December 17, 1977: Elvis Costello On "Saturday Night Live"

December 17, 1977: Saturday Night Live airs on NBC. The show was honoring the winner of an "Anyone Can Host" contest. The winner was Miskel Spillman, an 80-year-old German immigrant and grandmother from New Orleans. She remains the only non-celebrity to host, and was the oldest host in the show's history until 2010, when Betty White hosted at age 88.

Mrs. Spillman participated in a marijuana-themed sketch with John Belushi, and remained a fan of the show until her death in 1992. But she's not the main reason this episode of SNL is remembered.

The musical guest was supposed to be British punk rock band The Sex Pistols, then touring the U.S. But they canceled. So another British rock band was hired, although they were more in the realm of what would come to be called "New Wave": Elvis Costello & The Attractions.

The band's leader was Declan Patrick MacManus, then 23. He was the son of a jazz trumpeter of some renown in London, who had taken to calling himself Day Costello. He would later play on some of his son's albums. With his hair, horn-rimmed glasses, and sharp suits, Declan looked a lot like Buddy Holly, the American rock and roll pioneer who died in a plane crash in 1959, and was always more popular in Britain.

He eventually took up his father's stage surname, and used his own initials, becoming D.P. Costello. In March 1977, his manager suggested changing it to Elvis Costello, in honor of Elvis Presley, who died soon after. I'm presuming there was no connection.

The Attractions were: Lead guitarist Costello, bass guitarist Bruce Thomas, drummer Pete Thomas (no relation) and organist Steve Nieve. Nick Lowe, who later became a rock star in his own right, produced Costello's 1st album, My Aim Is True, which featured not the as-yet-unformed Attractions, but a Los Angeles-based band named Clover. It was released on July 22, 1977, and was a hit. The title came from a line in his 1st single from the album, "Alison."

The album also included "Less Than Zero," which became the title of a 1985 novel by Bret Easton Ellis, and the 1987 film based on it. Costello explained: "'Less Than Zero' was a song I had written after seeing the despicable Oswald Mosley being interviewed on BBC television. The former leader of the British Union of Fascists seemed unrepentant about his poisonous actions of the 1930s. The song was more of a slandering fantasy than a reasoned argument."

Indeed, Britain had seen a rise in right-wing sentiment in the 1970s, culminating in the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1979, and the recruitment of young British men into groups like the openly neo-Nazi National Front, particularly at soccer games. (Or, as they would say over there, football matches. Costello was a Liverpool FC fan.) Mosley, who falsely claimed in a memoir, "I am not, and never have been, a man of the right. My position was on the left and is now in the centre of politics," died in 1980, at age 84.

But by December 1977, "Less Than Zero" had yet to hit the American singles charts. U.S. audiences didn't get it, because they weren't familiar with British politics, current or otherwise. Many listeners heard the name "Mr. Oswald, with the swastika tattoo" in the opening line, and thought it referenced Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of John F. Kennedy, even though that Oswald had been a Communist rather than a Fascist.

On Saturday Night Live, Elvis and The Attractions played "Watching the Detectives," which was not included on the album. His label, Stiff Records (owned by Columbia Records), insisted that he also play "Less Than Zero." Instead, he wanted to play "Radio Radio," also not on My Aim Is True. It was a song which smacked the British media establishment. Columbia told him not to play it.

SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels also told him not to play it, not because of the song's anti-media bias, but because Michaels was a stickler for order, and did not put up with disobedience of any kind. Elvis Costello did not put up with being given orders.

So Elvis played "Less Than Zero" -- for 6 seconds. Then he turned to The Attractions, waved his arms, and said, "Stop! Stop!" They did. Then he turned to the audience, and said, "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. There's no reason to do this song here." He turned back to the band, and told them to play "Radio Radio." They did, and the audience liked it.

Michaels didn't. Furious, he banned Costello from the show. The ban lasted a little over 11 years. On March 25, 1989, Costello appeared again, without incident. He and original castmember Chevy Chase are the only performers ever to have bans from SNL rescinded.

On September 27, 1999, SNL aired its 25th Anniversary special. The Beastie Boys played the 1st 10 seconds of their song "Sabotage," then stopped. Costello walked onto the stage, waited for a standing ovation to stop, and, once again, said, "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. There's no reason to do this song here." Together, he and the Beasties played "Radio Radio." Michaels, who had left and returned as executive producer, planned it with them beforehand, so it was all on the up-and-up.

