"You may ask yourself, why such a big suit? You may ask yourself, can this suit be taken in? You may ask yourself, does this store have any mirrors? You may ask yourself, did I get a bad deal?" - Rich Hall as Talking Heads' David Byrne
Saturday Night Live: 25 Years of Music DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
Since its premiere in 1975, NBC's Saturday Night Live has been home to some of our greatest comedians. What is often overlooked, however, is that the show has also served as a showcase for both rising and established musicians through its weekly musical guests. To celebrate the show's twenty-fifth anniversary, the SNL's creator and producer, Lorne Michaels, put together this look at some of the show's most memorable musical performances and music themed sketches.
Disc one, hosted by Chevy Chase, covers roughly 1975 through 1980, generally considered SNL's classic years. Chase, who has steadily grown less and less funny over the years, is especially boring here. In what is either a lame attempt at humor or a sign of an ego the size of the Empire State Building, he manages to relate himself to every clip he introduces, including those from years in which he was no longer involved with the show. But even Chase's lame antics cannot diminish the clips presented here. Whether it's a young Billy Joel performing "Only the Good Die Young" or a frizzy-haired Carly Simon singing "You're So Vain," these clips are fun to watch. Elvis Costello's infamous appearance (in which he stops "Less Than Zero" after a few seconds and tears into "Radio Radio" instead) is of course included, as is The Band's final television performance with "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." Joe Cocker, wearing the world's tightest pants, is also seen bravely performing "Feelin' Alright" while John Belushi simultaneously apes him. Ray Charles ("What'd I Say"), the Grateful Dead ("Casey Jones"), Simon & Garfunkel ("The Boxer"), Patti Smith ("Gloria"), and Mick Jagger & Peter Tosh ("Don't Look Back") also perform. (Unfortunately, so do the stale, overrated Blues Brothers. Call me a heretic, but was their shtick ever funny or interesting?)
As can be expected, most of the sketches included from this period also hit their mark. Highlights include John Belushi's Beethoven "What'd I Say," Steve Martin's surprisingly fresh "King Tut," Bill Murray's lounge singer Nick Winters performing the theme to Star Wars, Andy Kaufman's Elvis impersonation, and Paul Simon performing "Still Crazy After All These Years" while dressed as a turkey (although the skit with him playing basketball in the same costume is funnier, but not included here).
Disc two, covering roughly 1980 to 1985, is hosted by Martin Short. This period in SNL history is notoriously bad. The original stars and creative team, weary after five years in the spotlight, left the series at the same time. The show struggled along, narrowly avoiding cancellation. The musical performances showcased from this period are surprisingly strong, if a little more mainstream. Tina Turner, for example, is a wonder to behold in her sexy, blistering performance of "Better Be Good To Me." Other performers include James Brown ("I Got You/I Feel Good"), Queen ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love"), Randy Newman ("I Love L.A."), The Go Go's ("We Got the Beat"), Rick James ("Super Freak"), Talking Heads ("Take Me to the River"), Spinal Tap ("Big Bottom"), John Mellencamp ("Pink Houses"), and Duran Duran ("Hungry Like the Wolf").
The sketches on disc two, however, do not match the quality of the musical performances, and most of them feature the series' brightest star during that period, Eddie Murphy. Some of the sketches are funny, like Murphy's Gumby Christmas special, "Merry Christmas, Dammit," and his turn as Buckwheat from The Little Rascals. Some, however, are funny ideas that are not as funny in execution, as in his "Little Richard Simmons Show." And surely the insufferable "Ed's in Love" sketch is included only because it features Martin Short. Even fans of the Ed Grimmly character will probably want to avoid this lame skit.
The always funny - not to mention fair and balanced - Al Franken takes over for disc three's look at 1985-1990. The musical acts here are a pleasing mix of pure pop (The Bangles performing "Hazy Shade of Winter," Fine Young Cannibals with "She Drives Me Crazy") and slightly less mainstream fare (Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World"). Watching Paul Simon's performance of the achingly beautiful "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" serves as a reminder of why his Graceland album became such a cultural phenomenon in 1986. Elvis Costello makes a return visit with "Veronica," the perkiest, most hook-driven song ever written about senility and neglect of the elderly. Rounding out the guests are Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ("Free Fallin'"), comeback kid Roy Orbison ("O Pretty Woman"), Pretenders ("Don't Get Me Wrong"), and Sting ("We'll be Together Tonight").
These years saw the return of Lorne Michaels, who fought to bring the show back from the dead. It took a while, though, so the sketches on disc three are a mixed lot. The best of the lot is "The Sinatra Group," a McLaughlin Group parody featuring Phil Hartman as Frank Sinatra bullying his guests Sinead O'Connor (Jan Hooks), Billy Idol (Sting), 2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell (Chris Rock), and Steve and Edie Gorme (Mike Myers and Victoria Jackson). Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze at a Chippendales audition goes on for too long, but still remains funny. Aerosmith's appearance on "Wayne's World" is understandably included here, but it is not the strongest in that series of sketches. Dana Carvey's "Choppin' Broccoli," Jon Lovitz's Liar with Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger, and "Dinner at the Van Halen's" are also included, but are not particularly funny.
