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 #3-109 tmbg-list Digest, Volume 3, Number 109 Sunday, 20 April 1997 Today's Topics: Re: TMBG: "haters" TMBG: converting people TMBG: interview question Re: TMBG: interview question TMBG: Flans Interview TMBG: Spaceman? Re: TMBG: Lyrics? TMBG: MIDI TMBG: aol, 12/29, remixes, bff TMBG:Purdue show TMBG:Ways to defend against TMBG-haters TMBG: NEVER TRADE WITH THIS PERSON! Re: TMBG: interview question Re: TMBG:Ways to defend against TMBG-haters Re: TMBG: interview question Re: TMBG: interview question TMBG: A final, sad, slap in the face from my otherwise fine purchase of THEN Re: TMBG: interview question TMBG: Istanbul!! nonTMBG: interview question TMBG: Purdue times o' meeting Re: nonTMBG: interview question Re: TMBG: Istanbul!! TMBG: ROBERT GRABILL JR. ATTENTION TMBG: Random Request Of The Day TMBG: TMBG Video Bootleg 2.5 TMBG: Converting people,TMBG haters, TMBG fans, disciples of They... TMBG: Re: THE LAST DIGEST AND OTHER TMBG STUFF TMBG: interview question/videos Re: TMBG: Re: THE LAST DIGEST AND OTHER TMBG STUFF TMBG: Baltimore show Administrivia: If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing send mail to tmbg-digest-request@tmbg.org for instructions on how to be automatically removed. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 07:28:02 -0500 (CDT) From: The Gottschalks Subject: Re: TMBG: "haters" Message-ID: Hey... the new girl, she ain't so bad. No, I'm not Rodney Dangerfield. It's good to hear a new voice. I'd just like to say I think you're wrong about converting people. All it consists of is getting someone who previously didn't care for TMBG into Them, like you did your boyfriend. So, he's your successful convert. Wolla! BTW, it's "man o nam," not "man o man," which makes a palindrome! -Mark "I remember the book depository where they crowned the king of Cuba." ------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970419101649.00f5f380@mail.ee.net> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 10:16:49 -0400 From: Evan Chakroff Subject: TMBG: converting people ..... I think this phrase makes us sound like some kind of cult. maybe being a fan is something that you're BORN with...... you just have to have an AWAKENING to the Wonderful World of Them. -ec ------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970419102146.00f58a28@mail.ee.net> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 10:21:46 -0400 From: Evan Chakroff Subject: TMBG: interview question hey, to whoever is going to do an interview with TMBG: ask.... "A lot of people only know you guys as 'that band that sings Particle Man'. Some of this is due to the fact that a few of your songs appeared on Tiny Toons. If approached to have another of your songs used on Tiny Toons (or some other kids show) would you allow it?" well, there ya go. -ec ------------------------------ Message-Id: <1.5.4.32.19970419155401.00690bb8@mail.clemson.edu> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 11:54:01 -0400 From: Adam Tyner Subject: Re: TMBG: interview question That's a great question to ask Them! It's such a double-edged sword...I probably would never have heard Them without Tiny Toons, and I know there are a few other listies like that, but everywhere I *^&%ing go people say "Oh, they did that Istanbul song, right? That's funny." On another note..........what other TMBG songs do you think would translate well to cartoons? 'Spy' (w/o improv, because kids wouldn't get it) would probably be my top choice... TTYL, -Adam At 10:21 AM 4/19/97 -0400, you wrote: >hey, to whoever is going to do an interview with TMBG: > >ask.... "A lot of people only know you guys as 'that band that sings >Particle Man'. Some of this is due to the fact that a few of your songs >appeared on Tiny Toons. If approached to have another of your songs used on >Tiny Toons (or some other kids show) would you allow it?" > >well, there ya go. >-ec > > /----=========================================----\ http://www.awod.com/gallery/rwav/ctyner/ The home of He-Man, "Weird Al", Yoo-Hoo, and more! ctyner@awod.com O- MiSTie #67,326 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 12:23:06 -0400 Message-Id: <199704191623.MAA04665@ussodyssey.ufp.org> From: kristen-maxwell@utulsa.edu (The Denominator) Subject: TMBG: Flans Interview Howdy, Here is the long-awaited (I duuno by WHOM) transcript of my meager interview with John F. I was deathly ill when I did it, so please forgive my dorkiness. Also, if this has already gotten to you, I apologize. I sent it last night as an attachment, but it was not in this morning's digest, so i am resending it via cut-n-paste. here goes: The Flans Files Interview 4/15/97 KM: Hello? FLANS: Yes, is this Kris? KM: This is he. FLANS: Hey Kris, John Flansburgh from They Might Be Giants. KM: Hey, how're you doing? FLANS: How's it going? KM: Not Bad FLANS: Are you ready for this? KM: As ready as I'll ever be, I guess. FLANS: Ok, you got a tape recorder? KM: Yeah. Paranoia test [fumbling] this tape call... this phone call is being tape recorded. FLANS: Good. KM: As long as you're OK with that. FLANS: I'm more that OK with it. KM: OK. FLANS: I requested it. KM: Oh yeah, so you did. Yes. Um, I can't remember her name, I'm sorry... FLANS: Jill. KM: Jill! yeah, she told me about that. FLANS: Cool. KM: So where are you calling from? FLANS: Where *am* I calling from? I'm calling from Richmond, Kentucky. KM: Ah, Kentucky... y'all doing a show there tonight? FLANS: Yeah. KM: Cool. How long have you been there? FLANS: Actually I got here yesterday. I actually rode on the bus, which I don't normally do. I usually drive. KM: Really? FLANS:Yeah, so I got here early. It's like a 600 mile drive. KM: Oh, goodness. Where did you come from? FLANS:[jokingly] You're asking all these questions that make me feel like I don't know what I'm doing. Where was I coming from? I was coming from Florida. KM: Oh, wow. FLANS: We did a bunch of shows down in Florida in Jacksonville, St. Petersburg and Miami. KM: So, a lot of time on the road? FLANS: Yeah, a lot of driving. The drive to Miami was the real killer. It was 750 miles down from Raleigh, North Carolina. And then the show got canceled because of a Hurricane, and there was no indoor contingency, which seems really dumb. But hey, I wasn't in charge of the gig. KM: It wasn't your deal. You just play music. FLANS: Yeah, I was just there to play. But we came a long way to not play. KM: [laugh] FLANS: We actually drove through the storm all the way down. KM: Yeah, it must have been really rough. FLANS: but anyway, let's get on to the formal portion of the interview. What's the tough question? KM: Oh, the tough question? FLANS: Yeah, hit me with one that will make me really stammer. Start with he one that you were kind of afraid to ask. KM: OK [looking frantically through notes] Well, here's a good one: why do you make music? FLANS: That's actually kind of easy to answer. It's really kind of a compulsion. I remember pretty well the very first idea for a song that I had when I was about 18 years old. It's almost like a low-grade mental illness. I think a lot of people present themselves as if they're doing something for very public reasons, but it's a lot closer to just hearing voices in your head, more than anything else. I wish it was out of some kind of ambition or desire to express some kind of general idea. There's no manifesto behind being a songwriter, at least not for me. KM: It's just what you do. FLANS: It's just one of the things that I feel like I don't really have a choice in doing. KM: Oh really? FLANS: Yeah, I wish it were some other way, but it kind of comes up. This is the way I get to live my life. KM: Well, that's cool. So, what is the most important thing about your music to you? I don't know how you divide up the task of making up your complete sound, but the lyrics, instrumentation, mood... FLANS: It's sort of a balancing act. I think some songs have been kind of saved by their arrangement. You might have a song that's not even that strong technically, like the chords might not be that interesting or the lyrics might not be that challenging, but there's some idea within the arrangement that's really fresh and new. That probably doesn't happen as often as others, and that's kind of like winning it in over time. KM: ...some redemption for the song? FLANS: Yeah. Primarily we approach songwriting in kind of a standard, 20th-century popular song way, which is really dealing with verses and choruses, trying to make them work together and have the song go somewhere within the course of three minutes. And so in a lot of ways, our songwriting style has more to do with the most conservative approach that you could have. But within that kind of writing there is still a lot of room for personal expression. KM: Yeah, I would hardly categorize you guys as conservative. FLANS: But if you think about people who are incredible instrumentalists, or people who are improvisational, or people who deal with experimental music, they do stuff that really defies form. For us, in a way, we've taken on the challenge of working within a formal way of writing a song. Our songs rhyme, our songs have melody, and those are sort of orthodox, very normal ways of working. In a strange way, I think there is something very old-school about what we're doing. Obviously, it's also perfectly personal to us. KM: Original, to say the least. FLANS: Thanks. KM: What is your typical songwriting routine? How do you go about collaborating on getting one of these three-minute wonders put together? FLANS: A lot of the time, we'll come up with a lyric idea that will be the first line in the song. In general, I think we have an overabundance of musical ideas. I think we feel pretty confidant that we could write the music pretty freely. It's hard to come upon an approach to a lyric that's interesting enough to pursue over an entire song. So if you have a good turn of a phrase or something that will motor the whole song, that's often the spark that ignites the rest of it. KM: A lot of your material seems as if it starts off as a pun or a jab at something, like "I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die" FLANS: Yeah, I think we're moving out of the non-sequitur thing a little bit, but I know what you mean. KM: I mean primarily in your earlier works... FLANS: In a way that might be even sort of a shortcoming, but that is true. But I think there is also a thing about writing a song where you really do want to feel like the music is either supporting the lyric or challenging the lyric in a way that seems inspired. I think we could work on chord progressions all day long and still not be any closer to writing a new song, which is kind of unfortunate because there is something to be said for writing a good, inventive chord progression. KM: Well, I think lately, on your newer stuff, John Henry plus, a lot of your musical side is more showcased. Your music has always been very lyrically strong, and you've got the weird instrumentation going on with it... FLANS: Well we didn't put the lyrics on this record [Factory Showroom], and I think one of the reasons we made a conscious effort to do that was so people would experience the songs in their entirety, in a linear way, and not just read along. KM: I was wondering about that, because this is the first time that you've not had the read-along. I have always found it more entertaining to sit through it and actually figure it out. FLANS: We're not trying to puzzle people. Sometimes it is hard to understand exactly what we're saying, and sometimes maybe it's not even that important. I think there are a lot of good Rolling Stones songs where it is really not that important that you don't understand what he's saying, but they're still really great songs. But I think for us, we want people to hear the songs in a unified form. So much of it is this balance between the music and the lyrics and the melody and the arrangement. There are all these different elements that we've worked really hard to bring together, and having a lyric sheet kind of immediately skews peoples' attention to the lyrics. KM: Yeah, if you're going to have that, why not include the sheet music as well? FLANS: Actually, that would be really cool. KM: We'd enjoy it a lot. FLANS: Just print the chord chart in there. KM: So, really it's not one thing, it's the big picture? FLANS: Pretty much. I think that's probably typical of people who are songwriters. I don't think either of us are really just great instrumentalists or vocalists. For a lot of people, that's where their strength lies, and they start with a vocal line or a melody. For us it's kind of a package deal. Probably just because that's what we are better at. KM: It's very interesting the way it all comes together. FLANS: Thanks. KM: How long have you been together, about 12 years? FLANS: Our first performance was in 1983, and our first record was in stores at the beginning of 1987. It was a while before we started really getting our act together. KM: So more than ten years. FLANS: Yeah. KM: So how have things changed for you over this entire span of God-knows how many years that you've been doing this? FLANS: Well I've gotten fatter. KM: [laugh] FLANS: And Linnell hasn't really turned that corner yet. He's just as thin as he ever was. KM: Well, I hear married life will do that to you. FLANS: Yeah. Well, I don't know. I think we've lowered the limbo pole a little bit. We were very nervous when we started out, about boring people, to a point where we were probably too edgy for our own good. KM: It could be too much caffeine, too. FLANS: Yeah. I think we felt very insecure in front of an audience. And the fact that we were playing for New York audiences, which are pretty critical, didn't really help. Our general thing was that we wanted to get our stuff out there and then split. It was a very uptight kind of show, and there were no breaks. It was cool in a way, but I think ultimately it's more pleasurable for the audience, and definitely more pleasurable for ourselves to just have a more laid-back approach. We see the value in repeating a chorus a couple times, and we see the value of having a song at a regular tempo. KM: So when did you know that it was working, that you realized people liked you and that They Might Be Giants was going to be around? FLANS: Well I think we always figured that people would like it more if we cut out the most boring parts of the pop song, which would be the guitar solo, the big long intro, the many repeated choruses and stuff like that. I think we just threw the baby out with the bathwater a little bit right at the top. To a certain extent, we're still working the same agenda. Most of our songs don't break the three-minute time barrier, but they *do* break the two-minute time barrier. It's been pretty much a continuous challenge for us, musically. Even making Factory Showroom, we were still trying to reconcile some of the challenges that had come up during John Henry just like trying to make a full-band record that was as tense as our earlier records. I think the way in which our first couple of records were made had an automatic edginess to them that was just kind of built into the mix, just considering the instrumentation we were using. We were happy to trade it in for a more full-blown sound, but at the same time we didn't want to lose the amount of personality that the band had always had. I think that was what we kind of lost track of a little bit on John Henry. I think that Factory Showroom is a kind of the best of both worlds. It is definitely a really loud, full-blooded band outing, but it is also a very extreme and strange record. It's very much in the spirit of what John and I started. I think It's very satisfying. KM: [cough] Excuse me, I have a bit of a cold. FLANS: Ahh, no problem. KM: How did the stylistic change come up between Apollo 18 to John Henry? FLANS: Actually, we had just gotten off the road promoting Flood for about a year when we started Apollo 18, and we were happy to stay at home and work on our MIDI files and write the songs. When we actually went back out on the road to support the record, it seemed like we needed to spice up the show. We flirted with the idea of working with a saxophone player and maybe a percussionist. All of that seemed a little but fussy compared to diving into the live band thing. So we just took it on as an experiment, we didn't really know how well it would work, and how positive the response would be from our audience. Almost right away we realized that int he venues we were playing, which were larger venues we really benefitted from having a full band. We started out so slow and in such small places that the fact that we were working with a drum machine only meant that people could hear the words well, and they could understand the songs and understand the melodies. All of those audiences in those audiences in those early years were pretty much cold to what we were doing, so every little bit helped. If they could understand the song as they were hearing it for the first time, that was actually really positive. Now that we're making records, a lot of the people in the audience are already familiar with the material, and that's not such a big issue. And a lot of the places we're playing are really large, and even if we were playing with a drum machine, they're so cavernous that they probably wouldn't understand the words anyway. So just having the musical power of a full band has been nothing but a positive thing in the live situation. It just means a little bit more decision making when it comes to actually recording the record. We have to think about how we're going to arrange the song a little bit more. But in some cases, like on the new record there is a song called "Your Own Worst Enemy" that is all electronic, except for a cello, but the drums on it are very electronic. I still find that there's something very coo about working in more than one style or one approach. KM: So there is still a possibility that you would still do some of the old-school, just the Johns and the drum machine stuff? FLANS: Well, we've been doing it in a couple of different places, like in Chicago, Boston and New York, we've opened for ourselves in a two-man show. We do a couple of songs from the early days, we do "Number 3" with a tape and a couple of other things. But by and large, most things actually sound better with the full band. It has to be either a sample or drum machine specific kind of song to really sound more effective with that kind of background. KM: What about the accordion? I know a lot of people miss that, and it seems that it has almost disappeared in Factory Showroom. A lot of people want to know if we'll ever get to hear the accordion again. FLANS: It is a big part of the live show, and I really like the sound of it. It's really a song-for-song thing. On a song like "S-E-X-X-Y" or "Till My Head Falls Off" it would be hard to imagine those songs being accompanied with an accordion. KM: It just doesn't fit? FLANS: Yeah, it wouldn't really fit in. It just comes down to what the song dictates. We've never felt like there's anything wrong with it. We didn't think we had to change our image, or anything like that. And obviously within our fans, there is a great affection for the accordion. It just doesn't come up as often as it did at one time. It's not that intentional, it's just the way it turned out. I think if we tried to get to a more pared-down kind of sound it probably would come back into the picture more. Right now we're enjoying working with all the different kinds of production things that we're doing. As a songwriter it's really a gas to write for horns and strings. You run the risk of sounding like Spinal Tap's late period when you really want to overproduce yourself like that. I think for us it actually works. I don't think it's for everybody. A lot of people who bring in additional voices into a rock band format are just one some kind of ego trip, like they're just changing up because they've already done everything else. But for us, it's the kind of thing that if we'd had the ability to at the beginning we would have taken advantage of it. KM: Speaking of the full band feeling, the full band sound, how do you come up with these other band members? All the fans I know consider They Might Be Giants to be just you and John. FLANS: We're the songwriters for the group, and we've been doing this for a very, very long time. The other people are brought in as side men, and living in New York you really have access to the most incredible working musicians you can find. We've had a pretty steady lineup for a long time. We just recently lost our drummer Brian Doherty. I'm not exactly sure what he's moving on to right now. But it's a unique situation. I don't think anyone could walk into They Might Be Giants and say "Ok, you guys have been working together for 14 years, but this is how I'd do it." I don't think it's really appropriate. We have a very established sensibility and we're basically looking for people to support our approach to things. And we work with great people. Graham Maby, our bass player, is one of the all-time coolest musicians around. Every show I do with him, I feel like I'm getting so much out of it. You just know that your playing is getting better because it's almost a challenge to play on the same stage with him. KM: And try to impress him? FLANS: Yeah, and just not to screw up. He just doesn't make mistakes, he's a monstrous player. KM: So you guys tour, what, 90 percent of the time? FLANS: Well, we tour about every other year, for about a year, and then we make a record. So we'll be getting off this tour soon. KM: So how do you keep it interesting? FLANS: Sometime's its not that interesting. Sometimes it's just traveling. You spend maybe 22 hours of the day waiting to be on the stage, so there's a lot of anticipation about doing a show, it's the reason you're there. It's a naturally exciting thing to do just because of the people, the lights, and it's loud, and it is sort of automatically exciting. Then basically your entire day revolves around doing that, so there's a lot of anticipation to do a good job. So it seems to work. I'm on the road with a lot of sound people and light people who have done a lot of different kinds of shows, and they talk about other people on the road. I'm always amazed at how performers can get from their own shows, form their own careers; they can get very blase about it. I've never really taken for granted that people are going to be interested in what we're doing. We always feel like we've got to put our best foot forward. KM: I'm sure your audiences really appreciate that. FLANS: I think total strangers really appreciate it. That's the way we keep on getting a larger audience for what we're doing. We don't just act like we're there begrudgingly. KM: Doing someone a favor. FLANS: Exactly. It's very strange. Performers and musicians are a weird lot, I have to say. Well you know what, I'm getting waved at so I have to split. KM: I thank you for your time. I'm planning on catching the Kansas show. FLANS: Oh, great! KM: So hopefully I'll get to say hi or whatever, and get to talk to you again sometime. FLANS: Alright, thanks Kris, it's been a pleasure. KM: Thanks a lot for your time. FLANS: OK, bye-bye. ------------------------------ From: TmbgManiac@aol.com Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 12:27:37 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <970419122737_2082900606@emout14.mail.aol.com> Subject: TMBG: Spaceman? Does anyone out there in TMBLand know where I can find a picture of the Spaceman holding the phone from the Apollo 18 back cover? TmbgManiac http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/7824 Sound Library 1 is up and running again ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 12:45:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Tom Hare Subject: Re: TMBG: Lyrics? Message-ID: It's Pigpen. The CB Handles are teh Rubber Duck and Pigpen, and the song is about a convoy of truckers in the mid-70's who avoid cops (bears) and refuse to pay tolls for using the interstates... It's really sort of a fun song, even if country. There's even a sequel to it, called "'round the world with the rubber duck' in which the convoy travels across the ocean to England, Germany, Russia, France, and all sorts of fun places like that there. The reason it's kind of hard to understand in The World's Address is that it's sped up, and it sounds like a woman whereas it's really a very deep-voiced C.W. McCall saying "Yeah, you wanna give me a 10-9 on that, PigPen?" * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Fri, 18 Apr 1997, Zydell wrote: > > What's the guy in the background on Joshie Fried's World's Address > > saying? It sounds like something about a 10-9 on that, ma'am, or maybe > > something about a tip... > > > > it's the part with the weird flute thing... > > -- > > Vladimir Drakul > > > I'm glad you asked, I was meaning to ask if anyone recognized that. > That is a sample from the 1970's song "Convoy". > > Ya know: "We got a great big convoy rockin' through the night. Yeah we > gotta big ol' convoy, ain't she a beautiful site; CONVOY!" > > I think the quote on the remix is "hey you wanna give me a 10-9 on that > pig pen (or big ben)" and while he repeats that you can hear a female > voice saying 'convoy', she is kinda hard to hear because its sounds > warped. > > It took me a long time to figure that out, but I went out and bought > the song convoy (It's from the movie of the same name) and it's there in > the song. > > There are two main charaters in the song: rubber duck (the singer) and > pig pen (or big ben). Hey by the way, anyone know what a swindle sheet > is? > > Nancy > ------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970419124653.00f5bb50@mail.ee.net> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 12:46:53 -0400 From: Evan Chakroff Subject: TMBG: MIDI from the posted interview: > FLANS: Actually, we had just gotten off the road promoting Flood for about > a year when we started Apollo 18, and we were happy to stay at home and > work on our MIDI files and write the songs. When we actually went back out I always figured they would use midi file to do this, but do they keep the midi files? like have a big archive of the ORIGINAL arrangement? So, in theory, they could RELEASE, like, a TMBG Midi Disk? or even just print out the music, with all the odd instrumentation? That would be cool. Have sheet music for Shoehorn: Get out the glockenspeil part. hehe. -ec ------------------------------ From: KdsInThHal@aol.com Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 13:35:27 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <970419133527_-1769553948@emout15.mail.aol.com> Subject: TMBG: aol, 12/29, remixes, bff >I read the transcript of an AOL chat with Flans, and his screen >name for the chat was John Puff. Yeah, but you can have 5 names for your account. And anyways, they always delete the live screen names, otherwise after attending a chat, the famed ones would get flooded mailboxes, eh? >Okay, so I was listening to my tape of the Roch. show today, >and I noticed that when Linnell starts the "triangle man" part >of "Particle Man," it sounds like he laughs or something. >Could someone who was there enlighten me? Is he laughing? >Or just out of breath? Much obliged yes. :) (and to the person who said "Does it really matter?" - yes it does. People can ask what they want, dear.) He was singing and had to take a breath, and we were all singing along and we kept his place while he paused. :D He was a bit amused. I hope they come back. 8) > I'm just curious: what's the general opinion on the remixes? (as if this hasn't been asked in every other issue of the digest) - I feel I have to stick up for these friggin remixes (well, me, Aaron and Lani O:)). Just cause the majority doesn't like them doesn't mean no one likes 'em. Ben Folds Five: Okay, yes they're good, but P L E A S E -- isn't there a BFF mailing list??!? You'd think this *was* the BFF mailing list, yeesh! sarah linnellgirl@tmbg.org http://members.aol.com/kdsinthhal/site.html listening to: XTC - "Skylarking" ------------------------------ Message-ID: <33592247.5D3E@mail.netnitco.net> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 12:51:35 -0700 From: The Cowans Subject: TMBG:Purdue show Matthew Coon wrote: > > Well, word has finally come down from on high about this show. They > are scheduled to play on Sunday, April 27 at 4:15PM at Slayter Center, > an outdoor theater. The bad news is that the show "is open to > Purdue students only." The good news is that, since there are no > tickets required (as far as I know); the show is basically on a big, > easily accessible hill; and Grand Prix is basically pandemonium > anyway, there is no conceivable way of enforcing this even if one > wanted to try. So, while I can't promise that anyone will get > to see the show, you may find it a worthwhile risk. > > m@t Does this include the Purdue students from remote campuses such as North Central? Please...I hope. Blink ------------------------------ Message-ID: <33592878.2769@mail.netnitco.net> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 13:18:00 -0700 From: The Cowans Subject: TMBG:Ways to defend against TMBG-haters Well, yesterday in class someone said they hated Them (yet they like SNZ, oddly) and also being a deadhead of sorts and surrounded by even bigger deadheads I replied "well what expect from someone who hates the Dead and listens to rap music" God, I hate high school. Seven more weeks. Thankfully I already have a class at Pudue North Central so I'm not surrounded by intellectual infants who don't appreciate Them. Also, I always hear Them say, "John and John OF They Might Be Giants and you are listening to (insert local radio station name that doesn't play enough TMBG)" Blink "Isn't that doorknob abnormally high?" -MST3K "Laserblast" ------------------------------ Message-Id: <199704191823.OAA63946@acs-mail.bu.edu> From: "wally" Subject: TMBG: NEVER TRADE WITH THIS PERSON! Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 14:19:59 -0400 NEVER TRADE WITH THIS PERSON. HE STOLE 5 BLANK TAPES OF MINE WELL OVER 2 MONTHS AGO AND NOW WILL NOT RESPOND TO MY EMAILS. HAS ANYONE EVER HAD A SIMILAR PROBLEM WITH HIM? Wally Gobetz wallyg@bu.edu http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8670 ========================================================================= "You can take a boy out of Brooklyn, but you can never get Brooklyn out of the boy." W. T. Ballard, 1942 ---------- > From: Malkav Appolonius > To: wallyg@bu.edu > Subject: Re: hello > Date: Sunday, February 02, 1997 2:15 PM > > Here is My list If you want more than a few we can workout 3:5 or 9:15 > Ill give you a break and not be stricktly 1:2 I find its a good way to > make long term contacts (and Im a great guy) so heres my list, hope we > can do business. > They Might Be Giants > Frank 'O Toole Show ? ?? 88 > Revolutions per Minute Toronto Canada 4 14 92 > Radio Gaga Variety Arts Show NY 10 18 92 > Barrymore Theater Madison Wisconsin 4 20 94 > Milwaukee, WI 4 20 94 > Barrymore theater Madison Wisconsin 3 31 96 > Mercury Lounge NY New York 4 13 96 > The Metro Chicago, Illinois 4?? 90 > Demo Tape 1985 > Stump box (compilation of covers) > > Mettallica > Hamburg, Germany 1 27 87 > > Oasis > Patriot Center, Fairfax VA 3 7 96 > > Dave Matthews solo > Wettlands, New York 1 29 94 > Swept Away 90m > > Marilyn Manson > Austin TX 1 14 95 45m > After School Special Demo 45m > (both can go on one tape) > Led Zepplin > The Forum, Ingle Wood CA 6 3 73 > > Weezer > Buffalo NY 7 > 30 95 > Rage Against the Machine > Demo > The Smashing Pumpkins 90min > Pink Floyd > A sauser full of outtakes 10 12 67 > > The Doors > Sanfrancisco 3 10 67 > The Smashing Pumpkins > Drown > Belgium 8 28 93 45m > Chicago 7 26 93 45m > (Both 1 tape) > Rugburns > NYC Wettlands 5 31 96 45m > Tulsa OK Club IKON 11 30 96 45m > (both 1 Tape) > Nine Inch Nails > Nails In The Head 90m (Witha few David Bowie Duets) > Scary Monster 90m > All tapes are very good sound quality and 90 minutes unless othwise noted ------------------------------ Message-Id: Date: Sat, 19 Apr 97 14:31 EDT From: kbrodbec@remcen.ehhs.cmich.edu (Kirsten Brodbeck) Subject: Re: TMBG: interview question >On another note..........what other TMBG songs do you think would translate >well to cartoons? Hmm... Well, "The Statue Got Me High" could be quite the freaky cartoon... My lil brother Nathan always thought "Birdhouse" would be a good one for a computer animation video, as well. Kirsten -- "To sing, to laugh, to dream, to walk in my own way and be alone, free, with an eye to see things as they are.." - from _Cyrano de Bergerac_ Kirsten Brodbeck kbrodbec@remcen.ehhs.cmich.edu AKA Crow AKA Brodie ------------------------------ From: mja4@cornell.edu Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 15:21:22 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: TMBG:Ways to defend against TMBG-haters Message-ID: On Sat, 19 Apr 1997, The Cowans wrote: > Well, yesterday in class someone said they hated Them (yet they like > SNZ, oddly)... why is that odd, i don't see what They and SNZ have in common that would make a fan of one a fan of the other... Trippy ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 14:42:29 -0500 (CDT) From: The Gottschalks Subject: Re: TMBG: interview question Message-ID: Well, you made me think that little brothers named Nathan gave good advice for that sort of thing, so I asked my little brother Nathan what he thought. He said "Whistling In The Dark." I'd prefer "Dinner Bell" myself. By the way, who are SNZ????? _Mark_ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 16:59:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Tom Hare Subject: Re: TMBG: interview question Message-ID: I already did one for They Might Be Giants, and am considering one for Till My head Falls Off. * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Sat, 19 Apr 1997, Kirsten Brodbeck wrote: > >On another note..........what other TMBG songs do you think would translate > >well to cartoons? > > Hmm... Well, "The Statue Got Me High" could be quite the freaky > cartoon... My lil brother Nathan always thought "Birdhouse" would be a > good one for a computer animation video, as well. > > Kirsten > -- > "To sing, to laugh, to dream, to walk in my own way and be alone, free, > with an eye to see things as they are.." - from _Cyrano de Bergerac_ > Kirsten Brodbeck kbrodbec@remcen.ehhs.cmich.edu AKA Crow AKA Brodie > ------------------------------ Message-Id: <199704192010.PAA06851@cereal.ncfcomm.com> From: "Mike Leffel" Subject: TMBG: A final, sad, slap in the face from my otherwise fine purchase of THEN Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 16:01:14 -0500 As I looked on the meager slip of a cardboard cover that accompanied my THEN (a la MonoPuff) and read among the list of ingredients for THEN... it says that I can expect to find a 32 page booklet with 'extensive' liner notes. Sad Pun Report: If it wasn't for dissappointments, I would have no expectations. Mike "No Lyric Book-Lad" Leffel Now I'm all restless and stuff. ------------------------------ Message-Id: <199704192148.QAA69492@audumla.students.wisc.edu> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 16:42:24 -0500 From: Geoffrey McNulty Subject: Re: TMBG: interview question squirrel nut zippers. a swing band from charlotte, nc At 02:42 PM 4/19/97 -0500, you wrote: >Well, you made me think that little brothers named Nathan gave good >advice for that sort of thing, so I asked my little brother Nathan what >he thought. He said "Whistling In The Dark." I'd prefer "Dinner Bell" myself. >By the way, who are SNZ????? >_Mark_ > > * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geoffrey McNulty | "...there comes a time when Entertainment Writer | you want to roast marshmallows gmcnulty@students.wisc.edu | over your own fire." www.angelfire.com/wi/geomac | --Tori Amos * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 18:58:07 -0400 From: Don Glasgow Subject: TMBG: Istanbul!! Message-id: <3.0.32.19970419185805.0069f7b8@ic3.ithaca.edu> I am just curious as to who did Istanbul first.. was it TMBG or the 4 Lads? I am getting dissapointed all over, first I find out NYC wasnt THEIRS andnow possibly Istanbul!! Say it aint so!! -Donner Out ------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970419182935.00e2b160@mail.ee.net> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 18:29:35 -0400 From: Evan Chakroff Subject: nonTMBG: interview question At 04:42 PM 4/19/97 -0500, Geoffrey McNulty wrote: >squirrel nut zippers. a swing band from charlotte, nc > Chapel Hill, actually. -ec ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 17:48:40 -0500 (EST) From: Queen Sneepy Subject: TMBG: Purdue times o' meeting Message-ID: Well, since we've all decided that the Purdue show does indeed seem to be happening (apparently I got the one guy on campus there that doesn't know what the Grand Prix is) and it seems that theres a whole bunch of people a-comin', when and where do we want to meet? Or do we? I frankly have little idea as to what Purdue, or West Lafayette for that matter, is like (and thus will need directions as well, if anyone woud be so kind) and so know of no landmarks... _______> Stefanie Elliott <____> smelliot@falstaff.ucs.indiana.edu <_____ // \\ // "It's Conan and Andy's Dole-a-Song...Not too clear, \\ and not too long..." -Mismirilda's spoof on the Dial-A-Song Intro TMBG + Conan O'Brien + MiSTie #14672 + Medievalist + Star Wars + DNRC = Fun! ------------------------------ Message-Id: <199704192241.RAA58818@audumla.students.wisc.edu> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 17:35:36 -0500 From: Geoffrey McNulty Subject: Re: nonTMBG: interview question that's what i meant, chapel hill. i was listening to brick by ben folds five (also from chapel hill) and typed charlotte when they say charlotte in the song. geoff At 06:29 PM 4/19/97 -0400, you wrote: >At 04:42 PM 4/19/97 -0500, Geoffrey McNulty wrote: >>squirrel nut zippers. a swing band from charlotte, nc >> > >Chapel Hill, actually. > >-ec > * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geoffrey McNulty | "...there comes a time when Entertainment Writer | you want to roast marshmallows gmcnulty@students.wisc.edu | over your own fire." www.angelfire.com/wi/geomac | --Tori Amos * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970419200845.0072c7b4@pop.cwru.edu> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 20:08:45 -0400 From: Jeff Roberts Subject: Re: TMBG: Istanbul!! At 06:58 PM 4/19/97 -0400, Don Glasgow wrote: >I am just curious as to who did Istanbul first.. was it TMBG or the 4 Lads? > I am getting dissapointed all over, first I find out NYC wasnt THEIRS >andnow possibly Istanbul!! Say it aint so!! > Sorry to break the bad news to ya Don, but yes Istanbul (Not Constantinople) is indeed a cover. The 4 Lads did it back in the '50's I believe or maybe it was the '60's. When I got the Flood tape at a family trip to the mall about 5 years ago and played it in the car on the way home my mom's bf said he recognized the song but not TMBG which I thought was kinda cool. If you'll look in your liner notes for Flood it'll say all songs written by John and John except Istanbul written by J. Kennedy and N. Simon and list the copyright for the lyrics in 1953. Jeff Roberts "But I was young and foolish then. I feel old and foolish now." -They Might Be Giants "What the world needs now is a another folk singer like I need a hole in my head." -Cracker ------------------------------ From: Tmbgneat@aol.com Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 19:44:59 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <970419194457_-633865078@emout15.mail.aol.com> Subject: TMBG: ROBERT GRABILL JR. ATTENTION << NEVER TRADE WITH THIS PERSON. HE STOLE 5 BLANK TAPES OF MINE WELL OVER 2 MONTHS AGO AND NOW WILL NOT RESPOND TO MY EMAILS. HAS ANYONE EVER HAD A SIMILAR PROBLEM WITH HIM? >> never had a problem with him but can ROBERT GRABILL JR. please email me? i still havent recieved the tapes from more than a month ago ------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970419212947.00f549d0@mail.ee.net> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 21:29:47 -0400 From: Evan Chakroff Subject: TMBG: Random Request Of The Day And the Random Request Of The Day is.... Tape of the show from The Villiage Gate that They plug all through the Frank o'Toole Show Tape. I'll be very surprised if soeone has this, or even if a tape exists. well, whatever. -ec ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 21:59:03 -0400 (EDT) From: Coyote Subject: TMBG: TMBG Video Bootleg 2.5 Message-ID: OK I finally got the setlist for the Video Bootleg 2.5 up on my webpage. Access "www.wpi.edu/~kai/Music/TMBG/video25.html".. (phew that's long). Want one? Email me for details... To whoever has emailed me, and hasn't gotten a response, I'll get to you soon... So don't feel unwanted! ~-~\ /~-~ ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ "Well, as cliche as it may sound, I'd like to raise another round, and if your bottles empty help yourself to mine, thank you for your time; and here's to life" kai@wpi.edu http://www.wpi.edu/~kai ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 21:36:29 -0500 From: Eric Busse Message-ID: <3359812C.784@athenet.net> Organization: United Federation of Planets Subject: TMBG: Converting people,TMBG haters, TMBG fans, disciples of They... I've never posted before since i've always had the e-mail version. Now i'm reading via usenet so, hello, I am Eric. 18 as of yesterday(the 18th), senior at Omro High School. Guitar, trumpet, accordion, Roland XP-50, and clarinet player, singer, only fan of TMBG in my entire school. Yes folks, that's right. I wear my TMBG shirts whenever I go someplace around the wonderful state of Wisconsin with the hope of attracting other fans. The reason being: For some reason, TMBG fans are VERY much alike. I know of only one fan that I don't like (she also began liking Starwars when she found out it was "cool"). If you know someone is a TMBG fan, there is about a 94.6314% chance that you will enjoy her/his company. It also seems that it may be possible to pick out fans (or prospective fans) just by having a short conversation with them. Finding out whether someone is a true fan may also be possible. Does the person like TMBG solely because they are "goofy" or "silly" (as with the previously mentioned) or do they like them because their work is sheer genius. As for me, it may be too late. I can't find any other musicians in the area to play with because everyone one wants to play Nirvana, Marilyn Manson(ugh),311(ugh,ugh), and that oh-so-wonderful alternateen music. Hey, look at us, we're rebels. Listen to us swear and worship the devil (sarcasm). Well, anyway, i'll be going to Eau Claire for college this summer, so if you live anywhere near Oshosh,WI or Eau Claire, have musical roots planted deeply in TMBGesque and Residents stlye of music and enjoy playing plentiful instruments and plentiful styles, and are interested in starting a two or three person band...let me know. I'm hardcore into practicing all the instruments I have right now and since i'm but 18 years old, I've got plenty of time. TMBG has HUGE shoes to fill and while I know they are very capable of filling them, I think that any other bands with the same goal as They would only help the cause. Besides, They Might not be around forever... Eric Busse ------------------------------ Subject: TMBG: Re: THE LAST DIGEST AND OTHER TMBG STUFF Message-ID: <19970419.214319.13486.3.TMBgirl@juno.com> From: tmbgirl@juno.com (I have no Name) Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 23:44:25 EDT I dunno if Karen even sings. Robin does, tho. >karen is linnell's wife right? i asume robin is flansy's? : Heather Tinkler said: I think it's human nature to want to share these interests when you know you've got one thing in common. >yeah, well let's defy human nature and DECIDE NOT TO DO THIS she continued to say: For those of you that have complained about your mail server (juno, I beleive) Why are you whining when there are over a dozen more free mail services. So you chose one that sucks.. get a new one and get on with your life. >some of us actually have a life and don't have time to go around testing EVERY >FRIGGIN free mail service. then she said: Don't misunderstand me, I'm not reacting with anger towards anyone, I'm just adding my two cents.. I think everyone is allowed to. >Don't misunderstand me, I AM reacting with anger towards everyone (not just you) > and i wish that we could just go by the rules that someone posted in teh last digest... > they seemed very reasonable and to the point where if you have something you > really really think we all need to hear then you can post it with a NON-TMBG in the > heading _________________________________________________________________> dan said: usually at shows were the introduce the band, they seem to make a big production out of everyone else, and then at the very end, JF (usually) will say, "..and i'm john, and he's john, and we are they might be giants" >yeah, like they did in the band intros of their 'live in NY 94' performance at Sony Music >studios THE END "when this grey world crumbles like a cake i'll be hanging from the hope that i never see that recipe again...." JOrdaN ------------------------------ Message-Id: Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 00:35:04 -0500 From: elleng@massart.edu (ellen g.) Subject: TMBG: interview question/videos >I already did one for They Might Be Giants, and am considering one for >Till My head Falls Off. I've made a video to "fingertips" (gods, was THAT fun!), actually about three years ago, and I've been *meaning* to send it to the Johns, but haven't gotten my ass in gear as of yet. :) -ellen April is the crulest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead earth, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain. -T. S. Eliot ************************************** Visit Eclectic Ellen G's Website, presently being revamped! http://www.tiac.net/users/gersh/ellen.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 01:45:25 -0400 (EDT) From: taileen Subject: Re: TMBG: Re: THE LAST DIGEST AND OTHER TMBG STUFF Message-ID: I can't find anything about Flansy being married to any robin, but ya, karen is linnell's wife :( [sniff]. taileen On Sat, 19 Apr 1997, I have no Name wrote: > I dunno if Karen even sings. Robin does, tho. > > >karen is linnell's wife right? i asume robin is flansy's? > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 01:57:20 -0400 From: Mismirilda Message-ID: <3359B040.2DE2@erols.com> Organization: EROL'S Subject: TMBG: Baltimore show Am I the first to post on the show? Okay... Good show. Linnell was happy, as he seems inclined to be a whole lot lately. (tee hee) Flans was happy also, he and Graham jumped across the stage on quite a few songs. They also both made mistakes -- Graham forgot the lyrics to I Am Not Your Broom. But Flans completely forgot what song he was supposed to be playing. Tell me if I quote this wrong... "Here's an apoclyptic song. Remember New York City? *double take at set list* Remember Alzheimers? *turn to Linnell* do I play guitar on this song, John?" "Yes" "Does Reagan play guitar on this song?" "That's right" (Mr. Me) The thing about Regan referred back to an earlier joke, that they had written the lyrics in #3 "...and I asked old What's-his-Name" so the song wouldn't be dated. Then they went into something about how the president would be Regan, and that they were the same age as he or something... I missed this part. Linnell said that the president in question would be Wilson. ;) (Incedently, my dad referred to #3 as "That calypso-polka song") (yes, I can't drive, so sue me) Who else noticed the cut on Linnell's left jawbone? It was kinda big, and when he was singing it started to bleed. Poor Linny! He also had something interesting in his left pocket... any guesses as to what it was? "Is is just hot in here, or is it Graham Maby on the bass? Is it just hot in here, or is the air conditioning just not working? Or is the air conditioning just not working?" -Flans To solve that problem a big fan was brought out in the middle of the concert. It was during Shoehorn with Teeth. Dan would stand in front of the fan, shaking his shirt and blowing his hair around, and when the all-importent moment came he dashed over to the glockespeil and hit the note to much cheering and applause. Gripe: THE ENCORES WERE CUT OFF! WE COULD HAVE HEARD SHE'S AN ANGEL AND NOTHING'S GONNA CHANGE MY CLOTHES, BUT THEY HAD TO LEAVE TO MAKE WAY FOR THE DISCO ACT FOLLOWING THEM. NOOOOOOOOO!!! -Mismirilda, sorely wishing she could here She's An Angel in concert once -- just once ------------------------------ End of tmbg-list Digest #3-109 ******************************