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David Sadof

David sadof


Last Updated: 11/17/2009

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Gender: Male
State: Texas
Signup Date: 2/11/2005

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Monday, July 30, 2007 
Tom Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco at the age of 71 from complications associated with leukemia.

While this is sad news, it seems somewhat fitting that Tom Snyder's death has occurred on the same day as Marvin Zindler's. Both men were known for their hair as much as they were known for their bold, improvised style on television. Tom Snyder's interviews on NBC's "The Tomorrow Show" are legendary and unfortunately, it is extremely rare if not unheard of to see interviews as honest and unscripted as those anymore. On You Tube you can find samples of his work including interviews with The Plasmatics, KISS, Johnny Rotten/Lydon, John Lennon, Mohammad Ali, Alfred Hitchcock, Timothy Leary and many others. One of my favorites is the interview with The Ramones, although Snyder had someone filling in for him that night. A fact that did not go unnoticed by Joey Ramone who mentioned his disappointment and that he was looking forward to arguing with Tom.

Snyder is perhaps most remembered for his robust laughter and his smoke-filled interview, back when it was common to see people smoking on television. He was famously parodied by Dan Aykroyd on SNL.


TOP TEN SMOKING SONGS IN MEMORY OF TOM SNYDER

10. BROWNSVILLE STATION "SMOKING IN THE BOYS ROOM"
9. RUFUS WAINWRIGHT "CIGARETTES AND CHOCOLATE MILK"
8. NICK DRAKE "BEEN SMOKING TOO LONG"
7. STEVE MILLER BAND "THE JOKER"
6. BOB SEGER "TURN THE PAGE"
5. BECK "MTV MAKES ME WANT TO SMOKE CRACK"
4. ARCTIC MONKEYS "CIGARETTE SMOKER FIONA"
3. KING'S X "CIGARETTES"
2. THE SMITHEREENS "CIGARETTE"
1. DRAMARAMA "LAST CIGARETTE"
Currently listening:
Especially for You
By The Smithereens
Release date: 07 April, 1992
mr bad ideas

 
I watched the first show of the Tomorrow Show when I was in high school (Midnight on a Monday night). I think he had a guy with two wives as guests. Tom was one of a kind. His guests were kind of incidental because he had more stories to tell the guests than the guests had to tell. I never saw anyone smoke as much on TV. They fired Tom and put on David Letterman in his place. I was sorry to hear that Tom Snyder and Marvin Zindler passed away.
 
Posted by mr bad ideas on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 5:58 PM
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Rhonda
Rhonda Omberg

 
k.d. lang's version of "Last Cigarette" is very good, also.
 
Posted by Rhonda on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 5:59 PM
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David Sadof
David sadof

 
Yes it is. It fell just outside my Top Ten along with a few others including a couple of songs by Ben Folds. I saw k.d. at Rockefeller's in the early days when the act was called, k.d. lang and the reclines. I think that was in '86 or '87. There were so many amazing shows at Rockefelller's, the only club in the world built inside a bank building that was once robbed by Bonnie & Clyde.
 
Posted by David Sadof on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 8:47 PM
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Ichiban Okaasan

 
omg, that's so cool. 'borne and reared here and never knew that about B&C! You are a plethora of trivia. Yes, I too watched Tom as a teen and was enchanted with his stories. Haven't seen him in a while, so I've missed him for some time.
IO
 
Posted by Ichiban Okaasan on Wednesday, August 01, 2007 - 10:23 PM
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WDRWMN13
Kelly Hammond

 
Ah King's X! Love them...
 
Posted by WDRWMN13 on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 5:59 PM
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Cynthia

 
My sisters and I used to have a "fantasy dinner party" game, where we could pick any 6 people, living or dead, to have over for dinner. For me, Tom Snyder was the only constant. I figured if he was there, there might be debate, there might be heated discussion even, or else people might laugh so hard they blew their drinks out their noses, but no one would be bored! (Do you remember the interview with Deniece Graves -- "Cherzes le phelgm"??!!)

Tom embodied the flip side (and thus proved the truth) of my Theory of Boredom: that bored people are bored only because they're boring -- because they don't have the curiosity to be interesting or interested. No matter who he was talking to, Tom Snyder was interested. If he had a lot in common with the interviewee, that was fun, and if he had no clue where they were coming from, it was fascinating to him to try to figure it out. He pulled me into many conversations that sent me scrambling the next day to find articles, books, more information anywhere I could find it!

When he was doing the show in the '90s, the second half was frequently a call-in format. You have to understand that I am a tremendously shy person, but I would get so caught up in the discussions that I can't tell you how many times I dialed that number! It's probably just as well I never got through... I'd have gotten tongue-tied the second he came on the line. (Although I have to tell you that, with an unusual degree of forethought, I often wrote myself notes on my comments while I was dialing so I wouldn't TOTALLY forget what I wanted to say!)

I've missed Tom since he signed off for the last time, after announcing his retirement. I kept hoping he'd change his mind and come back.

Guess not. Damn.

The only bright spot is that the rules of the Fantasy Dinner Party included the qualifier, "living or dead" -- so my guest list is still intact!
 
Posted by Cynthia on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 6:03 PM
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David Sadof
David sadof

 
Cynthia,

Thank you for sharing the story of your "fantasy dinner party" game and your Theory of Boredom. I don't recall the interviews with Deniece Graves, but I will seek that out on YouTube.
 
Posted by David Sadof on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 8:51 PM
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