A low key Jay Mohr hosts disc four's look at the years 1990-1995. This volume contains SNL's most controversial musical performance: Sinead O'Connor's a cappella rendition of "War" which she caps by tearing up a picture of the Pope. For such a supposedly hip, progressive show, SNL has gone to great pains to distance itself from this performance over the years, and this is continued with Lorne Michael's grave introduction to the clip here. What most people forget is O'Connor's absolutely riveting performance that precedes her act of defiance. The other performances include R.E.M. ("Losing My Religion"), Madonna ("Fever"), Aretha Franklin ("Chain of Fools"), Eric Clapton ("Wonderful Tonight"), Nirvana ("Rape Me"), Paul McCartney ("Hey Jude"), En Vogue ("Free Your Mind"), Counting Crows ("Round Here"), Bruce Springsteen ("Living Proof"), Live ("I Alone"), and Blind Melon ("No Rain").
The sketches from this period are a marked improvement over the ones on the two previous discs. The "Wayne's World" sketch in which Wayne and Garth play truth or dare with Madonna is a classic. Phil Hartman returns as Sinatra, this time imagining the recording session for the Chairman of the Board's Duets album. The clip show here is funny, but for some reason it has been edited down to almost nothing. The sketches menu indicates that the sketch features Hartman, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, James Taylor, and Rosie O'Donnell, but the clip shows only the Hartman and Sandler portion. "Juke Box Presents," a parody of CD compilation commercials in which a bored, listless group of white partygoers jump start their fun by playing Gangsta Rap Dance Smashes, is truly hysterical. (The album features such songs as "Run, Whitey, Run" by The Checker Boys, "Locking the Door Don't Help Nothin'" by Jive to Face, and "I Kick in Yo Face Only Cause You White" by Cricket and Little Dee Dee). Another highlight is "The Chris Farley Show" in which the rotund Farley interviews Paul McCartney. The self-critical comic proceeds to pulls out his own hair and beat himself about the head at his own ineptitude as an interviewer. Even the lesser sketches (Mike Myers playing Mick Jagger alongside Mick Jagger playing Keith Richards, goofball with a guitar Adam Sandler singing an ode to his red hooded sweatshirt, and the recording of a song to benefit "Musicians for Free Range Chickens") are amusing.
Disc five's look at the years 1995-2000 is hosted by Cheri Oteri. This disc is the least interesting musically and is often plagued by weak performances. Mariah Carey's rendition of "Butterfly" sounds vocally strained, as if she is fighting a cold. Half of the Spice Girls' "Wannabe" sounds canned, and the group struggles to sing the other half live. Hanson contributes a bland version of "Mmm Bop." All three of these songs made great singles, but the live performances presented here are disappointing. Yes, it is a sorry state when the Backstreet Boys' "All I Have to Give" and Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca" come close to the top of the best performance list. Another problem with this disc is the narrow time range of the songs. Out of fifteen performances, nine are from the year 1997 or the first two months of 1998. Other performers on the disc include No Doubt ("Don't Speak"), Alanis Morissette ("Hand in My Pocket"), Garbage ("Special"), Jewel ("Who Will Save Your Soul?"), Beck ("Where It's At"), Snoop Dog ("Snoop's Upside Your Head"), Metallica ("Fuel"), Garth Brooks ("Two Pina Coladas"), Dave Matthews Band ("What Would You Say"), and Paula Cole ("I Don't Want to Wait").
Some of the sketches on this disc are fun. "The Celine Dion Show" features Ana Gasteyer as "Celine Dion. I am the greatest singer in the world!" Celine's guests include Mariah Carey (Cheri Oteri), Shania Twain (Molly Shannon), and Gloria Estefan (Matthew Broderick). Ana Gasteyer also contributes a memorable take on Jewel when Jon Lovitz appears as a schlub who wins an MTV contest in which he gets to spend a year in a cabin with the self-centered singer. Other clips include Paula Abdul leading Cheerleaders Camp, Kevin Spacey as a doctor who only prescribes weed, 'N Sync performing a boy band spoof, and Garth Brooks as a songwriter selling his soul to Will Ferrell's Devil in order to get a hit song, but then discovering that the Devil's songwriting skills suck. (Maybe this explains Brooks' alter ego, Chris Gaines.)
The five discs that make up this set allow the viewer to watch the specials in their entirety, or, through separate menus, to pick out individual musical performances or sketches. It is not possible, however, to play all of the musical performances at once, or all of the sketches. The shows are divided into chapters, but jumping ahead to the next chapter (or using the scene selection screens to do so) means skipping the clip's introduction since these are included on the tail end of the previous chapter.
