Talking Heads

I only play "Sand in the Vaseline" these days. The very early (1974) demo trax on there are excellent.

i can't believe 'more stories about buildings and food' really exists. it's perfect music.

Does anyone else find their music devoid of emotion?

What's this "emotion"?

i only listen to music with soul

they only have one love song and it's sung to a lamp

Don't know enough to comment, really, except to say that I would agree that "My Life In The Bush" is overrated. It has some cool sounds, and was "ahead of its time" in terms of sampling and so forth, but it just isn't very impressive these days. Flat sound, weak drums, for the most part. But again, no arguing the supposed "historical" importan

-- Mark Richardson, Wednesday, 21 February 2001 01:00

^^^Murdered by post-punk revisionist ninjas before he could finish his sentence.

They were one of the first bands I ever liked; and I am still fond of them. But how many good songs did they write? Maybe not many. Maybe they showed a way of being attractive without having good songs.

the pinefox, exasperation!#@035U05323E3555EESGTFGRAEWE!!!1

Tom was truly ahead of his time.

some of the most retarded things i have ever read in my entire life appear in this thread.

I don't think he shows on this thread that he was ahead of his time.

Some Talking Heads tracks that I like a lot include

Burning Down The House - always loved the edgy drums and keyboards on its long slow fade

Girlfriend Is Better - maybe I was just sucked in by Speaking In Tongues at that impressionable age

This Must Be The Place - I think this is quite wise, in a US-pragmatism sort of way: 'I'm just an animal looking for a home'

And She Was - and I think the video still looks good

Wild Wild Life - maybe just for contingent reasons

Memories Can't Wait - drama in its chorus

Found A Job - always liked this a lot, and the lyric is probably very prescient

Nothing But Flowers, and maybe more of Naked: jungle lushness, probably long underrated

-- but most of the early work, as for instance heard live on The Name of this Band is Talking Heads, doesn't do that much for me (though that record did revive 'Memories Can't Wait' for me)

I have to admit, my favourite Talking Heads list has the look of a fairly banal Talking Heads: The Hits collection. But that's not how I came to like those songs. I just did come to like them, more than the others I heard.

wtf, the name of this band is talking heads is unfuckingtouchable. the first half of the first disc is them at their tightest and the reason i prefer the '77 tracks on there to the album versions. when eno's producing for the next three it's a different story

and anyone who dismisses 'more stories...' out of hand is no friend of mine, uh figuratively speaking since we're talking about music you know

Memories Can't Wait - drama in its chorus

Almost everything on Fear Of Music is good. Having said that, I have almost no interest in hearing it or most any other Talking Heads song again. I have The Name Of This Band Is . . .; it was hard to track down at the time, and I was thrilled to get it. But these days I can't even get excited enough about the disc to load it onto my iPod.

what are peoples opinion on "look into the eyeball", byrne's recent album? its by no means his best thing ever but it's quite pretty and orchestral in places.

"Like Humans Do" is great - I find I end up loving about 1 song off all his later albums ("Miss America" and "Glass Concrete and Stone" being 2 from 2 more 'recent' full-lengths).

Frankly I just find it difficult to listen to Bryne at all anymore. Maybe in a few years I'll be able to come back and appreciate his recent stuff, but now just his voice makes me cringe.

Listening to SPEAKING IN TONGUES again on spotify, and wondering in what sense TH were 'intelligent' music, if such a thing has ever existed.

I just read my post about my favourite TH songs and thought, wow, that's still very accurate considering it dates from c.2002; then saw that it dated from a year ago.

Born Under Punches in the "09-Byrne tour" arrangement is really fucking great. Beautiful.

http://www.openculture.com/2012/06/live_in_rome_1980_the_talking_heads_concert_film_you_havent_seen.html

This is nice. With Adrian Belew

Plus Bernie Worrell,Dolette Mcdonald, Busta Jones and the others

whole lotta great/rare heads bootleg-type things over here: http://mywalloftapes.blogspot.com/

been knocking around for a while that Rome gig on You Tube etc, Belew on amazing form though aye. crazy they let him go although Alex Weir still does the biz on SMS.

From

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/06/the-talking-heads-song-that-explains-talking-heads.html

For younger listeners, and for older ones who never shared Lethem’s infatuation, Talking Heads live on principally in one track: the sad, sweet “love song” titled “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody).” When was the last time you heard “Burning Down The House,” the band’s biggest single? Probably not recently. But chances are good you’ve heard “This Must Be The Place” very recently, whether you knew it or not.
Thirty years old this year, the song has slowly but surely embedded itself in the American songbook. You can’t walk into a good bar between Williamsburg and Silver Lake without an even shot that it will come on the stereo in some iteration.

Good Lord, is this really true? It appears in a sizable proportion (but I think a minority) of POX lists here:

POX: Talking Heads

but doesn't appear to have anything like consensus top pick status.

Measuring purely on well-knownness, I would have thought that if people know one Talking Heads song it's "Psycho Killer," and if they know two they're "Psycho Killer" and "Once In a Lifetime," and if they know three they're "Psycho Killer" and "Once in a Lifetime" and either "Life During Wartime" or "Burning Down The House." but in any event not "This Must Be The Place."

once in a lifetime gets way more radio play

It's true that I've heard fans younger than me cite "This Must Be The Place" as their favorite Heads love song or The Best Love Song Ever. The correct answer is "Creatures of Love." Or "I'm Not in Love."

well that new yorker article is describing a subset of people. williamsburg and silver lake are not representative of most of america.

it sorta makes sense that it'd get hipster love, sorta a forefather to 'all my friends'

Byrne was the funkiest white man in pop until Flea showed up.

ok waht

I've always thought it was their best song fwiw

i was skeptical, but on Spotify, four of the top 10 most popular TH tracks are "This Must Be The Place" on various different albums -- the highest at #2 is from the Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps soundtrack

"This Must Be The Place" has been by far one of my favorite Heads songs since the first time i saw Stop Making Sense, though, so i don't really have a problem w/ that

four of the top 11, i should say

it's hard to isolate those numbers from its use in a big hollywood movie, like it's a good song but I'm sure if oliver stone used 'road to nowhere' I'm sure that'd be on top

thank you, New Yorker, for helping me imagine Anthony Kiedis singing "This Must Be The Place."

People who don't know who about Talking Heads, they know that song.

"Road to Nowhere" used prominently in Reality Bites and is even more of the moment in these fraught times than TMBTP but alas.

who

I've heard TMBTP at every wedding I've ever been to

it's my favourite talking heads song. has been since i saw stop making sense as a child (my parents borrowed the vhs from a friend sometime in the early to mid 90s). i definitely hear burning down the house a lot more tho. maybe cause im frequently exposed to oldies radio and that was their biggest hit.

yeah reminds me of the songs that weren't a bands biggest hit, but have gone on to be their legacy song and biggest iTunes seller thread which turned out to be mainly songs that had been used in movies

I like the song -- the way the band eases into the first verse after they fool around with the possibilities of their instruments, the casual eloquence of the lyrics -- but it's never been a top ten Heads track. Really its recent popularity has made me relisten, which isn't a bad thing.

When was the last time you heard “Burning Down The House,” the band’s biggest single? Probably very recently.

I've heard TMBTP at every wedding I've ever been to

― BC Forgbs (Ówen P.), Thursday, June 14, 2012 11:06 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

i couldn't remember if i put it on the playlist at my wedding but i just checked -- yep, third song during the cocktail hour

last.fm stats, last six months:

1. psycho killer
2. once in a lifetime
3. burning down the house
(big drop)
4. road to nowhere
5. this must be the place

so not really consistent with nyer's claim. (also, have never heard this at a wedding)

goddamn do I love "burning down the house"

for most of the nineties "And She Was," "Stay Up Late," and "Wild Wild Life" got massive airplay on my local AOR station.

the fact that "Place" is above much bigger radio staples like "And She Was" and "Life During Wartime" and "Take Me To The River" on last.fm still says something, though.

i don't have iTunes on this computer, anyone care to look up its rank there?

from the "songs that weren't a bands biggest hit, but have gone on to be their legacy song and biggest iTunes seller" thread:

Talking Heads. Their biggest charting US single is Wild Wild Life. Biggest in UK is Road To Nowhere. Their signature/legacy song is clearly Once In A Lifetime, which never even charted.

― kornrulez6969, Friday, March 27, 2009 12:55 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Once in a Lifetime" the biggest iTunes hit

Their biggest charting US single is Wild Wild Life

"Burning Down the House" hit the top ten while WWL barely crawled into the top thirty.

the other iTunes finalists:

Burning Down the house
And She Was
Psycho Killer
Take Me to the River

iTunes ranking:

1. Once in a Lifetime
2. Burning Down the House
3. And She Was
4. Psycho Killer
5. Take Me To The River
6. This Must Be The Place

My contention that Talking Heads "live on" through "Once In a Lifetime," "Burning Down the House," and "Psycho Killer" at least as much as through This Must Be the Place is LOOKING GOOD

oops xp

oh yeah the NYer definitely overstated their case (esp at the cost of pretending "Burning Down The House" doesn't still get played anywhere) but the general gist is true

what's interesting to me is that "Place" was a single in the '80s not once but twice -- first as the follow-up to "Burning" and then off Stop Making Sense, and both times it failed to gain the kind of following it enjoys now.

the general gist is true

you mean about david byrne being a funky white man?

At this moment I'm dreaming that I live in the world where Living Colour's cover of "Memories Can't Wait" elevated that song to the level of cultural import that Arcade Fire did for TMBTP

'hipsters really like this song' seems like a reasonable statement to me

it's funny to go from listening to this TH song back to listening to stuff for my Bee Gees poll ballot, while reading in that article how David Byrne was "a one-man rebuke to the Gibb brothers"

yeah, i guess the piece waffles about whether it's talking about the song's standing among "young people" or "everyone who's not hardcore into postpunk like Jonathan Lethem" or "the American songbook" or whether it just means "hipsters in Williamsburg know it even though they don't know who Talking Heads are."

for most of the nineties "And She Was," "Stay Up Late," and "Wild Wild Life" got massive airplay on my local AOR station.

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, June 14, 2012 11:14 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark

and she was + wwl still get the most radio airplay around here

everyone i've ever met knows "burning down the house" and "once in a lifetime" at least as well as they know "naive melody", if they know any of it at all, but i guess i am going to the wrong bars. also what's with the new yorker's scare quotes around "love song".

This is all very improbable. “This Must Be The Place” is a love song only in spite of itself (it dispenses about as much hope as Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”)

what on earth

TMBTP became ubiquitous at hipster parties i went to between 2004-2006.

Road to Nowhere though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7FKVAuDv8M

i can vouch that in Manchester it seemed like TMBTP was permanently on in every bar for a good few years c. the mid-late 00's.
also there's a v popular club here called.. http://www.naivemelody.co.uk/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTiFNQBRwwU

i'm glad i've never heard any of these covers of the song and i hope i never will. what i like about it feels very tied to the TH arrangement and not adaptable to just any voice or set of instrumentation.

So weird. I had no idea TMBTP was a popular TH song. I don't think I've ever heard it other than when I play it myself. I would have thought Once in a Lifetime, Burning Down, And She Was and WWL were way more popular.

i have a vague memory of hearing it in the trailer of some 80s or 90s movie, possibly at the beginning of a VHS rental, years and years ago, but i can't figure out what movie and it wasn't mentioned in that article or anywhere else.

also features prominently in your mainstream rom-coms a lot these days too; a quick rummage on IMDB reveals it's in both Crazy Stupid Love and He's Just Not Tht Into You.

then there's this of course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zppYSFPKrQ8

"This Must Be The Place" is the sentimental favorite, maybe, like "Solisbury Hill." But I don't know anyone who would call "Solisbury Hill" their favorite Peter Gabriel song.

Of course, "This Must Be The Place" is such a lovely track, totally wistful and simple. There are very few Talking Heads songs in its mode.

FWIW, on the radio I hear "And She Was" more than any other Talking Head song, save perhaps "Burning Down the House" and the Al Green cover. Sometimes "Psycho Killer," sometimes "Once in a Lifetime."

I wish "Road to Nowhere" and "(Nothing But) Flowers" got more airplay, as far as late-era Heads goes.

But I don't know anyone who would call "Solisbury Hill" their favorite Peter Gabriel song.

i might, actually

Solisbury Hill is a good analogy.

"In Your Eyes" probably fits better tbh -- on a big album but initially a major hit, slowly became a pop culture touchstone through covers and movie placements etc.

but NOT initially a major hit

Oh YEAH. Definitely.

I associate all these songs with age 10/11 mixtapes, before anybody our age knew anything about Peter Gabriel/Talking Heads but heard TMBTP and "In Your Eyes" on the radio and found they fit in nicely as a segue between "Iesha" and Timmy T "One More Try"

i'm a little too young to have been listening to the radio when it was new, but i've never head "Place" on the radio ever.

also, i must say it's pretty funny to be discussing one of the central bands of the indie canon and tar any one track with the "song that hipsters like" brush. ESPECIALLY since the song in question is essentially the gooey ballad from their pop breakthrough.

MTV showed the video for "Place" in fairly light rotation, but I never heard it on the radio either.

last.fm stats, last six months:

1. psycho killer
2. once in a lifetime
3. burning down the house
(big drop)
4. road to nowhere
5. this must be the place

Oh man, reading this in half-awake mode, at first I thought maybe there was a Skrillex remix I was unaware of...

I did happen to see a weird screamo-with-vocoders duo mangle "Psycho Killer" at an open mic a few nights ago, so it made more sense than it should have.

I like Talking Heads, was a pop-devouring kid when Speaking In Tongues was new, & didn't ever hear of "This Must Be The Place" until adulthood. I've listened to it a few times today & I can't remember how it goes still. The hook is like "Genius of Love" but not as good (def. remember GOL from the radio as a kid though). so I'm puzzled too that TMBTP is held in esteem now.

"Solsbury Hill" might be my favorite Gabriel song too – but in its 1982 live incarnation (also released as a single iirc).

Yeah, "This Must Be the Place" is only their #14 seller on iTunes. I never even heard the song until this year whereas I've been hearing "Psycho Killer", "Burning Down the House", and "Road to Nowhere" since childhood, "Once in a Lifetime" at least since adolescence. I'm not buying yet that "This Must Be the Place" is held in great esteem by the general public.

xposts

I was wrong. It's their #8 seller. Still.

Statistics 1 Oral history 0

I will say that the performance of "This Must be the Place" plays an important roll in "Stop Making Sense."

Also, fwiw, Arcade Fire covered it a bunch during their first big tour, back when people were inexplicably comparing them to Talking Heads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J-900xpiI0

Anyway, a reminder of a lovely rendition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqg_ZGcuybs

(lamp dance)

Tina playing gee-tar too.

The story goes that the song got its title because everyone swapped instruments for it in the studio, right?

that's what they say but in the credits the only swapping is Tina playing guitar and Byrne keyboards.

From Wiki:

In the "Self Interview" on the DVD of the concert film Stop Making Sense, Byrne admits that it is a love song, a topic he tends to avoid because it is "kinda big". He also said of the song:

"That's a love song made up almost completely of non sequiturs, phrases that may have a strong emotional resonance but don't have any narrative qualities. It's a real honest kind of love song. I don't think I've ever done a real love song before. Mine always had a sort of reservation, or a twist. I tried to write one that wasn't corny, that didn't sound stupid or lame the way many do. I think I succeeded; I was pretty happy with that."

According to the Stop Making Sense commentary track, the title "Naive Melody" refers to the music. On the track, the guitar part and the bass part are doing the same thing throughout the whole song. According to David Byrne, many professional musicians would not play a song written in that fashion, and that is what makes the melody naive. Byrne played the lead keyboard solo.

Which also gets at what I was saying, that it's the rare "love" song in the band's catalog.

Love song outlier is certainly a quality it has with "In Your Eyes." I want to say Gabriel up until then had specifically avoided using the word "love" or writing in the first person, as an anti-cliche exercise.

But I can see why some people so many years down the line might confuse both "This Must Be the Place" and "In Your Eyes" for the hits that they weren't.

My initial exposure of "This Might Be The Place" came from deciding to check out the performance from Stop Making Sense because he alluded to it in his self interview and I wanted to watch him sing and dance with a lamp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE-mxVxFXLg

R.I.P. mywalloftapes.blogspot.com

why'd it go down?

Who was that guy? I wanted to know the story.

Oh no. So many great tapes. Dude said he was dying and was gonna post stuff until he got legal complains or something

someone at yankee stadium has good music taste - a couple days ago, they played "Native Melody" right before the game started.

https://41.media.tumblr.com/d959a82fda7a8c0fd8487ebe687bb6e8/tumblr_nkhxq2JL8O1rqe2plo5_1280.png

You may ask yourself: Why is this suit so large?

You may ask yourself: Does this store not have any mirrors?

HEARD SOMEONE SAY TO ME "DAVID, I LOVE YOU"

woah

gotta remember to yell that if i ever see him live and he does this song

HEARD SOMEONE SAY TO ME "DAVID, I LOVE YOU"

you may say to yourself yourself. My God!...What have I done?

There's a picture of Byrne hanging out with Billy Gibbons in the new Rolling Stone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-_PC6TlIhs&list=PLhnmhDNF1JJgdRw46c-l-CY8dtfUU5PF8

wonderful, thanks!

What do people here think of Byrne's musical/oddball comedy TRUE STORIES (1986)? I think it's
immensely funny and heartfelt simultaneously. It could've become a disastrous vanity project, but I
believe it's an amazing achievement. Shame that he's never directed another fictional feature.

After a decade of writing off this band as overrated and trading in all of their albums, I've decided to give them a second try and dive back in headfirst.

My main takeaways at this point are:

—Remain in Light is so dark! I don't remember it being so slow and, well, dreary. I love it!
—More Songs About Buildings and Food is roughly fifty times better than I remember it being. Every song is catchy as heck.
—Little Creatures is probably my most listened to album of theirs and it's held up really well.
—The biggest rediscovery has been 'This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody).' That song is so good, jeez.
—True Stories and Naked are really a lot better than their reputations.

It's funny what a little passing of time can do for one's attitude toward music. I don't think the Talking Heads are destined to become my favorite anything, but this reassessment has at least got me truly enjoying their music for the first time ever.

my next poll, i expect it to break records.

about a year away. i think.

—True Stories and Naked are really a lot better than their reputations.

Did Naked have a bad rep? I remember it being praised in a "daring return to form!" kind of way.

Well, I wasn't there at the time, so all I've heard through the years was that it was not up to previous standards.

live recordings are so so so crucial

Good discussion: Talking Heads: Naked poll

to summarize: one of those return-to-form albums labeled as such after critics had liked-not-loved the last but forgotten by the end of the year

—True Stories and Naked are really a lot better than their reputations.

haha -- no they're not

Austin, what about 77?

to summarize: one of those return-to-form albums labeled as such after critics had liked-not-loved the last but forgotten by the end of the year

Yeah, I think the fact that WXRT in Chicago played the shit out of Naked's 2-3 standout tracks for years is why I thought it's reputation was better than it is. I haven't listened to it in years, not do I particularly feel compelled to.

And True Stories, ugh, what an uncomfortably forced pile of garbage. It was one of those records I listened to more than it deserved, trying in vain to convince myself that there had to be more to it than one-dimensional self-parody.

Little Creatures is still wonderful, though. I remember hearing "And She Was" in a record store on its release day and thinking, "man, I hope the new Talking Heads record I'm about to buy is as good as whatever this is."

