I've found a a tattered cutting from a issue of Trouser Press from 1981 that had a partial text of the interview segment of this appearance. Here's a scan -
Tom Snyder - Just a few years ago Elvis Costello was a computer programmer for a cosmetics firm in England, playing guitar on the side and writing music. Now he has become one of the driving forces in pop music, not only in the United Kingdom but here in the United States as well. His current concert tour is playing to sold-out houses all over the country. Would you please welcome Mr. Elvis Costello and the Attractions. [Applause]. All day long, people who work on the show have been very excited about this appearance and they’ve said, you know, Elvis Costello just doesn’t do an awful lot of television. You don’t see him on many shows and he doesn’t grant many interviews. So I'm very happy that you’re here tonight but I have to ask you why you don’t appear much on the “chat shows,” as they’re called in the UK, and why you don’t do more interviews.
Elvis Costello: Well, we’ve never really been asked.
TS: That would be a good reason, wouldn’t it?
EC: In fact, the last time we were on NBC, we were told not to come back. They said. “We’ll see you never work again.”
TS- They’ve said that to hundreds of people, and we’ve showed them.
EC: They were the same people who said to the Beatles in Hamburg, we’ll see you never work again.
TS What was that occasion? Was that the Saturday Night Live appearance?
EC: That’s the only time we’ve ever been on TV.
TS: Well, what happened? You changed songs or something.
EC: Yeah, well, I thought it was a live show because something in the title sort of suggests it, and the number that we were bullied into doing - in those days, record companies would lean on us and say, “you must promote the product” - was a number that was written about an English situation and it didn’t really fit. And we had a new number about radio which at that time wasn’t record-ad, and I thought I had an opportunity to play it in front of a lot of people. So we just did it spontaneously, you know, and evidently it’s not that live.
TS (laughing): What you’re saying is, they kind of expected one song and they heard another and someone got upset.
EC: Yeah, their timings were off and they didn’t have their camera cues, which from a professional point of view wasn’t very good. But from a live-TV point of view I thought it was great. Jimi Hendrix did a similar
thing on English TV about 1969 when he said, “They’re taking me off the air,” and he went on playing, and he was on the equivalent of a Lawrence Welk Show at the time.
TS: You said the record company wanted that particsular product promoted. Do you rebel when they say, “We want you to do this song because this is the one we’ve got the money on”?
BC: Well, that was before we sort of persuaded them that this isn't really the way we work. We used a little gentle persuasion on them and now we’ve got a much better understanding on those matters (giggles from the audience).
TS: You have been described as an angry young man.
EC: Well, you don’t see that now,
TS: We don’t see it now as we might have seen it at one time. But have you worked that out pretty much? Have you learned to channel your energies and not get angry at people?
EC: To be straight about it, some of the time it was nerves, which tend to make me more aggressive. Sometimes it was righteous, particularly when we first came here and we might have just landed from Mars or something from the way people looked at us. So we were generally trying to put it out forcefully, and (respond to) the complacency that was in music at that time—which is not to say that it’s gotten better. It’s not getting better at all. Buti that was just the way we felt at that time. I want to present a wider picture now, a more complete picture of a person, so inevitably I get somebody saying I’ve sold out and I’ve gone mellow, and I don’t think that at all. You have 20 years to write your first album and you have six months to write your second one. That first thing had been building up for all those years.
TS: I guess what I’m asking, Mr. Costello, whether you’ve learned to accept certain I situations and get along with certain individuals who may want to put an arm on you because of your talent and popularity. Have you matured in those situations?
EC: What a horrible word. “Matured.” No, I’m not in the business to mature. Sounds sort of like cheese or something (laughter).
TS: Well, I was kind of thinking of fine wines.
EC: Oh, well, you’re such a flatterer.
TS: Well, I’ve found it gets me everywhere, Elvis.
EC: Fine wine generally does.
TS: Was it frustrating for you when you were working in that job with computers— what were the frustrattons for you when you thought, well, I’ve got some talent, why am I stuck behind this keyboard?
