Ear on TV: Week of 04.12.10: The Specials

For having released only two albums, ska pioneers The Specials have had an influence on modern music that is both deep and wide. 30 years later, the rude boys are back together and touring North America, including a performance at the Coachella Music Festival later this week -- joining freshly reunited acts Pavement and Faith No More shepherding us down memory lane.

Jerry Dammers, besides being keyboardist and chief songwriter for the ska pioneers, also founded the indie label 2 Tone Records, home to not only The Specials, but also Madness and The English Beat (or, as their known back home, the Beat). When the band plays on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, it will also mark the 30th anniversary of the act's memorable appearance on Saturday Night Live back in April of 1980. Besides the skinny tie fashion, worth watching for Neville Staple's machine gun entrance.


Elsewhere, singer/songwriter/guitar goddess Kaki King has come a long way since her days busking in the New York subway. She releases her fifth album, Junior, this week, and will be promoting it with an appearance on Fallon the night after The Specials. Besides performing with her band, it's rumored that King will also be sitting in with The Roots, playing several songs with the greatest band in late night (an added treat, to say the least).

Other notable appearances this week include Led Zep/Foo Fighters/Queens of the Stone Age supergroup Them Crooked Vultures appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live two nights in a row (Monday and Tuesday); Spoon hitting the same stage two nights later (Thursday), and The Flaming Lips end the week on Fallon with a cover from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, April 12
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Them Crooked Vultures
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Spoon (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Kandi Coded
IFC: Dinner With the Band: YACHT (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Sade
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Grizzly Bear (REPEAT)
Tuesday, April 13
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Them Crooked Vultures
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Kandi Coded
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Specials
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: La Roux
SYNDICATION: The Ellen Degeneres Show: Cyndi Lauper
Wednesday, April 14
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Kaki King, The Roots, Green Day (discussing their musical American Idiot)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Gossip
SYNDICATION: The Bonnie Hunt Show: Backstreet Boys
Thursday, April 15
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Spoon
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Sade
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Violent Soho
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Unseen
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: She & Him
Friday, April 16
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Sarah McLachlan & Emmylou Harris
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Willie Nelson
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Flaming Lips
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Collective Soul
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Xx
SUNDANCE: Live From Abbey Road: Gossip, The Mars Volta
Saturday, April 17
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Ke$ha
VH1: Behind the Music Remastered: Motley Crue
VH1: Behind the Music Remastered: Metallica
Sunday, April 18
HBO: Treme: Kermit Ruffins, Elvis Costello, Allen Toussaint, Rebirth Brass Band