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Obviously, there are similarities in the culture. Nirvana was popular in the United Kingdom, and the Spice Girls were popular in the United States. But what are some significant differences in the popular cultures of the United Kingdom and the United States in the 90s?
I don't know anything about the British 1990s. The American 1990's were very urban in a raw way. Pants in the 1980's were straight leg skinny jeans. In the 90's, the pants were extremely baggy. There was a "touchy feely" side to the 1990's also. It was the era of Pearl Jam, Mariah Carey, and the Dave Matthews band. The TV show "Boy Meets World" best defines the 90s. The toys were very different from how they were in the 1980s. The 80's were the "action figure decade". The 90's were all about Rollerblades, Super Soakers, Wrestling Buddies, and Game Boy, very hands on. I remember people saying "get real" in the 90s.
The American 90s were so different from the American 1980's. In the 80s, the television stayed on! ALF, Cosby, MacGuyver, and all of the commercial mascots (Snuggles, Spuds McKenzie, California Raisins, or Max Headroom). TV was on sometimes in the 1990's. I thought I could do without it. "Hangin with Mr Cooper", "Seinfeld", and "Home Improvement" were all "eh" to me.The 90's thought they were so edgy and so hip. They were pretty forgettable.
One difference: rock got displaced by hip hop much more in the US than in Britain, where rock and hip hop coexisted. Electronic dance music was bigger in Britain than America.
After looking at a few BBC "I Love the 90's" videos, It's safe to safe the British 90's began in 1992. The American 90's started in 1993. Clinton was in office, and HW was out. The OT Saved By the Bell crew graduated along with the 90210 kids. MTV was playing "The Real World", "Beavis and Butthead", and "The Grind" non-stop. Music videos were a thing of the past. The very early 1990's (mid-1989-the start of '93) were officially over, sadly.
In 1991, there was recession in the UK and the US. Those Thursday night Simpsons episodes made it up for it. They still hold up today. The Simpsons were highly controversial from 1990-1991. I wasn't allowed to own a Bartman t-shirt. Everyone had them, but me. In America, The 90's were the decade when middle school and high school students wore shirts with primetime cartoon characters on them. The very early 90's were like the 80's on steroids, so Bart Simpson was the first cartoon character featured on a shirt. Then the Tiny Toons (not a primetime toon, but still), Ren and Stimpy, Beavis and Butthead and so on leading up to South Park. In the mid-00's, they thought they could sell Family Guy shirts like those, but they weren't as successful as the Bart Simpson shirts. Come to think of it, Bart was the most successful out of them all. He is still on today, after two decades. None of us saw it lasting that long in 1990. We thought it would be gone by the end of 1991. Parents hated Bart so much. Going to the mall and picking out your favorite Bart shirt from all of the rest was a very 80's thing to do. Bart Simpson was the 90's. He appealed to adults and children alike. The 90's were a very childish time. Children of the 90's refer to themselves as "90's kids". It was that kind of decade when they (the 1990's decade) weren't trying to be angry, cynical, and deeply urban.
Last edited by anonymous14; 02-09-2014 at 12:37 AM..
In 1991, there was recession in the UK and the US. Those Thursday night Simpsons episodes made it up for it. They still hold up today. The Simpsons were highly controversial from 1990-1991. I wasn't allowed to own a Bartman t-shirt. Everyone had them, but me. In America, The 90's were the decade when middle school and high school students wore shirts with primetime cartoon characters on them. The very early 90's were like the 80's on steroids, so Bart Simpson was the first cartoon character featured on a shirt. Then the Tiny Toons (not a primetime toon, but still), Ren and Stimpy, Beavis and Butthead and so on leading up to South Park. In the mid-00's, they thought they could sell Family Guy shirts like those, but they weren't as successful as the Bart Simpson shirts. Come to think of it, Bart was the most successful out of them all. He is still on today, after two decades. None of us saw it lasting that long in 1990. We thought it would be gone by the end of 1991. Parents hated Bart so much. Going to the mall and picking out your favorite Bart shirt from all of the rest was a very 80's thing to do. Bart Simpson was the 90's. He appealed to adults and children alike. The 90's were a very childish time. Children of the 90's refer to themselves as "90's kids". It was that kind of decade when they (the 1990's decade) weren't trying to be angry, cynical, and deeply urban.
haha, I had a Bart simpson blanket, sheets and pillow case
haha, I had a Bart simpson blanket, sheets and pillow case
Bart Simpson, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dick Tracy and the New Kids on the Block were everywhere in 1990. There was a lot of merchandise in stores. Everyone tested the waters to see if the junk would sell as well as the Batman stuff from 1989. Everyone had a have a bat logo shirt in May of '89, long before the film was out. After Batman Returns tanked, you did not see cereal, fifty different shirts, and bed sets for a new films or tv shows. That era was over by the time '93 came around.
The British 90's were very different from the American 90's.
I know the American 90's for:
40's type Children toys, such as pogs, yo-yos, and trading cards. They were a BIG step down from the toys of the 80's and very early 90's.
Game systems with CD cartridges. This started with the Philips CD-I and ended with Playstation One.
The Disney fable films. Little Mermaid was the first one, and I think Mulan or Tarzan were the last ones.
Shirts with primetime cartoons on them. There were bootleg versions that were worn by African American and Hispanic children and teens.
African American TV shows, race films, and designer clothing (There were way too many people wearing Cross Colors in '93 that it stopped being cool to wear them.) Bill Clinton was thought of as the first African American President.
The fads for children like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, then Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and Pokemon being the last very one.
The raves.
The reality television shows like Cops, The Real World, and Changing Rooms.
People being very nostalgic for the 60's, 70's and 80's. Believe it or not, in 1999, my friends and I wanted 1991 back. It just wasn't the same. The very early 1990's were fun, despite the recession, because of the pop culture and the junk. I loved my SLAP WRAP BRACELET I got in 1990, my GENERRA HYPERCOLOR shirt from 1991 and my GLAMOUR SHOTS pictures of 1992. Those were best times of my life! The pop culture of the mid and late 90's ('93-'99) made the 1990's a very sloppy decade. Nothing lasts forever. People were making fun of the early 90's (mid-89 or late-90 to 1993) in 1995. Songs from early '92 were old in '95 and had an 80's sound to them. Think of Amy Grant and Kathy Troccoli. In the 90's, certain people were moving forward with the times. They did not want to hear that the past was better.
Grunge rock and all of the watered down Grunge leading up to the release of the first album by Creed. There were a handful of movies and shows with angsty teenagers (like Angus, the film from the mid 90's). Who can forget the "down to Earth and touchy feely music" from Hootie and the Blowfish, Blues Traveler, and the Dave Matthews Band?
The American 90's gave way to the 2000's. The very early 90's had Vanilla Ice which was known as cheesy 80's rap. Those were "still the 80's", though we called them the "early 90's" at the time.The end of the 90's had Eminem, who was a much bigger deal in the 2000's until he recorded the singles on his 2009 album.
Last edited by anonymous14; 02-09-2014 at 09:07 AM..
All Americans can agree with me on this. Bart Simpson WAS the American 1990's in the way that Michael Jackson WAS the American 1980's. Michael wore the Members Only type jackets, leather pants, and jacket with lots of zippers on it. Bart had a plain style that reminded us all of how we were dressed as children. His sneakers had a Nike/ Converse type logo on them. Bart could play sports, rap, be sarcastic, be a child, and he "hit close to home" (like all 90's sitcom and movie characters did). The American 90's were that kind of decade.
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