''They Might Be Giants'', sometimes called ''The Pink Album'', is the debut studio album from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

-based band

They Might Be Giants 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 d ...

. It was released by

Bar/None Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Early history Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his n ...

in 1986. The album generated two singles, "

Don't Let's Start "Don't Let's Start" is a song by an alternative rock band, They Might Be Giants from their 1986 eponymous debut album. It was the first single released from the album, released as a maxi-single. The single peaked at #94 on the Australian ARIA si ...

" and "

(She Was A) Hotel Detective "(She Was A) Hotel Detective" is a song and single by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released as a single on May 5, 1988, two years after the release of ''They Might Be Giants'', the album on which it originally appeared. The " ...

". It is included on '' Then: The Earlier Years'', a compilation of the band's early material, in its entirety, with the exception of "Don't Let's Start", which is replaced with the single mix for the compilation. "Don't Let's Start", one of the album's two singles, is often cited as a key track in the band's catalogue, and its success contributed positively to the sale of the album. As a result of this prominence, when the band made the move to the major label

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

, "Don't Let's Start" was reissued in Europe with alternative B-sides. In July 2014, the band released a live version of the album at no charge on

NoiseTrade NoiseTrade is a global online audio and book direct-to-fan distribution platform. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee. It enables its users to upload original music and books and give away for free without digital rights management to anyone w ...

.They Might Be Giants : First Album Live , Free Music Download
noisetrade.com. Retrieved 2014-07-10.They Might Be Giants Offers Free Live Album Download
macobserver.com. Retrieved 2014-07-10 All the songs were recorded during the band's 2013 tour.

Recording

''They Might Be Giants'' was the second album to be released on the fledgling Bar/None label, with They Might Be Giants as the second group signed to the independent label. Many of the songs on the album existed in a demo form on the band's 1985 demo tape, which was also technically self-titled, though many were re-recorded or given new mixes for the commercial album. The material from the tape was recorded at Studio PASS in New York City with the assistance of Alex Noyes, who permitted the band to use the studio after it closed each day. Additional recording and mixing was done at

Dubway Studios Dubway Studios is an audio post and music production facility located in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. Services offered at Dubway Studios include tracking, recording, mixing, mastering, music production, voice-over ses ...

. Some unconventional recording techniques were used in the production of the album. The music is melodic, mostly uptempo synthesizer-and-guitar pop punctuated with odd sound samples and occasionally veering into sparse

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

- or folk-like arrangements. Drum and bass tracks are almost entirely synthesized, though the album prominently features the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

. In order to record the guitar solo in "Absolutely Bill's Mood", the band telephoned

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar when he was eleven or twel ...

in Greensboro, NC, from

. Chadbourne played the acoustic solo and it was recorded onto the studio's answering machine, then mixed into the song. Flansburgh and Linnell occasionally borrow from other recordings throughout the album. "Rhythm Section Want Ad" features an excerpt from Raymond Scott's composition " Powerhouse", played on the accordion. "Boat of Car" prominently samples the

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

song "

Daddy Sang Bass "Daddy Sang Bass" is a song written by Carl Perkins, with lines from the chorus of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?", and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Cash. It was released in November 1968 as the first single from the album '' T ...

Release

The record sold 10,000 copies in its first year. After Bar/None founders Tom Prendergast and Glenn Morrow got TMBG airplay on MTV, sales dramatically increased. According to Prendergast, "Within another month, we sold another 40,000 records." Total sales eventually passed 100,000, and a follow-up album, also on Bar/None, more than doubled the sales of the first. "That established the label," Prendergast said.

Promotion and packaging

Music videos were produced for the album's two singles, "

" and "

", both directed by

Adam Bernstein Adam Bernstein (born May 7, 1960) is an Emmy Awards, Emmy Award-winning American film director, music video director and television director. For his work on the television show ''Fargo (TV series), Fargo'' in 2014, he received a nomination for ...

. Significantly, prior to the album's release, a music video was also created for the song "

Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, from their eponymous debut album ''They Might Be Giants''. It has also been released on several compilation albums, including '' Then: The Earlier Year ...

". This was the first commercial video ever shot by the band, and was also directed by Bernstein. A music video was also shot for the song "Rabid Child", but it was never released and remains largely unavailable for public viewing to this day. The album's cover art was illustrated by Rodney Alan Greenblat, who had no prior association with the band.''They Might Be Giants'' (Album notes). They Might Be Giants. Bar/None Records. 1986. It extends to the back cover of the album, and shows John Linnell and John Flansburgh riding a large blue dog. John Linnell commented that the illustration caused the record to be mistaken for a children's album. The art was pasted up by John Flansburgh.

Reception

The album was received with positive critical attention.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', who gave the album an A, praised the album for its wide range of variety and cleverness, saying "the hits just keep on coming in an exuberantly annoying show of creative superabundance." He also made note of the unusualness of the subject matter contained in the lyrics. Jim Farber of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' stressed the album's "weirdness," and also noted the diversity in style among songs that "incorporate genres from art pop to country to polka." Neither the album nor its singles saw success on the ''Billboard'' charts, but the three music videos associated with the album generated positive attention for the band.

Track listing

2013 Australian bonus disc

Personnel

;They Might Be Giants *

John Flansburgh John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar. Common ...

– lead vocals (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14–18), electric guitar (1, 3–5, 9–13, 16, 17, 19), bass (2–5, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19), backing vocals (6, 10, 18), harmonica (6), acoustic guitar (12, 17) *

John Linnell John Sidney Linnell ( ; born June 12, 1959) is an American musician, known primarily as one half of the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants with John Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982. In addition to singing and songwri ...

– lead vocals (1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 16, 19), keyboard (1, 2, 4–6, 8, 9, 12–16, 19), piano (1), accordion (2, 5, 6, 11, 16–19), backing vocals (3, 5, 9, 12, 16, 19), bass saxophone, baritone saxophone (10); synth bass (11) ;Additional musicians *

– phoned-in

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(14) *Margaret Seiler –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

(13) ;Production *Bill Krauss - producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Mark Boyer - executive producer *Matthew Hill - executive producer *Al Houghton - engineer *Alex Noyes - engineer *Rodney Alan Greenblat -

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...

References

External links

*''

'' at This Might Be A Wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:They Might Be Giants (Album) 1986 debut albums They Might Be Giants albums Rough Trade Records albums Restless Records albums Bar/None Records albums