Talking Heads: Chronology DVD out in October.

[Absorb the anus burn]

http://wxrt.radio.com/2011/08/23/talking-heads-to-release-chronology-compilation-dvd/

I'm quite excited about this DVD coming out in October. As a chronology it's far from comprehensive. Only one track from 'Remain In Light' but eight from 'More Songs About Buildings And Food'? However MSABAF is a favourite from 1978 and The Heads are well served by the 'Citizen Kane of rock movies'...

Talking Heads were my 'gateway band'. I heard 'Road To Nowhere' in 1985 and was hooked. Thanks to them I travelled beyond safe indie guitar music and fell in love with Can, Fela Kuti, P-Funk, Stockhausen, Miles, SBB, Ryuichi Sakamoto... Ethno-tinged art rock is not everybody's cup of tea, but very few bands created so much magic from walking the line between nerd & funk... A famous Rolling Stone review of their 1980 masterpiece nailed it when they said it's music to 'make you think and dance, think and dance'.... Their greatest moments are full of these beautiful tensions: black & white music; extrovert & introvert; funny & frightening - 'Fear Of Music' captures this in a pure, distilled way.

The DVD comes out late October. The track listing can be found at the link... I wonder if 'Don't Worry About The Government (1978)' is the Whistle Test performance that segued into Psycho Killer on TV.... 'Love → Building On Fire / Cities' are both from 82. They were shot for 'Stop Making Sense' the following year but not included in the cinema cut of the film... Ceasing to tour seemed to de-energise the band and their last three studio albums all suffer. I'd love to have heard some of these songs performed live. Imagine 'Papa Legba' / 'And She Was' played with the expanded, nine piece band, or 'Lifetime Piling Up' played stripped down with Jerry & David duelling guitars, Television style, like the CBGB days.

It wasn't meant to be.

For those totally in the dark, hunt down and buy their live double set 'The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads'. Tick off the genres they master: new wave, post punk, art rock, funk, afro beat, avant pop...

[PaulTMA]

Does anyone know where I can see/download the video of Anthony Kiedis' Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame speech for Talking Heads?  It's been taken off Youtube.  It's a belter.

[The Region Legion]

That is fucking bollocks. If you're going to release the Hall Of Fame tracks, how about ALL OF THEM? Fans have been waiting for an official release of that material for nearly a decade now, and one track is the best you can do? Fuck off.

Also, completely shit selection of tracks. There is so much more out there, this release is a joke.

[sproggy]

I would have been happy with a region 2 DVD release of True Stories, been waiting years for that.

[Absorb the anus burn]

Also, completely shit selection of tracks. There is so much more out there, this release is a joke.

I don't agree that it's a shit selection of tracks, but certainly it should be more comprehensive... There are quite a few quality Heads shows / concerts on tape that could be included (The Name Of This Film Is Once In A Lifetime from C4 / Rockpalast 1980 / Montreaux 1982 / Naked feature from The Late Show / South Bank Show 1979 / three-piece Heads CBGBs 75) and I agree entirely that the full Hall Of Fame performance could be included... The Rome 1980 gig is available on DVD, but not sure if it's a bootleg or official. It has some terrible vision mixing, though, and cameramen who linger over Tina Weymouth's torso. Adrian Belew fans would do well to check this one out.

True Stories could certainly do with a region 2 release - the complete cast version on CD plus a revamp of exotica soundtrack, Songs From True Stories would be nice... But unlikely.

Apparently UK concerts from their tours with The Ramones & later XTC were filmed, but I've never been able to obtain them on the trading circuit. There are a couple of amateur filmed / taped copies of the big suit tour. It's great to see 'The Book I Read' inserted into the set. 'Big Blue Plymouth Eyes Wide Open' is jaw-dropping. It would have been magical in 'Stop Making Sense'.

[AnthonyJ]

True Stories could certainly do with a region 2 release - the complete cast version on CD plus a revamp of exotica soundtrack, Songs From True Stories would be nice... But unlikely.

There was a rumour some years back on a Talking Heads messageboard that Rhino Handmade were going to do a deluxe reissue of the Sounds From True Stories album with all the music recorded including all the unreleased stuff on it - I keep waiting in hope...

[The Region Legion]

By the way, anyone interested in Talking Heads should check out David Byrne's new DVD/Blu-Ray "Ride, Rise, Roar" - its no Stop Making Sense but it would have been foolish to try and remake that anyway. Extremely enjoyable.

[Absorb the anus burn]

BUMP to say I got a copy of this at the weekend and enjoyed it very much, although share reservations with other fans that there is still loads of material that should be released.

It's lovely to have the whole Lester Bangs 'Fear Of Music' review - it must be 10,000 words - however, is not an easy read. It swerves from clarity to incoherence to narcotic induced paranoia (nicely capturing the FoM main theme)... The DVD commentary is typically articulate and interesting, but noticeable is the praising of other band members. The thirty minute South Bank show is an excellent extra, with mimed and live performance and a real sense of their 1979 Eno era NY loft lifestyle.

Stand out performances.... 'The Girls Want To Be With The Girls' from the Kitchen 1976. Three piece heads, buck-toothed David. Thin sound, but grooves like a bastard... 'Don't Worry About The Government' whistle test 1978. Whispering Bob introduces four piece band ripping through a stand out track from '77 LP..... 'Love - Building On Fire' 1982 the band playing at a massive desert festival to their biggest ever crowd. Playing their first single in a fashion that would have fitted nicely into 'Stop Making Sense'.

Well worth getting, but a missed opportunity to release something truly comprehensive, as most Heads fans would like to see the full CBGB set from 1975, the 1978 Entermedia show, the legendary 1982 Montreux gig etc......

A brief interview with Byrne from 1978 has him discussing the number of times he needs to shit before performing live.... More Songs About Squeezing Out Poos?