October 30: I'm so excited, I'm so scared
October 30: I'm so excited, I'm so scared
Plus controversial Madonna, Goonies sequel, no soup for you, and more
The Retro by 11 Points
Modern perspectives on ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia
October 30, 2020 • Issue 19
This week in nostalgic history
October 30th
30 years ago, on October 30th, 1990 - Madonna’s controversial single Justify My Love was released.
Justify My Love is probably around Madonna’s 38th or so best song — it’s not a Like a Prayer or I’ll Remember. But Justify My Love outkicked its coverage, to use a cliche that I’ve always felt makes no logical sense but is quite applicable to this situation. It’s a song title known by everyone in a generation because of the controversy Madonna artfully build around it. The music video featured Madonna having a softcore threesome (and also allusions to other, more taboo sexual practices) and, with that tug on the marionette strings, MTV dutifully banned the video from its network. The ban provided a huge boost in notoriety; the forbidden nature of Justify My Love propelled it to number one on the charts and also led to a VHS tape of the video becoming the best-selling video single ever. Very little, if any, of what I’ve described here would be possible in the YouTube era — but it was monumentally successful in 1990.
Also on October 30th: The Seinfeld parking garage episode aired (1991)… 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 (1993)… The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror V aired (1994)… Oasis’s single Wonderwall was released (1995)
October 31st
28 years ago, on October 31st, 1992 - Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle’s single of A Whole New World was released.
Aladdin came out for Thanksgiving of 1992, but the hype started a month earlier with the release of A Whole New World. And what appears to be a ridiculously low budget video. This was the era when Disney would have famous artists re-record songs from the movies to make them more “commercial” (a practice that finally lost all steam with Frozen in 2013 when Idina Menzel’s in-movie rendition of Let It Go was universally favored over Demi Lovato’s single-on-the-soundtrack rendition).
So the Halloween version of A Whole New World featured Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle rather than (definitely needed to look this up) the performers from the movie, Brad Kane and Lea Salonga. And it certainly built the momentum Disney was looking for. Aladdin, and the single, were both hits in the moment and, really, enduring on through today.
Also on October 31st: The Pope apologized for the Church condemning Galileo (1992)… TLC’s single Creep was released (1994)… Alanis Morrisette’s single Hand in My Pocket was released (1995)… a genetic study confirmed Thomas Jefferson had at least one interracial child (1998)
November 1st
33 years ago, on November 1st, 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.
I loved the video game The Goonies II. I played it at a friend’s house for the first time, later got it as a present, wore that cartridge out as I worked to the point of mastery. But that doesn’t resolve a bigger question about the game… why did it exist?
There was obviously the movie The Goonies, which was a big hit in 1985. But there was no sequel. Yet on NES, there was this sequel… but no original video game based on The Goonies.
None of that really registered for me as a kid, and I’d all but forgotten about the same, so it took me until now to get my answer. Apparently, there was a video game based on The Goonies movie, but that game was only sold in Japan. It’s not entirely clear why. The game did make it to North America, but only in arcades. I can’t explain the logic behind any of what I’ve just written which, as I always say, sums up Nintendo as a corporation pretty thoroughly.
Also on November 1st: The Playboy Channel debuted (1982)… Enigma’s single Sadeness Part I was released (1990)… Mega Man III was released (1990)… Boyz II Men’s single On Bended Knee was released (1994)… Romeo + Juliet hit theaters (1996)… ESPN News debuted (1996)
November 2nd
25 years ago, on November 2nd, 1995 - The Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld aired on NBC.
The 25th anniversary of this particularly iconic Seinfeld episode made me wonder: Who are the best minor characters from the show? Here are my (sure to be almost entirely wrong) picks. My cutoff was less than 10 episodes.
Mickey (7 episodes)
Bania (6 episodes)
Tim Whatley (5 episodes)
Jackie Chiles (5 episodes)
Kruger (4 episodes)
Sue Ellen Mischke (4 episodes)
Lloyd Braun (2 episodes)
Izzy Mandelbaum/Izzy Mandelbaum Jr. (2 episodes)
Keith Hernandez (2 episodes)
Soup Nazi (2 episodes)
Watkins, aka the guy who gets nicknamed T-bone (1 episode)
Also on November 2nd: Martin Luther King Jr. Day finally became a federal holiday (1983)… Finders Keepers premiered (1987)… the two-part Saved by the Bell with Jessie’s wicked stepbrother aired on NBC (1991)… the Simpsons episode The Cartridge Family aired on FOX (1997)… LFO’s single Girl on TV was released (1999)
November 3rd
30 years ago, on November 3rd, 1990 - The legendary Saved by the Bell episode where Jessie gets hooked on caffeine pills aired.
I doubt when the Saved by the Bell braintrust was making this episode they realized it would be the most quoted (and enduring) episode of the entire run. I’m sure they assumed people would walk around calling time outs or saying “Hey, hey, hey what is going on here?” or at least wearing Buddy Bands. But little did they know that Jessie, strung out on caffeine pills, channeling 1940s melodrama acting as she cried “I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so scared” would become the seminal moment of the series. I’d even go as far to say that line propelled Elizabeth Berkley to Showgirls, in large part so she could prove she could take on even cheesier dialogue with aplomb.
