Legendary Stardust Cowboy on "Laugh In"

[MichaelHansenFUN]

Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Paralyzed

Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Paralyzed

IS THIS ON THE DVD'S OF LAUGH IN?!?!?!

Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Paralyzed

[kardboardkid]

@MichaelHansenFUN

I don't know. I taped this off TV in the early 80's.

[MichaelHansenFUN]

@kardboardkid the early 80's what a time. i remember this being on in syndication in san jose california and it being in the tv guide but i was such a stupid kid i never watched it. i remember one thing only, plus there is dvd's of THE BEST OF LAUGH IN I guess so who knows. this is a cult classic.

[alworkedup]

Definitely Alan Seus in the track suit :)

[UncleErnie71]

Now we have SNL......

[YourBestDroog]

i love that bugle with the funky drumming

[BobBlec]

Amazingly, this makes *perfect* sense for "Laugh-In"... ;-)

[RichoRosai]

Way better than Buddy Holly.

[lesross11]

I saw him open for I don't remember who in Fort Worth 30 years ago.

[kardboardkid]

@fishman017. I understand you feeling the way you do. I look at it as "Outsider " music. As such, it is enjoyable and refreshing. If you are looking for musical virtuosity, this ain't it. You would probably hate "The Shaggs" but they, along with The Ledge, make me want to smile.

[fishman017]

Terrible then, terrible now. You wanna argue that he's oddly amusing, fine. But don't pretend this guy had any musical talent. And if he were trying to be a satirical foil for pop musicians it would be okay, but I think he's really trying. The drum work is about the only salvageable part.

[bohtzsah2002]

Who is he...(when he's not the 'Legendary Stardust Cowboy) and where is he today? Hmmm...I wonder? The R&R Hall of Fame forgot this guy.

[pfordsq]

@bohtzsah2002 His real name is Norman Carl Odham. He's in Las Vegas , last I heard. He's lived there for years. He still performs , but only once or twice a year , I'm told. I opened two shows for him , several years ago. It was great. More recently , he was one of the highlights at The Ponderosa Stomp.

[suvere2]

A great performance by all.

[spanishgrover1]

Who is on drums?

[Superabound2]

@spanishgrover1 Its hard to tell due to the low resolution of the video (and the sunglasses hes wearing), but possibly T-Bone Burnett.

[1234blueskies]

Incredible moves on the stage comparable to Mick Jagger while generating mindboggling rock vibes on the guitar and bugle. An amazing writer of thought provoking lyrics in this masterpiece "Paralyzed ". The drummer is phenominal as well. Truly a Legend indeed.

[NeglectedField]

the chicken sounds at the end got a good lol out of me as well

[yodadudekiller]

hahahaha. lol fukin great he is.

[seabornlee]

Yeah, too bad he didn't smash his guitar over that guy's head to take a page from Townshend on the Smothers Brothers (your right they respected all their acts that came on...the Ledges lives but not sure we can say the same about those other guys interviewing him...)

[rocknrollroy2007]

The Ledge has a lot of talent! This beats that hip-hop junk that is popular today. Love the Ledge!

[mykewylde]

aww poor ledge, he leaves the stage in high speed cause he was about to cry :(

[5winston]

only Bowie could salvage this into greatness...(Wikipedia "Ziggy Stardust" influences. Cowboy made infamy.... ;)

[rocknrollroy2007]

This is better than all that filthy rap shit!

[jeffkahl]

wonder how this would've gone over on the Smothers Bros show!

[FungusMossGnosis]

@jeffkahl

This is why I hate "Laugh In" ... the Smothers brothers respected all their performers enough not to get in the way of their performance. Rowan & Martin are the epitome of Squares. Even when the brothers were joining in and gently mocking, they let the songs play out in their entirety (unless it's beyond their control and censored!).

What a pitiful compromise this is.

[Gefilta]

what's with all the 'comedians' cramping his style?

[jeffkahl]

@Gefilta yeah poor Ledge is just trying to do his thing and then all hell breaks loose by these wieners messing it up!

[ElComadreja777]

I'd rather listen to this for a week than put up with 5 minutes of shit-hop.

[CrinkleCutBeatroot]

It's amazing! This is the first time I've heard him, so when he says it's called Paralysed... it's just perfect, this is ART!

[mrmoofle]

Cringe tv at its worst. Did this headcase actually take himself seriously?

[3replybiz]

Genius......

[chikatilo731]

one badass motherfucker

[musicalheat]

The Ledge sent me a package including a cassette, a photo, and a letter of encouragement to start my own career. That was in 1988 and I still have all of it!

[alshouse]

The look on Dick Martin's face is absolutely priceless :)

[lubbockboy1]

Another Lubbock original.

