[HN Gopher] They Might Be Giants Flood EPK Promo (1990) [video]
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They Might Be Giants Flood EPK Promo (1990) [video]
Author : CaliforniaKarl
Score : 171 points
Date : 2025-03-27 03:37 UTC (19 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.youtube.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.youtube.com)
| tetris11 wrote:
| I saw them in Shepherds Bush for their last tour. Fantastic act,
| tiny arena, rammed full of people all singing the same silly
| songs.
|
| Everyone around me was German, or spoke German, or had worked in
| Berlin at some point in their lives. I made a few friends.
|
| I can't wait to see these guys perform again.
| technothrasher wrote:
| I haven't seen them in ages, but I must have seen them six or
| seven times on the college circuit back in the early 90's.
| Always a great show. I loved when they turned on a radio and
| searched around randomly for a song that the audience responded
| to, and then tried to play it. They tried Pink Floyd's "Money"
| and failed pretty spectacularly. It was hilarious.
|
| Their old "dial a song" where you could call their phone number
| and hear a recording of them playing something new inspired me
| to hack unused voicemail boxes at college and record their
| songs as the greeting message. I then posted flyers by the
| public phones with the extensions and the song on the
| extension. It lasted for about a semester before the school got
| grumpy and locked down unused mailboxes.
| adzm wrote:
| Dial-a-Song felt like magic back when I was younger, thanks
| for the nostalgia hit!
| FollowingTheDao wrote:
| I went to high school with Robin Goldwasser, who is married to
| John Flansburgh.
|
| I'm really only bringing this up to say that my public high
| school in the 1980s fostered a creativity that I didn't see when
| I was a teacher in high schools in the 1990s.
|
| She was in my art class and my art teacher was excellent, but if
| I'm remembering right, she was also in my photography class where
| we had a dark room with unlimited access.
|
| I also love the band by the way, even before I found out that her
| and John were married. Great lyrics and really imaginative
| compositions.
| nycdotnet wrote:
| Saw these guys on JoCo a few weeks ago. Great set. Birdhouse in
| your soul was one of our wedding songs. Hard to believe Flood is
| 35 years old. Thanks for linking this.
| eichin wrote:
| It's amused me for years that among all the songs I listen to
| that "can't possibly be that old", the album leadin track is
| self-documenting: "our brand new record // for nineteen
| ninety"...
| wyclif wrote:
| Anybody here remember calling Dial-A-Song back in the day?
| cmgbhm wrote:
| https://dialasong.com/about/
|
| You still can
| benji-york wrote:
| Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns): A Movie About They Might Be
| Giants is available on YouTube at
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LaAgpV5UAM
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| Myself, went from causal to super fan after watching the above.
| Highly recommend.
| mysterydip wrote:
| Played that album to death when it was new. I never knew this
| promo existed, thanks for sharing!
| gryfft wrote:
| They were my favorite band as a kid. They're still my favorite
| band now.
| msarnoff wrote:
| When I was in kindergarten or very early elementary school (maybe
| 1991/1992) there was an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures with
| animated music videos for Particle Man and Istanbul. It still
| lives in my head today.
|
| I didn't even know they were a real band until I was older and
| knew I recognized those songs from somewhere.
| mmastrac wrote:
| That was a surreal episode and probably the one that was
| cemented in my head the most. I had a friend who was a big fan
| and had introduced me to them before that.
|
| My copy of flood might have been the first music I ever bought
| with my own money.
| DamnInteresting wrote:
| Particle Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pG0QTzO-K0
|
| Istanbul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqJXxHi6RwQ
| AdmiralAsshat wrote:
| Don't forget years later that they had a music video for Dr.
| Worm air on the Nickelodeon show, Kablam!:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkVHdUkMJdk&pp=ygUIZHIuIHdvc.
| ..
| _1 wrote:
| I was in fifth grade when that episode came out, and told my
| aunt about those songs. She was a big fan of theirs and played
| their albums for me.
| DrillShopper wrote:
| They also did an animated music video with the Homestar Runner
| folks: https://youtu.be/ZUgMpG1I_o8
| VyseofArcadia wrote:
| My wife and I saw TMBG a couple of months ago. I'm a big fan, but
| she mostly just listens when it's my turn to control the radio.
| Over the course of the concert, she kept shooting me these
| surprised and baffled looks. I asked her what was up with that
| afterwards.
|
| "I thought those were weird songs you made up to sing to the cat!
| Who writes a song called Dr Worm?"
|
| I can't imagine how surreal it must be to see a band play your
| spouse's silly cat songs in front of hundreds of cheering fans.
| throwaway5752 wrote:
| They really are an amazing band that defies neat
| classification.
| https://tmbw.net/wiki/This_Might_Be_A_Wiki:Other_Bands_You_M...
| is quite the list.
