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Tonight's Musical Guest, Today
Hosted by Tonight's Musical Guest, Today · EN
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Nirvana on Saturday Night Live. Warren Zevon on David Letterman. Sometimes, late-night TV musical performances live on forever. Most don’t. But we still want to talk about them.
Each week on “Tonight’s Musical Guest, Today”, long-time friends Alex Beaton and Jon Hillman dive in on the music and cultural memory of a band through the arc of their late-night TV performances. Watch along with Alex and Jon as they examine and react to these musical history moments preserved in the amber of time alongside two celebrity guests and a talk show host.
From Conan to Colbert, Letterman to Leno, or SNL to MadTV, there is no shortage of iconic late-night musical moments. And no end to the ones you don’t remember.
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My Chemical Romance
4w ago02:41:32Tap to summarizeFingerless gloves. Intense eyeliner. Swoopy haircuts. Their look defined the height of the mid 2000s emo movement. But the music? That was something different it turns out. It's MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE week!Jon and Alex reflect on why they outright dismissed MCR at the height of their fame and explain that like many others they were idiots for doing so. Clip 1 illustrates that dynamic, as the band is introduced to America by Pierre from Simple Plan on TRL before a ripping performance of I'm Not Ok. The 2005 Warped Tour distinguishes MCR from the litany of third-wave emo bands, concluding with a triumphant appearance on the VMAs. The Black Parade is debuted to the world on the roof of 30 Rock. A 2007 French TV appearance has emo ballads, lots of Green Day, and a band unwilling to wade into the politics of the moment. And the Danger Days era removes the glam metal heart of the band, featuring a clip of Mark Hoppus being a terrible TV host.Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!Interview/I'm Not Ok (I Promise), 1/17/2005 on MTV Total Request LiveInterview/Helena, 8/28/2005 on the MTV Video Music AwardsWelcome to the Black Parade, 8/31/2006 on the MTV Video Music Awards Pre-showI Don't Love You/Song 2, 6/1/2007 on Taratata (French TV)Sing/Interview, 12/2/2010 on A Different Spin with Mark HoppusThe Kids From Yesterday/Destroya, 8/8/2011 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Transcribe →Radiohead
Apr 1202:40:10Tap to summarizeIt's a career arc that spanned genres, oceans, and mainstream musical movements that came and went. And at the center of it, an enigmatic frontman that refused to make anything easy. It's RADIOHEAD week!The guys give a quick upcoming concert report before Jon reveals a shocking secret about his relationship with the band of the week. The clip story begins with Radiohead as a fish out of water on MTV Beach House until Thom Yorke literally gets wet. Back to back clips on Jools Holland captures The Bends and OK Computer era, with a quick Dave Grohl Corner in between. Kid A creates the foundation for modern music culture and provides an SNL performance for the ages. And Radiohead is on the 2009 Grammys for In Rainbows and ends up in the middle of one of the more ridiculous live performance lineups you'll ever hear.Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!Interview/Creep/Anyone Can Play Guitar, 7/4/1993 on MTV Beach HouseHigh and Dry/The Bends, 5/16/1995 on Later...with Jools HollandParanoid Android/No Surprises/Airbag, 5/31/1997 on Later...with Jools HollandThe National Anthem/Idioteque, 10/14/2000 on Saturday Night LiveInterview/Pyramid Song/Knives Out, 5/25/2001 on Top of the Pops15 Step, 2/8/2009 on the 51st Annual Grammy AwardsInterview/Bloom/The Daily Mail/Little by Little, 9/26/2011 on The Colbert Report
Transcribe →The Clash
Mar 102:41:12Tap to summarizeThe only podcast that matters. The only band that matters. Coming together finally. We return from our hiatus the only way we could. It's THE CLASH week!Alex and Jon welcome you back to the podcast that discusses the cultural memory and career arc of bands and artists through their late night tv show performances. Our return finds us analyzing one of the most significant and influential bands of all time, with tv clips that span a far too short existence. Early performances on French and British TV show a band rooted in rock and roll, including an intrepid teen interviewing The Clash alongside a British MP. London Calling is maybe the best album of all time, and a 4-song performance on Friday's captures it in all its glory. And a Sandinista-era clip on Tom Snyder portends the ultimate split of Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, featuring Bernie Rhodes ruining The Clash!Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!Complete Control/1977/London's Burning, 9/28/1977 on Un Sur CinqClash City Rockers/Tommy Gun/Interview, 3/11/1978 on Something ElseEnglish Civil War/Hate and War/Israelites/Interview, 10/3/1979 on Alright NowLondon Calling/Train in the Vain/The Guns of Brixton/Clampdown, 4/25/1980 on Friday'sThe Magnificent Seven/This is Radio Clash, 6/5/1981 on Tomorrow Coast to Coast with Tom SnyderStraight to Hell/Should I Stay or Should I Go?, 10/9/1982 on Saturday Night Live
Transcribe →Grab Bag: SKA-tacular with Kenny
