Get ur geek on, fuckers! (Use of Á¢€Ëœfuckers!Á¢€â„¢ at the end of brief opening sentence copyright of Jeff Giles Inc. All rights reserved.)
First off, if youÁ¢€â„¢re a fan of They Might Be Giants but have not yet bought their most recent childrenÁ¢€â„¢s album Here Come the 123s, what the hell ya waitinÁ¢€â„¢ fer? ItÁ¢€â„¢s awesome. Seriously, even if you donÁ¢€â„¢t have kids, get it for the two Á¢€Å“SevenÁ¢€ songs alone.
History points to Flood, They Might Be GiantsÁ¢€â„¢ 1990 major label debut, as their halcyon moment, and while thatÁ¢€â„¢s true, it doesnÁ¢€â„¢t tell the whole story. The fact is that many fans were rather upset with the Johns for the slick production they employed on the album, not to mention a sillier lyrical approach. (The band corrected this Á¢€Å“mistakeÁ¢€ on their next album, 1992Á¢€â„¢s Apollo 18, and to no oneÁ¢€â„¢s surprise, it sold a fraction of the copies that Flood sold.) For many, however, this was their introduction to the band, and the newcomers didnÁ¢€â„¢t mind the new style. Indeed, youÁ¢€â„¢d be hard pressed to find a better one-two punch than Á¢€Å“Birdhouse in Your SoulÁ¢€ and their cover of the Four Lads tune Á¢€Å“Istanbul (Not Constantinople).Á¢€ (One-two-three punch if you count Á¢€Å“Particle Man.Á¢€) Á¢€Å“BirdhouseÁ¢€ was the MTV favorite, but the band tried something different with the next single. What would be a funny thing to do with a fiddle-heavy cover of a song from the Á¢€Ëœ50s?
The answer: let a couple hip-hop DJs remix it.
Oh, those silly remixers and their dialogue sampling. It’s all Prince PaulÁ¢€â„¢s fault, you know. Once De La SoulÁ¢€â„¢s 3 Feet High and Rising became a hit, everyone started trying to out-skit their peers. Not even Fine Young Cannibals records were exempt from Prince PaulÁ¢€â„¢s silliness. (Check out his mix of Á¢€Å“Good Thing,Á¢€ if you can find it.) And speaking of De La Soul, the signature drum beat from Á¢€Å“Me, Myself and IÁ¢€ Á¢€” which surely has roots in a soul song from the Á¢€Ëœ70s that IÁ¢€â„¢m not aware of Á¢€” makes frequent appearances here, as does Janet JacksonÁ¢€â„¢s Á¢€Å“editÁ¢€ from Shep PettiboneÁ¢€â„¢s mixes of Á¢€Å“Miss You Much.Á¢€ And, is thatÁ¢€¦Kraftwerk? Yep, Á¢€Å“The RobotsÁ¢€ is here, too. Does it make sense? Not really, but thatÁ¢€â„¢s rather fitting in the TMBG universe, isnÁ¢€â„¢t it? Besides, as odd as this mix is, itÁ¢€â„¢s as good as They Might Be Giants remixes got, as anyone who heard those spacey mixes of Á¢€Å“The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)Á¢€ can attest.
And now, for your viewing pleasure, we present the Tiny Toons video for Á¢€Å“Istanbul,Á¢€ which is about as genius a collaboration as youÁ¢€â„¢re likely to find. Man, how did we not see these childrenÁ¢€â„¢s albums coming from a mile away?
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They Might Be Giants Á¢€” Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (Brownsville Mix)
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