Yes, 1977, bit no, it had nothing to do with Radio, Radio. At least not from the stand-point of Mr. Michaels, NBC, or any of the SNL crew. On the other hand, I suspect the choice of song was quite deliberate on the part of Mr. Costello.
But pilot had it right. Michaels was pissed at Costello for changing the performance mid-stream, after it had been rehearsed several times with the original song (Less Than Zero). All of the TV crew’s cues and moves were based on the original song, and they had to wing it on the replacement. I watched it live on TV, and read an interview with Michaels shortly after, castigating Costello for pulling this stunt and screwing up the schedule.
