Apr 072011
As Late Night With Jimmy Fallon host Jimmy Fallon mentioned in his introduction of Wire, it was the band’s first appearance on American tv in 25 years. This got me thinking: Where the heck did Wire appear on American television 25 years ago?
It turns out it was on an episode of The Late Show, hosted by Suzanne Somers. For the only time I can imagine, I would like to have been in Suzanne Somers’ mind rather than any of the usual areas.
“…I think I’m really nailing tonight! I hope Fred Cordova is paying attention because I’d really like to parley this into a regular gig. Thighmaster money is good and all but it’s hardly befitting an entertainer of my calib… HOLY SHIT! Is that guy play a headless canoe paddle bass? And is that an Ovation electric? Jesus H Christ, what is this industry coming to? Alright baby calm down and keep smiling, just keep smiling…”
I was trying to figure out which “Late Show” this was. A little research led to the answer, The Late Show was Fox’s 1987 late night talk show between the failure of The Joan Rivers Show and briefly triumphant The Arsenio Hall Show. Richard Belzer, and Robert Townsend also filled in as hosts.
Thanks for clearing that up. I was beginning to wonder the same thing.
While they were playing? I think she was just keeping count of her reps on the Thighmaster®™ she had hidden under the desk.
Somers says she’s going to sing later in the show. She sings? At least she didn’t sing with the band. Jimmy Fallon seems to con a lot of artists into letting him ‘perform’ with them. His duet with Paul Simon on Cecilia last night was painful. He’s got the hippest music booker on TV, but he needs to stay behind the desk.
Oh yeah, she sings. Somers was multi-untalented.
I could swear she said “don’t come back” at the end, so at least she got that right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXGh_sbPUk0
Yeah, I think she was aiming for self-deprecating humor with the “…and I’m going to sing! So, don’t come back…” remark at the end.