The Name of This POLL Is...- ILM artist poll #82 - TALKING HEADS - (voting is open until Sunday March 26, 2017)

More Songs is indeed a more "professional" version of the debut, but for my money that has always made it a lot duller. I

I disagree with "professional" as applied to More Songs. If anything, the marimba on "Uh Oh" and the horns on "Psycho Killer" are exactly the kind of touches I expect from Tony Bongiovi and a new band tentative in the studio.

Ballot submitted.

David Bowman's book should be set on fire.

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

Why? I just speed-read through it to get some background info for this poll (I don't know anything about Talking Heads), and I thought it was pretty decent. Sometimes critical towards Byrne and especially Weymouth, but I thought that was refreshing.

The reporting is terrible. He mixes free indirect style with speculation. And he obv has it in for Weymouth.

OK, thanks. I'll keep that in mind when I revisit certain parts.

My ballot will be the most boring one of all. Most of the Best Of + extra tracks from Remain in Light. Though as I listen to it, MSABAF becomes better and better. The Good Thing, Stay Hungry and Girls Want To Be With Other Girls especially.

pull up the roots is relentlessly good. i love that quick 16th-note pattern on the keyboard, all the same note, that goes on and off duty

"Found a Job" won the More Songs poll, didn't it? People not into that one anymore? I love it for similar reasons to Karl loving "The Good Thing": those weird self-help philosophy as-explained-by-robots lyrics. On both songs, it's impossible for me to tell if Byrne is singing ironically or seriously, which I think really makes it - I mean, that's a big part of his appeal as a singer and lyricist in general

"Found a Job" may well get extra support in this poll, because of the blistering SMS performance.

Tina's "what a nut" look at Adrian Belew around 1:33:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCfC5yVlvj4

I wonder how long it takes, when Adrian Belew is in your band, to get tired of his schtick? I mean, I love him, but if he was in my band doing his thing every night? I dunno.

lol

"Found A Job" is awesome, my favorite on that album, the jam at the end prefigures a lot of the Remain In Light grooves

I'm enjoying digging back through the catalog for this poll, and I actually like a lot of True Stories more than I remembered, but it also reminds me that Radiohead weren't just named after a Talking Heads song, they were named after a cod-ska oompah Talking Heads song. Otoh, I remain a total sucker for "Dream Operator."

I really can't understand the appeal of Found A Job, it's lacking in hooks & the ending jam is really grating and doesn't go anywhere interesting

dl and Alfred, thanks for the book recommendations.
dl, I bought the Byrne book a couple of years ago to read on a holiday trip, could not get into it at all. Not the author's fault I think, fiction rather than non-fiction was what I needed back then. I'll try again. Some time.
Alfred, I'll look out for the book, a quick search indicates it should not be that hard to find a copy online.

There's also Jonathan Lethem's 33⅓ entry on Fear of Music, but after a quick scan it looks like it's more about the author than about the album or the band.

Yeah I checked, considered then dismissed that

willem - I didn't make it all the way through the book. I wasn't interested in certain chapters about music distribution etc, but the first half is excellent in a 'waxing philosophical about music and the process of making it' way.

Can't believe people are dismissing More Songs About BAF upthread. It's just such a good, punchy selection of songs. Just track after track after track of punky fun.

And yeah The Good Thing is fantastic. The weird spider-scramble guitar in the verse alone...

oh no I'm thinking of 'With Our Love'

But yeah, The Good Thing is definitely a good thing. They're all good things, it's just they pass in such a quick succession with no let-up in between it's hard to really pull that album apart. I mean 'Warning Sign'. Each track is upbeat but also has this uneasy ominous feeling.

As you've probably worked out, I'm listening to MSABAF.

Do people like Found A Job?

Artists Only is another amazing one that I'm placing high on my ballot.

wish i were less indifferent to little creatures, sorry alfred

i also think on that one side two >>> side one

On the topic of More Songs vs 77, I think that although nothing on More Songs quite reaches the heights of the debut, the album is more consistently great and just kinda flows better. I love little things on it like how at the end of 'Thank You For Sending..' when Byrne sings 'Show me what you can do!' the album immediately breaks into the frenetic jam at the start of 'With Our Love'.

In comparison, I consider 77 to be very backloaded, which can make the first half drag a little. Plus, the production isn't as good.

I consider 77 to be very backloaded, which can make the first half drag a little.

agree, was saying so upthread, but i think they both are.

agree, was saying so upthread, but i think they both are

Ah, see I like 'The Good Thing', 'With Our Love' and 'The Girls Want...' too much to say the same about More Songs.

Ballot sent! Didn't vote for anything from the last 3 albums. 'Cool Water' from Naked was a contender but didn't make the cut.

voted!

I'm just gonna chew on my ballot for another week and obsessively tweak the order of the songs

Interesting thing I just recalled re: Belew. I saw that Byrne tour behind the "Everything That Happens ... " album, where the entire setlist was more or less stuff from that album or stuff from the TH/Eno albums. Byrne was the only guitarist, but on, say, the "Remain in Light" stuff, he pulled off all the Belew-isms pretty well!

Along those lines, relistening to More Songs and yeah, might still be my favorite. Totally don't get this as a mere continuation of the first album.

Who Is It? is such a jam.

I like the debut more with each re-listen--I might vote for five of its songs.

David Byrne is a very good and underrated guitarist. I was watching the Chronology DVD and even on those early shows he's fucking killing it. Always thought it was down to Harrison or Belew because he doesn't play all that much guitar on SMS, but yeah he's nailing it while singing and that's not terribly easy.

I just love Byrne's delivery throughout Artists Only. 'You can't see it till it's FIN-ISHED'

dog latin otm. I never realized what a monster guitarist he was until I saw the Rome '80 (I think) video. And his playing never gets talked about/he never gets asked about it.

I'd easily rank him as one of my top 50 rhythm and lead guitarists. Check out his lead playing in the SMS "Crossyed and Painless" or well he does the rhythm chink-chink thing.

Another really funny bit on that DVD is this excruciating US TV performance/interview where the host (probably someone famous but who I don't know) asks a load of closed questions like 'Would you describe yourself as a shy person?'(To which David simply says 'Yes I guess so') and keeps referring to TH as 'You people'

the name of this band is talking heads is really as good as everyone says it is, huh

yeah, esp disc 2

I really need the expanded version of that, only have the 2LP

I'd easily rank him as one of my top 50 rhythm and lead guitarists. Check out his lead playing in the SMS "Crossyed and Painless" or well he does the rhythm chink-chink thing.

The main reason Uh Oh enthused me at the time was a return to a more freewheeling eh-fuck-it Byrne guitar mode, after years of restraint.

Another really funny bit on that DVD is this excruciating US TV performance/interview where the host (probably someone famous but who I don't know) asks a load of closed questions like 'Would you describe yourself as a shy person?'(To which David simply says 'Yes I guess so') and keeps referring to TH as 'You people'

Wait, you're not thinking of the bit where he interviews himself?

No no it's a sparkly Letterman-style show from the late-70s/early-80s. The interviewer is wearing a smart spangly suit. I couldn't tell you who he is because I don't know my US TV hosts very well but my god he's a terrible interviewer. All closed questions. Tina treats him very icily and the rest of the band are just baffled and awkward as anything.

Here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2PblNCo1Ok

it's just ugh.. like how do you mess this up worse?

lmao that interview is great. "organically shy" is a great fake talking heads song title

'Organically shy' sounds like a description of Aspergers I guess.

In other news 'Blind' off of Naked came on the radio while I as driving the other day and it sounded FANTASTIC