David Byrne

Surely you’ve got better things to do.

If ever there was a person with nothing better to do, it's Chris Franz.

According to Franz, Byrne said he wasn't going to read the book so that he wouldn't have to respond when asked about it.

Smart.

They really don't let it go. You'd think having a major hand in creating one of the most sampled songs -- a dance and hip-hop touchstone -- would make them reconsider giving such a damn about what Byrne did in the Heads.

Byrne acknowledges his flaws but I guess Frantz wants a direct apology and a Talking Heads reunion tour

Franz is so weird bc he never misses a chance to absolutely torch Byrne (the book is OTT brutal), and then in the next breath he'll be like "I don't know what David's problem is that he doesn't want to get back together with us and do a TH greatest hits world tour, he's such a weird alien."

It is weird — would Weymouth even want to do a reunion? I got the impression she hates Byrne even more!

Franz is so weird bc he never misses a chance to absolutely torch Byrne (the book is OTT brutal), and then in the next breath he'll be like "I don't know what David's problem is that he doesn't want to get back together with us and do a TH greatest hits world tour, he's such a weird alien."

― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open),

Byrne said something similar a few years ago, something like, "Why would I want to hang out in a studio with people who were ripping me to shreds yesterday?"

Didn't Byrne ostensibly "fire" the rest of the band at some point? That doesn't exactly engender feelings of "band" at all.

Byrne talks of feeling physically ill from the tension while the band was recording their final album, 1988’s “Naked.” ...

This is funny bc I even remember a bit from the book where Frantz goes on abt what a romantic time he & Weymouth had recording & partying in Paris, and in an aside says something like "David said recording the album was a terrible experience for him, but who knows why, he's just a weird contrarian." Like if you a) can do a whole record with someone and not pick up on that and b) when they come to you and tell you, you roll your eyes and dismiss them bc you and your wife had fun, like yeah, maybe you all were not meant to be in a band together anymore?

Franz's view of Byrne in Remain in Love is less what Byrne may take it to be — about being a dictator — than that he took more credit than was his due and was/is profoundly avoidant. Byrne's claim of having been a dictator ca. Stop Making Sense and subsequently not reading Franz's book seem consistent with this view.

The relationships are so messed up, I imagine it's too complicated at this point to explain why some actions are illogically at odds with others. Obviously Byrne no longer has any issues revisiting the band's work - the Broadway show is based mostly on that music - but I'm sure any reunion would only lead to more uncomfortable conflicts and he doesn't want to go through that anymore. At the same time, I can see why Chris and Tina want to reunite the band - they're proud of that work, it continues to find many new fans, and they want to enjoy that in the best way possible while they're still physically able. Imagine wanting that and seeing everyone flock to Byrne's show with others playing the music that you helped create - you'd probably think "I should be up there!" But there's been too much bad blood and too many angry words exchanged. I can't imagine any history of that just evaporating at this point - they may reunite for another one-off if they get something like a Kennedy Center honor, but that's about it.

It is weird — would Weymouth even want to do a reunion? I got the impression she hates Byrne even more!

I saw a story somewhere--maybe on ILX?--about how when Rhino was prepping the Once In A Lifetime box, the label got everybody together in a conference room for a meeting (Byrne might have been on speakerphone), and one of the label people tells the band how hard a sell the box will be with no tie-in press or performances from the band. Weymouth responds that they understand the problem, and "...if we need to tour, we'll tour." Byrne then flatly responds, "There will be no tour."

End of discussion.

That might've been me, I've posted that story. Going as far back as 1999, Weymouth and Frantz have wanted to tour, but I think Byrne's constant and growing refusal may have just led to more resentment in response.

FWIW, try digging around their promotional appearances for the 15th anniversary restoration/reissue of Stop Making Sense. All four appeared together to promote it, and it left an impression because it was the first time I read anything about the band, they were completely new to me. During a joint press conference (I think in San Francisco?), someone asked if they would like to reunite, and both Weymouth and Frantz enthusiastically said YES while Byrne and Harrison awkwardly remained silent. Then there was a weird thing, I think on the same day, where Byrne did his own interview with some major publication (maybe EW or one of the trades?) and the same interviewer had to interview Weymouth, Frantz and Harrison as a group separately. It was during this interview that I remember Weymouth saying Byrne didn't understand or appreciate the value of friendship, and that kind of explains a lot.

Oh wow, the whole thing is on YouTube - I've only read reports from this, I've never actually seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFdvd62hSGI

Lmk if you find a specific timecode for the reunion question...!

Re: the interviews, it wasn't just one publication, it was apparently set up that way for everybody the following day:

From the San Francisco Examiner:

"...it was no surprise when interviews granted to herald the wide release of the film starting this Friday were given in two halves: Byrne in one hotel conference room, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison in another. It was an interesting succession of chats - one that left no doubt that this is one band that will never play together again."

I still don't know which publication got the quote I remember from Weymouth unfortunately.

As the description of the YouTube vid points out, this is *after* the whole lawsuit / "No Talking, Just Head" thing... which is kinda remarkable (and, like, no wonder!)

Oh man, long before they broke up, Weymouth was fulminating in the press about Eno and Byrne only having eyes and ears for each other, not caring what anybody else thought about the music, also something about Eno and royalties, and how Byrne was like "a janitor" in personal style, and I always heard that she was the one who ripped into him in band meetings---Rhino must have known about some of this, in Rolling Stone and so on, but hey why not try to squeeze more bucks out of this box set craze, and yeah Weymouth and Franz had Tom Tom Club and The Heads album with guest singers, not bad, but why try to do anything more like that when you see more TALKING HEADS REUNION TOUR bucks somewhere to be squeezed, and business is business but they never have wanted to understand that he doesn't need them the way they need him, or somebody else with more impetus than they have, past a few done deals. Whut fules.

morrisp, it doesn't appear to happen in this press conference - at 29:36 they're asked whether they thought about reuniting after seeing the film and Weymouth wryly says "When we saw it in the studio ... we said, 'Wow! What a great band...'" Harrison jokes he hasn't seen the film yet and Byrne avoids the question altogether. Wish I could remember the publications where I read about what I posted but it's impossible to say, I could've been jumping through dozens of articles linked on Yahoo! or AOL that particular day.

The Heads album is one of the worst things I've ever heard -- it's air pollution.

Either way, same point, about facing their own limitations, hitching their old wagon to somebody besides Byrne.

other than him.

I view Weymouth and Franz not unlike Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, and Byrne as Fogerty. They were important to the band, while in the band, but really haven't done much of anything outside the band, despite complaining loudly about not getting enough credit for their creative input. And their constant complaints about Eno are just silly; compare his track record as producer to theirs, let alone that of Jerry "ugh" Harrison.

Most Surprising Album in Jerry Harrison's Production Discography

Ugh. I thought he had produced The Raw & the Cooked for Fine Young Cannibals, but I guess he only did the Buzzcocks cover.

Don't drag Harrison into this!! lol

Tim Lawrence's great Arthur Russell bio indicates that Harrison's fellow ex-Modern Lover Ernie Brooks brought Arthur into work on JH albs which I gather weren't so hot, but I'd still like to hear them.

One of the Casual Gods albums was a late '90s cutout bin perennial.

Early '90s!

Clifford and the other Fogerty didn't co-write "Genius of Love," though. Frantz-Weymouth have plenty to be thankful for.

XP Those same copies were still there in the late-Clinton era!

"but really haven't done much of anything outside the band, despite complaining loudly about not getting enough credit for their creative input."

Josh! C'mon! Frantz and Weymouth recorded a record during the peak of the main band that was then and has since been universally beloved in dance music, post-new wave and just about every other context, featuring a song that everyone in the U.S. and probly UK at least under the age of 60 has heard and most likely adores. That one song is better known the result of the combined impact of every single solo song Byrne ever did. Cook and Clifford have nothing anywhere near that to show for.

"relevant context"

yes, thank you! Why are we not talking about "Genius of Love"?

I interviewed Narada Michael Walden last month and he couldn't stop talking about the impact of "Genius of Love" if you lived in NYC in 1981-1982

Yeah, so why not give up on/shut up about Byrne, and do more on their own, or with whatever help is required.

For what it is worth, there are four credited songwriters on "Genius of Love." I am not a huge fan of that song and honestly find it kind of annoying, but fine, let's call it a good track. Hey, a great track! So? That's one song! The era as we all know is full of great tracks, one hit wonders, one offs, but no one would ascribe greatness to, like, Peter Schilling.

Cook and Clifford have nothing anywhere near that to show for.

They're not "Genius of Love", but Groover's Paradise and The Evil One are nothing to sneeze at.

They knew they needed Doug and Roky!

(True, they still did battle w Fogerty in court, though that may well be on him, and they slogged on for many a year with that substitute singer who barely lived to tell in recent Rolling Stone, but they got it right a couple of times.)

For what it is worth, there are four credited songwriters on "Genius of Love." I am not a huge fan of that song and honestly find it kind of annoying, but fine, let's call it a good track. Hey, a great track! So? That's one song! The era as we all know is full of great tracks, one hit wonders, one offs, but no one would ascribe greatness to, like, Peter Schilling.

― Josh in Chicago

Josh, with respect, you're being...willful here. Who cares how many songwriters? "Genius" was an epochal track, sampled within months (weeks?) by Grandmaster Flash, blatantly plagiarized by Narada Michael Walden for Stacy Lattisaw, and, more than a decade later, became the basis for a ferocious Mariah Carey single...and popped up AGAIN when Carey's "Heartbreaker" sampled the Lattisaw track.

Tom Tom Club were only good for one album, but pop music is filled with one-album wonders. Don't hold it against them.

Anyway, my Cook and Clifford comparison was in the context of them in the Talking Heads. No one, not even Franz and Weymouth, are making any real claims their post TH stuff has somehow been overlooked, and few would go to bat for much of anything in Byrne's solo catalog, either, give or take "The Catherine Wheel" or his (other) collaborations with Eno. Franz and Weymouth's grievances are about their tenure in the Talking Heads, but that ship sailed decades ago. There'd be more merit to their grousing if they had managed much of anything in the past 30 years, good *or* bad. Though it doesn't help that what little they did was bad.

under the age of 60 has heard and most likely adores. That one song is better known the result of the combined impact of every single solo song Byrne ever did.

― veronica moser, Tuesday, September 20, 2022 5:40 PM

truth bomb. byrne's solo career is a snoozefest.

"Genius of Love" >>>>>> True Stories

and i mean maybe a bit more niche,
but "wordy rappinghood" is also a very solid jam.

byrne's catalogue otoh has nothing that even resembles someone having any fun whatsoever.

oh for sure it does. still mediocre at best, forgettable at worse.

I will speculate wildly that, even though in 1981 and 1982 Byrne would deny giving a solitary shit about chart success, given his dictatorial tendencies and pass/ag grandiosity (both accelerated by primo cocaine available to NYers in his position), he had to have been envious of their success at the time. That one song that Josh has the perfect right to be dismissive of at that time had greater cultural penetration than My life in the bush of Ghosts and, again, has had far greater legacy since than the combined impact of every single solo song David Byrne has ever done.

I live about a mile from Frantz and Weymouth. In 2019 I was seated next to them at a Mott the Hoople show and made some small talk with them re: the town we live in. 6 months beforehand, and two days before I moved out of NYC after 30 years, I saw the Byrne show, which while unmatched as live performance, I was not gonna discuss with them

i won't stand for this catherine wheel erasure! it's proof that byrne didn't necessarily need frantz & weymouth, but also that they really helped - just compare the studio versions of tracks to the live versions with talking heads. the studio versions are good but the live versions are fantastic

Good album!

Tina and Chris at a Mott the Hoople show seems like such an odd conjunction.