stop making sense

The DVD or video is the version to have, not just because you get the suit, but also you get killer versions of "Cities" and "Big Business". But the special edition CD will do at a pinch.

That said, I will allow that the synths are a bit "painful" sometimes - there are odd moments when it seems like cousin Bernie (just kidding) was playing a completely different song to the rest of the band! :-)

dvd 'extras' in not-really-extras-at-all non-shocker*

*see also 'jaws'.

got the DVD from Fopp for £5. OMG amazing! When Byrne goes for a jog round the stage on Life During Wartime and the pure concentrated evil of Swamp!

I heard there was supposed to be some backstage stuff too on the film but not on mine. What gives?

matos is right about it suffering badly in comparison to the name of this band..., which is the second-best live album ever.

what do you mean by this, ned?

Also, of course, if you were planning to make a live album, it would obviously make it a whole lot easier to mix bits from different dates together (or, of course, to allow "drop-in"'s and studio overdubs....) if you could make sure that everything was played at exactly the same speed at every performance.

As for the drums sounding "superhuman", it was fairly common practice in the '80's to let a drum machines lay down the basic rhythm, leaving the drummer free to concentrate on doing more interesting stuff (well, that was the theory anyway) and (even when the drummer wasn't actually using syn drums) to use signals from real drums to trigger sampled / synthesised drum sounds to make it sound "better" (again, that was the theory!).

If using that technology makes something "fake".... well, the mid '80's was a pretty superficial time; but nevertheless, as far as my memory goes, the sound on the CD / DVD is pretty much exactly how it was live.

free copies of the dvd with THE OBSERVER this coming sunday. hats off!

yeah, i saw an ad for this in the metro. love the album (this version of psycho killer with the drum machine is better, imo).

will be the first time i ever buy the observer.

it's an amazing album. an amazing video too. Everyone buy the Observer!!!

It's a fake document...
-- Ned Raggett (ne...), October 26th, 2001.

my fave concert movie ever but yes this is true. so fake in fact that the 'does anybody have any questions?' line at the halfway point wasn't actually said at the concert but dubbed on after. in the real concert he says the rather less racy 'we're gonna take a short break and we'll be right back'.

I don't know where it was filmed but I saw them at Wembley Arena on that tour and thought they were fantastic

It was filmed at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood.

And I bought my Observer on the way out of the tube late tonight!

love the idea that 1000s of britons are watching it tonight simultaneously.

just got it, paper went straight in the bin.

so? the sale is registered. mr alton is a very happy man. what difference does it make what you do with the paper?

nobody expects these promotions to put on long-term sales any more. they're purely about single spikes. a concept you've bought into spectacularly.

and hey, i will, too, but at least i'll flick through the paper and see if it's got any better since i last read it :)

isn't the idea that they lose money on these freebie issues, but bring in new readers in the long term? will they really make a profit, just on today's sales?

that used to be the idea. but it's pretty much been proven not to work. and it's not so much about making a profit as artificially manipulating the sales figures: ie when the october ABCs come through, the obs will (probably) be able to claim it's up month-on-month.

short-termism? pointlessness? yes. welcome to newspapers.

wow. I'm sort of stunned that anyone doesn't love this!

My friend texted me yesterday to tell me about the freebies. Which is a bit cheeky considering I lent her mine and was informed a year later that it was hers now. I think the show peaks way too early with thank you for sending me an angel and found a job.

FALSE, "Girlfriend Is Better" is obviously the climax

plus that version of "Naive Melody" is absolutely definitive, both musically and visually

bernard otfm.

although you get a real nice they-all-got-along-really vibe from the promo that i like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITC2qdxXQXA

watched pyscho killer, will watch the whole thing properly tonight with a couple of chums. love the bit towards the end of the song when he's jamming with the acoustic guitar and 808, flailing around as the drum machine goes nuts.

I've just seen the film for the first time. It's wonderful. How can anyone not love this?

can't seem to face up to the facts

Though I knew a few prior singles at the time, the first Talking Heads album I bought and really played to death was Speaking In Tongues, and I bought the Stop Making Sense soundtrack shortly thereafter. LOVED both. Loved them more, perhaps than is right and natural. Worked back from there, slowly coming to terms with the rest of their catalog. In my youth (80s up thru the early 90s), I'd have said that SIT and SMS were the high point of the band's career, with maybe the second half of The Name of This Band thrown in for measure.