I’d also say no quote better sums up my feelings about this November 3rd than “I’m so excited, I’m so scared.”
Also on November 3rd: Geraldo’s nose was broken during a fight on his show (1988)… the Minnesota Timberwolves played their first game (1989)… the NBA debuted on NBC (1990)… EMF’s single Unbelievable was released (1990)… Whitney Houston’s single I Will Always Love You and Paperboy’s single Ditty were released (1992)… Bill Clinton was elected president (1992)… The Nanny premiered (1993)… the Hank Scorpio episode of The Simpsons aired (1996)… Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota (1998)
November 4th
32 years ago, on November 4th, 1988 - The Charlotte Hornets played their debut game.
The NBA team in Charlotte is still the Hornets today, even if the 32 years have taken the city and its franchise on a circuitous path. When the NBA expanded before the 1988 season, it added the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets. (The following year it would add the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic.) The Hornets became the “it” expansion franchise, quite possibly because their jerseys looked cool; they got in on the teal thing before every pro sports team jumped on the teal bandwagon a few years later. They also had some notable stars, including Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning, in their early run. But over time, as they continued to have middling-to-poor seasons year after year, the city of Charlotte lost interest in the team. It moved to New Orleans in 2002.
But then… the NBA decided to put an NBA franchise back in Charlotte almost immediately. The Charlotte Bobcats started in 2004 and, well, they performed even worse than the Hornets. The team would rebrand back to the Hornets for the 2014 season as the New Orleans team rebranded itself as the Pelicans.
So all these years later, there is still a team called the Charlotte Hornets. But they’re a body snatched Charlotte Hornets — an expansion team that absorbed the history of a city’s prior team — joining the body snatched Cleveland Browns as the only two pro sports teams to do so.
Also on November 4th: They Live hit theaters (1988)… the Orlando Magic played their first game (1989)… the Spice Girls album Spice was released (1996)… Shania Twain’s album Come On Over was released (1997)… Marcy Playground’s single Sex and Candy was released (1997)
November 5th
26 years ago, on November 5th, 1994 - George Foreman won boxing’s heavyweight title at age 45.
So… was George Foreman’s boxing career reboot in his 40s just a marketing stunt for his grills that accidentally went well? The George Foreman grill debuted in 1994 and the primary promotional method was an infomercial featuring Foreman. In the early parts of his career, Foreman was known for a fairly surly attitude; when he returned to boxing in 1987, he was now a much happier, friendlier person. He also happened to be all about his transition from boxer to pitchman; it wasn’t just grills, it was also mufflers and whatever other commercials came his way.
So Foreman kept going in boxing, as it certainly helped elevate his business ventures. And eventually, he somehow found his way into the championship picture. On November 5th, 1994, he managed to knock out a much younger, highly- favored fighter in Michael Moorer to regain the championship he’d lost to Muhammad Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle decades earlier.
He finally retired from boxing in 1997 — and is believed to have made more than $200 million from selling grills, far more than his fight earnings.
Also on November 5th: Corona’s single Rhythm of the Night was released (1993)… the King Size Homer episode of The Simpsons aired (1995)… Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra were arrested after a fight in a hotel (1999)
Everything old is new again
A look at the reboots, revivals, throwbacks, retro insights, and nostalgia in the news.
The official trailer for the Saved by the Bell reboot is out. It’s also been confirmed Lark Voorhies will appear on the show, meaning the only “big six” cast member not involved is Dustin Diamond.
This week’s nostalgia x shoe collab is… spinning the wheels… Simpsons Christmas and Vans. Fine, they’re wonderful.
In an issue of The Retro in mid-September, I spoke about how Tiny Toon Adventures hadn’t received the revival treatment like so many other cartoons of its era. Welp, that manifested fast. A reboot of Tiny Toon Adventures was just announced by HBO Max and Cartoon Network.
The Seinfeld cast named their favorite episodes of the show during a fundraiser. Julia Louis-Dreyfus picked the Soup Nazi, as mentioned above; Jason Alexander picked The Marine Biologist; and Larry David picked The Contest and says he would’ve quit if NBC didn’t let them make it.
A guy in Ohio has earned a Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Ghostbusters memorabilia: 1,221 unique items.
Drew Barrymore says caller ID use tripled after Scream premiered with her famous phone scene.
17 cast members from the All New Mickey Mouse Club — but notable not the most famous ones like Gosling, Spears, Aguilera, Timberlake, JC Chasez, or Kerri Russell — have reunited to make a Christmas album.
A guy figured out how to modify the SNES Super Scope so it works with modern TVs.
Throwbacks and recommendations
Universal put together a four-minute video of Back to the Future fan art.
Matt Groening joined Instagram to go after the president.
Here’s a long and quite interesting story about bootleg ‘80s video games from Czechoslovakia based on movie characters like Indiana Jones and Rambo.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam