Archived Main Page Talk (Page 10)

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What is this?

Can someone please explain to me what this "AT" means. This is on my cassette of Don't Let's Start.

yeah, this is on mine too (both the bar/none and restless releases). not sure why it is missing from the image we have! i always assumed it was some sort of misprinting. -Apollo (colloquia!) 19:48, 2 May 2013 (EDT)

Ok, funny story, I was going to argue, saying "Of course it's on the image! It's right here!"

but then I looked when this was written and then when the latest version of the image was uploaded, and I realized my mistake. The image was updated this year, this was posted eight years ago. --Jimmyzenshins311 (talk) 09:59, 22 September 2021 (EDT)

You might find this discussion illuminating, though I'd be curious to have ant elaborate on how the "AT" got there in the first place. --MisterMe (talk) 10:22, 22 September 2021 (EDT)

I have a few theories... maybe I'll post them at that file talk... --jimmyZenShinsThreeHundred11 (talk)

It's not my birthday, it's not today...

On the Main Page, This Day In TMBG History says today is John Linnell's birthday, which is not true at all. Could someone fix this error? I don't know why it says so, as Linnell' birthday is stated correctly as June 12 in This_Day_In_TMBG_History/June. --Freakiosis (talk) 08:05, 2 June 2013 (EDT)

Suggestion: "Listen on Youtube" section

Recently TMBG have uploaded selections from a bunch of their albums on their official YouTube channel, (e.g.Dirt Bike) However, as it stands, there does not seem to be a logical place to put these links. They are not music videos, nor are they downloads. I propose we add a "Listen on Youtube" section somewhere on the individual song pages for these uploaded songs, possibly in the empty space next to the "Free Downloads" section. Thoughts? -WhatIsThatThing (talk) 01:28, 6 June 2013 (EDT)

Since these are officially sanctioned by the band, I think it would be a great idea to link to them on the wiki. But the ultimate decision will lie with an admin. Maybe a bot could be tasked with linking to them all? --MisterMe (talk) 08:00, 7 June 2013 (EDT)

I think it's a great idea, we just have to outline a plan for it and there's probably going to be a data entry aspect in rounding up all the video IDs (which shouldn't take too long). It'll be along the same line as the "available for streaming on Clock Radio" row we had in the Downloads section, but better since it links directly to the song! -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 12:34, 7 June 2013 (EDT)

Any updates on this particular project? Still think a bot would be the best way to do it, as there are a lot of songs involved here... --MisterMe (talk) 11:54, 15 February 2016 (EST)

Ha, forgot I actually worked on this around one year ago. {{Download}} has parameters for |YouTube= and |YouTubeStart=, so a link to YouTube can be added to songs (with optional timestamp). You can see it in use on 9 Secret Steps as an example. Unfortunately, a bot couldn't speed this along, since the time-consuming part is going through YouTube to get all the relevant video IDs and timestamps - something we couldn't automate. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 12:13, 15 February 2016 (EST)

Cool, that's pretty much what I had in mind, though I was hoping it would be a bit more prominent on the page. I can see that a bot wouldn't be helpful now, alas. Maybe if I get really bored one day I'll start on this task...oy vey. --MisterMe (talk) 13:07, 15 February 2016 (EST)

AUS rereleases of Pink Album and Lincoln

I don't know if this is the right place to put this, but... 37 and 36 tracks? There must be more on there than just the EPs from those eras, then. I imagine they'll have the Then: The Earlier Years bonus tracks, as that has 36 tracks per disc, but then that still leaves one extra track on They Might Be Giants. Are they adding the single mix of (She Was A) Hotel Detective or Don't Let's Start? Or is it something entirely different? Finally a CD release of Hell Hotel, perhaps?

yes, the bonus tracks include the Then extras as well as the single mixes of Hotel and DLS (in addition to their album mixes). -- 16:44, 6 June 2013 (EDT)

Expanded AUS iTunes Editions

apparently there are expanded versions of They Might Be Giants and Lincoln on the Australian itunes store [1] [2] --Guero (talk) 04:25, 7 June 2013 (EDT)

Huh, that's certainly not the fully number of tracks that was promised by Breakaway. Interesting. --Duke33 09:10, 7 June 2013 (EDT)

Little edit please

The latest change to the Main Page causes this little bit - edit<span class="hide">tagline</span> - to appear as edittagline in Monobook. ~ magbatz 14:50, 8 June 2013 (EDT)

see here -Apollo (colloquia!) 16:00, 8 June 2013 (EDT)

Well I'm sorry I missed that fun conversation. Personally I don't see any easier resolution to this caching issue than just scrapping Azure. ~ magbatz 16:24, 8 June 2013 (EDT)

+1 -Apollo (colloquia!) 16:32, 8 June 2013 (EDT)

Thanks

Wikipedia has recently added a new feature through which editors can thank each other for good or constructive edits that aren't substantial/what-have-you enough to warrant a talk page post. is this something we could have here on TMBW? i've been saying for years i wish we could "like" edits, and this seems like a pretty good way to do it. -Apollo (colloquia!) 20:03, 18 July 2013 (EDT)

All Time Top Ten Podcast?

