John Linnell | |
|---|---|
 Linnell in 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Sidney Linnell |
| Born | (1959-06-12)June 12, 1959 (age 65)[1] New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals,accordion,keyboards,saxophone,clarinet,bass,guitar,autoharp,banjo,stylophone,marxophone |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Labels | Bar/None Records,Elektra Records,Restless Records, Idlewild Records |
| Spouse | |
John Sidney Linnell (/lɪˈnɛl/lih-NEL; born June 12, 1959) is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist, and is one half of theBrooklyn-basedalternative rock bandThey Might Be Giants, withJohn Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982.[2] In addition to singing and songwriting, he playsaccordion,baritone andbass saxophone,clarinet, andkeyboards for the group.
Linnell's lyrics include strange subject matter andword play. Persistent themes includeaging,delusional behavior, bad relationships, death, and thepersonification of inanimate objects. Conversely to some of these dark themes, the accompanying melodies are usually cascading and upbeat.[3][4]
John Linnell was born inNew York City, to father Zenos Linnell, (1925–2011), a psychiatrist,[5] and mother Kathleen (née Glenn; 1926–2008).[6][3] When Linnell was a child,Walt Kelly'sSongs of the Pogo album made a strong impression on his musical sensibilities. The album contained lyrics that relied heavily onpuns and word play, which Linnell appreciated. In particular, he recalls "Lines Upon a Tranquil Brow", which later became part ofThey Might Be Giants's live repertoire.[7][8] At an early age, Linnell and his family relocated toLincoln, Massachusetts, where he attendedLincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. Here, he worked on the school newspaper, thePromethean, and metJohn Flansburgh. The two occasionally collaborated on home-recording projects.[3]
Linnell studied English for a semester at theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst before dropping out to pursue a career in music.[9]
In high school, Linnell played with a band called The Baggs.[7] Prior to finding success in thealternative rock scene, Linnell was also involved withThe Mundanes, aRhode Island–basednew wave band. Linnell played keyboards and saxophone for the group.[10] Because of his unsatisfactory minor role in the band, and under the pressure of The Mundanes' unsuccessful search for a record deal, Linnell began leisurely recording music with John Flansburgh.[9][11] His family did not support the transition from what they considered to be a more professional band to an experimental one.[3]
Linnell co-foundedThey 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 tocollege radio, and they made waves on theBillboard charts in 1990 with "Birdhouse in Your Soul".[3][12] Linnell writes songs, sings, playsaccordion, keyboards, and various woodwind instruments for the band.
Linnell described his role in the group during an interview forSplatter Effect in 1994:
I have a personal, a real obsession, with melody and harmony. I can really never get enough of that kind of thing. I don't think too much about the cultural context of what we're doing. I think John [Flansburgh] is more on that end of it. He thinks more in terms of the larger picture, the larger meaning of what we're doing. I'm more into the technical end: the chords and the rhythms and the melodies.
In December 2005, the band began to produce a twice-monthlypodcast. Early on, Linnell frequently contributed humorous spoken-word pieces to the program.
Since 1994, Linnell has done some solo work: in that year he released theState SongsEP, which he expanded to a full-length album in 1999. The concept of theState Songs project 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 as a result of a bicycle accident.[13]
Other side-projects include the limited-releaseHouse of Mayors EP in 1996 through theHello CD of the Month Club and in 1997 aflexi disc of the song "Olive the Other Reindeer" accompanying promotional copies of the children's books,Olive, the Other Reindeer. Linnell has also appeared as a guest musician—often as an accordionist—on a number of musical efforts by other artists, includingSuzanne Vega'sDays of Open Hand andDavid Byrne'sGrown Backwards.[14][15]
Linnell provided the singing voice for the Other Father character in the 2009 filmCoraline, for which They Might Be Giants wrote the "Other Father Song", included on the film's soundtrack.[16]
In 2021, Linnell released a four-song EP containing original songs sung entirely in Latin, titledRoman Songs.[17]
Linnell married Karen Brown in 1997 and has one son, Henry (b. 1998),[3] who appeared as a performer on They Might Be Giants' children's albumsHere Come the ABCs andHere Come the 123s,[18][19] as well as his father's solo albumRoman Songs.[20]
In aPeople magazine online poll—"The Most Beautiful People of 1998"—Linnell finished ninth (with 4,189 votes, eight ahead ofSarah Michelle Gellar, and 1,038 behindMadonna). He responded to the poll results with an op-ed piece inThe New York Times:[21]
I had already gotten wind of the existence of the poll a few days earlier when I read that Leonardo DiCaprio had been knocked out of the No. 1 spot by a dark horse namedHank the Angry, Drunken Dwarf. The on-line voters, it seemed, had a new, more evolved definition of beauty that gave low marks to standard celebrity good looks. What they really valued was a person's inner beauty. Anyway, that's what I told myself as I went on line to see the results firsthand.
He went on to say, of online voting:
It has been suggested that theInternet might be a good way to vote for our elected officials. If my experience is any guide, though, it appears there are still a few bugs to be worked out before you'll be able to elect the next President while sitting at home in your underwear, unless you wantShecky Greene running the country.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
