In My Footsteps: A Gen-X Nostalgia Podcast

Episode 151: 1994 Year In Music Pt. 2, 1980s Children's Clothing Brands, Favorite Ice Cream Truck Treats, First TV Station(7-3-2024)

• Christopher Setterlund

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A look back at the second half of 1994's year in music. Some beloved children's clothing brands of the 1980s. Iconic ice cream truck treats.
Episode 151 of the podcast is diving headlong into the Fourth of July weekend with boatloads of nostalgia.
It starts with a look at how we dressed in the 1980s. Several quintessential brands adorned countless children of the 80s. We're going to delve into some classic children's clothing brands from the time. Styles have changed since then but some of those brands still exist. Did you wear any of them?
We go way Back In the Day picking up where we left off in Episode 130. We look back at 1994 the year in music, part 2, July through December. There were countless major events, albums, and songs that influenced the scene then and to this day. Do you remember any of these?
To beat the summer heat, the Top 5 will share some of the iconic treats sold by ice cream trucks. Sure you can get most of them today in the supermarket, but where's the magic in that?
There's also a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule focused on the very first television station ever.
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Speaker 01:

Hello world, and welcome to the In My Footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund, coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this is episode 151. It's hot, it's humid, it's 4th of July weekend, and it's time for a brand new podcast. We're going to dive deep into the nostalgia this week, starting off by looking back at some of the beloved 1980s children's clothing brands. Maybe you wore some of these back then. We're going to go way, way back in the day and look at 1994, the year in music, part two, July through December. There will be a brand new topic. Top 5. These are the iconic ice cream truck treats that you know and love. And there'll be a brand new This Week in History and Time capsule centered around the very first television station ever. All of that is coming up right now on episode 151 of the In My Footsteps podcast. So what are we going to talk about this week? Are we going to talk about how hot and humid it is basically everywhere? We're going to talk about how it's 4th of July weekend coming up this weekend from when the podcast goes live. I have a race I am running this coming Friday. We'll see if I survive for next week's show. If you happen to hear any buzzing in the background, currently I have two fans running. I am holding out, putting in my air conditioning. I will try my best in post-editing to get rid of some of the hum of the fans, but if you hear it, it's hot, it's humid, but we're still rocking the podcast. We're going to break with protocol a little bit this week because it is so hot right now that typically I would crack this open at the end of the show, but we need the energy to keep going. Ooh, there it is. It didn't explode, but it is a lot of condensation on the can. First off, I wanted to give a big shout out to my Patreon subscribers, Laurie, Mary Lou, Ashley, and Kevin. $5 a month gets you access to bonus podcast episodes. This month, I did something a little bit different. Typically, the bonus episode is two old blogs that I used to do called Initial Impressions, which I resurrected in February as Initial Impressions 2.0. But I would go through those and kind of laugh at my state of mind and my life at the time. This month, being that it is the 50th anniversary of the Lady of the Dunes murder case on Cape Cod, I did a full-length podcast episode going over that case. The documentary by Frank Durant, my book. It's essentially what I do in my speaking events for my Searching for the Lady of the Dunes book. That is up currently on Patreon.com. It went up July 1st. It will be a podcast episode coming up, episode 154. So it's not like you're not going to get to hear it. You just get it three weeks ahead of time there. Thank you so much. And when you're going on four years and over 150 episodes, you start to wonder a little bit about the staying power of your podcast. Like I love doing this, but if my audience is two people, it gets a little harder to justify spending the time that I do on it. So I wanted to thank you who have been listening, making last month one of the best ones ever for the podcast. That really helps me keep going. And also because of the success of last week's show, Listener's Choice, episode 150, I might be doing more things like that. I might not have every segment be voted on, but I enjoy the idea of you getting to kind of choose what you want to hear me talk about. So be on the lookout for more polls as far as what you want me to speak about on the podcast. This week's show, though, it's all chosen by me. Sorry if you don't like it. But of course, it's a lot of great nostalgia. I'm thrilled to get to share this. Whether you're 5 or 40 or 100, the clothes you wear are very important. When you're younger, it has a lot to do with your stature in life. Less so when you get older. Who cares what people think? But when you're younger, it means a lot. So what we're going to do now, for all of us Gen X kids, younger Gen X kids, we're going to look back at some Classic 1980s children's clothing brands. Did you wear any of these clothes? Well, let's jump into them right now. Growing up, what brand you wore was every bit as important as what you wore. Sadly, that's just part of growing up. You're judged by what you wear. I would beg my mother for Nike or Reebok, but that was as I got older, 10 years old, 12 years old. You parents out there, I'm sure if your kids are under 10, you love that fact that you can go and shop and get them pretty much whatever you want for clothes and not have to worry about too much blowback for the name brand. What I wanted to do is go back to those days when I was under 10 years old in the 1980s and look at some of the big time children's clothing brands that were around back then. Granted, I believe most of these I'm going to talk about are still around, but I don't know. I don't go shopping for children's clothes. I don't have kids, and I wouldn't fit into any of them anyway. Let's segue out of this as quickly as we can. This segment actually came from one very specific brand, and I kind of built from there. The number one children's clothing brand from the 80s I remembered was Oshkosh Bagosh. Can you say Oshkosh Begosh?

