I don’t really watch it any more, but throughout the early and mid-nineties, I was a loyal Saturday Night Live watcher. It was funny, sure, but I also really dug the musical guests. The show has a rich musical tradition, and bands usually gave decent performances when they’re on. I discovered the 10,000 Maniacs that way, and fondly remember performances by everyone from Nirvana to Robbie Robertson. There are a number of DVDs dedicated to the musical history of SNL, but unfortunately they don’t feature complete performances, only clips.
I was amused, then, to read that pop girl de minute Ashlee Simpson appeared on SNL last night, missed her queue and walked off stage. Her band was apparently playing live (yes, as the show’s title denotes), but she was supposed to be lipsynching. Subsequently, she actually had the audacity to blame her band, who appear to be actual musicians. SNL, how far you’ve fallen. This comes via Waxy, with some cutting editorial from Popjustice.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
I used to love watching musical guests on SNL during the 90s too.
My initial reaction here was to blame Ashlee Simpson, but on further reflection I think you correctly pin the blame where it belongs: SNL. It is wholly within their capacity to book guests who ACTUALLY SING, but I imagine it’s hard to reject big names when your ratings are so low.
Ohhh the scandal. Should we really be surprised at this?
I am so disappointed in Ashlee…how can she do this to her fans? I thought she had real talent but now I find out that she’s nothing more than a big record company marketing ploy. I feel so used!
I am totally deleting all the MP3s of her I downloaded off Kazaa!
Bahahaha
Isn’t this why Arsenio made that big fuss about checking to see if people lip sync? I distinctly recall that he had NKOTB sing without use of tapes. Of course, the magic of mixers is everything….