"TV Dinners" is a song by American band

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sou ...

from their 1983 album '' Eliminator''. It was produced by band manager

Bill Ham Billy Mack Ham (February 4, 1937 – June 20, 2016) was an American music impresario, best known as the manager, producer, and image-maker for the blues-rock band ZZ Top. Ham also gained prominence in the country music world by discovering and man ...

, and recorded and mixed by

Terry Manning Terry Manning is an American photographer, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, audio engineer, and visual artist. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, ...

. The song is a simple, beat-driven 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 Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" ...

''.

Recording

Guitarist Billy Gibbons once said he played a 1955 Gretsch Roundup while recording "TV Dinners". He also told

Dean Zelinsky Dean B. Zelinsky (born February 20, 1957), also known as Dean Z, Dean Barrett Zelinsky or DBZ, is an American guitar luthier who founded Dean Guitars in 1977 and DBZ Guitars in 2008 and today owns Dean Zelinsky Private Label started in 2012. E ...

that he played a burgundy

Dean ML The Dean ML is an electric guitar made by Dean Guitars in 1977 along with its counterparts, the Dean V, Dean Cadillac and Dean Z. It has an unusual design, with a V-shaped headstock and V-shaped tailpiece. It was popularized by the guitarist Di ...

throughout the recording of ''Eliminator''. Longtime ZZ Top recording engineer

told an online forum of professional sound engineers that Gibbons alternated between two

Dean Guitars Dean Guitars, commonly referred to simply as Dean, is an American importer and maker of stringed instruments and musical products with its headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Its products include solid-body electric guitars, bass guitars, and acoust ...

for the great majority of the album, including "98% of all guitar on this album, whether lead or rhythm".

Music video

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. Director by Marius Penczner and his crew used stop-motion

clay animation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

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. "TV Dinners" was released in December 1983, with critics observing that the video was better than the song.

Credits and personnel

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...

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guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

Dusty Hill Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill (May 19, 1949 – July 28, 2021) was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang lead and backing vocals and played keyboards. Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, an ...

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keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Frank Beard – drums *Linden Hudson – Preproduction Engineer *Terry Manning – Engineer

Charts

References

ZZ Top songs 1983 singles Songs written by Frank Beard (musician) Songs written by Dusty Hill Songs written by Billy Gibbons 1983 songs Warner Records singles Song recordings produced by Bill Ham {{1980s-rock-song-stub