When talking with folks about David Letterman’s retirement I was met by almost unanimous indifference and the occasional good-riddance. Though Dave’s comedy might not gel with the young folks, this dismissal is a doing a disservice to the great work he and Paul have done for music and music fans. He’s put the spotlight on artists that were too outside the mainstream for anyone else in network television. I have to imagine many a youtuber music fan has “{This band} Letterman” in there toolbox for finding quality live performances.
Beyond brining them in, Dave also brought out band’s best by giving access to the Ed Sullivan Theatre. I’ve never been there myself, but I know this — it’s not some lifeless studio lot in Burbank, it’s a creaky old theatre that sits in the center of the universe. I like to think that bands go there after years of having their music leak out of Evergreen State dorms, or get lost into arena expanses, or get muffled by shoddy LES sound systems, and finally they make their way into the big snarling center of Manhattan and they plug into soundcheck at the Ed Sullivan; and for the first time their music doesn’t float away — it bounces off the steel and bricks and bedrock gets spit back at them.
Dave and Paul have been a great friends of music and music fans; so thanks for letting so many great artists the roof off the dump. Without further adieux, some of my favorite moments, themes, and highlights from the EST.
Maybe you were dismayed by Mosquito, but find solace in the good old days: you know, when Brian Chase was some fresh faced Oberlin grad, when Karen O was the most badass HAPA chick on the planet, and when bro-tarists looked past Nick Zinner’s general vibe and fell back in awe at the sounds he made from a JapStrat and a delay pedal. And when that fresh faced hometown band showed up on Letterman, it seems Dave fell hard for Karen, as evidenced by his hand kissing. Disregard the DMB at the beginning of this clip.
When trying to imagine someone who could play with any band, two names come to mind. Number Uno is Paul Schaeffer (Numero Dos is Pino Pallidino). If a guest band needs some keys Paul shows up and kills it. Not just appropriate, not just the right notes — Paul plays White Zombia like he’s about Horrorcore 24/7. See him play the grumbly evil techo lines in More Human Than Human. See him play the dirty blues riffs on Hard To Handle.
Dave Is Warren Zevon’s Biggest Fan
Dave’s love of Warren’s music revealed a little extra about him. With Warren’s music in mind Dave‘s dry humor and subterranean sadness peek through. After Warren Zevon was diagnosed with terminal cancer he came to play some goodbye songs and they are some of the best/saddest stuff you’ll ever see.
Sometimes Dave lends out the theatre for bands to play a full show. It gets real. You don’t see a lot of Live From Jay Leno’s POS Sound Stage In Burbank Where There’s No Natural Fresh Water And Jack Nicholson Has To Come To The Rescue, do you?
SWYW about John Mayer and his headscarves, Continuum was a dope album.
I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that Damian Albarn has never used a computer. I also think that most people don’t know the guy from the Gorillaz is the same guy from Blur, or how big of a deal Blur was in England (and maybe the rest of Europe?). How can you hate on a multi-awesome-band melodica player who in my imagination has no idea how to use technology?
Oh hey wanna play a round on the links or have a Scotch Whisky beverage or put Trainspotting and Braveheart on in parallel and see if they line up?
Cake is somehow a band that is exactly how you would expect it to be but also somehow a disappointment. Their drummer is dope but he looks like he should be playing in a church band in Maryland. Maybe there’s just not enough drug addicts in a band that sounds like it’s on a lot of drugs. Seeing their singer live is kind of like seeing Oz if he was wearing a mustache hat and Clarks Desert Boots.
Hey Dad, I mean Bob Dylan, I mean Mr. Dylan, I mean Dad (that was a Sandlot reference and a Dennis Leary reference).
I was appalled when I first read the lyrics to the bridge/chorus of this song. Oklahoma.
The Incubus guitar player used to play with The Roots? Does that keyboard player really need all of those keyboards and a turnable? Denim jacket.
Great Performances By Great Artists
This is the legacy. Turn up the volume. Enjoy.
I like this aesthetic: the sparse arrangement, the trucker bass player, the staccato/legato guitar, and T dubs, the best dressed but dirtiest of them all. He’s the wettest sounding sober guy around.
These guys part time model for the silhouette character in Ikea instructions.
Natilie Portman, meditation closet, live fine, sumo wrestlers…etc.
These motherfuckers were thirsty.
Remember when Fiona Apple wanted to make you take a bath in a dirty bathtub?
Oh how one yearns for the days when Carrie and Corin spent days making out and writing Call The Doctor while Janet polished her drumsticks and did bicep curls.
Back in the good old days when Jack Irons was beast-moding on the PJ drumset and Stone was wearing multiple shades of Orange.
Neko looks great now — a little older, a little more raw, with all the good lines on her face that grow from singing some soulful music for a living.
There’ s a video of Brian Setzer playing Brand New Cadillac on Letterman but I’m gonna break out here a bit and showcase a better video. I don’t know how a guy so cool has gotten pigeon-holed into playing Christmas shows in Japan, but much respect for the rockabilly king.
When I watch Steely Dan I’m reminded of the scene in Amadeus where Salieri is like, Lord how can this be your vessel for such magnificent music?
People need to ask LCD Soundsystem how they micced their drums because they sound great.
Ginger Weiland where did you come from where did you go?
Back in the early 80s we weren’t more than a bunch of Beyond Thunderdome gangs, tucking tshirts into jeans, playing drums standing up, going from town to town selling snake oil and magic to any Alice or Jessica that would buy it. Paul is playing keys for RHCP; the original Hillel Brother on guitar.
Rompin stompin good times. Godfathers of grunge.
Something was happening in the 90s - people would still call you a sellout if you didn’t have integrity, but the internet was starting to connect and educate folks in new ways. For a minute we might have been enlightened.
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