REWIND

When people think about Elvis Presley's Las Vegas years, they generally think about Elvis' decline - bloated Elvis, drugged up Elvis, and the much ridiculed gaudy white jumpsuited Elvis.  But when Elvis started his first of many residencies at the International Hotel on July 31, 1969, he was at his best, and Elvis was the talk of the town. Pete and Richard Zoglin, author of the new book, Elvis in Vegas: How The King Reinvented the Las Vegas Show, discuss how Elvis was triumphant before he deteriorated into the caricature that we see today in countless Elvis impersonators.  They also get into the fascinating history of entertainment in Las Vegas - there's nothing like a good Rat Pack story...

In 1999, the world was preparing for the impending Y2K apocalypse.  My memory was that we treated Y2K both with annoyance (my computer's not going to work) and with the slightest undercurrent of anxiety (no one's computer is going to work!!).  When you look back at the movies from that same year, that sense of doom and a lack of faith in the world as we knew it rose to the surface in movies like The Matrix, Fight Club, and Being John Malkovich.  Join Pete and his guest Brian Raftery, the author of Best. Movie. Year. Ever.  How 1999 Blew Up The Big Screen, as they talk all about the best and worst movies of the year, how they reflected society, and how pivotal 1999's films were for the millennium to come (or maybe not to come). Oh yeah, and Pete and Adam pick their Best. Movie. Years. Ever.

Is there any food more nostalgic than ice cream?  It's the one food that just about every kid loves and has special memories of.  On this episode of REWIND, we travel back in our Mister Softee Time Machine to an age when supermarket ice cream came in a cardboard box, the most popular flavor was Neapolitan (vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry all together), and when Ben & Jerry's was still only a glint in the eyes of two kids from Merrick, NY.  With Sean Greenwood, Ben & Jerry's Grand Poobah of PR.

In 1998, there was no Survivor, no Big Brother, and no American Idol.  But there was The Truman Show, the classic Jim Carrey movie about Truman Banks, the unsuspecting main character who was living in his own 24-hour reality show.  Today on REWIND, we go in-depth about this movie and how it anticipated the world we live in today - from the continued rise of reality TV, 24-hour digital surveillance, and even to "The Truman Show delusion" a real medical syndrome where people believe their lives are staged reality shows.  With bestselling author Mary Pilon, author of "The Kevin Show".

In 1985, the Coca-Cola Company company, after 99 years of unparalleled success in the soft drink industry, decided to change the formula to its iconic Coke soda pop.  Let's just say that it didn't work out so well.  This week on REWIND, Pete and Adam discuss this colossal failure and try out some new Coke, which is back on the market with the release of Netflix's new season of Stranger Things, which is set in none other than 1985.

The Soundtrack of all your favorite '80s Teen Movie songs.  Don't You (Forget About Me), The Power of Love, Footloose, and many, many MORE!!

Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and listen to this episode of REWIND all about '80s teen movies, you could miss it.  In 1978, 74% of the movie-going audience was between the ages of 12 and 29, fertile ground for the next decade of films geared towards a young demographic.  Pete talks with James King, author of the 2019 book The Ultimate History of the '80s Teen Movie.   The Breakfast Club, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Porky's, Weird Science, Say Anything, Risky Business - it's all covered in this episode of REWIND.

Get on board this week's episode of REWIND, where we go 40 leagues deep on a certain smooth style of music from the late 70s and early 80s - none other than Yacht Rock.  Put on your captain's hat, as Pete chats with JD Ryznar, the inventor of the term and keeper of the Yacht Rock fire.  You want to know more about Yacht Rock?  Well, you've come to the right place.

September marks the 50th anniversary of the last album the Beatles recorded, Abbey Road.  While you can debate the albums merits, its massive importance in the rock annals is clear.  Renowned Beatles expert Scott Freiman joins Pete for a great discussion about the album that brought us "Something", "Come Together", and "Here Comes The Sun".  While Pete and Adam debate whether Ringo Starr made his parents call him Ringo when he changed his name from Richard...

Seinfeld turns 30 this week!!  Makes you feel kind of old, doesn't it?  The first episode of "The Seinfeld Chronicles" aired on July 5, 1989 to very little fanfare.  Although it took a few years before the show about nothing became something really big. Today on my first episode of Season 2 of REWIND, we'll be talking all things Seinfeld, from the Soup Nazi to the Marine Biologist.  I'm joined by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, Seinfeld expert and the author of Seinfeldia.  

Today, college basketball is a multi-billion dollar business - and the Final Four is the 2nd most popular sporting event in America, more popular even than the NBA Finals or the World Series. But in 1968, that wasn’t the case.   Before the January 20th, 1968 regular season contest played between the UCLA Bruins and the University of Houston Cougars, which became known as THE GAME OF THE CENTURY, no college basketball regular season game had EVER been broadcast nationally. It had all the drama you could ask for - two undefeated teams ranked #1 and #2, with UCLA on one of the longest winning streaks in NCAA history, the two best players in the country in Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Elvin Hayes, and a venue in the Houston Astrodome that was literally the largest stage in America. Hear all about how this amazing game came to be and went on to change not only college basketball, but the American sports industry as we know it. With guest Ron Rapoport. Only on REWIND, your pop culture time machine.

On this week's episode, Pete and his guests talk all about the big shows of 1988 - The Wonder Years, thirtysomething, The Cosby Show, Cheers, The Golden Girls, and, of course, Jake and the Fatman.  With guest, TV veteran Ken Hommel.

This week’s episode takes us back to the movies of 1968.  While the British musical Oliver! Won the Best Picture Oscar, there are other movies that have stood the test of time from ‘68 much more favorably, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rosemary’s Baby, and Planet Of The Apes.  Pete talks to Deadline’s Pete Hammond all about the these and other great movies from that year.

On this episode of REWIND, we go back to the music of 1988, when N.W.A. and Public Enemy were redefining hip-hop, when George Michael's Faith album dominated the charts and when "Don't Worry, Be Happy" was both a hit on the radio and George Bush's official campaign song.  Pete's guest is writer and activist Kevin Powell. Pete's 1988 playlist is here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/the-music-of-1988-podcast-playlist/pl.u-7gWJyFNZl4jN.  

In 1978, disco reigned supreme, punk and new wave were fighting for their space on the pop charts, and the soundtracks to Saturday Night Fever and Grease occupied the #1 spot on the album chart for 36 weeks.  In the end, it was the year of Barry Gibb - you couldn't turn on a radio without hearing a song that he'd had a hand in creating. On this week's episode, Pete is joined by the great New York Daily News entertainment critic, David Hinckley, where they discuss everything from the Sex Pistols to Barry Manilow.   And we have a podcasting first, where Pete & Adam cook in a '70s Easy-Bake Oven while discussing their favorite music of '78.

This week on REWIND we look at the great enduring sports images of 1978 - the Yankees coming from 14 games back to beat the Red Sox in a thrilling 1-game playoff, Affirmed beating Alydar to win the Triple Crown, Jimmy Connors’ beating Bjorn Borg at the US Open Finals, which was played for the first time at the National Tennis Center in 1978.  Plus the Bullets/Supersonics 7-game NBA Finals, the race for the NBA scoring title between George Gervin and David Thompson, plus the story of Lyman Bostock, the young star from the California Angels who tragically lost his life in the summer of ‘78. I’m joined by the NY Times’ legendary columnist Harvey Araton, who reported on many of the biggest events of 1978 and also tells us about his reporting on the ‘92 Barcelona Dream Team, with Magic, Michael, Bird, and Barkley.

This week on REWIND, we're talking about everything from Rain Man to Rambo III, from Who Framed Roger Rabbit to Working Girl, and from Big to Beetlejuice.  Pete talks to New York Times Senior Staff Editor Aisha Harris.  They discuss the good and bad of the movies of 1988, including Working Girl, Coming To America, and one of her guilty pleasures from that year, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Pete and Adam also chime in.  They talk Tom Cruise's jump the shark moment, while Pete gives a blow by blow account of the train wreck that was the 1989 Oscars opening number, when Rob Lowe danced with Snow White and changed the Oscars telecast forever.

This week’s episode of Rewind goes way back to a time when Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In was the #1 show on television, Star Trek was in its third and final season, and Mr. Rogers had just moved into his Neighborhood - 1968.   Pete and TV historian and NBCUniversal Research head Ted Linhart discuss how ‘68 was a turning point in TV, when the broadcast networks were starting to realize that  “rural TV” (shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres) may not be the best thing for their bottom line and when they were at least trying to put on shows that reflected the tumultuous world around them. Plus, Pete and Adam discuss the sex appeal of both Get Smart’s Barbara Feldon and Andy Griffith’s Don Knotts, and the difference between all three of Lucille Ball’s TV shows of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Was 1968 television a “vast wasteland”??  This episode of Rewind will try to figure it out. And check out Ted Linhart’s website, DisneyDocs.net, which houses Ted’s vast personal collection of documents related to the development, creation, and evolution of Walt Disney theme parks.

If you’re getting a little tired of listening to hearing Mariah Carey sing “All I Want for Xmas Is You” for the 100th time in the last two weeks, take a listen to the REWIND Holiday Special, where we get all egg nog drunk on all things related to the holiday season - the movies, TV specials, music, and food that we love for about 30 days at the end of the year. And...we examine one of the strangest shows to ever hit TV - the Star Wars Holiday Special, which aired once and only once on CBS on November 17, 1978, and for good reason.  I talk to director, author, and Star Wars expert Kyle Newman about how this much-maligned show came to be and why it probably should have never happened.

In this episode of Rewind, we look at both the most memorable movies of 1978 and at how the '70s was a decade of great transition and creativity in film. Pete talks to Richard LaGravenese, Oscar-nominated screenwriter and co-director of the documentary "A Decade Under The Influence", a loving look at '70s movie history. Pete and co-host Adam Victor talk about "The Deer Hunter" and the greatness of John Cazale, "Halloween", "Grease", and "National Lampoon's Animal House", just to name a few. Our Pop Quiz segment looks at the Oscar-nominated songs of '78 and "Halloween"'s bizarre connection to a TV icon of the '60s and '70s. Goodies: YouTube Playlist: Trailers for all the big movies from 1978 and scenes from the Oscar telecast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y9qKMLjBfc&list=PL-QIebsQ9_QNXTSog8HShJcHCoMs6R63c  

In this episode, we’ll meet Trip Hawkins, gaming pioneer and the creator of John Madden Football (now Madden NFL), which was released in 1988.  He’ll tell us how this legendary coach and TV commentator became a video game icon. Plus, Adam and I discuss the bizarre halftime show at  the 1988 Super Bowl, Kirk Gibson’s historic World Series home run, and how Game 7 of the NBA Finals ended in chaos. Goodies: YouTube Playlist: All the events we talk about in this episode are included here, plus some other memorable moments from 1988 - including Katerina Witt and Dan Jansen at the Calgary Olympics, Flo Jo at the Seoul Olympics, and the Redskins vs. the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-QIebsQ9_QPgSRoK780jiC782r4Lh13S

This installment of Rewind transports us back to a time when television was much simpler - there were only three TV networks, you had to get off the couch and turn a knob on your TV set to change the channel, and a banal show like "Three's Company" could be nominated for the Best Comedy Emmy Award. Pete and his guest Don Robert, A+E Networks' guru of Research, talk about WKRP In Cincinnati's "Turkeys Away" episode, the bawdy fun Match Game, and the joy of the annual TV Guide Fall Preview Issue. Pete and co-host Adam Victor reminisce about one of the greatest TV nights in history: ABC's Happy Days/Laverne & Shirley Tuesday night lineup.  Plus Mork & Mindy, Fantasy Island, and a serious discussion about the luckiest celebrity sibling of all time (Jim Belushi vs. Beau Bridges vs. David Arquette). Goodies: YouTube Playlist: You'll see all the things we talk about in this episode, from the Turkey Drop in WKRP In Cincinnati to the introduction of the "Star Wheel" in Match Game.  Plus some other great promos from the time. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-QIebsQ9_QM-u5Qjjpnbw3Vmbv5k88ic

In this episode, Pete talks to the great rock writer Anthony DeCurtis about how world events affected the music of 1968 and vice versa.  It was a seminal year for music, with new releases by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix, and much more.  Pete and Adam discuss some of the other music fighting for the ears of America, from bubblegum to adult contemporary, which also appeared on the charts in '68. Goodies: Music Playlist: The Billboard Top 40 songs (from #40 to #1) from December 7, 1968.  It's a mix of classic rock, R&B, soul, bubblegum, and adult contemporary songs, and it's a great snapshot into what America was listening to at the time. https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/rewind-the-music-of-1968/pl.u-dNrXBTBdjp5B https://open.spotify.com/user/petergaffney/playlist/2a2wQLhTzYOXGPLZ5ANMFb?si=hlGFnYziR9WS5mSyla8pqQ YouTube Playlist: You'll see all the things we talk about in this episode, from the first McDonald's Big Mac ad to the Rolling Stones on The Ed Sullivan Show.  Plus other videos of some of the great music from 1968. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc5CdU6CYvQ&list=PL-QIebsQ9_QPJNfAUYrVm1R_uDCotrD_C

Welcome to REWIND, your trip to pop culture's past.  This episode introduces you to Pete Gaffney, as he explains this new podcast's reason for being.  And join Pete and his co-host Adam Victor, as they try to understand what the hell they're doing talking about Easy Bake Ovens, Laverne & Shirley, and Die Hard. Don't forget to subscribe to the show!