Lincoln (album)

Lincoln is the second studio album by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released by Bar/None in 1988. The album is named after John Linnell and John Flansburgh's boyhood home of Lincoln, Massachusetts. The album produced three singles—"Ana Ng", "They'll Need a Crane", and "Purple Toupee". It is included on Then: The Earlier Years, a compilation of the band's early material, in its entirety.

Style

Lincoln maintains the range of musical styles present on the previous album, They Might Be Giants, and lyrically attempts to merge word play into narrative songs. Lyrical themes are broadened with the inclusion of songs detailing troubled romantic relationships ("Ana Ng", "They'll Need a Crane", "I've Got a Match"),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and songs that verge on social or political satire ("Purple Toupee", "Kiss Me, Son of God"),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> whereas musically, the album explores a number of genres. For example, songs such as "Cowtown" and "Mr. Me" incorporate elements of sea shanties, while "Lie Still, Little Bottle" suggests a jazz influence.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Like previous releases, Lincoln does not utilize a full band arrangement. Instead, bass and drum tracks are entirely synthetic or sampled, with the exception of live drums on "Lie Still, Little Bottle". The drum tracks on the album were produced with an Alesis HR-16 drum machine.<ref>Stated by John Linnell in a 1999 online chat (archived here)</ref> The album featured The Ordinaires, a nonet which was also signed to the Bar/None label, providing the arrangement for "Kiss Me, Son of God".<ref name="liner" />

Release

As of 1999, the album had sold more than 200,000 copies, double the amount of the previous album.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Packaging

The cover art depicts a shrine built by Brian Dewan and photographed by Carol Kitman.<ref name="liner">Lincoln liner notes.</ref> Two slightly different versions of the cover photograph exist: one that was used for domestic releases, and another that was used for all releases outside the United States with the exception of the Australian releases and Italian CD. The two men pictured behind the lecterns in the shrine are John Linnell's great-grandfather, Lewis T. Linnell (left), and Flansburgh's maternal grandfather, Brigadier General Ralph Hospital (right).<ref>According to this unofficial FAQ, this was stated in the Fall, 1991 issue of "They", the fan club magazine; it was also noted in the "TMBG Info Club" newsletter, Fall 1994 (archived here).</ref><ref>Generals of World War II - Ralph Hospital was an Artillery Commander for the American forces.</ref>

The artwork for the album was designed by John Flansburgh.<ref>Flansburgh's response to a question submitted to a Tumblr blog administered by the band</ref> The CD and LP labels feature diagrams of an accordion and accordion case, which were drawn by John Linnell.<ref>Pitchfork magazine, 1996</ref>

Reception

Lincoln received generally positive reviews. David Kissinger of Rolling Stone called the album "every bit as eccentric as its predecessor, and even more eclectic", though this was supplemented with the disclaimer that "[a]t times this penchant for the bizarre leads them into pointlessly sophomoric zaniness". Robert Christgau of The Village Voice described the band as "actively annoying even if intelligence is all you ask of your art-pop" and called the album's hooks "cleverness for cleverness's sake", nonetheless conceding that "damned clever they are."<ref name="Christgau"/> The album placed at number 78 on PitchforkTemplate:'s 100 Best Albums of the 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The album peaked at number 89 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart in 1989, spending 19 weeks on that chart. Its success led to They Might Be Giants' signing to the major label Elektra Records in 1990. Lincoln also generated the band's first charting single, "Ana Ng", which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.<ref>[[[:Template:BillboardURLbyName]] Billboard.com] "Lincoln - They Might Be Giants". Retrieved 2012-10-12.</ref> The single, which was only released promotionally in the United States, also received positive attention. Christgau praised it as "a beyond-perfect tour de force about a Vietnamese woman they never got to meet". The other singles from the album, "They'll Need a Crane" and "Purple Toupee", failed to chart, though both songs and the track "Kiss Me, Son of God" received praise from Stewart Mason of Allmusic.

In his review of Lincoln, Robert Christgau cited "Purple Toupee" as a potential highlight from the album's A-side, though not as strong as the lead single "Ana Ng". He describes the song as "antiboomer".<ref name="christgau" /> The track was also designated as an Allmusic "pick". Writing for Allmusic, Stewart Mason lauds the song's "infectious tune" and adds that the chorus is "among the duo's most endearing and memorable". Like Christgau, Mason speculates that it carries a baby-boomer theme from the perspective of a confused child of the 1960s.<ref name="allmusic toupee" /> In an Allmusic review of the full album, Stephen Thomas Erlewine also names "Purple Toupee" one of the album's strong "pop hooks".<ref name="allmusic lincoln" />

Singles

Purple Toupee

"Purple Toupee" is a 1988 song from the album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was released as a promotional single in 1989. In 1994, a live performance of the song was recorded for the promotional live album, Live!! New York City 10/14/94, which was released by Elektra Records. According to John Linnell, the song's disjointed lyrics recount a warped memory of the 1960s. The song comments on a contemporary "sixties revival", which Linnell perceived as a "one-dimensional caricature" of the decade.<ref name="DeMain" /> In a nod to this inauthenticity, the lyrics are intentionally misleading, and do not accurately represent the events that they reference.<ref name="staythirsty" /> Two Prince songs—"Purple Rain" and "Raspberry Beret"—also served as sources of inspiration for "Purple Toupee".<ref name="DeMain" />

Bar/None Records advertised "Purple Toupee" by pasting fake labels on 8-track tapes by other artists. The cartridges, disguised as a release from TMBG, were mailed to radio stations, in addition to CDs that actually contained the song.<ref name="tribune" /> The song had a music video directed by Helene Silverman, who had previously done graphic design work with the band.<ref name="silverman" /> The video was filmed at Coney Island and features John Linnell and John Flansburgh playing accordion and guitar, respectively, at Astroland Park.<ref name="dfb" />

"Purple Toupee" was intended for release as an EP with three B-sides. It was listed as a release for 12" vinyl, CD, and cassette. The following tracks were presented on the band's B-side compilation, Miscellaneous T:

1. "Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal"
2. "Lady Is a Tramp"
3. "Birds Fly"

The songs were also included on a 2013 reissue of Lincoln in Australian markets by Breakaway Records.<ref name="noise11" />

Notes

• "Lady Is a Tramp" is a cover of the Rogers & Hart song.

Personnel

Track numbers refer to CD track list.

They Might Be Giants<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• John Flansburgh – lead vocals (2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17), electric guitar (1, 2, 4–6, 8–12, 14, 16), trumpet (3, 13), backing vocals (4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 14, 18), acoustic guitar (6, 7, 9, 14, 17), melodica (17)
• John Linnell – lead vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14–16, 18), backing vocals (1, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17), accordion (1, 4, 7, 8, 11, 15–17), autoharp (1, 9), clarinet (2), keyboard (2, 6, 9–14, 16–18), baritone saxophone (3, 15), bass saxophone (5, 10, 13), bass harmonica (7), tenor saxophone (15), banjo (16)

Additional musicians

• Lisa Klapp – bridge monologue (1)
• Kenneth Nolan – drums (3)
• Unknown – glockenspiel (15)
• The Ordinaires – arrangement (18)

Production

• Brian Dewan – cover art
• Al Houghton – engineer
• Carol Kitman – cover photography
• Bill Krauss – producer

Charts

Chart performance for Lincoln

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref name="ARIA history pages">Template:Cite web N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.</ref>	116

External links

• Lincoln at This Might Be a Wiki
• Purple Toupee EP on This Might Be A Wiki
• "Purple Toupee" (song) on This Might Be A Wiki
• Issue of SPIN containing an advertisement for the aborted Purple Toupee EP