« Baby Steps? | Main | A Family Vacation In Grenada »

06/10/2004

Elvis Costello on Saturday Night Live, 1977


From Andre Torrez:
Let me set the scene: the SNL (Saturday Night Live) announcer says: "Once again here's Elvis Costello" as the band launched into a slightly hyper version of "Less Than Zero". Elvis is wearing a grey jacket with a dark tie and a striped shirt, plus narrow-leg blue jeans. As Elvis reaches the line about "there's a vacancy waiting in the English voodoo" he stops short, not quite getting the word 'voodoo' out as he starts to turn, yelling frantically "Stop! Stop!" to the Attractions. The second "stop" is almost inaudible as he has his back to the microphone by this point. Having gotten the band's attention Elvis turns back to the audience and rather earnestly announces "I'm sorry, Ladies and Gentlemen, there's no reason to do this song here". He then turns back towards the band and says "OK, Radio Radio... 1, 2, 3, 4" and the band crash, slightly awkwardly, into the opening chords of "Radio Radio".
To this day this is one of the two most memorable moments I've ever seen on live TV, surpassed only by seeing Lee Harvey Oswald getting shot by Jack Ruby.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515db069e200e55035ab298834

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Elvis Costello on Saturday Night Live, 1977:

Comments

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment