Hope That I Get Polled Before I Die: THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS 1982-2002 POLL - Voting, Campaigning, Discussing

The two Johns have been delivering melody, fidelity and quantity direct from Brooklyn for 35 years, putting out more good songs in nearly any calendar year than most bands manage in a career. Let's definitively assess which from the first two decades are best!

https://i.imgur.com/fdd66TA.jpg

You can vote for up to ONE HUNDRED (100) songs, ranked in order. You must vote for at least 20.


ANY SONG that Johns Flansburgh and/or Linnell have played on, performed, written or produced can be voted for. Since songs migrate back and forth between solo, band, and Giants, there was no elegant way of hiving off, say, Mono Puff into a Side-Projects side-poll.

You can rank your favourite albums and EPs, too, but it's not required. Minimum of 5, maximum of 20.


Send your ballots to ilxpollster [at] gmail [Operator Dot] com by midnight on FRIDAY 6th OCTOBER.


If anyone has Giants-liking pals, or is on TMBG mailing lists or newsgroups or subreddits or w/e, feel free to spread this link around. The more voters, the merrier!

EDIT: full lists of eligible songs and releases appear in this post and below.

Long eligibility reminder posts will roll out across the day. I've tried to include every single song they've ever publicly released in a replayable form, for free or for purchase. So almost nothing that's promo-only, unless it's notable for chronology, and nothing that only appeared on the random-at-point-of-listening services like the Dial-A-Song phone line, or the Clock Radio winamp app.

If you want to campaign or vote for a specific arrangement or recording or remix or live version of any song, please do: I'll roll all versions together but note any write-in distinctions.


This was almost ready to go a few weeks ago when another poll jumped to the start of the queue; in the wait, I've found youtube links for as many of the non-studio-album songs as possible. (All of the albums are on Their youtube channel ParticleMen, though.) Feel free to yoink them or post other links to campaign for your lesser-known faves itt, but if there's no visual component, please keep 'em as links not embeds, so as not to clog the page-load up.

(If time and interest allow, I'll follow this first-21-years poll with a listening thread for the subsequent 16, possibly leading to a second poll. The band is currently on a year-long run of releasing a song a week, so best to give Them some space.)

sheesh this is gonna take me some time to work out

I'm guessing I know what the top 5 are gonna be, but the rest is gonna be interesting

so the room must listen to sic
filibuster vigilantly

PRE-HISTORY: 1980

John Linnell's band The Mundanes, in which he was too shy to sing, released a three-song seven-inch.

Make It The Same
Empty Boulevards
Funnier Than Love

1982: EL GRUPO de ROCK AND ROLL

John Flansburgh is in the Turtlenecks, who record a demo with at least two songs.

Indiana Wants Me
- this R. Dean Taylor Motown cover is eventually released on TMBG Unlimited in July 2001.

Alienation's For The Rich
- this Turtlenecks song is brought to his new band with John Linnell, and played at their first ever show in August 1982, under the name El Grupo de Rock And Roll
- the Turtlenecks demo is eventually released on TMBG Unlimited in July 2001.
- TMBG record their own version for their 1985 debut self-titled cassette, re-released (still only on cassette) in 1993; this version also on The Pink Album in 1986
- a live version is released on First Album Live! (2014), recorded in 2013

Cowtown
- written by Linnell for a trio that he and Flans were in before TMBG; the first song they learnt to play together, and performed at their first show
- demoed three times in 1985; the first was released on Podcast 46 in 2011, the second was on a handed-out demo tape only
- the third recording was used on the 1985 TMBG cassette album.
- re-re-re-recorded for Lincoln in 1988
- a circa 1985 live version, in a medley with Prince's 1999, was released on eMusic's TMBG Unlimited subscription service in July 2001

I'll Remember 3rd Street
- the first song written for TMBG, also performed at their first show
- recorded for their first demo tape in 1983 - this demo eventually released on Podcast 32A in 2008
- re-recorded for Apollo 18 in 1992 and retitled Space Suit

Cabbagetown
- also performed at their first show
- 1983 Dial-A-Song version eventually released on Unlimited in September 2001
- studio recording appeared as a B-side on the I Palindrome I CD5 in 1992, also on The Guitar CD5.

Penguine
- also performed at their first show
- 1983 Dial-A-Song version eventually released on Podcast 43 in 2011

Birds Fly
- the last 'known' song played at their first ever show
- performed on WFMU's Frank O'Toole Show in September 1987
- recorded as a B-side in 1989, but only used on the UK/.de Don't Let's Start compilation, later included on Miscellaneous T in 1991

1983-84: THE EARLIEST YEARS

The Johns adopt the They Might Be Giants name, begin gigging regularly, and launch the Dial-A-Song answering service.


I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You [after Tommy Dorsey's version]
- One of the first songs to be on Dial-A-Song. Later released on Then: The Earlier Years.

Swing Is A Word
- The other earliest known Dial-A-Song. Later released on Then: The Earlier Years.

Counterfeit Fake
- Dial-A-Song, later released on Then: The Earlier Years.

Now That I Have Everything
- the first song recorded on their first 1983 demo tape; played on Dial-A-Song in two versions, later released on Then: The Earlier Years, and Podcast 32A in 2008

Sally Boy Candy Bar
- recorded on their first 1983 demo tape; later released on Unlimited July 2001, and Podcast 32A in 2008

Hell Hotel
- demoed multiple times in 1983 and 1984, with one 1983 demo released on Podcast 32A in 2008
- another demo released on Podcast 47 in 2011
- re-recorded for 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette

Weep Day
- 1983 demo tape version played on Dial-A-Song, later released on Podcast 32A
- re-recorded version on Then: The Earlier Years

Indian Ocean
- recorded in the early 1980s, unreleased until Unlimited in August 2001. Later used on DialASong.com and Podcast 51.

Hiya Hi
- a Dial-A-Song bootlegged on cassette in 1994, released on Podcast 48 in 2011

Everything Right Is Wrong
- demoed in 1984, played on The Frank O'Toole Show
- recorded for Their debut single, the Wiggle Diskette flexi of 1985
- re-recorded for The Pink Album as Everything Right Is Wrong Again
- a live version is released on First Album Live!, recorded in 2013

It's Not My Birthday
- Dial-A-Song version from 1984 also played on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987
- recorded for Lincoln in 1988 but not used; re-recorded for They'll Need A Crane 12" in 1989, later collected on Miscellaneous T
- live bathroom performance on WFMU's Music Faucet in 1993 released on Unlimited April 2001 [cf. Drinkin']

They Might Be Giants
- 1984 demo released on Unlimited in May 2001
- re-recorded for 1985 TMBG cassette album
- 1989 early work mix released on Unlimited in September 2001
- re-re-recording on Flood LP in 1990
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Then: The Earlier Years was really an insane value, back in the day...two studio albums, the Misc T comp, and a bunch of mostly great rare tracks, all for only $9.99 (at my shop, at least). That '85 cassette album was really great, too. They had a really unique Zolo spark to 'em back then that sorta faded after the first album.

1985: MERCH NOT MERSH

Featuring their first releases: a 6" flexi ???, and a cassette-only album.

You'll Miss Me
- b-side of the Wiggle Diskette flexi
- re-recorded for 1985 They Might Be Giants cassette
- re-re-recorded for Lincoln LP 1988


The Big Big Whoredom
- a version recorded live circa 1985 with studio overdubs released on Unlimited July 2001
- studio version released on Then: The Earlier Years in 2007

Mainstream USA
- Dial-A-Song, later released on Then: The Earlier Years

(Put Your Hand Inside The) Puppet Head
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette, also on the Joshua Fried split 7" from Ferro-Botanica magazine
- re-recorded for the Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head video, used on 1993 reissue of 1985 cassette
- remixed for The Pink Album
- live version on First Album Live! from 2013

Number Three
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette, also on the Joshua Fried split 7" from Ferro-Botanica magazine
- remixed for The Pink Album
- re-recorded as Greek #3 for Then: The Earlier Years
- live version on First Album Live! from 2013

The Day
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette, also on the Joshua Fried split 7" from Ferro-Botanica magazine
- re-recorded for The Pink Album
- live version on First Album Live! from 2013

When It Rains It Snows
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- re-recorded for Don't Let's Start 12", collected on Miscellaneous T and Then
- live performance on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987 released on Upsapalooza in 1995, rereleased on Unlimited March 2001

Don't Let's Start
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- demo version played on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987
- 1985 version remixed on Then
- re-recorded for The Pink Album 1986
- remixed for single, remix replaced album version on Then
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94
- First Album Live! 2013

Nothing's Going To Change My Clothes
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- re-recorded as Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes on The Pink Album
- First Album Live! 2013

Hope That I Get Old Before I Die
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette, later released on Then: The Earlier Years
- re-recorded for The Pink Album as I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die, also used on reissue of the 1985 tape
- live 1992 medley of Hope That I & Cage And Aquarium released on Unlimited July 2001
- First Album Live! 2013

Biggest One
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- live version from 1985 released on Unlimited in July 2001
- re-recorded as The Biggest One on (She Was A) Hotel Detective EP, collected on Then

32 Footsteps
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- remixed for The Pink Album
- First Album Live! 2013

Boat Of Car
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- recording reworked for The Pink Album
- 1992 live version in Hamburg on Unlimited July 2001
- another 1992 live version on August Unlimited
- live version with TMBG's Mini-Brass performed on NPR's Studio 360 in 2003, released on Podcast 23A in 2007
- re-recorded with The Other Thing Brass Band c. 2003, released on Album Raises New And Troubling Questions 2011
- First Album Live! 2013


Chess Piece Face
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- re-recorded for The Pink Album
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94
- First Album Live! 2013

Rabid Child
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- remixed for The Pink Album
- First Album Live! 2013

Youth Culture Killed My Dog
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- re-recorded for The Pink Album
- First Album Live! 2013

(She Was A) Hotel Detective
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- re-recorded for The Pink Album
- Single Mix on single
- First Album Live! 2013

Toddler Hi-Way
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette, same version used as Toddler Hiway on The Pink Album
- First Album Live! 2013

Which Describes How You're Feeling
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette, later on The Statue Got Me High CD5, then Then
- re-recorded for Apollo 18 LP in 1992

Become A Robot
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette, later released on Then: The Earlier Years
- 1985 live version on Unlimited July

I'm Def
- 1985 "They Might Be Giants" cassette
- edited on The Statue Got Me High CD5, collected on Then


Kings Of The Cave [written for TMBG by The Mundanes' Jim Gillson]
- 1985 live recording released on Unlimited July 2001

1999 [Prince cover]
- 1985 live recording released on Unlimited July 2001

Rhythm Section Want Ad
- 1985 live recording released on Unlimited July 2001
- re-recorded for The Pink Album
- First Album Live! 2013

Happy
- recorded live 28/12/1985, released on Unlimited July 2001

"Then" was $30 or $40 in Australia, but still ludicrous value. They really made the most of the CD running time.

i made a lil spotify playlist for meself

https://open.spotify.com/user/polyphonique/playlist/3dZUmp1Wva08VOQwBfyzHl?si=jKUHsb7gRtWdVUTxZ1YEIg

1986: IN THE PINK

Their first year with a record contract sees their first album and their lowest number of new songs to date.

She's An Angel
- The Pink Album
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94
- Severe Tire Damage live version 1998
- First Album Live! 2013

Absolutely Bill's Mood
- The Pink Album
- First Album Live! 2013

Hide Away Folk Family
- The Pink Album
- First Album Live! 2013


Fake Out In Buenos Aires
- recorded for first LP, not released until Then: The Earlier Years

Snowball In Hell
- Dial-A-Song, also played on Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987
- re-recorded for Lincoln LP in 1988

1987: DOWNTOWN TOP RANKING

A busy year of Dial-A-Song also saw a lot of demos played on two widely-bootlegged WFMU appearances, which also included in-studio performances, and collaborating with NYC performance art types.

For Science
- demo played on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987
- re-recorded for (She Was A) Hotel Detective EP; collected on Miscellaneous T, then Then

Somebody's Body
- Dial-A-Song, also played on Frank O'Toole in March, eventually released on Unlimited July 2001

The Famous Polka
- demo played on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987
- re-recorded for Don't Let's Start 12"; collected on Miscellaneous T, then Then
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show 2001
- live version (New York, NY; 2004-10-01) released on tmbg.com in 2004 as b2b with Dr Worm, then as separate tracks on Almanac (2004)

The World's Address
- demo (sung by Linnell) played on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987
- re-recorded for Lincoln LP 1988
- Joshua Fried Remix on UK/.de Don't Let's Start LP 1989; collected on Miscellaneous T, then Then

We Just Go Nuts At Christmastime
- Dial-A-Song versions bootlegged on cassette in the '90s, performed on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987

Why Does The Sun Shine? [Space Songs cover]
- performed on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987
- studio version on Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas) EP 1993
- radio session Where Your Eyes Don't Go - Why Does The Sun Shine? Medley performed on WFMU's Music Faucet in 1991, later released on Unlimited and Podcast 33A (Sun only)
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94
- Severe Tire Damage 1998
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show 2001
- re-recorded for Here Comes Science 2009
- live version on At Large 2011

Kiss Me, Son Of God
- performed on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987
- recorded for (She Was A) Hotel Detective EP; collected on Miscellaneous T, then Then
- re-recorded with strings for Lincoln LP 1988
- live Istanbul / Kiss Me, Son Of God Medley from 1992 released on Unlimited August 2001

Kitten Intro
- demo played on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987, released on Then: The Earlier Years 1997

Lie Still, Little Bottle
- demo played on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987, Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette c. 1995
- re-recorded on Lincoln LP

Mr. Klaw
- played on WFMU's The Frank O'Toole Show in March 1987
- recording reworked later for (She Was A) Hotel Detective EP; collected on Miscellaneous T, then Then

We're The Replacements
- b-side on Don't Let's Start 12"; collected on Miscellaneous T, then Then

Shoehorn With Teeth
- performed live on the Frank O'Toole Show in September
- recorded for Lincoln LP 1988
Don't I Have The Right?
- written for Iris Rose to sing in a Watchface performance troupe project, Flansburgh demo released on Watchface website in 2016
- two Dial-A-Song versions bootlegged on cassette in 1994-95, re-recorded by Mono Puff for Unsupervised 1996

Plain As the Lie on Your Lips
- written for Iris Rose to sing in a Watchface performance troupe project, Linnell demo released on Watchface website in 2016

FRIEDA: Disco Lover
- single by TMBG associates & live collaborators, features JF on guitar
FRIEDA: Plastic Rap
- B-side also features JF on guitar

wow, 100 songs is a lot. looking forward to digging into their back catalogue properly for the first time in years though

man these later albums ... pretty rough going

Mink Car and No! are the last albums eligible! (plus the McSweeneys thing)

ah, i missed that. okay

I think Nanobots is my favorite of the post-2002 stuff

wow, 100 songs is a lot

I don't expect many people to go over 20, and maybe three to get close to 100. But there are over 400 songs to pick from, not counting versions and rewritings! Here are a few, including 12 different commercial versions of their most successful cover -

1988: PURPOLL TOUPEE

The end of the Bar None / Restless years.

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) [The Four Lads cover]
- first performed March 1988. Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette in 1994. studio version on Flood LP
- live version recorded at Rote Fabrik in Zurich, Switzerland March 1990 released on Unlimited November 2001
- Bedford/Stuyvesant Mix on Istanbul remix 12"
- Brownsville Mix on Istanbul remix 12"
- Park Slope Mix on Istanbul remix 12"
- Williamsburg Mix on Istanbul remix 12" 1990
- live Istanbul / Kiss Me, Son Of God Medley from 1992 released on Unlimited August 2001
- live version on Severe Tire Damage 1998
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version from 2011 released on At Large in 2012
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015
- re-recorded as Electronic Istanbul (Not Constantinople) on Album Raises New And Troubling Questions

[Untitled]
- extracts from a long conference-call conversation inadvertently left on the Dial-A-Song machine, placed over library music and played on The Frank O'Toole Show, then a hidden track on (She Was A) Hotel Detective EP, Miscellaneous T, Then and more
- new, short version backed with original music on Podcast 7A in 2006

Hello Radio
- recorded for Lincoln and promoed, but not released until Miscellaneous T in 1991, collected on Then: The Earlier Years in 1997

Ana Ng
- Lincoln LP (a Dial-A-Song version also exists)
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94 (this version edited & with one vocal overdub on Severe Tire Damage in 1998)
- live version from 2011 released on At Large in 2012

Cage & Aquarium
- Lincoln LP
- live 1992 medley of Hope That I Get Old & Cage And Aquarium released on Unlimited July 2001

Pencil Rain
- studio version on Lincoln LP (earlier Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette in 1994)
- live version from 2011 released on At Large in 2012

Piece Of Dirt
- Lincoln LP
- live Piece Of Dirt / Lucky Ball And Chain Medley (at Metro Chicago 10/11/1992) released on Unlimited August 2001
- re-recorded by The Avatars Of They on youtube 2015

Purple Toupee
- Lincoln LP (Dial-A-Song version also exists, bootlegged on cassette in 1994)
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94

Santa's Beard
- Lincoln LP, also on Holidayland EP released for Christmas 2001 (earlier Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette c. 1995)
- live version from 2011 released on At Large in 2012

They'll Need A Crane
- Lincoln LP

Where Your Eyes Don't Go
- Lincoln LP (demo also previously played on Frank O'Toole Show in March)
- live Where Your / Why Does Medley performed on WFMU's Music Faucet 1991, later released on Unlimited April 2001 and Podcast 44 (Eyes only)
- mid-90s BBC session on Podcast 33A

I've Got A Match
- Lincoln LP (earlier Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette in 1994)

Mr. Me
- demo version with "live" drums released on Unlimited July 2001
- studio version on Lincoln LP
- re-recorded by TMBG's Other Thing Brass Band in 2003, released on tmbg.com 2004, collected on TMBG's Other Thing Brass Band EP 2011
- Live At XM Studio version featuring The Velcro Horns (possibly from 2005) on tmbg.com in 2007

Nightgown Of The Sullen Moon
- B-side on Ana Ng UK 12"; collected on Miscellaneous T, then Then

I'll Sink Manhattan
- B-side on They'll Need A Crane CD5; collected on Miscellaneous T, then Then

Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal
- recorded as a B-side, but only used on the UK/.de Don't Let's Start compilation, later included on Miscellaneous T in 1991 (Dial-A-Song version also bootlegged on cassette)

Lady Is A Tramp [Rodgers & Hart]
- recorded as a B-side, but only used on the UK/.de Don't Let's Start compilation, later included on Miscellaneous T in 1991

Road Movie To Berlin
- first played live in 1988; Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette in 90s, released on Podcast 32A in 2008
- Flood LP
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

ANNABOUBOULA - I'm Not A Little Girl
- song on In The Baths of Constantinople LP features JL on accordion

ANNABOUBOULA - Let's Go To Jail
- song on In The Baths of Constantinople LP features JL on organ

oh man. i definitely have opinions on this. and possibly could hit 100 songs if i try! imho though everything through apollo 18, including b-sides, is all essential, canonical and great. there's good stuff in john henry, factory showroom and severe tire damage ("doctor worm" should not be overlooked in this poll) but i still think the sonic reinvention, even if it probably made playing music more fun for them, made them a less interesting band on record.

Can I vote for each Fingertips track invidually

We have polled the individual segments of Fingertip THREE TIMES already, but anyone who wants to rank them in a side-ballot is more than welcome. Given the past and Their adoption of the miniatures as a medley in the Band Of Dans-onward era, though, it's one track for the purposes of the main poll.

2004: Rank: TMBG "Fingertips"
2007: fingertips
2008: They Might Be Giants, Fingertips

I keep reading the title of this month's US Politics thread to the tune of "I'm having a heart attack," incidentally.

oh damn

possibly could hit 100 songs if i try! imho though everything through apollo 18, including b-sides, is all essential

Just listing these gets you to 155 songs (counting collabos and a few songs recorded then but not released until later) btw.

1989: The number. Another summer. Get down.

THE MAJOR-LABEL YEARS begin.

Birdhouse In Your Soul
- Dial-A-Song version from 1989 bootlegged on cassette 1994, studio version with new lyrics first on Birdhouse 7" in 1989; same version on Flood LP 1990
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94 (reused on Severe Tire Damage)
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Hot Cha
- Birdhouse 7"; same version on Flood LP 1990
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Ant
- original Dial-A-Song version released on Unlimited July 2001
- studio version on Birdhouse CD5
- re-re-recorded in 2003 for Indestructible Object 2004, collected on TMBG's Other Thing Brass Band EP 2011

Lucky Ball & Chain
- Dial-A-Song version from 1989, studio version first on Flood LP
- live Piece Of Dirt / Lucky Ball And Chain Medley (at Metro Chicago 10/11/1992) released on Unlimited August 2001
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Hearing Aid
- Dial-A-Song version from 1989, studio version first on Flood LP
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Whistling In The Dark
- played live in 1989, Dial-A-Song version exists, studio version on Flood LP
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Stormy Pinkness
- live version with Love chant recorded March 1989 in Germany released on Unlimited January 2001, also 20 Years best-of comp in 2002
- studio version on Istanbul 12" 1990 (Dial-A-Song version also bootlegged on cassette c. 1995)


Tiny Doctors
- writing demo circa 1989 released on Unlimited November 2001

Particle Man ** FIFTEEN VERSIONS
- writing demo (on banjo!) released on Unlimited November 2001
- studio version on Flood LP 1990
- Other Thing version recorded at Kampo Studios in 2003, released on TMBG's Other Thing Brass Band EP 2011
- "Live At XM Studio" ['psychedelic' version with Beatle accents] recorded at Nola Recording in 2005, released on Podcast 1A in 2005, and DAS Direct in 2015
- Live At 120 Minutes duo version circa 1990 released on MTV's 120 Minutes Live 1998
- Frank Black & TMBG live version released on Live Thursday June 24, 1993 10pm EST
- Live At Mountain Stage version on The Best Of Mountain Stage Live Volume Five, 1993
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94
- mid-90s BBC radio session version released on Podcast 33A in 2008
- live version on Severe Tire Damage 1998 (not the NYC 1994 version)
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show in 2001
- Particle Mo live version (Particle Man performed with Corn Mo, Raleigh, NC; 2004-09-27) released on Almanac 2004
- radio session on Ann Arbor's 107one (WQKL, 107.1-FM) released on Live From Studio A2, Volume Two in 2009
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Hi Honey I'm Home
- Dial-A-Song released on Unlimited July 2001

7-11
- Dial-A-Song released on Unlimited July 2001

Maybe I Know [Lesley Gore cover]
- performed on MTV 1989, and on John Peel Session in 1990
- 1996 wax cylinder recording released on Unlimited August 2001
- re-recorded studio version on Long Tall Weekend 1999

The Bloodboat
- dating from the late '80s, released on Unlimited November 2001

Oops at **. Fifteen is the most versions they've released of any song - Particle Man's 12 is the runner up, but 3rd and 4th place holders might surprise you.

Oh I’m hitting 100

Haven't heard all that much post-Flood tbh, and not for quite some time, but it turns out I still dig way more than 20 from what's been listed already...

That's the spirit!

(Istanbul's 12 versions. Duh. I'm onto my fifth spreadsheet and third .txt of cataloguing and annotating these.)

agreed w/ those praising Then upthread, what a wonderful wonderful christmas gift that was. i already had Miscellaneous T but not either of the first two albums. i later dug into more of the obscurities/dial-a-song exclusives but the ones they put on there are the best i think. "swing is a word!" "weep day!" "i'm def!"

absolute career peak imo is the They'll Need A Crane EP. "nightgown of the sullen moon" is in my top ten for sure.

Nightgown Of The POLLen Moon considered and rejected for thread title

1990: après Ils, le déluge

James K. POLL, the Napoleon of the borad.

Twisting
- previously a Dial-A-Song with different lyrics, re-recorded for Flood LP
- Live in 1992 version on Unlimited August 2001
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show in 2001
- live version at the Blue Note, Columbia MO on 13/07/2004 released on tmbg.com
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Letterbox
- played live since 1985, recorded for Flood LP
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Your Racist Friend
- multiple versions previously on Dial-A-Song, recorded for Flood LP
- Sampladelic Remix (by Super DJ Dmitry & Jungle DJ Towa Towa of Deee-Lite) on promo 12" and Don't Let's Start reissue 1990
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Theme From Flood
- Flood LP
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Dead
- Dial-A-Song version exists, studio version first on Flood LP
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015



Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love
- Dial-A-Song version exists, studio version first on Flood LP
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
- Flood LP
- Live in 1992 version on Unlimited August 2001
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

We Want A Rock
- Dial-A-Song version exists, studio version first on Flood LP
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Women & Men
- Dial-A-Song version exists, studio version first on Flood LP
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

Minimum Wage
- Flood LP
- live version on Flood Show 30/11/2000 released in 2001
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show in 2001
- live version on Flood Live In Australia (a Reverse Flood Show in May 2013) released in 2015

James K. Polk
- originally a Dial-A-Song, studio version on Istanbul 12"
- re-recorded for Factory Showroom LP 1996, remixed lightly on 20 Years best of
- 1996 wax cylinder version released on Unlimited January 2001

Outboard Part Of Man
- Dial-A-Song version from 1990 released on Unlimited July 2001

One More Parade [Phil Ochs cover]
- on Elektra's 40th anniversary album Rubaiyat

Concrete And Clay [Unit 4+2 cover, recorded at Clive Langer's behest for a Christmas single in the UK that didn't happen]
- Dial-A-Song bootlegged on cassette in 1994, released on Unlimited July 2001, compiled on Four Covers From TMBG 7" 2012


SUZANNE VEGA - Tired Of Sleeping
- album track from Days Of Open Hand features JL on accordion

Walk On Water
- Otis Ball album track from I'm Gonna Love You 'Til I Don't features BVs by the Johns.

At some point in the... late 90s? Early 00s? i was collecting a lot of these dial-a-song TMBG rarities in MP3 form. i wish i'd kept 'em all. i want to say most of them came from an exhaustive fansite, possibly tmbg.org? which, saints be praised, is still online and virtually unaltered, down to the little Win95-era icons for "chords," "lyrics," "interpretations".... a beauty. anyway i had all these mp3s, most of 'em i chucked years ago for some reason. a lot of the songs eventually turned up in reworked and, to my ears, too-polished versions. but i can no longer really hear in my head the non-rockin' "robot parade." that distorted, super lo-fi over-the-phone bootleg of "concrete and clay" was cool though iirc.

Realise it's futile to attempt rehabilitation of TMBG with people who are allergic, but Robert Quine's guitar on John Henry was a real high point of their post-Apollo 18 rock phase.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L58duIzaMqc

1991

The quietest year in TMBG history, with only one song released.

Nick Hill with John Linnell - The Edison Museum
- written by Linnell and Brian Dewan for Thomas Edison tribute album Edisongs (1% Inspiration From WFMU). LP re-released on CD in 2003.
- Dial-A-Song version released as free WAV download on tmbg.com in 1997
- original recording reworked for TMBG's Long Tall Weekend in 1999; this edit also used on No! in 2002
- 1996 wax cylinder recording (in the Edison Museum!) w/ Nick Hill singing released on Unlimited January 2001

god this band made (makes) a lot of music. listening to every version seems futile, but listening to every song in *some* version before submitting a ballot seems doable. would love to find some surprises

is this eligible?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf0Amcgxot8

I'm afraid that came out 2,743 days too late to qualify. Please hold your voting for the next poll.

1992: I POLLINDROME I

For the first time, They release a new album on which almost all the songs are making their recorded debut.

The Statue Got Me High
- The Statue Got Me High CD5, then Apollo 18
- Live in 1992 version released on Unlimited August 2001
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94


She's Actual Size
- two DAS versions include one with mostly different lyrics and completely different music; studio version on The Statue Got Me High CD5, then Apollo 18
- reggae version Larger Than Life (a Joshua Fried remix) on I Palindrome I and The Guitar CD5s
- live version on Severe Tire Damage 1998
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show in 2001
- New Live Version (Fillmore 16/7/2002) on 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants best of 2002

I Palindrome I
- two different demos on Dial-A-Song, inc. a half-asleep rambling sketch re-released as a quicktime on dialasong.com circa 1998, both bootlegged on cassette in the 90s: this is a different song by Flans, who abandoned it and handed the title over to Linnell.
- Linnell version on Apollo 18 LP
- live version from 1992 released on Unlimited August 2001
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94
- live version from Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY 2004-07-30 released on The Spine Hits The Road 2004, almost immediately rereleased on Almanac



My Evil Twin
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette in 1994; studio version on Apollo 18 LP

See The Constellation
- two early Dial-A-Song versions (inc Flans solo) as "My Lone Constellation," both bootlegged on cassette; studio version on Apollo 18 LP

Hall Of Heads
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette c. 1995; studio version on Apollo 18 LP

Hypnotist Of Ladies
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette c. 1995; studio version on Apollo 18 LP
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show in 2001

If I Wasn't Shy
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette c. 1995; studio version on Apollo 18 LP
- live version in Hamburg 1992 released on both July and September 2001's Unlimited

Turn Around
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette in 1994; studio version on Apollo 18 LP
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94

Mammal
- demo version released on Podcast 43 in 2011; Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette c. 1995
- studio version on Apollo 18 LP
- Frank Black & TMBG live version released on Live Thursday June 24, 1993 10pm EST

Spider
- early mix on Dial-A-Song, bootlegged on cassette c. 1995; final studio version on Apollo 18 LP
- live version on Severe Tire Damage 1998
- live version as medley with The Guitar (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show in 2001

Dig My Grave
- Apollo 18 LP
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94

Dinner Bell
- Apollo 18 LP

Narrow Your Eyes
- Apollo 18 LP

Fingertips
- Apollo 18 LP
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show in 2001
- live version at Pearl St in Northampton Mass, 2001, on Unlimited November
- live version at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA on The Spine Hits The Road 2004
- live version from NYC on Almanac 2004, reused on Podcast 2A and 45

Siftin'
- B-side on I Palindrome I CD5

Moving To The Sun
- Reflex Magazine Flexi #23, then The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) CD5

Welcome To The Jungle
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette 1994, studio version on The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) CD5

I Blame You
- originally a Dial-A-Song called Free Bird's Rebirth, two different versions of which were bootlegged on cassette in 1994-95; rewritten with new lyrics on The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) CD5


The Guitar
- Apollo 18 LP
- Williamsburgh Extended Mix on The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) CD5
- Outer Planet Mix by Coldcut on The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) CD5
- Even Further Outer Planet Mix by Coldcut on The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) CD5
- UK Single Edit on The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) 7"
- live version as medley with Spider (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show in 2001



Frankenstein [Edgar Winter Group]
- played live since 1992, Live NYC 1994 version released on Unlimited July 2001

Yellow Submarine [Live cover of the Beatles song, but with inaccurately recalled lyrics]
- played once, in Chicago 1992, released on Unlimited July 2001

Rocket Ship
- 1992 demo (abandoned as the chorus was cannibalized to make Spiraling Shape) released on Unlimited August 2001

John Linnell also played baritone sax on the self-titled JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION album this year (with Kurt Hoffman on tenor), but I don't know which tracks. Both players may also appear on A Reverse Willie Horton (1991) or Crypt-Style! (1992), as all of these are made up of mostly the same tracks from the same recording sessions. [Sessions produced separately by Steve Albini and Kramer.]

1993: I SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO POLL

The new live band back Frank Black (and Flans makes his videos), each John works on side-projects, the Hello CD Of The Month Club launches, demos for Their first full-band album leak Elektra's grip, plus the first stand-alone EP AND the one-and-only straight-up A-side/B-side single of Their career are released.

Spy
- while the Dial-A-Song demo version was bootlegged on cassette by 1994, (and released on Unlimited Novmeber and Dial-A-Song Direct in 2015)...
- the first public version of this was performed live by Frank Black with TMBG on his Live Thursday June 24, 1993 10pm EST radio album.
- studio version on Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas) EP
- re-recorded for John Henry LP
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) as medley with Mr Tambourine Man released on Ritz Show in 2001

Fu Manchu
- studio version on Frank Black self-titled LP features JL on saxophone
- live version on Live Thursday June 24, 1993 10pm EST features TMBG (JL on baritone saxophone, JF on guitar & vocals, Tony Maimone on bass, Kurt Hoffman on tenor sax), plus Eric Drew Feldman on keys and Joey Santiago on guitar

Tossed
- studio version on Frank Black LP features JL on saxophone
- live version on Live Thursday June 24, 1993 10pm EST features TMBG (JL on baritone saxophone, JF on guitar & vocals, Tony Maimone on bass, Kurt Hoffman on tenor sax), plus Eric Drew Feldman on keys and Joey Santiago on guitar

Adda Lee
Czar
Every Time I Go Around Here
I Heard Ramona Sing
Los Angeles
Parry The Wind High, Low
Ten Percenter
Theme From One Step Beyond
This Is Where I Belong [The Kinks cover]
- all performed on Live Thursday June 24, 1993 10pm EST by Frank Black with the above TMBG / EDF / Joseph Alberto Santiago lineup.

Drinkin'
- performed a week after composition on WFMU's Music Faucet in 1993 - episode broadcast live from the balcony of host Nick Hill's apartment, this performance made in the bathroom Hill shared with Linnell. Flans on guitar by the sink, JF on bass sax "within the reverberant bathtub." Released on Unlimited November 2001
- studio version on Long Tall Weekend 1999, edited version on TMBG vs McSweeneys

Sodium Mask
- on Hello The Band EP (by Hello The Band: JF & Joshua Fried)

(Since You Joined) The Corporation
- onHello The Band EP

Town To Town
- on Hello The Band EP

Hello Hello [Gary Glitter cover]
- Hello The Band EP
- remixed for Mono Puff's Unsupervised album 1996

Lullaby To Nightmares
- on Hello The Band EP
- re-recorded for John Henry 1994 but not used, edited for Long Tall Weekend 1999, full recording released on Podcast 27A 2007

Whirlpool [Meat Puppets cover]
- B-side on Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas) EP

Jessica [The Allman Brothers Band cover]
- B-side on Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas) EP

O, Do Not Forsake Me
- original songwriting demo from Dial-A-Song, bootlegged on cassette in 1994, released on Unlimited March 2001
- studio version on John Henry LP 1994
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94

Maine
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette in 1994, released as WAV on www.tmbg.com/dial/ circa 1997
- studio version on John Linnell's "State Songs" Hello EP 1994
- remixed with overdub for State Songs album 1999

Rock Club
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette in 1994 as "We Love All The People"; republished on dialasong.com circa 1998 and Podcast 35A in 2008
- re-recorded for Dial-A-Song Direct subscription service 2015

King Of Wingo
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette in 1994, republished on dialasong.com circa 1998

A Self Called Nowhere
- leaked 1993 demo eventually released on Podcast 27A in 2007; Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette in 1994
- studio version on John Henry LP

Why Must I Be Sad?
- leaked 1993 demo on Podcast 27A in 2007
- studio version John Henry LP

No One Knows My Plan
- leaked 1993 demo on Podcast 27A in 2007
- studio version on John Henry LP
- instrumental was opening theme for Cartoon Planet 1995

I Should Be Allowed To Think
- 1993 demo first heard on Podcast 27A in 2007 (earlier Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette 1994)
- studio version on John Henry LP

Extra Savoir-Faire
- 1993 demo first heard on Podcast 33A in 2008
- studio version on John Henry LP
- acoustic version performed on Blender 1.1 CD-ROM in 1995

Unrelated Thing
- 1993 demo on Podcast 33B in 2008
- studio version on John Henry LP
- acoustic version performed on Blender 1.1 CD-ROM in 1995

Subliminal
- 1993 demo on Podcast 35A in 2008 (a Dial-A-Song version also bootlegged on cassette in 1994)
- studio version on John Henry LP

Out Of Jail
- 1993 demo on Podcast 27A in 2007
- studio version on John Henry LP

About Me
- recorded circa 1993 with John Henry demos, released on Severe Tire Damage

Wreck It Apart
- Dial-A-Song bootlegged on cassette in 1994, released as WAV on www.tmbg.com/dial/ circa 1997

O Tannenbaum [traditional]
- O Tannenbaum 7", re-released on Unlimited October and Holidayland EP 2001

Christmas Cards
- B-side of O Tannenbaum 7"

1994: JUDAS!

alt.music.tmbg nerds boycott shows when they realise a full band has recorded the John Henry album, which is Their highest-charting record (at #64) until 2011.

Nevada
- John Linnell's "State Songs" Hello EP
- re-recorded for State Songs LP 1999

Pennsylvania
- State Songs Hello EP
- re-recorded for State Songs LP

Oregon
- State Songs Hello EP
- remixed for State Songs LP

South Carolina
- State Songs Hello EP
- remixed for State Songs LP

Snail Shell
- Back To Skull EP (Dial-A-Song version also exists)
- remixed by The Dust Brothers as Snail Dust on Back To Skull
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94

Ondine
- on Back To Skull EP (Dial-A-Song and demo versions also exist)

She Was A Hotel Detective
- on Back To Skull EP (NB: this is a completely different song to (She Was A) Hotel Detective.)

Mrs Train
- Back To Skull EP

Subway Token To Brooklyn
- Dial-A-Song version released as WAV on dialasong.com circa 1997
- re-recorded as Token Back To Brooklyn in the Factory Showroom "track 0' pre-gap 1996 (collected on Long Tall Weekend 1999 and They Got Lost 2002)

The Summer Breeze
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette c. 1995, released as WAV on dialasong.com circa 1997
- re-recorded with full band for Dial-A-Song Direct in 2015

Your Own Worst Enemy
- Dial-A-Song version bootlegged on cassette c. 1995, released as WAV on dialasong.com circa 1997
- re-recorded for Factory Showroom 1996

AKA Driver
- John Henry LP
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94

Destination Moon
- John Henry LP (Dial-A-Song version also exists, bootlegged on cassette in 1994)

Dirt Bike
- John Henry LP
- re-recorded with horns 2003, released on tmbg.com 2004, compiled on TMBG's Other Thing Brass Band EP 2011

Sleeping In The Flowers
- John Henry LP (two Dial-A-Song versions also exist, bootlegged on cassette in 1994-95, and the 1993 demo was leaked, but none of these have been legitimately released)
- remixed Radio Edit on Sleeping In The Flowers promo 1995
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94

The End Of The Tour
- John Henry LP
- instrumental was closing theme for Cartoon Planet 1995
- live at Mr. Small's Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA on The Spine Hits The Road 2004
- live in Atlanta, GA; 2004-09-25 on Almanac 2004

Thermostat
- John Henry LP

Window
- John Henry LP

Meet James Ensor
- John Henry LP (two demo versions and a Dial-A-Song also exist)
- acoustic version on Revolution Radio, Minneapolis, MN released on REV 105 Radio Archive, Volume 1 1995, reused on Severe Tire Damage 1998

The Joker [Steve Miller Band]
- Live in NYC 1994 released on Unlimited July 2001

When Tornadoes Take Over The World
- a Dial-A-Song bootlegged on cassette c. 1995, mp3 on tmbg.com in 2003

So Long, Mockingbird
- Dial-A-Song version (Flans solo a capella) released as WAV on www.tmbg.com/dial/ circa 1997
- re-recorded as group a capella on "John Flansburgh's Mono Puff" Hello EP 1995
- re-re-recorded as band version on Mono Puff's Unsupervised 1996

Nixon's The One
- Dial-A-Song released as WAV on www.tmbg.com/dial/ circa 1997, bootlegged on cassette 1994
- re-recorded for "John Flansburgh's Mono Puff" Hello EP 1995,
- longer mix on Unsupervised 1996

Operators Are Standing By
- Dial-A-Song bootlegged on cassette in 1994, studio version on dialasong.com c 1998, then Long Tall Weekend 1999

You're Watching…
- early version bootlegged on cassette in 1994 as Not Too Clear, Not Too Long, re-recorded on dialasong.com c. 1998

Wreck It Apart
- Dial-A-Song bootlegged on cassette c. 1995, released as WAV on www.tmbg.com/dial/ circa 1997

White Sport Coat [Marty Robbins cover]
- track on the Meat Puppets' Backwater EP features the Johns on BVs

I'm a little confused about what all this detail of various versions is in service of. Are we supposed to specify what version we're voting for?

I have so many MP3s by these guys, like well over 1000, and even still I've never heard of like a third of these

This is gonna be incredible, thanks for all this work, sic!!

I'm a little confused about what all this detail of various versions is in service of.

1) fun!
2) ppl might be reminded of a particular way they encountered a given song
3) to track the songs/band chronologically, not by release: it's fascinating to see how long they mess around with songs before putting the "final" version together, and curious to see how some things get reworked and rebuilt even after that. Also to remove the hegemony of the album, and possibly to lead folks to songs they might not have known or 'remembered' by just wikipedia-ing the last TMBG album they bought.
4) it's a way of keeping the thread active for a while so ppl can notice it tbh

Are we supposed to specify what version we're voting for?

No, but:

If you want to campaign or vote for a specific arrangement or recording or remix or live version of any song, please do: I'll roll all versions together but note any write-in distinctions.

oops: Snail Shell is also on John Henry.

had no idea so much of Linnell's solo album was written in '94

gonna be interesting to see the McSweeney stuff, I always wondered where some of that came from

spoilers: it looks like only a handful of the McSweeneys songs existed before that, though several of the pieces written for or prompted by it have had a longer life.

I figured Maine as being the earliest State Song, and pegged it as 1993 because of this Dial-A-Song bootleg:

http://tmbw.net/wiki/images/c/c6/PODAS.jpg

1995

The second-quietest year in TMBG history to date.

Dr. Kildare [cover of The Skatalites arrangement, lyrics by Flans]
- "John Flansburgh's Mono Puff" Hello EP
- re-recorded for Mono Puff's Unsupervised album 1996

Tryptophan
- "John Flansburgh's Mono Puff" Hello EP; also on Devil Went Down To Newport single as Tryptophane

Unsupervised, I Hit My Head
- "John Flansburgh's Mono Puff" Hello EP
- re-written (with more verses) & re-recorded on Unsupervised 1996

What Bothers The Spaceman?
- originally Dial-A-Song, re-recorded for "John Flansburgh's Mono Puff" EP
- re-re-recorded for Unsupervised 1996

Sensurround
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - The Movie OST, later on dialasong.com
- re-recorded on S-E-X-X-Y CD5

25 O'Clock [Dukes Of Stratosphear cover]
- A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs Of XTC

Careless Santa
- by Mono Puff on "Hello Family Santa Special" Hello EP; also on Mono Puff's Unsupervised 1996 and collected on TMBG's Holidayland 2001

1996

A jumbo year including their final major-label album, the third-place-getter for most versions of a song, Linnell's second solo EP and almost two full albumsworth of Mono Puff in two lineups and four CDs.

S-E-X-X-Y

- Factory Showroom LP
- Radio Edit (a remix) on S-E-X-X-Y CD5
- Tee's Freeze Mix by Todd Terry on S-E-X-X-Y remix 12"
- Tee's In House Dub by Todd Terry on S-E-X-X-Y remix 12"
- Tee's Radio on S-E-X-X-Y CD5
- Tee's Cappella on S-E-X-X-Y remix 12"
- The Warren Rigg Microwave Mix on S-E-X-X-Y CD5
- The Warren Rigg Instrumental on S-E-X-X-Y remix 12"
- live version on Severe Tire Damage 1998
- Total Remix by Kendal Mintcake released on tmbg.com in 2003

Till My Head Falls Off
- Factory Showroom LP
- live version on Severe Tire Damage 1998

How Can I Sing Like A Girl?
- demo released on Podcast 46 in 2011
- Factory Showroom LP
- 2011 live version on At Large 2012

Exquisite Dead Guy
- Factory Showroom LP
- Live version with brass section released as freebie on eMusic 2000

Metal Detector
- Factory Showroom LP
- live version with TMBG's Mini-Brass performed on NPR's Studio 360 in 2003, released on Cast Your Pod To The Wind in 2007
- brass studio version with TMBG's Other Thing recorded c. 2003, released on Podcast 5B 2006, compiled on TMBG's Other Thing Brass Band EP 2011

New York City [Cub cover]
- Factory Showroom LP

XTC vs. Adam Ant
- Factory Showroom LP
- live version on Severe Tire Damage 1998

Spiraling Shape
- adapted from Rocket Ship as a Dial-A-Song c. 1995, bootlegged on cassette; re-recorded for Factory Showroom
- 1999 live version released as freebie on eMusic 2000

Pet Name
- Factory Showroom LP

I Can Hear You
- wax cylinder recording on Factory Showroom LP
- re-recorded, again on wax cylinder, for The Daily Show's Greatest Millennium special in December 1999

The Bells Are Ringing
- Factory Showroom LP (Dial-A-Song version also exists)

Rat Patrol
- Dial-A-Song c.1994, bootlegged on cassette c. 1995; band version from a leaked Factory Showroom Sessions internal promo released on Long Tall Weekend 1999, collected on They Got Lost 2002

Certain People I Could Name
- on leaked Factory Showroom Sessions promo cassette as Certain People, released on Long Tall Weekend 1999, collected on They Got Lost CD 2002 and Idlewild 2014

Counterfeit Faker
- Factory Showroom Sessions version released on Long Tall Weekend 1999

They Got Lost
- titled TMBG Got Lost on leaked Factory Showroom Sessions, released as They Got Lost on Long Tall Weekend 1999
- re-recorded for Severe Tire Damage as live recording with studio vocals

Older
- titled You're Older on leaked Factory Showroom Sessions, released as Older on Long Tall Weekend 1999
- recorded for ABC's Brave New World in 2000, video released on Gigantic: A Tale Of Two Johns
- re-recorded on Mink Car 2001
- live version from Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001 on Ritz Show 2001

On The Drag
- original demo was on Dial-A-Song in 1998, first studio version on Factory Showroom Sessions, re-recorded for Working Undercover For The Man EP 2001;

