7th Anniversary Special on Letterman, February 2, 1989

Taped January 23 in Studio 6A.
From Tom Shales' Washington Post article 2/2/89, "Letterman's Cranky Charm: Celebrating 7 Years of 'Late Night' Humor":
Last year's special, a ratings hit, originated from Radio City Music Hall. Alas, this year's [anniversary special] will originate from the same cramped NBC studio where Dave originates every night.
"We toyed with the idea of doing something on an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific," says Dave from his home in verdant New Canaan, Conn., "but the cost proved prohibitive. Then we thought about maybe doing it in Lincoln Center in Washington - the Kennedy Center. We could not get availability there.
"Then we asked if we could do it at the White House and apparently the idea was presented at some low-level gathering there and it was just booted out of the building. Which of course is only as it should be."
Part 1:
1. Satellite interview, "A.M. Cleveland" with Scott Newell.
2. "Live at Five" interview across the hall with Jack Cafferty.
A split-screen version of both Live and Five and LN's broadcasts can be seen here:
• David Letterman Visits...
3. An NBC promo.
Part 2: The anniversary show.
With a stand-up by Jerry Seinfeld and performance of "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green and Toni Childs, with a backup band consisting of:
Keyboard: Paul Shaffer
Guitar: Sid McGinnis
Bass: Will Lee
Drums: Anton Fig
Tower of Power Horns: Greg Adams, Emilio Castillo, Steve Grove, Stephen Kupka, Lee Thornburg
Saxophonist: Dave Sanborn
Guitarist: Carlos Santana
Pianist: McCoy Tyner
Percussionist: Tito Puente
Vocalists: Darlene Love, Patti Austin, Melissa Etheridge
Ending with a Tom Jones performance of the Late Night Anthem.
And a few Easter Eggs,
Satellite interview and NBC promo courtesy Christopher Bay.

[@randyj420]

A really fun watch. These days of Dave were the best. Love seeing this again. Thanks for all the great comps.

[@chickenringNYC]

Thanks Don! As a child, my parents had this taped on VHS and I watched it countless times. This special was a perfect introduction to Dave's show and Dave's humor. Glad to finally see it here. As a kid, I didn't quite understand Chris Elliot's bit with the canned ham, but it still made me laugh.

[@leehamza2943]

InstaBlaster

[@jacoscofield5150]

Thanks Don for your great work !

[@sabian630]

The Al Green song was fantastically done here...wow.

[@Bill_Woo]

1:17:04 one of the finest piano players - if not the very finest - in the history of piano players holds court. The historic McCoy Tyner passed away March 2020.

[@dongiller]

I included the full “My Favorite Things” not only because it showcased Tyner but also to give context to Carlos Santana’s ecstatic expression out of the break.

[@Bill_Woo]

@@dongiller I'm grateful. And God yes, Carlos raised everything a level (or ten) as well. (That same year I had my great brush with fame getting my photo taken arm in arm with CS too)

[@LeeKav]

I only learned of Tyner's passing reading your comment today. How sad. He is by far my favourite piano player, and his solo on Coltrane's recording of My Favourite Things is possibly my favourite piece of music. I was lucky enough to see him perform Coltrane's album Ballads in Melbourne, Australia a few years ago, and he was still as incredible as ever. Sorry, I'm just blabbing, I'm really sorry to hear this.

[@dongiller]

Lee Not babbling at all. Tyner was a master.

[@GeneBurnett]

I saw McCoy Tyner in Seattle with a trio back in the 90's and wow...left hand hitting the keys so hard I thought he might actually break a string...right hand playing so fast and beautiful and crazy...I couldn't imagine imagining those notes much less being able to play them. Amazing show.

[@thejwproject7593]

This is my favorite anniversary special!!

[@milart12]

Great job as always Don. I cant help but contrast this with Jay Leno's farewell Tonight Show: not a single memorable moment in the all the years that he was on. Whereas 80s Letterman was filled with nightly joys, not all of which could be crammed into these anniversary shows.

[@lisaa8795]

For the music number alone 50:54 this should have tons more views.

[@winonafrog]

Yeah, really excellent.

[@randy3157]

Great job Don !

[@randyhook83]

So Good,loved this show back in the Day!!!

[@Crystalpoodleblack]

I am glad that they showed what the first dog was supposed to do in the montage following the stupid pet tricks because I was curious about it

[@oofoot]

Man I'm a huge fan of this channel and it's amazing content

[@GooseOD]

Epic Tom Jones version at the end, great TV.

[@dongiller]

Keep watching after the end of the show. :)

[@robertschoenig6521]

No-one better than Tom Jones.

[@judydoyle1124]

Thank you for that Oye Como Va!

[@Norvo82]

Interesting that Paul Shaffer omitted the line "Johnny Carson is a friend of mine" , that was part of the original Bentsen smackdown.

[@dhpbear2]

Apparently Dave's 'feud' with Bryant Gumbel was still on! :) (5:18) Don, this would be a great compilation video!

[@GrandGame1440]

I co-sign this! 😊

[@sdne1959]

. The VERY distinctive guitar playing of Carlos Santana (1:27:11) !! Just HOW is it possible for one man's playing to be SO distinctive, playing a relatively common instrument that hundreds of MILLIONS of others have played for so many years ?? Simply AMAZING !! .

[@Memo2Self]

You know, a few years ago a friend and I were talking about how Santana's guitar style is, as you say, so distinctive and unforgettably his - and we suddenly realized that we couldn't think of a single well-known guitarist who was audibly influenced by him; someone you could point to and say, "Ahhh, THAT person's clearly been listening to Carlos Santana." A week later, when we heard the sad news, it hit both of us - Prince. You can ABSOLUTELY hear Santana in some of Prince's solos.

[@claudecat]

@@Memo2Self Wow, I'd never made the connection, but I can hear it, yeah. Not that the original post isn't true. Santana is among the most immediately recognizable guitarists ever, along with people like Django Reinhardt, B.B. King and surprisingly few others.

[@jnadle1]

Bumper songs: Little Latin Lupe Lu Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin What is Hip - Tower of Power Oye Como Va - Tito Puente My Favorite Things - Julie Andrews

[@hutprancer]

Thanks for this, and also, wow! I did not know that Oye Como Va was originally a Tito song! Listening to the 1962 version now! Outstanding!

[@blugold94]

The Cleveland station graphic saying "anniversery" at the end....lol.

[@user-sk9bx7wp2n]

Dave is the ultimate tv smartass!

[@markjones952]

This is now my 2nd favorite Jack Cafferty interview. If you get a chance to watch Jack interview Don Rickles on Live at 5 here on the KZbin...Enjoy.

[@MusicOverMyHead]

Why was the 6th Anniversary show at Radio City music hall and then this one back at the studio??

[@bobdecarlo7778]

Zany, really zany. Awfully fun. daaavid lettamin!

[@clifforddriver9434]

They really meant Tom Snyder's cigarette ashes.

[@rafaelfernandeslopesdeoliv1700]

Hey mr Giller, what happened to the part 3 of the jay leno compilation? It's no longer available. Thanks for the anniversary specials you've been uploading lately.

[@dongiller]

I pulled it last September. Will put it back up when there’s time.

[@SteveStalzle]

Thanks for including the full station break songs! The audience at home never got to hear the full tunes, during the commercial breaks. How did you get this version, is it from an affilliate broadcast?

[@dongiller]

I knew people. :)

[@nedwart]

Don's been raiding the NBC tape vault 😂

[@dongiller]

Tristan Andrew Ha! I wish. :)

[@dhpbear2]

I don't get the 'without sleep' viewer mail (?) (29:30)

[@chrisconway7402]

the joke was he thought it was "without sex", until Paul corrected him that it was "without sleep"

[@AudioFileZ]

AM Cleveland...self explanatory.

[@andyrose5616]

Those alternate takes with Tom Jones are fascinating. I can’t figure out how they covered his false start on “that’s deep inside” for the air version. I wonder if he sang it twice for the audience or did a pickup later. Also interesting to see that they put the fake brick texture behind Anton back in between rehearsal and the audience show. It looks so out of place, I had always assumed it was only there because it couldn’t be easily detached from the set frame.

[@dongiller]

As far as I can tell in this collection, there’s the air take, with two different videos, and there’s the rehearsal take, which was never used for air. There was a second rehearsal take I didn’t include, and there’s another take during the afternoon taping that I likewise didn’t share.

[@hutprancer]

They must have used the afternoon taping audio to overdub his early start for the broadcast version. Nice catch, Andy. I never would have noticed the non-matching lips! TV tricks us!

[@foleynj86]

Anybody know the original airdates of the first set of highlights? Specifically the parody of the 1988 VP debate?

[@dongiller]

October 6, 1988.

[@foleynj86]

@@dongiller Thanks!

[@ThereIsNoLord]

52:10 Tito Puente! An intersection of Late Night with David Letterman and the film Stripes!

[@wiedep]

Wendell sounds like he has a cold

[@JHATDRUMMER1976]

every anniversary show he would interrupt la law

[@dongiller]

1983: Friday night. L.A. Law debuted in 1986. 1984: Saturday night in SNL’s spot. 1985: Saturday night in SNL’s spot. 1986: Saturday night in SNL’s spot. 1987: Saturday night in SNL’s spot. 1988: Thursday night, the last hour in L.A. Law’s spot. 1989: Thursday night, the last hour in L.A. Law’s spot. 1990: Thursday night, the last hour in L.A. Law’s spot. 1991: no anniversary special,that year 1992: Thursday night, the last hour in L.A. Law’s spot.

[@js2010ish]

Wow, exactly 0 laughs at Jerry's closer 1:26:54

[@NLBTUBE]

That part at 1:03:59 where the ENT specialist asks him to say EEE, I remember watching that when it aired, so hilarious!!! Also, does anyone remember on Dave's 7th Anniversary Special on NBC, Jerry SeInfeld was on talking about his new show? I had that special on VHS for years and don't have it anymore, but I distinctly remember seeing Jerry for the first time on that special. I thought he was hilarious and sought out his new show on NBC after that.

[@dongiller]

Not clear what you’re asking. This _is_ the 7th anniversary special. I’ve also uploaded _all_ of Dave’s anniversary specials, so perhaps you can find what you remember among those videos.

[@NLBTUBE]

@@dongiller I'm asking whether Jerry Seinfeld was actually on Letterman's 7th anniversary NBC special. Again, I had it on VHS for years because I used to record them all. I swear the first time I saw Jerry Seinfeld was on that special and he was promoting his new sitcom.

[@dongiller]

Maybe actually _watch_ the 7th anniversary special, which is right here, and you’ll answer your own question.

[@NLBTUBE]

@@dongiller what makes you think I didn't? So yes, I remembered it incorrectly apparently. Thank you for the uploads, I will have to go through them.

[@dongiller]

@@NLBTUBE What makes me think you hadn’t was because you twice asked if Seinfeld had appeared in it, when the video was right in front of you.