Okay, now that I've posted up & down this board, I was thinking that it might be nice that we all introduce ourselves. How long you've been a fan, how you got into TMBG, etc.

Here I go:

I first got into TMBG back in 1990, when my sister brought home a copy of Flood (her history teacher had played Istanbul for her class). She played Istanbul for me & my mom, but I didn't really like it - it sounded like a ripoff of "Puttin' on the Ritz." I don't know if my sister listened to the cd much after she got it, but I eventually started rotating Poison, Motley Crue, and TMBG (all my sister's cds) while playing in the backyard (I was 9). I remember one day listening to the cd on my sister's radio, and I absolutely fell in love with "Birdhouse." Eventually, my sister gave me the cd (for cleaning her room). I listened to the cd some, but it mostly collected dust for a few years (The case didn't fare well, either).

Then, in 1994, I took out the copy of Flood. I guess I was getting tired of my other cds. Anyway, I started playing it, and I was absolutely blown away. In one trip to the mall, I bought Lincoln, TMBG, and Apollo 18. Not much later, I ended up buying Misc. T, John Henry, and the Back to Skull & Sun EPs. Some of the albums took me longer to get into (I almost regretted buying TMBG & it took 5-6 years to really love JH). I didn't know anything about the videos & I didn't see TMBG on tv until the Factory Showroom promotion.

Finally, in 1998, I found out that TMBG were going to play in St. Louis at an outdoor festival called Pointfest. My hometown was about 2.5 hours away & I'd gone to St. Louis frequently enough for hockey, so I managed to drag my best friend with me... without tickets. I don't know how we lucked out so much: we didn't have marching band practice that week, I found out about the concert at most a week in advance, and we bought tickets at the gate (which had just been released).

At this point, I knew nothing about the Johns. Heck, I didn't even realize that they were just two guys (the weird voices on the early albums confused me). I couldn't tell which one sang which song, and I quickly forgot which one had signed my t-shirt (as in, which one was Flansburgh and which voice his was), but I had an AWESOME time. Unfortunately, their next concert in St. Louis was on a school night, and it might've been 18 & over on top of that. So, between that and heading to college (I really hope they didn't make it to Pittsburgh when I was there... and I didn't know it), I didn't see them live again until October 2001 (in the St. Louis area). I still wasn't really part of the TMBG online community & the only news I got from TMBG was from the mailing list.

I still think the only reason I was able to tell the Johns apart before Gigantic is Linnell's promotion of State Songs. Anyway, I've basically bought all the albums & DVDs, but I didn't really get into TMBG beyond the music until after I saw Gigantic. Before that, I could recite the lyrics, but I couldn't even tell you approximately how old they were. I missed an incredible number of television appearances (I need to build a time machine so I can beat my past self up) just out of ignorance, and I went through a few (substantial) periods of time where I just wasn't sure that TMBG's were a favorite band. But, since Gigantic, I started reading the newsgroup, went to concerts outside of St. Louis, checked out the fan pages, and I've just found a new love for the music!

:) Hi woodsie I like your intro. Someone will probably pop up and start contradicting me, but this is more or less my story. I've punctuated it with smilies for easy reading, as a big block of text can be off-putting :mellow:

I live in England and I’ve never seen a live TMBG concert! (they aren’t all that well known over here) :( . I first heard their songs by listening through my older brother’s door when I was about 6 :D (I think he got the albums from the library and copied them). I particularly remember Shoehorn and Whistling in the Dark :ph43r: . The rest of the kids (there were quite a few of us) got struck by the Giant craze and at one point we all talked in giant-speak, particularly from Fingertips :banana: . Our parents didn’t like it, so we toned it down a bit, sticking to things like: Please Pass the Milk Please :rolleyes: . I discovered many other bands in the meantime :music: and over the last 10 years TMBG haven’t always been top (shock-horror!) :P . However in the last year or two, with a superior PC with CD writer etc all the old bands are dug out :music: and I started remembering all the stuff and looking for good websites about the Johns B) . These days TMBG is my top band, of course and Giant mania has struck again! ^_^

