'there's no reason to do this song here'...

[frank]

Today - 17/12 - is exactly 27 year's (!!!!) ago that Elvis made his famous SNL appearance. Paul Inglis writes about this:

It was a performance so controversial and inflammatory that he was subsequently banned from appearing on Saturday Night Live again until 1989.
Even the circumstances leading to Elvis' appearance on the show were bizarre. The original guests, The Sex Pistols, were indisposed and Elvis was selected as a last minute replacement as he happened to be in town. This would explain why Pete Thomas wears a t-shirt with the slogan "Thanks Malc" , a reference, no doubt, to Sex Pistols' manager/svengali Malcolm MacLaren. EC and the Attractions were required to perform two songs: one near the start of the show, and another toward the end. The first song, "Watching the Detectives", proceeded without major dramas (except for those outlined in the chilling lyrics - those parents who are "ready to hear the worst about their daughter's disappearance" and so on).

No doubt SNL producer Lorne Michaels (parodied expertly by Mike Myers in both Austin Powers films - yes he is Doctor Evil) was ill prepared for what happened when Elvis returned to play "Less Than Zero", because Elvis was about the commit one of the cardinal sins of live television.

Let me set the scene: the SNL 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".

Cue Lorne Michaels tearing his hair out (makes a change from sucking on that pinky) and saying to the crew "Stop him! He is e-vil! The fru-its of the de-vil". Well, okay, we don't get to actually see that bit! A pity. Instead we get to see Elvis getting all intense with the TV camera,and scaring all the little girls, while everyone else in the audience thinks, "Who is this freak?" (thanks DA!). Short of pulling the plug, Michaels is powerless to stop the unplanned change in the show and so has to let the song run its course, no doubt throwing the network schedules all out of wack, as the total running time has now been blown out by Elvis first starting and then aborting a song and then substituting an even longer song in its place! Almost a pity that Elvis didn't improvise a couple of extra verses just to really send Michaels over the edge. I also wonder if Elvis considered singing the 'Dallas Version' of "Less Than Zero" if he was seeking a more relevant lyric. Still, singing that version of the song might have seen Elvis banned from all US television!!

There has been lots of speculation over the years about whether the whole performance was premeditated or spontaneous. Elvis had no doubt seen Jimi Hendrix pull a similar stunt on the Lulu show in 1969. My personal opinion is that Elvis (and probably manager Jake Riveria) had decided on the song switch beforehand, and no doubt forewarned the Attractions that something would happen. However, the Attractions uncharacteristic slight hesitancy in launching into "Radio Radio" indicates that either they were not told exactly what song they were going to play, or perhaps that they had only just learned the song. It is conceivable that Elvis had only just written the song (a rewrite of an earlier Flip City song "Radio Soul") and was extremely keen to get it heard over the airwaves.


Paul Inglis
Pope of Pop

[mood swung]

I had no idea today was the anniversary. coincidentally (or is it fate?) today is #2 son's birthday, and he got a semi-cheap electric guitar. he has promised to make me his personal chef if he makes the big time.