Reprehensible
- Factory Showroom Sessions version on Long Tall Weekend 1999

Unforgotten
- B-side on S-E-X-X-Y CD5

We've Got A World That Swings [lyrics by Lil Mattis, music by Louis Yule Brown, performed by Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor]
- B-side on S-E-X-X-Y CD5

Darlin' Allison
- written by Gordon Gano & performed by They for the soundtrack of indie film Hitting the Ground, released on Gano's Hitting The Ground album in 2002

The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Rocking) [The Clamdiggers cover]
- Mono Puff's Unsupervised CD and The Devil Went Down To Newport CD5
- re-recorded as The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Remade) for B-side of single

Oddball [Frank Black cover]
- B-side on The Devil Went Down To Newport CD5

Guitar Was The Case
- Mono Puff's Unsupervised

Don't Break The Heart [Amy Rigby cover]
- Mono Puff's Unsupervised

Distant Antenna
- Mono Puff's Unsupervised

To Serve Mankind
- Mono Puff's Unsupervised


Preamble: Fernando Wood (1855-58, 1860-62)
Processional [1]
DeWitt Clinton (1803-07, 1808-10, 1811-15)
Processional [2]
John Purroy Mitchel (1914-17)
Will You Love Me In December As You Do In May? [lyrics by James J. Walker, music by Ernest Ball]
Processional [3]
Fiorello LaGuardia (1934-45)
David Dinkins (1990-93)
House Of Mayors
- John Linnell's "House Of Mayors" Hello EP

Mr. Hughes Says
- Mono Puff's "The Hal Cragin Years" Hello EP, also on It's Fun To Steal 1998

Imaginary Friend
- Mono Puff's "The Hal Cragin Years" Hello EP, also on It's Fun To Steal

Dedicated
- Mono Puff's "The Hal Cragin Years" Hello EP, also on It's Fun To Steal

What Everybody Knows
- Mono Puff's "The Hal Cragin Years" Hello EP, also on It's Fun To Steal as I Just Found Out What Everybody Knows

Backstabbing Liar
- Mono Puff's "The Steve Calhoon Years " Hello EP; re-recorded for It's Fun To Steal & appeared on 1997 advance cassette; final 1998 album used the EP version but slightly sped up

Poison Flowers
- Mono Puff's "The Steve Calhoon Years " Hello EP, also on It's Fun To Steal

Night Security
- Mono Puff's "The Steve Calhoon Years " Hello EP, also on It's Fun To Steal

Hillbilly Drummer Girl [Young Fresh Fellows cover]
- Mono Puff's "The Steve Calhoon Years " Hello EP, also on It's Fun To Steal

Random synaptic firings:

Did Raymond Scott ever get a co-writing credit for "Rhythm Section Want Ad"?

There is some kind of toy called a hideaway folk family--it's maybe little carved figurines and a house, or maybe it's nesting dolls or something. I can't remember! and Google is not helping!

"Cage & Aquarium" - It kinda blew my mind when I figured out that "This is the spawning of the cage and aquarium" was a fucked up "This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius"

"Lie Still Little Bottle" - STICK!!

"Fingertips" live just does not work for me. I'd love it if they scattered pieces of it through a set, but played altogether it's just flat

Having heard the early accordian-and-guitar arrangement of "Why Does the Sun Shine?" at early live shows, the twinkly kiddie version they finally released sucked

"South Carolina" from State Songs will definitely be in my top 10

Did Cynthia Nixon ever use Flansburgh's "Nixon's the One" during her governor's campaign?

All of the Back to Skull EP non-LP tracks are great: "Ondine," "She Was A Hotel Detective," "Mrs. Train"

Don't sleep on John Henry - "Destination Moon," "A Self Called Nowhere," "No One Knows My Plan," "Meet James Ensor," "Subliminal"

On the other hand, sleep on Factory Showroom - This was a big disappointment. The "S-E-X-X-Y" b-side "Sensurround" is better than anything on the album.

Having heard the early accordian-and-guitar arrangement of "Why Does the Sun Shine?" at early live shows, the twinkly kiddie version they finally released sucked

Don't worry! I'm sure many more people heard the rock version on Severe Tire Damage, and it's likely that's been superseded by the fast non-twinkly version they released for real kiddies.

Did Cynthia Nixon ever use Flansburgh's "Nixon's the One" during her governor's campaign?

Love this.

On the other hand, sleep on Factory Showroom - This was a big disappointment. The "S-E-X-X-Y" b-side "Sensurround" is better than anything on the album.

Check out the original version up there, which I didn't know about until preparing this poll!

Hadn't heard the borrowed Raymond Scott thingy before. I learned something.

I'm thinking I could happily construct a ballot out of miniatures and non-songs: "Minimum Wage", "Counterfeit Fake", "Boat of Car", "Space Suit", "Big Big Whoredom", etc

1997: I AM NOT YOUR POLL

A quiet year saw Their first steps into releasing over the internet, including debuting songs via tiny Quicktime videos. A mere 18 years later, this had become the norm both for the band and the music industry as a whole.

Critic Intro
- Then: The Earlier Years

Four Of Two
- Dial-A-Song version released on dialasong.com in 1998
- child-friendly re-writing released on eMusic as a freebie in 2000
- remixed for No!

Doctor Worm
- TMBG.com Quickcam video, also used on Dial-A-Song
- demo circa late 1997 released on Podcast 34A in 2008
- studio version on Severe Tire Damage
- live on KPNT (The Point) 105.7 in St. Louis) released on The Point Platinum: Version 1.0
- live in New York, NY; 2004-10-01 released on tmbg.com 2004 as b2b with Famous Polka, then alone on Almanac 2004, also on No! digital deluxe reissue 2012

I Am Not Your Broom
- TMBG.com Quickcam video
- studio recording on No! 2002
- performed by Puppet John and Broom on They Might Be Giants Friday Night Family Podcast May 30 2008

Lines Upon A Tranquil Brow [Songs Of The Pogo]
- TMBG.com Quickcam video

Rest Awhile
- first played in 1997, then Dial-A-Song, then re-recorded for Working Undercover For The Man EP 2000

[Coca-Cola advertisement]
- minute-long Coke ad by JF, released on Unlimited November 2001 as "Mystery Track"
- demo released on Podcast 51 in 2012 with the title Always Be Giants

Olive, The Other Reindeer
- flexidisc with J. Otto Seibold's book "Olive, The Other Reindeer," co-written and performed by Johnny Hart (JL)

LIFE IN A BLENDER - Grand Union
- song on Two Legs Bad album features JL on accordion

1998: REVERSE DATE IMAGE

I'm Sick (Of This American Life)
- from a radio episode, released on This American Life: Lies Sissies & Fiascoes 1999, collected on They Got Lost 2002

[pre-gap Hidden Track]
Creepy *
It's Fun To Steal *
Taste The Bass
Extra Krispy
Pretty Fly [from The Night Of The Hunter] *
Dashiki Lover *
- tracks from Mono Puff's It's Fun To Steal album not previously released on Hello EPs. Asterisks appeared on advance promos of the album a full year earlier.

Severe Tire Damage Theme
- studio recording on Severe Tire Damage

First Kiss
- live version on Severe Tire Damage
- rewritten as Another First Kiss, studio version released on Unlimited May and Mink Car

Planet Of The Apes
- live version on Severe Tire Damage

Return To The Planet Of The Apes
- live version on Severe Tire Damage

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes
- live version on Severe Tire Damage

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes
- live version on Severe Tire Damage

Battle For The Planet Of The Apes
- live version on Severe Tire Damage
- another live version titled Battle For The Planet Of They Might Be Giants "from a bootleg recording of the New Year's Eve Show in 1998 at Tramps in New York City" released on Unlimited May 2001
- a 2011 live version on At Large 2012, edited and retitled Apes Vs People for the CD edition

Beneath The Planet Of The Apes
- live version on Severe Tire Damage

This Ape's For You
- live version on Severe Tire Damage

Somebody Took My Eyeball
- live version "from a bootleg recording of the New Year's Eve Show in 1998 at Tramps in New York City" released on Unlimited May 2001

Dark And Metric
- Dial-A-Song with studio version released on dialasong.com 1998, then Long Tall Weekend 1999

Finished With Lies
- demo on dialasong.com, rereleased on Podcast 56 2012
- re-recorded for Unlimited April 2001
- reworked on Mink Car

Theme For TheSmokingGun.com
- JF piece, also released [mp3 link] on dialasong.com

John Linnell also played accordion on ex-Mundane JONATHAN GREGG & THE LONESOME DEBONAIRES' album Blue On Blonde this year, but I don't know which tracks.

1999: LONG POLL WEEKEND

Despite an international hit single the year before (and probably because Linnell had a kid), They shift at this point to a mode of production akin to a studio-based churning pipeline of constant music, releasing via television and the internet more than via records or even answering machine. The first 17 years of this poll saw about 280 songs released; the next four see another 130 or so, not counting dozens of cues and miniatures for Malcolm In The Middle.

Dog On Fire [Bob Mould's Daily Show theme]
- TV: The Daily Show; re-recorded a couple of times, Timbaland remix used from January 2016; closing credits version released on Podcast 47 in 2011

Daily Show Open
- released on Dial-A-Song Direct in 2015

SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY - Madden's Theme
SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY - The Happy Gangster
SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY - Harry's New Home
SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY - End Theme
- JL plays accordion on at least some of Theodore Shapiro's score cues from this film OST

THE GRAVEL PIT - Get Tangled
- JL plays baritone sax on this track from the album Silver Gorilla

Dr. Evil
- More Music From Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
- live version as Live Evil With Robin from 9/8/2000 released on Unlimited December 2001

(She Thinks She's) Edith Head
- demo released on Podcast 50 in 2012
- studio version on Long Tall Weekend
- reworked with new vocals as She Thinks She's Edith Head and released on Unlimited June 2001 and Mink Car and Timothy McSweeney's Very Intense Heated Passionate Battle/Embrace With They Might Be Giants Unlimited April 2001

Brave New World Theme
Dan vs. Cog
King Weed
All Alone
Cut The Strings
- these were all written for, recorded and appeared as video on ABC's Brave New World TV show (Older also appeared); the videos were included on the Gigantic: A Tale Of Two Johns DVD. All Alone later appeared on Unlimited in 2001 and They Got Lost in 2002, and Cut The Strings is listed again in the Battle Of The Bands series on Unlimited.

Feast Of Lights
- Festival Of Light 2, compiled on Holidayland EP 2001

Butcher's Tale [slightly rewritten from The Zombies]
- live recording at Fez Under Time Cafe on Simply Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad About The Loser's Lounge CD

On Earth My Nina
- from Long Tall Weekend, collected on They Got Lost CD: an a capella performance by JL of his impression of what Thunderbird sounded like played backwards

Thunderbird
- performed live since 1999, DAS version c. 1999, unreleased studio version c. 1999 on "Non-LP Tracks" Restless promo
- re-recorded on The Spine 2003
- live version from New York, NY; 2004-10-01 on Almanac 2004


Illinois
The Songs Of The 50 States
West Virginia
Montana
Arkansas
Utah
Idaho
Iowa
Mississippi
Michigan
New Hampshire
- these songs were new to John Linnell's State Songs album; West Virginia also appeared on the McSweeneys CD in 2001

Louisiana
- B-side to John Linnell's Montana 7"

North To Alaska [Johnny Horton cover]
- bootleg recording of John Linnell And The Statesmen live, released on Unlimited June 2001 (here's a solo instore version)

All Things Considered [Don Voegeli]
- Mono Puff's in-studio cover of the radio show's theme, released on TMBG Unlimited October 2001

We have polled the individual segments of Fingertip THREE TIMES already,

four, actually

2000: POLLING UNDERCOVER FOR THE MAN

Their collaboration with eMusic sees another exclusive album-like-thing, plus various freebies, while another international hit single takes off without a studio album attached.

Boss Of Me
- the Malcolm In The Middle theme exists in 0:35, 2:56, 3:10 and an instrumental version used for the closing credits

Robot Parade
- originally Robot Design as a 1999 website jingle [mp3 link] for The Chopping Block, compiled on Songs For Chop 2016
- released as a free "single" on eMusic in 2000
- this "adult" version" remixed for Working Undercover For The Man EP, collected on 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants best-of
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) on Ritz Show 2001
- re-recorded in child-friendly form for No! 2002
- Banjo version sung by Deeply Felt Puppet Theater released as free mp3 on tmbg.com 2003
- live version on The Spine Hits The Road 2004
- live version at Asheville, NC; 2004-09-28 released on Almanac in 2004, later on a digital "deluxe reissue" of No! in 2012
- yet another studio version in another new arrangement on Here Come The ABCs 2005

Wake Up Call
- originally the B-side to Robot Parade on eMusic, later on Unlimited April 2001 and No! 2002

Empty Bottle Collector
- Working Undercover For The Man EP, collected as Empty Bottle Blues on They Got Lost

I Am A Human Head
- Working Undercover For The Man EP, collected on They Got Lost

Working Undercover For The Man
- originally a Dial-A-Song, then a Quickcam video c. 2000
- studio version on Working Undercover For The Man EP then Mink Car 2001
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) on Ritz Show 2001

Hey Everybody
- played live since 1994, studio version released as a free download on eMusic 2000

Santa Claus [The Sonics cover]
- released as a free download on eMusic 2000, compiled on They Might Be Giants In Holidayland EP 2001

Unreliable Narrator (I'm The Substitute)
- a 1999 Dial-A-Song; re-recorded and released as a free download on eMusic in 2000; the same recording was used on Malcolm In The Middle as Substitute Teacher; later co-opted as Kids Are Different Now by Spool 409 for Battle Of The Bands on Unlimited

What Is A Shooting Star? [Space Songs cover]
- originally a Dial-A-Song in July 2000, studio version released free on eMusic in 2000, then Unlimited April 2001 as A Shooting Star Is Not A Shooting Star, then on Greasy Kid Stuff 2: More Songs From Inside The Radio, then on Here Comes Science 2009

Wicked Little Critta
- originally a Dial-A-Song, studio version on Unlimited April, then Mink Car
- live version (New Haven, CT; 2004-09-22) on Almanac 2004

John Lee Supertaster
- free on eMusic 2000, then Unlimited February 2001, then No!
- live at the Blue Note, Columbia MO on 13/07/2004 on tmbg.com 2004
- live at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA 14/8/2004 on The Spine Hits The Road 2004 and Almanac 2004 AND Amazon-exclusive CD edition of Here Come The 123s in 2008 AAAAND deluxe digital reissue of No! in 2012

Man It's So Loud In Here
- a studio version was recorded in the Working Undercover for the Man sessions, used on Dial-A-Song in 1999 & included on a Malcolm promo
- a live version (as "It's So Loud In Here") was free on eMusic in 2000
- re-recorded studio version on Unlimited June 2001, Mink Car, and 20 Years Of TMBG best-of
- radio edit on Man It's So Loud In Here CD5
- Hot 2002 Remix by The Elegant Too on Man It's So Loud In Here CD5

Oranges
- recorded as a jingle for designers The Chopping Block's website c. 2000, released on Unlimited April 2001, collected on They Got Lost 2002 and as "Oranges And Graphic Design" on Songs For Chop 2016 (sung by Flans)
- Oranges Instrumental on Songs For Chop
- another recording and arrangement released as Chopping Block Testimonial on Unlimited April 2001, collected as "Oranges Testimonial" on They Got Lost 2002 and as "Testimonial" on Songs For Chop 2016 (sung by Linnell with v/o by Flans)
- the arrangement of the above, but in song form, was used as CD-ROM backing music on No!, collected as "Oranges And Graphic Design (alternative)" on Songs For Chop
- Oranges Instrumental (alternative) on Songs For Chop

Ram On [Paul & Linda McCartney cover]
- released free on eMusic 2000, included on Unlimited April 2001, recorded for Listen To What The Man Said: Popular Artists Pay Tribute To The Music Of Paul McCartney 2001

Mas Fun
- released free on tmbg.com 2003, originally in Malcolm In The Middle episode Traffic Jam Nov 2000

Rotary Club
- a Malcolm piece later released on Podcast 5B in 2006; also appeared on DialASong.com as "Medieval Pirate Noir"

Too Real
- a Dial-A-Song later released on Podcast 5B in 2006

Tres Quatro
- a Malcolm piece later released on Podcast 6C in 2006

John Linnell also played accordion on SHANNON WORRELL's album The Moviegoer this year, alongside other TMBG auxiliary players, but I don't know which tracks. JL's wife produced the album.

