Isaac Hayes doing the Theme from 'Shaft' at the Academy Awards. Not so much for the music, because I think it's lip-synched, but for the choreography... and those chains!
I posted this in the other similarly themed thread and it still stands as just an incredible performance to me:
This TV appearance actually changed my life. I was 13 and that's when I knew I wanted to become a musician. It all happens during the bridge. The sound from Kurt's guitar cuts off. He tries to keep on playing but to no avail and ends up throwing his guitar away. Then: this scream!!! It still sends shivers down my spine, 27 years later. The complete set is great. It was supposed to be 2 songs but the audience (and the host) asked for more. But when he saw they were about to play a third number, the host went 'Oh putain!' (do I really need to translate?) in a 'I can't believe it, it's so awesome!!!!' kind of way. It was a great show called Nulle Part Ailleurs. Every night there was a musical live performance. It is really missed these days in France.
For me, this was the most rocking SNL performance since Neil's: Sturgill Simpson - Call To Arms The energy never lets up
i suppose any televised performance by this guy would count as killer Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (Steve Allen Show - 1957)
Oh yeah, also Fear's infamous SNL performance. So good. I was like 3 years old at the time, so I had no clue that history was being made. But thanks to fifth generation VHS tapes and the internet.
You are absolutely right ! I've heard huhndreds of versions of that song, but every second of this one is perfect. That's the song. It even surpasses the studio cut. (and I must add that the camera work is absolutely brilliant on this, too. This director knew what he was doing. Very clever job).
There's so many all I can do is list a handful with brief explanations. I'm just gonna focus on ones I saw on original transmissions as opposed to the tons of brilliant clips from before I was born and they're all from UK TV in the mid 1990's which for me was the last golden era of music. PORTISHEAD - Glory Box (Later With Jools Holland 1994) A true "wow!" moment where I couldn't wait for the show to end so I could stop the VHS recording, rewind and watch it again as I'd not heard anything like that before and I absolutely loved it. A genuine life changing moment following which I listened to and wrote music in a very different way. Bought "Dummy" the following week which remains the best album of the 1990's for me. MOLOKO - Dominoid (The White Room, 1996) Pure "WTF?!?!" as there was this gorgeous lady with a 60's bob making weird jerky movements, flanked by a pair of ladies waving torchlights each side of her with this strange moody music. An instant fan. The White Room was a brilliant high quality show with tons of great performances but Moloko was the big stand out for me... and they had tough competition. My introduction to the strange talent that is Roisin Murphy... caught them live two years later before they hit it big and Roisin gave the best live performance I've ever witnessed... and I saw it thanks to this TV appearance. PULP - Common People (Britpop Now, 1995) Jarvis Cocker introduces this as "the national anthem for the Netto generation" and what follows is astonishing, shot entirely in one take using a single camera where Jarvis pulled out all the stops to memorable effect. 1995 and 1996 saw Jarvis and Pulp turn in many memorable amusing moments on TV but this remains my number one choice. BJORK AND SKUNK ANANSIE - Army Of Me (Top Of The Pops, 1995) This was utterly insane. A one off moment with Bjork and Skin competing with each other screaming their heads off... a manic racket that had me beaming from ear to ear in spite of not being a fan of either Bjork or Skunk Anansie or that type of "heavy" music. MY LIFE STORY - 12 Reasons Why (The White Room, 1996) Another "WTF?!?!" moment, some geeky gap toothed geezer with a kiss curl camping it up with a pop band with its own string and brass section, pure showbiz glam, great song and another moment where I became an instant fan. Saw them live the following year... regardless to say, a memorable gig. They deserved to be much bigger but alas, it wasn't to be.
Another for the White Room..so many great performances on that show: Oasis, Bowie (Outside-era), Lou Reed, Skunk Anansie (first ever TV appearance and what an appearance), Placebo, Cocteau Twins etc etc....PJ was on it with a stellar performace in a turquoise latex dress...yowsah! But this tops that...a glorious performance for the BBC's The Late Show from around the same time.
One evening of 1979, with three unique live audio-visual presentations of three songs during a SNL show, David Bowie pushed back the boundaries of what can be done in the realms of live TV performances ! (especially the third one). Enjoy.
Eric Johnson on Austin City Limits 1988 (I almost posted his first appearance there in 1984, but this one is just more refined).
There were four guys from a seaport city in Northern England -- made a pretty good impression on some folks -- on the Ed Sullivan Show in the 60's.
Green Day on Last Call with Carson Daly when they played the complete Jesus of Suburbia (starts at around the 4:00 mark in this video)