I love their stuff. Life During Wartime is such a durable groove and Byrne’s lyrics are always sideways enough to stay interesting over repeated listened (I love the line “I’ve changed my hairstyle so many times now, I don’t know what I look like”). And he wanted to try writing a song, so he did and the result was Psycho Killer. Kinda up there with Pete Townshend’s first song being Can’t Explain - some folks just have it.
Most people are getting it correct, but this topic wouldn’t be complete without some a-hole pointing out the band’s name is Talking Heads, with no “The.” Hence the album The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads.
Carry on…
I understand and agree.
But I’d like to go on record that my title of this thread is not incorrect; the “the” refers to the thread, not the band.
mmm
I worked the midnight shift in a grocery store for several years back in the day. The store closed at night so we were able to hook up a radio to the PA system and jam all night long.
“Life During Wartime” was played in heavy rotation - that would have been in 1979 - we would hear it three or four times a night. And every time the song reached a certain lyric, every one of us grocery laborers would stop what we were doing and shout it out in unison:
“I got some groceries, some peanut butter, should last a couple of days!”
mmm
OK, thanks for that.
I remember reading a review when the album came out that gave a pretty similar description, which is one of the reasons why I still haven’t bought the album yet - I’m much more of an ambient fan than gospel.
I noticed it could go both ways, so I left it alone 
One of my favorite bands, with one of my favorite bit of lyrics in all of rock:
One of these days, I’m going to stitch a sampler of that for a criminal defense attorney friend of mine.
I’m curious what you all think about the idea that they’re much better live than their studio albums. To me, live they sounded much more relaxed, with an easier flow, whereas their early studio albums (mainly '77 and Buildings and Food) sounded uptight, tense and relentlessly on beat. If that’s the effect Byrne was going for, well then he hit it dead center; it’s just not to my taste, I guess.
I’d agree with that. The studio stuff is a little stiff in places, and the live stuff has an extra jolt of energy running through it so it’s still very tight but it just rocks.
Stephen Tobolowsky has a podcast mostly devoted to his friendship and working relationship with Byrne —specifically, the origin of “Radiohead.” It’s fascinating, fun and made me love David Bryre even more. Like many of you, seeing Stop Making Sense was a pivotal moment for me; after seeing it, I couldn’t get enough of them.
Give Tiny Apocalypse a listen. David Byrne solo work from about 2004.
Much better live, even though Stop Making Sense was so sweetened with studio dubs that it hardly qualifies. “Burning Down the House” drags on album.
Funny that this thread appears the day after I received the 2-CD The Name of This Band is Talking Heads set. Absolutely great live album, although I’m not quite sure it’s better than Stop Making Sense. i’ll have to give it a few more listens.
Upthread some was aking about David Byrne’s solo work–I’d suggest the album Uh Oh, which has one of my favorite songs, “The Cowboy Mambo (Lookit Me Now)”.
No love for The Catherine Wheel? 
Naive Melody is one of the all-time great songs of all-time.
I listened to Remain In Light at full volume recently while driving along UT 128 beside the Colorado River, with sandstone cliffs towering 100s of feet above me. Great road trip music!
Michael J. Fox’s character in “Bright Lights, Big City” had such a sampler on his wall. He was a fact checker.
I agree! Also, I’ve seen David Byrne twice. Transported me, he did!
As I mentioned in the OP, I hadn’t got around to viewing “Stop Making Sense” until just the other day, even though I am a long-time Talking Heads fan.
Aside from the magnificent music, Byrne’s stage presence is absolutely mesmerizing.
I will no longer answer “The Last Waltz” when asked my favorite concert film.
mmm
Once in awhile I prefer the studio cuts, but I tend to agree as well. Some Rolling Stone writer once opined ( and I tend to agree ) that Byrne’s single strongest moment was the live version of Heaven from Stop Making Sense. I was annoyed when it was left off the original soundtrack and thrilled when it was restored on the more complete re-release.
But speaking of live Talking Heads, if you haven’t seen their live concert in Rome featuring the phenomenal Adrian Belew, it is available on YouTube in its entirety starting here. Inferior camera work to Stop Making Sense of course, excepting perhaps one Italian camerman’s devotion to Tina Weymouth’s gyrating ass during Cities ;). But musically, I love the Remain in Light era of TH with Belew’s weird guitar pyrotechnics.
Did anyone else ever get into the Tom Tom Club?
I had their “Genius of Love” 7" single back in high school, and I played the hell out of it. Every now and then, the video would pop up on our local music video channel, and I’d get a kick out of watching the funky animation.
Recently I’ve been spending time exploring their other material through YouTube, and I’m liking what I hear.