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Checking out the Your Daily Awesome archives, I came across this gem: a recounting of various performers barred from Saturday Night Live. Interestingly, footage of many of the incidents in the article is now available on YouTube, apparently from fans’ live tapes of the original performances. Below, I cite a list of musical acts banned from SNL (text from the original article), along with YouTube clips I dug up for each:
Elvis Costello
On December 17, 1977, Elvis Costello and the Attractions performed as a last-minute replacement for the Sex Pistols, who were unable to obtain passports. NBC and the show’s producer Lorne Michaels didn’t want the band to perform “Radio Radio”, since the song protests the state of the media. The band defied them by beginning to play their song “Less Than Zero”, stopping, with Costello telling the audience that there was no reason to do that song, and telling the band to play “Radio Radio” instead. It infuriated Michaels because it put the show off schedule, and the band were barred from performing again.
Note: Eventually Lorne Michaels put his grievances aside, lifting the ban, and Elvis Costello would appear as musical guest in 1989 and 1991. He also reprised his performance of “Radio Radio” with the Beastie Boys for a 25th anniversary special aired on September 26, 1999.
After the jump – The Replacements (plus a bonus Paul Westerberg performance), Fear, and Sinéad O’Connor.
The Replacements
The influential alternative group The Replacements were banned from the show due to their behavior after they appeared on the show on January 18, 1986 to promote their first album with Sire Records, Tim. When it came time for them to perform their first number, “Bastards of Young,” they were intoxicated and several cast members were unsure whether they could perform. Lead singer Paul Westerberg would further aggravate circumstances when he yelled “f***” to the crowd during “Bastards of Young”. The band went on to perform one more song, “Kiss Me on the Bus”.
See also: one of my favorite SNL performances, Paul Westerberg performing “Can’t Hardly Wait” — listen closely during the second section when the band stops.
Fear
Fear was banned from playing again after the 1981 Halloween episode. With Donald Pleasence as host, the band played that night by request from Fear fan John Belushi, and they proceeded to play offensive songs (”I Don’t Care About You” and “Beef Balogna” among others) and bus in “dancers”. The band also used obscene language and the dancers destroyed the set with their slam dancing onstage. The situation was out of control to the extent that the damage of studio equipment forced Dave Wilson to end the three-song performance by cutting the audio and video to a commercial as they started to play “Let’s Have a War”.
Note: The episode has not been rebroadcast on NBC.
(Note from Higgins: a bit of profanity in the clip below, between songs.)
Sinéad O’Connor
Quite possibly the most controversial SNL incident ever, and her banning wasn’t for rocking per se:
Sinéad O’Connor was banned from appearing on SNL again after her peformance on October 3, 1992. In her second set of the show, she performed an a cappella version of Bob Marley’s “War”. During the word “evil”, she picked up a picture of Pope John Paul II, ripped it up, and shouted, “Fight the real enemy!” Dave Wilson immediately turned off the “applause” cue and the audience reacted with complete silence. NBC received many complaints about this within a matter of minutes. At the end of the show, host Tim Robbins, who was raised Catholic, refused to give O’Connor the customary “thanks” for being the musical guest.
Read the original article for much more!
Comments (19)
Comment
First! Great blog, sir.
posted by Ransom on 10-9-2007 at 9:18 pm
Wow – Elvis Costello just got a whole lot cooler, in my book. That cover rocked!
posted by Rose on 10-10-2007 at 9:55 am
Sinead O’Conner Rocks the Truth so bad it hurts. Tim Robbins went down a hundred notches.
posted by Scout on 10-10-2007 at 10:25 am
I love Elvis Costello. I’ve actually name-droppped him a couple of times here in my short while. Highly recommended. Weird Al did Radio Radio in concert recently. It’s somewhere on Youtube last time I checked…. And Sinead has some balls, man.
posted by Kitty on 10-10-2007 at 1:44 pm
What did the guy say on “Can’t Hardly Wait?” I couldn’t hear.
posted by Chandler on 10-10-2007 at 2:07 pm
Somebody yells: “Burt Reynolds!” I have no idea why. :)
posted by Higgins on 10-10-2007 at 2:12 pm
I watched an interview with Sinead O’Connor on her “symbolic act.” She said it was the most genius thing she had ever done and that if she didn’t tell people what she thought, she would die.
I agree with her feelings on voicing her opinions, but I think she failed to recognize that HOW you tell the world what you think is often more important than what you say. Her act was utterly disrespectful to those who believe in Catholicism, and was a turn off for many. People will not listen to what you have to say if you make them not want to listen. I personally think had she employed a great deal more tact her message would not have been so obscured.
Tim Robbins is an open advocate of victims of sexual abuse. It’s bizarre given the context of this story, but I wouldnt judge him for excluding her from his Thank Yous because she should have realized how utterly childish and offensive tearing up a picture of the Pope would seem. It certainly came across as shocking but lacking substance. At the time.
posted by ac on 10-10-2007 at 3:26 pm
I hate Tim Robbins for his politics. (I hate most celebrities for the same reason, why should they have a grander stage to voice their opinions about things than the millions of other people in the country who have absolutely no history in political science)
However, I really respect Tim Robbins for that. I think he should’ve said something mean about her, but probably didn’t want to give her any more attention than she deserved.
posted by james on 10-10-2007 at 4:11 pm
What about Rage Against the Machine being banned for having an upside down American flag on their set. It doesn’t seem disrespectful to me considering it’s the same thing ships at sea would do to declare they’re in distress. They’re just stating they think America is in distress. Free speach.
posted by Henry on 10-10-2007 at 5:59 pm
Great post…some of my fave bands/performers here…never saw that Fear clip before…too funny!!!
posted by Jim on 10-10-2007 at 8:38 pm
What about Zappa?!
(From zimbio.com)
“* Frank Zappa was banned from the show after his hosting stint on October 21, 1978. His distinct sense of humor made him unpopular with the cast and crew. During his performance, he made a habit of reading cue-cards and mugging for the camera, and many cast members (save for John Belushi) deliberately stood far from him during the goodnights.”
posted by Aaronichi on 10-11-2007 at 11:57 am
Yeah, I couldn’t find good footage of Zappa mugging. And I figured he wasn’t banned for his musical performance, so it wasn’t really with the theme. But he was indeed a rocker who was banned, and you can find his SNL performances on YouTube.
posted by Higgins on 10-11-2007 at 1:55 pm
anosmia mean no smell
my mother said it was when i was 5 years old when i hit my head and now i am 44 year old i cant smell here are my experiences i can see smoke i can see mold i can see fire i can feel flower evergreen tree i can feel the air if its light heavy medium.
posted by sherry on 5-19-2008 at 1:38 am
Great repost,,, you should have made sure the videos were still online.
posted by Paul on 4-7-2009 at 5:35 am
Land of the free* and home of the brave
*Free to conform. Free to be a sheep. Free to coose from one of two pre-selected parties. Free to marry only 50% of the consenting adult population. Free to say what you want as long as Lorne Michels likes it.
posted by yaaaay freedom on 4-7-2009 at 6:54 am
Yeah, all of them have been taken down. I don’t get to see them =(
posted by Christina on 4-7-2009 at 8:15 am
This Mental Floss entry brought to you by Universal.
posted by Eden on 4-7-2009 at 8:34 am
I don’t know… Sinead’s deal (don’t know what else to call it) seemed more like a childish tantrum. I never gave it any serious thought, and to me she lost credibility.
posted by TBV on 4-7-2009 at 9:21 am
Hey gang — sorry about the broken videos; I didn’t realize this was being reposted today. (Also, thanks NBC! :)
posted by Chris Higgins on 4-7-2009 at 12:01 pm