I first heard of They Might Be Giants in 2001 when my brother brought home lyrics of a song he had to sing in his fine arts class, he really liked teh song and he got on the computer to figure out who played them, he saw TMBG and got some information about them, but he soon forgot, he then saw a show called Kablam (one of our favoite shows) and in the last season it was on, they played a music video every episode for TMBG the first one was Why does the sun shine adn the next one was Dr. Worm, and i don't remember any after that, i just remember that he wanted to know who sang those and when he did he saw that they also sang Istanbul (not constantinoble) the song from his fine arts classhe found a CD called severe tire damage, I loved it and always wanted to buy it (in the past i have done this too baught a CD my brother has, but then realizing the CD and band suck) so my mom wouldn't let me buy it, however I loved them I was always looking for information on them and it wasn't until christmas (2003) that i got my own TMBG CD from my mom i got Then: The earlier years and i loved it, and also on christmas i finnaly had enough money to buy my own computer once i got that computer my brother got his TMBG CD and put it on my computer and burned me a copy!!!, then just last (school) year he made me a nifty cover for it at school in his buisness and multi media class, I then bought Dial a song, and I was so excited because TMBG were coming to Austin!!!! I was calling for months tryign to get tickets then finnaly one dya wheni called i gto a machine (machines are so much better than humans for these situations) and i told it i wanted tickets for one of the shows and it told me to call another place (I HD BEEN CALLING THE WRONG PLACE THE WHOLE TIME!?!?!?) anyway i clalled and got the tickets and that was my one and only TMBG concert YAY! it was zawesome-o!!!!

ok about two and a half years ago, i was listening to a mixed tape of my friends and particle man came on. i asked him about it and he said that it was from a band called they might be giants. I had the song stuck in my head for like 2 a month, so i got on the internet to hear some more songs. i went to yahoo launch and watched all of their music videos and then made a launch station that only played tmbg. when christmas came by like a month later, i asked my mom to get me one of their CDs. She got me Dial-A-Song and I LOVED it. eventually i lost the first CD wich was the best one, along with a VERY expensive CD player. but by then i was so hooked i wanted to get all of their CDs. here's the list of what i got, how i got them and in order of how i got them.
TMBG and John Henry-burned from my cousin when i found out she was a fan (JH didn't play thermostat)
Apolo 18-bought myself
Flood-bought myself
Lincoln-bought myself
Misc. T-got for christmas
factory showroom-got for christmas
mink car-got for christmas
Dial-A-Song (again)- got for christmas
No!-bought with gift card i got for christmas
Holiday Land-bought with gift card i got for christmas
Severe Tire Damage- bought with own money
John Henry-Last birthday (july 16)
They Got Lost-Last birthday (july 16)
The Spine-Last birthday (july 16)
i even got mono puff and Gigantic-Last birthday (july 16)
Then: The Early Years-money from that birthday
I also got an MP3 player for that same birthday and i loaded every single song on there (my mp3 player holds a gig and a half). I still get all of their songs off their website and find unreleased songs on shareware programs. i can't get enough of them. And that's my story. Though I havn't been a fan that long, I am a BIG one :D

I've liked the band since 1991 and my (ex now) husband pointed out "Birdhouse in your soul" playing on 94.5 The Edge in Dallas TX. When the radio didn't play it enough to suit me ( You know, like constantly) I bought the Flood CD. Completely loved every song on it. So I decided I'd buy more records by this great new band I liked.

Since I only had a cassette player in my car I bought the Pink Album and Lincoln on Cassette. The pink album spent the next year and a half in my car CD player (So I guess you could say I liked it) I never actually made it to Lincoln.

Shortly after I bought the Apollo 18 CD I transferred to Japan so I lost touch with my music interests. (Armed Forces radio didn't really play good music. They played "Chicken Man" a lot.)

I got back into the band when Factory Showroom was released. I bought it along with John Henry. I loved John Henry quite a bit more than FS. Until the Spine, John Henry was my favorite CD by TMBG

Then I moved to Illinois and since we only had Classic Rock or Hip Hop stations in the town I live in for popular music, I switched to listening to Oldies and Country. Lost touch with my music again.

Fast forward to 2003, We have a walking program at work where We'd bring in a CD and play a couple songs off of it while we stretch or walk. A friend had the CD "NO!" and he brought it in. They played ITM and Four of two. I borrowed the CD from him and listened to it for 6 hours straight and Of course I got hooked again.
Since my cassettes of Pink and Lincoln were long gone I bought "Then:The earlier years" "Severe Tire Damage" and "Mink Car" Downloaded and played Clock Radio religeously. I also bought my very own copy of "NO!" even though I don't have kids. :)

When that wasn't enough to satisfy the Obsession with Their Music I did some online research and heard about their Online only album. So I joined EMusic and downloaded everything they had for TMBG including Long Tall Weekend.


Since then I've bought all the EPs I could get my hands on, Both Mono Puff Releases, and State Songs, They Got Lost, Gigantic and Direct from Brooklyn.

I bought some software, grabbed all my CD's and cut them to MP3. I've listened to Them almost exclusively since then. There are times I'll force myself to listen to someone else but nothing else sticks.


Since watching Gigantic I can tell which John is which. I can recognize the Dans. Pretty much before that I couldn't even name either one. They were just TMBG. I don't quite think I could pick Marty out of a Line up but I've only been to one concert. I was supposed to go to three on the spine tour (Ann Arbor, Chicago, and Madison) but due to circumstances beyond my control I missed the first 2.

I couldn't resist downloading "The Spine" MP3's from the Russian Trading Site. But then I bought 2 copies of it and "The Spine Surfs alone" from the TMBG Yahoo store. And of course since they were slow to ship I also Downloaded both from the Download Store.

I'm currently downloading the Live Shows. I think I have all but 2 so far. It's getting kind of expensive though, especially since I'm pretty much downloading them for the between song banter now. Well and the show themes which they didn't start doing until they were out of my area :(

Yes I know this is long and rambling but I haven't had much sleep lately.

I'm gonna try to keep this short. I dunno if theres really alot to say.

I'm Jen and I'm 19. I went to the Columbus concert on 7/2/04 and let me just say it was kick ass. If you haven't been to their concert, they put on a goooood show. It's prolly the best concert I've been to. Flansburgh loves to talk!!

I also found Corn Mo's cell phone number and called him afterwards. He's a nice guy. (He opened for them. He came out with an accordian and I got all excited.)

I've heard of TMBG off and on for years but I for soooo long I assumed they were a stupid joke band. I wish I had listened closer. I guess, at that point, all I had heard was Istanbul and Particle Man (From Tiny Toons as you may know) and the Malcom in the Middle song. Ya know, alot of people like to describe them as "quirky" and the hardcore fans get pissed about it. Let's admit it. They have some fun and playful songs. But they're much more than that. They have some very serious topics. They have songs, that automatically sound very funny..but when you listen harder..are really depressing. They're very unique and what they do is beautiful. Yes, I'm obsessed. Laugh at me if you want..but I actually cried when I listened to "Hovering Sombrero" closely. It spoke to me perfectly. I've also heard once that someone cried for an hour after listening to "End of the Tour" so I guess it's all in how you preceive it.

I own Lincoln, Flood, Apollo 18, John Henry, Factory Showroom, Then: The Early Years, Severe Tire Damage, Long Tall Weekend, Mink Car, No!, Dial-a-song: 20 years of TMBG, Industructable Object EP, The Spine, and The Spine Surfs Alone EP, and I bought and downloaded the Columbus Concert I went to. I also have two posters, Gigantic (The documentary), Direct from Brooklyn, two t-shirts and I'm a member of the street team. Oh yeah, and I got some bumperstickers too. ^_^ I'm taped them on Conan O Brien the other night and I'm in the process of trading copies of it with others who have some rare live stuff.

Oh yeah, I got dial-a-song memorized (718-387-6962). Did I mention I'm a nerd..? And obsessed? ;)

Anyway, I live near Cincinnati Ohio(northern Kentucky) and I wish I could marry Linnell. I love Flansburgh because he's loud, outgoing and crazy but I dunno..there will always be a special place in my heart for Linnell. Who cares if he's 45 and married! Sheesh! I can dream.

If you asked me what my favorite song was, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I made my friend, Casey, a CD with my favorite songs to try to get her into Them..and I could barely fit them all onto TWO CD's. I don't think theres a song I haven't liked from them. Yes, most people say "Let's forget about Mink Car!" but is it really that bad of an album? It's different..but they can't stay the same forever! All bands grow and develop and I don't think it's as awful as everyone pretends.

My pet peeves about people's views on TMBG: When they assume they know about the whole band just from a few songs. Yes, I did it but now I've learned better. Also, I hate when people call Flansburgh fat! His weight goes up and down and sometimes he gets chubby..but just because he's bigger than Linnell does not make him fat! I hate when people call them old too. They rock harder than alot of younger groups I've seen. It makes me sad when people just go "Oh they're old and fat". PSH TO THEM!

I'm sure theres things I've left out..but oh well. I've written ALOT more than I expected. Sorry! :blink: Oh yeah, I already loved HomestarRunner when I found out they were going to be on it. So, that was an added benefit.

The picture I added, I took it myself. It's not the best..but it's pretty cool. I was trying to get everyone in so it's not too bad. It's from 7/2 in Columbus! Thanks guys!

Now, just for variety, a non-hardcore fan... :P

I am also 19 :) , I live in Birmingham, UK, and I have known some of the Flood songs since about 1993 (Particle Man, Whistling, Women & Men) but I've only got to know more TMBG stuff recently.

I know more than a few TMBG songs now, mainly from the fans in my family. I don't own any of the albums. I borrow them. I think The End of the Tour is beautiful. Where Your Eyes Don't Go is dead clever. I don't actually cry over Hovering Sombrero :unsure: but I like it. But (zips on bulletproof dress) in my humble opinion, you can have too much of dead presidents and disembodied heads. (Wait for Gianthead to hear that :o )

btw Jen, the pic's not bad.

I don't cry anymore..unless I'm depressed about something. Just the first few times I listened to it. -_-

You're entitled to your opinion and so am I...


YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH ABOUT DEAD PRESIDENTS AND DISEMBODIED HEADS..


Anyway, I don't feel they over do it. They have many various topics. :wub:

Here's another picture I took at the concert. Why? Why not.

Hey guys

I'm a newbie to the board (with patchy internet access) :angry: but thought I'd say hi.

I live in Manchester, UK and was astounded to find out at the gig last weekend that other Giants fans do too! Would love to hear more from you guys - my mates in Manchester think I'm a scary freak... (not to say they're wrong, but they don't get the Giants thang). ;) And I found out about this board at the Astoria gig - thanks to the guy who texted that in to that awful message board.

I first got into them when Birdhouse came out in the early '90s and first went to see them in '92 (without the band - just John and John). I've seen them eleven times now - three of those in the last week, at Manchester, Leeds and London, and went to the London gig with my mum and brother - we're all fans! Would love to get over to New York and see them in their own back yard, but just a bit too broke and lazy for that at the mo. I'm a bit of a geek where the Giants are concerned.

Anyway... hi... will try to write more next time I get near a computer and am a bit less brain dead. :blink: Been at a footy match today and that combined with all this train travel across the country has knackered me out a bit. In a good way though.

Welcome to the board! And take no offense to this (I'm really making fun of myself more than you) but I have no idea what "Footy match" and "knackered out" mean. Well, I can guess..but I've never heard those words in my life :blink:

I'm from the U.S. so I guess it's a UK thing. Anyway, I'm Jen and it's cool to meet another TMBG fan.

Hi Kate, welcome to the forum. :banana: :music:


Jen, yes it is a UK thing :lol:

Sorry... translation corner here...

Footy is football (or soccer if you really must). It's one of my other big passions in life.

And knackered means really tired. I'm been jumping around like that mad banana thingy ( :banana: ) and travelling across the country on our laughable train "system" all week. It's been great :D

I guess there's some things that need no translation though, like the appeal of Linnell. I always thought this was just me but I get the impression that the ladies adore him! They were all strangely attracted to the keyboard at Leeds. Who'd have thought the accordion could be such a pulling instrument? (oh dear... hope "pulling" is obvious from context...)

hi there Kate!! I'm glad there's TMBG flan out there who shares my opinion of the UK railway (railroad) system. Kinda comforting to have something else in common. I should probably be posting this welcome in some other topic, but John'll probably move it later.
:D wecome to the forum, scream at anyone who dares to criticize JohnL, post hundreds of mad freakish fan posts. Lovely to meet you B) Have a :banana: and relax.

<Just realized I've never stated my actual name on this message board>

Okay...I'm Brittany aged 15 years in a cellar for added flavor! :lol: Located in the U.S.

Anyhow, I've been a TMBG fan since my toddler years (age 2), because as a little one I constantly listened to the radio and watched MTV. Of course being exposed to the insanity that is the Johns probably had some long term effect on my mentality but like I'd care. :)

When I was older and able to act upon my tastes of music, I returned to my childhood favorites on MTV. My first album that I chose/listened to was the Severe Tire Damage album that I got from the library in 2000 (I picked it up because it had the songs with titles familiar to me). In 2001, I picked up Mink Car from the library, and ordered the Pink Album from a library in New York (the copy at my library had been lost). Once again, I was hooked on TMBG and proceeded to purchase all of their albums over the course of 2 years.

In 2004 I heard about the upcoming release of The Spine and because of delayed parental permission, missed the opprotunity to sign up for the Street Team and promote the new record. I have since joined the Street Team, but just a tad late in the game (I'm referring to the tour).

One of the best deals I ever got was purchasing the Indestructible Object package at Barsuk Records. It came with the EP, the matching T-shirt with the new TMBG logo, and the Gigantic DVD. It was like $30.00 for the whole thing.

Another little story of mine is when I purchased two TMBG coffee mugs from the Giants' Yahoo store. I ordered the green logo and the orange logo. They came in one box with a ton of packing peanuts so one could have assumed that they arrived safely. Except for one thing, they were shipped via United Parcel Smashers (UPS) and they ALWAYS find a way to break my orders. And it turns out that the orange logo mug's handle was broken off. So, I emailed Operator Dot (the kind lady who runs the orders and such at the store) and she sent me another mug for FREE. She didn't ask for shipping charges, or for me to send the busted mug back. They're such nice people.

All right, I suppose I should introduce myself.

I had heard a lot about TMBG before on message boards, but never heard any music. I searched They Might Be Giants on Google and found tmbg.com, and it was some of the most amazing music I've ever heard. Fortunatly, I got there around the time Unlimited came out. ^_^

Yeah. Real interesting story.

I *suppose* I should say hello in here too.

Obligatory TMBG history:

I think I first saw them in err, 88 on Pebble Mill doing 'They'll Need a Crane'. I was skiving school, and thought it good. So I bought the pink album then. My memory is shot to hell with drugs and booze, so this could all be hallucination. Hello? You still here?

From then on I bought everything as and when it came out. And, luckily, my as-was-then-unknown-to-me wife was doing the same. I would love to say it was TMBG that brought us together, but that would be a barefaced lie. Though I have some doubles of vinyl if anyone wants to give me a shout.

Does embedding imagery work here? Let me try:

<img src="http://www.stray-toaster.co.uk/jpgs/tmbg1.jpg" alt="Some vinyl" title="Some vinyl" />

It didn't. But I will leave the img tag there for comedic purposes.



I scanned that a while back for meh blog. Blogs are the law, you know.

Oh, the Astoria show was fantastic. Last time I saw TMBG was at the BLoomsbury Theatre in errr, 92 I think. In Lahndan, innit.

Oh, that is a TMBG bio from my viewpoint. Nowt about me. Ah well.

Hi StrayToaster, you make me lol my head off, so you must be a true flan. Where there's missing heads the Johns can't be far away.!!!
I see your another Astoria recruit B) , brilliant wasn't it? Post like crazy, yo're clearly our kind of :banana: . :D

I'm giving you a shout!

Why is not here?

anyway B)


:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

You know, I just realised I never did introduce myself.

I have been a TMBG fan since 1990, when I first heard "the hits" off Flood. Birdhouse, Istanbul and Twisting got plenty of radio play, and I eventually got the album and started a lifelong appreciation. I hope I die before they get old :P

I believe you arrived before the Welcome Section did! Before I did, too - Welcome.

Hey Stray Toaster

I was at that gig at the Bloomsbury in '92 too! It was cool B)

Hello all. I'm Marsha, and I'm a 29 year old mom of 3. I, like many others, first saw tmbg via the Tiny Toons shorts back in the very early 90's. I absolutely loved the songs, but had no idea who sang them and I pretty much just thought they were made for the cartoons themselves. I had recorded them though and played them all the time. A few months later a friend of mine told me about this CD I simply had to listen to, by some band called they might be giants. I took it home and listened to it, and WOW, it was those guys! I still loved Istanbul and Particle Man, but I was now completely in love with Birdhouse, Dead, and Letterbox. I had him make me a copy on tape, but that wasn't enough for me so I immediately went out and purchased the CD.
I began working at a day care center in 92 or 93, and we had story/song time every morning. While the other children were singing The Bear Went Over the Mountain, my kids were singing everything off of Flood (except for Racist Friend). Yes, I even taught them Dead. I like to think some of those kids are TMBG fans on their own now, but they were 3 and 4 year olds so who knows.

I've since graduated from being a Floodie (though it still has a huge place in my heart) and now my passion lies in the darker material. I could listen to A Self Called Nowhere and Where Your Eyes Don't Go 100 times a day if my husband let me. I have pretty much everything except Holidayland now (looks like I need to shop!), plus I have Gigantic and Direct From Brooklyn.

Flansy is awesome, I love his stage presence and humor, but my heart is with John Linnell. At the Houston concert (Yes, I'm American :)) I stared at him the whole time (it was the first tmbg concert I've been to) and at one point he looked down and smiled at me. I was so jazzed. Of course, he was probably thinking 'this freako chick is really giving me the creeps staring at me like this, maybe if I smile at her she won't follow me and try to murder me after the show'.

I took pics from the concert, if you would like to see them they're here - TMBG Concert Pics - Houston TX July 20 2004

So...there ya go!

*edited cause I'm a dork*

I am sooooo jealous, Marshie. :D

When I went to the concert, being pregnant meant I didn't want to try too hard to get close to the front as it was my first ever rock concert and I was afraid of getting crushed in the crowd - probably a good thing as it did get pretty manic during some of the songs. :( You have to be so sensible and grown up and responsible with children. Also I had to get home for the babysitter, as my firstborn was with his grandmother and she didn't want to be up late. I really wish now I had stayed and tried to get an autograph. So I saw the Johns through a smoke filled haze, from a distance.

If They came to London again I swear I would get it right. I would wear a They teeshirt, I would wave a freak flag, I would get a babysitter who doesn't mind staying over, I would forget I even had children. I would rock properly. :lol:

Sorry for posting the above twice, I don't really understand how to quote things. :angry:

Anyway.

This thread is really interesting. FUnny how people have come to be fans through grassroots level stuff, like people lending tapes to friends or borrowing brother's CDs. It's not like there was one big moment when they broke into the public consciousness, at least not lately.

Is it better to discover them from new and then go out and buy all their CDs at once or to like them throughout the nineties and to buy their CDs one by one as they came out? In a way I'm jealous of the newer fans.. because if they like some of They's music they have such a huge amount of music they can rush out and buy. And it's easier to buy things now over the internet. Back when I discovered them I would only know about their new CDs in a haphazard fashion; my local suburban music stores only had 'Flood' and I had to go up to Piccadilly Circus's HMV before I could find their older CDs and each one was like a miracle to me... I kept thinking 'They' would stop performing and I would have dug their music's shallow grave. It's amazing they have kept going like they have. I wish they were more successful... but then if they were I would be one of those bitter people who says 'I liked them BEFORE their big breakout hit!' :lol:

Abby xxx

That's ok Abby, They have had their big breakout hit 14 years ago. I think we would all love Them to have something more than "Istanbul" or "Birdhouse" come to the mind of Non fans when you mention TMBG, but I doubt that will happen. Although in the last couple of years They have had a grammy and a Gap advert tune and Austin Powers etc ... so it's not impossible. Then we can all be bitter together, in a happy sort of way.

Quote button top-right of post,
takes you to normal reply box,
underneath that you find quote box,
edit the quote inside to what you want,
post as normal.

I am ME.

Ooooh - autobiography time.

I first heard them when John Peel (RIP) played Don't Let's Start in about 1986 and it's pretty much been an obsession (on and off) since then.

Actually, I can't be bothered writing any more about me than that. I'm boring.

But the Astoria gig was awesome - best night of my life! If the guy who was wearing the Fez reads this, I just wanted to say that you looked very cool. But I talked to the audience about Jesus, so I'm cooler. I think. I was definitely drunk. :machinegun:

Well, I'm Catherine...I'm not very old but I'm a really big fan. Let's see...I remember a few years ago before I really got into any music, my sister would listen to They Might Be Giants and I would really like it. So I became a big fan with a little help from my sister, and now I'm a bigger fan than her! She was a little jealous that I met them though. But I got her an autograph.

Anyways, not much of a history, but it's all I've got.

When in Rome...

I knew of Them from Tiny Toons and Malcolm, just like everyone else in the U.S. And probably the UK too, but I'm never sure what makes it over there and what doesn't. Anyway.

I didn't hear about them again until I saw them on Home Movies, one of my favorite TV shows. If you've never seen it, buy the DVD's. Then, a while later, I saw the video for Experimental Film on H*R. And that was about the end of it for a while.

Then, last November, I got iTunes. Hoo boy. Experimental Film was the first song I ever bought online. Once I realized Istanbul and Particle Man were available, I bought those too. And that's how it stayed until January. Then, I listened to Birdhouse and decided, what the hell, I'll just buy the whole Flood CD.

A few days later, I bought Lincoln. Then I came here, and you guys advised me to get the Pink Album. Then, in February, I bought John Henry, Factory Showroom, and Apollo 18 (the only one I have a physical copy of (thank you Fingertips for screwing up with iTunes)). I taped Gigantic when it was on the Sundance Channel, but I'll most likely buy the DVD for the extra stuff. I'm going to buy Mink Car and The Spine sometime in the next month.

So there it is. I bought six of their albums in two months, and I'm really hooked. That's a new record for me.

EDIT: And also, I found this site through This Might Be a Wiki, which I found through the H*R Wiki, which I found through a popular seach engine. How nerdy can you get?

I didn't know they did that Tiny Toons video. Wow, I probably heard that video, because I used to watch that show all the time when I was littler. I probably saw it. Neat. ^_^

i edit the link on tmbw because it said "crazy tmbg forum" :o and then someone else edited it again :blink:

I am a relatively new fan of the band, but love them to death. I had never even heard of them before May of 2004 when my best friend dragged me to their free concert at the Baltimore Harbor celebrating the opening our newly renovated science center which I have yet to visit. But anyway, the catchy lyrics and the John's senses of humor made me race to the Barnes and Nobel (on the other side of the harbor) to pick up a couple of their cd's. It took me about 1 listening to become addicted and about 3 to know all the words to all the songs on those CD's. I currently own Mink Car, No!, Indestructable Object, They Got Lost, The Spine, The Spine Surf's Alone, the Dial A Song Compialation and the 20 Years Of TMBG Compialation. By ways of DVD's I have Gigantic(signed) and Here Come the ABC's (signed)I also have the NO! T-shirt(signed) and the Snowman Sweatshirt. I am supposed to be getting Direct From Brooklyn for my birthday in June. I went to my second concert during the Spine Tour at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh. We talked my friend's parents into driving us up their already from baltimore, and I think they have sworn they will never do it again. Its a really long drive from Pittsburgh to Baltimore. Most recently my two best friends and I attended the Here Come the ABC's instore at the Towson Borders. We met the Johns and Marty and got stuff signed. They were really nice.


