Fans of the El Paso rock scene from the 1980s and ’90s might get a sense of deja vu if they watch a new Apple TV series that debuts Wednesday, April 15.
The second episode of “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” an eight-episode series based on the 2024 novel by Rufi Thorpe, will include a song by the El Paso band Q.I.D., which played more than 1,100 shows in the city between 1985 and 1992.
“It’s called ‘Crazy Nights,’ and it’s gonna play in the background for about a minute and a half, which is wonderful,” said Kat Tyler, the vocalist on the song and now a nurse in El Paso.
“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” is a comedic drama that stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Elle Fanning and Nick Offerman, among others. The first three episodes drop April 15, with the remaining five dropping weekly on Wednesdays. The executive producer is David E. Kelley, who developed and produced TV shows such as “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” “Ally McBeal” and “Big Little Lies.”
The Q.I.D. song became part of the show thanks to the efforts of the band’s former bass player, James Thompson. He now lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, and plays with a band called The Gumbys. Their producer, Grady Crumpler, helped Thompson get the decades-old Q.I.D. rock sound in front of a new audience after old tapes were digitally remastered.
“He’s kind of in a network of producers and music supervisors that try to shop songs for TV commercials or movies, TV shows, whatever it is. And he said, ‘Hey, I could remix all that stuff and then put that as part of my catalog that I can shop to people,” Thompson said.
The music supervisor on “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” was looking for a song with an ’80s rock radio sound and cleared “Crazy Nights” and another Q.I.D. song called “Young Again” for possible use, and settled on “Crazy Nights.”
“You can tell by the way it’s the way it sounds and the way it’s recorded that it’s an ’80s rock song, so I think that’s why I was chosen. And Kat’s vocals. I think Kat is what really sells these songs,” Thompson said.
“Crazy Nights” features Tyler on vocals, Thompson on bass, Mark Self on drums and Charlie Gorman on guitar. All four band members share in the writing credit for the 1989 song.
Thompson was told the song will play for about a minute and a half in the background of a bar scene in the show’s second episode.
The band has released six of its remastered songs on Apple Music, Pandora and other platforms, with plans to release 10 more in the coming months. Thompson also created a Q.I.D. Facebook page to connect with people who remember the band.
“We don’t really have any intention of trying to start the band up again or anything like that, but it would be nice to get the music out to people and just see if it has another life in the digital world,” Thompson said.
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