# The Talking Heads appreciation thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805 "2011-05-31T01:38:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/1 "2011-05-31T01:38:37Z")
I first became aware of the Heads back in the late 70s when I got a hold of their second album (“More Songs About Buildings and Food”). I dove hard into their then limited catalogue, then drifted away from their music for several years. Flash forward to the 90s, when I listened to “Naked” and would listen to virtually nothing else for some time. During the intervening years, I knew their hits – and they had a few huge ones – but little else. So once again, I bought up the albums I was missing and re-discovered Byrne’s genius. Next, several more years rolled by as I explored other musicians and genres. But here I am again today, once again bitten with the Talking Heads bug. I’m listening to their stuff as if it’s the first time I’m hearing it, and I am amazed at the intensity with which these tunes grab me. Yesterday I watched “Stop Making Sense” (which had somehow previously escaped my attention) and was completely blown away. Damn, that is one entertaining concert film. I know very little of Byrne’s solo work; if anyone has recommendations; I am all….um….ears. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/2 "2011-05-31T01:49:36Z")
I knew absolutely nothing about the Talking Heads until a friend took me to Stop Making Sense on the night it opened in Chapel Hill. I was blown away. Great film. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/3 "2011-05-31T02:04:54Z")
I was a big fan of the albums, and got to see them on the “Stop Making Sense” tour at Red Rocks outside of Denver. One of the top two or three concerts I’ve ever seen. Was over at a friend’s place last night and the subject of TH came up. The 20-something daughter of one of the guests had never heard of them. I was properly gobsmacked. Yet another reminder of advancing age, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/4 "2011-05-31T02:39:05Z")
An amazing band. Smart, arty, weird, and very funky, with so many good deep cuts. David Byrne is one of my favorite rock frontmen and I’m a big fan of Tina Weymouth’s bass playing. Stop Making Sense is a great piece of art, and The Name of This Band… stands on its own as an outstanding live album. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/5 "2011-05-31T02:48:11Z")
_I got a girlfriend that’s better that this And you don’t remember at all As we get older and stop making sense You won’t find her waiting long_ Oh, yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/6 "2011-05-31T03:01:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > An amazing band. Smart, arty, weird, and very funky, with so many good deep cuts. David Byrne is one of my favorite rock frontmen and I’m a big fan of Tina Weymouth’s bass playing. Stop Making Sense is a great piece of art, and The Name of This Band… stands on its own as an outstanding live album. I read somewhere that Weymouth only learned to play the bass because Chris Frantz - her boyfriend and the band’s drummer - encouraged her to take it up because they could not find a bass player. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/7 "2011-05-31T03:03:35Z")
Yup, that’s true. I think it worked out pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/8 "2011-05-31T03:18:32Z")
I was notified today that Amazon has shipped my copy of [Ride, Rise Roar.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride,_Rise,_Roar) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/9 "2011-05-31T03:26:00Z")
> [@AllShookDown](#): > > I was notified today that Amazon has shipped my copy of [Ride, Rise Roar.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride,_Rise,_Roar) I just checked Netflix; not available there yet. Does anyone know details about the break up of the band? I remember reading that Byrne and Weymouth had a big falling out and lots of unpleasantries were exchanged. mmm ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/10 "2011-05-31T04:44:05Z")
I have 3 (?) Head songs on my iPod 1.Once In a Lifetime 2.Same As It Ever Was 3.And She Was ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/11 "2011-05-31T04:45:15Z")
Download some more. 😉 I’d start with Born Under Punches, Crosseyed and Painless, and Naive Melody. Unless you got one of those names wrong it sounds like you have one song twice. The chorus of Once in a Lifetime includes the line “Same as it ever was.” ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/12 "2011-05-31T05:02:30Z")
Here are a few of my lesser-known favorites: Stay Up Late Mommie Daddy You and I Mr. Jones The Lady Don’t Mind Swamp mmm ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/13 "2011-05-31T05:05:24Z")
Swamp is another favorite around here. For a while, my girlfriend and I would sing the chorus to each other (the “hi-hi-hi-hi-hi” part) when she got nervous before a rehearsal or a performance. Papa Legba is probably her favorite and Pull Up the Roots is another one of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/14 "2011-05-31T05:14:17Z")
I’m a big fan, but I gotta say: [I Zimbra](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI3oswxdeUw) ftw. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/15 "2011-05-31T05:22:42Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Download some more. 😉 I’d start with Born Under Punches, Crosseyed and Painless, and Naive Melody. Unless you got one of those names wrong it sounds like you have one song twice. The chorus of Once in a Lifetime includes the line “Same as it ever was.” :smack: My third song-“Burning Down the House” ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/16 "2011-05-31T07:00:10Z")
Add me to the adoration! _Stop Making Sense_ and _True Stories_ were both fun movies that I want to own when I have the cash. Favourite songs off the top of my (talking) head? _And She Was, Psycho Killer, Wild Wild Life, Burning Down the House, Road to Nowhere, Take Me to the River, Once in a Lifetime, Creatures of Love._ I still have _True Stories_ and _Little Creatures_ in vinyl, haven’t owned a record player in a couple of decades - one day I’ll have cash and I’ll get that record player with the usb attachment and, just you watch out, that’s all I’m saying… ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/17 "2011-05-31T07:10:11Z")
Their later material is good but it never really grabbed me the way the Eno-produced albums did. I **love** the three they did with Eno, though. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/18 "2011-05-31T10:42:54Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Their later material is good but it never really grabbed me the way the Eno-produced albums did. I **love** the three they did with Eno, though. Since mmm is asking for recommendations of Byrne’s solo stuff, it’s time to mention the Byrne/Eno collaboration [“My Life in the Bush of Ghosts”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Life_in_the_Bush_of_Ghosts_%28album%29). Very percussive, experimental and highly influential. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/19 "2011-05-31T10:49:38Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Their later material is good but it never really grabbed me the way the Eno-produced albums did. I **love** the three they did with Eno, though. I really love the David Byrne / Brian Eno album “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts”. For me it’s the perfect combination of Eno-ambience with Talking Heads-funk. > **[My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (album)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Life_in_the_Bush_of_Ghosts_(album))** > > My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is the first collaborative studio album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, released in February 1981. It was Byrne's first album without his band Talking Heads. The album integrates sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques. It was recorded before Eno and Byrne's work on Talking Heads' 1980 album Remain in Light, but problems clearing samples delayed its release by several months. > The album title is derived fro... I keep meaning to pick up Byrne and Eno’s 2008 collaboration “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today”, but I never end up getting around to it. Has anyone here heard it? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805/20 "2011-05-31T11:21:30Z")
I never got around to buying Everything That Happens (although I bet this thread will prompt me to do it), but I did see Byrne on tour twice when he was promoting the album. In performance at least, the songs aren’t much like the Eno-Talking Heads material or Bush of Ghosts. What I heard reminded me more of True Stories. They’re less funky, more straightforward, and have more of an uplifting character. Byrne said gospel music was a major influence. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-talking-heads-appreciation-thread/583805.md?page=2)