Podcasts about Flansburgh

Episode 69 and feeling fine! In this calm before the storm of Factory Showroom, we reach into the big old floppy grab bag and yank out five rare, special, unique, singular and startling songs not officially released by They Might Be Giants. We dare not reveal which ones, but let's just say they feature Johns Linnell and Flansburgh singing about some strange and varied topics. Don't delay and press play!Join Us on Patreon!: patreon.com/dontletsstartpodcast

A very special guest on John Flansburgh's Mono Puff album becomes a very special guest on the Don't Let's Start podcast! Nancy Lynn Howell, singer of Don't I Have the Right, talks to us about recording the song with Flansburgh, the special occasion where she performed it live, and we get to hear rare, exclusive recordings of her short-lived super group with Laura Cantrell and Robin Goldwasser! Plus we highlight a handful of tracks from her wonderful discography to discuss. Join us on Patreon!: patreon.com/c/dontletsstartpodcast

Now I wanna talk to everyone about Mono Puff b-sides and demos! Alongside the album Unsupervised (by They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh) came The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Rocking) single! It's full of odds and ends, balls and...friends?? First, Flansburgh covers a fellow b-side from fellow song genius Mr. Frank Black, the one and only Oddball! We listen to both versions and discover that every Oddball is different! But there's much more going on in a hidden gem called Tryptophane! And if we're not calm, we soon will be when we groove out to the long, hypnotic, slow funk mystery of The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Remade)! Slow, slow, Satan, slow! And if that wasn't enough, we keep grooving on and moving on to the demos that made up Unsupervised! All your friends are here: Dr. Kildare! What Bothers The Spacem(e)n! Nixon's The One, and so much more! Plus a special seedy discussion of Plain As The Lie On Your Lips, a rare John Linnell song written alongside Flansburgh's own torch song, Don't I Have The Right! The hour has come and gone and talk is cheap, so get listenin'! Join us on Patreon!: patreon.com/dontletsstartpodcast --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dontletsstart/support

On this week's Talkhouse Podcast, we've got two of what I'm going to call alt-rock lifers, guys with vast catalogs and the stories to match, who've ridden the highs and lows over the years and continue to make fantastic music for dedicated fanbases: John Flansburgh and Matthew Caws. Flansburgh is half the core of They Might Be Giants, one of the two Johns—along with Linnell—who started making quirky pop records about 40 years ago. They've released nearly two dozen albums, wriggling their way into the mainstream on occasion, from “Birdhouse in Your Soul” to the Malcolm in the Middle theme to popular albums aimed at kids. It's been a remarkable ride that shows no signs of stopping; They MIght Be Giants is still on tour, still making new music, and still seeming to have as much fun as they ever did. Their latest record is called Book—it's available in many formats including, you guessed it, a giant book—and there are some sparklers on it, including one in particular that the guys talk about in today's episode. Check out “Brontosaurus.” The other half of today's conversation is Matthew Caws, singer and guitarist of the fellow New York band Nada Surf. Nada Surf had a really odd start to what's turned into a long and fruitful existence. Their first album featured the song “Popular,” which turned into something of a novelty hit / summer anthem back in 1996. It wasn't particularly representative of the band's smart, layered pop—which is no knock on “Popular” itself—which confused their record label, Elektra. But after a bit of a slow period, Nada Surf found their way into indie-rock hearts with 2002's Let Go, and they've earned a place in those hearts ever since. The tenth Nada Surf album came out earlier this year, and it's among their best. It also features a surprisingly high number of more uptempo songs, as Flansburgh mentions in this chat. Check out “Second Skin” from Nada Surf's newest album Moon Mirror.   In this chat Flansburgh and Caws take a deep dive into the genesis of “Popular,” which Caws had no idea would be a hit but is happy to still play. They also chat about Flansburgh's love of the new Nada Surf record, both of their time on the same major label in the 1990s, and whether it's appropriate for a band to take a group bow at the end of a good show. Enjoy. 0:00 – Intro 2:42 – Start of the chat 2:58 – Welcome to Fresh Air 9:45 – The unusual origins of "Popular' 17:45 – Nada Surf's ignoble split with Elektra Records 22:40 – John's theory on Matthew's doubled vocals 32:21 – The ups and downs of sharing your political point of view as a musician Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to John Flansburgh and Matthew Caws for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Jordan and Dave are back to destroy the music you love! We spend this interminable episode listening to and mentally processing the vast number of rare dial-a-songs and officially released full band demos They Might Be Giants created in the build-up to 1994's album John Henry! Highlights include the extremely different Sleeping in the Flowers dial-a-song, the very brief and very funky full band recording of Dirt Bike, the hauntingly acoustic Spy, the Nixon crooning version of O' Do Not Forsake Me, and too much more! Our episode ends with a discussion of the Flansburgh-penned Wreck It Apart, a rare song that would eventually be killed and dissected for Ondine. That's right, a demo of an alternate version of a song not even on the album. WE'RE CRAZY! Plus, because you asked for it, John Henry Hypercard Stacks! If you know what those words mean, you are already on board. Stop waiting such a long time for the good times to start! Dust yourself off, grab your Dutch Masters, kick your feet up and take one final ride with John Henry! ALRIGHT! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dontletsstart/support

