TV Dinners is Mikey McCleary's debut album of English songs. It consists of tracks that Mikey composed and wrote for major TV advertising brands like Vodafone, Levi's, Audi, Titan and Lakmé. He has extended these 45 second jingles into full songs by adding new composition and lyrics so that instead of sounding like jingles, they sound like tracks from various artists that were placed in TV ad films. Featuring Mikey's vocals on half the album, it also features the singers Anushka Manchanda, Shalmali Kholgade, Monica Dogra and Mauli Dave.
The idea of turning a jingle into a full song came about when Mikey found many people online asking for the full song for many of the jingles he had composed. A lot of people thought that these jingles were existing songs that had been placed in TV ads. He chose the jingles that were most popular and that didn't have any lyrics specifically connecting the song with the original brand. TV Dinners is full of familiar tunes but none of the songs sound like extended jingles, they sound like songs from different artists.
A TV dinner (also called prepackaged meal, ready-made meal,ready meal, frozen dinner, frozen meal, microwave meal) is a prepackaged frozen or chilled meal that usually comes as an individual portion. It requires very little preparation and contains all the elements for a single-serving meal. A TV dinner in the USA usually consists of a cut of meat, usually beef or chicken; a vegetable, such as peas, carrots, corn, or potatoes; and sometimes a dessert, such as a brownie or apple cobbler. The entrée could also be pasta or a common type of fish, such as Atlantic cod. Rice is a common side item. In Europe the meals can be more diverse, with items such as Indian or Chinese meals being common in the UK.
The term TV dinner is a genericized trademark originally used for a brand of packaged meal developed in 1953 by C.A. Swanson & Sons (the name in full was TV Brand Frozen Dinner). In the United States the term remains synonymous with any prepackaged dinner purchased frozen in a supermarket and heated at home.
"TV Dinners" is a song performed by the 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 tune with humorous lyrics about pre-packaged, oven-ready meals. Released as a single, it reached #38 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart. Robert Palmer recorded "TV Dinners" for his studio album 2003 Drive.
Guitarist Billy Gibbons played a 1955 Gretsch Roundup while recording "TV Dinners".
Marios Pinzer directed the song's music video, which used both live action and claymation. In it, bassist Dusty Hill plays a Vox Continental organ, and both Hill and drummer Frank Beard do not wear sunglasses, a trademark ZZ Top accessory.