The original punk
FROM NBC'S `TOMORROW': YESTERYEAR'S ROCK ON DVD
By Mark de la Vina
Mercury News
Those offbeat talk-show moments -- from Crispin Glover almost drop-kicking David Letterman's head to segregationist Lester Maddox walking off ``The Dick Cavett Show'' -- can stay with us long after a program has been canceled.
For music fans, ``The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder,'' NBC's late-night entry in the 1970s and early '80s, repeatedly gave left-field performers the chance to become the stuff of TV legend. Appearances by John ``Johnny Rotten'' Lydon, the Plasmatics and the Clash became the talk of not only rock aficionados but baffled viewers unsure of what Snyder was trying to accomplish.
At long last, much of the footage from that era is getting its moment in the sun with ``The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder: Punk & New Wave.'' The two-disc collection includes performances and interviews with such punk pioneers as Iggy Pop, the Ramones and Lydon, as well as appearances by the Jam, the Plasmatics, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello and Joan Jett, among others.
â?¢ What made the segments legendary: The Sex Pistols were history before the mainstream media caught on, so the appearance by Lydon, the Pistols' lead singer, in 1980 was American viewers' first real brush with the ever-snarling guest.
Describing himself as a ``snot-nosed little git,'' the tartan-clad Lydon lived up to his reputation for misbehavior: When he wasn't spewing bile or bumming cigarettes, he frustrated the host with one-word answers.
Asked about the legacy of rock 'n' roll, the Pistols frontman verbally sucker punched Snyder, saying. ``History does not matter. Your program is called `Tomorrow.' There must be some reason for that.''
Though the pyrotechnics of Lydon and the Plasmatics, who blew up a car on the show's stage, will grab your attention, the footage of Smith, Costello and the Jam offer rare snapshots of a time when this kind of music thrived only on pop culture's margins.
â?¢ What made them weird: It's a thing of incongruous beauty to see the so-unhip-it-hurts Snyder go toe-to-toe with performers who were in many cases defined by attitude. Snyder was an old-school gentleman host, the kind who loved to digress or joke with the crew members. He knew nothing about the artists, and it showed. But, to his credit, he tried to understand his subjects. Culture clashes are rarely this entertaining.
â?¢ The highs: Lydon getting snotty; the normally frenetic Iggy, sans a front tooth, sipping coffee with all the menace of a Tupperware party guest; kinetic performances and interviews of the Jam, the rock trio that never cracked the American market in spite of enormous popularity in England.
â?¢ The lows: The rights to early-career performances by the Clash and U2 were not secured for this collection.
â?¢ Fun fact: Hard to believe, but the show's executive producer was Roger Ailes, who later created the Fox News Channel, where he is president.
â?¢ Extras: The collection includes the entire episodes on which the musical guests appear, so viewers in 2006 get a sense of the quirkiness that was ``The Tomorrow Show.''
Perhaps the set's most priceless non-musical moment is hearing televangelist Rex Humbard speak about how he would love to meet the Plasmatics right after lead singer Wendy O. Williams tears up the stage.
Also, there's no commentary track. Alternatively, would it have killed the architects of this collection to get at least a clip of Dan Aykroyd's hilarious satire of Snyder from the earliest days of ``Saturday Night Live''? Without that kind of material, there's not enough context for the shows.
â?¢ The upshot: This is a genuine treat for music fans looking for rare American footage of marginalized and misunderstood rock acts from the pre-MTV era.
`The Tomorrow Show
with Tom Snyder:
Punk & New Wave'
Two-disc DVD set
from Shout Factory
$29.98
