Talking Heads

Formed in 1974 at the Rhode Island School of Design[?], the band first consisted of three members: David Byrne (vocals, guitar), Chris Frantz[?] (drums), and Tina Weymouth[?] (bass). Moving to New York the nascent Heads landed a gig opening for The Ramones at legendary club CBGB's[?]. In 1975-1976, they added one more member, Jerry Harrison[?] (keyboards), formerly of Jonathan Richman's band The Modern Lovers, the group quickly drew a following and was signed to Sire Records[?] in 1977. Their first album, Talking Heads '77 was soon released.

Interestingly, the name 'Talking Heads', came from a visit to M.I.T., where a project that allowed for computer generated visualisations of world political leaders faces was being tested in an effort to allow the leaders to communicate with one another in a face to face scenario, in case of a crisis situation.

It was with their second album, 1978's More Songs About Buildings and Food that the band began its long-term collaboration with producer Brian Eno--first famous as a member of glam pioneers Roxy Music--who was nearly a fifth member of the band for the first part of their career. Eno's unusual style meshed well with the group's artistic sensibilities, and they gained the confidence to explore in a wide variety of musical directions. Though the first album's "Psycho Killer" had been a minor hit, it was this album's "Take Me to the River"--a cover of an Al Green song--that broke Talking Heads into public consciousness.

The experimentation continued with 1979's Fear of Music, featuring "Life During Wartime" and 1980's Remain in Light. The single from the latter, "Once in a Lifetime", failed to make an impression upon its release, but grew into a powerhouse over the next few years on the back of its music video. This was one of the first signs of the power music videos would exert during the 1980s.

After releasing four albums in barely four years, the group then spent nearly three more before releasing another. In the meantime they released a live album The Name of this Band is Talking Heads and parted ways with Brian Eno.

1983 saw the release of Speaking in Tongues, a commercial breakthrough that produced the band's first American Top 10 hit, "Burning Down the House". Once again, a striking video was inescapable during the song's run. The following tour was documented in arguably one of the best concert films of all time, Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense, which generated another live album of the same name.

Two more albums followed, 1985's Little Creatures and 1988's Naked. Both were poppier and more accessible, without discarding the group's characteristic quirky thoughtfulness. During that time, however, the group was falling more and more under David Byrne's sway, and after Naked the band went on so-called "hiatus". It took until 1991 for an official announcement to be made that Talking Heads had broken up.

A brief reunion occurred in 1992 for "Sax and Violins", an original single that appeared on the soundtrack to Wim Wenders' Until the End of the World. Frustrated by David Byrne's lack of interest in another album, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison also reunited without him for a one-off album called No Talking, Just Head under the name "The Heads" in 1996.

Byrne has gone on to become a "rock icon" in recent years (using Pete Townshend's definition of the term: "It means no-one buys your records any more"), while Harrison has become a producer of some note--his resumé includes the Fine Young Cannibals[?]' The Raw and the Cooked, Live's Throwing Copper, and No Doubt's Return of Saturn. Frantz and Weymouth, who had been recording on the side as Tom Tom Club[?] since 1981, scored a few minor hits under that name. In 2000-2001 they returned to the upper regions of the charts in the UK and North America as members of the dance/hip-hop collective Gorillaz.

Talking Heads' body of work has been extremely influential, with bands as wide-ranging as Radiohead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers acknowledging them among their roots.

The band played together one last time on March 18, 2002 at the ceremony of their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Some Talking Heads web sites: http://www.thismustbetheplace.net (fan site containing album reviews, lots of pictures, lyrics, etc, in English) -- http://www.iespana.es/talkingheads/e_home.php (same site, in Spanish) -- http://talking-heads.net (lots of info and a bulletin board)