1990 Tunes: When Ice Was Cool

Strap in, time travelers — Dave and Milt are firing up the Time Machine and heading straight back to a world of ripped jeans, Aqua Net, and questionable rap credibility. It’s November 3, 1990, and the Billboard Top 10 is a glorious mashup of hair metal hangovers, pop perfection, and one dude named Vanilla who made us all say “Yo, VIP, let’s kick it.” Cool, Vanilla. Wax those chumps, bro.

The guys chew over Warrant’s sticky-sweet “Cherry Pie” (spoiler: it’s aged like a dessert left in the sun), Janet Jackson’s rock-star moment with “Black Cat,” and, yes, the cultural phenomenon that was “Ice Ice Baby.” There’s a detour into bar mitzvah memories, a look at early-’90s musical growing pains, and even a round of trivia celebrating songs that kick off with iconic sound effects.

Expect the usual blend of nostalgia, nonsense, and “Wait, that was this year?” revelations. It’s another totally rad trip through time with your favorite chart-chomping duo.

Episode Breakdown:
00:00 – Welcome to Past Tens
01:15 – Weekend shenanigans
04:54 – Remembering MTV’s Remote Control
06:37 – November 1990: a magical, mulleted time
15:34 – The countdown begins
37:47 – That one wildly inappropriate wedding song
39:13 – Alias and the slow death of hair metal
40:07 – New Jack Swing is here to stay
42:04 – Teen slang and nonsense words (we blame Color Me Badd)
43:29 – Babyface and the silky sound of After 7
49:34 – MC Hammer: Can’t touch his chart dominance
57:33 – James Ingram makes everyone cry
01:08:20 – Janet shreds with Black Cat
01:18:20 – The Sound Effects Song Quiz begins
01:22:39 – Somehow, Billie Eilish and The Office show up
01:24:03 – From Love in an Elevator to Civil War: sound effects galore
01:29:57 – The inevitable Ice Ice Baby moment
01:36:46 – What happens when AI meets pop music
01:38:32 – Countdown recap
01:51:57 – Dave and Milt say goodbye (until the next time warp)