Tom Snyder, RIP

Tom Snyder is dead at 71 of complications associated with leukemia. For those who don't know, he was a really cool kind of "square" acting (compared to many of his guests) cigarette smoking interviewer in the 70s and 80s, with half-gray sideburns and a funny way of talking. Dan Ackroyd used to do a parody of him on Saturday Night Live. Pre-cable era, he had people on that you would never see on TV anywhere and they'd be great and he'd be great. I'm pretty sure I remember when the Plasmatics were on, even though I think I actually missed the show when it aired. (I was 17 in 1981).

Here's the second part, which is the interview with Wendy O. Williams.



Here's John Lydon



Just type "Tom Snyder" into YouTube and have fun.

Here's KISS



Thanks Tom, RIP.

Yeah, have the DVD that the WOW and Rotten interviews are from. It's a really interesting document. Snyder was totally clueless and asking ridiculous questions whilst chain smoking like a demon and smirking at the camera to let his middle American viewers know he thought these people were wackos.

I remember watching him after Letterman when I was a kid. He was definitely one of those "square" guys who you could tell knew a little bit more about what was going on than he let on. I think I liked watching him because it made me feel like a really sophisticated 12 year-old. In his later years, he had this weird flap of loose neck skin that would hang over his collar... it was kinda hypnotic, my eyes would always focus there.

RIP

*sigh*

I remember the Clash interviews and W.O.W interviews when I was a kid.

Started a thread in warship on this.

I always liked Tom Snyder. I never really watched him in the Tomorrow Show days, but I did watch The Late Late Show every night.

I saw a PBS thing one time on the Tomorrow Show and even with the loud suits, chain smoking, bad hair, and annoying laugh the guy gave great interview and he certainly did get an eclectic lineup of guests.

RIP Mr. Snyder

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!?

Seriously, why do all the cool people have to be the ones to go?



RIP.



Weird Al's first TV appearance on Tom's show

-TM

Ken Kesey and Jerry Garcia



Iggy Pop

Iggy: the truth at that moment was that I ought to be cut. So I cut myself.
Tom: you see, that scares some people.

I liked Tom Snyder. I was sad to see his show go off the air.

What a shame. Yeah, I miss those old interviews. He always asked such good questions.

Yeah, he was a real genius. Watch the Lydon clip above where he asks "What is Public Image...uh...is it Unlimited or Limited? Uh, is it a band? Uh...what is it? What does it do?"

Snyder was a douche who was on in the middle of the night when nobody was watching TV and didn't even bother to prepare for his interviews. The only reason he had to resort to having punk rockers and other similiar types on his show is because nobody else wanted to be on the show since it got no ratings.

Well, that's a fair question since Lydon was making out like it was some sort of nihilist art movement to cover the fact that he basically formed a one man post punk pop band. I can only imagine that the press kit was beyond inscrutable.

If it were only the PiL interview I could go along with this logic, but like said above, I have a two disk DVD set of punk and New Wave bands on the Snyder show and basically it was the same thing with every interview he did with them. He was the American equivalent of Bill Grundy. Just being a smirky prick and talking down to people who, over the passage of time, have greatly eclipsed Tom Snyder in terms of accomplishments and importance.

Oh, I have it too, and while I don't know if i'd go that far, I'm not disagreeing in principle, it's just in specific, asking Johnny what the fuck PiL was was actually a perfectly fair question.

Tom Snyder interviews The Clash 1981:

Oh goodness. What I meant was he seemed to set up the sort of environment where the performers felt comfortable to be themselves. He was not so structured or overprepared or slick. It made for some good moments. Whether the artist was reacting to a silly and stiff question he might ask or an insightful one....it gave you a little glimpse at what the artists were like. It's not always easy to get that kind of glimpse now with things being so tightly controlled on the P.R.front. I miss some of those old interviewers and old music shows like Midnight Express which I used to catch mostly in rerun. Thank goodness for Youtube, eh?

Whether or not Tom Snyder was a good interviewer.....John Lydon was still acting like a pretentious prick.

One man's pretentious prick is another man's ultimate rock star.

Birds of a feather, eh?