| snarf21 wrote:
| This is amazing! Such an imaginative band, not 1000 of the same
| crap we hear today.
| sophacles wrote:
| In 1990 I was 10. The music you heard most of the time was
| "1000 of the same crap we hear every day".
|
| I made a similar comment to my parents, about how music in
| the 60s and 70s was all so good, not like the crap today.
| They responded by telling me: "We were there, it was mostly
| crap".
|
| I've paid attention since that conversation, and come to the
| conclusion that: most music for most time periods is crap.
| Some of it is good enough to be remembered. Some of it is
| nostoligic to a time/place/scene and will be remembered. But
| most of it, is just crap clones of crap songs.
|
| The best music seems to come from relatively
| obscure/underground scenes and then grows outward from there.
| Sometimes the awareness cone may miss your own light cone for
| a while and you only learn about a song years later. That's
| ok, it happens to everyone. Sometimes you don't realize how
| good a song was because you didn't have some of the life
| experience or knowledge or perspective to see how great it
| was - that's ok too. Often you'll revist a song that just hit
| right for the moment and it turns out that you were wrong
| about it's greatness... it was awful after all (but you have
| a bit of guilty nostalgia about it anyway)... thats OK too.
|
| Point being there's always good music being made, and if you
| want to catch it fresh you gotta expand your exposure to more
| music from different genres/scenes/etc. I'm 100% certain that
| there is incredible new music being made somewhere, right
| now, as you read this.
| cantSpellSober wrote:
| The live experience is something to be seen, it's not just the
| two Jons playing _Birdhouse in Your Soul_.
|
| They have a very large band including a lot of wind
| instruments, and they really have fun with it. (Spoiler alert)
| they've taken to playing _Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love_ in
| reverse, filming it live, then playing _that_ recording in
| reverse for the audience (post-intermission).
| VyseofArcadia wrote:
| They did the _Sapphire Bullets_ trick in the show I saw. It
| was pretty dang impressive. I love that they tour with a horn
| section now, and hearing new arrangements of old favorites
| that make use of the horn section was great. (And of course
| new favorites written with the horn section in mind from the
| get go were also great.)
|
| I also enjoyed that they introduced _Birdhouse_ with "Please
| rise for the They Might Be Giants national anthem."
| tbyehl wrote:
| > they really have fun with it.
|
| Isn't that, like, everything? The first time I saw them it
| was because they were here, it was affordable, and I dug that
| Malcom in the Middle song, so why not? The second time was
| just because they're fun. There will be a next time and it
| will again be just because they're fun.
|
| And I'm still not sure I could name another of their songs.
| mrbluecoat wrote:
| So true. My kids didn't believe me when I said I didn't make up
| "The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas" song:
|
| https://youtube.com/watch?v=3JdWlSF195Y
| Gormo wrote:
| Neither did TMBG. It's a cover of a song from an album of
| educational music from the late '50s.
|
| And the melody is a variation of the traditional song "The
| Girl I Left Behind"
| (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_I_Left_Behind), which
| dates at least to the 17th century.
| gorfian_robot wrote:
| I believe you mean a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6q3s1MI6NE
| devin wrote:
| [Verse 1]
|
| They call me Doctor Worm
|
| Good morning, how are you? I'm Doctor Worm
|
| I'm interested in things
|
| I'm not a real doctor
|
| But I am a real worm, I am an actual worm
|
| I live like a worm
|
| [Verse 2]
|
| I like to play the drums
|
| I think I'm getting good
|
| But I can handle criticism
|
| I'll show you what I know
|
| And you can tell me if you think I'm getting better on the
| drums
|
| I'll leave the front unlocked 'cause I can't hear the doorbell
| JohnDeHope wrote:
| > I'm interested in things
|
| This song, and this particular line, are a part of my
| religion.
| gopher_space wrote:
| My "career arc" is scamming people into paying me to learn,
| and I'm good at it.
| echelon wrote:
| Best career arc. That's what work is supposed to be.
| zzzbra wrote:
| I just had this experience with my girlfriend last week. she
| could not fathom this particle man I kept singing about was an
| actual song.
| ilamont wrote:
| Next, introduce some lyrics by Primus or The Presidents of
| the United States of America.
| espine wrote:
| Kids are very familiar with The Presidents of the United
| States of America, in a way, through Caspar Babypants.
| verdverm wrote:
| Funny story, one of my advisors made me play Dr Worm after PhD
| defense presentation, because I was quite literally now Dr Worm
| nkozyra wrote:
| Definitely one of the most unique bands to (kind of) "make it"
| and have some staying power.
|
| My best friend and I saw them when we were 13. I don't know
| what TMBG concerts are like in the last 15-20 years, but there
| were maybe 100 people there. Great concert, my first, had a lot
| of fun.
|
| The two of us both stayed around to meet the Johns. Waited 30
| or 45 minutes in the newly brightened room as the place cleared
| out and all the roadies packed up. Finally they emerged, with
| the two of us the only ones left. We asked for their autographs
| and they said "sorry, kids, if we gave you autographs we'd have
| to give _everyone_ an autograph " and laughed out the door.
|
| We kind of instinctively looked around the room to indicate we
| _were_ everyone, but maybe that was the joke. To a 13 year old
| it didn't sour anything, but can't deny we weren't
| disappointed.
| dsr_ wrote:
| > I don't know what TMBG concerts are like in the last 15-20
| years, but there were maybe 100 people there.
|
| Like that, but bigger, and eventually with more people on
| stage.
|
| And every so often, giant puppet heads.
| deater wrote:
| it's funny how songs with ridiculous lyrics seem unbelievable
| (especially across generations) can turn out to be real. My
| father, whose name was Michael, would always sing the chorus
| from "Playground in my Mind" and we were convinced he was
| making it up.
|
| Similarly if you ever get a chance you should read the Dave
| Barry book "Book of Bad Songs" where he relates singing
| "MacArthur Park" to his increasingly incredulous son.
| jcalabro wrote:
| I had a similar experience with my girlfriend and Dr. Worm -
| genuinely one of my favorite songs of all time!
| eitally wrote:
| TMBG was the first band I ever saw live. For some reason, they
| made a tour stop at the local women's college in my town and a
| few friends & I went. This was in 1993, in an auditorium that sat
| about 500. Super fun live and lots of crowd interaction. The
| songs are so short, too, that it felt like they played about
| fifty.
|
| I went to see them again about twenty years later, at a larger
| venue, and it was just as fun. No one else in my family seems to
| really like them, though. :)
| rhelz wrote:
| My wife knew their Drummer when she was a P.R. and Analyst
| relations executive with IBM. He was working for IBM research.
| Gormo wrote:
| Seems fitting, since their original drummer was an electronic
| drum machine.
| codeulike wrote:
| They are still going! Recent album 'Book' is brilliant. Heres a
| fan video made using Google Sheets for final track of Book - Less
| Than One
|
| https://youtu.be/PP5bnfkQevo
|
| If you know the song, you'll understand why charts and
| presentation slides work as a video for this
| greatquux wrote:
| seconded, that's some classic linnell right there!
| jcims wrote:
| My daughter is a huge fan of TMBG. I like a few of their songs
| but honestly it's not my favorite music. BUT I went to a concert
| with her up and Cleveland and it was an *incredible* show. I
| loved every minute of it.
| skeeter2020 wrote:
| If you are looking for another similar magical conert
| experience and get the chance, take your daughter to The
| Flaming Lips. Some of their music is pretty accessible, some of
| it quite challenging but the show was so much fun and there was
| a 8(ish) year old in a unicorn onesie perched on a riser near
| the stage for the entire show. The put on their own brand of
| arena show theatrics even for smaller venues. Highly
| recommended!
| jcims wrote:
| Love it!!! Thank you!
| generj wrote:
| The Aquabats are another band that are kooky magical fun for
| all ages.
|
| Why don't all concerts consist of a band of superheroes
| getting into fights against comic book villains?
| thinkingtoilet wrote:
| It is such an iconic album from the 90s. I highly recommend it if
| you haven't listened to it. It won't be everyone's thing, but
| there are a lot of great songs on it. I listen to Dead regularly.
| jojohack wrote:
| Listened to Flood continuously in high school. In many ways, I
| felt it empowered me to embrace my own weirdness.
| flanbiscuit wrote:
| Curious why when they mention Instanbul (Not Constantinople) it's
| quiet when all of the other songs have little audio snippets. Is
| that a rights issue?
|
| https://youtu.be/C-tQSFQ-ESY?si=9Ujs3-1nVjjeoncO&t=71
|
| They toured for the Flood album a year or 2 ago and I missed it.
| It sold out real fast. They are on tour again, probably for new
| stuff. Reading everyone's comments here about how good their
| shows are, I think I'm going to check them out (if they are not
| sold out again)
| creeble wrote:
| Probably, it's a cover of a Four Lads song written by Simon &
| Kennedy in the 50's.
| mtalantikite wrote:
| Just stopping by to say that pastry/coffee shop lasted for
| something like 100 years in the East Village before closing about
| a decade ago. I remember dropping in from time to time at night
| with friends when I was in my early 20s and new to the city -- it
| was these spots that always made the city feel like magic, but
| unfortunately we've lost a ton of them.
| gorfian_robot wrote:
| IMHO the funniest thing they do is refer to themselves
| unironically as a "rock and roll band"
| 6LLvveMx2koXfwn wrote:
| genius: I'm going down to Cowtown, cow's a friend
| to me Lives beneath the ocean so that's where I will be
| Beneath the waves, the waves, that's where I will be I'm
| gonna see the cow beneath the Sea
|
| from memory, listening on loop as a teenager 35 years ago!
| vlowther wrote:
| From I Palindrome I, few albums later on Apollo 18:
|
| Son, I am able, she said, though you scare me. Watch, said I.
| Beloved, I said, watch me scare you though. Said she, able am
| I, son.
|
| Brilliant.
| jyounker wrote:
| I've been to only one They Might Be Giants concert. Half the
| audience were little kids, and yet it's the only concert I've
| ever been too that was shut down by the cops.
|
| It was hilarious to see one of the John's being hauled off stage
| by the police as he was playing Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein".
| bbarnett wrote:
| But why?!?! You must give context.
| pfedak wrote:
| https://tmbw.net/wiki/Shows/1992-07-23
|
| sounds like the concert in question
| skeeter2020 wrote:
| It's pretty cool that they "made it" touring colleges and getting
| airplay on their radio stations, then signed to a big label
| (maybe as part of the FOMO around 90's grunge/alternative?) then
| just kept cranking out innovative music and media projects, then
| win a Grammy for their kids work. With the next generation of
| TMBG fans queued up I'm excited to see what they do next -
| something that could be the sort of AI-fueled shift we've been
| waiting for?
| dsr_ wrote:
| Nobody wants AI-fueled shit music.
|
| I mean, nobody in the set of people who enjoy listening to
| music. I suppose there are a lot of record-industry companies
| who would prefer not having to deal with pesky artists.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| My favorite TMBG song (from Flood):
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XlO39kCQ-8
|
| (I don't know if they wrote it, but their performance is
| awesome).
|
| I noticed the blank spot in the promo. Probably a rights thing.
| :(
| akharris wrote:
| I was six when Flood came out. My brother had a bootleg copy,
| which I later "borrowed" and carried around with me in my walkman
| (also "borrowed"). It was so...different than anything any of my
| friends listened to, and I loved it.
|
| But maybe the greatest thing about Flood was seeing Particle Man
| and Istanbul on Tiny Toons. It was as if all my favorite weird
| things in the world (at least for a kid) were part of the same
| pocket universe.
|
| I still find myself humming different songs from Flood on the
| regular, unprompted. Thanks for posting this.
| lordfrito wrote:
| I remember listening to a small college radio station back in the
| day, around the time Flood landed, and the DJ comes on talking
| about his experience with TMBG. He talked about the time they
| were in town and stopped by the radio station to do an interview
| with him. He sees these two guys walking in carrying gear and
| says to them "Great! Wheres the band?" to which one of them
| replies "We _are_ the band ". Egg on face moment for sure, but I
| just love how they look like two normal guys not rock stars.
| ramesh31 wrote:
| There's something so quaint and comforting in revisiting the
| world of peak post-modernist "sarcastic irony" that infused
| everything in this era. It was just so damned sure of itself.
| raldi wrote:
| EPK stands for Electronic Press Kit
| nickledave wrote:
| Should be the top post on here IMHO. These guys were the first
| social media influencers going viral (posting demos of songs on
| an answering machine):
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5GFVP7MMeg&list=PLtTX1yXkqz...
|
| edit: say something relevant to HN
| disruptiveink wrote:
| Ah, yes, The color of infinity, inside an empty glass.
| nserrino wrote:
| They are just incredible live ... Flood was the soundtrack of my
| childhood. It's great to see how many fans on HN they have. If
| you have a chance to check them out in concert, do it!
| arnorhs wrote:
| Sorry to be the debby downer, but this feels completely
| irrelevant to HN. Why on earth is this allowed to fly? Is there
| some context that I'm missing?
| JohnDeHope wrote:
| Pff. HN has rebranded to become the DOGE News Network. If you
| want a more curated technical experience, I recommend
| https://lobste.rs. There's much less latitude for non-technical
| stuff.
| intrasight wrote:
| I saw them in Toronto that year. 1990.
|
| OK, wow, that was a long time ago.
| pan69 wrote:
| The Istanbul song is still floating around in memes today but I
| totally forgot about Birdhouse in Your Soul. Listening to the
| Flood album now. Thanks for posting!
| deater wrote:
| to any fans of TMBG I recommend the two-part AV Club article on
| them that was just posted a few days ago
| https://www.avclub.com/they-might-be-giants-interview-set-li...
| 1a2a3agg wrote:
| TMBG's "Older" track was included by default on some windows
| installs as part of the media player library circa early 2000s.
| That's how I found out about them anyway. I'm trying to find more
| info but seems it was specific to dell machines of the time.
| seliopou wrote:
| I have a copy of Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson signed by They
| Might Be Giants, somewhere.
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(page generated 2025-03-27 23:01 UTC)