Derek Thompson

It's the most iconic, nondescript. theme song. And that was my first realization back when I would pretty much any Saturday that The Roots aren't touring and they're taping, I'm in the audience watching. And that to me is one of the most humorous things ever. Like, wow, you know it when you hear it. You know that's SNL. But No one can, it's a feeling.

It's almost like it's the last theme that offers a feeling, but not any evidence of it. I don't know, it's like trying to put water in your pocket or something like that. It's abundant, but it's not, it's whatever you want it to be.

It's almost like it's the last theme that offers a feeling, but not any evidence of it. I don't know, it's like trying to put water in your pocket or something like that. It's abundant, but it's not, it's whatever you want it to be.

It's almost like it's the last theme that offers a feeling, but not any evidence of it. I don't know, it's like trying to put water in your pocket or something like that. It's abundant, but it's not, it's whatever you want it to be.

I will say that, you know, the first five years was pretty much, you know, SNL, the role of SNL was that was our YouTube, that was our viral video channel. For me, that was the one place where I could watch. At the time, I think my all-time favorite artist was Bill Withers. You know, there really just wasn't a show in which you can see actual musicians playing.

I will say that, you know, the first five years was pretty much, you know, SNL, the role of SNL was that was our YouTube, that was our viral video channel. For me, that was the one place where I could watch. At the time, I think my all-time favorite artist was Bill Withers. You know, there really just wasn't a show in which you can see actual musicians playing.

I will say that, you know, the first five years was pretty much, you know, SNL, the role of SNL was that was our YouTube, that was our viral video channel. For me, that was the one place where I could watch. At the time, I think my all-time favorite artist was Bill Withers. You know, there really just wasn't a show in which you can see actual musicians playing.

I mean, you could watch American Bandstand or Soul Train where they might be lip syncing. Occasionally on Soul Train, they play live, but... You know, back then it was slim pickings. Either Friday night you watched a midnight special. Sometimes a rock concert would come on like Sunday nights. But basically, SNL was just... It was a rare moment in which you got to catch a really cool band.

I mean, you could watch American Bandstand or Soul Train where they might be lip syncing. Occasionally on Soul Train, they play live, but... You know, back then it was slim pickings. Either Friday night you watched a midnight special. Sometimes a rock concert would come on like Sunday nights. But basically, SNL was just... It was a rare moment in which you got to catch a really cool band.

I mean, you could watch American Bandstand or Soul Train where they might be lip syncing. Occasionally on Soul Train, they play live, but... You know, back then it was slim pickings. Either Friday night you watched a midnight special. Sometimes a rock concert would come on like Sunday nights. But basically, SNL was just... It was a rare moment in which you got to catch a really cool band.

So even like Devo coming on. I was eight years old when... They did the Jaco Homo song, Are We Not Men? We Are Devo. And me and my cousins' minds were blown. So practically any group that came on in the first five to six years, I was an instant fan of.

So even like Devo coming on. I was eight years old when... They did the Jaco Homo song, Are We Not Men? We Are Devo. And me and my cousins' minds were blown. So practically any group that came on in the first five to six years, I was an instant fan of.

So even like Devo coming on. I was eight years old when... They did the Jaco Homo song, Are We Not Men? We Are Devo. And me and my cousins' minds were blown. So practically any group that came on in the first five to six years, I was an instant fan of.

Okay, so Saturday Night Live is the first time that America and the world will get to see what hip-hop culture is. The very first rap performance on TV is when Debra Harry hosts the show in 1981 and brings on a Sugarhill act called The Funky Four Plus One More.

Okay, so Saturday Night Live is the first time that America and the world will get to see what hip-hop culture is. The very first rap performance on TV is when Debra Harry hosts the show in 1981 and brings on a Sugarhill act called The Funky Four Plus One More.

Okay, so Saturday Night Live is the first time that America and the world will get to see what hip-hop culture is. The very first rap performance on TV is when Debra Harry hosts the show in 1981 and brings on a Sugarhill act called The Funky Four Plus One More.

And she took a liking to this group, even though there were other popular groups at the time, like there was Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and the Sugar Hill Gang, both like platinum hits and really music and culture changing songs at the time. But she took a liking to this group because it was similar to Blondie, a band that had a woman in the lead of it.

And she took a liking to this group, even though there were other popular groups at the time, like there was Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and the Sugar Hill Gang, both like platinum hits and really music and culture changing songs at the time. But she took a liking to this group because it was similar to Blondie, a band that had a woman in the lead of it.

And she took a liking to this group, even though there were other popular groups at the time, like there was Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and the Sugar Hill Gang, both like platinum hits and really music and culture changing songs at the time. But she took a liking to this group because it was similar to Blondie, a band that had a woman in the lead of it.

And so she took a liking to them. And for me, that's such an SNL move where, you know, those first 10 years, they weren't about, well, who's the most popular person to bring ratings in? It was always like the cool factor, like, okay, who's the most popular person now? Who's the person under that person that we could give a boost to?