Vicente Jose Vera - The Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band Appreciation Society | Captain Beefheart on Letterman, November 11, 1982 | ICE CREAM FOR CROW

 Beefheart On Letterman! . . . . . after the Bob Hope sandwich . . . . 

Captain Beefheart on Letterman, November 11, 1982

Vicente Jose VeraThe Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band Appreciation Society

Yesterday at 01:55  · 

“I don’t want my MTV if you don’t want my video” Don Van Vliet tells NBC Late Night host David Letterman

The then-year-old MTV channel reportedly thought Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band’s 1982 video for “Ice Cream for Crow” was “too weird” for mainstream audiences — so naturally Letterman previewed a clip of the video on his Late Night show.

Barely a year into the job, Letterman launched Late Night as to compliment the network’s higher rated show at the time — Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show. As the alternative to Carson, Letterman brought on less-recognizable guests who he was personally fans of. In an early example of Letterman giving mainstream exposure to niche artists, he had Don on the program twice.

During his 1983 appearance, Letterman allowed Don to showcase his abstract art that continues to be shared on pages like this one to this very day.

After Letterman told Don that it was MTV’s loss for not airing the video, Don took a brief pause before exclaiming “.. Yes exactly!” Described by some as a bizarre set of appearances, fans of Don will recognize his subtle humor and artistic explanations that have influenced parody talk shows like “The Eric Andre Show” on Adult Swim.

The “Ice Cream for Crow” music video has since been preserved in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) along with Captain Beefheart’s 1970 commercial for “Lick My Decals Off, Baby.”

Check out his full appearance: 

Above 🔺