Today (Oct. 4) in 1990, the world was introduced to Minneapolis transplants Brenda and Brandon Walsh, the gang at West Beverly High and enough crises to fill 10 memorable seasons.
Over the decade, Beverly Hills, 90210 viewers were introduced to several up-and-coming acts who graced the Peach Pit After Dark stage, while under ownership of Dylan McKay and Valerie Malone, among others.
The accompanying soundtrack, released in 1992, contained hits including Jeremy Jordan’s “The Right Kind of Love,” which peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight duet “Love Is,” which peaked at No. 3.
Check out 10 classic 90210 music moments from the show that had everyone tuned in to Fox on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and made teen idols out of Jason Priestley, Luke Perry, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling and Ian Ziering.
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10. David Silver (Brian Austin Green) and his fictitious band Jasper’s Law perform “Keep It Together” at the After Dark and Noah gets jealous when he assumes the song was written for his current squeeze, Donna.
9. Kelly and Brandon invite Color Me Badd to “sing for their supper” at the Peach Pit. As Donna and David lock lips, the bands breaks into an a cappella rendition of their Hot 100 No. 1 hit, “I Adore Mi Amor.”
8. It’s 1996 and Brandon and Susan look very much in love as they enjoy a New Year’s Eve party at the After Dark. Irish band The Corrs are on stage playing their song “Forgiven, Not Forgotten” — and wait, isn’t that Kelly kissing Colin? Talk about a throwback. Meanwhile, Steve’s conniving (and underage) little brothers manage to sneak in to the club.
7. The gang is headed to a Rolling Stones concert, but before the stage is ready, Ray Pruit (Jamie Walters) picks up a guitar and performs his Hot 100 No. 16 hit “Hold On” for Donna and (with help from a sound bite), hundreds of screaming fans. “Imagine what it feels like to perform up here!” These were the good ol’ days, before Ray pushed women down flights of stairs.
6. Love is in the air and Noah arranged for girl group Wild Orchid to play for Donna at the After Dark. Yes, that’s Fergie (aka “The Dutchess”) before she became a member of The Black Eyed Peas.
5. Monica performs “Angel of Mine” for Dylan and Gina at the After Dark, while Gina questions Dylan’s feelings for her. Once she finds out that Dylan slept with Kelly in Mexico, she walks out… in the middle of the song! Luckily, Monica is a pro and keeps singing her Hot 100 No. 1 hit as the screen fades to black.
4. In 1998 the After Dark hosted a dance marathon to raise money for AIDS research and guests began to “Jump Jive An’ Wail” with help from The Brian Setzer Orchestra. The tune, which peaked at No. 15 on the Alternative Songs chart, helped contribute to the revival of retro swing music in the U.S., though Donna is more concerned with what Noah has planned for her birthday.
3. The After Dark booked “mystery artist” The Flaming Lips to sing “She Don’t Use Jelly,” which peaked at No. 9 on the Alternative Songs chart. In the cutaways, Claire, Steve and Valerie don’t appear to be impressed and David walks in: “Hey, is that the Flaming Lips?” Steve: “It’s not Michael Bolton.” Unfortunately for the Lips, this was the same episode that Donna is attacked, and almost raped.
2. During the final season, the gang throws David a surprise birthday party at the After Dark and at first, the birthday boy is nowhere to be seen, but that doesn’t stop up and coming superstar Christina Aguilera from performing her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Genie In A Bottle.” After the gang gives a toast to Silver and the cake has been cut, Aguilera performs her Hot 100 No. 3 hit, “I Turn to You.”
1. Before they were known to the world as Maroon 5, Kara’s Flowers was just another struggling new act in town that Donna praises, telling David she wished there was a bigger crowd at the After Dark to watch them play.
If only she knew in time…