Not sure if this qualifies as a "Recent Event," but the host of this podcast shared his "Top Ten They Might Be Giants Songs" episode on Tumblr: http://alltimetopten.podomatic.com/entry/2013-07-26T10_11_33-07_00 I'll leave it to you real Wikinistas to decide if it's worthy of inclusion. (Personally, I think it's a good listen, though the hosts are off on a few facts). CallMeMommyMarshmello

Liddell and Flansbugh

They Might Be Giants + Moon Hooch

Prospect Park Bandshell

7:30pm, free

They Might Be Giants' two Johns--Liddell and Flansburgh--raise the white flag to our cultural ADD epidemic on their recent Nanobots, an album of very short songs (remember Morgan Fisher's classic Miniatures?) set to elaborate pop arrangements. Moon Hooch is a primordial-groove trio consisting of saxophonists Mike Wilbur and Wenzi McGowan and drummer James Muschler, whose sound is loud, proud, and deliriously unrefined.

-The Village Voice, The 10 Best Concerts in New York This Weekend

-Oldpinebox^Talk 17:46, 9 August 2013 (EDT)

EPIC FAIL... --MisterMe (talk) 19:38, 9 August 2013 (EDT)

let's not forget good old "wenzi"... -Apollo (colloquia!) 22:25, 9 August 2013 (EDT)

YouTube Videos

So, the band seems to have uploaded all the songs from all their albums onto their youtube account. Should we link these videos on the songs' pages? —The thing ^Talk 23:17, 21 August 2013 (EDT)

see above. -Apollo (colloquia!) 00:04, 22 August 2013 (EDT)

How To Do Everything podcast

The last episode of one of my favorite podcasts, How To Do Everything, features Linnell talking about toilet metaphors and the song Women And Men. It's probably not recent events worthy, but it made me really excited; it deserves at least a mention here. -Oldpinebox^Talk 01:13, 22 August 2013 (EDT)

Then 2 and 3, UK

Nothing new, but it's cool that all these out-of-print (excepting WDTSS) b-sides will be in print again. ~ veggieman 22:45, 7 November 2013 (EST)

11 Years?

When is our 10 year celebration over? -- CJSF (talk) 16:59, 14 January 2014 (EST)

mid-february, technically. -- 17:03, 14 January 2014 (EST)

Now? ;-) -- CJSF (talk) 08:05, 7 April 2014 (EDT)

Raw HTML showing up on gig pages

See here for example. The links to venues, etc on the Setlist Search show up as raw HTML instead of what it should be. Dagoth Ur, Mad God (talk) 23:20, 18 January 2014 (EST)

I've been working on it. Thanks! --Duke33 13:54, 21 January 2014 (EST)

Personalized ringtone song

A fan recently posted this on the Tumblr. It's his personalized ringtone song that he got for being an IFC super-president (or something like that), and it's pretty darn catchy for a twenty-second snippet-type song. Now that the band has officially accepted its being out in the public via the Tumblr, does that mean we can make it a "song" on here? --MisterMe (talk) 14:40, 12 March 2014 (EDT)

Considering how many Super-Presidents there were and so how many of these there are, and considering that they're such throwaway things (much as I love mine) that are no real contribution to the canon of TMBG-ness, that seems entirely unnecessary to me. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 18:36, 12 March 2014 (EDT)

Flansburgh House Up for Sale

I don't think this is quite CE-worthy but I thought people might be interested, so: "The Flansburgh House," a historically recognized house in Lincoln designed by Earl (and where they lived when Flans was a kid), is now up for sale. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 16:34, 1 April 2014 (EDT)

Cool, I love what I've seen of this house. Also: 'Located at the corner of Conant and Old Conant Rd'... ~ magbatz 20:51, 7 April 2014 (EDT)

Pre-Show Music

I've been struggling to find a play or set list of the songs that TMBG play prior to their shows. Any assistance to locating this?

they usually change it up depending on the tour! pretty sure flans does the pre-show mixes. i think i've heard kanye, robin, and the divinyl's classic "i touch myself" over the years, although there has been a really enormous catalogue considering flans's taste. i know someone who used to make playlists at shows after identifying each track on soundhound, but i don't know if she saved them! i'll ask her about it. flans also used to love to close with gene pitney's "backstage" (which always made me really sad), but i don't think i've heard it at any of the most recent shows i've been to. Apollo (colloquia!) 20:19, 8 May 2014 (EDT)

I don't know if you meant me or not but regardless, I do have playlists of some of the recent pre-show playlists (though none are 100% complete). Was there a specific tour your were interested in? Or a particular song you were looking for? The playlists tend to change at least once or twice each tour. Apollo is right that Flans makes all the playlists. They basically plug an iPod into the PA (it's actually in their rider that they have control over the in house music from the time doors open until a half hour after the show ends. Yay, useless knowledge!) Anyway, if you provide more info on what you're looking for I might be able to help. --BlueCanary (talk) 00:36, 9 May 2014 (EDT)

Thanks to the interactive tumblr, the band has provided the answer you may be seeking. Click here to read the answer. --MisterMe (talk) 08:00, 9 May 2014 (EDT)

Indeed! I suspect that the original poster made that inquiry. However, I would caution, as Flans said, that that is only the playlist for the very end of last year and varies widely from the two or three other variations that were used in the spring, summer and fall. --BlueCanary (talk) 10:28, 9 May 2014 (EDT)

Malcolm

Can someone help bring this ebay listing over, by creating a page, and cropping the images? Kinda busy at the moment. --Duke33 17:21, 27 June 2014 (EDT)

New song

The band announced a new song, "I'm a Coward", on Instagram here... --MisterMe (talk) 19:42, 29 July 2014 (EDT)

Dial-A-Song!!!

I don't think this is Current Events-worthy until we have more information, but I think it's important enough to at least be discussed here: Flans announced today that DIAL-A-SONG IS RETURNING in some form in January. It's definitely going to be online and possibly (HOPEFULLY) going to be the dear departed phone number as well. I'M A LITTLE EXCITED. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 00:31, 3 October 2014 (EDT)

Sheet Music

I know this will probably be overshadowed by the announcement of the new Dial-A-Song (I am fantastically excited about this myself!) but I have transcriptions and arrangements in standard sheet music of a couple of TMBG songs. Would there be any interest in having these added to the appropriate song pages? Dr-Raygun

I know I would really appreciate some sheet music, if you put it on here somewhere. -HerRoyalFlyness

do you mean official sheet music, or something you have transcribed yourself? for official sheet music, such as print-outs that the band or horn section used live, feel free to upload scans, like this image. however, pieces you have transcribed yourself would probably be most appropriate hosted on an external site and collected in a user subpage, as we do not have a formal convention for sheet music on TMBW. see User:Blitzente/Sheet Music. Apollo (colloquia!) 08:52, 13 November 2014 (EST)

These are arrangements I have made myself over the years, not official band sheet music. I can host them temporarily on my server, but when I move over to a wordpress site I think that may mean I can't host other items on the server any more. I am a bit of a technophobe so not quite sure how this works.I currently have: 'Birdhouse in Your Soul' in arrangements for percussion - specifically steel pans (drums) trio and duo but these would easily work for other tuned percussion or maybe with a little tweaking for other combinations, 'Bastard Wants to Hit Me' for baritone saxophone quartet (would work again with a little tweaking for other combos) and 'Sapphire Bullets' which is pretty much a transcription in three parts for melody (with harmonies) the arpeggiated part and keys. Perhaps it would be easier just to drop me an email on dr_raygun "AT" steelpan.co.uk if you want any of these?

some easy-to-use image hosting sites are majhost and imgur. the latter doesn't even require that you make an account. if you upload to one of those sites, you could easily put a link on your userpage. but, it's up to you! Apollo (colloquia!) 14:51, 13 November 2014 (EST)

News archives

Has something gone awry with the news archives? The link at the bottom of the main page leads to a "create the 2015 archives" page and there doesn't seem to be an obvious link to go back to the 2014 and older archives? Or am I just blind? BlueCanary (talk) 21:35, 14 January 2015 (EST)

Whoops, good catch - the 2015 page was simply never started. Just created it and had TMBaB archive some news. Thanks! -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 21:38, 14 January 2015 (EST)

Suggestion for a new page

This upcoming April will be my fifth TMBG concert, and my first in 14 years. I was thinking we have pages for shows, but we don't have a "what to expect at a TMBG concert" page, which may be interesting to new fans, and old fans who haven't been to see them for a while. Right now, to glean that information you have to dig around the site. I'd start the page myself, however there are TMBG groupies who are probably more up to date.--Pittsburghmuggle (talk) 06:26, 20 January 2015 (EST)

I have no idea whatsoever what exactly you're suggesting here. You expect...TMBG to play songs? That's...pretty much all that happens, unless you want to talk about stuff that happens on certain tours like The Avatars, but that's not necessarily every show. People can just read show reviews if they want descriptions of shows. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 07:00, 20 January 2015 (EST)