[Acropolis3]

This is garbage

[walterroy]

The reason I was looking this up was because I just read that this is where David Bowie got the name Ziggy Stardust. Apparently the guy ran off stage and cried because he was being laffed @.

[eddie100]

Let your hear down; responsibly. Pushing the envelope is expected from all animals. It works or it dosn't. Evolution is what I mean, LSC played with Feedback Jack not long ago. Check them out in 2040. I'll be 82 years old then mofo.

[Rottenhaus]

Man! LSC and The Shaggs would be an awesome double-bill!

[TBronko]

GO-LAY!

[spiderartist]

Drummer should be Robert DeLaney, fellow I knew back in Lubbock....

[kobbywobby]

I remember when this was first broadcast. Considering  TLSC, Tiny Tim, and the immortal Mrs Miller (you can hear her version of "Downtown" on You Tube), there is little to match it now except maybe Rickytic.

[dubhippy]

mrs miller rocks! thanx for the heads up!

if you're looking for a non music video as whacked out as ricky tic, check out

nanny lynn srebrenica!

[rrtodd95]

they just don't write them like that anymore.

[msbfd]

Yo. Who's the drummer? That's something to show your grandkids.

If everyone in the fifties had just KNOWN how weird everyone else was, it would have saved us a lot of time and trouble in the sixties.

[gqjohnny]

Has Tiny Tim beat by a mile.

[kardboardkid]

I don't know. The Ledge and Tiny are both a lot of fun.

[lethe51]

@kardboardkid it's paradise x 2

[TrollinMustakrakish]

The last song that he does, what is it called?

[PowerSalad]

That'd be "Who's Knocking At My Door", the flip side of "Paralyzed". You can sort of make out the line "And drink root beer from a coffee cup, dooda-doo..."

[thomasmantellwilliam]

He's StarDust!

[problem49]

Everyone on that stage except for the Lege is either dead or a completely forgotten has-been. Who's laughing now?

[JohnFordDanceTroupe]

This is great.

[eliseandnicky]

i LIKE his trousers!!!!!!!!!

[glimmer2158]

Was this guy ever on the Gong Show?

[RayNDeere]

I have to wonder if Dick had any idea what Lege was going to do before hand, or did the producers decided to let him find out when it happened.

[negrosaurus]

Oh my god, I am literally crying from laughter. This is beautiful. I love the LSC!

[cieggou]

ese tipo es genial

[GreenManalishiUSA]

Who is the drummer in this clip? Is that T-Bone Burnett? He played drums on the original 45. Quite an auspicious career beginning.

[lofgy]

like a goooo0O0oooood cup of cofee

[minutegongcoughs]

Still up. Great.

[pfordsq]

THANK YOU for putting this up. Been waiting to see this for over 20 years. I guess when Norm walked away , I was too zeroed in on Goldie in her maid uniform. While it was bogus to try to dress him down , it was brave to have him on TV at all.

[Argantonio]

Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. Will you walk out of the air, my lord?

HAMLET 2.2.174

[bennydreadful]

According to 'In the Key of Z', he wasn't in on the joke, and him leaving in the end was out of true humiliation. On one hand, any publicity if good publicity I guess, but there's just something incredibly mean-spirited about having him there.

[GreenManalishiUSA]

Agreed. The only consolation is that anyone from the Laugh-In cast who is still around is pretty much a has-been, while the Ledge is still out there doing his thing, forever true to his art, and getting his propers at last, from David Bowie and others who recognize his genius.

[tallbloke43]

I love the Ledge, pure Punk rock ethics proving you dont have to be talented to be entertaining, and this star is more entertaining than any stadium rock band!

[jeannec1]

I think the best thing about the LSC is that he doesn't even play the same thing every time.

[angrysamoan666]

Jeanneec1, I do think he play the same thing every time. I have the single, its uncanny how close his mumble and bugle playing is to the disc

[jeannec1]

Oh I see, I had thought a good deal of his live show was improvised.

[angrysamoan666]

Many people think it is improvisation

The quarter notes are a give away to real musicians, hes a lot more basic than many give him the credit for, imho

[minutegongcoughs]

I think this was converted by YT to a FLV file after the pubs were shut. Cannot get it to stream at all. Really pissed off. The Ledge is outsider art. Not cow punk. Kudos to the man.

[jimwalsh2001]

Whooooo!

[TaylorConrad8098]

i don't understand why youd invite him on your show just to make fun of him

[chadyellowhammer]

Ahhhhhhh! Shitbejesusgodammit I've been wanting to see this for yyyeeeaaaaarrrrrssssssss....th­anks for sharing it.

[beyondthebeat]

Incredible -- This is late 60's!!

I found a single of this guy on Psycho-Suave Records at a fleamarket in Austin Texas in the early 70's. Still a favourite.

[otrbassplayer]

I think in English one can say 'Very interesting'. OTR Bassplayer.