I played the shit out of naked when it came out and still have a lot of fondness for it

I could never get into Little Creatures and True Stories, although I gave the former another spin the other day and I didn't hate it.

Naked is great though. Very little I don't like on that album.

live recordings are so so so crucial

otm - the expanded edition of the name of this band is talking heads is amazing

I like Little Creatures and True Stories, the production on the latter is a little ugly though.

whatever happened to Eric 'ET' Thorngren? he seemed to specialise in this sort of boxy, thudding mid-80s R&B tinged rock music and was everywhere for a few years and then disappeared (he also seems to have worked as an engineer on a lot of Sugar Hill Records stuff)

he also engineered Robert Palmer's records from the period

Records that invented the box

otm - the expanded edition of the name of this band is talking heads is amazing

This is ultimate truth btw

for the 1st or 2nd half? I'm not so sure about the later performances on there, but the earlier ones are superb.

the later ones are great too. a rare case of a band for whom the live versions are often better than the studio ones.

I love the earlier stuff on the name of this band is talking heads and the later stuff on stop making sense

Hmm, in my reassessment, I've not delved into the live stuff at all.

for the 1st or 2nd half?

They're totally different but I think it's the conjunction that makes it. Your jaw drops when you realize one band could do both these things.

xp you can only get 'clean break' live, and it is all time. stop making sense 'this must be the place' is also amazing (and annoyingly not on the vinyl)

There's also that funny period around '82 when they were adding into the set solo Byrne and Harrison songs like Slink, Big Blue Plymouth and the fantastic My Big Hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzEM_iOHcdY

what i love most about Buildings & Food is how concise it is. There's no fat on that record - just short sharp bursts of punky pop music

first disc of material on the name of this band... is uniformly better than 77 imo, maybe equal to more songs, the songs have a lot more bite to them and i love how up-front and clean everything is. for the later stuff / 2nd disc i prefer the studio versions to live... i know it gets said a lot but eno's input on those records is just >>> whereas the songs live are huge and fun and really cool but a little too messy for my taste.

I listened to Little Creatures a while back and was like wow, they really did get boring all at once, huh?

You Heads heads have heard the CBS demos, yes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18OWqrF1KMA&list=PL678A752E5B0F458C

Wow, their sound was fully formed so early on. That's fun stuff!

Little Creatures is the one that was considered a return to form, but I never liked it much, singles aside. (Where Radiohead got its name!). I remain a fan of Naked, but its highs are much higher than its lows.

I remember reading that Bob Babbitt (Motown session bassist) claimed he overdubbed all of Tina's parts on 77. I thought, what's the point? All live evidence from that time shows Tina's playing as being absolutely perfect and essential to what made TH great...why have someone re-do it in such a way that no one can tell the difference?

In looking it up, I found this thread, in which engineer Ed Stasium chimes in:

Tina played bass on the ENTIRE LP, Bob Babbitt did come in and overdub on one or maybe two songs but at the mixing stage I did not put Babbitt's bass up in the mix and the "producers" knew none the better! I seem to recall that I may have "Ghosted" Bob on the chorus (for effect) of "Love Has Come To Town" under Tina's bass for alas, I was WAY on the band's side.

Little Creatures is the one that was considered a return to form, but I never liked it much, singles aside. (Where Radiohead got its name!). I remain a fan of Naked, but its highs are much higher than its lows.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, April 2, 2016 3:47 PM (35 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Are you thinking of True Stories? That's the record "Radio Head" is on.

Ha, was thinking of Television Man!

That Stasium quote is funny.

is there an ilm thread for albums where one or more of the band had their parts played by an uncredited session musician (or some other kind of ringer)?

Kiss would probably dominate that thread.

There could also be a thread on session musicians who claim to have played on records they didn't actually play and/or appear on (Babbitt with TH, Purdie on Beatles records, Carol Kaye with Motown, etc.).

Never understood what Purdie was up to with all that, has there ever been a consensus?

I've always thought the Bernard Purdie story was hilarious.

tbf, Purdie's drumming was in fact overdubbed on a Beatles' record, a quickie cash-in on Atco where he doubled Pete Best's parts from Hamburg-era recordings:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain't_She_Sweet_%28album%29

But Purdie claimed that he played on "twenty one" Beatles tracks, and that "Ringo never played on anything."

I could never warm up entirely to Remain in Light. I was 7 when that was released and I guess it goes into my "I guess you had to be there" group of unrecognised (by me) masterpieces. it sounds cold and calculated to these ears which, for all I know, might be the actual pull of it. I love all the African references more than what they're doing with them.

conversely, I adore Naked and that's their masterpiece for me. differently from RIL, the African music there sounds lived-in (well, it's played by Parisian African musicians to begin with) and the songs are real songs, and are uniformly great.

I'm also one that loves Byrne solo more than the Heads. I like how he's progressed, both as songwriter and singer. I still listen to Rei Momo, the self-titled one, and Feelings, more than I do the Heads' albums combined, Naked notwithstanding.

Remain In Light, first side at least, is truly marvellous. The classic-era one I have most trouble with is Fear of Music for some reason.

I really only "got into" the Talking Heads this last year (yeah, I know), and for a long time it was because I couldn't hear what others raved about in Fear of Music. now I get it, but it's really "Cities" through "Animals" that's my favorite stretch by this band. "Electric Guitar" and "Drugs" are kinda annoying, though I think that's the point in both cases.

focus on the keyboards in "Drugs", that's what won me over.

"Electric Guitar" is such a clunker, though, indefensible imo

ok thanks I'll listen for that! that stretch I mentioned is good that I just leave it on to the end, but "Electric Guitar" loses my attention and so maybe I've never really focused on "Drugs" before.

Off the album I love Cities, Animals, Life During Wartime and especially Air, although generally I prefer the live versions of all those songs. Mind and Paper do very little for me. I just don't think they're very good songs and they sound like offcuts from previous albums that didn't make it. Drugs and Electric Guitar (and the Overload off RIL) all seem to be trying for a sort of gothy thing that I'm not fond of. SO yeah it's a patchy one for me.

it sounds cold and calculated to these ears which

stopped reading here

i don't know, "electric guitar" has that goofy tuba synth all over it and maybe it's not good per se, but it's pretty compelling.

Fear of Music strikes me as an album you really have to concentrate on to get the most out of it. Some real winners on there, though.

how are cold and calculated not compliments?

I once heard the 5.1 mix of Fear of music and they used completely different vocal takes on some songs, it's was really odd.

Here's a handy place where you can grab folddown mixes of all the their available 5.1 material if you are so inclined.

http://www.sharoma.com/eclectic_ril.htm

Mind and Paper do very little for me.

"Paper", OK, yeah I can see that. "Mind", though, man I don't know what to say except keep listening, it's totally in my top 5 for that album. the way the rhythms do this ebb and flow like taking deep breaths, the vocal effects, I love it

"Mind" is a highlight of that record for me. Always thought Fear of Music was peak TH (and certainly Byrne's peak as a vocalist); nothing else felt as daring or spooky.

"Memories Can't Wait" is easily my favorite thing they've ever done. I can't think of another song of theirs that sounds so close to completely going off the rails.

yeah Byrne's singing on "Cities" is what finally cracked this band for me, unhinged and fascinating

They have at least three better albums.

The guitar on Fear of Music is really interesting.

as crunchy as dead insects

different vocal takes on the 5.1 of Fear Of Music? hadn't heard that.

fear of music is actually the most interesting th record to me in terms of their process while recording the record. they tried a lot of different things while recording the record, and there's some interesting stuff that didn't make it to the final record (in contrast to, say, "remain in light", where the outtakes are of only marginal interest). you have the mostly very different alt cuts on the dualdisc (as well as byrne and eno's duet on "dancing for money") and box set with lots more fripp input, the very interesting 5.1 mixdowns (by jerry harrison, i think?), and then you have the "rough mixes" tape with some of the songs in much more extreme form such as "mind". reminds me that i really need to watch that south bank show episode from around the time they were making "fear of music".

i also really like the extended version of "speaking in tongues" that came out a few years back. really a fine record.

...okay, chris, which song on "fear of music" sounds like the eagles?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5EzLDD1D_Q

"I Well, Yeahbra"

Remain In Light IS cold cold cold cold! In a good way. Shoes with no socks. It's an incredible album. I would love to hear an 8 disc "sessions" box set a la beach boys smile.

Ril > fom > the song about Pizza Hut and daisies > burning down the house > true stories (film and album) > everything else

Genius of Love is good too

Except Chris franz' (?) vocals are the absolute worst. Is there like a Francois k dub mix without his interjections?

Oh and the weird song about making the baby stay up all night is pretty lol

jesus these 5.1 mixdowns are amazing.

...okay, chris, which song on "fear of music" sounds like the eagles?

ha, I wondered which song he was thinking of there as well - 'Heaven' maybe?

I just picked up Stop Making Sense on Laserdisc. There are forum threads with audio nerds saying how it's the best sounding version, but i'm going to have to find a used laserdisc player to find out.

ha yeah it really is supposed to be the best version, i've thought about getting a Laserdisc copy over the years. plus it still has the un-altered 'Snow white..' line that was dubbed over on the DVD/Blu-Ray, and a couple of other un-messed with bits that were present in the original soundtrack.

i grew up loving Talking Heads singles from every era of the band and when i picked up Remain In Light as my first TH album i found it kind of dense and difficult to love, and found the first 3 albums a lot more immediate. Fear Of Music still sounds to me like a nice halfway point between the early albums and RIL.

I came to TH via Stop Making Sense and therefore I had no real idea how the various songs fit into their timeline when I first heard them. Actually, off that video I found it was the Speaking In Tongues material that worked best. Never understood why that album was so bad and hated. Other than 'Moon Rocks', every track's a classic in my book.

Another reason I can't love Fear Of Music: I really don't like 'Heaven' at all.

yeah Stop Making Sense is how i got introduced to a lot of songs, i think at that point RIL was the only album i owned, and the movie definitely is extremely flattering to Speaking In Tongues.

i don't love "Heaven" but i think it works really well as an outlier on FOM.

Reminds me too much of 'It's A Kind Of Magic' for some reason. The lyrics are dull and the whole thing feels derivative or something, I dunno...

good version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGbREuyYNZM

*runs away*

Okay, I had no idea that cover existed, I don't hate what little Simply Red I've heard (which I'm sure puts me in a distinct minority around here) and I actually kinda like that one. It's an odd idea, wonder what brought it about.

check out their obvious homage to The Great Curve (which is the track after 'Heaven' on the same album bizzarely). it's such a blatant rip; the drum pattern, the Belew-style guitar breaks, the whole thing. maybe they were just obsessed with Talking Heads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvtBrmGDQUU

can only apologize for multiple Simply Red links.

Speaking in Tongues is "so bad and hated"? Surely this is a mixup with Little Creatures?

i mean it lacks the prestige of the Eno albums for sure, but that's definitely overstating it

Concerning the album's title, bassist Tina Weymouth was quoted in an 1979 interview with Creem magazine:
When we were making this album I remembered this stupid discussion we had about titles for the last album," Tina smirked. "At that time I said, 'What are we gonna call an album that's just about buildings and food?' And Chris said, 'You call it more songs about buildings and food.'[13]
XTC frontman Andy Partridge claimed in a tweet, however, that he gave the title to Byrne.

wut

how can this thread have so many he-said-she-said anecdotes about Tina Weymouth but not the "baby penis" story

I do not know this anecdote I must know it

Speaking in Tongues definitely definitely my favorite TH album but I have more use for them as a weirdo funk band than arrrrrtraaawwwwk. "I Zimbra" (which has somehow escaped mention thus far in spite of all the FOM talk?) is definitely my favorite track on Fear, although I love the SMS version of "Life During Wartime".

Speaking in Tongues is "so bad and hated"?

everyone knows that it is their best album of the ones that come after it, and also most of the ones before it too

http://www.salon.com/2003/12/03/heads_2/

In the late 1990s, Weymouth even reportedly called several old friends in the middle of the night to tell them that Byrne had a “baby penis.”

haha. I could laugh off that middle-of-the-night phone call. A phone call from her husband singing "Jaaaames Brroooown. JAAAAAAAMEs BrrroooOOOOWN" would be unforgivable.

I Zimbra is definitely my favourite on Fear of Music too. Speaking in Tongues isn't bad at all but the studio versions of the songs are so lifeless compared to the far superior takes on Stop Making Sense.

I felt that way at first, but the studio versions have grown on me. Same for TNOTBITH and 77.

its weird that the SMS versions of all of these are all better

SMS is horrible, wtf is with these defenders of those awful overdubbed drums & etc. I vastly prefer the dry, meticulous Eno-less sound of the studio versions.

― the world's most impertinent web designer (sleeve), Friday, April 5, 2013 8:35 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

kinda feeling this post from the Speaking in Tongues thread these days

i am also kind of a SMS hater

insanity

Speaking in Tongues is probably their best collection of songs though

In the late 1990s, Weymouth even reportedly called several old friends in the middle of the night to tell them that Byrne had a “baby penis.”

― "Robots are sexy as shit" - Big Sean (some dude), Monday, April 4, 2016 2:45 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Andy Partridge has since claimed in a tweet that it was he, not Weymouth, who made these calls.

on "Morning Joe" yesterday Donald Trump in his call-in segment admitted to doing it iirc

btw while googling for that link i found that the Rolling Stone review of Little Creatures says Byrne "cackles with delight in appreciation of a sleeping baby's penis"

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/little-creatures-19850815

maybe he stole that baby's penis. maybe that's what Tina meant.

Reunion rumors...

i was wondering if something was going to happen at that benefit for bernie worrell last month. i think jerry harrison and david byrne were present.

I am as confused as anyone that that link heads to this one: http://en.mediamass.net/people/talking-heads/new-album.html

Which has on it this:

UPDATE 04/05/2016 : This story seems to be false. (read more)

Which links to this:

http://en.mediamass.net/blog/mediamass-project

Which states this:

The website mediamass.net is the medium of our satire to expose with humour, exaggeration and ridicule the contemporary mass production and mass consumption that we observe.

Also it will not only mock the producers (mainstream media, journalists) as it is common when questioning and criticizing mass media, but also the consumers as one cannot exist without the other. Sensationalism, lack of verification of information, ethics and standards issues are only symptoms of the actual social and economic order. This is particularly obvious when observing the role of social networking sites in spreading rumours.

Our ‘People’ section
Our website is very new (launched back at the end of October 2012) and still under construction. The ‘People’ section the only active one.

The concept is to select the most typical, representative and recurrent articles across Gossip magazines and to make them available for all the celebrities in our database. The ‘People’ section is a humorous parody of Gossip magazines, all stories are obviously not true.

Thus thousands of celebrities, Bill Gates in USA, Zhang Ziyi in China, Ranbir Kapoor in India, etc. all have a dog called “Spinee” recovering from successful surgery.

We won’t change the world, but at least we'll laugh trying.

Our project is still in its early stages. If you have any questions, comments or ideas or want to join the team please feel free to contact us.

Is this clickbait posing as satire?

http://www.snopes.com/2016/01/14/fake-news-sites/

This is really cool...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0h..ADOTysST5cQ1h5k1axMTu0La?dl=0

Nothing there ...

did they break up

This ain't no dropbox

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0hhketqtmuob7me/AADOTysST5cQ1h5k1axMTu0La

Apologies, try this.

pre-Jerry, whoa, 75 or 76?

Cool from an archival perspective. tbqh if I'd seen that band, I would have said, "hmm, interesting," but I would not have been transfixed, nor would I have been able to foresee the lush riches to come.

this is awesome, thanks for sharing Maresn3st. its even in stereo! i think theres a clip from this on that "Chronology" DVD, but never seen the whole thing.

Whoa! Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNZHGrDRb9E

Love that. Belew has stupid pants and Tina may have been the coolest person on the planet

entire band reuniting for the first time in however many years at TIFF with a Q&A moderated by Spike Lee

this will be a mess, I must be there

I should be clear, they're not performing, unless them pretending to get along at the Q&A is a performance in itself

they're performing their affinity

This ain't no party

no time for lovey dovey

We got computers

when was the last time they appeared together, the rock & roll hall of fame?

I don't blame Byrne. Frantz-Weymouth have been dicks, provoking him into reacting. Harrison still has a relationship with him.

Frantzmouth

ChrisTina

James Brown

Byrne vetoed extremely lucrative offers to reunite after the RnR HoF thing. I thought Chris' book was a bit more biting than I would have guessed, but I seriously doubt this Q and A will be anything other than polite.

I don't understand why Talking Heads, Field Mice, and other bands like that don't reunite. Just shut-up for 6 months, do a big tour, make bazillions of dollars and stop struggling to put out increasingly poor music in your old age. Just take the money and relax. It's infuriating. They have the ability to make tens of millions within a year, but they have to be ego maniacs.

...

the plot of Sing 3

Just take the money and relax.

Seems like they all have money and are relaxing.

Since none of us know more than what the members of Talking Heads have said publicly, it’s likely there’s other issues at play. We’re not entitled to know what those issues are any more than we’re entitled to a reunion of people who personally dislike each other and/or otherwise wouldn’t enjoy said reunion.

On the one hand, I'd love to see a reunion tour.

On the other hand, it would probably be sad and uninspired. I'd be thinking the whole time of the chance I passed up in high school (ca. 1982) to see them at Red Rocks.

yeah as much as i'd love to shell out $200+ to sit at an arena and watch 4 people in their 70s some of whom hate each other sleepwalk through the greatest hits i'm fine with them choosing not to do that

backstage? more like still not talking heads

I don’t remember the context, but I’d gone my entire life assuming that Wordy was a send-up of Crosseyed, and a kind of cruel bit of idk “intellect shaming”, that much of that TTC album was made from a place of intense bitterness about Remain In Light

And then I saw a more-recent (90s? 00s?) interview where Weymouth was talking in measured and palpably rehearsed terms about how the lyrical genesis for Wordy came when she was walking down the beach and just contemplating “words” as a concept, and it felt so… remediary? Like she was trying to “oh, no, how silly of you all to think I was making fun of David” at that moment.

It could just be all my own interpretations and projections but I didn’t like it! and if Byrne is not-so-desirous about a reunion, combined with that Heads stuff, I’m not at all surprised I guess

i don't get the impression that byrne was totally innocent or anything but frantz & weymouth have been so publicly vicious regarding him for decades that i can hardly blame him for not wanting anything to do with them, especially when he seems comfortable enough with his solo career

i'd absolutely go see a reunion show but i wouldn't really have much in the way of expectations and the r&r hof set 20 years ago was pretty dire.

A year or two back I saw Harrison/Belew perform Remain In Light en totale (with Turkuaz filling in for the rest of the band) and it was wayyyyy better than anticipated. Adrian is such an absolute godhead, an absolute thrilling musician to watch. Harrison sang so much that it made me reconsider that a lot of the vocals on RIM seem to be a blend of David/Jerry/Eno layered on top of each other. He was not just aping the songs, he really was singing them as if they were his songs (nb: I never saw TH in their peak artistic period).

Yeah I literally texted earlier tonight that I felt that Belew’s stint with TH was the finest collab in his long career of fine collabs

I would add "Genius Of Love" to the above which seems fair.

Unless Byrne finds out he's lost all of his money in a Ponzi scheme, I doubt a reunion will ever happen.

The idea that The Field Mice could make bazillions of dollars by reforming is entertaining.

