Re: '80s punks talk show appearances

My favorite YouTube rabbit hole of late: punk talk show appearances of the '80s. Of course, the fun of dying your hair three different colors and piercing your nose lies in pissing off the squares, but the arrogance and condescension of middle-aged men in suits faced, in particular, with teenage girls and young women who've done nothing more than make fashion choices they dislike and express leftist politics is funny. (I watched a fictional retelling of the Bill Grundy/Sex Pistols talk show appearance on the British TV series "Urban Myths" last week and wondered why a man who got drunk in the afternoon and made a pass at a girl who was probably 30 years younger than him thought he held some high ground over the band.) No one on these shows did enough research to learn about the popularity of the straight edge movement in advance, instead assuming that punks must be taking all the drugs they could get their hands on. But amongst all this, it's refreshing to see the occasional ability of these guys to shut up and actually listen to young people. (I envision these guests aging, having kids and getting pissed off in the 2000s that those kids would rather listen to emo, Blink 182 and Avril Lavigne than Crass or Minor Threat!) Also, Jenny Jones was fucking unwatchable - how the hell does anyone get pleasure out of 40 minutes of a studio audience lining up to yell at harmless teenagers in front of a national audience about how disgusting they are?

Not exactly the same thing, but in half hour of a 1981 show, Tom Snyder went from a 10-minute interview with a minister to a Plasmatics performance that ended with the violent demolition of a car to an "erotic aerobics" video mostly consisting of women's ass and crotch shots!

Ha! Tom Snyder had a lot of great bands on. He definitely came across as a quintessential square, but I often wonder about his attitude toward their music. If not him, there was someone with open ears booking the music. I remember the Jam's performance of Pretty Green on that show positively cemented my affection for the band!

Snyder's gift was his blend of smug arrogance and wide-open acceptance of guests. He asked great questions and responded to answers thoughtfully. Not quite a Cavett-level smarty, but always worth watching. And his trick of leaning toward the person he was talking to added a little element of theatrical drama.

Maybe we were watching different Tom Snyder's. The man had a lot of distinct, idiosyncratic qualities about him - but "smug arrogance" certainly wasn't one I ever saw.

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"You don't LOOK like Martha and the Vandellas..."

I need to get around to watching Tom Snyder's 1977 interview with Joan Jett.

Not too long ago I rewatched Bowie’s interview with Cavett from 1974. (Diamond dogs era). He gets a bit giggly and fidgety so everyone figures he’s high on cocaine at the time of this discussion.

Cavett would allow for quiet, slow discussion and introspection... that yes, is even uncomfortable to watch sometimes. Compare it to the late night interviews of today, where they just wouldn’t let those awkward silences happen.

One of my favorite TV portrayals of the nascent Punk and New Wave scene was from the 1978 WKRP episode "Hoodlum Rock" that had the fledgling radio station host a show from an up and coming UK band called "The Scum of the Earth". Just from the portrayals I figured it was their take on either the Vibrators or The Stranglers. Great Episode. Here's a short clip:

[youtu.be]

Writer Nigel Kneale originally intended the Planet People in Quatermass (1979) to be punks, but the suits at Euston Films turned them into hippies. It’s worth noting, however, that the divine Toyah Willcox portrayed the Planet Person Sal in that British television serial.

"We don't know...but that's our story and we're sticking to it." [waggles eyebrows]

That made me burst out laughing. I recognized Michael Des Barres (the guy with the long blonde hair). Are the other musicians as well, or just actors?

Yes that was Michael Des Barres. The actor Peter Elbling played one of the other band members. The guy in the middle apparently was not an actor but was a working drummer but I wasn't able to find out any information on him. His name is Jim Henderson.

Donahue had a few punk episodes. Jello was on one. Jimmy Gestapo from Murphys Law was on another.

There's a really good NYHC talk show (not Donahue) with Jimmy Gestapo and the singer from Warzone.

Yes indeed, one of the regulars on my radio channel's chat mentioned that she was a guest on "Donahue" in '84, along with an amusing, unrecognizably young and innocent-looking Al Jourgeson. I looked for it and, yep, I saw it on the Tubes of You. This was before the show went nationwide, i believe. 'twas still strictly a Chicago program. The highlight was someone from the group Parent of Punks, who looked almost laughably prim. A Church Lady stereotype come to life.

I just listened to Jello on the Turned Out A Punk podcast talking about the Donahue experience. He said Mike Muir told him off for wearing a suit.