# Best TV musical performance you've seen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760 "2012-01-17T02:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/1 "2012-01-17T02:26:46Z")
While we’re arguing in the Lana Del Ray thread about whether it’s one of the worst performances seen on SNL, I decided to go in a more positive route. What’s the best performance on TV you’ve seen by a band or singer? I’ll start things off with the infamous [Elvis Costello appearance on SNL in 1977](http://www.123video.nl/playvideos.asp?MovieID=139251). Short story: the producer wanted Elvis to do a song called “Less Than Zero”. After a long fight Elvis agrees to do the song…but stops seconds into it and does another song. (BTW, why did they want him to do “Less Than Zero”? Seems an odd choice.) ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/2 "2012-01-17T02:39:15Z")
There are three, all from Austin City Limits: [Danny Gatton](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvn5w_danny-gatton-honky-tonkin-country-g_music) (this video’s not the best quality, but the performance is fantastic), [Albert Collins](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4n1m7_albert-collins-austin-city-limits_music) (coincidentally, from the same episode that Danny Gatton played on), and [the Allman Brothers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwOXU-Ayt40) (playing “Back Where It All Begins”). I could add Stevie Ray Vaughan too, also on Austin City Limits. But the three I mentioned are my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/3 "2012-01-17T03:03:43Z")
I just have to compliment installLSC’s choice. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/4 "2012-01-17T07:56:28Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > There are three, all from Austin City Limits: > > [Danny Gatton](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvn5w_danny-gatton-honky-tonkin-country-g_music) (this video’s not the best quality, but the performance is fantastic), [Albert Collins](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4n1m7_albert-collins-austin-city-limits_music) (coincidentally, from the same episode that Danny Gatton played on), and [the Allman Brothers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwOXU-Ayt40) (playing “Back Where It All Begins”). > > I could add Stevie Ray Vaughan too, also on Austin City Limits. But the three I mentioned are my favorites. I was going to say Stevie Ray Vaughan’s performance on Austin City Limits. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/5 "2012-01-17T08:56:09Z")
This performance on Letterman has stayed with me for years and years. It starts off jokey, but boy, can Mandy Patinkin sell a tune! Almost had tears in my eyes by the end of it. Mandy Patinkin - Brother, Can you spare a dime? ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/6 "2012-01-17T15:49:39Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > I’ll start things off with the infamous [Elvis Costello appearance on SNL in 1977](http://www.123video.nl/playvideos.asp?MovieID=139251). Short story: the producer wanted Elvis to do a song called “Less Than Zero”. After a long fight Elvis agrees to do the song..but stops seconds into it and does another song. (BTW, why did they want him to do “Less Than Zero”? Seems an odd choice.) [Wiki has the answer.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Radio) ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/7 "2012-01-17T17:11:09Z")
Ok – I know people will laugh at this choice but, anyway. Like many of you I am not a fan of ‘American Idol’. I only watched it the year of the TV writer’s strike – away from family, not much to do, not many shows to watch. David Cook won. He hasn’t become very famous or anything, but really is a fantastic singer & performer. Anyway, his last performance as a competitor was really special, considering the enormous pressure he was under, and that Simon Cowell had basically been telling him all night that he wasn’t good enough to win. Here is it, a cover of Collective Soul’s “The World I Know” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YRjI1WOid0o/hqdefault.jpg "The World I Know - David Cook [HQ]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRjI1WOid0o) ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/8 "2012-01-17T17:37:40Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I was going to say Stevie Ray Vaughan’s performance on Austin City Limits. 🙂 Me too, but I will be more specific. I have seen two, one from 1983 or 1984, which was just OK. The second, from 1989, after he got clean and sober, was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/9 "2012-01-17T17:39:38Z")
