talking heads
Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison: ‘We’re Thinking…We’re Going to Jail in Yugoslavia ’
Musician and producer Jerry Harrison joined Talking Heads in 1974 after several years with the Modern Lovers. Here he shares what he calls “the craziest” week on tour. As told to SPIN Managing Editor Liza Lentini. Jerry Harrison (Credit: Roberta Bayley/Redferns) There were two shows in Italy with Talking Heads. One, we were playing in Bologna. At that time, bands had not been going to Italy because rival promoters would disrupt the concerts. Eventually there was a truce with the promoter who represented the Communist Party, our promoter, and we were playing Bologna, which is fairly leftist city, which has wonderful things like free public transportation and stuff like that, as well as, among the best food in Italy. We set up in this field and we have no idea how many people are comin...
The 10 Most Important Talking Heads Moments
Over eight albums and two live records, Talking Heads charted an unlikely course — moving from a tiny punk club in New York City’s East Village to the pop charts and even movie stardom. David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison put their unique spin on the traditional rock quartet, pulling soul music, Afrobeat, hip-hop, Krautrock, and other influences into their herky-jerky grooves. Along the way, they helped to invent what we now call “alternative rock” about as much as any band. Talking Heads officially ended 30 years ago this year. The breakup was contentious: In 1996, Byrne sued his former bandmates, attempting to stop them from performing under the name The Heads. The group has only reunited once, to play four songs at their 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction...
The 40 Greatest Music Video Artists
Music videos are the perfect bastard child of art and commerce, even more than pop music itself. A promotional visual accompaniment to a popular song doesn’t need a coherent narrative (although on rare occasions, they do). It just needs to suit the song, sell the record, and possibly make the artist look cool. But since the launch of MTV 40 years ago this week, a select few recording artists have helped raise music videos to an art form — sometimes by accident, and sometimes by carefully curating the work of brilliant directors like Mark Romanek, Hype Williams, and Spike Jonze. Here are 40 artists from the last four decades that helped video kill the radio star. 40. Lil Kim [embedded content] Although earlier female MCs like Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah used music videos to help launch th...
5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: Neil Finn
Name Neil Finn Best known for Having a full head of hair and spectacular calf muscles. Current city Auckland, NZ. Really want to be On a balcony in my pajamas on a Greek Island with freshly baked bread, olive oil, local honey and espresso or on the top of Mount Everest having not had to climb it. Excited about Dreamers Are Waiting coming out June 4. My current music collection has a lot of World music. And a little bit of Holiday (it is a genre). Don’t judge me for String Theory by The Kallafas Quartet. Preferred format Vinyl by a long shot because it’s the best. Then my 8-track Tascam 1/4” tape recorder for my demos because it’s romantic and there is no screen. CREDIT: Steve Dykes 5 Albums I Can’t Live Without 1 Hunky DoryDavid Bowie It’s an essential songwriters record. So many cho...
The 50 Best Alt-Rock Love Songs
Not all love songs are romantic. Not all love songs are even happy. It all depends on your definition of the term. For every “My Girl” or “Your Song,” there’s at least one track with a nuanced take on the darker, more complicated sides of love — the drama of a long-term relationship, the fear of losing a partner, the void left in love’s wake. Many of those songs fall under the admittedly broad umbrella of “alt-rock.” So to mark Valentine’s Day, we decided to gather 50 of our favorite “love songs” in the genre — both conventional and otherwise. Throughout this list, you’ll find lines about blooming romance and marital bliss. You’ll also find nods to drug addiction and car crashes. There’s something for everyone. – Ryan Reed 50. that dog. – “I’m Gonna See You” You take the good, you tak...
David Byrne Apologizes for Wearing Blackface in Stop Making Sense Promo Video
Ex-Talking Heads singer David Byrne has apologized for wearing Blackface in a promo video for the band’s 1984 film Stop Making Sense. In a series of tweets, Byrne said that a journalist recently pointed out his wearing of Blackface as he portrayed several characters in the promo video. He said he’d forgotten about the video until it was brought to his attention. “To watch myself in the various characters, including Black- and brownface, I acknowledge it was a major mistake in judgement that showed a lack of real understanding. It’s like looking in a mirror and seeing someone else—you’re not, or were not, the person you thought you were,” Byrne said. He pointed out in another tweet that at the end of his American Utopia show he says that he needs to change as well. A filmed v...
The 25 Best Soundtrack Albums of the 1990s
In the 1980s, music and film collided for cross-promotional blockbusters both transcendent (Purple Rain) and transcendently cheesy (Footloose). In the ‘90s, soundtracks continued to sell in the millions, capturing cultural moments like the Seattle grunge of Singles or the Britpop and electronica of Trainspotting. Auteurs like Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson reached deep into their record collections to set the mood while movies like Above the Rim and Menace II Society pioneered the concept of soundtracks as hip-hop mixtapes. A great soundtrack can propel an unsuccessful single, like Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose,” to the top of the charts, or revive a decades-old hit, like Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It can also push a cult singer-songwriter like Elliott Smith or Aimee Mann to an Oscar perf...
Watch the First Teaser Trailer of David Byrne’s American Utopia
Earlier this year in the before times, David Byrne was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live for the first time in over 30 years and performed two well-received songs from his American Utopia Broadway show. Spike Lee directed a version of the performance for HBO Max that will be released on Oct. 17 and the first trailer for it dropped today. As you can see below, the film will feature Byrne and his ensemble cast of musicians and singers (11 of them in total) as they perform songs across the Talking Heads singer’s entire catalog. The performance took place at New York City’s Hudson Theatre from October 2019 through February 2020. Check it out below. [embedded content] You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a da...
Talking Heads’ Chris Frantz Recalls Band’s Tense Final Meeting
Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz breaks down the turbulence of the band’s final days in his newly issued memoir, Remain in Love — including a particularly awkward group meeting in 1991 where singer David Byrne allegedly yelled, “You should be calling me an asshole.” Byrne’s quote seemingly implies an internal struggle: that the frontman had long wanted to break up the band but his bandmates aimed to continue. But Frantz says that he and the other members, bassist Tina Weymouth and guitarist Jerry Harrison, maintained their composure during the encounter. “We had heard this before, so we thought, ‘If we keep our cool, this will blow over and we’ll get to do another Talking Heads record,’” the drummer told The Guardian. Instead, everyone moved on to other projects: Byrne with hi...