EC: It’s all very well for me to be smug about it ‘cause I’ve got a record contract now, and I can make records, and if I don’t, I suppose they’ll send the boys around. But yeah, sure it was. I was turned down by every record company in England, including the company that I’m signed with in America and the company that I’m signed with in England. I obviously didn’t present myself.... plus I’m a big fan of those old films where you go in and say, “have I got a song for you,” I actually tried that I used to make embarrassing scenes. I used to get a guitar and say, “What do you think of this song?” and play it for them. They were used to getting demo tapes, and they could put these polite slips in the mail, and most of them were probably signed by a secretary. I actually did force a few people to be bored for 20 minutes. They’d be making phone calls, and it’s particularly embarrassing when you’re in the middle of a song and you really think you’re convincing the guy and suddenly the phone goes off and he says, “Yes, yes, darling, we’ll have supper at eight—oh, Lancaster will be great. Catch you later” What can you do? (Snyder guffaws;audience applauds) . There are still lots of people doing that, so they're not going to find it funny. People come up to me me give me tapes and ask for tips and there just ain’t any. You’ve just got to keep knocking on the door until they answer.
TS: The ambitious young people who want to enter an industry, be it your industry or mine, think that people like you and I have jobs to offer or some clout with the management that would allow us to say, ‘Hey, I just met someone on the street today and you ought to hire him.” I don’t have that, you don’t have that. We don’t have jobs to offer people. In fact, we have enough trouble keeping these two going.
EC: I don’t, actually (laughter).
TS: I’ll check with you in 22 years and see if it’s still going. Who are your heroes? Do you have songwriters who are heroes to you?
PC: Not heroes —I remember when they did a program, Heroes of Rock and Roll. That’s a contradiction in terms as far as I’m concerned. I admire a lot of people—some current people, and some other people who you might not expect. I admire people like Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart as lyricists, and I really like Hank Williams.
TS: Didn’t you put a Rodgers & Hart song [“My Funny Valentine”) on one of your albums (Taking libcrtica)? That’s a little bit unusual, a little bit different.
PC: Yeah, I liked that song before I could walk. I think I could work a record player before I could walk Now I can barely do both at the same time.
TS: What about your dad—jazz musician?
PC: Yeah, orignally, and then he was a band singer, and he’s still a professional musician. He plays more dates a year than I do. He works very hard. He drives himself up and down England, plays social clubs and nightclubs and football support, and he works incredibly hard.
TS: Do you love him?
PC: Oh, yeah.
TS: You ever go see him?
PC: Yeah, I used to play with him sometimes , but I could never get in tune.
TS: I hope he’s proud of you.
EC (restraining himself]: Oh, yeah, well, uh, I think he is (laughter).
TS: This number, “Watch Your Step,” that you’re going to do for us after this, is this a warning?
E.C. Well , I'll leave that up to you.
Elvis/Tom Snyder TV show 1981 on DVD, Jan. 06
http://www.huntingtonnews.net/music/060 ... nyder.html
Tom Snyder, Unlikely Punk Ally
Ed Masley
To see Tom Snyder mug and chuckle like a disapproving uncle as he condescends his way through a panel discussion on "something ... called punk rock" in October of '77, it's hard to believe he eventually did enough shows on the subject to warrant a two-disc DVD anthology with "Punk & New Wave" in the title.
From the get-go on the new DVD "The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder: Punk & New Wave," it's clear that he's basing his knowledge of punk on the most sensationalized reports, regaling viewers with lurid accounts of public urination, safety pins and bloody noses while posing questions of his guests that range from "Is it junk or is it music?" to "Why does punk have to be so mean?"
And this is all while frequently admitting that he hasn't heard the artists he's discussing.
But he did bring in some fairly awe-inspiring guests to show America what this thing punk was made of.
Iggy Pop is a live wire, turning in savage renditions of "Dog Food," "TV Eye" and "Five Foot One" in February '81. Captured later that same year, the Ramones turn in raucous renditions of "We Want The Airwaves," "I Wanna Be Sedated" and a crushing "The KKK Took My Baby Away." And the Plasmatics bring the spectacle, blowing a car up in the studio to cap off an electrifying "Master Plan."
The best performances, by far, are from Elvis Costello, who leads the Attractions through nuanced reworkings of "New Lace Sleeves" and "Watch Your Step," two classic tracks from that year's model, "Trust."
And Snyder's stock response to most of these performances, endearingly enough, is to suggest that if they'd only turn it down and make it easier to understand the words, they might be more appealing to the mainstream. It's clear that he respects some of these artists more than others. It's Mr. Costello, for instance. And he's practically in love with Patti Smith, who, for the record, is oddly adorable here. But even when he's at his snarkiest, he comes across as trying to relate at least. And nearly all his guests respond in kind, especially Costello, whose glib replies are never cruel, just really funny. When Snyder suggests that his music's matured, Costello fires back, "What a horrible word that is. . . . It makes you sound sort of like cheese or something."
The only guest he clearly doesn't get along with is a petulant John Lydon, who does his damnedest here to upstage his former identity, Johnny Rotten. Snyder holds his own, though, telling Lydon twice, "It's unfortunate that we are all out of step except for you." And Snyder is at least a little out of step, of course, but he's comfortable playing the role and for as baffled as he clearly is by Iggy Pop or even the Jam, he never let it stop him from exposing viewers to the brave new world.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/arts/ ... 2itzk.html
January 22, 2006
Dvd
Tom Snyder, the Late-Night Boswell of Punk Rock
By DAVE ITZKOFF
INVOKE the legends of punk rock and few minds, it seems safe to assume, would flash on the perpetually nostalgic, occasionally tongue-tied, unrepentantly square Tom Snyder. Even in his heyday, Mr. Snyder was a late-night talk-show host who knew next to nothing about pop culture, but he also knew how much he didn't know. When he found himself inexplicably pitted against punk musicians, it was his artlessness that made him such a formidable screen presence.
"The Tomorrow Show With Tom Snyder: Punk & New Wave," a DVD set from Shout! Factory, compiles eight episodes that ran on NBC between 1977 and 1981. It surely represents the strangest assemblage of talent ever to appear on a television program produced by Roger Ailes (and yes, that's including all the work he's done as chairman of the Fox News Channel). But it also certifies Mr. Snyder's reputation as the Socrates of the late-night airwaves, capable of disarming some carefully constructed personas with a few innocent questions.
The first of these shows, a roundtable discussion whose participants include an 18-year-old Paul Weller and a baby-faced Joan Jett, does not bode well - Mr. Snyder is noticeably dismissive of the emerging new-wave scene and condescending to his young guests. Yet for reasons known only to Old Tom himself, he continues to invite the punks back to "Tomorrow," to provide them with a venue to perform music he clearly doesn't grasp, and to interview such emerging artists as Elvis Costello and Patti Smith no differently than if they were James A. Michener or Frank Capra. In his questioning, Mr. Snyder can come across as out-of-touch ("Is that a part of this punk thing, people hitting each other?"), overly intellectual ("How do you make certain that you don't become a member of what you now call the establishment?"), or superficial (to Iggy Pop: "Why are you bleeding?"), but he is never fawning or self-conscious, and his curiosity is sincere. And through his peculiar interrogation style, he actually achieves a kind of rapport with his guests, finding more common ground with the Plasmatics' Wendy O. Williams than should reasonably exist between a Jesuit-educated broadcaster and the woman who gave the world "Maggots: The Record."
Some of the instances when Mr. Snyder doesn't connect with his subjects are even more fascinating. On his June 25, 1980, broadcast, Mr. Snyder spends half his program attempting to converse with the former Sex Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten, who was then fronting the band Public Image Limited under his given name, John Lydon. Four years earlier, Mr. Lydon had helped to bring down the British television presenter Bill Grundy with an especially raucous interview, and he seems to be spoiling for a rematch with Snyder: "Come on, prompt," the characteristically crabby singer goads his American host. "Do your business. Humor us."
But Mr. Snyder is either too professional to be flustered, or too naïve to know he's being insulted, because he keeps jabbing back at Mr. Lydon with simple, honest questions-"Is it a band? Is it a public relations firm?" "Let me try this: What do you like?" - before landing this unexpected uppercut on the ex-Pistol's chin: "It's unfortunate that we are all out of step except for you." Perhaps Mr. Lydon walked away from the encounter believing he had felled another obsolete competitor. But in truth, it was the persistent, resilient Mr. Snyder who had won the match by TKO, and Mr. Lydon who had just been punked.
Tom Snyder, Unlikely Punk Ally
Ed Masley
To see Tom Snyder mug and chuckle like a disapproving uncle as he condescends his way through a panel discussion on "something ... called punk rock" in October of '77, it's hard to believe he eventually did enough shows on the subject to warrant a two-disc DVD anthology with "Punk & New Wave" in the title.
From the get-go on the new DVD "The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder: Punk & New Wave," it's clear that he's basing his knowledge of punk on the most sensationalized reports, regaling viewers with lurid accounts of public urination, safety pins and bloody noses while posing questions of his guests that range from "Is it junk or is it music?" to "Why does punk have to be so mean?"
And this is all while frequently admitting that he hasn't heard the artists he's discussing.
But he did bring in some fairly awe-inspiring guests to show America what this thing punk was made of.
