Miscellaneous T

Miscellaneous T
Compilation album by
They Might Be Giants
ReleasedOctober 8, 1991
Recorded1986–1989
StudioStudio Pass, Dubway Studio, New York City, Charles Eller Studio, Charlotte, VT, Hello Studios, Lynchburg, Virginia
GenreAlternative rock
Length37:47
LabelRestless / Bar/None[1]
ProducerBill Krauss, They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants chronology
Flood
(1990) 		Miscellaneous T
(1991) 		Apollo 18
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Robert Christgau(choice cut)[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[7]

Miscellaneous T is a B-side and remix compilation album released by the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants in 1991.[8] It is a US re-release of Don't Let's Start (which was only released in the UK and West Germany), with different cover art, track order, and the additional song "Hello Radio".

The album consists of all of the B-sides from the singles the band released between 1987 and 1989 (except "Ana Ng"), with the addition of the relatively new songs "The World's Address (Joshua Fried Remix)"—released beforehand only on Don't Let's Start—and "Hello Radio", which was previously released on a promotional sampler.

All of the songs, with the exception of "(She Was A) Hotel Detective (Single Mix)", are included on Then: The Earlier Years, a compilation of the band's early material.

Miscellaneous T is said to be named for the section in record stores where They Might Be Giants' albums were most often shelved in the band's early years.[9]

Critical reception

Trouser Press called the compilation a "neat if uneven appendix to the longplaying oeuvre."[1] The Spin Alternative Record Guide wrote that it "reveals TMBG's enormous depth of material."[7]

Song notes

The tracks are grouped according to the singles they originally appeared with:

The 13th track, which has no name listed on the album's track listing, is not actually a song, but a snippet of a recording inadvertently left on the TMBG Dial-A-Song answering machine, in which a confused listener named Gloria talks to an unknown third party about the mystery of "There May Be Giants" and "There Must Be Giants", as she mistakenly refers to the band. It would later be referenced when Bryant Gumbel referred to them as "They Must Be Giants" when they performed "Your Racist Friend" on the Today Show to promote the release of Flood.

"Lady Is a Tramp" is a cover of a song from the Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms.

Track listing

All songs by They Might Be Giants unless otherwise noted.

Side one
  1. "Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal" – 3:48
  2. "Lady Is a Tramp" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 1:20
  3. "Birds Fly" – 1:25
  4. "The World's Address" [Joshua Fried Remix] – 5:42
  5. "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon" – 1:59
  6. "I'll Sink Manhattan" – 2:32
  7. "It's Not My Birthday" – 1:52
  8. "Hello Radio" - 0:56
  9. "Mr. Klaw" – 1:19
Side two
  1. "Kiss Me, Son of God" [Alternate Version] – 1:52
  2. "The Biggest One" – 1:22
  3. "For Science" – 1:19
  4. "13" – 2:33
  5. "(She Was a) Hotel Detective" [Single Mix] – 2:20
  6. "The Famous Polka" – 1:33
  7. "When It Rains It Snows" – 1:33
  8. "We're the Replacements" – 1:50
  9. "Don't Let's Start" [Single Mix] – 2:34

References

  1. ^ a b "They Might Be Giants". Trouser Press. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Miscellaneous T at AllMusic. Retrieved 28 June 2006.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert. "CG: They Might Be Giants". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  4. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 120.
  5. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1139.
  6. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 808. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  7. ^ a b Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. pp. 401–402.
  8. ^ "They Might Be Giants | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  9. ^ Then: The Earlier Years liner notes.