ROSEANNE RESONATES WITH AMERICA

Roseanne Barr, an actress, comedian, writer, and producer had a hit show with the self titled "Roseanne". The show first aired in 1988 and lasted until 1997. The show centered around a working class family in Illinois trying to get by with a menial income. The show was also noted for a controversial lesbian kissing scene in 1993 and for showing marijuana use the same year. Yet, despite all the controversy and notoriety (please also see her singing the Star Spangled Anthem in 1990), the show was in the top five in  its first six years running and number one in 1989-1990. Roseanne Barr also got critical acclaim as she won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1993.

SEATTLE BECOMES AMERICAS CULTURAL GOLDMINE

In the early nineties, the city of Seattle became America's enclave. It was here that the rest of the country was collecting its ideas of fashion, entertainment, and business. Grunge music was dominating the music scene and most of its prominent bands were from Seattle (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl jam). This created the return of flanel fashion which was inspired from the clothes that these bands were wearing from their local thrift shops. TV shows and movies were based on Seattle (Sleepless In Seattle, Singles, Frasier). Two major companies from Seattle, Starbucks and Microsoft, were redesigning the nation's social and technological atmosphere. And even the sports teams in Seattle from that time were doing well. 

COFFEE PROVIDES MORE THAN JUST CAFFEINE

A trend that was starting in the 1980's, took off to exponential amounts in the 1990s. This was coffee culture. Meeting for coffee now became hip as coffee varieties increased and became trendier. A large part of the boom was the Seattle culture with it's many coffee shops and  the expanding rise of franchise mega coffee shops, such as Starbucks and Coffee Bean. People would now hang out at coffee shops to socialize and study. The trend was seen in pop culture as the characters of the hit shows "Friends" and "Frasier" socialized at local coffee shops. Soon the trend spread like wildfire as bookstore franchises such as Barnes N Nobles and Borders began to serve coffee.

INTELLIGENT WIT BECOMES COMEDY

In the fall of 1993, "Frazier", premiered on NBC. This sitcom was a spin off of Cheers (which had its last episode earlier in the year). The show was based on Dr. Frasier Crane, played by Kelsey Grammer, returning to his hometown of Seattle after his failed marriage in Boston, the city where Cheers was based. Dr. Crane is a psychiatrist on a radio show. Crane's father  moves in him and Crane's  bother develop a close yet rival relationship. Joining this ensemble, is the live-in care giver of Crane's father and the producer of Crane's radio show. The brothers' struggling to find love and struggle to  escalate in the Seattle cultural elite are recurring themes of the show. Frasier aired until 2004 and went on to become one of the most successful spin-offs of all time.

QUIZ SHOW HAS LOSERS AND WINNERS

The 1994 film, "Quiz Show", was a box office bust in sales but garnered much critical acclaim. Directed by Robert Redford, it was a historical film about the conspiracy of rigging a show called "Twenty One" that was aired in the 1950's and the congressional trial of it's legitimacy. Although, the fraud of television shows would not lead to major catastrophe's to it's usual viewers, the movie did raise deep moral and ethical issues on an individual level from the players in the fraud. The well written movie garnered an Academy Award Nomination for the best picture that year.

REMEMBER POGS

THE POWER OF GRUNGE

In the early nineties, a dress-down music scene took place and in an overnight fashion became mainstream. Grunge emerged as a subgroup of alternative music. Influenced by heavy metal and punk rock, Grunge was characterized with distorted guitar riffs, raw-sounding vocals, and angst-ridden lyrics. Musicians in the genre were noted for their non-glitzy fashion (plaid was the trend) and their lack of theatrical stage performances. In a way, this was a complete backlash to the Glam metal rock that had been so prevalent in the 1980's and very part of the early nineties. The power of Grunge almost blew Glam rock out of the pop culture scene to the point where  in the mid-nineties those bands became sources for mockery. Lyrics of the songs addressed isolation, despair, and apathy. In a way, the movement could have addressed a young generations bleak view of their future.

ACTUAL HOPE FOR PEACE

20 years ago, in this exact date, a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan was signed. Bill Clinton was the moderator as the treaty was signed between Jordan's King Hussein and Israel's Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin. The event took place in the Arava valley of Israel

THE GLORY DAYS OF INFOMERCIALS

"Stop The Insanity!" Remember her? Back in the early to mid nineties, Susan Powter was the fitness celebrity guru. She even had her own talk show in 1994. At this time, infomercials (as they were called) had their big heyday. It turned Susan into a recognizable star. Remember, this is right before the internet changed the world. Back then, we would watch television, even late in the night. 