Iggy Pop is a live wire, turning in savage renditions of "Dog Food," "TV Eye" and "Five Foot One" in February '81. Captured later that same year, the Ramones turn in raucous renditions of "We Want The Airwaves," "I Wanna Be Sedated" and a crushing "The KKK Took My Baby Away." And the Plasmatics bring the spectacle, blowing a car up in the studio to cap off an electrifying "Master Plan."
The best performances, by far, are from Elvis Costello, who leads the Attractions through nuanced reworkings of "New Lace Sleeves" and "Watch Your Step," two classic tracks from that year's model, "Trust."
And Snyder's stock response to most of these performances, endearingly enough, is to suggest that if they'd only turn it down and make it easier to understand the words, they might be more appealing to the mainstream. It's clear that he respects some of these artists more than others. It's Mr. Costello, for instance. And he's practically in love with Patti Smith, who, for the record, is oddly adorable here. But even when he's at his snarkiest, he comes across as trying to relate at least. And nearly all his guests respond in kind, especially Costello, whose glib replies are never cruel, just really funny. When Snyder suggests that his music's matured, Costello fires back, "What a horrible word that is. . . . It makes you sound sort of like cheese or something."
The only guest he clearly doesn't get along with is a petulant John Lydon, who does his damnedest here to upstage his former identity, Johnny Rotten. Snyder holds his own, though, telling Lydon twice, "It's unfortunate that we are all out of step except for you." And Snyder is at least a little out of step, of course, but he's comfortable playing the role and for as baffled as he clearly is by Iggy Pop or even the Jam, he never let it stop him from exposing viewers to the brave new world.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/arts/ ... 2itzk.html
January 22, 2006
Dvd
Tom Snyder, the Late-Night Boswell of Punk Rock
By DAVE ITZKOFF
INVOKE the legends of punk rock and few minds, it seems safe to assume, would flash on the perpetually nostalgic, occasionally tongue-tied, unrepentantly square Tom Snyder. Even in his heyday, Mr. Snyder was a late-night talk-show host who knew next to nothing about pop culture, but he also knew how much he didn't know. When he found himself inexplicably pitted against punk musicians, it was his artlessness that made him such a formidable screen presence.
"The Tomorrow Show With Tom Snyder: Punk & New Wave," a DVD set from Shout! Factory, compiles eight episodes that ran on NBC between 1977 and 1981. It surely represents the strangest assemblage of talent ever to appear on a television program produced by Roger Ailes (and yes, that's including all the work he's done as chairman of the Fox News Channel). But it also certifies Mr. Snyder's reputation as the Socrates of the late-night airwaves, capable of disarming some carefully constructed personas with a few innocent questions.
The first of these shows, a roundtable discussion whose participants include an 18-year-old Paul Weller and a baby-faced Joan Jett, does not bode well - Mr. Snyder is noticeably dismissive of the emerging new-wave scene and condescending to his young guests. Yet for reasons known only to Old Tom himself, he continues to invite the punks back to "Tomorrow," to provide them with a venue to perform music he clearly doesn't grasp, and to interview such emerging artists as Elvis Costello and Patti Smith no differently than if they were James A. Michener or Frank Capra. In his questioning, Mr. Snyder can come across as out-of-touch ("Is that a part of this punk thing, people hitting each other?"), overly intellectual ("How do you make certain that you don't become a member of what you now call the establishment?"), or superficial (to Iggy Pop: "Why are you bleeding?"), but he is never fawning or self-conscious, and his curiosity is sincere. And through his peculiar interrogation style, he actually achieves a kind of rapport with his guests, finding more common ground with the Plasmatics' Wendy O. Williams than should reasonably exist between a Jesuit-educated broadcaster and the woman who gave the world "Maggots: The Record."
Some of the instances when Mr. Snyder doesn't connect with his subjects are even more fascinating. On his June 25, 1980, broadcast, Mr. Snyder spends half his program attempting to converse with the former Sex Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten, who was then fronting the band Public Image Limited under his given name, John Lydon. Four years earlier, Mr. Lydon had helped to bring down the British television presenter Bill Grundy with an especially raucous interview, and he seems to be spoiling for a rematch with Snyder: "Come on, prompt," the characteristically crabby singer goads his American host. "Do your business. Humor us."
