Retro Sleepover

Let's travel back to the early 90s when MTV was huge, grunge rock was taking over and supermodels were mainstream!  Let's revisit on the most famous editions of the MTV VMA awards, the 1992 version hosted by Dana Carvey.  On this episode, we will deep dive into the broadcast that including live performances from Nirvana, Guns N Roses, Pearl Jam, Elton John and Bryan Adams. Topics for discussion will be pop culture trends that didn't last, the downfall of MTV and Fartman!   For more of Darien Brock, I highly recommend his long running podcast, The Padded Room Podcast, which you can find here: https://paddedroompodcast.com/ Watch along and take a trip down memory lane: https://youtu.be/EQ7_kUNnM4c?si=VOFfV1iyfgZ3n6zd    

In the latest epsisode of Retro Sleepover, we discuss eight sitcoms that were very successful and popular in the 80s that are never talked about today.  For some reason, these sitcoms never reached the pop culture level of becoming part of the 80s pop conversation.  They are remembered fondly by those who watched them, but unlike shows such as Cheers, Roseanne, Family Ties and ALF they are never discussed when talking about popular sitcoms from the time period.  Retro Sleepover presents to you eight very successful sitcoms that fell out of pop culture history from the 1980s....

In this episode, we finally finish up our holiday hangover episodes with that stape of a holiday gift -- board games!  We played three board games - one from the 70s, one from the 80s and one from the 90s.  Each board game is representative from the decade assigned.  How do they hold up?  How is gameplay?  If you love board games or just got some for Christmas as a kid, then this episode is for you! 

The year is 1992 -- on the back cover of the Parade magazine that came out of the Sunday paper there is a multi-page ad offering any 12 of these CDs for just a penny.  There is a catch, though!  Over the next three years you will be required to purchase three CDs at regular club prices.  That is of no concern to you as you flip through the ad and pick out which of these 12 CDs you wanted. Was it a scam?  Would the CDs actually come? We will discuss this and more on this episode of Retro Sleepover as we deep dive into the Columbia House/BMG Record club! We welcome back Gillman Joel as two 50 year old men try to recreat their music choices from several decades ago! 

The air is dry and cold.  The warm lights of Christmas have been put away for another year.  Days of treats and pleasantry have been replaced with resolutions and monotony.  You're having a holiday hangover.  The one shining star of the season is that you now have all your cool new toys to play with! In our first holiday hangover, we discuss the 1980s toyline, Mad Scientist with descriptions of each toy in the line, a timeline and all other related media.  Probably the most in depth coverage of this toyline since the 80s!

Happy Holidays, one and all! Barely getting in before the last holiday bell, in this episode of the podcast we bring you 7 holiday promotions from the 70s, 80s and 90s including the likes of Hardees, Taco Bell, McDonalds, Arbys and beyond!  If you've ever bought Grinch socks from a McDonalds drive-thru, this is the episode for you!  As always, check us out  - RETRO SLEEPOVER on Facebook or email us, [email protected]

Welcome to the holiday season!  In this bite-sized episode, a stocking stuffer, if you will, we will be looking at the origins and impact of various Christmas songs.  The first song we are going to look at is "Last Christmas" by WHAM!  Don't worry -- this pint sized podcast will not cause you to lose WHAMAGEDDON, but it will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about "Last Christmas."

There is no better record of pop culture for any given year than than the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It has been recording and producing relevant pop culture content for more than a hundred years. The 60th anniversary of the event was a truly iconic performance of the parade with nightmare inducing Chipettes, rogue Smurfs and a series of balloons with missing arms.  Join Ron Martin as he discusses the highlights of the 1986 parade including the music, the pop culture and the costumes.  Email the podcast: [email protected] Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578972701245  

In the spirit of the season, we are looking bad 30 years at some pop culture turkeys to see if they have aged gracefully or still smell of rancid stuffing and grandma's famous canned cranberry sauce.  In today's episode, Ron Martin will revisit video games, movies, tv shows and music that didn't quite go over well in it's time to see if it would be embraced better 30 years later. Visit the show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578972701245 Email us: [email protected]  

In this episode of the podcast, Ron with special guest, Jay of the Dead, celebrate Halloween by going all the way back to the 80s to celebrate Halloween 80s style discussing the events, school, the Halloween specials and costumes of a 1980s Halloween! You can find Jay of the Dead at Jay of the Dead's New Horror Movies: https://www.newhorrormovies.com/ And at Horror Movie Weekly: https://horrormovieweekly.com/

In the lates 70s and through the 80s into the 90s, educational film companies were contracted to teach kids how to survive Halloween. Latchkey Gen Xers would often roam the streets barely being able to see what where they were going spilling their bag of peanuts all over the sidewalk!  A moral panic rose up surrounding the poisoning of candy making it important for adults to check the stash before kids ate.  Most importantly drivers were out gaining points for every kid they ran over on Halloween. Over 50% of cheesy Halloween PSAs are about kids trying not to get hit by cars.  Our first ever co-ed sleepover takes place with Channy Dreadful dropping by to give us a 90s kid perspective and catch some bonus coverage of a Disney Haunted Halloween and DTV: Monster Hits. LINKS 1977 Halloween PSA: https://youtu.be/whc7IS94s1k?si=CPh4DDSDeiGgsFSG 1985 Halloween PSA: https://youtu.be/ZCi3zb8QFhE?si=_RsZuWQvEtUDLjCI Disney's Haunted Halloween: https://youtu.be/V24qg3DdM-U?si=I5RD-DEiL2icLPzu DTV: Monster Hits: https://youtu.be/WGV0Khe9Mjg?si=AI-iBiEr739iP2iS

In the years 1999 - 2001, pop culture was trying to find itself.  Escaping the realism of the 90s into what would be fake reality of the 00s, a lot of projects were thrown at the wall to see what would stick.  Freakylinks was one of those projects.  The story of a paranormal invetigative team with a an accompanying website using the found footage genre as part of its draw was a new concept in 2000 (it would still be new today) - maybe too new. FOX executives sabotaged their X-Files replacement to the point where Freakylinks would become a freakylink in and of itself.  Join Ron Martin as he discusses the origins, the show, the interference, the downfall and what could have been on Freakylinks. He even discusses the show with fellow Freakylinks watcher, Gillman Joel. Catch Ron and Gillman Joel over at Jay of the Dead's New Horror Movies: https://www.newhorrormovies.com/ Subscribe to Gillman Joel's youtube channel, Mom and Pop Video Shop: https://www.youtube.com/@momandpopvideoshop

In this episode of the podcast, we take a look at Monsters Attack! magazine  - a short run horror magazine from 1989/1990. Monsters Attack! was a spinoff of Cracked magazine and an homage to the popular monster magazines and horror comics of the 1950s and 60s. In this episode we discuss the inspirations from Monsters Attack!, horror hosts, the quick downfall of Monsters Attack!, what the magazine did well and what it could have done better. We even end up with a TOP FIVE best things about Monsters Attacks!  Included is a conversation with Gillman Joel, who sneaks into the sleepover to steal our grandma's stale Marlboro cigarettes! You can find Gillman Joel and Ron Martin as two of the ten Horror Avengers on Jay of the Dead's New Horror movies: https://www.newhorrormovies.com/ You can see Gillman Joel in person on his youtube channel discusses horror and other classic movies, the Mom and Pop Video Shop: https://www.youtube.com/@momandpopvideoshop For more information and to discuss the topic, please join the Retro Sleepover Facebook Page or email the podcast; [email protected]      

From 1989 to 1999 the Disney company experience a measure of growth unlike any other time in its history.   Executives Michael Eisner and Frank Wells dubbed the time period The Disney Decade and layed out their plans for the entire decade as far as theme park expansion, animated films, Disney experiences for the masses and other creative endeavors. Unforseen challenges followed and its long been questioned whether or not the Disney Decade was successful. However, for those who grew up in the 90s, that decade of Disney products certainly spoke to them with the Disney Channel at its height, the them park expansion as well as the movies.  Join the discussion as we try to figure out if the decade was overall successful and maybe even talk with one of those 90s Disney kids!   Catch Ron Martin and Count Mackula discussing horror movies on Jay of the Dead's New Horror Movies - https://www.newhorrormovies.com/

In this episode of the podcast, we are going to travel back in time to a an era where McDonald's did not have the appearance of a place you could go in order to purchase a new iPhone. An era where there were employees standing at cash registers and apple pies were fried to a point that the top of your mouth would be shredded if you ate it.  In the late 70s/early 80s a birthday party at McDonalds was almost a status symbol. Cheeseburgers, playgrounds and all the orange drink you could hold! In this episode of RETRO SLEEPOVER, we revisit those birthday parties going through an itinerary of birthday party events, discussing McDonaldland and what ultimately became the downfall of birthday parties at McDonalds. Memories of a McDonalds birthday?  Comment below! 

In the 1989-1990 television season, roller derby returned to our TV set. Six rollergames teams )T-Birds, Violators, Bad Attitude, Rockers, Maniacs and Hot Flash) took to the raised track to try and win the Commisioner's Cup...and our hearts!  This flashback to the late 80s syndicated television show will deep dive into the teams, the players, the merchandise and the syndicated run of Rollergames.  Topics of discussion include how Rollergames came to be, Rollergames format, the host's personal favorites and memories, the return of Rollergames, ultimately the cancellations of Rollergames and all things Rollergames including magazines, music, video games and more! We may even have a surprise visiting sleeping over!   View Rollergames episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/@RollerStars Listen to the Rollergames soundtrack here: https://open.spotify.com/album/7p3PZgvCWazbPg11p5NVvO View a playthrough of the Rollergames video game here: https://youtu.be/t0a1KFsE6EA?si=6s2juyatNSvc3AjI        

In this introductory episode of the podcast, Ron Martin discusses the format of the podcast, the release schedule, how retro pop culture will be covered, his credentials for covering such topics as well as the type of topic that will be discussed.  In the second half of the introductory episode, Ron discusses five things from the late 1980s that listeners probably don't remember.