Category Archives: Video Vault

MTV Headbanger’s Ball Halloween Special from 1989

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In case you’re staying in on this Halloween night like I am, you may want something to keep you entertained between visits from modern kids looking for free candy. And since you’re here at Retro Ramblings, then you must enjoy the finer things in life like stuff from the ’80s and ’90s. Well, I’ve got you covered on both fronts with this Watch & Listen feature.

It’s the 1989 MTV Headbanger’s Halloween special with Alice Cooper hosting! Not only is he presenting some of the spookier music videos and hosting segments in between, but this video also has all of the glorious 1989 commercials still intact as well. So feel free to make this your Halloween night entertainment, and take a little trip back in time while you do it. Enjoy, and Happy Halloween!

Captain America: The Movie (1990)

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I’m hard-pressed to think of anything more patriotic than the iconic Marvel Comics character, Captain America. These days, the Chris Evans incarnation in the MCU is all the rage, but once upon a time, there was another movie version of the red, white, and blue hero.

The film was originally intended for theatrical release in August 1990 to coincide with the character’s 50th anniversary, but due to numerous delays, it ended up being released two years later in the summer of 1992 as a direct-to-video offering. It also started airing on cable television in the summer of 1992, which is where I first saw it on HBO. Being the comic book fan that I was at the time, I recorded my own version on home video.

This version of Captain America has largely been forgotten, if ever known about in the first place, but it’s still packed full of campy fun that you might enjoy. So here it is in all of its original 1990s glory for this Independence Day.

The Dukes of Hazzard at Hills Commercial

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I’ve talked about Hills department store in the past, but if you’ve missed those ramblings, let me sum up all you need to know about Hills: It was awesome! The entire time they were in business, and ever since they went out of business, it’s been my favorite department store.

There’s a lot that can be said about why Hills was so great. For one, they had an awesome snack bar, and you couldn’t walk in the place without getting an instant whiff of hot dogs, popcorn, and red slushies. Another big reason, and the one most people cite, was their amazing toy section. Hills’ main slogan was always, “Hills is where the toys are!”, and that wasn’t just hyperbole.

As my memory goes, they always maintained a larger and more varied selection of toys than any other department store at the time. And they knew how to highlight the best of what they had to offer, as this video will prove.

It’s a commercial for Hills’ Dukes of Hazzard shop. It would appear that they had everything a Dukes fan would need. From t-shirts to logo-emblazoned jeans, underwear, and the best Dukes of Hazzard toys on the market. I would be very surprised if all of my Dukes of Hazzard merchandise didn’t come from Hills during this period. While I could go on about how great Hills was, I’m just going to let the following commercial take over and give you a little taste of their awesomeness…

Rollergames in HD

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I’ve talked about my fandom of Rollergames in the past. I talked about it when I covered the Rollergames Nintendo game comic book ad, and again not that long ago when I posted the Rollergames Yearbooks as a Time Capsule. But for those of you who don’t know, Rollergames was a syndicated “sports” show that debuted in September of 1989. It was a version of roller derby played on a figure-8 track. In addition to the game itself, episodes also featured “live” rock music performances. This version of roller derby also featured a pit that housed alligators that would be used during “sudden death” overtime periods in tied games. This version of roller derby was obviously heavily influenced by the theatrics of the World Wrestling Federation.

Recently, the original episodes of Rollergames have been remasted in HD and released on YouTube. If you never saw the show in its heyday, check out the good-looking video of the very first episode, and see why I was such a big fan of it. Maybe you’ll become a fan too.

The 1993 MTV Rock & Jock BBall Jam

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MTV’s Rock & Jock series of sporting events are a big part of my ’90s nostalgia. The softball games, basketball games, and later on the football games, were some of the highlights of MTV’s offerings for me. The basketball games were always my favorite, and the game usually aired on NBA All-Star weekend.

The teams were always made up of a combination of NBA players, actors, musicians, MTV regulars, and other pop culture personalities. This eccentric mix of talent always made for a memorable game, and in this post, we’re looking back at one of the more entertaining games from the series in 1993.