Tomorrow, David Letterman will sign off on his final episode of The Late Show and end a television career that has lasted nearly 40 years.
Since his role as the first host of NBC’s Late Night, Letterman has been a vital comedy institution and one of the most ardent champions of popular music on American television. He would just as frequently feature a young artists making their first television appearance as he would an established legend. Letterman loved music, and you could tell when he was especially enthusiastic about a performance (or a band’s drum kit). Sometimes he’d make it known then and there, and other times, his response would be a little more muted, but then you’d start noticing that the band would be back every time they put out an album and Letterman’s introductions would become increasingly gushing.
This isn’t a definitive list of the greatest Letterman performances, but my personal favorites. Some of these are the obvious classics and some are from lesser known acts that I thought put on a hell of a show.
James Brown – “Sex Machine” medley (July 1982)
David Letterman started hosting Late Night in February of 1982 and by the summer, stuff like this was starting to happen. To this day, most late night performances are maybe 3 or 4 minutes long. Yet, most performers aren’t the Godfather of Soul. In this performance, James Brown leads his band, with Paul Shaffer sitting in, through a 10 minute medley featuring “Sex Machine,” followed by a shorter version of “I Got the Feelin'” to end the show.
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R.E.M. – “Radio Free Europe” and “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” (October 1983)
R.E.M.’s first television performance has been mythologized as one of the touchstones in the history of alternative music. What’s less remembered is the band’s interview with Letterman between the two songs in which Peter Buck and Mike Mills talk for a very camera shy Michael Stipe. Also note that “So. Central Rain” is so new that the band didn’t even have a title for it when they performed it.
XTC – “King for a Day” (July 1989)
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Dave mentions in the clip that this is XTC’s first public performance in seven years. The band infamously retreated to the studio following the release of English Settlement, and aside from a few other television appearances to promote Oranges & Lemons, did not perform live again before their split in 2005. Backed by Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous band, XTC’s performance of bassist Colin Moulding’s “King for a Day” is a real treat for die-hard fans of the band.
Jellyfish – “All I Want Is Everything” (1990)
Oh yeah, this is definitely my list, huh? Jellyfish never quite got the attention they rightfully deserved (unless you hang around music critics or power pop nerds, that is), and they show why they should have been huge with this excellent performance of “All I Want Is Everything.” A side-note, as good of a band Paul Shaffer’s CBS Orchestra is, many music fans have expressed dislike that they often performed with the musical guests on the NBC show, sometimes at the expense of members of the group actually performing on the show. Such was the case of Jellyfish here performing without bassist Chris Manning, who at least gets a shout-out from singer/drummer Andy Sturmer.
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Bruce Springsteen – “Glory Days” (June 1993)
In 1993, Letterman was infamously (and arguably unceremoniously) passed up as the successor of Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show. On his last show on NBC before his move to CBS, Letterman finally booked the one musical guest he was never able to get: Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen gave Letterman a top-notch sendoff, and famously climbed up on Paul Shaffer’s keyboard for a guitar solo.
Pulp – “Common People” (April 1996)
Over the past few years, a great Letterman performance by a semi-unknown band can make them stars on the internet. However, in 1996 the internet was still nascent and thus this amazing performance became another example of America passing Pulp by, despite them being arguably the most musically talented group of the entire Britpop thing. This performance is very similar to the breakthrough performance of Future Islands nearly 18 years later: a singer that dominates the stage like a superstar, a tight band, an incredible pop anthem. And yet, not many of the alternative nation kids watching drove to their record store the next day to demand a copy of Different Class like they should have. A bit of a shame, as this stretch of 1996 was the one time that Pulp aggressively tried to market themselves in America. What could have been, indeed.
Foo Fighters – “Everlong” (February 2000)
A bit of a gimme, right? On his first show back from life-saving heart surgery, Letterman asked Foo Fighters to perform “Everlong,” preferencing the now-iconic performance as “my favorite band performing my favorite song.” Prefacing this 2011 internet performance, Letterman said of “Everlong” that “because of my condition, and coming back to the show after the heart surgery, the song has always meant something incredibly personal and intimate and important to me and to my family.” The band has, in total, performed the song four times on Letterman’s stage (two television performances, two internet exclusives) and he’s had the band appear countless times since and will be his musical guest on his final episode. You can probably guess what song they’re playing.
