SNL: 25 Years of Music DVD Box Set

Want to review the latest CD reissue? Or a 30 year old LP you just picked up? Discuss it all here.
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krabapple
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Postby krabapple » Mon Jun 06, 2005 12:43 am

MK wrote:VOLUME FOUR


Then it's Madonna doing a crappy "Fever," a crappy track from her underrated EROTICA album. This is followed by Madonna's best performance on SNL - the Wayne's World sketch where she pops up in their fantasies (almost complete, they leave out much of the set-up, which was Wayne and Garth unveiling their top ten babes list).


I find I'm disagreeing with some of your reviews of the stuff I've seen (admittedly not on the DVD -- going by memories of the show itself). For example, I remember Madonna's performances of this standard as being surprisingly *good*.

And your descriptions of Franken's quips sounded funny to me -- moreso than Chase, Short, and others as described. But I like Franken's deadpan style.

But thanks anyway...don't think I'll be buying this set...I've rarely been excited by SNL's taste in musical guests.
"I recommend that you delete the Rancid Snakepit" - Grant

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krabapple
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Postby krabapple » Mon Jun 06, 2005 12:47 am

Zappa came off as a smug, self-centered asshole when he was on SNL....
"I recommend that you delete the Rancid Snakepit" - Grant

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MK
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Postby MK » Mon Jun 06, 2005 11:10 am

krabapple wrote:
MK wrote:VOLUME FOUR


Then it's Madonna doing a crappy "Fever," a crappy track from her underrated EROTICA album. This is followed by Madonna's best performance on SNL - the Wayne's World sketch where she pops up in their fantasies (almost complete, they leave out much of the set-up, which was Wayne and Garth unveiling their top ten babes list).


I find I'm disagreeing with some of your reviews of the stuff I've seen (admittedly not on the DVD -- going by memories of the show itself). For example, I remember Madonna's performances of this standard as being surprisingly *good*.

And your descriptions of Franken's quips sounded funny to me -- moreso than Chase, Short, and others as described. But I like Franken's deadpan style.

Chase didn't make many quips, Short didn't have anything prepared like Franken, it was pretty relaxed but he seemed pretty amusing. It's like watching Short on a talk show (after he gets through with his shtick and settles down), he's pretty funny, but then they show some awful clip from a crappy movie he's promoting where he's not funny at all...or better yet, the crappy, stiff monologues from his short-lived show. He's a funny guy but only when he's not following a script or doing shtick.

Franken's quips were really hit or miss. There's a few lame ones I left out, but I did find his Paul Simon quip funny. He introduces Simon's bit saying he's SNL's most frequent guest and Lorne's friend. Then he says he ALWAYS "wanted to see Artie, Art Garfunkel, so I always told him to get close to Lorne, you know suck up to him like Paul, but he wouldn't do it..."
:D

I think my bias against "Fever" stems from the cover itself. I liked EROTICA, but I thought it was a weak cut off that. The beats just sound flaccid, and the live performance was a note-perfect copy. In other words, it was done real solid, no flubs, but I was never a fan of that cover. I think she did "Bad Girl" that night, too, but I think she should've done "Deeper and Deeper" or the title track (heh heh).
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CitizenDan
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Postby CitizenDan » Thu Jun 09, 2005 4:30 pm

I'm surprised they didn't include the very first musical guest (Billy Preston doing....uh, what, "Nothing From Nothing"?), just because....well, it was the first one.

There are some music-related bits that were funny at the time, but would just leave people confused, like the Peter Lemongello bit from the first season.

Yikes, I think I've watched SNL a total of about five times since 1978.
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MK
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Postby MK » Thu Jun 09, 2005 7:29 pm

I stopped watching it on a regular basis when Norm MacDonald was still on the show. Howard Stern did a cameo on Weekend Update and said the show was in a rut and that Norm was one of the few good things on it (Norm thanked him kindly while the audience remained awkwardly silent). Since then, the only thing I ever catch is musical guests or Weekend Update, which was pretty good with Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon (who's a good impressionist but not really funny or good at keeping a straight face during a joke).

