BY MIKEY MIGO
Since I was a young kid, one of my favorite shows to watch was Saturday Night Live. I have very early memories of the show, grew up during the Farley era, had high school during Will Ferrell's peak period, was shown old episodes by older relatives and Comedy Central, and still watch it today during the cycles of it not being an "in" show with the cool people.
One of my life long goals has always been being able to not only be on the show, but to say those magic words "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" It may be far fetched now because I'm wanting to be a writer more than act, but it still shows the importance of the show to me and I'm sure many others.
The comedy is something we all know and remember. It's got a place in our hearts and if you think Mad TV is better then click out of this column right now and go drink bleach. But anyways, let's talk about the topic at hand, the music of Saturday Night Live.
It was October 11th, 1975 and the stand up icon George Carlin was the guest host of the very first episode of what would become an American legacy of over thirty years. The first musical guests were Billy Preston of The Beatles fame and Janis Ian. From there, we were blessed with tons of great performances.
I'd love to be able to quickly jump a head a few years, but on the third episode of the same first season we were treated to a very unlikely performance. John Belushi squirmed, shook, and perfectly mimicked the legendary Joe Cocker. In a lot of the Belushi highlight packages we've seen over the years and hell, a lot of the SNL highlights we've seen this is a standout to anyone who loves music and comedy. In a later season, Belushi would get to perform with Cocker.
In April of 76, SNL producer Lorne Michaels offered the Beatles Three Thousand Dollars to perform on the show for a one night appearance. Through out the entire show, Lorne would appear a few times making the offer and trying to tempt the legendary band to show up on the show and play. Sadly, it wasn't accepted and we got John Sebastian instead. A few weeks later Michaels came on again and sweetened the deal to $3,200 and a hotel room for the night. Again, it wasn't accepted. However, in November of that year, George Harrison and Paul Simon played together. That was as close as Lorne got to his goal.
Also in Season Two, as the popularity of the show was on the rise so were the musical guests. With guests like the REAL Joe Cocker, Brian Wilson, Frank Zappa, Chuck Berry, The Kinks, Santana, and Tom Waits to just name a few the show had the "it" performers of that era. I think it's safe to say that "a couple" of those people are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
All was nice and kosher with the show and the musicians until December 17th, 1977. The musical guest on this specific episode was Elvis Costello. Thirty seconds into his performance of "Less Than Zero" he stopped his band in the middle of playing. From there he went on to play a yet unreleased track "Radio, Radio".
Supposedly this really pissed off Lorne Michaels who is very strict on adlibbing and unapproved segments of the show. Costello would not appear on the show again until 1989, mainly rumored because of the song switch.
After this historic moment, we got some very awesome guests like Bonnie Raitt, Billy Joel, Eddie Money, and Meatloaf. And as many albums, awards, and acclaims those fine performers have received they would never replace the performers on April 22nd 1978 impact on my life. On that night, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi both put on their black suits, black sunglasses, and hats and took the stage. Of course I'm talking about The Blues Brothers. As a child I'd take my father's Blues Brothers album play it and lip sync to it. I won't go into detail about the costume I wore.
We get to Season Four and that's when some more cool bands began to play. The Rolling Stones kicked the season off, followed by bands such as Devo, The Blues Brothers again, The Grateful Dead, Van Morrison, Frank Zappa, The Doobie Brothers and most notable to me is The Talking Heads. I know the comedy on these shows, but realizing the musical guests were that awesome I'd love to get my hands on a Delorian or a phone booth for a few nights.
After certain members of the cast blowing up and wanting to pursue movie roles and Lorne Michaels having contact problems, Season Five would be the last of the "Not Ready for Primetime Players" era. That doesn't mean there weren't any good musical guests that season though. Blondie, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, The B-52s, Gary Numan, Marianne Faithfull, and others took the stage. The most notable musical guest that year for me had to be David Bowie. I've seen the clip many times and the whole bizarre performance of "The Man Who Sold The World" with Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias doing backup vocals was surreal and awesome.
Season Six was pretty much a disaster for everyone involve. The comedy was poorly written, the cast was less than desirable, and the show was thought to be going down the tubes. While the musical guests were fine, the star power wasn't so much there as the glory years prior. We got to see Kid Creole, James Brown, and Cheap Trick but other than that it wasn't that much to be desired. I think I'm going to have a dentist appointment, so I'll let a friend borrow the Delorian for that season.
Thankful to the late Charles Rocket's f-bomb drop towards the end of the sixth season, they changed producers to Dick Ebersol and things seemed to be moving in a better direction. Season seven saw some great music performances to go a long with an improving cast. Rod Stewart, The Kinks, Miles Davis, Rick James, The Go-Go's, Hall and Oates, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Elton John were all featured on the show this season. The moss notable performance of the season for me was Andy Kaufman's first appearance where he impersonated Elvis, which is a must see if you haven't. All of that is overshadowed by the tragic death of John Belushi that spring. He was the first cast member to pass away and quite possibly the most important to the shows history.
There were many performances in Season Eight that stand out to me. The first musical guest of the season was Queen in their one and only performance on American television.
We also got The Clash performing their new song "Should I Stay or Should I Go". You might of heard that song once or twice. George Thorogood, Lionel Richie, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Durran Durran, and the legendary Stevie Wonder rounded out that year of awesome performances.
Season Nine's main highlight was Eddie Murphy becoming a full time cast member, but the music was also one of the season's highlights. During Season Nine The Stray Cats, Stevie Nicks, Huey Lewis and The News, Billy Idol, Adam Ant, Kool and The Gang, The Cars, and Spinal Tap round out the musical talent for that season.
In the final season of part one, we have Season Ten. The show survived ten years and showed the persistence to keep going despite some short comings in the early 80's. They brought in the top acts of that day and age like Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Kinks, Billy Squier, Herbie Handcock, Robert Plant, Tina Turner, The Commodores, and Billy Ocean.
The tenth season would be Dick Ebersol's last. What many consider the dark period of the show was over. When Season Eleven comes around, we take giant leaps towards the Saturday Night Love we all know and love. But that will have to wait until next week.
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