What are the top 10 singles, albums, movies, TV shows and news stories
on December 23, 1990?  This is for a novel I'm writing.

---

Clarification of Question by velocity-ga on 06 Dec 2002 06:22 PST

Bobbie7:

I'm new to Google-Answers so I'm not certain whether this post gets to
you.

Your post gets very close to where I need to be, so let me give you a
bit more clarification.  I'm writing a scene about a college kid who
is heading on a 5 hour trip home from school for the Christmas holiday
on december 23, 1990.  He is driving in the middle of the night and
has a lot of time to think about things.

In order for me to put the reader in his mind, I'm trying to obtain a
sense of current events and pop culture . . . what would he have been
thinking about?  News events, a recently purchased album, a TV show he
watches between classes, a movie he plans on seeing when he gets home.
 If he's a Patriots fan, for example, what are their prospects for the
playoffs.  Clearly, he would be thinking of the Christmas holiday,
seeing his family and the exams he recently took.  But what else?

1.  Top news event that a college student would be interested in.
2.  What kind of new music would he be listening to?
3.  Is there a particular show he'd be watching (The Real World on
MTV?)
4.  Is there a movie he would be looking forward to that weekend?

All of this will take only two to four sentences of the chapter, but
it's imperative that the scene have the authenticity of the time.

I'm a published author, and my most recent book is The Velocity of
Money.  I have dozens of other potential questions to be researched,
if you'd be interested.  Here's my book: 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/038073284X/qid=1039184425/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-0802760-6897660?v=glance&s=books

Hello Velocity,

I have researched your question for the last two days and here are the
results of my search:

======
Movies
======

The Top Movies, Weekend of November 30, 1990 
http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1990/19901130.html

1 (1) Home Alone 
2 (new) Misery 
3 (2) Three Men and a Little Lady 
4 (3) Dances with Wolves 
5 (4) Predator 2 
6 (6) Ghost 

The Top Movies, Weekend of December 7, 1990
http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1990/19901207.html

1 (1) Home Alone 
2 (2) Misery 
3 (new) Rookie, The 
4 (4) Dances with Wolves 
5 (3) Three Men and a Little Lady 
6 (6) Ghost

The Top Movies, Weekend of December 14, 1990
http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1990/19901214.html

1 (1) Home Alone 
2 (new) Look Who's Talking Too 
3 (new) Edward Scissorhands 
4 (4) Dances with Wolves

The Top Movies, Weekend of December 21, 1990 
http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1990/19901221.html

1 (1) Home Alone 
2 (new) Kindergarten Cop 
3 (3) Edward Scissorhands 
4 (4) Dances with Wolves $5,906,935

The Top Movies, Weekend of December 28, 1990
http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1990/19901228.html

1 (1) Home Alone 
2 (3) Godfather: Part III, The 
3 (2) Kindergarten Cop 
4 (4) Dances with Wolves 
5 (3) Edward Scissorhands 
6 (new) Look Who's Talking Too 
7 (new) Three Men and a Little 
8 (new) Mermaids 
10 (new) Russia House, The

Movie Release Dates for November and December 1990
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/index1990.html

November, 1990 

November, 2   Jacob's Ladder 
November, 2   Graffiti Bridge 
November, 9   Child's Play 2 
November, 9   Krays, The 
November, 9   Dances with Wolves 
November, 16   Home Alone 2 
November, 16   Rescuers Down Under, 
November, 16   Rocky V 
November, 21   Hidden Agenda 
November, 21   Predator 2 
November, 21   Three Men and a Little Lady 
November, 30   Misery 

December, 1990 
December, 1   Alice 
December, 7   Grifters 
December, 7   Rookie, The 
December, 7   Edward Scissorhands 
December, 12   Havana 
December, 14   Mermaids 
December, 14   Look Who's Talking Too 
December, 19   Almost An Angel 
December, 19   Awakenings 
December, 19   Hamlet (1990) 
December, 21   Kindergarten Cop 
December, 21   Bonfire of the Vanities 
December, 23   Come See The Paradise 
December, 25   Godfather: Part III, The

====
News
====
The (London) Times and Sunday Times let you search back to 1985
without registering. You don't get the full news stories of course,
but if you type "yesterday" as search term for 23 Dec 1990, among
other things you get:

SUN 23 DEC 1990 
White House threatens blitzkrieg on Saddam;Gulf Crisis 
THE war of words between the United States and Iraq escalated sharply
yesterday when the White House threatened an unprecedented blitzkrieg
against Saddam Hussein's forces if he refused to withdraw from Kuwait
before the January 15 United Nations dea...


