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

HOT POTATO

The band soudns like it's holding its nose.

lol, yeah. i like the album version of "puzzlin' evidence" tho.

Oh right, "City of Dreams" is good. It had been long enough since I listened to Sand in the Vaseline that I'd forgotten about that one.

this poll has made me realize that one of my favorite heads modes is when they get real doomy, i.e. "cool water," "the overload," "memories can't wait" to a degree, etc.

the drumming is so damn stiff

xp somewhere I read that "The Overload" was their attempt to imitate Joy Division based on what they had read about them, without actually having heard the band

lmao that's awesome

This playlist sounds particularly fine when played back through the free Pyro beat-mixing iOS app, using the Mix Up function. https://seratopyro.com/

AAARGH WRONG THREAD.... oh well

xpost I read that too sleeve! Maybe someone on ILX posted about it. I don't even care if it's true, it's too good of a story, it must be embraced.

Also I thought the ballots were due yesterday so I rushed mine out before heading out of town. Whoops!

making flippy floppy has one of the best choruses ever - hope i'm not the only one to put it at #1

i know "what a day that was" is just a byrne solo joint exported to the talking heads for the stop making sense shows but honestly the heads arrangement enhances the song so, so much: the enormous scribbly groove they placed in it, the call-and-response stuff with the synth and guitar toward the end. also my favorite staging in the entire movie, with the gigantic shadows

it was going to be my no. 1 but "cool water" is fighting it

well I'm dressed up so nice
and I'm doin my best

stunning how great the pops staples version of "papa legba" is and how lifeless and empty it sounds as a talking heads song

repeat this for most of the other true stories songs. really their worst record

can i vote for this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYFqdrOMqk4

I see no one else has repped for it, so allow me to give a shout out to "Mr. Jones" - my fave post-SMS Heads.

other awesome catherine wheel tracks transformed by the heads:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HOvElJtxfA

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

i am def voting for "big blue plymouth" and no one can stop me

stunning how great the pops staples version of "papa legba" is and how lifeless and empty it sounds as a talking heads song

repeat this for most of the other /true stories/ songs. really their worst record

no way is True Stories worse than Naked. I mean it's not good, but it has 'Wild Wild Life' and the movie rules.

and naked has "blind," "mr. jones," "nothing but flowers," and "cool water"

>>>>>

The only Naked song I could do without is Bill, and in fact it's just on the cd. Everything else on that record is the bee's knees. Truly a wonderful, if unintended(?), send-off.

What on earth is the most un-byrne-y looking Byrne holding in his hands to the general hilarity of the band on the inner sleeve, I've never figured that out. An animal's penis preserved in amber inside a lightbox?

I'd never tire of watching this hilariously awesome/awesomely hilarious video for Mr. Jones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rGEAsfhoeY

blind is good, but idk the whole record has this totally lifeless sound, reminds me of Steely Dan's Two Against Nature. was listening to that record in the car once and i literally forgot it was playing for ~30 minutes. whereas Gaucho has that same sterile sound but the songs bang.

good analogy

the horns on "Blind" rule.

max florian's opinion is wild but "bill" really is the nadir of naked (i agree with the consensus on this thread that it dips considerably on its second side until "cool water")

truly different strokes - I love it for its very sound which I hear totally warm'n'vital, the Franco-African musicians, the Afro-Brazilian percussion.. I'd listen to those multiple guitars for days. Naked has been an invaluable gateway to '70s Congolese rumba/Nigerian juju. for me it's their only "let's get physical" record - it's Remain in Light that sounds lifeless/intellectual to me in comparison (please don't flame), with Naked they got nearer to the source IMO.

and of course the remaster adds to all that their crowning jewel - Sax and Violins. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but it's a record that has never stopped making me happy ever since I first bought it.

not my consensus - Democratic Circus, Facts of Life, Cool Water are all chill-inducing. here as well, bettering The Overload for me in that regard, as the fear feels more real. a very good balance/the other side to the ecstatic first side of the record.

I don't care much for early Byrne's detached persona - it strikes me as something of an immature (as in: not fully formed) personality. that's why for me Byrne gets better on all accounts by the time of Naked and onwards, into his solo '90s records.

Not to make this all Byrne-centric, let me just add that Chris & Tina as well are firing on all cylinders on that final record, playing in styles I don't remember them tackling before - Chris on brushes, Tina's parts and runs.. yay all around. Plus of course Johnny Marr, Kristy's harmonies.. Whoah. Have to put it on right now.

man that's a lot of words for a bad record

Max in the picture on the inner sleeve; Byrne is supposedly holding a giant prize winning pickle!

it's funny how under-documented they are. i mean there's only a few books, no really decent ones, but even on the net it's pretty thin info-wise. the version of Houses In Motion that came out as a single is supposedly a 'remix' (uncredited, by Eno) according to the sleeve, but under the link on YouTube there is some hot debate about whether this is a remix, or a complete re-recording. no-one knows for sure. if this was a track off say one of the Velvets best loved albums, the skinny on this stuff would be written about chapter and verse all over the place, but for these guys everything is sketchy.

anyway here is that 'remix' complete with its extra verse!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKUg5Lgs3YQ

not my consensus - Democratic Circus, Facts of Life, Cool Water are all chill-inducing

i appreciate the growing darkness in the second half of naked but beyond "cool water" the tunes really don't support it

can't ever consider it a bad record bc the first side is all jams imo. i disagree with the characterization of early byrne heads songs as "detached," they're only detached inasmuch as they're able to access from an angle an emotional core in bureaucracy and modernity, which i feel is best expressed by byrne singing "this must be the place" to a lamp. the only time his detachment bothers me is when it becomes indistinguishable from pastiche, e.g. on true stories the album. i enjoyed the youtube review of true stories embedded upthread bc neither reviewer is able to successfully apply the term "satire" to the film even though it has characteristics of it. feel like this is also true of talking heads records

