Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

057: Talking Heads - Fear of Music (1979)

“I try to write about small things. Paper, animals, a house…love is kind of big.”

—David Byrne

Discord & Rhyme gets the Halloween season started with spine-tingling tales of animals, air, and paper! Well, okay... admittedly, these topics sound a bit more unsettling in the hands of Talking Heads on their 1979 opus to paranoia, Fear of Music. Dan guides a packed panel of Phil, John, Mike, and Rich through Talking Heads’ weird, transitional album that bridges the gap from the band’s early new wave style to its more eclectic flirtations with funk and world music. This ain't no party. This ain't no disco. This is Discord & Rhyme!

Miscellany

  • Motherless Brooklyn author Jonathan Lethem wrote the Fear of Music volume of the 33 ⅓ series, where he takes a personal, literary approach to how the album affected him when he was 15. As he told Pitchfork, his research process included an all-Fear of Music iPod, including 30 versions of “Cities.” And here we thought we obsessed over albums in minute detail!

  • The messy Stop Making Sense performance of the Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” has become kind of a punchline, but the studio version is one of the most influential songs in modern pop music. In addition to Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack,” it was also famously sampled in Mariah Carey’s chart-topper “Fantasy,” and 157 other times on top of that. Truly a banger.

  • David Byrne’s I Heart PowerPoint presentation has not been preserved for posterity, but you can read about it and see some pictures in this UC Berkeley press release from 2005.

  • Our theme song already regularly features a sample of “Seen and Not Seen” from Remain in Light, so this week’s “Mind” sample doubles up on the Talking Heads representation.

  • If you’re a vinyl collector, this is a good one to keep an eye out for. The embossed tread pattern on the LP jacket (designed by Jerry Harrison) is one of those cool packaging gimmicks that no one ever bothered trying to replicate on CD.  

  • Dan referenced a duet between Lou Reed and Luciano Pavarotti. This is a thing that actually exists

Other links 

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Dan Watkins (host)

  • Phil Maddox (moderator)

  • Rich Bunnell

  • Mike DeFabio

  • John McFerrin

Fear of Music tracklist

  1. I Zimbra

  2. Mind

  3. Paper

  4. Cities

  5. Life During Wartime

  6. Memories Can’t Wait

  7. Air

  8. Heaven

  9. Animals

  10. Electric Guitar

  11. Drugs 

Other clips used 

Talking Heads:

  • Thank You for Sending Me an Angel

  • Psycho Killer

  • Life During Wartime (Stop Making Sense version)

  • Heaven (Stop Making Sense version)

  • Electricity (Drugs)

  • Drugs (Electricity)

  • The Great Curve

  • Wordy Rappinghood (Tom Tom Club song)

  • Cities (The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads version) 

Others:

  • Jeff Zahn - Are You Afraid of the Dark? Theme

  • Electric Light Orchestra - Fire on High Intro (Early Alternative Mix)

  • Yes - We Have Heaven

  • R.E.M. - Crush with Eyeliner

  • The Zombies - Time of the Season

  • Genesis - The Return of the Giant Hogweed

  • Roger Waters - 4:41AM (Sexual Revolution)

  • Def Leppard - Animal

  • Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart

  • Blues Traveler - Hook

  • "Weird Al" Yankovic - Dog Eat Dog

  • King Crimson - Waiting Man (Absent Lovers version)

  • Christian Bök - Seahorses and Flying Fish

  • Camper Van Beethoven - Ambiguity Song

  • The Mothers of Invention - Directly from My Heart to You

  • Brian Eno - China My China

  • Phish - Cities

  • Living Colour - Memories Can’t Wait

  • David Bowie - Sons of the Silent Age

  • King Crimson - Elephant Talk

Band/album personnel 

  • David Byrne – lead vocals, guitar

  • Jerry Harrison – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards

  • Tina Weymouth – bass guitar, backing vocals

  • Chris Frantz – drums

  • Brian Eno – electronic treatments, backing vocals

  • The Sweetbreaths – backing vocals ("Air")

  • Julie Last – backing vocals ("I Zimbra")

  • Robert Fripp – guitar ("I Zimbra")

  • Ari – congas ("I Zimbra", "Life During Wartime")

  • Gene Wilder (no, not that Gene Wilder) – congas ("I Zimbra", "Life During Wartime")

  • Hassam Ramzy – surdo ("I Zimbra")

  • Abdou M'Boup – djembe, talking drum ("I Zimbra")

  • Assane Thiam – percussion ("I Zimbra")

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • Talking Heads - Mind (this episode only)

You can buy or stream Fear of Music and other albums by Talking Heads at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.

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