1988-11-11 The Red And Black
They Might Be Giants at Tate with songs from new release
By Cara May, The Red and Black, November 11, 1988
Archived from: Georgia Historic Newspapers, page 1, page 2
The article switches to John Linnell's name halfway through, although there is no clear indication that he was interviewed alongside Flansburgh. The spotlight quote "There's a lot of antics and chaos" is also credited to Flansburgh instead of Linnell. For answers where context differentiates the two, their names have been switched back [in brackets]. Portions where the names have not been corrected may misattribute dialogue.
Written to promote the band's November 11, 1988 show at the University of Georgia.
They Might Be Giants, the crazy band that gave us four-foot fezzes, dial-a-song and songs like "Youth Culture Killed My Dog," will appear at Georgia Hall in the Tate Student Center tonight.
TMBG is on a national tour in support of its recently released LP, "Lincoln." But, during a phone interview, guitarist John Flansburgh said the title doesn't have any political meaning.
"It's kind of a multi-functional name that you hear anywhere you go in the country. It's distinctly American," he said.
For skeptics who want to hear the band's music before they rush out to buy "Lincoln," TMBG offers Dial-a-Song (1-718-387-6962). Flansburgh said the services, which gives callers a new song every day via an answering machine, was started four years ago when accordionist/saxman John Linnell was injured in an accident and couldn't perform live.
"When it started, there weren't so many dial-a-things pitching some horrible product." Flansburgh said, "But it's been really successful."
Callers, who hear songs from the new album, will probably detect many diverse styles in the duo's music, from polka and jazz to Latin rhythms.
"We did do some fake-o Latin songs," Flansburgh said. "We like the variety, and we keep it moving along. The songs are often funny, but we don't play music we don't heartily enjoy and respect. It's really a drag to make fun of music. We're not trying to blow it up."
TMBG's first album "They Might Be Giants" contained 19 songs, but "Lincoln" offers only 18. However, the songs on the latter LP are a bit longer.
"It's the big countdown," Flansburgh said. "We're on our way toward one big song. So, we have just 16 more albums to go."
Reducing the number of songs isn't the only cutback the two-man band is making. [Flansburgh] said the props, including the huge headgear, won't be used on this tour.
"It would be nice to do one tour where we don't use any hats or props," [Flansburgh] said. "That was becoming the only reason people liked us. We might use one or two things this time, though."
One stage prop is a huge blow-up of a man's head.
"It's just some guy's face that we got out of Collier's Encyclopedia," [Flansburgh] said. "It makes the stage look really nice instead of a giant sign that says 'Stop War' or something."
Despite the changes, [Flansburgh] said the band still has an intense live show.
"We really love performing live," he said. "We have it set up so well with a tape backing us up; but it's still kind of schizophrenic. We've got a tightly controlled tape thing, but if you've seen our show, you know that it's not. There's a lot of antics and chaos."
Linnell and Flansburgh, who've known each other since childhood in Boston, went their separate ways and attended different colleges. Later, the two friends got back together and moved to New York City.
"We moved into this horrifying ghetto building, and we didn't know this, but, at the time, a huge percentage of the drug trafficking in Brooklyn was being done from that building," [Flansburgh] said. "It looked pretty grim. Our first New York experience was really creepy, but I'll never forget 341 Third St."
[Flansburgh] said that he and [Linnell] each performed in college bands, but they didn't plan on having musical careers.
"We started the band because we both had horrible jobs," he said. "But it (the band) still wasn't very serious in the beginning."
However, something that didn't start seriously has resulted in much success. The band's video for the hit single, "Don't Let's Start," went to heavy rotation on MTV. The debut album has sold more than 100,000 copies and the group won the 1988 Best Band-Independent Label Award at the New York Music Awards.
Now that TMBG is enjoying some success, a few music critics have suggested Linnell and Flansburgh change the band's name.
"The name is not in reference to us," [Flansburgh] said. "It's a funny name from a '60s, sort of unreal, goofy, psychedelic movie. It's a silly movie, in spite of the good name.
"Oh, and John [Linnell] wanted to tell you we're going to rock the house."
The Cucumbers will open the show at 8 p.m. Tickets, $2 for students and $4 for general admission, are on sale at the Tate Center cashier's window. The Contemporary Concerts Division of the University Union is sponsoring the show.