At the Drive-In – “One Armed Scissor” (2001)
For as much as Letterman has made his program a showcase for incredible music performances, sometimes he doesn’t know what hit him. There are several clips on the internet of El Paso’s At the Drive-In performing this song on various late night programs throughout 2000 and 2001 and all of them are frantic, kinetic and incredible (here’s the famous one, on Later with Jools Holland). The Letterman one is a little less messy than some of the others, but is just as amazing. However, Letterman allegedly told the band after the program to “not quit their day jobs” or something to that effect. To this day, no one exactly knows the truth, nor if the remark was intended to be sincere. The band broke up later in 2001 – at the height of their powers – due to internal friction.
The White Stripes – “Fell in Love with a Girl” and “Little Room” (2002)
This is the first of these that I actually remember watching live and I remember being absolutely blown away. It’s a little more shambolic than I remember it being, but to me it’s still a good reminder of how good this band was, how much I loved White Blood Cells when it came out, and – to an extent – how i’ve pretty much had no interest in anything else Jack White has done since the band called it quits.
Warren Zevon – “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” (October 2002)
In 2002, frequent Letterman guest Warren Zevon was diagnosed with inoperable mesothelioma. He made his final appearence on the show in October of that year, in which he was the only guest for entire half-hour. The show ended with his final public performance, of 1978’s “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.” “Roland,” like many of Zevon’s songs, showcases his acidic wit, but it takes on a new tone in the light of his battle with cancer. Zevon died less than a year later in September 2003, shortly after releasing his excellent final album The Wind. Letterman and Shaffer payed tribute to Zevon on the first episode after his death, and also played his performance of “Mutineer” from this episode. You can watch Zevon’s entire final episode, complete with interviews and a few musical performances on YouTube.
Kanye West – “All Falls Down” (2004)
Note that Yeezy was so new at the time that Letterman actually introduces him as a “record producer” first and foremost. As much as I love Kayne’s other records, I still have a special place in my heart for The College Dropout and this is a really great showcase for his talents as a performer. In addition to Syleena Johnson, West is also backed by a pre-fame (by which I mean, even pre-“Ordinary People”) John Legend on piano.
TV on the Radio – “Wolf Like Me” (September 2006)
From how many times he’s had the band on, TV on the Radio seems to have become another of Letterman’s personal favorite musical guests. They performed a total of five times on the show (plus one of those Live on Letterman sets) over the past decade – pretty much guaranteed to be booked whenever they had a new record (on one occasion they performed a standalone single!). They killed it every time they played, but their best performance is still their first, of “Wolf Like Me,” in September 2006.
M.I.A. (and um…a bunch of people who aren’t M.I.A.) – “Born Free” (August 2010)
More of a performance art than a performance, but absolutely memorable and striking. M.I.A. is backed by Martin Rev, keyboardist for the influential synth-punk duo Suicide, whose “Ghost Rider” is prominently sampled on “Born Free.”
Future Islands – “Seasons (Waiting on You)” (March 2014)
Yeah, you probably know this one already. I think I watched it a dozen times the day after. It’s probably that this song would have gone down as one of the best of 2014, but would it have topped all those best-of lists without the bump it got from this performance? Who knows? Future Islands came back to Letterman for one more performance a few weeks ago, at it was also great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzj3S2p2W44
Darlene Love – “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” (December 2014)
A holiday tradition of Letterman’s since the 80’s has been Darlene Love performing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” from 1963’s A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector with Paul Shaffer and his band. Each and every one of these performances is great, and it was difficult to pick just one. However, the final performance of the song last December is as striking as any of them, and marked the beginning of Letterman’s send-off from late night television.
Sleater-Kinney, “A New Wave” (January 2015)
Even in his last few months, Letterman has continued to see a fair share of excellent music moments, both poignant (such as Eddie Vedder’s performance of “Better Man“) to barnburner performances like this, from the recently reunited Sleater-Kinney. No Cities to Love picks right up where the band left off nine years ago, and this performance shows the band at their very best, complete with Carrie Brownstein’s high kicks and an exhuberent amount of energy. As one of the last of the great Letterman performances, it’s been a high water mark for these past few months of shows.
What are your favorite Letterman musical performances? Share your picks in the comments!
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