"The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads" lived in my car's cassette player for most of high school. I love it, even more than "SMS." But then I would, I'm a Miles fanatic.
I saw them perform at Forest Hills in 83 and thought the movie/soundtrack did an incredible job of capturing the experience. Of course there were songs missing from the vinyl release but at least I could get Heaven on the b-side of Girlfriend Is Better, which I added in sequence to every tape I made of the album.
Aha! You are of excellent taste. That is indeed an incredible performance. I've watched it about 18 times on streaming, and have only another 382 times to go. In that era, Byrne was without question one of the most creative front men in rock.
I worked at a small independent cinema in West London where the films played from video – yep, really. The distributor in the UK was Palace Pictures who also had a sell-through video label. There was a lot of hype at the time it was first released saying that they would only show the film at cinemas where the sound system had been approved, but by the time it got to us, they’d forgotten about that, and we played it from a Betamax copy. That version had ‘Cities’, ‘Big Business’ and ‘I Zimbra’ but because I’d only seen the 35mm print once before I didn’t realise we were showing this unique cut. Neither did anyone else, I guess.
The first Heads record I heard, as a teenager, was “Naked” which I still think is both great and hilarious. It anticipates on Byrne’s solo career and the truly weird stuff he did, starting with “Rei Momo”, that other monument of questionable taste and a kind of John the Baptist to the truly bizarre and wonderful Jesus of “Here Lies Love” - mostly in the sense that they do not relate to anything, including each other. I realize all of this sounds totally unserious, which is exactly the quality I like in Byrne’s music.
One of the finest moments of the film is “This Must Be the Place,” which I’ve always felt is both the black sheep and peak of Speaking In Tongues—the live version adds a tenderness and almost congregational feel to it for me. Really drives it home.
Yes! Probably the best concert film ever made. I'd totally forgotten about the David/Tina duet on Heaven, her timing is so perfect.
"The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads" lived in my car's cassette player for most of high school. I love it, even more than "SMS." But then I would, I'm a Miles fanatic.
I saw them perform at Forest Hills in 83 and thought the movie/soundtrack did an incredible job of capturing the experience. Of course there were songs missing from the vinyl release but at least I could get Heaven on the b-side of Girlfriend Is Better, which I added in sequence to every tape I made of the album.
Aha! You are of excellent taste. That is indeed an incredible performance. I've watched it about 18 times on streaming, and have only another 382 times to go. In that era, Byrne was without question one of the most creative front men in rock.
Entering this album/film is a direct portal back into the early 80’s!!
I just now saw that A24 is releasing Stop Making Sense in IMAX on Sept 22. They've restored it in 4K for the 40th anniversary.
I worked at a small independent cinema in West London where the films played from video – yep, really. The distributor in the UK was Palace Pictures who also had a sell-through video label. There was a lot of hype at the time it was first released saying that they would only show the film at cinemas where the sound system had been approved, but by the time it got to us, they’d forgotten about that, and we played it from a Betamax copy. That version had ‘Cities’, ‘Big Business’ and ‘I Zimbra’ but because I’d only seen the 35mm print once before I didn’t realise we were showing this unique cut. Neither did anyone else, I guess.
The first Heads record I heard, as a teenager, was “Naked” which I still think is both great and hilarious. It anticipates on Byrne’s solo career and the truly weird stuff he did, starting with “Rei Momo”, that other monument of questionable taste and a kind of John the Baptist to the truly bizarre and wonderful Jesus of “Here Lies Love” - mostly in the sense that they do not relate to anything, including each other. I realize all of this sounds totally unserious, which is exactly the quality I like in Byrne’s music.
One of the finest moments of the film is “This Must Be the Place,” which I’ve always felt is both the black sheep and peak of Speaking In Tongues—the live version adds a tenderness and almost congregational feel to it for me. Really drives it home.