Liberty Lunch
Thursday, October 17 The myth of Talking Heads was that David Byrne was the band’s sole visionary;
that’s the privilege of a frontman — no matter what, he looks like the
leader. What’s so astonishing in the wake of Byrne’s refusal to re-group and
subsequent lawsuit against his former bandmates, is how strong a musical unit
the Heads have emerged on their new record No Talking Just Head, since
legally, there really is no more Talking.
That’s just fine by keyboard player Jerry Harrison, who along with bassist
Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz in the late Seventies, gave the band its
poppy but clever rhythms, a quirky bottom line that was the perfect antidote to
punk and boasted smart lyrics to match. The classic Talking Heads line-up
produced a sound and direction still unmatched, but the band ultimately
imploded into other projects: films, acting, film scoring, production, side
bands, parenthood. By the mid-Eighties, the band that once had been the best
working band in America became a memory.
“Talking Heads didn’t just stop, we kept talking about doing things together
but David’s interest in it just seemed to fade as he got busier and busier,”
reveals Harrison.
“At one point, Chris and Tina and I said, “Well, if we’re not gonna put
together an album with David, that doesn’t mean we can’t do one ourselves. And
once we started writing, there was this connection with Talking Heads in the
music we were creating: Three-quarters is three-quarters. We were aware this
wasn’t totally new and yet it wasn’t a rehash of the past, either.”
But who will listen to the Heads in 1996? Even post-punkers who discovered
meaningful lyricism via Fear of Music are 15 years older. Will Eddie
Vedderites get their angst yah-yahs with ex-Concrete Blonde mistress Johnette
Napolitano at the mike?
“I guess we hope there’s enough airplay to get a new crowd,” laughs
Harrison. “I mean, just as with solo careers, you’ll start with old-time fans
who are usually smart enough to love the whole band and not just focused on
David. This is a period of transition for us — this is obviously not like
[the] Stop Making Sense tour, it’s not going to be the hits of five or
six records. We do play some old stuff, even some obscure stuff like `Memories
Can’t Wait’ and `Warning Sign’ — for the really longtime fans. It’s not the
same as having David sing them, but I think our audience understands this and
is happy to hear it. We have a shared collective past through this music, let’s
honor it.”
— Margaret Moser
This article appears in October 11 • 1996 and October 11 • 1996 (Cover).