Letterman thread

He might have been a dick, but he consistently had some great musical guests and performances over the years. Post some of your favorite ones and have a discussion about them, Dave, and the music in Talk Shows in general.
I'll start with one i'll always be partial to: Dylan and the Plugz/Cruzados doing Jokerman in 84. The closest he ever came to flirting with post-punk and new wave. A damn shame that he ditched the band shortly after this gig, because he's on fire here.
youtube.com/watch?v=944JTLxkUuM

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letterman.jpg - 749x499, 40.72K

They did this cover for the Breathless movie (one of my favorites... not the original French one. The cheesy Richard Gere one)

youtube.com/watch?v=NOdMYZa3dA4

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He might have been a dick, but

No buts, that's what made him kino. Zoomies can't comprehend it.

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youtube.com/watch?v=isbdUbLKkt8
Love the energy in this one
I love seeing the piano player almost jumping up along the music

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So do we know what the process was like for these semi-indie acts to get on the show? Did they have a scout that sought them out or did they take applications or what? I can't imagine that Dave himself had the time to approve or disapprove these choices

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well the show happened in new york and new york was very close to the indie scene to answer your question yes there was definitely some sort of a&r process and it was like everything in music some sort of corporate label selected thing acts got on if the label wanted to push them essentially your idea of 'indie' is bullshit

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They kind of jump into this one preemptively. I'm not sure if the tempo is higher than the album version or if that's a byproduct of that effect. Regardless, here's a sample of the 90's.
youtu.be/j7UfAhNv42I?si=aYhxSAVW3TcPDNSL

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Had Warren Zevon on a dozen or so times. Warren called Dave the best friend his music ever had. Greatest songwriter of all time.

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I love Dave. Definitely the musical artist I think of first is Warren Zevon. He also had Randy Newman on several times where he did great performances.

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getting XTC, spergy Andy in particular, to do a live show again

that's one of the strongest pulls letterman has ever made desu

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here's some j mascis turning up with the show's in-house band courtesy of paul shaffer
youtube.com/watch?v=nmSfEdfvRzA

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bump

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letterman

that ancient picture

is the average Anon Babble poster 47 years old?

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Dave had solo Gregg Allman in his very first year as a late night host. Pretty killer performance by Gregg.

youtube.com/watch?v=qukNGG3bXek

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That pic is from the 70's. 47 yr olds don't remember him like that either

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he might have been a dick

For what? Big-leagueing entitled celebrities and banging interns? As far as I'm concerned he gets a pass for being such a good straight man for so many classic Norm Macdonald bits.
Musically he definitely deserves credit for giving a bunch of college bands and indie acts a break on national television. REM comes to mind as a good early example of this
youtu.be/dW62Q0TTgS0?si=Z0cVLvnpWw9oN2W4

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Conan is a big Mule fan and has had them on several times- even old school Mule back in 95. it was the wood that made it good

youtube.com/watch?v=PBP8FnFOqak

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I remember watching his daytime show thats how old I am lol. He had stupid pet tricks even back then

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wow R.E.M was kind of ahead of the curve. They had that 90s sound way before anyone else

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