Touchdowns All Day with Jon Barber & Max Dawson

E095 - Basis for a Day (Song Spotlight Series)

Ep. 95

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Monday, May 5, 2025

TOUCHDOWNS ALL DAY w/ JON BARBER & MAX DAWSON

E095 - Basis for a Day (Song Spotlight Series) - In TDAD094 we brought you the story of Kevin Abrams, the filmmaker, novelist, and bassist for a day who, along with his college best friend, composed The Disco Biscuits' signature song in 1995. In this episode we're joined by Andy Bazany, author of The Biscuits Internet Project's definitive history of Basis for a Day, for an in-depth discussion of that song's thirty-year history. Basis for a Day is The Disco Biscuits' Dark Star (or Tweezer, if you're so inclined). Its modular structure and myriad tempo and key changes have made it the band's most exciting, exploratory, and impactful jam vehicle. Basis is a license to get weird, a laboratory for experimentation, and a lodestar for the band's ongoing evolution. We trace the history of Basis for a Day from its earliest, embryonic versions through its current-day incarnation as a show-stopping set piece via a selection of standout versions hand selected by Andy, longtime Disco Biscuits archival recording engineer Rich Steele, and their colleagues on the Touchdowns All Day Advisory Committee. Plus, Max digs deep into the PLAN C archives to uncover the earliest recorded version of the song, from the band's performance on November 9, 1995.

This episode features excerpts of the following live Disco Biscuits' performances:

  • Basis for a Day, from August 7, 1996 at Wetlands Preserve, New York, NY

  • Basis for a Day > Help on the Way, from December 10, 1995 at an unknown venue, Philadelphia, PA

  • Basis for a Day, from July 3, 1998 at Webster Hall, New York, NY

  • Basis for a Day, from May 1, 1999 at Wetlands Preserve, New York, NY

  • Basis for a Day, from January 29, 1999 at Friar Tuck’s, Norfolk, VA

  • Basis for a Day, from October 6, 1999 at Palookaville, Santa Cruz, CA

  • Basis for a Day, from October 27, 2000 at Bluebird, Bloomington, IN

  • Aceetobee > The Great Abyss, from November 4, 2007 at Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY

  • Basis for a Day, from November 4, 2007 at Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY

  • Basis for a Day, from December 28, 2018 at The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA

  • Basis for a Day, from April 17, 1999 at Alley Katz, Richmond, VA

  • Basis for a Day, from April 9, 1999 at The Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA

  • Basis for a Day (fakeout), from October 2, 1999 at Café Tomo, Arcata, CA

  • Basis for a Day, from April 17, 2003 at Vogue Theater, Indianapolis, IN

  • Basis for a Day, from September 27, 2013 at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA

  • Mirrors > Basis for a Day, from September 19, 2009 at Stubb's Bar-B-Q, Austin, TX

  • Bernstein and Chasnoff > Basis for a Day, from May 14, 1999 at The Stoned Monkey, Huntington, WV

  • Basis for a Day, from July 9, 2023 at Pine Creek Lodge, Pine Creek, MT

  • Basis for a Day, from November 9, 1995 at an unknown venue, Philadelphia, PA

Tickets are now on sale for TDB30, Celebrating 30 Years of The Disco Biscuits! For all tour dates and links to purchase tickets, please head over to discobiscuits.com/shows.

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