How Brian Eno saved Talking Heads from the brink of collapse
From edgy beginnings in ‘Psycho Killer’ to David Byrne’s ‘Big Suit’ stunt during the Stop Making Sense concert film, Talking Heads kept their fans on the tips of their toes. As a new wave proponent, the band sparred with Blondie for the New York title but also found stylistic rivals in The B-52’s. Such bands planted roots in Ramones’ CBGB punk scene but brought artistic flair using synthesisers and progressive production techniques.
Having garnered a modest following with early gigs and singles, Talking Heads released their acclaimed debut album, Talking Heads: 77. The 1977 LP turned heads around the world, but none more crucial than that of Brian Eno. The former Roxy Music synth player excelled through the 1970s in a solo career of avant-pop eclecticism and had most recently joined David Bowie to aid in composing the critically lauded Berlin Trilogy.
Eno proclaimed his admiration for Talking Heads in the form of an anagram. ‘King’s Lead Hat’, the fifth song on his December 1977 album Before and After Science, presaged a fruitful future of collaboration. The master producer famously befriended Talking Heads before producing three of the band’s most widely revered releases: More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, and Remain in Light.
In 1980, Eno also collaborated with frontman Byrne on the extracurricular project My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. The experimental album further examined the pair’s mutual fascination with Afrobeat and avant-funk, as exhibited in Remain in Light, and betrayed a close friendship. It transpires that Eno was instrumental in maintaining Byrne’s enthusiasm during this period.
“David was off again. In 1979, he’d left the band – he’s the kinda guy who wandered off a little bit,” Weymouth revealed in a 2022 interview with Far Out. With Byrne questioning the future of Talking Heads after 1978’s More Songs About Buildings and Food, Weymouth and Frantz remained at the helm.
“So Brian Eno was living in town, and Chris and I started just jamming in our loft, the place where we actually wrote and recorded Fear of Music, which is in Long Island City,” Weymouth added. “So we said, ‘Oh, Brian, wouldn’t you like to come and jam with us? We’re going to have some fun; we’re just going to approach it like we’re kids with toys that we’ve never experienced before. We’re all going to play each other’s instruments.’ So Brian said, ‘Yeah, sounds good.'”
With Eno on board, Weymouth and Frantz had leverage to attract Byrne back to the band. “So then we call up Jerry [Harrison], and we say, ‘Hey, guess what, Brian Eno’s coming; you wanna jam with us? And Jerry said, ‘Yes, OK!’ And then we called David, ‘Guess what, David, Jerry and Brian Eno are coming to jam with us, and we’re gonna write some songs.’ That brought David running,” Weymouth said.
Throughout the interview, it was evident that Talking Heads’ scars were yet to fully heal completely despite two decades without contact. Weymouth maintained that, although Byrne’s creativity ignited the band’s output, the rhythm section proved to be structural in every sense of the word.
“You gotta give us credit,” she asserted. “Chris and I kept that band together for so many years. It wouldn’t even have got its start without the two of us because people didn’t even want David in their band. I mean, we had to tell people, ‘He’s really an interesting guy. You got to come check it out!'”
Listen to ‘Mind’ from Talking Heads’ Fear of Music below.