It's Over;Resignation of Eduard Shevardnadze 
IT WAS like old times. The chief of the KGB stood at the podium in the
Kremlin and warned his huge audience that foreign intelligence
agencies and conspirators were stirring up problems inside the Soviet
Union. Chaos loomed and sabotage threatened ...

http://www.newsint-archive.co.uk/pages/welcome_post.asp 

The Teleputing Hotline 
The Worldwide Network Letter
December 18, 1990
VIRUS UPDATE 

“The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and City University of 
London found a new MS-DOS virus which infects the File Allocation 
Table of a disk and is only transferred via floppy disk. It's called
the "Beijing" virus. (..)  Meanwhile, nearly 5,000 U.S. Army PCs have
become infected with viruses. Officials are concerned about effects on
Operation Desert Shield. Both the Jerusalem-B and "stoned" varieties
were detected, mainly from computer games bought by troops in Saudi
Arabia.
http://www.textfiles.com/magazines/MISC/v3i99.txt


On December 23, 1990:
 
-  Frank King, cricketer (WI fast bowler played 14 Tests 1953-56),
dies
-  "Lettice & Lovage" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 284
performances
-   S. Ueda & H.  Kaneda discover asteroid #5241
-   Slovenians vote to secede from Yugoslavia

Source: Daily Almanacs
http://www.dailyalmanacs.com/almanac2/december/1223.html

On December 23, 1990, the Slovenian government held a referendum on a
crystal-clear question: "Should the Republic of Slovenia become a
sovereign and independent state?" The "Yes" side won, taking 95.7% of
the valid votes cast, and voter turnout was 93.3%.
http://www.uni.ca/dion_let3.html

Tim "Rock" Raines's was traded to White Sox on December 23, 1990, for
Ivan Calderon and Barry Jones.
http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:7Nju0RQZ1uQC:www.geocities.com/dr_hork/accom.html+cincinnati+baseball++%22december+23,+1990%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8


I am including the Time Magazine Contents Page for December 24 and
December 31.

The titles will give you an idea of what was going on in the time
frame you are interested in. The titles and contents pages are free
but they is a tiny fee in order to read the selected full articles
they have available.

-  Purchase article - $2.50
-  Archive subscription - $7.95 for one month


The December 24, 1990 issue of TIME Magazine
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/toc/list/0,11627,1101901224,00.html

Box-Office Brawn 
Body builder to megastar: Arnold Schwarzenegger has a huge following
everywhere and the world on a string. It could only happen in the
movies.

CINEMA
Schemes And Dreams for Christmas 
On Santa's list: a Mafia don, a Master of the Universe and a De Niro
Oscar?

EDUCATION
Cavazos Flunks Out 
Bush fires his man, but will he now live up to his promises?

ENVIRONMENT
Endangered Earth Update Is the Planet on the Back Burner? 
War and recession may be grabbing the headlines, but the relentless
trashing of the world's air, land and seas continues apace

Endangered Earth Update the Ecokid Corps 
School-age crusaders can be a pain in the neck, but they may be the
best hope for the cause of preservation

HEALTH
Mystery -- And Maybe Danger -- in the Air 
A government review heightens concern about hazards of the electronic
age

Red Alert on Red Meat 
The link between high-fat diets and colon cancer gets stronger

LIVING
You Can Go Home Again 
Across the U.S., black Americans are returning to the South

MEDICINE
A Pill That Gets Under the Skin 
Norplant could spur birth control -- and stir controversy

