#345 - Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense (1984)

MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY ADAM BERNARD:

TALKING HEADS BIO

The Talking Heads are considered to be one of the most influential bands of the last 50 years, being at the forefront of the New Wave movement by integrating elements of punk, art rock, funk and world music. The band was formed in 1974 by David Byrne (lead vocals & guitar), Chris Frantz (drums), Tina Weymouth (bass) and Jerry Harrison (keyboards, guitar). Tina was recruited by then boyfriend and now husband Chris to play bass. They released their debut album “Talking Heads: 77” in 1977, followed by More Songs About Buildings and Food in 1978, Fear of Music in 1979, and then what is widely considered their best album “Remain In Light” in 1980. After the 1983 release of “Burning Down The House” they released a concert video and album called “Stop Making Sense.” After releasing 3 more albums, the band broke up in 1991 and only reunited once for their RnR HOF induction ceremony in 2002. Weymouth, Frantz, and Harrison toured without Byrne as ”Shrunken Heads” sans Byrne in the early 90s. In 2010, RS Magazine named the them 100th Greatest Band of All Time.

BACKGROUND – STOP MAKING SENSE

This is the soundtrack to the live concert film release of the same name. It was released in 1984 and featured 9 tracks from the movie with some editing. It spent over 2 years on the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at #41.It eventually went 2x platinum in the United States. The title of this album comes from a lyric in "Girlfriend Is Better". 

Purists have found Stop Making Sense slickly mixed and, worse yet, incomprehensive. The nine tracks included jumble and truncate the natural progression of frontman David Byrne's meticulously arranged stage show. Cries for a double-album treatment -- à la 1982's live opus The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads -- were sounded almost immediately; more enterprising fans merely dubbed the VHS release of the film onto cassette tape. Even with the seven tracks that didn't make the cut, this still gives you a sense of a band playing at their peak. More than half the album feature tracks from the "Speaking in Tongues" album. 

Tracks that were performed on this live performance but not released on the album version include "Heaven", "Thank You For Sending Me An Angel", "Found A Job", "Making Flippy Floppy", "This Must Be The Place", "Genius of Love", and "Crosseyed and Painless"