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28 February 2019

With the news that Friends is the favourite TV programme for young people in the UK, reboots of 90s movies everywhere you look and the rise of retro gaming, there’s no denying the 1990s continue to be of major cultural significance.

The new Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Scotland series Rewind 1990s looked back at this radical decade, beginning with 1990 — an extraordinary year featuring these nine cultural events that helped shape who we are today. Frankly, 1990 was just showing off...

French & Saunders as Madonna

...& she may have invented Ariana Grande’s ponytail

Madonna’s Vogue was released on 27 March 1990, popularising a much-loved hand/face dance craze that survives to this day.

That year, Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour was one of the most controversial and talked-about events in entertainment history. She wore her famous pointy-boobed Jean-Paul Gaultier corset and, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, she talked openly about HIV on stage.

Walls are, of course, back on the menu in today’s world politics restaurant — but back in 1990 they were coming down rather than going up.

45 years after they were first divided into capitalist West and communist East, Germany marked its official unification on 3 October.

The official dismantling of the Berlin Wall began and 3 October has been the national day of Germany ever since.

1990 was the year Primal Scream just wanted to ‘get loaded and have a good time’.

The Scottish rockers broke into the Top 40 with ‘Loaded’, their passport to Top Of The Pops and Bobby Gillespie’s rise to Smash Hits poster-boy status.

Although the track peaked at 16 in the charts, it was an instant critical classic. The album of which it was part, Screamadelica, was described by NME as a “musical benchmark for the times.”

After 11 years as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher left Downing Street in tears on 28 November.

In the 1980s, she had been referred to as the most powerful woman in the world.

But with falling popularity, she was essentially ousted by her fellow Conservative party members and made way for John Major.

Macaulay Culkin was 10 when Home Alone was released. He won many hearts as the lovable Kevin McCallister.

According to Buzzfeed, Culkin still has a scar where Joe Pesci’s character tries to bite off Kevin’s finger.

Culkin recently reprised his role as Kevin for a TV advert.

• Quiz: How well do you remember the Home Alone Movies?

In what is likely one of the most important moments in race relations history, 1990 was also the year that Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years of imprisonment in South Africa.

He would soon go on to become the country’s first black president and a figure of peace, determination and hope for millions around the world.

Take That bouncing around on Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú North West Tonight

Ok, so we didn’t really invent boy bands — but Take That certainly started something.

Formed in Manchester in 1990, Take That were Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. They were intended to be a Britain’s answer to New Kids on The Block.

18 years later, in November 2008, Take That’s original now-40-something-year-old fans came out in force to take a reformed Take That back to the UK number 1 slot with Greatest Day.

Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly first appeared on-screen together in the second series of Byker Grove, set in a youth club in Newcastle.

Life imitated art when they became best friends, like their on screen characters PJ & Duncan. The pals proved so popular they became presenting megastars of British TV.

Since these humble beginnings, they have both won BAFTAs, National Television Awards and been awarded OBEs.

Scotland’s national rugby union side claimed a famous victory at Murrayfield, winning the Calcutta Cup, the Triple Crown, the Grand Slam and the Five Nations Championship by beating England 13–7.

It was the first time Flower of Scotland, by the Corries, was sung by the players as a pre-match anthem.

If you have any Scottish blood, you might want to have a wee tissue at the ready for this clip.