TALKING HEADS : REAL LIVE WIRES

 

  1. The Big Country
  2. Warning Sign
  3. The Book I Read
  4. Stay Hungry
  5. Artists Only
  6. The Girls Want To Be With The Girls
  7. Don't Worry About The Government
  8. The Good Thing
  9. Uh-Oh Love Comes To Town
  10. Love -> Building On Fire
  11. New Feeling
  12. Psycho Killer
  13. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel
  14. Take Me To The River

Label : Smokin'

Venue : Park West, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Recording Date : August 28, 1978

Length : 54:12

Quality : FM Recording (A+)

Review (The Fat Angel Sings) : This great live set captures Talking Heads at The Park West, in Chicago, in 1978. After playing a selection of showcases in Europe at the start of the year – and taking time-out to record their second album in the Bahamas – the group were amidst a tour criss-crossing the USA from New York to Los Angeles. Talking Heads have their origins in a Providence, Rhode Island band called The Artistics, formed in 1974. True to their name, founder members David Byrne (vocals, guitar) and Chris Frantz (drums) were students of the School of Design there, as was Frantz’s girlfriend, Tina Weymouth. The band quickly folded and all three moved to New York together. Tina was persuaded to learn bass; achieved – apparently – by listening to Suzi Quattro albums! Now known as Talking Heads, the trio soon secured their debut gig as support to the Ramones, at the CBGB’s in mid-1975. The band was signed by Seymour Stein’s Sire Records and released their debut single, the intriguingly entitled “Love Goes to Building on Fire” in February 1977. Talking Heads took a more oblique, avant-garde approach to their music. They were definitely New Wave rather than Punk. After their first single, the group immediately expanded the line-up, adding Jerry Harrison (previously with Jonathan Richman’s Modern Lovers) on keyboards, guitar and backing vocals. Their debut album, Talking Heads: 77 was released in September. All the songs, bar one, were written exclusively by David Byrne. The sole collaboration was the Byrne-Frantz-Weymouth number Psycho Killer, the album’s stand-out cut (first written for the The Artistics). With its insistent Psycho Killer… qu est-ce que c est hook and Weymouth’s driving bass-line, it was released as a single gained the band a huge amount of recognition and airplay over the years. Other standout cuts include the exuberant The Book I Read, the Caribbean styling of Uh-Oh Love Comes To Town and the punchy but nimble New Feeling. The Second album “More Songs about Buildings and Food” was a more diverse – and even more successful – collection of songs. Away from the confines of New York, the album was recorded in Nassau, in the Bahamas with Brian Eno producing. A cover of Al Green s Take Me to the River was also released as a single, and exposed Talking Heads to a significantly larger audience Other standout cuts featured include, The Big Country, The Girls Want to be with the Girls and The Good Thing. This broadcast recording, which includes all three singles by then released, together with the cream of the two albums other cuts, is a superb distillation of all that made Talking Heads such a unique and remarkable band.