Though they launched from the same pad as the Ramones, Patti Smith, and Television, Talking Heads quickly distinguished themselves among their New York CBGB peers. They were more commercial, more clever, and certainly more experimental, merging their herky-jerky art-punk beginnings with world-music forays and polyrhythmic explorations.
They are now best known for their first four albums, which are all essential listening in post-punk, new-wave and art-rock music. Talking Heads 77, their debut, wasn’t a commercial success, but it featured a minor hit in “Psycho Killer” which alerted music fans to the band's potential. Now 77 is properly regarded as being among the best debut albums of the 70s. In 1978 they began working with Brian Eno on production duties, and the result, More Songs About Buildings And Food, was marginally more popular than 77. Included was a cover of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River” which breached the Top 30. Their second collaboration with Eno (and third album overall) was Fear of Music, which again won them critical plaudits but little commercial success. Finally in the fantastic four, Remain in Light (1980) was perhaps their best effort, featuring the innovative use of African rhythms in a rock album. Many critics consider Remain in Light among the best albums of the 80s.
Talking Heads made more of a commercial breakthrough in the 80s, with hit singles like “Burning Down the House”, “And She Was” and “Road to Nowhere”. Their 1984 concert film, Stop Making Sense, where the band construct the stage as part of their performance, is often regarded as among the best concert films released. In the late 80s the band drifted apart and, in 1991, leader David Byrne officially announced they had split.