Inner sleeve of the Heads' album is fun
https://i.discogs.com/4w_sjLhgdJ9erjyaA7UIwh791ErRPtgEisEzbVOwfMk/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:592/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM4NzY3/OS0xNDg1Nzk4MDcw/LTg4NzAuanBlZw.jpeg

Cover connection
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/718hsTLSqlL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

Wow that is ugly

Lol JiC

yea I've heard that Harrison/Belew show ruled and from the clips i've seen it's way better than any TH reunion would be

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/david-byrne-regrets-talking-heads-split-little-tyrant-1235698801/?fbclid=IwAR1P0_hmGNzXS0mZZxGd1lOx3yelv3iGZTX0MyKDPQ_Ie7y-N0cLDglR92k

“I think [the end] wasn’t handled well,” he concluded. “It was kind of ugly.”

The other members of the group — cofounders Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth (who are married) and keyboardist-guitarist Jerry Harrison — have spoken out often about Byrne’s behavior; Frantz in particular took several shots at him in the 2020 memoir “Remain in Love.” He has long said that he read in a newspaper that Byrne had decided to leave the band, after nearly 20 years and eight albums.

Byrne says now, “I have regrets on how that was handled. I don’t think I did it in the best way, but I think it was kind of inevitable that would happen anyway,” he says. “We have a cordial relationship now. We’re sort of in touch, but we don’t hang out together.”

I feel like Byrne has delivered more than his fair share of mea culpas at this point...

"Mistakes were made"

I mean it's not like someone was murdered

i feel like frantz/weymouth have always been like "david sucks, we hate him! why won't he reunite the band???"

they should put together a documentary though.

I've always thought Tina was cool af, since their first appearance on SNL. Chris, on the other hand, seems like a dolt.

over the last 5 years byrne's career seems to be about as big as its ever been post-TH, even without the acrimony its hard to imagine he'd want to spend his remaining summers plodding through "take me to the river" at festival gigs.

the rrhof performance was the final nail in the coffin for me with that stuff, it was really terrible, i wouldnt leave the house to see the 20-years-older version of that band doing the same songs.

I've always thought Tina was cool af, since their first appearance on SNL. Chris, on the other hand, seems like a dolt.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux)

She's cool af when addressing anything unrelated to David Byrne, at which point she's unendurable.

The American Utopia show Byrne has been touring was a tons of fun when I saw it a couple of years ago. I don't have any desire to see a TH reunion show.

I saw the American Utopia concert film, directed by Spike Lee, recently - and the show was clearly tremendous! A Talking Heads concert couldn't really equal it, except that it would feature Talking Heads.

Byrne was still fairly active in the American Utopia shows, but compared to his 2009/2010 tours, he's noticeably dialed it back for himself. He has so many other dancers involved in his shows that it's not a big deal, but it does remind me that a Talking Heads reunion would really look its age at this point when it's just the four of them onstage. (The Remain in Light celebrations from this year benefitted with so many younger performers dancing on stage.)

LCD Soundsystem touring American Dream was a good Talking Heads reunion

"frantz & weymouth have been so publicly vicious regarding him for decades"

byrne's (maybe recent? not sure) disclosure that he has asperger's makes them look even worse, though I don't doubt that working with him was frustrating. but you'd think they'd have gotten over it by now.

Was Byrne really any worse than any other difficult frontman?

American Utopia was amazing in part because it was on par with Stop Making Sense, rather than in its shadow. Just as Stop Making Sense has Robert Wilson’s influence all over it, American Utopia felt like (and maybe was) an Ivo Van Hove stage concept from start to finish.

I saw American Utopia on tour before it hit broadway (and I saw the filmed version) and both of them were 1000x more joyful than I imagine a Talking Heads show would be now.

Just picturing Leroy and Asa spending the rest of their lives complaining about Jonathan Richman, say.

byrne's (maybe recent? not sure) disclosure that he has asperger's makes them look even worse, though I don't doubt that working with him was frustrating. but you'd think they'd have gotten over it by now.

Huh. I must be the only one meh about American Utopia.

I just love this band too much. I hope this q&a means they’ve buried the hatchet and are willing to give it another go. Or not, it’s not like I’d have a chance to see them live anyways. If they just exist in more amicable terms it makes me happy.

There’s been plenty of amazing albums coming out in the past years from bands that had been paused for decades. A new Talking Heads album with them reunited would’ve a dream come true, even if it sucked which I doubt it would.

It wouldn’t be worse than Little Creatures

Yes it would.

American Utopia tour was pretty good.

American Utopia the album was solid meh.

This Bandsplain episode dropped today as well:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2LPd0Z7aUE3Wae2lvesObK?si=loX-7oI-TA-BVKBCuuljKw

i think a reunion tour could be good if byrne & frantz/weymouth were able to tolerate each other (unlike the r&r hof show where byrne seemed to be loathing it and unusually for him just going through the motions) and they had a proper extended lineup - get belew, steve scales, a second keyboard player, some backing vocalists, etc.

but even if that somehow actually happened, i'd have to think the chances of a new album would remain zero and chances of one being any good would be even less. it wouldn't possibly be better than even true stories.

Lol why do you all think it would suck. Byrne still releases some good things now and then and I’m not sure if the last Tom Tom Club thing was that EP from like a decade ago but there were good things in there too.

I think it was Trey Anastasio who said that getting back together with Phish was like "putting on a used condom." Of course, he then got back together with Phish.

I think it was Trey Anastasio who said after David Byrne said "It's only the river. It's only the river."

I can't think of a context in which Byrne as solo writer would interest me, let alone in Talking Heads, a band I revere for its curiosity about other music.

byrne's solo career has been inconsistent at best, and their creative process as a band was based around jamming together. i don't think there's any possibility they'd be on the same page enough or have anything close to that chemistry back in order to make anything work with new material at all.

Also they'd probably fall out over money

T/S: used condoms vs clean jerks

So kind of just like the VU then.
(xp)

Byrne's 90s compilation El alma del Perú negro was phenomenal. I was living there at the time, I remember him coming down to put that together.

Listen, I still listen to his 1994 eponymous album.

There are always one or two highlights. "Strange Overtones" is fantastic.

And, I mean, Life in the Bush of Ghosts

I don't suspect a reunion tour is at all likely or desirable unless it was a carefully curated show. it seems that energy has gone into packaging the film. the music and its legacy is bigger than these four individuals getting together to pluck through songs for money or nostalgia. it was bigger than them when they made it - hence the expanded lineup - and I think at least 2 of 4 are smart enough to see it that way now too. they were more about ideas that indefinable chemistry imo.

I think they make themselves more immortal by not playing. the interview itself is the cultural moment - a bit like the Friends cast reunion (forgive the comparison). the tantalising prospect of what could be masks the fact it'd likely be quite rusty and mediocre, and maintains the mystique.

I'm happy just to see them getting together to promote this release as a band. seems like they're just putting petty stuff aside to enjoy their moment while they're still alive to do so - a smart and classy move.

Stop Making Sense was the period at the end of the sentence. Everything after was diminishing returns, even though there were songs on both True Stories and Naked that I liked, their moment of glory was from 1980 to 1983. Attempting to re-create that 40 years later would be impossible, and attempting to make new music together would be a goddamn tragedy.

Huh. I must be the only one meh about American Utopia.

the album, the broadway show, or the tour? I'm mainly repping for the live tour, which was thrilling. the broadway show (at least the filmed version) was alright. The album itself? I never listen to it. I do love Rei Momo, Uh Oh, and the s/t album a lot though (not to mention the Catherine Wheel)

I think a reunion tour would more or less be on par with that of the Police, or maybe Pixies, reunion. That is, a group of people that pretty clearly don't really like each other that much, with a front person that's more or less been carrying the catalog on their own for decades. The presence of the other guys would add absolutely nothing to the songs, which Byrne has been playing - and playing well - for years. Unlike the Pixies and Police, though, it would likely be a total embarrassment that would do nothing but hurt the band's legacy, imo.

The presence of the other guys would add absolutely nothing to the songs, which Byrne has been playing - and playing well - for years.

I strongly disagree with this. Like post-Hüsker Bob Mould, Byrne never seemed to realize how important his former rhythm section was. Hell, you put Chris and Tina on Byrne’s thinnest solo material, and it won’t be great by any stretch, but it’ll improve considerably.

inject a few "james brown"s in there

xpost I disagree. For one, Bob Mould clearly (if maybe belatedly) recognizes that Narducy and Wurster is a rhythm section worth preserving, and they in turn make Mould better; are they his longest running post Husker band at this point? But I think I am in the minority on ILX at not worshipping Franz and Weymouth, and not thinking they would improve anything beyond people going "hey, it's the other guys from Talking Heads!" The "American Utopia" tour was absolutely stunning, and there is no way Franz and Wymouth would have made it better, and possibly/likely would have made it worse. Not even sure Belew would have made it better, tbh.

otm

it'd be shit if they were only doing it for the money and were obviously barely capable of tolerating each others presences (see the r&r hof show) but i think a reunion would only have any chance of happening if they felt more positive about it than that, because obviously if byrne were willing to go through the motions for the money he would have done it long ago

i don't think any of them are washed as performers either. byrne's still got it. harrison did that remain in light tribute tour with belew (who absolutely still has it!) that was pretty impressive. frantz & weymouth have been less active but there's video of them doing "psycho killer" and "take me to the river" from 2016 and it's good!

Yeah you might be right… it’s probably a bad idea at this point and there’s many outside factors that made their great albums work.

Still cool that they are reuniting for this, hope there’s some good insights. Stop Making Sense is the most important live performance in rock music in my eyes. Any further documentation is worth gold.

I guess I just wish Tina and Chris hadn’t made a voodoo doll of David and had a funeral for it and made it an album insert

But hey I’ve never experienced that, maybe David is chill about it, maybe Tina is “cool”

hope there’s some good insights

This would be a first at a TIFF question-and-answer session

Their Letterman appearance in 1983 - they even “filmed” it differently than everyone else:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8oxbwx2xAI

Just have Byrne and Stipe swap each other's places, and suddenly you have two mega-legacy tours with a band that gets along.

