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Posted on 11/11/2026 6:25:47 PM PST by DoodleBob
….Fear’s notorious appearance Saturday Night Live on Halloween, 1981. These five scant minutes of hardcore burlesque—combined with some ill-timed profanities from the peanut gallery—got Lee Ving’s band of goofball provocateurs permanently banned from the show, but not before doing the holy work of giving millions of people their first taste of hardcore music. Surprisingly, the segment still manages to come off almost like a legit punk gig, albeit probably the only one to ever take place at 30 Rock.
Fear fan John Belushi greased the wheels to get the band on Saturday Night Live…In the interest of making their national television debut convincingly punk, Belushi arranged for a handful of hardcore kids to come up from DC for the show and slam dance in front of the stage. He was expecting maybe 15 people to arrive in total, but the caravan made several stops along the way, ultimately bringing closer to four dozen rabble-rousers (including Ian MacKaye from Minor Threat, the Meatmen’s Tesco Vee, John Brannon of Negative Approach, and Harley Flanagan and John Joseph, who’d later go on to form The Cro-Mags). These punks proceeded to cause a ruckus on the SNL set throughout the night, and selflessly formed a raging pit during Fear’s camera time for the benefit of the home viewing audience.
… Ving spent a good portion of their segment baiting the locals, talking about how good it was to be in New Jersey before launching into the band’s anti-NYC anthem “New York’s Alright if You Like Saxophones.” This riled the punks up so good that it moved MacKaye to grab the mic and scream “New York sucks!”
…NBC’s then-president Brandon Tartikoff to get on the phone from the comfort of his bed and demand that the show fade to stock footage immediately.
(Excerpt) Read more at riotfest.org ...
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New York’s alright
New York’s alright
New York’s alright
If you like saxophones!
New York’s alright if you wanna be pushed in front of the subway!
New York’s alright if you like tuberculosis!
New York’s alright if you like art and jazz!
New York’s alright if you’re a homosexual!
New York’s alright
New York’s alright
New York’s alright
If you like saxophones!
New York’s alright if you like drunks in your doorway!
New York’s alright if you wanna freeze to death!
New York’s alright if you wanna get mugged or murdered!
New York’s alright if you like saxophones!
New York’s alright
New York’s alright
New York’s alright
If you like saxophones!
lol It’s especially worth it when you know Lee Ving played Mr. Body in “Clue”!
That is so awesome. I love the dude in the dress.
Back during the Paul Volker inflation clampdown/ Reagan Recession that people were moaning about. Back when living here was fun and good clean fun Anarchy. In the good ol’ US of A! Baby!
Lee is believed to be a Republican.
That is their guitarist Philo Cramer.
It WAS Halloween.
And it is easily the greatest musical performance on SNL ever.
I prefer Sinbad O’Connor. Cue ball in the side pocket.
Yeah, that one I’m not gonna buy until someone can prove it. He and “Fear” were more anti-authoritarian than anything else, and just plain fun. Check him out in “Decline of Western Civilization” for giggles. lol
That was some well-crafted mayhem.
I recall watching that night; did not know that was a actual band and thought it was a Halloween parody of something.
Are they making a sequel that includes muzzies?
That’d be truly punk.
Those lyrics still hold up after 40+ years.
I actually have a copy of their first album on vinyl.
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