Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants

Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants
Compilation album by They Might Be Giants
Released	September 17, 2002
Recorded	1985–2002
Genre	Alternative rock
Label	Rhino Records
Producer	Various
Compiler	John Flansburgh
Professional reviews
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They Might Be Giants chronology
They Got Lost (2002) Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants (2003) Bed, Bed, Bed (2003)
TMBG compilation chronology
They Got Lost (2002) Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants (2003) A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants (2005)

Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants is a 2002 compilation album by They Might Be Giants. Despite the name, it is not a compilation of tracks from the band's "Dial-A-Song" service. It is instead an anthology of various album and live tracks from the band's history, spanning their full career up to the time of its release. It includes tracks from every album starting with 1986's They Might Be Giants up through No!, which was only released three months before this compilation.

It was issued by Rhino Records and compiled by singer/songwriter/guitarist John Flansburgh.

The first disc focuses mainly on the group's singles and better-known album tracks. Disc two delves into more obscure fan favorites and live cuts.

Song notes

Some of the songs on the album are actually different versions than the original, such as:

• "Older" is the original version that featured on the album "Long Tall Weekend" and on the ABC show "Brave New World."
• "Robot Parade" is the "Adult Version", with a more thrashy sort of sound, as opposed to the version from No!.
• "Boss of Me" is best known as the theme song to Malcolm in the Middle, although the version here is the full version, not the shortened version used on the show
• "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is a cover, originally performed by The Four Lads
• "The Guitar" is a semi-remake of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
• "New York City" is a cover, originally performed by cub
• "Dr. Evil" was written for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
• "Why Does the Sun Shine (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) (live)" is the live version of the song from Severe Tire Damage and it is a cover, originally recorded by Tom Glazer
• "James K. Polk" is a new unreleased version, although it is not labeled as such. It seems to include the same instrumentation as the version from Factory Showroom, but with different vocals
• "She's Actual Size (live)" is, along with the above "James K. Polk", the only other exclusive, unreleased song on the set
• "Spy (Original Version)" is listed as an exclusive, unreleased live version, but is actually the version of the song from Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)
• "Stormy Pinkness (live in Berlin)" is also listed as an exclusive, but it was previously released through the TMBG Unlimited mp3 service
• "Fingertips" on this album is one track while Apollo 18 had as 21 seprate tracks
• This album contains the single remix of "Don't Let's Start" and "(She Was A) Hotel Detective"

Album Originals

• tracks 1, 6, 11, 13, 17, and 20 on disc one and track 21 on disc two originally appeared on Flood
• tracks 2, and 22 on disc one and tracks 24, 25 and 26 on disc two originally appeared on Lincoln
• tracks 3, and 15 on disc one originally appeared on the Don't Let's Start EP
• track 4 on disc one originally appeared on the Boss of Me EP
• track 5 on disc one originally appeared on Long Tall Weekend
• tracks 7, and 16 on disc one originally appeared on Severe Tire Damage
• tracks 8, 23, and 26 on disc one and tracks 5, 9, and 11 on disc two originally appeared on Apollo 18
• track 9 on disc one originally appeared on Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
• tracks 10 on disc one and 2, 3, 6, 8, 15, and 18 on disc two originally appeared on Factory Showroom
• tracks 12, 14, 18, and 21 on disc one originally appeared on Mink Car
• track 19 on disc one and tracks 4, 10, and 20 on disc two originally appeared on John Henry
• track 24 on disc one originally appeared on the (She Was A) Hotel Detective EP
• track 25 on disc one and tracks 1, 17, and 19 on disc two originally appeared on They Might Be Giants
• track 7 on disc two originally appeared on No!
• track 12 on disc two originally is previously unrealesed
• track 13 on disc two originally appeared on the Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) EP
• track 14 on disc two is on the TMBG Unlimited MP3 service
• track 16 on disc two originally appeared on the Working Undercover for the Man EP
• track 22 on disc two originally appeared on the Purple Toupee EP
• track 23 on disc two originally appeared on the They'll Need A Crane EP

Track listing

All songs by They Might Be Giants unless otherwise noted.

Disc one

1. "Birdhouse in Your Soul" (John Flansburgh, John Linnell) – 3:19
2. "Ana Ng" – 3:21
3. "Don't Let's Start (Single Remix)" – 2:33
4. "Boss of Me" – 2:58
5. "Older" – 1:52
6. "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" (Jimmy Kennedy, Nat Simon) – 2:35
7. "Doctor Worm" – 3:01
8. "The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)" (Luigi Creatore, Hugo Peretti, George David Weiss) – 3:49
9. "Dr. Evil" – 1:50
10. "New York City" (Robynn Iwata, Lisa Marr, Lisa Nielsen) – 3:05
11. "Particle Man" – 1:58
12. "Cyclops Rock" – 2:43
13. "Minimum Wage" – 0:46
14. "Man, It's So Loud in Here" – 4:03
15. "We're the Replacements" – 1:49
16. "Why Does the Sun Shine (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) (Live)" (Lou Singer, Hy Zaret) – 2:20
17. "Your Racist Friend" – 2:54
18. "Bangs" – 3:14
19. "Snail Shell" – 3:21
20. "Twisting" – 1:55
21. "Another First Kiss" – 3:07
22. "They'll Need a Crane" – 2:31
23. "The Statue Got Me High" – 3:05
24. "(She Was A) Hotel Detective (Single Remix)" – 2:21
25. "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" (Flansburgh, Linnell) – 2:10
26. "I Palindrome I" – 2:20

Disc two

1. "She's an Angel" – 2:36
2. "How Can I Sing Like a Girl?" – 4:28
3. "James K. Polk" (Matthew Hill, They Might Be Giants) – 3:05
4. "Meet James Ensor" – 1:33
5. "Mammal" – 2:13
6. "Pet Name" – 4:02
7. "No!" – 1:29
8. "I Can Hear You" – 1:56
9. "Spider" – 0:51
10. "I Should Be Allowed to Think" – 3:07
11. "Fingertips" – 4:33
12. "She's Actual Size (Live)" – 7:18
13. "Spy (Original Version)" – 2:31
14. "Stormy Pinkness (Live)" – 2:21
15. "Exquisite Dead Guy" – 2:02
16. "Robot Parade (Adult Version)" – 1:05
17. "Boat of Car" – 1:14
18. "S-E-X-X-Y" (Hal Cragin, They Might Be Giants) – 3:52
19. "Number Three" – 1:27
20. "The End of the Tour" -3:18
21. "They Might Be Giants" – 2:45
22. "Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal" – 3:48
23. "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon" – 1:59
24. "Snowball in Hell" – 2:31
25. "Purple Toupee" – 2:40
26. "Cowtown" – 2:21

Personnel

• Zachary Alford – drums
• Amy Allison – vocals
• Danny Alonso – engineer
• Susan Anderson – photography
• Paul Angelli – engineer, mixing
• Ben Bailes – engineer
• Alan Bezozi – tambourine, drums (snare)
• Mark Bishop – engineer
• Albert Caiati – engineer
• Bruce Calder – assistant
• Steve Calhoon – drums
• Laura Cantrell – vocals
• Ron Caswell – tuba
• Bob Clearmountain – mixing
• Paula Court – photography
• Reuben Cox – photography
• Hal Cragin – bass
• Peter Dilg – producer
• Patrick Dillett – producer, engineer, mixing
• TJ Doherty – engineer
• Edward Douglas – engineer
• Tom Durack – producer, mixing
• Sheryl Farber – editorial supervision
• Mark Feldman – violin
• John Flansburgh – guitar, keyboards, vocals, compilation
• Alan Ford – engineer
• Paul Fox – producer
• Cheryl Fugate – project assistant
• Tony Gillis – engineer
• Barbara Glauber – design
• Matt Gold – engineer
• Robin "Goldie" Goldwasser – vocals
• Sue Hadjopoulas – percussion, conga
• Michael Halsband – photography
• Cosmo Heidtman – engineer
• Dan Hersch – remastering
• Dan Hickey – drums
• Nicholas Hill – vocals
• Kurt Hoffman – horn, horn arrangements, string arrangements
• Al Houghton – engineer
• Jim Hughes – compilation
• Bill Inglot – remastering
• Hiro Ishihara – engineer
• Luis Jardim – percussion
• Beverly Joel – design
• Julie Kantner – photography
• Gregor Kitzis – violin
• Julian Koster – singing saw
• Bill Krauss – producer, engineer
• Chris Laidlaw – engineer
• Rich Lamb – engineer
• Clive Langer – producer
• Ron Lawrence – viola
• Dan Levine – trombone
• Mark Leviton – compilation
• John Linnell – accordion, keyboards, saxophone, vocals, compilation
• Frank London – trumpet
• Tony Maimone – bass
• Elma Mayer – vocals
• April Milek – project assistant
• Dan Miller – guitar, synth guitar
• Katherine Miller – engineer
• Roger Moutenot – engineer, mixing, whip
• UE Nastasi – assistant
• Tim Newman – trombone
• Alex Noyes – engineer
• Jim O'Connor – trumpet
• Alex Olsson – engineer
• Mark Pender – trumpet
• Randy Perry – project assistant
• Mauro Refosco – percussion
• David Robbins – engineer
• Marc Salata – product manager
• Erik Sanko – bass
• Tim Scanlin – A&R
• Eric Schermerhorn – acoustic guitar, guitar
• Adam Schlesinger – keyboards, programming, producer
• Brent Sigmeth – engineer
• Brian Speiser – mixing
• Jason Spittle – engineer
• Peter Stampfel – banjo, vocals
• Mark Stern – photography
• Ed Thacker – engineer, mixing
• They Might Be Giants – producer
• Greg Thompson – engineer
• Sarah Vowell – liner notes
• Danny Weinkauf – bass
• Jeff White – compilation
• Alan Winstanley – producer, mixing
• Krystof Witek – violin
• Jeremy Wolff – photography
• Steve Woolard – discographical annotation
• Lyle Workman – guitar
• Garo Yellin – cello
• Toshikazu Yoshioka – engineer

External links

• Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants at This Might Be A Wiki