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20 Years Ago in Magazines: Billy Idol, Susan Orlean, David Dinkins
Twenty years ago in the magazines, what was happening? Well, a young rock star named Billy Idol had just had a serious accident and was getting hit on by women like crazy!
And, running on a platform of hope and change, David Dinkins was the mayor of New York City!
In the New Yorker, Nordstrom's opened in Paramus and Susan Orlean was there.
Cheating back a little to the end of 1989, the special New York magazine issue on downtown is a thing to behold. Downtown was "discovered"!
Someone opened a very expensive cheese shop in the wilds of downtown!
And a rich person moved downtown and all their friends laughed at them.
Downtown, the new Czechoslovakia.
These were not relevant to my interests twenty years ago. The issue of Cricket that introduced me to Georgia O'Keefe, however, probably instilled my fear of vaginas.
I wonder how many OB-GYNs were inspired by Ms. O'Keefe to ply their trade. Or lesbians, like Janet Reno or Perez Hilton.
Spike Lee's parents were adorable, and so supportive!
For a second I thought it was Steve Urkel in a Kuba cloth vest.
Oh, Scroll. Steve Urkel killed his parents a la "The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane".
Looks like "fucking a lot on a regular bases" worked better for getting a writing gig at Spin than it did for getting laid by Billy Idol.
Then in 1986 they had an Ebony telethon to raise funds to buy Spike Lee a neck. I still haven't sent in the $6 I pledged.
Somewhere, 85 year old Cynda Williams is at a nursing home, telling her attendants and imaginary friends "I WAS ONCE ON A MAGAZINE COVER WITH SPIKE LEE AND DENZEL WASHINGTON".
The attendants leave when she talks about her marriage to Billy Bob Thornton.
Neat factoid…Paramus has more parking spaces then residents.
Neat factoid: for lack of other options, last week Billy Idol tried to screw one of those parking spaces.
And Totowa has more cemetery plots than residents.
Also 20 years ago, Goofus was hogging all of his potato chips, while Gallant shared his bag of cookies with his friends.
And the New Republic featured another fantastic cover by Vint Lawrence.
Didn't New York magazine run that "Death of Downtown" piece in like 1988?
#whateverhappenedtoPerriLister?
"The New Czechoslovakia" LOL. Prague Fever was everywhere.
I have a copy of the the New York Downtown issue. Real time capsule. Amazing how quickly Tribeca and Soho transitioned from cool to mall.
Those neighborhoods proved a little too responsive to cheese.
Is it possible we could have another one of these? Maybe monthly? NVC's been posting pics of the old 'Premier' magazine. This would be a fun job, if you ask me.