Tonight's Musical Guest, Today
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Nirvana on Saturday Night Live. Warren Zevon on David Letterman. Sometimes, late-night TV musical performances live on forever. Most don’t. But we still want to talk about them.
Each week on “Tonight’s Musical Guest, Today”, long-time friends Alex Beaton and Jon Hillman dive in on the music and cultural memory of a band through the arc of their late-night TV performances. Watch along with Alex and Jon as they examine and react to these musical history moments preserved in the amber of time alongside two celebrity guests and a talk show host.
From Conan to Colbert, Letterman to Leno, or SNL to MadTV, there is no shortage of iconic late-night musical moments. And no end to the ones you don’t remember.
Episodes
36 episodes
The Strokes
They were cool looking boys from the large apple. Leaders of a NYC and retro guitar rock revival, they wrote two of the catchiest and most memorable records of the early 2000s. Was that it? It's THE STROKES week!The Strokes make their n...
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Episode 35
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2:15:36
Slipknot
They came from the heartland to destroy us all. More brutal death metal than nu, maggots from every corner of America rejoiced at their one-of-a-kind stage show, technical precision, and devil-fueled aggression. It's SLIPKNOT week!The g...
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Episode 34
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2:21:23
Supergrass with Travis Shettel
They exploded onto the 90s Britpop scene with fresh faces and clean teeth. Steven Spielberg wanted to turn them into the next Monkees. Instead, this UK phenomenon eschewed America and just did it their way. It's SUPERGRASS week!Joining ...
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Episode 33
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2:12:06
Janet Jackson with Robby Seabrook III
She holds eye-popping album sale records, ushered a whole new style of pop music into the mainstream, and did it all as a socially conscious black woman in conservative white America. But one TV performance clouded all of it. It's JANET JACKSON...
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Episode 32
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2:25:30
Grab Bag: Supergroups
Ill-conceived. Unnecessary. Over the top. No, not this podcast, but rather the topic at hand for our third-ever Grab Bag episode: SUPERGROUPS!Mr. Big brings together middling hair metal pros to create the "cordless-electric-hand-drill g...
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Episode 31
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2:22:42
Devo with Kenny
One-hit wonder? Yes. Decade-spanning mythology rooted in the ethos of societal and human genome collapse? Also yes. Fortune-tellers, DIY punk legends, new wave heroes? Yes, yes, and yes. It's DEVO week!Joining the show as the first entr...
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Episode 30
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2:26:56
Jimi Hendrix
In just 4 year's time, he created the modern version of American rock music and reinvented the guitar. And broke the brains of whoever saw him do it. It's JIMI HENDRIX week!Jimi breaks through on the southern Chitlin' circuit with his f...
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Episode 29
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2:29:21
Arctic Monkeys
They went from snotty, Brit teen punk phenomenons to Olympic game-playing elder statesmen in six year's time. From angular pop punk to R&B blues rock to crooning ballads about casinos on the moon, it's a career arc equal parts successful an...
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Episode 28
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2:07:19
Tom Waits with Ben Hosley
Drunk troubador. Carnival barker. Scum bum extraordinaire. Character actor. He's lived as many lives as he sung about. It's TOM WAITS week!Joining the show as a renowned scum bum expert in his own right is Ben Hosley (Blank Check with G...
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Episode 27
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2:32:10
Smashing Pumpkins with Marissa Paternoster
We're talking one of the most successful and volatile bands of the 1990s: hair journeys, lineup changes, #1 albums, and too many Billy Corgan quotes. It's SMASHING PUMPKINS week!Joining the show to talk about one of her favorite bands o...
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Episode 26
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2:30:17
One-year Anniversary Awards Show
All the stars are here. It's late-night TV's biggest evening. We even made Kenny make a crooner awards show version of the theme. We're celebrating the best and worst of over 100 performances discussed. It's our One-year Anniversary Awards Show...
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Episode 25
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1:36:26
Aerosmith with Perry Eaton
The podcast bad boys from Boston are talking about THE Bad Boys from Boston. It's AEROSMITH week!Joining the show with discussion questions in hand is the lead singer and guitarist of another great Boston band Beeef, Perry Eaton! Perry ...
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Episode 24
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2:38:49
Fall Out Boy
They're pop-punk emo heroes turned anthemic arena radio rock mainstays. Some turned to heavy drug use, while others became tabloid fodder. And hats. Lots of hats. It's FALL OUT BOY week!The career arc is there folks, captured in some ri...
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Episode 23
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1:59:18
Teenage Fanclub with Mark Neeley
In a year that saw Nirvana, R.E.M, and Pearl Jam put out generation-defining albums, Spin Magazine named this band's 1991 album Record of the Year. 33 years later, this cult power-pop outfit remains a weird outlier sandwiched between the eras o...
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Episode 22
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2:24:01
Primus
The craziest bass playing you've ever seen. Atonal metal breakdowns. Songs about meth heads burying bodies. And multiple top-ten records. How? It's PRIMUS week!It's a guestless, Alex-pick episode: buckle up. Primus breaks on to the nati...
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Episode 21
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2:07:23
Tyler, the Creator with J'na Jefferson
He's gone from causing a national panic to winning Grammys and selling high-end perfumes, all while putting on some of the most innovative stage performances of the 21st century. It's TYLER, THE CREATOR week!Joining the show to school u...
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Episode 20
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2:11:48
Amy Winehouse
Her voice: timeless. Her TV performances: iconic. We're headed across the pond and googling gobby. It's AMY WINEHOUSE week!Clips on Later...with Jools Holland and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross show Amy at her jazziest. Jools Holland's...
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Episode 19
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2:21:06
Beastie Boys with Sean O'Neal
So what-cha want? An episode on the prolific decades-spanning run of Ad Rock, Mike D, and MCA? No problem. It's BEASTIE BOYS week!Joining the show to break down the iconic rhymes, beats, and general coolness of the B-Boys is Texas Month...
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Episode 18
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2:17:53
Grab Bag: New Year's Eve Performances
It's a night of celebration and watching musicians and celebrities awkwardly count down numbers together. We're ringing in 2024 with our second-ever GRAB BAG episode on New Year's Eve performances!The guys watch Tina Turner preview her ...
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Episode 17
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2:01:02
Green Day with Ryan Agate
From Gilman to the Grammys, they are arguably the biggest American punk band of all time. It's GREEN DAY week!Joining the show is long-time and legendary (as proclaimed by us) Boston music venue booker Ryan Agate AKA Ryan the Terrible! ...
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Episode 16
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2:11:38
Coldplay with Josh Terry
Maybe you love to hate 'em. Maybe they're a guilty pleasure. Or maybe like most humans on earth you casually enjoy 'em. Either way, It's COLDPLAY week!Joining the show is music critic and writer of the Chicago-based culture blog
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Episode 15
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2:25:26
No Doubt
They sparked a national obsession with ska horns and new wave keyboard while being led by one of the most famous frontwomen of the 1990s. It's NO DOUBT week!The clip journey this week takes the show from local SoCal cable access in 1990...
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Episode 14
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2:12:33
1960s Aretha Franklin
T-M-G-T-P-O-D! Find out what it means this week! We're going way back into the era of bright light variety specials to talk the Queen of Soul. It's 1960s ARETHA FRANKLIN week!The guys discuss Aretha’s intense upbringing amid the civil r...
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Episode 13
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2:23:49