Been working my way through the SNL season 4 DVDs and so far the musical guests have been:

The Rolling Stones
Devo
Frank Zappa
Van Morrison
The Grateful Dead
The Blues Brothers

All great, innovative musicians and huge names 30-years ago.

Now it seems the only musical guests they get are American Idol re-treads, ex-boy banders/Disney girls or flash-in-the-pan rappers/hipster bands you never hear of again once their one hit drops off the charts.

Just a reflection of the state of popular music I guess.

"The least known musical guest ever on SNL?"

No that would probably be The Spanic Boys, a relatively obscure roots rock group that was a last minute replacement for Sinead O'Conner when she pulled out of a 1990 appearance on SNL because she objected to the fact that Andrew Dice Clay was hosting that week.

Spanic Boys! That was the name I was trying to think of. To be honest, I had heard of them before, but I was much more into music back then. Julee Cruise (twin peaks) was the other singer that night.

Come on, Phoenix is a relatively well known band.. the song "Too Young" was on the movie Lost in Translation. OR maybe if you just listen to the radio..

Phoenix is pretty good. Jonas Bros last night really can't have played well to the 20+ crowd.

Fark Music Presented by Blender: where we are proud of our musical ignorance

my favorite SNL musical guests...
Devo 1978
B-52's 1979
The Specials 1980

I really liked the Rolling Stones in 1978... Mick's voice was gone but the music is great...

I know Phoenix. I like their song If I Ever Feel Better.

/leave your mom's basement, subby

They must have big label support because Lorne Michaels says that is how a band gets on SNL, because the label pays the expenses for the band.

He doesn't care who plays, just as long as he doesn't have to pay for it. In the 70's he probably didn't realize he could get bands for free.

They need help with their video, it was kinda boring.

barneyfifesbullet: They must have big label support because Lorne Michaels says that is how a band gets on SNL, because the label pays the expenses for the band.

He doesn't care who plays, just as long as he doesn't have to pay for it. In the 70's he probably didn't realize he could get bands for free.

One of the funniest moments ever in SNL history was Michaels going on Weekend Update flashing a check for $3,000 made out to The Beatles, saying it was theirs if they'd play the show ("I don't care how you split it. If you want to give Ringo less, that's fine.")

Of course, the amazing part of this is that McCartney was visiting Lennon's place at the time, and they were watching, and they almost ran down there to take Michaels up on his offer, but bailed out at the last moment.

I came in to say Spanic Boys. drickmeister beat me to it.

carmody 2009-03-29 02:08:32 PM
I came in to say Spanic Boys. drickmeister beat me to it.

yup. Great band, used to play in the bars around here.

And this clip? Not bad for poppy sounding techno...

I'd give it a '7'.

Jesse Dixon Singers
Howard Shore & the All Nurse Band
The Singing Idlers
Donny Harper
McGarrigle Sisters
Libby Titus
Gary Tigerman
Keith Sykes
14 Karat Soul

I love this band

strongbadd: Come on, Phoenix is a relatively well known band.. the song "Too Young" was on the movie Lost in Translation. OR maybe if you just listen to the radio..

Their last album came out in 2006 and has sold only 36,000 copies to date. That's really small time for SNL; even other indie acts that have been on (arcade fire, tv on the radio, fleet foxes) sold probably 5 times as many in a third of the time. With the exception of people who really go out looking for stuff like this, they've got virtually no presence in the US.

I think it's great that they're gonna be on SNL; I've been a fan since a little before 'Its never been like that' and the attention is definitely deserved. I would not be surprised at all if they got really big after this appearance and their new album. 1901 and their other single, Lisztomania, are just absurdly good pop songs that could blow up like 'Young Folks' and 'Float On' did in years past.

/Lisztomania (ignore the video)
//subby

Not only is it small time, but they really suck.

/I'd rather hear Jimmy Fallon sing
//ok I can't even slashy that with a straight face

Uptown Hipster Doofus: Just a reflection of the state of popular music I guess.

No, it has to do with the musical director. Back in the days when GE Smith was the musical director they had all kinds of good stuff, but when he left it started going down hill.

drickmeister: No that would probably be The Spanic Boys,

Holy fark, I'm not the only one that remembers when they were on? I was coming to the thread to mention them, expecting no one to remember them.

