Flashback: July 6, 1993

Welcome Back to the Time Machine

Hey there, time travelers! We're cruising back to July 6, 1993…a week when grunge was still king, dial-up internet was cutting-edge, and your biggest financial worry was whether you had enough quarters for the arcade.

It was the summer of Clinton's first year in office, and we were all blissfully unaware that our Tamagotchis would soon demand more attention than our actual responsibilities.

This week in '93, we were probably debating whether to spend our hard-earned babysitting money on the new Jurassic Park soundtrack or save up for those Doc Martens everyone was wearing. Simpler times, when "investing" meant buying extra batteries for your Walkman and "cryptocurrency" would have sounded like something from Star Trek.

We’re here to bring you the music, movies, and moments that made the early ‘90s unforgettable. So grab your Crystal Pepsi, kick back, and let’s rewind to a week that defined a generation.

Mixtape Memory Lane 

• "That's the Way Love Goes" - Janet Jackson

  The smooth, laid-back groove that had us all trying to dance like Janet in our bedroom mirrors. This track spent eight weeks at #1 and proved that sometimes the best moves are the subtle ones.

   

• "Weak" - SWV

  Nothing says '93 like harmonizing R&B that made every teenage heart skip a beat. This song had us all feeling some type of way about love, even if we were still figuring out what that meant.

• "I Don't Wanna Fight" - Tina Turner

  The queen was back with a power ballad that reminded us why she's simply the best. At 53, Tina was showing everyone how it's done with this comeback track from the "What's Love Got to Do with It" soundtrack.

• "Freak Me" - Silk

  The slow jam that had parents quickly reaching for the radio dial when it came on. This Louisville group brought the heat with their debut single, proving that romance and R&B were the perfect match.

• "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" - The Proclaimers

  Thanks to "Benny & Joon," these Scottish twins had us all ready to walk 500 miles (and 500 more) for love. The song became an unlikely summer anthem and proved that sometimes the most earnest songs hit the hardest.

👆 Watch the full throwback video playlist on YouTube Music.

Screen Time Rewind 

Jurassic Park was still ruling the box office in its third week, proving that dinosaurs never go out of style.

Meanwhile, The Firm with Tom Cruise was heating up theaters, and Sleepless in Seattle had us all believing in fairy tale romance again.

During the summer lull, one show consistently topped the charts: Home Improvement, which pulled in nearly 24 million viewers weekly…way ahead of its nearest competitor, Roseanne. That mid-summer crowd loved their sitcoms with a dash of dad jokes.

While network TV was busy serving up safe sitcoms and reruns, MTV was quietly building a wild little empire for GenXers who were too old for cartoons but too young for talk shows. 

Beavis and Butt-Head led the charge…two slackers in Metallica shirts, grunting their way through music videos, fast food jobs, and social norms. It was crude, chaotic, and instantly addictive.

But they didn’t come out of nowhere. Liquid Television, MTV’s late-night animated anthology, had already cracked the door open with bizarre shorts like Æon Flux…all surreal visuals and minimal dialogue.

Meanwhile, Yo! MTV was bringing hip-hop into suburban living rooms seven days a week, elevating artists and style trends long before TikTok was even a dream.

Together, these shows helped MTV speak GenX fluently…loud, weird, and rebellious.

This Life Reboot is sponsored by La’Merde Designs apparel.

Life Reboot: Money

From 3 Channels to 47 Streaming Services... and Still Nothing to Watch

In 1993, our media diet was still pretty lean. You might’ve had basic cable—or if your parents were cool, HBO. Your remote had maybe 25 buttons, and half of them didn’t work. TV was linear. You planned your evening around Seinfeld or The X-Files and recorded the rest on a blank VHS with a carefully peeled label.

Back then, we weren’t overwhelmed by choice—we were just grateful the reception wasn’t snowy. Subscriptions? That meant Columbia House sending you CDs you forgot to cancel… not 17 streaming platforms each asking for $9.99 a month.

Today, we’ve got streaming fatigue, app fatigue, even newsletter fatigue (well, not this one). It’s easy to lose track of what we signed up for during a free trial in 2021 that’s still quietly billing us monthly.

And we’re not just talking about TV. It’s gym apps, brain training games, “free shipping” memberships, astrology calendars, and dog treat boxes. We set and forget. Our inbox fills up. Our bank accounts get quietly drained.

You’re not cheap. You’re just done paying for things you forgot existed.

Take 10 minutes and do this:

• Pull up your bank or PayPal statement. Scroll. Highlight. Gasp.

• Ask: Have I used this in the last month? Be honest. Nostalgia isn’t usage.

• Cancel one. Just one. It’s like stretching your budget hamstrings.

• Make a “Maybe Later” list. You're not breaking up forever…just taking a break.

• Keep what actually sparks joy. That meditation app you use weekly? Keep. The PDF meal plan for dogs? Probably not.

We’ve come a long way from fighting over the remote. But that doesn’t mean your budget has to lose the battle.

Control the content. Reclaim the cash. Move on.

This Interactive Feature is sponsored by 50 Ways to Keep Your Lover.

Interactive Feature: Poll

Visual Feature is sponsored by Practical Advice from the Scriptures.

Visual Feature: Throwback Ad

You know the vibe: a weirdly specific problem, an even weirder solution, and a mint that somehow saves the day.

The Mentos Freshmaker campaign turned ordinary people into chaotic optimists. Locked out? Trapped? Mildly inconvenienced? Just pop a Mentos and bend reality to your will with a wink, a grin, and a jingle so catchy it still lives rent-free in our heads.

Was it the mint that fixed the situation? No. But in 1993, we believed. And we cheered when a group of guys casually lifted a car to help a random woman back out of a parking spot.

Ridiculous. Iconic. Unforgettable.

Life Reboot is sponsored by La’Merde Designs.

The Interactive Feature is sponsored by 50 Ways to Keep Your Lover.

Visual Feature is sponsored by Practical Advice from the Scriptures.

We’re Outtie 5000

That’s a wrap on this week’s GenX Edit. Thanks for taking this nostalgic trip back to July 1993 with us!

Whether you’re reminiscing about your first summer job, still humming along to SWV, or just marveling at the dinosaurs that changed movie magic forever, we hope this edition brought a little ‘90s joy to your day.

If you loved this blast from the past, don’t keep it to yourself, forward The GenX Edit to a fellow latchkey kid, playlist curator, or movie buff who’d appreciate the memories.

Not subscribed yet? Join our crew and never miss an edition because the ‘90s are always worth a rewind.

Until next time, “Live long and prosper.”