Shows/1988-11-08
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They Might Be Giants
The Brewery in Raleigh, NC
November 8, 1988 at 12:00 AM
Fan Recaps and Comments:
"They Might Be Superstars" by Joe Corey
Technician, Nov. 7, 1988:
They Might Be Giants will perform their last show ever tomorrow night at the Brewery.
To celebrate the election of the new president, TMBG will commit suicide during the show.
"We're going to kill ourselves no matter who wins," said John Linnell, one half of the duo. "If Bush wins, we'll do it more painfully." This statement comes from a man who helped pen such classic tunes as "Youth Culture Killed My Dog", "Shoehorn with Teeth" and "Purple Toupee".
The joint effort — guitarist John Flansburgh and accordionist and saxophonist John Linnell — shot onto the music scene with a debut record that sold over 100,000 copies when their "Don't Let's Start" video reached heavy rotation on MTV.
But the success hasn't totally spoiled the duo from New York City.
"We threw a little party when the record sold 10,000 copies. We gave ourselves an award for reaching triple styrofoam," Linnell said. "But then sales took off. We've become kind of numb to the numbers. It's like a body count." Hopefully, the body count will continue with the duet's follow-up album, "Lincoln", dominating the college radio charts.
The band's weird music seems to borrow from several sources: Lawrence Welk, the Residents Top 40 radio and hip-hop.
"Much more of a basis for our music comes from advertising — music you can get subliminally off the television when you're growing up. Commercials, TV themes are very big with Flansburgh and me," Linnell said.
One song receiving notice is "Kiss Me, Son of God", which includes such lines as "I built a little empire out of some crazy garbage called the blood of the exploited working class; but they've overcome their shyness. Now they're calling me your Highness, and a world screams 'Kiss me, Son of God.'"
If you wonder what these guys sound like, you can call their Dial-A-Song at 1-718-387-6962.
"It's a song that's not about religion, but about people in the position to abuse others." Linnell said. "And instead of being ignored, they are praised and rewarded." This tour is different than the one that came through Raleigh last summer. Many props the band used have been put on hold. Giant Fezes have been put in the closet, and the big stick has left in search for the bright lights of fame. "The big stick is solo on Windham Hill. Too big for its britches," Linnell said. "We were its backup and it was time for it to go its own way."
TMBG has stripped down the show in order to feature songs rather than props. "It was getting to be like a comedy act, where people just wanted to hear the punchline and didn't care about the joke. People just wanted us to bring out the props, and they would forget about the music. We want to showcase the songs. The props are meant to underscore and nothing more. The vehicle and not the show." At a recent stint in NYC's The Knitting Factory, TMBG performed several songs from the musical "My Pal Joey".
