They Might Be Giants discography
(Redirected from The Spine Surfs Alone)
Template:Short description Template:Expand list Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The following is a discography of They Might Be Giants (TMBG), an American alternative rock band comprising several artists including John Flansburgh, John Linnell, Marty Beller, Dan Miller, and Danny Weinkauf. The band's first release was the November 4, 1986 eponymously titled They Might Be Giants, but TMBG did not gain commercial success until their March 1990 single "Birdhouse in Your Soul" from the album Flood. "Birdhouse in Your Soul" reached #3 on the United States Modern Rock Tracks chart and #6 on the UK Singles Chart and remains their highest-charting single in both countries. Over the next two decades, They Might Be Giants released studio albums on a near-biennial fashion and currently have a total of 23 studio albums along with 11 live albums, 12 compilation albums, 15 extended plays and 30 singles.
Albums
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Chart peaks | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
Notes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [1] |
US Alt [2] |
US Kids [3] |
US Indie [4] |
US Rock [5] |
AUS [6][7] |
UK [8] | ||||
| 1986 | They Might Be Giants | — | — | — | — | — | 159 | — |
| |
| 1988 | Lincoln
|
89 | — | — | — | — | 116 | — | ||
| 1990 | Flood
|
75 | — | — | — | — | 99 | 14 |
|
|
| 1992 | Apollo 18
|
99 | — | — | — | — | 59 | — | ||
| 1994 | John Henry
|
61 | — | — | — | — | 132 | — |
| |
| 1996 | Factory Showroom
|
89 | — | — | — | — | 116 | — | ||
| 1999 | Long Tall Weekend
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 2001 | Mink Car
|
134 | — | — | — | — | 102 | — | ||
| 2002 | No!
|
— | — | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 2004 | The Spine
|
130 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005 | Here Come the ABCs
|
— | — | 6 | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 2007 | The Else
|
118 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 2008 | Here Come the 123s
|
172 | — | 9 | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 2009 | Here Comes Science
|
91 | 23 | 4 | — | 34 | — | — |
| |
| 2011 | Join Us
|
32 | 8 | — | 8 | 8 | — | — |
| |
| 2013 | Nanobots
|
57 | 13 | — | 10 | 19 | — | — | ||
| 2015 | Glean
|
67 | 6 | — | 5 | 7 | — | — |
| |
Why?
|
181 | 12 | — | 6 | 15 | — | — |
| ||
| 2016 | Phone Power
|
122 | 8 | — | 11 | 14 | — | — |
| |
| 2018 | I Like Fun
|
108 | 8 | — | 3 | 17 | — | — |
| |
My Murdered Remains
|
—Template:Efn | — | — | 9 | — | — | — |
| ||
The Escape Team
|
—Template:Efn | — | — | 10 | — | — | — |
| ||
| 2021 | Book
|
88 | 7 | — | 14 | 10 | — | — | ||
Live albums
| Year | Title | Chart peaks | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [1] |
AUS[7] | |||
| 1994 | Live!! New York City 10/14/94
|
— | — |
|
| 1998 | Severe Tire Damage
|
186 | 108 |
|
| 1999 | Live
|
— | — |
|
| 2004 | The Spine Hits the Road
|
— | — |
|
Almanac
|
— | — |
| |
Venue Songs
|
— | — |
| |
| 2012 | At Large
|
— | — |
|
| 2014 | First Album Live!
|
— | — |
|
| 2015 | Flood Live in Australia
|
— | — |
|
| 2016 | Live in Brooklyn
|
— | — |
|
| 2018 | TMBG Live 2018
|
— | — |
|
| 2024 | Beast of Horns
|
— | — |
|
Compilation albums
| Year | Title | Chart peaks | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Current [11] |
US Indie [4] | |||
| 1989 | Don't Let's Start
|
— | — |
|
| 1991 | Miscellaneous T | — | — |
|
| 1997 | Then: The Earlier Years
|
— | — |
|
| 1999 | Best of the Early Years
|
— | — |
|
| 2002 | They Got Lost
|
— | — |
|
Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants
|
— | — |
| |
| 2005 | A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants
|
— | — |
|
Venue Songs DVD/CD
|
— | — |
| |
| 2011 | Album Raises New and Troubling Questions
|
— | — |
|
| 2014 | Idlewild
|
— | — |
|
| 2018 | John Henry Demos
|
91 | 12 |
|
| 2020 | Modern
|
— | — |
|
EPs
| Year | Title | Chart peaks |
|---|---|---|
| US Indie [4] | ||
| 1993 | Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)
|
— |
| 1994 | Back to Skull
|
— |
| 2000 | Working Undercover for the Man
|
— |
| 2001 | They Might Be Giants In...Holidayland
|
— |
| 2003 | Bed, Bed, Bed
|
— |
| 2004 | Indestructible Object
|
36 |
The Spine Surfs Alone
|
— | |
| 2011 | Other Thing Brass Band
|
— |
Cave Fish/Tesla
|
— | |
| 2012 | Four Covers
|
— |
Reptiles/Head in a Suitcase
|
— | |
| 2013 | Nanobots EP
|
— |
For Kids
|
— | |
| 2016 | Songs for Chop
|
— |
| 2021 | Pamphlet EP
|
— |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Alt. [12] |
AUS [6] |
NLD [13] |
UK [14] | ||||
| "Don't Let's Start" | 1987 | — | 94 | — | — | They Might Be Giants | |
| "(She Was A) Hotel Detective" | 1988 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Ana Ng" | 11 | 154 | — | — | Lincoln | ||
| "They'll Need a Crane" | 1989 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Purple Toupee" | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Birdhouse in Your Soul" | 1990 | 3 | 125 | — | 6 |
|
Flood |
| "Twisting" | 22 | — | — | — | |||
| "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" | — | — | — | 61 | |||
| "The Statue Got Me High" | 1992 | 24 | 155 | — | 92 | Apollo 18 | |
| "The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)" | — | — | — | — | |||
| "I Palindrome I" | — | — | — | — | |||
| "O Tannenbaum" | 1993 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Snail Shell" | 1994 | 19 | — | — | — | John Henry | |
| "S-E-X-X-Y" | 1996 | — | — | — | — | Factory Showroom | |
| "Doctor Worm" | 1998 | — | — | — | — | Severe Tire Damage | |
| "Boss of Me" | 2001 | — | 29 | 89 | 21 | Music from Malcolm in the Middle | |
| "Man, It's So Loud in Here" | — | 86 | — | — | Mink Car | ||
| "Experimental Film" | 2005 | — | — | — | — | The Spine | |
| "T-Shirt" | 2005 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "I'm Impressed" | 2007 | — | — | — | — | The Else | |
| "Can't Keep Johnny Down" | 2011 | — | — | — | — | Join Us | |
| "Never Knew Love" | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Cloisonné" | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Old Pine Box" | — | — | — | — | |||
| "You're on Fire" | 2013 | — | — | — | — | Nanobots | |
| "Erase" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | Glean | |
| "I Left My Body" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | I Like Fun | |
| "The Communists Have the Music" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | My Murdered Remains | |
| "I Lost Thursday" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | Book | |
| "Super Cool" | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Who Are the Electors?" | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||
Contributions and other releases
- "Particle Man" & "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" for Tiny Toons in the MTV spoof episode
- "One More Parade" for Rubaiyat: Elektra's 40th Anniversary Tribute CD (1990)
- "SenSurround" for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Soundtrack (1995)
- "25 O' Clock" for Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC Tribute CD (1995)
- "Spiraling Shape" for Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy Soundtrack (1996)
- "Dr. Evil" for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Soundtrack (1999)
- "Boss of Me" and "Older" for Music from Malcolm in the Middle (2000)
- "I've Got A Fang" (Demo) for This Is Next Year: A Brooklyn-Based Compilation (2001)
- CD soundtrack to McSweeney's Quarterly, issue 6 (2001) (Contributions, and arrangement of music by others)
- "Courage the Cowardly Dog" for Cartoon Network promo (2001)
- "Darlin' Allison" for Gordon Gano's Hitting the Ground album (2002)
- "So to Be One of Us" & "Now That You're One of Us" for Return to Never Land Soundtrack (2002)
- "The Long Grift" for Wig in a Box (2003)
- "Savoy Truffle" for Songs from the Material World (2003)
- "Baroque Hoedown" for DisneyMania 2 (2004) and Moog Soundtrack (2004)
- "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" for Future Soundtrack for America (2004)
- "Ana Ng" for Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground Compilation (2004)
- "Through Being Cool" for Sky High Soundtrack (2005)
- "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Theme Song" & "Hot Dog!" for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Soundtrack (2006) - RIAA: Platinum[15]
- "Happy Doesn't Have to Have an Ending" for Happily N'Ever After Soundtrack (2007)
- "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" for the Meet the Robinsons soundtrack (2007)
- "Havalina" for Dig For Fire: A Tribute To Pixies (2007)
- "Other Father's Song" for the film Coraline (2009)
- "Choo Choo Express" for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD Choo Choo Express (2008)
- "200 sbemails" for Strong Bad Emails Homestar Runner Email Thunder episode (2008)
- "You Are Old, Father William" for Almost Alice (2010)
- "I'm Not a Loser" for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical (2016)
- "3rd Amendment" for 27: The Most Perfect Album (2018)[16]
- "Pour Poor Me More Please" for Central Park (TV series) (2021)
Videography
| Year | Title | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Direct from Brooklyn | |
| 2003 | Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)
|
|
| 2005 | Here Come the ABCs
|
|
Venue Songs DVD/CD
|
||
| 2008 | Here Come the 123s
|
|
| 2009 | Here Comes Science
|
|
| 2012 | Them Ain't Big Eye Ants
|
|
| 2015 | Live in Berlin[17]
|
Music videos
The band has released 25 main music videos for songs from their rock albums.[18] All of their children's albums have also included video content or run alongside DVD releases. The band also has videos for each of the Dial-A-Song tracks from 2015 and 2018 on their main YouTube channel, ParticleMen.
Direct from Brooklyn
In 1999, They Might Be Giants released Direct from Brooklyn, a VHS compilation of their music videos from 1986 up to that point. It was reissued on DVD in 2003. The following music videos were included:
- "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" (1986)
- "Don't Let's Start" (1986)
- "(She Was a) Hotel Detective" (1986)
- "Ana Ng" (1988)
- "Purple Toupee" (1988)
- "They'll Need a Crane" (1988)
- "Birdhouse in Your Soul" (1990)
- "Istanbul" (animated) (1990)
- "The Statue Got Me High" (1992)
- "The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)" (1992)
- "Snail Shell" (1994)
- "Doctor Worm" (1998)
Other videos
- "Rabid Child" (unreleased, filmed in 1986)
- "Boss of Me" (2001)
- "Experimental Film" (animated) (2004)
- "Bastard Wants to Hit Me" (animated) (2004)
- "Here in Higglytown" (animated) (2004)
- "With The Dark" (animated) (2007)
- "The Shadow Government" (animated) (2007)
- "I'm Impressed" (animated) (2007)
- "The Mesopotamians" (animated) (2007)
- "Can't Keep Johnny Down" (2011)
- "Cloisonné" (2011)
- "In Fact" (2011)
- "You Probably Get That a Lot" (2011)
- "Spoiler Alert" (2011)
- "Marty Beller Mask" (2011)
- "When Will You Die" (2012)
- "Icky" (animated) (2013)
- "Nanobots" (animated) (2013)
- "Insect Hospital" (animated) (2013)
- "Black Ops" (2013)
- "You're on Fire" (2013)
- "Am I Awake?" (2014)
Notes
References
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