Which songs would they be?
The guest host would beCarrie Fisher, merely a year after shed beguiled us all inStar Wars.
I think thats a band Belushi and Aykroyd put together, I said.
Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as the Blues Brothers in 1978.NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images
My roommates gave me a puzzled look and a shrug, and up we went.
It sounded like some zany sketch, and we didnt give it much more thought that than.
At the start of its fourth season,SNLwas no longer the insubordinate new kid on the block.
Chevy Chase was long gone and we were still adjusting to his replacement, Bill Murray.
It all felt much smaller and more mundane than Id expected.
What sick, dark humor would be unleashed in this episode?
How overt would the drug jokes be?
Who would the FM-radio-friendly musical guest be?
Looking back,Saturday Night Livenow feels like the first TikTok.
Then the clock above the stage arrived at 11:30 and we were truly live from New York.
Then that song stopped, on a dime, with Belushi doing a cartwheel as a finale.
It was Soul Man, the old Sam and Dave song.
Then, almost missing the cue, Belushi stepped forward and grabbed the mic stand.
We were right to be skeptical about singing actors.
Ralph Malph fromHappy Dayshad just put out an album, for Gods sake.
But as the song blasted, it was impossible not to be swept up.
But more important was the music.
Aykroyd would later describe the performance as their way of warming up the crowd for Fisher.
The debates over cultural appropriation and Belushis vocal chops would come later and be welcome and necessary.
