They Might Be Giants discography
 | This list is not complete; you can help by adding missing items. (January 2015) |
The following is a comprehensive discography of They Might Be Giants, 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 22 studio albums along with six live albums, eight compilation albums, 21 extended plays and 11 singles.
| Releases | ||
|---|---|---|
| ↙Studio albums | 22 | |
| ↙Live albums | 9 | |
| ↙Compilation albums | 10 | |
| ↙Extended plays | 21 | |
| ↙Singles | 11 | |
| ↙Video albums | 7 | |
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Chart peaks | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US | US Kids | AUS | ||||
| 1979 | They Might Be Giants | — | — | — | — |
| |
| 1980 | Lincoln
|
— | 89 | — | — | ||
| 1982 | Flood
|
14 | 75 | — | 99 | US: Platinum[1] | |
| 1984 | Apollo 18
|
— | 99 | — | 59 | ||
| 1986 | John Henry
|
— | 61 | — | — |
| |
| 1988 | Factory Showroom
|
— | 89 | — | — | ||
| 1991 | Long Tall Weekend
|
— | — | — | — |
| |
| 1993 | Mink Car
|
— | 134 | — | — | ||
| 1994 | 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 | 4 | — |
| |
| 2011 | Join Us
|
— | 32 | — | — |
| |
| 2013 | Nanobots
|
— | 57 | — | — | ||
| 2015 | Glean
|
— | 67 | — | — |
| |
Why?
|
— | 181 | — | — |
| ||
| 2016 | Phone Power
|
— | 122 | — | — |
| |
| 2018 | I Like Fun
|
— | 108 | — | — |
| |
My Murdered Remains
|
TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| ||
The Escape Team
|
TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| ||
Live albums
| Year | Title | Chart peaks[2] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | |||
| 1994 | Live!! New York City 10/14/94
|
— |
|
| 1998 | Severe Tire Damage
|
186 |
|
| 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
|
— |
|
Compilations
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 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
|
|
| 2020 | Modern
|
|
EPs
| Year | Album Information |
|---|---|
| 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
|
The Spine Surfs Alone
| |
| 2013 | Nanobots EP
|
Videography
| Year | Title | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Direct from Brooklyn | |
| 2003 | Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)
|
|
| 2005 | Here Come the ABCs
|
US: Gold[1] |
Venue Songs DVD/CD
|
||
| 2008 | Here Come the 123s
|
US: Gold[1] |
| 2009 | Here Comes Science
|
US: Gold[1] |
| 2012 | Them Ain't Big Eye Ants
|
|
| 2015 | Live in Berlin[4]
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Alt. [5] |
AUS [6] |
NLD [7] |
UK [8] | |||
| "Everything Right is Wrong Again" | 1980 | — | 94 | — | — | They Might Be Giants |
| "(She Was A) Hotel Detective" | 1981 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Ana Ng" | 11 | — | — | — | Lincoln | |
| "They'll Need a Crane" | 1982 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Purple Toupee" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Birdhouse in Your Soul" | 1983 | 3 | 125 | — | 6 | Flood |
| "Twisting" | 22 | — | — | — | ||
| "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" | — | — | — | 61 | ||
| "The Statue Got Me High" | 1985 | 24 | — | — | 92 | Apollo 18 |
| "The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Palindrome I" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "O Tannenbaum" | 1986 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Snail Shell" | 1987 | 19 | — | — | — | John Henry |
| "S-E-X-X-Y" | 1989 | — | — | — | — | Factory Showroom |
| "Doctor Worm" | 1991 | — | — | — | — | Severe Tire Damage |
| "The Days in the Lives of Beau (End Theme)" | 1997 | — | 29 | 89 | 21 | Music from Malcolm in the Middle |
| "Man, It's So Loud in Here" | — | 86 | — | — | Mink Car | |
| "Experimental Film" | 2001 | — | — | — | — | The Spine |
| "T-Shirt" | 2001 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "I'm Impressed" | 2003 | — | — | — | — | The Else |
| "Can't Keep Johnny Down" | 2007 | — | — | — | — | Join Us |
| "You're on Fire" | 2009 | — | — | — | — | Nanobots |
| "Erase" | 2011 | — | — | — | — | Glean |
| "I Left My Body" | 2013 | — | — | — | — | I Like Fun |
| "The Communists Have The Music" | 2014 | — | — | — | — | My Murdered Remains |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||
Contributions & 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)
- "Puppy Love" for Blue's Clues Commercial (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" for Return to Never Land Soundtrack (2002)
- "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)
- "Hang On" and "Getting Better" for The Cat in the Hat Soundtrack (2003)
- "Baroque Hoedown" for DisneyMania 2 (2004) and Moog Soundtrack (2004)
- "Jenny/XJ9" for Nickelodeon promo (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" for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Soundtrack (2006)
- "Hot Dog!" for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Soundtrack (2006)
- "Happy Doesn't Have to Have an Ending" for Happily N'Ever After Soundtrack (2007)
- "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" a song for the Meet the Robinsons soundtrack (2007)
- "Havalina" (Pixies cover) 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)
- "I'm Not a Loser" for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical (2016)
- "3rd Amendment" for 27: The Most Perfect Album (2018)[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. Archived from the original on 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
- ↑ "They Might Be Giants Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/artist/they-might-be-giants/chart-history/tlp/. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ↑ "A free present for you!". Archived from the original on 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
- ↑ "Live In Berlin - TMBW: The They Might Be Giants Knowledge Base". tmbw.net.
- ↑ Illegal name entered They Might Be Giants/They+Might+Be+Giants/chart?f=377 "They Might Be Giants – Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard (Prometheus Global Media). http://www.billboard.com/artist/Illegal name entered They Might Be Giants/They+Might+Be+Giants/chart?f=377. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
- ↑ Australian (ARIA Charts) peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "Discography They Might Be Giants". australiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
- Top 100 peaks between January 1990 and December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- "Man, It's So Loud In Here": "arianet The ARIA Report! Week Commencing: 10th December 2001 Issue No: 615" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association Ltd. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2002-02-21. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- "Don't Let's Start" and "Birdhouse In Your Soul": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2015-07-15". Imgur. Archived from the original on 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ↑ "Discografie They Might Be Giants". dutchcharts.nl (in Nederlands). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
- ↑ "They Might Be Giants". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
- ↑ "27: The Most Perfect Album". WNYC Studios.