This Was A Thing: The Retro Podcast

To say thank you for your loyalty, we are gifting you all with this PATREON ONLY exclusive episode of our interview with world renowned Elvis impersonator, and Ray's Dad, Raymond Michael. If you like this, every other week, on PATREON, we release new content which dives even deeper into the cultural happenings of yesteryear. Want to get in on that fun? CLICK HERE Raymond Michael Website Learn more...

On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley passed away and the world lost a rock and roll icon - or did it? Well, according to Gail Brewer-Giorgio and a cast of colorful conspiracy theorists, the King may not have left the building when everyone thinks he did…  Ray teaches Rob about five key pieces of evidence that Gail and her gang use to support their “faked death” theory; the sketchy details behind...

Friendster, SixDegrees, Makeoutclub - if you're a 90s kid, then you probably remember at least some of those websites (and may they all rest in peace). But there could only be one top dog, and MySpace was it. Hillary Duff, Harry Styles, Kim Kardashian - everyone had a MySpace page, and you better pray your friends put you in their Top 8. So with all the hype, how did the site go from being a 12-bi...

You love  Caddyshack , right? How about “Weekend Update” on SNL, or all the National Lampoon  Vacation  movies? Classic! Then you're bound to love a talk show hosted by the one and only Chevy Chase, right? Right??  Ray teaches Rob about the late night TV wars that followed Johnny Carson’s retirement; the perils of shooting hoops during your very first entrance as a talk show ho...

When you think of impressionists, you might picture the impresarios on SNL, or the wide array of Elvises with a Vegas residency. But have you ever wondered about who laid the groundwork for those performers to make their living lampooning celebrities? If you have, then you’re in luck - because if a couple of guys made a podcast about one of the very first nationally celebrated impressionists, it w...

Merchandising cash grabs are nothing new to the Star Wars franchise. Who didn’t beg their parents for a lightsaber, or a Darth Vader helmet, or a Porg plushy? And one of the most blatant of these marketing ploys was the appearance of the fierce and fuzzy Ewoks who stole the show in Return of the Jedi. So what better way to celebrate their popularity, mine even more profit for George Lucas, and hop...

“Lorne Michaels” and “SNL” are essentially synonymous in this day and age, and his successful run as the show’s producer has been legendary. But if we turn the clocks back to 1980, the view from the top of the Rock at NBC wasn’t so rosy. Why, you might ask? Great question, you listener reading these notes! Rob teaches Ray about the falling out between Lorne and Fred Silverman that led to Lorne’s d...

Ever stopped your Netflix scrolling to click on that new Marvel movie you’ve been dying to watch, only to realize that the dude playing “Almighty Thor” has absolutely no resemblance to Chris Hemsworth, and his hammer looks more like a dog bone stuck onto a baseball bat? (Obviously this is a purely hypothetical situation with no basis in reality.) Well then, friend, you have been duped by the marke...

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled on the landmark case, Roe V. Wade. Only two months earlier, TV’s cynical and spectacular Maude Findlay found herself in a position where she was forced to reckon with the exact choice upheld by the courts. And in 2022, the Supreme Court is again poised to take up the issue of abortion and a woman’s right to choose, making this a topic that is still scar...

Filter, flavor, pack or box - Marlboros have everything cigarette-lovers could want. But how could the company broaden their consumer base from primarily women, and prove that their cigarettes were just as manly as any ol’ Winston or Chesterfield? Well, hop on yer saddle, throw on a ten-gallon, and let’s head on down into advertising history, ‘cause that there question is exactly what Ray and Rob...

Listeners! There’s no need to feel down! I said, Listeners! Pick yourself off the ground… and get ready for the story of when Village People made a movie! “Can’t Stop The Music” was released in the summer of 1980 at the tail end of the Disco Craze. Producer Allan Carr, fresh off his success with the film “Grease”, was ready for his next smash hit. He paired a fresh-faced Steve Guttenberg with Vill...

What’s the perfect reward for loyal viewers of a beloved TV show? How about a finale that not only obliterates the preceding 136 episodes, but puts in jeopardy more than 400 other series, including “I Love Lucy” and “Cheers?” In 1988, NBC did just that when it aired the final episode of "St. Elsewhere," a medical drama whose legacy is best described as “what the hell did they just do?” Rob gives R...