Wow, thanks! Didn't know this existed - I love Houses in Motion (and Hassell on it)!

xxpost -
A mega pickle! 30-year mystery finally solved. Thank you!

also, can we drop the idea that "detached" by implication suggests immaturity?

plus, detachment as practiced by Byrne means not eschewing relationships with men and women but able to look at their motives wrly.

do agree that the extra guitars on "(Nothing But) Flowers" are beautiful.

xxxxp - About 'The Overload', from the David Bowman book:

The album would end with a glorious tune that didn’t really belong on Remain in Light. It was more a throwback to Fear of Music. But the song was too good to leave out. Jerry had been the chief architect of the piece. It was called “The Overload.”
David’s contributions to this song were said to be influenced by things he had read about a British group called Joy Division. He had never actually heard their albums, but he had read about them. The band played sublime dirges with a tribal-cum-industrial beat. Joy Division made schizophrenic trance drones. Soundtracks for nonexistent sci-fi movies. Ceremonial music for deep-tech fascist gatherings. The band’s singer was Jim Morrison without the fire. Iggy Pop eating glass instead of cutting up his chest. David worked on the mock–Joy Division song without listening to any of their albums. When he finally heard Joy Division, he was disappointed. They sounded closer to a conventional rock group than he’d thought. David had been fooled by the music critics. As for “The Overload,” it ended up sounding more like post-Animals Pink Floyd.

also, can we drop the idea that "detached" by implication suggests immaturity?

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, March 20, 2017 2:35 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

plus, detachment as practiced by Byrne means not eschewing relationships with men and women but able to look at their motives wrly.

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, March 20, 2017 2:36 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm x2

When he finally heard Joy Division, he was disappointed. They sounded closer to a conventional rock group than he’d thought. David had been fooled by the music critics.

I'm sorry David Bowman is projecting his own disappointment -- this is what I disliked about the book.

jesus christ i can't imagine reading a whole book of that

The band played sublime dirges with a tribal-cum-industrial beat. Nope

Joy Division made schizophrenic trance drones. What

Soundtracks for nonexistent sci-fi movies. Nope

Ceremonial music for deep-tech fascist gatherings. wtf stop that.

The band’s singer was Jim Morrison without the fire. omg no

Iggy Pop eating glass instead of cutting up his chest. ...

I'm with Max to an extent. Struggling to decide which of Democratic Circus, Facts of Life, Cool Water* and Sax and Violins to remove from ballot. Otherwise dominated by MSABAF and FOM!

*well, no, CW is very safe.

I love this wide-ranging, witty interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhUq52YmeLA

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 18 March 2017 03:10 (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Enjoyed this a lot, thanks. It may well be a carefully-honed public image, but they come across as very "people who have figured out how to live".

And thanks to you & Brad for deftly handling the 'detached' dig, which had me slapping my forehead.

Re-listening to Naked now. It's good! Not "re-work/re-submit my ballot" good, but good. Byrne is the weak link; a singer in a language I don't speak would improve it a lot. But I'm into it. The dub sound of "Mommy Daddy You and I" is great.

Chris & Tina as well are firing on all cylinders on that final record

think you might be missing some of who does what on that record

oh nm I coulda sworn they had other bassists at some point but I must be misremembering all the extra personnel from SMS on...

also, can we drop the idea that "detached" by implication suggests immaturity?
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, March 20, 2017 2:35 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I never intended that to be a "dig" at anyone. That's why I defined what I meant by 'immature' in my explanation further above. What I meant is: I feel early Byrne is skimming the surface of things in faux-detachment, underneath he's shitting his pants to have to get really involved, both as songwriter and singer. You know - like, yamming too much about style (styles of living; styles of acting), until he starts singing for real, and writing real, heartfelt songs about SOMETHING (which he would prove excellent, while unheralded, at) - all a plus in my book (not ideologically: purely on the evidence of the material).

Many of his later solo songs are angry, or utterly sad in their conclusions - 'A Self-Made Man'; 'They Are in Love' - but they are NOT detached any more. He's pissed off if need be, he cuts deeper for it, comes across stronger for it. To my ears/taste, of course.

For full disclosure (bear with me one last minute), I should postscript all of this by admitting I was a couple years too young to be able to experience the 'idiot glee' early 80s style period first hand - early Heads, but also Gang of Four, Wire before them, Eno's vocal albums, and the like. It's one of the rare music eras I (to my chagrin) find, if not "dated" (a word I hate with a passion), then a time capsule - what I'm hearing is young people with guts, but also "im-mature" i.e. too young yet to write something of real substance (some among them would then go on to do so, but with dimmer wattage on them as youth - especially if angry - is the be-all and end-all in R'n'R).

By the same token I have never fallen for post-punk white disco in purely musical terms - conversely, black disco a couple of years earlier was the first music I remember hearing, and enjoying on a pure, body level. That might explain a few things about my predilections/idiosincracies in all this. I am very aware that may be the reason the whole angst ingredient of early Byrne/TH goes over my head without me being able to enjoy it. It's like it's a time capsule I can't quite get (back) into.

they ought to be more careful
they're setting a bad example

oh nm I coulda sworn they had other bassists at some point but I must be misremembering all the extra personnel from SMS on...

― Οὖτις, Monday, March 20, 2017 6:50 PM (forty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Bob Babbitt said:

Another situation that happened to me was the first Talking Heads album.

I overdubbed the Bass parts, played with a pick. The sound was exactly like the parts on the record. They need the same notes but with a better feel and better execution. Yeah, no credits. The producers did not even tell the group.

http://bobbabbitt.com/Bob_Babbitts_Site/Whos_Playing_Bass.html