I’m on a bit of a Byrne/Talking Heads tip at present. After enjoying the film, I’ve discovered this gem of a cover. Nichole sounds less edgy and panicky than David but the beat is no less relentless. She, and the band, sound far more organised than Talking Heads but just as energised. Less haste, more speed I guess. And, it does chime with the sentiment of this current lockdown. It does feel like wartime. In any case, my feet have been shuffling on the kitchen floor ever since, giving me the best exercise I’ve had in months. It does feel like wartime, especially when she changes the place names to somewhere there was a mass shooting, except for Pittsburgh, which Byrne included originally and had its own massacre since.
Anyway, I’ve put together a Spotify list of Talking Heads covers. It refreshed my love for these songs. Enjoy.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2jJewXBdhdndmpxCyerg09?si=xIDxRU9XQ2eUWHLF9jmE6A
That Angelique Kidjo album is wonderful but the mastering is awful. It does my ears in.
Yes.
Fortunately I have rules for my playlists: an artist and a song can only appear once.
The recent Collectors Issue on THeads and the individual members is a great read. They really did put up with a lot from Byrne re ego, offhandedness and credits harvesting in the love of the music and the hope of it continuing.
Revisiting, I much prefer the later period of Funk , African, Gospel fired stuff. Without Nona Hendryx Byrne’s voice really screeches at times.
The versions of song with THeads backing to actors from the True Stories film was a revelation. This one is the Gospel rocker Puzzling Evidence
https://youtu.be/TriaOVgwc1Y
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I have a soft spot for More Songs and Fear Of Music. What a rhythm section and what weird songs!
The whole of the True Stories soundtrack is superb but I didn’t consider the songs as covers.
There is the Heads alone album and there is the soundtrack. Different.
I think that the Staple Singers version of Slippery People is even better than the original.
This is another of my favourite Talking Heads covers:
Wasis Diop – Once In A Lifetime
Wasis Diop’s great. His No Sant album is a favourite of mine. Especially the song African Dream.
As for Once In A Lifetime, I always liked the opening sequence of the telly programme Deep State:
Living Colour gave Davey’s gang a run for their money here.
To be fair, that song is the closest they came to heavy rock.
I would have said that that was your personal favourite, Love For Sale.
Heavy Pop, I’d say.
A folky take on Once In A Lifetime from the Bad Shepherds
I bet they have first hand experience of living in a shotgun shack.