In a recent interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Elvis Costello shared his experience on “Saturday Night Live” and the stunt that got him banned from the live television program for 12 years.
The singer, accompanied by The Attractions, was slated to perform the songs “Watching the Detectives” and “Less Than Zero” on the show that aired on December 17, 1977.
However, he decided to switch up the setlist at the last moment by launching into a different song without communicating the change to the showrunners, which did not sit well with the show’s producer, Lorne Michaels, who proceeded to ban him from the show until 1989.
“We did end up on Saturday Night Live,” Costello recalled. “And I just wanted them to remember us. I didn’t really have anything against the show.”
“I was more angry at being told what to play by the record company than I was NBC, truthfully,” he added. “I can’t remember whether I said what I was going to do, but I think I just said, ‘Watch me.'”
Source: RTT Music News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oCXNfS3WFw
