Don't Let's Start: A Podcast About They Might Be Giants

Salutations! Or have you seen this episode? Jordan and Dave's pain is your karma as they exchange some fighting words and complete their archival dig through the 1980s demos of They Might Be Giants (for now.) We're here to make you happy, as half of this episode is our long awaited and belated Hell Hotel discussion! Is the song based on a Twilight Zone episode? Is that an Outer Limits reference? Why wasn't this song ever on an album? Who is Sebastian C.? WHAT DOES HE MEAN BY THIS? We also listen to some hellish demos of the demo!

Then we might be chewing on a pair of feet as we listen to early versions of They Might Be Giants (the song.) Finally, the people are so happy now that we're closing out the 1985 demo tape with the wild and woolly demo of Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes! All this, plus a surprise rare bonus song! Va-va-va-voom this is a sweet life! ALBATROSS!

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We've got another big delicious slice of They Might Be Giants' legendary 1985 demo tape! This episode covers tracks 10 through 20, and there's still more left to chew on! We find out newly discovered, frighteningly revelatory information on Cowtown and Chess Piece Face!

We take the many demo versions of Youth Culture Killed My Dog for a walk! Then we crank the volume way up to hear the subtle secrets in the demo recordings of Alienation's For The Rich and The Day! After a proper history lesson on hotel detectives, we give Toddler Hiway the deep dive it's always deserved in a very special segment breaking down EVERY. DAMN. WORD! Finally, we peter out with I'm Def. How cooler can this be?!?

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We're back...in time! Jordan and Dave take out their dusty scrapbooks and look into the They Might Be Giants of years past. First we discuss their very first release, the Wiggle Diskette, a very limited vinyl distributed all over NYC in 1985. Then we continue on with the first batch of songs on TMBG's infamous 1985 demo tape!

But do you think we stop there? Oh ho ho, foolish listener, doth thee not know of whom we be? Our minds become a blur of common sense as we discuss every demo and alternative version of these songs we could find! We're talking THREE Puppet-Heads, FOUR You'll Miss Mes, TWO Number Threes, and one uncomfortably intimate When It Rains It Snows! Including NEW revelations about these songs not addressed in our initial episodes! We then end the show with a very special guest, Margaret Seiler, the singer of Boat of Car! Take this car for a ride!

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Should auld acquaintance be forgot....Presenting a special urgent and heartfelt final broadcast for 2023! Jordan and Dave destroy the past and focus on the latest They Might Be Giants news, discoveries, rumors and revelations! We also tell you about our podcast operation, with a big announcement about a planned Patreon membership for 2024! OH IT'S GOOD NEWS!

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As a prologue for our upcoming deep dive into They Might Be Giants' 1980s demos, we spoke with the legendary Michael Small, the People Magazine writer who first reviewed TMBG's demo tape in 1985 and gave them their first huge exposure, telling (or warning) the world about the madness to come!

Michael tells us about the first time he heard the tape, the songs that got stuck in his head, appearing in the documentary Gigantic, his relationship with They Might Be Giants over the years, and more exciting tales of music journalism! He also tells us about his incredibly fun new show, I Couldn't Throw It Out, which recently interviewed John Flansburgh! Links below!

Michael's podcast: