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See Discography Abbreviations for definition of various terms.





They Might Be Giants is They Might Be Giants' first studio album, released in 1986 on the fledgling Bar/None label.

Purchase [ edit ]

Seller Format Price Link iTunes AAC $9.99



Back artwork

Description [ edit ]

They Might Be Giants is TMBG's self-titled debut album. Many fans refer to it as The Pink Album (similar to The Beatles' The White Album—also fan-named but officially self-titled) due to the pink background on the album cover. However, in the early days of TMBG's Internet-based fan community, it was common for the album to be called the Big Blue Dog album because of the illustration of the Johns riding a dog of such a nature. The cover art was done by Rodney Alan Greenblat. Bill Krauss, who was the band's soundman and who had produced TMBG's demo and promotional tapes, served as the producer for the album.

The Pink Album spawned two singles: "Don't Let's Start" and "(She Was A) Hotel Detective", though neither of them charted. Videos for the two singles were directed by Adam Bernstein along with a video for "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head", which premiered prior to the album's release.

The importance of Pink and its successor, Lincoln, led to the two being re-released in their entireties alongside a number of demos and rarities on the Restless compilation Then: The Earlier Years. However, the version of "Don't Let's Start" on that compilation is the single version, rather than the album version.

Track listing [ edit ]

2013 Australian bonus tracks [ edit ]

The 2013 Australian reissue included a selection of B-sides and rarities previously released on Then: The Earlier Years.

Trivia [ edit ]

The album is dedicated to James McIntyre, a high school acquaintance who purportedly greatly influenced the Johns. McIntyre died of AIDS in May, 1986.

On the LP version of the album, the following side titles were used: Side 1: Johnny Call Home (718) 387-6962 Side 2: 25 hours a day 6 days a week (718) 387-6962

The first pressing of the CD (on the East Side Digital label) contains a typo on the back: "Nothing's Gonna Change By Clothes."

The European Elektra re-release of the album on vinyl has a typo on the Side 2 label, which calls the band "They Might By Giants."

Elektra CDs and cassettes of the album replace "Don't Let's Start" with the single mix of the song, and the CDs feature incorrect track times on the back.

The font used on the cover came from a "photographically based system" generated by a "non-computer-based machine". This machine had "decorative fonts from the 50s and 60s when the machine was developed" and "were ubiquitous in newspaper print shops as well as publishing houses".

John Flansburgh on the snowman gracing Side One of the LP lyric insert: "This piece of artwork was taken (I believe out of a trash can) at my job doing kids workbooks at Macmillan Publishing ultimately to grace the lyric sheet of the first album, and the smile of the snowman was altered to a more ambivalent expression."

Image Galleries [ edit ]

Side One label

Side Two label

Common Rough Trade label design

Side One image from lyric insert

Side Two image from lyric insert

CD [ edit ]

Front cover

Back cover

Back of the ESD pressing

Full CD insert image

CD artwork

Picture from the European Rough Trade CD booklet

Mispressing onto a 1990 Virgin promo single

Japanese releases [ edit ]

LP cover, with obi strip

LP insert front

CD cover, with obi strip

Elektra CD cover, with obi strip

Elektra CD back cover, with incorrect track times

Elektra CD inside cover, with the international Dial-A-Song number

Elektra CD

Elektra CD booklet front

Cassette [ edit ]

Cover art

Insert

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