Talk to Ya Later
{{Infobox song
| name = Talk to Ya Later
| cover = Talk to Ya Later.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| type = single
| artist = The Tubes
| album = The Completion Backward Principle
| B-side = "Tube Talk" (UK)
"What's Wrong With Me" (all releases)Talk To Ya Later (single). The Tubes. Hollywood, California: Capitol Records. 1981. CL-201
| released = 1981
| recorded = 1980
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 3:44 (single version)
4:41 (album version)
| label = Capitol
| writer = David Foster, Steve Lukather, Fee Waybill{{refn|group=a|Album and single releases credit the song to the whole Tubes band, in addition to Foster and Lukather.The Completion Backward Principle (album). The Tubes. Hollywood, California: Capitol Records, Inc. 1981. SOO-12151}}
| producer = David Foster
| prev_title = Don't Want to Wait Anymore
| prev_year = 1981
| next_title = Sports Fans
| next_year = 1982
}}
"Talk to Ya Later" is the second single released from the 1981 album The Completion Backward Principle by American rock band The Tubes. It has remained one of the band's most popular songs despite its rather modest chart performance.
Background
"Talk to Ya Later" was the last song recorded for the album and was composed without input from most of the band's members, though they did participate in the recording process. The main guitar riff was created by Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, while the title and chorus were thought up by lead singer Fee Waybill.https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-tubes/talk-to-ya-later
The title is derived from an expression uttered by recording engineer Humberto Gatica. When members of the band would occasionally press him about work in the studio, his response oftentimes was to casually dismiss them with the phrase.https://vinyldialogues.com/VinylDialoguesBlog/the-tubes-enthusiastically-moving-forward-with-the-completion-backward-principle-tour/
The way the song was created, with its title originating before the music and lyrics, coincidentally matches the concept of the album. It is based on a tactic invented by a motivational speaker from the 1950s named Stanley Paterson, which involved visualizing the final product before even beginning the process of creating it. The technique was called "The Completion Backward Principle."
Music video impact
The song was an early example of MTV's efficiency in selling records. The network launched shortly after the release of "Talk To Ya Later" on August 1, 1981, when very few American radio stations were playing songs by the Tubes. In the months following the channel's debut, the band aired a music video on it{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-rEVVAw3-0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/H-rEVVAw3-0| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=The Tubes - Talk To Ya Later|date=March 13, 2009|author=The Tubes|website=YouTube.com|accessdate=June 18, 2025}}{{cbignore}}, causing a surge in sales in the midwest, where MTV was first popular.
This is further supported by the fact that the song was not popular in major markets like New York or Los Angeles, where MTV had not yet been available. The network used this information to convince record companies to make music videos to promote their artists, which many subsequently did.
Chart history
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope=col | Chart (1981)
!scope=col | Peak |
|---|
| scope=row |US Bubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard)
| style="text-align:center;"|101 |
| scope=row |US Top Rock Tracks (Billboard)https://web.archive.org/web/20190702160954/https://www.billboard.com/music/the-tubes/chart-history/hot-mainstream-rock-tracks
| style="text-align:center;"|7 |
References
{{Reflist}}
Notes
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Category:Capitol Records singles
Category:Songs written by David Foster