Grex Music2 Conference

Item 155: They might Be Giants

Entered by pez on Sat Oct 3 19:47:53 1998:

This band gets a new fan almost every time someone hears one
of their songs for the first time.  This item is for the Johns.
38 responses total.
#1 of 38 by tpryan on Sun Oct 4 21:32:38 1998:

        When They Might Be Giants put out a three inch CD, I had to
buy my first TMBG CD.  Something about giants putting out a tiny
CD.
        The 3" CD format failed. Thought to be good for singles or 
small albums (held about 20 minutes of music).  All mounting post
players where immediately compatible, but tray type players required
some additional engineering.

#2 of 38 by mcnally on Mon Oct 5 20:52:01 1998:

  Or an adaptor that clipped onto the disc

  In retrospect, it's hard to see why anyone thought that 3" CDs 
  might be a good idea.  I've still got a couple, mostly novelties
  (especially the XTC album that was also released as 3 3" CDs in
  addition to the normal 5" CD)

#3 of 38 by tpryan on Wed Oct 7 02:18:54 1998:

        I have TMBG, a Frank Zappa and a Harry Chapin all in 3" CD
format.

#4 of 38 by eeyore on Thu Oct 15 14:44:46 1998:

Mike: What XTC album, and is it still available?

#5 of 38 by mcnally on Thu Oct 15 16:55:16 1998:

  "Oranges and Lemons"  I haven't noticed the 3" version around anywhere
  in years.  Possibly there's still a warehouse of them out there somewhere,
  even as a novelty I don't think they went over all that well -- I'm pretty
  sure I got mine as a low-priced cut-out..

#6 of 38 by krj on Thu Oct 15 20:10:07 1998:

The 3" single was felt to be needed as a counterpart to the 45 rpm 
single.  After all, in vinyl, the single was smaller than the album, 
right?    I think the labels felt they had to give the consumer a 
smaller package for a smaller price, lest the consumer ask why 
album-length CDs cost so much. 
 
In America, the format died in maybe a year.  The 3" singles required 
clunky adaptors to play in most machines.  And they were priced at 
about $4, vs. $1.50 for vinyl singles, and unless they were from the 
A&M label they almost never contained bonus "B-side" tracks.
 
I must have a dozen of the 3" cds buried somewhere.  Mostly they are 
the A&M releases.  We also have at least one by They Might Be Giants.

#7 of 38 by bruin on Thu Oct 15 23:08:37 1998:

Would the 3" single CD be known as a "subcompact disk"?

#8 of 38 by goose on Fri Oct 16 18:05:28 1998:

Heh.

Funny thing about CD3, since they were never produced in gargantuan
quantities like the plain old CD-DA (DA=Digital Audio) they
actually cost more for the labels to mfgr.

#9 of 38 by mcnally on Fri Oct 16 21:28:14 1998:

  Can anyone confirm my recollection that at one time Sony (I think)
  designed and sold a very small portable CD player (for the time,
  anyway) that *only* played the 3" discs?

#10 of 38 by tpryan on Sun Oct 18 23:28:28 1998:

        You are correct sir.  The CD3 player had the center hub at
one of it's edges, such that the majority of the disk was outside
the player during playback.

#11 of 38 by mcnally on Tue Oct 20 02:06:21 1998:

  Someone's still making CD3s, at least in England..  I was browsing
  through Wherehouse Records today and came across a single by Garbage
  that had been pressed in the 3" format..

#12 of 38 by goose on Tue Oct 20 14:45:20 1998:

Mike, can you look around the hole and see if there's a name on it?
M guess if it's really coming from the UK is the PDO plant.

#13 of 38 by mcnally on Tue Oct 20 15:23:28 1998:

  Well, I didn't buy it so looking around the hole would entail
  another trip to the record store..  The packaging had a "made
  in the UK" label on it and it was priced as an import but I
  couldn't tell you more than that..

#14 of 38 by goose on Tue Oct 20 21:05:07 1998:

Oh yeah, you never said you *bought it*.  Sorry. ;-)

#15 of 38 by pez on Sun Jun 11 02:04:54 2000:

wow. None of that was about Thay Might Be Giants specifically :P

#16 of 38 by jules on Mon Jun 12 02:33:20 2000:

please pass the milk please

#17 of 38 by pez on Tue Jun 13 00:28:43 2000:

leave me alone. leave me alone.

#18 of 38 by orinoco on Tue Jun 13 05:17:47 2000:

something grabbed ahold of my hand.
I didn't know what had my hand,
but that's when all by troubles began.

#19 of 38 by pez on Tue Jun 13 17:45:56 2000:

I don't understand you, etc, etc.   I cannot understand you.

#20 of 38 by jules on Wed Jun 14 01:36:50 2000:

come ooonnn and wreck my car

#21 of 38 by pez on Wed Jun 14 17:14:18 2000:

aren't you the guy who hit me in the eye? :||

#22 of 38 by jules on Wed Jun 14 22:15:57 2000:

whats that blue thing....doing here

#23 of 38 by orinoco on Wed Jun 14 23:17:14 2000:

hey, you skipped "please pass the milk please"!  

that one was always my favorite......

#24 of 38 by pez on Thu Jun 15 08:03:29 2000:

we skipped it? i thought it was first.

#25 of 38 by orinoco on Thu Jun 15 19:43:58 2000:

Maybe I'm remembering wrong.  It's been a while.

#26 of 38 by otaking on Thu Jun 15 22:09:28 2000:

Yeah, you skipped it...

leave me alone, leave me alone...

#27 of 38 by jules on Thu Jun 15 23:08:50 2000:

we havent exactly been going in order. i did the milk one earlier.

something grabbed ahold of my hand i didnt know what it had planned, but thats
when all my troubles began

#28 of 38 by brighn on Thu Jun 15 23:29:54 2000:

don't don't don't let's start
this is the worst part

#29 of 38 by carla on Fri Jun 16 08:11:02 2000:

I walk throu the
darkened corridor

#30 of 38 by pez on Fri Jun 16 08:43:37 2000:

cadillac or road block, i was a snowball in hell.

#31 of 38 by jules on Fri Jun 16 14:59:17 2000:

 say im the only bee in your bonnet

#32 of 38 by pez on Fri Jun 16 18:48:15 2000:

when it rains. it snows

#33 of 38 by brighn on Sat Jun 17 22:01:59 2000:

I don't want the world, I just want your half.

#34 of 38 by pez on Sun Jun 18 01:03:32 2000:

once a boy named Mr.Me bemoaned a great regret...

#35 of 38 by carla on Thu Jun 22 17:52:43 2000:

keep the nightlight on inside the birdhouse in your soul.

#36 of 38 by pez on Sat Jun 24 21:14:10 2000:

they call me Dr. Worm...

#37 of 38 by carla on Sat Jun 24 21:57:59 2000:

Sorry, but it's really Dr. Cow.  Just ask jules's daughter.

#38 of 38 by pez on Thu Jul 6 18:30:38 2000:

ummmm. explanation?

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