Talking Heads

Formed in 1974 · Ended in 1991

Listen

Follow

Upcoming shows

No upcoming dates yet.

Tour dates elsewhere: Songkick

About

Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1975. It consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist David Byrne, drummer Chris Frantz, bassist Tina Weymouth, and guitarist and keyboardist Jerry Harrison. Described as one of the most acclaimed groups of the 1970s and 1980s, Talking Heads helped to pioneer new wave music by combining elements of punk, art rock, funk, and world music with "an anxious yet clean-cut image".

Byrne, Frantz, and Weymouth met as freshmen at the Rhode Island School of Design, where Byrne and Frantz were part of a band called the Artistics. The trio moved to New York City in 1975, adopted the name Talking Heads, joined the New York punk scene, and recruited Harrison. They signed to Sire Records in 1976 and released their debut album, Talking Heads: 77, the following year to positive reviews. They collaborated with the British producer Brian Eno on the acclaimed albums More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978), Fear of Music (1979), and Remain in Light (1980), which blended their art school sensibilities with influence from artists such as Parliament-Funkadelic and Fela Kuti. From the early 1980s, they included additional musicians in their recording sessions and shows, including guitarist Adrian Belew, keyboardist Bernie Worrell, singer Nona Hendryx, and bassist Busta Jones.

Talking Heads reached their commercial peak in 1983 with the U.S. Top 10 hit "Burning Down the House" from the album Speaking in Tongues. In 1984, they released the concert film Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathan Demme, which is regarded as the greatest concert film of all time. For these performances, they were joined by Worrell, guitarist Alex Weir, percussionist Steve Scales, and singers Lynn Mabry and Ednah Holt. In 1985, Talking Heads released their best-selling album, Little Creatures. They produced a soundtrack album for Byrne's film True Stories (1986), and released their final album, the worldbeat-influenced Naked (1988). Byrne left the band in 1991, and for a time the other band members performed under the name Shrunken Heads. They went on to release the album No Talking, Just Head (1996) as the Heads, featuring various singers, before what remained of the band disbanded permanently.

In 2002, Talking Heads were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Four of their albums appeared on Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and "Psycho Killer", "Life During Wartime", and "Once in a Lifetime" were included among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The band was also ranked number 64 on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In the 2011 update of Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", they were ranked number 100.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Also in Français

Talking Heads est un groupe américain de rock, originaire du New York. Le nom « talking head » désigne en anglais un spécialiste intervenant à la télévision. Issu de la scène punk de New York et associé plus tard aux mouvements post-punk et new wave, le groupe existe entre 1974 et 1991 et a notamment joué au CBGB aux côtés de groupes tels que les Ramones, Television ou Patti Smith.

Le style musical new wave de Talking Heads combine des éléments de punk, avant-garde, pop, funk, world music et d'art rock. Le chanteur-compositeur David Byrne apporte des paroles ésotériques et fantasques aux chansons du groupe et accentue leur côté spectaculaire par son apport multimédia.

David Byrne, Tina Weymouth et Chris Frantz se rencontrent à l'école de design de Rhode Island où ils décident de former leur premier groupe, The Artistics, en 1974. Le nouveau groupe se sépare rapidement pour ne se reformer que plus tard : en 1975, les trois comparses, désormais présentés sous le nom de Talking Heads, donnent leur premier concert au CBGB à New York. Mais c'est seulement en 1976 que le groupe est au complet avec l'arrivée du chanteur, guitariste et claviériste Jerry Harrison.

Le quatuor signe son premier contrat chez Sire Records en 1977 et sort peu de temps après son premier single, Love Goes to Building on Fire. La même année l'album Talking heads: 77 paraît dans les bacs. Par ailleurs, les Talking Heads connaîtront un premier succès auprès du grand public en 1979 avec la sortie de leur deuxième album, More Songs about Building and Food. Composé de onze titres inédits, il est produit en collaboration avec le célèbre producteur Brian Eno. Cependant le véritable succès ne sera au rendez-vous qu'en 1980, avec l'album Remain in Light qui mélange le son rock à des rythmes africains. Ce dernier album les projettera au sommet des charts britanniques et entraînera une tournée européenne et américaine.

En 2002, le groupe entre au Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. En 2011, Rolling Stone classe le groupe 100e de sa liste des 100 meilleurs artistes de tous les temps.

Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0