Errors-To: owner-tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Reply-To: tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Sender: owner-tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Precedence: bulk From: owner-tmbg-digest@tmbg.org To: tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Subject: tmbg-list Digest #2-285 tmbg-list Digest, Volume 2, Number 285 Friday, 18 October 1996 Today's Topics: The Anthem of TMBG + an Essay on Content desert islands and such Radio thingy etc Can anyone help me out? Re: New album in UK Don't hit me please! I am God! Settle down folks... let's hear what it has to say... Top albums.... Never-ending new songs Ellen NYC Lyrics Yet another top 5... The high price of fame come off it, already! Who Writes What Toledo show Ten Albums on a deserted Island Re: The high price of fame Re: Who Writes What Re: Who Wrote What (TMBG) Re: The high price of fame who wrote what Re: tmbg-list Digest #2-284 top 5 albums on island RE: come off it, already! Re: your name RE: Ten Albums on a deserted island Re: The high price of fame island with a twist.. the 10 albums... Desert island discs...my two cents Fulfilling a dream Re: List Deja-Vu Re: Nuclear holocaust must haves wow.. Re: NYC Lyrics top-n-bottom 5 and desert islands so delete if you're sick of more island discs known writer of songs + OAT Ad For Factory Showroom (: Re: Unrelated Thing Top Albums on Island Re: concert brooms Re: Prejusticed People (who writes what again...) hi Re: 1st song I heard Bombshelter Company keeping Albums I know the power of the force! Re: The high price of fame Re: Prejusticed People (who writes what again...) Re: Nuclear holocaust must haves Re: Alice meets Madness Re: Why top Fives??? Stuff Factory Showroom Ad in Rolling Stone Re: The Anthem of TMBG + an Essay on Content RE: First Song Bow Wow Woof just wanna say... RE: The high price of fame desert islands and other such nonsense Re: Prejusticed People This Whole Post is an OAT + OAT + UWA Misc. Re: Misc. Re: Prejusticed People Re: The high price of fame Re: known writer of songs Get away just wondering Top ten albums Concert Brooms Reasons to be Puce I am not your broom You gave me a Pet name... Re: Misc. Re: Bow Wow Wow Re: desert islands and such TOP FIVE FINAL RESULTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Re: more island discs and my top ten ALBUMS XTC is NOT chopped liver, I'm a vegetarian for God's sake1 Re: How Can I Sing Like Linnell? And JH Re: desert islands and such top 10 cds for desert islands Re: Unrelated Thing Administrivia: For all administrative issues, such as change of address, withdrawal from the list, etc., send a message to the following address: tmbg-digest-request@tmbg.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 02:05:56 -0400 From: The Flying Pollock Subject: The Anthem of TMBG + an Essay on Content In the process of commuting to school the other day, I was listening to Metal Detector and had an idea. Some of the lyrics in the song could suggest what TMBG is best loved for: hidden meaning. For example, "ignore the mountain of discarded falderal" or Everything on the top will just suddenly stop seeming interesting" or "something waiting there beneath the sand". I have a sneaky suspicion that once again, They don't mean exactly what They sing. If you put a TMBG fan in the place of Linnell in the song, it all falls into place. The lyrics communicate searching for the concealed yet superior meaning "beneath the sand". I don't know what you would call it when a band writes a song about themselves (autodiscography?) but it could be interpreted this way. This song is perhaps the Anthem of TMBG. I mean, one of the main reasons why I listen over and over and over to songs is to figure out that meaning. The lyrics which at first seem a bit goofy, have (or maybe we just think they have) a secret deep meaning behind them. Now, I am anticipating some abuse from those of you on the list who dislike John Henry and Factory Showroom. It is certain that someone is going to respond saying it is preposterous to say that Metal Detector is the TMBG Anthem because it is not Classic TMBG but more a "new sound" rock song. I answer this: first of all, I am discussing LYRICS only here, and secondly, what exactly IS what you might call Classic TMBG anyway? They did several albums of accordians and drum machines. Sometimes it seems that those who constantly berate the full band sound are living in the past. Mainstream is still a long way off even with the full band. The same cooky lyrics are still there (as recently illustrated with FS), with just a different sound behind them. To me, the accordians never left a void in their departure, but rather were replaced by a sound just as good. "Classic" TMBG takes its form in lyrics rather than sound. The Golden Age is still upon us. Now that the editorial has been finished, I will conform to the rest of you and post the fives. Top Five (in an ever changing order): <---Inspirations of Musical Brilliance 1. Dead 2. Kiss Me, Son of God 3. She's an Angel 4. Cowtown 5. Birdhouse Bottom Five: <---Inspire only the Fast Forward Button 5 --->1 = bad to worse 1. Number Three 2. You'll Miss Me 3. Your Racist Friend 4. Pet Name 5. New York City <--------I cannot figure out how everyone likes this song. The tune of NYC is rather upbeat and happy but the lyrics make me cringe. I realize TMBG didn't write NYC's lyrics (and couldn't even figure out some of them) but to put the hallowed name of They Might Be Giants on such a simple unsubstantial piece of musical fluff is just wrong. The lyrics are TRITE to say the least. Such examples of this are: "And I was glad to hear from you 'cause I was all alone" or "But the best thing about New York City is you and me". NYC's lyrics are about as substantial as a "roses are red" poem or...yes...even....a MARIAH CAREY SONG. Now if that isn't the ultimate slander, I don't know what is. Now that I've alienated most of you.... Casey ------------------------------ From: "NJ Powell" Subject: desert islands and such Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 09:15:48 +0100 (BST) Hello people! Now, this is going to probably annoy a lot of you. But there you go, I apologise in advance. But I just reckon that to use the proper Desert Island Disc format (yes, ok. I admit I listen to Radio 4. It's relaxing and reassuring, ok?!) would make a more interesting post for everyone else. I don't know if you lot have something different, but this is the British version.. The Rules: You take 8 "pieces of music". (Albums don't count, songs do) These have to mean something deep to you, something life changing etcetc. Also, you get to take: A Book (you get the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible in for free) and a Luxury, which can be anything. I won't bore you with mine. But I have the sneaky feeling that at least some of you could come up with something interesting? Prove me right! Nicola ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 04:53:08 -0400 (EDT) From: "Mike Rose, from Totonot" Subject: Radio thingy etc Hi. Well we have this kinda crappy radio station here called CFNY and they have this daily 2 hour show called Live In Totonot and today they had an interview with TMBG. As some of you may know TMBG were in Totonot opening for Hootie (along with 54-40). The interview was pretaped earlier in the day and though interesting (especially the part about stalking the President) it ran only 12 minutes INCLUDING the album versions of NYC and SEXXY (way to go boring Totonot radio). In any case I was pleased to have heard it but moments after it was over (with nary a goodbye or thank you) I decided to call CFNY and complain about how short it was. Well, the phone must have rung 500 times, and no one answered. I'll try again tomorrow. I'm hoping that on the 23rd, they give at least that much time to Ween, who will be performing here on that night. Guess where I'll be? I have also been listening to Factory Showroom a lot, out of a compulsion to do so. I find most of the songs quite wonderful. I have had to come to the realisation that the musical direction of the band has shifted irrevocably and as such I must base my opinion of the band on whether or not I still think what they do is worthwhile. I must say I do. In a way their music has matured, which is not to say that "rocking out" is a matured attitude, but there seems to be a greater attempt to craft self contained "songs" rather than the half-formed "songlets" of earlier days ( that is a paraphrase of an actual quote from Linnell). We must realise that the music these guys made in their late 20's is different from the music they can be expected to make in their late 30's. Though there is a magic to those recordings which I find lacking in FS, I still find the music of this band to be stimulating and fresh. I will say that though I find Linnell's tracks to be the best, Flans' I Can Hear You is sheer brilliance. It's a sparkling gem. As for Linnell, his lyrical excellence is amply displayed in songs like Metal Detector and Till My Head Falls Off, 2 of the highlights. However the beauty and perfection of Your Own Worst Enemy makes it all worthwhile. I cannot, however, explain what has happened to James K. Polk, a most lacklustre track, save for the singing saw which I like. Otherwise the song has been inexplicably stripped of its vitality. As for Flans, well, his tunes seem to be more drawn out, laid-back songs and though I do like them, they just seem to want to lie there and be interesting instead of what you might imagine them wanting to do. His songs seem made for the band and Linnell's songs seem to want to leap out of the CD into your brain. I'm sorry, Flans is a great singer (I so love his Pet Name vocals) but Linnell is the more accomplished lyricist, at least in respect to this album. His tracks also contain the odder arrangements which I do enjoy. I will say The Bells Are Ringing and Exquisite Dead Guy are instant TMBG classics, and I tend to want to hear them off the top along with MD, EDG, Until, Worst, Spiralling Shape, and I Can Hear You. As for the rest, as I said, they are mainly solid and aside from Polk there is no track I feel is botched. As for the controversial NYC, I think it has terrible lyrics overall (For some reason I hate the line "...just the other day..."it seems to be the kind of thing you'd stick in cause you're lazy) but the song as a whole is growing on me. We all know the band likes to rock sometimes and this is a good example. Also I liked Flans' explanation of why he liked it, saying it is kind of rooted in a simple 3 chord Blondie-esque New Wave milieu and how they like that sort of thing. So, yes, I do have reservations about this record but I most certainly encourage you all to buy it. I do not hate any song and I find most of them to be exceedingly good. Though they have stopped taking outrageous musical chances, what remains is still often beautiful, and a great reminder of how most music fails to even strive for anything special. Of course, this album simply NEEDS the inclusion of Older, Reprehensible, Counterfeit Faker and SenSurround. Without these songs, the record does feel somewhat bare. And I would also suggest to the band: don't overuse the cello, and don't waste Brian Doherty. I have heard him drum the HELL out of JKP and on the record he's just keeping time. Which is not to say I don't wish they'd go back to drum machines and cheesy synthesizers from time to time. *SIGH*. Mike. http://www.yucc.yorku.ca/~flippy So whatcha whatcha whatcha want? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 03:29:29 -0700 From: Trompe Le Monde Subject: Can anyone help me out? I'm interested to know what Cub actually sounds like- I have the opportunity to buy their album (on 3 7" vinyl records) that includes "New York City", and I got the impression from looking at some of their records that they were a sort of quirky "girl group" rock band, but I could be way off, since I actually wasn't able to listen. So if anyone could tell me what they're like and maybe give me a comparison, please write me back as soon as humanly possible, preferably in email since I'll be out of town all weekend and usually don't read the list until I have more time. Obligatory TMBG Comment: The extra sound in the FS version of "Spiraling Shape" seems to be (to my ears) a car alarm sound (as in the annoying ones that shuffle through different repeating sounds about every 5 seconds) or possibly a home security system alarm. Maybe I'm crazy, though. Kerry kbiggs@gladstone.uoregon.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 08:49:49 -0400 (EDT) From: connie tsang Subject: Re: New album in UK "New York City" is a cover of Cub's song by the same title. For those of you not in the know, Cub is a cutesy Canadian simple chord indie band. Flansburgh discovered it while listening to a campus radio station in New England somewhere in his car, stopped the car, ran into a hifi store, asked to use their phone, contacted the station, and made the dj flip through all the singles played to tell him what the title of the cub song was. And that's a fACT! T * "i'm your only friend * * M i'm not your only friend T B * but i'm a little glowing friend * M G * but really i'm not actually * B * your friend, but i am..." * G ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 22:47:04 +1000 (EST) From: Lincoln Damen Subject: Don't hit me please! I know I'm gonna get flamed fo rhtis but Hootie and the Blowfish are my second favourite band... no where near TMBG though! Listening percentages: TMBG 97% HOOTIE 2% OTHER 1% And although I was floored by the tour, I can't say I agree with it, I mean if I wasn't stuck in Australia and could go to the concerts they would be pure bliss for me... Anyway I find that Hootie is nice "normal" music for those rare occassions when I feel cheap and shallow. +Linc ; ) "Ignorance is safety, but don't worry about that" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 22:47:11 +1000 (EST) From: Lincoln Damen Subject: I am God! Firstly my name is Lincoln... wait that's not that weird but that fact that there is an album also named "Lincoln"... Secondly "John Henry" is my dad's name... Thirdly TMBG and Hootie are my two fav bands and are touring together... Fourthly... well I could tell you more but it starts to get trivial... So I have come to a conclusion to explain all this incidences... I am God :P +Linc ; ) "Ignorance is safety, but don't worry about that" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 22:47:14 +1000 (EST) From: Lincoln Damen Subject: Settle down folks... let's hear what it has to say... Sure this is a TMBG email thingy but I'm getting a little sick of lot's of people rating FC already... everyone knows that it takes ages to really get into an album... And sometimes the songs you thing you hate become your favourite... weird... but true. +Linc ; ) "Ignorance is safety, but don't worry about that" ------------------------------ From: Anakin Skywalker Subject: Top albums.... Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 08:25:01 -0500 (CDT) Despite the fact that none of you are going to read this because of how much mail's going through the group lately, here's my top ten album list, since everyone else's doing it.... (in absolutely no particular order) TMBG: Lincoln (or possibly Misc. T, or the Pink album - can never decide) White Zombie: Astro-Creep 2000 Lycia: Ionia Rachmaninoff: 24 Preludes Bela Fleck and the Flecktones: Flight of the Cosmic Hippo Korn: Life is Peachy Enya: Shepherd Moons The Prodigy: Music for the Jilted Generation Little Blue Crunchy Things: Rhetoric Live: Throwing Copper So there! Ha! May the force be with you. Justification: / "Within its deep infinity I saw ingathered, and bound by FIRE / love in one volume, the scattered leaves of all the ~"'`'`'~"'`"~"~"^ universe." - Dante *'`'*.,.'`'*.,.*'`'*.,.*'`'* WOW: Vortex http://www.atw.fullfeed.com/~pez -- Anakin Skywalker -- anakin@vader.snc.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 09:29:41 -0400 From: "Erik J. Chuss" Subject: Never-ending >Any Comments? Yes. See Below. >Be patient it will be over soon...... >Kathleen I've been reading the newsgroup(everyday) and mail list(off & on) for several years now and these top/bottom 5 come up about every six months. Yes, they do get old but it is understandable why people participate and at least it is TMBG-related (don't even THINK about bringing up the muppets!). :) Just a suggestion, which everyone seems to be following anyway, is to keep your top/bottom 5 lists to a seperate post. Mention that the post is a t/b 5 in the subject line and if people don't want to read it they can delete it (list subscribers) or skip over it (digest subscribers). Erik "All alone at the '64 World's Fair, 80 dolls yelling 'Small girl after all'." ------------------------------ From: mjames@envy.loyola.edu (Matthew James) Subject: new songs Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 10:19:03 -0400 (EDT) I must add to Mike Rose's post that They Got Lost shoulda been one of those FS tunes as it is great but ya can't have everything now can ya? Maybe it'll appear on Freaksickle. Also, in listening to XTC vs Adam Ant and thinking about the "Beatle's pop rock vs. new romantic" line I noticed that the string part really reminds me of Eleanor Rigby! Matt -- *------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt James polk@tmbg.org Matt.James.K.Polk@tmbg.org mjames@envy.loyola.edu Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America "Cracking toast, Gromit!" New, Official Bruce Campbell Gazette page: http://www.bcgazette.com ------------------------------ From: mjames@envy.loyola.edu (Matthew James) Subject: Ellen Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 10:19:32 -0400 (EDT) Could Ellen Kao please email me? I can't fingd your address. gracias -- *------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt James polk@tmbg.org Matt.James.K.Polk@tmbg.org mjames@envy.loyola.edu Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America "Cracking toast, Gromit!" New, Official Bruce Campbell Gazette page: http://www.bcgazette.com ------------------------------ From: mjames@envy.loyola.edu (Matthew James) Subject: NYC Lyrics Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 10:25:34 -0400 (EDT) I'm guessing that the NYC lyrics were purposely written that way to be really sappy. These 3 gals (refering to Cub or whoever they are refering to) seem to be just overwhelmed and in love with NYC and this has brought a new height of sappiness as sometimes can be seen especially in new relationships. NYC has given them this great inspiration and joy and well, yes they may seem cheesy, but it does seem to fit. Matt -- *------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt James polk@tmbg.org Matt.James.K.Polk@tmbg.org mjames@envy.loyola.edu Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America "Cracking toast, Gromit!" New, Official Bruce Campbell Gazette page: http://www.bcgazette.com ------------------------------ From: "Maria, Nick" Subject: Yet another top 5... Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:18:56 +1000 After a bit of thought 5. Road Movie to Berlin 4. Whistling in the dark 3. Turn around 2. ANA NG and (ta da da da...) 1. It's not my birthday The list of mentionables is to long to list!!!! With over 100 songs to choose from it's pretty hard to pick a top 5! And I agree with whoever it was that said it that Misc. T is a FANTASTIC album. The Josua Fried remix of Worlds Address is a work of genious. Anyhow, FS arrives in Australia today. Yay!!! 10000ft Septic ------------------------------ From: "Maria, Nick" Subject: The high price of fame Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 18:39:21 +1000 Yay!! Just got my copy of FS, and it only put me back $31!! If the revues are anything to go by it may not be good, but it certaintly aint cheap!! 10000ft Septic ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:15:28 +0600 From: doofus Subject: come off it, already! ckg110@psu.edu says: >Now, I am anticipating some abuse from those of you on the list who >dislike John Henry and Factory Showroom. It is certain that someone is >going to respond saying it is preposterous to say that Metal Detector is the >TMBG Anthem because it is not Classic TMBG but more a "new sound" rock song. Now, don't get all flustered, but I say Factory Showroom is at least as good as their other albums; in fact, a lot of the songs are more musically mature as are the Johns. The "new" sound that is being so harshly criticized is exactly what makes Them strong; to stick with one style would severely limit their creativity. John Henry has suffered much (wrongful) abuse for the same reasons. As for those who dislike NYC beacuse of the cheezy lyrics, I think you're missing the obvious satire. Before you criticize They Might Be Giants, think: you could be listening to Hootie--"nice 'normal' music for those rare occassions when I feel cheap and shallow." -jon scott: more fun than a lemming massage ------------------------------ From: Russ Josephson (303) 516-4722 Date: Thu, 17 Oct 96 09:15:26 MDT Subject: Who Writes What People on this list keep endlessly discussing that JF wrote this song and that JL wrote that song. How do they KNOW who wrote what? I know that we know who wrote some songs from interviews and chat transcripts, but has anyone compiled a definitave list based on these sources? You can't tell for sure by who sings the song. John & John said once that they have deliberately sang each other's songs just to confuse people so that they wouldn't know who wrote particular songs and so that they would not have to deal with just these types of discussions-- about who the favorite John is. BTW, many songs from Factory Showroom keep spinning through my mind, but tonight I'm going to see The Ocean Blue in concert! Their new album has no saxophone player--I hope they brought one on tour. I can't imagine how they'll arrange their older songs without a sax. And I LOVE "Cowtown". I was just listening to the old version from the Frank O'Toole show, and can't decide if I like the old keyboard parts that are so cool, or the toy piano parts on the album version that are also cool. The song is just so happy that I want to dance! I also love "Extra Savoir Faire", which I first heard in concert. And "Unrelated Thing" -- tasty pedal steel guitar, 'tho I'm not a couuntry music fan. Spiraling Shape, Metal Detector are my faves from FS so far. I'm trying to do a 2nd volume TMBG Video Bootleg, but have been getting too many poor-quality videos so far. But I hope to have some really choice stuff soon! ======================================================================== Russ Josephson http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/7158 Berthoud, Colorado, USA mailto:russj@juno.com "... not everyone is passionate about music ..." -- Joe Jackson "I took off the intellectuals, and put on There May Be Giants" -- Gloria "It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" -- 2 Nephi 25:23 ======================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:37:09 -0500 (EST) From: "StatuE (Wayde)" Subject: Toledo show Well, the 20th sure is coming up fast, and I was getting rather curious if anyone else will be attending the Toledo show (w/ Hootie)....If so, I'd really find it neato to meet ya! :) ----->Later! "I've got to let you know ... You're one of my mind!" A little They can do soooo much!!! 5:) -Statue et al ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:25:38 -0400 From: Will Nunn Subject: Ten Albums on a deserted Island Personally I find the whole supposed situation amusing. Specifically, if you were stuck on a deserted island, you probably would not have any power source for your cd/vinyl/tape player other then batteries, which would eventually run out. Also, I normally find these types of listings (top 5 songs/bottom 5 songs) to be little more then annoying rhetoric (we all have our own beliefs as to what song is the best). However, for posterity's sake, and also considdering the fact that such lists give more insight into a persons life outside of TMBG I present to you the ten albums I would have with me if it was the only music I could have for the rest of my life (NOTE: this is not necessarily my ten favourite albums, if I chose my ten favorites I would probably be unable to keep my sanity). In no particular order: -John Henry, Tmbg -Apollo 18, Tmbg -Lincoln, Tmbg -Under the Pink, Tori Amos -Boys For Pele Tori Amos -Little Earthquakes Tori Amos -Post Bjork -Crash Dave Matthews Band -Peghead Black Happy -Watermark Enya Will ============================================================= Will nunn WPI Chem. Eng. Comp. Sci. "If it wasn't for dissapointment, I wouldn't have any appointments" -TMBG, Snowball in Hell www PAGE: http://www.wpi.edu/~tanis/ ftp: chesspieceface.res.wpi.edu/ ============================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:41:17 -0400 From: gonzalez@vitaliy.harvard.edu (David Gonzalez) Subject: Re: The high price of fame > > Yay!! Just got my copy of FS, and it only put me back $31!! > If the revues are anything to go by it may not be good, but it > certaintly aint cheap!! > > 10000ft Septic > Is that $31 in American money?!?!?!?!?!?!? I think I speak for a LOT of people when I say: YIKES!!!!! drg ------------------------------ From: mjames@envy.loyola.edu (Matthew James) Subject: Re: Who Writes What Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:49:42 -0400 (EDT) Russ, What do you think of that When It Rains it Snows on Frank O'Toole, awesome huh?! The Ocean Blue are cool. I hear their new album (minus that songwriter guy) is too ballady and not as good, but I have to hear it for myself. I love the last 3 albums! I wish I had seen them in concert. At least they live an hour and a hlf drive from me in Hershey, PA. I was going to say, when I brought up the topic of who wrote what song, I was going only on definitives right from the horses mouths, ie from boots and shows where Flans or Linnell definitely said so-and-so John wrote so-and-so song. Maybe a list can be compiled? I've always wanted to know who wrote each and every song. Matt -- *------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt James polk@tmbg.org Matt.James.K.Polk@tmbg.org mjames@envy.loyola.edu Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America "Cracking toast, Gromit!" New, Official Bruce Campbell Gazette page: http://www.bcgazette.com ------------------------------ From: mjames@envy.loyola.edu (Matthew James) Subject: Re: Who Wrote What (TMBG) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:52:16 -0400 (EDT) coolness, I'd like to compile a list of who wrote what songs, so everyone, send me any messages if you know (for sure) who wrote a particular song. Now I know there are songs where most of us will think "Linnell just had to write that song, there's no way Flans could have written it" or vice versa but unless you have proof (ie heard on a show/ on a boot/ an interview) I don't want to see it. Ok, this sounds fun. See ya, I await messages. Matt -- *------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt James polk@tmbg.org Matt.James.K.Polk@tmbg.org mjames@envy.loyola.edu Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America "Cracking toast, Gromit!" New, Official Bruce Campbell Gazette page: http://www.bcgazette.com ------------------------------ From: mjames@envy.loyola.edu (Matthew James) Subject: Re: The high price of fame Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:55:36 -0400 (EDT) > > > > Yay!! Just got my copy of FS, and it only put me back $31!! > > If the revues are anything to go by it may not be good, but it > > certaintly aint cheap!! > > > > 10000ft Septic > > > > Is that $31 in American money?!?!?!?!?!?!? > I think I speak for a LOT of people when I say: > > YIKES!!!!! It's probably Australian dollars, but he may have had the knowledge and kindness to convertr it for us 8-) But in any case, the John Henry Australian pack w/Live in NY was $34 American (which is worth a little more than Australian bucks ) and that is no small amount. Imports can getr expensive. Actually, though, that Australian import was a double CD and FS is a single CD, so..... I think it must cost mucho money to get CDs down there, ie the high prices. Matt -- *------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt James polk@tmbg.org Matt.James.K.Polk@tmbg.org mjames@envy.loyola.edu Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America "Cracking toast, Gromit!" New, Official Bruce Campbell Gazette page: http://www.bcgazette.com ------------------------------ From: mjames@envy.loyola.edu (Matthew James) Subject: who wrote what Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 12:00:19 -0400 (EDT) I almost forgot, it would be very helpful if you could site where it was said that so-and-so John wrote so-and-so song. If you can't remember that's fine but at least we can all have a reference (so we can take a listen and enjoy) if you do, indeed, know the source. Thanks, Matt -- *------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt James polk@tmbg.org Matt.James.K.Polk@tmbg.org mjames@envy.loyola.edu Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America "Cracking toast, Gromit!" New, Official Bruce Campbell Gazette page: http://www.bcgazette.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 12:11:22 -0400 From: ntodd@uvm-gen.emba.uvm.edu (John Galt) Subject: Re: tmbg-list Digest #2-284 Okay, I feel it's time to say a couple things that have been on my mind, and bothering me quite a bit. First, to defend Apollo 18. Although all of the songs are fused in a thematic-type similarity in musical style, its range is still huge. It is a masterpiece of creativity, and a great musical album. An English teacher of mine once called it 'The Abbey Road for the 90's.' It's one cool teacher that likes they might be giants, ya don't run into many. The most varied section of the album (other than fingertips) is this sequence: Dinner Bell Narrow Your Eyes Hall of Heads Which Describes How You're Feeling See the Constellation I find it difficult to see how anyone could dislike any of these songs. Personally, I think this is probably the strongest song sequence They have ever written. They all have a huge fun factor, great lyrics, great synth sounds, and hold together as amazing pop songs. Personally, I *love* the guitar remixes, they are just amazing creations, all of which I like much more than the original song, I just love the kewl beats They worked in, and I'm very impressed with them, esp. compared to other They remixes. Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love. How can you not adore this song? Those beautiful backing sounds are *so incredable*! I've always considered this one of Their very best short songs, I was very surprised to see it on so many bottom 5 lists. Now for *my* bottom five. This happens to be an idea that I have a little bit of a problem with, just because there isn't a song by Them that I entirely dislike. I like some better than others, and some I don't care to listen to much at all. But often songs that aren't very listenable can be quite interesting, and different songs have different strengths. My list is of songs that I care to listen to least. 5. (She Was A) Hotel Detective (original version) 4. I Can Hear You 3. You'll Miss Me 2. Road Movie To Berlin 1. The End of Spy (or O Do Not Forsake Me, if the end of a song can't count) "Penguins are the most powerful creatures on the planet" said I. "When Penguins rule the world, you and I'll be ducks and living in Venice," you replied in jest. I said, nodding gravely, "Yes, It's unfortunate." And the rest is history... Nathan Todd, aka tenman. Your guide to the Factory Showroom. *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*>> "I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." -Ayn Rand ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 12:11:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Robert Mootrey u Subject: top 5 albums on island Well here are the albums I would need on an island forever. Lincoln (1988) by They Might Be Giants Turnstiles (1976) by Billy Joel The Way I Feel (1966) by Gordon Lightfoot High Winds, White Sky (1971) by Bruce Cockburn Pet Sounds (1966) by The Beach Boys also The Ghosts That Haunt Me (1991) by Crash Test Dummies Close to You (1970) by Carpenters Spontaneous Inventions (1986) by Bobby McFerrin Revolver (1966) by The Beatles -Sean Mootrey (I put the subject in the subject line, so you didn't have to read it!) ------------------------------ From: S0003483@VAX.NIAGARA.EDU Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 12:30:28 -0400 (EDT) Subject: RE: come off it, already! xBefore you criticize They Might Be Giants, think: you could be listening to xHootie--"nice 'normal' music for those rare occasions when I feel cheap and xshallow Never think before you criticize, you might find you are wrong. And if you ARE going to think, FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T think about Hootie..... :) SJL ------------------------------ Subject: Re: your name From: muad.dib@juno.com (David Eckblad) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 12:32:23 EDT On Wed, 16 Oct 1996 20:02:30 -0700 (PDT) Nicole the Wonder Nerd writes: >Mebbe your question stumps people where you are, but the 'net is the >Big >Leagues. Muad'dib, is, of course, the name that Paul Atreides (sp?) >takes >on after he gets loaded on Spice and takes over Dune. >Now guess where MY e-mail came from! :) > >oodle-too, > >nicole the wonder nerd >who is older than she's ever been. >*** Huh?????????????? Me no get.... ------------------------------ From: S0003483@VAX.NIAGARA.EDU Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 12:34:35 -0400 (EDT) Subject: RE: Ten Albums on a deserted island xrhetoric (we all have our own beliefs as to what songs are the best). I believe that is the idea, to find out what everyone else's faves are and compare them to yours SJL ------------------------------ From: Anakin Skywalker Subject: Re: The high price of fame Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:39:14 -0500 (CDT) > Is that $31 in American money?!?!?!?!?!?!? > I think I speak for a LOT of people when I say: I was over in Australia last Christmas, and CDs were generally about thirty bucks Australian, which works out to, say, 27 or so in US dollars... I really desperately want to spend the rest of my life in Melbourne, but I don't think I'd be able to cope with those prices... However, I suppose I could just hire CDs (yay! Australia terms! it's all coming back!) for cheap, which would be okay, and then I could have a really fluid CD collection... Hrm.... May the force be with you. Justification: / "Within its deep infinity I saw ingathered, and bound by DYSLEXIA / love in one volume, the scattered leaves of all the ~"'`'`'~"'`"~"~"^ universe." - Dante *'`'*.,.'`'*.,.*'`'*.,.*'`'* WOW: Vortex http://www.atw.fullfeed.com/~pez -- Anakin Skywalker -- anakin@vader.snc.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 13:43:50 +0000 From: Heather Tinkler Organization: The University of Oklahoma Subject: island with a twist.. My 10 cd that I would take on a desert island..(i suppose I wouldn't take as much food or something.) 1.The Sugurplastic.. "Bang, the earth is round." 2.October Project.."October Project" 3.The MELLOWDRAMATIC Wallflowers (NOT THE WALLFLOWERS)..." Continental Breakfast." 4.5. and 6. TMBG "lincoln" "factory showroom", and " Apollo 18" 7. Velocity Girl... " gilded stars and zealous hearts" 8. The Muppet Movie Soundtrack 9. The Glory of Gershwin 10. Beatles.. "Abby Road." songs? XTC.. "Dear God", and "Grass" TMBG.. "birdhouse", "narrow your eyes", "untill my head" Sugurcubes.."eat the menu" Benny Goodman.. "Sing sing sing with a Swing" Mazzy Star.. "fade into you" Kermit.."Rainbow Connection" Beatles.." Here comes the sun" Book? The Complete Illustrated Works of Lewis Carroll.. and Breakfast at Tiffanys by Truman Capote instead of the free Bible.. AND! in the tradition of Kids in the Hall.. Person! Mush alert!!! wee ewww wee ewww!! <--- siren noises no question.. my boyfriend Richard.... O;) (the ongoing gag is that he'll say.. "sexxy!" and I say.."stop!!" and he says "no!" this is why I like S-E-X-X-Y... we were doing this way before I had even heard of it.. anyway..) Heather.. " I was out by myself in the graveyard..I was doing an interpretive dance...." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 15:02:45 -0400 From: ntodd@uvm-gen.emba.uvm.edu (John Galt) Subject: the 10 albums... This is a topic I quite like, but I'll need a minute to think... Okay, the 10 albums I'd most like to have when in a deserted situation (say, if I were stranded on mars, with only myself, some food, and a good old cd player run by solar power & batter back-up: Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits Nirvana--MTV Unplugged, Live in NY They Might Be Giants--Flood Tori Amos--Little Earthquakes Pixies--Doolittle They Might Be Giants--Then: the Early Years (counts as two cds) R.E.M.--Eponymous U2--Joshua Tree Counting Crows--August & Everything After Some notes on my selections: By including the Then 2cd set, i get Pink, Lincoln, & Misc T, plus some tmbg xtras. This is a good chunk of the 'core tmbg experience.' I add flood entirely for the fun factor, it may get a little old after a while, but I'd make sure not to listen to it much. Apollo 18 isn't on the list because I needed to keep flood on for the fun factor. REM & U2 are on there just because they are great rock music, pure and simple. Simon & Garfunkel are amazing stuff, soothing & skillfull, this is an important lp to have. The nirvana unplugged cd is their best, IMO, and It has such a variety of tunes while still keeping that Kurt feel, an album I'd need on mars. The Pixies album is there to capture at least a touch of that 'rocking' feel I'd need now and then. Doolittle is also just an amazing album. Little Earthquakes is probably one of the most emotional records of all time, I couldn't imagine being deserted without a copy. Finally, the counting crows are the most beautifully poetic band I've ever had the honor of listening to. My list couldn't fit their 2nd release, but I am very tempted to find a spot for it. Of course, once i was deserted and had all these albums, I would die of wanting others that i forgot to list...oh well, I guess I'll just have to make sure not to get stranded on mars... Nathan Todd, aka tenman. Your guide to the Factory Showroom. *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*>> "I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." -Ayn Rand ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 14:18:08 -0500 (CDT) From: harris james andrew Subject: Desert island discs...my two cents Essential Albums, in my opinion... TMBG -- Lincoln. TMBG -- First Album (I still don't get this pink/big blue dog stuff) Husker Du -- Warehouse Songs And Stories Misfits -- Walk Among Us Descendants -- Milo Goes To College Quicksand -- Manic Compression Orange 9mm -- Driver Not Included Orange 9mm -- Tragic Bob Mould -- Workbook Sugar -- Copper Blue Jim ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 15:26:02 -0400 From: kristen-maxwell@utulsa.edu (The Denominator) Subject: Fulfilling a dream Hey GiantHeads, I am an idealistic college student who REALLY wants to see TMBG play at my school. Yeah, I know, who doesn't, right? But seriously, I work on both the newspaper staff and teh campus radio station, and think these institutions could help pave the way for the Johns showing up here. The radio station wants to bring some bands here, and we have ties with the student association (the almighty group in charge of the precious money), and I'm trying to figure out a way to somehow fulfill my dream of having them play here. So this is what I'm wanting... I could use some input as to: 1)How much it costs to get them booked 2)Who I would contact to get this whole thing going 3)When they could possibly do a show (In Tulsa, Oklahoma) 4)Anything that could help me fulfill this task. You're all probably going to scoff and say that it can't happen, but I figure that i should at least try my damndest for something i want. So if you have any kind of experience, expertice, ideas, or opinions, please let me know. Kris Maxwell ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 96 15:43 EDT From: kbrodbec@remcen.ehhs.cmich.edu (Kirsten Brodbeck) Subject: Re: List Deja-Vu > 1. The Blue Meanie from the Beatles' movie, "The Yellow Submarine" >wouldn't >be as cool if it was a Pink Meanie "And remember - Heaven is blue... TOMORROW THE WORLD!!" Kirsten (who has a paper mache Blue Meanie in her bedroom) -- ______________________________________________________________________________ "Pretend I *did* blow up the school. All the schools." -J.D. "Heathers" Kirsten Brodbeck AKA Crow kbrodbec@remcen.ehhs.cmich.edu ------------------------------ From: KdsInThHal@aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 15:57:54 -0400 Subject: Re: Nuclear holocaust must haves >>> (I'm never getting stuck on a desserted island) << Weird eh? I'm readin this as KITH is on, and the skit is: "If you were stranded on a dester island, and oculd only bring one book, album, and person..." too trippy... ~sarah :) http://members.aol.com/kdsinthhal/site.html ------------------------------ From: KdsInThHal@aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 15:58:03 -0400 Subject: wow.. first off, i unsubscribed from the digest, and subscribed to the list, and was inundated with gazillions of email every 2 seconds!! Needless to say- I'm switching back to the digest! Hoo! Okay, and on a cooler note: I heard Mono Puff on the radio this afternoon! Cool, no? And it was "Nixon's The One" even! Sure, I would have picked a different one, but still.. Jee, I love it during the few hours they switch over to high school stations! ;) AND HOW could I forget... I got my TMBNewsletter today! Yaaay! Oh yeah, if anyone's interested in the albums *I'd* have to bring along to that desert island, it's been up at: http://members.aol.com/kdsinthhal/cds.html since the last time this thing was brought up. ~sarah :) http://members.aol.com/kdsinthhal/site.html ------------------------------ From: KdsInThHal@aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 15:58:04 -0400 Subject: Re: NYC Lyrics yeah, I just don't understand one thing though.. Why can't they get permission to write the NYC lyrics with the rest? I mean, in the newsletter, on that box I'm cutting out very shortly, NYC is the only one missing. They did it on Istanbul.. do they have to wait for that 30 year "public domain" rule? Because, I haerd Cub and TMBG were friends or such, you'd think it wouldn't be a problem.. Maybe it's just those nasty record company rules. ~sarah, antsy for the double cd!! :) http://members.aol.com/kdsinthhal/site.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 15:59:39 -0400 From: susan lyon Subject: top-n-bottom 5 and desert islands so delete if you're sick of hey, if you don't wanna read this, no one is forcing you, ya know? i think it's kinda neat to see what songs other people like and don't like. top 5 tmbg songs. this is tough cos i don't have a big list of all the their songs in front of my to choose from. but these are the ones i can think of off the top of my head. oh, and i don't have factory showroom yet, so nothing from that is on any of these lists. dinner bell snail shell rhythm section want ad sleeping in the flowers kiss me son of god if it were a top ten, i'd also include... james k polk (from istanbul) the famous polka chess piece face turn around the statue got me high bottom 5 tmbg songs. don't flame me. it's just a matter of taste, ya know? you'll miss me santa's beard the guitar (and all remixes) stormy pinkness alienation's for the rich stranded on a desert island disks - this is a toughie! i'm trying to pick stuff that is sorta representative of the music i own and like and wouldn't be able to survive without. this is mostly in order, in case anyone just wanted top 5 or top 8 or whatever. the top ten *songs* would be almost impossible!! 1. "hatful of hollow" the smiths 2. "lion and the cobra" sinead o'connor 3. "skankin' around the world" a really good ska compilation 4. "se tu m'ame (if you love me)" cecilia bartoli 5. "apollo 18" tmbg 6. "the gift of tears" revolutionary army of the infant jesus 7. "the best of the chieftans" the chieftans 8. "death and resurrection" by a group of monks whose name i can't remember. much better those santo domingo guys, tho. :) 9. the soundtrack from "the princess bride" 10. "give me convenience or give me death" dead kennedys i like this thread! really! it's neato! unrelated thing: this guy i know won hootie/tmbg tickets, and i'm sooooooo jealous!!! excuse me whilst i crawl back into my shell... soozen *------------------------------------- yo ho ho and a bottle of diet vernors mozzer@umich.edu the.statue@tmbg.org *------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 15:01:11 -0500 (EST) From: Someone Famous Subject: more island discs Hey All, Tori Amos..............Boys for Pele Apex Twin..............Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 Bjork..................Post Nine Inch Nails........The Downward Spiral Violent Femmes.........Slash Smashing Pumpkins......Gish They Might Be Giants...Lincoln Flood Macross Plus Vol.2 Original Soundtrack never mind the mainstream...The Best of MTV's 120 Minutes Vol. 1 -Brian ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 13:17:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Nicole the Wonder Nerd Subject: known writer of songs + OAT >From: mjames@sloth.loyola.edu (Matthew James) >Subject: known writer of songs >Date: Wed, 16 Oct 1996 21:10:57 -0400 (EDT) > >While we're on the subject of who wrote what, let's all say the songs we >KNOW FOR SURE are written by one John or the other. (I hope I don't >burn myself for stating a wrong one ;) >Here goes: >Ok, anymore? >Matt Yah. "The Statue Got Me High"-- Linnell. On _Live in NYC_ he says he wrote it. Whoever posted the _2001: A Space Odessey_ interp of "Statue"-- THANK YOU! It's a *terriffic* interp, and I fully plan to use it in the essay on _2001_ I have to turn in this Friday. Submit it to the archive! >> Birdhouse in your Soul--Linnell >> Ok, anymore? >> Matt >> >I thought one time Lin said "we" when he was talking about the writing of >Birdhouse. Something like "when we wrote it." I could be wrong but I don't >think so. You didn't say how you knew Lin wrote this himself. >Take it easy > -Wubba Linnell wrote a letter for the TMBG info club about a year back. It's called "Life in Hell's Kitchen", and it's about his years in some god-forsaken part of NYC. In it he says that he wrote Birdhouse. Check it out, it's a good read! Speaking of which, anyone gotten the new newsletter? Its presence has not yet graced my house and filled my heart with gladness. (FS's has, but that's a different story.) >At 05:25 PM 10/16/96 -0400, you wrote: >>I notice when going through the top five and bottom five song lists for >>about the umpteenth time, that this pattern follows: >>Top songs: >> >>Bottom songs: >> >>Why is this? > >The main reason for this would be that Linnell is the better songwriter of >the two. >(Better put on my flame-resistant suit...) Pass me a flame-reistant suit, too-- I happen to share that opinion. I read somewhere that Flans is more interested in lyrics, and Linnell is more interested in the music. I'm not sure about that, but I do know that I tend to like Linnell's songs much more than Flanny's. Listen to the Hello CDs State Songs and Mono Puff-- one pure Linnell, one pure Flansburgh. State Songs majorly kicks some serious @$$, whereas Mono Puff tries too hard to be tounge-in-cheek. I was severely impressed by State Songs, and sincerely underwhelmed by Mono Puff. The end result? I'll snap up State Songs and House of Mayors as soon as they hit the stands, but Mono Puff has been out since June and I haven't bought it yet. That said, LONG LIVE TMBG!! BOTH Johns! Let them rock on forever! And, above all, LET THEM COME TO THE SACRAMENTO AREA SOOOOOOON! Because I get really bitter whenever I read a post that says, "Well, this was my 89th show and it was pretty good. I got to meet the Johns again, and I taped the show..." On the same note, if anyone has boots of ANY live performance (excluding Live in NYC) I am interested in trading. I've got Hello, a few of the singles (I(NC), WDTSS?, DLS, BtS), and... hmm... not much else, actually. If that doesn't suit, I'll gladly provide blank tapes, postage, and endless adoration for anyone who would be willing to make tapes for me... --nicole the wonder nerd who, for some weird reason, *likes* XTCvAA, even though it's exactly the kind of song she hates. *** ana.ng@tmbg.org nnicole@tmbg.org nmcarlson@ucdavis.edu "I resemble only half the things I say I don't. The other half resemble me." --James Thurber Visit the (badly dated) City of Nicolopolis! http://www.hooked.net/users/nnicole -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- GCS/L d? s: a--- C++>$ U P L W++ N+ K+ w(-) M- PS+(++) Y+ PGP- t X+++ R tv-- b+++ DI++++ D-- G e h !r x? ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 16:21:36 -0400 From: ".-*-,.,-*-,.Amy,.-*-,.,-*-,." Subject: Ad For Factory Showroom (: Hiyas, guess what. I just got my new Rolling Stone magazine in the mail, and it has an ad for Factory Showroom w/ a sorta big pic of the Johns wearing black suits! Its the one with 2pac on the cover...and Bejez, if you're reading this, it also has a lil thing about Pere Ubu in it :) ~~~~~>= AmY =A7*=A7*=A7*=A7*=A7*=A7*=A7*=A7*=A7*=A7*=A7*=A7* Amy@tmbg.org Seta@spectra.net www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/3540 >>>>>seta on IRC<<<<<< "This message means nothing=20 more than "meow" to an aminal" =A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=A7=20 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 96 16:41 EDT From: kbrodbec@remcen.ehhs.cmich.edu (Kirsten Brodbeck) Subject: Re: Unrelated Thing > I first heard Unrelated Thing on a radio broadcast of a rock >concert that featured many rock bands. TMBG mentioned that they were going >to play a song They were still working on, and They played Unrelated Thing. >At the time, it sounded cool, just a regular ballad without that goofy >country twang-tone to it. Presented that way, it was the lyrics that stood >out to me the most, and the lyrics were funny You know, I've always loved the lyrics to this song. The tune and the way it's sung just gets on my nerves. I love the part that goes "No you won't, no you won't' said the woman to the man, 'I'll be thinking of an unrelated thing." It's like she's telling this guy that he can never know what she's thinking by her expression, because she's thinking of an unrelated thing, and she's very proud of this fact. Kirsten -- ______________________________________________________________________________ "Pretend I *did* blow up the school. All the schools." -J.D. "Heathers" Kirsten Brodbeck AKA Crow kbrodbec@remcen.ehhs.cmich.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 16:16:34 CST Subject: Top Albums on Island From: i_forgot@juno.com (Marcel ? Marceau) My albums on the island would have to be: - Grant Lee Buffalo -- Copperopolis - Grant Lee Buffalo -- Fuzzy - Grant Lee Buffalo -- Mighty Joe Moon - Every TMBG except John Henry. - Pixies -- Doolittle. - Tori Amos -- Under the Pink and Little Earthquakes - Anything by Henry Rollins. - Weird Al's Box Set ------------------------------ From: vdanklef@facstaff.wisc.edu Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 16:37:29 -0600 Subject: Re: concert brooms Someone wrote: >Someone was saying 'hey, why don't we start bringing brooms?' now it seems >to be happening. >If They ever come near my town, I would definately bring a broom. (In fact >I had thought about this before the post was made. (and yes, I had made the >connection to BNL's kraft dinner also.) I Think it would be cool. Speaking of BNL, they did search our pockets and purses for Mac & Cheese packages upon entering the show last week in Madison, Wisc. (Of course, a few noodles were smuggled through and thrown.) But I tend to agree with Erik Chuss who wrote that "the chances of security letting people bring a long wooden/plastic stick into the concert would be quite small!" Of course, now I'm showing my age---> "You could put someone's eye out with that thing." Vix Vicki Sullivan Danklefsen *------------------------------------------------- CHS Public Affairs 758 WARF (608) 263-3466 610 Walnut Fax: (608) 263-6394 Madison WI 53705 ------------------------------ From: Matthew Coon Subject: Re: Prejusticed People (who writes what again...) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 16:33:07 -0500 (EST) > > Subliminal? With such a prominent accordion part, it could only have > been written by Linnell... > > Which just makes it all the more ironic, I guess, that Flans wrote it. They have said this in interviews. As for the general "U write, U sing" rule of thumb, Thay have substantiated that in interviews, as well. I have heard them say that this is generally what happens (Subliminal was given as an example of one of the exceptions to this, as Flans wrote and Linnell sings.) I think one reference for this might be a moderately recent WXRT interview, but I would have to check on that to be sure. m@t ------------------------------ From: CWLKNSN@wvnvaxa.wvnet.edu Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 17:33:51 -0400 (EDT) Subject: hi Organization: West Virginia Network i am new but enough about me i purchased an australian release of john henry here in my hometown of morgantown west virginia. this is a john henry double album with live stuff on the second disc albeit 6 songss for a total of 17 minutes...... anyway considering i paid 35$ for it i wondered if any of you have heard of it or have it......it claims to be a tour edition... anyway sammy ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 14:51:27 -0700 From: Kenneth Leicht Subject: Re: 1st song I heard To answer Jenn's question... Is the first TMBG song I heard one of my favorites. Well the first song I ever heard by them was DONT LET'S START. A classic but not my all time favorite. The second one...PUPPET HEAD is definitely near the top. Herne ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 14:50:25 -0700 From: Colin Ferm Organization: Contra Costa Newspapers Subject: Bombshelter Company keeping Albums If I could only take ten albums with me when I went into a bombshelter ot to a desert island or what ever it would have to be: 1. Misc T 2. Lincoln 3. Frank Black 4. Frank Black- Teenager of the year 5. Nine Inch Nail -Pretty Hate Machine 6. Weezer 7. Toad The Wet Sproket - Duclnea(?) 8. Appollo 18 9. Gravity Kills 10. Sarah McLaughlin - Solace -- "Though I still prefer a human beings company, It pales before the monolith that towers over me," -They Might Be Giants, The Statue Colin (Spud) Ferm Contra Costa Times (www.hotcoco.com) (510) 977-8483 cferm@hotcoco.infi.net spud@tmbg.org spud@hooked.net (www.hooked.net/~spud/) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 14:55:59 -0700 From: Colin Ferm Organization: Contra Costa Newspapers Subject: I know the power of the force! I now know the power of the darkside of the force! I got paid yesterday and bought Factory Showroom. Old news by now, but I felt stupid having everyone else on the list saying what they thought about it, and having no idea what you were talking about. I woun't do the tired old "Here's what I thought..." routine. Instead I'll just list the tracks I find myself drawn to. 2. Till My Head Falls Off 5. Metal Detector 6. New York City 9. Spiraling Shape 11. Pet Name I like all, but those are what my index finger tend to push the back button on. -- "Though I still prefer a human beings company, It pales before the monolith that towers over me," -They Might Be Giants, The Statue Colin (Spud) Ferm Contra Costa Times (www.hotcoco.com) (510) 977-8483 cferm@hotcoco.infi.net spud@tmbg.org spud@hooked.net (www.hooked.net/~spud/) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: The high price of fame From: exquisitedeadguy@juno.com (Dragon Lord) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 17:51:37 EDT On Thu, 17 Oct 1996 18:39:21 +1000 "Maria, Nick" writes: >Yay!! Just got my copy of FS, and it only put me back $31!! >If the revues are anything to go by it may not be good, but it >certaintly aint cheap!! > >10000ft Septic > My god, where do you live to have to get FS at $31??? I got my copy at media play for $9.75 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 18:15:16 -0400 () From: BlueDawg Subject: Re: Prejusticed People (who writes what again...) On Thu, 17 Oct 1996, Matthew Coon wrote: > > > > Subliminal? With such a prominent accordion part, it could only have > > been written by Linnell... > > > > > > Which just makes it all the more ironic, I guess, that Flans wrote it. > They have said this in interviews. Subliminal's lyrics were written by Flansburgh, and the music by Linnell. S. M. Bergeron, idiotnot@visi.net, bluedawg@tmbg.org http://users.visi.net/~idiotnot Jeep Driver ObWittySig "Coffee is a Social Disorder"--John Sidney Linnell ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 18:23:48 -0400 () From: BlueDawg Subject: Re: Nuclear holocaust must haves On Thu, 17 Oct 1996 KdsInThHal@aol.com wrote: > >>> (I'm never getting stuck on a desserted island) << > > Weird eh? I'm readin this as KITH is on, and the skit is: "If you were > stranded on a dester island, and oculd only bring one book, album, and > person..." Book: How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by Harry Browne Album: Learning to Flinch -- Warren Zevon Person: my girlfriend S. M. Bergeron, idiotnot@visi.net, bluedawg@tmbg.org http://users.visi.net/~idiotnot Jeep Driver ObWittySig "Coffee is a Social Disorder"--John Sidney Linnell ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Alice meets Madness From: superuprecht@juno.com (Ike L. Ruprecht) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 18:22:48 EDT On Wed, 16 Oct 1996 15:08:43 -0700 Melissa Cowan writes: >Ike L. Ruprecht wrote: > >> 8. XTC vs. Adam Ant - Exactly a good example of what Madness would sound >> like if Alice Cooper was in their band, this is not a good thing. Rock >> on Flansburgh. Rating: Total Crap >> >Well, I like the song and the album. It's not one of Their best, but >it's still good. Anyways, what's wrong with this song, Madness, or >Alice Cooper. I seem to remember a song about Alice on JH. Hmm... There's absolutely nothing with Madness or Alice Cooper, but there's something absolutely wrong with this song and something very wrong with the combination of Alice Cooper and Madness, which is what I think this song sounds like... =========================a spooky man named Ike========================= The Web: http://www.inca.de/user/ruprecht/ The E-mail: Ruprecht@tmbg.org The Annoying Quote: "Madness is all in the mind" =================I wish that I could jump out of my .sig================ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 19:17:02 -0400 From: Evan Chakroff Subject: Re: Why top Fives??? At 07:30 PM 10/16/96 EDT, you wrote: >Why are there so many people who have to put their top 5 favorite songs?? The Law Of Fives -><- (Hail Eris, and whatnot) And.... THE TOP FIVE REASONS TO HAVE TOP FIVES ====================================== 5. Five fingers 4. 32 Footsteps (3+2=5 ; 'Borrowed' from Mr Flippy's 23 page; But plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery 3. Five 'official' members of TMBG 2. Track #5 - Metal Detector! (As well as NyQuil Driver, Dead, and Mammal (and some others that I don't like as much.)) AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON TO HAVE TOP FIVES: 1. Five snowmen on The Little-Man-In-The-Bottom-Right-Hand-Corner Album CD!!! -- Evan Chakroff The Internet Mystery Spot . <-- http://www.GeoCities.com/SoHo/4545 "It's as much fun as a barrel of monkees... and a shotgun." -Another Satisfied Customer ------------------------------ From: John Murray Subject: Stuff Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 19:25:31 -0400 (EDT) Well time to join you all a write my 5 favorite TMBG songs, in no particular order: Don't lets Start Ana Ng She Was a Hotel Detective (The version off on the Back to skull EP) See the Constatation Metal Detector Of course this changes so often it's not really worth it. I don't know if this was mentioned here or not but there a web page about cub at: http://www.io.org/~cygnals/cub/cubhome.html It has a downloadable copy of the original version of New York City. The page also says the cub will be touring with TMBG!! This sounds cool. On a sorta related note I heard the tail end of another cub, I think it was Hello Kitty, on the VA Tech's radio station(WUVT), It sound cool. Today I called up the station and requested New York City and they played it. The song is cool, although different from TMBG's version on Factory Showroom. If there a college station(or other cool station) you may want to request this song. From the web I mentioned above, cub looks like a real cool band, so check it out. Oh yeah for you Weird AL fans AL tv is on tonight at 8pm(sortta late now) -- John Murray -=- jmurray@vt.edu johns@tmbg.org -=- http://acm.vt.edu/~jmurray New Music by They Might Be Giants! ->http://jmurray.campus.vt.edu/tmbg/ The Unofficial Pritchard Home Page ->http://csugrad.cs.vt.edu/~murray/pritchard ------------------------------ From: bartush@calweb.com Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 04:28:26 -0700 Subject: Factory Showroom Ad in Rolling Stone Has anyone else noticed the 1/4 page ad for Factory Showroom in the latest issue of Rolling Stone? It has a picture of the Johns seemingly doing some sort of strange walk with a small shot of the album cover in the corner. So Elektra actually IS promoting this album? It's on page 34, for those who care. Matt in Sacramento ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 19:28:50 -0400 From: Evan Chakroff Subject: Re: The Anthem of TMBG + an Essay on Content >5. New York City <--------I cannot figure out how everyone likes this song. >say the least. Such examples of this are: "And I was glad to hear from you >'cause I was all alone" or "But the best thing about New >York City is you and me". NYC's lyrics are about as substantial as a "roses >are red" poem or...yes...even....a MARIAH CAREY SONG. Now if that isn't the >ultimate slander, I don't know what is. > >Now that I've alienated most of you.... > >Casey What about "Everyone's your friend in New York City" That one just strikes me as funny -- Evan Chakroff The Internet Mystery Spot . <-- http://www.GeoCities.com/SoHo/4545 "It's as much fun as a barrel of monkees... and a shotgun." -Another Satisfied Customer ------------------------------ From: S0003483@VAX.NIAGARA.EDU Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 19:42:10 -0400 (EDT) Subject: RE: First Song Some one was wondering if our first songs heard were still on our favorite five lists. I guess similar to what most people who have answered so far, I would have to say that Mine aren't isn't in the top five, but would be in the top ten, or fifteen at worste. I first heard Them on Flood in '90 or '91, something around there. My first song was either Birdhouse or Particle Man. Both are great songs, but I don't think either are in my top five. SJL ------------------------------ From: relph@mando.engr.sgi.com (John Relph) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 17:18:17 -0700 Subject: Bow Wow Woof Annabella Lwin was born on October 31, 1952. In 1982 she would have been 30 years old. Finally got my copy of _Factory Showroom_ today. Slick packaging. But what elsde is new. I haven't listened to it, yet. Nice to see XTC in big bold letters on the back cover. -- John ------------------------------ From: Jordan1c@aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 20:29:04 -0400 Subject: just wanna say... I GOT MY INFO CLUB NEWSLETTER TODAY!!!!! it arrived in the mail,and i was so happy my head started caving in!!!! "could i have another basket of bread please?" LEX, (who i do a perfect imitation of) from KIDS IN THE HALL! ------------------------------ From: "Maria, Nick" Subject: RE: The high price of fame Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 10:33:32 +1000 No, sorry, it's in plain old aussie dollars. At roughly 79c/$1 it's about $24.50 American. 10000ft Septic >---------- >From: gonzalez@vitaliy.harvard.edu[SMTP:gonzalez@vitaliy.harvard.edu] >Sent: Thursday, 17 October, 1996 11:41 PM >To: Maria, Nick >Cc: tmbg-list@tmbg.org >Subject: Re: The high price of fame > > >> >> Yay!! Just got my copy of FS, and it only put me back $31!! >> If the revues are anything to go by it may not be good, but it >> certaintly aint cheap!! >> >> 10000ft Septic >> > > Is that $31 in American money?!?!?!?!?!?!? >I think I speak for a LOT of people when I say: > >YIKES!!!!! > >drg > ------------------------------ From: Kate Subject: desert islands and other such nonsense Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 20:38:42 -0400 alright, so i guess it's finally time for me to reveal my top 10 desert-island CD's. hmm.....this is tough deee-lite.....world clique rem........eponymous rem........NAIHF tmbg.......john henry tmbg.......FS squeeze.......singles: 45's and under elvis costello and the attractions..........greatest hits bjork.......debut g. love and special sauce..........coast to coast motel tmbg.........misc. T of course, this list will most likely change by tomorrow. not to mention, i haven't even started to get into my list of tapes :P kate ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 17:44:38 -0700 From: J Chen Subject: Re: Prejusticed People This one thread seems to be surfing along well, so I'd thought I'd post a long-winded (so please don't read if you don't have the patience) commentary, complete with a wacky stretch. What I see happening to Linnell and Flansburgh here is the exact same thing I saw happen to... Lennon and McCartney. Yes, my two favorite bands in all the world are The Beatles and They Might Be Giants. I've noticed that successful creative partners follow a similar pattern, and these two reinforce that thought. Beatles fans, on the majority, love the work of Lennon and disdain the work of McCartney. Lennon is seen as a genius and pure songwriter; a true artist. McCartney is seen as the product machine, who cranks out songs longer on instant appeal than artistic merit. Lennon's songs are all simple and similar, with a cynical yet witty attitude one can easily discern; they naturally flow from his mind to his voice. McCartney's are more experimental in the range of styles of music attempted: corny, obscure, daring, or otherwise; they are hard-worked on, the fruits of exciting exploration. One person without the other leads to too much saturation of one particular musical pattern... yet, somehow, Lennon always comes out to be the preferred one, whether the two are together or separated. Praise for Lennon surges in waves, leading to the impending undeserved criticism of McCartney's work, simply because he was Lennon's musical partner. With Linnell as Lennon and Flansburgh as McCartney, I could practically repeat the above paragraph and still make sense. I am the most objective person on the planet, yet I see the pattern show up when I list my own faves: Lennon songs occupy much of the high spots on my list, and Linnell does the same for TMBG songs. I love them both (in each of their groups), so why does this happen? I can't answer that, but I will talk about what I find distinct about the styles of Linnell and Flansburgh. Linnell's songs are more similar to each other than Flansburgh's. Linnell's songs are mostly about defiant, unfortunate, off-the-wall characters; his words flow out like a stream, in a constant, addicting rhythm; the instrumentation on a Linnell matters much less than his words, his lyrical structures, and his voice. Flansburgh's songs become more and more wide-ranging by the minute. He seems more willing to try new, strange, and unpopular things because of his genuine love of music. Ideas are probably streaming from his mind, and it shows in his songs, which are a lot about the strange dysfunctional relationships of couples. Again, I could've substituted Lennon and McCartney and the above sentences (except the parts about what the songs are mostly about) still work. Maybe what this says is that many people prefer the purity of a concentrated flow of one genius part of someone's creative mind over a meld of pleasing yet seemingly unrelated group of well-researched product. Who knows? And remember that this pattern shows up elsewhere... we are not successful in our concerned creative field (yet?), but I can already see the pattern emerging between me and my partner/brother. I'm the Flansburgh/McCartney of us. I slave over different versions of product while he naturally flows from one, much more witty, style. I'm curious to see if you can spot this in other partners, so e-mail me; I would love to hear examples. And I am so so SO sorry for this really long post. Delete key at ready... ====================== | from LVJeff |_________________________________________________ | 1996 2-Cycle Rat | You, with the dark mood, and prone to brood / | alecson@ucla.edu | You, with lack of pride, and prone to hide / ====================== You, desiring praise, yet prone to laze / You, you are not the one ------------------------------ Subject: This Whole Post is an OAT + OAT + UWA From: superuprecht@juno.com (Ike L. Ruprecht) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 19:27:49 EDT OAT: Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play, no, that's not right. Yesterday, the nicest gal you'll ever meet, Amy (agreen@moo.onu.edu ?) again graced the hellish inferno known to it's inhabitants as "Michigan" *shudder*. This time however, things worked out swell. You will remember from two weeks ago (if you were even here yet) that Amy came to Malicious Michigan to see Wally Pleasant and to meet (meat? no) my elder brother and me. Last time she *got* to meet us and that was alright, but that was about the only thing that happened right. This week, however, everything went swimmingly (what the hell? where am I getting the words from?). Amy showed up at my house around 7:30 and we departed for the show at about 7:30. We went to the show and Wally played a really great set. It included "In the Jungle" with the made up verse "In the spaceship, the big silver spaceship, the redneck gets an anal probe" and many others. He also played "Bad Kid Show Host" which has a little something about the sun being 93 million miles away. Anyway, great show. So next we left the show and drove around Lansing for 15 minutes looking for the fabled cows of my brother and then returned to my house. We sat on my porch for about an hour and I showed Amy the contents of my wallet (as I am told Mike and Alex also did, must be a make dork thing). I then gave Amy three things: 1) My scary school picture, my head is floating (if you don't believe me, wait till it's up on Mr. Flippy's Red Light Fun Time Happy Hour, or any variation of that name). 2) The first draft of a poem (straight from the pages of my insidious spiral notebook) that is still crappy after it's second draft and also the only poem I've ever had two drafts of. 3) A sample of my writing of Russian script. 4) This just needed to be a top four list. We talked for a while longer and then, and then, Amy left back to that damned land known as Ohio, alas, no one was tied up in a basement. OAT: I just wanted to say a little something about the muppets as some one told me not to. I must say that if you did not want this thread started you are very unlucky that I even skimmed your message while spending 45 minutes deleting all my list mail. UWA (UnWanted Advert): I'd like to take this small amount of your time to promote my Ben Folds Five page _Jackson Cannery_ the _third_ (and in my opinion [and probably others], second best) BF5 page on the web. It's been around a while and Magical Armchair readers probably have seen it, but if you have not heard of this supercool band, come check it out. Also, for those who have heard of the band, I will soon be starting up a page that will make it easier for you to access bootlegs of that band. The URL: http://www.inca.de/user/ruprecht/bf5/ . =========================a spooky man named Ike========================= The Web: http://www.inca.de/user/ruprecht/ The E-mail: Ruprecht@tmbg.org The Annoying Quote: "Madness is all in the mind" =================I wish that I could jump out of my .sig================ ------------------------------ From: bartush@calweb.com Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 05:50:17 -0700 Subject: Misc. Dressed only in clothes From my head to my toes This is the way the e-mail goes: Ok, having mostly only read about the song "S-E-X-X-Y", I have a question: How is it pronounced? Is is pronounced like the word "sexy" or do you actually SAY "ess-ee-eks-eks-why"? Is there a "correct" way? Upon further examination of the lyrics to "Until My Head Falls Off" (which is definitely the third coolest song on the new album), it almost seems to me as though it could be about someone committing suicide. It definitely takes place in the bathroom, which I suppose is where a suicide could possibly take place, and the narrator did eat 47 Advil. It also talks about seeing "a broken figure silhouetted on the wall" and "I won't be done until my head falls off" MIGHT refer to death. I haven't really reconciled all of the lyrics to this theory, but I was just wondering if it makes any kind of sense to anyone but me. Is Viper an actual name of a car alarm (in "I Can Hear You")? I'm getting faint recollections about the movie "Robocop" which, I'm almost sure, had a commercial-spoof about a car security system that actually zapped the burgler with enough electricity to make him a smoking carcass. And I seem to remember a snake in the logo of that commercial, and I almost even remember it being called Viper. Am I high, or did this really happen? Oh, and there are some new additions from the new album to the list of words/phrases only the Johns would use: "ignore the mountain of discarded falderal" - Metal Detector ("falderal" isn't even in my dictionary - is this a word?) "austere, severe, he held few people dear" - James K. Polk (for some reason, I LOVE this line) "stigmatized" - How Can I Sing Like A Girl? (most bands probably couldn't even pronounce this word, much less work it into a song) I can't wait to see They Might Be Giants in Sacramento tomorrow, it will be my tenth time seeing them this year...oh...no...wait, that's just an exerpt from a dream I had once. DOH! Matt, in the wasteland "Excess ain't rebellion You're drinkin' what they're sellin'" -Cake ------------------------------ From: Christi587@aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 21:30:17 -0400 Subject: Re: Misc. xOk, having mostly only read about the song "S-E-X-X-Y", I have a xquestion: How is it pronounced? Is is pronounced like the word "sexy" or xdo you actually SAY "ess-ee-eks-eks-why"? Is there a "correct" way? Flans spells it, both in the song and when introducing it. That's probably as close to correct as you'll get. x("falderal" isn't even in my dictionary - is this a word?) From Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged (I always knew it'd come in handy some day): falderal (n.) 1. meaningless syllables forming the refrain of various old songs 2. mere nonsense; foolish talk or ideas 3. a trifle; gimcrack; gewgaw I guess any of these would make equally little sense in the song. :) --Christy ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 21:32:11 -0400 () From: BlueDawg Subject: Re: Prejusticed People On Thu, 17 Oct 1996, J Chen wrote: > This one thread seems to be surfing along well, so I'd thought I'd post a > long-winded (so please don't read if you don't have the patience) > commentary, complete with a wacky stretch. > > What I see happening to Linnell and Flansburgh here is the exact > same thing I saw happen to... Lennon and McCartney. Yes, my two favorite > bands in all the world are The Beatles and They Might Be Giants. I've > noticed that successful creative partners follow a similar pattern, and > these two reinforce that thought. I must say that, IMHO, you're reading way too much into it. S. M. Bergeron, idiotnot@visi.net, bluedawg@tmbg.org http://users.visi.net/~idiotnot Jeep Driver ObWittySig "Coffee is a Social Disorder"--John Sidney Linnell ------------------------------ Subject: Re: The high price of fame Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 11:36:44 +1000 (EST) From: "yublocka" Once upon a time there was a person called Matthew James...... > > YIKES!!!!! > It's probably Australian dollars, but he may have had the knowledge and > kindness to convertr it for us 8-) > But in any case, the John Henry Australian pack w/Live in NY was $34 > American (which is worth a little more than Australian bucks ) and > that is no small amount. Imports can getr expensive. Actually, though, > that Australian import was a double CD and FS is a single CD, so..... > I think it must cost mucho money to get CDs down there, ie the high > prices. > Matt i bought my copy of john henry before the tour pack one was released. however, im pretty sure that it was priced as a single cd....it was sold as a "bonus" live cd, not a double one. i.e. itd set you back $26.95-29.95 depending on where you shop. it costs about aus$35 for an american cd here also. tamara. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 21:40:17 -0400 () From: BlueDawg Subject: Re: known writer of songs On Wed, 16 Oct 1996, Matthew James wrote: > > Ok, anymore? Youth Culture Killed My Dog was written by Flansburgh while riding his bike through Brooklyn. S. M. Bergeron, idiotnot@visi.net, bluedawg@tmbg.org http://users.visi.net/~idiotnot Jeep Driver ObWittySig "Coffee is a Social Disorder"--John Sidney Linnell ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 12:08:14 +1000 (EST) From: Lincoln Damen Subject: Get away Get Away, in my opinion is a brillant song, it sounds so much like a dream sequence it's almost scary... 'cause nothing makes any sense... love the "bill collector's drinking lighter fluid" part! +Linc ; ) "Ignorance is safety, but don't worry about that" ------------------------------ From: CWLKNSN@wvnvaxa.wvnet.edu Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 22:13:41 -0400 (EDT) Subject: just wondering Organization: West Virginia Network but i first saw, heard of, watched, whatever they might be giants on nickelodean when iwas 7...i got my first album when i was nine...anyway back to nickelodean anyone remember the name of that show???? tmbg was always had the #2 video to things like walk like an egyptian or debbie gibson or other crap.....anyways what was the shows name??? top 5 list #1 statue got me high #2 birdhouse #3 noones gonna change my clothes #4 nightgown of the sullen moon #5 stomp box, or santa hrm....everything after 5 is really good except spider which i hate...... all of there albums are good...why must they be rated......?? oh well the songs on that australian thing are dont lets start ana ng particle man statue got me high birdhouse twistin all with the john henry band members......really quite good.... and i was wondering in twistin he says primus instead of young fresh fellows...i had no ideas they were fans.... anyway gotta go big thuse tomorrow sam ------------------------------ From: Aaron Stephen Kohlbeck Subject: Top ten albums Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 21:38:27 CDT I don't even know why I am doing this or if anyone is going to read this or what, but here goes, my top ten albums that I would take on a desert islandi (also, as a bonus, if I have seen them or not): 1. Poe - Hello (nope) 2. TMBG - Lincoln (yep) 3. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (yep) 4. Digable Planets - Reachin' (nope) 5. Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper - Root Hog or Die (nope) 6. Ruby - Salt Peter (yep) 7. Pink Floyd - The Wall (kind of, sat outside the stadium in the rain and watched the laser light show and listened) 8. Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet (nope) 9. Frank Sinatra - Duets (nope) 10. Bo Diddley - Box Set (nope) Quite an eclectic group to say the least. Oh ya, to the person who said they would take The Descendants (forgot who, accidentally deleted the message): Milo Auckermann (sp?) is a grad student/TA here at U of Wisconsin, where I happen to go. They played our "All Campus Party" about a month ago. It was pretty cool. Aaron -- Aaron Kohlbeck M&MC Consultant everlast@cs.wisc.edu Badger Herald Web Editor kohlbeck@cae.wisc.edu CAE Consultant http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~kohlbeck All Around Nice Guy Gained five pounds since I bought the moped. Coincidence? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:17:54 -0500 (EST) From: "StatuE (Wayde)" Subject: Concert Brooms Someone wrote: >Someone was saying 'hey, why don't we start bringing brooms?' now it seems >to be happening. >If They ever come near my town, I would definately bring a broom. (In fact >I had thought about this before the post was made. (and yes, I had made the >connection to BNL's kraft dinner also.) I Think it would be cool. Then Vix wrote: Speaking of BNL, they did search our pockets and purses for Mac & Cheese packages upon entering the show last week in Madison, Wisc. (Of course, a few noodles were smuggled through and thrown.) But I tend to agree with Erik Chuss who wrote that "the chances of security letting people bring a long wooden/plastic stick into the concert would be quite small!" Of course, now I'm showing my age---> "You could put someone's eye out with that thing." And now I write: I'm going to see THEY this sunday, and I've got my broom ready, but was wondering, does it matter what kind of broom you've got.... ----->Later! "I've got to let you know ... You're one of my mind!" A little They can do soooo much!!! 5:) -Statue et al ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:04:51 -0400 (EDT) From: Joshua Hall-Bachner Subject: Reasons to be Puce Just let me start this post by saying that I *still* think that we should call TMBG's 1986 album "Truth or Sandwiches." :) >1. S-E-X-X-Y : S-U-C-K-S. Well, no, it's not that bad, but it sounds NOTHING >like They and really shouldn't be one of their songs. Why? I don't understand this; "It's an okay song, but it doesn't sound like TMBG, so it sucks." Does anyone understand the logic here? If the song is good, it's good; what other criteria are there? > Does >anyone else think this song kinda sounds like Breakfast at Tiffany's (I think >the band's name is Deep Blue Something, but I'm not sure)? BaT sucks. NYC doesn't. 'Nuff said. >8. XTC vs. Adam Ant : I didn't like this song the first time I heard it, but >now it's starting to grow on me. I still wish I knew what XTC was. Go2 (obligatory XTC pun for those in the know...) either of the following URLs: http://www.servtech.com/public/particle/xtc.html http://reality.sgi.com/relph/chalkhills/ and find out all about a band that is, amazingly, even *more* amazingly good than TMBG. >10. James K. Polk : I'm probably going to get flammed for this one too, but >I seem to be the only one who dislikes this song. Maybe it sounds better in >the earlier version, I dunno. Sure does. >11. Pet Name : Don't like. Simple as that. See S-E-X-X-Y above. >3. Apollo 18: Great overall album. Not that many outstanding songs, but >no real flaws either. I Palindrome I? Narrow Your Eyes? My Evil Twin? See The Constellation? Fingertips? BlueDawg: >No, I'm talking about the *1984* demo tape. Not the one released by >Hello. The '84 demo tape is in the hands of a select few, and I had a >copy until my !@#$#%# tape player ate it. Oh, *I* was talking about the 1985 one. Sorry. BTW, can you post the tracklist for this 1984 demo tape? Would this be the one that has "Now That I Have Everything"? Would this be the same as the "Early" demos? >Okay, you're right there. A lot of Lincoln frankly, freut mich nicht, I >didn't like Cage & Aquarium, Purple Toupee, Pencil Rain, I never particularly cared for C&A, but Purple Toupee is clever, catchy, and fun as hell, and Pencil Rain is..I dunno, I just like it. >About all on Lincoln that I really liked was Snowball in Hell. I like Son >of God, too, but I like the Misc. T rendition better. It may have been a single, but Ana Ng is just a great song. >4. You'll Miss Me (except that "every tree is a finger of my glove" part- >I love that!) I, too, once disliked this song. Then I got a copy of the 1985 demo tape. Wow, what a difference that makes. It's a completely amazing rendition of the song that sounds *nothing* like the album version...it really drives home what a mean, dark song it is. I hope it's on T:TEY. > 99. SuperFuled Freaksickle has been delayed. The funniest part is that this one is still valid. :) >Unrelated Thing, XTC vs. Adam Ant, Until My Head Falls Off, Saphire Bullets, New York Shitty >The person who can find the pattern wins a prize. Try to guess >my least favourite albums and you also win a prize... As someone else said, you must tell me where you get the fine crack you are using. BTW, if you think TMBG suck so much now, why do you need to keep telling us? Obviously we who still like them are all drooling fanboy-sheep-rabid dogs who would snatch up any shit TMBG put out, so doesn't that make us too stupid for brilliant you to waste your time with? /---------------------------Joshua Hall-Bachner---------------------------\ | particle@servtech.com http://www.servtech.com/public/particle/ | | "The few surviving samurai survey the battlefield. They count the arms, | \--the legs, the heads, and then divide by five." - They Might Be Giants--/ ------------------------------ From: DarkKnigtX@aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:06:53 -0400 Subject: I am not your broom Anyone have a .wav or sound file of IANYB? I haven't heard this song before and I would be eternally grateful if someone knew where I could get a copy. DarkKnight ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:06:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Joshua Hall-Bachner Subject: You gave me a Pet name... Hideho! Today me and another kid from school were both singing I Am Not Your Broom and Exquisite Dead Guy during lunch. Having other TMBG fans at school is fun. :) Ruprecht: >1. You actually think Factory Showroom is brilliant. Anyone else think that Ruprecht has crossed the line from merely stating his opinion to merely being an obnoxious asshole? Someone else: >If you want sellouts, listen to REM. (Yay, religious >music flamewars. Abandon all hope, ye who read that last sentence.) How ironic that (a) we've had the exact same discussion as above on the REM newsgroup, and (b) basically everything you referred to in your paragraph about Factory Showroom applies to REM. Yeah, I know, Shiny Happy People and Stand. So sue them. How many times have you heard "Oooh, it's TMBG. They do that 'Particle Man' song, don't they?" Think about it. >Minimum, Letterbox, Hot Cha, Women&Men, Sapphire, Road Movie (it's a >suite of unnecessary songs in my opinion) Minimum Wage is great (the instrumental part is good and the vocal part is just so much fun to sing along to!) Letterbox is a lot of fun, and Women and Men just kicks ass (humorous, and fun to sing). A definite favorite of mine. >1. Narrow Your Eyes (Apollo 18) This song seems to be a "love it or hate it" song. I think it's probably one of the most "mature" songs TMBG have done, and the music is great. The lyrics are whimsical yet serious in that way only TMBG and a few others (XTC, for one...) can pull off. >One more thing: if ever some says something on here that's not totally >happy and devotionary to the band, deal with it. My intent isn't to piss >people off (what's the point?) but unpopular opinions, if folks have 'em, >shouldn't be trounced on by those who disagree. Well, seeing as how almost all of the people on this list who have been here for a long time have decided that Factory Showroom sucks and that only stupid people could possibly like it (Ruprecht, are you listening?), I think this sounds suspiciously like a certain containter for boiled water calling another a certain color. I have no problem with people hating Factory Showroom to death. I have a problem with being insulted and being told I can't think for myself just because I like it. >Okay. I know this isn't TMBG but I know there's lots of Weird Al fans here, >sooo...Does anyone wanna buy my Weird Al cd? I don't want it anymore. It's >"Weird Al in 3-D." I'll consider all offers of cash, trades, whatever. Just >email me if you want it. :) That's why I never actually buy Al's CDs; I bum them off friends and listen to them a few times, then give them back. I don't understand why I would want to spend $10 for a CD of sometimes hillarious lyrics set to the horrible music of shitty Top 40 music. >Any song that says Adam Ant in it >immediatly has a certain degree of coolness And what is XTC, chopped liver? >I notice when going through the top five and bottom five song lists for >about the umpteenth time, that this pattern follows: >Top songs: <1 JF, 4 JL> >Bottom songs: <1 JL, 4 JF> >Why is this? The top ten reasons: (10) Because Flansburgh saved up all the *good* songs he wrote for 16 years for Mono Puff. (9) Because when Flansburgh writes a bad song, it ends up on an album. When Linnell writes a bad song, it is condemned to the fiery pits of hell for all eternity. (8) Same as (9), but Linnell never writes a bad song. :) (7) Because Flansburgh is a fat rock star, and therefore sucks. (6) Because Flansburgh is a fat rock star, and therefore is secretly Frank Black. (5) Because Linnell writes good songs about hypnotism and mind control, causing people to love his songs, whereas Flansburgh writes bad songs about hypnotism and mind control, causing people to hate his songs. (4) Linnell is secretly a space alien, so of course everyone loves him. (3) Flansburgh is dead. If you play "Birdhouse In Your Soul" backwards, you'll hear "Flans is dead. Miss him. Miss him." (2) The Ladies Love Linnell, of course. and the number one reason.... (1) Linnell's songs are just better, DAMNIT!!! Note that I don't actually agree with all of the above reasons... >5. Don't Let's Start ('85 Demo tape version) - A nice alternative to the >repetitive, somewhat redundant original. The demo tape version *is* the original. >Hrm... I was under the impression that we really didn't know who it was >actually writing the songs.... I thought They generally did the "written >by TMBG" line... Did I miss something in the FAQ or the website or whatever? >Hrm... Something to check out... They tend to follow the Beatlesian standard of "when in doubt, the singer is the writer." And since we don't have Ringo to deal with here, it makes it even easier. :) >Does anyone know what They Might Be Giants officially called this >song? This song was a Dial-A-Song and was included on the Dial-A-Song tape >that this group contributed to a couple of years ago. On it, it was named >"Get Away." "Token Back To Brooklyn" is indeed the official title; Pat Dillett, TMBG's producer, has said as much. >First off, i was wondering if anyone thinks the ending of Your Own >Worst Enemy sounds kinda dumb..... i like the rest of the song but i hate >the held ENEMEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYEEYEEYYYYYEYYYYY! then a sudden stop. I like it. It sounds like the way TMBG would end a song on Flood. >I almost forgot, >Rat Patrol was written by both Linnell & Flans (one wrote >the lyrics, the other wrote the music, this is from Music & Computers >Interview) That would explain it. The lyrics are great (that would be Flans) and the music has that Linnell texture. >Yep...they have a "U Write, U Sing" policy in the band. Very few of the >songs are collaborations. The only one I can think of off hand is >Subliminal. See above. Also, how so? Did they co-write both parts, or is it a "one did the lyrics, the other the music" deal like Rat Patrol? >Why the flame-resistant suit? I think most people tend to agree. Even >Flansburgh says so. Linnell says so, too... in jest, anyway. Flansburgh actually does well with the lyrics a lot of the time but falls short on the music. He should have Linnell help him out. And this is of course completely leaving out Mono Puff, where Flans' songwriting improves a *lot* (after all, he wrote Tryptophane. Sounds almost like a Linnell song, actually. :) >5.)You'll miss me---It's probably odd that two of my least favorite >songs are from what was once my favorite album. This is the one song by >THEY that I just plain despise. I command everyone out there to listen to the Demo Tape version of You'll Miss Me. It's like a different song. The lyrics are really good, too. /---------------------------Joshua Hall-Bachner---------------------------\ | particle@servtech.com http://www.servtech.com/public/particle/ | | "The few surviving samurai survey the battlefield. They count the arms, | \--the legs, the heads, and then divide by five." - They Might Be Giants--/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:25:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Lawrence P Solomon Subject: Re: Misc. Excerpts from internet.music.tmbg: 17-Oct-96 Re: Misc. by Christi587@aol.com > falderal (n.) 1. meaningless syllables forming the refrain of various old > songs 2. mere nonsense; foolish talk or ideas 3. a trifle; gimcrack; gewgaw Ba ba da ba ba ba da ba... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:01:49 -0700 From: Melissa Cowan Subject: Re: Bow Wow Wow Kenneth Leicht wrote: > > It's official. I am old. The fact that some of you didn't know who Bow > Wow Wow were and had to go do research to find out! Ouch! > I actually saw them live once. They opened for the Police on the Ghost > in the Machine tour. They were quite amusing...but they were no Adam > and the Ants. > > geezerly yours, > > Herne the Hunter. Okay, I remember Bow Wow Wow and Adam and the Ants(had a crush on Adam since I was five in fact) but I can't remember what Bow Wow Wow sings. Was that who sang that I Want Candy song? Trillian ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:10:42 -0700 From: Melissa Cowan Subject: Re: desert islands and such NJ Powell wrote: > > Hello people! > Now, this is going to probably annoy a lot of you. But there you > go, I apologise in advance. But I just reckon that to use the proper Desert > Island Disc format (yes, ok. I admit I listen to Radio 4. It's relaxing and > reassuring, ok?!) would make a more interesting post for everyone else. I > don't know if you lot have something different, but this is the British > version.. > > The Rules: > You take 8 "pieces of music". (Albums don't count, songs do) > These have to mean something deep to you, something life changing etcetc. > Also, you get to take: > A Book (you get the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible in > for free) and a Luxury, which can be anything. > > I won't bore you with mine. But I have the sneaky feeling that at least > some of you could come up with something interesting? Prove me right! > > Nicola Hmm, here goes: 1.Leather-Tori Amos 2.Loser-Beck 3.Terrible Lie-NIN 4.If I Wasn't Shy-like I have to tell you 5.I Should be Allowed to Think-same as 4 6.Cowgirl-Underworld 7.Voodoo People-Prodigy 8.Queer-Garbage As far as books go I suppose I'd take Rim by Alexander Besher but if I was to be predictable, I'd take a how-to-build-your-own-boat book. Hey, can I bring the professor from Gilligan's Island? Trillian "What's with all this 'and the res' crap?" MST3K-The Movie ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 Jan 1980 21:06:52 -0800 From: Kathleen Jo Faulconer Subject: TOP FIVE FINAL RESULTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, It is finally here! The day you have all waited for! And those of you that hate this can now rest easy. OH! Maybe not...now there are 4 more threads like this! So this is what we came up with after hours of work............read slow if you want the excitement to build!!! First I will say that there were an amazing 82 different songs named in choosing the top 5 favorites. It must mean something..... Secondly, the new songs that made it to the list are: Metal Detector -4 votes Spiraling Shape-4 Until My Head Falls Off-4 and the winner of the new songs is......New York City-6 votes! I will do a top 10 of the top 5 faves...If you sent in more than 5 I took the first 5 because I figured that *subliminally* you wanted those 5 first. Fair? OK LETS GO! 10. Nightgown Of The Sullen Moon-5 votes 9.A tie- The Statue Got Me High and NYC-6 votes 8.Another tie! -Dinner Bell and Rhythm Section Want AD-7 votes 7.A four way tie this time !- I Palindrome I, No One Knows My Plan, Kiss Me, Son Of God and Puppet Head!!!! with 8 votes each 6. Its Not my Birthday- 9 votes 5. Don't Let's Start-10 votes Now the votes get considerably higher....... 4. Birdhouse In Your Soul- with 15 votes (the number of votes for this song tripled right after the concert!) 3.They'll Need a Crane- 16 votes (was way ahead of birdhouse until the concert!)hmmmmmmm....... 2.Anna Ng- 22 votes (neck in neck with #1 for the last few days!!!) HAVE YOU GUESSED YET??????????????????????????????????????????????? **************AND*************************************************** ************************DRUM*****************************************************************************ROLL********************************************************************************PLEASE!!!!!!************ SHE'S AN ANGEL!!!!!!!!!!! 24 votes WOW!! We thought this song was just one of our families favorite songs! It is not even near the top on that web rating thing!!! You guys have great taste! Anna Ng was #1 on that web thing though. Well, we had fun! Anyone that remembers the (million?) other "top 5" threads let us know if these results are different or the same as before! DISCUSS! Sorry about the length.... I COULD tell you what the other 70 something songs were............no, I guess not. Thanks for playing along!!!! Kathleen ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:27:03 -0700 From: Melissa Cowan Subject: Re: more island discs and my top ten ALBUMS Someone Famous wrote: > > Hey All, > > Tori Amos..............Boys for Pele > Apex Twin..............Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 > Bjork..................Post > Nine Inch Nails........The Downward Spiral > Violent Femmes.........Slash > Smashing Pumpkins......Gish > They Might Be Giants...Lincoln > Flood > Macross Plus Vol.2 Original Soundtrack > never mind the mainstream...The Best of MTV's 120 Minutes Vol. 1 > > -Brian Cool, good taste. Since I have not yet listed my top ten albums here they are in no particular order: Little Earthquakes-Tori Amos The Process-Skinny Puppy Hackers:The soundtrack Apollo 18 John Henry Big Lizard in My Backyard-Dead Milkmen With Sympathy-Ministry Standing on the Beach, The Singles-Cure Gish-Smashing Pumpkins The Crow soundtrack And please,please may I have a VCR&TV with tapes of MST3K, The Young Ones, and Kids In The Hall? Trillian ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:39:37 -0700 From: Melissa Cowan Subject: XTC is NOT chopped liver, I'm a vegetarian for God's sake1 > >Any song that says Adam Ant in it > >immediatly has a certain degree of coolness > > And what is XTC, chopped liver? NO, I like XTC too, but you don't of Adam Ant as much and he's just so much more sexy(not SEXXY)than XTC, which, when you get to later psots by me, you'll find out. Anywyas, everybody was commenting about XTC and no one was saying anything about Adam Ant. Trillian ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:40:16 -0500 (EST) From: Queen Sneepy Subject: Re: How Can I Sing Like Linnell? And JH On Wed, 16 Oct 1996, Amy wrote: > On Tue, 15 Oct 1996, BlueDawg wrote: > > > > I have absolutely no problem singing along with Linnell. Now, I do work > > Actually, I think she meant Linnell's range. I find it very very hard to > sing along with his songs too, because the top of his range is right near > the bottom of mine, so I have to switch octaves all over the place. > Amy :) > That's exactly what I meant. Sorry if it was misinterpreted. I don't kow why singing in my talking voice helps, but I can keep up quite well. I don't really _force_it through my nose, I more or less direct it. This is a lot of technical discussion on something that's not terribly interesting. And I started the thread! Whoo hoo! I love useless topics- its like semantics. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Stefanie Elliott "I am not your broom, I am not your broom! No, John, I will not clean for you, for I am smelliot@falstaff.ucs.indiana.edu not your broom!"- They Might Be Giants **StarWars*DNRC*Medievalist*X-Phile*TMBG*MiSTie #14672*MacUser*Comics*Reader** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 23:59:54 -0700 From: Melissa Cowan Subject: Re: desert islands and such Tom Hare wrote: > > > > > Trillian > > "What's with all this 'and the res' crap?" MST3K-The Movie > > > You're so smooth, you're volatile. I love mst3k. And HGTTG, if that's what > your sig is from. > > -- > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Tom Hare - It's not my birthday, so why do you lunge out at me? - TMBG > tomhare@freenet3.scri.fsu.edu particle_man@tmbg.org hare@tmbg.org > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks, you're absolutely correct. You are the first person who has commented on my .sig and knew where it was from. I'm an official MSTie, #72305, and have friends who have started going Mitchelling. That's where you just yell Mitchell at people, most of whom stare blankly at you wondering if you're crazy. Very few understand you if you just happen to state "Mitchell" or "the haunting Torgo theme" or such things. Trillian ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 00:59:30 -0700 From: jenn Subject: top 10 cds for desert islands i could help myself. i saw all those cd names and i kept thinking what would i bring? so i made up a list and i'm forcing everyone on this list to recieve it. 1. tmbg -- lincoln 2. tmbg -- the pink album (or whatever you wanna call it.) 3. ben folds five -- ben folds five 4. oasis -- definitly maybe 5. cure -- wish 6. billy joel -- greatest hits 7. weezer - weezer 8. dave matthews -- under the table and dreaming 9. tmbg -- factory showroom 10. classic disney (the one with the 'ugly bug' song on it) and i have yet another observation based on a previous message to make. someone stated that they took themselves off the digest and subscribed to the list and then returned to digest because they were receiving too much mail. i did the exact opposite, i took myself off the digest and subscribed to the list because the size of the digests would intimidate me into not reading them. i don't mind reading every message, but i couldn't handle the digest. oh well, it's just an observation, folk. jenn _____________________________________________________________________ The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they're going to be when you kill them. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 00:41:28 -0500 (EST) From: Queen Sneepy Subject: Re: Unrelated Thing On Wed, 16 Oct 1996, J Chen wrote: > I first heard Unrelated Thing on a radio broadcast of a rock > concert that featured many rock bands. TMBG mentioned that they were going > to play a song They were still working on, and They played Unrelated Thing. > At the time, it sounded cool, just a regular ballad without that goofy > country twang-tone to it. Presented that way, it was the lyrics that stood > I don't know. I like the lyrics, but the song, when its on, puts me in a coma. I think that I'd like it much better if it weren't so darned SLOW! I'm sure there's got to be somethig they can do with it. > Similarly, that's how I feel about John Henry. The Dial-A-Song > tape had superior versions in _idea_ and _presentation_ of many of the JH > songs. On JH, they were just all live-sounding guitar rock, which I can > get from any number of bands out there. I go to TMBG to particularly > escape from that kind of sound. > I thought JH was quite a new turn, expanding from what they started in A18, with the horns and all. There were a lot of guitars, which is something that carried into FS, and not something that I find too wonderful. I really liked the horns. Now, if They mixed horns and the accordian, it would be the TMBG Album of the Gods. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Stefanie Elliott "I am not your broom, I am not your broom! No, John, I will not clean for you, for I am smelliot@falstaff.ucs.indiana.edu not your broom!"- They Might Be Giants **StarWars*DNRC*Medievalist*X-Phile*TMBG*MiSTie #14672*MacUser*Comics*Reader** ------------------------------ End of tmbg-list Digest #2-285 ******************************