Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together

All right, boys! Let's blow the roof off this place!

Lawrence forgets his wedding anniversary, so Phineas and Ferb help him make it up to Linda by getting their favorite band together for a reunion concert. Meanwhile, Perry helps Doofenshmirtz put together a party for his daughter's Sweet 16. Little does her father know, she's not that sweet anymore.

Episode Summary
On June 15th, Linda Flynn is questioning Lawrence Fletcher about what day it is. He has forgotten it's his and his wife's wedding anniversary. When Candace reminds him, he heads to the garage to find his cherished memories, which he keeps in his tool box. Pulling out a cassette tape of Love Händel, he tells the story of the night he first kissed Linda.

It was the night of Love Händel's farewell concert. Linda and Lawrence get chosen for Love Händel's flaming hot spotlight of love. They had not even held hands yet, but they kissed and fell in love right there at the concert. He fears that he can't recapture Linda's love, just like Love Händel could never recapture their magic on stage again since they broke up years ago. Phineas and Ferb know what they're going to do today!

After watching a documentary on their computer about Love Händel, they realize all of the members of the band live in Danville, coincidentally. Bass player Bobbi Fabulous runs a trendy hair salon, drummer Swampy works quietly at the public library, and lead singer Danny owns Danny's Music Shop. All they have to do is keep mom away from the house and get the members of Love Händel to agree to play together again. Meanwhile, Lawrence calls Love on the Run and orders the full package.

At Doofenshmirtz Abandoned Self Storage, Perry the Platypus flies in to see why Dr. Doofenshmirtz bought an air compressor, 20 tanks of helium oxide (helium oxide doesn't actually exist), and a bunch of fireworks. Turns out, he wasn't planning anything evil after all, just a birthday party for his daughter Vanessa's 16th birthday and asks Agent P to help him.

The boys find Danny's Music Shop and head inside to find Danny arguing with a teenager about how the young boy hasn't been called by the spirit of Rock. Phineas asks him about Love Händel. He sings them "History of Rock." The song covers a wide range of genres, all of which Danny has been a fan. During the song, Phineas asks about the colors swirling around them. Afterward, Phineas informs Danny that their parents fell in love at one of Love Händel's concerts. Danny agrees to sing at their concert, but doubts that the rest of Love Händel will join him.

Doofenshmirtz and Perry have finished setting up Vanessa's birthday party. They are resting after a long day's work, then Doofenshmirtz opens a curtain to reveal the grand finale of the party: the world's largest firecracker. All he needs is a victim to tie to it. Here's the awkward part: it's Perry.



At Bobbi's Hair Emporium, Candace is doing her part keeping Mom away from the house so that everything can get set up. She gets a phone call from Phineas telling her they have gotten Danny, and have moved on to Bobbi. She tells them, as they're walking in the front door of Bobbi's salon that he is their mom's hair dresser and should stay away. Determined to get the band back together, Phineas persists and makes it Candace's job to distract Linda while they try to convince Bobbi.

Bobbi seems much less receptive to the idea than Danny did. Phineas explains to Bobbi why they're trying to get Love Händel back together. He assures them that they don't need him. He just played bass in the background; nobody remembers him. Phineas starts singing "Fabulous" to convince him otherwise by appealing to his ego. Over the course of the song, Bobbi agrees that he is indeed fabulous and that he will rejoin the band.

Phineas puts in a quick call to Isabella. He called to tell her about getting Love Händel back together, but she already knew about it since it was the lead story on the 5 o'clock news. Before he can ask, Isabella tells him she and the Fireside Girls are already working on a stage for the performance.

Discussing the irony of a rock and roll drummer working in a place so quiet, they arrive at the Tri-State Area Public Library. They find Swampy stamping books, oblivious to the rhythm that he is creating. Phineas asks him about rejoining the band for one night only. Swampy recounts how he fell asleep in a metronome factory and completely lost his sense of rhythm. He hasn't played drums since. Phineas breaks into Ain't Got Rhythm. Once again over the course of the song, the member of Love Händel realize that he wants to rejoin the band, if only for one night.

Still keeping Linda away from the house, Candace has led them to Googolplex Mall. They are trying on dresses which Linda considers way too fancy for anything she ever does. She even seems to have the salesperson in on the act.

Back at the house, Lawrence has his Love on the Run package all set up in the backyard. However, while doing his dry run, the roses, too close to the candles, catch on fire. The Love-a-Gram lady puts the fire out with a hose but the hose knocks the whole table over. Everything is ruined, including the cake.

Lawrence finishes cleaning everything up and is sitting, feeling sorry for himself in the garage. Phineas and Ferb burst in and open the garage door revealing the good news: They got all the members of Love Händel to agree to concert for his anniversary!

Meanwhile at Doofenshmirtz Abandoned Self Storage, Vanessa arrives. She is devastated to discover the schmaltzy, girly birthday decorations her father has put up for her birthday party. He then reveals his grand finale firecracker and Vanessa is unimpressed. He tells her that he wanted to launch their nemesis into the sky together, but Vanessa rebukes him by reminding him that Perry isn't her nemesis. Her father has also completely embarrassed her by calling all her friends from her address book and inviting them to the party. This includes a fella named Johnny who had hearts doodled by his name.

At the house, the band reminisces a little bit and pulls Swampy's old outfit out of a box. Swampy, who has put on a bit of weight, assures them he is not going to be wearing that again any time soon. After fighting a few old arguments, Danny no longer believes they have any fans and doesn't know why he should stay. They hear cheering outside and Ferb dramatically opens the garage door to reveal a huge crowd of fans in their driveway and front yard.

With Vanessa depressed by his ineptitude, Doofenshmirtz relishes in the fact that even though Vanessa isn't happy on her birthday, he can still watch Perry the Platypus explode. In a flash, Perry gets his arm free and uses his laser watch to cut the ribbon holding him to the firecracker. The evil scientist tries to shoot Agent P with his ray gun, but as he moves around to get a good shot, he gets his arm stuck in the rope tying the smaller fireworks onto the giant rocket.

Just then, Linda and Candace arrives at the house. The band begins to play their hit single, Snuck Your Way Into My Heart. Simultaneously, the rocket ignites, propelling Doofenshmirtz through the roof and into the sky. With the spotlight on the car, Lawrence pushes his way through the crowd to get to his wife, but can't. Linda gets out of the car, the spotlight falls on her alone, and the crowd opens up a wide lane for Lawrence to walk down and recreate their first kiss.

Vanessa's friends arrive at her party, which thanks to the rocket is very appropriately grunge. Johnny compliments her on the cool party and Vanessa admits she had a little help from her dad. And Perry the Platypus.

The band finishes the song with a rocking guitar solo by Danny, followed by a nice shout-out, "GOOD NIGHT, TRI-STATE AREA!".

Songs

 * History of Rock
 * Fabulous
 * Ain't Got Rhythm (Voted #8 on Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown)
 * You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart
 * Music Makes Us Better

End Credits
Love Händel played another song, Music Makes Us Better, as everybody dances.

Whatcha Doin'?
None.

Perry's entrance to his lair
None.

Evil Jingle
Doofensmirtz Abandoned Self Storage!

Background Information

 * This episode contains one of the few Big Ideas that both parents find out about.
 * This has come to be one of the most popular episodes of the series.
 * This episode gives us further insights into the past of the characters. It shows that Linda and Lawrence met in the 90s, and it was confirmed after this episode that baby Phineas, toddler Candace and baby Ferb were at their house with their respective babysitters.
 * The calendar that Candace holds near the beginning of the episode shows that June 15th for that year is on a Tuesday. That would place it in the year 1999, 2004, or 2010, which does not match with when this episode was made (2007). The calendar also contains the following misprints: the last day of the month ends at 31 instead of 30, and the Tuesday following Linda and Lawrence's anniversary is shown as June 23rd. June 21st appears to have been left out of the calendar since Saturday is shown as "19" and Sunday appears to be shown as "20". The box for Friday, June 11th is missing the 11 in the upper-left corner. When Candace turns the calendar back to May, it is the same page as for June, complete with the missing 11 and the missing date of May 21st. This causes a mis-match between when May ends and when June begins. May 2007 began on a Tuesday, matching the calendar page shown in the episode. After the missing May 21st is added, the end of the month becomes a Wednesday. Linda's and Lawrence's anniversary in June 2007 should have been shown as taking place on a Friday. Since the anniversary occurs on a Thursday in the episode, this places the episode in June 2006, and the calendar is wrong yet again.
 * Buford and Baljeet make a cameo appearance in this episode. When the Fireside Girls are shown working on the stage, Buford and Baljeet can be seen on the left hoisting up a piece of the stage.
 * The stamp Swampy is using says "OVERDUE". This is odd because the books have been turned in.
 * This is the first episode showing a kiss between two characters.
 * Phineas breaks the fourth wall by asking where the backgrounds are coming from during History of Rock.

Production Information

 * When Disney XD was launched at 12 a.m. on February 13, 2009, this episode was the first episode the channel broadcast.
 * In 2008, this episode held the record of the most songs in a Phineas and Ferb episode. However, the record was beaten by Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!, released on December 6, 2009, with originally 7 songs, Wizard of Odd, and Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs To You!. Later With What Does He Want, Christmas Vacation had 8 songs, but was beaten with "Rollercoaster: The Musical!" as the current non-clip show leader with 9 songs. "Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown" holds a stronger lead in number of songs featuring 11 songs in single episode; despite this, it was merely helped becuase it was a musical clip-show, making it excluded canon from the song records.
 * Episode description from YourTV.com.au: "When Dad loses a record from his favourite classic rock band, Phineas and Ferb decide to gather up the members and put on a big stadium concert to make Dad feel like he's a kid again."
 * Disney Channel Spain made a votation in 2009 to choose the best "Phineas and Ferb" episodes of 2009, this episode and "It's About Time!" were the winners.

Errors

 * Linda asks Lawrence if he knows what day it is. Lawrence replies that it's Thursday. Linda leaves in a huff. When Candace pulls out the calendar, she points to June 15th, which is on a Tuesday, or Wednesday, if the calendar were starting on Mondays. (Although Lawrence may have just been confused about which day of the week it was, or that wasn't that year's calendar.)
 * Swampy is stamping books that have been returned "Overdue."
 * Phineas calls Isabella to ask her for help on putting up the stage. She and the Fireside Girls are "already on it," building a stage in front of the garage. Later, when Lawrence is commiserating over the failure of the "Love on the Run" plan, Phineas and Ferb come in to tell him they've got it covered. They open the garage to reveal the members of Love Händel, but there is no sign of a stage in front of the garage.
 * Later, when the band walks out on the stage, it's elevated, but the garage is at ground level.
 * When Dr. Doofenshmirtz is trying to shoot Perry with his ray gun, his party hat changes from green to pink.
 * Just after Danny sings "a ninja of love", the text spelling Love Händel on the drums disappears then comes back.
 * The timer on the firecracker rocket changes from over 4 minutes remaining to less than 20 seconds and back again; also, when Dr. Doofenshmirtz is first caught on the rocket it reads 00:10:00 but when the rocket starts it reads 00:40:00.
 * In Fabulous as they sing "We need you back on bass guitar", Phineas' mouth disappears for a brief second while he is turning.
 * During the "Where are They Now" Special, Bobbi's eye's are closed as the picture zooms out, but are open when it zooms back in.
 * During Fabulous when phineas tells Bobbi "Next to you their looks are a crime" his beard isn't there for that whole sentence.
 * During "You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart", after Lawrence kisses Linda, Phineas and Candace raise their arms in the air like everyone in the crowd and Phineas doesn't have the video camera in his hand. In the next scene, they have their arms down, and Phineas has the video camera in his hand again. And in the scene after that, they all have their arms in the air again, and Phineas doesn't have the camera.

Continuity

 * The glasses on Phineas' eyes on the first 7 or 8 seconds of History of Rock is the same on Linda's eyes on the episode "The Beak" when she told Candace her eyes are a little blurred.
 * The pony shown in the picture of Vanessa and Doofenshmirtz is the same one Isabella rode on in The Magnificent Few.
 * When Bobbi Fabulous told Phineas and Ferb to talk to the hand, his hand said, "Secretly, I'm very lonely." This was also said by Norm as he chased Heinz Doofenshmirtz in Greece Lightning.
 * When Candace is telling Phineas that she is not getting involved with his scheme, there are two picture frames that shows Grandpa and Grandma Reg's England house and Grandpa and Grandma Flynn's country house.
 * When Candace and her Mom are out buying clothes, you can hear the song I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun! playing over the loudspeaker.
 * During the song "I'm Fabulous" Phineas says: "Dude, we're getting the band back together!" which is the title of the episode.

Allusions

 * George Clinton - The "Funk Train" part of "History of Rock", possibly refers to the great funkmaster and his various bands, including Parliament-Funkadelic. Clinton was famous for outlandish outfits and hair on stage. "Funk Train" is also an obvious reference to the long-running "Soul Train" program.
 * Slash - During the Metal part of "History of Rock", Ferb looks like Slash, the guitarist for Guns n Roses and Velvet Revolver.
 * Grease - During the Boogie-Woogie part of "History of Rock", Ferb looks a lot like Danny Zuko from Grease.
 * The Blues Brothers - The title of the episode and storyline may be a reference to the Blues Brothers, in which Jake and Elwood reform their band, telling their former band members that "We're getting the band back together." Also, one of the band members Jake and Elwood needed to bring back was named Mr. Fabulous, like Bobbi Fabulous. There was a song in a music store to convince another band member to join again, like History of Rock.
 * Phil Collins - "You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart" has an unintentional connection to the Phil Collins song "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)" from the movie of the same name. Many people believe the song is called "Take a Look at Me Now" because that line is in the song more times than the line "Against all odds" or "Against the odds" when in fact it is the subtitle. Likewise, many people believe that the title of this song is "Snuck Your Way Into My Heart", when it is actually "You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart".
 * Yes - Bass player Bobbi Fabulous may be modeled on bass player Chris Squire, who is famous for his stylish costumes in concert.
 * The Exorcist - When Danny proclaims, "The power of rock commands you!" it may be an echo of "The power of Christ compels you!"

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * Alyson Stoner as Isabella
 * Mitchel Musso as Jeremy
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram
 * Richard O'Brien as Dad
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
 * Steve Zahn as Swampy
 * Jaret Reddick as Danny
 * Carlos Alazraqui as Bobbi (shown in the credits as "Bobby")
 * Kelly Hu as Stacy
 * Olivia Olson as Vanessa
 * Additional voices: Susanne Blakeslee, John DiMaggio, Kelly Hu