Oct 28: I Will Always Love You, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
Oct 28: I Will Always Love You, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
Plus TurboGrafx-16, Clippy, Cruel Intentions, and more
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved, forgot, or never knew existed
October 28th, 2022 • Issue 123
This week in the ‘80s and ‘90s
October 28th
1989 - The Oakland A’s won a World Series interrupted halfway by an earthquake.
1991 - Metallica’s single The Unforgiven was released.
1992 - Windows for Workgroups 3.1 was released.
1993 - The Simpsons aired its fourth “Treehouse of Horror” episode.
1993 - 2pac’s single Keep Ya Head Up was released.
1994 - The Road to Wellville hit theaters.
1995 - The Atlanta Braves won their only World Series during their highly successful ‘90s run on the strength of their pitchers being gifted a strike zone the size of Georgia (the country, not the state).
1995 - Mary Katherine Gallagher debuted on SNL.
1997 - The first female NBA referees were hired.
1997 - Robyn’s single Show Me Love was released.
October 29th
34 years ago, on October 29th, 1988, Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s one hit, It Takes Two, peaked at number 36.
I’ve always liked It Takes Two from Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. It’s a great song.
But I had no idea it was in the conversation for being the greatest song.
That’s right: Back off, Hey Jude and Smells Like Teen Spirit. It takes two to make a thing go right and it takes two to make it outta sight, but the “two” are not your two songs.
But it’s true. When Spin magazine published a list of the 100 Greatest Singles of All Time in 1989, their editors ranked It Takes Two first. As the best single ever.
No other prominent list has bestowed that honor upon the song — but it always seems to rank somewhere.
A more contemporary 2015 review, from a leading critic on All Music Guide, wasn’t willing to concede best song ever — but did properly summarize the song’s place in its genre.
“There are many critics and listeners who claim that Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s It Takes Two is the greatest hip-hop single ever cut. It’s hard to disagree with them… this is party music, pure and simple, but it’s transcendent party music… it takes a few concentrated listens to realize just how immaculately the record is constructed.”
That critic also cites the impact of the song, tying into this day in history when it peaked at number 36, “It broke down the doors for crossover rap — although it barely scraped the Top 40, it went platinum — and it provided the hook-heavy blueprint for its successors.”
And to think, when I first decided I wanted to write about It Takes Two for The Retro this week, the angle I assumed I was going to cover was the famously misheard lyric that sounds like Rob Base saying, “Can’t stand sex.”
1982 - John DeLorean of car fame was indicted for drug trafficking.
1982 - Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson’s duet, Girl Is Mine, was released.
1983 - Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s duet, Islands in the Stream, hit number one.
1993 - The famous Aaron Burr “Got Milk?” commercial aired for the first time.
1998 - John Glenn returned to space at age 77.
1999 - Being John Malkovich hit theaters.
October 30th
35 years ago, on October 30th, 1987, the NEC PC Engine, later called the TurboGrafx 16 and the first 16-bit video game system (sort of), was released in Japan.
Things that went right for TurboGrafx-16: Renaming it from “PC Engine” to “TurboGrafx-16” when it came to America. We like brand names with hip misspellings and cool uses of the letter “x,” not generic/literal brand names.
Things that went wrong: Just about everything else.
When the NEC’s PC Engine came out in Japan on this day in 1987 it was cutting edge. It was the first 16-bit console… kind of. In the rush to get it to market, the console had a 16-bit graphics processing unit but the same 8-bit central processing unit of the Nintendo Entertainment Systems and Sega Master Systems of the World.
The PC Engine sold well in Japan, but for transcendent financial success it would have to go global.
Unfortunately for NEC, there was a delay. A long delay. The process of redesigning the look of the console, rebranding the name, and importing the games meant the TurboGrafx-16 wouldn’t hit the U.S. until August of 1989, nearly two full years later.
And now, the sort-of 16-bit console was too late.
August 1989 happened to be the same month the Sega Genesis hit North America — and it was actually a 16-bit machine. And also one that had way better marketing and a more appealing game library.
I mean, TurboGrafx-16 came with a game called Keith Courage in Alpha Zones. Kids weren’t going to beg their parents to buy a TurboGrafx-16 for that.
The console did so badly out of the gate that NEC decided against launching it in Europe.
Ultimately, the TurboGrafx-16 was just one of the many consoles that came in the wake of the video game boom of the mid ‘80s. (Along with the 3DO, Neo Geo, Atari Jaguar, CD-i, and probably others with even less name recognition.)
These rushes are inevitable — and go poorly for most companies. There was a rush of companies making tablets after iPad established the category. A rush of companies making streaming services after Netflix established the category. Going back to the video game industry, a rush of companies making motion controllers after Wii established the category.
