Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.rock
Titolo: Talking Heads

One of the most critically acclaimed groups of the past two decades, Talking
Heads pursued an idiosyncratic path of (often) uncompromising brilliance.
After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, students David
Byrne (b. 14 May 1952, Dumbarton, Scotland; vocals, guitar), Chris Frantz
(b. Charlton Christopher Frantz, 8 May 1951, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, USA;
drums) and Tina Weymouth (b. Martina Weymouth, 22 November 1950, Coronado,
California, USA; bass) relocated to New York. In 1975,they lived and
rehearsed in Manhattan and named themselves Talking Heads. After appearing
at the club CBGB's, they were approached by Seymour Stein of Sire Records,
who would eventually sign the group. Early in 1976, the line-up was expanded
to include pianist Jerry Harrison (b. Jeremiah Harrison, 21 February 1949,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA), a former member of Jonathan Richman 's Modern
Lovers. The group's art school background, witty invention and musical
unorthodoxy were evident on their intriguingly titled debut, 'Love Goes To
Building On Fire'. After touring extensively, they issued Talking Heads '77,
an exhilarating first album, which was widely praised for its verve and
intelligence. The highlight of the set was the insistent 'Psycho Killer', a
tour de force, in which singer Byrne displayed his deranged vocal dramatics
to the full. His wide-eyed stare, jerky movements and onstage cool reminded
many commentators of Anthony Perkins, star of Hitchcock's movie Psycho. For
their second album, the group turned to Brian Eno as producer. More Songs
About Buildings And Food was a remarkable work, its title echoing Talking
Heads' anti-romantic subject matter. Byrne's eccentric vocal phrasing was
brilliantly complemented by some startling rhythm work and the songs were
uniformly excellent. The climactic 'The Big Country' a satiric commentary on
consumerist America, featured the scathing aside: 'I wouldn't live there if
you paid me'. The album also featured one cover version, an interesting
reading of Al Green 's 'Take Me To The River', which was a minor hit. Eno's
services were retained for the more opaque Fear Of Music, which included the
popular 'Life During Wartime'. Byrne next collaborated with Eno on My Life
In The Bush Of Ghosts, before the group reunited for Remain In Light. The
latter boasted the superb 'Once In A Lifetime', complete with 'found voices'
and African polyrhythms. An edited version of the song provided one of the
best hit singles of 1981. During the early 80s, the group's extra-curricular
activities increased and while Byrne explored ballet on The Catherine Wheel,
Frantz and Weymouth found success with their spin-off project, Tom Tom Club.
The live double The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads served as a stopgap
until Speaking In Tongues appeared in the summer of 1983. As ambitious as
ever, the album spawned the group's UK Top 10 single 'Burning Down The
House'. While touring with additional guitarist Alex Weir (formerly of the
Brothers Four ), the group were captured on film in Stop Making Sense, the
soundtrack of which sold well. The excellent Little Creatures, a more
accessible offering than their more experimental work, featured three strong
singles in the title track, 'And She Was' and 'RoadTo Nowhere'. The latter
brought the group their biggest chart hit and was accompanied by an
imaginative and highly entertaining video. In 1986, Byrne moved more
forcibly into movies with True Stories, for which Talking Heads provided the
soundtrack; it was two more years before the group reconvened for Naked.
Produced by Steve Lillywhite, the work included musical contributions from
Level 42 producer Wally Badarou and guitarists Yves N'Djock and Johnny Marr
(from the Smiths ). Since then Talking Heads have branched out into various
offshoot ventures; there was an official announcement of their break-up at
the end of 1991. The single- and double-album retrospectives released in
October 1992 provided a fairly definitive assessment of their career,
including some interesting rarities, but without doing justice to a band
rightly regarded as one of the best and most influential of their time. In
1996 Weymouth, Frantz and Harrison launched the Heads.


uno dei più brutti dischi che abbia mai ascoltato!