“American Idol” season one was an entertainment behemoth in the 2002. It introduced us to sassy judges and gave the world the multi-hyphened legend, Ryan Seacrest. But besides that, it also introduced the world to Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, the heroes of this episode. After season one was done, the next logical step was taken – LETS MAKE A MOVIE! And a movie, they made… “From Justin to Kel...

She was the First Lady for only three years but she did more in those three chauvinistic years than most women were allowed to do in their lifetime.....perhaps even killing her husband. This week Rob teaches Ray about Florence "Flossie" Harding who was one of the most influential first ladies most people have never heard about. They crack open the history books and explore look at how Flossie made...

Grab some sunscreen, flip-flops, and get ready to cool down because we are going to Hawaii to explore the origins behind the Aloha Shirt.   Learn about the Hawaiian Craze of the 1910s, the Fashion Father Alfred Shaheen, Elvis Presley's fashion choices, and so much more!   Rob gives Ray a lesson in the history of how the Aloha shirt came to be, the political activism behind the shirt, wha...

Edwin Booth, the titular head of the Booth Acting Dynasty, gets a thorough exploration with Brody Karn, Esq. We are releasing this bonus episode to celebrate 10k downloads! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Right Now! You’re reading a description for this week’s episode, Crystal Pepsi. Right Now! This particular episode is a little different, let’s be CLEAR. Right Now! Crystal Pepsi was a flash in the CAN (and bottle!) and we’re going to teach you all about it! Right Now! They also ran a Super Bowl commercial for it that featured a Sammy Haggar lead Van Halen, singing their hit song, “Right Now!” Rig...

REEFER MADNESS! It’s taken over this fine country, so we decided it was time to cover it! Run for your life, marijuana is polluting the minds of America’s youths! “Reefer Madness”, originally titled “Tell Your Children”, was an exploitation and propaganda film released in 1936, 1938, or 1939…. Seriously, they didn’t keep an accurate record of the film’s release. It was meant to teach about the dan...

Do you feel lost? Like you need some direction? Do you have $2000 ready to throw away? Then call me now!   Learn about the fortune teller who couldn't forsee the police knocking on her door: 1990s icon Miss Cleo.   Rob gives Ray a lesson in the history of TV psychics, the brilliance of late night marketing, Dionne Warwick and the Psychic Friends Network, the worst dialect work ever commi...

Do you smell that? We’re not saying its you! It’s Smell-O-Vision! That’s right, Smell-O-Vision! When you were looking for a movie with a gimmick, and 3-D has ran it’s course, then Smell-O-Vision just may be for you! Invented by Hans Laube in 1939 and brought to a wider audience by Mike Todd Jr. in 1960, Smell-O-Vision certainly left a smell with audiences and critics alike. It’s not like Mike Todd...

Turn your dials to station Manhattan Neighborhood Network station 13 because we are going to explore the confidentially, untalented denizens of Stairway to Stardom. Learn about the most optimistic master of ceremonies, Frank Masi, who unwittingly gave birth to America's obsession of televised shock and awe. Rob gives Ray a lesson in the history of public access television and how the Government's...

Ever watch one of those old movies and wonder why in the world the actors are speaking in such an old timey way? Well, that way is actually called the TransAtlantic Accent and was not at all how most real people spoke in the 1930s, but in the movies they did. This week Rob teaches Ray about the origins of the transatlantic accent, how two men wanted the world to speak in World English, the "good b...

We here at “This Was A Thing” LOVE Ms. Liza May Minnelli! March 12th just happened to be her birthday, so we wanted to throw her a little birthday celebration! The woman DESERVES it, for heaven's sake! Liza isn’t just known for being the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli, for her Oscar-winning performance in “Cabaret”, or for the greatest concert of all time, “Liza with a Z”. Ms. Minn...

To start off the second half of season one, we decided to go for the most popular kind of podcast: TRUE CRIME! Hollywood is filled with scandals, but there haven’t been many bigger Tinsel Town scandals, than The Lana Turner Murder Trial. In the 1950’s, Lana Turner was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Sadly, she was dating a violent mobster named Johnny Stompanato. Mr. Stompanto’s violence ca...

Imagine if Marvel and Lucasfilm teamed up to make a movie nowadays. It would be huge! Well, back in 1986, that wasn’t the case… In fact, “Howard The Duck”, was the opposite of huge. What was supposed to be a comedy, hardly had audiences QUACKing up. Most Audiences thought it was rather FOWL. It wasn’t a success and Universal Pictures was stuck with the BILL. George Lucas was the man that decided t...