Pick a Day

Music History Events: TV Appearances

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.

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.