Here's an amazing clash of generations on The Ed Sullivan Show…in some ways, more arresting than any appearance by The Beatles or Elvis. It's March 30, 1969 and Ed has on the cast of Hair to perform "The Age of Aquarius" and "Let the Sunshine In." Hair opened at the Biltmore Theater on April 29, 1968 so they probably arranged to do Ed's program because the weekly grosses were starting to sag a little. Indeed, James Rado, who was one of the creators of the show was quoted as saying of this appearance…
The network wouldn't let us do anything involving nudity, but they did let us have smoke effects and allowed us the run of the theater. I don't think Mr. Sullivan knew what to think of us, but he seemed to truly enjoy the exuberance of the young cast. It was an exciting night and, boy, did it generate a long line at the box office the following morning!
When I came across the clip, I had to go and look up who else was on the show that evening and it was otherwise a pretty typical line-up for Ed — Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, pianist Peter Nero (playing "Mrs. Robinson" from The Graduate), The Lennon Sisters, The Muppets and three comedians: Charlie Callas, Pigmeat Markham and Dickie Henderson. So you can see Ed trying to have it all ways: Something for the older viewers, something for the younger ones, something for the real young, something for the black folks, etc.
Ed also introduced Jackie Mason in the audience. This was after the two of them had patched up their infamous feud/lawsuit. It must have been interesting backstage that evening.
Dozens of performers you've heard of were in Hair during its first Broadway run, including Diane Keaton, Keith Carradine, Melba Moore, Ben Vereen, Heather MacRae, Meat Loaf, Barry McGuire, Ted Lange, Jessica Harper and Lynn Kellogg. I'm not going to try and identify which of them, if any, might have been in this presentation. The number seems to have gone over well enough but the live audience doesn't seem all that comfy with the ending…