But I revisited the Stop Making Sense soundtrack a few years ago, and was horrified by the cheezy, third-helping overproduction. Even the stuff I loved best as a kid seemed kinda grotesque, consistently WAY worse than the studio versions. Still like Speaking In Tongues and a lot of stuff on The Name of This Band, but Stop Making Sense just ain't for me. Wonder if I'd still dig the movie?

turns out that Ned, me and others might be wrong about the fakery. i just heard the Saratoga bootleg from 2 months prior to the Hollywood shows that were filmed and while it's certainly rawer it's not *miles* from how the film and attendant soundtrack sound. there's a big screw up in Psycho Killer and whatnot but it's remarkably polished. SMS is certainly no way as fake as say Prince's Sign O The Times movie for example. i can't believe i waited so long to *hear* the damn Saratoga boot. anyone else heard this? it was broadcast on some NY radio show hence it being such good quality.

*anyway* fave piece of music EVER might well be Life During Wartime from this gig.

"What a Day That Was" is my favorite Talking Heads song.

I do hope that the people who appreciate "What a Day That Was" and the "Big Business" outtake on the DVD have checked out Byrne's Catherine Wheel score. Here's the first few songs from the album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4loDTvpG6A

What exactly is the alleged fakery? Maybe I don't want to know ?

overdubs in the studio later on iirc

I am a huge TH fan and I find this album awful and unlistenable. Just totally useless. And I saw this tour live and in person! I much prefer my memories to this document.

just read through this thread at all the 'hate the synths'
boy is my face red about putting the synths on this album on the 'best synth sounds' thread

The album is redundant. The live concert is wondrous and essential.

as far as talking heads live albums go, the name of this band walks all over stop making sense. but the name of this band walks all over about 95% of all live albums. stop making sense the film is fantastic.

http://i.imgur.com/ynt4M9F.jpg

must be due for its 30th anniversary edition around about now. sure would like to see a Blu Ray with the original soundtrack (as per the Laserdisc/ VHS).
iirc someone on ILX was at the *rehearsal* show at the Pantages in the December of '83? Demme musta filmed it!?

Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense receives first-ever digital release, limited theatrical run

http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/05/talking-heads-stop-making-sense-receives-first-ever-digital-release-limited-theatrical-run/

saw the abovementioned digital remaster of this last night, looked super. for some reason had totally forgotten the 'what a day that was' sequence - unforgivable when it's probably the best track - with everyone lit from below, lingering on byrne and others' faces until they cut to the full stage shot. no way would this get made now, not in this form. as I'm typing this the film show on local radio is discussing the film's legacy and they reckon it's mostly in theatre presentation and lighting techniques, which rings true.

extra volume brought home that the sound is mixed quite differently to the album version, more space in the mix I think; they take advantage and really ramp up elements like those drum crashes at the end of 'slippery people'. sounds less obviously overdubbed too - frantz' drums sound far less locked to grid than the original version of the soundtrack in particular.

can't have all this prophet 5 derision upthread. do you all hate HARD SYNC??

going to a 10:30pm remastered IMAX presentation of this at Lincoln Square tomorrow. I don't recall ever watching it in its entirety, this should be interesting.

Saw this in Manchester IMAX last week and it looked great and sounded amazing with the deep bass rumbling underneath you and the cameras swooping around so much more noticeably. There were a few real differences to dvd/blu-ray versions here and there; Edna and Lynn sounded quieter, Alex Weir’s guitars sounded louder and squawkier, particularly on Making Flippy… and Burning…). Audience was pretty sedate compared to the last time i saw it a few years ago (in Liverpool) where people danced, and jogged round the room during …Wartime and there was literally a bar with Estrella on draft a few yards away. That’s the difference between Manchester and Liverpool i guess lol. I wish it was the longer version with Cities and I Zimbra in it.

The 20-minute chunk from Slippery People to …Floppy is probably my very favourite music of all time.

I nipped to the bathroom during Tom Tom Club

I totally forgot how fucking annoying Chris Frantz is during Genius of Love.

