More Songs About Buildings And Food Show # 440

 

In 1978, Talking Heads released their second full-length album More Songs About Buildings And Food. The album was the first to feature producer and future collaborator with the band Brian Eno (it was the first of many releases with Eno). Overall the album is much different than their debut Talking Heads: 77. While the album still emphasized David Byrne’s neurotic and nervous energy, the band and music as a whole is more fleshed out from the soul, garage and funk influences that Talking Heads introduced to us in their debut album. Lyrically, Talking Heads were always different than other bands of that era and on More Songs About Buildings And Food, they seemed to focus on lyrics surrounding a certain feeling that is at times serious, but also sometimes executed with a humorous wit. The overall lyrical and music structure on More Songs About Buildings And Food was perhaps best described by Ken Emerson’s Rolling Stone review of the album in 1978 as “a triumph over diversity, while the words spell out defeat by disparities between mind and body, head and heart.”

More Songs About Buildings And Food
back cover - Portrait U.S.A.

The album starts off with “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” a song that displays the rhythm section of Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth in top form. The bass and drum section is highlighted on this album in more detail and this song shows the first example of this. Musically the track features wavering keyboards/synthesizers from Jerry Harrison and light jangly guitar rhythms, while lyrically it starts the album off on a positive note. “With Our Love” brings Talking Heads funk influence to the forefront. As the dual guitars in the verses battle themselves in the chorus, the song stops and starts with jagged rhythms and smooth soulful basslines. Lyrically Bryne attacks the very psychology of love, how it can blur peoples point of view and how that feeling can make us feel with lyrics such as “Had they forgotten what this all means” and "You're really special/And they can't face the feeling and they can't really tell”.     

“Warning Sign” is different from the songs that proceed it, juxtaposing musically as we are taken away with watery effects on vocals and guitars. The song is bizarre and scary while at the same time it projects the band’s sense of nervous energy which they are known for, “The Girls Want To Be With The Girls” features marching drum beats and wavering synthesizers while the lyrics question the understanding of relationships between men and women displaying how some just don’t get it with lyrics such as “Girls are getting into abstract analysis/Wouldn't like to make that intuitive leap/They're making plans that have far reaching effects/And the girls want to be with the girls”. “Found A Job” comes next with its opening line “Damn that television”, as the song describes a story between Bob and Judy as they work on scripts and make up stories due to their boredom with television and their relationship, which in turn rejuvenates their relationship. The song once again brings the band’s funk influences to the forefront as the scratchy funky guitars attack the listener and the basslines fills in the gaps with the strong drum work by Chris Frantz. David Byrne’s quirky and often high vocals push the story of this song into our heads. The song ends with in a frantic jam like fashion with Harrison's guitar combating and complimenting Byrne's as it does throughout most of this album.

Take Me To The River single

Other songs such as “Artists Only” with its almost surf/new wave rhythm tackles the creative process lyrically, “Stay Hungry” and “I’m Not In Love” question as mentioned earlier "disparities between mind and body, head and heart”. The last two tracks on this album are the clinchers on this album, which transform the album from being just a good sophomore effort into an excellent one. “Take Me To The River” is an organic song and the most straightforward compared to what the first nine tracks offer. Originally by Al Green, it is placed rather fittingly here.  Al Green’s lyrics are executed in a certain fashion by David Byrne that make it relevant to the themes that proceed it, comparing love to a baptismal religious experience. This song, which would become one of Talking Heads top-thirty singles, has an undeniable, mesmerizing groove that wades through the minds of the listener’s subconscious. “The Big Country” ends the album. The song features folk and country-like rhythms while lyrically it emphasizes the empty feeling of flying over cites and places and feeling nowhere, yet wanting to be somewhere with lyrics such as “I wouldn’t live there if you paid me” and “I'm tired of looking out the windows of the airplane/I'm tired of traveling/I want to be somewhere/It's not even worth talking/About those people down there”.    

I could go on about how the literate lyrics could emphasize or portray certain things, but it is perhaps best to take a look at the front and back cover of this album as further indication to is meaning. The front cover portrays 529 close up Polaroid photographs of the band placed together like a map of the band, while the back cover features the first photo mosaic map of the US, entitled Portrait U.S.A. made of 569 photos taken from space in 1976. Both images are maps that show an overall map of something. One is of the band, one is of the United States and the music on the inside provides deeper detail and meaning to these images. More Songs About Buildings And Food questions the very make up of the body, mind and heart as if it were a map with its refined, yet diverse rhythms and thought provoking lyrics. 

This week's play list:

1. The Remains – Don’t Look Back
2. The Castaways – Liar, Liar
3. Seven Story Redhead – Diamond Geezer
4. Golden BC – The Proof
5. Cold Warps – Stuck On An Island
6. Nirvana – Spank Thru
7. Mudhoney – The Rose
8. The Chemistry Set – Underground
9. Deja Voodoo – Too Cool To Live, Too Smart To Die
10. Simply Saucer – Instant Pleasure
11. Pointed Sticks – New Ways
12. Talking Heads - Thank You For Sending Me An Angel
13. Talking Heads – Found A Job
14. EX~PO – Burn, Burn, Burn
15. Terminal Sunglasses – Terminal Theme
16. April March – Chick Habit
17. Ghost Bikini – Rage In A Cage
18. Thee Rum Coves – Happy Times
19. The D4 – High Voltage
20. Sex Pistols – Substitute
21. The (International) Noise Conspiracy – Smash It Up
22. The White Stripes – Astro
23. The Prisoners - What I Want
24. Magazine – Model Worker (BBC Session)
25. The Clash - Stay Free

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for January 22. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Show # 180 - The Live Show

This week my show consisted entirely of live recordings from some of my favourite bands. This included official live albums, and rare unreleased recordings. Some of the material I played was:



The Bootleg Series Volume 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert

After years of being bootlegged, Bob Dylan officially released this live concert as part of his Bootleg Series in 1998. This is the concert where Dylan went electric, causing many of his fans to believe him a sellout. Other interesting facts about this double CD set is that Bob Dylan is backed by a group of Canadian musicians then known as The Hawks. Serving as his backing band, The Hawks would later change their name to The Band.

Sex Pistols - Live in Chelmsford Prison (2002 Sanctuary)

This is a live concert featuring the Sex Pistols live at a prison in 1976. On this CD there are all the Pistols classics such as "Problems", "Anarchy in the UK", "God Save the Queen", and a variety of covers "No Fun (The Stooges)", and "Substitute (The Who)". This bootleg recording sounds better than a large majority of the bands live recordings. Recorded by the bands sound man Dave Goodman, the album showcases an early version of the band featuring Glen Matlock on bass. The actual overall performance of the band has been described as the group not at their best, but it is a good sounding live recordings by the legendary Sex Pistols. Earlier releases of this show, have sound man Dave Goodman adding overdubs to the show, sometimes even singing over top of Rotten making the release worthless. If you want to get this bootleg make sure it is the 2002 Sanctuary version.

Talking Heads - The Name of this Band is Talking Heads

Originally released in 1982, This was a double live album cataloguing the bands career from 1979 to 1981. The title of the album originated from the incorrect pronunciation of the band as The Talking Heads (it's just Talking Heads). The first disc contains live recordings from the period of 1977-1979 and the second disc contains live recordings from the period of 1980-1981. When released on CD in 2004, not only was the album remastered, but also expanded with 15 bonus tracks. The album also contains the song "A Clean Break" which was previously unreleased, and is an excellent track. This is a live album that is just as good if not better than the bands other live album Stop Making Sense.

In other news, on January 11th, Mick Jones and members of Carbon/Silicon played live on stage with none other than Topper Headon (former drummer of the Clash). It was the first time in 25 years the two played together and here are two videos of it:

Train in Vain
Should I Stay or Should I Go

Finally, an article was written for the University of Windsor's newspaper The Lance on my radio show Revolution Rock. If you would like to read it, you can check it out here.

