Talking Heads

[Cicero]

I'm rather hoping I'm not the only Talking Heads fan here. I've always been fond of their unique approach to pop/rock/funk and Byrne's unconventional style/lyrics.

Tina Weymouth is a big part of that, also. The simplest of basslines that fit in perfectly with everything else.

Two great examples (and both great tunes)

 

[YouMa]

tom tom club were awesome

 

[Frank Blank]

I watched Stop Making Sense last Sunday and it was so damn good I watched it again today. I dislike concert films usually but Talking Heads are so damn good. Tina Weymouth is an excellent bassist, just like you say, simple bass lines that serve the song, height of the art as far as I’m concerned.

[Cicero]

Stop Making Sense is excellent.

[Frank Blank]

15 hours ago, Cicero said:

Stop Making Sense is excellent.

I forget how funky they are in that film.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Frank Blank
Ham fisted oranges

[Kirky]

I was lucky enough to be (low down) on the bill for their penultimate gig, which was essentially the Stop Making Sense set.   Amazing show, one of the most memorable gigs I ever saw.  I'm seeing Byrne in Leeds in a few weeks - his recent album with St Vincent was very good 

[SpondonBassed]

7 hours ago, Cicero said:

I'm rather hoping I'm not the only Talking Heads fan here. I've always been fond of their unique approach to pop/rock/funk and Byrne's unconventional style/lyrics.

Tina Weymouth is a big part of that, also. The simplest of basslines that fit in perfectly with everything else.

Two great examples (and both great tunes)

Thank you.

Talking Heads were one of my favourite acts of the eighties.  Their hits are like milestones in my memory as they accompanied major steps forward in my development upon leaving home for good.

For example; the Gate Theatre at the head of O'Connell Street in Dublin showed the film Stop Making Sense every weekend for what seemed like months when it came out.  People would attend and behave as if the Heads were performing live for them.  I went once myself and found lots of people were going each weekend.  That was a life affirming experience for an early twenties lad such as me.

 

7 hours ago, YouMa said:

tom tom club were awesome

 

I liked Tom Tom Club too but I felt it was a distraction from the main Talking Heads vibe.  It also felt like the two bands co-existed on an uneasy basis.

 

7 hours ago, Frank Blank said:

I watched Stop Making Sense last Sunday and it was so damn good I watched it again today. I dislike concert films usually but Talking Heads are so damn good. Tina Weymouth is an excellent bassist, just like you say, simple bass lines that serve the song, height of the art as far as I’m concerned.

That one film was a masterpiece in its simplicity.  From the minute it started you were in the audience.  The complete lack of narration and visual prompts made the experience even more real.  It was the next best thing to being there and in some way it was better because of the choice camera shots.  I'd imagine it was not nearly as easy to make as it was to watch.

I'd like to see it in the cinema again but the feelings of oneness with everyone and the consequent buzz can never be recaptured.  I'll probably end up buying it on Blu-ray or DVD audio.

Edited September 9, 2018 by SpondonBassed

[MGB]

Yes Stop Making Sense was an amazing experience for me too but this  is the concert I would like to invent a time machine for.

At 49.05 they play the best version of Born Under Punches ever, I can listen to that for days.

Edited September 9, 2018 by MGB

[el borracho]

1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said:

Thank you.

Talking Heads were one of my favourite acts of the eighties.  Their hits are like milestones in my memory as they accompanied major steps forward in my development upon leaving home for good.

For example; the Gate Theatre at the head of O'Connell Street in Dublin showed the film Stop Making Sense every weekend for what seemed like months when it came out.  People would attend and behave as if the Heads were performing live for them.  I went once myself and found lots of people were going each weekend.  That was a life affirming experience for an early twenties lad such as me.

 

I liked Tom Tom Club too but I felt it was a distraction from the main Talking Heads vibe.  It also felt like the two bands co-existed on an uneasy basis.

 

That one film was a masterpiece in its simplicity.  From the minute it started you were in the audience.  The complete lack of narration and visual prompts made the experience even more real.  It was the next best thing to being there and in some way it was better because of the choice camera shots.  I'd imagine it was not nearly as easy to make as it was to watch.

I'd like to see it in the cinema again but the feelings of oneness with everyone and the consequent buzz can never be recaptured.  I'll probably end up buying it on Blu-ray or DVD audio.

I also saw it at the cinema when it came out. They had late night double bills after the pubs had closed (10.30 in those days kids!) and this was one of them. You're exactly right - the audience reacted ad if it were a live gig.

I've watched it on DVD (might even have been VHS actually) but it was never the same.

[Shaggy]

1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said:

 

For example; the Gate Theatre at the head of O'Connell Street in Dublin showed the film Stop Making Sense every weekend for what seemed like months when it came out.  People would attend and behave as if the Heads were performing live for them.  I went once myself and found lots of people were going each weekend.  That was a life affirming experience for an early twenties lad such as me.

 

I liked Tom Tom Club too but I felt it was a distraction from the main Talking Heads vibe.  It also felt like the two bands co-existed on an uneasy basis.

 

That one film was a masterpiece in its simplicity.  From the minute it started you were in the audience.  The complete lack of narration and visual prompts made the experience even more real.  It was the next best thing to being there and in some way it was better because of the choice camera shots.  I'd imagine it was not nearly as easy to make as it was to watch.

I'd like to see it in the cinema again but the feelings of oneness with everyone and the consequent buzz can never be recaptured.  I'll probably end up buying it on Blu-ray or DVD audio.

When I saw it (when it came out) the entire cinema audience got up and danced in the aisles.   It's still an unfulfilled ambition of mine to have a suit like David Byrne's......

For me Talking Heads peak period were "Fear of music" and "Remain in light" - I think they went a tad mainstream after that.   I loved DB's solo and collaborative work - particularly "The Catherine Wheel" and "My life in the bush of ghosts", and that's more what I still listen to

[SpondonBassed]

3 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

It's still an unfulfilled ambition of mine to have a suit like David Byrne's......

Oh yeah.  The enormous suit.  It was a great poke at the yuppies of the time with their shoulder padded suit jackets and rolled up sleeves.

[Shaggy]

12 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

Oh yeah.  The enormous suit.  It was a great poke at the yuppies of the time with their shoulder padded suit jackets and rolled up sleeves.

It was, but a bit of zoot suit going on there too, I think DB had his creative roots in '50's & '60's small-town Americana

[toneknob]

Tina Weymouth is fab. Stop Making Sense was the first record I bought**, and I've seen both Tom Tom Club and David Byrne solo a few times each. The very recent show at Hammersmith Odeon was simply amazing.

 

** I was trying to be cool with an American friend of mine about this, he said "oh yeah I was at one of the gigs they recorded for the film". That'll teach me

 

[toneknob]

ps I'm seeing this lot later today

 

[Cicero]

This is not my oversized suit.

Oh, wait a minute... Yes it is.

[SpondonBassed]

2 hours ago, Shaggy said:

It was, but a bit of zoot suit going on there too, I think DB had his creative roots in '50's & '60's small-town Americana

I'm too young to remember those but thanks for filling a gap in my knowledge.

[wombatboter]

Bit bitter that Weymouth said that she never considered Byrne as being a friend since he always kept his distance and made it clear that he didn't see the band as friends (he has Asperger)

She felt really hurt when he suggested to do an audition as a bass player when they started recording "Naked". After all the recordings and gigs they had had she thought it was very painful to "audition" again for the band she was already in.

Last year been listening to her basslines and they are just fab ("Cities" for instance)

[alyctes]

Remain In Light and Fear Of Music were the peak, IMO.  There was a time there where they were the best band in the world.

The Stop Making Sense reading of 'Heaven' will be played at my funeral.

 

Edited September 9, 2018 by alyctes

[fleabag]

Ditto

Got both Remain and Fear - superb stuff. Owned them for 30 years +

I thought Belew really changed the dynamic on Remain.  Not better or worse, just different , and brilliant

I also have Tom Tom Club's first CD which is another killer - Weymouth is a great Basser and very understated. She doesn't waste notes but always has the right line for every song

That takes talent

[TheGreek]

IMO SMS is one of the few albums from the 80s that still sounds as good today. 

I bought my Citron Veillette because Tina Weymouth used one on the album. 

[el borracho]

8 hours ago, Shaggy said:

It was, but a bit of zoot suit going on there too, I think DB had his creative roots in '50's & '60's small-town Americana

In the 80s I had a jacket exactly like that - the 50s ones that is , not Mr Byrne's!

 I got it at a shop that stocked vintage 50s American clothes. It never really occurred to me what the background to it was or it's history.

[spectoremg]

I bought Remain in Light when it came out in '80. I still love it. I still don't know why I love it, but I'm glad it's around. 

[Twincam]

Discovered Talking heads in my teens, in the mid to late 90s. Found some old cassettes belonging to my mam. Liked the artwork on the Little creatures album and thought would give it a go. I wore that tape out. 

They always had great lyrics and a interesting sound. 

And as already mentioned in the thread Tina Weymouth is a underrated bass player. 

 

[SpondonBassed]

She's great.  She puts some real grit into the mix.

[stewblack]

23 hours ago, MGB said:

Yes Stop Making Sense was an amazing experience for me too but this  is the concert I would like to invent a time machine for.

At 49.05 they play the best version of Born Under Punches ever, I can listen to that for days.

Thanks for sharing this. TW is mesmerising. The embodiment of understated elegance in bass form.