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 #12-1 tmbg-list Digest, Volume 12, Number 1 Sunday, 1 November 1998 Today's Topics: Re:TMBG: Quirkmeisters? Re:TMBG: Dr. Worm single Re: TMBG: Quirkmeisters? 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------- tmbg-list is digested with Digest 3.5b (John Relph ). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Batbrain99@aol.com Message-ID: <90e3394d.363abf83@aol.com> Date: Sat, 31 Oct 1998 02:42:59 EST Subject: Re:TMBG: Quirkmeisters? Apparently someone requested a cut and paste of the article, and aparrently someone fulfilled that request. And apparantly I deleted the bloody thing. Could someone please cut and paste it again? I cant manage to find it! Thank you ~Bat"Slain"Brain Surprisingly, we got invited to a Halloween party, and the next day we were dead ------------------------------ Message-ID: <363AD0CC.7C4C292C@pacificnet.net> Date: Sat, 31 Oct 1998 00:56:50 -0800 From: Bongo Subject: Re:TMBG: Dr. Worm single From: captainmarvel2@juno.com (Derek A Klein) Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 19:02:07 EST Just wondering: has anyone heard anything new about the supposed Dr. Worm single? Derek "What is everyone staring at?" If we had been calling our local radio stations, requesting it, maybe there would be a Dr. Worm single by now. But no, we a had to be anti-social little geeks who curse the thought of TMBG becoming popular. Instead we spent our time stuffing the "Time Person of the Century" ballot box with Flans name so that in 2000 we can snicker from the shadows at the result of our little prank. -B O N G O _________________________________________________ "Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do" -They Might Be Giants [Attachment omitted, unknown MIME type or encoding (text/html)] ------------------------------ From: TMBGibs@aol.com Message-ID: <7986eace.363b3c97@aol.com> Date: Sat, 31 Oct 1998 11:36:39 EST Subject: Re: TMBG: Quirkmeisters? the article reads: THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS After more than a decade of being the quirkmeisters of accordion pop, THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS' singer/squeeze-box-guy John Linnell is well-seasoned in the fine art of phone interviewing. "I've actually had that experience where people have thought I was the other guy and then they're disappointed when they find out I'm not," Linnell explains. "The other guy" is John Flansburgh, bespectacled guitarist and the other half of the duo. On tour to support the new live album, Severe Tire Damage, Linnell's comment clues one in on the strength of their individual personalities. Two Johns, two guys, one band: THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS emerged in the '80s during a time when popular music was stagnant (an oxymoron?). Hair metal was the flavor of the day and a band like TMBG was as far removed from that genre as possible. Their self-titled 1986 LP, with its stutter-step single "Don't Let's Start," helped put John and John on the pop-music map. Subsequent singles and releases brought more of the public in. By 1990's Flood LP, TMBG was solidified as an MTV-culture band, with a reworking of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and the song "Birdhouse in Your Soul" leading the singles charge. Quirky, clever, or just plain dumb, the band was on to something. "I think the key to the success of this band is that we figured out what we're good at," Linnell says. "We make the records we'd like to buy." With intelligent, wry lyrics and catchy melodies and instrumentation, TMBG have made a career of talking frank. Early songs like "We're the Replacements" (with the line "Hey, where's Tommy? Someone find Tommy") and "Youth Culture Killed My Dog" ("Bacharach and David used to write his favorite songs/Never would he worry, he'd just run and fetch the ball") had the kind of hip, in-the-moment references that have made bands like the BEASTIE BOYS and BECK so cool. But somehow, TMBG prescribed to a different ethic. Mostly, the boys have kept their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks, not afraid to laugh at themselves along with everyone else. Case in point is a recent taping for a National Public Radio broadcast -- and actually hearing oneself on the radio. "We were driving along in Chicago and we were flipping through the radio," relates Linnell. "Right at the point were we picked [a station] up, we heard this guy obnoxiously going 'Ahhh!' and thought 'Who IS this?' It turned out to be John [Flansburgh]. It's a nice coincidence when that happens." The band's new single, "Doctor Worm," is receiving airplay locally, turning up pretty frequently on WYEP 91.3 FM. One might think the band more suitable for college radio than for independent public radio and AAA-oriented formats. Linnell corrects the misconception: "We've had a decent ride with those channels for many years." From the earliest days, the band has maintained "Dial-A-Song," a phone number that, when called, plays a new TMBG song for no other cost except long- distance charges. The song changed frequently but became a kind of sensation for the band's fans. "We've still got the line [718-387-6962, FYI], which started out as just an answering machine," says Linnell. The boys have recently put the Dial-A-Song on the Internet as well, on the band's new, official www.tmbg.com website. "We're deeply indebted to our fans for supporting us, but it's not a situation where we'll be palling around," Linnell says when asked about many artists' new fad of "chatting" with fans via the Web. "It's not really about us or what we're like. It's about the music -- it's personal and that's what's good about it." Personal interaction between any artist and fan is not a smooth endeavor. Fans may even feel as though they may "know" an artist through his or her work. Linnell understands. He's a fan, too. "We did a week of shows with Elvis Costello," Linnell says. "He's a really great songwriter and I really admire him, but you feel a little awkward talking about it." After the tour, the band will be at work on studio material. "We actually got two records planned," says Linnell. "One is a THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS record and one is a children's record we're considering doing," the singer pauses, thoughtfully adding, "if we have enough time." -- Greg Hoy Pittsburgh City Paper (October 8, 1998) Me! "Im your only friend..." ------------------------------ End of tmbg-list Digest #12-1 *****************************