Apollo 18 (album)
Fourth studio album by They Might Be Giants.
The album title references NASA's canceled Apollo 18 moon mission.[1] Its cover depicts a giant squid fighting a sperm whale in space, using graphics found at the NASA Archive Center.[1]
Quick Facts
- Artist
- They Might Be Giants
- Released
- March 24, 1992
- Recorded
- September 1991 – January 1992
- Studio
- Magic Shop, New York City
- Genre
- Alternative rock
- indie rock
- funk rock
- Length
- 42:37
- Label
- Elektra
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Elektra Records wanted Elvis Costello to produce the album, but John Linnell and John Flansburgh chose to produce it themselves.[2] The album's press release stated that the duo sought to incorporate "extreme song arrangements" and new sounds.[3] The album peaked at number 99 on the Billboard 200 on April 11, 1992.[4] The tour was named after the Gadsden flag and the "Join, or Die" cartoon.[5]
The band became the official "musical ambassadors" for the International Space Year in 1992.[6]
What the cited sources add
The album's press release noted that "Dig My Grave" had vocals recorded through a guitar fuzz-box.[3] The press release also stated that the album was one of the first compact discs to take advantage of CD player shuffle mode.[3] A 1992 information bulletin reported that the correct Dial-A-Song phone number was (718) 387-6962, not the misprinted number on the album.[7] The same bulletin explained that the "Fingertips" suite consists of 21 separate tracks designed to shuffle with the album's 17 full-length songs.[7]
The band's assistant manager Bo Orloff sent email updates to the mailing list between 1992 and 1993.[8]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dig My Grave | 1:08 | |
| 2 | I Palindrome I | 2:25 | |
| 3 | She's Actual Size | 2:05 | |
| 4 | My Evil Twin | 2:37 | |
| 5 | Mammal | 2:14 | |
| 6 | The Statue Got Me High | 3:06 | |
| 7 | Spider | 0:50 | |
| 8 | The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) | Flansburgh, Linnell, Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss | 3:49 |
| 9 | Dinner Bell | 2:11 | |
| 10 | Narrow Your Eyes | 2:46 | |
| 11 | Hall of Heads | 2:53 | |
| 12 | Which Describes How You're Feeling | 1:13 | |
| 13 | See the Constellation | 3:27 | |
| 14 | If I Wasn't Shy | 1:43 | |
| 15 | Turn Around | 2:53 | |
| 16 | Hypnotist of Ladies | 1:42 | |
| 17 | Fingertips 1: Everything's Catching on Fire | 0:12 | |
| 18 | Fingertips 2: Fingertips | 0:06 | |
| 19 | Fingertips 3: I Hear the Wind Blow | 0:10 | |
| 20 | Fingertips 4: Hey Now Everybody | 0:05 | |
| 21 | Fingertips 5: Who's That Standing out My Window? | 0:06 | |
| 22 | Fingertips 6: I Found a New Friend | 0:07 | |
| 23 | Fingertips 7: Come on and Wreck My Car | 0:12 | |
| 24 | Fingertips 8: Aren't You the Guy Who Hit Me in the Eye? | 0:07 | |
| 25 | Fingertips 9: Please Pass the Milk | 0:08 | |
| 26 | Fingertips 10: Leave Me Alone | 0:05 | |
| 27 | Fingertips 11: Who's Knocking on the Wall? | 0:04 | |
| 28 | Fingertips 12: All Alone | 0:05 | |
| 29 | Fingertips 13: What's That Blue Thing Doing Here? | 0:08 | |
| 30 | Fingertips 14: Something Grabbed Ahold of My Hand | 0:12 | |
| 31 | Fingertips 15: I Don't Understand You | 0:27 | |
| 32 | Fingertips 16: I Heard a Sound | 0:04 | |
| 33 | Fingertips 17: Mysterious Whisper | 0:28 | |
| 34 | Fingertips 18: The Day That Love Came to Play | 0:08 | |
| 35 | Fingertips 19: I'm Having a Heart Attack | 0:22 | |
| 36 | Fingertips 20: Fingertips | 0:10 | |
| 37 | Fingertips 21: I Walk Along Darkened Corridors | 1:01 | |
| 38 | Space Suit | 1:36 | |
| Total length | 42:37 | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Statue Got Me High | 3:06 |
| 2 | Which Describes How You're Feeling (demo) | 1:24 |
| 3 | I'm Def | 1:08 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Palindrome I | 2:22 |
| 2 | Cabbagetown | 2:24 |
| 3 | Siftin' | 1:54 |
| 4 | Larger Than Life | 4:17 |
Track listing from the source article.
References
- Wikipedia, "Apollo 18 (album)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Q&A – Apollo 18", TMBG.com; Williams, "Apollo 18 through 20 – The Canceled Missions", NASA NSSDC; Jackson, Joab (May 1992). "How They Might Be Giants Became the House Band for NASA". New Route.; "Apollo 18", Elektra Records, 1992; Orloff, "Summer 1992", They Might Be Giants, 1992; "Apollo 18", Elektra Records, 1992; "The Statue Got Me High", Elektra Records, 1992 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Apollo 18 (album)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: They Might Be Giants, "Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)", Plexifilm, 2003; Orloff, "TMBG Online Information Bulletin 1.1", They Might Be Giants, February 7, 1992; "Apollo 18", Elektra Records, 1992; Orloff, "TMBG Online Information Bulletin 1.1", They Might Be Giants, February 7, 1992; "Q&A – Apollo 18", TMBG.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Orloff, "TMBG Online Information Bulletin 1.1", They Might Be Giants, February 7, 1992. facts only, no text reused. tmbw.net
- Wikipedia, "Apollo 18 (album)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Artists / They Might Be Giants – Chart History"; Ryan 2011, p. 277. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Apollo 18 (album)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Orloff, "Fall 1992", They Might Be Giants, 1992; Flansburgh, John and John Linnell (1992). Interview by Jay Leno. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.; Orloff, "Summer 1992", They Might Be Giants, 1992; Linnell, "The Weird and the Wired", Night Sites & Sounds, August 1992; Linnell, John (May 1992). "They Might Be Twisted". Interview by Tom Cornell. The Music Revue.; They Might Be Giants, "Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)", Plexifilm, 2003; Santo, Jim (November 1994). "Beat the Machine". The Music Paper. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Apollo 18 (album)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bresnick, Adam (May 1992). "They Might Be Giants". Creem.; "They Might Be Giants Interview", Throwrug, 1992; "Apollo 18", Elektra Records, 1992; Jackson, Joab (May 1992). "How They Might Be Giants Became the House Band for NASA". New Route.; Sindelar, "President Bush Launches International Space Year", NASA, January 24, 1992; Rumpus. October 1992. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Orloff, "Summer 1992", They Might Be Giants, 1992. facts only, no text reused. tmbw.net
- Wikipedia, "Apollo 18 (album)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Orloff, "TMBG Online Information Bulletin 1.0", They Might Be Giants, February 7, 1992; Orloff, "TMBG Online Information Bulletin 1.1", They Might Be Giants, February 7, 1992; Orloff, "TMBG Online Information Bulletin 1.2", They Might Be Giants, February 7, 1992; Orloff, "TMBG Online Information Bulletin 2.1", They Might Be Giants, May 19, 1992 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Apollo 18 (album) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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