1001 Albums: Talking Heads: 77

#382

Album: Talking Heads: 77

Artist: Talking Heads

Year: 1977

Length: 38:37

Genre: New Wave / Art Rock / Art Punk

“I hear music and it sounds like bells
I feel like my head is high
I wish I could meet every one

Meet them all over again
Bring them up to my room
Meet them all over again
Everyone’s up in my room”

New Feeling

I remember the first time I heard the Talking Heads…

That’s a lie, I don’t actually remember, but I do remember how I felt when I did hear them for the first time…

That’s also a lie because I don’t remember that either… but I wish I did. I wish this was a situation where I can go into detail about how I discovered the Talking Heads at 18 through the wonder of Weird Al and his style parody of them called Dog Eat Dog. A song I enjoyed so much I just had to listen to the original band. I wish I could tell you about how I immediately got my hands on their discography and went through it madly, falling in love with the band on the spot. I wish I could describe how it was to have my musical horizons expanded through this eccentric band and how much of an impact that left on 18 year old me just starting his musical journey. I wish I could write a whole article and essay about those feelings and experience… but I can’t… problem is… I just, simply, can’t remember what it was like to hear the Talking Heads for the first time.

18 was a very long time ago and everything I said up there all happened, it’s all true, sadly the whole experience remains as facts rather than any sort of emotional memories. I really do wish I could remember what it was like experiencing the Talking Heads for the first time because I know that I ended up becoming obsessed with them and when I started buying records, I had to get my hands on every Talking Heads album. They were one of the first bands I ever got into and maybe it’s because at 18 I couldn’t quite wrap my head around why that was, so it always remained a “I just do” kind of thing, with no explanation. After awhile I found myself coming in and out with Talking Heads, go some time forgetting about them and then come back and revisit them and realise how much I loved them. My go-tos were mostly Fear of Music and Speaking In Tongues, which remain as my favourites of the band, but their debut was one I didn’t see myself revisiting that much over the years.

All the better for hearing it again now, which does feel like the first time even though I’ve heard it at least twenty times in my life. For whatever reason, I always seem to forget how their debut goes and every time I listen to it it always feels like I’m listening to it for the first time. In a way, I don’t mind because it makes me fall in love with them all over again. The album is in no way forgettable, just for whatever reason my own memory seems to have a hard time sticking with it… and not that I don’t love it either, Don’t Worry About The Government is one of my favourite Talking Head songs that I always sing-a-long to, I can play Psycho Killer on the bass and Pulled Up is such a wonderfully neurotic song that makes me want to dance… so I can’t quite explain the phenomenon that occurs with me and this album, despite my absolute love for it and the Talking Heads.

It’s easy to see why they resonated with 18 year old me. David Byrne is a neurotic and awkward dude who embodies anxiety and neurosis incredibly well through his music. He wrote music for dorky white guys like me and it felt like what I was feeling inside. He didn’t sing well but his style of singing fit the music superbly well and there’s no other way than his singing that could possibly fit it all. He yelped and barked and his voice cracked. He saw the world very differently than everyone around him and didn’t seem to feel like he fit in with society, a lot of those feelings I was feeling at 18, even if I didn’t quite understand them. David Byrne felt like he was tuning in to my own neurosis and awkwardness as I tried to navigate the world and subconsciously it all resonated with me in a deep way, even if I had no idea why. This especially made sense when I saw him perform, his lanky body awkwardly moving around attempting to dance. I may not be him and he is not me but he understood me and I understood him and together we were we as one could be through music.

Talking Heads had left an impact on me at an early stage in my musical journey and whether I like it or not, they had become a part of me. Maybe that’s why my brain keeps “forgetting” this album, because it wants me to experience it for the first time every time I hear it. It wants me to remember what it was like to be that 18 year old boy discovering a band that felt so real to him, that spoke to him and sang with him, even if he didn’t know how to sing… but that was OK because David Byrne didn’t sing either… but he did sing and it worked. I could sing like that. I could be neurotic like that. I could be that too. I’m not David Byrne but yet I am and now as a goofy 32 year old, I understand him more than ever and more than ever Talking Heads resonate more with me.

HI-YA-YA-YA-YAH!

Favourite Song: Don’t Worry About The Government

-Bosco

Mixtape Monday: Week of October 16th

Weekly Mixtapes Based Off the Albums I Listened to in the Previous Week!

I’m about a week late with this one, but that’s ok, sometimes life just gets in the way. I had been incredibly occupied with rehearsals and planning a murder mystery party that all my writing took a backseat for a bit, but better late than never! At least the week of October 16th’s playlist will see the light of day with my little quips and blurbs because we all know everyone was just yearning for that so badly. I’m sure people were rioting in the streets and screaming bloody murder because I had missed a week and they couldn’t get their weekly dose of my playlists. I’m sure. Regardless, here we go!

This week was a funny one because I started a little endeavour I like to call “Bump Down the Beatles”. You see, when I checked my most listened to artists, The Beatles for some strange reason were very high on the list, which is funny because I don’t really like The Beatles and I barely ever listen to them. I haven’t listened to one Beatles song at all this year. So I decided to listen to albums that would boost the listen counts of other bands and put them above The Beatles on my list. It’s not that I hate The Beatles, I don’t, it’s more having them that high in the listen counts is not representative of my actual music listening and I just wanted it to be more reflective of what I do listen to… that’s all.

