Talking heads

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the television format of the same name, see Talking Heads , for the camera setting, Talking Head Shot .

Talking heads
Talking Heads in Toronto (1978)
General information
origin	New York City , United States
Genre (s)	New Wave , Post-Punk , Art-Punk Worldbeat , Funk , Pop-Rock
founding	1975
resolution	1991
Founding members
Vocals , guitar	David Byrne
bass	Tina Weymouth
Keyboard , guitar	Jerry Harrison
Drums	Chris Frantz

The Talking Heads were an American rock band from New York , who are counted among the best-known and most successful representatives of the American post-punk and new wave movement of the 1980s.

Band history

Beginnings 1975–1977

Art students David Byrne , Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz met at the Rhode Island School of Design in the mid-1970s . Byrne and Frantz discovered a common interest in music and formed the less successful band The Artistics . However, Byrne dropped out in 1974 and moved to New York. Frantz and Weymouth followed him a little later. Inspired by the music scene around the CBGB music club in the Lower East Side of Manhattan , they founded Talking Heads . The name of the band corresponds to the TV political format Talking Heads , which shows TV pictures of journalists whose lower bodies cannot be recognized: you only see heads talking . They had their first appearance in the opening act for the Ramones . The three performed with other bands of the punk and new wave movement such as Blondie . During this time they already differed from the appearance of other punk and new wave bands. So they initially did without styling and dressed unpretentiously in the style of average college students. Nor did they display the attitude of the aggressive, youthful rebels. In the cast as a trio, they made some demo recordings in the CBS studios in 1975 , including many pieces that would later appear on their debut album. In 1977 they finally expanded their line-up to include the then architecture student Jerry Harrison , who had already played in Jonathan Richman's band The Modern Lovers .

The early music of the Talking Heads is characterized by simple figures and rhythms, which, however, are often broken and so often appear very restless. Their music is reduced to a simple framework and sparingly orchestrated with guitar , electric bass , drums and occasional keyboard interjections. The respective songs are refined, but straightforward and easy to remember. Together with David Byrne's nervous, hectic and exaggerated vocals, the result is lively, but also irritating music. Direct musical role models are difficult to name. Jonathan Richman's influence can be seen with her penchant for writing songs on supposedly banal topics in a seemingly naive way. The influence of traditional musical styles such as rhythm and blues and country music can already be heard in the early recordings of the Talking Heads , although these often appear in an ironically broken form.

In 1977 the Talking Heads released their debut album, simply titled 77 . The themes of the songs, mostly written by Byrne, are already remarkable: he often sings about seemingly banal everyday topics such as buildings, education or food. But this always happens in a distant way, in which it is usually not clear whether the person David Byrne is identical to the first-person narrator of the songs or whether he is just slipping into a role. The meaning of the songs therefore often remains vague or only emerges from the perspective of the respective listener. In the song Don't Worry About The Government , Byrne paints a picture of a carefree, idyllic life that seems to correspond to the singer's reality. The melody of the song is reminiscent of a nursery rhyme. In the piece Psycho Killer , however, Byrne slips into the role of an obviously mentally confused, possibly schizophrenic man who suddenly falls from English into French in the middle of the song. This ambiguous attitude was to remain formative for many of the Talking Heads' songs over the years. This gives you a very complex character. Even in later songs the basic mood of a certain alienation from the world and oneself and the question of one's own identity is a recurring theme.

The Talking Heads' first LP received critical acclaim, but it was only a modest popular success. For the time being, the band remained an insider tip.

With Brian Eno 1978–1980

Live in Toronto (1978)

Tina Weymouth (1978)

In keeping with the themes of their songs, the Talking Heads consequently titled their second album, released in 1978, More Songs About Buildings And Food . With this album began a collaboration with the British producer Brian Eno . The record ties in with 77 both musically and lyrically . But it is much more elaborately orchestrated and produced. This also indicates that Talking Heads are interested in Afro-American music, especially funk . The cover version of the Al-Green track Take Me to the River included on the album was a small hit. In the country-style piece The Big Country , David Byrne takes on the role of an observer who describes the "ideal world" of the "common people" of America, but - without giving any reason for it - draws the conclusion for himself : "I wouldn't want to live there even if I was paid for it!" ("I wouldn't live there if they paid me!")

On the following album, Fear of Music from 1979, the influences of Black Music are evident. The music is carried almost continuously by a dominating funk rhythm, the intensity is increased significantly. Overall, the musical spectrum is expanded and ranges from the almost African-looking rhythms of the piece I Zimbra - the setting of the sound poem Gadji beri bimba by the Dadaist Hugo Ball - to hectic funk pieces ( Memories Can't Wait ) to - superficially considered - dreamy ballads ( Heaven ). The pieces usually have laconic titles such as Mind , Cities , Paper or Air . Eno's influence on drugs is particularly evident .

The topics of alienation and disorientation are also presented on Fear of Music . However, they are not processed in the form of pompous “ Weltschmerz lyric ”, but presented from a distant ironic perspective, for example with lines like “I changed my hairstyle so many times now / I don't know what I look like” (“I have mine Hairstyle changed so often now / I don't know how I look ”) from the play Life During Wartime .

