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

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

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

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

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

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

aw man i used to loooove their "Jessica"

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

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

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

Here's the first time they ever played Jessica!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

mrs train gets stuck in my head a lot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's not!

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

Flood Show 30/11/2000

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Mono Puff album is better than I remembered!

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

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

Unsupervised

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sent!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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