Keith Emerson on Letterman

[NogbadTheBad]

Have to agree with No Pride that West Side Story is culturally iconic. Even as a teen in the UK I was very aware of WSS and I hated musicals.

No offense, Ian, but I believe you're at least a few years older than me. I think by the mid 80's, at least Stateside, was no longer the pop culture touchstone that it was in the 60's or perhaps even the 70's.

I'm 50 this year so my teens were from 77 to 83. No offense taken, & I stand by my previous comment.

[Dave (in MA)]

Does anybody know any other artist/band from the rock world who has interptreted songs from West Side Story apart from The Nice,Yes & Alice Cooper?

[Patelena396]

[Burble]

I was avid fan of The Electric Company, and Rita Moreno was on that show, and of course she was in West Side Story. So I wouldn't be surprised I had heard something from West Side Story back when I was little

Well, there you go (maybe); Rita Moreno's feature number in West Side Story was America, so that's very likely what she would have sung.

[GuitarGeek]

Well, there you go (maybe); Rita Moreno's feature number in West Side Story was America, so that's very likely what she would have sung.

You carefully edited out the part where I said I don't remember her doing it on The Electric Company. And considering some of the stuff I do remember from when I was a child, I'd think that I would have remembered America when I saw Emerson playing it on Letterman. I mean, that's kind of a distinctive sounding song, and they way PBS recycled some of their children's shows, they've gave you plenty of opportunities for stuff to get etched into one's memory.

I'd actually be curious to know if they ever did do a West Side Story homage or spoof on The Electric Company. Just because I don't remember it doesn't mean it didn't happen. It might have been something they did in one of the earlier seasons, which weren't part of the reruns that PBS was airing in the late 70's and early 80's. It just seems like something that would have been obvious (perhaps too obvious?) thing to do.

[Wisdomview]

That David Sylvian cover may just be the best cover song ever! For realz, yo!

[Shutoku]

just to get back on the Emerson thing:

[Casey]

I had not seen this particular video. Thanks. Although it makes me frustrated that the cameramen/producers had to feel like "artists" as well. Word of advice: just film the show. We're not watching to appreciate your talent, but that of the musicians!

When I started college in 1972, my only ELP possession was "Tarkus" on cassette. I was introduced to The Nice by a college friend who told me that KE was in a band before ELP. I know I'm probably in the significant minority here, but have to admit that I enjoy the music of The Nice more than that of ELP. Go figure !

(I smoked a pipe throughout college.)

[Finch Platte]

It's very interesting to read all your different takes on KE and his various incarnations. I found the KE/Letterman video because I was looking for a Hammond B3 video to post in a mountain bike forum (long story). I'd never heard the song (haven't heard much KE has done, frankly), but it appealed to my prog side. And I, too, enjoyed seeing Will jumping up & down in exuberation, and seeing Anton reading the charts. I could do without Sid's hairstyle, tho.

I could never get into ELP. I had a friend who loved them (RIP Robert), but Carl Palmer was not my favorite drummer, so they didn't appeal to me much. Robert & I shared many interests in other bands, so all was not lost. He was amazing on guitar- he had Al Dimeola's first 3 albums committed to memory, and he could match Al lick for lick, which never ceased to amaze me. But, I digress.

Thanks for the memory lane trips, guys. I'm fairly new here, and it's lots of fun to read the posts in this place. I'm finding that I enjoy prog more than I thought I did!

[GuitarGeek]

. I could do without Sid's hairstyle, tho.

Well, it was 1986, after all. If I remember correctly, toward the end of the 80's, Sid shaved his head. I think at the time he was running marathons, so he might done that for aerodynamic purposes. I think he has a fairly normal haircut these days.

[GuitarGeek]

I had not seen this particular video. Thanks. Although it makes me frustrated that the cameramen/producers had to feel like "artists" as well. Word of advice: just film the show. We're not watching to appreciate your talent, but that of the musicians!

I'm confused. In what way did they not "film the show"? And I think it's more the director you're talking about who acts like an "artist" than the cameramen or producers. But I never got that vibe from the Letterman show, and certainly not when Hal Gurnee was directing the show back in the 80's. I think the directing on the Letterman show has always been pretty utilitarian.

At least there's not a lot of that obnoxious ultra fast editing that plagues nearly every other TV production today that features music in some form. You see even on a show like Austic City Limits these days. Hell, even when you watch DVD's, even bands like Magma, they've got that hyperactive editing. Sometimes I wish I could take a bunch of the directors responsible for that shit, lock them a room with a big screen TV, and a bunch of DVD's of classic concert films (like The Grateful Dead Movie, The Last Waltz, Woodstock, and Genesis In Concert) and demonstrate the virtues of staying on a single shot for more than a second.

[Casey]

GuitarGeek, I was referring to the video of The Nice in post #32.

[Yanks2014]

Have to agree with No Pride that West Side Story is culturally iconic. Even as a teen in the UK I was very aware of WSS and I hated musicals.

Yeah, I'm quite surprised by any American not at least vaguely familiar with it. I'm no fan of musicals, but I know this one fairly well, and like Guitargeek, I was also a teenager in the US in the 80's.