"TV Dinners" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by ZZ Top | ||||
from the album Eliminator | ||||
B-side | "Cheap Sunglasses" | |||
Released | December 1983 | |||
Recorded | 1982 | |||
Genre | Boogie rock | |||
Length | 3:50 (album version) 3:24 (single version) | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Bill Ham | |||
ZZ Top singles chronology | ||||
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"TV Dinners" is a song by American band ZZ Top from their 1983 album Eliminator . It was produced by band manager Bill Ham, and recorded and mixed by Terry Manning. The song is a simple, beat-driven and tongue-in-cheek tune with lyrics about pre-packaged, oven-ready meals. Promoted for radio play in the US, and released commercially as a single in the UK, it reached number 38 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. Robert Palmer recorded "TV Dinners" for his 2003 album Drive .
Guitarist Billy Gibbons once said he played a 1955 Gretsch Roundup while recording "TV Dinners". [1] He also told Dean Zelinsky that he played a burgundy Dean ML throughout the recording of Eliminator. [2] Longtime ZZ Top recording engineer Terry Manning told an online forum of professional sound engineers that Gibbons alternated between two Dean Guitars for the great majority of the album, including "98% of all guitar on this album, whether lead or rhythm". [3]
The "TV Dinners" video shows a man alone in his high-tech live-work space during an electrical storm, reheating a TV dinner within which forms a goblin. The retro sci-fi look departed from the previous Eliminator videos. [4]
Director by Marius Penczner and his crew used stop-motion clay animation 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 rises from the foil-wrapped package to steal and eat some potato chips while the man is distracted playing a ZZ Top–themed driving game. [5] "TV Dinners" was released in December 1983, with critics observing that the video was better than the song. [6]
Chart (1983-1984) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles Chart | 67 |
U.S. Billboard Top Tracks | 38 |
ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, it was composed of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top had developed a signature sound based on Gibbons' blues guitar playing style and Hill and Beard's rhythm section. They are popular for their live performances, sly and humorous lyrics, and the matching appearances of Gibbons and Hill, who wore sunglasses, hats and long beards.
Afterburner is the ninth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1985. Although critics' response to the album was lukewarm, Afterburner was a moderate success, going platinum and launching one hit single: "Sleeping Bag" which peaked at No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Tres Hombres is the third studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released by London Records in July 1973 and was the band's first collaboration with engineer Terry Manning. It was the band's commercial breakthrough; in the US, the album entered the top ten, and the single "La Grange" reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Tres Hombres" means "three men".
Degüello is the sixth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in November 1979. It was the first ZZ Top release on Warner Bros. Records and eventually went platinum. It was produced by Bill Ham, recorded and mixed by Terry Manning, and mastered by Bob Ludwig.
El Loco is the seventh studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1981.
Mescalero is the fourteenth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in September 2003, as the band's final release for RCA Records. While the band still retained their foundation in blues rock, Mescalero explored genres like country and Tejano. Recording sessions took place at Foam Box Recordings in Houston, with Billy Gibbons as producer.
XXX is the thirteenth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in September 1999. The album's title commemorates the band's 30th anniversary.
Tejas is the fifth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released in late November 1976, on the London label. The title is a Caddo language word meaning "friends", which is the origin of the name of the band's home state, Texas.
Eliminator is the eighth studio album by American rock band ZZ Top. It was released on March 23, 1983, by Warner Bros. Records, and rose high on the charts in many countries. Four hit singles were released—"Gimme All Your Lovin'" which reached the American Top 40, "Sharp Dressed Man", "TV Dinners" and their most successful single, "Legs". Eliminator is ZZ Top's most commercially successful release, with sales of 11 million and diamond certification in the US.
Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1992.
Rhythmeen is the twelfth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1996. It is their last album with longtime producer Bill Ham.
Chrome, Smoke & BBQ is a 4-CD box set by American rock band ZZ Top. Released in 2003, it is a compilation album of material from the band's tenures with London Records and Warner Bros. Records, recorded from 1967 to 1992. An abbreviated 2-CD version of this compilation, Rancho Texicano: The Very Best of ZZ Top (2004), was released the following year.
William Frederick Gibbons is an American rock musician, best known as the guitarist and primary vocalist of ZZ Top. He began his career in the Moving Sidewalks, who recorded Flash (1969) and opened four dates for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Gibbons formed ZZ Top in late 1969 and released ZZ Top's First Album in early 1971. He has also maintained a solo career in recent years, starting with his first album Perfectamundo (2015).
One Foot in the Blues is a compilation album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1994. The album contains a selection of the band's songs which fall into the blues genre. With the exception of the songs taken from the Degüello, El Loco, Eliminator and Recycler albums, the 1987 digital remixes were used.
"Sharp Dressed Man" is a song by American rock band ZZ Top, released on their 1983 album Eliminator. The song was produced by band manager Bill Ham, and recorded and mixed by Terry Manning. Pre-production recording engineer Linden Hudson was very involved in the early stages of this song's production.
"Legs" is a song by the band ZZ Top from their 1983 album Eliminator. The song was released as the fourth single in May 1984 more than a year after the album came out. It reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and the dance mix version of the song peaked at number 13 on the dance charts.
"Tush" is a song by American blues rock band ZZ Top and was the only single from their fourth album Fandango! The song was named the 67th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.
"Got Me Under Pressure" is a song by ZZ Top from their 1983 album Eliminator.
Fandango! is the fourth album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1975. The album's first side consists of selections from live shows, with the second side being new studio recordings. A remastered and expanded edition of this album was released on February 28, 2006.
Recycler is the tenth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in October 1990. It was the last album to utilize the band's synthesizer-driven production style which began on Eliminator, and marked a return to the band's blues roots.