Otherwise this was great to see again particularly in a giant theater with amazing sound.

I forget in which recent interview he confessed he would've shut up now.

haha that's good to hear

I saw this in IMAX today, sounded great and looked awesome! Chris during Genius of Love I had forgotten about and is pretty cringe.

david byrne's moves in this film are like drunken boxing, except instead it's cocaine autism boxing

Got told off for talking too loud the other night during This Must Be The Place at a screening where a lot of the crowd were dancing. AITA?

dancing is appreciating the music, talking is not

I wish it was the longer version with Cities and I Zimbra in it.

ugh I was hoping this version included those too, shame

I regret they didn't make it in either. I tend to remember "Big Business" more than "I Zimbra."

Just out of a cinema screening of this and absolutely levitating (I've watched it on DVD many, many times but...wow)

It's worth going to this even if I'm going by myself, right? Is it gonna be weird?

GO

I went alone on Tuesday afternoon, one of three people in a 500-seat IMAX theater. I made flippy-floppy and killed the beast in the aisles.

We saw it on a big (but not imax) screen, and yeah, it was transformative. Like Bain sez, I had seen it many times but this was different. Such a great ensemble. Seeing how much motion and sweat was produced, and yet they're all playing flawless, immortal music.

And I agree that the sequence "Slippery People, ""Burning Down the House," "Life During Wartime," "Making Flippy Floppy" is epic. Just banger after banger.

No way this gets screened in my city. Would love to see it with other fans.

this was pretty amazing. favorite parts:

- the sound quality
- Alex frickin Weir
- Jerry Harrison looks like Rory McElroy
- the long shot following chris as he enters the stage and gets on his kit
- genius of love: when Tina does that sideways two-step dance and makes weird bass face while chris belts out annoying bullshit
- the thing where david rapidly shakes his whole body and face
- psycho killer with the 808 is very sick

zzz

Edgy take! ; )

Got told off for talking too loud the other night during This Must Be The Place at a screening where a lot of the crowd were dancing. AITA?

― Chewshabadoo, Sunday, 1 October 2023 19:22 bookmarkflaglink

I went last night, nobody was dancing though

somewhat mystified by the hate for this at the top of the thread, I thought it was brilliant (hadn't seen it before - I did have a dubbed cassette of the album when I was a teenager but tbh don't remember listening to it much)

Most 20-year-old threads here begins with dollops of mystifying hate.

I have seen comments from people over the years, particularly when this band was less fashionable, griping that the movie doesn't capture the "best" period of TH. This is missing the forest for trees, to me, in terms of the movie's power as an experience.

Besides, why would you watch a 90-minute Heads concert film if you aren't a fan?

saw this in a nearly sold out tuesday night show, there was aisle-dancing.

the editing is so great at always making sure that you know whos doing what at all times, there are never any parts where you dont at least get a quick glimpse of whos playing what (aside from the ghostly offstage vox in "Heaven".) i always forget that some of those solos are played by Byrne. it seems like him and Weir dont keep a strict lead/rhythm division of labor.

i noticed for the first time that during one song, i forget which, maybe "Girlfriend is Better", there's a blink-and-you-miss-it shot which reveals that Tina is playing electric bass and also reaching down to the minimoog for repeated little two-note keyboard stabs. she had not one but two of the era's great keyboardists 10 feet to her right so i'm sure she didnt have to play that part of the arrangement if she didnt want to, just fucking incredible that she can just be standing in the back quietly pulling that off.

No dancing when I saw it on Tuesday, but there was maybe 10-12 of us there. It was amazing anyway.

my favorite part, which i never hear anyone ever mention, is the bit during "Making Flippy Floppy" where as the song is reaching a crescendo the random words projected above the stage (ELBOW CHEESE FOOTBALL) slowly begin to resolve themselves into phrases that make sense (BEFORE YOU'RE AWAKE ... LATE AT NIGHT). always gives me chills. such an incredible moment, such a perfect embodiment of the film itself and maybe even the the entire talking heads project, taking you on a journey from meaning->gibberish->back to meaning

Byrne's solo on MFF is at his shrill best.

