Pick a Day

Music History Events: TV Appearances

November 29, 1987 Burl Ives and Mac Davis join Dolly Parton for a "Down Home Country Christmas" on her TV series, Dolly, singing numerous holiday favorites with children and puppets.

March 7, 1987 The Beastie Boys appear on Soul Train, where they perform "Brass Monkey." They win over host Don Cornelius, who tells them, "You're very chilling, very hip, and we like your music."

November 15, 1986 Lou Reed and Sam Moore perform their updated version of "Soul Man" on Saturday Night Live. The song is being featured in the movie of the same name.

November 1, 1986 Playing a character named Cinnamon, Stacey Q performs her hit "Two of Hearts" on The Facts of Life episode "Off-Broadway Baby."

October 9, 1986 Little-known Kenny G makes his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, but instead of playing his cover of Junior Walker's "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" as agreed, he goes off script and plays his own composition, "Songbird." Impressed by the reaction, Arista Records issues the song as a single and it becomes a hit, setting the stage for more instrumental sax songs from Kenny G and the emergence of the Smooth Jazz format.

February 11, 1986 On The A-Team episode "Cowboy George," Culture Club perform "Karma Chameleon" in a cowboy bar while Mr. T enjoys the music.

December 21, 1985 Dante Bonutto's Phil Lynott interview is screened. It would be the singer's last TV appearance before his death.

November 10, 1984 Frankie Goes to Hollywood's debut album, Welcome To The Pleasuredome, debuts at #1 in the UK, but the band is in America, making their US TV debut on Saturday Night Live, where they perform their UK smash "Two Tribes" and their cover of "Born To Run."

October 20, 1984 A-ha make their television debut, performing four songs – including an early version of their future #1 hit "Take On Me" - on Lordagssirkus, a program from their native Norway.

April 21, 1981 Weird Al Yankovic (along with his drummer, Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz) makes his TV debut, playing the Queen parody "Another One Rides The Bus" on Tom Snyder's The Tomorrow Show.

October 29, 1979 Legendary bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie appears on The Muppet Show and performs with The Electric Mayhem. It's the only time that the otherwise all-muppet band features a bongo player.

December 9, 1978 Kate Bush makes her first and only appearance on Saturday Night Live. The British singer-songwriter performs the songs "The Man With The Child In His Eyes" and "Them Heavy People" from her debut album, The Kick Inside.

April 11, 1978 Liberace gives a concert for birds on The Muppet Show, playing classical pieces and the 1925 song "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue." Sam the Eagle disapproves.

April 4, 1978 Loretta Lynn sings "One's On The Way" on episode #308 of The Muppet Show. Because the Muppet Theatre is supposedly being fumigated, the entire show takes place at a railroad station.

February 14, 1978 Married songwriters Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge appear on The Muppet Show to perform "Song I Like to Sing" from their first album of duets, Full Moon.

October 19, 1977 Judy Collins appears on The Muppet Show, where she sings Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns."

September 14, 1977 Cheryl Lynn appears on the Gong Show, where she wows the judges with her version of "You Are So Beautiful." This earns her a deal with CBS Records, which issues "Got To Be Real" as her first single. The disco track is her only big Hot 100 hit, but she becomes a regular on the R&B chart.

July 19, 1977 Steve Martin appears on The Muppet Show, where he performs "Dueling Banjos" and makes balloon animals.

July 14, 1977 The BBC lifts their ban on The Sex Pistols, who appear on Top Of The Pops in a video clip performing their song "Pretty Vacant," which has become a surprise hit in the UK.

December 2, 1976 The British press is in an uproar the day after The Sex Pistols appeared on the Today programme on London regional TV and swore repeatedly. The front page headline of the Daily Mirror reads "THE FILTH AND THE FURY!"

May 17, 1975 Elton John plays "Bennie And The Jets" and "Philadelphia Freedom" on Soul Train, becoming just the third white performer to appear on the show, after Dennis Coffey and Gino Vannelli.

February 15, 1975 Performing "People Gotta Move," Gino Vannelli becomes the first white singer to perform on Soul Train, beating Elton John by a few months. The first white musician to play the show was guitarist Dennis Coffey with his instrumental hit "Scorpio" in 1972.

April 6, 1974 Al Green performs his hit "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" on Soul Train. Green, who had broken an arm and is wearing a sling, performs the song live, which is rare on the show because live performances are expensive and complicated to produce.

December 7, 1973 Todd Rundgren performs his hit "Hello It's Me" on The Midnight Special wearing a bizarre, bird-like outfit. Rundgren wrote the song in 1968, and by the time it became a hit, he had moved on to a psychedelic/art rock phase, which explains the incongruent wardrobe selection.

November 3, 1973 Michael Jackson popularizes The Robot when he busts out some futuristic dance moves during a Jackson 5 performance of "Dancing Machine" on Soul Train.

September 13, 1973 The New York Dolls perform "Trash" and "Personality Crisis" on The Midnight Special television program.

January 8, 1972 Dennis Coffey becomes the first white performer on Soul Train, performing his hit "Scorpio."

December 10, 1971 Davy Jones of the Monkees guest stars on The Brady Bunch episode "Getting Davy Jones," where Marcia tries to get the dreamy singer to perform at her prom.More

November 4, 1971 Mott the Hoople's "The Moon Upstairs" is broadcast on Sounds Of The Seventies. Ian Hunter's vocal expletive in the final line is replaced by a humorous cough.

February 2, 1971 The Point!, an animated fable written by pop star Nilsson, makes its debut on ABC's Movie of the Week.