057: Talking Heads - Fear of Music (1979)
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
Phil's Library of Congress entry on Remain in Light (loc.gov)
Carrie Courogen on Tina Weymouth's keystone role in the band (Paper Magazine)
Buy Chris Frantz’s Remain in Love (Macmillan)
Buy David Byrne’s How Music Works (Barnes & Noble)
Discord & Rhyme’s Fear of Music playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Dan Watkins (host)
Phil Maddox (moderator)
Rich Bunnell
Mike DeFabio
John McFerrin
Fear of Music tracklist
I Zimbra
Mind
Paper
Cities
Life During Wartime
Memories Can’t Wait
Air
Heaven
Animals
Electric Guitar
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.