They Might Be Giants is an alternative rock band that formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell.  They are known as an absurdist, surreal alternative band popular on modern rock charts and college radio.  They are also known in the DIY music genre and in children's music.  Flood is their third studio album and has been certified platinum.  It is their best selling album, and considered their signature work. During the 80's Flansburgh and Linnell started recording their songs onto an answering machine and advertised the phone number in The Village Voice and other newspapers as “Dial-A-Song.”  The answering machine would play one track at a time, sometimes uncompleted work, sometimes mock advertisements.  It became quite popular, but it was an answering machine, so the quality wasn't great.  One of their slogans was “Always Busy, Often Broken.” It was a local Brooklyn number, so long distance fees applied.  The band advertised it with the line, “Free when you call from work.”TMBG have released 23 studio albums, 10 compilations, 10 live albums, 8 EP's 7 videos and 11 singles.  They have also released five children's albums – Tiny Toon Adventures exposed them to a younger audience, and they leveraged it to expand their career. They made heavy use of the internet since the early 90's, creating one of the first artist-owned music stores in 2004, and have made podcasts on a monthly basis from 2005 to 2014.Bruce brings us this unusual album. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) This is a cover originally written in 1953 on the 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans.  Lyrics are by Jimmy Kennedy, music by Nat Simon, and performed by the Four Lads.  The TMBG version was featured in the first season of MTV's Liquid Television and in an episode of "Tiny Toon Adventures."Your Racist FriendIn discussing this song, John Flansburgh told Songfacts, “You can't confront every person who's making an ass of themselves.  But there are times when you want to.  So it's really about a subtler idea than over-the-top expressions of race hate.  It's more just about the culture.”Somebody Keeps Moving My ChairI think we can all identify with the premise of this song, that there's a lot of unpleasantness that we have to deal with, and we can do that for the most part.  But when somebody keeps moving your chair that is beyond the pale. Theme from FloodThis brief piece starts off the album and leads into “Birdhouse In Your Soul.”  It seemed like a good addition to include, since most of the songs are short.Birdhouse In Your Soul This is the lead single from the album, and is their highest charting single in both the US and the UK, hitting number 3 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 6 on the UK singles chart.  The lyrics are narrated from the perspective of a blue nightlight shaped like a canary.  We found it fascinating that there are 18 key changes in this song! ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:"The Simpsons Theme" by Danny Elfman (from the television series "The Simpsons”)Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie made their TV series debut in this month in 1990, though they had shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show prior to that. STAFF PICKS:I Remember You by Skid RowBrian starts off this week's staff picks with an acoustic/power pop hair ballad from the band fronted by Sebastian Bach.  Bassist Rachel Boland and guitarist Dave “The Snake” Sabo penned this song which was their third single from their debut album.  It is about the girl from days gone by that you just can't forget. Fly High Michelle by Enuff Z'nuffRob's staff pick was inspired by a tragedy caused by a drug overdose.  Donnie Vie wrote this song in remembrance of a friend who had passed, and it was the biggest hit of the group's career.  The band takes their name from their bassist, Chip Z'nuff.Pure by The Lightning Seeds Wayne features this track from Liverpool's The Lightning Seeds.  The group is the product of producer Ian Broudie, and is really more of a solo project with musicians brought in to create a touring band.  The name comes from a misheard lyric from Prince's “Raspberry Beret.”Girl Like You by The SmithereensBruce's staff pick is the first single from the Smithereens third album,  appropriately (?) named 11.  Madonna was supposed to sing the harmony vocals but didn't show up for the recording session.  The band got Maria Vidal to do the vocals. It hit number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the US Mainstream Rock charts. NOVELTY TRACK:Swing the Mood by Jive Bunny and the MastermixersThis mashup of swing and early rock songs was on the charts in January 1990.

Lex saw They Might Be Giants twice in two days. He didn’t bother Flansburgh. At least, not in person.

*Listen to the pre-episode introduction for a special "get well soon" message from the TMBP listeners.* OG fan Stanley Allen makes his first appearance on the show to remind Greg of the greatness of Rowboat Mayor, another My Murdered Remains track. They discuss music of all types that informed their fandoms of TMBG and ponder young Flansburgh's own fandoms of punk and post punk bands that could have steered the rowboat of his tastes, even so much later on in life  when writing a song like this. We also hear two great custom covers, now also featured on the Covers by Order compilation to benefit the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Go to our bandcamp to purchase and donate. This episode edited and mixed by Avren Keating of the Waves Breaking podcast. Thanks Avren!  

New friend of the show and speed-listening champion Ben Byrd is here to lawyer all of our asses about TMBG's cover of Yeh Yeh from Mink Car. The song has a long winding history before it even made it to the Giants, so step on into that jury box and get ready for our opening statements on this lengthy trial of the century.

It's been two friggin years since the Crane live episode in Bloomington, IN. Since we don't do covers sections at a live episode, it's high time we shine a spotlight on the best and most interesting Crane covers on the web. Roundtable guests Cari Hearn and Jon Hancuff return to help me. Enjoy!!

“We've been doing this for nineteen years now,” said a reflective John Flansburgh in 2001, perhaps not aware that They Might Be Giants would “do this” for another nineteen years and then some, with no signs of stopping. And thanks to this recently unearthed, 21-year-old phone interview, you can hear the most gregarious John hype the band's then-upcoming album Mink Car, detail a little onstage guitar experimentation, and ponder whether having music in a car commercial equals selling your soul (he doesn't think so). Caffeinate appropriately and check it, like, totally out! Follow Jon Uleis on Instagram and Twitter! @movingtothesun Follow John Walker on Instagram and Twitter! @giannidubya

Speed-listener Chris Conaton joins us for the first time to talk about one of the weirdest songs on BOOK, If Day for Winnipeg. We go over the history of If Day during WWII, talk about relvant sonic comparisons from elementary music boomwhackers to gamalan music, and demonstrate what how a ring modulator plugin effect works.

Australian friend Belinda Van Helden is on the show to talk about the classic TMBG kid's song Four of Two. But is it a kids song? Find out about the song's life before the album No! and learn all about the location of famously-stopped clocks.

Lydia Sekscenski visits the show to talk about Icky off of Nanobots. Who's that Icky guy? We try to get to know him in our discussion of the lyrics, the intriguing chord progression, and an instrument rarely used throughout TMBG's canon. Greg contributes a cover that's... loud.

Old friend of the show Mari Morton makes their triumphant return to talk about Book and its second single I Broke My Own Rule. We talk much music theory, Linnell's kitchen rules, mental health, and play three custom covers.

Garrett Secret joins us to talk about a tune deep in Glean's tracklist, Aaa. We get our hands dirty trying to make sense of the chord progression, talk percussion, and find a surprisning amount of covers.

Ariana Harris makes her debut on the show to talk about the Flood classic Whistling In The Dark. We discuss the disputed meaning of the title phrase, marching bass drums, and live recordings from all eras of the band.

I Lost Thursday was the first single released from BOOK, well ahead of the album. Patrick Crowling makes his first appearance on the show to talk about this funky pandemic-born track, and we get two custom covers, one from Patrick himself.

I Can't Remember the Dream was the third single released from BOOK and the first one to receive the music video treatment. Here to talk about it is the director himself, Alex Italics! He shares stories about every single TMBG video he's directed before we break down the song musically and lyrically, discuss the recent alternate version, and check out an awesome custom cover and a crazy mashup, both made by friends of the show.

It's our first BOOK episode! Chris Oliveira returns to the show to talk about a song deep in BOOK's tracklist, Part of You Wants to Believe Me. We try to parse just what's going on in the word, debate instrument tones, and listen to some awesome custom covers.

Bryce Hurst is here to talk about this Join Us deep cut. Learn about the complexities of this seemingly simple song, hear its Quiet Storm version and Bryce's rad cover.

On the 12th anniversary episode of Beginnings taped back in December, I talk to John Linnell of They Might Be Giants! Raised in Lincoln, Massachusetts, John Linnell began writing music with his friend John Flansburgh in high school, and after playing in a number of bands formed TMBG with Flansburgh in 1982. From 1986's self-titled album to today, the band has released over fifty albums, compilations and EPs, has won two Grammys and was even nominated for a Tony Award. John hasn't produced a lot of solo work, but his State Songs album is great, and I wish his Roman Songs EP (sung entirely in Latin) would have been released in the '90s so I could have played it in Latin class to the bemusement of my teacher. Most recently, They Might Be Giants have released a 144 page book and album entitled BOOK, and much like everything else from their 40 year career, it's wonderful! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

Rock n roll friend Greg Nahabedian is on the show to talk about the classic I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die from the self-titled debut. We reminisce about back when we could go on tour, then dig deep into the song's demo, multiple live versions and a slew of eclectic covers.

They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh joins the Sound of Success this week to discuss the band's 40-year-career and its 23rd studio album, BOOK, out now. He talks to Nic about how Flansburgh and bandmate John Linnell make it work four decades later, the glory of the Beatles and why 'Get Back' is so damn long, his unpleasant introduction to Frank Zappa live, his love for Missy Elliott, Tierra Whack, Wet Leg, Mitski, and more.

Olivia Felo is here to talk about Science is Real off of Here Comes Science. She tells us about her scientist grandmother and brings in some comparative clips to delve into the psychedelic aspects of the music. Also... some vaccine talk.

Guest-hosted by Avren Keating, we have a wonderful crew of folks here to talk about some favorite TMBG songs through their trans lens on part three of this series. Brianna Jones, Cathy Young, Becca Ganey and Avren chat about Bangs, The World's Address, Insult to the Fact Checkers, Finished With Lies and more!

Former TMBG drummer Dan Hickey returns to the show to talk about Dan Vs. Cog, a song they did for the Brave New World television mini series. Dan took on MIT's Cog robot in a drum battle and lived, and he's here to tell us about that harrowing adventure.

Cartoon writer Mike Yank visits the show to talk about the My Murdered Remains track The Neck Rolls Aren't Working. We breakdown this rocker and try to figure out what's going on with the stressed out narrator, and we unearth some cool covers and hear one from Mike and his wife!

Merry Christmas from TMBP! Joe of OK Glass joins us to talk about this unreleased fan favorite from deep in the Giants' secret vault. We talk about the many different possible influences on this weird sad Christmas number, managing to keep spirits both holly and jolly!