Sep 703:02:39Tap to summarizeAfter 2.5 years of discussing the cultural memory and career arc of bands and artists through their late night tv show performances, we're taking our first hiatus. And there was only one thing we could do to celebrate: talk about ska for over 3 hours. It's our GRAB BAG: SKA-TACULAR!And there was only one person that could pick it up with us: best friend of the show and creator of our theme song Kenny! The guys and Kenny surf all the waves of ska, discussing its roots, suits, and sixty years of upstrokes. Inventors of the genre The Skatalites reunite for a performance on Conan in 1994. The two-tone era is equal parts catchy and serious with incredible clips of The Selecter and The Specials. Fishbone sets the stage for 3rd wave, including a beach party movie cameo that requires discussion. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Reel Big Fish encapsulate that beautiful moment in 1997 when ska dominated our lives. And The Interrupters have the first big ska hit in 20 years after supporting Ron Paul for President.Want to learn the name of almost every ska band? Listen to this episode! But if you want to watch along with us, check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!We'll be back sometime in 2026. Skank on.Police Woman by The Skatalites, 3/15/1994 on Late Night with Conan O'BrienMurder/Danger/Missing Words by The Selecter, 2/19/1980 on The Old Grey Whistle TestGangsters/Too Much Too Young by The Specials, 4/19/1980 on Saturday Night LiveUgly/When Problems Arise by Fishbone, 1987 on The Late Show with Joan RiversThe Impression That I Get/The Rascal King by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, 1997 on MTV Motel CaliforniaSell Out by Reel Big Fish, 7/28/1997 on Oddville, MTVShe's Kerosone/Take Back the Power by The Interrupters, 7/26/2018 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Transcribe →Taking Back Sunday
Aug 2402:18:00Tap to summarizeThis is a band that defined early 2000s emo for so many (including us). And it turns out the band drama was even messier than their lyrics. It's TAKING BACK SUNDAY week!The guys have an important show announcement up top before reexamining their short-lived intense fandom with these Long Island heroes. It takes a while to get through the early rise and messy bitch drama of Tell All Your Friends before we get to some performances, including an era-defining acoustic performance on Last Call with Carson Daly. Alex and Jon discover they remembered this band all wrong with the two-album run of Fred Mascherino being by far the best era of the band. And stick around for a critical analysis of Denny's 2008 emo/screamo adopt-a-band all nighter menu featuring a Hoobastank burrito.Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!Cute Without the E (Cut From the Team)/Message in a Bottle, 9/9/2003 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!You're So Last Summer, 11/11/2003 on Last Call with Carson DalyA Decade Under the Influence, 10/8/2004 on The Late Late Show with Craig FergusonMakeDamnSure, 7/24/2006 on The Tonight Show with Jay LenoLiar (It Takes One to Know One), 12/20/2006 on The Late Show with David LettermanSink Into Me/New Again, 6/2/2009 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!Better Homes and Gardens with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, 7/22/2015 on The Alternative Press Music Awards
Transcribe →System of a Down
Aug 1002:24:22Tap to summarizeWake up! This LA by way of Armenia heavy metal/death metal/middle eastern/jazz fusion four-piece stunned mainstream culture at every turn. It's SYSTEM OF A DOWN week!We recap the rich and tragic familial history and musical origins of Serj Tankian and co. before jumping into 3 tv performances across the span of 3 years for SOAD's classic self-titled debut. That includes a pretty ridiculous Fred Durst sidebar and our triumphant return to the short-lived TV home of late 90s nu-metal, Farmclub.com. Toxicity becomes huge amid 9/11, with a rare TV clip of Chop Suey! on MTV Latin America. And we return to Fuse's Uranium with Mistress Juliya Chernetsky to unfortunately find her trying to survive the interview from hell.Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!War?, 11/9/1998 on NPA (French TV)Spiders, 3/16/2000 on Late Night with Conan O'BrienSugar/Suggestions, 6/12/2000 on Farmclub.comChop Suey!, 10/24/2002 on MTV VMAs Latin AmericaInterview (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), 2005 on Fuse's UraniumB.Y.O.B/Aerials, 5/7/2005 on Saturday Night Live
Transcribe →Elliott Smith with Rory Phillips
Jul 2702:36:51Tap to summarizeWhile coming up in the Portland post-punk scene, this singer/songwriter recorded a batch of lo-fi acoustic demos on a whim. What followed was a once-in-a-generation rise and fall fueled by some of the most beautiful songwriting of the past 30 years. It's ELLIOTT SMITH week!Returning to the show is pod-favorite and fellow Texan Rory Phillips (The Impossibles, Slowreader, The Stereo)! Rory and the guys discuss the upcoming Slowreader reunion shows before diving into the incredible music and turbulent life of Elliott. Clip one is likely the most surreal ever on the show, with Elliott somehow ending up on a zany 90s morning show hosted by Tom Bergeron and a puppet. Good Will Hunting changes everything with an Oscars performance that defines his public persona for the rest of his life. And full band performances on SNL, Conan, and Letterman capture the power poppier side of Elliott. Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!Clementine, 7/28/1995 on Breakfast TimeMiss Misery, 3/5/1998 on MTV Live with Carson DalyMiss Misery, 3/23/1998 on The OscarsWaltz #2 (XO), 8/20/1998 on Much Music CanadaWaltz #2 (XO), 10/17/1998 on Saturday Night LiveSon of Sam, 4/21/2000 on Late Night with Conan O'BrienStupidity Tries, 7/21/2000 on The Late Show with David LettermanCheck out Rory and Slowreader at their upcoming reunion shows in Austin, TX!
