Today’s 6:30 Clock Radio Classic is dedicated to my brother-in-law Adam, who happens to be a big fan of They Might Be Giants.
So naturally, on his birthday, we’re taking a musical trip to Istanbul. Not Constantinople. Istanbul.
And if you’re wondering why… well, apparently somebody changed the name and never bothered to send Constantinople a memo.
They Might Be Giants didn’t actually write it!
The song was written by Jimmy Kennedy and Nat Simon and was originally recorded way back in 1953 by The Four Lads. Their version became a Top 10 hit in the United States and earned the group its first gold record.
Then, in 1990, They Might Be Giants got their wonderfully weird hands on it and turned it into the fast, quirky, alternative-rock earworm we know and love today. Their version appeared on the album Flood.
The song actually predates the TMBG version by 37 years.
And here’s another fun one: TMBG had already been performing the song live as far back as 1987, before the Flood album came out.
The music video was also a little slice of early-’90s wonderfully strange. It was featured on MTV’s Liquid Television, and an animated version later appeared on Tiny Toon Adventures. Because apparently a song about changing the name of a city wasn’t sufficiently bizarre on its own.
And yes, the song really is about the fact that Constantinople became Istanbul. The lyrics also point out that New York was once New Amsterdam, basically making the case that cities have been rebranding themselves long before corporations figured out how to put a new logo on everything.
So today, we raise our imaginary birthday glass to Adam:
May your birthday be filled with cake. May your year be filled with happiness. May your headphones be filled with They Might Be Giants. And may absolutely nobody try to take you back to Constantinople.
Because, Adam… You can’t go back to Constantinople.
Now crank it up, celebrate accordingly, and remember: Istanbul. Not Constantinople. Istanbul.
#ClockRadioClassic #BoomboxBacktrack #RetroRewind
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