User:Andrzejbanas/Tv Party

TV Party was an EP released by the American band Black Flag in 1982. The album was released by SST Records and produced by Black Flag and Ed Barton. The EP contains three songs written by bassist Greg Ginn: "TV Party", "I've Got to Run" and "My Rules". The title track "TV Party" is a satire on audiences obsessed with television.

Reception to the EP focused heavily on the title song "TV Party", where it was praised as one of the group's funniest and best songs.

Production
The song "TV Party" was recorded twice. It was first To promote the album in the United States, Unicorn Records had Black Flag enter the studio re-record the song "TV Party". The song was recorded in March 1982 with their new drummer Emil Johnson. Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn stated that after "Rollins joined the band, We couldn't do songs with a sense of humor anymore; he got into the serious way-out poet thing." The EP was produced by Ed Barton and Black Flag.

Style
"TV Party" is one of the lighter songs in comparison to the other songs on Damaged. Vocalist Henry Rollins described the song as satire stating "it's about people who stay inside their house and live in a TV kinda world. And this has a very direct effect on us." Black Flag member Greg Ginn echoed Rollins interpretation, stating "It's basically a satire of people watching TV and partying at home, which is a sickness which is very prevalent in LA." Glen E. Friedman referred to the song as "a parody of certain type of people" comparing the song to the Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)". stating "They were both parodies that people took too seriously, and even the bands found taking themselves too seriously after the fact."

The song "TV Party" is driven by Chuck Dukowski's bass line. It features Rollins on vocals and bellowed backing vocals.

Release
TV Party was released July 12, 1982. Target Video released a home video titled TV Party in The video contains live footage of the group from 1980 and 1982 as well as the music video for the song "TV Party". There have been several variations on the release of the TV Party EP. They include one released by SST Records, one as a split between SST and Unicorn Records, and another simply by Unicorn. All three versions have the same track listing. The song "TV Party" would later appears on the soundtrack to the film Repo Man (1984) and various other music compilations.

A music video was shot to promote the song. The video features the members of Black Flag and their friends drinking Beer and calling out their favorite television shows in front of a television set. Among the band members is photographer Glen E. Friedman.

Reception
The title song of the EP received praise from music critics. Online music database gave a positive review of the song, describing it as "at once cutting and funny, an attack on television-inspired stasis that laughs both at and with it's subjects" and "As a dumb anthem, it even beats out the band's cover of "Louie Louie"". Spin referred to the song as the "greatest ode to the slacker sloth".

For the EP, In 1982, Billboard listed the song "TV Party" as "Recommended" in their "Top Singles" review section. Allmusic gave the album a two and a half star rating out of five, stating that "The other tracks are good, but this is a release for collectors or serious fans only."

Credits

 * Ed Barton – producer
 * Black Flag – producer
 * Dez Cadena – guitar, vocals
 * Chuck Dukowski – bass
 * Emil – drums
 * Glen E. Friedman – photography
 * Greg Ginn – composer, guitar
 * Henry Rollins – vocals
 * Jeff Stebbins – engineer
 * Bill Stevenson – drums