Transcribe →Alanis Morissette with Courtney Denison & Sean Farrell
Jun 2902:21:07Tap to summarizeDo we stress you out? Our sweaters are on backwards and inside out this week to talk about an artist that took over the world in 1995. But what about before and after? It's ALANIS MORISSETTE week!Joining the show is past guest Courtney Denison and her husband/musical partner Sean Farrell of Boston pop punk band Bad Idea USA! We begin this week discussing Alanis' often forgotten teenage dance pop days in Canada with a 1992 daytime talk show appearance in her native land. The Jagged Little Pill-era live band featuring Taylor Hawkins is ridiculously good with appearances on Letterman and SNL. A 1999 Grammy's performance off of the City of Angels soundtrack requires a sidebar on the fashion of AJ McLean of The Backstreet Boys. And we wrap up discussing the biggest selling albums of the 1990s.Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!Change is a Waste of Time, 11/24/1992 on The Dini Petty ShowYou Oughta Know, 8/17/1995 on The Late Show with David LettermanHand in My Pocket/All I Really Want, 10/28/1995 on Saturday Night LiveJoining You, 12/17/1998 on The Tonight Show with Jay LenoUninvited, 2/24/1999 on The Grammy AwardsHands Clean/Your House, 2/27/2002 on Last Call with Carson DalyEverything/Out is Through/Ironic, 5/14/2004 on Later...with Jools HollandFollow Bad Idea USA on Instagram and see them live soon!
Transcribe →Soundgarden
Jun 15, 202502:14:33Tap to summarizeFounders of Seattle grunge, this sludgy hard rock outfit combined crazy technical prowess with hair-raising vocals. Led by a one-of-kind lead singer, they defined a movement that persists to this day. It's SOUNDGARDEN week!Jon and Alex deal with the fallout of being cancelled by the anti-Dave Grohl internet movement before tracking the twists of a band that mostly avoided TV appearances! Clip 1 finds the band on a short-lived awards show put on by the College Media Journal and the USA Network. Steve Issacs returns to the show right as grunge is taking over, with Soundgarden blasting through Outshined and Slaves & Bulldozers on Hangin' with MTV. Superunknown is a huge hit and the band is hardly on TV for it, except for a 40-minute Japanese grunge special. And we discuss the band's 2010s reunion with clips on Conan and Jools Holland before Chris Cornell's tragic ending.Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!Ugly Truth/Big Dumb Sex reprise, 10/26/1989 on the CMJ New Music AwardsOutshined/Slaves & Bulldozers, 12/11/1991 on Hangin' with MTVFell on Black Days/Spoonman, 2/8/1994 on Sony Music TV JapanPretty Noose/Burden in My Hand, 5/18/1996 on Saturday Night LiveBlack Rain/Hunted Down, 11/9/2010 on ConanBeen Away too Long/Taree/Rusty Cage, 11/6/2012 on Later...with Jools Holland
Transcribe →Mary J. Blige with Craig Seymour
Jun 1, 202502:19:56Tap to summarizeThis artist melded 70s southern soul with 80s hip hop and earned a royal title for it in the process. Equal parts tough and diva, she took over the R&B world in 1992 and never left. It's MARY J. BLIGE week!Joining the show is journalist, author, and Mary superfan Craig Seymour! Luckily, Craig is prepared to school the guys on the immeasurable impact of Mary's early albums and the way it shaped modern hip hop/R&B forever. Clip 1 has Jennifer Lopez, Rosie Perez, and Jim Carrey backing up Mary on In Living Color. My Life is a huge album without a huge single, but a full-band version of "You Bring Me Joy" still kills on Conan. Queen Latifah brings together Mary and Lauryn Hill for a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration on TV. And we end with the 2022 Super Bowl, with Mary fitting right in alongside other legends of hip hop (and 50 Cent).Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the peformances disucssed this week!Reminisce, 11/2/1992 on In Living ColorYou Bring Me Joy, 5/19/1995 on Late Night with Conan O'BrienThank You Lord/Not Gon' Cry/Love is All We Need with Nas, 3/7/1997 on The Soul Train AwardsAll That I Can Say with Lauryn Hill, 2/4/2000 on The Queen Latifah ShowFamily Affair/No More Drama, 5/3/2002 on Later...with Jools HollandBe Without You/Stay With Me/Runaway Love with Ludacris and Earth, Wind, & Fire, 2/11/2007 on The Grammy AwardsFamily Affair/No More Drama with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem, 2/13/2022 on The Super Bowl Halftime Show
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