David Byrne returned to “Saturday Night Live” last night for his third appearance in four decades, performing the Talking Heads classic “Once in a Lifetime” and the far more obscure cut “Toe Jam,” which he recorded in 2008 with Fatboy Slim’s The Brighton Port Authority project.
He also guested in host John Mulaney’s “Airport Sushi” sketch — the third in the trilogy that began with “Diner Lobster” and “Bodega Bathroom” — by performing a variation of the Heads’ “Road to Nowhere.” (Byrne recently appeared on Mulaney’s “Sack Lunch Bunch” special on Netflix.)
You can watch the two performances — accompanied by the musicians from his “American Utopia” Broadway show — and the sketch below, as well as a promotional clip of Byrne looking back at footage of the Talking Heads’ lone appearance on SNL on Feb. 10, 1979, and his only prior solo appearance, on Nov. 18, 1989, with his Rei Momo band.
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- David Byrne reprising ‘American Utopia’ show for extended runs in Boston and on Broadway
- Watch David Byrne induct a band named after a Talking Heads song into the Rock Hall
- Watch: David Byrne breaks out Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’ at Portland karaoke bar
- Watch: David Byrne brings his untethered band to ‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert’
- Stream: Talking Heads’ early demo of ‘Wild Wild Life’ — single off ‘True Stories’
- Vintage Video: David Byrne’s ‘Between the Teeth’ — watch full 1993 concert film
