Making the case for Aqua

aqua

When it comes to one hit wonders, it’s generally easy at first blush to write off an artist, particularly one that made their mark with a novelty record.  So it comes as no surprise that many didn’t expect much out of Aqua when they scored with megahit “Barbie Girl.” Continue reading

Required listening: Ultra Nate’s ‘Hero Worship’

ultra-nate

The dance genre is a particularly fickle one; careers aren’t made often, and even when they are, many people are more familiar with the songs than the artists behind them. To a certain degree it’s always been a bit of a faceless medium, with producers driving multiple “groups” under different names, fronted by different singers.  Sometimes singers record with different groups.  It’s a somewhat incestuous beast, making it all the more remarkable when a career develops. As such, Ultra Nate’s story is pretty amazing. Continue reading

YouTube has everything: Press Your Luck

press-your-luck

I was very big into game shows growing up; I loved watching Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, The Price is Right, Family Feud, and reruns of a number of gameshows that aired back in the day on USA Network. The discovery of GSN when I got to college created a further appreciation that introduced me to games of which I wasn’t previously aware, such as Match Game. Continue reading

YouTube has everything: Night Stand with Dick Dietrick

In the mid-90s, a show that aired in syndication late nights for a couple of seasons, and also aired as a companion to Howard Stern’s radio show and Talk Soup on E!, was a favorite of my father’s and I.  “Night Stand with Dick Dietrick” was a show I enjoyed so much I made a fan site for it when I was in high school. Continue reading

The Magic Garden returns to WPIX for one evening

magic-garden-christmas

WPIX, channel 11 in New York City, had a long, proud history of being an independent station with locally-produced programming and various branding evolutions. When the WB came into existence in the mid-90s, it affiliated with that network until it merged with UPN to become the CW, and it currently airs CW programming. Continue reading

YouTube has everything: Square One TV and Mathnet

As a kid, when others were watching MTV (I remember the first time I saw “Baby Got Back,” before it was banned, at my sitter’s house), I was watching a math-based children’s program called “Square One TV.” I was always a bit of a math junkie, and the show had it all: music videos by famous singers, recurring segments, corny humor, and the cornerstone at the end of each episode, Mathnet. Continue reading