5th Anniversary Special on Letterman, February 7, 1987

Taped the day before in SNL's studio 8-H. Preceded by a profile/interview on Entertainment Tonight February 5.
With stand-ups by Jay Leno and Carol Leifer, and a performance by Joe Cocker and Wilson Pickett, backed up by Rita Marley, Bonnie Raitt, and Judy Mowatt.
And a Chris Elliott video retrospective.
Sitting in with the World's Most Dangerous Band:
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet
Clarence Clemons and Grover Washington, Jr., saxophones
Peter Frampton and Andy Summers, guitars
Felix Cavaliere and Herbie Hancock, keyboards

[@ztoxtube]

Those uncut music bumpers are amazing. Band sounded great!

[@randall-king]

I was wondering whether this was recorded from a raw satellite feed, which would explain that. When my grandparents got a satellite dish in the mid-80s, some satellite feeds had no commercials. On some of them, it would just go dark during commercial time, but other times you’d get to see behind the scenes details.

[@joshuaarmstrong377]

Thank you don, one of the greatest channels on youtube

[@jsrecords2023]

Thanks! I like the full-length band pieces

[@jackiemac9842]

Best version of midnight hour ever! Ty for sharing. Miss wicked Pickett 😢 today’s tv sucks !!

[@PlanetNewfoundland]

oh these Entertainment Tonight clips are the cherry on top. so good! thanks so much :)

[@jsb1980]

A good look at 8H and how big it really is when all those SNL sets aren’t taking up the space.

[@victorpratt9920]

Love the unedited music!!!!! Thanks Don!!!!!

[@RespectableGrownMan]

Thanks Don, great show, in spite of Jay Leno. Every time I try to find something redeemable about Leno I simply can't, I'm incapable of cracking even the faintest smile at anything he's ever said. Dave was the greatest, hands down!

[@katiezee2]

Jay's head kept snapping around like a ridiculous bobblehead haha

[@danieldougan269]

Even Dave has said Jay was the funniest guy he knew. That was never the issue between them.

[@jk3521]

@@danieldougan269 Dave had to be joking!

[@TELEVISIONARCHIVES]

We watched this is a New York Bar. We all wondered why David dressed the way he did that night.

[@davewestner]

Dang, quite a band, and what a treat to get to hear the music during the commercial breaks.

[@stevengallant6363]

David Letterman (1947) and Herrbie Hancock (1940) were born on the same day,(April 12) 7 years apart. Both living legends.

[@spuzzlightyeartoo]

Also, that Colleen Doyle "shoes" segment never fails to make me laugh.

[@merlin8675309]

If someone said Carol Leifer was appearing on a 1987 David Letterman Show special that is the EXACT outfit I would visualize.

[@nedwart]

What a great show! Too bad Tesh couldn't make it

[@ajn465]

Freddie Hubbard. Solid.

[@antisepticmanor]

The Gravy Sprinkler just makes sense

[@jeffreymadden2745]

I love that intro

[@intrepidpooch]

Freddie Hubbard and Herbie Hancock in the band????? 😱

[@andyrose5616]

I still don’t understand why they only used this opening for a couple of years. Hal clearly put a lot of money into it.

[@ronachten2902]

Yes, this is the opening I think of when Letterman is mentioned.

[@kenjitakahashi7795]

I love Paul A.W. Shaffer. He's the best.

[@aphillips1987]

Andy Summers is like "what am I doing here"?

[@Bill_Woo]

He's a serious musician, so I'm sure there was mutual respect. What a lineup though. Name after name, so big that they could and did do headline shows, and sometimes significant albums.

[@neddanison9202]

Wow, that band!

[@MichaelLasotaTW]

Back when TV used to be epic 56:00

[@daboys1215]

The days when TV was awesome.

[@hippielewis4768]

When jay and Dave left late night died

[@garyb2b]

My god... that BAND! And the whole horn section is gone now...

[@Bill_Woo]

Mindnumbing assemblage. I was already out of breath when they hit Grover (playing baritone!) ... and by the time they hit Felix, OMG. Forget that they had even another Hancock on deck!

[@Bill_Woo]

Although at 55:34 of course he had to switch to alto for Mr. Magic.

[@Bill_Woo]

And OMFG 56:08

[@garyb2b]

I'm sure Dave LOVES looking at himself in that sweater!!