It's not that bad of a question/suggestion. There are a few things that might be of interest to new or long-absent fans. Like expecting a larger age range for fans compared to most rock shows, and that sometimes dancing/moshing (still) happens up nearer the stage. Or that Flans will often ask everyone to come on up to the front. But I think there's not really much to devote a whole page to. Maybe a sentence or two on the main Shows page? CJSF (talk) 10:12, 20 January 2015 (EST)

SelfCalledNowhere, if we simplify things that far why do we even need a wiki? :) "The Johns are a band who play songs." End of wiki, go look at lolcats. --Pittsburghmuggle (talk) 20:27, 20 January 2015 (EST)

I'm cool with just a mention on the main show page. There's a few things that could be put down - the age range and activity level at the concerts is notable for some fans, depending on age. There must be a short list of songs where if you go there's a very high chance you'll hear it (For instance Istanbul (Not Constantinople) is very probable, but if Dead from the same album is your favorite TMBG song there's a lower chance - we don't have to list the low chances). A list of things that the Johns do in recent concerts - or used to do. --Pittsburghmuggle (talk) 20:27, 20 January 2015 (EST)

If there's an individual song you're really curious about the likelihood of them playing, you can look at the song's page--it says right there how many known performances of that song there are, and then you can look at the most recent performances too. I really don't think it's necessary because I don't think there's anything that unusual compared to concerts by anyone else, other than things they do on certain tours sometimes like The Avatars or Spin the Dial, like I said. It's not at all like saying "The Johns are a band who plays songs," because the information here already is actually notable and specific to TMBG. (And for what it's worth, I've been to 47 shows and have never seen dancing/moshing.) --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 21:41, 20 January 2015 (EST)

Self, it's not me that's looking for info, it's a suggestion for a possible helpful page/section. Instead of trying to help me, why don't you explain why this information would be superflous to a new reader/fan/concert goer, or to a person who lives in an area of the world where TMBG has never played? As for not seeing moshing at concerts, you started attending concerts in 2001, after the grunge/punk movement had cooled down and TMBG's initial fan base was busy getting married and having kids. As I said, I hadn't been to a concert in 14 years.--Pittsburghmuggle (talk) 16:00, 23 January 2015 (EST)

I didn't mean you as in you yourself; I meant a universal "you," as in, someone looking for information. Any fan could look up information about individual songs. So, yes, I do think listing information that can be found elsewhere on the wiki is "superfluous," because of the fact that it can be found elsewhere. Also the songs that TMBG is likely to play at a show changes from tour to tour, with the exception of just a couple. It really just seems to me that any information that could be listed is a) not consistent across tours, b) not different from concerts by anyone else, or c) available elsewhere on the wiki. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 18:32, 23 January 2015 (EST)

"Also the songs that TMBG is likely to play at a show changes from tour to tour, with the exception of just a couple." YES. As I said, there must be a couple - as I said "A short list of songs". Well, Self, seeing as I say it would be interesting and you say no and no many other people interested in discussing it I guess the point is moot.--Pittsburghmuggle (talk) 18:46, 23 January 2015 (EST)

A few of us tossed this idea around offline after you brought it up and actually came up with another similar idea that could incorporate some of what you were suggesting. We don't really have anywhere on the wiki, a history of TMBG in concert. There are individual show pages and "song" pages for some of the special feature type things like Stump the Band or Phone Calls from the Dead, but no one page where you can read about various TMBG tours, features that have come and gone, etc. all in one place. This information is all buried in show pages and song pages and you really kind of have to know what you are looking for in order to find it, or stumble across it by chance. I think there could be value in a history of the TMBG concert experience.

And it could also incorporate a section on what to expect at a current show. Maybe not as granular as specific songs you are likely to hear, but more what time do people usually get in line, explanations of the 14+ age policy, differences between a family show and a regular show, what to expect at a full album concert, or an in-store.Policies on recording, video taping, photography, etc. Basically a FAQ for concerts. All the things that people that go to frequent concerts take for granted, but are not necessarily obvious to a new attendee who also maybe doesn't know where to track down all the relevant information on the wiki or elsewhere. And other things that could be updated with each tour could be included as well like what to expect from the opening band, what song the Avatars are currently performing, recurring gags like the assignment of nicknames, tips to stick around to get stickers afterward, stuff like that. And heck, there even could be a shortlist of most frequently played songs from the current tour as on any given tour there are usually 10-12 songs that appear on nearly every setlist. Yes, this info is available on individual song pages and setlists, but you'd have to make a lot of individual clicks between pages to get a good picture and it could be made easier. And then at the end of a tour, a summary of that tour's highlights into a paragraph in the concert history and be replaced by the info for the next tour. I think the two halves of the idea could be worth exploring. BlueCanary (talk) 02:55, 24 January 2015 (EST)

Toolbox and various other issues

The "toolbox" link to the lower left has "javascript:jQuery('#ul-toolbox').slideToggle();", and when I hover over it, and when I click it I go to a page that says [object Object]. Various other places on the wiki like clicking on "ticket" on show pages do the same thing. I am using Mozilla Firefox with Noscript and Adblocker, and have tinkered with their settings, but I have the same issue when I try in Internet Explorer.

Is this a known issue or should I continue to try things on my end?--Pittsburghmuggle (talk) 10:52, 31 January 2015 (EST)

Thanks for turning this in. Looks like the issue relates to using JavaScript inline on links ('a' tags) in the 'href' attribute, which modern browsers are understandably starting to prevent. Using the 'onclick' attribute instead seems to fix it. I can't edit the Toolbox link myself, but I've reached out to Duke33 to help. In the meantime, can you see if it's been fixed on the Setlist/Ticket/Poster links on Show pages? Try it out on this page: Shows/2013-03-22. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 11:16, 31 January 2015 (EST)

The toolbox link should be fixed now, too. The changes may take some time to get included in the current cache if you're logged out. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 12:14, 31 January 2015 (EST)

Works now, thanks!--Pittsburghmuggle (talk) 19:34, 31 January 2015 (EST)

TMBG YouTube Channel Suspended?

I noticed that the band's YouTube channel was just suspended. Can anyone else confirm? I hope YouTube didn't delete all the videos. 24.148.201.58 15:04, 18 February 2015 (EST)

confirmed. presumably it will get sorted out in good time. -- 15:13, 18 February 2015 (EST)

Yep. The guys at Hornblow said they're on it. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 15:14, 18 February 2015 (EST)

John Henry Dial-A-Song Number

It's not noted on the John Henry page but I was looking at the inner booklet and it says "The correct number for Dial-A-Song is still 718-387-6962." which i guess is a reference to the incorrect number being on the Apollo 18 booklet. I don't know if this is significant enough to be included on the trivia for John Henry.

Why?

The band has posted on Facebook that the upcoming follow-up to No! will be titled Why? I'd normally go ahead and create the page, but I fear such a title is merely a joke. Can anyone either confirm or deny my suspicions? — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 23:40, 15 July 2015 (EDT)

While I don't have anything more than the social media posts to go on, I'm guessing it's real (and also amazing). --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 02:50, 16 July 2015 (EDT)

It's been confirmed in an IFC email that the next album will be a kids' album titled Why? It seems this was not a joke after all. — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 21:43, 24 July 2015 (EDT)

Jukeboxes

I was playing around with the state of the art jukebox at my favorite bar last night and was pleasantly surprised to find a rather wide selection of TMBG! I stopped scrolling after I got through Mink Car, The Else, Lincoln, and Idlewild, but there was still a ways to go. Right at the beginning were several Glean songs listed as singles and showing their individual Dial-A-Song Direct artwork. Naturally, I played Unpronounceable. Has anyone else seen this this much of the band's catalog available in a jukebox before, especially Glean songs that I wasn't previously aware were singles? — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 16:05, 10 September 2015 (EDT)

That's awesome! I've never seen TMBG in a jukebox before. I'm very much an analogue girl in a lot of cases, but I suppose digital jukeboxes are something I can approve of if this is what that results in. That's incorrect about them being singles though--the only single from Glean was "Answer" (although "Erase" was also a single for the Dial-A-Song project). "Unpronounceable" is a fantastic choice to play! --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 03:59, 11 September 2015 (EDT)

I didn't think they were singles, but that's how they were listed. Also listed as one was Underwater Woman. I ought to get a picture of it next time I'm there. — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 14:16, 11 September 2015 (EDT)

Check it out

Not sure why it uploaded upside down. — ACupOfCoffee (talk) 01:30, 12 September 2015 (EDT)

So this just happened...

https://mobile.twitter.com/tmbg/status/659194465173794817

Are their memories fuzzy or do we have the date the full band premiered wrong? — ACupOfCoffee (talk) 02:30, 29 October 2015 (EDT)

I'm sure they're misremembering. We're more interested in this stuff than they are. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 05:03, 29 October 2015 (EDT)

Well, I'm still in fanboy heaven that Flans jokingly accused me of lying. Twitter is awesome. — ACupOfCoffee (talk) 02:08, 1 November 2015 (EST)

is tmbw alive?

There haven't been any news updates on the main page is 4 months.

