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Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band
Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band is an American musical ensemble led by Paul Shaffer. It was David Letterman's house band for 33 years.
The band formed in 1982 to serve as house band for NBC's Late Night with David Letterman. When Letterman moved to CBS and began hosting the Late Show with David Letterman in 1993, the band added a horn section and second guitarist, renaming itself (due to an intellectual property dispute with NBC) the CBS Orchestra, a name that lasted until Letterman left the Late Show in 2015. After a two-year hiatus, in 2017, the band was revived by Shaffer using its original name and released an album titled Paul Shaffer & The World's Most Dangerous Band, followed by a tour.
The band was initially unnamed, although in early 1982 it was occasionally jokingly referred to as "The World’s Most Dangerous Band" when closing the show, sometimes alternating it with "Paul Shaffer and the Orchestra," "Paul and the Organization," "Paul Shaffer and the Folks," "Paul Shaffer and the Melody Makers," or a combination: "Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Orchestra." These were all unofficial names, and were dropped by mid-1982; from 1982 to 1987, the group was simply referred to as "Paul Shaffer and the Band" (except for a very brief period in spring 1983 when the band was referred to for several episodes, again unofficially, as "Paul Shaffer and the Party Boys of Rock and Roll").
The 1985 video "You Kill Me" (aired on the David Letterman Holiday Film Festival special) is credited on-screen to "Paul Shaffer and the Band".
In the summer of 1987, the band began to be announced as "Paul Shaffer and the NBC Orchestra," both in on-air conversation and in the show's opening announcements. In on-air conversations between Letterman and Shaffer, Shaffer, when asked which band name he preferred, made it clear that his preference was for "The World’s Most Dangerous Band", feeling that the "NBC Orchestra" name rightly belonged to The Tonight Show band of Doc Severinsen. Accordingly, with the broadcast of September 25, 1987, the band was officially announced as "Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band," and was always announced with that billing for the rest of Late Night's run (through mid-1993).
The group was forced to rename itself when Letterman left NBC, and NBC claimed that the name "The World's Most Dangerous Band" was its intellectual property. Around this time, the group released an album credited to "Paul Shaffer and the Party Boys of Rock 'n' Roll". The name "Paul Shaffer and The CBS Orchestra" dated from the start of the show on CBS in 1993. The band was not featured on CBS programming outside of the Late Show. According to the Late Show with David Letterman credits, the name "CBS Orchestra" is the property of CBS; CBS had not had an orchestra since The Ed Sullivan Show (whose house band absorbed most of the Alfredo Antonini-led CBS Orchestra that had served as the CBS Radio Network's primary band during its existence) ended its run in 1971.
When the band reassembled after the end of Late Show in 2016, it was able to reclaim its former name, "The World's Most Dangerous Band", as NBC had not used the name for several years and thus had abandoned any trademark claim over it.
Besides being the house band for the Late Show, the group has also been the house band for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies since 1986 and continued in this role for the 2015, award ceremony, which was held April 18, 2015, but aired on HBO several days after the finale of the Late Show with David Letterman. In 1999, the group was the back-up band for the Concert of the Century at the White House. In 2001, they also served as the backup band for The Concert for New York City, where they performed with David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy, Macy Gray and James Taylor.
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Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band
Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band is an American musical ensemble led by Paul Shaffer. It was David Letterman's house band for 33 years.
The band formed in 1982 to serve as house band for NBC's Late Night with David Letterman. When Letterman moved to CBS and began hosting the Late Show with David Letterman in 1993, the band added a horn section and second guitarist, renaming itself (due to an intellectual property dispute with NBC) the CBS Orchestra, a name that lasted until Letterman left the Late Show in 2015. After a two-year hiatus, in 2017, the band was revived by Shaffer using its original name and released an album titled Paul Shaffer & The World's Most Dangerous Band, followed by a tour.
The band was initially unnamed, although in early 1982 it was occasionally jokingly referred to as "The World’s Most Dangerous Band" when closing the show, sometimes alternating it with "Paul Shaffer and the Orchestra," "Paul and the Organization," "Paul Shaffer and the Folks," "Paul Shaffer and the Melody Makers," or a combination: "Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Orchestra." These were all unofficial names, and were dropped by mid-1982; from 1982 to 1987, the group was simply referred to as "Paul Shaffer and the Band" (except for a very brief period in spring 1983 when the band was referred to for several episodes, again unofficially, as "Paul Shaffer and the Party Boys of Rock and Roll").
The 1985 video "You Kill Me" (aired on the David Letterman Holiday Film Festival special) is credited on-screen to "Paul Shaffer and the Band".
In the summer of 1987, the band began to be announced as "Paul Shaffer and the NBC Orchestra," both in on-air conversation and in the show's opening announcements. In on-air conversations between Letterman and Shaffer, Shaffer, when asked which band name he preferred, made it clear that his preference was for "The World’s Most Dangerous Band", feeling that the "NBC Orchestra" name rightly belonged to The Tonight Show band of Doc Severinsen. Accordingly, with the broadcast of September 25, 1987, the band was officially announced as "Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band," and was always announced with that billing for the rest of Late Night's run (through mid-1993).
The group was forced to rename itself when Letterman left NBC, and NBC claimed that the name "The World's Most Dangerous Band" was its intellectual property. Around this time, the group released an album credited to "Paul Shaffer and the Party Boys of Rock 'n' Roll". The name "Paul Shaffer and The CBS Orchestra" dated from the start of the show on CBS in 1993. The band was not featured on CBS programming outside of the Late Show. According to the Late Show with David Letterman credits, the name "CBS Orchestra" is the property of CBS; CBS had not had an orchestra since The Ed Sullivan Show (whose house band absorbed most of the Alfredo Antonini-led CBS Orchestra that had served as the CBS Radio Network's primary band during its existence) ended its run in 1971.
When the band reassembled after the end of Late Show in 2016, it was able to reclaim its former name, "The World's Most Dangerous Band", as NBC had not used the name for several years and thus had abandoned any trademark claim over it.
Besides being the house band for the Late Show, the group has also been the house band for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies since 1986 and continued in this role for the 2015, award ceremony, which was held April 18, 2015, but aired on HBO several days after the finale of the Late Show with David Letterman. In 1999, the group was the back-up band for the Concert of the Century at the White House. In 2001, they also served as the backup band for The Concert for New York City, where they performed with David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy, Macy Gray and James Taylor.