[@dongiller]

Wait til you see...

[@katiezee2]

I found that farmer & his chihuahua - who is 'not a dog, he's a boy' - somewhat creepy & disturbing. But - Invisible Gopher Dog was the one I always remembered from his original appearance, so funny

[@TimothySmiths]

Very nice quality..assuming this was originally a satellite feed since we have the full band playing for the commercial breaks.

[@dongiller]

Nope. But go with that. :)

[@dongiller]

My standard answer: I knew people. :)

[@aaronwestendorp7352]

@@dongiller You wouldn't share your secrets at Guantanamo

[@timmcleaners1987]

@@dongiller Bond. Don Bond.

[@jamesflynn4741]

@@dongiller , the man, the mystery

[@jnadle1]

Songs performed during commercial: Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) - Stevie Wonder 2 Unknown songs In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett and Joe Cocker Unknown song Every Breath You Take - The Police Unknown song

[@jasonschneider71]

Song 2 - Soul Finger / The Bar-Kays Song after Leno - Watermelon Man / Herbie Hancock

[@Gabrielterminator2]

Song after the Colleen Boyle segment: Mister Magic - Grover Washington Jr.

[@pattitortora7145]

There's no one like Dave! The talk shows today, don't come close to being AS fun and entertaining. The interview after interview, is a different kind of entertainment, but not as exciting. Also, think about this. Before Letterman, there was Carson, only. Then Letterman and Carson. Then Letterman on a different channel with back to back 11:30 / 12:30 shows. Latenight expanded the opportunity in the field from one show to 5: Kimmel, Fallon, Meyers, Colbert, Cordin. He was so good, the network just popped in new hosts, albeit talented in their own ways.

[@spuzzlightyeartoo]

Is that really Jerry Springer as one of the award nominees? "Thomas Padlick for Card Sharks"?

[@johnnynbk]

dog play skills, expert rating

[@billfletcher7602]

I wonder what happened to Bonnie Raitt's right arm?

[@MichaelLasotaTW]

@42:00 sounds like what you've recently been through.

[@BeanpotPubParlour]

@don giller, do you have the 8th Anniversary Special? If not, I have it on a retail purchased VHS tape.

[@dongiller]

Thanks. I have every show.

[@BeanpotPubParlour]

@@dongiller Awesome! Looking forward to watching it then WITHOUT having to fire up the ol' VCR.

[@thomasnguyen77]

@@dongiller Can you post a Mujibur and Sirajul compilation? They were a great memory of my teen years. It was so much fun watching every night, especially when they went cross country.

[@dongiller]

Thomas Nguyen There were 91 appearances. Won’t happen anytime soon.

[@jaro9467]

Who's the German talking about every failure making him grow and how he'll be on postage stamps in the future?

[@dongiller]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZuYl4mkfbyIopY

[@erik_griswold]

Brother Theodore!

[@judasrhoadssabbathslayer4726]

Who knew that Colleen's brother was Tom Cruise?

[@BaccarWozat]

Say what you will about Leno, but he gave a good routine in this one. I think he just got sloppy once he had the regular host gig.

[@gusrendell6083]

any idea what the song is that starts at 32:57?

[@dongiller]

I was hoping it was a Freddie Hubbard tune (he was part of the All-Star band), but I can’t yet place it.

[@gusrendell6083]

@@dongiller i’ve been flying through records by the members of the horn section, favourite bands of Paul’s that he tends to pull from when he had horns in this period, and even used music identifying apps and no dice on identifying the tune. I was hoping whatever source you have also had the music in the breaks listed haha I’m a desperate man at this point.

[@dongiller]

@@gusrendell6083 It’s a source I’ve been trying to get since 1994.

[@gusrendell6083]

@@dongillerif I manage to get the name I’ll drop it here for you; i’ve resorted to using social media to get to Shaffer himself

[@gusrendell6083]

@@dongiller Mr. Clean - Freddie Hubbard

[@jk3521]

Loved the video, but fast forwarded when that rat Leno came on !

[@Eggmanontheair]

Gee I'm first!

[@CuriousDiscourse]

Gee, no one cares!

[@linzilooloo7669]

@@CuriousDiscourse Gee, apparently you do!

[@theoracle3772]

Nether Fat Guy nor Fat Boy are far by today’s standards

[@lanceash]

Wow, John Tesh. Is he still making that horrible "music?"