#70 Ziggy Marley (+ Zelda bonus)

 

Ziggy Marley is #70 in the 1991 MusiCards checklist. In contrast to the several Madonna cards of the previous post, this is Ziggy's only appearance in the set, though we saw his dad back at card #16 in the opening Legends subset. Ziggy's topless photo here rivals Jim Morrison and Paula Abdul for most skin / least clothes in the set so far.

"Tumblin' Down" (live)

I haven't listened to much Ziggy Marley over the years, but I've liked what I've heard. The Melody Makers didn't pop up on my radio often back in the day, but I was always happy to hear his singles when they came on. 

One time circa '91 I taped "Tomorrow People" off the radio and the DJ did a dumb little skatting thing over the end of the song, and I listened to that tape enough to the point where now whenever I hear that song, I kinda hear the DJ in my head.

"Look Who's Dancing" is another good one from Ziggy.

He still releases music and does occasional acting. I don't have much else to say about him, but he seems like a good dude who does a lot of charity work. There's a new Bob Marley biopic due out in 2024 called One Love co-produced by Ziggy. The trailer recently came out and it looks intriguing.

CUSTOM CORNER

Sticking at the end of the alphabet for another prominent "Z" in pop culture, let's take a quick look at a classic video game series: Zelda.

A subset of popular video games would have likely been well received by kids of the day were Pro Set inclined to expand the scope of their MusiCards (and been able to work it out with Nintendo, et al).

Along with the original Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda was my introduction to Nintendo. Circa 1986, my neighbor friend Jeremy Small (Jeremy, are you out there? Let's reconnect! LOL) had me over one day when he was playing some Zelda. It kinda blew my mind and a Nintendo Entertainment System went straight to the top of my Christmas list.

I would go on to play a lot of NES, with Zelda and its sequel The Adventure of Link both getting a lot of time in the console. I didn't have a Super Nintendo back in the day (ended up with a Sega Genesis instead), but I eventually played through the great SNES Zelda game A Link to the Past via emulation years later. There's also a really good GameBoy Color Zelda game I've played with an owl always hooting at you about something. But I never played the N64, GameCube, or Wii games. (Well, I own Skyward Sword for Wii, but haven't been able to play it for longer than a few minutes without losing interest in trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do... but maybe I'll give it another shot someday.)

But now I've been playing a lot of Tears of the Kingdom, which is the new Zelda game for Switch. I had a gift certificate for the Nintendo store from a couple Christmases back that I had been meaning to use, so when I saw the new Zelda game out getting rave reviews, made sense to get it. 

I've since gotten a bit obsessed with TofK and have sunk many hours into it over the past couple months. I suck at video games, so I haven't even gotten very far, but it's a big open-world game with lots of side quests and stuff to do besides advancing to beat the game. Heck, sometimes it feels there's too much you can do, overwhelming me with so many options. For instance, you can combine a ton of stuff in the game to build things-- such as making cool weapons, but then they screw you by severely limiting how many weapons Link can carry, and sometimes they randomly break when you're using them. 

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with TotK and the game can make me furious, often spooking the dog out of the room with my ugly outbursts while playing. Sometimes it's cheap stuff like the camera angle changing at inopportune times that trips you up. But a lot of the time, it's my own damn fault since there are so many buttons and with my lousy memory I invariably push the wrong button nearly half the time. So like in a battle where you have to be quick with attacking and blocking and doing special moves, I get my ass kicked. But when I'm just bumbling around, searching for items and enjoying the beautiful digital scenery, it's a great game. And the scattered about "shrines" are sometimes fun brain teasers where you have to figure out how to get to the other side of the room using provided objects.

Anyways, thanks for letting me vent. Yeah, the new Zelda game is really something. Overall, though, I'm happy remaining a retro-gamer for the most part-- much easier to remember just A and B buttons, lol-- and I still play those first three Zelda games every so often. (Oh hey, if you happen to be into NES emulation, check out the hack I made of Zelda II twenty years ago called "Adventure of Error" that changes the graphics and text in silly, often crude ways. It might be a bit low-brow at times, but I spent a lot of time on it back then and I'm still proud of how it came out. Makes me laugh when I play it, at least. Yes, before I was making custom cards, I was customizing video games, ha. [Here's a .nes file download; you'll need a NES emulator to play it.)

