Mike Tyson might never have existed if Sylvester Stallone hadn’t thought of him first.
“Rocky III” hit screens today in 1982 and Clubber Lang was one of the more intimidating bad guys in the history of movies.
Sly Stallone had gone all HGH and steroids in the six years since Rocky debuted, and his character had turned his body into nothing even resembling the guy who first fought Apollo Creed. Lang made quick work of Rocky and killed his manager Mickey in the process. In steps Apollo Creed to help Rocky train for the rematch. Maybe it was because I was still young enough, but I remember being quite thrilled when Rocky started saying to Lang, “You ain’t so bad, you ain’t so bad… you ain’t nothin!” Rocky would of course go on to end the Cold War, fight a guy with AIDS and then manage his son.
“Cliffhanger” came out 11 years later to the day. Rocky climbs a mountain in that one. The two pictures combined to make over a half a billion dollars. Sly can afford a lot of HGH.
Today in 1987 a 19-year old West German pilot, Mathius Rust, flew a Cessna airplane into Moscow and landed it on a bridge right next to Red Square. Rust said he was trying to build an “imaginary bridge” between the East and the West. In a way he did. Several top Soviet military people were fired after the incident and two months later Reagan and Gorbachev signed a treaty to eliminate intermediate range nuclear weapons in Europe. Of course, two years earlier, Rocky Balboa had paved the way for all of this after defeating Ivan Drago.
Comedian/Actor Phil Hartman was shot and killed by his wife, Brynn this morning in 1998.
It was today in 2002 that Marshall Mathers released “The Eminem Show.” The album solidified his status as the biggest rapper in the world. The big hit off the album was “Without Me,” in which Eminem goes after boy bands, Limp Bizkit, Dick Cheney and Moby among others. You didn’t want any part of a verbal tussle with the Real Slim Shady. Other hits were “Sing for the Moment,” Superman,” and “Till I Collapse.”
Happy 68th to John Fogerty, 28th to Colbie Caillat and Carrie Mulligan, and 25th to both Percy Harvin and Craig Kimbrel.
Fogerty’s Top Six:
- Have You Ever Seen the Rain
- Bad Moon Rising
- Centerfield
- Proud Mary
- Lookin’ Out My Back Door
- Rock ‘N Roll Girls
— Bill Hubbell
I saw ROCKY III, 3, yes, 3 times at the theatre. Once with the boyfriend, once with some gal pals, & once more by myself just to lust-stare at Rocky’s rockin bod. And that scene where Apollo & Rocky are racing on the beach in those shorty-short Dolphin shorts? Oh my. I think I feel a bit flushed.
And Cliffhanger was one of my fave Stallone non-Rocky flicks. Mountains, action, Stallone in a sweater, & ‘Dick Solomon’/(aka Lithgow) as the villain. What’s not to love?