In stunning news, Talking Heads, who have been broken up for years will play two songs as a quartet at the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. vh1 will air it. Previous news: msnbc story on the induction. [ via talking-heads.net, a fan site ]
When I was in high school (1983-1987), Talking Heads was one of my favorite groups. They were a smart, funny, fun, wide ranging group. I had a 2 sided cassette tape which consisted of Remain in Light on side A, and Fear of Music on side B. I used to drive a 1972 Volvo with only an AM radio, and I would carry a portable, as in handheld cassette recorder — designed to record professor’s notes I think — and blast that thing. The sound wa s not good, but I knew what the LPs (this was before CDs) sounded like. I could hear it in my head.
I think the thing that I liked about Talking Heads was that they seemed to consider their work in music to be artistically based. They did not app ear to be driven by commercial concerns in any way whatsoever. No doubt they considered whether their records would sell, but the decisions they made — taking new and strange left turns with every record — were not part of a plan for rock domination. They just put out interesting stuff. Not a bad goal to set for oneself — put out interesting stuff.
I look forward to what they do together after 10 years apart.
