There's a little game being played on Facebook at the moment where someone gives you the name of a band and you have to name a song of theirs that you love, a song you like and a song you dislike. I was given Talking Heads and have just chosen my 3 tracks. I'll repeat them below but also try to expand a bit on why I have named those.
Love: Psycho Killer. I could have been clever here and gone from an obscure album track but the truth is that sometimes a band's most popular hits are their very best. I think so with this. The bassline alone deserves a round of applause as Tina Weymouth pounds the beat, at that time looking way too small for that guitar let alone the relentless drone by which the rest of the song hangs. I love the way the band looked, back then. Bearing in mind they were CBGB darlings at this time and that the punk look was de rigeur for any rock band in 1977, they were all so preppy 30 years before Vampire Weekend re-invented the style. This is a fantastic song to sing along to. You don't even need to learn the words, it's all mapped out for you.
Like: Listening Wind. David Byrne was experimenting with world music long before this album but 'Remain In Light' released in 1980 and produced by Brian Eno was definitely a mainstream album whilst drawing heavily from African sounds especially the West African beat. They paid homage to the legendary Fela Kuti quite openly and with a lot of respect. It includes 'Once In a Lifetime' but my favourite from this album has to be the choice here. There's a slight melancholy to the music as all the best African music seems to have yet it is at the same time uplifting, inspirational even.
Dislike: Big Daddy. The band had run out of ideas by 1988 and Byrne had disappeared quite a way up his own arse by this stage so it is no surprise that "Naked" was their last album. The production had a "freeform" feel to it, a risky decision even when a band is at the top of its game and unsurprisingly it failed with this album on so many levels. The album is a self-indulgent mess and Big Daddy is perhaps the worst offence. The title is a bit crap as well.
If anyone wants to carry on playing this game then let me know in the comments below and I'll give you a band to choose your 3 songs from.
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