Speaker 02:

Say Oshkosh Begosh.

Unknown:

No.

Speaker 02:

Begosh, Begosh, Begosh. Oshkosh Begosh.

Speaker 03:

Oshkosh Begosh. Kids clothes as tough as our name.

Speaker 01:

I think they named it that so that kids would sound cute trying to pronounce it. I had all these Oshkosh denim overalls. I think I had at least a few different colors. They had the Oshkosh-Bagosh logo, kind of a rectangle right in the middle where you would clasp the overalls over the front. Oshkosh-Bagosh has its roots all the way back in 1895, fittingly in the town of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. They made those same types of overalls for farmers and railroad workers. Today, Oshkosh-Bagosh is a subsidiary of the Carter's Company. And they still have well over 400 standalone locations. So you can still get those classic overalls for your kids. But I can't find anything on the Carter's website about adult overalls. So you're probably out of luck there. One children's clothing company that you can't get clothes from anymore is Buster Brown Clothing. Buster Brown began as a comic book character, an actual illustrated character for the Brown Shoe Company. And they actually had a little person who was four foot two to play the real Buster Brown in the early 1900s to go to different stores and fairs and festivals. Buster Brown, the clothing company, it was classic, somewhat traditional styles, but it was a go-to for a lot of parents into the 1980s. Way back when the Buster Brown clothing line first came out in the early 20th century, there was actually a Buster Brown suit that would be the suit worn by the comic book character, but you could obviously get it for your kids if you wanted them to look like him. It typically was comprised of a belted, double-breasted tunic or jacket, a large round collar with a floppy bow, shorts or knickerbockers... And you could even complete the ensemble for your child with a straw hat and even make their hair look like Buster Brown with the bangs. This I don't remember as a child of the 80s, although my hair when I was young sometimes resembled the Dutch boy paint mascot. It wasn't quite a bowl cut, but it was definitely helmet shaped at times. The Buster Brown Clothing Company, they continued to make clothes into the 1990s before they finally were discontinued. There were also some clothing brands that were more general for all people, but they had popular children's lines, like Jordache Kids. Jordache was known primarily for their jeans in the 1980s. You've got the look. The Jordache look. The look for children. Jordache. Jordache was founded in 1969 and their major popularity was the 70s and 80s. Back then you could find Jordache jeans in all the mall stores. JCPenney, Jordan Marsh, Filene's, Sears. It was in the mid-1990s that those designer jeans, that craze, kind of started to fade. So even though Jordache is still around to this day, it's nowhere near how big it was in the 80s. Much like Jordache, the Esprit brand of clothing was one they catered to everyone, but they also had a popular children's line in the 1980s. It was characterized by trendy and colorful designs. Esprit was one of those brands that I remember specifically in middle school, so very early 90s, that a lot of the girls had the Esprit sweatshirts with the logo on it, which was just Esprit, the word. They got their start in California, and I guess they could have been considered a little too trendy, which made them a little too expensive for everyone to get, which could have added to that cool factor if you saw someone with an Esprit sweatshirt. or Esprit pants with the word going down one of the legs. Again, this is a brand that I never had a lot of interaction with except seeing other people wear it. And much like Jordache, much like Oshkosh, they're still around to this day. Just Google Esprit and you'll find their website. One brand that I was very familiar with but I don't think I ever had kids clothing from was Bugle Boy. Anyone who grew up in the late 1980s remembers this commercial.

