Tonight's Musical Guest, Today

By: Tonight's Musical Guest Today
  • Summary

  • The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Nirvana on Saturday Night Live. Warren Zevon on David Letterman. Sometimes, late-night TV musical performances live on forever. Most don’t. But we still want to talk about them.

    Each week on “Tonight’s Musical Guest, Today”, long-time friends Alex Beaton and Jon Hillman dive in on the music and cultural memory of a band through the arc of their late-night TV performances. Watch along with Alex and Jon as they examine and react to these musical history moments preserved in the amber of time alongside two celebrity guests and a talk show host.

    From Conan to Colbert, Letterman to Leno, or SNL to MadTV, there is no shortage of iconic late-night musical moments. And no end to the ones you don’t remember.

    © 2025 Tonight's Musical Guest, Today
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Episodes
  • 311
    Feb 9 2025

    CHILL! This rap-rock-metal-funk-reggae outfit was dominating the modern rock charts before the term nu-metal was coined. Armed with positivity, a turntable, and marijuana enthusiasm, they carried a mid 90s nation mourning the end of grunge. It's 311 week!

    We come clean up top about our varying levels of adoration for the band 311 before talking about them for 2 hours. The loveable lads from Omaha make their TV debut with "Down" on Conan, and then proceed to play it again and again for the next six years. Josh Freese fills in for Chad Sexton on Recovery in Australia amid the Transistor era. "Amber" and "Love Song" give us some pop reggae chart topping goodness on Carson Daly and Leno. And Jon has a panic attack trying to explain Nick Hexum owning a private island while doubting that any band could be this nice.

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    Down, 8/23/1996 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien

    Down/Beautiful Disaster/What Was I Thinking, 1/24/1998 on Recovery (Australia)

    Amber/Down, 3/13/02 on Last Call with Carson Daly

    Creatures (For a While), 7/18/2003 on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn

    Love Song, 6/11/2004 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

    Don't Tread on Me, 8/5/2005 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

    Hey You/It's Alright, 6/9/2009 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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    2 hrs and 11 mins
  • Elvis Costello with Connor Ratliff
    Jan 26 2025

    His live TV debut on SNL has gone down as maybe the most famous moment in late night music history. But the decades that followed were just as surprising, rebellious, and at times baffling. It's ELVIS COSTELLO week!

    Joining the show is comedian, actor, and Elvis Costello historian Connor Ratliff (Dead Eyes, Tiny Dinos, The George Lucas Talk Show)! Connor does his best to walk the guys through the overwhelming twists and turns of Elvis' 50 year career. We of course begin with Elvis and the Attractions act of rebellion on SNL in 1977. Joan Rivers has Elvis on The Tonight Show in 1984 and lots of tissues are involved. The 90s bring collaborations with string quartets and Burt Bacharach, plus a very public feud with bassist Bruce Thomas that plays out on late night. And we end with Elvis as the elder statesman fronting The Roots on Fallon in 2009.

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    Watching the Detectives/Radio Radio, 12/17/1977 on Saturday Night Live

    I Hope You're Happy Now/Peace in Our Time, 12/12/1984 on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (Joan Rivers guest hosting)

    Taking My Life in Your Hands/Jacksons, Monk, and Rowe with The Brodsky Quartet, 3/16/1993 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

    You Bowed Down, 8/26/1996 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

    I Still Have That Other Girl with Burt Bacharach (4:25 mark), 9/29/1998 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    45, 9/29/1999 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

    High Fidelity/(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea with The Roots, 11/20/2009 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

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    2 hrs and 30 mins
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers
    Dec 29 2024

    We're following up Christmas day with the second most famous resurrection story of all time. Except this California band rose not just once, but twice from the ashes. It's RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS week!

    The clips this week surprisingly begin all the way back in 1984, with the first iteration of the band performing with the energy of 8th graders on Thicke of the Night. Clips on Arsenio and Letterman show the transformation from Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons to John Frusciante and Chad Smith. John bombs Under the Bridge on SNL in 1992 and Anthony Kiedis is not pleased. One of the biggest comeback records of all time is on display with Grandmaster Flash on The Chris Rock Show. And the Billboard Game this week forces us to examine the mind blowing chart domination of Taylor Swift.

    Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

    True Men Don't Kill Coyotes/Get Up and Jump, 3/16/1984 on Thicke of the Night

    Fight Like a Brave/Organic Anti-Beat Box Band, 9/29/1987 on The Arsenio Hall Show

    Higher Ground, 3/30/1990 on Late Night with David Letterman

    Stone Cold Bush/Under the Bridge, 2/22/1992 on Saturday Night Live

    Aeroplane, 2/13/1996 on The Late Show with David Letterman

    Around the World, 9/24/1999 on The Chris Rock Show

    Dani California/Snow ((Hey Oh))/Interview/By the Way, 11/21/2006 on Later...with Jools Holland

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    2 hrs and 24 mins

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