"Sensurround" and the highs on Factory Showroom are top-drawer TMBG imho. It was such a drag that they got dropped; they simultaneously got really prolific and yet hard to track down. It was a big deal when those couple of albums were internet-only but I basically never heard most of those tracks. There's a few I know and like - "Man It's So Loud In Here" and "I'm A Human Head" pop into my head a lot and could make it on my ballot.

I think if they'd had to pull a single cohesive album together for release they probably could have focused more and made a killer, killer record. Or if they'd become a GBV "here's still more for the cult!" kind of act they could have maybe gotten away with an LP a year full of god knows what. But those stats of how many songs they produced in the late 90s/early 00s, with almost all of them having an implied ".mp3" after the title, somehow fills me with dread...

as I noted above, by the 'teens they're releasing mainly on youtube, but making a video clip every week makes it seem less throwaway.

nb for you: the very very first version of Robot Parade is up there! and at nine released versions, that's the fourth-most common song in their discography...

man, of all the songs....!

best of the Factory Showroom era imo:

"Sensurround"
"Token Back To Brooklyn" (though you really want the creepy Dial-A-Song version. the long tall weekend version is awful)
"Till My Head Falls Off" (the "clearing my throat and gripping the lectern" section is just amazing)
"Exquisite Dead Guy"
"Metal Detector"
"New York City"
"Your Own Worst Enemy"
"Spiraling Shape"
"The Bells Are Ringing" (admittedly its climax is a bit you-have-to-be-16)
"Doctor Worm"

^ this is a good argument for that era ruling, Your Own Worst Enemy is the only one I can't remember

having an implied ".mp3" after the title

I think a shift also comes once their day work for Hollywood necessitates / funds having a full studio year-round: where their throwaway material earlier was only to be heard over a phone line, and recorded shittily at home, the new higher fidelity that becomes their standard means that they think less of "throwaways," instead putting out everything at the same standard and seeing what their own whim, and audience response, leads to songs sticking around.

Where does a newcomer start ?

This best-of is a pretty great overview of the two decades we're covering here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial-A-Song:_20_Years_of_They_Might_Be_Giants

Or, if you're an album kind of person, check out Lincoln or Flood, which I think (?) are still their consensus "best albums" and certainly indicative of what they do. If you dig those, you'll find lots to like in the s/t, Apollo 18, and beyond. If you don't dig those, they're probably not your kind of band.

every year or two I make it a point to listen to all this stuff again and Factory Showroom is one of those albums that always strikes me as being underrated, IMO its a case of "weird band gets criticized for making somewhat normal record". Flans is not very good on it - "XTC vs. Adam Ant" has got to be one of their all-time worst songs - but Linnell more than makes up for it. I think a lot of his most expansive and developed songwriting wound up on that album. By the way I cannot believe "Sensurround" did not make the album. In an interview I think they claimed it was because it was too close to another song on the album ("Spiraling Shape"?) but that hardly sounds like an excuse to me

I think if they'd had to pull a single cohesive album together for release they probably could have focused more and made a killer, killer record.

kinda feel like Mink Car was supposed to be that record - like two-thirds of the songs had been released already. but they missed a lot of the best material and a lot of the new recordings didn't have the spark of the earlier ones.

otm about mink car - i gave it one or two listens iirc and it just did not land at all with me.

sensurround was surely also tied up in weird movie soundtrack rights deals, no? it was super common in the 90s for artists to have soundtrack songs that never made it to their own albums, and sometimes even fell in between the cracks of odds-and-sods collections. who knows, maybe it got them on the radar of tv soundtrack people and was worth it in the long run. or maybe the power rangers check was just worth it in itself. if it sounds like anything on the album it's the intro and verse of "till my head falls off," and even then, i mean, just space them out.

googling around to remind myself who sings what, i was just floored to discover that their bassist from john henry on is *graham maby!* of joe jackson fame! how the hell did i never know that?

damn you're dead on about flans on that album now that i've refreshed myself, i basically hate all his songs except "new york city," which is a cover. i feel like between "sleeping in the flowers," "extra savoir-faire," "pet name," "first kiss" and even "spy" and "out of jail," he was trying to test himself as a writer of more conventional, songwriterly indie-pop songs with nice, clear, singable choruses. it was very much not my thing. though iirc the 9th grade classmate who sold me her copy of John Henry for five bucks declared that SITF was the "only good song" on it, so maybe there was a niche in which this stuff connected.

yea Flans has always been the dude expanding into every genre under the sun, and I think in most cases you can clearly track his reference points. for example "Pet Name" (which I like) is pretty much Squeeze by the numbers, isn't it? I get the sense that Flans could talk about 70s and 80s New Wave and punk for hours on end. Linnell on the other hand only sounds like himself, the only real similar stuff sounds like it was clearly inspired by him. for example take this Todd Rundgren song from '95 - I can easily imagine this on Factory Showroom with Linnell drawling out the vocals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqQ6pg0Fy9Y

Among the later songs I'd like to put in a good word/extremely mildly campaign for "Certain People I Could Name" and "Four of Two"

Also "Thunderbird", though the version on "The Spine" ended up being fairly tame.

Flans lost it after John Henry and never got it back. He's got a few good songs here and there, but nearly all the band's worst songs post-JH are his. The two Mono Puff albums don't measure up to State Songs at all.

Though "XTC vs Adam Ant" is how I learned about XTC, so I can't hate it too much

I should say the worst songs are Flans-led - they credit everything to both of them, right? I wonder how much collaboration happens

"man they totally Flansled that song"

Or, if you're an album kind of person, check out Lincoln or Flood, which I think (?) are still their consensus "best albums" and certainly indicative of what they do

I deleted the words "Flood is their most beloved album for a reason" bcz based on what I've seen of Ross' taste, he'd get a better feel for aspects of the band he could like from that compilation.

sensurround was surely also tied up in weird movie soundtrack rights deals, no?

since the version They released themselves was a re-recording, this probably wasn't a factor

maybe they had a contract that said they could release it themselves, but only as a b-side and it would have to be not as good

checks out

for example "Pet Name" (which I like) is pretty much Squeeze by the numbers, isn't it?

Sort of, but I think it's more like "a song that sounds exactly like Squeeze and proves that they can write a Squeeze song that's as good as the median actual Squeeze song, but which on closer listening have aspects that are purely and unmistakeably TMBG." I love it. (And there are a lot of the genre exercises I don't love.)

their bassist from john henry on is *graham maby!* of joe jackson fame! how the hell did i never know that?

Only for three years - from 1999 through the end of this poll, the lineup is the two Johns and the Band Of Dans

kinda feel like Mink Car was supposed to be that record - like two-thirds of the songs had been released already

two thirds? more like 94.117648%

...

it looks like They released too many songs in 2001, I keep getting poxy fuled

2001: HEYYYY, YOUR POLL'S ALRIGHT

Their first physical album in five years was overshadowed by coming out on 9/11, and was also just one part of a massive subscription program, with new & old unreleased songs (plus two live albums) issued in monthly chunks through eMusic.

The cascade of music this year included 75 new songs. Lennon/McCartney wrote 121 in a decade.


I've Got A Fang
- early version on Unlimited January 2001
- remixed by The Elegant Too for Mink Car
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) on Ritz Show in December 2001

Cyclops Rock
- first recording on Unlimited January
- re-recorded (with Cerys Matthews) for Mink Car
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) on Ritz Show in December

Drink!
- originally a Dial-A Song, then recorded as Drink, Drink for Unlimited January
- re-recorded as Drink! on Mink Car
- live version (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) on Ritz Show, with "spin the dial" Red Red Wine intro
- live version labelled Drink - glacially slow on Almanac 2004

Bangs
- first version on Unlimited February 2001
- a different mix and vocals on Timothy McSweeney's Very Intense Heated Passionate Battle/Embrace With They Might Be Giants
- re-recorded on Mink Car

Hovering Sombrero
- early versions appeared on Malcolm In The Middle and later TMBG's Clock Radio app; re-recorded for Unlimited February 2001, then on Mink Car
- re-recorded as Hovering Sombrero '05 on the Amazon-exclusive version of Here Come The ABCs CD, then DVD/CD reissue

In The Middle, In The Middle, In The Middle [NYC PSA cover]
- released on Unlimited February 2001, later on No! 2002

Your Mom's Alright
- released on Unlimited February 2001, also on Man, It's So Loud In Here CD5

Clap Your Hands
- released on Unlimited March 2001, then No! 2002, previously an instrumental Malcolm cue
- live version (Atlanta, GA; 2004-09-25) Almanac 2004, then Free Tunes 2005, also on 2012 digital No! reissue with a swear edited out

Clowntown
- written for No! but deemed too creepy for kids, released on Unlimited March 2001
- instrumental version C-Town on McSweeney's

Monsters Of Mud
- released on Unlimited March 2001

Lazyhead And Sleepybones
- released on Unlimited March 2001, then No! 2002

Violin
- released on Unlimited March 2001, then No! 2002
- live version (Stubbs, Austin, TX July 2004) on The Spine Hits The Road 2004
- another live version (New York, NY; 2004-10-01) on Almanac 2004, also on No! digital deluxe reissue 2012
- new studio performance on DVD of Here Come The ABCs 2005

The Oblongs Theme
- TV: The Oblongs, released on Podcast 8A in 2006

What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round? [Monkees cover]
- played live occasionally since 1989, recorded & released as a TMBG.com Quickcam video in 2001

I Am a Grocery Bag
- released on Unlimited April 2001, then No! 2002

Fibber Island
- full version on Unlimited April 2001
- edited down for No!
- acoustic version 'performed' by the Puppet Johns on They Might Be Giants Friday Night Family Podcast video in 2008

Sleepwalkers
- released on Unlimited April 2001, later on No! 2002 (the music was previously What Is Everyone Staring At on Dial-A-Song, bootlegged on cassette in 90s)
- re-recorded for Here Come The ABCs 2005

No!
- released on Unlimited April 2001, then No! 2002

Tigerella
- released on Unlimited May 2001

Mink Car
- demo version on Unlimited May 2001
- studio version on Unlimited June 2001, then Mink Car in August
- live version (at Pearl St in Northampton Mass. 2001) Unlimited November 2001

All MacGyver On It
- Dial-A-Song, then released on Unlimited May 2001

Mr. Tambourine Man [cover of the Byrds' cover of Bob Dylan]
- live version as medley with Spy (Ritz Theatre, Raleigh NC, 28/3/2001) released on Ritz Show 2001

Tender Is The Mind
- TMBG.com Quickcam video, then on Unlimited June 2001

Yeh Yeh [Georgie Fame cover; music written by Rodgers Grant and Pat Patrick in 1963 and first recorded by Mongo Santamaría on his 1963 album Watermelon Man / Lyrics written shortly thereafter by Jon Hendricks, recorded by Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival]
- Unlimited June 2001, then Mink Car August 2001

Museum Of Idiots
- live bootleg released on Unlimited June 2001
- studio version recorded for The Spine 2004

My Man
- Unlimited June 2001, Mink Car a month later

I'm Your Boyfriend Now
- originally a Dial-A Song, released on Unlimited June
- re-recorded for Cast Your Pod To The Wind in 2007

Save Your Life - by Bog Standard
- Battle Of The Bands September 2001

Too + 3 R One - by Too + 3
- Battle Of The Bands September 2001

Words Are Like - by The Crummer Family
- Battle Of The Bands September 2001, later collected on They Got Lost 2002 and Idlewild 2014

Chaos By Design - by Colorwheel
- Battle Of The Bands September 2001

Headless - by Naykid Eyez
- Battle Of The Bands September 2001

Something You'd Like To See - by Little Lisa Whitman
- Battle Of The Bands October 2001

Blind - by Demchuk
-Battle Of The Bands October 2001

Cut The Strings - by Demchuk
- Battle Of The Bands October 2001

Kids Are Different Now by Spool 409
- Battle Of The Bands October 2001

Disappointing Show (TMBG live 2001-09-01) - by The Disappointers
- Battle Of The Bands October 2001, collected on They Got Lost 2002, music video inexplicably made in 2013

Mr. Xcitement
- b-side on Boss Of Me CD5
- re-recorded for Mink Car August 2001

Hopeless Bleak Despair
- the only song on Mink Car not to appear in any form before the album release!

Too Cool Girls [with Velcro Horns]
- released on Unlimited November 2001, originally in a 2000 Malcolm In The Middle episode

To The Bubblecraft!
- released on Unlimited October 2001

Ultimate Battle For The Planet Of The Apes
- live recording released on Unlimited October 2001

WMOB ID
- Unlimited October 2001

Somnabulist Spy Improvisation
- live recording released on Unlimited December 2001

Dan Hickey's Actual Drums
- live recording (from Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, MI) on Unlimited December 2001

the remaining tracks from 2001 were all written for and appeared on Timothy McSweeney's Very Intense Heated Passionate Battle/Embrace With They Might Be Giants
The Ballad Of Timothy McSweeney
MOR
Lincoln, Washington, And That Jefferson Guy
Mr. And Mrs. Nuclear
Koenigstein
Slow
Softly
Oprah
People Died Today
Art Mover
Be Patient
Candy Stripers
Even My T-Shirt
Faster Better Now
Garden Of Eden
Gazing Out Toward
Girls In Their Turning
God's Sister Jessica
Grassroots Internet Revolution
The Life Of Doug
R U Together
Mona Lisa

Theme From McSweeney's Issue 6
- first on Unlimited in May, re-released as Theme To McSweeney's on They Got Lost

I Am 40: Memories of West Street and Lepke
- was first released as Robert Lowell, and slightly longer, on January Unlimited. The lyrics are all lines from different Robert Lowell poems.

Bathymetry For Two
- was first Down To The Bottom Of The Sea on Unlimited February; also released as Down… on They Got Lost CD 2002, tmbg.com 2004, & al.