But Mr. Snyder is either too professional to be flustered, or too naïve to know he's being insulted, because he keeps jabbing back at Mr. Lydon with simple, honest questions-"Is it a band? Is it a public relations firm?" "Let me try this: What do you like?" - before landing this unexpected uppercut on the ex-Pistol's chin: "It's unfortunate that we are all out of step except for you." Perhaps Mr. Lydon walked away from the encounter believing he had felled another obsolete competitor. But in truth, it was the persistent, resilient Mr. Snyder who had won the match by TKO, and Mr. Lydon who had just been punked.
I remember watching this at the time. Tom Snyder was quite a character and the transcript of the interview brings back just how much of a character he was.
He had a well-deserved reputation for having an outsized ego which could not be kept hidden from any interviewer. He invariably made himself part of the story. Dan Ackroyd in the early SNL did a dead-on parody of him.
If you look at the transcript you see the evidence of his megalomania, which is probably the reason that EC seems puzzled at times.
The first time this pops up is here:
EC: In fact, the last time we were on NBC, we were told not to come back. They said. “We’ll see you never work again.”
TS- They’ve said that to hundreds of people, and we’ve showed them.
Notice how Tom grabs the chance to equate his story with EC's. "We've showed them" is classic TS paranoia.
The second time is here:
TS: The ambitious young people who want to enter an industry, be it your industry or mine, think that people like you and I have jobs to offer or some clout with the management that would allow us to say, ‘Hey, I just met someone on the street today and you ought to hire him.” I don’t have that, you don’t have that. We don’t have jobs to offer people. In fact, we have enough trouble keeping these two going.
EC: I don’t, actually (laughter).
TS: I’ll check with you in 22 years and see if it’s still going. Who are your heroes? Do you have songwriters who are heroes to you?
That TS stream of consciousness thing above is classic TS. He again equates himself with the interviewee, and brings out his classic corporate drone job insecurity. Industry, managament, jobs, what does all this have to do with EC?. His response is appropriately puzzled, but TS doesn't let him off the hook, by inserting himself back in with the "22" years reference (that being, I guess, the years TS had been in the business). Nothing to do with EC and everything to do with TS.
The final bit that got me is the riff on EC's dad.
TS: Do you love him?
PC: Oh, yeah.
TS: You ever go see him?
PC: Yeah, I used to play with him sometimes , but I could never get in tune.
TS: I hope he’s proud of you.
EC (restraining himself]: Oh, yeah, well, uh, I think he is (laughter).
I'm betting TS had father issues and this whole bit was really about whether TS's dad was proud of his son. I was rolling on the floor by the time this interview ended.
He had a well-deserved reputation for having an outsized ego which could not be kept hidden from any interviewer. He invariably made himself part of the story. Dan Ackroyd in the early SNL did a dead-on parody of him.
If you look at the transcript you see the evidence of his megalomania, which is probably the reason that EC seems puzzled at times.
The first time this pops up is here:
EC: In fact, the last time we were on NBC, we were told not to come back. They said. “We’ll see you never work again.”
TS- They’ve said that to hundreds of people, and we’ve showed them.
Notice how Tom grabs the chance to equate his story with EC's. "We've showed them" is classic TS paranoia.
The second time is here:
TS: The ambitious young people who want to enter an industry, be it your industry or mine, think that people like you and I have jobs to offer or some clout with the management that would allow us to say, ‘Hey, I just met someone on the street today and you ought to hire him.” I don’t have that, you don’t have that. We don’t have jobs to offer people. In fact, we have enough trouble keeping these two going.
EC: I don’t, actually (laughter).
TS: I’ll check with you in 22 years and see if it’s still going. Who are your heroes? Do you have songwriters who are heroes to you?
That TS stream of consciousness thing above is classic TS. He again equates himself with the interviewee, and brings out his classic corporate drone job insecurity. Industry, managament, jobs, what does all this have to do with EC?. His response is appropriately puzzled, but TS doesn't let him off the hook, by inserting himself back in with the "22" years reference (that being, I guess, the years TS had been in the business). Nothing to do with EC and everything to do with TS.
The final bit that got me is the riff on EC's dad.
TS: Do you love him?
PC: Oh, yeah.
TS: You ever go see him?
PC: Yeah, I used to play with him sometimes , but I could never get in tune.
TS: I hope he’s proud of you.
EC (restraining himself]: Oh, yeah, well, uh, I think he is (laughter).
I'm betting TS had father issues and this whole bit was really about whether TS's dad was proud of his son. I was rolling on the floor by the time this interview ended.
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On E bay for c.$150.00 at the moment , apparently.
See backround here -
http://mooninthegutter.blogspot.com/200 ... tello.html