1988-06 In Fashion

< Archived Interviews & Articles

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They Might Be Giants — Weird
Author Unknown, In Fashion, June 1988
Archived from: page 1, page 2

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"John Linnell, left, is wearing a shirt and trousers by Paul Smith and shoes by Maraolo. John Flansburgh's suit is by East Wind Code, his shirt and tie are by Paul Smith."

ROOTS

Flansburgh: "I was a people-counter, doing surveys for the railroad in Grand Central Station. I counted a couple of hundred thousand people before I got laid off."

Linnell: "My two previous jobs were bike messenger-ing in Manhattan, and working freelance in a darkroom for audio visual companies. Both jobs were well suited for singing at the top of my lungs for eight hours a day."

PHILOSOPHY

"Our songs remind you of songs you've never heard. Some of them are kind of sad. All of them are kind of sad, but people laugh when we perform. It's like one of those horrible clown paintings. No it isn't."

STYLE

"Our clothing can be divided into categories. The first group is apparel that's creeping into the realm of architecture. The second group is the clothing at the bottom of the drawer when everything else is dirty."

FAVORITE THINGS

"Our six favorite things: 1) 'Donkey Serenade' by Ted Fio Rio; 2) Grace Paley; 3) Manganaro's Hero Boy Deli, Ninth Avenue and 38th Street; 4) Brian Dewan, zither stylist; 5) Hans Albers Square, Hamburg; 6) Kurtis Blow."