Wouldn't Fear qualify as "least known" outside of the punk bunkhouse of the late 1970s. Are we defining "least known" as being obscure historically or in terms of the times during which the act performed on the show?

WhyteRaven74: Uptown Hipster Doofus: Just a reflection of the state of popular music I guess.

No, it has to do with the musical director. Back in the days when GE Smith was the musical director they had all kinds of good stuff, but when he left it started going down hill.

drickmeister: No that would probably be The Spanic Boys,

Holy fark, I'm not the only one that remembers when they were on? I was coming to the thread to mention them, expecting no one to remember them.

The Spanic Boys were on SNL back then? I remember seeing them once on Conan O'Brien, back in the days when Conan's contract was reevaluated on a weekly basis.

They were on SNL -- for once, I actually regret missing an SNL episode...

Phoenix ?

The gf's fave band. I give her hell about it all the time.

/eh they aren't that bad
//she'll probably want to watch now. i hate SNL

I don't know...at the time, how many people in America had really heard of:

If you'd asked me when it was that the Spanic Boys were on SNL, I'd have guessed early to mid 80s. I remember seeing the show.
Was it really 1990?

wildcatfan82: I don't know...at the time, how many people in America had really heard of:

...heard of whom? Mighty Mouse?

1901 is one of the best songs I've heard in a long, long time.

zappawizard:
Jesse Dixon Singers
Howard Shore & the All Nurse Band
The Singing Idlers
...

Just checked the wiki to see if it was the same Howard Shore who composed the music for Lord of the Rings, and sure enough, it is. Turns out he was the music director for SNL from '75-'80.

wildcatfan82: I don't know...at the time, how many people in America had really heard of:

Actually, even though I was only 10 at the time, I had. Andy Kaufman had appeared a year before on a now-forgotten summer replacement show on NBC called "Comedy World" which was a mix of clips from classic comedy films, British sketch shows, and stand-up routines from promising new comedians. It was also the show where I was introduced to Monty Python.

Uptown Hipster Doofus: flash-in-the-pan rappers/hipster bands you never hear of again once their one hit drops off the charts.

They are playing stuff off their fourth album, which may be their best so far. United, their first album, had very popular songs, including If I ever Feel better, Too Yound, and On Fire. All great songs. The next album, Alphabetical, had the songs Run Run Run, and Everything is Everything. The latest album is their 4th, and I've only listened to it in its entirety once and my first impression was that it's going to be well received and even more popular than their previous three. I wouldn't say they're a "flash in the pan" group by any means.

As far as somewhat obscure and excellent bands playing on SNL, Fleet Foxes was my favorite. That was only a couple of months ago I think. I really enjoyed that they played a song on their new album and Mykonos off of their EP Sun Giant.

I remember a piss poor episode in 1981, made worse by the sudden appearance of Kid Creole and the Coconuts. That's probably the most obscure act I remember actually seeing.

What I like best about the song in the link is that they're using one of these twirly hose toys that I played with when I was little:



/WHOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOOOOOO

madden101: zappawizard:

Howard Shore & the All Nurse Band

...

Just checked the wiki to see if it was the same Howard Shore who composed the music for Lord of the Rings, and sure enough, it is. Turns out he was the music director for SNL from '75-'80.

I remember that. Shore and the band (including its keyboardist Paul Shaffer) were dressed in nurse drag and backed Lily Tomlin singing "St. James Infirmary Blues".

/I'm old.

peachpicker: What I like best about the song in the link is that they're using one of these twirly hose toys that I played with when I was little:
/WHOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOOOOOO

Properly known as a lasso d'amore.

'It's Never Been Like That' was a good album. Can't say the new album floats my boat yet.

PHOEEEEEEEE-NNNNNIXXXXX!!!

Candygram4Mongo: The Spanic Boys were on SNL back then?

Yep they were.

chickyraptor: Was it really 1990?

Yeah it was. I knew it had to be around 89 to 91 because I remember being in high school at the time, but I for some reason knew it wasn't my senior year and didn't think it was the start of my freshman year either.

Spanic Boys # 1
Nodding Hillbillies a close second.

Pandora plays them for me all the time.

They're great in small doses. I tried to listen to a whole album and couldn't do it.