Eldergays, Tell me about Talking Heads

Big group on my Ivy League campus early 80s. Popular at all parties from frat to arty. Quite the party band. Great concert tours too. They all played instruments and Bryne sang in his odd but compelling voice. They had oomph.

Okay, I'm to a Talking Heads worshipper, but the lyric "Water dissolving and water removing, there is water at the bottom of the ocean" is the most profound lyric ever in popular music. On the one hand, it's obvious and easy to dismiss. On the other hand, you need to consider that it's actually about the nature of human relationships.

Psycho killer quest que ce same as it ever was same as it ever was.

Idk.

Just to be clear, "I'm to" ==> "I'm not"

Reeked of hipster tediousness. Spy magazine did a great send up of David Byrne's faux naif routine.

R2 Are you trolling?

Or rolling?

At the time, I really enjoyed their music though I almost never listen to it now.

I also went to their Hollywood Bowl concert (during the filmed tour) and had a great time.

But for the most part, their fans were insufferable white people-- upper middle class prepsters who believed themselves the arbiters of music.

It's interesting that when Byrne was on SNL this year, he basically did the old TH stuff.

Also, a very funny old Simpsons episode is when Byrne records Homer's song about Ned Flanders.

77 is an amazing album. A lot of bands' debut albums that came out around that time were their best: Pretenders, B52s, Talking Heads, etc.

77 is really good but they kept getting better. “More Songs About Buildings and Food” is great, “Fear of Music” is a masterpiece and “Remain in Light” is even better than that. That was their peak but their later albums are also good.

Byrne is a mad genius. Weymouth, Franz and Harrison were all killer musicians. For me they are all time top 5, one of the truly great American rock bands. Ignore the haters, OP, and enjoy getting to know their stuff. Their catalogue has rich rewards.

On another thread, I learned that David Byrne isn't just so awkward he looks like a professor of organic chemistry trying to be a rock star, he's actually on the autism spectrum. He's open about it now, he wasn't when he was top of the charts.

Anyway! In the first weeks of the pandemic and lockdown, I played their "Once in a Lifetime" several billion times. It seemed to capture the zeitgeist - the sense of life turned upside-down and leaving us dizzy, the reminder of life's massive uncertainty, the sense that the experience was both brand new and eternal. It was all new to me, to us, but pandemics have been happening since the multi-cellular life evolved, and the experience is as old as water flowing underground. I'd post a link, if my computer didn't crash every fucking time I bring up youtube and decline their fucking ads.

R10 I thought Life During Wartime was pretty apropos.

OP: Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz (one of the most likeable and enduring couples in rock music--they've been together for almost 50 years) have given some insightful and interesting interviews about that period in their life. The one I linked below is long but worth a listen.

One of the most creative and delightful pop love songs ever.....great sex song with some mj too.

Home is where I want to be Pick me up and turn me around I feel numb, born with a weak heart I guess I must be having fun

The less we say about it the better Make it up as we go along Feet on the ground, head in the sky It's okay, I know nothing's wrong, nothing

Oh! I got plenty of time Oh! You got light in your eyes And you're standing here beside me I love the passing of time

Never for money, always for love Cover up and say goodnight, say goodnight Home, is where I want to be But I guess I'm already there

I come home, she lifted up her wings I guess that this must be the place I can't tell one from the other I find you, or you find me?

There was a time before we were born If someone asks, this is where I'll be, where I'll be oh!

We drift in and out Oh! Sing into my mouth Out of all those kinds of people You got a face with a view

I'm just an animal looking for a home and Share the same space for a minute or two And you love me till my heart stops Love me till I'm dead

Eyes that light up Eyes look through you Cover up the blank spots Hit me on the head I got ooh!

Psycho Killer murdered by Bradford Shellhammer

In my humble opinion, their finest hour:

Slippery People was always a favorite. Found a cool video of The Staple Singers covering the song on Soul Train.

David Byrne is a genius.

The Staple Singers version of "Slippery People" is phenomenally great. (You need good audio quality to get the full effect of Mavis's singing.) I believe David Byrne plays guitar on it.

Great find, R16! Pops Staples had a supporting role in "True Stories", by the way.

"Stop Making Sense" is one of the best live albums of all time.

Staple Singers felt that one!

Stop Making Sense really IS that great of a concert film

The Talking Heads are almost that great of a band, but maybe not quite as good as the rep in some corners. The music gets very spotty in the latter half of their existence - of course you could say that about myriad acts.

The Staple Singers' version of "Slippery People" can be found on the out-of-print album, "The Turning Point."

Several used copies of this killer CD are available on eBay and Amazon as I type this.

You're welcome.

They’re absolutely fabulous and there are plenty of internet resources for you to learn about them, Aspie Thread Copycat Pop Cataloguing OP.

A favorite:

Franz has a book that just came out.

Fear of Music was great but thereafter they became too groovy for my liking. David Byrne is a typical NY art scene pretentious knob and check out his hair transplant .

R26 Chris' book comes out next month.

R16 R18 In David Byrne's American Utopia show the version of Slipper People is very much like the Staple Singers rather than the Talking Heads.

And the winner is....

Fun songs.

Fun, taught all us paleorockers girls could do it too, and david byrne's whole manner of voice and stage presence let socially challenged uncomfortable guys know it was fun and cool to dance and loosen up in front of people. Wow. The whole conception of the band was genius, and Byrne was at its center.

Chris Frantz's book comes out today, and it's an epic take-down of David Byrne.

This is the most '80s thing to ever '80s

In my humble opinion a bit much.

The video is quintessential '80s but the song is iconic, and cathartic.

They were interesting and I remember playing their music on my set on our college radio station. I also met and affiliated with some nice friends who bonded through a shared interest in New Wave music. RISD and Providence, Rhode Island was like the hip epicenter of things in the early 1980’s. I think Byrne is very attractive, and talented. I wasn’t surprised to learn that he has a form of autism recently, and I think some of his indifference to the shared experiences and recognition of his band mates is related in some way to that affective profile. I may read Franz’s memoir of his experiences with The Talking Heads. It sounds a bit like Blondie; Eccentric, talented, attractive people who were not very nice to each other and resent the disproportionate recognition of their key figures. That era of the music business seems rough and exploitive, and I think some creative, talented people remember their periods of fame with a lot of bitterness and disappointment. Some don’t speak about it, or even remember much of it.

Byrne wanted to kick Tina Weymouth out of the band but she was married to the drummer.

Always liked this performance. What exactly is Tina Weymouth doing, tho?

Yes David Byrne had a lot of brilliant ideas musically and lyrically, but the other group members were also vital and valuable contributors to creating the music of Talking Heads. They weren't just session players and the tour band. You can't compare the dynamics of David Byrne and Talking Heads they way you would John Fogerty and CCR.

[quote]Stop Making Sense really IS that great of a concert film

I saw it three times when it played in Harvard Sq. Jonathan Demme directed it and later directed "Silence of the Lambs".

R41

Luca Guadagnino did his academic thesis about Jonathan Demme.

In CMBYN, Monet's berm scene, Elio wears a Talking Heads tee-shirt.

As a 1983 hipster would.

[Quote] I also went to their Hollywood Bowl concert (during the filmed tour) and had a great time.

Interesting. I was at the Hollywood Pantages shows when it was actually filmed. Amazing nights I will never forget.

Talking Heads '77 for shall ever be a classic. More Songs About Buildings And Food is an under appreciated treasure trove. Speaking In Tongues is their most underrated later album. This Must Be The Place needs more recognition.

So, rock as an artform. Which was the best band, in this form?

For the purposes of discussion, let's exclude all those Brit bands, who are contenders.

Which was the best American Rock Band in history? Possible answers: the Byrds, Grateful Dead, Nirvana, REM, Eagles, Replacements (a personal fav)... but no band can make the claim as convincingly as Talking Heads.

I have posted David Byrne performing I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) before and it sparks joy

I think it's fair to say, from a British perspective, Remain In Light and More Songs About Buildings And Food were much more popular in Britain, than they ever were in the States.

Scott Aukerman and Adam Scott just started a new podcast about the band: U Talkin' Talking Heads 2 My Talking Head?

They discuss 77 in the first episode.

Interesting. A friend is a huge fan and had the opportunity to have lunch with him about five years ago to discuss a potential artistic collaboration. He turned up on the bike that he travels with everywhere (this wasn’t in the USA, UK or Europe). The meal was one-on-one - no publicists or hangers on, just her and DB. She said that he was absolutely charming and they had a fantastic long lunch in the sunshine drinking lots of wine. Then as they were saying goodbye she presented him with some merch from the festival that she was producing including a beach towel - he was completely thrilled with the beach towel, grabbed his goodies, jumped on his bike and cycled away.

The artistic collaboration never happened, sadly, but she has nothing but good things to say about one of her idols. Maybe he was just singing for his supper (or lunch, in this case) but my friend is pretty sharp and cynical and she had a great time with him.

For what it’s worth.

R49 Actually sounds very much like him, somI believe you 100%. I know the story always goes simiyto thos, but ... I met a friend who went to RISD, and she kept up with him for much of his life... In his defence, I think he may very well be brilliantly high-level functioning Aspergers.

My friend would often host him on her sailboat... this was ages ago, yet the same obtuse behaviour was noted to be exactly the same, in accordance with her anecdotes. Don't take it personally, as I believe those who are so talented in that regard, often have huge deficits we simply cannot comprehend. I probably heard these anecdotes twenty-five years or longer after the fact.

^ apologies for the formatting, my iPad is onnthe fritz...

So has anyone read the Talking Heads drummer's book?

Any dirt?

I've got some groceries, some peanut butter, to last a couple of days

Love The Tom Tom Club. So danceable

I think Chris and Tina are not as nice as they pretend to be.

And David lightly on the spectrum makes perfect sense. (Or should one stop making sense?)

They don't seem nice to me at all, R55! They're like a dog with a bone, and they just refuse to let it go. Your band broke up 30 years ago, FFS. Get a life, and stop obsessing about a man who wants nothing to do with you. It's creepy.

R56 They're the only ones who didn't really have a big hit or career after TH ended. Jerry went on to become a big record producer, DB has a solo career. Chris and Tina only have Genius of Love.

I'm sure they could have done more, R57-- I mean, they DO have the talent-- but for whatever reason, they just weren't hungry. Tina says she doesn't have "family money," but I've never believed her.

Love this.

Talking Heads - Burning Down the House live and Interview - Letterman 1983

I haven't seen the David Byrne film by Spike Lee yet, can't wait

Remember that scene in Risky Business?

Take me to the river, David

I've nothing to add but that I loved their music. The Jonathan demme film was marvelous too.

I didn't party to much attention to the band - I was very busy! - but I liked tom Tom club.

Before my time but it seems like that type of music, which as several of you have noted, seemed designed to appeal to an intellectual college audience, is not longer commercially viable. Vampire Weekend is the closest we've had in a while and the main similarity there is the audience, VW's music is nowhere near as memorable, (And they were big 15+ years ago too,)

It seems--and curious what those of you who were tapped in at the time think--that Talking Heads suffered commercially because they did not fit into any neat box, They weren't rock and roll, weren't really New Wave or Punk (though they were often lumped in together) and so the music industry didn't really know what to do with them or how to market them.

Heaven

Is a place

[quote] Water dissolving and water removing, there is water at the bottom of the ocean

Ok. Spell it out r2.

Excellent music produced by a group of competent musicians led by a tweaky, aspie, and ultimately corporate minded self-obsessed, soulless aspie who used to put the aspie veneer on to take the piss, and who now cannot separate the aspie personality from what he really is: an aspie who's an asshole who throws his former band mates under the bus in the name of filthy lucre.

"More Songs About Buildings and Food", "Fear of Music", "Stop Making Sense (big long version)", are my faves. The version of "Heaven" on "Stop Making Sense" is one of the transcendent pieces of music where I actually live in the moment. The world could be blowing up and I wouldn't give a flying fuck.