- John Linnell
Infobox musical artist
Name = John Linnell
Img_capt = John Linnell performing in November 2007
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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = John Sidney Linnell
Alias = Linnell
Born = birth date and age|1959|06|12
Died =
Origin = Lincoln,Massachusetts
Instrument =Accordion , keyboard,saxophone ,clarinet , others
Genre =Alternative rock
Occupation =
Years_active = 1980–present
Label =
Associated_acts =They Might Be Giants
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Notable_instruments =John Sidney Linnell (born
June 12 ,1959 ,New York City ,New York ), musician, is known primarily as one half ofBrooklyn, New York alternative rock duoThey Might Be Giants . In addition tosinging andsongwriting , he playsaccordion , baritone andbass saxophone ,clarinet , and keyboards for the group.Linnell's lyrics are perhaps most well-known for their inclusion of strange subject matter and
wordplay . Persistent themes includeaging , delusional behavior, bad relationships, death, and thepersonification of inanimate objects. Conversely, the accompanying melodies are usually cascading and upbeat.He is married and has one child, a son named Henry. Henry appeared as a performer on They Might Be Giants February 2005 children's release "
Here Come the ABCs " as well as They Might Be Giants February 2008 children's release "Here Come the 123s .They Might Be Giants
Linnell co-founded
They Might Be Giants in 1982 with high school friendJohn Flansburgh . While the two split singing and songwriting duties roughly in half, Linnell's songs enjoyed the most commercial success in their early years: singles like "Don't Let's Start " and "Ana Ng " introduced the band to college radio, and they made waves on the Billboard charts in 1990 with "Birdhouse in Your Soul ."Linnell described his role in the group during an interview for Splatter Effect in 1994:
In December 2005, the band began to produce a twice-monthly
podcast . Early on, Linnell frequently contributed humorous spoken-word pieces to the program.Side projects
Since 1994, Linnell has done some solo work: in that year he released the "
State Songs " EP, which he expanded to a full-length album in 1999. The EP and album's concept is intentionally misleading: U.S. states feature prominently in the title and chorus of each song, but have very little to do with their actual narratives: "Montana", for instance, is about the insane ramblings of somebody who is about to die; "Idaho" explores a famous rock story in whichJohn Lennon , having consumed hallucinogenic drugs, believed he could drive his house; "South Carolina" is about getting rich off of a bicycle accident.Other side-projects include the limited-release "House of Mayors" EP in 1996, and playing the accordion on
David Byrne 's 2004 effort, "Grown Backwards ".People magazine poll
In a People Magazine online poll - "The Most Beautiful People of 1998" - John Linnell finished ninth (with 4,189 votes, eight ahead of Sarah Michelle Gellar, and 1,038 behind Madonna). He responded to the curious poll results with [http://www.tmbg.org/cool/linnell/ an op-ed piece] in the
New York Times :He went on to say, of online voting:
External links
* [http://www.tmbg.com/ Official They Might Be Giants site]
* [http://www.tmbw.net/wiki/index.php/John_Linnell "John Linnell" at This Might Be a Wiki]
* [http://www.tmbg.org/cool/linnell/ John Linnell's New York Times article]
*imdb name | id = 0513057 | name = John Linnell
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