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They Might Be Giants (commonly abbreviated to '''TMBG''') is an American Alternative Rock duo consisting of John Linnell and John Flansburgh that formed in 1982 . Best known for an experimental style of Alternative Music , the group has found success on the Modern Rock and CMJ charts, in the Children's Music genre, and in Theme Music for several Television Program s and Film s. TMBG's most well known songs include "'' and the 2005 children's music album '' Here Come The ABCs ''. Their song " Boss Of Me " served as the theme to the Fox Television Network comedy series '' Malcolm In The Middle '' and earned them a Grammy Award in 2002. They have also contributed theme songs to Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show '' and Disney Channel's '' Mickey Mouse Clubhouse '' and '' Higglytown Heroes '', along with a commercial for '' Space Ghost Coast To Coast ''. The band was the subject of the 2003 Documentary Film '' Gigantic (A Tale Of Two Johns) '', directed by AJ Schnack . HISTORY Linnell and Flansburgh (often nicknamed "the two Johns" or "John and John") first met as teenagers growing up in Lincoln, Massachusetts . They began writing songs together while attending Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School but never officially formed a band. The two attended separate colleges after high school (Flansburgh attended Pratt Institute ), and Linnell joined The Mundanes , a New Wave group from Rhode Island . The two reunited in 1981 after moving to Brooklyn (to the same apartment building on the same day) to continue their career.1 Then: The Earlier Years (1982–1989) Taking their name from the 1971 movie '' They Might Be Giants '', the duo began performing their own music in and around New York City — Flansburgh on Guitar , Linnell on Accordion and Saxophone , and accompanied by a Drum Machine and/or a prerecorded backing track on Audio Cassette . Their atypical instrumentation, along with their songs which featured unusual subject matter and clever wordplay, soon attracted a strong local following. Their performances also featured absurdly comical stage props such as oversized Fezzes and large cardboard cutout heads of newspaper editor William Allen White .2 Many of these props would later turn up in their first music videos. At one point, Linnell broke his wrist in a biking accident and Flansburgh's apartment was burglarized, forcing them to take a break from performing. During this hiatus, they began recording their songs onto an Answering Machine , and then advertising the phone number in local newspapers such as The Village Voice , using the moniker " Dial-A-Song ".3 They also released a demo cassette, which earned them a review in '' People '' magazine. The review caught the attention of Bar/None Records , who signed They Might Be Giants to a recording deal. 4 The duo released their Self-titled Debut Album in 1986, which became a college radio hit. The video for "Don't Let's Start," filmed in the New York Pavilion of the 1964 New York World's Fair in Queens , became a hit on MTV , earning them a broader following. In 1988, they released their second album, '' Lincoln '', named after the duo's hometown. It featured the song "Ana Ng" which reached #11 on the US Modern Rock chart. Move to Elektra (1990–1992) In 1989, They Might Be Giants signed with Elektra Records , and released their third album '' Flood '' the following year. ''Flood'' earned them a gold album, largely thanks to the success of "Birdhouse in Your Soul" which reached number three on the US Modern Rock chart, as well as " Istanbul (Not Constantinople) ". In 1990, ''Throttle'' magazine interviewed They Might Be Giants and clarified the meaning of the song "Ana Ng": John Flansburg said, "Ng is a Vietnamese name. The song is about someone who's thinking about a person on the exact opposite side of the world. John looked at a globe and figured out that if Ana Ng is in Vietnam and the person is on the other side of the world, then it must be written by someone in Peru." (Derek Thomas, ''Throttle'', August 1990.) Further interest in the band was generated when two cartoon music videos were created by Warner Bros. for '' Tiny Toon Adventures '': "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and "Particle Man".5 The videos reflected TMBG's high "kid appeal", resulting from their often silly or absurd songs and poppy melodies. In 1991, Bar/None Records released the B-sides compilation '' Miscellaneous T ''. The title referred to the section of the record store where TMBG releases were often found as well as to the overall eclectic nature of the tracks. Though consisting of previously released material (save for the "Purple Toupee" B-sides , which were not available publicly), it gave a chance for new fans to hear the Johns' earlier non-album work without having to hunt down the individual EPs. In early 1992, They Might Be Giants released '' Apollo 18 ''. The heavy space theme coincided with TMBG being named Musical Ambassadors for International Space Year . Singles from the album included "The Statue Got Me High", " The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) ", "I Palindrome I", and "My Evil Twin". ''Apollo 18'' was also notable for being one of the first albums to take advantage of the CD player's shuffle feature. The song "Fingertips" was actually comprised of 21 separate tracks — short snippets that not only acted together to make the song, but that when played in Random order would be interspersed between the album's full-length songs. (Due to mastering errors, the UK and Australian versions of ''Apollo 18'' contained "Fingertips" as one track.) Recruiting a band (1992-1998) Following ''Apollo 18'', Flansburgh and Linnell decided to move away from the guitar & accordion (or sax) plus backing tracks on tape nature of their live show, and recruited a supporting band that consisted of humans ( Kurt Hoffman of the Ordinaires on reeds and keyboards, longtime Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone and drummer Jonathan Feinberg ). '' John Henry '' was released in 1994. It was TMBG's first album recorded as a full band, done so under pressure from Elektra. Influenced by their more conventional lineup, this album marked a departure from their previous releases with more of a guitar-heavy sound.6 It was released to mixed reviews amongst fans and critics alike. Their next album, '' Factory Showroom '', was released in 1996 to little fanfare. The band had moved away from the feel of ''John Henry'' and ''Factory Showroom'' includes the more diverse sounds of their earlier albums, despite the inclusion of two guitarists, the second being Eric Schermerhorn who provided several guitar solos. They left Elektra after the duo refused to do a publicity show, amongst other exposure-related disputes.7 In 1998, they released a mostly-live album '' Severe Tire Damage '' from which came the single " Doctor Worm ". Beyond Elektra (1999–2003) In 1997, the ever-changing backing band lineup settled on "The Band of Dans", forming a full house line-up of Johns and Dans for almost five years. The Band of Dans was a trio of guys named Dan: guitarist Dan Miller , bassist Danny Weinkauf (both formerly of the band Lincoln) and drummer Dan Hickey . |
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