1. The Nails – Mood Swing
   Before I started project “Bump Down The Beatles” I revisited this little album that I found running through my head quite a bit during this time. It’s an album I enjoy and love but for some reason haven’t listened to in a long time, despite the main singer’s vocal stylings being quite influential on me in many ways. When you have an album ruminating in your head for that amount of time, it’s clear that the only way to get it out is to actually listen to it and that’s what I did and it was finally out of my head. Not that having it in my head was a bad thing in the first place.
2. Jorge Ben – Africa Brasil
   This was just next in my 1001 albums list and since I had never heard it before and it was a Brazilian album, I was eager to get to it. I already posted my thoughts in my post about it, but I was happy I finally got to listen to it because it was everything I had hoped for but also managed to give me multiple surprises I didn’t expect. That’s the wonderful joy of discovering music.
3. The Gun Club – Fire of Love
   This was the first album I listened to as part of my “Bump Down the Beatles” project. The Gun Club seemed to only be a few listen counts away from edging over them (and if I’m honest, this band only got such a high listen count thanks to the strength of their one song Sex Beat, that I had listened to on repeat for a long period of time in the last few years). That being said, it’s still an album I love and it was great to listen to it again. Despite that though, I have to say this album has one of the worst album covers I have ever seen in my life. It’s like a cheap photoshop done by a child for an elementary school presentation. God awful.
4. The Jam – Setting Sons
   Next up on “Bump Down The Beatles” was The Jam. I always loved The Jam but never listened to them as much as I’d like to. Setting Sons was always my favourite album by them, so it was a no-brainer to listen to it when I had the chance. I feel like The Jam always suffered the same fate as The Kinks, where they were great enough to be super successful but too British to be that successful in North America. I mean songs like Eton Rifles are such specific commentary about British culture that there’s no way we could even understand it over here. Regardless, this album is a banger.
5. X-Ray Spex – Conscious Consumer
   I love, love, love this band and their debut Germfree Adolescents sits as my 11th favourite album of all time. I can listen to that album on repeat easily. That being said, this entire time, despite loving them so much, I had absolutely no idea that they had even released a second album. I always thought they were a one and done type band, but nope here was their second album I had never heard about. That’s fine because it just meant I had new music to listen to by a band I adored. It never quite hit the heights of their debut, but I still loved it.
6. Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense
   When you’re trying to boost the listen counts of a band, I feel it makes sense to listen to one of their live albums that has way more songs than any of their studio albums (with exceptions and we’ll get to that). I was beating myself up that I was too late to grab tickets for the 4K theatre release of Stop Making Sense here in Toronto. I wanted to go see it so badly, but I waited too long to get thse tickets and so it was sold out. Real shame, but I got the next best thing and that was just listening to the album. I honestly feel this is their songs at their best and even without the visuals of the concert, it still manages to tell the story they wanted to tell visually. It’s quite the spectacle.
7. Joan Armatrading – Joan Armatrading
   Another 1001 Album that I listened to since it was next on the list. Haven’t written a post on it just yet, but when I do you’ll be able to hear all the wonderful thoughts I have on this album. This was new to me, so as usual, it was fun to get to discover something new. Won’t go into anymore more details but spoiler alert: I really enjoyed it.
8. The Adverts – Crossing the Red Sea with The Adverts
   A lesser known punk band that managed to perfectly capture the so called blank generation’s feelings of boredom, isolation and aimlessness in a perfectly packaged album that races through these songs with energy and anger with a tinny yet purposeful garage band sound that’s just wonderful. I can’t seem to find this album on vinyl anywhere, but when I do you better believe I’m grabbing it immediately.
9. The Associates – Sulk
   Don’t bother trying to decipher the lyrics of this album because they make absolutely no sense. This is music written to evoke specific emotions and the lyrics are cryptic and poetic in that sense to express those emotions in a more abstract way than in a story telling way. But even if you don’t listen to the lyrics, it don’t matter because the synth wave sounds of this album do a perfect job of expressing all that and more. At times melancholic, at times paranoid and others bleak in an upbeat way, never will you ever have this much fun feeling this miserable.
10. Andrew WK – God is Partying
    Andrew WK is a fascinating artist. If you ever have the time, read up about him because he’s so interesting as a person and his rise to his success is a great story, especially when it came to the creation of his debut album, I Get Wet (which I consider a perfect 10/10 album and is in my top 10 favourite albums). However, I find he was never able to capture the magic of his debut and also why I never really dived into his other albums. I tried, believe me I did, but they just never hit those highs as well as that debut and this, his most recent, is another example of that. I don’t know why he couldn’t capture it again, could have just been lightning in a bottle and this isn’t a case of him experimenting with new sounds… it’s just the energy and heart behind that debut seemed to all be drained right into it and he just couldn’t sustain it throughout. Nothing bad, just never reach those highs anymore.
11. The Clash – Sandinista
