Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band

When the group moved to Los Angeles to become The Tonight Show Band, they added an eighth member, James Wormworth, on percussion.

Weinberg returned to college to finish his communications degree and contemplated law school, but soon desired to resume drumming.

Rosenberg and Pender had played with The Miami Horns, and had a long joint history with Weinberg from touring or recording together with Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Little Steven, Gary U.S. Bonds, and Darlene Love.

In the early 1990s Weinberg and Pender were also in a band together called Killer Joe, which also featured Jimmy and Jerry Vivino.

[3] Members of the band have participated in skits on Late Night, particularly fedoraed LaBamba—who rarely speaks on air and is often the punchline of O'Brien's jokes—and bald, bespectacled Mark Pender, who will often sing a tribute to one of the show's guests only to invariably launch into hysterical shrieking as he climbs the scaffolding of the studio's seating area.

A noted incident of ridicule occurred in 2007 when the camera, which had unexpectedly cut to the band for a reaction shot, caught LaBamba consulting his sheet music with a somewhat puzzled look on his face.

Examples of songs by The Clash performed by the group include "Police on my Back", "The Magnificent Seven", "Rock the Casbah", "Spanish Bombs" and "Train in Vain".

[5] As part of his preparation for the move, Weinberg consulted with Doc Severinsen, the Tonight Show band leader during the Johnny Carson days.

[4] As was the case on Late Night, Weinberg temporarily left the Tonight Show on occasion to tour with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

In the open, announcer Andy Richter referred to the group as "The Tonight Show Band", and the graphic was changed to acknowledge Weinberg's absence.

The pod would then move into the streets of Los Angeles where usually something absurd would happen such as Weinberg being pulled over or hit by a speeding truck.

[9] Weinberg later revealed that he had undergone complex open heart valve repair surgery two weeks after the conclusion of The Tonight Show and had taken three months to recover from it.

And, making music with Jimmy Vivino, Mark Pender, La Bamba, Scott Healy, Mike Merritt, and percussionist James Wormworth enabled me to become a better musician and bandleader.

[13] Weinberg said his health was better than ever but that the "life-changing experience emotionally and spiritually" of the surgery and a desire to remain in New Jersey with his family had played a chief role in his departure from the band and O'Brien.