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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
Dinosaur Jr. with Evan Minsker
This western Massachusetts trio combined elements of hardcore, folk, and guitar virtuosity to become unlikely godfathers of grunge. But in between classic 80s indie releases and 2000s reunion albums, lots of other stuff happened too. We discuss. It's DINOSAUR JR. week!
Joining the show is the creator of the indie punk and rock publication see/saw and former Pitchfork News Editor Evan Minsker! After giving the first Lou Barlow era its needed time up top, the guys watch the band's network TV debut 7 years after its formation on Letterman. It's a very World's Most Dangerous Band episode, featuring punk chimes in a '93 clip. Dinosaur Jr. performs a forgotten rap-rock jam on Arsenio with the ridiculous lineup of Del tha Funky Homosapien, Mike Watt, and Mike D. The Mike Johnson era of the band reaches its pinnacle with Feel the Pain on Letterman. The guys are too old to party with their daughter on the Jenny Jones show. And the triumphant return of Lou kicks off on Craig Ferguson in 2005.
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Band Featurette, January 1991 on Snub TV
The Wagon, 5/21/1992 on Late Night with David Letterman
Out There, 6/12/1993 on Late Night with David Letterman
Feel the Pain, 9/8/1994 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Never Bought it/Out There, 11/6/1997 on The Jenny Jones Show
The Lung, 4/15/2005 on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Almost Ready, 4/30/2007 on The Late Show with David Letterman
