Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Remain in Light













Talking Heads peaked in the early 1980s and this is exactly when I got to see them do a show in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Problem is, I can't remember the year they played, let alone the month or day. There seems to be no internet trace yet, nor lipstick traces. This will have to suffice. JC remembers being there, too -- I think. In any case, Remain in Light is powerful and different. It holds up very well these brief thirty years later. Been listening to it over and over again for days, on shuffle.  In trying to recount the Carmichael show, it came to me that Tom-Tom Club opened, right?  Well, it definitely is true that Talking Heads had a syncopated slide show going, tossing up words and images for association; that was way cool.  As for anything else, I'll have to rake through various journals from the early 80s and hope for the best . . . Has anyone else reading this seen Talking Heads or any of the associated spinoffs?















Verdict: Remain in Light remains hip and groovy, even more so now. It features the globalized Talking Heads crew plus the ambient coolness of Eno and Adrian Belew, two dudes interesting in their own right.

Today's Rune: Partnership.

9 comments:

Lana Gramlich said...

I like the Talking Heads. They had some nice harmonies. Personally I'm partial to the "Little Creatures" album (& still have it, on CD now.) Learned a while back that David Byrne discovered or produced or otherwise backed the B-52s. Gotta appreciate that!

pattinase (abbott) said...

I adored the doc about the Talking Heads. People stood up and cheered at its comletion.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the Tom Tom Club definitely opened. I think it was sometime in 1983.

JC

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the Tom Tom Club definitely opened. I think it was sometime in 1983.

JC

Anonymous said...

I repeat myself when under stress,
I repeat myself when under stress..

JC

Johnny Rojo said...

Love the Talking Heads! My favorite of theirs "Fear of Music," but I have a special place in my heart for their biggest hit, "Burning Down the House"-- reminds me of an old lover.

I got my kids the "Rock Band" game for the Wii a coupl e of Christmases ago-- okay, well, I've played it a few times-- and they've come to love "Psycho Killer" because of it.

BTW, Erik, I've made some changes-- new blog.

Charles Gramlich said...

Most of what little I know about the Talking Heads I learned from Lana.

the walking man said...

I never even knew who they were until the nineties. The eighties being a VERY lost decade for me.

nunya said...

I'm not a huge fan, but I like them. The first time I heard them was just about the time this awful recording of Take Me to the River was recorded.

Isn't Life During Wartime pretty much their signature song?