For What It's Worth

Rewound 2

In the

The Gulf War continued.

(On the 1st) A 6.4 mb Hindu Kush earthquake caused severe damage in northeast Afghanistan, leaving 848 dead and 200 injured.

… and author John Grisham publishes The Firm, which became the bestselling novel of the year.

(7th) The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting.

_{[Of course, my trip to Northern Ireland was slap bang in the midst of what Irish people called ‘The Troubles.’ This kind of made my time there even more interesting and thrilling. Especially when stuff like the following was going on. The division between the poorer Catholic and the more middle-class Protestant areas was palpable. It was however a topic of conversation never brought up while I was there. No matter how much digging I did there were just no clear answers]}

(11th) Massive Attack released their single “Unfinished Sympathy” but had to temporarily shorten their name to “Massive” to avoid a radio ban on the word “attack” during the Gulf War. Proving that the world was just as ridiculous back then as it is now.

(18th) The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes bombs in the early morning, at both Paddington station and Victoria Station, in London. The Paddington bomb caused no fatalities but one person died and 38 were injured at Victoria.

(16th) Start of the Singing Revolution: The Council of Lithuania declares the independence of Lithuania, ending decades of Soviet rule over the country.

_{[The Singing Revolution was a series of events from 1987 to 1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War.]}

_{The Singing Revolution in Lithuania}

and of course the movie …

(20th) The 33rd Annual Grammy Awards are presented in New York, hosted by Garry Shandling. Quincy Jones’ Back on the Block wins Album of the Year, Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise” wins Record of the Year and Bette Midler’s version of “From a Distance” wins Song of the Year. Mariah Carey wins Best New Artist.

Gulf War ends:

(26th) On Baghdad radio, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Iraqi soldiers set fire to Kuwaiti oil fields as they retreated; the fire lasted until the 7th of November.

(27th) U.S. President Bush declares victory over Iraq and orders a cease-fire. U.S. troops begin to leave the Persian Gulf on the 10th of March.

The Human Disgrace

_{An ecological disaster: The Gulf was awash in poisonous smoke, soot and ash. Black rain fell. Lakes of oil were created. As NASA wrote, “The sand and gravel on the land’s surface combined with oil and soot to form a layer of hardened ‘tartrate’ over almost 5 per cent of the country’s area.” Scores of livestock and other animals died from the oily mist, their lungs blackened by the liquid.}

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(27th) James Brown is granted an early parole and released from jail, following his arrest after a high-speed car chase through two states in 1989. Pop Will Eat Itself documented the affair with their song, “Not Now James, We’re Busy.”

(28th) Rick Stevens, ex-president of Summa Music Group publishing, buys the Record Plant; he refurbished it in 1993. Stevens added private lounges and an atrium with a jacuzzi and a billiard table lit by skylight. Among the albums recorded at the Record Plant were The Eagles’ Hotel California, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Jimi Hendrix’ Electric Ladyland and Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life.