From: owner-tmbg-list To: tmbg-digest Subject: They Might Be Giants Digest V1 #44 Reply-To: tmbg-list@tmbg.org Errors-To: owner-tmbg-list Precedence: bulk They Might Be Giants Digest Wednesday, 25 October 1995 Volume 01 : Number 044 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: apf@caess1.cae.aro.allied.com (Adam P. Fistler) Date: Wed, 25 Oct 95 09:42:42 EDT Subject: Videos.... Does anyone know where to get some TMBG videos (not the ones on the video comp you can get anywhere). I wana know where to get The Guitar, Istanbul and Birdhouse in your soul videos. ------------------------------ From: "Michael C. Lebovitz" Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 10:03:47 -0400 (EDT) Subject: 1st times and somejunk Lesse. My first time with TMBG was one real late night. I was watching Empty V (also known as MTV) at, like, one in the morning, and this video came on. T'was Ana Ng. My older brtoher and I botyh though it was really cool and we were dancing around the living room trying to sing it; we kept saying "Ana Ng and I are getting old, but we still haven't walked in the glow of each other's magectic light." Anyway, that was in 1988. I forgot who They were for a year (hang my head in shame), until a friend of mine gave me a copy of Lincoln. It was missing the line "Till they steped on my hair" because he accidently recorded over it. I listened to it, memorized every line, and then went out to buy it. But the store only had the Pink one, so I bought that. The next week I got Lincoln, and six months later Flood came out. Sadly,, I've only seen Them once. Back in 1989, I was a mere tike of eleven and my parents wouldn't let me cros the street by myself, let alone go to a concert. When I turned 14 and was finally allowed to go to concerts, every time They came to Philadelphia, I was in some foreign state. That's my story. the end. lebo ------------------------------ From: "Jason G." Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 10:25:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: They Might Be Giants Digest V1 #43 Begin Patented Multi-Thread-Response-Method: Thread #1: I think the John Henry Girl should be named Persephone. Thread #2: When ever 'The Guitar' comes on I fast forward to the next cut. Thread #3: I first heard TMBG at a party (Istanbul and Minimum Wage). I was intrigued but didn't care too much (I was very drunk.) Two years later TMBG came here to Orlando so the local radio station that was sponsoring the concert mixed some of their more commercial songs into the playlist. That week I heard 'Ana Ng' 'Don't Let's Start' and oddly 'Particle Man'(a live version.) I was talking about 'Particle Man' at work and one of my co-workers turned out to be a big TMBG fan. He lent me Apollo 18, Misc T, Lincon, and Flood. I dubbed all of them onto tape and started to listen to them. At first I felt like I was looking at a car crash, in that they turned me off but I couldn't stop listening. After a few weeks of continual play I realized that I was still listening because I liked what I heard! I was so surprised! Since then I have bought originals of Flood, Apollo 18, and John Henry. I have Misc. t and Lincoln on my Christmas List. Thread #4: What is 'Back To Skull'? - -- ============================================================================== "I am | Jason S. Giddens | Buddhist to Hot Dog Kaiser Soze!" | Orlando, Florida | Vendor: "Make me one -The Usual Suspects| jsg35759@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu | with everything!" ============================================================================== The Dallas Cowboys... Without a doubt the greatest football team in the NFL. ============================================================================== ------------------------------ From: aj514@osfn.rhilinet.gov (Mary Moretti) Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 11:04:11 -0400 Subject: att. leo bicknell leo, sorry for my poor judgement, i thought about sending for a few minutes, but after i had reviewed some of the previous posts to the list and the frequent use's of the f*** word by others, i thought it would be ok. i merely thought it was funny and relevant. mary - -- mary moretti " i just stand up, and make a joyous sound 'cause i don't let the little things get aj514@osfn.rhilinet.gov get me down" - YFF @}-}--- ------------------------------ From: Destin.Berthelot@Rollins.Edu Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 12:02:41 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: They Might Be Giants Digest V1 #43 Well, I am a digest subscriber, so these are probably old threads, but I too first heard TMBG on Tiny Toons. I saw it and said, "That was really cool. Much too good to be a real group." I figured they were fictional or something... But I taped th eepisode and watched it a whole lot... Then I saw the video for "Statue" on Al TV... When Weird Al took over MTV for about three hours. I then decided that they were extraordinarily cool and got a copy of Flood from one of my friends (It was like 4th-generation), loved it, bought Apollo, Pink, Lincoln, Misc T, Flood, and a whole bunch of other stuff on CD. That's my history. Oh, and I kinda like Mr. Klaw. It's short. It's amusing enough. And Cathy, they included all the Bsides on the Restless/BarNone label on Misc T. They didn't pick and choose. My least favorite song would be between You'll Miss Me (the demo was so much better!) and Hearing Aid.... BTW, does ANYONE know anywhere I can get the Live in NY (full thing) on CD? Anywhere?!?! Please? I can't live without it.... Destin ------------------------------ From: relph@mando.engr.sgi.com (John Relph) Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 09:24:51 -0700 Subject: Purple Toupee Revisited And I quote from the TMBG Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list: 30. What is "Purple Toupee" all about? As interpreted by: + jens_alfke@quickmail.apple.com (Jens Alfke) + brown@merlin.plk.af.mil (Justin) + Sadiye Guler + melinda@world.std.com (Melinda M Hale) + Guy Jacobson + tracyk@cs.washington.edu (Tracy Kimbrel) + John Relph + schmidt@kickapoo.cs.iastate.edu (William J. Schmidt) + trainman@merle.acns.nwu.edu (Jim Ellwanger) + jason.kreitzer%goucher@wb3ffv.ampr.org (Jason Kreitzer) I remember, the year I went to camp, I heard about some lady named Selma and some blacks Civil rights demonstrations in Selma, Alabama, and the fact that Rosa Parks, who would not move to the back of the bus, is a black woman. somebody put their finger in the president's ears it wasn't too much later they came out with Johnson's Wax During the Johnson administration, and perhaps before, the following were a popular type of stupid riddle: Q: How do you make a Venetian blind? A: Poke his eyes out! Q: How do you make Johnson's wax? A: Put your finger in the president's ear! Johnson's Wax is a polishing product made by S.C. Johnson Wax. There was specifically a famous photograph that was published at the time, showing Johnson holding this hound dog by the ears. I think it made a stir because it made the president look like a buffoon (the strange pose plus LBJ's own sizable ears). Could be a reference to "finger on the trigger" and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Also could refer to Johnson's implacable attitude towards continuing the Vietnam War, despite the mood of the country, advice of aides, etc. I remember the book depository where they crowned the King of Cuba The book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK's assassin, hid, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and of course the Cuban missile crisis (with JFK in office). Also since Oswald was supposedly involved in a CIA plan to overthrow Castro (the King of Cuba). That's all I can think of, but I'm sure there's something else, way down inside me I can hear it coming back Purple toupee will show the way when summer brings you down Purple toupee and gold lame will turn your brain around "Purple Toupee" could be a play on both the title and the music of Prince's song "Raspberry Beret". Purple is widely regarded as the color of psychadelia. Jimi Hendrix' biggest smash hit was, of course, Purple Haze. Jimi didn't wear a toupee, but had a wild hairstyle, and wore gold lame (at the same time as every color of the rainbow; He certainly had a unique sense of fashion). Purple Haze and some of the rest of Jimi's debut album are definitely about drugs. There was a variety of LSD known as Purple Haze, though I don't know whether it was named after the song or vice versa. Another possible (drug-free) interpretation of "turn your brain around": Jimi was and still is considered one of the most (if not the most) influential rock musicians in history. He turned the music world upside-down. Chinese people were fighting in the park we tried to help them fight, no one appreciated that But it seems to me that one of the leading Asian generals on one side of either the Vietnam or Korean War was named General Park. I've always thought that's what the "park" here was referring to. This may also be a reference to the fact that the USA "interfered" in the Vietnam War. Martin X was mad when they outlawed bell bottoms ten years later they were sharing the same cell Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. again, and Malcolm X (ten years later they were both dead). I shouted out "Free the expo '67" 'till they stomped on my hair, Abby Hoffman and the Chicago 7 were widely regarded as political prisoners following their arrest for disrupting the Democratic National Convention in 1968. This probably is a confused reference to "Free the Chicago 7". Also a possible reference to the De Gaulle's "Libre Quebec" speech at Expo '67, in Montreal, Quebec. and they told me I was fat When the Beatles first arrived in the US during the British Invasion, John was just a trifle porky. The newspapers immediately dubbed him "the fat Beatle". Now I'm very big, I'm a big important man and the only thing that's different is underneath my hat. Purple toupee is here to stay after the hair has gone away the purple brigade is marching from the grave _Hair_ was a popular and influential Broadway musical, from which came the songs "Aquarius" (the dawning of the age of aquarius / the spawning of the cage and aquarium), "Let the Sun Shine In", and of course, "Hair" (give me a head with hair / long beautiful hair). Louise writes: People who saw John&John in the new york area prior to 1988 may remember that Purple Toupee was ALWAYS dedicated to Joe Franklin, a local TV personality whose very-late-night show was a celebration of local, rather Times-Square of the '50s talent... comics, singers, minor celebs etc. Joe, who just retired last year, would be very generous with his air time, and it was on _The Joe Franklin Show_ that John & John first met the etherealized waves -- back in '83-84, I beleive. Anyway, if you ever saw Joe, you'd know that "Purple Toupee" and "gold lame" are both appropriate to the show's dress code. The show had been on in the NYC area since forever, and by the '80s was the site of a lot of cultural nostalgia for those of us who were little kids in the real early 60s, as the Johns were. "Lady named Selma and some blacks" and the President's ear joke are about the way that Big Current Events sound to a first grader in 1964. And The Joe Franklin Show always seemed stuck right about there. For those of you who caught the 7-night extravaganza in NYC last year, you may remember that Joe Franklin introduced TMBG on the final night, and briefly reminisced about their early days. This was the night when the show that consisted of the exact replication of the first album (the Bar-None/ Rodney Alan album). The show brought back extremely fond memories of crowded nights at Darinka. (Anyone else remember Darinka?) Ori S. Abrams writes: I think it is simply about the rewards one receives for being ignorant. The narrator clearly never payed any attention to the important events happening around him during the 60's. Yet today he's important (albeit bald) and living high on the hog. Wonderful stuff. - -- Fiery breakfast of twigs when the President vanishes. ------------------------------ From: Jonathan.Chaffer@cmich.edu (Jonathan Chaffer) Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 12:39:13 -0600 Subject: Re: Religion >The Johns are NOT Jewish. We Jews know that Chanukah and Christman are >not the same, and hence a t-shirt wiht an X-Mas tree on the front and >"Happy Hanukah" would not have come from ours minds. Their Christmas It's a joke, man! A *joke*! Christians know the difference between Chanukah and Christmas, too. Honest. - --------------------------------------------------------------------- jonathan.chaffer@cmich.edu | JC(A+R) | "Bozosity abounds." --Kibo - -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GM/MU d-(--) s++:--->++:- a--- C++ U--- P--- !L E? W++>+++ N- o? K+ W--- !O M+++++$ !V PS-- PE+ Y+ PGP- t+ 5? X? R+/C tv b++ @DI !D G++ e*>++++ r y- - ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ ------------------------------ From: Chris Bongaarts Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 11:25:50 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: They Might Be Giants Digest V1 #43 In the immortal words of Jason G.: >What is 'Back To Skull'? It's the first EP from John Henry - contains Snail Shell (plus the Dust Bros remix), Ondine, She Was a Hotel Detective (part deux), and Mrs. Train. A truly excellent addition to any TMBG fan's collection. Confidential to Mary: The original title is "How the Internet is like a Penis" and has been circulating around the net for some time now. Reminds me of (i think) last year, when someone posted the "superhuman college application essay" but changed the last line from "But I have not yet gone to college" to "but I have not yet seen TMBG in concert" or some such. ============================================ cab@cis.umn.edu Chris Bongaarts University of Minnesota bong0004@gold.tc.umn.edu My opinions are my own, and they are right. cab@acm.cs.umn.edu WWW URL: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~cab CBongo@IRC (channel #umn) GCS d-- s:+ a21 C+++ ULHSX++++$ P++++ L++ E W++ N++ K+++ w-- !O M+ !V PS+ PE+ Y-- PGP-- t+ !5 !X R tv b+ DI++++ D+ G++ e h- !r y? [GeekCode 3.0] ------------------------------ From: "Jacob T. Eidsmoe" Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 09:33:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: Videos.... Greetings, Am am new to the TMBG list, however I am far from being a newbie to the TMBG scene... in responce to Mr. Adam, although I don't know exactly where you can get the videos on tape (that I would also like to know), you can at least download them (if you have the time) from the world wide web Giants page. the address is http://www.dnai.com/~obo/tmbg/ (somehow I imagine this address has probably already been mentioned on this mailing list before) It's better than nothing, for now... :-) Well, this is all for now. I look forward to reading stuff from my new favourite mailing list! Sincerely, Jacob On Wed, 25 Oct 1995, Adam P. Fistler wrote: > Does anyone know where to get some TMBG videos (not the ones on the video comp you can get anywhere). I wana know where to get The Guitar, Istanbul and Birdhouse in your soul videos. > ------------------------------ From: Keith Hyman Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 11:37:09 -0500 (CDT) Subject: First hearing Hi. When I complained to a friend of mine who had introduced me to much of the music I really enjoy (still) today, especially my favorite band (don't cringe, friends) "Gentle Giant" (the Giant part is just a coincidence), anyway, when I complained that I didn't have anything new to listen to that I really liked, he suggested TMBG! So I went to the Sam Goodys record shop at Bellevue Center in Nashville (TN) where a clerk kindly opened a CD (A18, I think it was) and played it. Well there I stood in the middle of the store between the racks and busy, noisy shoppers, trying to listen and hoping to enjoy. Quirky, clever, and funny were the impressions I got under such circumstances. But my $13 or $15 started to feel big and heavy in my pocket, so I passed. I was somewhat dejected, but not satisfied, because I believed if my friend had recommended Them to me, knowing as he does my eclectic tastes in music, then there must be something great about Them. Scene 2: Compact DISCovery used CD store a week later, where I find the disk with "Birdhouse in Your Soul" for a small and light $6 in mint condition and I snapped it up, later to return for both A18 and JH for a dollar or two more. Birdhouse eventually made me cry when I "got it," and I have been hooked since. That's it for now (and it's enuff, I know!). ================================================================================ Keith Hyman | Nobody tells; everyone understands it's everybody Nashville TN 37221 USA | For Nobody. Anyone for anybody? hymankk70@ccvax.mmc.edu| I will be responsible For Nobody. | ...Gentle Giant/The Missing Piece ------------------------------ From: "Jacob T. Eidsmoe" Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 09:38:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: They Might Be Giants Digest V1 #43 Live in NY --> GOT IT!!!! (Cool, and this is only my first day!!!) On Wed, 25 Oct 1995 Destin.Berthelot@Rollins.Edu wrote: > Well, I am a digest subscriber, so these are probably old threads, but > I too first heard TMBG on Tiny Toons. I saw it and said, "That was really > cool. Much too good to be a real group." I figured they were fictional or > something... But I taped th eepisode and watched it a whole lot... Then I > saw the video for "Statue" on Al TV... When Weird Al took over MTV for > about three hours. I then decided that they were extraordinarily cool and > got a copy of Flood from one of my friends (It was like 4th-generation), > loved it, bought Apollo, Pink, Lincoln, Misc T, Flood, and a whole > bunch of other stuff on CD. That's my history. Oh, and I kinda like Mr. Klaw. > It's short. It's amusing enough. And Cathy, they included all the Bsides on > the Restless/BarNone label on Misc T. They didn't pick and choose. My least > favorite song would be between You'll Miss Me (the demo was so much better!) > and Hearing Aid.... BTW, does ANYONE know anywhere I can get the Live in NY > (full thing) on CD? Anywhere?!?! Please? I can't live without it.... > > Destin > ------------------------------ From: The Artist Formerly known as Joe Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 12:09:34 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Favorite song I would have to say that my favorite song is where your eyes don't go. This decision was hard to come up with. I think the top five would be much easier. With so many great songs to chose from, (Dead, The End of the Tour, Ana Ng) it is almost imposible. TAFKAJ ------------------------------ From: Mandy Cornick Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 12:11:49 -0500 (CDT) Subject: first time :) Back in highschool I was on the swimteam and when we would take long boring bus rides to far away places for a swim meet, we would sing songs and stuff all together or in groups of whoever knew the songs. There was this group of girls who sometimes sang particle man and made up their own verses I think, (I didn't know the song at the time) but it was really catchy and fun. Finally (If you are still reading this) when my boyfriend and I were just starting out he played me all kinds of weird music since he has a huge cd collection, and he played flood for me once. I was super excited and I asked him who the band was. Since then I have bought all the albums and a few of the singles. I went to a concert last year and I would have to say that They are my favorite band! - -mandy ------------------------------ From: "Jennifer Parker" Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 13:55:58 EST Subject: Re: Religion > The Johns are NOT Jewish. We Jews know that Chanukah and Christman > are not the same, and hence a t-shirt wiht an X-Mas tree on the > front and "Happy Hanukah" would not have come from ours minds. I thought maybe they were trying to be funny. Most people do recognize that these two holidays are not the same. You would think that even if They are Jewish, they would probably know something about it since there happen to be a lot of Jews in NYC. > Their Christmas recordings (O Tanenbaum!) would not have been made. > The only support I can find for the Johns being Jews is Santa's > Beard, where they use the words "trembling fear" and :Christmas" in > the same breath. Maybe one of Them IS Jewish and the other one isn't? > THEY'RE NOT JEWISH! Why are you getting so worked up about this. I din't say it was a BAD thing that they were Jewish. I think it's a perfectly fine and valid religion. Everything will be okay, even the Johns are atheists!! I promise, so please calm down. Jennifer ------------------------------ From: Matthew James Date: Wed, 25 Oct 1995 14:47:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: top tmbg songs I believe I would definitely have to put Rhythm Section Want Ad Turn Around No One Knows my Plan In the top 3 (I think in that order but it tends to sway depending on what mood I'm in. NOKMP was a recent addition to the top 3 in the past half year or so in great part due to the awesomeness of it in concert. Which could bring up a new top list, top Live songs. NOKMP is definitely best live and probably the Famous Polka next. - -- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matt James mjames@love.loyola.edu, elrond@charm.net Loyola College "I'm not the only dust my mother raised."--TMBG "Look at the size of that thing!"--Wedge "Hail to the king, baby"-Ash Anything Box--U.S. synthpop claim to fame Warsaw-Joy Division-New Order - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ End of They Might Be Giants Digest V1 #44 *****************************************