They Might Be Giants is the
eponymAn eponym is the name of a person, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named. One who is referred to as eponymous is someone who gives his or her name to something, e.g...
ous first album from
They Might Be GiantsThey Might Be Giants is a double Grammy Award-winning American alternative rock band which began as a duo of John Flansburgh and John Linnell, and currently also includes Marty Beller, Dan Miller, and Danny Weinkauf. Formed in 1982, they are best known for an unconventional and experimental style...
, also known as the "
Pink Album". It was released in
1986
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-Events:*January 23 - The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...
.
The lyrics on the Pink Album feature the wry, humorous treatments of dark themes that would frequently reappear in They Might Be Giants' later work: death and mortality ("Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes", "I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die", "Youth Culture Killed My Dog"); obsession and delusion ("32 Footsteps", "Absolutely Bill's Mood"); working at a dispiriting, menial job ("Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head"), no job at all ("Alienation's For The Rich") or sometimes the just plain weird ("Chess Piece Face", "Rabid Child"). The music is spare, mostly uptempo synthesizer-and-guitar
popPop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs...
punctuated with odd sound samples and occasionally veering into
countryCountry music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains...
- or
folkThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
-like arrangements. "Rhythm Section Want Ad" comments on the perceived oddity of the group's style and then two-man roster, and features an excerpt from
Raymond ScottRaymond Scott , was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor. He was born in Brooklyn to a family of Russian-Jewish immigrants...
's composition,
Powerhouse“Powerhouse” is a 1937 instrumental musical composition by Raymond Scott, probably best known today as the iconic “assembly line” music in Warner Bros. animated cartoons...
. "
Don't Let's Start"Don't Let's Start" is a They Might Be Giants song originally from the self-titled They Might Be Giants album. It was released as a single at this time...
" was the album's best-known song. "Boat of Car" prominently samples the
Johnny CashJohnny Cash , born J. R. Cash, was an American singer-songwriter and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
song "Daddy Sang Bass."
The song "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head" is a notable use of the
Casio MT-100The Casio Casiotone MT-100 was sold in the mid-1980s as a low-to-mid-range portable home keyboard. It has 8-note polyphony, a 49-key keyboard, 20 instrument patches, and an analog percussion generator with 12 programmed rhythms of variable tempo...
's 'Funny' voice.
Music videos were made for "Don't Let's Start", "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head" and "(She Was A) Hotel Detective". A video was made for "Rabid Child" as well, but has never been released.
The album's cover art was designed by
Rodney GreenblatRodney Alan Greenblat is an American graphic artist known best in the United States for the visual style of the computer games PaRappa the Rapper and UmJammer Lammy, and in Japan for his comic . He was also was the character designer for the PaRappa Rappa anime that was released in Japan...
.
This album is included in
Then: The Earlier YearsThen: The Earlier Years is a double album by the band They Might Be Giants. It was released in 1997 . Then contains the album Lincoln in its entirety, the albums They Might Be Giants and Miscellaneous T which are each missing one track, a few otherwise unreleased songs from their 1985 Demo Tape and...
, a compilation of the band's early material, in its entirety, except that it includes the single version of "Don't Let's Start" instead of the original album version.
LP track listing
All songs by They Might Be Giants (credited as
LinnellJohn Sidney Linnell is an American musician, is known primarily as one half of Brooklyn, New York alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants...
/
FlansburghJohn Conant Flansburgh is an American musician. He is half of the longstanding Brooklyn, New York-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants, for which he writes, sings and plays rhythm guitar...
).
Side one
- "Everything Right Is Wrong Again" – 2:20
- "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" – 2:12
- "Number Three" – 1:27
- "Don't Let's Start
"Don't Let's Start" is a They Might Be Giants song originally from the self-titled They Might Be Giants album. It was released as a single at this time...
" – 2:36
- "Hide Away Folk Family" – 3:21
- "32 Footsteps" – 1:36
- "Toddler Hiway" – :25
- "Rabid Child" – 1:31
- "Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes" – 1:58
Side two
- "(She Was A) Hotel Detective
Hotel Detective is a song, an EP and a song trilogy by They Might Be Giants.The song first appears on They Might Be Giants....
" – 2:10
- "She's an Angel" – 2:37
- "Youth Culture Killed My Dog" – 2:51
- "Boat of Car" – 1:15
- "Absolutely Bill's Mood" – 2:38
- "Chess Piece Face" – 1:21
- "I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die" – 1:58
- "Alienation's for the Rich" – 2:25
- "The Day" – 1:27
- "Rhythm Section Want Ad" – 2:21
Personnel
- John Flansburgh
John Conant Flansburgh is an American musician. He is half of the longstanding Brooklyn, New York-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants, for which he writes, sings and plays rhythm guitar...
- John Linnell
John Sidney Linnell is an American musician, is known primarily as one half of Brooklyn, New York alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants...
- Margaret Seiler - Lead vocal on "Boat of Car"
- Eugene Chadbourne
Eugene Chadbourne is an American improvisor, guitarist and banjoist. Highly eclectic and unconventional, Chadbourne's most formative influence is free jazz. He has also been a reviewer for Allmusic and a contributor to Maximum RocknRoll.Chadbourne started out playing rock and roll guitar, but...
- Phoned-in guitar on "Absolutely Bill's Mood"
External links
- They Might Be Giants on This Might Be A Wiki