Talking Heads- Classic or Dud?

The version of "Help Me Somebody" on that Sessions at W 54th video is incredible. Byrne does the preacher's voice.

my take on byrne is that his cool detachment brought out out and celebrated e a hyper-real version of the american striver, which jibes with the band's success and the 80s generally. i think there's less criticism going on in what he did than i used to.

and honestly i don't feel the need to go back to talking heads and haven't for a few years, not enough alterity for me in what they did.

See, I don't hear detachment, cool or otherwise, in his early shrill punctuative vocals -- I hear deep anxiety.

affected or not, doesn't change things

yeah I immediately thought of "Cities"

Sometimes, he's a little freaked out.

also, in my judgment, detachment is the posture of the defeated, not the winners.

Meantime, literally on Twitter just now

EVERY MEMBER OF THE TALKING HEADS, AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER: (doing cocaine) there should be a little rap part here.

— Patrick Cosmos (@veryimportant) June 25, 2021

I think he (sincerely) engaged with yuppie tropes using various degrees of irony and subtlety, in a way that probably wouldn't go over in today's just-tell-me-what-I-want-to-hear climate.

i like him in the true stories movie for some reason but find him insufferable in most other contexts.

Very, very interesting points, morrisp, Alfred, and esp. L+J Rocco's "American striver" hint.
Also the discussion re: 'The Big Country' more above.

nothing says brazen truth telling like engaging in yuppie tropes during the reagan years

with irony and subtlety to boot

Exactly my point—I don’t think he was going for “brazen truth-telling.” Lots of other bands were for those who wanted it, though.

The thing that always confuses me about "The Big Country" is it seems to describe a functioning farm-to-table relationship between local farms, grocery stores and consumers that definitely doesn't exist in the middle of the country now; did it exist in 1978?

I think he's idealizing. The character is a city guy who doesn't really know how it works; his thoughts are drifting as he looks out the airplane window.

I also think Byrne really like(d) the idea of smoothly functioning industrial processes, daily routines, etc.

(as artists often do)

I can't listen to Strange Ritual without pondering the Byrne/scat rumour

Don't know about that one, but there was a very brief-lasting rumor in the Italian press when Feelings came out that he'd been dating Kate Bush - never substantiated and quickly gone. My guess is that happened on account of the b/vox on "Wicked Little Doll" uncannily sounding like Kate.

Can we discuss the awesomeness of Weymouth's bass line on the live "Born Under Punches."

dude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO7N2tFb0X8

That was absolutely insane!

dude.

📹

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR8jgFGmqvU

I'm sure this has been discussed before but I wish that whole Rome show was available as an official release. Absolutely insane.

The whole band are on FIRE. Belew is demonic.

Busta + Weymouth play the solo. I can't separate them.

i used to figure the odds were pretty good that they were sitting on it for an eventual release, but i'm less certain now, feels like the moment may have passed

So Busta plays the solo. Cool.

iirc one of them was asked about releasing the rome show once but they said there was some rights issue that meant it wasn't a possibility? but i'm not certain about that

practically in tears watching that video. incredible

They were/are all so great.

Tina, Busta, Scales? It's not like we need to be stingy about praise. It's not zero-sum.

This show is from the same tour. More vivid color vs the washed out look of the Rome show. Think the music was better in Rome. Anyway in case you want another version...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQo1YK3I0BY

hell yeah

weird how little screen time Weymouth, Frantz and Harrison get - it's essentially Byrne, Belew, Jones, Scales, McDonald for 80% of the time. I love that old weirdo YouTube stabilising algorithm though.

Well, I hear you Matt but I suspect the true fans know.

I mean

I met somebody over the summer who was going to see David Byrne’s show on Broadway who told me Talking Heads was one of her favorite bands. I asked her if she had read Chris Frantz’s book and she said “Who?” /TrueStory

ouch :(

anyway, that Rome show was the reason I got an external DVDRW hard drive in 2003 - because I couldn't save the torrented files to a CDR. absolutely essential.

Probably a bland/untutored comment but to go back to the original comments about Tina on that clip: I'm not used to seeing her play with a pick - is that a rare move or have I just not been paying attention?

she uses both techniques regularly, depending on the song

anyway, that Rome show was the reason I got an external DVDRW hard drive in 2003 - because I couldn't save the torrented files to a CDR. absolutely essential.

Chris Frantz has even shared links to fans' YouTube uploads on his social media accounts. I'm certain he'd love to put it out officially on a DVD or something if he could.

there's a bunch of interviews from last year where frantz says he would love to be able to get the footage remastered & released. harrison has praised it a lot in interviews too

can't dig up anything corroborating my memory of there being some rights issue preventing it getting an official release but i would certainly assume they've looked into it in the past or are looking into it

weird how little screen time Weymouth, Frantz and Harrison get

True, although I didn't know Bernie Worrell was there until about 10 seconds from the end!

Yeah true, I guess I was thinking along the lines of the actual band members, but were the whole crew considered to be “in the band” at this point? Would seem unusually democratic for Byrne.

finally getting around to the Chris Frantz book and today i learned that the sonar-ping sounds on "take me to the river", which ive spent 30 years assuming were an Eno keyboard sound, are actually Frantz hitting some kind of woodblock w/reverb.

burning down the house and once in a lifetime are good but the rest bores me!