Sesame Street - Best Musical Performances, Paul Simon

Photo: Courtesy Of Sesame Street.

Generally speaking, I'm not really a fan of the musical guest performances on late-night television. Don't get me wrong. It has little to do with the actual bands themselves and more with the whole production often feeling halfhearted and lackluster at best.

It could be because the musical guest usually doesn't play until the very end of the show, and then it's hard to get hyped on a new folky-pop group when I'm already halfway to dreamland. Or, I've wondered, is it the the venue (i.e., a television soundstage) that makes the whole thing feel a little stale and predictable? It's hard to say for sure, but there's one show whose musical guest performers almost always knock me off my seat.

Yes, this is Sesame Street. Where else can you watch Paul Simon spontaneously riffing with an incredible 7-year-old girl on a New York City stoop? Or, how about watch Johnny Cash serenade Oscar the Grouch, singing lyrics like, "He'd growl and yell and I heard tell that he never took a bath"?
With the earlier years featuring everyone from Ray Charles to Lena Horne to James Taylor, and more recent decades showcasing incredible, inspired performances from the likes of Feist, Destiny's Child, and Usher, to name a few, this show's got some of the best performances ever recorded by the biggest talents in music history. But, don't worry — we're not going to make you ask how to get to Sesame Street. To get started with some of the classic musical acts, head on over to Netflix.