If you thought we were out of style and long forgot, you were wrong! Watch us shine as we discuss the next three very songular songs on Factory Showroom, the sixth album by They Might Be Giants! How'm I s'posed to let you know the way we feel about them?
Tell me how can we do our How Can I Sing Like A Girl segment without being stigmatized by the rest of the world? Our fingers point at each other's mouths as we devote over an hour to the complex history behind the song and our complex feelings about it! Then we swear we see our mouths move further as we hang with Exquisite Dead Guy!
Finally, we have something to help you understand Metal Detector, as Jordan has a story to tell (if Dave's listening) about his experience with an actual metal detector, and we look to the curious book that inspired the classic hook. Never be alone! Listen now to the sound of THIS PODCAST!
This is the way the description part goes! We are X-tra excited to clear our throats and begin our viewing of They Might Be Giants' 1996 album Factory Showroom! Unnoticed by few, beloved by many!
First, we can't get away from a song that really fell between the grating, only appearing if you rewind to track 0 on the original CD, Token Back to Brooklyn!
Then you gotta understand what S-E-X-X-Y is all about. Jordan and Dave talk more than enough around the clock with nobody else about this startlingly steamy song and the infamous fan interpretations!
But we're not done, and we won't be until we suspiciously change the subject to Till My Head Falls Off! Is it sad or empowering? I'm not done typing yet...!
Episode 69 and feeling fine! In this calm before the storm of Factory Showroom, we reach into the big old floppy grab bag and yank out five rare, special, unique, singular and startling songs not officially released by They Might Be Giants. We dare not reveal which ones, but let's just say they feature Johns Linnell and Flansburgh singing about some strange and varied topics. Don't delay and press play!
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That sexy E-Mail fairy has arrived again and left behind a huge backlog of letters from you, you, and also you! Topics addressed include our opinions on The Spine and The Else! What song would we leave off John Henry? What other bands are we experts on? Plus listener insights into Dinner Bell, Fake Out in Buenos Aires, Hell Hotel, It's Not My Birthday, and Mono Puff stuff! We also discuss some of the latest and most contagious news from the world of They Might Be Giants!
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A very special guest on John Flansburgh's Mono Puff album becomes a very special guest on the Don't Let's Start podcast! Nancy Lynn Howell, singer of Don't I Have the Right, talks to us about recording the song with Flansburgh, the special occasion where she performed it live, and we get to hear rare, exclusive recordings of her short-lived super group with Laura Cantrell and Robin Goldwasser! Plus we highlight a handful of tracks from her wonderful discography to discuss.
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Now I wanna talk to everyone about Mono Puff b-sides and demos! Alongside the album Unsupervised (by They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh) came The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Rocking) single! It's full of odds and ends, balls and...friends??
First, Flansburgh covers a fellow b-side from fellow song genius Mr. Frank Black, the one and only Oddball! We listen to both versions and discover that every Oddball is different! But there's much more going on in a hidden gem called Tryptophane! And if we're not calm, we soon will be when we groove out to the long, hypnotic, slow funk mystery of The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Remade)! Slow, slow, Satan, slow!
And if that wasn't enough, we keep grooving on and moving on to the demos that made up Unsupervised! All your friends are here: Dr. Kildare! What Bothers The Spacem(e)n! Nixon's The One, and so much more! Plus a special seedy discussion of Plain As The Lie On Your Lips, a rare John Linnell song written alongside Flansburgh's own torch song, Don't I Have The Right! The hour has come and gone and talk is cheap, so get listenin'!
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We laid low, but now we're back, and you'll be happy as a scarecrow listening to our so-long episode finishing up John Flansburgh's debut album Unsupervised from his supergroup Mono Puff!
Who'll teach you all about the history of Dr. Kildare (the man, the show, the song)? We will! I can read your mind, you want us to then discuss the quiet resentment of So Long, Mockingbird, correct? I don't mind!
Because you've been so good all year long, we're going to fulfill your one Christmas wish and unwrap Careless Santa! What's perfect these days? How about our discussion of Don't I Have The Right?, featuring an interview with singer Nancy Lynn Howell!?
The only thing we ask is that you trust us, as we naively march along with To Serve Mankind, and peruse the Twilight Zone episode that inspired the song! When you look back and weigh everything we've done, you will realize this episode can only end with a secret oval office recording of our confidential discussion of Nixon's The One! If you leave us we'll be destroyed, so press play NOW!
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Did you miss us when we were away? Jordan "Mono" Cooper and Dave "Puff" Fox are back to go song by everlovin' song through Mono Puff's totally rocking debut album, Unsupervised! We've got devils, we've got spacemen, step right up, people!
First there's nowhere we can go except into a context-heavy discussion of Don't Break The Heart, the Amy Rigby classic given a John Flansburgh reimagining! But don't stray too far, because next up, if you listen real close to your radios you just might isolate the sound of us hearing and understanding Distant Antenna!
Dude, if you're sick of waiting, things will be looking rad if you surf right over to The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Rocking)! Then walk far from the crowd, past the trees and step up to the plate to find out What Bothers The Spaceman! And finally, we revisit and say Hello Hello to the rompiest stompiest glam rock cover song you've ever heard! Tell all your friends we're back!
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I hear the phone ring, and it's John Flansburgh's solo project Mono Puff calling! Back in the day, we were distracted by They Might Be Giants, but now we're hear to sing the praises of this strange yet cohesive collection of side-project gold!
Your appreciative hosts Jordan and Dave go into the formation of Mono Puff, the inspiration behind the band name, an investigation into the band members, and ask deep, challenging, philosophical questions like: could these be TMBG songs?
We strap on our gig bags and rock out to Guitar Was The Case, then strap on our sad bags as we ponder our mortality during Unsupervised, I Hit My Head. We had a real good time, AND SO WILL YOU!
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A while back Jordan and Dave produced an obsessive, second-by-second breakdown of "Weird Al" Yankovic's They Might Be Giants style parody, Everything You Know Is Wrong, off of his 1996 album Bad Hair Day. This meticulous analysis became our most popular YouTube video, and it turns out one of those precious YouTube views was none other than Mr. Al Yankovic himself! Now Al comes on our show to react, reflect, and remark upon our work, and talk about the writing and recording process behind the TMBG tribute! What I really mean to say is OH MY GOD WEIRD AL IS ON OUR SHOW! Enjoy the heck out of this!
Watch our youtube video about the song here:
https://youtu.be/JjmqMTJeq_E?si=cUsjQHZd2BavHpPG
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Salutations! Or have you seen this episode? Jordan and Dave's pain is your karma as they exchange some fighting words and complete their archival dig through the 1980s demos of They Might Be Giants (for now.) We're here to make you happy, as half of this episode is our long awaited and belated Hell Hotel discussion! Is the song based on a Twilight Zone episode? Is that an Outer Limits reference? Why wasn't this song ever on an album? Who is Sebastian C.? WHAT DOES HE MEAN BY THIS? We also listen to some hellish demos of the demo!
Then we might be chewing on a pair of feet as we listen to early versions of They Might Be Giants (the song.) Finally, the people are so happy now that we're closing out the 1985 demo tape with the wild and woolly demo of Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes! All this, plus a surprise rare bonus song! Va-va-va-voom this is a sweet life! ALBATROSS!
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We've got another big delicious slice of They Might Be Giants' legendary 1985 demo tape! This episode covers tracks 10 through 20, and there's still more left to chew on! We find out newly discovered, frighteningly revelatory information on Cowtown and Chess Piece Face!
We take the many demo versions of Youth Culture Killed My Dog for a walk! Then we crank the volume way up to hear the subtle secrets in the demo recordings of Alienation's For The Rich and The Day! After a proper history lesson on hotel detectives, we give Toddler Hiway the deep dive it's always deserved in a very special segment breaking down EVERY. DAMN. WORD! Finally, we peter out with I'm Def. How cooler can this be?!?
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We're back...in time! Jordan and Dave take out their dusty scrapbooks and look into the They Might Be Giants of years past. First we discuss their very first release, the Wiggle Diskette, a very limited vinyl distributed all over NYC in 1985. Then we continue on with the first batch of songs on TMBG's infamous 1985 demo tape!
But do you think we stop there? Oh ho ho, foolish listener, doth thee not know of whom we be? Our minds become a blur of common sense as we discuss every demo and alternative version of these songs we could find! We're talking THREE Puppet-Heads, FOUR You'll Miss Mes, TWO Number Threes, and one uncomfortably intimate When It Rains It Snows! Including NEW revelations about these songs not addressed in our initial episodes! We then end the show with a very special guest, Margaret Seiler, the singer of Boat of Car! Take this car for a ride!
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Should auld acquaintance be forgot....Presenting a special urgent and heartfelt final broadcast for 2023! Jordan and Dave destroy the past and focus on the latest They Might Be Giants news, discoveries, rumors and revelations! We also tell you about our podcast operation, with a big announcement about a planned Patreon membership for 2024! OH IT'S GOOD NEWS!
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As a prologue for our upcoming deep dive into They Might Be Giants' 1980s demos, we spoke with the legendary Michael Small, the People Magazine writer who first reviewed TMBG's demo tape in 1985 and gave them their first huge exposure, telling (or warning) the world about the madness to come!
Michael tells us about the first time he heard the tape, the songs that got stuck in his head, appearing in the documentary Gigantic, his relationship with They Might Be Giants over the years, and more exciting tales of music journalism! He also tells us about his incredibly fun new show, I Couldn't Throw It Out, which recently interviewed John Flansburgh! Links below!
Michael's podcast:
https://www.throwitoutpodcast.com/
Michael's TMBG review:
https://tmbw.net/wiki/images/a/a3/PeopleDemoReview.jpg
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In this episode, Jordan and Dave read e-mails from who? E-mails from you! Topics include They Might Be Giants love songs! Fingertips theories! Reactions to our John Henry episodes, including theories on End of the Tour and Destination Moon! Condoms! Metallica! The Rheostatics! Frank Black! David Lynch! Comic books! Horror movies! The future of the podcast! Dave's new album! Jordan's old...! That's it! Plus, we discuss the latest TMBG news and weather! This episode is our precious gift to all of our wonderful listeners! Keep writing in and keep righting on!
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Save your tears! We are back with a very special surprise guest, Peter Stewart, the man, the mystery, the legend behind the previously anonymous, though no less epic song They Might Be Giants! Unofficially titled I Might Be Giant, Too by TMBG fans, this intense rock ballad was heard on They Might Be Giants' Dial-A-Song service and over the speakers at their live shows around the world since 1989!
We don't need an ocean to get to Peter, because over Zoom we talk to him all about the inspiration behind the song, how it got in the hands of They Might Be Giants, and what he's been up to the past 30 or so years since fans became aware of it! We listen to FOUR different recordings of this song spanning decades!
This is a fascinating and fun conversation with somebody who has tons of incredible stories from the music world, including brunch with Joey Ramone and an unreleased project with David Byrne! Leave the light on, turn the screws, and enjoy this deep dive unpacking one of the most enduring mysteries of TMBG mythology!
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Jordan and Dave are back to destroy the music you love! We spend this interminable episode listening to and mentally processing the vast number of rare dial-a-songs and officially released full band demos They Might Be Giants created in the build-up to 1994's album John Henry! Highlights include the extremely different Sleeping in the Flowers dial-a-song, the very brief and very funky full band recording of Dirt Bike, the hauntingly acoustic Spy, the Nixon crooning version of O' Do Not Forsake Me, and too much more!
Our episode ends with a discussion of the Flansburgh-penned Wreck It Apart, a rare song that would eventually be killed and dissected for Ondine. That's right, a demo of an alternate version of a song not even on the album. WE'RE CRAZY!
Plus, because you asked for it, John Henry Hypercard Stacks! If you know what those words mean, you are already on board. Stop waiting such a long time for the good times to start! Dust yourself off, grab your Dutch Masters, kick your feet up and take one final ride with John Henry! ALRIGHT!
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Being patient while we take our time are things our listeners can understand, and thank you for that! But now...Skull's out for summer! We finally finish what we started, as we're done with John Henry, the album! But what of John Henry's officially released b-sides? In this episode we listen to, learn about and love the Back to Skull EP (AKA Snail Shell EP), a tantalizing trilogy of songs about murderesses, femme fatales and intimidating ladies!
First we have more of our discussion with the femmest fatale of them all, Scarlet Kim, the cover model of Back to Skull! Then we drive our pick-up trucks right over to track 2 and search the whole room over to find these words about the She Said/He Dead tale of Ondine! Then wait one minute, I have seen that She Was A Hotel Detective is next! We light up a cigarette, adjust the blinds and narrate the noir tale of this ne'er-do-well!
Then we want to be the ones to declare that we want to talk about the unknowable Mrs. Train, and we're happy when we finally listen to this band! Finally, our pick-up truck leaves those original songs in the dust...Snail Dust! We groove to the sample-heavy remix of Snail Shell by the Dust Brothers. Or is it ma'ams? Plus we unearth a few other long lost Snail Shell remixes that had been gathering dust. What are you waiting for? Don't you want to be first in line to hear our latest episode? Don't make me kill you again! DO IT!
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We've heard the ceaseless screaming and we're back to free this demon and finish John Henry! They Might Be Giants' real rock record ends on a high note (not literally) with five fun and freaky songs. Turn it down? No! Turn it up and listen to our hot and heavy discussion of Thermostat. We might not be reliable as we talk and interrupt each other looking at what's under the hood of this song.
Then we're checking out Window and the possible women, men (ok only men) Linnell may be making fun of in this song. We discuss how a stranger could have loved the lone John Flansburgh song in this batch, the cautionary tale, Out of Jail! We blast our missive and shout shout shout shout scream out our love of Stompbox!
And if you're still around, finally, we reach the end of the road as we reveal the surprising inspiration behind End of the Tour that makes the picture abruptly change! I swear and I swear it's a great episode! Plus, we're sailing along once again with the people who played on John Henry, guitarist Jay Sherman-Godfrey and trumpet player Steven Bernstein! Is this episode bursting in flames or is it just me? KILL ME NOW!
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