With the album Remain in Light , released in 1980, the Talking Heads condensed their music even further. The line-up was expanded to include numerous musicians and several background singers. Influences of African music, especially the Afrobeat by Fela Kuti , appear openly. The music is underlaid with a carpet of percussion, over which a highly complex fabric of various instrumental voices unfolds. The result is a dense and vibrant wall of sound in which the actual structure of the songs takes a back seat in favor of an intense overall sound. The guitar sound of guest guitarist Adrian Belew (a later band member of the King Crimson group ) also gives the talking heads sound new, psychedelic nuances. David Byrne's lyrics on this record are rather cryptic and elude a clear interpretation even more than before. But here, too, Byrne creates a mood of disorientation through sometimes paradoxical texts. An example of this is the piece Once in a Lifetime with lines like “You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack / And you may find yourself in another part of the world / (…) / And you may ask yourself - Well… how did I get here? "

Today, Remain in Light is regarded by many as a musical milestone of the 1980s that has found many imitators. However, tensions within the band increased: The influence of Brian Enos, who is listed on Remain in Light as co-author of some songs, and his close relationship with David Byrne was viewed with increasing suspicion by the other band members.

After Remain in Light , the Talking Heads released a double LP with live recordings from 1977 to 1980, which offers a vivid outline of the band's history up to that point in time. Then the band took a break, during which the individual members devoted themselves to their own projects outside the band. David Byrne recorded the album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts with Brian Eno, among others , Jerry Harrison released a solo LP, and Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz formed the band Tom Tom Club .

Commercial breakthrough in 1983 and 1984

It wasn't until 1983 that the next studio album was released, Speaking in Tongues , which was no longer produced by Brian Eno. Unlike its predecessor, it is produced more transparently and clearly. The wall of sound has given way to clearly recognizable structures. The music is dominated by hard, danceable funk rhythms. The title of the record refers to the lyrics of the songs written by David Byrne. He combined words or phrases in a collage-like manner, which often have no meaning whatsoever. This gives the impression that the singer speaks “ in tongues ”. The meaning of many songs remains undefined and is left to the interpretation of the listener. The line “Stop Making Sense” from the song Girlfriend Is Better , which is almost programmatic, was later even to serve as the title of a concert film and a live LP by Talking Heads. The piece Burning Down The House of Speaking in Tongues was scene- nightclubs a hit. In addition to its musical quality, the album is also significant because of its artistic cover. Robert Rauschenberg dealt intensively with the concept of the design and did not simply design a record sleeve for the band, but designed a print work of art that was applied directly to a transparent vinyl disc and only unfolded its full effect when the disc was turned. It is believed that the difficulties in producing this artwork contributed to the long production time of the album. 50,000 discs were printed with this original work of art, all other plates were made with a simplified version adapted by David Byrne.

The Talking Heads were until then a band that was highly praised by critics, but appreciated by only a relatively small part of the audience. The band did not have any major hits or sales until 1984. It was not until the 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense , directed by Jonathan Demme, and the soundtrack of the same name that Talking Heads suddenly became popular. The film is a vibrant and engaging documentary of a series of performances by the band. Backstage scenes, accompanying interviews and other accessories are completely dispensed with, so that the viewer gets the feeling of witnessing a carefully choreographed performance.

David Byrne's charismatic and irritating stage presence played a major role in this: many fans in the 1980s saw the singer as the embodiment of the intellectual urban neurotic par excellence. The record that was released at the same time was also a commercial success. Some of the recordings on it, such as that of David Byrne solo, accompanied only by an acoustic guitar and a cheap rhythm box, Psycho Killer , Once in a Lifetime and Life During Wartime became popular hits on the dance floors and at student parties - one for live -Recording is a rather unusual phenomenon - because these "Talking Heads' ballads give us back what the ballad always was in its original sense: ball, dance, party". It is characteristic of this late recognition by the general public that the original studio recordings of these songs were already several years old at this point - without any attention at the time. The piece Slippery People was for the famous gospel group The Staple Singers in the same year a hit.

The film documentation of their live performances also represented their end: David Byrne lost interest in concerts, so that there were no more public appearances by the band.

Late work 1985–1991

In the eyes of many fans and critics, the Talking Heads had thus reached their artistic zenith. The following album Little Creatures is musically much closer to the pop mainstream of the time than previous albums by the band. It was accordingly more popular with the general public. With the single Road to Nowhere the Talking Heads even recorded their greatest chart success.

The Talking Heads then released two more studio albums. True Stories (1986) contains songs from the soundtrack of the David Byrne film of the same name, but - unlike in the film - recorded and sung by the Talking Heads. Stylistically, the LP was based on various forms of Americana , especially country music. Naked (1988) was recorded in France with the help of a number of guest musicians and shows Latin American and African influences. Both albums were commercially successful.

In December 1991 David Byrne declared the Talking Heads without consulting the other band members for disbanded. This fact led to the fact that the relationship between Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth on the one hand and David Byrne on the other hand was severely disrupted and the former band members covered each other with mutual accusations even years later. Frantz, Harrison and Weymouth, who from then on played in the band The Heads (a reference to the name of their old group) and released the album No Talking Just Head , which was both artistically and commercially disappointing, in 1996 , had a legal battle with Byrne since this wanted to prohibit the use of the new band name. There were also disputes over royalty rights . Jerry Harrison now works as a producer.

Worth mentioning

• Peter Gabriel covered the Talking Heads piece Listening Wind in an orchestral version for his album Scratch My Back (2010) .
• The song Burning Down the House was covered by Tom Jones & The Cardigans in 2000 . The song was also played in the last episode of the sitcom Listen, who hammers there by the guests of Tool Time (on tools).
• There are cover versions of the song Heaven by the Brit soul band Simply Red and the jazz singer Jimmy Scott as well as by Joachim Witt (included on his 1980 album Silberblick ). Eric Burdon also covered the track on his 2004 album My Secret Life . The Dutch pop band Nits once played a cover version of this piece live on their Nest tour.
• The American band Phish played the entire album Remain in Light during a performance on Halloween in the 1990s .
• The song Memories (Can't Wait) was covered in 1989 by the crossover band Living Color .
• The song Radio Head from the 1986 album True Stories inspired the band of the same name, Radiohead, to their band name.
• Songs from the Talking Heads are part of the soundtrack of over 50 films and series.
• In 2002 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .
• In two novels by the French writer Philippe Djian , namely Erogene Zone (1984) and Betty Blue - 37.2 degrees in the morning (1985, filmed by Jean-Jacques Brilleix ), the Talkin Heads song This Must Be The Place ( Naive Melody) , who also inspired the Italian director Paolo Sorrentino for the title of his film Cheyenne - This Must Be the Place (2011, including an appearance by David Byrne and numerous other references to the band).
• The band The Fools parodied the song Psycho Killer in 1980 with Psycho Chicken .
• The hip house band KC Flightt used samples from the song Once in a Lifetime for their song Planet E from 1989 . David Byrne also appears in the accompanying video.
• In 2011 Rolling Stone listed the band as 100 of the 100 greatest musicians of all time .
• Actor Tom Hanks sings a few lines of the song Once In A Lifetime in the opening scene of the film A Hologram for the King by Tom Tykwer from 2016.

Discography

→ Main article : Talking Heads / Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1977	Talking Heads: 77	-	-	-	UK60 (1 week) UK	US97 (29 weeks) US	First published: September 16, 1977 Producers: Lance Quinn, Talking Heads, Tony Bongiovi
1978	More Songs About Buildings and Food	-	-	-	UK21st gold (3 weeks)UK	US29 gold (42 weeks)US	First published: July 7, 1978 Producer: Brian Eno , Talking Heads
1979	Fear of Music	-	-	-	UK33 (5 weeks) UK	US21st gold (30 weeks)US	First published: August 3, 1979 Producer: Brian Eno, Talking Heads
1980	Remain in Light	-	-	-	UK21st gold (17 weeks)UK	US19th gold (27 weeks)US	First published: October 8, 1980 Producer: Brian Eno
1983	Speaking in tongues	DE10 (14 weeks) DE	AT20 (2 weeks) AT	-	UK21 (12 weeks) UK	US15th platinum (51 weeks)US	First published: June 1st, 1983 Producer: Talking Heads
1985	Little Creatures	DE9 gold (38 weeks)DE	AT4 (24 weeks) AT	CH12 (18 weeks) CH	UK10 gold (65 weeks)UK	US20th × 2 Double platinum (77 weeks)US	First published: June 10, 1985 Producer: Talking Heads
1986	True Stories	DE13 (10 weeks) DE	AT10 (8 weeks) AT	CH11 (7 weeks) CH	UK7th gold (9 weeks)UK	US17th gold (29 weeks)US	First published: September 15, 1986 Producer: Talking Heads
1988	Naked	DE12 (15 weeks) DE	AT8 (8 weeks) AT	CH6 (11 weeks) CH	UK3 gold (15 weeks)UK	US19th gold (21 weeks)US	First published: March 15, 1988 Producer: Steve Lillywhite , Talking Heads

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

literature

• David Bowman: fa fa fa fa fa fa The Adventures of Talking Heads in the 20th Century . Bloomsbury, London 2001, ISBN 0-7475-5836-1 .

Web links

Commons : Talking Heads  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Fansite (english)
• Talking Heads at laut.de
• Talking Heads at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Abigail Cain: The Story behind Robert Rauschenberg's Iconic Talking Heads Album Cover. Artsy.net, August 18, 2016, accessed March 25, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Natias Neutert: Talking Heads. In: Konkret 1985, p. 62.
3. ↑ IMDB: Talking Heads on imdb.de
4. ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Talking Heads in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
5. ↑ 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 8, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Hanns-Georg Rodek: "Hologram for the King": Tom Hanks' best role so far - trailer and review for the film start. In: welt.de . April 25, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2018 . 
7. ↑ Chart sources: Singles Albums DE UK US