Tom Snyder

There are lots of tributes to Tom Snyder going around the net today, and a lot of great clips from his shows. I always enjoyed watching him; his was an immensely curious man, and he refused to dumb himself, his guests or his audience down to fit some conventional stereotype of what television should be or what the audience would appreciate. His latitude with his guests allowed them to relax and to really be themselves.

Here’s a great interview with Kiss from 1979. Ace Frehley really steals the show here, much to Gene Simmons obvious annoyance.



Here’s an interview with Jerry Garcia and Ken Kesey from 1981, talking about the Acid Tests.



And what would a post about Tom Snyder be without a clip of his infamous interview with John Lydon of P.I.L.? It's difficult to listen past Lydon's obnoxiousness or Keith Levine's pretentiousness, but what you get a sense of is John Lydon's utter dismay, of how in his eyes, punk absolutely failed.