What was the greatest musical performance in history of SNL?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Scott S., May 27, 2018.

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  1. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

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    Western Canada
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  2. Joseph Sipocz

    Joseph Sipocz Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Wow - so many good ones mentioned already. I missed the first half of the 1980s and most everything after about 1994, but the performances that had an impact on me:

    Elvis Costello with Radio, Radio - I think the director went to a commercial before the song finished, and my 17 year old self understood it as being a rebellious performance. Apparently Costello and the band were influenced by Hendrix on the Lulu Show, who did the same thing to great effect. The producers originally hoped to have the Sex Pistols for that episode, so the problem was likely the messed up planned camera instructions and not the rebel content, but Radio Radio was the song I needed to hear right then.

    Neil Young (Rockin' in the Free World): what made this especially great is that Neil went through quite a few phases in the 80s, good but there was a longing for him to crank it up, so it was great he so totally blew off the doors at the end of the decade. And the charming FU to George Bush in the song was just icing on the cake.

    Frank Zappa - I Am the Slime - the TV monitors in the studio oozed goop of some sort.

    The David Bowie 1979 performance: The Man Who Sold the World is just a scary song, as was his band for the night, but the special effects making Bowie seem like a puppet were demented and memorable.

    The Pearl Jam 1994 performance is when I decided that maybe I really liked that band. From Not For You to the tag of Hey, Hey, My, My during Daughter - it captured the moment after Cobain's suicide.

    The Rolling Stones in 1978 was notable for being pretty awful. I was sitting in my college dorm with 5-7 other guys when Mick Jagger decided to lick Ron Wood's face. Huh? Also notably awful was when Ricky Ricardo was the host. Excruciating.

    The Devo was indeed great because we had never seen anything like it before, same with the Patti Smith and B52 performances. I remember them well.

    Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby was absolutely bad, but the show was redeemed with Dennis Miller opened the Weekend Update Segment immediately after with a recording of Bowie and Queen's Under Pressure...and let it play on for a while.

    I don't think anyone has mentioned Paul Simon singing Still Crazy After All These Years in a turkey outfit. Great!

    The day after Gilda Radner died the show was lifeless, like everyone had the wind knocked out of them, including the usually reliable Tom Petty.
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2018
  3. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

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    Central PA
    Putting Don Pardo into service to expose the demon directly from the belly of the beast! Not just breaking the fourth wall, but pulverizing it until the shards of wall itself rose up and exposed its' virulent anger!

    I'm the sllliiiime! IIIII'm the sllimmmme!

    I don't think he was expelled from the show for being a douche - I think Lorne's masters commanded Micheals to consign the heathen to the depths of irrelevance.
     
  4. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    That may have happened, but if so Ana Gasteyer wasn't the cast member in question, as she didn't join SNL until about seven years later.
     
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  5. Johnny Wong

    Johnny Wong Ya der hey.

    Location:
    Wauwatosa, WI USA

    Definitely my favorite. It was the first time I remember a musical guest having three spots.
     
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  6. JackDVD78

    JackDVD78 Forum Resident

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    MPLS MN
    I dont care what anyone says Marianne Faithful performances of Broken English and Guilt was everything.

    Gary Numan just wow

    And B-52s Dance this Mess Around and of course Rock Lobster i mean the audience was into it the applause at the end ... they killed it.
     
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  7. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Not helped by the fact that the show's bandleader at the time, G.E. Smith, was Gilda's ex husband. If I recall, he wore a black armband the entire show.
     
  8. Jeff Kent

    Jeff Kent Forum Resident

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    Mt. Kisco, NY
    The original band is back together now...playing live and recording. Kendall is still MIA, but John Bigham is back.
     
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  9. That was the episode directed, at least in part, by Francis Ford Coppola too. A very different episode, to be sure!
     
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  10. moople72

    moople72 Forum Resident

    Location:
    KC
  11. Splungeworthy

    Splungeworthy Forum Rezidentura

    Hard to top Elvis Costello, but someone above mentioned Childish Gambino and I definitely concur.
     
  12. robertk

    robertk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ecuador
    Philip Glass
     
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  13. Gabba Gabba

    Gabba Gabba Forum Resident

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    charleston


    Always thought Veruca Salt kicked ass on their one song they were given. Sting took the other musical slot that night so I like to think they gave it a little extra effort.
     
  14. Efus

    Efus Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Yr right, perhaps Nora Dunn.
    Read it somewhere a long time ago.

    Doing a bit of research on F'n Up, Neil noted, talking about the Archives, that they had "wailed the ****" out of the tune in rehearsal,
    another site said it was written during the rehearsal, which seems unlikely.

    Apparently, there was an alternative line that had to do with Neil and a record company, but I dont want to get that story wrong.
     
  15. Darryl D.

    Darryl D. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    I don't know if it qualifies as the greatest moment, but the SNL debut of The Wallflowers was pretty great. I had not heard of them previously, but the next day, I rushed out and bought their CD. Shortly thereafter, the local station started playing One Headlight in heavy rotation.

    Here are a couple more of my favorites:

    Talking Heads - Take Me To The River
    Ricky Lee Jones - Chuck E's In Love
     
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  16. eflatminor

    eflatminor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nevada
    Devo

    Not only the best SNL performance, but my favorite cover ever.
     
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  17. MikeM

    MikeM Senior Member

    Location:
    Youngstown, Ohio
    No hesitation for me, without reading any other responses: Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World.

    Many years ago, Spin ran an article with this same premise — although they made it the 100 greatest rock performance on TV in general — and they even allowed for 100 candidates.

    This Neil Young performance was not among them — thus confirming not only the worthlessness of the poll but my long-held view of the general worthlessness of the magazine as a whole.
     
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  18. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni

    Location:
    USA
    I heard it on the Radio Radio
     
  19. gabbleratchet7

    gabbleratchet7 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Not on SNL, but I love how St. Vincent gave a nod to Elvis Costello giving a nod to Jimi Hendrix giving a nod to Cream:

    St. Vincent - Cheerleader (Live on Conan 2012) - Vídeo Dailymotion

    Like many, Neil Young’s Rockin’ In The Free World was a watershed moment for me. I also vividly remember David Gilmour’s unannounced 1987 appearance, jamming with GE Smith as the show went to commercial.
     
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  20. rswitzer

    rswitzer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Golden, CO USA
    Ry Cooder

    Chevy sitting in with Carly Simon.

    James Taylor’s performance of “Shower the People” was unique.
     
  21. JeffMo

    JeffMo Format Agnostic

    Location:
    New England
    First one I thought of - The National Anthem made my jaw drop!
     
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  22. The Elephant Man

    The Elephant Man Forum Resident

    In one interview (I can't remember which one though,) Elvis said that the cameramen were giving him the finger during 'Radio Radio.'
     
  23. The Elephant Man

    The Elephant Man Forum Resident

    That was a mind-blowing performance!
     
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  24. BPMC

    BPMC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Riverside, CA USA
    I haven't watched an episode of SNL since the mid-80's. I sure did when I was a kid, though & while I dunno about "best", this performance of TVC15 is one that has stuck in my memory over the past 30+ years (bolstered no-doubt by the surreal image of Klaus Nomi looking like some sort of Star Trek alien)!
     
  25. Imperious Leader

    Imperious Leader Forum Resident

    World Party 1990 or Tragically Hip 1994
     
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