To James Redd + Blecchs, I think the main beef was not about him being all that much worse than other frontpersons, but rather not acknowledging coauthors of collaborative material.

That is, calling co-written stuff his own, and saying something vague like "oh, well, we can correct it on the next pressing" and then not doing so.

Me, I am glad I don't need to adjudicate all this - or even have an opinion- because have the music permanently embedded my head anyway, and it will always be there. No one can take that away from me ever.

Of course I read the Frantz book. He makes some cracks about how Tom Tom Club outsold Byrne, and this was their revenge for Byrne's systematic erasure of everyone else's contributions, but. This many years onward, bringing that up again seems unseemly.

I have never spoken ill of Tina and never will.

I had not seen that Letterman clip before. I mean, I might have seen it when it aired, but not recently. Outstanding.

Byrne has such an awkward charm.

I don’t want to speak ill of her so much as I assert my profound indifference toward her

would be so cool if talking heads pulled a Bowie and put out a late in the game fantastic record and then all of them died all of a sudden lol

just kidding about the dying part, but while I agree that the hall of fame gig was a mistake I think all parties involved are probably capable of making great new music, it would just be a tremendous pain in the ass to do together and they are all old and curmudgeonly and money issues and so on

but we can dream

alas, money issues

is there a thread about old(er) acts worth seeing?

(unlike the r&r hof show where byrne seemed to be loathing it and unusually for him just going through the motions)

Byrne reportedly left his wife by simply not going home after the HOF gig, so possibly was not entirely focused on the gig at all

ah that certainly is some further context there lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bBtgZE372g

just discovered this footage of them performing "love -> building on fire" in 1982 with the extended band. i'd never seen this before, it's wonderful

would love to see those four make another record. no extra musicians, no eno, no world tour, just a collaborative record full of songs. i saw them as a three-piece, then as a four-piece, saw the heatwave festival show which i think was their first appearance as a big band. admittedly "once in a lifetime" floored me then, but if i had to pick my absolute favorite TH it would be those four-piece shows.

is there a thread about old(er) acts worth seeing?

I think the correct answer is: all of them

talking heads contemporaries that are still great: OMD, Gang of Four, Sparks, Gary Numan, Tears for Fears, even Human League were pretty good a few years ago.

Not exactly contemporaries, but Pet Shop Boys bring it.

The Cure, of course

Huh. I must be the only one meh about American Utopia.

― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn),

same

don't get upset -- it's not a major disaster!

Byrne toured "the songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno" to promote the album they did together 15 years ago, Everything That Happens etc. That was a great show and included many songs from the 3 TH albums that Eno was heavily involved in as well as a couple from Bush of Ghosts. Also iirc it featured some pretty cool choreography along the lines of what everyone loved about American Utopia. That scratched my TH itch and I can't imagine a reunion show would be better than that, as much love as I have for the contributions made by the other 3 members 40 years ago.

Sadly, I missed the tour Byrne did with St Vincent, but I heard good things.

It was ok. They played Road to Nowhere.

Easily one of the best shows I’ve ever seen was The Zombies getting back together in 2011. I can think of very few musicians over the age of 50 that I wouldn’t eagerly pay money to see! Also, I’ve always thought that Byrne’s recent productivity has been prodigious, and consistently worthwhile, I can’t think of many/any other musicians who are working as hard as he has been

devo were worth seeing a decade ago and will be hopefully worth seeing again tomorrow (potentially for the last time). the experience is almost improved by them being old fellas

xp yeah when you consider art installations, books, performance pieces, etc., he's wildly prolific. and always pushing forward into new projects for better (often) or worse (sometimes), which is part of why a reunion seems highly unlikely

I haven't read his biking + music books, but more than a couple of friends have recommended them.

It was ok. They played Road to Nowhere.

"Road to Nowhere" feels like a good candidate for an ominous/dirge-y Marvel trailer.

Seems like he just gave up on the Peruvian thing and the Brazilian thing or did he?

seeing Devo & the Zombies each around 2009-10 were shows where i had v low expectations and was blown away by powerful, vital performances.

even though American Utopia didnt ring my bell i've always had huge respect for the fact that DB has kept working and taking swings with new stuff. i know TH hits have never really fallen out of his setlist, but is "the songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno" tour the only openly nostalgia-type thing he's ever done in that vein, now that i think of it? and even that wasnt the most easy/obvious play, he found a way to make it relatively fresh, adding Catharine Wheel and Bush of Ghosts material into the mix and elements like the dancers & choreography, etc.

Signs on PPL of a Talking Heads: 77 deluxe edition coming for next year.

Maybe three or four CD's. First is remastered original album, second is rarities, and third-fourth (depending on length) is a live show from CBGB's on October 10, 1977. There's also a listing for an Atmos mix so there could be a Blu-ray in there too:

TALKING HEADS Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town [2024 Remaster] USRH12302148 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS New Feeling [2024 Remaster] USRH12302149 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Tentative Decisions [2024 Remaster] USRH12302150 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Happy Day [2024 Remaster] USRH12302151 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Who is It? [2024 Remaster] USRH12302152 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS No Compassion [2024 Remaster] USRH12302153 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS The Book I Read [2024 Remaster] USRH12302154 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Don't Worry About the Government [2024 Remaster] USRH12302155 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS First Week/Last Week...Carefree [2024 Remaster] USRH12302156 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Psycho Killer [2024 Remaster] USRH12302157 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Pulled Up [2024 Remaster] USRH12302158 Warner Music UK Limited 1977

TALKING HEADS Sugar on My Tongue [2024 Remaster] USRH12302159 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS I Want to Live [2024 Remaster] USRH12302160 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Love Goes to a Building on Fire [2024 Remaster] USRH12302161 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS I Wish You Wouldn't Say That [2024 Remaster] USRH12302162 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Psycho Killer (Acoustic Version) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302163 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town (Alternate Pop Version) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302164 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS New Feeling (Alternate Pop Version) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302165 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Pulled Up (Alternate Pop Version) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302166 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Stay Hungry (1977 Version) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302167 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS First Week/Last Week...Carefree (Acoustic Version) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302168 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS I Feel It in My Heart [2024 Remaster] USRH12302169 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Psycho Killer (Alternate Version) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302170 Warner Music UK Limited 1977

TALKING HEADS Love Goes to a Building on Fire (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302171 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS Uh-Oh, Love Come to Town (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302172 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS Don't Worry About the Government (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302173 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS Take Me to the River (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302174 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS The Book I Read (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302175 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS New Feeling (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302176 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS A Clean Break (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302177 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS No Compassion (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302178 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS Thank You for Sending Me an Angel (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302179 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS Who Is It? (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302180 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS Pulled Up (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302181 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town (Version 2) [Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977] [2024 Remaster] USRH12302182 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS Psycho Killer (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302183 Warner Music UK Limited 2024
TALKING HEADS Stay Hungry (Live at CBGB, New York, NY, 10/10/1977) [2024 Remaster] USRH12302184 Warner Music UK Limited 2024

TALKING HEADS Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town [Atmos Mix] USRH12302185 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS New Feeling [Atmos Mix] USRH12302186 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Tentative Decisions [Atmos Mix] USRH12302187 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Happy Day [Atmos Mix] USRH12302188 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Who is It? [Atmos Mix] USRH12302189 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS No Compassion [Atmos Mix] USRH12302190 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS The Book I Read [Atmos Mix] USRH12302191 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Don't Worry About the Government [Atmos Mix] USRH12302192 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS First Week/Last Week...Carefree [Atmos Mix] USRH12302193 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Psycho Killer [Atmos Mix] USRH12302194 Warner Music UK Limited 1977
TALKING HEADS Pulled Up [Atmos Mix] USRH12302195 Warner Music UK Limited 1977

Cool news… take my money, as they say

Seems like he just gave up on the Peruvian thing and the Brazilian thing or did he?

it really only lasted one album (which I love). maybe parts of Uh Oh too.

xp (assuming it’s a good remaster)

that TH77 set looks very very nice

https://64.media.tumblr.com/e3c6e748f12bc000ac9aff82462ff5f0/199b6f5e09a5822d-2e/s1280x1920/6dc1b5193ff9915f82c1da06500a421fcd50a48e.jpg

Aw, man. I'm excited for this but my wallet just groaned at 7 or 8 box sets.

I haven't seen that particular CBGBs date pop up before, exciting! It's really fortunate that they happen to be so well-served when it comes to live recordings.

not super germane to the conversation but seeing A Clean Break there reminded me that it's often my favourite Talking Heads song and when he hits that big note it always produces involuntary tears. I'd take my own skin off to see that live in any era

IIRC deluxe reissues of the catalogue were floated in the early '00s and then canned in favor of the 5.1 remixes after rarities leaked. This was why a bunch of odds and ends came out as an iTunes exclusive, but not on the eventual reissues (and maybe partly because the CD layer of dualdiscs maxed out at an hour or so). Thus I'm not holding my breath for the above set, even if these are different times viz. concerns about piracy.

Also I'm kinda puzzled as to what exactly the second disc of the set is (why not include the full '75 CBS demos?).

the second disc is just non-album tracks/alternate mixes etc. from that time? a pretty normal thing to include in a deluxe reissue. the only stuff that's unreleased as far as i know is the 'alternate pop' versions of "uh oh love comes to town" and "pulled up" - i expect "new feeling" is the 'alternate version' from the 2006 itunes compilation which had a horn section in the mix.

idk anything about the leaked rarities from the 00s though, so maybe those are already floating around? are those detailed anywhere

yep that "New Feeling" version was actually released as a b-side back in the day

Yeah Disc 2 looks great to me… the four rarities from Sand in the Vaseline (which are a big deal in my life) plus a bunch of other stuff related to the album. I figure everyone either already has the full 1975 demos in some form or doesn’t need them on disc.

Talking Heads never really released b-sides, but Andy Zax said years ago that in the process of compiling the Once in a Lifetime box set that he came across scores of unreleased songs that Byrne wouldn’t sign off on releasing. Maybe he’s changed his tune? They have new management or are going to sell their publishing? Who knows

At the nadir of the Heads' uncoolness in the early '90s I bought Sand in the Vaseline upon release: revelatory.

“Lifetime Piling Up” and “Sax and Violins” are absolutely stellar

and "Gangster of Love," "Popsicle," "Sugar on My Tongue," and...

Popsicle rules.

ah the alternate mix of "uh oh love comes to town" is on the once in a lifetime boxset, so it's only the alternate "pulled up" that's previously unreleased

I think “Sax and Violins” is my fave of the last songs. I love how it starts off Until The End Of The World

xpost "Sugar on My Tongue" the Trick Daddy version is excellent and not surprisingly sounds a lot more like sex...

the second disc is just non-album tracks/alternate mixes etc. from that time? a pretty normal thing to include in a deluxe reissue. the only stuff that's unreleased as far as i know is the 'alternate pop' versions of "uh oh love comes to town" and "pulled up" - i expect "new feeling" is the 'alternate version' from the 2006 itunes compilation which had a horn section in the mix.

idk anything about the leaked rarities from the 00s though, so maybe those are already floating around? are those detailed anywhere

the last songs were tantalizingly great, you almost felt like "oh wait, maybe they really can be amazing again".

Most of them consisted of backing tracks recorded years earlier, though.

At the nadir of the Heads' uncoolness in the early '90s I bought Sand in the Vaseline upon release: revelatory.

Same. That album and Homogenic, both of which I heard in '98, were probably the two most eye-opening (ear-opening?) albums I ever heard

Same here too. I got it from either BMG or Columbia House. I mainly knew them from the "Love for Sale" and "Wild Wild Life" videos that would play on Friday night Videos. Yeah, it was huge and so much good music. "I Zimbra" kinda freaked me out.

Beautifully sequenced too, with excellent liner notes.

And an impossible to shelve shape. Oh, wait, I'm thinking of the one called "Once in a Lifetime," what a pain that was.

Iirc I bought "Sand in the Vaseline" specifically *for* the bonus/unreleased stuff.

I haven't listened for a while, but I was a fan of those later fan mixed 5.1 to stereo conversions that someone leaked out.

Sand In The Vaseline was one of those awkward non-slipcased Double CDs in two separate jewelcases with two separate booklets, which some people (not me) had problems keeping together.

Also an album that was always featured in CD club ads anywhere from Rolling Stone to TV Guide. I imagine most of the copies sold were through them.

I also recall how frank Byrne was re:drugs & the band's use thereof in his part of the liner essays.

Had anyone heard "Sax and Violins" before buying the comp? It had been #1 earlier in the year on the modern rock chart, thanks to its appearance on the Until the End of the World soundtrack. I hadn't, and my college station was pretty good at playing whatever hit #1.

yeah those 5.1 downmixes are quite good, they really open up the mix and reveal parts previously buried, like the bass line in "born under punches" which is only really clearly audible in live versions. they're not clearly superior (sometimes it feels like they got the balance of parts a bit off though some of that might be just limitations of working from the 5.1 mix) but they're always at the very least interesting. i wouldn't really object to new mixes of all the albums to add a bit more headroom because the original mixes are relatively flat.

xpost Yeah, from that soundtrack.

I read an interview with someone once that asserted that *all* stereo mixes are essentially 5.1 downmixes.

I didn't hear "Sax and Violins" much, but I definitely heard it. "Lifetime Piling Up" got much more airplay on my local "modern rock" station in 1992, to the point that I got sick of it. I thought, "this isn't even as good as the worst thing on Little Creatures." Listening now, it's not bad at all -- certainly better than most of True Stories -- but doesn't feel essential.

I like the salsa piano line.

Sax & Violins got played plenty on the radio near me that summer. (The Bad Seeds too, but less so.)

"Lifetime Piling Up" btw sounds like a solo Byrne track to me.

Yeah, Sand in the Vaseline was my introduction into the band. (I forgot I listened to that a lot before ever watching Stop Making Sense.) I still have my copy of it, and it is indeed a club version with the BMG barcode, but it looks like they redid the package so that it fits those old thick jewel-cases they used to use for all double-CD sets. You still have two separate booklets but it's nice that it's a single package that doesn't separate.

I owned it on cassette! Perfect car listening during the '90s.

My parents had the Fear of Music LP with the textured cover

best packaging trick, I have that one as well

that record blew my mind at age 13

Me too, that was the first Heads I heard. A friend at school lent it to me. At the time I thought they always sounded like that, having no idea till years later that they’d started as a minimalist pop group.

I knew "Take Me To The River" and "Psycho Killer" from the radio but FoM was my first exposure to their truly weird arty side

"Animals" and "Drugs" both kind of freaked me out

“Never listen…to electric guitars”

The new wave aesthetic does nothing for me but I have a soft spot for these weirdos thanks to my folks

that summer

(ie December-February, off the Wenders)

Animals think they're pretty smart

The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads live album was my introduction and it's still my fave of theirs - especially the later expanded one.

I really really need to get that, I only know the original 2LP

I listened to it today. Tina and Chris really are an all-time great rhythm section tbrr

I wish there was more band+Belew live recordings, I think that’s my favourite cacophony

Also it’s strange, my memory of TH studio albums (esp Food and Fear) usually harkens back to Byrne’s vocals and their idiosyncrasies, it’s kinda nuts to listen again and be floored by the hard-panned ticky-tack guitar insanity and the rock-solid grooves, no band went harder

Byrne was a great rhythm guitarist and an often great lead guitarist.

His rhythm playing on “Found a Job” is some of my favorite ever.

No surprise that they were inspired (for at least one track) by Joy Division.

supposedly they had never actually heard them though?

Yeah, that was the gimmick in writing "The Overload."

I'm glad Weymouth in the SITV liner notes observed that she wished Byrne got as much attention for his guitar as for his singing and songwriting.

xp Supposedly lol

It just occurred to me that TH and JD both heavily impacted the development of what I guess is called "post-punk," and there are similarities in style and approach.

I got into TH in 1990 (just before the breakup news) and bought most of their albums on cassette, but my copy FoM was on vinyl. These were the waning days where major label back catalogue was still available on the format: big Super Saver sticker, clear plastic inner. Probably the mystique of the black monolith, ominous title, and potential for damage (I had a history with vinyl) made it the more thrilling purchase.

IIRC, the original sleeve had texture to it. I always thought it was supposed to look like textured, painted metal.

yeah it's a manhole cover

Pitchfork gave a 10 to both Fear of Music and Remain in Light.

While it's probably obvious that Eno and John Cale were big influences on David Byrne, I start to hear so much of him in their 80s & 90s vocals (and in so many others, like some of that Tom Verlaine solo stuff). I really wonder what that was like and how tempting/inescapable his style was.

My big sister lent me her Little Creatures tape in 1986

Huh. Now that I think of it, I should probably give it back to her.

I've never seen a copy of FoM on vinyl that didn't have the textured sleeve.

I am listening to the album right now. It's still a 10. IMHO their best album.

they are out there, but later pressings I think - at some point I upgraded

(xp)

'Lifetime Piling Up' is all-time IMO

“Lifetime Piling Up” has some of Byrne’s absolute best lyrics ever. Just a stunner

I think about that song a lot when life gets chaotic and overwhelming.

I can’t tell you how often I think “how did I get here?”

Different song, but yeah

Oh, yeah. I was talking about two different things but did not put in a transition.

Overwhelmed - Lifetime Piling Up

Baffled at where I have wound up - Once in a Lifetime

Sexy times - Popsicle of Love

I've probably blabbed on upthread about it, but I love the live versions of My Big Hands that they played through the years, kinda wish it had made it into Stop Making Sense instead of Big Business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5ZbHHdiKUs

yeah that songs a gem, I was over the moon when he played it on the "songs of byrne & eno" tour. shame it never got the full TH studio treatment. (or maybe it did, per Andy Zax?)

Didn't the Heads play "Big Blue Plymouth" too?

oh yeah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2XRkkCVNRk

“Big Business” is one of the highlights of the film.

have had the b-52s "mesopotamia" as my alarm clock lately (there's a fade in, and then a solid second or two before the groove kicks in and then you have to wake up)

but while I was looking up other Byrne production credits I found that he apparently co-produced/performed on Selena's final recording?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz0vIVqZohY

which is... great? this absolutely should have been a full length record and a tour, and in the mid nineties, what a loss

^^Recorded for the Don Juan DeMarco soundtrack.

Oh wow

Good song, yeah.

He also produced the Fun Boy Three.

His collaboration with Celia Cruz is pretty good. Would love to know who plays on it, but I can't find credits on Discogs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqR2r6toaEg

It's on Rei Momo too -- a host of great Latin musicians.

Guests on Rei Momo look interesting: Willie Colon, Johnny Pacheco and even Herbert Vianna from Os Paralamas do Sucesso.

Seeing a bunch of other serious names there to make me smile, not going to type them all.

My intro to Byrne generally. The singing is hard for me to take these days.

Decided to write about the new deluxe reissue of Stop Making Sense (double LP, has all the songs from the movie) for the next BA newsletter, out on Wednesday.

My piece on Stop Making Sense (and subjecting my parents to same).

^well done!

Your mom liked Blah Blah Blah? Cool!

Stop Making Sense may have been one of the few videocassettes carried by every Blockbuster in America.

I'm watching/listening to parts of Stop Making Sense while I work, and toward the end of "Take Me To The River" Byrne dons a red golf cap. Coupled with his overstuffed fat-suit pants he looks disarmingly like you-know-who.

great piece unperson. my parents weren't fans but pleasantly tolerated my constant playing of Sand in the Vaseline and Stop Making Sense in the early 90s. Later I took my buttoned-up dad to an outdoor screening of SMS in Toronto that was part of the 1999 rerelease and he had the time of his life, both the movie itself and the whole outdoor party vibe of the audience dancing & treating it like a real concert, a really nice memory.

