There's one thing we've learned while watching Late Night with David Letterman throughout the years: Letterman has great taste in music.
Letterman's Late Night departure hit us particularly hard. His show first aired when many of us were born, which means: he's always been on television throughout our lives. Even if we didn't watch his show every night, his presence was comforting; he was accessible; and a little piece of New York could be broadcast into our living room.
Over the years, we've noticed three tiers of enthusiasm in Letterman's reactions to musical performances on his show. First, was his default send-off: “Thank you very much. Terrific. Nice job. Thanks, folks.”
On the next tier, Letterman's honest-to-goodness seal of approval: “Yeah!” he'd say a few times. “How about that? How about that!”
At the peak of his enjoyment, were glimpses of fanboyhood that were sometimes cleverly and covertly masked by Letterman's signature, soft snark. “This is all you want, my friends: Al Green…”
After Green's performance, Letterman was at a loss for words: “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God… Beautiful, my friend… Oh my God.”
Donned in suits, the Foo Fighters performed “Everlong” as Letterman's final musical guests, while a video montage played. His final show marked the end of 33 years of familiarity.
Here are some of our favorite reactions from Letterman throughout his career. Godspeed David Letterman! You will be missed.
]
[
See also:
The 50 Best Things About the OC Music Scene
The 50 Worst Things About the OC Music Scene
The 25 Greatest OC Bands of All Time: The Complete List
Follow us on Twitter at @OCWeeklyMusic and like us on Facebook at Heard Mentality.
