Don't Let's Start: A Podcast About They Might Be Giants

Latest Episodes:

70: FACTORY SHOWROOM Part 1: We Can Never Go Home Again May 23, 2025

Show notes

This is the way the description part goes! We are X-tra excited to clear our throats and begin our viewing of They Might Be Giants' 1996 album Factory Showroom! Unnoticed by few, beloved by many!

First, we can't get away from a song that really fell between the grating, only appearing if you rewind to track 0 on the original CD, Token Back to Brooklyn!

Then you gotta understand what S-E-X-X-Y is all about. Jordan and Dave talk more than enough around the clock with nobody else about this startlingly steamy song and the infamous fan interpretations!

But we're not done, and we won't be until we suspiciously change the subject to Till My Head Falls Off! Is it sad or empowering? I'm not done typing yet...!

69: GRAB BAG #3: Can You Keep A Secret? Apr 07, 2025

Show notes

Episode 69 and feeling fine! In this calm before the storm of Factory Showroom, we reach into the big old floppy grab bag and yank out five rare, special, unique, singular and startling songs not officially released by They Might Be Giants. We dare not reveal which ones, but let's just say they feature Johns Linnell and Flansburgh singing about some strange and varied topics. Don't delay and press play!

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68: Letterbox 3: I Won By Not Even Trying Mar 03, 2025

Show notes

That sexy E-Mail fairy has arrived again and left behind a huge backlog of letters from you, you, and also you! Topics addressed include our opinions on The Spine and The Else! What song would we leave off John Henry? What other bands are we experts on? Plus listener insights into Dinner Bell, Fake Out in Buenos Aires, Hell Hotel, It's Not My Birthday, and Mono Puff stuff! We also discuss some of the latest and most contagious news from the world of They Might Be Giants!

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67: Interview with Don't I Have the Right singer Nancy Lynn Howell! Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

A very special guest on John Flansburgh's Mono Puff album becomes a very special guest on the Don't Let's Start podcast! Nancy Lynn Howell, singer of Don't I Have the Right, talks to us about recording the song with Flansburgh, the special occasion where she performed it live, and we get to hear rare, exclusive recordings of her short-lived super group with Laura Cantrell and Robin Goldwasser! Plus we highlight a handful of tracks from her wonderful discography to discuss.

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66: MONO PUFF - UNSUPERVISED B-Sides & Demos: More To Go Around Dec 31, 2024

Show notes

Now I wanna talk to everyone about Mono Puff b-sides and demos! Alongside the album Unsupervised (by They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh) came The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Rocking) single! It's full of odds and ends, balls and...friends??

First, Flansburgh covers a fellow b-side from fellow song genius Mr. Frank Black, the one and only Oddball! We listen to both versions and discover that every Oddball is different! But there's much more going on in a hidden gem called Tryptophane! And if we're not calm, we soon will be when we groove out to the long, hypnotic, slow funk mystery of The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Remade)! Slow, slow, Satan, slow!

And if that wasn't enough, we keep grooving on and moving on to the demos that made up Unsupervised! All your friends are here: Dr. Kildare! What Bothers The Spacem(e)n! Nixon's The One, and so much more! Plus a special seedy discussion of Plain As The Lie On Your Lips, a rare John Linnell song written alongside Flansburgh's own torch song, Don't I Have The Right! The hour has come and gone and talk is cheap, so get listenin'!

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65: MONO PUFF - UNSUPERVISED Part 3: I Hate You So Nov 14, 2024

Show notes

We laid low, but now we're back, and you'll be happy as a scarecrow listening to our so-long episode finishing up John Flansburgh's debut album Unsupervised from his supergroup Mono Puff!

Who'll teach you all about the history of Dr. Kildare (the man, the show, the song)? We will! I can read your mind, you want us to then discuss the quiet resentment of So Long, Mockingbird, correct? I don't mind!

Because you've been so good all year long, we're going to fulfill your one Christmas wish and unwrap Careless Santa! What's perfect these days? How about our discussion of Don't I Have The Right?, featuring an interview with singer Nancy Lynn Howell!?

The only thing we ask is that you trust us, as we naively march along with To Serve Mankind, and peruse the Twilight Zone episode that inspired the song! When you look back and weigh everything we've done, you will realize this episode can only end with a secret oval office recording of our confidential discussion of Nixon's The One! If you leave us we'll be destroyed, so press play NOW!

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64: MONO PUFF - UNSUPERVISED Part 2: Go, Satan, Go Sep 12, 2024

Show notes

Did you miss us when we were away? Jordan "Mono" Cooper and Dave "Puff" Fox are back to go song by everlovin' song through Mono Puff's totally rocking debut album, Unsupervised! We've got devils, we've got spacemen, step right up, people!

First there's nowhere we can go except into a context-heavy discussion of Don't Break The Heart, the Amy Rigby classic given a John Flansburgh reimagining! But don't stray too far, because next up, if you listen real close to your radios you just might isolate the sound of us hearing and understanding Distant Antenna!

Dude, if you're sick of waiting, things will be looking rad if you surf right over to The Devil Went Down To Newport (Totally Rocking)! Then walk far from the crowd, past the trees and step up to the plate to find out What Bothers The Spaceman! And finally, we revisit and say Hello Hello to the rompiest stompiest glam rock cover song you've ever heard! Tell all your friends we're back!

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63: MONO PUFF - UNSUPERVISED Part 1: When I Digress Aug 14, 2024

Show notes

I hear the phone ring, and it's John Flansburgh's solo project Mono Puff calling! Back in the day, we were distracted by They Might Be Giants, but now we're hear to sing the praises of this strange yet cohesive collection of side-project gold!

Your appreciative hosts Jordan and Dave go into the formation of Mono Puff, the inspiration behind the band name, an investigation into the band members, and ask deep, challenging, philosophical questions like: could these be TMBG songs?

We strap on our gig bags and rock out to Guitar Was The Case, then strap on our sad bags as we ponder our mortality during Unsupervised, I Hit My Head. We had a real good time, AND SO WILL YOU!

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62: Interview with "Weird Al" Yankovic! Jun 08, 2024

Show notes

A while back Jordan and Dave produced an obsessive, second-by-second breakdown of "Weird Al" Yankovic's They Might Be Giants style parody, Everything You Know Is Wrong, off of his 1996 album Bad Hair Day. This meticulous analysis became our most popular YouTube video, and it turns out one of those precious YouTube views was none other than Mr. Al Yankovic himself! Now Al comes on our show to react, reflect, and remark upon our work, and talk about the writing and recording process behind the TMBG tribute! What I really mean to say is OH MY GOD WEIRD AL IS ON OUR SHOW! Enjoy the heck out of this!

Watch our youtube video about the song here:
https://youtu.be/JjmqMTJeq_E?si=cUsjQHZd2BavHpPG

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61: 80s Demos - Part 3: Welcome To Hell Hotel Apr 29, 2024

Show notes

Salutations! Or have you seen this episode? Jordan and Dave's pain is your karma as they exchange some fighting words and complete their archival dig through the 1980s demos of They Might Be Giants (for now.) We're here to make you happy, as half of this episode is our long awaited and belated Hell Hotel discussion! Is the song based on a Twilight Zone episode? Is that an Outer Limits reference? Why wasn't this song ever on an album? Who is Sebastian C.? WHAT DOES HE MEAN BY THIS? We also listen to some hellish demos of the demo!

Then we might be chewing on a pair of feet as we listen to early versions of They Might Be Giants (the song.) Finally, the people are so happy now that we're closing out the 1985 demo tape with the wild and woolly demo of Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes! All this, plus a surprise rare bonus song! Va-va-va-voom this is a sweet life! ALBATROSS!

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