Here Come The ABCs

Here Come The ABCs Studio album by They Might Be Giants
First released	February 15, 2005 Release details / collectors: Show \| Hide	Tracks	25	Last album	The Spine
Label	Idlewild / Disney Sound	Length	41:47	Next album	The Else

Here Come The ABCs is They Might Be Giants's eleventh studio album, and second full-length children's album. It was released on the band's own label, Idlewild, and Disney Sound on February 15, 2005.

According to John Flansburgh, the album was recorded "in one big blast, tracking at Skyline Studios and Kampo Studios in NYC, along with home brewed tracks. Unlike most albums, it was actually done on deadline for Disney (who have lots of plates spinning all the time and plan things that way)". The recording sessions were held from January to June 2004.

To accompany the CD, the band commissioned several artists, such as Divya Srinivasan, The Chopping Block, and others to create videos for the DVD. The DVD also introduced children to The Puppet Johns, who appeared in between-video segments and videos, and the Deeply Felt Puppet Theater. The music videos were created during the summer of 2004, shortly after the main recording sessions had completed. The DVD was authored on December 14, 2004, with promotional copies being issued shortly after, and the music videos began airing on Playhouse Disney (and allegedly PBS Kids as well, although any proof of that other than a brief mention from the band has yet to surface) in January 2005 until about August or September of that year. Bonus videos were included on the Amazon.com version of the DVD, and various bonus songs were included on Amazon.com and Best Buy versions of the CD.

Chart success[edit]

A chart showing the historical performance of Here Come The ABCs on the Billboard charts

Through its exposure from Playhouse Disney and other sources, the ABCs DVD quickly reached RIAA-certified Gold status, meaning that it had sold 50,000 copies, on April 29, 2005 (compare to music CDs, for which 500,000 copies must be sold to achieve Gold status). In 2012, the DVD reached Platinum status for selling 100,000 copies. It spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Top Kid Audio chart, peaking at #6 on March 5, 2005. It also spent four weeks on the Billboard Top Internet Albums chart, where it reached #14 on March 12, 2005. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it had sold 110,000 copies in the United States as of February 2008.

Accolades[edit]

The album was named by Amazon.com as the 13th Best Album of 2005 and the best Children's Music album of 2005:

They Might Be Giants use the letters as merely the connective tissue to pursue intriguing flights of fancy that consider everything from the power of letters and sounds to animal hijinks.

Here Come The ABCs also won Parenting Magazine’s Children’s DVD of the Year Award, as well as two National Parenting Publications Awards (NAAPA).

Based on the large success of the album, Disney commissioned a follow-up, Here Come The 123s, released in 2008.

CD track listing[edit]

#	Title	Length	Guitar Tab
1	Here Come The ABCs	0:11
2	Alphabet Of Nations	1:26
3	E Eats Everything	2:43
4	Flying V	1:34
5	Q U	1:09
6	Go For G!	1:14
7	Pictures Of Pandas Painting	2:07
8	D & W	1:37
9	Fake-Believe	1:51
10	Can You Find It?	2:55
11	The Vowel Family	1:59
12	Letter/Not A Letter	1:08
13	Alphabet Lost And Found	2:49
14	I C U	1:49
15	Letter Shapes	1:22
16	Who Put The Alphabet In Alphabetical Order?	1:45
17	Rolling O	1:26
18	L M N O	1:43
19	C Is For Conifers	2:37
20	Fake-Believe (Type B)	1:56
21	D Is For Drums	2:21
22	Z Y X	1:21
23	Goodnight My Friends	0:25	N/A
24	Clap Your Hands Bonus Track	1:22
25	Here In Higglytown (Theme to Playhouse Disney's Higglytown Heroes) (Bonus Track)	0:57
26	Hovering Sombrero '05 Combo version and Amazon exclusive Bonus Track	1:27
27	I Never Go To Work Combo version and Best Buy exclusive Bonus Track	1:53

DVD track listing[edit]

#	Title	Length	Guitar Tab
1	Here Come The ABCs (DVD Version)	0:25	N/A
2	Alphabet Of Nations	1:26
3	E Eats Everything	2:43
4	Flying V	1:34
5	I Am A Robot	1:29	N/A
6	Q U	1:09
7	Go For G!	1:14
8	Pictures Of Pandas Painting	2:07
9	D & W	1:37
10	Fake-Believe	1:51
11	Can You Find It?	2:55
12	The Vowel Family	1:59
13	A To Z	0:28	N/A
14	Letter/Not A Letter	1:08
15	Letter Shapes	1:22
16	Alphabet Lost And Found Combo version features altered video	2:49
17	I C U Combo version features alternate video	1:49
18	I Am A Robot (Type B)	0:56	N/A
19	Who Put The Alphabet In Alphabetical Order?	1:45
20	Rolling O	1:26
21	L M N O Combo version includes alternate ending	1:43
22	C Is For Conifers	2:37
23	Fake-Believe (Type B)	1:56
24	A To Z (Type B)	0:29
25	D Is For Drums	2:21
26	Z Y X	1:21
27	Goodnight My Friends	0:25	N/A
28	Here Come The ABCs	0:11
29	Clap Your Hands	1:22
30	Violin Amazon and Combo versions only	3:33	N/A
31	Stalk Of Wheat Amazon and Combo versions only	1:19	N/A
32	Robot Parade Combo version only	2:28	N/A
33	Sleepwalkers Combo version only	3:31	N/A
34	Here In Higglytown Theme to Playhouse Disney's Higglytown Heroes	0:57

DVD/CD combo[edit]

For the combo tracklisting, see Here Come The ABCs/Combo Track Listing.

After the initial success of the separate DVD and CD releases of ABCs, Disney released a new DVD/CD combo version of the set through Amazon on October 25, 2005, containing additional videos on the DVD (a different video for "I C U", altered versions of the videos for "L M N O" and "Alphabet Lost And Found", and exclusive in-studio performances of "Robot Parade" and "Sleepwalkers"), and both exclusive CD bonus tracks in one place ("I Never Go To Work" and "Hovering Sombrero '05").