Were any of you readers into Legend of Zelda back then? Anyone also playing Tears of the Kingdom these days? Please feel free to share your thoughts on Ziggy Marley in the comments as well. Thanks!

#65-69 Madonna

Got a bunch of Madonna cards to peruse today, as we hit numbers 65 through 69 in the 1991 MusiCards set.

Madonna is the face of MusiCards, mathematically speaking, with Pro Set getting the most out of their hot licensing coup. She appears on 5 cards in series one (the max number given per artist), 2 more in series two (again the max for that series), and her total of 6 cards in the UK edition is bested only by New Kids on the Block (who have 7 cards in that set, but do not appear in the US version.)

Card #65 features an attractive shot and is probably my personal favorite of Madonna's cards. Pretty sure that's her "Like a Prayer" look. I remember watching MTV during the premiere of the video back when they would occasionally make a big deal out of the first time they played a new video. Seems "Like a Prayer" was the pinnacle of that "world premiere video" pageantry. Sponsored by Pepsi and controversial for religious/racial stuff (which probably wouldn't move the needle today), it was a hit and is still among my favorite songs of hers.

There are 3 versions of this card, with the photograph also gracing a promo as well as a card in the UK edition.

That's quite an effusive write-up, but yep, she sure was a big deal at the time. Of course she's still a big deal today, even if not consistently topping the charts as she did in her prime. A big world tour kicks off next month, planned to stretch into 2024, billed as her first "greatest hits" concerts.

As I was saying, she's got 5 consecutive cards here in Series 1, then a couple more later in Series 2, plus 6 cards in the UK edition, and a couple promos (one of which has error/corrected variations). Her 16 total cards in the MusiCards master set is the highest total of anyone (unless you also count the Yo! MTV Raps cards under the MusiCards umbrella, in which case M.C. Hammer overtakes her with 19 combined). Six of the seven US front photos are repeated in the UK set, with the above long-necked #66 being the sole "US-only" Madonna MusiCard.

Crazy that she's been at it for over 40 years now. Her image was no stranger to trading cards by this point. Panini put out several Madonna cards in the 80s, then in 1990, Topps released a Dick Tracy card set featuring her character sprinkled throughout.

I never dove too deeply into Madonna's catalog, but generally liked her 80s hits well enough.

I think this is her "Express Yourself" look. The aforementioned corrected promo card shares the photo with card #67 here. Let's take a quick look at the promo, why not...

The difference is on the back, specifically the first few words in the write-up.

Her last name is Ciccone, not Caccione, and she was born in 1958, not '61. Even on the corrected version they mistakenly stuck a comma in the middle of her name, lol.

Anyways, back to Series 1...

Speaking of distinguishing yourself, I went to elementary school with a husky kid named George who was big into Madonna. It was funny because all us other boys were into playing GI Joes and riding bikes or whatever, and then there's big George consistently rocking the Madonna shirt in 4th grade with no fucks given. (And no, he wasn't overly feminine; if anything he was sort of a bully!) I wish I could track that guy down and catch up with him. Did he love Madonna his whole life, or did the obsession fade as he got older?

Card #68 here would have been better off swapping photos with the back, if you ask me, trading the relatively boring headshot for some black & white voguing... a flipped version of the photo on the back of the promo.

Anyone looking for updated stats and additional information can skim Madonna's lengthy Wikipedia entry.

Like a Prayer era Madonna is where it's at for me, syncing up with the height of when I was listening to pop music. If the "Cherish" video came on MTV back in the day, I'm watching it. And "Oh Father" is a favorite of mine that was only a minor hit, also found on that album.

This shot may look familiar, as a similar photo is used on the back of card #66. I'd probably rank this "biker chick" look at the bottom of the fashions displayed on Madonna's MusiCards, honestly.

#69, nice. Pro Set didn't repeat photos in the set too often, but this back shot was also used on card #67 (and seems to be from the same photoshoot as the front of card #66).

She was still in the thick of her peak years in the early 90s. These cards were hitting retail shelves around the time Madonna was filming 1992's A League of Their Own, regarded as probably her best on-screen effort.

The only Madonna album I ever actually owned was a True Blue cassette I probably picked up used for a couple bucks or maybe got cast off from a buddy. Some good tunes on that one, with "Live to Tell" being my favorite. But yeah, I was down with Madonna at the time and still enjoy most of her hits up until getting all over-the-top mega-horny, with "Justify My Love" and 1992's Erotica and her SEX book ironically turning me off. But her first 4 studio albums get a thumbs-up from me. Beyond that, I also really like "Don't Tell Me"... reminds me of walking around campus during my days at SDSU.

That'll wrap up this post. Let me know in the comments if you've got anything to share on the subject. I would guess most of my readers are like me and consider themselves casual fans of 80s Madonna and that's about it, but hey, maybe some of you guys really love (or hate) her.

We'll check back in with the Queen of Pop once we eventually get to cards #275 and 276. Ziggy Marley is up next.

#64 Linear (+ Dimebox Dad Music Customs Series 3 set)

 

Number 64 in the '91 MusiCards set is a pop group called Linear. The awkwardly cropped photo squeezes in the three fellas who are showing off their world-class mullets and a sampling of their musical instruments.

The back pic is likely from the same photoshoot as the front, but must've been earlier seeing as they've still got their jackets on. 

Gotta admit this band doesn't ring a bell for me-- and I never watched much Miami Vice-- but they've got a modest Wikipedia entry and were a flash in the pan in 1990 with "Sending All My Love" reaching #5 in the US.

"Sending All My Love" sounds a bit familiar listening to it now, and it really hammers that chorus into your head, but doesn't really differentiate itself from the rest of the generic dance pop of the era. These guys sounds like they could have been the opening act on a New Kids On The Block tour. I actually listened to the entire debut album while writing this post. There's some terrible "boy band" stuff on there that's lost on me as a middle-aged man hearing it for the first time, but a couple "guitar forward" songs were alright.

A sophomore LP, Caught in the Middle, was released in 1992 and the lead single "T.L.C." reached #30, but petered out after that. They put out a single called "Let's Go All the Way" in 1994, but it didn't go anywhere, ironically, and that seems to have been their last release of note. While not very active these days, Linear is still together as a group according to their Wiki, though now they're a duo of "Steele" and "Riot," with "Bang" having left the fold.

CUSTOM CORNER

Changing gears, here's something from last year I haven't gotten around to posting yet. Nick from the Dimeboxes blog had facilitated another deal where I whip up a set of several custom cards of favorite musicians for his dad Mike in exchange for some set needs of mine.

Dimebox Dad Music Cards Series 3

This is the 3rd series of 18 cards (for easy paging) I've made for Mike over the years. How these sets come together is I'm sent a list with names and some info for the backs along with suggested photos to use. Then I make them into cards, with the only guideline being that he likes 70s oddballs best, so I try to keep that in mind when thinking of what design would work well with each picture. Some of these were templates I had already made, but some were cranked out specifically for this project.

I'm down with Daniel Johnston and there were a few other names I recognized or maybe knew one song they did, but the majority of these were unfamiliar to me. Fun to give a curious listen and skim the Wikipedia for them while making the cards.

"I Love You Like I Love Myself" by Herman Brood is a song I hadn't heard before that has become one of my most-played songs of the past year. Hell, I've played the song on repeat for a good chunk of time on more than one occasion. It's a really fun, heartfelt rocker from the late 70s that would fit right in on modern classic rock radio, yet refreshingly not worn out like the rest of that rotation. So thanks to Nick's dad Mike for turning me onto that, among other very cool tunes I was exposed to thanks to making these requested custom cards.

I was really happy with how the cards came out and brought them with me during my trip to Chicago last summer, hoping to hand-deliver them. Would have been great to see the look on his face when he flipped through the cards for the first time, but unfortunately we weren't able to work out a meet up while I was in Nick and Mike's neck of the woods and so I resorted to mailing them after returning home.

As with all my customs, they're not for sale but if you really want one for your collection I'm sure we could work out a trade without too much trouble.

That'll do it for this post. Thanks for stopping by and let me know in the comments if you've got any thoughts to share regarding Linear or any of the Dimebox Dad set. I'm also very curious if any of you are like me and once in a blue moon get obsessed with a song and listen to it on repeat many times in a row.. or am I just a weirdo?

#63 Huey Lewis (and The News)

Huey Lewis (#63) seems to be one of the more popular cards in the overproduced 1st series of 1991 Pro Set MusiCards. Like, you could legitimately argue it's a key card in the set. If you open a random pack of MusiCards and get one, it's a good pull. (--Not that it's worth more than a few cents, of course!) 