    As I tried to boost the listen counts of The Clash, it only made sense to listen to their 3-lp, over 2 hour long album, Sandinista. Remember when I mentioned a live album is usually the way to go for listen counts with exceptions? Yeah, this album is one of those exceptions because there is so many songs on here. It’s so over-bloated with music. Did they really need to make it this long? When I was younger I found it to be a mess, that could have easily cut down a lot. I get it, the band was in a period of pure creativity and had a million ideas and wanted to do it all, I get it… but Jesus… 3 lps? Listening to it now, though, I did find myself appreciating what they did much more. I still find it too long, but at least I can see why they did it a little more than I did before. That’s something.
12. Cardiacs – Heaven Born and Ever Bright
    One of my favourite bands that I have talked about a few times over these playlists. I’ve only ever listened to this album once and had zero memory of what was on it. So, I HAD to listen to it to fully contain the Cardiacs’ music in my head. How can I call it one of my favourite bands if I don’t even remember an entire album?? It’ll take a few more listens until it all becomes incredibly familiar, but it’s totally worth it.
13. The Stranglers – Live X-Cert
    I remember the day I entered a record store and over the speakers I heard what distinctly sounded like The Stranglers playing. I recognised the song easily, being a fan of their first three albums, and saw that they were playing this album on the store’s record player. For the first time ever, I asked if that particular record was for sale and if I could buy it. Thankfully it was and I did because this acts as a great collection of their first three albums and played live, which means they have much more energy to them and attack their sound more aggressively, which is how I love my music.
14. The Human League – Romantic?
    I had listened to The Human League’s entire discography when I was n my early 20s. I completely forgot this was even an album. Other than one song off the album that had me go “oh yeah, that song!” I had zero memory of ever listening to it. Of course, that just meant I should listen to it and listen to it I did. I have to give credit to Human League that they somehow managed to keep their sound as the decades went by and never adjusted. It’s good to keep artistic integrity, but was it worth not trying to evolve with the sounds happening around them? I have no idea, just listen to the music and shut up.
15. The B-52’s – Good Stuff
    After listening to that Human League album, it made me think of other albums I barely remember from bands I like. I was in the mood to listen to the B-52’s and found that Good Stuff was THAT album. I hadn’t even thought about it since I was about 19 or so and I can understand why because this is definitely at the bottom of their albums in terms of quality. That being said, it still has the same party energy that they are known for, so even if it’s not the best, it’s still a lot of fun, and isn’t that what really matters at the end of the day? I have no idea, just listen to the music and shut up.
16. The Kinks – Arthur (Or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
    Remember when I referenced the Kinks up there when talking about The Jam? Well here they are in all their englishness. Other than their album “The Village Green Preservation Society”, this is probably one of the most British albums to ever exist. It’s no wonder The Kinks struggled to get any international success when they focused so heavily on things that only British listeners would truly understand. Not to say that foreign albums can’t make it over seas, but let’s be honest, most Americans don’t want to take the time to even understand or research anything about other cultures, so unless there’s space for your piece of media to allow Americans to project their own American perspectives onto it, chances are it won’t make it. Shame because The Kinks were probably one of the best bands to come out of the 60s.
17. Kraftwerk – Maximum-Minimum
    I saw Kraftwerk live in concert back when I was about 21. To this day it’s one of the best concert experiences I have ever had. It’s kind of shocking when you think about the fact that it’s just four guys behind keyboards, barely moving to fit their whole man-robots aesthetic, and it’s somehow an incredibly compelling, hypnotising and mesmerising concert experience. It helps that they had a video projection playing behind them and you wore 3D glasses while watching, but really it’s the type of concert where you just allow yourself to feel the music and vibe to it the whole time. I wanted to revisit that experience by listening to one of their live albums. It was like I was brought back to that great concert.
18. The Cramps – Psychedelic Jungle
    The Cramps debut, Songs the Lord Taught Us, is an album I absolutely love and once again, found myself realising I barely know any of their other albums (a theme that seems to be reoccurring here). This was what I think was their second album and like previous bands on this list, it just doesn’t capture the energy and magic of their debut. Don’t know why this is such a common thing, I guess it’s the famous sophomore slump, but it’s kind of funny how it seems to be a reoccurring thing this week. But it genuinely felt like they tried to make their debut album but cranked the energy down to a 5. It was like a sedated version of it, which was kind of disappointing. That damn sophomore slump.
19. XTC – English Settlement
    For some reason I actively avoided re-listening to this album for the longest time. No idea why. I always felt XTC peaked with Black Sea to me, with the excetion being Skylarking, and I just never felt the desire to listen to anything after Black Sea (with the exception of Skylarking). That was such a dumb thing to think. I remember being disappointed when I was younger, but now where I’m at in life, I ended up loving it way more and can even put it close to being as good as Black Sea. I think it’s officially time I ignore how young me felt when he first heard a lot of these albums.
20. The Soft Boys – Underwater Moonlight
    I hit album 800 of the year and chose to listen to an old familiar favourite. This is another album on my list of albums I want to own on vinyl and can’t seem to find anywhere for whatever reason. One day, I will and when that day comes this album will finally be mine. MINE!!!!!

-Bosco