Stop Making Sense.

"Stop Making Sense" Talking Heads Movie.

 "Stop Making Sense" is a 1984 movie that features a live performance by The Talking Heads. It is directed by Johnathan Demme and is filmed over four nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre. The Talking Heads were on tour promoting their 1983 album, Speaking in Tongues. It includes songs from the solo career of David Byrne and The Tom Tom Club, the side project of drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth.

 The film was independently produced by the band which raised 1.2 million dollars. The four core members of the band are joined by two backing singers, Lynn Mabry and Ednah Holt, guitarist Alex Weir, keyboardist Bernie Worrell and Steve Scales. 

 The film is an art form on the use of digital audio techniques. The sound and movements are very creative and one of a kind featuring the dance moves and the singing by Byrne. 

 The opening number, "Psycho Killer" was done solo by Byrne. The creativity was amazing; Byrne plays the acoustic guitar to a boom box. His singing and dance moves are innovative to say the least. Byrne would be joined onstage for the nights second number, "Heaven". The stage starts off baron but fills up as songs get played. During "Heaven", the drum kit rolls out before our eyes. Chris Frantz joins Weymouth and Byrne for the songs third number, "Thank You For Sending Me An Angel". 

 The Talking Heads are billed as an American Band which is a little confusing because Byrne was born in Scotland and Weymouth is English. The band, however, was at the forefront of The New Wave Movement. With creative writing and an always strong stage show, the band was extremely popular in the 80's; their song: "This Must Be The Place" was featured in the Oscar winning movie, "Wall Street".

Other songs that are played during the concert were: "Slippery People"; "Burning Down The House", "Swamp", "Once in a Lifetime"; "Life During Wartime". All songs are performed more like a Broadway show. The band sings and dances throughout every song with a theme attached to each song. While the band had a unique sound, the songs were always enhanced by Byrne's farcical dance movements and facial expressions.The Talking Heads feature in the band: David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth. The band would breakup in the late 80's due to issues with Byrne. The band in later years would reunite, but without Byrne leading the band to call themselves: "No Talking Just Head". The album would be critically panned and the result would be just the one album. Byrne was the face of the band, without him, "The Talking Heads" were just not the same band.

David Byrne would go on to have a solo career. He continued to write songs and perform; his Broadway show "American Utopia" played on Broadway just before COVID and would return to "The Great White Way" after the pandemic. I reviewed "Utopia" and really did not like the show for several reason. The first being that Byrne tried to emulate "Stop Making Sense", but had less heart than the 1983 movie. The show was to overly political with Byrne misquoting and misrepresenting our history. It is always dangerous when both musicians and actors bring politics into their shows. Here, Byrne adjatated a lot of the audience with his left leaning views.The talking Heads who were based in New York City first came on the seen at CBGB, the legendary club that featured new bands with original songs. "The Heads" would be regularly featured at CBGB as well as the short lived Mudd Club. The band rose to prominence with the growth of both New Wave and Punk Rock. Byrne was always able to keep the audience interested with both his dance movements and unique singing voice. Like a lot of bands, however, creative differences would lead to the band's demise. It would be Byrne who would want to go out and explore a solo career. When people talk about the great new wave bands, "The Talking Heads" are always in the mix as one of the very best.