In 1983 my family and I moved from Singapore to Australia and 'Psycho Killer' was dominating the radio-waves everywhere. I dismissed the song as a gimmick, and because it was so mainstream I was not overly interested. The following year I was living in Brisbane, Queensland where I attended the Queensland College of Art. Talking Heads had hit the big time with STOP MAKING SENSE, so much so that almost every teenager on the Queen Street Mall was dressed in an oversized suit complete with huge shoulder pads and the David Byrne floppy fringe.
A friend of mine loved Talking Heads. I remember her standing in line at the Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, waiting to buy a copy of LITTLE CREATURES. Again I wasn't overly keen until years later when my Roxy Music obsession lead me to follow the career of Brian Eno. I discovered that Brian Eno had collaborated as a producer with Talking Heads on the MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD, FEAR OF MUSIC and REMAIN IN LIGHT albums, before partnering with U2. Brian Eno's studio innovations added groundbreaking musical textures, surreal sounds, droning keyboards and African rhythms to Talking Heads previously 'New Wave' guitar pop approach. Which takes me back to their debut 1977 pre-Eno album, simply titled '77.
'77 is as close as we will ever get to the strikingly original band who played the CBGB club in 1975 alongside Blondie, the Ramones, Television, the Cramps, the B-52's and the Patti Smith Group. The club, located in Manhattan's East Village, supported a fertile original music-scene and was arguably the home of new wave and punk rock. '77 is everything we love about Talking Heads but stripped back to the core ingredients; David Byrne's yelping vocals and jagged guitar patterns; Jerry Harrison's subtle keyboard fills and chiming guitars; Martina Weymouth's bouncing bass and Chris Frantz's infectious rhythms. Talking Heads fearless appetite for musical discovery and David Byrne's crazed rantings were about to hit the 'big time'.
SINGLES:
"Psycho Killer"
SONGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
- "Don't Worry About the Government"
- "The Book I Read"
- "Pulled Up"