TV Dinners by lazarus57

lazarus57 - TV Dinners

lazarus57

Jul 02, 2025 12:29pm

MEN VS WOMAN SHOWDOWN - ROUND 2<img src="https://singsnap-cdn.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/message-board/threads/BHTN/04a4938c46_M7WO_media.jpg">Guys team sing a rock song. "TV Dinners" is a song by American band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZZ_Top" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">ZZ Top</a> from their 1983 album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliminator_(album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Eliminator</a>. It was produced by band manager <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ham" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Bill Ham</a>, and recorded and mixed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Manning" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Terry Manning</a>. The song is a simple, beat-driven and tongue-in-cheek tune with lyrics about pre-packaged, oven-ready meals, implying that these servings of industrially processed foods are standard cuisine for lonely and culinarily challenged unpartnered gentlemen. Promoted for radio play in the US, and released commercially as a single in the UK, it reached number 38 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Billboard</a> Top Rock Tracks chart. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Palmer_(singer)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Robert Palmer</a> recorded "TV Dinners" for his 2003 album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_(Robert_Palmer_album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Drive</a>.Recording[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=TV_Dinners_(song)&action=edit&section=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">edit</a>]Guitarist Billy Gibbons once said he played a 1955 Gretsch Roundup while recording "TV Dinners".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Dinners_(song)#cite_note-Gibbons2011-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[1]</a> He also told <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Zelinsky" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Dean Zelinsky</a> that he played a burgundy <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_ML" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Dean ML</a> throughout the recording of Eliminator.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Dinners_(song)#cite_note-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[2]</a> Longtime ZZ Top recording engineer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Manning" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Terry Manning</a> told an online forum of professional sound engineers that Gibbons alternated between two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Guitars" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Dean Guitars</a> for the great majority of the album, including "98% of all guitar on this album, whether lead or rhythm".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Dinners_(song)#cite_note-Manning_p._2-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a>Music video[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=TV_Dinners_(song)&action=edit&section=2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">edit</a>]The "TV Dinners" video shows a young man alone in his high-tech live-work space during an electrical storm, heating a TV dinner within which forms a goblin. The retro sci-fi look is a departure from the previous Eliminator videos.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Dinners_(song)#cite_note-Conquered_MTV-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[4]</a> In keeping with the retro sci-fi theme, several old sci-fi movie posters are visible, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO_(1956_film)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">U.F.O.</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_Meets_the_Space_Monster" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster</a>.Director Marius Penczner and his crew used <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-motion" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">stop-motion</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_animation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">clay animation</a> to show the goblin's claw emerging to change channels on a TV remote, repeatedly returning the multiple TV screens to display scenes of ZZ Top performing the song. Later, the goblin (it strongly resembles the monster from 1958's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It!_The_Terror_from_Beyond_Space" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">It! The Terror from Beyond Space</a>) rises from the foil-wrapped package to steal potato chips while the nerdy bachelor is distracted playing a ZZ Top–themed driving game.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Dinners_(song)#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[5]</a> "TV Dinners" was released in December 1983, with critics observing that the video was better than the song.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Dinners_(song)#cite_note-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[6]</a> <img src="https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ae/de/45/aede4531a0bba3ddb9d741c427224e05--top-quiz-s-music.jpg" alt="ZZ Top - TV Dinners (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO) | Zz top, Top tv, Music videos"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM2NzQ5OTQzNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTkxNzI3MQ@@._V1_QL75_UY140_CR36,0,140,140_.jpg" alt="ZZ Top: TV Dinners (Music Video 1983) - IMDb"><img src="https://media.baselineresearch.com/images/786476/786476_full.jpg" alt="ZZ Top - Band">