And, yeah, it's "Girlfriend" where Tina played electric and synth bass. In college it fascinated me.

saw this at a near-packed show a couple weeks ago, maybe my movie experience of the year. had only seen it once before, streaming in the depths of April 2020, and loved it then ---- so to have the BIG picture and BIG sound was just a total delight.

my only quibble is the singular focus on Byrne for "Once In A Lifetime," when otherwise Demme seems so interested in the question of "how do they actually create that giant sound?" i feel like they committed to an idea of every song needing to have a distinctive visual/filmic treatment. or maybe in the weeds with the footage, Demme and Lisa Day psyched themselves out that we'd had too many sequences of cutting around to the different performers in a more conventional way.

if anything, give me one 'no talking, just heads' number with NO Byrne. or just hold entirely on the wide shot of the whole stage, or show only the non-Head performers, idk.

just learned that Day also edited Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll; Noises Off; Eddie Murphy Raw; and Laurie Anderson's Home of the Brave. hell of a resume!

The focus on Byrne for OIAL works for me, not least for the decision to eventually cut away to that stunning side profile of him, Lynn, Ednah, Jerry and Bernie. Maybe my favourite shot of the film.

otm

a 'no talking, just heads' number with no byrne occurs right after 'once in a lifetime' and is not one of the high points imo

so apparently Talking Heads are on Colbert tonight....no indication if this is just a 'show up and talk' appearance or something else. I would be astounded if they played and am not expecting it...but who knows.

I feel like they shouldn't show up on a show like that if they are not planning to play a song

damn that television!

someone else is scheduled as the musical guest so I think it's probably extremely unlikely...that said, is stop making sense even still running in theaters? why even do this talk show appearance now?

It's running for a couple more days here. I'm thinking of going a second time.

xps I wouldn't expect a musical performance on Colbert - they've done so many promo appearances already and unless they somehow found time to secretly rehearse, I just can't see it happening.

What would be the least lame song for the reunited Talking Heads to play on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert?

The Overload

Big Business (also a highlight of Stop Making Sense)

The lamest would be "Stay Up Late."

At some point they’re probably going to announce a box set album reissue series.

They already did that but it’s probably time
again

Colbert canceled all week due to covid diagnosis (FYI). No talking, no Heads.

At some point they’re probably going to announce a box set album reissue series.

the tracklist for a new 77 deluxe reissue leaked a few months ago, it's already in the works.

Yeah, Cow_Art saw that in the other thread - I took it that he meant an official announcement of sorts as well as plans for further installments.

More Songs About Buildings and Food (Tina's Version)

Saw this for the first time a couple weeks ago, was thinking "wow what a flex to release this triumph without even dipping into the first three tracks on RIL", then the last encore happened, great.

The last two minutes of "Found a Job" are just fabulous -- if I had a band I wished they sounded that tight + funky + casual eight years into our existence.

if anything I wish there were more RIL songs included

but I do love that they did "what a day that was" which sounds amazing compared to the kind of restrained Catherine Wheel version

What A Day That Was is probably my favorite of the entire film although Slippery People comes close

otm

well I'm starting oveerrrr

Lemme tell you a story

if anything I wish there were more RIL songs included

me too but I also like the idea of the RIL period being too white-hot to be captured in a feature film. we'll always have Rome.

Yep

In the runup to our screening I had "Born Under Punches" stuck in my head for a couple days and was 50/50 on whether I remembered it being in the movie or not. I wish it were, but it sorta feels like it is anyway.

yeah I'm cool with "Born Under Punches" not being in the film - the best versions of it are gritty and off-kilter in a way that might have been compromised a bit by the polished meticulousness of SMS (though obviously it would have been awesome). The RiL track that I really mourn not being in it though is "The Great Curve."

A new realization for me on this viewing: after years of finding "Genius of Love" just about as incongruous to the rest of the film as can be, it occurred to me that Frantz's yelping is actually kind of connected to what Byrne does on songs like "Punches" - shouting out little stabs of lyrics, totally amelodically, over the groove. The emotional tone is still jarring in the midst of all the TH songs, but I had never really made that connection before. Had always thought of Tom Tom Club as this completely different project with no discernable connection to Talking Heads other than their both being so danceable.