The two bands actually have a couple of similarities imho; both emerged in the late 70's, hit creative peaks in the 80's (though the Cure were still going strong throughout the 90's and beyond), both bands had eccentric frontmen, both bands did/have achieved a limited amount of mainstream success without compromising their integrity or unique sounds (although I'd argue that more people would be aware of the Cure and their stuff than Talking Heads, who remain suprisingly anonymous in some quarters, once a few of their songs are pointed out, it's inevitable that friends/aquaintances will exlaim - "I didnt know they did that" ...)
But anyway, let's focus on the Heads ...
I love these guys and gals. Too bad the guys and gals themselves aren't particularly fond of each other (well, apart from Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, who remain happily married) or else they might still be producing great music to this day.
In some ways, Talking Heads is David Byrne's baby, he wrote the vast majority of the songs, it was his quirkiness that gained the band attention.
The guy is a truly unique individual, born in Scotland but raised in the States, he emerged as a one of the most un-rock n' roll frontman ever to grace a stage; geeky, nervous, vaguely unsettling with his bug-eyed presence and oddly monotone speaking voice. And speaking of his voice, what a queer instrument it was, early in his career he was all squeaky-squawkiness, however over the years his voice has developed to the point where I was genuinely suprised at hearing the power and control he projected the first time I saw him live ..
Byrne's strangeness went beyond his demeanour however; lyrically he wrote and sang about topics rarely before touched upon in modern pop tunes to that point, and in a style that was at times oddly conversational
("leave that wonderful food on the table/there's really no hurry, I'll eat in a while") and at other times just odd ("Look over there! A Dry Ice Factory - a good place to get some thinking done !!") - songs about buildings and food indeed ..
Of course, behind every groundbreaking frontman lurks a kick-arse band - the band was technically limited, but each had their own style that combined to produce a sound that was somehow both edgy and funky at the same time; Chris Frantz was an on-the-dot drummer; not flashy but incredibly solid and a servant to the song. Tina Weymouth has been widely celebrated as one of the finest female musicians of her time, a lady who had never played the bass before being recruited to the band by Byrne and Frantz. Byrne himself was an incredibly funky rhythm guitarist, as too was Jerry Harrison, who also gave the group some versatility with his keyboard talents.
The first 4 albums were sheer genius; debut album '77 was as unselfconsciously quirky as it gets; More Songs About Buildings and Food one of the great guitar-based albums going with barely a solo in sight, Fear of Music a paranoid masterpiece (with more sublime rhythym guitar bliss) and of course the much-celebrated Remain in Light was a true concept album; most songs were played in one chord with a cut-n-paste approach that beggars description, a polyrhythmic space-funk album of epic proportions ... throw in two awesome live albums, both augmented with supplimentary musicians, among them Adrian Belew and Bernie Worrell (the Name of this Band is Talking Heads and Stop Making Sense, which of course was one of the very best concert films ever made) and you have a band that explored new frontiers in modern music ...
The band reached a creative peak with Remain in Light, subsequent albums were perhaps less challenging but perhaps not suprisingly more commercially successful; Speaking in Tongues has 'Burning Down the House', Little Creatures gave them minor hits with 'And She Was', 'Road to Nowhere' and 'the Lady Dont Mind', True Stories 'Wild Wild Life' was moderately successful ... their final effort, 'Naked' remained hitless and unloved, thought it is far from a dud album ...
So there you have it; Talking Heads, an intellectual-yet-funky, succesful-yet-hitless, sophisticated-with-musicians-of-limited-ability band of a rare vision and integrity. I love 'em (oh yeah, I said that).
queue the "Meh's"
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