In 2003, Elvis Costello & The Attractions -- the entire band -- were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As of December 17, 2022, Elvis Costello, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Steve Nieve and Nick Lowe are all still alive.

*

December 17, 1977 was, obviously, a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. Three games were played in the NFL, with the rest of the weekend's games being played the next day or the following night:

* The Washington Redskins beat the Los Angeles Rams, 17-14 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-14 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* And the Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions, 30-21 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

There was 1 college football game played that day, the Independence Bowl, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech beat the University of Louisville, 24-14.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls, 112-103 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 129-116 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Michael Campanella "Campy" Russell, later to play for the Knicks, scored 38 points.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Detroit Pistons, 126-122 in double overtime at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Randy Smith scored 31. Bob Lanier scored 36 in a losing effort.

* The Kansas City Kings beat the New Orleans Jazz, 115-93 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City. "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 34 in a losing effort.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Houston Rockets, 101-97 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Washington Bullets, 117-104 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. In spite of this, the Bullets would replace the Blazers as NBA Champions.

The entire NHL, all 18 teams, were in action:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Cleveland Barons, 4-2 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio. In spite of this, the Barons were bankrupt. Before the 1978-79 season began, they would be merged with another bankrupt team, the Minnesota North Stars, keeping that team's name. The Barons remain the last major league sports team in North America to go out of business.

* The New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Atlanta Flames, 4-3 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 7-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the St. Louis Arena, or the Checkerdome as it was then known.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-1 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 2-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres played to a tie, 5-5 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And there were 2 games in the World Hockey Association. The Winnipeg Jets beat the New England Whalers, 6-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena). And the Soviet All-Stars, in an ill-fated experiment for the WHA, beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 5-4 at the Riverfront Coliseum (now the Heritage Bank Center).

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal went to the West Midlands, and beat Coventry City, 2-1 at Highfield Road.

October 28, 1977: Queen Don't Need God (Or the Sex Pistols) to Save Them

Left to right: Brian May, Freddie Mercury,

John Deacon and Roger Taylor.

For the record, Freddie didn't grow the mustache until 1980.

And, at first, Queen's fans didn't like it.

Now, it's hard to imagine him without it.

October 28, 1977: The Sex Pistols release what turns out to be their one and only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. In spite of efforts by American acts such as The Ramones, it is considered the height -- or, perhaps, the depth -- of punk rock.

The original Pistols were lead singer John Lydon, a.k.a. Johnny Rotten, and bass guitarist Glen Matlock, both 21-year-old natives of North London; and a pair of West Londoners who had been in a previous band together, lead guitarist Steve Jones, 22, and drummer Paul Cook, 21.

The band was put together by Malcom McLaren, who the Pistols realized too late was robbing them blind. They were signed by EMI Records in 1976, and released their 1st single on November 26, "Anarchy in the U.K." Rotten set the tone from the first line: "I am an Antichrist! I am an anarchist!"

On December 1, they appeared on Thames Television's Today, hosted by Bill Grundy. They were replacements for Queen, who dropped out because Freddie Mercury had a dental emergency. The band members were drunk. So was Grundy.

Also a guest was another punk act, singer Siouxsie Sioux, who flirted with Grundy, who flirted back. Grundy was 53 years old, Sioux was 19. Jones called him "You dirty sod. You dirty old man." After every insult, Grundy egged Jones on, leading to "You dirty bastard," "You dirty fucker," and "What a fucking rotter." Grundy got no dirtier than, "What a clever boy!"

The controversy ruined Grundy's career, but it fit the profile that the Pistols were going for. EMI dropped them, but A&M Records signed them. They needed an album, and they had several songs written as they began recording in February 1977. But Matlock, who had written a lot of the lyrics, quit, saying he was "sick of the bullshit."

He was replaced on bass guitar by John Simon Ritchie, a 19-year-old South Londoner who called himself Sid Vicious, and could barely play the instrument at all, but embodied the punk persona (as the British saw it, not as Americans saw it) more than even Rotten did. If Rotten was an anarchist, Vicious was an out-and-out nihilist.

Left to right: Sid Vicious, Steve Jones,

Paul Cook and Johnny Rotten.

For years, until journalists cleared the facts up, there was a dispute among rock fans as to whether Matlock quit on his own or was fired because he didn't fit the punk image. Regardless of which was true, the fact that Vicious was hired because he fit the punk image despite not being any good at playing his instrument showed that McLaren was going for style over substance, which is the very antithesis of rock and roll, and especially of punk.

Only 2 songs on the album had Vicious on them: "Bodies" and "God Save the Queen," the latter written in connection with the Silver Jubilee (25th Anniversary) of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Rotten called the government "the fascist regime," even though the left-of-center Labour Party were in power; and said of Her Majesty, "She ain't no human bein'." Were they sincere about their anger at her? Rotten yelled/sang, "We mean it, man!" (After the Queen died, 45 years later, Rotten admitted that he'd always supported her, if not the government the ran Britain in her name.)

The album's title offended many people: "Bollocks" is slang for "testicles," but it can also mean "lies" or "bullshit." (But, like Americans can do with the profanity "shit," adding the definite article "the" makes it a good thing: "It's the bollocks" or even "It's the dog's bollocks.") Some British record stores put masking tape over the word on the cover. American stores, their owners not knowing the term, left it alone.

Despite the album's strong sales, the Pistols were doomed from the start. Their subsequent American tour did not do well. On January 14, 1978, they played the last show on that tour, at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. As with The Band in 1976, that venue would be the site of the last concert that Rotten, Vicious, Jones and Cook played together.

Vicious stayed in America, at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. In late 1978, his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, was murdered there. He was arrested as the only suspect. Early in 1979, he was sent to the City prison on Rikers Island to detox from drugs. He was released on February 1 -- and died of a heroin overdose the next day. He was 21.

Matlock built a separate musical career, and swallowed his differences with Rotten, Jones and Cook, joining them on tour in 1996, 2003 and 2007-08. As of October 28, 2022, the 4 original members are all still alive.

*

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols may have been the most influential album released that day, but it wasn't the best, or even the best album released that day by a British group: On the same day, Queen released News of the World.

It contains perhaps the last true double-sided hit record, which reached Number 4 on the U.S. pop charts: "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions." Lead guitarist Brian May wrote the former, wanting it to sound like a stadium chant -- which, of course, it became. Lead singer Freddie Mercury wrote the latter, and when he sang about paying his dues, and about thanking the audience for "fame, and fortune, and everything that goes with it," he was completely sincere both times.

Neither song was written about the newly-crowned World Champion New York Yankees, although the confluence of events meant that any confusion was understandable.

UPDATE: It took me until 2024 to think of this, but the 1970s were Schrödinger's Decade. There was too much overwrought music, and, at the same time, not enough of it.

*

October 28, 1977 was a Friday. Baseball season ended 9 days earlier, with the New York Yankees beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Football was in midweek.

There were 6 NBA games that night:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Boston Celtics, 116-109 at the brand-new Rutgers Athletic Center (now the Jersey Mike's Arena) in Piscataway, New Jersey. Bernard King scored 30 points.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 102-95 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The New Orleans Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns, 114-107 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Truck Robinson scored 37 points and grabbed 25 rebounds.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Washington Bullets, 136-127 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Larry Wright of the Bullets led all scorers on the night with 43 points, to no avail.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Buffalo Braves, 104-97 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Rick Barry scored 37 points.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 98-94 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. This was a rematch of the previous season's NBA Finals, also won by the Blazers.

There were 2 games in the National Hockey League. The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Cleveland Barons, 4-2 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio. And the Colorado Rockies beat the Washington Capitals, 8-1 at the McNichols Arena in Denver. The 1977-78 season would be the only time the Rockies made the Playoffs until 1987-88, by which point they were the New Jersey Devils; and the last season for the Barons, who were merged with another bankrupt team, the Minnesota North Stars, who kept that name.

And there were 2 games in the World Hockey Association. The Edmonton Oilers beat the Birmingham Bulls, 3-2 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, Alabama. And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 3-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

February 2, 1979: The Death of Sid Vicious

February 2, 1979: Sid Vicious dies of a drug overdose at a friend's apartment in New York City's Greenwich Village. He was 21 years old.

