Let me get this straight: On Halloween night, John Belushi enlisted a punk band whose audience almost smashed $100,000 worth of cameras, the show cut to commercials before a pumpkin was destroyed, and Ian Mackaye of both Minor Threat and Fugazi was in the audience. Man, TV sucks nowadays.
Hell I just saw this today! I'm 32 and my jaw fell through the floor when my eyes saw all that mosh pit mess going on... On SNL!!! I couldn't imagine how it must have been watching it happen live 40 years ago. Priceless!
John Belushi REFUSED to do the cold open Cameo UNLESS they booked FEAR....that is hilarious, John knew EXACTLY what was going to happen, and he didn't work with Lorne anymore -- Lorne couldn't fire him, and FEAR were smart enough to know THIS would be their only SNL gig -- so they went for it.
Man, Belushi was a real one. Such a badass. Who else could get punk rockers and corporate media together on a nationally televised live show. I bet there’s lots more stories like this he’s involved in that people don’t know.
I grew up of this being an urban legend but never saw the footage. It wasnt everywhere pre social media and I didn't have time or effort, let alone the funds to dig for it. So now I found the whole story, it's surreal. It now makes the Crisis of Conformity SNL skit that much funnier.
About 5 years ago I heard a muzac version of " what do I get" by the Buzzcocks while shopping with my wife for livingroom decor at a Pier 51 imports store... I will now surrender my punk rock card.
I remember watching this show with Fear on as guest... I loved it... I was a young punk rocker in those days... That some good times back then ... The best years of my life👊
the funny thing is seeing Ian Mckaye, a guy who would tell their audience not to slam and take care of each other and the equipment, not only slam dancing but all excited about making a mess and starting a fight between cities
god bless John Belushi ! for having the temerity to insist that FEAR be on SNL - those days are LONG gone kids. i remember that broadcast, sitting in the central time zone dark, just inches from our tube tv, with the volume turned down low and a pillow on my lap to muffle my laughter, lest i wake my dad who nearly always fell asleep on the couch friday and saturday nights and who hated SNL and would smack me hard if he woke up while i was watching......totally worth it !
Your God isn't real and therefore can't bless anyone or anything. Your imaginary friend doesn't bless the 1,000 children every single day that die of starvation and malnutrition, and certainly can not just bless somebody because you said so.
I bought Fear the Record in 1998 on CD and listened to it for years. Then I discovered they were on SNL a year before I was born. And Doctor Loomis HIMSELF introduced them on Halloween night. Absolutely amazing. John Belushi was a huge fan and was in the mosh pit.
Interesting. Never made the connection until just now. Devo's famous Halloween Night 1981 Radio City Music Hall concert also took place on the same night. What a great night to be a New Yorker. I was only able to attend one of the two events that night.
John Brannon showed me his VHS copy in 1992 in ANN ARBOR. Not sure if it’s mentioned in the comments here but BRANNON grabbed the microphone and screamed “NEGATIVE APPROACH IS GOING TO FUCK YOU UP!” That definitely should have been mentioned here.
1. The saxophone playing is hilarious 2. I had no idea ian mackaye was there lol 3. Pumpkin smash was funny looking too 4. FEAR is a fun band to see live. Good guys too and they hang out with everybody before they play. 5. RIP Hardcore 1981-1996
@@soupeater7417 youre always gonna find bands playing, you can still find NEW WAVE bands out there or even lounge acts. But the scene and culture is gone. And theres NOTHING wrong with that. It didnt 'fail' or anything, but it served its 'purpose.' It was a unique experience and im happy it happened and was a part of it. *Raises glass to my fellow scenesters*
Good to see Bill. I used to DJ at the 9:30 . started in '92 .did my last show in 2016. Fear came through the old 9:30 not to long after I started working. One of my favorite shows at the 9:30.
saw Fear about 6 years ago behind the Roxy Theater in Hollywood. I had my camera and was taking some shots of lee all of a sudden 1234 1234 boom my camera went flying and I was on the ground hahahaha it was so funny I had no idea it was just going to erupt . awesome show.
Lee Ving is such a fucking legend, loved his banter and the ever lulzworthy scene of him treating that "lady" acting like a man, like a man in Decline of Western Civilization.
Lots of history in that crowd. John Joseph, Tesco Vee, I forget the others, but it was historical. John Joseph has a pretty good play by play in his book, "Evolution of a Cro-magnom."
Lee Ving is originally from Philadelphia. If you haven't been to Philadelphia you wouldn't understand. I lived in Philadelphia for the better part of twenty five years . I lived in the punk scene from 1981 through 1990. After that it was a drag. Fear the band was the real deal. Right up there with black flag and the germs. On the East Coast we had agnostic front, heart attack, Reagan youth, bad brains, Minor threat, kraut, SSD, AOD, and countless other great bands. The punk scene 40 years will never be duplicated
AOD! Adrenalin Overdose, one of my favorite bands of all time. They rejoined last year and played a couple shows in NY & NJ to celebrate their book release. I found that out at a Circle Jerks show last Summer (2022) in Dallas. Of course I drove from Texas to NY/NJ to see AOD play 2 nights in a row! Now they're going to play more in 2024! They're going to play some of the East Coast NOFX farewell shows and probably some other shows, maybe in Florida, too. Of course I'll be there again. I've seen FEAR 3 times in the last 2 years! They opened for the original Misfits and Alice Cooper in Dallas to a sold-out crowd of 20,000! Lee is still incredible on stage at 72!
The first time I saw AOD was in 1981. They were 'headlining', if you will, at Clifton NJHS. Complete chaos for twenty minutes. When the show was over there was a minor brawl and I got hit in the neck with a chair leg. Good times 👻
@@danielorlando8172 Very cool times indeed! I miss the 80s! I still go to _lots_ of hardcore/punk shows & it's so different now. Clifton, NJ at Dingbatz was their second show Nov 5th, 22. That's their hometown. They also played Bowery Electric in Manhattan, Nov 4th. There were 90% folk my age (mid 50s & up) so there wasn't much chaos, but we got a little old-persons pit going! Can't wait to see AOD again in 2024! When Fat Mike of NOFX heard they played a couple shows he asked AOD to join him for the East Coast NOFX farewell concerts in 2024. I think it'll be cool to see AOD in front of thousands of people! I don't think they've ever played to a large crowd like that. There's some semi-professional video of AODs 2 shows last year here...facebook.com/groups/405563493249982/search/?q=Adrenaline%20OD
Saw this live on the day. Fucking, Fucking, Fucking INCREDIBLE!!! This cemented me as a punk... FOREVER! AH HA HA!!! P.S.: Maxwell cassette tapes Oh, yeah.
He says he had Lorne Michaels on the phone... This was in SNL's 7th season; Lorne left after season 5 (and didn't return until season 11). Perhaps he meant Dick Ebersol?
@@cactaceoushe was likely just misremembering. Lorne Michaels had literally nothing to do with SNL between season 6-10, and he would tell you as much. This is an objective fact.
I was a young teen and saw this when it was broadcast - and simply could not believe what I was seeing. I later had a cassette with "(I Love) Livin' In The City" and "I Don't Care About You" in somewhat heavy rotation.
I was playing guitar in a band that morphed into AntiSeen in my cousin's basement for her Halloween party and missed this The next night I was watching Iggy Pop in Charlotte
I was 7, turning 8 in 2 days. I had gotten home from trick or treating. We were out late that year because it was on a Saturday. Seeing this on TV fanned a small ember, that took off with MTV, and the likes that intertwined with dirtbikes and BMX bikes and what was the 80s. I was the same age, relatively, as the kids in Stranger Things. It was great!
as a 65 yr old punk rocker I think learned something. This is where the band Smashing Pumpkins got their name. If it's obvious forgive me i didn't get the memo.
Belushi was a punk fan and a friend of Fear lead singer Lee Ving… it was Belushi that convinced them to let Fear on the show. He tried to get Dead Kennedys on too but they weren’t having it
Would've loved to have seen Jello up there. DK almost certainly would've tried to one up FEAR's level of destruction and chaos. Would've started a whole thing. Talk about killer tv.
@@Lustontheflag totally! Jello probably would have had a prepared speech in the middle of the song... a message for all the millions of Reagan-era Americans watching TV that night
I'm pretty sure the most I've ever been hurt in a pit was during a FEAR show. It was either them or 7 Seconds, my brains been hurt a few times, remembering is hard.
I was there standing under the bleachers, I worked for Studio Instrument Rentals providing the band gear. It was AWESOME! The band stenciled (FU*K YOU) on the front kick drum head and SNL said no way, so instead they printed Q-FA-Q-FA-Q-FA-Q Brilliant !
F****g hilarious & great! Belushi loved hardcore & you gotta love the clips from the reviews...."nobody got killed!" Like a punk show was gonna kill people...PS Harley Flanagan gets in somehow too STImULaTORS LOUDFASTRULES
Saw this on tv. They didn't include here that people were continuously shouting the fword into the microphones. They didn't cut to dead air, they cut right to commercials. And when the show came back live, it was as if nothing had happened.
One time I saw FEAR at the Whisky in Hollywood and Fear was spitting on the crowd and the crowd was spitting back on the band. When we walked out of there our hair was full of everyone's spit 😅
