Stipe. Buck. Mills. Berry. Beaton. Hillman. One of the most important and significant American bands of all time gets the TMGT treatment. It's R.E.M. week!

Joining the show to talk 32 years, 15 albums, and a pod-record seven late night clips is former AVclub editor and current "The Reveal" film critic Keith Phipps! They span the late-night TV globe from America to the UK to Europe to break down the band's prolific and varied longtime career. The guys discuss R.E.M.'s incredible indie run on IRS Records in the 1980's before watching superstardom performances on SNL and the MTV Video Music Awards. And Germany's late night show "Wetten, dass..?" makes quite a first impression.

Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

Radio Free Europe/So. Central Rain, 10/6/1983 on Late Night with David Letterman

Driver 8/Can't Get There from Here, 10/25/1985 on The Tube UK

Stand/Get Up, 10/17/1989 on The Arsenio Hall Show

Losing My Religion, 4/13/1991 on Saturday Night Live

Everybody Hurts/Drive, 9/2/1993 on the MTV Video Music Awards

The Great Beyond, 12/13/1999 on The Late Show with David Letterman

Supernatural Superserious, 3/29/2008 on Wetten, dass..?

What's the worst way to understand a legendary pop punk band famous for shaky live sets and funny stage banter? How about watching their late night tv show performances? This week on Tonight's Musical Guest, Today, it's BLINK 182!

Joining the show is cbsboston.com sports writer, NBC Sports Boston on-air contributor, and Blink 182 superfan Michael Hurley! Mike and the guys bond over lost dreams of playing drums for a living before going deep on the varied eras of Blink. They discuss somewhat shaky performances of Dammit on Conan and All the Small Things on Leno before diving into the band's impressive and turbulent post-Enema of the State journey. Plus the debut of “Aliens Exist: Band Draft”!

Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

Dammit, 3/17/98 on Late Night with Conan O' Brien

All the Small Things, 10/15/99 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

The Rock Show, 6/14/01 on The Late Show with David  Letterman

First Date, 11/29/01 on Late Night with Conan O' Brien

Down, 5/27/04 on The Late Show with David Letterman

Bored to Death, 11/07/16 on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

A voice unlike any other. Or maybe voices? We'll talk about it. This week, we're getting out the detective whiteboard and partying all the same. It's ANDREW W.K. week!

The guys couldn't do this one alone, so they enlisted the studious help of TMGT theme-song creator Kenny to join as their first in-studio guest! Kenny lays out the elaborate scene exploits of Andrew growing up in Michigan before watching two very different performances of his debut hit Party Hard on SNL and SPACE in New Zealand. Andrew performs only on Conan O' Brien for the next 16 years. And the show goes deep (too deep?) on Steev Mike and the impostor conspiracy. Plus the debut of the new hit game sensation "Andalai W. Klama"!

Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

Party Hard, 4/13/02 on Saturday Night Live

Party Hard, 2002 on SPACE (New Zealand)

She is Beautiful, 7/11/02 on Late Night with Conan O' Brien

Your Rules, 11/14/03 on Late Night with Conan O' Brien

It's Time to Party, 8/28/12 on Conan

Music is Worth Living For, 4/24/18 on Conan

9 Grammy Wins. 32 Nominations. Over 50 million records sold. And now a TMGT episode? Yep. This week on Tonight's Musical Guest, Today, we're talking about the great SHERYL CROW.

The guys explore their own cultural memory of Crow and realize they had it very wrong back in the day. We walk through the extreme drama of her seminal debut record, including a career-defining interview on David Letterman. Sheryl performs on Jay Leno a lot, with varying degrees of creepiness from Jay. Jon discovers "Soak Up the Sun" was originally about Columbine. And the Fashion Doctor is in with a "no vest" prescription.

Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

Run Baby Run, 9/28/93 on Late Night with Conan O' Brien

All I Wanna Do, 6/10/94 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

If it Makes You Happy, 12/3/96 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (4:36 mark)

Soak Up the Sun w/ Liz Phair, 4/25/02 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Summer Day, 7/10/10 on The Late Show with David Letterman

Prove You Wrong, 9/16/19 on The Late Late Show with James Corden

Nobody asked for it. We're doing it anyways. Turn your red hats backwards and stick those cookies up your yeahs. It's time for the LIMP BIZKIT episode on Tonight's Musical Guest, Today.