Speaker 00:

Or

Speaker 01:

another variation of that commercial. If some... hot woman came up to you and said, ooh, are those Bugle Boy jeans? It made teenage boys think if they got those jeans, they could go stand on a corner somewhere and people would just flock to them. They were founded by William Moe in 1977. And like I said, they were huge in the late 1980s, Bugle Boy jeans. I think the only other name brand jeans that I wanted more than Bugle Boy was Levi. And I know I had those. At their peak, Bugle Boy in general, not just jeans but the company, they had sales approaching a billion dollars. But unfortunately, they declared bankruptcy in 2001 and they have been long gone. Although, if you really want Bugle Boy jeans, you could go get someone else's used ones off of eBay. Would you want Bugle Boy jeans that bad? Knowing that the most recent pair would be 2001? So at best, you're getting... 23-year-old used jeans for yourself? Do you want them that bad? Naturally, other blue jean companies had kids lines. Wrangler, Lee, they all had kids jeans as well. I know I had Lee jeans. For a lot of parents all throughout time, the biggest fear is you buy your kids new clothes and they go through a growth spurt and grow out of them. Or they play a lot and ruin them pretty quick, rip the knees on the jeans. Sears had a brand called Tuffskins, and particularly their jeans. They were known for being durable and affordable, and supposed to be for kids to play rough in. One of their catchphrases or slogans was that your kids would outgrow them before they would get ruined. They were bigger in the 1970s, but were still around in the 80s. In fact, they polled parents at the time in 1973 and found that Tuffskins had a better brand awareness than Levi's jeans, so that's a pretty big deal. Even if it was for a brief moment that Tuffskins jeans were known by more parents than Levi's. This is another one that I don't remember, but I wouldn't expect to remember a lot of these brands from when I was under 10 years old. But in a hurry up and act fast kind of way, if you want to get Tuffskins clothing for your children, Sears.com, which, yes, is still around. They have Tuffskins there. I can't even guarantee that Sears.com will still be open by the time you hear this podcast, so I'd say go now if you want Tuffskins. As of April 2024, there are only 11 Sears stores left in the United States. That includes one that's within 100 miles of me, so you're better off ordering Tuffskins online. One brand that I've never have heard of, but I wanted to share because the name is funny, was Zoodles. I tried to Google this, look up Zoodles clothing, and the first thing I found was information about zucchini noodles. So a way to kind of make pasta that's not carb loaded. So that's what I got is zucchini noodles for Zoodles. Apparently, this was a popular brand that was focused on fun and whimsical designs, incorporating playful prints and patterns and colors that appealed to kids. Maybe growing up on Cape Cod, Zoodles just didn't have that reach to get down to me. But looking at some of the vintage ones that you can buy on eBay, it doesn't look like something my mother would have made me wear. I would have worn one of these shirts and been put right into therapy. Do any of you out there remember Zoodles? Those of you that are listening from, I'd say, outside of New England? Did you have stores locally that sold these types of clothes? I don't know. I can't find much information on that. And naturally, there were children-specific stores, like the Children's Place or Gymboree, where you'd have all these different brands. But there's a little trip down memory lane, 1980s children's clothing brands. If you enjoyed this, I'll probably do one for the 70s, for the 90s. It'll probably be a lot of the same brands, but just pretend you didn't hear me talk about them here. As of 2021, there were 1,758 broadcast television channels. But it all had to start somewhere. And this week in history, we're going back 96 years to July 2nd, 1928, and the debut of the very first television station ever, Call Letters W3XK. Yes, it's hard to imagine 96 years ago, W3XK Jenkins had been fascinated with the potential of transmitting moving images over radio waves. He conducted numerous experiments and developments in motion picture technology, and he eventually turned his attention to the concept of what he called radio vision, which was the early term for television. You talk about being ahead of the curve. It was in 1925 that Jenkins founded the Jenkins Television Corporation, which was dedicated to advancing television technology. By 1928, he was ready to put his ideas into practice. That leads us to July 2, 1928, and Jenkins making history by launching W3XK, which broadcasted from his laboratory in Washington, D.C., The CliffsNotes of how it works is the station utilized a mechanical television system, which was a precursor to the electronic systems that would later dominate the industry. This mechanical television system was based on the Nipkow disc, a rotating disc with a series of holes arranged in a spiral pattern. And the disc would scan an image line by line, convert it into an electrical signal that could then be transmitted over the airwaves. And this process would basically be reversed upon reception. That would be what you would see on the TV screen. Naturally being the first, the resolution of these broadcasts was very low, about 48 lines per image. Think about