Odd that they kept it as a solo subject rather than make it a card of Huey Lewis & The News despite bits of them in the background of the photo. This same card is reprised in the UK edition of the set, though there the logo box is moved to the lower right corner, revealing more of the News.

Huey's reign as a top rock star of the day didn't really stretch into the 90s, but back in the mid 80s? You couldn't avoid the guy if you tried. The back gives you a big-picture overview of his band's accomplishments and mentions he's from the Bay Area.

I like the hits of Huey Lewis and the News as much as the next guy, though he was just a bit before my time, with me not really "getting into music" until the late 80s when he was yesterday's news, as it were.

My favorite song of his/theirs would probably be "The Power of Love", which is not only a sleek slab of toe-tapping pop rock & roll, but also has the association with Back to the Future further bolstering its pop culture status and nostalgic foothold with people around my age.

Last I heard, Huey is semi-retired and losing his hearing from decades of rocking out. Wishing him the best.

I might as well right a wrong and use this opportunity to design a MusiCard-that-never-was that squeezes in more of the neglected News.

Pop off in the comments if you've got anything to say about Huey Lewis and/or the News. If you're a fan, any hidden gem deep cuts you'd recommend giving a listen?

Next up is a band I'm not familiar with, but the post will have a big Custom Corner to make up for it. Stay tuned.

#62 Patti LaBelle (+ Dionne Warwick bonus)

Patti LaBelle is #62 in the 1991 MusiCards set. This photo reminds me of those old Skybox basketball cards with the white background and various colorful shapes n' stuff around the player. The logo box effectively censors Patti's right hand, making me smile at the thought that she's flipping the bird under there, all like "Kiss my ass, I'm Patti F'ing LaBelle!"

We get a look at a different hairstyle on the back. As the write-up states, she's been at it for a long time and had some solid hits along the way.

I remember the likes of "On My Own" (featuring Michael McDonald) getting played a lot on the adult contemporary radio stations my mom played in the car back when I was a kid in the mid 80s. 

Once I started buying cassettes for myself in the late 80s, the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack was among the first albums in my budding music collection. Pretty sure I bought it specifically for Harold Faltermeyer's iconic instrumental "Axel F", but I also really enjoyed Patti's two contributions on the tape: "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up".

She's still active, occasionally performing concerts, and has done a fair amount of television acting in recent years, plus was a contestant on the second season of The Masked Singer.

Let me know in the comments if you have any favorite Patti LaBelle songs or thoughts/memories to share.

Just a quick one-- trying to squeeze in a monthly post before March ends-- but I watched a doc on Dionne Warwick on HBO Max earlier this year, which included Patti LaBelle as a contemporary interview subject. It was pretty interesting and I enjoyed it despite previously not knowing much about Warwick's career other than the basics. She didn't get included in the '91 MusiCard set, so I figured it would make for a good custom to pair with the Patti LaBelle entry.

"Heartbreaker", "I'll Never Love This Way Again", and "That's What Friends Are For" are probably my favorite songs of hers-- more songs that remind me of riding in the backseat as a kid-- but she has plenty of good ones.

Thanks for reading. Huey Lewis is on deck.

#61 Lenny Kravitz (+ Slash bonus)

If the 1991 MusiCards set designated certain cards of promising new acts along the lines of Future Stars or Rated Rookies, #61 Lenny Kravitz would be very likely to receive such designation as an up-and-comer at the time.

"Let Love Rule"

He had gotten his foot in the door with "Let Love Rule" seeing decent airplay in 1990. His second album, Mama Said, followed in April 1991-- about the same time these cards were hitting shelves-- with the singles "Always on the Run" and "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" helping propel Lenny on his way to stardom.

Lenny also has a card in the UK edition of the set featuring the same front photo.

I consider myself a casual fan of his. Like.. I taped multiple Lenny Kravitz songs off the radio back in the early 90s, though I never got around to buying any of his albums.

"Mr. Cab Driver" is a lesser-known tune of his I like from his early days. "Are You Gonna Go My Way" is undeniably catchy. "Fly Away" is another banger (and if you have a silly sense of humor, check out this hilarious reimagining). Throw in "Again" and his cover of "American Woman" and I think that's about all of his songs that I'm familiar with. Let me know in the comments if you've got any favorites of his or know of any deeper cuts that are worth checking out.

CUSTOM CORNER

"Always on the Run"

A favorite Lenny Kravitz fun fact of mine is-- no, not that his mom was an actress on The Jeffersons-- but that the basis for "Always on the Run" was originally an idea Slash came up with as a potential Guns N' Roses song, but drummer Steven Adler had trouble playing it. So the tune ended up getting finished as a collaboration with Lenny instead.

When looking for Slash pictures to make a custom, this seemed like a fun one to work into the '91 MusiCards design. Turned out pretty cool.

Love me some classic GNR and will have to cover the band more in depth in a future Custom Corner, but keeping it brief this time. Up next is Patti LaBelle.

#56-60 Janet Jackson

Her name ain't baby; It's Janet... Ms. Jackson, if you're nasty.

I like Janet Jackson's music fine, especially the Control through Rhythm Nation 1814 era, with those hit singles being all over the radio and MTV when I was young.

She's got 8 MusiCards total: the 5 consecutive here in Series 1, plus one in the UK edition, one "alternate design" promo, and one regular design promo. We'll hit most of those in this "speed round" post, trying to get the blog back in the swing of things after it sank into a hiatus the latter half of 2022.

Good variety of photos in the group.

1991 Pro Set MusiCards #56 Janet Jackson

This one features a lot of hair.

 

1990 sure was a big year for her.

1991 Pro Set MusiCards #57 Janet Jackson

She could almost pass for LaToya from this angle. Heck, squint your eyes and it could be her brother Michael.

It's tough for me to pick a favorite Janet Jackson song, but "Pleasure Principle" would be up there.

Janet Jackson - "Pleasure Principle"

1991 Pro Set MusiCards #58 Janet Jackson

This one's all business. A rare time the awkward MusiCards design actually works well with a photo.

Back picture here, featuring Janet as a blonde with her hair up, is similar to that on card #57, likely from the same photoshoot. Almost look like they could be stills from a video. Actually, yeah, looks like that might be from the "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" video.

Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)

1991 Pro Set MusiCards #59 Janet Jackson

This horse cameo might be the first animal sighting in the set so far unless I'm forgetting something. Wikipedia mentions Janet wanted to be a horse racing jockey when she was little.

I remember getting a little sick of the "Rhythm Nation" video getting played so much on MTV at the time, but it's a good song.

Janet Jackson - "Rhythm Nation"

1991 Pro Set MusiCards #60 Janet Jackson

Looks like this image is from the "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" video shoot, as with the back of cards #57 and #58. A bit grainy, but cute pic.

I watched the big Janet documentary on Hulu (think it was originally on Lifetime) last year and enjoyed it. Learned a lot about her and the Jackson Five. That also inspired me to find and watch Poetic Justice, the 1993 film she starred in with Tupac. That was a decent flick. Talented lady, no doubt.

Now here's the unnumbered promo card-- note the different font in the logo. These "cello pack promos" as TCDB currently lists them, are often early versions of cards that went on to appear in the final 1991 MusiCards set-- that is to say they use the same photograph-- but there's no non-promo doppelganger sharing this straightjacket-pose shot. Promo exclusive, baby! Ms. Jackson!

The back photo didn't get reused either. Probably the earliest photo of the bunch, from the looks of it.

Janet Jackson - "Miss You Much"

The write-up says "Miss You Much" was the most played single of 1989, though fact-checking that claim, looks like the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1989 (Wikipedia entry) has it ranked at #5. But I guess they're talking about radio and/or MTV play, which is likely a somewhat different list.

Notice the colors are flipped on the back of the promo.

Finally, here's Janet's alternate design promo card from 1990. This photo was also not used on any of her retail MusiCards. It looks very close to the back photo of card #56, but nope, different photo.

Seems like the same picture at first glance, but it's like one of those "spot the differences" exercises when you take a closer look.

BTW, I'm not covering her card in the UK edition in this post, but that one features the same "a lot of hair" photo we saw earlier at card #56.

Most of the bio information here is mentioned on her other MusiCards, though this one does share the tidbits that she loves eating Mexican food (me too! so relatable!) and visiting Paris in spring. I dig the "sexy mummy" photo, too.

"Escapade" is another favorite song of mine. Listened to it a lot on a special playlist made for Friday afternoons when I got off work, with its whole vibe of "whew, I'm done working for a while, time to have some fun" helping ring in the weekend.

And so there's a bunch of Janet Jackson cards. Any thoughts or memories coming to mind when you think of her? Favorite song(s)? Feel free to share in the comments.