Title: What is Dial-A-Song?
Johnw - July 1, 2004 08:20 AM (GMT)
Established by rock band They Might Be Giants (TMBG), Dial-A-Song consists of an answering machine with a tape of the band playing various songs.
It doesn't necessarily play their most popular work, however; some people call only to hear a promotional tape of a fake interview which compares TMBG's work to Nazi Germany.
Based in Brooklyn, Dial-A-Song can be reached at (718) 387-6962, but beware of the slogan: "Always Busy, Often Broken."
Some TMBG fans consider it a mark of pride even to have been able to reach Dial-A-Song.
(Note: The Dial-A-Song system should not be confused with TMBG's record of a similar name: Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants. This best-of anthology is not in fact a compilation of Dial-A-Song rarities; the name is simply a tribute.)
From the Wiki article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial_A_SongTMBG also created an online version which can be found at
http://www.dialasong.com/ mrhorrible - July 5, 2004 03:47 PM (GMT)
I reached Dial a Song once in 1994 or 5 ....
Guest - July 5, 2004 05:31 PM (GMT)
gianthead - July 23, 2004 10:19 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE (GerryW @ Jul 5 2004, 03:47 PM) |
| I reached Dial a Song once in 1994 or 5 .... |
:D That's 10 yrs ago! What did they play?
occidere - July 31, 2004 06:19 AM (GMT)
they have it up and running now!
they are playing (atleast i got it both times i called) the song that is going to be on their promational CD for that website.
Ricroc - August 1, 2004 08:31 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| It doesn't necessarily play their most popular work, however; some people call only to hear a promotional tape of a fake interview which compares TMBG's work to Nazi Germany. |
? i fail to see the promotilnal valu of that! but no les sstrange than anythin else they do i guess!!
occidere - August 3, 2004 04:17 AM (GMT)
a what?
the kitten intro? cause i have that on a CD
or is it somethign else?
Johnw - August 3, 2004 07:29 AM (GMT)
I've got the Kitten Intro as well :D
occidere - August 3, 2004 02:21 PM (GMT)
Kitten intro is zawesome-o!!!
woodsie - August 9, 2004 12:10 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE (occidere @ Aug 3 2004, 04:17 AM) |
a what?
the kitten intro? cause i have that on a CD
or is it somethign else? |
The Nazi thing is something else that was on their "Frank O'Toole" appearance. They really need to put that on the download site. Its just so out there.
occidere - August 11, 2004 12:21 PM (GMT)
Ricroc - August 11, 2004 09:36 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| !!!put away yor fat blue cigars n makeway for... !!! :D |
wild!!
huh! i wantd to carry on smokin that...
Banana - September 11, 2004 12:31 AM (GMT)
Johnw - September 11, 2004 08:02 AM (GMT)
It's working for me :huh:
woodsie - September 11, 2004 03:14 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Johnw @ Sep 11 2004, 08:02 AM) |
| It's working for me :huh: |
Yup - its back up. Flansburgh must've paid the bill ;)
Still don't like this machine very much.
Banana - September 11, 2004 03:42 PM (GMT)
\m/
Do they update the on-line DialASong anymore? I wish they did. :censored:
Doodles - September 12, 2004 05:59 PM (GMT)
They do update the online Dial-A-Song, but it's often hard to get the new tracks. You see, the DAS system works on the same basis as the TMBG Clock Radio. It's a Flash program scripted to randomly retrieve a song track from a pool of tracks in the database when you "shoot the target". Since the selection is random, it often takes a while (and a lot of repeats) to find something you've never heard on there before. I've done some experimenting of my own with the same script, and that's how it goes about it's business. So basically it's a lot like those random name generators and random quote generators you see on the internet, except for the fact that DAS plays songs instead of displaying text. It's possible to do this with HTML, but it's a lot easier with Flash Action Script. So that's the basic explanation.
But yes, they do update it.
Thressa - September 13, 2004 01:58 AM (GMT)
Nope me neither. But that's just because I hear about 20 seconds of a song then everything goes silent :(
hello - September 14, 2004 11:20 PM (GMT)
it used to be #9 on my speed dial. :)
Banana - October 2, 2004 03:21 AM (GMT)
I just called it and heard what sounded like a demo of Tippencanoe and Tyler Too. Yeah.
Guest -JohnFan - May 6, 2006 08:38 PM (GMT)
I'm proud to say I reached Dial-A-Song the day it started working back in March of 2006. The next day it stopped working. 2 days later it started working again. I'm pretty proud to say I was one of the L337 who got to hear the "We Live in a Dump" demo on the first day!