it in terms of the first digital photography, or the speeds at which you had to download digital music back in the mid-90s. It's kind of like that, but on a television scale. The programming on W3XK at the beginning initially consisted of simple images, silhouettes, and photographic slides. Jenkins demonstrated weather maps, there were photographs of well-known personalities, and various mechanical images. So not exactly really exciting television, but since it was the first, it was revolutionary. Despite being innovative, W3XK faced significant technical and financial challenges. One was image quality. Two was the oncoming Great Depression, which came the following year. Three was the simple fact that not many people had televisions in the late 1920s. And then there was the rise of electronic television, spearheaded by inventors like Philo Farnsworth and Vladimir Zworkin, and that presented a superior alternative to the mechanical system. Better resolution, reliability, potential for further technological advancements. By the mid-1930s, electronic systems had eclipsed mechanical television, and thus Jenkins' technology was obsolete. In 1932, Jenkins Television Corporation merged with the Lee DeForest Radio Corporation, and the combined company struggled to compete with other emerging electronic television technologies. And by 1934, W3XK had ceased operations. Despite its relatively short tenure, W3XK demonstrated the feasibility of transmitting visual images over the airwaves, and that inspired further research and development in television. It also piqued public and scientific interest in television, which paved the way for the subsequent milestones that came from TV. Like I said a few minutes ago, as of the middle of 2021, there were 1,758 broadcast television stations. They all trace their roots back to W3XK, the brainchild of Charles Francis Jenkins, 96 years ago this week in history. Oh, it's time capsule time. We are going back 48 years ago this week to July 4th, 1976, the bicentennial of this country. Let's see what was going on in the world of pop culture back then. The number one song was Silly Love Songs by Wings, led by Paul McCartney. This was off of the album Wings at the Speed of Sound. This song here at the time was Paul McCartney's 27th number one song as a songwriter. A couple of interesting facts about Wings, Paul McCartney's second most famous band. They sold more than 14 million albums total as of 2023. And all 23 of their released singles in the United States were in the top 40 at least. The number one movie was The Outlaw Josie Wales, and you could get into the theater with a ticket costing $2.13. The movie starred Clint Eastwood as Missouri farmer Josie Wales, who joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and ends up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his wife and child. It's another one in a long line of western hits for Clint Eastwood. 91% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. With the movie making nearly $32 million on a budget of just over $3.5 million. So it was a big time hit. The number one TV show was M.A.S.H. Short for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. This was a comedy drama centered around the Korean War. It ran for 11 seasons and 256 episodes, with its finale in February 1983 being the highest-rated television episode ever. And if you were around back then, the bicentennial, you want to get some pictures of a local parade or whatever other festivities are going on, you're in luck. There's a great camera you can get, the Polaroid SX-70 camera. This was the world's first instant SLR camera. Take a picture and that classic Polaroid image would come out with the white border thin on three sides and thick on the bottom so you could label it. Oh, those bring me back to the days of being a kid. If you wanted it, you could go to Service Merchandise and get the deluxe Polaroid SX-70 for $169.95. or about $938 when adjusted for inflation to 2024. So you be the judge if that's a good deal or not. That wraps up another This Week in History and Time Capsule. It's time for a brand new top five to try to beat the heat. I'm going to share with you some of the iconic ice cream truck treats that you remember from being a kid or even still to this day. So keep cool with these coming up right now. 1920, Ohio ice cream parlor owner Harry Burt invented ice cream on a stick, bought a fleet of refrigerated trucks, and began selling his treats all over the city. To this day, Burt's treats are still sold under the brand name Good Humor. 104 years ago was the dawning of the ice cream truck. And in that century plus, there have been so many beloved treats. You hear those bells as the truck is coming around the corner in the neighborhood. Back in the 80s or 90s, begging your parents for some change or a few loose dollar bills so you could go and get something to beat the heat besides running through the sprinkler. What we're going to do now is the top five ice cream truck treats. And boy, this is a hard list. They're in no particular order. And of course, there'll be some honorable mentions. I will tell you, no lie, my list that I started to have to pare down was more than 30. And there was no way I was doing a top 30 list on this podcast. So I had to slice and dice. Even though it's pared down, this list is sure to inspire you to go to the local grocery store and maybe get a six-pack box of one of these treats. Or wait outside for the ice cream truck to go by. I don't know which will be faster. So honorable mentions for the best ice cream truck treats ever include... The strawberry shortcake bars, chocolate eclair bars, and toasted almond bars, they're all basically the same thing, just with different coatings on them. Toasted almond bars were my favorite. These were all part of the aforementioned good humor bars. There was Italian ice, kind of a sweetened fruit puree that you had to dig out with either a wooden spoon or a little wooden-shaped peanut-type stick. Bubblegum Swirl Pops, which were popsicles with a bubblegum center with such awesome flavors as Blue Raspberry, which is my favorite. Hoodsy Cups, which were basically the same as Italian ice, just ice cream. You had the same sort of tool to dig the chocolate or vanilla out. And Snow Cones, which were crushed ice flavored with different syrups. Super duper sweet at the bottom. I seriously could keep naming honorable mentions, but we'll be here forever. So now it's time for the actual top five. Like I said, these are in no particular order. You can eat them all equally. Starting with number one, character pops. These were the ones you'd walk up to the window on the ice cream truck and there'd be faces of different characters, usually with gumball eyes. When I was a kid, it was Mickey Mouse. There was Ninja Turtles. Today, there's SpongeBob SquarePants. These were one of those. It's similar to food in a fast food restaurant, wherein the commercials are on the menu. The picture of the food looks amazing. And then you get it, and it's a disappointment. It was the same with these character pops. The faces that were painted on the side of the truck were just amazing. They looked just like Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. And then you open it up and it's a sad face. The eyes are cross diagonal from each other and the face is already melted. But they all tasted good. So it mattered less if it looked like the character. The Popsicle brand company now makes character popsicles. I don't think they're ice cream, but they've got SpongeBob, Spider-Man, the Minions. So there's a different option for you. Number two is Choco Tacos. These were amazing. A taco-shaped waffle cone dipped in chocolate, sprinkled with nuts, with vanilla ice cream. Oh, man. Today, these are made by the Klondike Company. I don't know if it's always been that way. But these were definitely one of the all-stars on that menu on the side of the ice cream truck. You didn't want fudgicles or regular popsicles or even ice cream sandwiches because you could get those in the supermarket. You wanted something unique. And to kids in the 80s, Choco Tacos were definitely unique. Oh, many were the summer days when the ice cream truck would go by and I'd get a Choco Taco. The chocolate would melt on my hands and it would be smeared all over my shirt. I do not envy my mother having to do laundry for five of us kids that all basically did the same thing. Just clothes covered in ice cream or grass stains and dirt. Choco Taco came out in 1984 through good humor. These are the benefits of research. Sadly, the Klondike version was discontinued in 2022, and it was known as the original Ice Cream Taco, so not exactly the same catchy name as we remember in the 80s. Number three is Drumsticks. Another... chocolate disaster for my clothes, the waffle cone filled with vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate and nuts, a chocolate-lined cone, and a surprise chocolate nugget in the bottom. As I'm going through this top five, it brings back naturally so many memories of being a kid in the 80s, but the funny thing is I could go to the store right now and get any of these, and it kind of takes the magic out of it. I could go get myself a drumstick five minutes from now. But it's not the same as waiting for those bells and running out and throwing a handful of change up on the little counter to get one straight from the little freezer in there. An interesting fact and something that 80s kids might not like to hear is that drumsticks couldn't and can't be considered ice cream because ice cream, real ice cream, has to contain at least 10% milk fat and drumsticks don't. This isn't as traumatizing as finding out about Santa or the Easter Bunny not being real, but it's definitely a shock to my 80s system. That being said, you can still get them to this day. They're made by Nestle, so it's not like Choco Tacos that are just gone. Number four is Chips Galore, also known as the Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich. Oh man, basically two large chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream in the middle and then extra chocolate chips around the edge of the ice cream. Today you can get these made by the Blue Bunny Company, and of course you can make them on your own using homemade chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, or whipped cream, or as my Nana would say, some nice cool whip. These were amazing because they would start off solid. Hold the cookies and just start eating. And then as it started to melt, the cookies would get soggy. The ice cream would just run down your arm. Oh, it was the best. Because you just go run through the sprinkler to clean yourself after. So these were also better known as the Chipwich for us from the 80s. They came out in 1978. I go back to the fact of the great time that I grew up in in the 1980s because so many of these classic ice cream truck treats were invented either in the late 70s or early 80s. So they all got rolled out for my generation. And finally, number five on the list of top five ice cream truck treats ever is the Bomb Pop. My all-time favorite, also known as Rocket Pops. Red, white, and blue popsicles. They looked more like a firecracker. They weren't one solid piece. I mean, they were, but they had these kind of ridges around the sides. You know, they still make them. These were invented in 1955, but weren't trademarked until 1971. They were originally made by Merritt Foods. And when they closed down in 1991, Wells Dairy bought the company and Bomb Pop and all those. So that's who makes them to this day. I don't know if it was the different flavors all stacked on each other, the unique shape feeling patriotic with the red, white, and blue, or just the feeling that you would get from eating the ice cream with your friends or your siblings on a hot summer afternoon. That's why I said this list was so hard to make because I was lucky living in a rural neighborhood in Cape Cod. In the 1980s and 90s, you'd just hang out in the street and the ice cream truck would just roll by. And everything was typically affordable. 25 cents, 50 cents back then. Did I leave any of your favorites off of my list? What were your favorite ice cream truck treats? And do you still eat them to this day? If I was to go get ice cream right now, it'd be tough. It'd be a toss-up between the Bomb Pop and a toasted almond bar. But whatever your favorite is, grab that ice cream and get ready to load up Spotify because we're going to go back in the day and look at part two of 1994, the year in music. Let's take a trip back in time 30 years ago this month. 16-year-old me just finished sophomore year of high school. He also just spent his entire savings to buy a camcorder in hopes of chasing his dreams as a filmmaker, film director. That camcorder would yield 65 hours of video that I still have on old VHS tapes, but it would also be in a dumpster somewhere within four years, so you be the judge of how good of an investment it was. But surrounding my wacky hijinks at 16 was 1994, The Year in Music. This is part two of 1994, The Year in Music. If you want to listen to part one, go check out episode 130 of the podcast. I talk about what happened in 1994 between January and June. So naturally here, as we go way back in the day, it's going to be July through December. And we can start right off with one of the greatest, I would suppose, one-hit wonders in the history of music, Hootie and the Blowfish releasing their debut album Cracked Rearview on July 5th. This album was a monster. It sold 7 million copies in 1994, and more than 20 million copies in total since its release. It had the huge songs, Only Wanna Be With You, Hold My Hand, Let Her Cry... Ironically, their follow-up album, Fairweather Johnson, came out in May 1996 when Cracked Rearview was still on the Billboard 200 for albums. That album didn't do as well. It's sold about two and a half million copies since its release. So what a drop. At this time here in July 1994, we actually have a continuation of something that was in Part 1, as the number one song was still I Swear by All For One. It was number one for 11 straight weeks, from May 21st to July 30th. On July 11th, the Rolling Stones released their Voodoo Lounge album, accompanied by the debut single Love Is Strong. This was their first album as a quartet, as their original bassist Bill Weinman had left the group. This was the band's 20th studio album, and although it sold well and got positive reviews, it didn't produce any hit singles. The Rolling Stones have sold about 250 million albums since their inception in 1962, and they're still active. Think about that. They formed in 1962 and they are still touring. We move into August and August 2nd with the release of the album Rotting Piñata by the alternative band Sponge. This is right in my wheelhouse of music back then. It had the big songs Plowed and Molly. It's their best-selling album selling just over half a million copies. Their follow-up album in July 96, Wax Ecstatic. I thought that one was good. It didn't sell quite as well. They were definitely a 90s band. A fun first came on August 11th as a compact disc copy of Sting's album Ten Summoners Tales, which came out in 1993. It became the first item securely purchased over the internet. So when you think about how simple and commonplace online shopping is and how secure it is... Back in 1994, that wasn't the case. A 21-year-old man named Dan Cohn is the one who was responsible for this. He ran a website based in New Hampshire called NetMarket, and he got his friend to buy this Sting CD for $12.48 plus shipping and handling fees using his credit card. Only a few weeks later, before the end of August 1994, Pizza Hut would start doing online ordering for pizzas. A major achievement came on August 12th through the 14th, when the sequel, Woodstock 94, was held in the town of Saugerties, New York. This was the follow-up to the original Woodstock from 1969. It's famed for its attendance being so high, reaching around 350,000 people, although only an estimated 164,000 tickets were sold. Artists like Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, and old school artists like Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills, and Nash played. Have no fear if you think that I'm rushing through Woodstock 94. You may be hearing about it when the 30th anniversary gets closer next month. Another monumental album right in my wheelhouse came August 30th when the British band Oasis released their debut album Definitely Maybe. It had so many great songs. Live Forever was the one that was most well known. That was the first single. The album went on to sell almost 9 million copies, and ironically is the only Oasis album to include all the original members. As their original drummer, Tony McCarroll, was kicked out of the band during the making of their second album, so he wasn't really on that. Oasis is probably the holy grail when it comes to reuniting bands. It used to be Guns N' Roses. But seeing how much Noel and Liam Gallagher, the brothers, hate each other, I don't think they're ever going to get back together. By this point in the calendar year, the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 was Stay, I Missed You by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories. It stayed number one for three weeks. It was replaced atop the charts on August 27th by the Boyz II Men song I'll Make Love To You, which stayed number one for 14 weeks. And interestingly, the song was number one for so long that it was replaced at the top of the charts on Billboard by Boyz II Men's follow-up song On Bended Knee. Another monumental album was September 13th when Notorious B.I.G. released Ready To Die. This was a landmark album in hip-hop. The single Big Papa was monstrous. Juicy was another huge hip-hop song. And it is a bit of a shame, obviously, because Notorious B.I.G., only two and a half years after the release of this album, was murdered. In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine rated Ready to Die as the number 22 greatest album in the history of music. So that's how big it was. One of the most important nights in the history of music was captured and sold September 15th with a 1957 audio tape of John Lennon performing with the Quarrymen on the same night that he met Paul McCartney. This was sold at auction at Sotheby's London on for 78,500 pounds, or just over $210,000 when converted to dollars and adjusted for inflation to 2024. September 27th saw the release of R.E.M.' 's Monster album, which was a little more rock than people were used to from R.E.M. The lead single, What's the Frequency, Kenneth. It's a great song, but it was different. The exclamation point was lead singer Michael Stipe shaving his head so he was totally bald, which that seemed to be a trend. Lead singer of the band Live, Ed Kowalczyk, he shaved his head. Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins did the same, all around the same time. Me, I did it because I quote unquote lost a bet, even though I just hated my hair and wanted to get rid of it. See, it's all one and the same. On October 3rd, alt band The Cranberries released their follow-up to the smash album Everyone Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We, which came out in 1993. The album No Need To Argue is the band's best-selling album with more than 17 million copies sold worldwide, based a lot on the lead single Zombie. On October 12th, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant No Quarter, a.k.a. Unleaded, premiered on MTV. It was an unplugged concert special that featured the two former Led Zeppelin bandmates. They played so many of the all-time classic Led Zeppelin songs, Thank You, Cashmere, Gallows Pole, and so many more. This reunion would lead to them reuniting for an actual studio album, Page and Plant Walking into Clarksdale in 1998. If you like Led Zeppelin and you've never heard that album, you can check out the singles Most High and Shining in the Light. Those are both great. They sound like Led Zeppelin. I guess. I wonder why. As we move into November, on November 1st, the Black Crows released their album Amorica. The album itself was not a big seller. It didn't have any hit singles. But why the album is remembered is the cover art. It's the lower half of a bikini, American flag bikini, worn by a woman. And it was so controversial because at the top of the bikini you can see a little bit of pubic hair sticking out. This was taken from the July 1976 cover of Hustler magazine. And the album cover was removed. Kmart and Walmart refused to sell it. And it ended up changing the cover art so it was just the American flag bikini shape, but a black background. Also on November 1st was the release of Nirvana's Unplugged in New York. This was the album of the November 18, 1993 Nirvana Unplugged show that was on MTV, where people that weren't familiar with the band were probably disappointed with the setlist that they played, as it was a lot of bands and music that influenced them, rather than a lot of their own hit songs. November 8 saw the release of the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over live album. The title is in reference to a quote from Don Henley upon the band's breakup in 1980, saying they'd reunite when hell froze over. This album has an awesome version of Hotel California that you need to hear if you've never heard it. November 15th saw the release of TLC's massive album Crazy Sexy Cool, one of the best-selling R&B albums, female albums, albums in general of all time. It had the hit songs Creep, Red Light Special, Waterfalls. It has sold more than 23 million copies worldwide and stayed on the Billboard album charts for more than two years. November 22nd saw the release of Pearl Jam's third album, Vitology. This would basically be the band's last mainstream music album until 2006. After the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in April, Pearl Jam started to shy away from the mainstream music. This album is amazing, but if you're not a Pearl Jam fan, their next several albums would be seen as a disappointment for you until their self-titled album in 2006. As we kind of put a bow on 1994, the year in music, we'll give you some generalities here. Some of the famous or soon to be famous bands that were formed in 1994 included Foo Fighters, System of a Down, Wilco, Train, Limp Bizkit, Creed, and Three Doors Down. And I'm sure a lot more, but this segment's going pretty long. We ended the year with On Bended Knee as the number one song. Although its run at the top had been interrupted for two weeks by the equally legendary Here Comes the Hot Stepper by Aini Kamosi. And on New Year's Eve 1994, it was the 23rd annual New Year's Rockin' Eve on ABC hosted by Dick Clark. And this contained performances by artists like Melissa Etheridge, Salt-N-Pepa, Hootie and the Blowfish, John Sakata, and the OJs. So there you go. That's what was happening back in 1994, the year in music, part two. A lot of stuff happened. There's stuff I've left out, but this will be something that we do going forward. So next year in January, it'll be 95, the year in music, and it'll make me even more depressed about getting older. But what was your favorite moment from music in 1994 or your favorite song or favorite album? But until next time, that's going to wrap up episode 151 of the podcast. Hopefully wherever you are, you're going to enjoy 4th of July weekend. This starts the craziest time of year on Cape Cod where it's not just weekends that it's busy. Basically until Labor Day weekend, Cape Cod is packed to the gills with people. This is where my knowledge of lesser known spots comes into play so I can find places that tourists will not go. Thank you all so much for tuning in. Thank you for putting up with my fans in the background if you can hear them. This time of year, I'm always unhappy with the heat, mostly the humidity, and I briefly think that I'd like to move somewhere up north that's cooler, but then I realize that winters would be longer, so on the other side, it would be just as bad, if not worse. Hopefully wherever you are, you're staying cool. Take the podcast with you outside. If you've got walking trails in the forest, it'll be cool there. Sit by the water or wait for the ice cream truck and grab one or all of those things I spoke about in the top five. Next week will be episode 152 of the podcast, and oh boy, it's the 25th anniversary of the Blair Witch Project movie. I got some stories about that, the viral marketing, my own experiences watching it, back when found footage was not overdone so much like it has been in the last 25 years. If you're interested in any of my nine books, visit my website, ChristopherSetterlin.com. It's got links to all of them. If you're in the area, July 19th, come and see me at the Osterville Village Library. I'm going to be resurrecting my Cape Cod Nights book and presentation all about the places where you went to drink and party back in the day. As I said at the top of the show, I recorded a special full-length podcast, The Lady of the Dunes at 50, As it's 50 years ago this month that that infamous murder occurred on Cape Cod. If you want to hear it early, go and join on Patreon for $5 a month. You'd have access to it right now. But otherwise, wait till the end of the month. It'll be an actual podcast episode. I shouldn't say that, but oh well. Hopefully I'll be back next week. I've got a race coming up on Friday from when this goes live. July the 5th. It's only a 5k, but it's also middle of summer. I'm sure I'll have an update for all of you next week. Maybe. I wanted to take a moment to wish an early happy birthday to Janelle, who is wife of one of my oldest and dearest friends, John. You heard me gush about him for his birthday last month. When I say she is the perfect person to be John's wife, I don't say that, I'm laughing, but it literally is. She's perfect for him, a great person. Anytime she comes to the Cape with him, it's a blast to hang out. It makes me happy to see so many of my close friends that I've known forever find their perfect partners. Not just John with Janelle, but Barry and Rachel, Steve and Amanda, Greg and Amanda, Mike and Beth. It does make me look in the mirror at myself and say, well, if they all found theirs, where's mine? But that's a topic for another podcast. So happy early birthday, Janelle. I'll know if you hear this, so we'll see. And as I so often say, take care of your mental health. Remember, we're all human. We're all flawed human beings. Doing the best we can with what we've got. Sometimes I share these sort of motivational quotes here at the end as much for me as it is for anyone out there that might need them. And I'll be here pumping out the content as best I can. Podcasts, the Initial Impressions 2.0 blog that I do weekly. YouTube videos if I get the time to do it. And who knows what other ideas will pop into my mind. I get tons of ideas that they all have to get shelved because there's only 24 hours in a day. Until next week, though, this has been the In My Footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund. You already knew that. I'll talk to you all again soon.

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Christopher Setterlund

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