Aqualung

Mr. Green has inspired me to do a featured artist review on the Talking Heads. Their music is very eclectic, incorporating punk, pop, funk, and world music, and David Byrne was one of the most recognizable front men of the time, so their music videos and live stuff is not only musically entertaining, but visually as well. They were one of the leading new wave groups, and have influenced such groups as Radiohead, Phish, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. They've been one of the most influential alternative rock groups, and they were and continue to be very popular.

Years Active:
1974-1991

Genre:
New wave, alternative

Line Up:
David Byrne - Vocals, guitar
Chris Frantz - Drums
Tina Weymouth - Bass guitar
Jerry Harrison - Guitar, keyboards

Discography:
Talking Heads: 77 - 1977
More Songs About Buildings and Food - 1978
Fear of Music - 1979
Remain in Light - 1980
Speaking in Tongues - 1983
Little Creatures - 1985
True Stories - 1986
Naked - 1988

And various compilations

History:
Talking Heads was formed in 1974 as David Byrne (guitar and vocals), Christ Frantz (drums), and Tina Weymouth (bass guitar). The three were at the time attending the Rhode Island School of Design. They picked the name Talking Heads after the phrase talking head shot, a shot used extensively in news programs that only has the head and shoulders of the anchor. The name stuck because their musical style and stage presence was seen as being "all content, no action." In 1976, after having moved to New York and gigging at the CBGBs club (a New York City club that was a popular stop for bands touring in that area), they added Jerry Harrison to their line up. Their playing caught the attention of Sire Records, and they signed a deal in 1977.

The Talking Heads very quickly released their first album, Talking Heads: 77, later that year. The music featured a very strong and overpowering rhythm, and displayed David Byrne's distinctive, slightly off-key yet nonetheless enjoyable voice. Psycho Killer, the single from this album, didn't do too well in sales, nor did the album, but New York's punk culture liked their first taste of the Talking Heads.

In 1978, the band released More Songs about Buildings and Food. This album saw the birth of a long-term collaboration with Brian Eno. Eno was essentially the Talking Heads' fifth member for a number of years. Eno's production skills and style complimented the bands own style and desired direction, and working with such a well-respected rock pioneer as Eno gave the group the confidence to develop their styles even more. The single Take Me To The River (a cover of an Al Green song), was a great success for the Talking Heads and gave them the recognition they needed.

1979 saw the release of Fear of Music, a decidedly post punk album. The widening of their styles is well exemplified by the song I Zimbra, which is adapted from a Hugo Ball poem. The song Life During Wartime was also popular, and gave the youth the catch-phrase "This ain't no party, this ain't no disco."

The Talking Heads' musical style continued to progress with the 1980 release of Remain In Light. This album featured African polyrhythms, and was a taste of David Byrne's future exploration into world music. The single from this album, Once in a Lifetime, was initially unsuccessful, but grew over the next few years, due largely to the music video.

After this four-albums-in-four-years stint, the group took a three year hiatus from creating studio albums. During this time, they released a live compilation, The Name of this Band Is Talking Heads, and said goodbye to Brian Eno (who went on to produce U2).

Speaking in Tongues was Talking Heads' next studio album, released in 1983. This gave the band their first American Top 10 hit, Burning Down the House. The success was, once again, due in large part to their creative and entertaining music video. The album gave rise to a tour, the live material from that tour making its way onto the album Stop Making Sense.

In 1985, the band released Little Creatures. It departed from their earlier stuff in that it was a bit more pop than their previous albums, but it still contained the neurotic qualities that became one of the Talking Heads' signature characteristics. The Talking Heads fan base had very polar views about this album - some consider it to be their best album whereas others consider it to be their worst. The album cover was selected by Rolling Stone magazine as album cover of the year.

True Stories was released in 1986, and this one was equally as poppy as the preceding. This album featured recordings of songs from the musical True Stories, a movie directed by David Byrne. He also played the leading role. This movie was not a commercial success, but is seen by many Byrne fans to be a natural off-shoot of his other talents, and is characteristically idiosyncratic.

1988 saw the release of Naked. To get a different format for the songs featured on this album, the group decided to leave their American setting and record in Paris. To record, the band, joined by a number of other musicians, would record and plan a song the entire day. At the end of the day, one take was chosen. They left the lyrics and melodies un-specified, so they could give the musicians freedom to work. In fact, many of the lyrics/melodies, were just David Byrne's improvisation over the pre-recorded musical tracks.

After this album, the Talking Heads decided to take a little break from each other. Unfortunately, this "little break" turned into a break up, and in 1991, the Talking Heads which was officially announced in 1991. After the break up, David Byrne went on to collaborate with other groups, including the Violent Femmes, Fine Young Cannibals, Crash Test Dummies, and No Doubt. Frantz and Weymouth started their own group, called Tom Tom Club (which had actually been a side job since 1981), and have been almost as successful in terms of sales as the Talking Heads.

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plastique.kinetic

you just don't stop doing the "featured artist=" of my fav. bands! keep up the good ...rock!

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George Orwell

Aqualung

Lol. Okay. If you have specific artists, please recommend them in the featured artist feedback thread, because sometimes I get stuck on who I should do.

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Kimbo Green

thanks for this, so many I didn't know.
Must get more of these band.

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wallarookiller

Talking heads really have a great original sound. I never really got into them until about 2 years ago. Now I've got a couple of there CD's and love it. Thanks for reminding me think I'll spend a little x mas cash on them.

Aqualung

Yeah, Talking Heads are great. Welcome to the forums, by the way! I look forward to getting to know you better.

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Music Resource

Great review, thanx. I love the TH. I love any band that sounds unique and does a great job while they're at it. They were instrumental in helping me expand my musical horizons back in the early 80's.

99

This is one band that is a little overrated in my view.

usicmalove

David Byrnes Album "grown backwards" is absolutely amazing; especially the first song "glass concrete & stone". just frigging beautiful.
I'm not sure what its called ,but i watched a 20 minute video on youtube of david byrne, and this old house that he turned into one big instrument. has any else seen this? its amazing, and i can't do it justice by explaining it here.

Playing the Building.
man he's amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1D30gS7Z8U


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Country pop!

Lady*Magic

Wonderful review!

I grew up in the "talking heads" era. I have rocked many times to "take me to the river" and "burning down the house". They had a unique sound, and were influential to many musicians. Underrated, probably. Overrated, probably. doesn't matter to me, i enjoyed their music back in the 70's and i still enjoy it now, that's all that matters :smiles:

Lady*Magic

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Aqualung

Yeah, the Talking Heads definitely have one of the most unique sounds of any sort of mainstream band.

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Glorfindel

No argument there, even though Byrne is definitely a little eccentric the Talking Heads had one of those unique sounds that separated them from anyone else, you know a couple of notes and you knew it was the Talking Heads. My personal favorite is Speaking in Tongues, an obvious choice perhaps, but I simply really liked the whole album.(I still have my old vinyl copy too,,, I just love the cover art.) If you like the TH's then you should check out Jerry Harrison's solo album, Casual Gods, it is excellent!!

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Aqualung

I think Little Creatures might have been my favourite.

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Lady*Magic

Little Creatures had some pretty unique art work on the album cover.

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JerryWex

I'm on love with the early work by the Talking Heads.
Can anyone point me in the direction of similar groups?

Aqualung

Hmmm... XTC, Wire, Roxy Music... They're similar musically, but I cant' think of anybody that matches the weirdness of Talking Heads.

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dontbesoserious

I always sort of grouped the kookiness of the Talking Heads with other quirky new wave bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo.

Taking their overall feel into account I'd compare it maybe to some of Gang of Four's songs. Also some songs by A Certain Ratio...Josef K?? maybe...and maybe Television.

Another slightly bizarre new wave band I recently discovered was out of the '80s scene in Germany, Palais Schaumburg.