This was posted here a few years ago, the day after it aired(Don’t remember by who). [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2_NVsPM87eI/hqdefault.jpg "𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓦𝓪𝔂 𝓘𝓽 𝓘𝓼 (𝓛𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓢𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮) - 𝓝𝓲𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓮 𝓐𝓽𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓼 & 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓮𝓪") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_NVsPM87eI) Nicole Atkins on Letterman. I like the posters Intro-Roy Orbison as a chick, fronting a band of elves. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/10 "2012-01-17T19:44:05Z")
I’ll either get laughed at or flamed for this. A few years back on the finale of America’s Got Talent (yeah, like I’m the only frickin’ person who watched it) they had the\*\* Blue Man Group\*\* perform **the Who’s** _Baba O’Riley_. I went from, “Well this’ll be stupid”, to “Hey this isn’t too shabby” to “Goddam, they knocked that out of the park.” Maybe not the all-time greatest TV performance but one that caught me totally by surprise. You can see it [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN-MUx6dg6w) and judge for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/11 "2012-01-17T20:28:59Z")
I vote for Howlin’ Wolf on “Shindig” !!! Or the Beatles on Ed Sullivan 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/12 "2012-01-17T20:31:29Z")
Another vote for Mandy Patinkin on Letterman, but for a different song. I remember seeing the beginning of [Somewhere Over the Rainbow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CswSMdQ2TDE) and reaching for the remote. But it drew me in. Note especially the emotion he brings around the 2:30 mark. Having watched the Wizard of Oz countless times as a kid, I never really thought of it as a song of frustration, but it’s all there in the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/13 "2012-01-17T20:45:11Z")
I generally hate TV performances, with the exception of Austin City Limits. I caught part of **Arcade Fire** last Saturday and what I saw was pretty amazing. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/14 "2012-01-17T20:53:23Z")
[K T Tunstall’s debut performance on _Later with Jools Holland_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYEU91d8ngc) I love the way she builds the song in parts using a loop pedal. Totally blew me away when I first saw it. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/15 "2012-01-17T21:06:39Z")
Here’s a [better link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdu_IWxSSk4&feature=related) that goes right to the start of her performance. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/16 "2012-01-17T21:12:55Z")
Interesting that two people have brought up Mandy Patinkin, because the first thing that came to my mind was his performance of Honey Bun from South Pacific on Boston Pops. It was seriously a lot of fun to watch. If he’s so talented, why is he only known as Inigo Montoya? Does he spend most of his time doing live performance? Susan Boyle’s first performance on America’s Got Talent was really just a lovely, simple rendition of a song, but in context it was electrifying and still brings tears to my eyes when I watch it. And then there is Mary Margaret O’Hara singing Dark Dear Heart on some TV special no one ever saw–but [it’s on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWz9sI1IiaE). I want an MP3 of this, dangit! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/17 "2012-01-17T21:28:59Z")
> [@SerenaPerido](#): > > This performance on Letterman has stayed with me for years and years. It starts off jokey, but boy, can Mandy Patinkin sell a tune! Almost had tears in my eyes by the end of it. > Mandy Patinkin - Brother, Can you spare a dime? :eek: OMG! I have that on a videotape somewhere! (I used to tape David Letterman at night and watch it the next morning.) F’ing AMAZING! ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/18 "2012-01-17T21:31:17Z")
The best one I’ve ever seen? I’d have to think longer about that one. The most memorable one right now, however, is Straight No Chaser’s 50s medley from their latest PBS special. (This is somewhat different from the 50s medley from their recent concerts, as recorded on YouTube.) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/19 "2012-01-17T21:33:00Z")
I have to admit Adam Lambert on American Idol, “Mad World”. (And David Cook, “Billie Jean”. Something about David Cook reaches right into my heart and gives it a little twist.) ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760/20 "2012-01-17T22:31:06Z")
Maybe it’s only because I haven’t been able to find a video to re-watch, so I’m remembering through rose-colored earbuds, but around 2003-4, there was a Grammy performance that blew me away: Outkast + Earth Wind & Fire + P-Funk, doing a medley of several songs. Thinking back, it was probably way cheesier than it should have been, but it was just so… funky. And happy. Made you just want to get up and dance… It may not have been the best televised performance I’ve ever seen, (that was probably the 1989 Stevie Ray Vaughn Austin City Limits mentioned above,) but I seriously enjoyed it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tv-musical-performance-youve-seen/609760.md?page=2)