Eventually the market always sorts these things out. And sadly for TurboGrafx-16, despite its x-treme name… it was a casualty of the market sort.
1982 - Men at Work’s single Who Can It Be Now? hit number one.
1987 - George Michael’s debut album, Faith, was released.
1990 - Madonna’s controversial single Justify My Love was released.
1991 - The Seinfeld parking garage episode aired.
1993 - Snoop Dogg’s single Who Am I? was released.
1993 - Haddaway’s What Is Love? peaked at number 11 and Blind Melon’s No Rain peaked at number 20.
1994 - The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror V” aired.
1995 - Oasis’s single Wonderwall was released.
2001 - Michael Jordan returned to the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
October 31st
1984 - India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated.
1988 - Debbie Gibson held a seance at her Halloween party.
1991 - Are You Afraid of the Dark? premiered on Nickelodeon.
1992 - The Pope apologized for the Church condemning Galileo.
1992 - Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle’s single of A Whole New World was released.
1992 - Prince’s album named with his symbol was released.
1993 - River Phoenix died at age 23 outside of the Viper Room in L.A..
1993 - Tupac Shakur was charged with aggravated assault.
1994 - TLC’s single Creep was released.
1994 - Venus Williams made her pro debut at age 14.
1995 - Alanis Morissette’s single Hand in My Pocket was released.
1998 - A genetic study confirmed Thomas Jefferson had at least one interracial child.
November 1st
1982 - The Playboy Channel debuted.
1987 - The video game The Goonies II was released for Nintendo even though there was no sequel to The Goonies movie and no The Goonies I for Nintendo.
1990 - Enigma’s single Sadeness Part I was released.
1990 - Mega Man III was released.
1993 - The EU was established.
1993 - Flavor Flav was arrested for attempted murder.
1994 - Boyz II Men’s single On Bended Knee was released.
1994 - The Nirvana album MTV Unplugged in New York was released.
1994 - Michael Jordan’s number 23 was retired by the Chicago Bulls.
1996 - Romeo + Juliet hit theaters.
1996 - ESPNews debuted.
November 2nd
1983 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day finally became a federal holiday.
1983 - Michael Jackson’s single Thriller was released worldwide.
1985 - Stevie Wonder’s single Part-Time Lover hit number one.
1987 - Children’s game show Finders Keepers premiered.
1988 - The Morris Worm was the first internet-borne computer virus.
1990 - Graffiti Bridge hit theaters.
1991 - The two-part Saved by the Bell with Jessie’s wicked stepbrother aired on NBC.
1991 - Karyn White’s single Romantic hit number one.
1992 - Magic Johnson retired from the NBA for the second and final time.
1993 - A less insane (or better at hiding the insanity) Rudy Giuliani was elected mayor of New York City.
1996 - The Eels’ one hit, Novocain for the Soul, peaked at number 39.
1996 - The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series aired its series finale.
1997 - The Simpsons episode “The Cartridge Family” aired on FOX.
1998 - Whitney Houston’s single When You Believe was released.
1999 - LFO’s single Girl on TV was released.
2000 - The first crew arrived at the International Space Station.
2003 - Arrested Development premiered on FOX.
November 3rd
30 years ago, on November 3rd, 1992, Whitney Houston’s single I Will Always Love You was released.
I Will Always Love You might be Whitney Houston’s signature song — and that’s saying something, with her career of more than a dozen potential signature songs.
But I Will Always Love You — a cover of a 1973 Dolly Parton song that topped the Billboard country charts — almost never made it into Whitney’s hands.
First off, Elvis wanted to, essentially, take over the song after it came out. It would’ve been a prestige boost and financial windfall for Dolly Parton — but not as big of one as it could be. Elvis’s management demanded half of the publishing rights. That was enough to make Dolly the rare artist who turned down Elvis — and she kept her song.
Back to Whitney…
There was always a plan for her to drop some showstopper tracks on The Bodyguard soundtrack. The initial plan for her powerfulest power ballad on The Bodyguard soundtrack was a cover of Jimmy Ruffin’s What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.
And that would’ve made the cut… but Fried Green Tomatoes got there first. When that movie came out in 1991, it featured a Paul Young cover of What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.
The legend goes (and I’ll generously give this around a 4% chance of being true) that Whitney’s Bodyguard costar Kevin Costner was the one who suggested I Will Always Love You instead.
The song went under a few production and arrangement cycles to Whitney-fy it, and ultimately it was released on this day in 1992.
Despite Dolly Parton’s success with the song, Whitney’s cover became the version of record. It’s sold more than 20 million copies, making it the best-selling single by a female artist ever and one of the best-selling singles of all time. It set a then-record 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (nearly 5x more time than her previous longest-reigning hit of Greatest Love of All).
And Dolly Parton is in no way upset that Whitney’s version has far surpassed hers — nor that she turned down Elvis’s offer all those years ago.
In an interview with Oprah in 2020, Dolly said, “He would have killed it, but anyway… then when Whitney’s came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland.”
1983 - The Nashville Network debuted on cable TV.
1988 - Billy Ocean’s single Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run) hit number one.
1988 - Geraldo’s nose was broken during a fight on his show.
1989 - The Minnesota Timberwolves played their first game.
1990 - The NBA debuted on NBC.
1990 - EMF’s single Unbelievable was released.
1990 - The legendary Saved by the Bell episode where Jessie gets hooked on caffeine pills aired.
1992 - Paperboy’s single Ditty were released, as was Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled debut album.
1992 - Carol Moseley-Braun was the first Black female elected U.S. senator.
1992 - Bill Clinton was elected president.
1993 - The Nanny premiered.
1994 - Susan Smith of South Carolina was arrested for drowning her sons.
1995 - Mr. Show premiered.
1996 - The Hank Scorpio episode of The Simpsons aired.
1996 - Kobe Bryant made his NBA debut, then the youngest NBA player ever at 18 years, two months old.
1998 - Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota.
1998 - Juvenile’s album 400 Degreez and Alanis Morissette’s album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie were released.
2000 - Charlie’s Angles and the Legend of Bagger Vance hit theaters.
5 ‘80s and ‘90s trivia facts
Sonic the Hedgehog was originally going to be from a small town in Nebraska.
When Sega was initially cooking up Sonic’s back story, they had him growing up poor in rural Nebraska, eating bugs and trash. Also, his dad died by falling into a pond of toxic waste.
They wound up scrapping all of that for the actual character.
The lead role in Die Hard was originally offered to 73-year-old Frank Sinatra.
Before Bruce Willis became John McClane, Frank Sinatra had his chance.
But… it was a token gesture, not a real plan.
Die Hard was based on the book Nothing Lasts Forever. That book is a sequel to one called The Detective. In 1968, Sinatra played the lead character (then called Joe Leland) in the movie adaptation of The Detective. So he had “dibs” on the role… which he turned down.
Random aside: Bruce Willis’s film debut was as an extra in a different Frank Sinatra movie, 1980’s The First Deadly Sin.
Jim Carrey was paid 14,000% more than Jeff Daniels for Dumb and Dumber.
Jim Carrey made $7 million for the movie… Jeff Daniels made $50,000.
The gopher sound effects in Caddyshack were the same sound effects as the dolphin in the 1960s TV series Flipper.
Apparently a dolphin and a gopher can sound the same if you want them to bad enough.
The first product QVC sold when it debuted in 1986 was a shower radio.
QVC went on the air on 58 cable systems in 20 states on November 24th, 1986. And its first product was a shower radio for $11.49. The network did $7,400 in sales on its first day. (Fifteen years later, on December 2nd, 2001, they did $80 million in sales in a single day.)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news
In Matthew Perry’s new memoir he reveals how much he apparently hates Keanu Reeves? Regarding the deaths of River Phoenix, Heath Ledger, and Chris Farley, Perry says, “But Keanu Reeves still walks among us.”
The trailer is out for The Santa Clauses, a revival miniseries coming to Disney+ next month.
The revived DeLorean revealed its new model, which could be out in the world as early as January. And yes, it has the butterfly doors.
Here are the 20 most popular Halloween songs on Spotify playlists, many of which are from the target timeframe of this newsletter.
It would’ve cost $76 quadrillion for E.T. to phone home.
Here’s how much some TV characters were living beyond their means (including Carrie Bradshaw, some Friends characters, and more).
Sheryl Crow says someone threw human feces at her on stage during Woodstock ‘99.
Recommendations of the week
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you loved
There’s another Dangerous Liaisons series coming out on Starz in a few weeks, so seems like a good time for the way an entire generation learned about Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Here’s an oral history of Cruel Intentions.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you forgot
Here’s the history of the Twisted Life of Clippy, the helpful talking paperclip from Microsoft Office in the ‘90s.
The ‘80s & ‘90s pop culture you never knew existed
Previous generations of celebrities thought doing commercials was beneath them — so in decades past, big stars would get quick money by doing ads that only aired overseas. (Pre-internet, they weren’t concerned the American audience would see them.) Here’s a montage of all the strange ‘80s and ‘90s commercials Arnold Schwarzenegger did in Japan.
Have a great week!
-Sam