THE STORY OF FIRST ALBUM LIVE These performances were culled from shows on They Might Be Giants’ 2013 world tour. John Flansburgh and John Linnell are joined by their stellar band — Dan Miller on the guitar, Danny Weinkauf on bass, and Marty Beller on the drums. There is also a guest appearance by the Avatars of They. THE STORY OF THE PINK ALBUM They Might Be Giants’ first album, also known as the “pink album” because of the distinctive pink skyline in Rodney Allen Greenblat’s cover illustration, was a turning point for both the band and the burgeoning world of indie rock. They Might Be Giants had been performing in downtown NYC clubs and had become a fixture on the East Village scene where performance art and music flowed together in a vivid late night club scene. In those earlier years, the band was making recordings for their Dial-A-Song service and their demos were actively passed around town. While the album’s release in late 1986 was met with raves from critics (including the rare “A” rating from the Village Voice’s Robert Christgau), with no major label push or immediate radio interest, it seemed destined to settle comfortably into the Miscellaneous T section within a number of months. All that would change quickly when the band collaborated with video director Adam Bernstein on a series of original clips that would get serious play on MTV.
