Phil Collins, Elton John, and Gloria Estefan dominated Adult Contemporary radio back in the 1980s and '90s, yet have disappeared from modern radio. Seemingly, the only time you ever hear them is at the grocery store or your local CVS. This blog remembers the music, the stories and the quirky characters from my days working in Adult Contemporary radio.
Some popular '90s phenomenons that I somehow avoided:
AOL Chat Rooms
Overalls and flannel shirts
Melrose Place, Seinfeld & Friends
Hootie & the Blowfish, Nirvana & the Grunge movement
I hopped on the Seinfeld wagon in the 2000s but never really embraced anything else on this list especially Friends. Someone once described the show as a bunch of wimpy dudes who managed to date hot girls in an over-sized New York apartment. No arguments here.
July 5, 1989 is the date that changed television history: Seinfeld premiered -- although it was actually called The Seinfeld Chronicles. NBC believed so little in the pilot that they aired it the day after Independence Day without any desire to pick up the pilot. Despite this, the show actually finished a respectable second-place in its time slot behind CBS-TV's Jake & The Fat Man. Aftering unsuccessfully shopping the show to FOX, it appeared The Seinfeld Chronicles was dead. However, an NBC executive believed so much in the show, he cut money from other projects and used those savings to order four more episodes to complete the show's first "season" -- he actually took money out of a budget for a Bob Hope special to make Seinfeld. About a year later, in May 1990, episode two of Seinfeld aired complete with a rebroadcast of the pilot. Five simple episodes comprised Season 1 of Seinfeld, and critics were intrigued enough to help buoy the show. NBC ordered a second season of the show -- albeit a short order of only 12 episodes. Creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David never believed NBC would pick up the show, but -- once again -- NBC bought in. By Season 3, NBC knew it had a hit on its hands and the show's audience continued to grow where it became part of their vaunted Thursday night "Must-See-TV" lineup.
Think back to your first teacher crush...I'd have to give that award to my music teacher Miss Piercy (who later married and became Mrs. Berg). For TV's Kevin Arnold (of The Wonder Years) it was Miss White (who later married and became Mrs. Heimer). Kevin crushed on her throughout middle school and even became jealous when he overheard his dad talking with her one afternoon after school during play practice. On Kevin's graduation day from ninth grade, he shared a moment with his favorite female teacher...until her water broke. He ultimately drove her to the hospital despite being unlicensed and unfamiliar with driving a manual transmission. Actress Wendel Meldrum played Miss White / Mrs. Heimer during The Wonder Years, but a few years later cemented her status in pop culture. Meldrum appeared as Leslie "The Low Talker" on a Seinfeld episode called "The Puffy Shirt".
One listen to the popular new song "joy." from the band For King & Country may make you question if the song is a Christian Pop song (spoiler alert: it is). In the case of Amy Grant's "1974 (We Were Young)", the song pre-dates Amy's Adult Contemporary days and comes from her Contemporary Christian days. The song discusses Amy's discovery of her faith and how it changed her. Chances are Seinfeld's Elaine Benes' on-again off-again boyfriend Puddy was a fan of the song.
Jazz was everywhere in the 1990s. Jay Leno enlisted jazz instrumentalist Branford Marsalis to lead the Tonight Show Band from 1992 until 1995. Elaine Benes briefly dated jazz saxophonist John Jermaine during the 1996 episode (entitled "The Rye") of Seinfeld. Another prominent artist of the smooth jazz scene is David Sanborn whose upbeat tune "Bang Bang" found a home on soft rock radio stations in 1992. Sanborn actually didn't appreciate his name being synonymous with smooth jazz.
"Tom's Diner" is based on a real diner in New York City. Located on the corner of Broadway and 112th, you likely have already seen this place -- it was used for exterior shots in Seinfeld when George, Jerry, and Elaine would go to Monk's Diner.