The wonderfully bizarre moment Cher covered The Rolling Stones
The world of 1970s variety shows was a strange landscape to traverse. When the format worked, it could produce legendary programmes like The Midnight Special, The Old Grey Whistle Test, and even The Muppet Show. But all too often, networks would simply give out variety shows to any old entertainment acts, whether they were well-suited for the job or not.
That’s how programmes starring Tony Orlando and Dawn, Captain & Tenille, Mac Davis, Pink Lady and the Starland Vocal Band all managed to invade television screens throughout the decade. Even stars who seemed perfect for the format, like Dolly Parton and Mary Tyler Moore, failed at getting their variety shows off the ground. It was a delicate balancing act between comedy, acting, and singing that even traditional triple-threat artists couldn’t nail. Of all the ’70s stars who attempted the variety show format, Cher was probably the most successful.
It all began in August of 1971 when Cher was given a comedy variety show alongside her husband and creative partner, Sonny Bono. The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour was powered by sketch comedy, performances, cameos, and the atypical partnership of the duo. The programme was successful enough to run for four seasons and would have gone on for a fifth had the couple not divorced following the fourth season’s final episode. Eventually, the divorced pair would reunite a few years later to continue the format with The Sonny & Cher Show, this time running for two seasons before finally ending their creative partnership for good in 1977.
Between the original show’s cancellation in 1974 and the continuation series’ premiere in 1975, both Sonny and Cher got their own solo variety shows. Sonny’s was a comedy programme entitled The Sonny Comedy Revue, while Cher’s eponymous show relied more heavily on interviews and musical performances over comedy. Cher was the bigger hit of the two and would have likely run longer than its abbreviated two-season sting had Cher not opted to renew her working relationship with Bono.
Cher provided some of the most wonderfully bizarre television performances of the 1970s, including an infamously stilted duet between her and David Bowie during Bowie’s ‘Thin White Duke’ era. More often than not, though, Cher was carrying the programme on her own, busting out contemporary hits in her own inimitable style. One of the better covers she took on during the show’s run was a very 1970s version of The Rolling Stones’ ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’.
Starting out as a slow and emotional ballad, the veil soon lifts as Cher starts belting out a disco version of the Stones’ classic. It’s a relatively brief performance that’s combined with some truly strange airbrushed artwork of the singer in sci-fi settings. This was the ’70s, after all. Cher gives the song her all, and for a song that’s been covered hundreds of times since its original release, you’ll most likely never hear a version like Cher’s.
Check out Cher’s take on ‘Satisfaction’ down below.
