Music on TV This Week: Tom Tom Club

By Drake Lelane

January 9, 2011 / 11:19 PM

Has it really been 30 years since Tom Tom Club's club hit "Genius of Love" first asked the question "What you gonna do when you get out of jail?" Starting out as just a fun ("natural fun!") side project for Talking Heads' members Chris Frantz (drums) and Tina Weymouth (bass), Tom Tom Club have found its place in rock history thanks to this often sampled song. While "Genius of Love" peaked at #31 on the Billboard charts back in 1981, the song has lived on thanks to the 22 or more songs that have sampled it over the years.

Weymouth and Frantz recently revived TTC and have released a live double album (Genius of Love) and are celebrating the 30th anniversary of "Genius of Love" by playing Irving Plaza on Wednesday (Talking Heads were the first rock band to play there back in 1978). Before that, though, they take to the airwaves Tuesday night on the show of choice for momentous music occasions, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Expect Questlove to help on drums for "Genius of Love" and perhaps we'll also get a web-only performance of "Wordy Rappinghood."

Elsewhere, Kentucky's Cage the Elephant release their second album this week and are returning to the scene of their network television debut, The Late Show with David Letterman, to promote Thank You, Happy Birthday with a performance of either the raucous "2024" or the more subdued lead single "Shake Me Down." You can't go wrong, either way.

And finally, those 15 year veterans Cake make their return after nearly seven years with the album Showroom of Compassion. Not only have they found independence from major labels with this release, but they've also recorded the album in their own solar-powered studio, making it fossil fuel independent as well. Cake make several appearances this week on the tube, hitting Fallon on Wednesday and the FUEL series The Daily Habit both Thursday and Friday.