This week we dive into the cult classic from 1995, Empire Records. This dramedy is set over the course of a single day at an independent record store in the mid 90’s. The store is staffed by an eclectic group of teenagers and young adults all dealing with their own problems while trying to save the store from being turned into a corporate Music Town. Dave, Rob and Kurt will rewatch this 90s classic and see if it still holds up and is as funny as when it first came out. From the characters to the...
Apr 08, 2025•1 hr 37 min•Season 2Ep. 121
Whether it was grunge, hip-hop or pop albums shaped the identity of entire generations. They weren’t just music, there were statements, lifestyles and defining moments. Unlike today where you can access songs as a single streaming item, listening to an album in the 90s became an entire experience. Albums would have intro tracks, interludes, deep cuts and secret songs that you’d only find by listening to the whole record. This week, Dave and Rob look back at some popular albums that were released...
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr 37 min•Season 2Ep. 120
Singers and groups have always been inspired by the music that came before them. In the 80s, many of these artists found key success by recording other bands or songwriters material or what is called a Cover. So why do musicians cover songs instead of writing their own? Well a variety of reasons as it turns out, tribute to influences, reaching a wider audience, live performance appeal, TV and film soundtracks, being directed by a studio or simply wanting to share a song that they may love. This ...
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 119
This week we tackle the 1995 comedy classic Tommy Boy starring Chris Farley and David Spade. We’re heading out on the road with a recently graduated Tommy (Farley) and accountant Richard (Spade) to try and save Tommy’s Dad’s company after he passes away. They sing, fight, make up and maybe even become friends with some wild and interesting stuff happening along the way. Dave, Rob and Kurt will break down their favorite parts of the film, as well as discussing other stuff in this fun 90 minute co...
Mar 18, 2025•1 hr 36 min•Season 2Ep. 118
TV show theme songs started to grow up a little in the 90s. Instead of family friendly, poppy and catchy tunes, 90s TV shows started embracing more musical choices that reflected the changing times. In the 90s, TV execs started tapping into hip hop and alternative rock culture to ensure young people found the songs relevant. The old formula of the 70s and 80s gave way to more instrumental pieces and the use of pre-existing popular songs. On this week’s episode, Dave and Rob look back at their fa...
Mar 11, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Season 2Ep. 117
Rap music in the 1980s was a groundbreaking and rapidly evolving genre that laid the foundation for modern hip-hop. It started as an underground movement in New York and transformed into a cultural phenomenon by the end of the decade. Early artists like the Sugarhill Gang and Kurtis Blow laid the foundation for artists like Run DMC, the Beastie Boys and LL Cool J to begin to bring rap to a larger audience. By the end of the 80s, rap was becoming big business and was very profitable for record co...
Mar 04, 2025•1 hr 35 min•Season 2Ep. 116
The Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes, is a classic teen drama that takes place over the course of a single Saturday detention at Shermer High School. The film follows five students from vastly different social cliques. The five classes include the criminal, the princess, the jock, the nerd and the basket case. Being overseen by an angry Vice Principal, the 5 students start to learn they have more in common than they realize. This week, Rob, Dave and Kurt will dissect the movie and look at...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 41 min•Season 2Ep. 115
During this month 35 years ago, the whole world threw on some Hammer pants and was captivated by the world’s most famous Bat Boy. We’re heading back to 1990 to look at the smash hit album by MC Hammer, Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em. Hammer’s second studio album was a massive commercial success, solidifying him as one of the biggest hip-hop/pop crossover artists of the early 90’s. He also happened to be blaring consistently through the speakers of teenage Dave and Rob, who loved singing out U Can’t...
Feb 18, 2025•1 hr 28 min•Season 3Ep. 114
Valentine’s Day in the 80s and 90s had a different, unique charm than today. The holiday was less digital, more personal and packed with pop culture influences. On this week’s episode, Rob and Dave look back at the candy, TV and music of the most romantic holiday in the 80s and 90s. From hand made cards, mixtapes and school dances serenaded by Wham, Valentines Day has a nostalgic feel from that time of when you just sent flowers to a loved one during class or slipped a note in their locker. By t...
Feb 11, 2025•1 hr 32 min•Season 3Ep. 113
This week we’re taking a look at a classic sports comedy that blends zany humor with an underdog story. We’re heading back 45 years to the upscale Bushwood Country Club where this movie revolves around a diverse group of quirky characters. Danny Noonan is a young caddy trying to earn a scholarship to pay for college. He attempts to win the favor of the eccentric club co-founder, Judge Smails, while navigating the antics of other colorful personalities, including Ty Webb, Al Czervik, lots of ladi...
Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 36 min•Season 3Ep. 112
We’re heading back 30 years this week to look at the 100 hottest songs in America, according to radio and album sales, for this week in January 1995. 1995 was diverse, reflecting a wide range of genres that dominated the charts and defined the cultural landscape of the mid 1990’s. Styles that were popular were grunge/alternative rock, Britpop to include bands like Oasis, Blur and Pulp, Pop Music, Hip Hop and R&B, Country music and the electronic/dance/house style.This week Rob and Dave look ...
Jan 28, 2025•1 hr 35 min•Season 3Ep. 111
The 1980s were a golden era for pop music, often celebrated for its unique blend of creativity, innovation, and cultural impact. But what made the music of the time so awesome. Well, you had iconic artists and personalities, genre blending creativity, the synthesizer revolution, unforgettable melodies, MTV and a timeless appeal. The standard most artists could point to that illustrated their popularity was the Billboard Hot 100. Charting on the Hot 100 could boost the artist and make them more f...
Jan 21, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Season 3Ep. 110
In the new world of playlists and streaming music, the youth of today will never know the painstaking steps that were needed to formulate a mixed cassette tape. Whether you were building the tape for a friend, a family member or that special someone, it was a process that took a lot of time, patience and thought to make sure the songs you selected were just right. Through a combination of borrowing tapes or recording off the radio you would put your masterpiece together and then wait anxiously t...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 23 min•Season 3Ep. 109
In the new world of playlists and streaming music, the youth of today will never know the painstaking steps that were needed to formulate a mixed cassette tape. Whether you were building the tape for a friend, a family member or that special someone, it was a process that took a lot of time, patience and thought to make sure the songs you selected were just right. Through a combination of borrowing tapes or recording off the radio you would put your masterpiece together and then wait anxiously t...
Jan 07, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 3Ep. 108
As we get ready to turn the page on the New Year, there is no better way to end 2024 than to put together a kick ass playlist from the 1990’s that you can jam out to at all your New Year’s Eve parties. A great 90’s playlist should balance nostalgia, energy and variety that will keep a party atmosphere lively and engaging. Putting together a playlist this important can be daunting, but Dave and Rob will attempt their best to help you ring in 2025. When crafting a great list of songs you’ll need P...
Dec 31, 2024•1 hr 39 min•Season 2Ep. 107
This week, the Recall crew takes on, perhaps the greatest Christmas movie of all time. This is a film that follows the Griswold family as they prepare for a traditional Christmas celebration at their suburban Chicago home. True to form, Clark’s attempts to create the perfect holiday lead to a series of hilarious mishaps and escalating disasters. So Dave, Rob and Kurt will take a look at Clark’s Christmas obsession, impending family chaos, the stress of work and random holiday mishaps that all ul...
Dec 24, 2024•1 hr 34 min•Season 2Ep. 106
In 1996, mild mannered mattress salesman Howard Langston must get a specific Xmas present for his son Jamie. Of course, the toy is sold out and hilarity and hijinks ensue as Howard goes on a chaotic journey throughout the Twin Cities in Minnesota. 1996’s Jingle All the Way stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a detached father and husband who constantly disappoints his wife and son. This week, Rob, Kurt and Dave will go over this Christmas “classic” and see if the laughs and sight gags still hold up a...
Dec 17, 2024•1 hr 47 min•Season 2Ep. 105
Christmas songs are seen as a pivotal part of the holiday season. They bring feelings of nostalgia, festivity, family and memories. Classics like Jingle Bell Rock and Santa Claus is Coming to Town just make the season feel complete. However, not all Christmas songs are made the same, in fact some songs and artists should probably avoid the holiday season altogether. So what makes a bad Christmas song? Holiday cringe, ill fitting genres, celebrity cash ins and melancholy overload. This week Dave ...
Dec 10, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 104
We’re loading up in the Shaggin’ Wagon this week and heading someplace warm, a little place called Aspen to look back at one of the comedy classics of the 1990s, Dumb & Dumber. We’ll take a look at the story of two best friends, Lloyd and Harry, who are so clueless that they redefine the limits of human stupidity. 30 years ago this week, we piled into the theater to watch one of the most funny movies we’d seen as teenagers. This week, Rob, Dave and Kurt will try their best to go over all the...
Dec 03, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Season 2Ep. 103
This week we’re traveling all the way back to 1987 to look at, perhaps, the best Thanksgiving movie and buddy comedy ever made, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. A control freak marketing exec and a loudmouthed shower curtain ring salesman team up for the world’s most disastrous road trip. What begins as a simple flight home for Thanksgiving spirals into a cross-country journey filled with fiery rental cars, broken trains, and one particularly intimate motel bed scene. Along the way, they endure ...
Nov 26, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 102
It’s been almost 2 years and the team of Rob and Dave at Totally 80’s and 90s Recall have made it to their 100th episode. This week the hosts take a look back at the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the 80s and 90s. Normally, people look at the #1 songs, or the top 10 or 40 hits, but not this week. On this episode, Rob and Dave look at all of the songs that were ranked at #100 at some point during each year of the 80s and 90s. They’ll then rank their favorites from each year and discuss and possibly ...
Nov 19, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Season 2Ep. 101
As we move into November, we take a look at our first Thanksgiving movie, Son In Law starring Pauly Shore. For this episode, Dave, Kurt and Rob will travel to South Dakota and watch this Fish-out-of-water comedy down on a farm. Shore looks to help out his college friend, Carla Gugino as she visits her parents during the Thanksgiving break from school by creating a distraction for her boyfriend Travis. From farming to square dancing, fishing and Playboy’s, Shore will find out how different, and s...
Nov 12, 2024•1 hr 36 min•Season 2Ep. 100
In this episode, we're diving into the music of 1981, a year packed with groundbreaking hits, legendary debuts, and unforgettable moments in pop and rock history. From chart-toppers to under-the-radar gems, we’ll break down what made 1981 an iconic year for music. Along with an ever changing sound as we broke away from the 70’s, MTV made its debut changing how everyone around the world looked at and listened to music. Dave and Rob will each select their favorite songs from this week on the Billb...
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 37 min•Season 2Ep. 99
It’s SpookTober and what is more iconic than scary dudes with masks looking to chase local babysitters? That’s right, we’re looking at the horror classic, 1978’s Halloween. Directed by John Carpenter, Halloween follows the story of a troubled young boy who turns into a malevolent and unstoppable force as an adult. This week, Rob, Kurt and Dave will re-watch a movie considered an all time classic to see if it still holds up and will retain the title as the greatest horror movie ever made. We’ll d...
Oct 29, 2024•1 hr 56 min•Season 2Ep. 98
The 1990’s were a wild time for music. The emergence of so many styles and genres of music made it one of the most eclectic decades of our lifetimes. However, despite producing some of the most iconic and memorable songs and albums of the last 40-50 years, somehow some questionable songs were able to top the Billboard charts. On this week’s episode, Rob and Dave take a look at a group of songs that overcame many of their own shortcomings to somehow become the most popular song in America for at ...
Oct 22, 2024•1 hr 43 min•Season 2Ep. 97
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no job is too big, no fee is too big for Rob, Dave and Kurt as they go busting ghosts. We’re going back 40 years to revisit the timeless 80’s comedy classic Ghostbusters. This groundbreaking movie from our childhood blended humor, supernatural elements, and cutting edge special effects in a way that was fresh and captivating at the time. It had a memorable cast of characters starring Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver. It also ...
Oct 15, 2024•1 hr 43 min•Season 2Ep. 96
The sweet and smooth polished sounds of the late 70s and early 80s was deemed soft rock. It had its own radio stations sometimes on the AM dial and became music synonymous with riding in an elevator or waiting in a doctors office. In the early 2000’s, this brand of what was known as Soft Rock was renamed Yacht Rock from a web series, but has now become widely accepted as describing this style of music. Soft or Yacht rock combines jazz, R&B and rock influences to create an easy going feeling ...
Oct 08, 2024•1 hr 34 min•Season 2Ep. 95
What happens when you only have 90 minutes to tell a really long story, and you cannot take the time to expand on the entire plot? That would be the old movie making adage of putting in a montage. You can easily streamline your story and show growth by the characters from being really bad at something to becoming a pro in 3-4 minutes. Throw in a kick ass 80’s hype song, and they become unforgettable moments in any great movie. This week we’re taking a look at our favorite montage moments from pa...
Oct 01, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 94
Saturday Night live in the 1980s and 1990s are considered the golden era of the show. During these two decades, the show spawned many legendary performers that would go on to become comedy and movie stars influencing pop culture even to this day. For this week’s episode, Rob and Dave take a look, and rank their favorite SNL performers from this golden era of the 80s and 90s to reveal who are their favorites, and who they think were the funniest and most influential, not quite ready for prime tim...
Sep 24, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 2Ep. 93
In 1999, the hits were all about having fun, embracing drama, and never taking yourself too seriously. On this week’s episode, Rob and Dave will revisit the Billboard charts for this week back in 1999 to take a look at some of the hottest hits of the Y2K era. We’ll look at some rock music as well as some of the end of the decade TRL pop jams that flooded our radios and CD players. It was a year of catchy hooks, memorable lyrics, and a whole lot of dancing like no one was watching. So believe thi...
Sep 17, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 92