Old friends and former guests Steve Clark and Dan Brooks team up to talk about the Apollo 18 classic Turn Around. While we don't shatter any episode length records this time around, we do dig in heavily to the twisted lyrics of this tune and what makes it so great.

New friend Sarah Smith is on the show today to talk about Last Wave from I Like Fun as well as Last Wave (Alternate Version), which was collected on My Murdered Remains. We talk about the odd origin story of this song and Steven Tyler's humongous mouth, and we get treated to two amazing covers, one by our guest herself!

A member of the single-digits episode club, Missy Tate, makes her triumphant return to the show with a two-fer: First Kiss, appearing on Severe Tire Damage, and Another First Kiss, appearing on Mink Car. Which one is better? We're gonna figure it out!

Noah Daniel returns at long last to talk about Unforgotten off of the S-E-X-X-Y EP. We find out what Flans himself thinks of the song, play a rare live version, and hear a cover from Noah himself.

Darrell Till returns to the show to tackle a big song - The Statue Got Me High from Apollo 18. We chat about everything from 4-tracks to Don Juan, get a special call from drummer JD Feinberg and baby Ramona makes an appearance!

Becca Ganey is here for her first proper episode to talk about an extremely deep cut, Happy, only played live, and with the only recording appearing on TMBG Unlimited. Hear us dissect this extremely weird song and create the only cover ever!

Frequent TMBG artistic collaborator David Cowles is here to talk about a song which he did the music video for, Put It To The Test off of Here Comes Science. David also gives us the insider stories of many of his TMBG works from The Mesopotamians video to The Escape Team.

Game developer Lisa Fenix is here to talk about John Henry deep cut Window. Featuring a rare live performance recording and a couple of awesome custom made covers.

Factory Showroom is now 25 years old and my good friend Jesse Harris is here to talk about one of its best tracks, Till My Head Falls Off.

Fellow Hoosier Jessica Rodenberger joins me to talk about Insect Hospital off of Nanobots which is, like, literally a good song. Her daughters join us to weigh in on the song too!

Our final Horn episode is with Mark Pender, famous for playing trumpet on Conan O'Brien's shows. He has appeared on a bunch of tmbg tracks as well as toured with them, and he is here to talk about Ant, since he played on the Indestructible Object version. We talk about all versions of the song and get to hear about the life of a late night show musician.

Horn Month continues with Stan Harrison, saxophononist on many TMBG tracks and member of the Tricerachops Horns, here to talk about Withered Hope off of The Else.

It's Horn Month here at TMBP and first up is frequent TMBG trombonist and multi-intrumentalist Dan Levine to talk about Electric Car off of Here Comes Science. Dan arranged the winds in this song, and there is a lot to discuss! Much band nerdery ensues.

Comedian Ethan Ullman of Dave and Ethan's 2000" Weird Al Podcast is here today to talk about the Flansy power pop gem Feign Amnesia off The Else. We get into many Weird Al related tangents and attempt to get to the bottom of why Feign Amnesia is unfairly forgotten by TMBG.

Eb Mitchell is here to giggle with me through the entirety of this discussion of the jazzy John Henry number Extra Savoir-Faire. We chat about the demo, a duo performance and slide trumpets.

Andy Howard of my band Outdoor Velour joins me to talk about the song we covered for the Purple Toupee compilation, Call You Mom from Nanobots. Hear us breakdown just how compilcated this song is and convince you it's one of the best modern tmbg songs.

WIBX First News with Keeler in the Morning features newsmakers, hot topics and great conversation about everything that matters to the Utica-Rome area and the Mohawk Valley. Host Bill Keeler is joined each weekday morning from 6:00-9:00 a.m. by Jeff Monaski and Andrew Derminio on Your News, Talk and Sports Leader WIBX 950.

Painter/illustrator Abi Bash, aka one of our favorite humans, aka the person who did the art for this very podcast, helps co-hosts Jon Uleis and John Walker choose some exemplary songs from the TMBG catalog that deal—explicitly or not—with love. Good love, bad love, one-sided love, imaginary love, creepy love; it's all here, well-represented by the thought-provoking lyrics of Flansburgh and Linnell. Burn your forget-me-nots and give us a listen. Also, give us an e-mail. (9secreteps@gmail.com)

Throughout nearly 40 years of recorded work (that's over twenty albums!), one thing has remained consistent about indie rock mainstays They Might Be Giants: the creative partnership of John Flansburgh and John Linnell. In the first episode of this brand-new podcast mini-series about the music of the band, self-trained TMBG scholars/enthusiasts Jon Uleis and John Walker try to define the things both songwriters bring to this long-running project by picking a few favorite tracks by each. Join us! Also, email us! (9secreteps@gmail.com)

Join us in this conversation where Kaytlyn, mom of 4, shares her story about living away from her husband for a year while pregnant with toddlers, how she manages her nursing career including going to graduate school, balancing the time for herself including running half marathons and her key to finding balance within it all.

This week, you're all gonna be in this experimental film! Provided, of course, that you're a fan of They Might Be Giants (TMBG) (and are OK with film being... tape? Nevermind). What is it about this quirky musical group that has kept fans interested for over 30 years? Next week, we'll put on our robes and wizard hats to talk about fans of tabletop RPGs! ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **Origins:** > They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG expanded to include a backing band. > > — [Wikipedia - They Might Be Giants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Might_Be_Giants) TMBG is known for having an unconventional, experimental kind of music, has released 19 studio albums (including _Flood_ which has been certified platinum), has created theme music for several television shows, and has produced children's music. Think you haven't heard of them? Try one of the following: - Boss of Me (theme song of _Malcolm in the Middle_) - Dog On Fire (opening theme of _The Daily Show with Jon Stewart_) - The theme song for _Oblongs_, and _The Wrong Coast_ - Birdhouse in your Soul, Istanbul (Not Constantinople), and Particle Man **Most Active:** Given that They Might Be Giants has been a band since the 1980s, it's not surprising that the [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F07n3s) data shows a pretty low amount of interest over time. To be fair, unlike many of the fandoms we've covered, interest in TMBG was already quite low in 2004. There was a huge spike in interest in July 2004 which corresponds to the the release of their album _The Spine_, and some smaller bursts of interest probably related to different album releases. Interest now is about 1/10th of the interest from 2004. **Size of Fandom:** They Might Be Giants has sold over 4 million records. Given that information and their 19 studio albums, a rough estimate of fans would give us between ~200 000 and 4 million. A different (much lower estimate) that gives an idea of the dedication of fans might be the _They Might Be Giants Instant Fan Club_: > The Instant Fan Club returned for 2015 with an announcement in November 2014. There were initially 2,500 subscriptions available, which were meant to be available until January 5, 2015. All 2,500 spots were filled by December ... In addition to the regular level of membership ($98) and the Super-President tier ($250) introduced in 2012's fan club, the 2015 IFC offers a third option "for folks on a budget", Dial-A-Song Direct ($30). > > — [this might be a wiki - They Might Be Giants Instant Fan Club](http://tmbw.net/wiki/They_Might_Be_Giants_Instant_Fan_Club) TMBG has [over 330 000 likes on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/theymightbegiants/), over [65 000 followers on Twitter](https://twitter.com/tmbg?lang=en), and over [2200 subscribers on r/tmbg](https://www.reddit.com/r/tmbg/). **Around the world:** From the [Google Trends data again](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F07n3s), most fans of They Might Be Giants hail from English speaking countries: By and large, fans are from the United States, but there is also some interest in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand. **Did you know that...** - TMBG is [the unofficial band of the TV Tropes Wiki](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/TheyMightBeGiants)? - Melissa Joan Hart (_Clarissa Explains It All_, _Sabrina: The Teenage Witch_) got a job because of TMBG: > "I actually got the job for Clarissa Explains It All because of They Might Be Giants. The producer asked me about music, and I told them I liked TMBG (instead of popular bands like New Kids on the Block). He loved it, I got the job