Pick a Day

Music History Events: TV Appearances

January 20, 1996 Tori Amos makes her Saturday Night Live debut, performing "Caught A Lite Sneeze" and "Hey Jupiter" from her third album, Boys For Pele.

November 17, 1995 The Monkees, sans Mike Nesmith, guest star on the Boy Meets World episode "Rave On," with Peter Tork playing Topanga's father, Jedediah Lawrence.

October 28, 1995 Alanis Morissette makes her first appearance on Saturday Night Live, singing "Hand In My Pocket" and "All I Really Want."

April 15, 1995 Dave Matthews Band appear on Saturday Night Live for the first time, performing "What Would You Say" and "Ants Marching."

March 1, 1995 The Flaming Lips guest star on the Beverly Hills, 90210 episode "Love Hurts." The psychedelic rock band is the surprise act at the Peach Pit After Dark, where they perform their hit "She Don't Use Jelly."

February 24, 1995 Dave Matthews Band make their first appearance on national TV when they perform the hit "What Would You Say" on the Late Show with David Letterman.

November 21, 1994 "Here & Now" by Letters to Cleo is featured on the Melrose Place episode "The Days of Wine & Vodka." Thanks to its inclusion on the show's soundtrack, the unknown Boston band lands a #10 hit on the Modern Rock chart and a video on MTV.

October 5, 1994 Jamie Walters, who sang the #1 hit theme song "How Do You Talk To An Angel?" for the short-lived Aaron Spelling series The Heights, joins Beverly Hills 90210 as Ray Pruit, an aspiring musician. Unfortunately for Walters, his character takes a dark turn and starts abusing fan fave Donna Martin, causing his real-life music career to suffer.More

September 2, 1994 Hootie & the Blowfish make their first of several appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman. They are still well under the radar at this point, but take off a few months later.

May 12, 1994 Garth Brooks guest stars on the "Up All Night" episode of the sitcom Mad About You.

February 24, 1994 James Taylor appears on the "Deep Space Homer" episode of The Simpsons.

February 19, 1994 Their acoustic cover of "Because The Night" from MTV Unplugged becomes by far the biggest hit for 10,000 Maniacs when it peaks at #11 in the US. Natalie Merchant left six months earlier - the MTV performance was one of her last with the group.

November 20, 1993 With their debut album Core climbing the charts, Stone Temple Pilots are musical guests on Saturday Night Live.

November 11, 1993 James Brown appears on The Simpsons in the episode "Bart's Inner Child," where his performance of "I Got You (I Feel Good)" on the Springfield green is cut short when the stage collapses due to shoddy construction.

June 3, 1993 The Australian band Midnight Oil, of "Beds Are Burning" fame, appear on MTV's Unplugged. Not all the band members are happy with the format, but drummer Rob Hirst is pleasantly surprised: "We spent a few weeks stripping the whole thing down, and what we found was underneath the grunt of the amps and the drums, there were actually some really good, melodic songs."

October 31, 1992 Joan Jett stars in an episode of the TV series Highlander, playing one of the immortals. Her version of "Cherry Bomb" is featured.

April 11, 1992 Pearl Jam are the musical guests on Saturday Night Live, where they perform two songs and gape at host Sharon Stone.More

March 14, 1992 Garth Brooks makes his first appearance on Saturday Night Live, singing "Rodeo" and "The River" from his album Ropin' The Wind.

February 23, 1992 Anthrax appear on Married With Children in the episode "My Dinner with Anthrax." After eating the mystery food in the Bundy's fridge, they rock out on "In My World."

January 15, 1992 Appearing on Entertainment Tonight, Brenda Lee criticizes the selections for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, noting the lack of female talent - such as The Shirelles, Dionne Warwick, and Connie Francis. She calls them "the women who pioneered rock and roll" and points out that they're just as important as the men.

January 14, 1992 Tommy Page sings at Stephanie Tanner's birthday party on the Full House episode "Crushed."

April 27, 1991 LeAnn Rimes, a pint-sized country music prodigy from Garland, Texas, competes as a junior vocalist on Star Search, where she wins the round singing the Marty Robbins classic "Don't Worry."More

November 1, 1990 Eagle-eyed viewers can spot Eagle-Eye Cherry as "Guy #2" on the "Just Thinking About It" episode of The Cosby Show. By the end of the decade, the actor-turned-singer's debut single, "Save Tonight," is a Top 10 hit on the Hot 100.

June 1, 1990 Mariah Carey makes her national TV debut, performing "Vision Of Love" on The Arsenio Hall Show. The song enters the Hot 100 the next day and goes to #1 eight weeks later.

April 1, 1989 Living Colour make a splash as the musical guests on Saturday Night Live, performing "Cult of Personality" and "Open Letter (To a Landlord)."

November 18, 1988 The Beach Boys appear on the Full House episode "Beach Boy Bingo," where they bring Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) and the rest of the Tanner Family onstage during a show. Stamos, who often performs with the group in real life, appears in the video for "Kokomo," which was the #1 song in America two weeks earlier.

November 10, 1988 Gladys Knight guest stars on the "Three Girls Three" episode of the sitcom A Different World. She stops by Hillman College to hold auditions for new backup singers. At the end of the episode, she performs "Love Overboard" with Jasmine Guy and Dawnn Lewis.

May 26, 1988 Frank Sinatra appears in a commercial for Michelob singing "The Way You Look Tonight" as part of the brewery's "The Night Belongs to Michelob" ad campaign.

May 6, 1988 D.J. Tanner ditches school to nab Stacey Q's autograph on the Full House episode "D.J. Tanner's Day Off."

January 30, 1988 Robbie Robertson of The Band appears on Saturday Night Live, making his first live TV appearance in 12 years.