A Special Event

Tune into “Saturday Night Live,” these days, and the musical guests will doubtlessly not be pushing any envelopes in any meaningful capacity. At some distant point, the booking policy started adhering rather strictly to already-established, mainstream artists who were promoting brand new albums. Ultimately, it became less about introducing audiences to new and different music and solely about shifting units and selling product.

Suffice to say, `twas not always thus.

Turn back the clock to the show’s earlier incarnations, and you find an entirely different scenario. SNL gave a stage to bands who’d otherwise never have gotten that kind of broad exposure, from Devo, Sun Ra and Gary Numan to Frank Zappa, Laurie Anderson and well-pre-Let’s Dance-era Bowie (when he was still pretty damn freaky). And, of course, let’s not forget FEAR.

Below is another perfect example. Clips from this episode have been on and off YouTube for years, but someone recently uploaded both numbers from that evening, and they are a revelation.

Dating back to April of 1980, here are the mighty Specials in their kinetic prime. Introduced by veteran character actor Strother Martin (his last television appearance prior to his death), the Specials launch into “Gangsters” and “Too Much Too Young” with their signature, nattily-dressed aplomb (note that they change outfits between songs). Even within the cramped studio, the band loses none of their high-stepping frenzy. Simply put, NOBODY moved like The Specials.

Enjoy it while it lasts. This is how it’s done, kids.

 

Comments

[ritchie vanian]

a great performance- but for me- The Replacements doing Bastards Of Young and Kiss Me On The Bus was the best ever

[URLBrenner]

Agreed, agreed, AGREED!

The musical guests on SNL back in the day were clearly on another level...an extension of the weirdness of the show and the culture of its target audience. This type of unique TV experience has been sadly lacking for a long, long time and will probably, sadly never return. Fringe rock and roll bands and musical artists on a major network late-night show? Not going to happen ever again. There was a fair share of Top 40 artists that performed on SNL back then but it seemed like there was always more than sufficient room for off the grid music as well. The Specials appearance are one great example. How about when Captian Beefheart did 'Hot Head' and 'Ashtray Heart' on the show in 1980? Devo, John Prine, Tom Waits, Zappa, Gil Scott-Heron not to mention The Stones who were at their absolute peak of rock and roll grit when they were on the show in 1978 after the release of 'Some Girls'. The list goes on. Since I'm an old guy now I remember seeing alot of these performances when they aired. Back then in those pre-cable days when their weren't many choices on TV (a good thing!)it seemed like an eternity before the show went on at 11:30. I found myself either tolerating the late hours of prime time shows followed by the news or just suffering through a few hours of non-TV boredom. But it was totally worth it!