Personnel: Gilda Radner (vocals), Dean Bailin, G.E Smith (guitar), Greg Bloch (violin), Howard Shore (saxophone, organ), Paul Shaffer (piano, drums), Bob Christianson (keyboards), John Caruso (bass), Benny Grammatico (drums), Rogelio Teran (percussion), Diana Grasselli, Myriam Valle, Maria Vidal.

Producers: Lorne Michaels, Jerry Wexler, Paul Shaffer, Howard Shore (all tracks).

Recorded live at the Winter Garden Theatre, New York in 1979.

All material written by Anne Beatts, Lorne Michaels, Marilyn Suzanne Miller, Michael O'Donoghue, Gilda Radner, Paul Shaffer, Rosie Shuster and Alan Zweibel.

In addition to being a gifted comedienne and improv performer, Gilda Radner could dance and carry a tune, gifts which came in handy in her heyday on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. This reissue from Rhino showcases some of Radner's comedic musical sketches from SNL, interspersed with classic (Emily Litella, Lisa Loopner) bits.

For Live From New York, Gilda Radner compiled her most famous bits from Saturday Night Live and performed them in front of a Broadway audience. Emily Litella attempts to teach at a rough inner-city school ("Get fudged? I don't care for it, it's too sweet!"), Roseanne Roseannadanna gives a commencement address that deteriorates into a description of lancing a boil, and Patti Smith clone Candy Slice slurs her way through "Gimme Mick." Though some of the laughter is frustratingly directed at clearly visual jokes, much of the performances are funny, and the presence of the cheerfully obscene "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals," which would have never made it onto network TV, is especially amusing. The only odd moment is the closing number, "Honey (Touch Me With My Clothes On)," a maudlin ballad that seems too sincere to be a parody and full of quirky lyrics that render it too offbeat to be straight. It's also true that since the album relies so heavily on Radner's SNL characters it will seem superfluous to anyone who already has her best episodes on tape. Still, there are enough laughs to make this an enjoyable, if not exactly innovative, comedy album. Live From New York may not break any new ground, but it demonstrates Radner's talents to full advantage, making it at least worth a listen. ~ Victor W. Valdivia