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In the age of the single download, Jeff Harford
rediscovers the album...
The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads is a rare and
precious thing and not only because copies of the original
(1982) live double-vinyl/cassette release are hard to find.
Bucking the convention that a live LP should capture one
shining moment in a band's career, it instead charts the New
York outfit's passage through adolescence, stopping just
short of the launch into mainstream success that came with
Jonathan Demme's 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense.
Performances from 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1981 line up like a
time-lapse reel of arresting images, building from the
bare-bones brashness of the original quartet's live-to-air
gig for radio station WCOZ to the fleshed-out funk of the
10-piece band's Tokyo gig at the Sun Plaza Concert Hall.
A much-expanded 2004 CD edition tops up the collection with a
generous handful of essential songs, but there's no arguing
with the immediacy and charm of the 17-track original.
Material drawn from Talking Heads: 77, More Songs About
Buildings and Food, Fear of Music and Remain in
Light documents Talking Heads' transition from pasty
art-rock dweebs of the New Wave to exponents of a
sophisticated blend of white soul, angular rock and
polyrhythmic world music.
Opening tracks New Feeling, A Clean Break, Don't Worry
About The Government, Pulled Up and Psycho Killer
snap with electricity, frontman David Byrne peppering his
lyrics with grunts, growls and squeals and hitting his
soaring vocal marks with ease.
Artists Only, Stay Hungry, Air, Love - Building On
Fire and Memories (Can't Wait) see the four-piece
add a layer of sonic fat before songs recorded during the
band's Remain in Light tour kick in, drawing on a palette
that is wider still and includes the expressive guitar work
of a young Adrian Belew.
As the likes of Houses in Motion, Crosseyed and
Painless and Take Me To The River play out,
Talking Heads makes its name as an enthralling live unit.
