'Kids, do you love the Rock n' Roll?'

As a confirmed early-to-bed, early-to-rise type, I've never watched much late-night television. But over the years, I've seen enough to be impressed with David Letterman's openness to new musical talents and genres and his willingness to give them a national stage on which to play. In the shows I've seen and the clips I've watched, you could tell that his interest was genuine, as was his knowledge.

As everybody in America knows, Letterman retired this week after 33 years of blabbing to insomniacs. So here's a clip from back in the early days, with Dave introducing some unknown band from a little college town, playing a song too new to have a title. They ended up doing all right.