(You’ve got it, you’ve got it…)
(Nothing But) Flowers came on my iPod this morning while I was walking to work (yes, yes, I finally took the Misfits’ “Where Eagles Dare” off of repeat for my walking music). Jeez, what a fantastic song that is. The intro sounds immaculate with good earphones, and the key changes in the chorus just make you want to get up and dance like a funky little white boy. I usually refrain… what would my students think?? Actually they’d probably think that it makes perfect sense.
If you’re not familiar with the Talking Heads, this is probably where you should start. Stop Making Sense is a live DVD/Album that covers a wide range of their hits in one of the most energetic, creative, and high-quality productions I’ve seen in a concert documentary. Here’s a preview (but you should really just watch the whole thing):
This is one of my favorite Talking Heads songs, and it was something of an inspiration for a short story that I’m working on. Anyways, it should be pretty evident from that video how quirky David Byrne is as well as how ridiculously catchy their music can be.
The real impetus for this blog post is that I was recently asked which era of the Talking Heads was better: their classic 70s CBGBs incarnation, or their 80s limelight days? This is an extraordinarily difficult question.
On one hand, in the 70s, you have three amazing albums: Talking Heads: 77, More Songs About Buildings and Food, and Fear of Music which are high quality from start to finish. Yes, you’ve got your hits (the ubiquitous Psycho Killer, the dance-hit Life During Wartime, and the fast-paced & self-effacing I’m Not in Love) but the majesty of these three albums is that there’s not a wasted song. When I put on these records, I never hit the skip button.
On the other hand, the 80s brought some of the biggest hits that the Talking Heads ever had: Once in a Lifetime, Burning Down the House, Road to Nowhere, Radio Head (from which Radiohead took their name), and the album, Naked, which included three of my all-time favorite songs–Mommy Daddy You and I, (Nothing But) Flowers, and Mr. Jones. However, there are a number of songs that you could really do without. I very rarely find myself listening to these albums all the way through.
So, the question is: is it better to have a more solid album or to have bigger hits? Generally speaking, I’d say that the album is more important, but I can’t deny that my favorite Talking Heads songs come from the 80s.
Anyways, I’ll leave you to decide for yourself which is more important to you, and, just to further reinforce my point that you need to see Stop Making Sense, here is a video of them performing “Slippery People” from Speaking in Tongues (while watching these videos keep in mind that David Byrne choreographed the whole show himself).
Fuh Fuh Fuh Fah, Fuh Fuh Fuh-Fuh Fah Fah.