Be Kind And Gentle
- was first Budnitz #1 on Unlimited February

It's Getting Late
- was first released on Unlimited February

Mosh Momken Abadan [The song is credited to composer Riad al-Sunbat and lyricist Ma'mun al-Shinawi. The TMBG version is instrumental]
- first appeared on Unlimited May 2001, collected as Mosh Momken Abadon on They Got Lost

Dollar For Dollar
- first released on May Unlimited, later collected on They Got Lost CD

The Army's Tired Now
- collected on They Got Lost CD

The Truth In Your Words
- collected on They Got Lost CD as Truth In Your Words

MIKE DOUGHTY - Frog and Banjo
- this TMBG vs McSweeneys track was recorded by John Flansburgh in his Dial-A-Song studio

the european version of Mink Car re-orders some of the tracks, removes some others (also adds Boss of Me and Your Mom's Alright) and is a better listening experience than the US version imo

euro tracklisting:

1. "Man, It's So Loud In Here" – 3:59
2. "Boss Of Me" – 2:57
3. "Cyclops Rock" – 2:38
4. "Another First Kiss" – 3:06
5. "Bangs" – 3:09
6. "My Man" – 2:57
7. "Drink!" – 1:49
8. "Your Mom's Alright" – 2:59 (with Mike Doughty) (written by John Flansburgh, John Linnell, Elegant Too, Mike Doughty)
9. "Hovering Sombrero" – 2:13
10. "Yeh Yeh" – 2:40 (written by Rodgers Grant, Jon Hendricks, Pat Patrick)
11. "I've Got A Fang" – 2:32
12. "Mink Car" – 2:09
13. "Hopeless Bleak Despair" – 3:08
14. "Older" – 1:58

I think the title track and Hopeless Bleak Despair are the two best songs on the album and having it finish with them and then Older as a coda works well. It's a better album for having Boss Of Me present, though Your Mom's Alright isn't really adding much

ok so what's the new song on Mink Car? is it Working Undercover For the Man?

the Euro tracklisting indeed looks better. I like "Your Mom's Alright". It gets stuck in my head a lot. Also I never knew that "Boss of Me" was actually a full song until recently. I think they played it live at two of the shows I was at but only the 30-second Malcolm in the Middle version

(by the way, does anyone know how much of the incidental music on that show was actually done by TMBG? I recall interviews saying that they write a lot of uncredited stuff for TV and commercials, sorta as a 'day job')

ok so what's the new song on Mink Car? is it Working Undercover For the Man?

cannot BELIEVE everyone isn't reading every single annotated word of my song posts itt

ah!!!! I see it!

(by the way, does anyone know how much of the incidental music on that show was actually done by TMBG? I recall interviews saying that they write a lot of uncredited stuff for TV and commercials, sorta as a 'day job')

they did all the incidental music for the first two seasons! cues, songs, miniatures, and some existing Giants songs. despite this, there was so much licensed pop music in the show that to this date, nothing past Season 1 has been released commercially in the US, and it took ten years after the S1 DVD for the rest to come out in Australia.

(presumably lots of their work was reused from stock in the later seasons? idk)

oops I missed some:

Instrument Tour
- a Malcolm piece later released on Podcast 5B in 2006

La Dolce Malcolm
- a Malcolm piece later released on Podcast 22A in 2007

there were also two different promos of some of their incidental pieces for the show, including

Playground Pokemon (a longer, different arrangement of what became Empty Bottle Collector / Empty Bottle Blues)
Four Track Mind (this is the one that became Clap Your Hands)
Nice Is Good, Mean Is Bad (also a Dial-A-Song)
Mysterion (later on the Flash version of dialasong.com as Mysterioso)
Stranger (also on the Flash version of dialasong.com)
European Ska
Don't Cry
Sunshine
Skatellite Transmission

another Malcolm piece:

Monster (live version from 08-19-2000 Brooklyn Show later streamed on the Clock Radio app in 2003)

from 1999 through the end of this poll, the lineup is the two Johns and the Band Of Dans

BTW, the band's lineup* has been solid for almost fifteen years now, since Marty Beller replaced Dan Hickey on drums in 2004. (& Beller had been playing with Them on occasion since 2000.)

*bar live horn sections / touring horn players

(Dan Miller joined in 1998, and also toured with Mono Puff that year and The Statesmen the year after; he brought Danny Weinkauf with him from his previous band.)

in other Mono Puff contributor trivia, I just learnt that Meredith off of The Office sang as Lady Puff on the second Mono Puff album

guys, we made it

2002: THE END OF THE TOUR

Their first children's album/CD-ROM, mostly made of songs released in some form in the last two years, launches their next "day job," as well as the new label they will license releases through from now on. A year of wrapping up, otherwise: the They Got Lost compilation gathers oddities from the 1999-2001 era, the Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants double CD is a major-label best-of covering their whole career, and the documentary Gigantic: A Tale Of Two Johns screens at festivals. They also tour every month bar January, February and September, and still find time to produce, play for and perform off-Broadway in the musical People Are Wrong!

So To Be One Of Us
- written for Peter Pan In Disney's Return To Never Land, performed by the cast

Now That You're One Of Us
- performed by the cast in Return to Never Land

Courage the Cowardly Dog
- TV: Courage the Cowardly Dog bumper on Cartoon Network, released on Podcast 4A in 2006

I Love To Sing [Bob Lind cover]
- "performed" at 2002 TMBG shows by The Deeply Felt Puppet Theatre, released as free download on tmbg.com in 2003, compiled on Four Covers From TMBG 7" in 2012

Bed Bed Bed
- original debuted on No!, sung by Linnell
- re-arranged in new version, demo sung by Flans in falsetto released on Podcast 35A in 2008
- re-recorded in new arrangement as Bed Bed Bed Bed Bed, sung by Kimya Dawson, on Bed Bed Bed book & EP 2003
- live version with horns and Linnell singing, at the Bowery Ballroom on 1/8/2007, released on Amazon-exclusive CD edition of Here Come The 123s in 2008

The House At The Top Of The Tree
- debuted on No!

Where Do They Make Balloons?
- written and sung by Danny Weinkauf, debuted on No!

At The Agway
Boomerang
Car Alarms
Dear Old Plants
Dimension Six Rock
Healer's Lament
I Know What I Saw
Ponytail
The Gravel's Coming With Us
Xanthus Saves
- from PEOPLE ARE WRONG! A 10-Song Sampler Of The Original Cast Recording. Originally developed by Flans and Goldie as a concept album, it became a stage musical by Robin Goldwasser and Julia Greenberg. JF starred and produced, JL played accordion and sax on the cast recording, Goldie starred.

Keep The Customer [Simon & Garfunkel's Keep The Customer Satisfied]
- by Robin G & Julia G on The Loser's Lounge Tribute To Simon & Garfunkel

Last Night [Simon & Garfunkel's Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream]
- by John Flansburgh on The Loser's Lounge Tribute To Simon & Garfunkel

428 songs and only fucking up the bbcode on the last two is pretty good going imo

are there any ilxors who have anecdotal evidence of how actual children responded to 'No!' or the other children's albums? (or even listened to those albums when they themselves were children, if we have anyone that young here?) I'd be particularly interested to know if kids enjoyed their 'children's music' more or less than their not-specifically-aimed-at-children music

my kids like the original version of "The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas" and TMBG's "Whistling in the Dark"

that's all I got

my son absolutely loves the song "Hot Dog" but won't watch any other part of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

I remember reading a lot of reviews of the albums to the tone of "I actually don't mind listening to this every single day" which indicates that kids do in fact dig it

good mourning!

Here are straight lists of eligible songs, broken up into the largest chunks that ilxor will allow:

Alienation's For The Rich
Cowtown
I'll Remember 3rd Street / Space Suit
Cabbagetown
Penguine
Birds Fly
Swing Is A Word
Counterfeit Fake
Sally Boy Candy Bar
Hell Hotel
Weep Day
Indian Ocean
Hiya Hi
Everything Right Is Wrong / Everything Right Is Wrong Again
It's Not My Birthday
They Might Be Giants
You'll Miss Me
The Big Big Whoredom
Mainstream USA
(Put Your Hand Inside The) Puppet Head / Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head
Number Three / Greek #3
The Day
When It Rains It Snows
Don't Let's Start
Nothing's Going To Change My Clothes / Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes
Hope That I Get Old Before I Die / I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die
Biggest One / The Biggest One
32 Footsteps
Boat Of Car
Chess Piece Face
Rabid Child
Youth Culture Killed My Dog
(She Was A) Hotel Detective
Toddler Hi-Way / Toddler Hiway
Which Describes How You're Feeling
Become A Robot
I'm Def
Kings Of The Cave [written for TMBG by The Mundanes' Jim Gillson]
Rhythm Section Want Ad
Happy
She's An Angel
Absolutely Bill's Mood
Hide Away Folk Family
Fake Out In Buenos Aires
Snowball In Hell
For Science
Somebody's Body
The Famous Polka
The World's Address
We Just Go Nuts At Christmastime
Kiss Me, Son Of God
Kitten Intro
Lie Still, Little Bottle
Mr. Klaw
We're The Replacements
Shoehorn With Teeth
FRIEDA: Disco Lover
FRIEDA: Plastic Rap

"Untitled" (answering machine excerpts)
Hello Radio
Ana Ng
Cage & Aquarium
Pencil Rain
Piece Of Dirt
Purple Toupee
Santa's Beard
They'll Need A Crane
Where Your Eyes Don't Go
I've Got A Match
Mr. Me
Nightgown Of The Sullen Moon
I'll Sink Manhattan
Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal
Road Movie To Berlin
ANNABOUBOULA - I'm Not A Little Girl
ANNABOUBOULA - Let's Go To Jail
Birdhouse In Your Soul
Hot Cha
Ant
Lucky Ball & Chain
Hearing Aid
Whistling In The Dark
Stormy Pinkness
Tiny Doctors
Particle Man
Hi Honey I'm Home
7-11
The Bloodboat
Twisting
Letterbox
Your Racist Friend
Theme From Flood
Dead
Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love
Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
We Want A Rock
Women & Men
Minimum Wage
James K. Polk
Outboard Part Of Man
SUZANNE VEGA - Tired Of Sleeping
OTIS BALL - Walk On Water
The Edison Museum
The Statue Got Me High
She's Actual Size / Larger Than Life
I Palindrome I
My Evil Twin
See The Constellation
Hall Of Heads
Hypnotist Of Ladies
If I Wasn't Shy
Turn Around
Mammal
Spider
Dig My Grave
Dinner Bell
Narrow Your Eyes
Fingertips
Siftin'
Moving To The Sun
Welcome To The Jungle
I Blame You
The Guitar
Rocket Ship
Spy
Fu Manchu (Frank Black with Linnell / live with TMBG)
Tossed (Frank Black with Linnell / live with TMBG)
Adda Lee (FB / TMBG live)
Czar (FB / TMBG live)
Every Time I Go Around Here (FB / TMBG live)
I Heard Ramona Sing (FB / TMBG live)
Los Angeles (FB / TMBG live)
Parry The Wind High, Low (FB / TMBG live)
Ten Percenter (FB / TMBG live)
Theme From One Step Beyond (FB / TMBG live)

Drinkin'
Sodium Mask
(Since You Joined) The Corporation
Town To Town
Lullaby To Nightmares
O, Do Not Forsake Me
Maine (from State Songs Hello EP)
Rock Club
King Of Wingo
A Self Called Nowhere
Why Must I Be Sad?
No One Knows My Plan
I Should Be Allowed To Think
Extra Savoir-Faire
Unrelated Thing
Subliminal
Out Of Jail
About Me
Wreck It Apart
Don't I Have The Right?
Christmas Cards
Nevada (from State Songs Hello EP)
Pennsylvania (from State Songs Hello EP)
Oregon (from State Songs Hello EP)
South Carolina (from State Songs Hello EP)
Snail Shell / Snail Dust
Ondine
She Was A Hotel Detective
Mrs Train
Subway Token To Brooklyn / Token Back To Brooklyn
The Summer Breeze
Your Own Worst Enemy
AKA Driver
Destination Moon
Dirt Bike
Sleeping In The Flowers
The End Of The Tour
Thermostat
Window
Meet James Ensor
When Tornadoes Take Over The World
So Long, Mockingbird
Nixon's The One
Operators Are Standing By
You're Watching…
Wreck It Apart
Tryptophan
Unsupervised, I Hit My Head
What Bothers The Spaceman?
Sensurround
Careless Santa

S-E-X-X-Y
Till My Head Falls Off
How Can I Sing Like A Girl?
Exquisite Dead Guy
Metal Detector
New York City [Cub cover]
XTC vs. Adam Ant
Spiraling Shape
Pet Name
I Can Hear You
The Bells Are Ringing
Rat Patrol
Certain People I Could Name
Counterfeit Faker
They Got Lost
Older
On The Drag
Reprehensible
Unforgotten
Darlin' Allison
Guitar Was The Case
Distant Antenna
To Serve Mankind
Preamble: Fernando Wood (1855-58, 1860-62) (from House Of Mayors EP)
Processional [1] (from House Of Mayors EP)
DeWitt Clinton (1803-07, 1808-10, 1811-15) (from House Of Mayors EP)
Processional [2] (from House Of Mayors EP)
John Purroy Mitchel (1914-17) (from House Of Mayors EP)
Processional [3] (from House Of Mayors EP)
Fiorello LaGuardia (1934-45) (from House Of Mayors EP)
David Dinkins (1990-93) (from House Of Mayors EP)
House Of Mayors (from House Of Mayors EP)
Mr. Hughes Says
Imaginary Friend
Dedicated
What Everybody Knows
Backstabbing Liar
Poison Flowers
Night Security
Critic Intro
Four Of Two

That's super helpful, thanks! Dumping it all into an excel sheet for my first pass...

Doctor Worm
I Am Not Your Broom
Rest Awhile
(Coca-Cola advertisement) / Always Be Giants
Olive, The Other Reindeer
LIFE IN A BLENDER - Grand Union
I'm Sick (Of This American Life)
(pre-gap Hidden Track on It's Fun To Steal)
Creepy
It's Fun To Steal
Taste The Bass
Extra Krispy
Dashiki Lover
Severe Tire Damage Theme
First Kiss / Another First Kiss
Planet Of The Apes
Return To The Planet Of The Apes
Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes
Escape From The Planet Of The Apes
Battle For The Planet Of The Apes
Beneath The Planet Of The Apes
This Ape's For You
Somebody Took My Eyeball
Dark And Metric
Finished With Lies
Theme For TheSmokingGun.com
SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY - Madden's Theme
SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY - The Happy Gangster
SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY - Harry's New Home
SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY - End Theme
THE GRAVEL PIT - Get Tangled

Dr. Evil
(She Thinks She's) Edith Head / She Thinks She's Edith Head
Brave New World Theme
Dan vs. Cog
King Weed
All Alone
Cut The Strings
Feast Of Lights
On Earth My Nina
Thunderbird
Illinois (from State Songs album)
The Songs Of The 50 States (from State Songs album)
West Virginia (from State Songs album)
Montana (from State Songs album)
Arkansas (from State Songs album)
Utah (from State Songs album)
Idaho (from State Songs album)
Iowa (from State Songs album)
Mississippi (from State Songs album)
Michigan (from State Songs album)
New Hampshire (from State Songs album)
Louisiana (a State Song b-side)
Boss Of Me
Robot Parade
Wake Up Call
Empty Bottle Collector
I Am A Human Head
Working Undercover For The Man
Hey Everybody
Santa Claus [The Sonics cover]
Unreliable Narrator (I'm The Substitute) / Kids Are Different Now
Wicked Little Critta
John Lee Supertaster
Man It's So Loud In Here
Oranges / Chopping Block Testimonial / Oranges And Graphic Design
Mas Fun
Rotary Club
Too Real
Tres Quatro
I've Got A Fang
Cyclops Rock
Drink! / Drink, Drink
Bangs
Hovering Sombrero
Your Mom's Alright
Clap Your Hands
Clowntown
Monsters Of Mud
Lazyhead And Sleepybones
Violin
La Dolce Malcolm
Instrument Tour
The Oblongs Theme
I Am a Grocery Bag
Fibber Island
Sleepwalkers
No!
Tigerella
Mink Car
All MacGyver On It
Tender Is The Mind
Museum Of Idiots
My Man
I'm Your Boyfriend Now
Save Your Life - by Bog Standard
Too + 3 R One - by Too + 3
Words Are Like - The Crummer Family
Chaos By Design - by Colorwheel
Headless - by Naykid Eyez
Something You'd Like To See - by Little Lisa Whitman
Blind - by Demchuk
Disappointing Show
Mr. Xcitement
Hopeless Bleak Despair
Too Cool Girls
To The Bubblecraft!
Ultimate Battle For The Planet Of The Apes
WMOB ID
Somnabulist Spy Improvisation
Dan Hickey's Actual Drums
The Ballad Of Timothy McSweeney
MOR
Lincoln, Washington, And That Jefferson Guy
Mr. And Mrs. Nuclear
Koenigstein
Slow
Softly
Oprah
People Died Today
Art Mover
Be Patient
Candy Stripers
Even My T-Shirt
Faster Better Now
Garden Of Eden
Gazing Out Toward
Girls In Their Turning
God's Sister Jessica
Grassroots Internet Revolution
The Life Of Doug
R U Together
Mona Lisa
Theme From McSweeney's Issue 6
I Am 40: Memories of West Street and Lepke
Bathymetry For Two
Be Kind And Gentle
It's Getting Late
Dollar For Dollar
The Army's Tired Now
The Truth In Your Words
MIKE DOUGHTY - Frog and Banjo
So To Be One Of Us
Now That You're One Of Us
Courage the Cowardly Dog
Bed Bed Bed / Bed Bed Bed Bed Bed
The House At The Top Of The Tree
Where Do They Make Balloons?
At The Agway from People Are Wrong!
Boomerang from People Are Wrong!
Car Alarms from People Are Wrong!
Dear Old Plants from People Are Wrong!
Dimension Six Rock from People Are Wrong!
Healer's Lament from People Are Wrong!
I Know What I Saw from People Are Wrong!
Ponytail from People Are Wrong!
The Gravel's Coming With Us from People Are Wrong!
Xanthus Saves from People Are Wrong!

Two of these are doubled up above because I missed them, but here are all the covers They have released or played on:

Indiana Wants Me [R. Dean Taylor cover]
I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You [after Tommy Dorsey's version]
1999 [live Prince cover]
Why Does The Sun Shine? [Space Songs cover]
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) [The Four Lads cover]
Lady Is A Tramp [Rodgers & Hart]
Maybe I Know [Lesley Gore cover]
One More Parade [Phil Ochs cover]
Concrete And Clay [Unit 4+2 cover]
Frankenstein [live Edgar Winter Group cover]
Yellow Submarine [misremembered live Beatles cover]
This Is Where I Belong [live Kinks cover by Frank Black / TMBG]
Whirlpool [Meat Puppets cover]
Jessica [The Allman Brothers Band cover]
Hello Hello [Gary Glitter cover released by both Hello The Band and Mono Puff]
O Tannenbaum [traditional]
White Sport Coat [Marty Robbins cover by The Meat Puppets with BVs by the Johns]
Dr. Kildare [cover of The Skatalites arrangement, lyrics by Flans, released by Mono Puff]
The Joker [live Steve Miller Band cover]
25 O'Clock [Dukes Of Stratosphear cover]
The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Rocking) [The Clamdiggers cover released by Mono Puff]
Oddball [Frank Black cover released by Mono Puff]
Don't Break The Heart [Amy Rigby cover released by Mono Puff]
Will You Love Me In December As You Do In May? [lyrics by James J. Walker, music by Ernest Ball, covered by John Linnell on House Of Mayors]
Hillbilly Drummer Girl [Young Fresh Fellows cover by Mono Puff]
Lines Upon A Tranquil Brow [Songs Of The Pogo cover]
New York City [Cub cover]
Pretty Fly [Mono Puff cover of piece from The Night Of The Hunter]
We've Got A World That Swings [Jerry Lewis & al. cover]
Dog On Fire [Bob Mould's Daily Show theme]
Daily Show Open [another arrangement of the Mould song]
Butcher's Tale [The Zombies cover]
North To Alaska [Johnny Horton cover from John Linnell's Montana 7"]
All Things Considered [Don Voegeli]
What Is A Shooting Star? [Space Songs cover]
Santa Claus [The Sonics cover]
Ram On [Paul & Linda McCartney cover]
In The Middle, In The Middle, In The Middle [NYC PSA cover]
What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round? [Monkees cover]
Mr. Tambourine Man [Dylan/Byrds cover]
Yeh Yeh [Georgie Fame & al. cover]
Mosh Momken Abadan [Riad al-Sunbat cover]
I Love To Sing [Bob Lind cover]
Keep The Customer [Simon & Garfunkel's Keep The Customer Satisfied by Robin G./Julia G.
Last Night [Simon & Garfunkel's Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream by John Flansburgh] [/b]

aw man i used to loooove their "Jessica"

and for those who want to rank the albums / EPs / etc

1985 Wiggle Diskette flexi-disc
1985 They Might Be Giants cassette-only studio album
1986 "The Pink Album" studio album
1987 Don't Let's Start 12"
1988 (She Was A) Hotel Detective CD3 / 12"
1988 Lincoln studio album
1988 Ana Ng / They'll Need A Crane singles with 2 out of 3 b-sides replicated
1989 Don't Let's Start LP / Miscellaneous T (1991) b-sides etc. compilation replicated on bonus tracks of Then: The Earlier Years (1997)
1989 Birdhouse In Your Soul / Istanbul (Not Constantinople) singles with the b-side of BIYS also on INC
1990 Flood studio album
1992 The Statue Got Me High CD5
1992 Apollo 18 studio album
1992 I Palindrome I CD5
1992 The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) CD5
1993 Why Does The Sun Shine? EP
1993 Live Thursday June 24, 1993 10pm EST Frank Black live album
1993 Hello The Band Hello The Band EP
1993 O Tannenbaum 7"
1994 Back To Skull EP
1994 John Henry studio album
1994 Live!! New York City 10/14/94 Live Album
1994 State Songs John Linnell EP
1995 John Flansburgh's Mono Puff Mono Puff EP
1996 Factory Showroom studio album
1996 S-E-X-X-Y CD5 / 12"
1996 House Of Mayors John Linnell EP
1996 The Devil Went Down To Newport CD5
1996 Unsupervised studio album
1997 Then: The Earlier Years compilation including Dial-A-Song material
1997 The Hal Cragin Years Mono Puff EP
1997 The Steve Calhoon Years Mono Puff EP
1998 Severe Tire Damage live / studio Album
1998 It's Fun To Steal Mono Puff studio album
1999 Long Tall Weekend studio album
1999 State Songs John Linnell studio album
2000 Working Undercover For The Man EP
2001 TMBG Unlimited year-long album-a-month subscription service
2001 The Flood Show live album
2001 The Ritz Show live album
2001 Mink Car studio album
2001 Man, It's So Loud In Here CD5
2001 They Might Be Giants In Holidayland compilation EP
2001 "They Might Be Giants Vs. McSweeney's" book soundtrack project
2002 No! studio album
2002 They Got Lost oddities compilation
2002 People Are Wrong! original cast recording

oops: Devil Went Down To Newport and Unsupervised are by Mono Puff.

Here's the first time they ever played Jessica!

oops again: missed Down To The Bottom Of The Sea as the alt. / primary title for Bathymetry for Two

(BTW, if you folks think this is a lot of songs, I'm past 300 tracks in the 2003-2018 list, and haven't touched the studio albums, EPs or subscription services yet.)

i think my ballot for that one might just consist of "can't keep johnny down"

I'm about halfway through listening to all the 82-02 songs I'd never heard. here's a couple gems I'd never heard:

Welcome to the Jungle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsY31bzymkk
Mrs. Train https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9w6itI4HUY

this thread is bananas. in a good way, of course.

anyway: is there a more appropriate place (on ILM) to discuss / read discussion of I Like Fun? did I miss it around the release date?

I dunno if enough people listened to it; I have yet to hear I Like Fun or whatever the previous one was. maybe when we do the 2003-onwards poll

mrs train gets stuck in my head a lot

this is definitely one of those bands that seems to struggle to get their best songs on the LPs. I remember making a "best non-album songs" compilation that wound up being like 70 tracks long

otoh it's cool that their b-sides aren't just dumping grounds. but some of the 12"s are just insane. They'll Need A Crane in particular... hard to imagine someone could be an album-buying fan of this band and never hear Nightgown of the Sullen Moon or It's Not My Birthday or I'll Sink Manhattan.

I should say the worst songs are Flans-led - they credit everything to both of them, right? I wonder how much collaboration happens

Saw a recent interview with Linnell saying that they collaborate on writing more these days, but it seems to be giving each other a drum pattern or a bridge to play with, rather than sitting down in a room. One assumes (given the evidence of early versions of songs) that they do plenty of arranging together, but they've always talked of songs as being written by one or the other, despite the credit policy.

Given how much commissioned work they've done in the last 20 years, it could be that they write music and score and jingles together, and think of that differently from writing songs? I'd be interested in an interview that dug into their process.

For those who think Flans has lost it after 96 or whenever (I've never listened to Them picking out whose songs are which), it might support your theory that he's taken on WAY more additional work within the band in this century; with social media, curating and hosting the podcast, making videos on his laptop, etc.

xxxpost the new one is their best album in many years, imo

when I first got into this band at the age of 11 or so I had no idea there were actually two singers. nowadays it's pretty easy for me to tell whose song is whose, even before the lyrics kick in. the one that baffled me for years was "Puppet Head", because it's very clearly a Linnell-style song but Flansburgh sings it - apparently he turned the lyrics over to Flans because he couldn't come up with anything and that's why he wound up singing it instead.

xp to sic I went digging to see if the Johns talked about their collaboration process after I posted that, found this bit in an avclub interview:

AVC: Has the collaboration process between you and John changed much over the years?

JL: I think it’s always different. Everything we do, we try and come up with something new. John and I have come up with various ways of collaborating over the years, and it’s kind of pleasant and fun to have that possibility that we could come up with some completely new way of working together. In the past, we’ve done things where one of us cooks up a bunch of samples, or an instrumental track, or a lyrics sheet, and passes it to the other person. We’ve done a lot of different versions of that, and some of them have been successful. On Join Us, there’s some of that. There’s is a song, for example, where I had a chorus and verse, and I didn’t like the verse, so I erased the vocals on the verse and gave the whole thing to Mr. Flansburgh, and he cooked up a completely different melody and lyric for that section. That’s the one where one of us sings the chorus and the other sings the verse. That worked, I thought. That’s the song “Never Knew Love.” We’re always coming up with different ways of working together, and I was pleasantly surprised by Flansburgh’s new material. I think he’s changed in certain ways on this project. It’s this late in our lives, I can say his lyrics have opened up into a whole new interesting area that I don’t know whether I can define, exactly, except that I and other people are recognizing that this is a new way that he’s cooking up lyrics that is pretty cool.

Oh damn, I bet this is the interview you already mentioned whoops

It's not!

Two ways running this poll has affected my behaviour IRL this week: giggling pointlessly at the opening titles for Vertigo on 70mm, and buying a ticket to go to another country to see They Might Be Giants in a few weeks.

Flood Show 30/11/2000

I thought this was in Aus but I had to check my old old OLLLLD blog from 2001 and the show I saw was in Dec 2001, at which they did all of Flood (plus Fingertips, boss of me and a few other things). All this time I thought it'd been a spontaneous first time they'd done that! Bah.

favorite part of that show is how they forget the order of the tracks

The released show was the first time they'd done it; your show was was the fifth total, but two of those had been by "Sapphire Bullets" as support act.

Until two weeks ago, they'd had a Reverse Flood Show up for free download for two and a half years, recorded either at the Corner in Melbourne or The Zoo in Brisbane in 2013.

I just spontaneously claimed out loud that "I built a little empire out of some crazy garbage called the blood of the exploited working class". I got funny looks.

That line's been playing in my head a lot these last weeks, too.

This Mono Puff album is better than I remembered!

Which one? I'm not a big fan of either but they each have a couple standout moments

"Unsupervised, I Hit My Head" is the kind of fun energetic song that Linnell usually sings

Unsupervised

The big one is The World's Address, written by Linnell but sung by Flans. I think there are more examples

I really liked Unsupervised at the time; listened to It's Fun To Steal yesterday for the first time, and it's really not up to par.

Linnell on writing: "We write pretty independently, and we've had a number of tracks in the recent past where we've collaborated. There's one shining exception, which is the song "Mink Car" off of Mink Car we actually wrote sitting at a piano in this Leopold and Loeb sort of way. We don't really ever do that."

Just sent my ballot off. Making the first pass I had 96 tracks, but ranking them was near impossible and I didn't think too much about it. The song that ended up being my #1 surprised me. I think this band's strength is their breadth and variety rather than their quality on single songs, so it's harder to rank songs above others

recall interviews saying that they write a lot of uncredited stuff for TV and commercials, sorta as a 'day job')

Lots of ads and TV themes and such in the 2003-2018 list, but here are four ads they did for Diet Dr Pepper in 2001.

https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/21591/chimps/diet-dr-pepper

https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/21592/holland-globetrotters/diet-dr-pepper

https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/28111/retirement-village-people/diet-dr-pepper

https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/19921/xga/diet-dr-pepper

So I started this list because hell why not, I'm an actual sized TMBG fan and whatnot but I thought dammit I'll probably only be able to come up with 20 or 30 songs... oh crap theres heaps argh.

Luckily I tapped out after Mink Car so thats where I'll stop (and Im interested to note much of my faves are the LTW/Factory Showroom era!).

BTW sic - it occurs to me to ask if you had a hand in a certain ragey TMBG spesh on TeeVee in the early aughts? :) (I still have it all on video!)

I just sent mine in - ranking 100 songs is tough, tbh after 40 or so I just started listing stuff. But I stand behind it

I'm listening to lots of the 1988-94 B-sides for the first time rn and bemoaning the never-existed-ness of the Superfueled Freakcicle compilation

30 years since I first heard it and I still get goosebumps from "Don't Let's Start" every damn time

oops I accidentally downloaded over 200 Dial-A-Songs from the 20th century, and now might need to extend this poll by a couple of months to see if they unlock any of the eligible songs for me

Gonna send soon, I would say the top 40 or so are ranked, then there's a group of "next 30" and a group of "next 20" which are pretty impossible for me to meaningfully distinguish

Are we just going to end up with a jillion tracks each with a couple points? :)

Sent!

Are we just going to end up with a jillion tracks each with a couple points? :)

I think there'll be a decent amount of conensus near the top but some surprise high placers! Basically because that's what happens in every poll!

I mean never forget that the ILX REM poll had big canonical hits in positions 2-5 and "Harborcoat" won

it was before my time but wasn't the REM poll done in some weird run-off format so that only two songs from each album could place?

been slowly putting my ballot together for this. i still find TMBG to be a kinda frustrating band because they're so good at writing off-kilter pop songs but a lot of the time they're much more interested in being way more off-kilter than i really care for so listening to a whole album is a strange experience

^ Agreed. I was surprised to find than even Lincoln, which probably contains some of their highest highs, contains more than a few tracks I just didn't want to sit through at all nowadays. (That said, I think I already remembered it as the patchiest of the first few LPs, so...)

yeah i fucked up with the REM poll by using the album poll thread results as the basis for a short list of eligible songs. it was kinda early in the days of these things, but not really early enough that i should have thought that was a good idea. the countdown is still a pretty dope REM playlist tho imho.

even Lincoln, which probably contains some of their highest highs, contains more than a few tracks I just didn't want to sit through at all nowadays

haha yeah I now have "Cage and Aquarium" stuck in my head and I really dislike that song.

this is the dawning of the

i think apollo 18 might be their most consistent album, but it doesn't quite reach the same heights as the previous ones

Flood is definitely most consistent for me, even the totally throwaway songs are great

finalizing a ballot now. ranking is hard.

he ended up sad!

finalizing a ballot now. ranking is hard.

I've got 70-some selected and not sure where anything goes after #1

sent a 40+ track ballot

oh shit this is today

Back in 2001, I didn't have enough hard drive space to keep more than a couple of months of TMBG Unlimited, so I shared my login with another They-listener who burnt the 128kbps files as audio CDs. After finding a torrent last week, it took almost as long to work out which songs were still exclusive to the service, tag them and make Live and Studio playlists as it did to listen through everything.

Currently listening to State Songs for the first time ever. Doubt that I'm going to listen closely enough to the McSweeney's album or People Are Wrong! to add any of their pieces to my ballot.

the McSweeny's disc has some pretty good parts - lots of tasty instrumental bits and experimental stuff. "I Am 40" really feels like one of those great demos that should've become a proper single but somehow didn't. I also like the Doughty song a lot. not exactly something I wanna listen to in full anymore but every TMBG fan should hear it once at least

Sent in my ballot! 99 songs! This has been a hectic week with work stuff and getting a cold so I didn't give it my normal obsessive combing-over... but I feel like the stuff I like more is definitely towards the top and it's a great lineup of material, with room for some more oddball tracks that would never have even made it into my Excel sheet if I'd known I was going to be working towards a 20- or 40-track ballot. Woo!

also surprised myself to realize that i rank apollo 18 below factory showroom. kinda figured the first four would be an untouchable bloc but looking at the tracklist, there's an awful lot i've never really gone for, like "the guitar" and "she's actual size" and "if i wasn't shy." maybe the moment in which the Flans I Dislike emerges. "space suit" and "i palindrome i" are fucking masterpieces though.

i like the guitar

the lower reaches of my bracket are packed with some of the most novel of their novelties

You got mine, right sic?

almost done with my ballot, it should be somewhere around 40 songs i think. definitely surprised by how well Factory Showroom ended up in mine

Wish I could say I'd managed to listen to every single eligible song in time -- I didn't -- and to be honest I didn't end up listing any new-to-me true obscurities. But I did put on some songs from Mink Car, an album I didn't like at all when it came out and forgot about, only to find now on relisten that there are some tunes on there I've been humming in my head for years without knowing where they were from.

I'll start compiling ballots before midnight but if any drift in over the weekend, that's fine. Especially from the Antipodean contingent!

I think only two ppl have ranked albums so far, so I might do a full 20 myself just to make it interesting.

(got yours eephus!)

Ballot sent!

My #s 1 through 10 are pretty solid, after that is chaos.

Turns out I really don't like "Factory Showroom"--not one song made my 75-song ballot.

I came to like quite a bit of Factory Showroom myself, and voted for a couple of tracks. I'd given it only scant attention previously. Meanwhile John Henry remained quite impenetrable on this zillionth attempt to come to terms with it.

I take it frogbs is the voter who probably wouldn't use that email address for a job application?

I have straight up not had time to order/send mine and wont for a day or 2. Am I too late?

lmao how'd you know

I’m holding on in the hope that you and AA can get ‘em in soon!

xpost 2 Trayce

xpost 2 Trayce

BUMP for Australians and any other stragglers

how many ballots do we have?

15.

can't check r/n but was this hyped up in existing tmbg threads? feel like there have to be at least a few other fans on ILM who might have missed the call.

I did my part, and I pretty much never even post!

I was delighted to see your ballot!

I only plugged on the most-recently-active TMBG thread, I'll throw a link on the catch-all-iest one.

If anyone has AA on sosh mēds, can they nudge him? I ILXmailed on the weekend but that may have been dead for years iirc

/pfunkboy

Just threw together and sent in a ballot, if you can use it!

got it

ballot sent

send another seven songs, Shakey!

I trust you received one from me about a week ago?

Yep 👍🏼

fuck sorry

c'mon Melbourne

the list is there (30+) but i legit have not had time to put it in order

done genuflect.jpg

dead set i thought you had given up on me in the intervening centuries

Trayce, you still have a day to get it in because I'm going to Canada tomorrow to see An Evening With They Might Be Giants.

i have asked sic if i can start start a new artist poll. see, i have a very short window where i can run a poll right now but i have to open for voting now too. i don't want to just open a new poll with this poll still open and have asked sic if it's all right to open a new poll? i will ask him again here, this poll has been open for over a month already.

posting from the intermission at the TMBG show:

Bee - go for it

Trayce - number yr top ten, send me the lot & I’ll randomise the rest

shit sorry mate i’ve been sick for days. will try and cobble something this eve !

posting from the intermission at the TMBG show:

next level commitment imo

ok done.

just woke up with "extra savoir faire," a song I pointedly do not like, stuck in my head. a sad legacy of being a teenager and listening to albums over and over and over when i first got them: apparently i know all the words. what's a man like me supposed to do?

if there's one band good at getting songs you don't like in your head....

popping in to say this is my favorite poll thread title ever

xp haha yep. Since I was reminded of "Turn Around" a couple weeks, that irritating last chorus has been in my head on and off

"Wicked Little Critta" is perhaps the best example of this but eventually I grew to actually like it

the verses of "turn around" have some great lyrics ("he had the same obsequious manner that was the reason i had him killed"; "and his face which was a paper-white mask of evil") but yeah that chorus really drags

it also figured prominently in my attempt to construct a "paul is dead"-esque conspiracy in which flansburgh and the record company murdered linnell and replaced him with a robot double circa 1993, which i'm sure i've posted about here before

I don't even mind the chorus much until that last one when they add those ear-piercing backing vocals, god. I don't think I've ever seen this conspiracy of yours, DC

"Wicked Little Critta" is perhaps the best example of this but eventually I grew to actually like it

I had exactly this reaction and struggled really hard with whether to vote for it. In the end, no, I just can't get past the dialect comedy.

looking at my musty old documents the conspiracy is pretty long and convoluted with all the clues, but the basic idea is that flans murdered linnell and replaced him with a robot double in late 1992 or early 1993, frustrated with his partner's unwillingness to compromise artistic integrity for the sake of commercial success. unusually for this kind of rock conspiracy, both linnell and flans had a foreboding sense that it would come to this, long before it in fact did, so even their earlier discography is rife with themes of fame/success, mechanization, and impending doom. a discussion of career versus art animates "put your hand inside the puppet head" but even this opens with a dead body on a city street. linnell's starving-artist integrity, and recognition that this will lead him to his doom, is clearly stated: "everybody dies frustrated and sad, and that is beautiful"; "abandon hope for future plans"; "nothing's gonna change my clothes [in the grave - read also as, nothing's gonna change my style]"; "when you're following an angel [...] you have to throw your body off a building." i'm missing notes for lincoln but the they'll need a crane material is quite revealing: the title track is about the impossibility of restoring a partnership, while flans is willing to "sacrifice friends" and "sink manhattan" (that is, east village cred) for the sake of fame. linnell is beginning to have more specific visions of death: people lunge out at him, and maybe this isn't so bad: "it's not necessary to breathe." and of course: "we're the replacements" - frauds and duplicates, "playing in a rock and roll band."

by flood the tensions in the band have grown open and bitter. linnell now feels no difference between being "dead" and being alive without artistic freedom ("there's nothing i want to do [within this partnership]"). flans for his part is insistent on the need to build on their commercial success: "to make the merry-go-round go faster [...] everyone needs to hang on tight just to keep from being thrown to the wolves." their love-hate relationship is perfectly encapsulated in the very title of "sapphire bullets of pure love," but in the text, flans mockingly roleplays his future victim: "john, i'm in bed, and they're coming after me." apollo 18 was recorded on the eve of the murder and culminates of course in the fingertips medley, which is saturated with imagery of surprise attacks, accidents and death, in particular the car accident that would indeed prove to be the modus operandi. see also the cowritten "dig my grave," and the automaton replacing a human in "the statue got me high." "turn around" is linnell outright attempting to provoke flans with a tale of an arbitrary murderer haunted by death from that point on. obviously "my evil twin" and the debating voices in "spider" factor in here too but the subtlest clue is linnell recognizing that in terms of the band's success, it was his own stubborn believe in an art deeply restorative and pure (a "glass of milk") which stood "in between extinction and the cold, and explosive radiating growth."

the robot linnell was evidently test-driven on their 1993 EPs but gets its proper debut on back to skull (where flans turns his "back" on the crime and the robot thanks him for giving him his artificial "snail shell" body). the "missing head" of mrs train, the rise of the obscure hotel detective to "run the world" and the savagely-treated corpse of "ondine" all factor in. by john henry, the robot has begun to model the original, asserting his own voice ("i should be allowed to think," "no one knows my plan") and both daring flans to "kill kill kill kill kill me now" and taunting him with images of the car crash on "subliminal" and "the end of the tour." on factory showroom, however, the robot linnell is tormented by his origins and complicity in the crime ("exquisite dead guy," "til my head falls off," "your own worst enemy") and flans feels compelled to allegorize the entire struggle to unburden himself ("xtc versus adam ant"). around the same time, the ostensibly older, unreleased tracks on then similarly trope on guilt and duplication: "the mirror on the wall won't talk to me at all now that i have everything." it's a good time for one partner ("samba time for tambo") but bad for another ("weep day for urine man"). one genuine 80s relic: an extended display of anxiety about the "big big whoredom" of success. and an emboldened flans, apparently having beaten down the double's spirit ("counterfeit fake"), is ready to mock his dead bandmate: "here's hoping you don't become a robot!" all guilt is thus banished by the time of malcolm in the middle, with flans standing front and center in the rock-star video, triumphantly declaring once and for all that "you're not the boss of me now!"

the failure to deal with lincoln reflects mainly my running out of energy for this thing and losing interest rather than being unable to incorporate it - seems like there's plenty of meat there though. this and flood are the high synthesis albums where the brimming hostility criss-crosses with their collaborative synergy. in terms of flans's crass commercialism shading into violence ("shoehorn with teeth"), and eager search for mass audiences ("i'm going down to cowtown"). "cage and aquarium" finds him formulating his plan: to "steal back your best ideas" (echoed later in the album: "i can see your secrets") and crush the iconoclast: "used to be different, now you're the same." linnell's repeated pleas for autonomy ("gimme some skin to call my own"; "i've got a match: your embrace, and my collapse"). a preoccupation with doppelgangers is already there too ("a filthy scarecrow waves its arms and does a parody of each unconscious thing you do"). in a rare lapse into pique, he even expresses frustration that his genius is carrying along this lesser talent, portraying him as "buil(ding) a little empire" through exploitation and deception. "stand on your own head!" he cries. and of course, as linnell sees ahead to the inevitable, it's not "me" but "mr. me" - a simulacrum - who will "end up sad."

FUCK, i only just realised i forgot to include 'join us' because it's not on apple music

there's seriously like eight incredible songs on that one

I like Wicked little critta! I put it in my ballot! Mr Xcitement, too.

...'join us' is from 2011

this is why i should not post the second i wake up

worth nothing that Join Us was the start of a career renaissance for them and it kicked off with a song called "Can't Keep Johnny Down"....perhaps the real Linnell was not dead after all? perhaps he was spared by some Lady & the Tiger type scheme?

'the else' is better imo

it is an admitted weakness of my theory that it cannot account for the possibility that john was only placed in suspended animation, not killed, after the "car accident."

man, "can't keep johnny down" rules, even with the serious "here comes my baby" bite. would certainly be in the top half of my ballot if this was an all-career poll.

Well, I'm convinced, DC

Now I think we should have had one poll for real Linnell TMBG and a separate one for robot Linnell TMBG.

Clearly, the natives are getting restless awaiting the poll results.

which Linnell recorded which version of Robot Parade?

huh, I thought that was Flans!

does the robot Linnell not play keyboards?

btw eephus I emailed you 12 days ago to clarify your ballot, if you don't check that address often

holy shit those are some solid DC posts

is my ballot OK now sic

Yep, thanks!

I shouldn't have looked at my ballot, I'm already second-guessing my rankings (but no I am not changing anything!)

yeah mine's insane. but a good selection of songs. made it into a playlist and it's already given me some weird/provocative juxtapositions. also has sharpened my sense of what happened/changed when the robot came in they went to the full band.

frogbs you also have a ballot-clarifying question languishing in your inbox

i'm seeing these dudes tomorrow night in Madison. probably the fifth or sixth time overall, but first time in at least 20 years. stoked!

you should be! I'd seen Them in 2001 (a show and an instore) and 2013 (a regular show and a Reverse Flood Show in a much smaller, very crammed venue), but last week was the best by far. Including the intermission - they're playing without an opener, and with a trumpet (+ other horns) player in the band - the show ran for two hours fifty. I'm sure that less than half of it was stage banter, but they were loquacious and loopy, having just flown back from a European tour, and then across North America.

It was the start of their first ever Canadian tour, as opposed to playing Vancouver or Toronto when nearby: they repeatedly pleaded to let "anyone you know in... Canada" about it, as they were spending two days driving to Edmonton and evidently expected v few people to show up. (The Vancouver venue was nowhere near capacity.) Also asked for volunteers, as they were expecting the road crew to resign at midnight, when weed became legal nationally.

Dunno if this is representative of the tour, but they played half of Flood, and only three songs released between 1998 and 2018 (but two released in the last month).

Set 1:

The Communists Have The Music [released 11 September 2018]
Damn Good Times [The Spine 2004]
Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal [1980s B-side]
Particle Man [Flood 1990]
[incorporating Chandelier by Sia]
The Famous Polka [1980s B-side]
Birdhouse In Your Soul [Flood]
Doctor Worm [single 1998]
The Guitar [Apollo 18 1992]
Why Does The Sun Shine? [cover played since 1980s]
Don't Let's Start [The Pink Album 1986]
All Time What [released January 2018]
Mrs. Bluebeard [I Like Fun 2018]
Which Describes How You're Feeling [Apollo 18]
Spy [John Henry 1994]

Set 2:

"Quiet Storm" section - acoustic with electronic drums:
- How Can I Sing Like A Girl? [Factory Showroom 1996]
- I Like Fun [I Like Fun]
- Applause Applause Applause [released 20 September 2018]
- Letterbox [Flood]
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) [Flood]
The Mesopotamians [The Else 2007]
Twisting [Flood]
Let's Get This Over With [I Like Fun]
Your Racist Friend [Flood]
Whistling In The Dark [Flood]
Let Me Tell You About My Operation [Dial-A-Song Direct 2015]
Ana Ng [Lincoln 1988]
She's An Angel [The Pink Album]
Fingertips [Apollo 18]

Encore 1:

The End Of The Tour [JH]
They Might Be Giants [Flood]

Encore 2:

New York City [FS]
Dead [Flood]

anyway, results rolling out over here: YOUTH CULTURE POLLED MY DOG: They Might Be Giants (first 21 years) POLL RESULTS

holy shit that setlist! i was wrong, the Madison show is tonight, not last night. still stoked.

a fun song about being intimidated by the sheer songwriting power of john & john: https://theparanoidstyle.bandcamp.com/track/the-peculiar-case-of-the-human-song-generator

aw