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David Letterman's First Late Night Show Ever
On February 1st, 1982 David Letterman launched the Late Night Show on NBC. As you can tell by its overly dramatic and irony fueled science fiction opening, Dave was far ahead of his time. Understanding David Letterman’s genius is partly based on knowing what a clear cut revolutionary comic visionary he was. Not only was…
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Conan O’Brien’s First Show
I’ve been all over the world the past few weeks, from Maine to New York, to San Francisco to Seoul, and now to Sydney. It’s been a whirl wind of adventure and excitement, but on all those long plane trips, I had to keep my mind occupied with something. Luckily I had Bill Carter’s…
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Harry Belafonte, Jump in the Line
And we’re back! I’m now halfway around the world coming to you live from Seoul, South Korea, and I’d thought to celebrate the occausion by posting one of my all time favorite movie music sequences ever! Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice was one of the most bizarre movies of the 1980s, and all one has to do…
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John Lennon, Imagine (Live)
“Imagine” is the sort of song played by rock stars young and old to honor the memory of dearly departed John Lennon. It’s kind of sad in a way that its turned into a memorial dirge of sorts, obscuring it’s utopian message of peace and harmony due its tragic association with the author’s horrible death. …
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Ben Stiller and Bruce Springsteen, SNL and the Ben Stiller Show
Saturday Night Live is really hit or miss this days, mostly miss, but sometimes, when they get a guy in there who knows sketch comedy, like Ben Stiller, they can hit a few home runs. That was case the other night when Ben revived his classic impression of Bruce Springsteen from his cult hit “The…
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John Lennon, #9 Dream
I was sneaking under a bus parked over a snowy muddy pit. I jostled a hinge holding the front of the truck to the freight, and it began to collapse on me. As it caved in on me, I genuinely thought I was going to die. This was the phrase that went through my mind,…
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Greatest Rock Vocalists #1, Little Richard, Good Golly Miss Molly
Little Richard is the greatest vocalist in rock and roll history. He is the man that was James Brown’s #1 influence, the man Paul McCartney copied, the man who first employed Jimi Hendrix, and the man that arguably started rock and roll with the second he let out his primal rock and roll roar for…
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Greatest Rock Vocalists #2, The Beatles, Twist and Shout
There is no tonal quality more life affirming, more charging, and more powerful than the one found in John Lennon’s voice during his rendition of the Isley Brothers tune, “Twist and Shout.” It’s the vocal performance that electrified the ears of the world; a singularity of rock and roll perfection, and simply among the greatest…
