The Heavy Makes History on 'Late Show with David Letterman'

English rock band, The Heavy, made history on the Late Show with David Letterman when the host asked them to play an encore. It's kind of hard to imagine that no band has ever played twice on the same episode, but what's more interesting is that I'd never even thought about it until I saw this article.

Aside from the obvious historicity of the whole thing, it's doubly interesting because Letterman is known to be a kind of hard-ass who has had numerous tiffs with several big-name stars throughout the years, going all the way back to his NBC days, when Cher called him an asshole on-air (of course, the show is taped early in the day and it was bleeped-out, but the censoring made it no less a pop-cultural footnote).

I'd never heard of The Heavy, nor was I aware of their signature song, "How You Like Me Now," but it isn't a bad song. Like most commercial bands, The Heavy probably has a pretty limited shelf-life, but being the first act to play an encore on Late Night with David Letterman is likely enough to keep them touring for several years, and probably secures a "comeback tour" 15-20 years from now.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010