bros. 2, despite being a major departure from the first game in the series, Zelda II was a major Nintendo sequel that came during the system’s late ‘80s pinnacle, so it made a fortune.
Both sequels also have similar legacies today regarding their role in their respective series. That is to say: A few quality elements from the game were retained but, by-and-large, the games were one-offs. No future Mario game has resembled SMB2; no future Zelda game has resembled Zelda II.
So as the Zelda franchise returned to top-down action, they kept Zelda II’s magic meter, Link shadow battle, and non-player character interactions — and essentially scrapped the rest.
Also on December 1st: Castlevania II was released (1988)… National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation hit theaters (1989)… 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 (1990)… Britney Spears appeared on Star Search (1991)… Positive K’s I Got a Man was released (1992)… Apple ended its Apple II line (1992)… Game Show Network debuted, as did HGTV (1994)… America Online dropped its minutes restrictions and went unlimited (1996)… 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 (1997)… Jay Z stabbed a record exec at a nightclub in New York (1999)
December 2nd
38 years ago, on December 2nd, 1983 - The almost 14-minute Thriller music video premiered on MTV.
It’s as odd as it seems the music video for Thriller, a Halloween staple, came out in December and not October.
Well, the Thriller video didn’t just come out in December — it came out in December 1983, more than a full year after the album Thriller was released.
The single Thriller, despite being the name inspiration of its album, was the seventh (and last) single released from that album. The record label didn’t want to release it because they viewed it as a novelty song, which, despite its now-standing as a classic, it basically is. But as Thriller the album finally saw a decline in sales as 1983 closed out, Michael Jackson pushed the label to release Thriller the single — with a massive video — to try to drive one last burst of sales for the record-breaking album.
The gambit worked, as Thriller would become the signature Michael Jackson song over the coming decades. (The week of his death, it was the number one single, outperforming all of his other hits.)
The video, which came out today in 1983, played an outsized roll in Thriller’s profile as a song. It is regularly recognized as the greatest music video of all time and has a dance still instantly recognizable to this day. Even if you do that dance roughly 32 days after Halloween.
Also on December 2nd: Barney Clark became the first recipient of an artificial heart, created by Robert Jarvik (1982)… Naked Gun hit theaters (1988)… the 10,000th episode of SportsCenter aired on ESPN (1988)… the series finale aired of The Smurfs (1989)… Roxette’s single It Must Have Been Love was released (1990)… Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue’s Whatta Man was released (1993)… Pablo Escobar was killed by police in Medellin, Colombia (1993)… Heidi Fleiss was convicted of pandering (1994)… Cobb hit theaters (1994)… Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s single One Sweet Day hit number one (1995)… Ace of Base’s album The Sign was certified by Guinness as the bestselling debut ever (1995)… Janet Jackson’s single Together Again was released (1997)… the Smashing Pumpkins played their final concert (2000)… Enron filed for bankruptcy (2001)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
There’s limited news this week because people are on vacation. That’s right: News can only occur when an army of bloggers is at the ready. Otherwise, news agrees not to happen.
The first episode of the new season of the Saved by the Bell reboot pays homage to the late Dustin Diamond.
As mentioned earlier, the producer of the new Super Mario Bros. movie has defended casting Chris Pratt as Mario and says Pratt will not be saying, “It’s-a-me, Mario.”
Microsoft has displayed, for the first time, the letter Nintendo sent them in 1999, outright rejecting Microsoft’s acquisition attempt.
There are tons of Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Game Boy clones. But the first unofficial Nintendo 64 clone was just announced and will be going on sale next year.
Fans of the Super Nintendo game F-Zero have offered a $5,000 bounty for anyone who can recreate some tracks from the game that were only available for a limited time in Japan.
Throwbacks and recommendations
I still can’t believe they’re rebooting Fresh Prince as a drama, but here’s the trailer for Bel-Air, which premieres on Peacock next year. Again, this may all just be a prank because the narration in this trailer cannot be serious. Right?
A guy created AI that could defeat Tetris for Nintendo which showed all the bugs that occur when you get into the 200 levels.
A wonderful ‘80s Orlando Magic official team song from when the franchise began has resurfaced on Twitter.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam