Long Tall Weekend
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Studio album by They Might Be Giants | |||||
| First released | July 19, 1999 Release details / collectors: Show | Hide |
Tracks | 15 | Last album | Factory Showroom | |
| Label | eMusic | Length | 33:28 | Next album | Mink Car | |
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Long Tall Weekend is They Might Be Giants' seventh studio album, released by eMusic on July 19, 1999. The album made music history by becoming the first full-length online-only album ever to be released by a major artist.
Purchase[edit]
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| AAC | $9.99 |
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Description[edit]
Content[edit]
eMusic advertised the album as including "songs already considered classics among TMBG fans".[1] Indeed, some of the songs on Long Tall Weekend had already been in rotation in the band's live show for years (including "Maybe I Know", one of the earliest songs in the band's live repertoire), and many others were originally demoed or produced around the John Henry or Factory Showroom sessions in the mid-90s, and had been previously featured on Dial-A-Song. Flansburgh spoke about the album's assembly in a 2024 Tumblr post:[2]
Everything was in transition for us—we were off Elektra and on Restless, but because we had control of our digital rights (a smart move by our manager and lawyer) we were free to work with eMusic, who had put forward a nice offer but needed it to be exclusive. We also were very aware that whatever we put on the eMusic project, it would be heard by far less people than a physical release, so rather than committing a dozen songs to a project that might not exist for most of our audience, compiling a rarities comp seemed the perfect vehicle. Some of it was brand new, some of it was from the archives.
Illustrator Michael Kupperman was enlisted to provide the album artwork, which was distributed as a PDF by eMusic, as well as a drawing for each song. Kupperman also provided new illustrations for the album's 2023 vinyl debut and digital reissue.
In 2022, Flansburgh provided a little background on the album title: "I think it was a very casual thing, just riffing on 'Long Tall Texan', 'Sally', etc. Because it was kind of a grab bag of odds and ends it seemed fitting. Like a vacation from responsibility."[3]
Release[edit]
The band marked the release of the album with a release party show at Irving Plaza. After the show, eMusic representatives tossed goodie bags filled with eMusic T-shirts and Long Tall Weekend CDs, which were packaged in makeshift paper sleeves. Only a limited number of CDs were produced.
In addition to the CDs from the release party, a special edition of the CD was packaged with the program for Wired magazine's 1999 "Reader's Raves Awards" ceremony. The CD was limited to around 500 copies with the Wired magazine logo just above the track listing on the front of the CD, and "for promotional use only" in the fine print at the bottom of the CD.
The album received its vinyl debut on May 24, 2023. For the release, artist Michael Kupperman offered to illustrate new versions of the cover art and liner notes, stating that he had improved as an artist in the multiple decades since the album's original release.
Downloads[edit]
According to Gigantic, downloads of Long Tall Weekend through eMusic's subscription-based service caused TMBG to be the most legally[4] downloaded artist on the Internet in 1999. That feat was repeated by the band in 2000.
Track listing[edit]
| # | Title | Length | Lyrics | Guitar Tab |
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| 1 | Drinkin' | 1:32 | 
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| 2 | (She Thinks She's) Edith Head | 2:32 |
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| 3 | Maybe I Know | 2:04 |
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| 4 | Rat Patrol | 2:04 |
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| 5 | Token Back To Brooklyn | 1:01 |
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| 6 | Older | 1:56 |
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| 7 | Operators Are Standing By | 1:24 |
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| 8 | Dark And Metric | 1:40 |
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| 9 | Reprehensible | 3:17 |
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| 10 | Certain People I Could Name | 3:30 |
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| 11 | Counterfeit Faker | 2:12 |
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| 12 | They Got Lost | 4:38 |
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| 13 | Lullabye To Nightmares | 2:28 |
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| 14 | On Earth My Nina | 1:24 |
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N/A |
| 15 | The Edison Museum | 1:59 |
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| 16 | Dr. Evil Vinyl and streaming bonus track |
1:50 |
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Trivia[edit]
- This is TMBG's first studio album from which some of the songs have yet to be performed live, namely "Dark And Metric", "On Earth My Nina" and "The Edison Museum."
- The first vinyl pressing of this album from 2023 features a misprint on the back cover where the illustration for "Drinkin'" is used both for that song and "The Edison Museum."
Gallery[edit]
Back cover art
Disc
Redrawn cover by Michael Kupperman for 2023 vinyl debut
Unused alternate cover by Michael Kupperman for 2023 release
Wired version of the artwork, printed in silver ink
Wired disc art
Photo from the Wired liner notes
Postcard advertising the album from the TMBG Info Club
