I won't pretend to know much of the band's history. I'll let the semi-reliable Wikipedia do some explaining if anyone's interested. For anyone who likes fun, look no further. TMBG offers one off-the-wall treat after another. If you're anything like me, you'll be begging for more. If not, I guess I don't know what to tell ya.
TMBG have been together since the early '80s, but I don't think I ever heard of them until junior high. There was a kid in my photography class named Jon (conveniently enough, since the band is made of two Johns) who was obsessed with them. I was too focused on Beatlemania and other golden oldies to worry about introducing any "new" music to my small library of cassette tapes. Plus, this Jon guy stood his ground as a Beatle-hater. As a result, I didn't trust his taste in music.
The only TMBG songs I'd heard by the end of high school were "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and possibly "Birdhouse In Your Soul"- only because that Jon kid brought his CD to the stake Saturday Night Dances and made friends with the DJ.
Fast forward a few years... Becky, my friend and roommate, had a copy of Flood, one of TMBG's most successful albums. I borrowed it and listened to it repeatedly. I kinda sorta took over the CD, and eventually Becky let me keep it. =)
Fast forward a couple more years. I have no idea why, but I still only had the one TMBG CD, though I knew full well there were others. In 2001, I bought their freshly released Mink Car. I loved most of the songs on it.
Fast forward some more years. I obtained many of the albums I'd been missing out on for too stinking long. But I've made up for lost time. During the past thousand or so days, I have come to fully appreciate the music created by (in my reliable opinion) the 2nd greatest band ever.
I'm positively crazy over their music. I never get tired of it. There's just so much of it to go around.
I got to see them in concert 2 years ago this month, and again this month. Move over, Thanksgiving- November is TMBG month. On second thought, Turkey Day can stay. Because I'm very thankful that my ears can daily feast on the music of such a delightful band. Plus, I really like turkey dinners...
I can't go on without summing up the recent concert. It was everything I hoped for and more. I loved being there. I made sure to bring some special somebodies to enjoy the long-awaited event; Erin and Barry, Gavin and Maren, Mike and Megan, Ryan and me. I enjoyed the show enough for everyone there. I understand that it's not as fun to attend a concert that can't be sung along to, and that was about how it was for my siblings and their spouses. They just weren't as familiar with the music. Overall, I think they liked it. There was some mention of the amps being too loud, but I was too giddy to be bothered by it.
On a side note, I swear I made eye contact with John Linnell a few times while I was singing along to their merry music-making. We were quite close to the stage. He had to know I was loving the show, based on the flames of elation engulfing my face. Needless to say, I went to sleep that night wearing a smile (and jammies, of course).
Here's a pic Gavin took during the encore. I love watching them make music! I thought it was adorable how Linnell kept looking at the set list with a confused smirk on his face. Apparently John Flansburgh didn't write it down very legibly.I love their songs, their voices, their humor, their creativity. They really are musical geniuses.
I've selected a couple of songs to share. I'm hoping the links work. If not, stay tuned. I'll try again. These are important links; two of my faves, although there are many, many more where these came from.
"Dinner Bell"-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8PWHOVYhI8
"You Probably Get That A Lot"-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anWrcmKsYI8
Ok, for some reason I can't get the second link to work. I don't get it. I did the same exact thing with both, and the second one doesn't work. I would highly suggest going to YouTube itself, looking up the band, and searching the song. And just keep going on like that, clicking on song after wonderful song. Marsha, I'm talking to you. =)
I feel like posting a bunch of lyrics and links to songs (if only I could get them to work!), but I don't want to overwhelm anyone. These things take time. Plus, the words have much less potency without the music.
I came up with the idea this week of starting a home-based pyramid business where I host parties and get everyone enthused about They Might Be Giants. =) I would never be interested in selling kitchen supplies or jewelry, but I could see myself putting on a peppy presentation about my precious TMBG. =) Who wants to be the first host???? Ha.
Here's a little something John Linnell once said:
| “ | I have a personal, a real obsession, with melody and harmony. I can really never get enough of that kind of thing. I don't think too much about the cultural context of what we're doing. I think John [Flansburgh] is more on that end of it. He thinks more in terms of the larger picture, the larger meaning of what we're doing. I'm more into the technical end: the chords and the rhythms and the melodies. | ” |
This explains a lot, and his obsession is my obsession. I melt when I hear those melodies and harmonies. That guy has a real knack for sound and rhythm. Many of their songs are so complex. Many of them don't make sense. But that's what makes them unique. I love how I feel when I listen to their catchy tunes. Love, love, love. That's what I think about that. Yep, I'm obsessed.
...Anyone want to buy a CD at my first home party...?
on the second link you are missing the colon after http and before //. It shows up in the text, but if you had to retype it for the "link address" you left it out. Anyway, that's the problem.
ReplyDeleteAre you referring to John Leaman earlier in the post?
That's odd. I didn't retype it, just copied and pasted it. I'll look for that next time. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was referring to Jon Leaman. Who are you, and how do you know him?