The Ting Tings: Are You Calling Me a One-Hit Wonder?
Formed in Manchester out of the ashes of Dear Eskiimo, singer Katie White and drummer/producer Jules De Martino named their new duo The Ting Tings—and ended up writing one of my favourite tunes.
Back in 2008, MySpace was the thing. After posting their soon-to-be smash hit That’s Not My Name on the platform, things started to happen.
Previously signed to Mercury Records—whose antics had inspired the subject matter of That’s Not My Name—they went fully independent, self-releasing their music and playing gigs that sparked serious industry interest. Even Rick Rubin (yes, that Rick Rubin) enquired about tickets to see the much-talked-about duo. My guess is he’d heard the aforementioned tune on MySpace!
Eventually, they signed to Columbia, who helped spread their genius composition to the world. And while the follow-up single Shut Up And Let Me Go enjoyed some success, it simply wasn’t in the same league.
Since their debut single and album, The Ting Tings have released more tunes, but nothing has come close to that first breakout moment. Play it on repeat a few times and you’ll realise just how brilliant it really is.
It’s the overlaying of melodies, the different timings of the layered vocals, the attitude in the performance. It’s just the perfect tune. Katie and Jules will probably never write anything that good again—even if they tried another hundred times. But then again, who will?
Keep at it to get results
If you think this is just another example of a one-hit wonder, then you might not understand how difficult it is to write something as brilliant as That’s Not My Name. It kind of just has to happen—amongst another hundred attempts.
It might even come together in a few hours, but as Pablo Picasso once said about a sketch he made in 30 seconds: “It took me forty years to do it.”
Without Dear Eskiimo, without all the other songs they wrote, without producing other artists, gigging, drumming, practising, learning how to overlay and integrate melodies, half-time and double-time concepts—The Ting Tings would never have written That’s Not My Name. Rick Rubin wouldn’t have asked for tickets. And the phrase, Are you calling me darling?—well, it wouldn’t carry the same deeper, hidden meaning that it does today.
Sure, being a kind of inverted British version of The White Stripes (back when they were huge) helped. But really, at the end of the day, it’s the same old story—it’s all about having at least one genuinely great tune.
It’s always been that way. Always will be. Alright, darling?
The Ting Tings Tunes | Related Pages
That’s Not My Name | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play That’s Not My Name by Ting Tings using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| E5 | E5 |
Four letter word just to get me along, it’s a…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: That’s Not My Name (The Ting Tings) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
The Ting Tings on the web