Some bits I would've included on the DVD: Prince doing "Partyup" around 1981 (or "Electric Chair" for an anniversary show in late 1989), Miles Davis, Sun Ra, or Herbie Hancock in one of their sole performances, same deal with Johnny Cash (a medley actually), Aretha Franklin's earlier performance from the early 80's, David Bowie and his band doing "TVC15" in drag in their first appearance, one of Frank Zappa's appearances, the Mighty Mouse bit with Andy Kaufmann (sp?), Stevie Ray Vaughan's sole appearance, George Clinton and P-Funk's appearance, Eddie Van Halen doing his impromptu jam, Lou Reed in one of his earlier appearances (maybe "I Love You Suzanne"), Tracy Chapman doing "Fast Car," The Replacements doing both "Bastards Of Young" and "Kiss Me On The Bus," Rage Against The Machine doing "Bulls On Parade" (plus backstory on that show), Sinead O'Connor's earlier performances were great, too (and sharper, but as good as her stunning performance of "Last Day Of Our Acquaintance" was, "War" gets the nod for controversy/historical importance), George Harrison and Paul Simon doing their two short duets...
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



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CitizenDan
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Postby CitizenDan » Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:31 pm

Ach, I forgot about that Harrison/Simon duet ("Here Comes the Sun" and a very nice "Homeward Bound" that was later released on the Nobody's Child benefit CD) and the '81 Prince appearance. That was one time I suffered through the show (during the nadir of the Charles Rocket era) to see the musical guest because I'd never seen Prince and wanted to find out what the fuss was about. I'm sure Prince himself put the kibosh on including that clip.

Another one I'd love to see again: The Specials from the spring of 1980 (host: Strother Martin--??!!), doing "Gangsters" and "Too Much Too Young." Classic.
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MK
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Postby MK » Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:39 pm

Just curious, what was Charles Rocket like? He's like a running gag. Outside of saying 'fuck' on the air (for a pretty lame reason, it wasn't even used for a joke), his name comes up a lot. When critics talk about Dennis Miller on Weekend Update, sometimes they say Miller is what Rocket was hyped to be but wasn't. Martin Short made a crack on the DVD set, too: after explaining how Lorne and the original cast left, he mentioned how the show was at a crossroads, and then someone came along and just "stole the show. Now you might be thinking, hmmm, did Charles Rocket really STEAL the show....?"
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



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CitizenDan
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Postby CitizenDan » Thu Jun 09, 2005 10:04 pm

I think he's just sort of symbolic of how far and how quickly SNL fell after Michaels and the original cast quit. There was nothing really wrong with him, he was just really bland and unfunny. So was the entire cast under Jean Doumanian--this was before the mini-renaissance started in the 1981-82 season and led by Eddie Murphy & co.

In another context or on another show, he might've been OK, but with the shitty material that group was given, they didn't have a chance, and Rocket was held up as the worst offender because he was supposed to be the star of the cast.
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Bennett Cerf
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Postby Bennett Cerf » Thu Jun 09, 2005 11:25 pm

Charles Rocket had a habit of smirking after the lamest jokes on Update.

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Postby Larkston Zinazpic » Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:58 am

Thanks for the comprehensive review.

Gilmour's appearance didn't make the cut, eh?

I think his appearance was during the MLOR tour. I recall that Angie Dickinson was hosting, and Dave performed "Ah, Robertson, It's You" with the SNL band. He was playing a headless Steinberger and a combo that I'm not sure of...a Boogie maybe? I think he also played a tune leading out to a commercial break, but I'm not sure.

Not one of his best performances but it was the only one for SNL.


...

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MK
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Postby MK » Sat Aug 13, 2005 10:02 am

Yeah, I used to have this but I taped over it the following week. He wasn't the main musical guest, just a one-off performance, no vocals...I think SNL should've done these DVD sets by theme. I'm usually opposed to that sort of thing, but major labels usually hate mixing, say, the Replacements with James Taylor, so I'd pitch to them one alternative set, another MOR set, etc.
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



"Neither slave nor tyrant." - Basque motto

Bennett Cerf
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Postby Bennett Cerf » Mon Oct 17, 2005 6:20 pm


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Postby Larkston Zinazpic » Mon Oct 17, 2005 6:31 pm

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