Back when Paul Schafer played along with the musical guest on Letterman

Will is very focused on his prompter.

Ben used to post here.

schaffer's plugging his ears. lol what a prick.

I thought he was doing that to help him sing his harmony note.

NOT VERY PROFESSIONAL IN THAT CASE, PAUL

that was genuinely out of control. i love it.

also: hey two drummers . . . but only has a kick drum???

this is my new favorite thing, btw.

*only ONE

that's not the Ed Sullivan Theater, that's NBC studios!

I was going to do a post itt chroniclling Dino Jr. on Letterman, but got lazy & forgot.

Here's their debut that Dave references in his intro to that "Out There" clip: they perform "The Wagon" and Murph is limited to a couple floor toms and a tambourine. Will Lee is into it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm7flMpKK5Y

...and here they are on the CBS show, doing "Feel The Pain" with discreet help from the house band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DbkEnoVNhg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v4m4SzmA4U

10,000 Maniacs, except it's just Nat & the guitar player w/The World's Most Dangerous Band: "Don't Talk"

By 1993, they were able to negotiate that Will & Paul could have a coffee break so the whole band could appear, but were still stuck w/Anton, so their drummer was stuck on congas and tambourine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7oG5i20uew

"Stockton Gala Days"

Nick Cave video with the Paul Schafer stank face mentioned early on (about 2:20 in)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO17Vdi94CA

Always enjoyed the contrast between the guitarist's 'chance to shine' on The Wagon's bridge and J taking the solo

One thing a lot of these clips have got me thinking about is when exactly in the '90s did the musical guests on late night talk shows (not just Letterman) get relegated the last 10 or so minutes of the show? A number of these clips indicate that the bands played in the middle of show, like in this Screaming Trees on Letterman clip, where we find out they played before a cooking segment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJIEZx-_T74

i always assumed it was because everyone was watching for the music portion so they put it at the end to get people to stay tuned. also lament all bands getting strictly relegated to one song. i know it was less common, but i have clear recollections of some bands getting to play a couple songs.

wrt Letterman maybe it had something to do with the show's starting time moving from 12:30 to 11:30. With the 12:30 start, if you waited to put the band on at the end that would be like 1:20am or something, maybe that was considered too late

XP Yeah, I noticed on some '80s-'90s Carson clips that they often had bands do two songs back to back without a commercial break.

wrt Letterman maybe it had something to do with the show's starting time moving from 12:30 to 11:30. With the 12:30 start, if you waited to put the band on at the end that would be like 1:20am or something, maybe that was considered too late

I can see that. Apparently though he kept doing that in the early days of the CBS show. I was just a kid then, but my parents were cool/understanding enough that I saw a lot of those shows at the time, and I really don't remember a time when bands weren't the last thing on a show.

Huh I only ever watched Conan (right from the very beginning) and the band was always at the end.

In my head bands and comedians were always at the end but I only watched the last couple of years of Carson and then Conan.

Comedians sometimes came to the couch (depending on if Johnny waved them over), so I think there was at least always one more segment after their sketch?

sketch set

I seem to remember Lyle Lovett on the couch on Letterman, an example of a musician playing last in the lineup but not closing out the night with the performance itself.

i was always annoyed that the "performance" guests rarely got to sit at the couch and talk shit. imagine the hilarity of letterman trying to talk to j mascis after that performance.

Thread needs L7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5miCNKSoptQ

"Are you alright, Paul?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpx20yJ4KoA

"Are you alright, Paul?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpx20yJ4KoA

TIme for the rare, once a decade appearance of Poi Dog Pondering!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ7oxb5BjJ8

Screaming Trees clip appears to have Steve Ferrone on drums! When exactly was he in that mix?

nice of Thurston to wear a T-shirt from a band cooler than his ;)

all the Jicks got to be on tv, but Paul still wails on the keys for Jenny and the Ess Dog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEanHqTHIyA

I keep misreading the title as "Paul Schrader."

Already been mentioned multiple times over here, so it's officially A Thing: Your favourite misread ILX thread titles!

Still waiting for more discussion of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-oxl1boHZU

Hey James, thanks for posting that Poi Dog clip! Love their first few albums. Also great to see Susan Voelz up front, her two solo LPs are terrific.

Thread really delivers, thanks everyone

Paul Shaffer's name is completely misspelled in the thread title, which is no doubt part of the reason for the confusion with the other Paul!

Poul Schiffrin

Lol

Hey James, thanks for posting that Poi Dog clip! Love their first few albums. Also great to see Susan Voelz up front, her two solo LPs are terrific.

god damn, L7 was badass in that clip

these are all really fun to watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGZw0v5fbQw

The Go-Go's w/Paul in 1994.

Paul in black cowboy hat jamming along with the Texas Tornados as they played throughout this show in 1990. Last 4 minutes the Tornados playing a full song and Paul gets a piano break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FW6zF_dgww

Wow, Great Find!

I remember seeing Motorhead on the old NBC Letterman show. Dave made fun of Motorhead the entire show adn then when they came out to play, Lemmy flashed a death stare at Letterman. I think they ended up playing an old Chuck Berry tune and not even a Motorhead song.

― earlnash, Sunday, August 26, 2007 2:20 PM (fifteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrW8C4nBVUE

Ha
Did Dave do the same bit when Radiohead came on?

This is neat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E7D_oHOgRc

The World's Most Dangerous Go-Go's: "Cool Jerk '90"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd-1zwWYGKU

Wilco w/Paul: "Outtasite (Outtamind)"

#onethread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DnweMnI1Lw

Del Shannon: "Runaway"