Welcome back, music lovers. It may no longer be Wednesday on the East Coast, but it is still Wednesday somewhere, yeah? I tend to have a full schedule from the moment I get up til the moment I come home from my side gig at night. But enough of that. You are here for some tunes.
This week I want to focus on some of the music that influenced my formative years. Because of some quirks in my dad’s business travel schedule, I was allowed to stay up late quite a bit. Whether that was necessarily a wise judgment call on my mom’s part is another matter, I suppose. Then again, I was already naturally inclined to be nocturnal. The cool thing was I discovered some late night TV, include the classic era of SNL. The wide variety of then-cutting-edge musical guests was quite mind-blowing, at least for an early adolescent living in one suburban wasteland after another. The series and the music seemed to fit whatever teenage angst I was going through at the time. I never heard pop or rock music in the same way again. I’d discover a few other late night shows, that would expose me to all manner of artists who would have made my parents cringe at the time. So let’s do a bit of time traveling, shall we?
Talking Heads quickly became a go-to band for me. They had just the right blend of talent and quirkiness, and they would end up being one of the gateway bands to such talents as Brian Eno, Adrian Belew, and Jon Hassell. More to come. Stay tuned.
Seeing and hearing this right as I was prepping to be moved from one suburban wasteland in the southwest to another suburban wasteland along the west coast was just what I needed at the time. I’d heard the original version by the Stones, but this had much more of a kick to it.
This is one piece where you need to see the video. Audio alone doesn’t quite suffice.
Definitely. The visual accompanying their cover of “Satisfaction” really made a statement. I am not sure I would have been quite so moved if I had heard the song on the radio prior to seeing their performance on SNL.
Kate Bush made her appearance on Season 4 of SNL. Thanks to her appearance, I became quite the fan of unconventional female vocalists, including the likes of Elisabeth Frazer, Laurie Anderson, Yoko Ono, and Bjork. I don’t think any of my friends or acquaintances at that time (I was only what, maybe 13?) had a clue what a treasure trove of talent was available during that era.
Bowie made his appearance on Season 5, if I recall. He performed live with Klaus Nomi on that one, which was quite the spectacle. This is the promo video, which I enjoy quite a bit. I’ve been a Bowie fan ever since.
Summers were all about reruns. Fortunately NBC would run some stuff that was just a little before my time. This is a pretty good approximation of what I would have seen on SNL – Patti Smith Group performing their cover of Gloria. Sometimes I credit that song with helping me to realize I was essentially indifferent to the whole religion thing. Probably not the stuff early teens think about, but there it is.
I also started catching Ron Kirshner’s Rock Concert around that time. This video is a pretty close approximation to something Ian Hunter might have done on that one. Quiet or loud never mattered much to me. The only thing that seemed to matter was if the music was emotionally raw. When I was younger, the more pissed off, the better. I’ve mellowed out slightly since.
I meant Don Kirshner. Been too many years.
I can find low quality video of Blondie’s 1979 appearance on SNL, but why not hold out for the official vid? After all the sound quality is better.
I’d remiss not to include B-52s. Not long after that episode on SNL aired, I discovered the miracle of college radio. As edgy as SNL could get, I quickly discovered I hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface.
The B-52 is a drink as well as a plane and band. Tipsy Bartender has a recipe in Four Flaming Drinks