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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.
Tonight's Musical Guest, Today
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 entrant into the two-timers guest club is TMGT theme song creator and best friend of the pod Kenny! The spuds from Ohio get their big break on SNL in 1978 and do not disappoint with a wild national TV debut. Whip It takes over America two years later, captured by a lip-synced performance on The Mike Douglas Show. Devo stays in the cultural conversation with performances on Fridays and Letterman, with diminishing returns. And a 2010 comeback clip has Regis Philbin asking the all important question: what does Devo stand for?
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Satisfaction (20:08 mark)/Jocko Homo (1:01:24 mark), 10/14/1978 on Saturday Night Live
Secret Agent Man/Blockhead/Uncontrollable Urge/Mongoloid, 10/2/1979 on Don Kirschner's Rock Concert
Whip It, 9/3/1980 on The Mike Douglas Show
Nutra Theme-Jerkin' Back 'n Forth/I Saw Jesus-Through Being Cool/Working in the Coal Mine, 10/9/1081 on Fridays
That's Good, 11/18/1982 on Late Night with David Letterman
Fresh/Whip It, 6/18/2010 on Live with Regis and Kelly
