help me to identify the CDs in this unfunny SNL sketch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31HfjnVJG-Y

third row down/left is The First Day by David Sylvian and Robert Fripp, which is the one that initially caught my eye.

third row down/right is New Adventures in Hi-Fi by REM, top right is Hello Nasty by the Beastie Boys. I know sixth row down/left is something famous but I'm blanking on what it is

Top row left: 'Electroglide in Blue' by Apollo Four Forty
Fifth row: 'Be Here Now' by Oasis & 'Pre-Millennium Tension' by Tricky

Be Here Now

Second row left: 'Let My Children Hear Music' by Charles Mingus

bottom row: Smashing Pumpkins - Adore, Luna - Penthouse

above Luna: Joan Armatrading - Track Record

@440 electrglide in blue - top left of the first set.

wondering how many posts before someone takes the thread on a "b-b-b-but I liked that sketch" tangent

(won't be me!)

The one below Oasis is 'The Guide' by Youssou N'Dour.

A sketch about finding Mingus and Sylvian/Fripp CDs at a truck stop would be interesting

Hello Nasty on top.

...as noted in the OP. D'oh!

Get the feeling they raided the office of some associate talent booker who's been there 30 years to get all these.

Fun Fact: A few of these performers (Beasties, Oasis, and Smashing Pumpkins) appeared on the show back in the day to promote those very albums!

I feel like truck stops in Japan would have Sylvian/Fripp CDs in a rack by the register

The one below Oasis is 'The Guide' by Youssou N'Dour.

― Dan Worsley, Wednesday, 24 August 2022 15:07 (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this was the other one I thought I recognised, but apparently not because I've never seen this album cover before

wondering how many posts before someone takes the thread on a "b-b-b-but I liked that sketch" tangent

(won't be me!)

― Toonie Orlando (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 24 August 2022 14:16 (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think the ratio of good to bad sketches on contemporary snl is probably at about the same place it's been for most of the show's history, this sketch is bad but every episode since 1975 has had at least one sketch of roughly equivalent quality to this

I got the SNL season 3 DVDs a bunch of years ago, mainly for the Sun Ra and Elvis Costello appearances, and hoo boy, some of the episodes -- most of them, in fact -- were a real slog to get through. Granted, some of that is down to topical bits that didn't age well, but the hit-to-miss ratio was no different than it's ever been (ok, maybe better than in '80-'82, but no better or worse than any of the last 20-30 years).

I love Aidy Bryant, she's really giving it her all in that sketch despite the bad writing.

wondering how many posts before someone takes the thread on a "b-b-b-but I liked that sketch" tangent

(won't be me!)

― Toonie Orlando (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 24 August 2022 14:16 (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think the ratio of good to bad sketches on contemporary snl is probably at about the same place it's been for most of the show's history, this sketch is bad but every episode since 1975 has had at least one sketch of roughly equivalent quality to this

― soref, Wednesday, August 24, 2022 1:11 PM (twenty-seven minutes ago)

I won't defend this sketch (or any of them!) but a different view watching the show through the lens of: they write, rehearse, produce (build sets, write songs, costume, etc) a live 90 minute show in 6 days usually with non-comedians and often with non-actors. a lot of it is just not going to be great, or even good. but at best it's fun to watch them try.

if the last few years have been a bit ropier than usual I think it's because they have fewer cast members who have the key snl talent of being funny even in a bad/mediocre sketch, apart from Cecily Strong and Kenan I don't think there's anyone left who can do that consistently now. I like Aidy Bryant as well though, I think Girlfriends Talk Show was maybe the best recurring sketch snl ever had.

they write, rehearse, produce (build sets, write songs, costume, etc) a live 90 minute show in 6 days usually with non-comedians and often with non-actors. a lot of it is just not going to be great, or even good. but at best it's fun to watch them try.

This is something you could get away with saying if you were the parent of a castmember. But otherwise, nope.

they write, rehearse, produce (build sets, write songs, costume, etc) a live 90 minute show in 6 days usually with non-comedians and often with non-actors.

These are self-imposed restrictions for the most part. There's a reason why most good sketch shows probably didn't write the sketches just a couple of days before air.

Haha ok. Of course they are self-imposed restrictions? I'm not saying the sketches are good, I'm saying this is why they are often bad. Not certain where the disagreement is.

It is like saying, "I know they don't write good skits. But have you considered that they are high all the time and lazy?"

It's more like saying "why do seemingly good chefs on Great British Bake Off often turn in shitty cakes?" (psst: the restrictions imposed on them by the show).

well, only if the audience had to eat the shitty cakes

you gotta do your cooking by the book

Ok, well yes it is a shame we are all forced to watch that show.