Tom Snyder, 1936-2007: Punk Rock Talk

Tomorrow show host Tom Snyder died this weekend at age 71. Snyder’s heyday was before my time–at least, before my staying-up-past-midnight time–so I’m not going to pretend to have extensive, fond memories of the man who pioneered the late-late night talk slot before David Letterman.

But the few times I did catch Snyder’s show was toward the tail end of his run, when Tomorrow was one of the few TV venues for new wave, and especially punk, around the beginning of the ’80s. Snyder may not have meant this to be the capstones of his obituaries, but I’ll remember him for the appearances of The Clash, Public Image, Ltd. and The Plasmatics–most of which I didn’t even see, but heard about from classmates with bleary eyes and more elastic bedtimes.

It’s hard to appreciate now that seemingly every cultural resource is a download, a channel flip or a YouTube link away. But in a time when pop culture was more tightly circumscribed–when subcultures made it into small towns like mine through snowy broadcasts and photocopied ‘zines–Snyder and Tomorrow made TV just a little more weird, and for that my preteen self thanks him.

Other people can memorialize Snyder’s interviews, but I’ll salute him–and the also late, great Joe Strummer–here.

http://dah_veed.livejournal.com PR Guy

Thanks for remembering Tom Snyder. He truly was a punk rock broadcaster who took a lot of risks and changed the face of late night television forever.

I’ll fire up a colortini for you tonight, Tom. Rest in peace.
Angelo

Tom was a class guy and will truly be missed. I also will fire-up a colortini for you tonight. Heaven’s gain is our loss. Rest In Peace.
Keith

In ’72 I was entering high school, so I grew up with Tom. It is a sad day. I’ve never forgotten him and he will be missed. He was just about the coolest and hipest guy on TV back then.
Alex

I was a toddler at the beginning of the 80′s, but I did watch him on the Late Late Show. His interviews were great, but what I remember were his “fire up the colortini” line, and the wonderful stories he told. One was that he and his companion, while vacationing, went into a restaurant which only served pea soup. Tom ate it and pronounced it delicious. Rest in peace man.
nynola

Tom was able to cut through alot of the BS that the rest of the media seems to dish out. He had a way of hitting the nail on the head of many topics and kept his objectivity and of course, his sense of humour. Thanks for putting up the youtube link of the Clash appearance. I will always remember the Wendy O. Willams appearance as a kid. I’ll never forget that his show hosted a variety of guests – politicians, musicians, literary greats, and average freaks and weirdos. Nobody does this anymore. Nobody.

I have missed him for years, and always hoped that he would make a guest appearance on a talk show, but that never happened… He really was great and will be missed.
steve brill

Tom was really great I watched almost every night. We need people like him on television again.
Gerry

I can’t think of Tom Snyder without thinking of Dan Aykroyd’s impersonation of him.
p_lukasiak

I’m from Philadelphia, so I remember Snyder from WAY back — well before his “Tomorrow” days.

Tomorrow was revolutionary — no studio audience, just Tom talking to the camera, and the people in the studio working on the show. No laugh track — if something was funny you heard two or three people in the background laughing. And Snyder himself was a pretty bizarre character — he was to television talk shows what Richard Nixon was to politics…someone who really didn’t belong there, but wound up becoming important anyway.
Intrepyd

RIP Tom Snyder. An iconic personality. Here’s Letterman on Snyder’s show:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BoQkclUxgjk
Keith

p_lukasiak,

I disagree. He belonged there MORE than anyone else. When you watched him back in the day, you realized how lame everything else on TV was. He was for TV what talk radio used to be before all the political hate-mongers showed up.