BRAIN GIVES BREATH

In 1992 the Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) was approved for sale in the United States. Created earlier in the 1980's by Dr. Brain (I am not making this up, that is his real name), the LMA device provided a direct seal of the oropharynx to the trachea. Thus, not every patient needed to have an endotracheal intubation for a surgical procedure needing general anesthesia. It has also been used in placing emergency airways.  This device has revolutionized anesthesia practice and some have stated that it is the most important invention in Anesthesia in the past 25 years.

A FILM MIRRORS LIFE

In early 1995, a film called "Outbreak" starring Dustin Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Morgan Freeman, Rene Russo, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Spacey, and Cuba Gooding Jr. was about an Ebola-like virus called Motaba that crossed continents from Africa to the states. The film also dealt with the government conspiracy and action regarding the massive medical epidemic that this virus incurred. Any of this sound familiar?

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT EXPANDS

Arrested Development is a southern hip hop band that had a string of hits in the early nineties. Founded by band member, known as Speech, this band focused on singing about African self determination and pride in a movement best known as Afrocentric. The band preached love and spirituality in their music and this was in contrast to the themes of the  popular gangster rap at that time. Their first album "3 years, 5 months, and 2 days in the life of"...was critically acclaimed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyDjRd0Tjss

ONE IS ALL YOU NEED, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVE NONE!

So there are now recent rumblings that Los Angeles may get an NFL franchise. Well, as some remember, in the early nineties, until 1995, there were double the number of NFL teams in LA of its current goal of one

.

BAYWATCH BECOMES SYNONYMOUS WITH BABEWATCH

Starting in the early nineties, the show "Baywatch" became a hit. Interestingly, the show was cancelled after its first year of running in 1989. However, the show's star, David Hasselhoff, convinced producers to run the show in syndication again and it came back with a vengeance starting in 1991. The show was more known for its skinny clad lifeguard ladies wearing their red bikinis. In fact, the show starts with the famous slow motion running of the female lifeguards in its intro. Pamela Anderson, who played C.J on the show, became the show's notable star. More is to come for Pamela in this blog regarding her influence in the early nineties.

ZIPS WERE UP AND THEN CAME DOWN

In late 1994, lomega introduced the Zip drive. This was intended to replace the 3.5 inch floppy disc as the Zip disk would store about 100 Megabytes of memory. For a short time, this floppy became huge. However, it was soon out seeded by devices that could hold more memory, such as the rewritable CD, the rewritable DVD, and USB Flashdrives. 

PORN IN SPACE

In  the early nineties, in the initial days of cyberspace, many were worried about the 3 P's that this massive computer networking could involve. These included:

Pornography: Yes, the fundamentalists were afraid of the Net making a place that was unsafe and
uncensored.

Privacy: Computer hackers were abound as they are now, and people's privacy was an issue, as it is now.

Public Advertising: Initially the Net was not suppose to be for commerce. Well, that soon changed and it   changed quickly!

This figure is from an article in Time magazine at that time.

BARNEY GOES PUBLIC

Barney and Friends, a PBS children television show, was a runway hit when it first aired in 1992. The show is about an anthropromorphic yet cheerful and optimistic Tyrannosaurus Rex. The show was so successful that it was produced till 2009. 

TECHNO MAKES A NICHE

In the Early Nineties, techno music had a share of success in the mainstream American music industry. It originally emerged in the mid to late eighties in Detroit, Michigan. Soon some local radio stations were dedicated to playing all techno and soon the phenomena of raves came about. Bands like 2Unlimited and Technotronic found major success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvTm_BhZdOE

SIMON SAYS START OF SMARTPHONES

In the fall and winter of 1994, IBM launched the release of IBM Simon. This was a cellular phone and a PDA (personal digital assistant)  matched into one portable device. The device was assembled under Bellsouth Cellular Corp. The device was able to receive and send  cellular phone calls,  faxes, email, and cellular pages (remember those?). Initial cost of the device was about $1000.

AMERICAS PASTIME TAKES A BREAK AND CANADA SUFFERS

As the baseball postseason is about to get underway, we remember that 20 years ago the 1994 Major League Baseball season was cut short by a player's strike and no postseason happened. A total of 943 games were cancelled in all and the strike lasted a total of 232 days. The strike most affected the Montreal Expos, who had baseball best record at that time with a lineup that included Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez, Moses Alou, and Marquis Grissom. They had the second lowest payroll in the MLB. But after the strike, they lost their fan base and their top players to free agency. The team was bought by MLB in 2001 and now are known as the Washington Nationals (By the way, the Nationals are in the post season with the best record in baseball).

THE ANSWER IS NOT CLEAR!

In 1992, PepsiCo launched a clear non-caffeinated soda called Clear Pepsi. The launch was inspired from the early nineties fad that equated clearness with health and well-being. Coke soon followed suite with Clear Tab. Van Halen even sang a song for its commercial in 1993. However, the product was soon pulled of the market when sales went down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPvyq_KmXhc

FLANEL MAKES A COME BACK

In the early nineties, flanel made a come back as a fashion statement. Initially, reveled in the 1970's, Grunge mania was now making flanel fashion the 'in thing" again. Many Grunge bands were formed outside of Seattle where tree cutters use to wear flanel due to its warmth and low price. When these bands wore their normal region fashion attire and appeared on MTV, well then it became de novo again. But just like everything, over exposure was soon to come. Soon flanel was being sported down the run ways in fashion shows and making covers of fashion magazines.

MAGIC EYE BRINGS MAGIC

At around the fall of 1992, the Magic Eye posters were spreading throughout bookstores and local college campuses. These posters showed autostereograms that allowed one to see a hidden 3D images by zooming in on 2D patterns. Soon in 1993, a series of  Magic Eye books were released.

ON THIS DATE 22 YEARS AGO

Los Angeles was in the thick of the LA Riots. The culmination of 6 days of looting, arson, and civil unrest. The riots were propagated from racial tension stemming from the acquittal of the police officers who were videotaped brutally beating an African American named Rodney King on March 3, 1991. A curfew was issued and the California Army National Guard was sent to control the situation. Unfortunately, the riots caused many deaths and casualties. What was paramount, were the live scenes that were being taken place on the television and right before our eyes. Live television beating, live looting, and live arson were taking place.  Destruction and mayhem followed suite. This dark event in Los Angeles history became a major world event.

TOO SEXY SAID FRED

In 1992, Right Said Fred, a duo out of England, had a tongue and cheek hit called "Too Sexy" in the United States. Initially, I did not particular like the song, thinking that it was a pure pop non-sensible song. However, after learning that the duo sang the song from the point of view of nihilistic male model, my impressions changed. Now I consider it one of the top 100 songs of the 1990s. The song is reminiscent of the song #Selfie by the Chainsmokers, that is a parody out of the nihilistic behavior of young beautiful women right now. The song also has a catchy beat and a sense of humor. After expressing that he is "too sexy" for numerous things such as his cat and his car, the song ends with the line "I'm too sexy for this song".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39YUXIKrOFk

A CHRISTIAN PRAYER GETS ANSWER

Around 22 years ago, Christian Laettner hit a last second jump shot from around the free throw line after catching a long inbound pass from past the opposing basket from Grant Hill. The basket propelled the Mike Krsysewski's Duke Blue Devils past  Rick Pitino's Kentucky Wildcats, 104-103, in the Elite 8. They would go on to win the Final Four and the National Championship in 1992. It would be back to back championships for Mike Krzyzewski's squad and the shot would be known to become one of the greatest, dramatic shots of all time.

Favorite Movie of the Early Nineties?

What is your favorite movie of the Early Nineties? Please leave your answer in the comment section.

A SPHINCTER SAYS BIG MOVIE HIT

In 1992, a comedy film about two twenty something's, stuck in adolescence, who host a music cable public access channel in the suburb became a big hit. The movie starred comedians, Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey and was adapted from a Saturday Night Live running skit of the same name. It popularized catchphrases such as "Shwing", "That's What She Said", and "Not!" and it revitalized Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody song. It became the 10th highest grossing film of 1992

Tweerking Was Going On Before Miley Cyrus Was Even Born

Back in the spring of 1992, the rapper, Sir Mix A Lot, had a big hit and, rather, an even bigger phenomenon with his hit "Baby Got Back". A tongue and cheek and  cleverly written ode to the particular female anatomy, this song was a huge success in making big rear ends sexy. Perhaps, Sir Mix A Lot caused a huge cultural awakening in the sex appeal of a large toosh that had never been explored like this before. The video was initially banned for worshiping too much of the anatomy, but was eventually regularly aired on MTV. Others like Wrecks n Effect with "Rumpshaker", and the 69 Boyz with "Tootsie Roll" followed soon in paying homage to the female buttocks, but Sir Mix A Lot definitely took the crown of this achievement. Girls would, as in a hypnotic trance, start their tweerk (although it wasn't called that back then) as soon as the intro of this song would fire from the speakers in any given club in the early nineties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY84MRnxVzo

The Real World

The Real World, still airing today, is a reality show that premiered on MTV in 1992. It was created by Mary- Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray, inspired by the 1973 PBS family documentary series titled "An American Family". The show focuses on a group of strangers that agree to live under the same house.  Bunim and Murray originally wanted the show to be a scripted series based on the lives of young people. However, when the cost of production deemed to large, the creators decided to have a cast of non-actors in a non-scripted show. The show initially focused on the real subject matters, such as sexuality, politics, and drug abuse, that young adults had to deal with. A central figure was Pedro Zamora, who appeared on the show in 1994 and was openly gay and an educator of HIV/AIDS. That season featured his commitment ceremony with his boyfriend, Sean Sasser. Sadly, the show that year also chronicalled his dealing with his own affliction with AIDS until his passing. The show, for better or worst, opened up the floodgates for reality based television programming, as producers saw that cheap production costs can garner high ratings. Whether loosely scripted or meticulously planned, this formula drives reality television today.

On This Date 20 Years Ago

It was 20 years ago today at the Winter Olympics in Lilihammer, that the dual between "good vs evil" took place in the female figure skating event. Nancy Kerrigan took the silver medal while Tanya Harding finished in 8th place, after a controversial shoe lace incident. But a star was born, as the Ukranian teenager, Oksana Baiul,  won the gold. 

The Super Soaker

In the early nineties, a recreational pressurized  water gun toy became a phenomenon. Developed by the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineer, Lonnie Johnson, in 1982, the product first went on sale in 1989. It became the biggest selling toy in 1991 and 1992. The toy appealed not only to children but also teenagers. In later years, new models of the toy emerged.

ON THIS DAY 20 YEARS AGO: Dan Jansen Wins Gold

 20 years ago today at the Winter Olympics in Lilihammer, Dan Jansen won the gold in the 1000-m speed skating race. This triumph happened after Jansen went through many trials and tribulations in his personal and skating career. He fell twice in the 500-m and 1000-m races in the 1988 Winter Olympics after just hearing that his sister had passed away. He failed to medal in the 1992 Winter Olympics. His win was so inspirational at this time that he got a personal call phone from President Bill Clinton

Fashions of the Early Nineties

Some of the fashions of the time included flat top haircuts, plaid dress shirts, Doc Marten shoes, ripped jeans, Looney Tunes dress shirts, and baggy shirts

Grunge Takeover

And then it happened.... Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was played on MTV and overnight glam rock with all its excesses and flamboyancy had taken a back seat to music that was more conscience, real, and substantial. What was "cool" now was "uncool" and vice versa. Arena rock was ousted by "Unplugged". Musicians, rather than taking on the persona of being bigger than life stars, were now rather expressing their vulnerabilities and looking like people who might be your friends. Image finally lost to substance...Well maybe? Yes, Nirvana and other alternative bands went on to dominate the music, fashion, and pop culture scene for the next 4 years. However, hair bands like Bon Jovi and Guns and Roses still had chart hits during this time. But, music and society in large had changed. As a sign of the times, I recall that 1992 was the last summer that the Sunset Blvd scene in LA would be dominated by pedestrians and bar hoppers being comprised of  long haired emulators of the metal scene. Now plad and looking plain had been making its long awaited comeback.

Magic Johnson Announces He Has The HIV VIRUS

In Nov of 1991, Ervin "Magic Johnson", announced that he had contracted the HIV Virus. He admitted to contracted the virus through multiple sexual partners while he was a player. The news took the world by shock as some predicted that Magic would not be around in five years. However, Magic still determined to play basketball, came back to take MVP honors in the NBA Allstar game in February 1992, in what featured a resounding last minute three-pointer by him. He later went on to play for the Dreamteam in the 1992 Summer Olympics and came back to have a further stint in the NBA. He helped bring awareness to what was a deadly disease at the time, and proved that you can survive and function while living with the HIV virus.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr1alYEIZ4c

Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam

In the early nineties Pearl Jam, with frontman Eddie Vedder, were the most popular rock band. Formed in Seattle and a key band in the Grunge movement that was the rage at this time. However, soon Pearl Jam grew animosity to their own erupting popularity. They boycotted Ticketmaster for adding service charges to their tickets and were hesitant to shoot videos for songs. This song "Black" never had a music video. Not the formula for success??? Pearl Jam, initially labelled as a grunge band, has had success throughout the years in the post grunge era and has recently released a new CD. Check out the song "Sirens"

Beauty and the Beast

The Disney animation movie, "Beauty and the Beast" was released in late 1991. It is one of the classic movies that was released in the "Disney Renaissance" period- at time between 1989 to 1999 when Disney returned to making animated movies based on well-known characters and stories from the past. The story is based on the traditional French fairy tale.

Boys II Men

In the early nineties, the group Boys II Men, unleashed many of there powerful ballads and accapellas. They were one of the biggest artists of the nineties and are among one of the biggest R and B bands of all time. There first single was "Motown Philly, released in 1991. This was followed by a string of songs, some which rank among the longest chart toppers, such as "End of the Road" and "One Sweet Day".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHzkICG47LU

Boyz In The Hood

"Boyz In The Hood" was a drama movie released in the summer of 1991. It was John Singleton's first film and it depicted life in South Central Los Angeles at the time. Some of the stars in the movie included Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Larry Fishbone, and Angela Bassett. Interestingly, the movie depicts police brutality right before the LA riots broke out. The movie started a run of movies such as "Menace II Society" that depicted the  harsh realities of urban life in the early and mid nineties.

On This Day In 1992

Under a great passing attack, the Washington Redskins, led by Mark Rypien, defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis Minnesota in Superbowl XXVI. This was the second of four consecutive back to back losses by the Buffalo Bills in the Superbowl. Mark Rypien went on to win Superbowl MVP honors.

Rugrats

In the summer of 1991, the cable channel Nickelodeon began airing this animated television series in between the other animations "Doug" and "Ren and Stimpy". The show involved common life experiences that became adventures in the imaginations of the toddlers on the show. With the exception of taking a hiatus 1995 and 1997, the show lasted until 2004 and triggered several movies and endless merchandising. It was just another proof that animation for children can produce big revenue for cable TV.

Tim Berners-Lee, at that time a software engineer at CERN, documented what was to become the World Wide Web in late  1989. He formed this so that other scientists who participated in experiments in the CERN laboratory could communicate with each other. In the summer of 1991, the Web became a publicly available service on the Internet. However, not until 1995, did the Web grow to become a device used by the common public. Today almost 40% of the world uses the Internet.

The Party Machine With Nia Pebbles

This was a short lived late night dance show in 1991 featuring Nia Pebbles as its host. The show's executive producer was Arsenio Hall and it was televised after his own program. It was one of many dance variety shows at this time, along with Club MTV and Soul Train to name a few. Now Arsenio is back, but unfortunately, Nia is not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMzrBe1RW6M

ON THIS DAY IN 1994

20 years ago today, a 6.7 earthquake shook Los Angeles. It's epicenter was at Northridge. Although, it had many fatalities and cost an estimated 20 billion dollars in damage, I must say that the city recovered well from such a large magnitude of a shake in such a highly dense populated area. The quake also resulted in some seismic safety measures which are still in effect today. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xg_mhA4ffA

Firehouse

Firehouse was a metal rock band that had success with a string of hits in 1990 and 1991. Yes, at this time, glam rock still had not given way to Grunge. They were one of the last successful bands of the glam rock era and were critically acclaimed. Now go get your Aqua Net before you view this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ETENrv8cnU

Seinfeld

Seinfeld was a sitcom that premiered in the summer of 1989. Created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, himself, it became one of the most successful comedy TV shows of all time. "A show about nothing" was based on the unexpected mishaps of Jerry's and his friends and aquaintances. Surprisingly, the final episode aired in the spring of 1997, while the show was ranked #1 in the Nielson Ratings

There Aint No Future In Yo Frontin'

MC Breed had this hit back in the day. With an incredible bass line, this tune will get you nostalgic…thinking about the days of high school when you could finally drive and played this song with high volume. Gangster rap had not become mainstream yet. You can guess that in the lyrics “I never got caught with a kilo and if you ever do, yo, you’ll never be with me, yo.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLhlmo_CMf8

She's Homeless!

Crystal Waters had one of the biggest dance hits in 1991 with Gypsy Women. It was parodied on the popular show at the time In Living Color. Now everybody sing along "La La Dee La Do Dow".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7TxIk_yvHQ

Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, won their second of six NBA titles in the summer of 1991 by defeating the Portland Trailblazers in the finals. Michael Jordan won his second of six Finals MVP awards and was on his way to becoming the best basketball player of all time.

C + C Music Factory

With electrifying dance hits like "Gonna Make You Sweat", "Here We Go", and "Things That Make You Go Hmm", C and C Music Factory put their mark in music history in the early nineties. RIP David Cole.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEQydmaPjF0