Rhino records will release Dial-A-Song: Twenty Years of They Might Be Giants on September 3rd, a fifty-two track compilation that, as promised in the title, spans the two decade career of Johns Flansburgh and Linnell.

The two-CD set will include a trio of previously unreleased tracks -- live versions of "She's Actual Size," "Spy" and "Stormy Pinkness" -- in addition to a handful of odds and ends that had appeared on soundtracks, including "Dr. Evil" from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and the group's Grammy-winning "Boss of Me" from Malcolm in the Middle. The remainder of the songs were culled from They Might Be Giants's nine studio albums, from 1986's They Might Be Giants to the just-released children's album, No!. Most thoroughly represented is the band's best-selling album, 1990's Flood, from which seven songs were drawn.

"I think our entire career is 'the other way of doing it,' pretty much all the way down the line," Flansburgh says. "And that's very exciting for us. We're happy to be an example of something that works outside of the regular way it works. Just simply because of the contempt we have for the world." In addition to promoting No!, the Giants are also working on their next adult album, the follow-up to last year's Mink Car. "It's interesting, you do something like [No!], and then you can go back to exploring adult images again," Flansburgh says. "It's really good to keep yourself challenged. I think I've come to realize one of the reasons so many bands fade out is they feel like they only do one thing well. We probably only do one thing well -- or we may not even do it that well -- but, more importantly, we pretend that we can do more than one thing well."

The duo is also planning to begin a lengthy tour of the U.S. to celebrate their anniversary. The jaunt will launch in July and run through August, before taking a short break and resuming in October and November. "Basically, wherever you live," Flansburgh says, "like it or not, we're coming to your town [laughs]."

Track listing for Dial-A-Song:

Disc One

Birdhouse in Your Soul
Ana NG
Don't Let's Start
Boss of Me
Older
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
Doctor Worm
The Guitar
Dr. Evil
New York City
Particle Man
Cyclops Rock
Minimum Wage
Man, It's So Loud in Here
We're the Replacements
Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)
Your Racist Friend
Bangs
Snail Shell
Twisting
Another First Kiss
They'll Need a Crane
The Statue Got Me High
(She Was a) Hotel Detective
Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head
I Palindrome I

Disc Two

She's an Angel
How Can I Sing Like a Girl
James K. Polk
Meet James Ensor
Mammal
Pet Name
No!
I Can Hear You
Spider
I Should Be Allowed to Think
Fingertips
She's Actual Size
Spy
Stormy Pinkness
Exquisite Dead Guy
Robot Parade
Boat of Car
S-E-X-X-Y
Number Three
The End of the Tour
They Might Be Giants
Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal
Nightgown of the Sullen Moon
Snowball in Hell
Purple Toupee
Cowtown

They Might Be Giants tour dates:

7/12: Denver, CO, AT&T LoDo Music Festival
7/13: Park City, UT, Harry O's
7/14: Boise, ID, Big Easy
7/16: San Francisco, The Fillmore
7/19: Portland, OR, Crystal Ballroom
7/20: Seattle, Paramount Theater
7/21: Seattle, Sky Church at Experience Music Project
7/23: Petaluma, CA, Mystic Theater
7/24: Santa Cruz, CA, The Catalyst
7/25: San Diego, 4th and B
7/26: Los Angeles, John Anson Ford Theater
7/27: Anaheim, CA, House of Blues
7/28: Las Vegas, House of Blues
7/29: Scottsdale, AZ, Cajun House
8/15: New York, Central Park SummerStage

ANDREW DANSBY
(June 19, 2002)