Soundgarden returned to television tonight, gracing the stage of Conan O’Brien’s just-launched TBS late-night show ‘Conan’ and playing its sort-of new single ‘Black Rain’ (a ‘Badmotorfinger’ outtake that appears on the new best-of ‘Telephantasm’) for the broadcast and taping a run-through of its classic 1987 debut single ‘Hunted Down’ as a web exclusive.

With his new album, ‘National Ransom,’ now out, Elvis Costello made the television rounds this past week, appearing and performing on the ‘Late Show With David Letterman,’ ‘The Colbert Report,’ ‘Late Night With Jimmy Fallon’ and even Joe Scarborough’s cable talk show ‘Morning Joe.’

Former Jam leader Paul Weller took time out of his very brief, two-city U.S. tour last night to perform a 10-song outdoor gig for ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!,’ which aired the title track to his current album, ‘Wake Up the Nation,’ and posted a bonus performance of ‘No Tears to Cry.’

Former Modern Lovers leader Jonathan Richman dropped by ‘Late Night With Jimmy Fallon’ last night to promote his forthcoming album O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth — due out next Tuesday — by performing ‘These Bodies That Came to Cavort.’

With a deluxe reissue due out and U.K. tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ set to being next month, Heaven 17 last night appeared on the BBC2 program ‘Later Live… with Jools Holland’ — although the synthpop group opted to perform its later hit ‘Temptation,’ the U.K. No. 2 single off its sophomore album ‘The Luxury Gap.’

On May 26, 1984 — just three months after the release of ‘The Smiths’ — a young and occasionally smiling Morrissey appeared on the BBC TV game show ‘Pop Quiz,’ which pitted two teams of musicians against each other in a battle of musical knowledge hosted by a ridiculously attired DJ named Mike Read.

The latest side project from R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck — the country-tinged Tired Pony, fronted by Snow Patrol singer Gary Lightbody — stopped by the ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ last night to perform ‘Dead American Writers,’ off the band’s just-released debut ‘The Place We Ran From.’

The Vaselines made their American TV debut last night, playing the title track to their new album, ‘Sex With an X,’ on ‘Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,’ as well as a web-only performance of ‘Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam,’ the song made famous by Nirvana’s ‘MTV Unplugged in New York’ cover version.

Today we celebrate Concrete Blonde frontwoman Johnette Napolitano’s 53rd birthday by forgoing some of the more obvious cuts from the late ’80s or the band’s breakthrough album ‘Bloodletting,’ and instead digging up this early 1994 performance of ‘Mexican Moon’ on the ‘Late Show with David Letterman.’

The second episode of DirecTV’s new performance and discussion show ‘Guitar Center Sessions’ — capturing the short-lived Jane’s Addiction lineup with Duff McKagan — premieres next weekend, and the series has posted this video of the band doing an unplugged ‘Jane Says’ as a preview.

Given the number of ’80s riffs that make it into the scripts of USA’s mystery/comedy ‘Psych,’ it comes as no surprise to see Tears For Fears’ Curt Smith doing a cameo (as himself) on last week’s episode.

For our latest installment of Vintage Video, we flash back to March 1984 to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers — long before they became sensitive alt-rock balladeers — make their television debut on the ‘Thicke of the Night’ talk show’s one and only season.

Reunited 2 Tone ska legends The Specials made their third American late-night TV appearance this year tonight, performing ‘Night Klub’ on ‘The Late Show with David Letterman.’