Late-Night TV Music (Who Needs This? Edition) | Dec. 8, 2020

Great Van Fleet, Finneas and Billy Eichner give us things we never asked for.

There are many things that we all need in our lives. And many things that we don’t. I’d be happy to tell you that Tuesday’s Late-Night TV Music offerings belong in the first category. But I’d be lying. At least to myself. And more importantly, to you.

First and foremost: I really don’t believe anybody needs to see the world’s most-loathed rock band Greta Van Fleet ā€” all dressed in white, no less, and performing on a three-tiered wooden stage that looks like it should be topped with a hot tub instead of a drum kit ā€” unveiling their soggy, proggy number My Way, Soon on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Up until now, I have refrained from joining the anti-Greta fleet, but this hunk of bland ā€™70s-vintage glop could be enough to make me switch sides. One can only hope they heed their own sage advice and go off their own way. And soon.

Sadly, they were not the exception but the rule on this night of needlessness. Next up: Billie Eilishā€™s brother Finneas, who crooned his totally unnecessary new holiday number Another Year on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. While he is obviously a big contributor to his sister’s success, I really think he’d be far better off taking a cue from The Wizard Of Oz and staying behind the curtain. Especially if this is what he’s got to offer.

And finally: Speaking of holiday crooning, I can’t imagine any reason (aside from an unfortunately outsized ego) for the usually entertaining Billy Eichner to decide that it would be a good idea to deliver a sincere, serious version of Mariah Careyā€™s Miss You Most (At Christmas Time) on The Late Late Show With James Corden. What’s next? Triumph The Insult Comic Dog singing Send In The Clowns on the Jerry Lewis Telethon?

Bottom line: These are all things that we could easily have done without. But now, like it or not, we have them in our universe. Great. Just great.

https://youtu.be/yVDxPV__Cfs

https://youtu.be/mLcL4O9zYA0

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