Best TV performances you've seen

the Beatles on Ed Sullivan from Miami ( John's mike was turned down on the first show )

 

A truly beautiful performance...

 

I watch this one all the time. I've never seen so much joy in a song. Stanley and George both grinning from ear to ear.

 

And finally... Gary Moore and Phil Lynott. I've always liked GM's slow version and when they let rip in the second half of the song...wow!

 

Great postings all over the place here, but a special thanks to those who posted the "Night Music" clips - alerting me to the fact that a bunch of the original complete shows have now found their way onto YouTube in excellent quality. My favorite music TV show of all time - they fostered an atmosphere of open-mindedness and eclecticism, and many of the performances are flat-out fantastic...

 

I just remembered this beautiful performance on OGWT by Judee Sill of The Kiss (this one has an intro by Whisperin' Bob himself)...

 

Around the 2:03 mark I think he improvises a lyric there. Then around 5:34 it seems like the tune is over, but Stevie wants to do a bit more! Amazing, and a great band too.

 

Incredible clarinet, great band, thanks for posting it!

 

WOW

 

Susan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream on Britain's Got Talent. THE most amazing musical performance ever. Still love every second today just as I did in 2009. I just love her.

 

Breathtaking!

 

When this aired, my mother was in the kitchen keeping half an ear on things cause she knew Emerson was a great player and in her teens and twenties she was talented enough to make state band on the piano and sax. When that piano went up, she came flying in the room, exclaiming 'my God, that's Rachmaninoff!!! That piece is incredibly difficult. It took me years before I could play it! ' And then, to her shock, he played it while the piano rotated. Her mouth was open, she was speechless. All she could say afterwards, was 'I will never hear or see anything like that again.'

 

Ian Hunter was a Dylan Acolyte since he was a teenager, but there was no real evidence of it with Mott. Here, he delivers an obscure Bob song with an intensity and passion that just dwarfs Bob's reading. But it sure reminds you what an awesome lyric it is. It cuts off unfortunately, but not before an acapella climax that gives me goosebumps.

 

Here's the letterman clip. Sound isn't too good.

 

Stevie Wonder didn't just do "Superstition" on "Sesame Street", but he also did this peculiar, inspired alternate theme song for the show:

Stevie Wonder, "1-2-3 Sesame Street"


I remember that clip being played back when I was a kid watching the show in the early '80s. I recall thinking it was a pretty weird bit, and it stuck in my brain for years after that.

 

How could anyone who saw it ever forget Devo on SNL in '78? Unfortunately, this is only the audio.

 

What a way to get introduced to the world!

Tracy Chapman - Across the Lines (Nelson Mandela 70th Tribute Concert, 1988)

 

I'm kind of cheating since it's appears to be a televised concert. But I always get goosebumps with this one. I often think it humorous that one of the spiritual heirs
to Howlin Wolfe and Captain Beefheart is a 100 pound gal from the UK. Gotta love it.

 

Always fun!

 

Still My favorite televised performance ever, that I saw live.

 

Agree 100 percent. Totally and unequivocally BAD ASS. Page/Plant at their best. Funny, they nailed this night after night after night and Led Zeppelin really struggled with it the few times it was played back in 1975 before eventually being abandoned.

R.I.P. Michael Lee. He wasn't Bonzo, but added so much energy and ooomph! to Page/Plant's delivery of Zep material.

Love,
Billy

 

Yea, that's a great one, an all time favorite, the security guys are even left a little awestruck at the end. She's got a few of those performances recorded, another "Rid of Me" I posted awhile back is here ... http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/iconic-video-performances.353815/#post-10465827

Speaking of PJ, Josh Homme and company did a very cool set of shows and records in that desert sessions series, and featured PJ for a time ... here's a big favorite from Jools Holland going back a few years, they really look cool ...

 

Absolutely amazing. OP should make a poll over all the brilliant videoclips we got in this thread