Remember when
Yes, it really will be 10 years since “Seinfeld” left the air and “Sex and the City” came on. And 30 years since “Grease” was the word for the first time, and the Bee Gees ruled. You’re sure to say, “It’s really been that long?” at least once when you check out the list of notable pop-culture anniversaries we’ll be observing in 2008.
50th (1958)
Feb. 3: “Great Balls of Fire.” Goodness, gracious, has it been a half-century since Jerry Lee Lewis proclaimed his burning desire? (His career would suffer a major setback later that year when it was revealed he was married – to his 13-year-old cousin.)
March 24: Elvis is inducted into the Army. A crew cut replaces the pompadour and sideburns, and across America, teenage girls’ hearts are torn asunder.
Sept. 11: “Gigi.” We can still whistle “The Night They Invented Champagne” from this best picture Oscar winner about a turn-of-the century French girl (Leslie Caron) groomed to be a courtesan.
Dec. 22: “The Chipmunk Song.” Record producer David Seville speeded up his voice for a chart-topping novelty hit, and a franchise was born.
40th (1968)
Jan. 22: “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.” Debut of the fast-paced (for the time), laugh- a-minute hour that revolutionized the sketch/variety show (for the time). Some say presidential candidate Richard Nixon’s September cameo (“Sock it to me?”) helped give him the edge in his neck-and-neck race with Hubert Humphrey.
March 16: Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay.” This wistful posthumous hit, recorded three days before his death in a December 1967 plane crash, was the soul singer’s legacy.
April 6: “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Stanley Kubrick’s film would break sci-fi barriers. How sad is it that today when we hear its majestic theme song (“Thus Spake Zarathustra”), we first think of the 1970s Elvis waddling on stage?
Sept. 24: “The Mod Squad.” TV goes “hip” with this trio of undercover cops, described by ABC, thusly: “one white … one black … one blonde.”
Nov. 25: “The White Album.” The double LP, officially titled “The Beatles” – packed with such great songs as “Back in the USSR,” “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” and “Birthday” – goes on to become the best-selling Fab Four album ever.
30th (1978)
January-July: The Bee Gees dominate the universe. Not even The Beatles ruled the charts like this: Thanks largely to the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, during an eight-month period beginning in the Christmas season of 1977, the brothers Gibb wrote six songs that hit No. 1 for 25 of 32 weeks – three of their own (“How Deep Is Your Love,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever”), two for brother Andy (“(Love Is) Thicker Than Water,” “Shadow Dancing”) and one for Yvonne Elliman (“If I Can’t Have You”).
April 2: “Dallas.” The first time we saw oily bad guy J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), we knew the bar on TV villainy had just been raised.
June 16: “Grease.” The ‘50s-set film (based on the Broadway musical) that millions are still hopelessly devoted to.
July 28: “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” Double secret probation … “Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.” … “Toga! Toga! Toga!” What more can we say?
Sept. 14: “Mork & Mindy.” The “Happy Days” spinoff unleashes a maniac named Robin Williams on an unsuspecting world.
25th (1983)
Feb. 28: “M*A*S*H” finale. “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen” is still the most-watched episode in TV history, with an estimated 106 million viewers tuning in.
March 5: Michael Jackson. “Thriller” may have been released the previous year, but in ‘83 the album landed seven songs in the top 10 (including “Billie Jean,” which topped the charts for seven weeks, starting this day).
March 13: “Larry King Live.” CNN’s suspender-wearing host is still throwing softballs nightly.
April 15: “Flashdance.” Out-of-left-field movie success about a gritty welder (Jennifer Beals) with dancing dreams creates a mania for ripped sweatshirts exposing one shoulder.
Aug. 5: “Risky Business.” Tom Cruise dances in his underwear, and a movie star is born.
20th (1988)
Jan. 31: “The Wonder Years.” Baby-boom nostalgia hits TV courtesy of Neal Marlens’ memories of junior high.
April 19: Public Enemy’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.” One of the greatest hip-hop albums by one of the greatest hip-hop groups.
July 15: “Die Hard.” Bruce Willis goes from TV star to movie star as terrorist-fighting NYPD cop John McClane.
Aug. 8: NWA’s “Straight Outta Compton.” Gangsta rap gets a voice thanks to Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy-E.
Sept. 24: “Don’t Worry Be Happy.” Bobby McFerrin’s goofy, Caribbean-inflected hit – the first a cappella song to reach No. 1 – is appropriated by Republican presidential candidate George H.W. Bush until McFerrin, a Democrat, objected.
Oct. 18: “Roseanne.” Their house was a mess. They squabbled with their kids. They never had enough money. Finally, a show about us.
10th (1998)
Jan. 20: “Dawson’s Creek.” Every generation needs a teen-angst drama of its own. Those too young for “90210” embraced this sex-obsessed WB drama that launched the careers of Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams.
May 14: “Seinfeld” finale. The fabled show about “nothing” went out with a one-hour episode in which the four pals end up jailed for violating a small town’s good Samaritan law. Their crime: They did “nothing” to stop a carjacking.
May 14: Frank Sinatra dies. Shortly after the “Seinfeld” finale ended came the news that Ol’ Blue Eyes had passed on at age 82.
June 6: “Sex and the City.” With “Seinfeld” gone, another quartet of Manhattan friends with dating problems becomes an obsession.
July 15: “There’s Something About Mary.” The Farrelly Brothers’ wacky romantic comedy is the year’s highest-grossing (and gross-out) comedy.
July 24: “Saving Private Ryan.” Steven Spielberg honors the Greatest Generation as only he can.
Oct. 23: “Baby One More Time.” A 17-year old ex-Mouseketeer named Britney Spears releases her first single. Whatever happened to her?