Spin The Dial
From This Might Be A Wiki
| song name | Spin the Dial |
| artist | They Might Be Giants |
| releases | Unreleased |
| year | 1992 - 2004 |
| first played | July 31, 1992 (150 known performances) |
| run time |  This unreleased song has only been played live,and therefore has no definitive run time. |
| sung by | John Flansburgh |
Trivia/Info
- "Spin The Dial" was a live-show favorite from the early 1990s through the mid-2000s. Flansburgh would turn on the Tivoli Henry Kloss Model One radio and tune across the spectrum, stopping to see what was playing. More often than not, members of the band would start playing along to the music instantly, while Flansburgh would sing along. Then, one of two things would happen:
- The band would pick up the tune and play along, making a rocking version of the original song; or
- The band would play along, but take the song in a totally new, and usually humorous, direction (see "Werewolves Of London (Wearing A Hockey Mask)")
- In either case, the sound crew would usually fade out the radio while the band explored the new song. "Spin The Dial" gave the talented band members a chance to show off their musical abilities, including Flansburgh's genius instant lyric creation powers.
- John Flansburgh on the "Spin The Dial" concept and its eventual decline in a 2024 IFC email:
We had taken audience requests for songs quite spontaneously in previous "Stump The Band" segments, so the idea to have a live radio on stage, spin the dial, and play whatever was playing seemed like a natural evolution. Immediately there were memorable nights and clear victories where we all locked into whatever was playing and surfed our way down the dial, riffing on a half dozen current cultural and musical ideas. But as often as not, the short-comings of the format became self-evident!
In some cities there were simply so few music stations that there was only a song or two to discover, and our effort ran aground almost immediately. In other towns, the radio stations advertising blocks were so fully synchronized from station to station (on the hour, 20 minutes on the hour, etc.) that even as we impatiently ran down the dial, only car commercials played. While these many failures to launch felt like solid proof of our commitment to keep Spin the Dial a 100% spontaneous thing, any successful night would be soon followed by murmurs that it was all somehow faked or staged. But as you know — we don’t work that hard!
- Notable "Spin The Dial" recordings:
Song Themes
Videos
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