Talking Heads have previewed the upcoming expanded release of ‘Stop Making Sense’, by sharing the rare ‘Cities’.
The single which you can check out below, was not included on the original album. It is also one of two track which were not included, along with ‘Big Business/I Zimbra’.
Both soundtrack songs have now been included in the new edition of ‘Stop Making Sense’, and has now been restored to 4K quality, and will be released to mark its 40th anniversary.
“created in a much earlier time period”
‘Stop Making Sense’ was also the title of the Talking Heads concert film, directed by Jonathan Demme, who also directed ‘Silence of the Lambs’, ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘Married To The Mob’.
Paying homage to Demme, bassist Tim Weymouth said, “Jonathan was a very enthusiastic, highly adaptive, and imaginative guy who was just as good a listener as he was a talker and collaborator. From the get-go you just got the impression he was as flexible as he was disciplined. Being team players, that boded well for a great relationship and a great film!”.
Recalling the making of this documentary, Chris Frantz said, “I’m talking about real, conscious, transcendent joy… I’m talking about what the Southern gospel people call ‘getting happy,’ which means ‘to be filled with the Spirit.’ That is what happened to us onstage every night, and from my seat behind the drums, I recognized that this was happening to the audience too. Joy was visible in front of me and all around me every night”.
Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne also added, “We had done a live album before this, but coupled with the film, and with the improved mixes and sound quality, this record reached a whole new audience”.
“As often happens, the songs got an added energy when we performed them live and were inspired by having an audience. In many ways, these versions are more exciting than the studio recordings, so maybe that’s why a lot of folks discovered us via this record”.
“highly adaptive”
“To me, Stop Making Sense has remained relevant because the staging and lighting techniques could have been created in a much earlier time period. For example, Vari-Lights, lights with motors to re-aim them, had just come into vogue”, Talking Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison said.
“Had we used them, there would have been a timestamp on the film, and it eventually would have felt dated…The absence of interviews, combined with the elegant and timeless lighting, created a film that can be watched over and over”.