Alex owns up to the fact that he saw Limp Bizkit live with Kid Rock and Staind in 1999. The guys wade deep into late 90's MTV culture with New Year's Eve 1998 and the groundbreaking “Blow the Boat BBQ” TRL episode. Also have you heard of the show "FarmClub.com" before? Us neither. And Jon watches an entire Limp Bizkit documentary because he has no life.

Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

Faith, 12/29/98 on Late Night with Conan O' Brien

Stuck/1999/Faith/Jump Around, 12/31/98 on MTV New Year's Eve

I'm Broke/Nookie, 5/24/99 on TRL's Blow the Boat BBQ

N 2 Gether Now w/ Method Man, 2/24/00 on FarmClub.com

Take a Look Around, 5/10/10 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

They were the voices of a movement and moment for rap in the 1990s. And it all played out on late night TV. This week on Tonight's Musical Guest, Today, we're talking A TRIBE CALLED QUEST!

And speaking of guests, the show is bringing on its first! Author, journalist, and hip-hop historian Dart Adams join the guys this week to dig deep on the music, collaborators, and performances of Tribe. Dart walks us through his own scene experience in Boston in the late 80s before examining the tragic Shakespearean love story of Q-Tip and Phife Dawg. Along the way, they discuss Busta Rhyme's star turn on Arsenio Hall, the impact of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch on the local Boston hip-hop scene, and how Kenny G first started off on the Black music charts.

Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

Check the Rhime, 3/25/92 on Late Night with David Letterman

Scenario w/ Leaders of the New School, 7/7/92 on The Arsenio Hall Show

Oh My God, 6/10/94 on Late Night with Conan O' Brien

Stressed Out, 1/5/97 on All That

Can I Kick it?, 11/13/15 on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

We the People, 11/12/16 on Saturday Night Live

How did one of the best live bands of the 1990s come off on late night TV? Turns out, quite well! For the second episode ever of Tonight's Musical Guest, Today, we're digging in on the incomparable RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE!

Jon talks about how he almost died (yes, really) seeing Rage at their reunion show in 2007 before swimming across the pond for the first clip of the week. Then the guys try to figure out why Steve Forbes hosted the one and only episode of SNL that Rage will ever be on while watching Alex's favorite late night clip ever! And we couldn't forget about Carson Daly, John Norris, and the whole TRL gang giving us the classic episode of RAGE TV IN 1999. Apologies to John Norris for hating the concept of our podcast.

Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

Killing in the Name of, 2/5/93 on The Word UK

Bulls on Parade, 4/13/96 on Saturday Night Live

Guerilla Radio, 11/2/99 on the Late Show with David Letterman

RAGE TV, 11/3/99 on MTV's Spankin' New Music Week

It's the very first episode of Tonight's Musical Guest, Today! Hooray. This is the podcast where we discuss the cultural memory and career arc of bands and artists through their late night tv show performances.

Alex and Jon take some time to explain who the hell they are and why they started this show before jumping into their very first band: Weezer! The guys discuss the group's iconic performances of Undone on Conan and Say It Ain't So on Letterman before dealing with the ups and (mostly) downs of the next 28 years of the band. But what was it like to play foosball backstage with Weezer in 2002? And why did they play a duet with ZZ Top in 2015? All that and more is answered on the debut episode of TMGT.

Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!

Undone (The Sweater Song), 8/24/94 on Late Night with Conan O' Brien

Say It Ain't So, 8/4/95 on the Late Show with David Letterman

Island In The Sun, 6/5/01 on Late Night with Conan O' Brien

Beverly Hills, 9/26/05 on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Sharp Dressed Man with ZZ Top, 2/2/15 on Jimmy Kimmel Live

The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Nirvana on Saturday Night Live. Warren Zevon on David Letterman. Sometimes, late-night TV musical performances live on forever.

Most don’t. But we still want to talk about them.

Each week on “Tonight’s Musical Guest, Today”, long-time friends Alex Beaton and Jon Hillman dive in on the music and cultural memory of a band through the arc of their late-night TV performances. Watch along with Alex and Jon as they examine and react to these musical history moments preserved in the amber of time alongside two celebrity guests and a talk show host. 

From Conan to Colbert, Letterman to Leno, or SNL to MadTV, there is no shortage of iconic late-night musical moments. And no end to the ones you don’t remember.