John Simon Ritchie was born on May 10, 1957 in Lewisham, Southeast London and... well, perhaps "grown up" isn't the right term... in Stoke Newington, East London. By the time he was 16, both he and his mother were hooked on heroin, he was torturing cats, and she kicked him out of the house.

Then he met John Lydon, who introduced him to his friends John Grey and John Wardle. They called themselves "The Four Johns," and moved in together. Lydon had a hamster he'd named Sid, after Syd Barrett, formerly of the bank Pink Floyd. That hamster bit Ritchie, and Lydon gave him the nickname "Sid Vicious." Vicious nicknamed Wardle "Jah Wobble." (Lydon and Wardle would form Public Image Ltd. after the Sex Pistols broke up.)

The original Sex Pistols were lead singer Lydon, a.k.a. Johnny Rotten, and bass guitarist Glen Matlock, both 21-year-old natives of North London; and a pair of West Londoners who had been in a previous band together, lead guitarist Steve Jones, 22, and drummer Paul Cook, 21.

They needed an album, and they had several songs written as they began recording in February 1977. But Matlock, who had written a lot of the lyrics, quit, saying he was "sick of the bullshit."

He was replaced on bass guitar by Vicious, who'd been in a band named The Flowers of Romance. He could barely play the instrument at all, but embodied the punk persona (as the British saw it, not as Americans saw it) more than even Rotten did. If Rotten was, as he claimed in the song "Anarchy in the U.K.," an anarchist, Vicious was an out-and-out nihilist.

Left to right: Sid Vicious, Steve Jones,

Paul Cook and Johnny Rotten.

When the album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols was released on October 28, 1977, only 2 songs on it had Vicious on them: "Bodies" and "God Save the Queen," the latter written in connection with the Silver Jubilee (25th Anniversary) of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Despite the album's strong sales, the Pistols were doomed from the start. Their subsequent American tour did not do well. On January 14, 1978, they played the last show on that tour, at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. As with The Band in 1976, that venue would be the site of the last concert that Rotten, Vicious, Jones and Cook played together.

Vicious stayed in America, at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. He recorded a version of "My Way," which would be used by director Martin Scorcese to close his gangster film Goodfellas.

In late 1978, his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, was murdered there. He was arrested as the only suspect. Early in 1979, he was sent to the City prison on Rikers Island to detox from drugs. He was released on February 1 -- and died of a heroin overdose the next day. He was 21.

Ironically, his legal troubles had led his mother to reconcile with him. She told his New York friends that under no circumstances should he be left alone. But he was alone in a bedroom the night he died, even though she and the friends were sleeping in other rooms at that apartment, at 63 Bank Street. Anne Ritchie would also die of a heroin overdose, in 1996.

Matlock built a separate musical career, and swallowed his differences with Rotten, Jones and Cook, joining them on tour in 1996, 2003 and 2007-08. As of February 2, 2022, the 4 original members are all still alive.

*

February 2, 1979 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 10 games played in the NBA that night:

* The New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 105-101 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, despite 35 points from Julius "Dr. J" Erving.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Portland Trail Blazers, 117-100 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 112-98 at the Boston Garden.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Houston Rockets, 120-106 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Golden State Warriors, 87-84 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the New Orleans Jazz, 116-110 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Kansas City Kings beat the Detroit Pistons, 130-114 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the San Antonio Spurs, 133-108 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

* The San Diego Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets, 124-100 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). Lloyd Free, who would later rename himself World B. Free, led all scorers on the night with 49 points.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 104-102 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were no games in the NHL that night, but there were 2 in the World Hockey Association:

* The New England Whalers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-1 at the Springfield Civic Center (now the MassMutual Center) in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Whalers were playing there while their home, the Hartford Civic Center (now the XL Center), was being rebuilt following a roof collapse in 1978.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Winnipeg Arena. These 4 teams turned out to be the only ones from the WHA admitted to the NHL after the season, with the Whalers changing their name to the Hartford Whalers. In 1995, the Nordiques moved, becoming the Colorado Avalanche. In 1996, the Jets moved, becoming the Phoenix Coyotes, and eventually the Arizona Coyotes. In 1997, the Whalers moved to Greensboro, and after 2 more years to Raleigh, becoming the Carolina Hurricanes. In 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers moved, becoming the new Winnipeg Jets. The Oilers have stayed put.