Long Tall Weekend | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 19, 1999 | |||
Recorded | 1991 ("The Edison Museum"), 1994–1999 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 34:31 | |||
Label | eMusic | |||
Producer | Pat Dillett, They Might Be Giants | |||
They Might Be Giants chronology | ||||
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Alternate cover | ||||
Long Tall Weekend is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants, released in 1999. It was released exclusively online through the digital music service eMusic. The album was the band's first since their departure from the major label Elektra. [1] Long Tall Weekend was also the first full-length album released exclusively on the Internet by an established major label band. [2] Although the album's primary release was digital, CDs of the album were issued promotionally. [3] Following the success of the album's release through eMusic, TMBG went on to issue a digital series of rarities collections — TMBG Unlimited — through their website. [4]
Many of the songs that appear on Long Tall Weekend existed as demos and selections from the band's Dial-A-Song service. "Drinkin'" was originally written six years prior to the release of the album. "Maybe I Know" had been in TMBG setlists since the 1980s. Many songs were intended for release in different forms on later albums. [3] "She Thinks She's Edith Head" and "Older" resurfaced on Mink Car in 2001. The next year, "Rat Patrol", "Token Back to Brooklyn", "Reprehensible", "Certain People I Could Name" and "They Got Lost" appeared on the rarities compilation album They Got Lost , and "The Edison Museum" appeared on No! . "The Edison Museum" was originally written and recorded in 1991 and featured on the Edisongs compilation that year. The recorded version appearing on Long Tall Weekend is largely the same as the Edisongs version, though the mixing varies.
Some songs, such as "They Got Lost" and "Lullabye to Nightmares" had also existed in different forms prior to the release of Long Tall Weekend. The former was a live track with a much faster tempo from the band's live compilation Severe Tire Damage (1998). [5]
"They Got Lost" and "Certain People I Could Name" were both originally slated for inclusion on Factory Showroom (1996). [5]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | link |
The A.V. Club | (mixed) link |
CMJ | (favorable) link |
Pitchfork Media | (7.6/10) link |
Robert Christgau | A− link |
Spin | (favorable) link |
Following the digital release of Long Tall Weekend, They Might Be Giants became the most downloaded band of 1999. [6] John Flansburgh speculates that the feat was based not only on the content of the album, but also on the band's early willingness to embrace digital formats, having been urged to do so by the Restless Records label. [1]
All tracks are written by They Might Be Giants, except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Drinkin'" | 1:36 | |
2. | "(She Thinks She's) Edith Head" | 2:33 | |
3. | "Maybe I Know" | Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich | 2:07 |
4. | "Rat Patrol" | 2:07 | |
5. | "Token Back to Brooklyn" | 1:04 | |
6. | "Older" | 1:57 | |
7. | "Operators Are Standing By" | 1:24 | |
8. | "Dark and Metric" | 1:44 | |
9. | "Reprehensible" | 3:20 | |
10. | "Certain People I Could Name" | 3:33 | |
11. | "Counterfeit Faker" | 2:15 | |
12. | "They Got Lost" | 4:42 | |
13. | "Lullabye to Nightmares" | 2:31 | |
14. | "On Earth My Nina" | 1:27 | |
15. | "The Edison Museum" | Brian Dewan, They Might Be Giants | 2:00 |
Credits adapted from 1999 PDF liner notes. [7]
They Might Be Giants
Additional musicians
Technical
They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a musical duo, often accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG expanded to include a backing band. The duo's current backing band consists of Marty Beller, Dan Miller and Danny Weinkauf. They have been credited as vital in the creation and growth of the prolific DIY music scene in Brooklyn in the mid-1980s.
They Might Be Giants, sometimes called The Pink Album, is the debut studio album from Brooklyn-based band They Might Be Giants. It was released by Bar/None in 1986. The album generated two singles, "Don't Let's Start" and "(She Was A) Hotel Detective". It is included on Then: The Earlier Years, a compilation of the band's early material, in its entirety, with the exception of "Don't Let's Start", which is replaced with the single mix for the compilation.
John Henry is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock group They Might Be Giants. It was released in 1994. It is the first album by They Might Be Giants to include a full band arrangement, rather than synthesized and programmed backing tracks. The album's name, a reference to the man versus machine fable of John Henry, is an allusion to the band's fundamental switch to more conventional instrumentation, especially the newly established use of a human drummer instead of a drum machine.
Lincoln is the second studio album by the band They Might Be Giants. It was released by Bar/None in 1988. The album is named after John Linnell and John Flansburgh's boyhood home of Lincoln, Massachusetts. The album produced three singles—"Ana Ng", "They'll Need a Crane", and "Purple Toupee". It is included on Then: The Earlier Years, a compilation of the band's early material, in its entirety.
Apollo 18 is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants. It was released in 1992 through Elektra Records and was named after the cancelled Apollo 18 mission that was scheduled to have followed Apollo 17. The album was also associated with International Space Year, for which They Might Be Giants were declared the official "musical ambassadors" by NASA.
Factory Showroom is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released in 1996 by Elektra Records. It was the band's first album to be produced by Pat Dillett, who would go on to work with the band on all subsequent albums, as well as their first album to feature a second guitarist, Eric Schermerhorn.
Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants is a 2002 compilation album by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, issued by Rhino Records and compiled by the band's co-singer/songwriter and guitarist John Flansburgh. Despite its name, the compilation does not include tracks from the band's "Dial-A-Song" service. It is instead an anthology of various single, album and live tracks from the band's history, spanning their full career up to the time of its release. It includes tracks from every album starting with 1986's They Might Be Giants up through No!, their first children's album, which was released only three months before this compilation.
"(She Was A) Hotel Detective" is a song and single by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released as a single on May 5, 1988, two years after the release of They Might Be Giants, the album on which it originally appeared. The "Hotel Detective" title has become a somewhat recurring theme for the band.
"Particle Man" is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released and published in 1990. The song is the seventh track on the band's third album, Flood. It has become one of the band's most popular songs, despite never having been released as a single. John Linnell and John Flansburgh performed the song, backed by a metronome, for their 1990 Flood promotional video. Although it was released over a decade before the band began writing children's music, "Particle Man" is sometimes cited as a particularly youth-appropriate TMBG song, and a precursor to their first children's album, No!, which was not explicitly educational. The song is partially influenced by the theme of the 1967 Spider-Man TV series.
Here Come the ABCs is the second children's album and eleventh studio album by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, aimed at young children learning the alphabet. The CD and DVD were originally released separately but have since been released as a combo. There are 25 songs in the CD and 38 in the DVD.
"The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)" is a song and single by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released in 1992. The track is one of three singles from Apollo 18. The song has also appeared on several compilation albums, including Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants and A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants.
Brian Doherty is an American drummer, singer-songwriter, composer, music producer, educator, and podcaster based in New York City. After starting his career working with various jazz musicians, he worked with rock bands and artists such as The Silos, Freedy Johnston, They Might Be Giants, Ben Folds, and XTC. He has also contributed to movie soundtracks. In 2000 he became a music teacher, as part of the New York City Teaching Fellows program. He has released two albums of royalty-free drum tracks for songwriters in a series called Keep It Simple, and in 2012 he released his debut solo project, Treat + Release. Now he is working on writing his memoirs, and recording podcasts.
Danny Weinkauf is a Grammy-winning New York–based musician and composer. He has been the longtime bassist for They Might Be Giants (TMBG). He has recorded and toured with the band since the late 1990s. Weinkauf had previously performed in a band called Lincoln along with TMBG's guitarist Dan Miller and drummer Gonzalo Martinez De La Cotera. He has written four songs for TMBG, all for their children's albums. Weinkauf wrote and sang "Where Do They Make Balloons?" on the children's album No!, "Number Two" from Here Come The 123s, "I Am a Paleontologist" from Here Comes Science, and "Elephants" from Why? He also played bass alongside bandmate John Flansburgh for his solo project Mono Puff, in addition to providing additional bass on John Linnell's State Songs album. In 2014 Weinkauf began releasing albums for children and families as "Danny Weinkauf". That year he released "No School Today" followed by "Red Pants Band" (2016), "Totally Osome!" (2017), "Inside I Shine" (2018), "Dinosaurs and Metaphors" (2020), "Words" (2021), "lullabies" (2022) and "Light Up Your Love" (2023). The later 7 albums were all released on his own label Red Pants Music except "Words". He performs live as 'Danny Weinkauf and his Red Pants Band' with Tina Kenny Jones on bass, keyboards, and vocals, Steven Plesnarski on drums and vocals, and Russ Jones on guitar, bass, vocals, and ukulele. His eight albums have received numerous awards and frequent rotation on kids radio such as Sirius XM's Kids Place Live.
The Else is the twelfth studio album by rock group They Might Be Giants, released by Idlewild Recordings on May 15, 2007. The album was produced in part by the Dust Brothers, along with Pat Dillett and the band.
Daniel Adam Miller is an American musician and songwriter.
"Can't Keep Johnny Down" is a song by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. The song was released as a promotional single from the band's 2011 album, Join Us. Like all the artwork surrounding the Join Us album, the cover art and labels for the disc were designed by the Office of Paul Sahre.
"Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, from their eponymous debut album They Might Be Giants. It has also been released on several compilation albums, including Then: The Earlier Years and A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants.
Nanobots is the sixteenth studio album from Brooklyn-based alternative rock group They Might Be Giants. Uncharacteristically for the band, the album's title comes from an album track, as the second track shares a title with the album. The album was released on March 5, 2013 on Idlewild Recordings — the band's independent imprint — with Megaforce Records in the US. The album was also separately released on March 8 in Australia through Breakaway Records and on March 11 in Europe, through Lojinx. One week before its physical release, Nanobots was released digitally for streaming in its entirety through the band's SoundCloud, announced by Rolling Stone. Prior to this, "Call You Mom", "Black Ops" and "Lost My Mind" were released through the advance digital Nanobots EP in January 2013. The EP, released through Amazon.com and iTunes, was met with fairly positive responses.
The Escape Team is the 22nd album by New York City-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released on December 10, 2018 for digital download and pre-order. The digital download and pre-order was released simultaneously with My Murdered Remains. The physical album was released in May 2019.
Book is the 23rd studio album by New York City-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released on November 12, 2021. It was released as a digital download, a compact disc, a vinyl record, a cassette tape, an 8-track tape, and a hardcover book plus CD.