The hosts talk about happenings from May 1995 and jump into the Billboard Hot 100 List, reminiscing about some of the songs they remember from back then. Andrew jumps into the OJ Simpson trial and postulates how this highly publicized legal proceeding revealed to our generation just how complicated our legal system is. The hosts recount memories from 1995 which sparks a discussion about Major League Baseball (specifically the Seattle Mariners and their playoff flops) and then they jump into a discussion of videogames and technology from 1995 including Windows 95, Javascript, eBay, and DVDs. Lastly the hosts talk about a few popular TV shows from 1995 and are shocked to discover The X-Files didn’t start to gain a major viewership until the 4th season in 1996. Andrew realizes he jumped the gun on 1995 topics but seems to recover toward the end of the show.
Like the show? Leave us a 5 star review and subscribe!
Send us a tweet at @Namely90s
Find us online at Namely90s.com
Follow Brandon on Twitter at @bschwitty
Follow Andrew on Twitter at @NamelyAndrew
Transcript
Andrew: 0:00
Hey, welcome to the show. I’m Andrew and that’s Brandon over there. The website is at namely90s.com. You can find us on Twitter at @namely90s. That’s what a 9-0-S. And we’re gonna just go ahead and jump right in as Brandon sets the stage for what was going on in this month of May, 1995.
Brandon: 0:59
I imagine if you will, May, 1995. The OJ Simpson trial is going on. The Unabomber had just struck last month. The first ever E3 electronics gaming expo is taking place May 11th through May 13th. Uh, and then other things that I found, um, the film Above Suspicion, starring Christopher Reeve premiers on HBO, and in it Reeves plays a paralyzed cop who plots the murder of his wife. Five days after, uh, the movie first airs Reeve is seriously injured in a fall while riding on horseback resulting in him becoming a quadriplegic for the remainder of his life. Uh, that was May 21st followed by May 27th, which also doesn’t add up to five days difference. Um, and finally the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 was, “This is How We Do It” by Montel Jordan, do you remember that song?
Andrew: 1:54
And this is in fact how we did it. And I’m a little concerned because on my Billboard year-end Hot 100 singles of 95 list that is song number 10, but this was year end.
Brandon: 2:05
Yeah, this is for the literal week of May
Andrew: 2:08
Talk about longevity though. I mean, it was number one in May and it was still number 10 in December, so…
Brandon: 2:14
That’s pretty awesome. I mean, other things for, if we look back at this week at that time, like Blue’s Traveler’s “Run Around” is climbing the charts.
Andrew: 2:29
Well actually, interestingly, I’ve been listening to old Loveline recently and they’ve had John Popper from Blues Traveler in there quite a lot. And it’s kind of funny to listen to that. They like jam on the saxophone and harmonica. So it’s kind of funny you mentioned that because I’m just kind of in those nineties years, thinking about Blues Traveler right now.
Brandon: 2:47
I mean, who doesn’t think of Blues Traveler when you think back to the nineties.
Andrew: 2:54
I didn’t really like them back then, but now it’s kind of good stuff.
Brandon: 2:56
I did. My dad had the album, uh, or cassette, I believe it was at the time. And it was like green with a cat with sunglasses on the front. It’s kind of weird. Uh, also I noticed that, uh, again, this week in 1995 cotton eye, Joe was at 25 on the top 100.
Andrew: 3:19
What an abomination. Seriously? Uh, I mean, granted, it’s stayed relevant for a long time if you’re at like a sporting event, but other than that, good Lord.
Brandon: 3:29
Yeah. “Run Around” by Blues Traveler was 41. Uh, yeah, surprisingly there’s a whole lot of songs I don’t recognize on this.
Andrew: 3:43
Oh yeah. Well, it makes you realize that, like, we weren’t that old, I mean, what I was in the first grade maybe?
Brandon: 3:52
Uh, I think we were finishing kindergarten.