The Play List:

1. The Clash - Jimmy Jazz (Live From Here To Eternity II)
2. The Damned - New Rose (Live Paris Theatre 1977)
3. Sex Pistols - Substitute (Live Chelmsford Prison 1976)
4. Teenage Head - Little Sister (Live 1978)
5. Teenage Head - Ain't Got No Sense (Live 1978)
6. Young Canadians - Poison of Thought (Live No Escape)
7. Saints - Untitled (Live London 1977)
8. Saints - Nights in Venice (Live in London 1977)
9. Gang of Four - Return the Gift (Live Ann Arbour, Michigan 1981)
10. The Jam - And Your Bird Can Sing (BBC Session)
11. Bob Dylan - Tell Me, Momma (Live Royal Albert Hall 1966)
12. Sloan - The Lines You Amend (4 Nights at the Palais Royale)
13. Sloan - Iggy & Angus (4 Nights at the Palais Royale)
14. Generation X - King Rocker (Live Sheffeild 1978)
15. Neil Young - Sedan Delivery (Rust Never Sleeps 1979)
16. Pearl Jam - Fuckin' Up (Live Toronto 2006)
17. Modernettes - Rebel Kind (Live on the Vancouver Show 1983)
18. Smugglers - What Do You Want Me to Do (Live Growing Up Smugglers 1998)
19. The Clash - Hate & War (Live Something Else 1979)
20. Buzzcocks - Fiction Romance (Entertaining Friends 1979)
21. Talking Heads - Don't Worry About the Government (The Name of this Band is Talking Heads)
22. Dead 60s - Liar (Live i-tunes Music Festival 2007)
23. The Hives - List of Demands (XFM Session 2007)
24. Ramones - Let's Dance (Live at the Roxy 1976)

Stop Making Sense...Show # 146

Forming in 1974, Talking Heads began as a three piece group. The group consisted of David Byrne (vocals/guitar), Tina Weymouth (bass), and Chris Franz on drums. The group formed while at school (Rhode Island School of Design). The name Talking Heads would come from a term that is used when filming in TV. In 1975 the group got an opening spot for the Ramones at CBGB's. A year later in 1976, another member would be added to the group, Jerry Harrison (formerly of The Modern Lovers). He would be the Keyboardist and another guitarist for Talking Heads. The group got a record deal through Sire Records (as did Ramones) and released their first single Love → Building on Fire in 1977. It was recorded when the band was still just a three piece group. It was also produced by Tony Bongiovi (also known as Tommy Ramone). The band’s first album would also be released shortly after in 1977, it would be titled Talking Heads ‘77. The album would also be one of the first albums labelled under the New Wave genre. It featured songs such as "Psycho Killer", "Don't Worry About the Government", "Uh-oh When Love Comes to Town". The album would make it to the charts despite low album sales (#97 on the Billboard charts), it would be their first, but minor taste of success. The lyrics would not be your of your normal topics they were intelligent and were of varying topics, they were also delivered in a quirky, sporadic style.

1978 saw the release of More Songs About Buildings and Food. The album drew more on the bands funk influences as opposed to the first which seemed to be fueled by the energy of the new and emerging New York punk scene at the time. The album did not do as well in sales, but it did display the energy of the band as did the first album. The album would reach # 29 on the Billboard charts, and it would also feature a cover of the Al Green song "Take Me To the River". The album showed that the band was still full of energy. Songs such as "Found a Job" a funky five minute piece, "Artists Only" a keyboard new wave track, and "Stay Hungry" a song eerily similar to the more recent Red Hot Chilli Peppers track "By The Way". The band who was known as an Art-Rock, New Wave band, definitely showed it on this album. The album was also produced by Brian Eno (Roxy Music, David Bowie), he gave them a new sense of direction and song structure.

In 1979, Fear of Music was released. Eno once again worked with the band. The album would jump into a different musical direction while still remaining New Wave. African rhythms would be added to the mix. The album mostly written and recorded in the live setting, was a step into a different direction for the band, yet again. The first song of the album "I Zimbra" is a African vibed song with lyrics inspired from a Dadist poem. "Life During Wartime" is a powerful track, lyrically and musically. The song is about guerrilla movements in the US and live underground music scenes, referenced in the lyrics "This ain't no party/This ain't no disco/This ain't no fooling around". The album also contained the eerie and melodic "Heaven" and "Air" a song about air pollution. Also Robert Frip known for the work he's done with King Crimson, added some guitar to the tracks. The album is just as good as any in the bands catalog.

Remain in Light came in 1980. It was yet again produced by Brain Eno he is even credited for some of the music compositions. The band jumped further into the African rhythms, but also added funk with a New Wave spin. The album contained the track "Once in a Lifetime" which would do good in the UK but not in the US. There also seems to be some early New York rap influence on this album as well with the song "Houses in Motion". This would be the groups last album with Eno. The band would go on tour in support of the album then take a short break and embark on some side projects. In 1983 the band returned with Speaking in Tongues. The album had a more 80's vibe, it also featured the song that would be a big hit for the band "Burning Down the House". The album also featured the pop masterpiece "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)". The band would go on a tour which would be filmed and can be seen in the film Stop Making Sense, which was directed by Johnathan Demme. This would also be the bands last tour. In 1982, a double live album was released titled The Name of The Band Is Talking Heads. The album featured songs from the bands early and later career. In 1984, Stop Making Sense, the soundtrack from the film was released, consisting of live performances from the film.

David Byrne would then direct his first film titled True Stories in 1985, which was a musical comedy. Little Creatures another Talking Heads album was released in the same year. The album was said to be more of a pop album than any of the previous albums by the band. The album drew in new influences such as Country. The album contained great tracks such as "And She Was", "Stay Up Late", and "Road to Nowhere". In 1986, the album True Stories was released, which was named after the Byrne film. It is a collection of odds and ends from the bands catalog, but there are some great worth while tracks on it. "Wild Wild Life" (which would be the bands biggest hit), "Love For Sale" (created for the film), and "Radio Head" (the song where the modern band Radiohead got their name from). Apparently Byrne originally did not want his vocals on the tracks, but those of the actors in his musical film instead (these would be later released as B-sides).

1988 saw the release of the last Talking Heads album Naked. This time the band combined the sound of Little Creatures with Remain in Light and Latin and world music. The album contained songs such as "Blind" and "Mr. Jones". The band would then go on hiatus for a while. After recording one more song for a movie "Sax & Violin's" in 1991, the band called it quits. Byrne would go onto his solo career and Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz would continue recording with their side project Tom Tom Club; They were recording since 1981. Jerry Harrison would also do solo projects and produce albums such as Foo Fighters (on the song "Walking After You"), Von Bondies, No Doubt, and Live. In 1996, the group wanted to reunite for an album, but Byrne did not want any part of it, so the band got some guest musicians and released an album called No Talking Just Head, and the band would be known as The Heads. In 2002, when the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame they played together for one last time. Despite playing together again, Byrne still says there will be no reunion for the group.

In 2003, a boxset Once in a Lifetime was released compiling material from the bands career on to three discs and a DVD containing the bands music videos. The set also contains a few rarities and B-sides. 2004 saw the release of a greatest hits album The Best of the Talking Heads by Rhino Records. In 2005, Talking Heads Brick Boxset was released. The album contained all eight studio albums remastered with bonus tracks. It was a dual disc boxset which meant that one side was the remastered CD with bonus tracks (which includes B-sides, demos, and outtakes), and the other side was a DVD that contained a 5.1 Surround Sound mix of the album and videos of the band. In 2006, all the albums were released individually in the dual disc format.

For more information on the band visit Talkingheads.net.

Here's the play list from the show:

1. Magazine – my mind ain’t so open (bbc session)
2. Gang of Four – return the gift
3. Devo – wiggly world
4. 4/4 – all wound up
5. The Fans – you don’t live here anymore
6. Blondie – hanging on the telephone
7. The Victims - TV freak
8. The Diodes – tennis (again)
9. The Diodes – headache
10. Pointed Sticks – waiting for the real thing
11. Wire – fragile
12. Wire – champs
13. The Police – low life
14. Talking Heads – paper
15. Talking Heads – mind (alt version)
16. Ultravox! – frozen ones
17. Bureaucrats – feel the pain
18. Modernettes – teen city
19. Ride Theory – walk the line
20. Young Rival – dead end scene (demo)
21. Television – double exposure (1974 demo)
22. Richard Hell & the Voidoids – ignore that door
23. Tricky Woo – altamont raven
24. Tricky Woo – alright
25. Fiction Plane – anyone
26. Fiction Plane - death machine
27. Exploding Hearts – boulevard trash
28. The Caesars - may the rain

Here's some Cool Talking Heads Videos:

David Byrne on Letterman 1983 Part 1
Talking Heads on Letterman Part 2
Once in a Lifetime Music Video
This Must Be the Place Video
Found a Job from the Stop Making Sense Movie
Born Under Punches Live in Rome 1980
Psycho Killer 1982