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3. Elvis Costello - Radio Radio, SNL, 1977
2 months ago
Posted by http//:nostalgoteket.se 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.

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  • Brian Fairbanks 1 month ago
    I've heard a completely different version of this story. Elvis was told to perform "Less Than Zero" but never told NOT to perform "Radio Radio" -- as he started playing the song, it annoyed him that he was told to play "Zero," which wasn't out as a single in America, so he quit and did "Radio" instead. The song didn't put the show off schedule -- "Radio" is probably shorter anyway. In the oral history of SNL, most people agreed that Michaels was pissed because changing the song meant the camera crew did not know what to do, as they had not run through changes for "Radio." I can see how that would've pissed off Lorne more than anything else.
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  • alexander K 3 weeks ago
    sandwich
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