I guess some would say I fit the general steryotype of a TMBG fan. Minus the crazy drunkeness, Minus being a crazy liberal (yes I am Republican, though I do have some democratic ideals so don't kill me just yet), Minus liking coffee (can't stand the smell or tast, but I do like caffine) I am an Athiest though. Does that count? I think i really fit in with the sort-of geeky/nerdy/techie group. I also can't stand serious people and all my friends tell me I'm really funny so...yeah.

My friends tell me I'm funny, but I don't think I'm very funny. I also think I'm a geek :P

Oh, i know i'm a geek. I spend 98% of my life on my laptop. At school, (our high school runs on a wireless laptop program) I'm am the president of the Student Technology Association that fixes the easy stuff for the girls. You'd be surprised what 15 year old girls can do to their laptops. I have 3 motherboards and about 8 other computer chips hanging artistically on my bulletin board. This summer I am going to california for 10 days to participate in a tech forum.

Ok, I'm gonna post now cause I'm at work and bored. I'm sure the Johns would appreciate that.

When I was 11 my uncle played "Turn Around" and "The Sun is a Mass of Incondescent Gas" for me and I loved them. I would make him play the songs and dance with me everytime I went over there. When I was 14 he gave me Apollo 18. It was instantly my favorite CD. At 15 my friend took my to my first concert. I remember being very scared that the opening band was TMBG (I had never seen them) and that Apollo 18 was a fluke and that they really, over all, sucked. When the Johns came out, though, I knew, and there started the obsession.

I went to Aomeba Music (great second hand store) over the next few weeks and gathered every CD that I could. My Uncle continued to fill in the holes every holliday and birthday. Now, almost a decade after he introduced me, I believe I've surpassed him.

There isn't an avenue of my life that TMBG hasn't influenced (I don't think). For my last birthday, my best friend got me a cake that said "You're older than you've ever been and now you're even older" and last week when my grandmother died he called to say "everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful".

Also, John Linnell is a demigod. Or maybe something bigger.

I posted my intro to TMBG on the "When Did You First Hear TMBG?" forum.
But intro to me........

My real name is Julie, some friends call me Squiz (short for Squizzle - a cute alternative name for a Squirrel!!!)
I'm 29 now and currently living in both Yorkshire and London!

I've been a TMBG fan since Birdhouse, but have to admit I prefer their older quirkier stuff. John Henry was the start of me losing interest.
The Spine is okay, but I only really bonded with 'Stalk of Wheat' and maybe the Natural Dancer one.

Although I don't have any children of my own as yet, my best mate has just had a baby boy (Will). He is so lovely (I've been looking at the forum romper suit, but I don't want my friend thinking I'm forcing They on him). She isn't a major fan of They but did have a compilation cassette I made her of Flood and Apollo 18 which she liked. (Not sure where it is now, after all it was a cassette!)

Maybe Will will become a fan of his own accord and in 18 years time read the archives of the TMBGforum and see he was famous when he was only 8 days old.
Hi Will if you're are reading this! (In the future I mean, I obviously dont think an 8 day old can read!) :wacko:

Hi! I'm Roxy. Houston's local....well, TMBGirl. Seriously, my friends call me that. =D
I've been a TMBG fan for a little over a year now (since September 2, 2004) when I first saw 'Experimental Film' on HomestarRunner.com. I now owe The Brothers Chaps eternally. =P I have a major obsession with Them. I randomly blurt out lyrics sometimes. (You: "Nerd.") So, I know this forum is the place for me! ^_^ See you guys around. =3

We all do that so you'll fit right in! :banana: