I have, in the past, posted about a favorite band here — Talking Heads. Not everyone’s cup of tea, for sure. But there’s always something there when I stumble upon their stuff in some random way. In so many cases (for me), it’s about more than the song with them.
I’ll always recommend their film Stop Making Sense, which came out in 1984 (wow, nearly 40 years ago). The quality and creativity are next-level if you ask me.
But there was also something so…collegiate about them. Experimental. You don’t see that much anymore. I mean, face it — there was a time when things were wild. Punk rock? Grunge? Talking Heads? How many real musicians do we have these days? I have no idea. I can’t even tell if the music I’m hearing as I stroll through the commissary (about the only place I hear “current” music anymore) is “popular” (I can already tell you if it’s any good…it isn’t). Auto-tuned. Trite. Even vulgar. Certainly unimaginative. Predictable.
Not so the music of Talking Heads and their like.
I admit though, that most people these days would not be able to get them. I can see the scrunched faces saying, “uh…no thanks.” But when I see the video below, I see youth. I see college students. I see music that might even have taken a bit of chemical assistance to create (yet was truly created by those who performed it — not as front-pieces for the corporate churn). I also didn’t see something that would be a firm indicator of today’s society and how they “enjoy” music — cell phones. Yeah, a guy stands up and takes some pictures. But the audience is just sitting there kind of getting it, without distraction. They’re experiencing something different in a different way than most people would be able to imagine today in a similar situation.
It’s like that. Talking Heads makes me think of such things, and I think it’s a decent exercise…
Here’s a bonus for you from over two years ago, based on a Talking Heads song (Once in a Lifetime), but so much more than that. Read. Listen. It made me think, and it made me laugh (the line about “flip-flops and a star-spangled thong” — where do I get these ideas sometimes?).