They Might Be Giants Perform "Shoehorn with Teeth" and "Don't Let's Start" on MTV

Live on MTV, August 17, 1988. CARPET HATS.

[@davekannikal5036]

Man, the absolute balls to come out with those hats and do "shoehorn" in front of that crowd...legendary

[@Tadesan]

Seriously! That’s the most punk thing I’ve ever seen.

[@TheHutchy01]

The only time in history "Shoehorn with Teeth" has also meant "please don't beat us up"

[@mistikarecenzo]

Let's just say they have lucky balls and a chain

[@finscontingencyplan7005]

Imagine. It’s ‘88, you’re hanging out with some friends, you’re all into punk rock and metal and you hear there’s a new, kinda-punk band called They Might Be Giants, and one of your friends says they’re good. So you all file into the MTV music hall ready to see this band as they perform on tv. The announcer welcomes them and John and John, doing accompanying hand motions and wearing rolled up carpets on their heads, perform “Shoehorn With Teeth.”

[@snakes7303]

Great time

[@randymillhouse791]

Sorry, but that is where my eyes don't go...

[@glitchsister]

I'd tell them "this is fucked" and be out back smoking a marlboro

[@KingfisherTalkingPictures]

I saw them at the their first San Francisco show, and we all knew what we were there for. We were all guys in our early 20s singing every lyric, and pogoing around while confused girlfriends lurked in the corners.

[@ellam1121]

0:12 AND THE CROWD GOES NONVERBAL 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@finscontingencyplan7005]

Hilarious desicion to use Shoehorn With Teeth

[@phlog_dog7336]

What are you talking about? Shoehorn with Teeth is their biggest hit single ever!

[@octangula7914]

Flans looks so intense while performing Shoehorn

[@ryannn39]

It's an intense song

[@thequeenofnanobots]

its likes hes speaking to them directly 💀

[@Chikin1ninjas]

Ah don't want to live in this world anymore, AAAAUUGGH

[@DoraRobertson]

My brain for the last 15 years

[@mobius273]

aaa

[@jaclynzinck4241]

😂😂😂😂😂 that had me DEAD

[@Mauriciogarciamendezlolpucce]

He certainly went hard on that one.

[@Paul-dw2cl]

@@Mauriciogarciamendezlolpucce HAMF

[@MegaDoomdoomDoom]

The audience looks perplexed...poor Johns.

[@daveidmarx8296]

They weren't ready for this level of greatness in 1988. I know - I was there!

[@mgabrysSF]

@@daveidmarx8296 - I asked Flansburgh about their first Letterman appearance (after a concert in St Louis in 1990) and he said pretty much the same thing.

[@MrTayloreh]

forgot about this song! what a ballsy opener

[@theymight6443]

weirding out the audience with Shoehorn. bold.

[@sophielancaster3727]

I am fully in love with John Linnell

[@Persun_McPersonson]

We all are, we can't help it. 😔

[@thelump8519]

I love em both. Funny little fellas

[@floridaflamingogirl3119]

@@thelump8519 wicked little crittas

[@thebigragu9952]

I’m a Flan-Man.

[@marissablank7561]

I love them both, but John has such pretty eyes. Which John? Exactly

[@magnummitzvah5245]

That audience is scary af. I have never seen such stiffs. Must have a had a bad encounter with a shoe horn in their youth...

[@seanfennel4845]

When concerts are recorded for TV they often ask the audience to be silent so they don't muffle the music on the recording.

[@lyinsroar9637]

to be fair, I would be scared too if I saw these guys for the first time

[@thebrutusmars]

It was also 1988. TMBG’s style of music was still mostly an emerging genre at the time. It was gaining traction, but it was still relatively new.

[@karma_tography]

but theres no such thing?

[@benrat2113]

@@karma_tography nice job getting the joke

[@cardigansarecool]

I didn't know TMBG were this punk

[@phlog_dog7336]

TMBG is weird. It’s got the nerdy aesthetic and lyrics, but punk ethos.

[@phlog_dog7336]

Actually, scratch that, TMBG is just weird.

[@InvisiblerApple]

@@phlog_dog7336 Nerdy aesthetic, goth lyrics, punk ethos.

[@phlog_dog7336]

the Golden Spider-Duck my sentiments exactly, you son of a bitch.

[@karma_tography]

@@phlog_dog7336 i understood that reference (manonam)

[@mobius273]

3:45 truly iconic

[@noose-db8li]

Thank you morbius

[@WannabeMarysue]

Thank you morbius

[@midnightcowboy1969]

the audience is giving me “forced to watch middle school talent show” vibes 😩

[@CommunityGuidelines]

I remember watching this as a kid!! The show was a political rally for a fictional MTV character called "Randy of the Redwoods" who was running for President in 1988. I specifically watched it to catch TMBG's appearance. I've wondered about it over the years but never thought I'd see it again... thanks for uploading such a rare clip! ^_^

[@ThreadBomb]

Thanks for context.

[@TedPeeples]

​@@ThreadBombThank you for saying what I was thinking.

[@camerongrich]

Flans rockin the shit outta that guitar..he is a great musician, his guitar always sounds like the volume is a little too low tho, although it does compliment the music well. I kinda wish his guitar was as loud as this in all the songs tho..

[@ianmichalski7997]

So you're saying he should turn it up? The guitar?

[@guycantspell]

@@ianmichalski7997 LOLL

[@jackdoe3990]

3:42 Made me lose my shit.

[@CardboardOdyssey]

How do those rugs stay on their heads? Magic?

[@daveidmarx8296]

The sheer will of the People

[@ThreadBomb]

They are wearing prosthetic foreheads.

[@funnyusername8635]

This question was asked 9 years ago but now you have me wondering the same thing.

[@floridaflamingogirl3119]

They put pieces of cardboard on their foreheads and then fastened the fabric around them with Velcro so that it stood up stiff.

[@LorchestralRecordingCompany]

Love Flans' guitar performance on this

[@Jivolt]

Lincoln era gold. Crowd: “We suck.” The Johns: Bonkers fun time.

[@florence9978]

This is why I wish I could have been around in the 80s! TMGB are my favourite band ever!!

[@mr.drearygiraffe6005]

1:25 the mic kept shocking him lmao

[@rattyeely]

I think he's just twitchy

[@OMGicantwayyyyyyyyyy]

That’s some fucking intense guitar hey

[@LuigyEstrella]

I am living for Linnell's 4th wall break at 0:07

[@Peepawpeep]

He wants a shoehorn, the kind with teeth 👁️👁️

[@mister_mandrake]

he just looks so done with everything and wants to get that song over with

[@eokay7228]

i love JL so much

[@Hawkathone]

I love how enthusiastic John is here at: 3:41!

[@atticuskorman8600]

Anyone else notice Flans almost stomping on that guys arms at 1:46 ?

[@oldman_thompson]

This was when I discovered They Might Be Giants. I think I was 11.

[@nolimit6377]

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

[@FreedomDaveX]

They might be candy bars.

[@davie5045]

JAKAJAJAJ nice comment

[@justyoutube5670]

And now this word from 3 Musketeers!

[@cyandinomashups]

3:46.

[@deprivedwinstinchurhill]

They might be epic... No just giants

[@PabloCruz641]

prosthetic foreheads

[@chulumpthebigmoneywizard851]

Throw the crib door wide

[@Tadesan]

Band IQ- 169 Audience IQ- 81

[@jaclynzinck4241]

The reason why the audience is so stuff is because they’re weirded out since they’ve never seen such creativity in music before

[@MrTayloreh]

so punk, I love it.

[@corylamond6294]

They Might Be Giants, making great music since 1982

[@shaetullmusic]

THANYUH

[@lefthandderivative]

3:42 tears in my eyes this is beautiful

[@gavinwieland3707]

Awesome song.

[@spindletopcenter]

I love these guys

[@phillipbrowne8132]

Because it is a live performance; artistic license allows for such changes in a live show and is the reason people like going to concerts.

[@jeromesage]

where's William Allen White? I had no idea what to do when i saw the giant Whiteheads at my first TMBG show at the now defunct Village Gate on Bleeker St

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasdf]

Wow 2 of my favorite tracks live. Beautiful.

[@BaconTomatoCheese]

Love this… So punk👍

[@rointo]

Punkest show ever.

[@AngelusNielson]

OOF.. that crowd.

[@wafflehousemanager3558]

these are the type of guys that would get jumped at the 7/11 parking lot.

[@mobius273]

John and john fought god in a 7/11 parking lot and lost

[@lucasflowers2774]

and we love them for it

[@brendanb2982]

For stating their beliefs?

[@pretzelthedude]

Good lord that has got to be the most lethargic, Valium snorting, dead inside, Reagan era zombie's of an audience I think I've ever seen in any live video.

[@DaveDexterMusic]

Whenever I see people making comments like this about an audience, I always wonder what the fuck they're on about or expecting. Don't you hear them cheering and screaming and applauding? What's the minimum threshold you would accept for an engaged audience, writing "FUCK ME IN THE MOUTH, T.M.B.G" on their faces in blood?

[@dirt420]

to be fair maybe they were just taking in the performance lmao

[@dirt420]

and they were cheering bro

[@recordcollector0665]

Why were there so many overdubs on DLS? It sounded like they were playing over an instrumental of the studio version

[@zachsmith3]

They didn’t have a band

[@vernonhowl]

Great.

[@SusieTM]

I love this so much! Thanks for posting!

[@MasterOfKnowledge.]

Peak TMBG

[@Eyepocampix]

Do you guys see that one guy at the back at 2:31 bopping out? lmao

[@lefthandderivative]

i'd pay an amount equal to at least what those carpets cost to watch the looks on the people's faces 'cause they've got no idea what's going on lmao

[@pigglesy]

people should get beat up for stating their beliefs.Genius.

[@NuisanceMan]

I located two Mad Hatters but no March Hares. I'm puzzled.

[@cuezaireekaa]

that audience tho

[@CruceEntertainment]

I’m surprised people didn’t throw their shoes at them

[@fointnikfraudulant]

What venue is this? It looks like the filmore in SF.

[@recordcollector0665]

It’s The Palladium in NYc

[@philipsmith3968]

Do you use the Shoehorn With Teeth to put on the Cruel Shoes? Phil the Cat

[@screwzerulesihavebux]

first

[@markbisi8407]

People should get beat up for stating their beliefs.

[@MsAlliwannadoisdance]

No Glockenspiel? Pfffft!

[@butthurtz4764]

I WAS BORN IN THE WRONG GENERATION

[@jaclynzinck4241]

Me neither

[@bondfool]

I think TMBG were. They were ahead of their time and culture has finally caught up to them.

[@steelingcable6350]

_NiCE_ *Read more*

[@steelingcable6350]

I pranked myself