The 500 - #345 - Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 345

Album Title: Stop Making Sense

Artist: Talking Heads

Genre: New Wave, Post Punk

Recorded: Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles (Live)

Released: September, 1984

My age at release: 19, my guest blogger was 17

How familiar was I with it before this week: Very

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Once In A Lifetime

This week, we welcome back guest blogger Steve “Lumpy” Sullivan. “Lump”, as he is known to friends, previously wrote about album #417, Boy, by U2 in the summer of 2020.  He’s been a close friend for nearly 30 years. We met when he hired me as a bartender at Kelsey’s Restaurant in London, Ontario, in 1993. For the past 12 years he has  worked  at the Frobisher Inn  in Iqaluit,  but plans to leave the Arctic for semi-retirement in the Philippines with his wife, Mae. Enjoy his take on a record that we both adore.

 

Stop Making Sense is the title for both the soundtrack and the 1984 film by experimental New Wave/Post Punk American band, Talking Heads. The film was directed by future Academy award-winning director Jonathan Demme (Silence Of The Lambs, Philadelphia). The filming was completed during four live performances at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, California, in December, 1983.

Director Jonathan Demme

The concert video was released commercially in October, 1984, about a month after the soundtrack hit record shelves. The film is considered by many, including well-known critic Leonard Maltin, to be one of the best concert films of all time. The band performed 19 songs throughout the live performances. Sixteen tracks made it to the original film and nine appeared on the release of the record that is listed on The 500. In 1999, the film and soundtrack were released as a Special Edition version, containing most of the missing tracks.

I was in Grade 11 in 1984 at the time and a HUGE fan of Talking Heads, as was my friend, Gavin Granger. When the film hit theatres we lined up for the midnight showing at the Hyland Theatre in our hometown of London, Ontario. We were so excited and the performance did not disappoint.

London's Hyland Theatre - operating for more than 50 years

Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was the first concert film made using digital audio techniques, a burgeoning technology in the early 80s. The Talking Heads were always ahead of the curve. They were a collection of four artistic people collaborating as a group: David Byrne (lead vocals and guitar), Tina Weymouth (bass), Chris Frantz (drums) and Jerry Harrison (Keyboards). Marc covered their formation and history in his February, 2021 post -- Album #383, More Songs About Buildings And Food.

Talking Heads - 1980 (l-r) Frantz, Weymouth, Byrne & Harrison

The album spent two years on the Billboard 200 chart. The track listing reads like a greatest hits package. It’s tough to think about the album without reflecting on the visuals in the film for which it is the soundtrack. The live show opens with Byrne walking on-stage with an acoustic guitar and a “boom box”. He performs an acoustic version of Psycho Killer from their debut album, Talking Heads ‘77 (coming up at #291). The boom box appears to be playing an electronic drum track to accompany Byrne, but it was actually a Roland TR808 Drum Machine cued at the soundboard.

Byrne in Stop Making Sense, performing Psycho Killer to open the show

With each subsequent track, another band member appears on stage to perform alongside Byrne, as stage crew slide set-pieces and instruments into place. Eventually, a nine-piece group, including the four original members, are on stage. The nine comprise a larger, theatrical company of musicians. Renowned percussionist Steve Scales, for example, joins the group to help deliver the infectiously funky rhythms on Burning Down the House from Talking Heads’ 1983 record, Speaking In Tongues.

Percussionist Steve Scales (2017)

For me, there are several highlights in this performance. The first occurs when the band plays What a Day That Was from David Byrne’s solo album, The Catherine Wheel. The other was the inclusion of Genius of Love by the Tom Tom Club, which was a side product for members Frantz and Weymouth, who are also husband and wife. Unfortunately, the second track did not make the original soundtrack release, but was included in the Special Edition version.

The added musicians: Scales on percussion, Bernie Worrell on keyboards, Alex Weir on guitar, Ednah Holt and Lynn Mabry for backing vocals, added layers to each song on the album. The album is listed as ‘new wave’ and ‘post punk’, but there is a lot more going on. There are elements of dance, funk and Afro-beat world music. Songs that were brilliant on their original albums were much more layered and richer in sound when performed live with additional musicians.

My favourite track on the album, and the one I am picking for Marc’s Spotify Playlist, is Once in a Lifetime. This incredible concert movie is stored on my iPhone and I watch or listen to it often, remembering that early-winter night in 1984 standing in line with Gavin for a midnight showing.