Each week, I take the name of an artist or band from a rapidly diminishing supply in a pickle jar, and do what I can to explore their back-catalog. This week was New York’s own, Talking Heads.
What I Knew Before
Of course I knew Talking Heads before this week. It’s impossible to make it to 33 without realising that this is not my beautiful house and this is not my beautiful wife.
I knew Talking Heads came up as part of the CBGB sect in the 70s – I visited what is left of the site last year. I am aware that David Byrne is one of the most important silver foxes in the world today (a list which also includes Taiki Waititi, Max Joseph and Keith Murray). What I didn’t know, is how much music there was and how little of it I had explored. I maybe had the top five tracks committed to memory but the deep cuts on Speaking in Tongues were somewhat beyond my comprehension.
What I Know Now
Talking Heads are the most important band I’ve discovered this year since My Chemical Romance (a sentence that doesn’t make sense in a linear fashion and probably hasn’t been spoken before).
I have learnt that I missed out on seeing American Utopia in person (I believe it was on in London where a friend of mine saw it and cried) and also on in New York while I was there. The Spike Lee directed version has appeared online in the last week but again, I failed to catch it when it was shown on the BFI Player. I must try harder and learn to keep my eyes open in future.
Favourite songs:
Psycho Killer, Once In A Lifetime, Born Under Punches, Life During Wartime, (Nothing But) Flowers.
Favourite album:
Talking Heads ’77 or Remain in Light
Spotify my favourite songs from this project.
Paul Schiernecker 
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