Glenn O'Brien's TV Party: The Everything for Sale Show (1982)

Originally aired live in color on New York City's Channel J (a public access "commercial station") this episode of TV Party from June 13, 1982 found the producers of the show growing increasingly desperate as producer/host Glenn O Barr announces, "Everything here is for sale." He's missing a tooth, and he hasn't had a haircut in quite some time, and while the energy is there, it's obvious that the crew isn't functioning at full capacity. Lenny Ferrari, Karen Geniece, and Charles Rocket join the TV Party Orchestra, the latter plugging into a stack of Marshall amps and running his accordion through a variety of guitar pedals in order to achieve a "heavy metal accordion" sound. Recently fired from Saturday Night Live for uttering the "F" word during a live broadcast, Rocket later launches into a droll, post-modern version of the radio hit "Wild Thing". While at first it appears as if Gun Club's Jeffrey Lee Pierce won't be able to perform due to a broken guitar, he quickly gets a lender and offers a soulful rendition of a Robert Johnson song. The episode winds to a close with a thirty second meditation led by O'Barr, a punk rock poem read by a Russian poet, and a live performance of the original composition "Why Can't I Get Laid" by German new waver Lothar Manteuffel, featuring accordion accompaniment by Rocket. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi