{"id":30823,"date":"2026-03-17T05:30:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T09:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=30823"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T14:23:12","slug":"a-talking-heads-top-ten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/17\/a-talking-heads-top-ten\/","title":{"rendered":"A Talking Heads Top Ten"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"With their sophisticated brand of new wave-meets-funk and art rock, Talking Heads were a bright spot on an already rich and vibrant music scene of the late \u201870s and beyond. Adopting parts of the punk ethos (but notably not the \u201cdestroy everything that came before\u201d mindset), Talking Heads were unafraid to experiment, to push their sound upward and outward in different ways. They worked with avant garde artist and producer Brian Eno, and they explored world music. At one point they even expanded their band to include giants from the world of funk (Bernie Worrell) and art rock (Adrian Belew).<\/p>\n

Even as their later music seemed to take a turn toward the mainstream, that had as much to do as anything with the music scene at large catching up with what Talking Heads were already doing. The band released its final studio album in 1988 and closed up shop in 1991. But 30-plus years after they called it a day, people are still listening to \u2013 and talking about \u2013 Talking Heads.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my\u00a0list of ten especially significant tracks from the band, presented with an important disclaimer: All of their albums are worthwhile.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh-Oh, Love Comes to Town\u201d from <\/b>Talking Heads: 77<\/b><\/i> (1977)<\/b>
\nThe opening track on Talking Heads\u2019 debut long player, \u201cUh-Oh, Love Comes to Town\u201d introduced the group\u2019s unique sound: part pop, part funk, part gritty NYC guitar-centric new wave. David Byne\u2019s distinctive vocals made the song unique, as did drummer Chris Frantz\u2019s steel drum solos, something rarely heard then or now on a nominally rock recording.<\/p>\n

\u201cPsycho Killer\u201d from <\/b>Talking Heads: 77<\/b><\/i> (1977)<\/b>
\nTalking Heads\u2019 debut album was informed by the trendy and boundary-pushing New York City scene. That musical community was stylistically varied but included Ramones, Television, New York Dolls, Lou Reed, Suicide and many other acts whose influence far outstripped their record sales figures. \u201cPsycho Killer\u201d was one of the band\u2019s earliest songs, included on a three-song demo tape used to shop a record deal. In its earliest incarnation, the song was a ballad, but buy the time the band cut it with co-producer Tony Bongiovi, \u201cPsycho Killer\u201d had become an art punk tune, one that soon became the band\u2019s signature song.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake Me to the River\u201d from <\/b>More Songs About Buildings and Food<\/b><\/i> (1978)<\/b>
\nThroughout their run, Talking Heads rarely recorded outside material. Guitarist David Byne was and remains a gifted and prolific songwriter, and the band\u2019s superb rhythm section \u2013 husband-and-wife team of Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth \u2013 were no compositional slouches, either. But at the suggestion of co-producer (and former Roxy Music keyboardist) Brian Eno, the band agreed to record a cover of Al Green\u2019s soul classic \u201cTake Me to the River.\u201d Talking Heads\u2019 reading of the song is so distinctive that a generation of listeners grew up thinking they had written the song.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife During Wartime\u201d from <\/b>Fear of Music<\/b><\/i> (1979)<\/b>
\nEno returned to the co-producer’s chair for Talking Heads\u2019 third long player, 1980\u2019s pioneering Fear of Music<\/i>. The album would spawn no less than three singles; \u201cI Zimbra\u201d would make it to no. 28 on the U.S. Dance singles chart. And while it didn\u2019t chart well a a single (no. 80 in the U.S., non-charting elsewhere), the insistent \u201cLife During Wartime\u201d was a breakthrough track that demonstrated Talking Heads\u2019 skill at crafting edgy tunes that had melody and muscle. And its signature line (\u201cThis ain\u2019t no party \/ this ain\u2019t no disco \/ this ain\u2019t no foolin\u2019 around\u201d) was imprinted on the minds of punk and new wave listeners of the era.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce in a Lifetime\u201d from <\/b>Remain in Light<\/b><\/i> (1980)<\/b>
\nTalking Heads\u2019 tenth single is remembered at least as much for its groundbreaking music video as for the song itself. The video was choreographed by Byrne with Toni Basil, best known for her own MTV hit \u201cHey Mickey\u201d but acclaimed among those in the know for her earlier work with The T.A.M.I. Show<\/i>, The Monkees, Elvis Presley (his Viva Las Vegas<\/i> film) and David Bowie.<\/p>\n

\u201cGirlfriend is Better\u201d from <\/b>Speaking in Tongues<\/b><\/i> (1983)<\/b>
\nBy the time of their fifth studio album Speaking in Tongues<\/i>, Talking Heads has been fully accepted into the musical mainstream. Arguably, that mainstream was much more interesting for the band having become a part of it. Drawing some of its textures from funk and hip hop, \u201cGirlfriend is Better\u201d became a highlight of the band\u2019s live set. When Talking Heads shot and recorded their acclaimed concert film, Johnathan Demme\u2019s Stop Making Sense<\/i>, the song would be a centerpiece of that work. The live recording from Stop Making Sense<\/i> would be released as a single in 1984.<\/p>\n

\u201cBurning Down the House\u201d from <\/b>Speaking in Tongues<\/b><\/i> (1983)<\/b>
\nTalking Heads truly brought the funk for \u201cBurning Down the House.\u201d The group\u2019s earnest and genuine championing of music styles more associated with Black artists may well have helped in some way to bring outlets like MTV around to showcasing the work of artists of color. Irrespective of that, \u201cBurning Down the House\u201d was a juggernaut of a hit for the band, earning Talking Heads their first and only single to climb into the Top Ten on Billboard<\/i>\u2019s Hot 100, reaching no. 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoad to Nowhere\u201d from <\/b>Little Creatures<\/b><\/i> (1985)<\/b>
\nBy the time of 1985\u2019s Little Creatures<\/i> \u2013 the band\u2019s sixth studio set \u2013 Talking Heads was a consistent commercial success. The album made it into the Top 20 in ten countries, the band\u2019s first release to achieve that feat. Little Creatures<\/i> spawned four singles, and \u201cRoad to Nowhere\u201d was the second of those. The tune made it to the Top Ten in countries around the globe; in the U.S. it reached no. 5 on Billboard<\/i>\u2019s Bubbling Under chart.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd She Was\u201d from <\/b>Little Creatures<\/b><\/i> (1985)<\/b>
\nOne of Talking Heads\u2019 most widely-appealing tracks, \u201cAnd She Was\u201d would be the third single from Little Creatures. The track charted in seven countries, and earned the distinction of appearing on no less than three charts in the U.S.: Billboard<\/i>\u2019s Hot 100 (no. 54), U.S. Dance singles (no. 33) and Mainstream Rock (no. 11).<\/p>\n

\u201cWild Wild Life\u201d from <\/b>True Stories<\/b><\/i> (1986)<\/b>
\nThe first single from Talking Heads\u2019 1986 penultimate studio album, the straight-ahead pop of \u201cWild Wild Life\u201d earned the band Top 40 single status in five countries, including the no. 25 spot in the U.S. Though the band would release eight more singles, \u201cWild Wild Life\u201d would be the band\u2019s final charting single.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With their sophisticated brand of new wave-meets-funk and art rock, Talking Heads were a bright spot on an already rich and vibrant music scene of the late \u201870s and beyond. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30824,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,62],"tags":[5860],"class_list":["post-30823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","category-rawk","tag-talkng-heads","cat-27-id","cat-62-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30823"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30826,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30823\/revisions\/30826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}