Dr. Spock's Backup Blog

Well it's almost June now, so that means we're about halfway through the year. This year has been kinda sucky for all of us, and one of the few things that give many of us hope is music, especially new releases. Several of my favorites bands have put stuff out in the last 6 months, here is all of it. They Might Be Giants - Eyeball EP (Released January 15th) The hype surrounding this and The World Is To Dig is hype I don't think i'll ever forget. Not counting compilations and live stuff, this was the first new TMBG anything to come out since I became a fan (Became a fan Summer 2024. Last album was BOOK which was 2021.) Eyeball is the best track. Kinda sad they didn't perform it at my show in Detroit :( The other two tracks are decent but not as good as Eyeball imo. The Elegant Too remix of Eyeball is mid. They Might Be Giants (again) - The World Is To Dig (Released April 10th or April 14th, depends on who you ask.) The album everyone's been waiting for. If you th...

 Since about August or so, i've been participating in a local university's study about eating habits. After you take each survey spread out across several months, they'll give you a Tango gift card of your choice, with a varying amount of money on it as an incentive. A few weeks back, they sent me the latest of these surveys, and gave me a $60 Tango card. What did I spend it on? Ebay of course! Here is all that I bought with that $60. Music From "Malcolm In The Middle" (Restless Records - 2001) I've been watching a lot of Malcolm recently via Archive.org so I'm super glad to have this. And for only $15.06 too! Some of the Malcolm merch and specifically this CD have gotten a bit pricy lately (I believe in part because of the Malcolm reboot) so I'm super glad to have gotten it at this price. They Might Be Giants - The Statue Got Me High (Elektra - 1992) A German import (even though I got it from a US seller) and one of the very few CD singles in my colle...

 Happy Memorial day to the one person that gives a shit about this blog! Today I saw the Michael Jackson biopic with my dad, I thought it was quite good. Both me and my dad thought they did a good job casting Michael (both young Michael and old Michael) and that our favorite scene was when Michael fired Joseph Jackson as his manager.

 If you're an American Beatles fan like I am, you've probably seen that Paul McCartney has been going around the late night television circuit lately to promote his new album that's coming out in a couple days "The Boys of Dungeon Lane". If you didn't catch his recent appearances, here's what you missed out on. Last week Paul was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Will Ferrel was guest host this night. During the monologue, they joked about how Will and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers look similar to each other. Also if you're reading this, hi Max. Paul played the lead single from his album, "Days We Left Behind" as well as Band On The Run, and during the credits, Coming Up. I did not pay much attention to the show itself (I was watching mostly for McCartney) but I thought Paul put on a good show. Last night marked the end of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. I don't really like Colbert or most of the modern late night ho...

  WARNING: The following photo that you are about to see is terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. So terrifying in fact that multiple people have reported panic attacks and other anxieties, fatigue, and nausea. Viewer discretion is advised. Are you ready? Are you REALLY ready to see the horrors this photo entails? Ok then, you've been warned... In 3... 2... 1... HIGH GAS PRICES!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Today I just got a new DVD in the mail for my small music DVD collection, so I thought now was the best time to show off my collection on this fine blog. Starting off are my Beatles DVDs. I have almost all of the original films with the exception of Let It Be as well as some others. The top left DVD in the second pic is a three disc documentary set called "Looking Back at The Beatles", which I got at a Goodwill a couple years ago, what a lucky find! The 1 DVD was a Christmas gift in 2024, and features the videos for all the songs on the 1 album.  I got All Together Now at Family Dollar. It's a documentary about the making of Cirque du Solei's LOVE show in Vegas, which has since ended sadly. Cirque du Solei must be alergic to money, because they've never once released the LOVE show itself on DVD or even streaming/digital download. What's up with that?  I got the final one, Paul McCartney's "The Music And Animation Collection", at a thrift store, f...

 If you've ever been to Metro-Detroit or have ever been a chronicly online 13 year old in the past 5 years, then you've probably heard of Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum. Formerly in Farmington Hills Michigan, the best way to describe this place is very hectic and in some places, a bit cluttered. The atmoshphere of old Marvin's can't be beat. Some two years ago, the place was put into jeopardy when a major renovation of the shopping center was announced, including the demolition of Marvin's, for new stores, most notably a Meijer. Opposition began almost immediately after the plans were announced. A petition to save the place got over 50k signatures. This was one of the city's only indoor tourist attractions (Most of thems are like, parks and shit), and the only happy/fun one as well. This was sadly all for nothing, as it was announced that Marvin's would be getting the boot. Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum closed on January 5th, 2025, and b...

 For Mother's Day yesterday, I took a look at all my Michael Jackson 45s. In that post I teased a post about some of the miscellaneous 45s in my collection, so here it is! Starting off, we have some loose Monkees 45s! I got "I'm A Believer" at a flea market, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" at an estate sale, and this kinda gross lookin' copy of "Valeri" at the Goodwill bins. Like i've said previously, this copy of Devo's "Whip It" was owned by the same person who owned my 45 copy of  "Micheal Jackson" 's Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough. Bought both on the same day and at the same Media Reload location too! I don't remeber where I got this copy of You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) by Dead Or Alive from. Now I just need Careless Whisper to complete the "Songs people always put in youtube poops" collection. However I DO remember where I got this copy of Biz Markie's "Just A Friend" fro...

 Happy mothers day, friends! Tell your mother that you love her! Y'know who else has a mother? MICHAEL JACKSON. I've been on a bit of an MJ kick lately. The king of pop has on ocassion, randomly popped up in my life lately. The new Michael movie seems to have give MJ and his music a resurgance in popularity. Hell, Thriller is at NUMBER 7 on the Billboard 200 right now! For an album over 40 years old, that is damn impressive! With this new MJ resurgance, I thought it would be the best time to show of my collection of (mostly Thriller-era) Michael Jackson 45 singles. Here's the oldest one in my collection so far. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough b/w I Can't Help It from 1979's Off The Wall. I got this one at a Media Reload store for $2.95. At the time of its release, it was $1.29, that's $5.83 today! Originally owned by someone named Pam Murdock. Sorry Pam, but these are mine now! Also from the Murdock record collection, a copy of Devo's Whip It I got th...

 TLDR; No. Want a long answer? Then here's your long answer. They Might Be Giants have never been very popular outside Anglospheric countries, especially in Asia and especially in Japan. Even during their major label days at Elektra they were not very popular in Japan. Despite this however, many of TMBG's albums were released in Japan. Usually, Japanese CDs have bonus tracks and other bonuses, supposedly nicer packaging and quality,  Obi strips (which some people collect for some reason??), and any other quirk that'll make a Western CD collector splooge their pants. Are Japanese TMBG CDs worth YOUR time? Are they really worth seeking out or importing over a domestically released copy? That is what we'll find out today. They Might Be Giants/The Pink Album (1987/1990) There are actually two Japanese CDs of this album. The first is the OG release by Rough Trade records, the other is a reissue by Elektra. Aside from OBIs and Japanese booklets, it's the exact same thing...