Andrew: 3:56
Yeah. And I guess the point of that being like, yes, clearly we were quite young in the nineties, but obviously these things carried on through the late nineties, early 2000s. So it’s like, even though I wasn’t actively necessarily engaged in a lot of these things, they all very much were a part of my life during, during childhood. So it’s interesting for sure.
Brandon: 4:17
I mean, I think you can look at it like we’re actual nineties kids, but like nineties babies probably don’t remember I would say half of the 90s
Andrew: 4:28
No, and I think you could be born in 1985 and still kind of easily identify with this podcast. Cause you were you were 10 when it was 95. And for us, you know, we started to come into this stuff in the late nineties and a lot of it was still prevalent in the early 2000s. So it’s kind of like that anyone that’s born from like 80 to 90 can relate to this point. Yeah.
Brandon: 4:46
If you remember the sound of a dial up modem and a time when cell phones were a luxury versus something that everyone needed
Andrew: 4:54
And they were also gigantic, that would be the other thing
Brandon: 4:58
Like the Zack Morris style cell phone, brick phone. I think those were eighties.
Andrew: 5:04
Anything else on that list?
Brandon: 5:07
Just to set the stage? Um, you know, I noticed that “Die Hard with a Vengeance” came out on May 19th, which is the third film in the Die Hard franchise. Um, that was the one that Sam Jackson, I always have trouble cause it’s like Die Hard, Die Harder, Die Hard with a Vengeance. There’s no logical explanation to them, there’s no numbers. I don’t know.
Andrew: 5:32
They’ve done five overall. It was “Live Free or Die Hard.”
Brandon: 5:41
Die Hard for Valentine’s Day, I think it was called? Or was it Christmas? I’ll Die Home for Christmas? He reconnects with his son that was mentioned in a Die Hard 4.
Andrew: 5:54
Yeah, I forgot the name. It was something stupid. I’m sure it’s a, it’s a fifth movie and it’s unusual for a fifth movie in like a sequel or in a franchise to still contain the main actor. Usually there’s like a whole new set of actors by number four. So kind of unique
Brandon: 6:09
In like the new model where it’s like bringing back where was an original trilogy and then they bring back the original character, like Indiana Jones that’s there. Yeah.
Andrew: 6:19
Yeah. The wiser older protagonist.
Brandon: 6:22
Yeah. That you assume is either going to die by the end of the movie or try to pass on his mantle. Um, but Shia Labeouf can’t be sane enough to run a franchise.
Andrew: 6:32
What rubbish. So also go ahead.
Brandon: 6:37
Oh yeah. Uh, other movies that came out in May of 95: Braveheart, the three hour Epic starring Mel Gibson and a Casper, the friendly ghost, which I’m fairly sure I saw.
Andrew: 6:49
At some point. Yes.
Brandon: 6:51
Because Christina out
Andrew: 6:53
That had any sequest? Hopefully not, unless they were probably made for like direct release sequels.
Brandon: 7:00
It did. I think if I remember correctly, it had one like movie, like theatrical release sequel and then a lot of direct to home video.
Andrew: 7:14
So we weren’t very old in 1995, but that, that being said, do you have any specific memories of something from 1995 that, uh, that come to mind?
Brandon: 7:27
I honestly don’t. Um, you know, the, I can, I remember kindergarten, I remember first grade, but it’s kind of splotchy. What about you?
Andrew: 7:38
Yeah. I don’t remember specifically a lot of things going on. I don’t know, a lot of people, some people can remember stuff until they were like a baby and that’s just nuts because it’s a bunch of mundane nonsense, but no, specifically I remember it was 1995. It would have been, uh, I guess the 1995 baseball season, because I remember being pulled out of class early by my dad and going to a playoff game for the Seattle Mariners in the old Kingdome. And, uh, that was their, their sort of historic only run ever close to the, um, almost said Superbowl. The World Series, which is something that really doesn’t ever happen here in Seattle. And I just remember that specific memory of like leaving early, getting in the car, driving to Seattle in a 1989 Honda civic and going to sit like the 300 nosebleed section of the Kingdome to watch some baseball. Uh, it’s kinda like one of those really specific memories.
Brandon: 8:37
Yeah. I remember that. Uh, it was, so I remember the game where, uh, it was, I think they secured the playoffs or not. They secured the pennant for the ALDS
Andrew: 8:50
AL Division. Yeah, they did… they beat the Yankees? Yes. Yeah. That’s the one.
Brandon: 8:56
That ended in the dogpile home plate on Griffey. Yep.
Andrew: 9:01
Yeah. That famous, uh, “The Double” yeah.
Brandon: 9:04
Yeah. I remember being at my grandmother’s because my parents got tickets to that and went without me.
Andrew: 9:12
I don’t think I was at that game. It was one of the New York games. I’m pretty sure. But the interesting thing in looking back at that time, that was interesting is I didn’t realize that season started right after, like it was a 232 day player strike, which ended right in April. So it was like the season that almost didn’t happen. And then it became the one of the coolest seasons for the Mariners and ended up being a lasting, apparently lasting childhood memory. And now we are on our second non baseball season, although I think there was another strike since, but, um, yeah, kind of interesting, but that’s my specific memory. Yeah,
Brandon: 9:51
Yeah. And a two decade rebuilding for the Seattle Mariners. Um, okay.
Andrew: 9:56
Oh, goodness. Yeah. They’re going to start playing again in July. Did you know that? Oh, sorry, go ahead.
Brandon: 10:02
No, I didn’t. Cause uh, I, you know, I just saw that most television is canceled or postponed debuting the fall season until, uh, January of 2021. So
Andrew: 10:16
Yeah, I think they came up with like a July 80 game season. I don’t know if were playing in Arizona or in front of people, but yeah, apparently it’s coming back, so we’ll see how it goes.
Brandon: 10:25
That’s cool. Um, also, uh, I would be remiss to not mention that we also made the playoffs in 1997 and I believe 2001, when the Marines set the all-time wins record at 116 and then immediately locked
Andrew: 10:43
Immediately, immediately choked out of the playoffs. That’s what it’s like to be a sports team in the Pacific Northwest.
Brandon: 10:48
Yeah. Except for the Seahawks kind of.
Andrew: 10:53
So what else about this, uh, that, those things in the nineties? So we’ve got the Unabomber. Hmm.
Brandon: 11:01
Well, I mean, that’s just, that was, that was in April. If you remember. I think the Unabomber was arraigned in or caught in May. I don’t remember. Uh, I thought something interesting that I was looking up, um, the last episode of Full House. Do you remember Full House? Did you watch Full House?
Andrew: 11:19
I unfortunately do yes.
Brandon: 11:21
Uh, aired on May 23rd, 1995, which I think is interesting because, uh, I just saw an advertisement for a Fuller House, uh, who just released their trailer for their final season
Andrew: 11:34
It’s about to be an emptier house. Thank goodness.
Brandon: 11:40
I will admit, I think I watched like the first four seasons of Fuller House cause uh, I was nostalgic for a time of Full House.
Andrew: 11:49
Was it because all of the characters got into colleges they shouldn’t have been able to academically, but were able to because their parents greased the palms of the officials?
Brandon: 11:57
Uh, I believe, see, I have not watched it since. And Becky got arrested for, um, forging photos of her daughter on a water polo team.
Andrew: 12:09
“Aunt Becky gets an ankle monitor.” That’s going to be the next episode.
Brandon: 12:15
I mean, do you, do you think she was released so they could record those final episodes of Fuller House?
Andrew: 12:22
Yeah. And no one gets any special treatment in Hollywood that’s for sure. Um, no, it’s funny you should mention the Unabomber because it brought back another memory, which I don’t think it was from 1995 specifically, but we would go to Montana a lot. My mom was from there. And so we would do a lot of road trips from Seattle to Eastern Montana, which is a good 15, 18 hours. And I remember kind of wandering through Montana on this back road, going through a town and my parents go, “Hey, guess what guys, this is the town where the Unabomber was caught and where he had his cabin.” And I’m like, what a bizarre factoid to share with your like, you know, young age kids. Like where’d that guy who blew a bunch of people up, we should go right by his cabin. So, but apparently like some Montana museum had, had tried to, or did acquire the cabin from some museum in DC that closed down. So I just think it’s kind of interesting. It was Lincoln, Montana. He didn’t live in Lincoln directly. He was off on some dirt road, but I just liked that that’s the piece of trivia that my parents had for us as kids.
Brandon: 13:21
Wow. That’s interesting that that’s what stuck out to you, to your family or from your family vacations to Montana. Yes.
Andrew: 13:32
Um, I guess, yeah. So, and then you mentioned the OJ Simpson thing, which I believe he was found not guilty in the year of 1995. Yeah.
Brandon: 13:42
But the trial lasted from January through August, I think, or because if I remember correctly, he was cleared of the criminal criminal case, but there is the civil case. Yeah. Thank you.
Andrew: 14:03
So, you know, I know that, back at that time, it was pretty controversial. Some people really were on the side of guilty. Some were really on the side of not guilty. Obviously
Brandon: 14:12
It was all now everyone just is like, he killed her. Right.
Andrew: 14:17
Yeah. But I think, you know, whether you were on his side or not, or felt that he was guilty or not back then, and obviously we didn’t have an opinion at that time. I do feel like it kind of showed everyone the convoluted nature and complexity of the legal system where it’s not always the truth that prevails. And so you wonder a little bit if that contributed to some distrust of the legal system or political system, uh, you know, to sort of reinforce these ideas, certain people resisting some of that. And, and I don’t know, it just seems like an interesting, um, thing that could have affected that,
Brandon: 14:55
Uh, that is a topic I absolutely do not want to touch just given the whole, I mean, just the fact that it’s, it’s, it’s tied to the early nineties brutality of police against black people.
Andrew: 15:11
I just think what it’s showing is that was just a, the legal system is just really messy. Yeah know, that’s my point. It’s just, it’s, it’s really hard to navigate and you end up with these situations where some people think one thing and other people think another, and it’s really hard to get to the actual truth. We don’t actually know.
Brandon: 15:27
Right. That’s fair. I mean, I saw a photo of a Pikachu protesting with an AR 15 this morning. So it’s a strange time we live in. Yeah. Um, yeah, it is definitely a strange time in which we live.
Andrew: 15:49
Uh, okay. So I forgot the rest of the things.
Brandon: 15:53
I have one more thing, uh, that I found notable about May of 1995. The Sega Saturn was released on May 11th, which coincides with the beginning of E3. Um, the first E3 Electronics Gaming convention, which was cool back then. Cause it was like we didn’t have the internet. I think, I think conventions with the advent of the internet conventions for like new releases of technology and stuff, that’s kind of gone by the wayside. Well, at least video games. Cause the people that like video games now were probably the people that liked video games back then just, they suck more.
Andrew: 16:40
But in the, in the same vein it’s that you mentioned sort of technology, video games, consoles, that kind of thing. 95 was a pretty big year. I mean, we had the release of windows 95, JavaScript was introduced and deployed and is still used widely, you know what, 25 years later. eBay was started. And obviously that’s really grown. The DVD format was announced and has already clearly died, but you know, you can still get them. They’re just not really the standard anymore. So a lot of really interesting things that shifted the landscape and the technology world in that
Brandon: 17:14
You say that it’s been a year specifically, May, 1995. Do you remember the Sega Saturn
Andrew: 17:21
I never had the Sega. My cousins always had the Sega stuff.
Brandon: 17:26
Isn’t that weird. Like my, my cousin had a Game Gear. I had a Game Boy, like when, uh, when we would go on family vacations together, we’d always swap because
Andrew: 17:36
What do you think that, that said about the family? Was it like, they just were really alternative? Didn’t want to be like mainstream or they also had an intent to stay, go over Nintendo. Oh, they did? Yeah. Well, uh,
Brandon: 17:51
Uh, the Sega was Sonic’s platform and I mean, if you look at Sony versus Microsoft right now, I think at that point in time, Nintendo versus Sega was the two big console. Like that was the concept.
Andrew: 18:07
I think I had a PlayStation 1 back then, was it out yet?
Brandon: 18:11
It was, I think it might’ve come out in 95. Uh, I know it was out by 97. Um, the PlayStation started as an add on to the super Nintendo and then Sony was like, you know what? Let’s just make it our own console. Yeah,
Andrew: 18:28
No PlayStation 1994 December. Yeah. So
Brandon: 18:33
Yeah. So, uh, the, the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn both ran on discs disc drives versus the super Nintendo. Uh, I think the Nintendo 64 wasn’t out at that point. Um, but they both still use cartridges as a layover from the original Nintendo entertainment system and yep.
Andrew: 18:54
The Nintendo, the cartridges are kind of smart because it’s like, you know, it’s like a solid state thing. So they tend to be more reliable where the disc can get scratched easily. So, but I think just once things advanced, those had limitations that they couldn’t deal with anymore.
Brandon: 19:08
Well that, and they’re, uh, they’re expensive to make, or especially at the time they were expensive to make versus CD, which was cheap
Andrew: 19:18
Right, right. Exactly. Now it’s like, you can just download it or you can buy the disc, but it’s just kind of, kind of interesting how that’s changed.
Brandon: 19:25
Uh, so I have a list of Sega Saturn games that I was scrolling through and I don’t think I recognize anything other than Sonic R and Sonic jam. You know who had a Sega Saturn? Pat.
Andrew: 19:40
Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, is it any wonder that that kind of died out? Like, I feel like it has Sonic, but it just didn’t have a lot of the other more mainstream games. I mean, what do you, what do you think is the reason that Sega just sort of fell by the wayside? Didn’t have as much of a market share.
Brandon: 19:54
I made it to the Dreamcast, but I think they didn’t have much support outside of, because a lot of the cousins, yes. Everyone’s cousin had a Dreamcast. So Sega had their own set of software, which like the virtual series, there was virtual cop, virtual fighter. Um, I know I had virtual fighter on the PC for some reason. Um, but it was just like Sonic was their big property that worked. Um, there, they didn’t have a lot of third party support from what I can tell from this list of Sega Saturn games. And then on the Dreamcast that got worse because I mean, do you remember the Dreamcast. Pat had a Dreamcast too.
Andrew: 20:40
Vaguely. Yeah. I feel like there was a time where like the Dreamcast people were really intense and then it just died out. Right?
Brandon: 20:50
Yeah. There’s hardcore Dreamcast people out there and I never understood it. There was that they had a game where there was like a fish in an aquarium that you talked to through or something, but it was like a creepy, there’s a creepy Japanese man’s face as the head of the fish. I don’t know.
Andrew: 21:11
Yeah. That sounds like the thing that nightmares are made out of. So yeah.
Brandon: 21:16
And I’ve had a few nightmares from video games.
Andrew: 21:19
So I, um, I guess, do you have anything else, uh, other topics that you had for, for this particular time period to cover?
Brandon: 21:28
No, that’s everything I had for May of 1995. Uh, but, um, yeah, I mean, it would have been the end of kindergarten for us, uh, which I were we in the same class, I think we were in the same class.
Andrew: 21:46
Oh boy. It’s so hard to say.
Brandon: 21:50
Uh, I’m sure. I’m sure someone will find photos from our yearbooks and post them online later. Um, yeah. Uh, I think we were, we were in the same, we were in the same kindergarten class if I remember correctly, um, where I, I encountered the, for the first time, someone with my same name, which I didn’t realize was a thing that can happen. I thought my first name was unique to me. Um, the other class there was another Brandon, um, yeah. Uh, and he was like, I was named Brandon. Yeah, no, Brandon was actually one of the most popular names. Uh, from 1989 when I was born.
Andrew: 22:32
There was Ashley and Jessica, Ashley and Jessica, my goodness, everyone is named that. Yep.
Brandon: 22:39
But I remember encountering him and I was like, well, when were you named Brandon and so like, when was he born? Cause I was like, if I was born first and the name is mine and then he was born before me and my logic was like, uh, I don’t, maybe I’m the fake Brandon.
Andrew: 23:03
I came up with a couple of other things. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cut you off there. Continue. Um, I think I slightly misinterpreted our pre-show meeting as far as topics specifically relating to made 95. Um, so I have some things outside of May, but I prepped them. Well, yes, yes. But, uh, in the process of looking, I later found out, interestingly, just a couple of tidbits here. The, um, in 1995, I was looking at the top TV shows and obviously NBC was just killing it back then they had ER, Seinfeld and Friends.
Andrew: 23:50
Yeah. They just, they just owned the number one slot. Lately, uh, I dunno, I don’t like TV anymore. Home Improvement was like a big thing back then on ABC. Fox had no shows in the top 30 until 1996 when the X-Files hit number 21, which was in its fourth season at that time. That’s kinda crazy. That it wasn’t an immediate hit. No.
Brandon: 24:19
Well, the Simpsons is what gave Fox, uh, popularity and any, um, which started as a single show in 89. I think it was a young network for sure. Yeah. It was the edgy network and now they’re owned by Disney, which owns ABC. Congratulations.
Andrew: 24:48
So, yeah. Uh, it’s just an interesting, you know, I just was surprised to see that they had no shows in the top 30 at that time.
Brandon: 24:54
I mean, can you, can you name a Fox show other than the X files or, uh, the Simpsons from back then?
Andrew: 25:01
No, no.
Brandon: 25:05
I think so.
Andrew: 25:07
Yeah. I think that, that was it. Uh, Oh, another tidbit I learned, as you know, I’ve been on this, Loveline bent lately listening to the old ones. Uh, I knew that in 1995, Adam Corolla joins Loveline along Dr. Drew and Riki Rachtman, some bad like MTV VJ. I hate that term.
Brandon: 25:25
Which I’m sure we’ll dive into it.
Andrew: 25:28
Yeah. MTV is not going to escape our crosshairs
Brandon: 25:32
Yeah. If you want us to do an episode on MTV VJs, wow.
Andrew: 25:36
Wow. Yeah. Uh, Carson Daly. Uh, and then there’s only one other thing I had to mention just because it’s such a notable for 1995, we talked about some movies.
Brandon: 25:47
Was Carson Daly a VJ? or I thought he just hosted TRL…
Andrew: 25:50
TRL. I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. Um, but it’s Carson Daly. I dunno, he’s rubbish. Um, Toy Story is the first ever entirely computer generated film
Brandon: 26:01
Which is something I’m sure we’ll talk about in depth at a later episode.
Andrew: 26:06
Very true. So I think that’s, you know, uh, again, I obviously botched the planning for the show, but I still think we covered a good portion of time and the topics. Yes. Yes.
Brandon: 26:19
So it’ll probably be 10 episodes before we touch on 1995 again. And, uh, that’s been our edition of Namely 90s this week. I’m Brandon, that’s Andrew. Uh, you can find us on Twitter at @Namely90s or on our personal accounts at @bschwitty and @NamelyAndrew and tell us what you want us to talk about on future episodes, or you can also contact us on our website at namelynineties.com. Please subscribe to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, YouTube, TuneIn, and wherever you get your podcasts, um, you know, share it with your friends, tell them about it. If you like this episode, tell us what we should do to improve it for future episodes. Uh, anyways, uh, that’s been Namely90s and we’ll catch you next time.
