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

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"

Nice. Particularly like WIll's sound on that.

Paul jammed with Megadeth, which I didn't recall at the time!

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

Here too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JzovrQ0Xu8

Alice In Chains

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

Good Finds!

OMG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-2FSTN584Q

The Ramones, except it's just Joey & Johnny: "Pet Cemetery"

Just think...Anton Ramone

Looking closer at those Megadeth clips...both of those performances were promoting the same album! Really rare to see a band do separate appearances on a show for the same record (and it not be a residency).

they might be giants, making their network tv debut, playing a tight version of "they'll need a crane" with paul schaefer and the band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBXkWetkf48

Haven’t read through this thread entirely, but is there some background as to why Paul Schafer did this kinda shit? Seems like a colossal dick move to push you and your band onto musical guests.

i mean it makes sense for some bands, like early TMBG

Sure, but that’s not typical. It doesn’t seem like it was a “Hey, can we play with you guys?” sorta set-up, but kinda the price you pay if you wanna be on the show. Cuz I can’t imagine most bands would be cool with it.

As mentioned upthread, that's why the Replacements never did Letterman (Pleased To Meet Me-era, iirc).

Yeah, it always seemed like a shitty flex, like “you may think you’re so great, but actually we can do your shit as well as everyone else’s.”

Also I’d like to know if bands’ song choices were ever vetoed because the house band couldn’t do them or didn’t have a part to play.

Probably not. Shaffer & co. were all heavy session pros, so there's not a lot they couldn't fake.

A lot of times they would also back up solo artists, even if said artists already had established backing bands.

For example, Stevie Ray Vaughan sans Double Trouble

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEeck-DHDaI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQr_L4_M9lU

"Crossfire" & "Wall of Denial"...Another example of somebody making separate appearances on the show months apart promoting the same album.

i mean, the roots do this on fallon all the time?