They Might Be Giants is the eponym

Eponym

An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

ous debut album from Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

-based band They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...

, also known as The Pink Album. It was released by Bar/None

Bar/None Records

Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey.-Early history:Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his native Ireland, Prendergast moved to Hoboken in 1982 and started Pier Platters...

 in 1986

1986 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-January-June:*January 23 – The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...

.

Despite obtaining minimal commercial success, the album produced one of the band's most well-known songs of all time, "Don't Let's Start

Don't Let's Start

"Don't Let's Start" is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, from their eponymous debut album They Might Be Giants. It was the first single released from the album, released as a maxi-single. The song is one of the band's most popular and well-known songs, despite failing to chart...

".

Music and lyrics

The lyrics on They Might Be Giants feature the wry, humorous treatments of dark themes that would frequently reappear in They Might Be Giants' later work. Death and mortality is prominently featured in several songs on the album, as are the equally morbid topics of obsession and delusion. A few of the songs, particularly those written by John Flansburgh, display dissatisfaction with working at a dispiriting, menial job, or are about having no job at all.

The music is spare, mostly uptempo synthesizer-and-guitar pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 punctuated with odd sound samples and occasionally veering into country music|country- or folk-like

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 arrangements. "Rhythm Section Want Ad" comments on the perceived oddity of the group's style and then two-man roster, and features an excerpt from Raymond Scott's composition, Powerhouse

Powerhouse (song)

Powerhouse is a instrumental musical composition by Raymond Scott, probably best known today as the iconic "assembly line" music in animated cartoons released by Warner Brothers.-History:...

. "Boat of Car" prominently samples the Johnny Cash song "Daddy Sang Bass". The song "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head" is a notable use of the Casio MT-100's 'Funny' sound.

Promotion and packaging

Music videos were made for the album's two singles: "Don't Let's Start" and "(She Was A) Hotel Detective," both directed by Adam Bernstein. Before the release of the album, a video was also made for "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head." This was the first commercial video ever shot by the band, despite the song not having been released as a single. A video was also produced for the song "Rabid Child," but has never been released.

The album's cover art was designed by Rodney Alan Greenblat. Once expanded, it depicts the two band members riding down the "Toddler Hiway" (also a song on the album) on a seemingly oversized dog. Because of this, Tower Records put this album in the Childrens' section. Greenblat wouldlater go on to create the PaRappa the Rapper

PaRappa the Rapper

is a rhythm video game for the Sony PlayStation created by Masaya Matsuura and his NanaOn-Sha company....

 characters, set in a similar environment.

This album is included in Then: The Earlier Years, a compilation of the band's early material, in its entirety, except that it includes the single version of "Don't Let's Start" instead of the original album version.

Track listing

All songs by John Flansburgh

John Flansburgh

John Conant Flansburgh is an American musician. He is half of the longstanding Brooklyn, New York-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants, for which he writes, sings and plays rhythm guitar...

 and John Linnell

John Linnell

John Sidney Linnell is an American musician, is known primarily as one half of Brooklyn, New York alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants...

.

1. "Everything Right Is Wrong Again" – 2:20
2. "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" – 2:12
3. "Number Three" – 1:27
4. "Don't Let's Start
   Don't Let's Start
   "Don't Let's Start" is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, from their eponymous debut album They Might Be Giants. It was the first single released from the album, released as a maxi-single. The song is one of the band's most popular and well-known songs, despite failing to chart...
   
   " – 2:36
5. "Hide Away Folk Family" – 3:21
6. "32 Footsteps" – 1:36
7. "Toddler Hiway" – 0:25
8. "Rabid Child" – 1:31
9. "Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes" – 1:58
10. "(She Was A) Hotel Detective
    (She Was A) Hotel Detective
    -12" track listing:- Personnel :*John Flansburgh – vocals, guitar*John Linnell – vocals, bass saxophone, baritone saxiphone, synthesizers*Anne Moore – vocals*Peter Pairman Thomson – backup vocalsProduction*Al Houghton – engineer...
    
    " – 2:10
11. "She's An Angel" – 2:37
12. "Youth Culture Killed My Dog" – 2:51
13. "Boat of Car" – 1:15
14. "Absolutely Bill's Mood" – 2:38
15. "Chess Piece Face" – 1:21
16. "I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die" – 1:58
17. "Alienation's For the Rich" – 2:25
18. "The Day" – 1:27
19. "Rhythm Section Want Ad" – 2:21

Personnel

They Might Be Giants

• John Flansburgh
• John Linnell

Additional musicians

• Eugene Chadbourne – Phoned-in guitar on "Absolutely Bill's Mood"
• Margaret Seiler – Lead vocal on "Boat of Car"

Production

• Bill Krauss – producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  , engineer
  Audio engineering
  An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
  
  
• Mark Boyer – executive producer
• Matthew Hill – executive producer
• Al Houghton – engineer
• Alex Noyes – engineer
• Rodney Alan Greenblat – cover art

External links

• They Might Be Giants at This Might Be A Wiki