Rescue Mission 
As Moscow faces its worst winter shortages since World War II, Bush
offers food, cash and counsel to bolster Gorbachev's reforms

Still The Teflon Don? 
John Gotti sees "no problem" beating the rap yet again

Testing The Waters on Race 
Republicans seek to exploit the quota issue but pull back -- for now
-- as Bennett pulls out

WORLD
America Abroad 
Woodrow Wilson in the Gulf

Eastern Europe Populism on the March 
A weakness for messianic leaders and ethnic mistrust, both lethal to
democracy, infect the region's new democracies

Is Uncle Sam Being Suckered? 
With the costs of Desert Shield likely to double, Congress fumes at
those allies who seem to be weaseling out of their pledges to help

The Terror Of Hiding 
In Kuwait ROBERT MORRIS spent 120 days in isolation, fearing the Iraqi
soldiers and wondering whether he would outlast Saddam Hussein. Now he
worries about the fate of the Kuwaitis.

December 24, 1990 
Time Magazine Contents Page 
Vol. 136, No. 27 DECEMBER 24, 1990
http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/from_redirect/0,10987,1101901224-153455,00.html

WORLD: A country in exile, Kuwait plans to build a new and different
nation

Can the country change after liberation? Is it worth dying for? -- The
allies seem to shrink from paying their share of gulf costs. --
Democracy knocks in Eastern Europe, but is anyone home?

BUSINESS: King Arnold has a hammerlock on box offices around the world
From Melbourne to Milan, Buenos Aires to Bombay, the world is into
U.S. movies, TV and songs.

NATION: Food and cash for the needy Soviets
As Moscow faces a winter of shortages, politics and pity propel U.S.
aid in a historic...


Time Magazine Contents Page - DECEMBER 31, 1990
Vol. 136, No. 28 
http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/from_redirect/0,10987,1101901231-153501,00.html

Article
NATION: 'Tis no season to be jolly
Fears of war and recession dampen holiday spirits. -- The states
struggle to balance their budgets. –

===
 TV
===

You can get an idea of what was going on in TV at that time through
the The TV Guide 1990 Primetime Lineup. This is a one week primetime
lineup for ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX

The TV Guide 1990 Primetime Lineup 
 http://www.tvguide.com/50th/timecapsule/whatwason/1990.asp

Beverly Hills, 90210 
Premiered: October 4, 1990
Showing Thursday night 9 PM

A college student may be interested in watching Beverly Hills, 90210,
a new show that premiered on October 4, 1990 and is on Thursday at 9
PM on Fox.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Premiered: September 10, 1990, on NBC
Showing Monday night 8 PM

Americas Top 20 1990 TV Favorites
  
1. Cheers      
2. 60 Minutes      
3. Roseanne      
4. A Different World      
5. The Cosby Show      
6. America's Funniest Home Videos      
7. Murphy Brown      
8. Murder She Wrote      
9. Home Improvement      
10.Designing Women      
11.Empty Nest      
12.The Golden Girls      
13.Murder She Wrote      
14.Unsolved Mysteries      
15.Full House      
16.Family Matters      
17.Coach      
18.Matlock      
19.In the Heat of the Night      
20.Major Dad  
http://www.1990sflashback.com/1990/TV.asp

=====
Music
=====
The Billboard Charts 
The Billboard Top 100 Positions only go back to December 19, 1992
http://www.billboard.com/billboard/charts/bb200.jsp

Top Albums  1990
Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson     (CD) 
Johnny Gill - Johnny Gill     (CD) 
Nick of Time - Bonnie Raitt     (CD) 
Please Hammer, Don't Hurt' Em - M.C. Hammer     (CD) 
Soul Provider - Michael bolton     (CD) 
Storm Front - Billy Joel     (CD) 
Where've You Been - Kathy Mattea  Hello Velocity,
http://www.1990sflashback.com/1990/Music.asp

Top 10 Songs of 1990

Nothing Compares 2 U-- Sinead O’Connor
Vision of Love-- Mariah Carey
Because I Love You (The Postman Song)-- Stevie B
Vogue-- Madonna
Escapade-- Janet Jackson
Opposites Attract-- Paula Abdul with the Wild Pair
Step By Step-- New Kids On the Block
How Am I Supposed to Live without You-- Michael Bolton
Love Takes Time-- Mariah Carey
It Must Have Been Love-- Roxette
http://www.pvhs.chico.k12.ca.us/~bsilva/ushist/top_songs.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hot New Toys in 1990:
 
Dino Riders Ice Age series    
Sega Game Gear    
 
Top Books in 1990:
 
The House of Morgan by Ron Chernow      
Darkness Visible by William Styron      
The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm      
The Taming of Chance by Ian Hacking      
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry      
The Ants by Bert Hoelldobler and Edward O. Wilson 

Source: The DMarie Time Capsule
http://www.dmarie.com/timecap/

I realize that some of the information is not as specific as you may
require but after reading your clarification I decided to post
everything I assembled as I believe it may be useful. If I uncover
anything regarding your question I will post it here.

Best regards,
Bobbie7-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 06 Dec 2002 11:25 PST

Sorry - It should have said:
If I uncover anything *else* regarding your question I will post it here.

---

Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 06 Dec 2002 18:13 PST

Hello Stephen, 

I located some more information for you:

Solid Gold - January 01, 1990 - December 31, 1990
Stephan's Favorites Of 1990
This chart has useful information as the songs and artists are listed
with the dates they were on the chart.

I’m Your Baby Tonight by Whitney Houston was on the chart from
08/10/1990 to 31/12/1990

I’m Knockin` by Whitney Houston was on the chart from 22/10/1990 to
31/12/1990

Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice was on the chart from 01/10/1990
31/12/1990

Miracle by Whitney Houston was on the chart from 12/11/1990 to 
31/12/1990

Who Do You Love by Whitney Houston was on the chart from 12/11/1990
31/12/1990

Source:
http://buerger.metropolis.de/skrebs/chartdata/sg1990.htm


------------------------------------------

I was going through a newsgroup and stumbled upon a posting from Jenn.
Subject: A trip through time....
Newsgroups: alt.music.smash-pumpkins
Date: 1996/09/21

Jenn said:“I was looking at old Chicago Tribune articles that were
related to the Pumpkins, and I thought some of them may be interesting
for some of you.”

Date: Friday, December 28, 1990
Source: By Mark Caro. 
Section: FRIDAY  
Memo: Take 2. FRIDAY`S GUIDE TO MOVIES & MUSIC. 
Copyright Chicago Tribune

Here is a short excerpt from the article SMASHING PUMPKINS FINDS A
HOME AT CAROLINE RECORDS:

After being linked to various labels over the past several months,
Smashing Pumpkins has finally found a home for its next album:
Caroline Records.(..) Singer/guitarist Billy Corgan says the album
will be entitled `Gish`- as in Lillian. (..)`It’s a very spiritual
album,`` he adds. (..) The band is hoping that the Caroline record
will be the springboard to a major-label deal next time around. In the
meantime, the band has a new single  out this week, `Tristessa,
released on Seattle’s Sub Pop label. Smashing Pumpkins will play
Monday night-New Year’s Eve-at Cabaret Metro,  opening for Thrill Kill
Kult.”
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Billboard+Top+10+*+for+the+week+ending+%22December+*+1990%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=324461E5.6AA9%40somaluna.castles.com&rnum=2

Best regards,
Bobbie7-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 06 Dec 2002 18:51 PST

The following is a list of subjects covered in the Transcripts of
"Sunday Night" - Cost $9.00 per program.

December 23, 1990
Crewmen aboard USS Saratoga mourn those killed in ferry mishap
Cheney & Powell wrap up visit to Gulf
Baghdad conducts blackout drill
Lebanon begins task of rebuilding downtown Beirut
Arustude is declared winner of Haiti's first free election
Southwest cold snap expected to moderate
US Christmas celebrations collide with Saudi sensitivities
Source: Burrelle's
http://www.burrelles.com/transcripts/cbs/sunn9004.htm


December 31, 1990 
Iraq warns of terrorist attacks against US in event of military strike
European leaders pushing for diplomatic solution to Gulf crisis
Quayle gets pledge of more funds from Saudi Arabia
Moscow a city of worried people
US Navy hoping to save its A-12 Avenger program
Blue moon to appear tomorrow night
Foul weather in much of nation
Whistling in the New Year in Hackensack, New Jersey
Source: Burrelle's
http://www.burrelles.com/transcripts/cbs/sunn9004.htm

All CBS News programs produced since February 1, 1990 are available
from Burrelle's. In addition, transcripts of all "60 Minutes" programs
since 1968 and all "48 Hours" programs since 1988 are also available.
http://www.burrelles.com/transcripts/cbs/cbs.htm

Incredibly thorough, and precisely what I needed to evoke the place and time.

Hello Velocity,


I am posting this as a comment as I was not able to locate all the
information you requested.

On December 23, 1990:
 
-  Frank King, cricketer (WI fast bowler played 14 Tests 1953-56),
dies
-  "Lettice & Lovage" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 284 perfs
-   S. Ueda & H.  Kaneda discover asteroid #5241
-   Slovenians vote to secede from Yugoslavia

Source: Daily Almanacs
http://www.dailyalmanacs.com/almanac2/december/1223.html

On December 23, 1990, the Slovenian government held a referendum on a
crystal-clear question: "Should the Republic of Slovenia become a
sovereign and independent state?" The "Yes" side won, taking 95.7% of
the valid votes cast, and voter turnout was 93.3%.
http://www.uni.ca/dion_let3.html

Tim "Rock" Raines's was traded to White Sox on December 23, 1990, for
Ivan Calderon and Barry Jones.
http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:7Nju0RQZ1uQC:www.geocities.com/dr_hork/accom.html+cincinnati+baseball++%22december+23,+1990%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8


Top 10 Songs of 1990

Nothing Compares 2 U-- Sinead O’Connor
Vision of Love-- Mariah Carey
Because I Love You (The Postman Song)-- Stevie B
Vogue-- Madonna
Escapade-- Janet Jackson
Opposites Attract-- Paula Abdul with the Wild Pair
Step By Step-- New Kids On the Block
How Am I Supposed to Live without You-- Michael Bolton
Love Takes Time-- Mariah Carey
It Must Have Been Love-- Roxette
http://www.pvhs.chico.k12.ca.us/~bsilva/ushist/top_songs.htm

1990:
Best Picture: Dances with Wolves 
Directed By Kevin Costner 
Best Actor: Jeremy Irons in Reversal or Fortune 
Best Actress: Kathy Bates in Misery 


On TV in 1990:
 
Dallas
Baywatch    
Law & Order    
Murphy Brown    
The Simpsons    
Beverly Hills 90210    
Quantum Leap    
Married... With Children    
China Beach    
Cheers    
L.A. Law    
Star Trek: The Next Generation    
Seinfeld    
The Golden Girls    
Northern Exposure    
Fresh Prince of Bel Air    
The Cosby Show    
Roseanne    
Night Court    

Hot New Toys in 1990:
 
Dino Riders Ice Age series    
Sega Game Gear    
 
Top Books in 1990:
 
The House of Morgan by Ron Chernow      
Darkness Visible by William Styron      
The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm      
The Taming of Chance by Ian Hacking      
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry      
The Ants by Bert Hoelldobler and Edward O. Wilson 

Source: The DMarie Time Capsule
http://www.dmarie.com/timecap/


The Sunday Times Archive
You may search for an exact date and download the issue but there is a
fee.
http://www.newsint-archive.co.uk/pages/sample_pre.asp


If you feel that my comment provided you with sufficient information,
just let me know and I’ll post it as an official answer.

Best regards,
Bobbie7-ga

In addition to the above I located the Top Albums of 1990, the Top
Movie Money Makers of 1990 and Americas Top 20 TV Favorites 1990. The
information for December 23rd is just too precise and I am not able to
find anything else.
Let me know if this interests you.
Thanks.
Bobbie7-ga