They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative band consisting of the duo John Flansburgh and John Linnell, also known as the two Johns or John and John.
Career
The band was formed in 1982 in the Brooklyn borough of New York and named after the Anthony Harvey film of the same name. They achieved fame, among other things, through their answering machine action "Dial a Song". For this they played their songs on an answering machine, where you could listen to them by calling. Later, They Might Be Giants were the first major band to release their songs as MP3s.
TMBG are best known for their songs Don't Let's Start from the album They Might Be Giants, Ana Ng from the album Lincoln and Birdhouse in Your Soul from the album Flood. In Europe, they are best known for the theme song from the television series Malcolm in the Middle, Boss of Me, for which the band also won a Grammy in 2002. TMBG tunes have occasionally been used in animated series such as Tiny Toons and The Simpsons. In 2011/2012 the intro of the track No One Knows My Plan from the album John Henry was the theme tune of the show Die Kaya-Show mit Kaya Yanar on RTL.
A rockumentary of the band was shown in American cinemas in 2002 under the title Gigantic.
Discography
Albums
- They Might Be Giants (also known as The Pink Album) (1986)
- Lincoln (1988)
- Don't Let's Start (1989)
- Flood (1990)
- Miscellaneous T (1991)
- Apollo 18 (1992)
- John Henry (1994)
- Live!! New York City 10/14/94 (1994)
- Factory Showroom (1996)
- Then: The Earlier Years (1997)
- Severe Tire Damage (1998)
- Live (1999)
- Long Tall Weekend (1999) (download only)
- Mink Car (2001)
- No! (2002)
- They Got Lost (2002)
- Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants (2002)
- The Spine (2004)
- Here Come the ABCs (2005)
- Venue Songs (2005) (download only)
- The Else (2007)
- Here Come the 123s (2008)
- Here Comes Science (2009)
- Join Us (2011)
- Nanobots (2013)
- Glean (2015)
- Why? (2015)
- Phone Power (2016)
- I Like Fun (2018)
EPs and Singles
- Don't Let's Start (1987)
- (She Was A) Hotel Detective (1988)
- They'll Need a Crane (1989)
- Purple Toupee (1989)
- Birdhouse in Your Soul (1990)
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (1990)
- The Statue Got Me High (1992)
- I Palindrome I (1992)
- The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) (1992)
- Why Does the Sun Shine (1993)
- O Fir Tree (1993)
- Back to Skull (1994)
- S-E-X-X-Y (1996)
- Working Undercover for the Man (2000)
- Boss of Me (2000)
- Man, It's So Loud in Here (2000)
- Music from Malcolm in the Middle (2000)
- They Might Be Giants in Holidayland (2001)
- Indestructible Object (2004)
- The Spine Surfs Alone (2004)
