Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal: A Song for the Underdogs
Why 'Hey Mr. DJ' became my anthem for feeling left out.
The Album That Wasn’t Supposed to Be Mainstream
Miscellaneous T is an album that first came into my life through my best friend, who was generous enough to let me make a copy of his original. It’s a compilation of They Might Be Giants’ b-sides and remixes from previous EPs—songs that were, at the time, a little harder to track down until they were finally put together on this release.
I was obsessed with the type font on the cover. But more than that, I was obsessed with the idea that this was an entire album of songs deemed not quite fit for release on a studio album, from a band that was also largely deemed not consumable enough for the trendiest pop radio stations.
It was a distillation of what I loved about They Might Be Giants. And how fitting that the very first track on this album is a song called, “Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal.”
The Gatekeepers and the Giants: A Radio Showdown
This song, “Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal,” from Miscellaneous T, perfectly captures the frustration of being overlooked by the mainstream. In the 80s and early 90s, the music industry was full of gatekeepers who determined what music got airplay and what didn’t.
TMBG, who were interesting and new with their quirky sound and performance art aesthetic, were never mainstream radio darlings. I was able to admit that to myself. The song tells the story of a musician striking a deal with a local DJ, only to be met with disappointment when the airplay never materializes.
It was a tongue-in-cheek jab at the industry, and for fans like me, it was an anthem.
The Secret Handshake of TMBG Fandom
If I listened to one particular station, 107.7 The End out of Seattle, during just the right DJ’s show - like Throwback Sunday - I might get a chance to hear “Don’t Let’s Start” from TMBG’s debut, self-titled album. Sometimes, randomly, maybe once a year, I’d hear “Birdhouse in Your Soul.” But most of the people I knew, which was really just limited to school friends or adults in my family, were listening to artists that were on heavy radio rotation.
Nirvana, Green Day, The Beastie Boys, Weezer, Beck - those were the bands my friends and I had in common. You could hear them all the time on the radio, and their music videos were regulars on MTV. But They Might Be Giants? That was a secret, shared only by me, my best friend, and the few others we might encounter who had heard of them. Finding someone else who liked They Might Be Giants was an instant sign you were highly compatible friends.
“Hey Mr. DJ” was almost like an answer to my own question: Why don’t the radio stations play my favorite band? Hearing that song for the first time, I felt like They Might Be Giants knew they weren’t getting mainstream radio play, and they were kind of okay with it. They made a joke out of it.
It became a part of my identity, too - I didn’t belong in the mainstream, and that was fine. I belonged with the outsiders, the artists, and the “weirdos” who appreciated the offbeat and the overlooked.
Listen to the song:
Fast-Paced Melodies, Slow-Burn Realizations
The song tells the story of a musician trying to strike a bargain with a local DJ for airplay. The line, “I thought you said we had a deal,” is repeated, almost as if pleading, a reminder of the frustration that came with trying to navigate the unwritten rules of the music industry.
The band never calls out payola directly, but it feels implied to me. Especially considering the music scene at the time. In the 80s, the Payola scandal was still alive in new forms, with DJs and radio stations being swayed by under-the-table incentives to push certain songs.
Musically, “Hey Mr. DJ” is a banger from start to finish. It has that classic They Might Be Giants mix of fast-paced rhythm and upbeat melodies, but underneath is the simmering frustration of being overlooked. This song became one of my anthems - it was rare for me to ever skip it.
Even today, when I hear it, I’m transported back to that feeling of being part of something smaller, something special, that wasn’t quite part of the mainstream.
What Was Your Band No One Knew About?
What was the first band you fell in love with that no one else seemed to know about? Leave a comment below! Or, tell me about the first time you heard They Might Be Giants on the radio—what song was it, and where were you?
Why Being Offbeat Was The Best Deal After All
They Might Be Giants were never the band you’d hear on the Top 40, and for a long time, I was fine with that. “Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal” was a song about being frustrated about being ignored by the radio.
The act of writing and releasing the song in the way that it was, became more about examining that, poking fun at it, and accepting it. It was about accepting that the world wasn’t built for people like us, but realizing that we didn’t need the world’s approval to exist and thrive. They Might Be Giants were a band for people who didn’t fit into tidy boxes. And for a kid like me, that was everything.
If They Might Be Giants spoke to the outsider in you too, be sure to subscribe to Kiss Me, Son of Blog for more deep dives into the songs that shaped us and the stories that made us fans.
Bonus Live Performance!
Check out this live performance (with horns!) of ‘Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal’.
Hello Mr. Dj happens to be one of my favorite TMBG songs, since it includes their humor, wordplay, and amazing instrumental work (the xylophone is definitely a plus as well).
Regarding your question on a band I love but nobody seems to know, it would probably be the obscure San Francisco based band "The Residents." Curiously enough, both Linnell and Flansburgh have actually mentioned themselves as also being fans of The Residents, and some of their early demos and their first album shows some influence from The Residents. Their dial-a-song "Door to Door Minotaur" was actually a tribute to a late member of the band. The Residents also had a contribution to Flansburgh's Hello CD of The Month Club, and Flansburgh has recommended the album "The Commercial Album" before, in case you want to check them out.
To answer your radio question, the only time I can remember hearing TMBG on the radio was hearing "Doctor Worm" on a local station. It was odd hearing that song specifically, I would have expected something off of Flood instead. I may have also heard Istanbul or Birdhouse when I was on a trip to Charleston on a local radio station, though that may be just my mind trying to create memories for me.