Someone go check the projector room. --Nehushtan (talk) 17:12, 28 October 2016 (EDT)

There hasn't been any TMBG news in four months. They're taking a break from writing, recording, and touring right now, and they're not doing any interviews because they have nothing new to promote, so there's nothing to talk about. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 17:34, 28 October 2016 (EDT)

This actually gives me an idea. Would it make sense to have a bit on the homepage that shows the latest Tweets and/or Facebook posts by TMBG? Also, to answer the first question here, "is TMBW alive?", it's still alive. It's just that there's nothing it wants to do. -Bouncer15111

I don't think that's necessary. It's easy enough for people to look at the TMBG Twitter and Facebook themselves, and oftentimes what Flans is posting there isn't real newsworthy stuff but is just silly. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 02:13, 3 November 2016 (EDT)

I know I'm necrorepling, but this is a good idea, there is a substantial amount of empty space on the main page -⇂⇂↋ suᴉɥsuǝZ ʎɯɯᴉᒋ (talk) 09:56, 22 October 2021 (EDT)

Interesting blog link from a friend

Hi Everyone,

Longtime fan of the site/first time actually checking in with anything.

A friend of mine passed this blog link along to me today, and I thought there might be a good place to put it on the site, but I wasn't sure where or how to do it, exactly.

http://www.feignedoutrage.com/2008/02/triangle-man-vs-universe-man-who-wins.html

-John T.

I just don't know

I think the answer is no but I don't know and it doesn't hurt to ask, is state songs for kids? Thanks!

None of the albums except the five albums that are specifically aimed at kids (that would be No!, Why?, and the three Here Comes Disney albums) are for kids. That doesn't mean kids can't enjoy listening to them (I loved Pink when I was really little), but there are gonna be some seriously dark things on there that aren't terribly kid-friendly. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 02:41, 11 November 2016 (EST)

, Im not afraid of that, i have every studio album aka pink to phone power. I just didn't want to spend the money on this album to find out its for kids

Happy sounding songs! but so sad....

I'm sure it exists, but is there a section of happy sounding songs that have sad lyrics

Yes indeed, you can find it under the Funny But Sad song theme. --MisterMe (talk) 22:56, 12 November 2016 (EST)

, thanks! Thats cool.----pinatatime

New band!

Hello folks! Ok so i have every they might be giants album along with some of the other goodies. And now I'm sitting here......what next? I love they might be giants but I've herd it all! or at least the main albums. And I want to listen to something else thats like TMBG. My criteria is that the band/singer has to be clean. I mean how many TMBG songs have explicit content? Like....3? 4? Any way i would like it to be clean language along with just general subject. Thanks for reading. Also I know there is a part on the website that talks about bands like TMBG. But not all on the list are clean. Pinatatime (talk)

PS And if it had the same style also. 

PPS I already have A TMBG album coming in the mail so I'm not completely out. I'm in no rush i would just like help finding something else.

ALBUM 20

Some rather big news (and one of his adorable kitties!) posted by Mr. Flansburgh on Twitter earlier today!!! --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 23:36, 30 March 2017 (EDT)

-- This was sent by newsletter and by website. https://www.theymightbegiants.com/

"Good news is coming. Prepare." followed by a graphic of an escape key.

(9/14) --

Not Everything Has A Deeper Meaning

As someone who's been observing this Wiki for a while now before I've just recently joined, I sometimes feel like there are some people here who try too hard to find deeper meaning in TMBG's songs (specifically in the interpretation tabs). To me, this feels like it's coming from a place of certain TMBG fans feeling like they need to apply some deeper meaning to the things they like to make people think that it's totally deeper than it is on the surface. This comes across as kind of pathetic to me. They can't just accept that not everything they enjoy has a deeper meaning or needs a deeper meaning. TMBG, in my eyes, is crazy fun. I enjoy their songs regardless of the lyrical content and I don't think their lyrics really need to be analyzed. Take for example, my favorite TMBG track of all time, Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes. I dare any of you to look at me with a straight face and tell me that song has a deeper meaning of any kind. A lot of your theories on what these songs mean are so far-fetched that I sometimes wonder how any human being with a functioning brain can conceive of them. I remember one time I saw an interpretation of Cyclops Rock being about oral sex. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY LEAD YOU TO THAT CONCLUSION? Honestly, you're all just stretching to find a deeper meaning. It's just pathetic.

Well, as for Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes, that lyric is almost certainly stream-of-consciousness, with the events described in one line always quasi resulting from the line before that, and even if it means nothing at all, this approach gives a sense of continuity which makes people look for a deeper meaning. I guess. To me, that song has strong undertones of death, with the happy-go-lucky chorus referring to death directly, similar to R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People" ("Put it in the ground / Where the flowers grow" - confirmed to be about death). It's OK if you don't like analyzing their lyrics, but for some fans, especially the geekier ones, trying to find possible meanings in TMBG lyrics is a big part of what is fun about this band. Not necessarily trying to find a deeper meaning, just having fun. Also, I doubt the more far-fetched interpretations here are to be taken seriously. --Freakiosis (talk) 14:52, 16 June 2017 (EDT)

I don't think there's any need to judge people for wanting to analyze songs. If you're bothered by the interpretations pages then...don't look at them? It's pretty simple, really. There's no need to be name-calling just because people enjoy the band in a different way than you do. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 18:05, 16 June 2017 (EDT)

Has anybody really thought about this though? Like where can you go, if it's all the same? I know how you feel, Q & M. I do. But think about this: there are two reasons people might do or be inflamatory. The first one is there asshoals and the second one is theres no other reason. So? I think, par example that Mr. Tuck who makes a lot of people mad is actually a pretty good man and a good listener. Look what he has to say about NightGown of the Sullen Moon! He knows his s#it! So, there's good reasons and bad reasons to look among us. But evertyhing works out in the end, and a song like Memmo to Human Resources may not have a richass metaphor to interpret but there is definitely a lot going on there vis a vis sadness and being held in place by soul crushing work. I bet a lot of the people here can give me an amen on that! Any who it has been nice rapping at you. Fish! (Good luck getting there it started out as peace + jim anchower then went to pesche being italian for fish and omg im a mobius trip.....)! --WhatTheHeckLinnell (talk) 14:34, 11 December 2017 (EST)

Lost Song page

i think it would be a good idea to add a page that lists known but lost tmbg songs. you know, to get a good idea of what all is off the radar.

Coincidentally, someone recently asked Flans on Tumblr if they would be releasing another rarities compilation. Flans responded, "I hope someone compiles what is missing on tmbw.net!" But does he mean songs that were never released or released but hard to find?

maybe have both on the page but under separate categories, like mega rarities and lost songs. id make the page myself but i'm not much of a wiki person outside of small edits

How long would this page actually be though? We don't know of many songs like that, do we? And there wouldn't actually be any information about them on the page. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 04:42, 1 January 2018 (EST)

I could easily make a full list, plus it could list what little info is known about each song. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b9J23X1sXoMIu3kVfsKjVU4-5y6jHDiAqm17s8mPyxg/edit?usp=sharing basic list plus there's more then likely others i missed

I might just submit the list to the tmbg blog as i have no idea how to use a wiki outside of small edits. :/

Maybe the "Songs That Need Pages" page will be what you're looking for? We also have a "Wanted Pages" page. --MisterMe (talk) 10:59, 19 January 2018 (EST)

RIP Village Voice

Not sure where this could go on the wiki, but I feel like it's worth pointing out that the Village Voice is finally shutting down^[1]. That was where TMBG advertised Dial-A-Song for many years, and led to that legendary voice mail conversation. Pretty sad indeed but not surprising, given the state of the printed newspaper industry in general...

Search box suggestions - case-sensitivity after 1st character

The search box "suggestions" feature has a strange case-sensitivity which affects every character AFTER the first character. For example: when I try getting the suggestion list for the song "In Fact" with a "in F" (lower-case initial letter i followed by lower case n, space, and upper case F) it works: I see the suggestions below the box. Also "In F" (upper case I, lower case n, space, and upper case F) works for me. So it's good for the first character to be either case.

But when I enter "IN" - second character is upper case - I get no suggestions. "In f" gives me no suggestions once I reach the 'f'. "In FA" stops giving me suggestions after I enter the upper case A.

I'm using Mozilla Firefox on a Windows PC now, but I get the same behavior on my Android phone in Chrome... so I believe it's going to be a universal problem. But is anyone else seeing success where I'm seeing fails? And is this something easy to fix? --Nehushtan (talk) 16:51, 29 August 2019 (EDT)

Old known issue with MediaWiki's built-in search suggestion feature, unfortunately. The solution is to install a MW extension like TitleKey on the server, but as only the very busy Duke33 has the ability to do that, this may not be addressed any time soon (and probably isn't a priority). Good catch, though! -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 17:01, 29 August 2019 (EDT)

Number 10 on the ratings list?

There's an empty set of brackets at item 10 on the ratings list for some reason. EDIT: It's now at 82. --ColorOfInfinity (talk) 23:03, 9 October 2019 (EDT)

I noticed it too, at spot 76. Here's a screenshot. --Bluef00t (talk) 20:25, 1 December 2019 (EST)

This Day in TMBG broken

Just trying to call attention to the fact that the This Day in TMBG feature has been not working since the server move. Previously it would not switch over to the current day when a new day began (it could be forced to by adding "?action=purge" to the end of the main page URL but that's just a Band-Aid fix), and as of a couple of days ago it's also been just listing the current date in bold but then showing the next date with an event entry rather than the proper event entry for the current date. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 18:34, 20 November 2019 (EST)

State songs EP

I've been trying to find a copy of the state songs EP anywhere. Can't even find them uploaded online. Seeing as it's a rare album to find physically, is there a place online to listen to it? Thanks.

Pinata time.

I don't know when the above was posted, but you can find the whole album on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_BoE14bGn5JKri_H5tzCw17ZBBhOhnwK -- Thread Bomb (talk) 00:33, 9 April 2020 (EDT)

That's the album, not the EP.

Try searching eBay for Hello CD of the Month listings. There were a bunch of Hello lots up a couple months ago. (Not sure if State Songs was in there, but I found a lot of House of Mayors at the time--though not at prices I'd be willing to pay.) --Salt-Man Z (talk) 12:56, 17 August 2020 (EDT)

Asbestos Records has the State Songs CD EP for $35 here (listed as just "John Linnell"): https://asbestosrecords.bigcartel.com/product/hello-music-club-1994 -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 13:03, 17 August 2020 (EDT)

CapitalQ deleting my edits

Who is this CapitalQ person? Every discussion edit I have ever made to TMBW has been deleted by CapitalQ. This has been happening since 2019, maybe 6 times in all? Is it because I don't have a formal username for the Wiki? What gives? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.34.132.19 (talk) 22:04, 24 March 2021

Hi! My name's Jon and I'm one of the people who moderate this site to prevent vandalism, among other things. You certainly do not need a username to make edits. My apologies if something has been removed in error, but do you have an example of one of the edits that's been reverted? I don't see any contributions from your IP address. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 22:24, 24 March 2021 (EDT)

My most recent contribution was about Jamie Kitman looking like he's well-endowed. I admit it might not be the most important TMBG trivia.--158.69.26.75 22:25, 25 March 2021 (EDT)

Proposal for a new category

I believe there's a need for a site category that will encompass all official TMBG fan communication, going from the snail-mail Info Club mailings all the way up to Vibe Reports. We do have pages for these things, but they're scattered, difficult to find, and inconsistent.

There's this:

Paper Archives

TMBG Information Bulletins (1990-93) | Hello Recording Club Newsletters (1993-96)

Web Archives

TMBG Online Information Bulletin (1992-93) | Letters from J & J (1993-96) | TMBG.com-related (1994-97) | TMBG Street Team (2004-05) | Myspace Bulletins (2006-08) | TMBG Mailing List (2002-Present)

But its chronological arrangement means some things are just falling through the cracks. "TMBG.com-related" covers 1994-97, and then there's nothing until "TMBG Street Team" picks up in 2004, but clearly things were posted in the years in between. Also, a lot of the categories it contains are only clearly findable from the "miscellaneous pages" page, but that's a hard page to get to unless you know to look for it. And some things, like Vibe Reports, are just orphaned on the misc page without being linked anywhere at all, even within the categories included in this menu template.

So yes it's all kind of a mess, and especially when there's quite a few pages that fall under this umbrella, I think consolidating them all into their own, easily accessible category makes sense. Thoughts? I'm prepared to jump into getting this all taken care of if no one objects. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 00:28, 22 April 2021 (EDT)

Sounds helpful! And some of the year ranges in that template are clearly off (the Info Club mailings ran into the late '90s, etc). Would be nice to have a new take on organizing this stuff that welcomes more content to be imported. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 10:28, 22 April 2021 (EDT)

How do songs get added to the ratings list?

It says songs need at least ten ratings to be on the list, but I Lost Thursday has a lot of ratings in the log but it isn't on the list (and the rating breakdown page is empty for some reason). Is something else needed for songs to get on the list? --ColorOfInfinity (talk) 19:23, 7 June 2021 (EDT)

Song rating functionality has unfortunately been broken for a few years. Duke33 (who coded that system) is aware of the issues but hasn't been able to dedicate time to repairing them yet. Hopefully sometime soon. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 19:30, 7 June 2021 (EDT)

Maxwell's performance images

Hey, I found these awesome images of They Might Be Giants performing at Maxwell’s from John Niedzwiecki, but there’s no dates on them at all. According to one of the replies, this may have been a benefit show for Ferro Botanica magazine. I think it may be a 1987 show because of the snowman but I don’t really know for sure. If anyone has any idea when they were taken that'd be great.

Image 1
Image 2

-- Mrsomebodyelse

Request

How can I request pages? Like, for examples, Albums By Length? --jimmyZenShinsThreeHundred11 (talk) _{haha yes i hacked the mainframe}