Screening of the 4K restoration followed by a live Q&A with David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison, moderated by NBC News and MSNBC journalist John Heilemann.

At the moment, only members can purchase tickets, but it's possible it's already sold out. Still, ticket prices are $55, $45 and $35 - I saw Byrne present a pristine print of the same film at a better movie theater (the Walter Reade at Lincoln Center) for like $15. I'd love to see them all reunited too, but it's just a Q&A for crying out loud.

(should clarify, the above is a screening in Brooklyn at the BAM Harvey Theater)

I first heard Talking Heads thru my parents; Little Creatures got a lot of rotation in our house at the time.

I also bonded with my dad over Stop Making Sense and Little Creatures was quite popular in our house as well. Stay Up Late came out when my brother was a baby and I was 10, so it was very relatable. Pretty sure my mom and I went to see True Stories in the theater multiple times, possibly Stop Making Sense as well.

Byrne was a great rhythm guitarist and an often great lead guitarist.

His rhythm guitar performance on the Fun Boy Three's version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" is next level. I had admired it for years before discovering that it was Byrne's handiwork.

isn't he on "Kiss Me Again" as well?!? (Dinosaur)

yep!! so good

https://www.discogs.com/release/95382-Dinosaur-Kiss-Me-Again

Inspired by Alfred's social media post, I listened to (part 1) of the Bandsplain Talking Heads episode and enjoyed it very much. It was mostly history and context and quips and comments, and in fact, what little song-by-song rock crit commentary they offered I thought was entertaining but pretty boilerplate and/or sometimes just kind of half-assed. But the rest was overwhelmingly a fun, occasionally perceptive time.

As I listened, it got me thinking a lot about some similarities between ('70s) Talking Heads and the Pixies. You've got four kind of random people getting together in New England, ostensibly of a scene but pretty much unlike the other bands in the scene. You've got a remote and somewhat prickly but utterly original songwriter tackling unusual, often surreal subject matter in an unusual manner. You've got a feud between the singer and the (female) bassist, with the bassist eventually launching a concurrently, even competitively successful spin-off career. You've got an almost immediate cult impact and long-tail influence that continues to grow. You've got a singer that embarks on a prolific but still weirdly inconsequential solo career, with the rest of the band kind of going journeyman.

"Dig For Fire" is totally a late Talking Heads song too.

Good observation!

TIL Byrne plays guitar on “our lips are sealed” and “kiss me again”

I used to associate THs w/the Modern Lovers (and not just for the obvious reason) and early Unrest, for very specific reasons relating mainly to lyrical concerns; I saw these three bands as kind of a triptych across three different scenes/eras. But this notion probably doesn't hold up to much scrutiny.

Oof

According to Pixies frontman Black Francis, the song was "a bad Talking Heads imitation."

Sheesh, probably my favourite Pixies song. Be bad more often then, Frank

Dig For Fire verses are essentially Once In A Lifetime

Didn't realize this happened, but back in 2010, Crowded House did a show at the Bowery Ballroom, and after they launched into a note-perfect cover of "Once in a Lifetime," the crowd got a massive surprise when they heard David Byrne's voice singing the words:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0oOyqibGPY

Alternate view that isn't so jittery:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEDilVWvrno

https://consequence.net/2023/08/jerry-harrison-talking-heads-healing-experience/

don't get my hopes up like this jerry!

For their sake, I hope so, but I don't want them to reunite, let alone write new material.

You don’t want to hear “Coyote 2023”?

I only recently realized that the 1999 reissue of "Stop Making Sense" is also remixed and edited to fit in 80 minutes. So aside from a laserdisc mentioned upthread, the audio tracks found on the Blu-Ray is the way to go to get what matches the movie (with some minor editing apparently).

My favorite of theirs is the one where they go “James Redd, James Redd.” Oh wait.

James Blecch, James Blecch

Just learned about this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbgzXFrFmRQ

don't know if this concert was shared before, I definitely haven't seen it until now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldwpwrW6tno

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-2CfqA9P0Y

Colbert loves Talking Heads. I sensed David Byrne was consciously letting Chris Frantz take the lead in talking

did Frantz start randomly yelling 'james browwwwwn james browwwwwn'

That was really fun, kinda music nerd-y for a general interest TV talk show.

If I didn't know Byrne well enough already, I'd think, "Boy, what a weirdo" watching him laugh at the wrong parts of Frantz's anecdotes.

I think you can still think 'what a weirdo' even when you do know him well enough, because he is

did Frantz start randomly yelling 'james browwwwwn james browwwwwn'

No, but Tina did a little bit of her "Genius of Love" dance when they came out.

the best part

Colbert showing knowledge of Modern Lovers

Very nice to see them being civil to each other…but for the love of god don’t reform

It would be cool if their reunion lasted for 20 years, like the Pixies...except instead of playing music, all they do is show up on talk shows and introduce movie screenings together, etc.

lol I can imagine them doing the festival circuit, except each set is just them on stage answering questions about "Stop Making Sense."

That would a bizarre reversal of bands who reform as a live unit but otherwise avoid each other like the plague

That's kind of like the surviving Beatles after the mid-'90s, when the Anthology patched things up further and George was more aware of his mortality due to his struggle with cancer. All three got together quite a bit, but it wasn't really seen in public.

But yeah, I hope they don't tour. Just look at them on Colbert and compare them to, say, the HOF induction. They've really aged, and even in the HOF performance, you can tell they're not quite where they were as a band performance-wise.

Maybe if they do what Byrne does (and what Harrison did on this Remain in Light tour) and surround themselves with a lot of younger performers, I could see them pulling off an enjoyable show, but it really wouldn't be the same.

I don't see faked bonhomie in these clips. Byrne has never struck me as someone who would laugh at Chris "James BROOWWWNNN" Frantz's anecdotes unless he genuinely found them funny, and Frantz-Weymouth need him more than he needs them.

Of course HOF performance they clearly had barely rehearsed, like they would for a tour

I don’t think they have plans of doing a tour, they sort of dodged the question about it happening and made clear they just want to promote “stop making sense”.

It’s probably for the best, at this point any new material would probably be subpar and the chemistry is probably too fractured to withstand the pressure of touring. And yeah, they are too old too and touring requires a lot of energy, specially if you haven’t played those songs as a band in decades.

Maybe I can see them doing a very small tour 10 concerts max in big venues but I don’t know. They don’t seem interested in it.

They do seem genuinely amicable to each other, at least in low doses.

Byrne, Weymouth and Frantz introduced the film at Alamo Drafthouse tonight in Brooklyn - pretty cool they’re still doing all the promo together (and they didn’t need Harrison as a “buffer”)

awwww, nice.

New A24 SMS Blu-Ray coming..

https://shop.a24films.com/products/stop-making-sense-collectors-edition

https://www.billboard.com/business/touring/coachella-wanted-talking-heads-reunion-1235593270/

they were unsurprisingly approached with offers for reunion shows and turned them down

Turning down a 80 million dollar offer for a few gigs is insane or even 10M for Coachella alone. Must be nice to be able to turn them down, good for them.

I bet three of them would happily reunite for less money.

Or maybe two of them. You can bet Harrison got him some points on all those shitty '90s bands that went platinum on his producer watch.

I bet Jerry would do it just for kicks. Well, kicks and money. He’s been on Jonathan Richman’s last couple of albums, I don’t think he had a problem play with old friends. I think The Heads would have a blast and Byrne would hate it, or art it up enough to make the others hate it.

“Okay guys, we can reunite, but only if we’re backstage playing the music for a stage production of True Stories.”

byrne has always been the one who really doesn't want to, the rest would all like to - harrison's just done a talking heads tribute tour with belew! obviously relations between byrne & frantz/weymouth having improved hasn't been enough to change that

Oh, Harrison would do it, I just meant that he and Byrne don't need the money, but I bet the other two wouldn't mind the late career cash infusion.

This may be a dumb question, but why are the Tom Tom Club not active? Obviously they wouldn’t headline Coachella, but I would think they could still be a draw(?)

oh well i think frantz & weymouth would still reunite for less money if they could get byrne to do it

Wasn't "Genius of Love" a bigger seller by far than any Talking Heads song?

I wonder what kind of money Chris & Tina made off of the "GoL" sample and co-writer credit in Mariah Carey's "Fantasy"?

Good question. Nick Lowe I think has said he made about $1.5 million from the Curtis Stigers cover of "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding" that was on "The Bodyguard" soundtrack. That soundtrack sold around 17 million+, but of course he was the only credited writer on that song. The more or less contemporaneous "Daydream" has sold around 20 million, but there are six credited songwriters on "Fantasy," so however much it made was divided up that many times, to degrees (like, I'm sure a bigger hunk went to Mariah than anyone else). So I guess the answer to the question "I wonder what kind of money Chris & Tina made off of the "GoL" sample and co-writer credit in Mariah Carey's "Fantasy"?" is: probably not enough to say no to a Talking Heads reunion.

It's a pet peeve of mine that people think Chris & Tina were the only writers on "Genius," btw. The song also credits Belew and Steven Stanley, so four writers. As to why they are not active, I think Chris had some health problems?

i of course don't for sure know about their finances but i think it's probably safe to say that (at least) tina weymouth comes from enough money that they don't need to trot out "Tom Tom Club" reunion concerts in their 70s.

not even getting into the sampling and licensing of genius of love, and their decade-plus tenure in Talking Heds. All these guys are most likely set for life lol, they're fine

was going to say I saw the TTC live not so long ago and looked and it was 2011, opening for the Psychedelic Furs. dang.

their reunion performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was enough to convince me I dont need to see them reunited again, especially now that theyre all 20 years older than they were then

Not only is A24 doing the Stop Making Sense Blu-Ray, they're also curating a tribute album to the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrjHhIGl90I

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