Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
Listen to an audio version of this review by Greg
I remember just thinking they were weird. Their videos were cool but weird. This was during a time where the only thing that got my attention was dudes with long hair, wearing leather and spitting fire. Heavy Metal and Hard Rock was my thing.
But like The Police, Talking Heads were all over MTV. Always. They were impossible to miss. If you grew up in the 80s, it is a guarantee you’d recognize David Byrne’s face. He pretty much always wore the same thing on stage and in videos – a gray business suit, and many times, dorky black glasses straight out of revenge of the nerds. So he always looked the same. His voice was weird, his look was weird, and their music was weird, to me. But if you listen to it. Listen to it closely, real closely you can actually hear what is going on there. Their musicianship is superior to numerous other bands that existed in the late 70s early 80s.
It was not until 1996, one of my favorite jam bands, Phish covered the Talking Heads album Remain in Light at their annual Halloween show. I can remember being stumped. Huh? Talking Heads?....I thought. That’s weird? I would’ve never thought that?
Stay with me here. I know the beginning of this review is tilted toward the negative.
For better or for worse, this caught my attention. I now had Talking Heads on my radar. Just on my radar. Nothing crazy. This is what makes this review exciting. For I admit I am not a die-hard fan, but I felt the need to dive into this album and review it. I had to review it simply because of how much attention it has gotten from bands I’ve grown up loving. I thought, I have to embark on this journey. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes this job so fun!
In December 1983 while on tour in Los Angeles for their Speaking in Tongues album, the band recorded three performances at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, cut them together and eventually released it as one concert film on April 24th, 1984, titled, Stop Making Sense. Later that year in September, the live album was released on record and cassette. For the film, the footage, arranged by famed director, Jonathan Demme (pronounced “Dem-ee”) had been put together without interviews and with very few cutaways. The film was also the very first movie released using digital audio techniques. To make the movie, the band covered the $1.2 million budget themselves. Jonathan Demme would later go on to direct Silence of the Lambs, which won seven Oscars in 1992 including one for best director and best film, not to mention best actor and actress.
The title, Stop Making Sense, came from a lyric in the band’s song, Girlfriend is Better; “as we get older and stop making sense”.
Songs to pay attention to:
The opener – Psycho Killer – just the way Byrne starts with his acoustic guitar. The way David Byrne moves around a stage, he’s like an underwater sea animal. I can’t put my finger on it. I thought it was a myth but Byrne actually placed what we all called a “boom box” in the 80s onto the floor of the stage next to him and began the song. Just him and a beat track from the boom box. Nothing else. Some of you may not know what this is. It’s literally a silver box shaped radio that was about 1’x6” with two small circular speakers and a cassette deck in the middle, between them.
What’s unique about the film version is the concert begins with just Byrne performing. Behind him is what looks like an unfinished stage before a play. In fact, behind him it appears that NOTHING has been set up on the stage. It’s almost as if Byrne snuck into an old, run-down theatre. Behind him you can see tarps, paint cans, ropes, and ladders in no particular formation. It sincerely looks unplanned. For the second song, Byrne eventually invites bassist Tina Weymouth onstage to sing Heaven together with him. As this is going on, roadies are carefully wheeling in drummer Chris Frantz’ drum kit. Just a great, original idea. So as the show continues, more instruments and band members are introduced, and the music gets louder and fuller. It grows and grows.
I must admit for the first two tracks, I was scratching my head going, “this is gooooood but,…..really? What is all the fuss about?”
By the time they get to, Thank You For Sending Me An Angel and Found A Job, I’m moving. It’s impossible not too,… holy moly.
By Slippery People, my shirt’s off (no just kidding, but you get my point) and I’m swinging my head left and right at a rapid pace, sweat just spraying in all directions (ok, not true either but you get my point again, I’m friggin digging this!).
This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody) – I will always equate this with one of my favorite movies ever, Wall Street. It is just so mellow and smooth. Makes me feel like I’m on a boat in the 80s.
As part of their process of creating and writing songs, the band would usually write the song melodies first, then add lyrics later. In the case of This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody) they did just that. But before adding lyrics, they would give random titles to the jam or melody. For weeks they’d named this structured melody, (Naïve Melody). The name was changed after the lyrics were added to This Must Be The Place but they were so fond of the term Naïve Melody that they decided to keep it, just adding it on to the end of the song. Nowhere in the lyrics however do they sing the words, “Naïve Melody”. Similar to what they (sort of) do with The Tom Tom Club, Talking Heads switch instruments during this track. Jerry Harrison plays the keyboard bass, and Tina Weymouth is playing electric, rhythm guitar. Byrne is up front singing, however on the album version he plays the Prophet-5 synthesizer which makes all the spacy sounds during the tune.
Once in a Lifetime – C’mon, who doesn’t love this track? This is a top 50 rock song of all time. This just gets me moving, pumped up, ready for a workout and ready to hit Chris Rock in the face! David Byrne’s onstage body movements (fake hitting himself in the face, bent knee lizard walk, dropping the mic, and then wondering where it went) are so unique. Name me someone else who moved like that? He certainly pioneered this. You have singers like David Lee Roth, Axl Rose, and Freddy Mercury whose stage presence and jumping were eye-popping, but none of them ever moved like Byrne. It was almost like Byrne was out there on behalf of the teenage geeks. He was the spokesman. You can look weird and be a cool Rock Star at the same time. This version is just superior to the album version off Remain In Light.
Genius Of Love – Wow can we talk about this?? The Tom Tom Club? Ok why did I miss this? So, on Stop Making Sense, bassist Tina Weymouth, whose sound is killer by the way, just so smooth but gut piercing is the foundation. The whole foundation of every song here by this band is built off of Tina’s bass. Period. The rest of the band, who are incredible musicians, provide the cherry on the top, but the bass is like the engine of the car. The sound quality on this album is superb, especially for a live album recorded in the early 1980s. So, this song, Genius of Love starts off being played by The Tom Tom Club, which was a side project for bassist, Weymouth, her sister Adrian Belew who played guitar and drummer, Chris Frantz, also the husband of Tina Weymouth. What happened? The back of my head just blew off!!!! When the song ends, they announce The Tom Tom Club will be transforming back into The Talking Heads. I’ve never seen this before. Never.
I recognized Genius of Love right away. When I heard it, it made me feel like I was watching clips of Weird Science on a big screen while dancing under the big spoon at Studio 54. It just bleeds late 70s/early 80s sound. I seem to think of New York City a lot when I hear music from this era for some reason. The song is kind of joke-like, with Weymouth and the backup singers singing in a voice tone that almost makes you think it’s a song on a kids’ afternoon television show, but then the groove just crushes it and continues on this journey that makes you move. Drummer Chris Frantz throws some additional strange vocals on top, but again I can’t help but be drawn in. I think it’s the rhythm. To reiterate, at the end of the song, The Tom Tom Club switches places, a few of the musicians and Byrne joins Frantz and Weymouth back on stage for the next track, Girlfriend is Better, which AGAIN, carries a weird bass and keyboard running rhythm and beat. It sounds weird but draws me in!! I peeked at the film version of this song, David Byrne is wearing his famous suit jacket with HUGE shoulder pads built in. So, he looks like a tiny person in a gigantic coat. Another weird look that no other musician was rocking before, during or after.
By the second half of this album, I am fully committed. The sound just gets better or maybe I’m just really listening now.
Isn’t that just a magical feeling? When you hear something once or twice and it does nothing? But then you hear it a third or a fourth time and suddenly you are hooked. What is it about music that does that? I think it can be your surroundings many times (such as, the first time, maybe you heard it coming from your cell phone’s little, mini speakers, or you were at a party and the song was playing in the background, so you weren’t able to really focus). I think every person who enjoys music should invest in a quality player (or at least a blue tooth speaker) and some quality headphones. My wife gifted me with some Bose high quality headphones for my birthday and it makes a huge difference. It’s almost as if my first and second experiences didn’t happen.
This may seem obvious to you right now, but many people don’t actually take that step. To make it easy for you, just go HERE to get your pair!
In addition to the standard four Talking Heads members, Byrne, Weymouth, Frantz and keyboardist/guitarist, Jerry Harrison, the band also added another keyboardist, guitarist, a percussionist and two fantastic backup singers, Ednah Holt and Lynn Mabry. Holt and Mabry contribute to thicken the sound and help hold the groove tight. This nine-piece band puts on an unforgettable performance to a screaming crowd at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.
Because the live album is an assortment, or “best of”, from the three-night run at the Theatre, the band had to ensure each song each night began at the same tempo, in order to make mixing easier later. Therefore, drummer Chris Frantz developed a click track to listen to at the beginning of each song. Pretty interesting.
After listening to this album three times in a row, holy mackerel, I get it now. It’s like being stung by something and you hear it completely different. It’s well known that when the film for Stop Making Sense was released, people were dancing on a nightly basis in the theatre, transforming the movie atmosphere almost into a club or live concert. At the time, in the film industry, no one had seen this before.
Talking Heads fan or not, you must listen to this album. And if you have time, double your pleasure by watching the film. Viewing the live performance is better than listening to it. You get to see what the band was up to. You get to see their brilliant stage presence. You get to pay attention to where the sound is coming from.
In a January 1984 review of the album and film, famed film critic, Roger Ebert said, “The overwhelming impression throughout Stop Making Sense is of enormous energy, of life being lived at a joyous high. The film’s peak moments come through Byrne’s simple physical presence. He jogs in place with his sidemen; he runs around the stage; he seems so happy to be alive and making music…He serves as a reminder of how sour and weary and strung-out many rock bands have become.”
So, getting back to my original impression, that I thought Talking Heads were weird when I first saw them on MTV. The word “weird” can be used to describe things in many different ways. Webster’s dictionary defines the word as, “of strange or extraordinary character” and “of, relating to, or caused by witchcraft or the supernatural”.
I’m not sureTalking Heads were conjuring up the supernatural, but I think they could qualify as being “of strange or extraordinary character”, for sure. But that is what is great about them. I learned not to judge a book by its cover. For viewing things that are deemed weird to me today, spark my curiosity even more. A wise man once said, “Be Curious, not Judgmental”. Well I plan to follow those words and sware to live by them for the rest of my life. So, when you first hear some music and it doesn’t suit you right away, be curious, not…..well you know…
