Richard Pryor Fronting "Black Death" (Video)
Relatively tame by today's TV standards, 1977's Richard Pryor Show on NBC-TV was still a landmark freakfest that set out to forcefully challenge censors, and only lasted four episodes before the plug was pulled. We remember one of the greatest American comedians with this clip of the band Black Death [68 MB mpeg], somewhat of a cross between Sabbath, Sunn o))) and Funkadelic where frontman Pryor basically leads the crowd of Whiteys into a frenzy like lemmings before wiping them out. Pretty dark stuff for 1977 primetime without a doubt (and stick around for the segue to commercial!) Watch out for extra Sandra Bernhard in the crowd, she was a writer for the short-lived show (along with Robert Altman).
Thanks SO MUCH for posting that Richard Pryor clip...I saw the clip when I was 15 when it first aired on NBC and REALLY WEIRDED ME OUT (Big Kiss/Black Sabbath fan at the time). I hadn't seen it since then, so much appreciation for the cool post!!!!
Posted by: perkypat23 | December 15, 2005 at 04:27 PM
Vaguely remember seeing this as a kid.
It's up there w/ the Queen Haters as far as my favorite fake bands.
Thanks!!!
Posted by: tehraoch | December 25, 2005 at 08:33 PM
Richard Pryor was a trailblazer and one of the true Kings of Comedy.
Posted by: Lamar Cole | December 27, 2005 at 01:52 PM
That's the funniest thing I've seen in quite a while! I can't believe this ever made it onto mainstream television. He's killing the damn audience and they just keep cheering; "far out" indeed! I'm going to buy the DVD volume right now.
Posted by: Jimmy James | December 06, 2006 at 10:44 PM