Difference between revisions of "Free Tunes"

Revision as of 12:43, 16 April 2024

Richard Nixon

tmbg.com's Free Tunes was a service that ran from 2003-07 where a new, rare, or live song would be released from the band periodically as a free MP3 download.

Free Tunes (2003-2007)

Here are all of the songs known to have been featured on the Free Tunes page. The MP3 links required a username and password (tmbg / thespinesurfs), which was viewable after signing up for TMBG's mailing list.

• 2007/11/06 - The Shadow Government (Live At XM Studio)
• 2007/11/06 - Mr. Me (Live At XM Studio)
• 2007/11/06 - Withered Hope (Live At XM Studio)
• 2007/05/30 - I Got My T-Shirt Back
• 2007/05/30 - Name
• 2007/04/13 - Employee Of The Month
• 2007/01/12 - Greasy Kid Stuff
• 2006/12/15 - Vestibule (Demo)
• 2006/10/17 - Got Getting Up So Down (Extended)
• 2006/05/09 - Kendra McCormick
• 2006/03/13 - (She Was A) Hotel Detective In The Future
• 2006/03/03 - Miniature Sidewalk Whirlwind
• 2006/02/10 - Valentine
• 2005/12/17 - Yeah, The Deranged Millionaire
• 2005/12/10 - I Enjoy Being A Boy
• 2005/12/06 - Turtle Songs Of North America
• 2005/06/10 - Pictures Of Pandas Painting
• 2005/05/07 - Particle Man (Live At XM Studio)
• 2005/04/29 - E Eats Everything (Live At Amoeba Records)
• 2005/04/29 - Flying V (Live At Amoeba Records)
• 2005/03/25 - Anaheim
• 2005/03/25 - Clap Your Hands (Live Almanac)
• 2005/02/26 - Love Is Eternity
• 2005/01/21 - Celebrate Brooklyn
• 2005/01/21 - Trees (Dallas)
• 2004/12/17 - Columbia, MO
• 2004/11/19 - Doctor Worm and The Famous Polka live in NYC on October 1, 2004
• 2004/11/11 - The Egg
• 2004/08/27 - On The Drag
• 2004/08/27 - Vancouver (Soundcheck)
• 2004/08/27 - Experimental Film live in DC
• 2004/07/28 - Houston
• 2004/07/28 - John Lee Supertaster (Blue Note Show)
• 2004/07/15 - Twisting (Blue Note Show)
• 2004/07/15 - Bastard Wants To Hit Me live at Blue Note
• 2004/07/15 - The Blue Note (the Columbia soundcheck)
• 2004/07/04 - The Bloodmobile
• 2004/04/13 - The Spine Surfs Alone (Part 1) (demo)
• 2004/01/13 - Dirt Bike (Other Thing)
• 2004/01/13 - Mr. Me (Other Thing)
• 2003/11/25 - Rest Awhile
• 2003/11/25 - Words Are Like
• 2003/11/25 - Down To The Bottom Of The Sea
• 2003/11/02 - Become A Robot (Live)
• 2003/11/02 - Robot Parade (Banjo)
• 2003/11/02 - I Love To Sing
• 2003/10/19 - Wearing A Raincoat (Demo)
• 2003/10/19 - Taste The Fame (listed as "Taste The Mix")
• 2003/10/19 - Renew My Subscription (Demo)
• 2003/10/10 - Idlewild
• 2003/08/20 - Pop-A-Shot (listed as "I Pop a Shot")
• 2003/08/20 - Canada Haunts Me
• 2003/08/20 - Anqui (listed as "Aqui")
• 2002/08/02 - Tiny Doctors (download)
• 2002/05/29 - To The Bubblecraft

theymightbegiants.com Free MP3s

2002-2003

These songs were available on the free MP3s page on theymightbegiants.com between 2002 and 2003:

• Mas Fun
• Damn Good Times (Demo)
• Rest Awhile
• Man, It's So Loud In Here (Hot 2002 Remix)
• Concrete And Clay
• Feast Of Lights
• Ant (Dial-A-Song)
• Your Mom's Alright
• S-E-X-X-Y (Kendal Mintcake Remix)
• Words Are Like

2006

In 2006, theymightbegiants.com posted a few more free MP3s:

• Bob Dylan introducing Bangs (download)
• Call Connected Thru The NSA (download)
• P.S.O.K. (Paul Stanley of Kiss) (download)

Early Dial-A-Song Online

Shortly after the creation of the original tmbg.com in 1996, up until 2000 when dialasong.com spun off into an interactive streaming site, TMBG ran a Dial-A-Song page that was updated every few months with some new (and old) music.

QuickTime MOV era

Songs featured on the pre-Flash version of www.dialasong.com:

• 1999/03/17 - Theme For TheSmokingGun.com
• 1999/01/29 - You're Watching...
• 1998/11/04 - Dark And Metric
• 1998/11/04 - Unforgotten
• 1998/11/04 - Operators Are Standing By
• 1998/10/19 - Four Of Two (Demo)
• 1998/10/01 - Finished With Lies (Demo 1)
• 1998/09/16 - She Was A Hotel Detective
• 1998/09/03 - On The Drag (Demo)
• 1998/08/19 - Rest Awhile (Dial-A-Song)
• 1998/08/03 - Certain People I Could Name
• 1998/07/13 - The Edison Museum (Edisongs Version)

WAV era

Songs featured on the old www.tmbg.com/dial/ page:

• 1997/05/02 - The Summer Breeze (Dial-A-Song)
• 1997/05/02 - Swing Is A Word
• 1997/05/02 - What Bothers The Spaceman? (Demo) (Mono Puff)
• 1997/05/02 - Wreck It Apart
• 1997/05/02 - Your Own Worst Enemy (Dial-A-Song)
• 1997/03/31 - Maine (Dial-A-Song) (John Linnell)
• 1997/03/31 - Rat Patrol (Dial-A-Song) (download)
• 1997/03/31 - Schoolchildren Singing Particle Man
• 1997/03/31 - Subway Token To Brooklyn (download)
• 1997/02/28 - The Bells Are Ringing (Demo)
• 1997/02/28 - Feel Good Sublet (Dial-A-Song)
• 1997/02/28 - So Long, Mockingbird (Demo)
• 1997/02/28 - Tryptophan (Mono Puff)
• 1997/02/08 - Nixon's The One (Dial-A-Song) (Mono Puff)
• 1997/02/02 - When Tornadoes Take Over The World
• 1997/01/24 - The Edison Museum (Dial-A-Song)

Original Dial-A-Song Online

The earliest online Dial-A-Song service was run by Bo Orloff from 1994 to 1996. Orloff was the former executive vice president of The Hornblow Group and was the 'assistant manager' of They Might Be Giants from 1989 to 1993. In 1994 he launched a semi-official website dedicated to the band (www.dnai.com/~obo/tmbg). This was one of the first websites devoted to a rock band. In January 1994 a private beta version of the site was launched,^[1] and by April it was public.^[2] The site had a 'Dial-A-Song Online' service from the outset. The band supplied Orloff with songs to feature on his site, including some exclusive material.^[3] The website also featured the John Henry HyperCard stack, and gave current information about the band. In October 1995 it became the band's official website and Orloff was hired to create the upcoming tmbg.com site. Orloff's site shut down in February 1996, and the design business OVEN was chosen to create tmbg.com instead. A fanmade bootleg titled The Low Fidelity Experience was compiled in May 1996,^[4] and it collected many of the Dial-A-Song recordings that had been featured on the site.^[5]

Songs known to have been featured on Orloff's site (www.dnai.com/~obo/tmbg/Dial-A-Song_Online.html):

• Ana Ng (Live NYC)
• Feel Good Sublet (Dial-A-Song)
• I Palindrome I (Dial-A-Song 2)
• Maine (Dial-A-Song) (John Linnell)
• Mainstream U.S.A.
• Mario Speaks
• Nixon's The One (Dial-A-Song) (Mono Puff)
• Operators Are Standing By (Dial-A-Song)
• Rat Patrol (Dial-A-Song)
• Rock Club (Dial-A-Song)
• So Long, Mockingbird (Dial-A-Song) (Mono Puff)
• Stormy Pinkness (Dial-A-Song)
• Subway Token To Brooklyn
• Swing Is A Word
• The King Of Wingo
• The Summer Breeze (Dial-A-Song)
• Tryptophane (Mono Puff)
• We Just Go Nuts At Christmastime
• What Bothers The Spaceman? (Dial-A-Song) (Mono Puff)
• When Tornadoes Take Over The World
• Why Does The Sun Shine? (Live on Nick Rocks)
• Wreck It Apart

This list is likely incomplete and the chronology of these tracks release is not known. Most of the songs were AU file downloads. Some of the tracks were re-released, unaltered, on the later Dial-A-Song Online services.