.jpg)
Tonight's Musical Guest, Today
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Nirvana on Saturday Night Live. Warren Zevon on David Letterman. Sometimes, late-night TV musical performances live on forever. Most don’t. But we still want to talk about them.
Each week on “Tonight’s Musical Guest, Today”, long-time friends Alex Beaton and Jon Hillman dive in on the music and cultural memory of a band through the arc of their late-night TV performances. Watch along with Alex and Jon as they examine and react to these musical history moments preserved in the amber of time alongside two celebrity guests and a talk show host.
From Conan to Colbert, Letterman to Leno, or SNL to MadTV, there is no shortage of iconic late-night musical moments. And no end to the ones you don’t remember.
Tonight's Musical Guest, Today
Teenage Fanclub with Mark Neeley
In a year that saw Nirvana, R.E.M, and Pearl Jam put out generation-defining albums, Spin Magazine named this band's 1991 album Record of the Year. 33 years later, this cult power-pop outfit remains a weird outlier sandwiched between the eras of grunge and Britpop. It's TEENAGE FANCLUB week!
Joining the show is animator, music video director, and self-proclaimed Fannie Mark Neeley (Aquarium Drunkard)! Mark and the guys explore the origins of TFC's rapid ascent from the Scottish indie-rock scene to performing on Saturday Night Live in just two years' time. The band's follow up to Bandwagonesque falls on deaf ears in America, but performances on BBC's White Room and Top of the Pops captures their persistent popularity in the UK. And the show discovers Oddville MTV, a similarly cult-like entity that grazed the periphery of mainstream America.
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Everything Flows, 12/21/1990 on Snub TV
The Concept/Satan, 2/15/1992 on Saturday Night Live
What You Do to Me/Pet Rock, 2/15/1992 on Saturday Night Live
Escher, 2/14/1994 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Mellow Doubt/I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better (Byrds Cover), 2/17/1996 on BBC White Room
Ain't That Enough, 11/7/1997 on Top of the Pops
Take the Long Way Round, 8/29/1999 on Oddville MTV
