Ear on TV: Week of October 27 - Late Night Punk

Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson got his start in the entertainment business as a punk rock drummer in the Glasgow, Scotland band called The Bastards from Hell (later renamed the less punk sounding Dreamboys). So if there's one host who could lineup rock legends for a Punk Rock Week theme, it would have to be Ferguson.

First on the docket, playing Tuesday night, is the Los Angeles punk legends X, who have been garnering rave reviews on their current 13X31 tour (31st anniversary,) featuring the original lineup of John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom, and D.J. Bonebrake.

The next night sees the New York Dolls, on tour in support of their recent release Live At the Filmore East, their first release since the death of Arthur "Killer" Kane in 2005. The Dolls, whose original members are down to just front man David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, are still soldiering on, already together longer in this rebirth than they were originally, before Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan left the group back in 1975.

Finally, appearing both Thursday and Friday nights, it's The Damned. While not as well known in the states, the band was the first UK punk band to release a single ("New Rose"), an album (Damned Damned Damned), and to tour the United States. While their sound has changed a lot, playing more to the strength of singer Dave Vainian's crooning style, they are still true to the punk aesthetic. They release a new album, So, Who's Paranoid?, this week digitally (in stores in December).

It's remarkable to see these bands still as vibrant as ever thirty years after they began, especially considering that punk wasn't really a genre you'd associate with longevity. Craig Ferguson recognized that pretty early on, and moved on, but thankfully for Late Late Show fans, he's still a punk at heart.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, October 27
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Annuals
Tuesday, October 28
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: X
NBC: The Today Show: Pink
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Cold War Kids
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: The Black Crowes
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Knux
Wednesday, October 29
ABC: Good Morning America: k.d. lang
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: The Whigs
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Ryan Adams
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: The New York Dolls
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: The Kooks
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Last Shadow Puppets
Thursday, October 30
ABC: Good Morning America: John Mellencamp
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: T.I.
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: The Damned
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Apocalyptica
OVATION: Live From the Artist's Den: The Swell Season (Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova) (REPEAT)
SUNDANCE: Live From Abbey Road: Elbow, MGMT, Alanis Morissette (REPEAT)
Friday, October 31
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: The Damned
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Death Cab For Cutie
Saturday, November 1
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Anastacia
PBS: Austin City Limits: My Morning Jacket

Framed by The Frames

Last night concluded the amazing two-parter from Life ("Dig a Hole" and "Fill it Up") and cemented the drama as a weekly must see. The second-hour especially had many goose bump-inducing moments, especially with song choices, including the use of The Frames' "Finally" for the ending. Why then do I get the feeling that Life has given us the best it has to offer, and can only disappoint from here on?

Now that Crews has found the real killer of the crime that sent him to prison, how long can it survive just putting together the rest of the puzzle? So much of this series relies on Damien Lewis' powerful performance that the episodes suffer from any straying from his story, and how long can it really take now to figure out how he was framed? For now I guess we can only trust that the writers can work there way around these obstacles.

Meanwhile, though, last night's episode had many moments wreaking havoc on my '10 Best TV Music Moments' list that I'd already started. Right off, they used the slippery instrumental intro from "El Rodeo" from Kyuss for Crews return to prison. Next was the cover of Richard and Linda Thompson's "Shoot Out The Lights" by the legendary band X, which they recorded over a decade ago for a Thompson tribute album called Beat the Retreat. John Doe and Exene Cervenka harmonize while Charlie tosses his Zen cassette out the window, signaling that he's ready to lose control. There was already a signal, though, at the end of the previous hour, when it The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" played out the episode, which we know from it's many prior uses that things are about to 'get real'.

The goose-bumps only got bigger as the show went on, as next up came Leonard Cohen's classic "Who By Fire," backing Charlies' interrogation of Hollis along with the search for the shotgun swallowing snake. Cohen's lyrics "who by high ordeal, who by common trial?" were so right for nearly any scene with Charlie, but here especially. Then comes the slow building of The Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Down Boy," which climaxes when Charlie stands up looking over the two men he just surgically cut down with two shots. Down, down, down boy... good boy.

And finally, literally, when Crews makes his triumphant return to the station after having nabbed the real killer Kyle Hollis, it's to The Frames' "Finally," making the half-season come full circle, as their song "Dream Awake" played in the pilot as Charlie comes home after getting out of prison. That they use The Frames to frame the half-season works on so many levels, and not just because the series' mystery is about Charlie being framed for murder. The lyrics to "Finally" fit so well into the ending, and the series so far, it's almost as if frontman Glen Hansard
wrote it after watching.

Did you fall on your way
its a long way down
welcome back to your place
i hope you know it now
cause its true what you say
were the wrong way round
and the lie that cut the worse
has been resolved, then reversed... finally

Playlist: Life Eps 110-111
1. "Ride" - Liz Phair - Ep 1.10, opening
2. "Ooh La La" - Goldfrapp - Ep 1.10, discovery of old cellphone
3. "Fleur De Saison" - Emilie Simon - Ep 1.10, enter wild party
4. "Hello Hello I'm Back Again" - Shivaree - Ep 1.10, Connie shows up at the precinct
5. "Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones - Ep 1.10, ending
6. "El Rodeo" - Kyuss - Ep 1.11, Charlie approaches the prison
7. "Ahead of My Time" - Teddybears w/ Daddy Boastin' - Ep 1.11, Charlie leaves the prison, approaches crime scene
8. "Shoot Out the Lights" - X - Ep 1.11, Charlie tosses Zen cassette out window, drives to Hollis residence
9. "Sorry" - Gram Rabbit - Ep 1.11, Charlie gives away his car
10. "Who By Fire" - Leonard Cohen - Ep 1.11, interrogation of Hollis / search for snake
11. "Down Boy" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Ep 1.11, Charlie stands up and looks over the two men he just killed
12. "Finally" - The Frames - Ep 1.11, they bring Hollis in, Charlie is greeted at the station

Previously: A Tale of Two Shows (Life Ep1.09)