I've been racking my brain, trying to come up with topics that I haven't yet covered in Audience Participation and it suddenly occurred to me that I haven't done a post on Their best television appearances yet. So without further ado, here is my selection of favorite TMBG TV appearances (in no particular order).
Dan Hickey just cracks me up in this one, the way he is bouncing on his stool.
What on earth is Dan Miller wearing? He's got like a nerd/cowboy thing going on. I LOVE it!
There are many things I enjoy about this video but I just can't quite get over the disaster that is Danny's hair. But it is from the brief period of time post-Danny but pre-Dan which makes it historically important. Also, I have seen Dan Levine perform in that shirt 12 years later.
Oh god, the facial expressions. Can you imagine how many people who are not familiar with the band were watching this and just thinking "what the fuck?"
Check out this super early Marty appearance a good six months before he first performed live with the band. My favorite part is the shot of him sitting their playing drums with the slide whistle in his mouth at the end of the song.
Older - They Might Be Giants from They Might Be Giants on Vimeo.
So serious. But I love the look on Dan's face at the end (and his hair) and that funky thing Linnell does with his hands when he starts singing.
I admit I am actually kind of terrified of this video but I love that it exists.
This is here for sentimental reasons because it's Their first TV appearance I actually watched after hopping aboard the fandom train. I would actually have more to say about their performance of this song on Conan two years later because I am amused by the disparity between all their outfits in that one, but I'm pretty sure Dan is wearing the same shirt in both appearances so I can tie in that comment to this video.
There you go. Enjoy some video watching (sorry about the crappy quality on some). Don't get lost in the YouTubes and forget to come back to post your favorites. Cheers!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UP5eXo1-u0 (part 1)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80L5y9zU4aM (part 2)
I love these for the between-song talking and copious coffee drinking. And Rebecca and I will often do the Flansburgh "Don't count." from the first vid to lighten up moments of growing exasperation with one another. She has been in tears laughing at the Flans's reaction to Linnell in their attempts to get Particle Man started (the fun starts at 2:30 in part 1).
Thanks for the videos. I really enjoyed watching them all (some of which I had not seen). I notice that Danny is wearing his red pants in a large percentage of your picks that include him -- coincidence?
ReplyDeleteI like to search through TMBG YouTube videos in my spare time, and can't always remember which I've enjoyed most. The ones John posted above are definitely a couple of them though. And I like this one too for the good quality and interviews in-between. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwzSTvZzErQ
I was also pretty excited to find some footage of the first TV appearance I saw of John and John -- from 120 Minutes in 1988. I had been thinking I'd first seen them during the summer since I couldn't have seen 120 Minutes while at boarding school, but it was apparently December 18 (winter break -- guess I didn't remember the falling snow in the background). There are a few different YouTube videos from this broadcast (in which they performed several songs). Here's one snippet of them performing Letterbox:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNV7ywkkqOE
Ah, takes me back...
My favorite TV appearance was Meet the Elements and Dead on Jimmy Fallon, but only because I was there. Otherwise, Seven on Conan.
ReplyDeleteKathy
Oh man. John, I had never watched those videos all the way through. (I've started several times and then couldn't deal with Linnell's hair.) But they are wonderful. I especially enjoyed Linnell telling Flansburgh how to introduce the next song. "Say it's the new album."
ReplyDeleteRebecca, honestly, the presence of the red pants is just a welcome coincidence. Though I did use the Doctor Worm video in an argument I was making about how long the tradition of those pants (if not the pants themselves) have been around. Also, I love that that 120 Minutes video is from the period when they were still calling it The Letterbox Song.
And Kathy, did I know you were at the Jimmy Fallon taping? I don't remember. I might have picked that Meet the Elements performance but I couldn't find it on YouTube anywhere.