h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'They Might Be Giants - the Band' to 'They Might Be Giants - the Band'.

Ack! Wish I'd discovered this update a little earlier.

Good work... but, still missing some information. For example, the article makes no reference to TMBGs numerous websites - www.tmbg.com (their main site), www.dialasong.com (their e-version of dialasong), www.theymightbegiants.com (their download site), www.giantkid.net (their kids site) and www.myspace/theymightbegiants (their myspace).

TMBG has produced many promotional videoes and most recently they made them available on the Direct From Brooklyn — Video Compilation (1999).

TMBG do frequent tours and concerts, which include visits to bookstores where children and adult fans alike can enjoy unplugged renditions of TMBG songs with expresso machine accompaniment.

John Sidney Linnell oddly signs the majority of his autographs 'John Sid' - only very occasionally signing as John L. During a single sitting of signing my entire collection, he used both forms with a preference for the former.

TMBG produce a phenomenal amount of output, with songs appearing in various stages of development and with varied accompaniment. This means even compilations may contain never before released song variations - making reference to such additional albums and EPs worthwhile. So, off the top of my collection, the entry would benefit from mentioning:

Miscellaneous T (1991)
Severe Tire Damage (1998)
20 Years of Dial-a-Song (2002)
Indestructible Object (2004) - which previewed three songs that would appear on 'The Spine'.
A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants (2005)
They Got Lost (US 2002/UK 2005)

Additionally, John Linnell released a solo album called 'State Songs'.

'Mink Car' does indeed include different tracks depending on which version you got - US or UK. Everyone lost out on something. For example, the UK version includes 'Boss of Me' while the US version does not. 'Mink Car' includes songs previously released through EMusic, most of which contain variant lyrics from the originals.

For the sake of an anecdote or two, while promoting 'Mink Car' in the UK TMBG didn't play the Georgie Fame classic 'Yeh Yeh' at their Manchester gig because someone stole their saxophone. Additionally, they abandoned a bookstore session at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire because of an incredibly noisy expresso machine located nearby that kept drowning them out.

Also, 'released' is spelt wrong in the final sentence of the 'Other' section.

As I say, I wish I'd got here earlier...



The Apprentice

Hi Apprentice!

Could all that be encompassed in a few paragraphs which a curator could add to the entry? If so, I suggest you post them at Editorial Feedback.

This is much more likely to be done if you provide the paragraphs, instead of asking someone else to write them.

If it's more than can be handled in a few paragraphs, you're welcome to take this under your wing in the Update Forum.

An update of a recent update - don't you just love it! I'll refine my comments into a few concise lines/paragraphs that can hopefully slide neatly into the current entry. As I said, I wish I'd caught this earlier... as a fan of almost 20 years, I obviously have a few snippets of information to hand on the subject. Maybe I should list a few other things I feel I know something about and see if current entries on the Guide are complete (or even exist!).



The Apprentice

I hate to be mean, but this is the most shockingly awful bio I have ever read about the band.

The one true thing you said is that TMBG fans are often fanatical (although "rabid" might be a better term), which might explain why the mistakes annoy me so much. I am one of those fans.

The explanation of the backing band is very confusing. I would simply state that from 1985 until 1992 the band was a duo, and since then they have recorded and toured with a changing lineup of additional musicians.

Your description of the music videos is poor. "Doctor Worm" is NOT an animated video, and "B*** Wants to Hit Me" was only a fan video that became a DVD extra. TMBG have made 12 incredibly inventive videos which have been in rotation on MTV, as well as many videos exclusive to DVD and the internet.

The misquote about 'Flood' is annoying. They actually said that albums with 10 songs or less "makes us angry". And they both shared the sentence, appearing as it does on their album promo video.

Most of your interpretations are wrong. "Ana Ng" is a love song to a girl in Vietnam, and "Kiss Me Son Of God" is a comment on organised religion - information gleaned from interviews with the band and early articles written by their manager. Interps dont really belong in a factual document anyway.

Ok I'm done venting.

AB

>>Interps dont really belong in a factual document anyway

You're wrong there, anyway. This is h2g2, where we like to provide information that might be useful in addition to the bare facts.

They've got a new album out now too - The Else. Haven't heard it myself yet, but a line or two on that wouldn't go amiss.


Geggs

'The Else' is an album that exhibits the bands grasp of varied musical styles channeled through innovative tracks and lyrics. A superlative collection of a dozen tracks ranging from bouncy 60s style pop to Stylophone-accompanied ballad.

The Apprentice

Sorry, I make mistakes in my Entries occasionally.

I updated this Entry, originally written by someone else. So I didn't actually write some of the stuff you have mentioned. The misquote I was recently aware of, I read the quote on the Internet, and I just pasted it into the Entry, not realising that the source was incorrect. A lot of the song interpetations were not written by me.

Anyone here is welcome to re-Update it, if you wish. I think The Apprentice joked about doing it. In fact I encourage it, partly because they are an active band, so it needs to be tweaked every couple months anyway.

So should we push this Update through as it is, or wait for more changes to it?

Oh, I should have read it all. It's been done.

If someone else wants to Update the entry, they are welcome to.

As Wyatt suggests, this - and other entries about 'living' entities (e.g. bands, TV series) - could well do with an Update every six months or annually... just to keep on top of new releases and events. I'll see what I might add... but, time seems a little short at the moment.

The Apprentice