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Sundance: Questlove On Sly Lives!
The Tonight Showbandleader also managed to persuade Lorne Michaels, a man not known for nostalgia, to talk.
When the music changes, it changes.
Quetlove, Nirvana performs “Heart-Shaped Box” on ‘SNL’ on September 25, 1993
You should be able to look at a rerun and tell whats going on in the country.
The most iconic American television show of all time.
The rapper is shown complaining, They took my f*cking stage off ofSNLwithout asking me.
Im 50% more influential than any other human being.
Dont fuck with me.
But as Michaels subsequently pointed out to West, This is more damaging to you than it is us.
Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Musicairs at 8 tonight (January 27).
DEADLINE:Lets start with that intro, a seven-minute remix of some of the bestSNLperformances.
How did you decide to open with that?
Then you think, Im gonna do the 50 best musical performances ofSNL.
The amount of times I had to knock my Jenga down to start again.
So, I knew you got to gobsmack them right at the top.
But thats a heavy, heavy commitment.
Therell just be points where you wonder if 1978 is ever going to end.
It is a commitment like I never knew before.
DEADLINE:Where did you start?
Theres around 1,000 musical acts during the past 50 years, did you go chronologically?
QUESTLOVE:I started chronologically.
I started with the very first episode, and just kept notes.
Does this song have a bridge in it?
Can you pivot to another key?
I was laughing, so I didnt have to sit through a years worth ofSNLviewing?
[Ed note: Questlove was clearly laughing as he said this].
Then, we just kind of went through my notes.
Theres still a human touch thats needed and a nuance thats needed to bring a human quality to it.
DEADLINE:What was the firstSNLmusical performance that made you sit up?
QUESTLOVE:The deal is that I am four or five years older thanSNL.
I grew up in grew up in a no TV household, but music shows were allowed.
My all-time favorite music show isSoul Train.
Pixar was Princes aquarium.
He would keepFinding NemoandToy Storyon every television.
Im like, Wait, are you watching this stuff or you just have it playing?
Hes like, Finding Nemois my aquarium.
I like watching it.
I was like, Oh, thats cute and then I started doing it.
Philadelphia happened to be one of the rare markets in whichSoul Trainwas not a Saturday afternoon activity.
Im five or six.
That was the only way that I could watch Bill Withers.
This was my only chance to see groups of that caliber perform on TV.
We didnt have a VCR.
I remember all of season one and season two and season three, I grew up with the show.
DEADLINE:The rehearsal footage really stood out to me.
That must have been a joy to go through?
Dude, youre Billy Eilish.
How can I not make this a clip show?
Whats the human experience that I can have with it?
All of those stories, are people that could have easily talked themselves out of the moment.
Where did that come from?
QUESTLOVE:That building is 30 Rock University and Ive been a student there.
You hear about the myths upstairs, can I go upstairs and watch Paul McCartney soundcheck?
Am I allowed to do that?
Am I allowed to go with the older varsity jacket cooler kids on the eighth floor?
It is the epicenter.
DEADLINE:Lorne Michaels famously doesnt love looking back.
Was it tough to persuade him?
QUESTLOVE:Thats one of the biggest shocks Ive ever gotten.
His Lorne obsession is well known.
That was the person that I had in mind that Id be dealing with?
This person that you should hide from if you see him.
It would be very easy to get cynical.
[Lornes] not that at all, hes very much enthusiastic about it.
DEADLINE:Were there any artists that you were surprised didnt playSNL?
QUESTLOVE:Besides The Roots?
Im playing but Im not playing.
The next ten years, only the important people can make it and legacy acts.
That was a moment for that audience to come full circle.
Its little small nuances like that that, we dont get the witness, and its so magical.
DEADLINE:Talking of Prince earlier, he playedSNLfour times including the 15th anniversary.
I know youve seen Ezra Edelmans Prince documentary series for Netflix, which is facing some legal issues.
Do you think well ever see it?
QUESTLOVE:I dont think its ever coming out.
It changed my life.
Seeing it has influenced all these docs that Im doing now.
I have three coming out in this year alone.
That [Prince] documentary influenced how we should all tell stories, telling the human experience.
With theSNLdocumentary, I want people to know that you just have to show up and take a risk.
Dont talk yourself out of history.
We often do that.
