Talking Heads

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!