David Byrne regrets how he broke up Talking Heads
Talking Heads have lay dormant since the early late 1980s. Although the band brought art rock to stadiums around the world, there has never been any need for a reunion. After years of thinking on it, though, David Byrne has had second thoughts about how Talking Heads fell apart.
In a recent sit-down with Anderson Cooper, Byrne mentioned that he had become a nightmare to deal with during their 1984 tour, saying (via Ultimate Classic Rock), “I became, I think, kind of obsessive about getting that show up and running. I might not have been the most pleasant person to deal with at that point.”
Despite not touring, Talking Heads never formally announced their breakup to their fans, choosing to stop working after two decades together, with drummer Chris Franz saying, “As far as we’re concerned, the band never really broke up. David just decided to leave”. When asked about his decision to leave the group, Byrne admitted to not communicating properly, saying, “I think it is very possible that I did not handle it as best as I could”.
From the start of his career, Byrne mentioned not wanting to be contained in a box from day one, telling 60 Minutes, “I’m glad I did it. But I’m also glad that I didn’t stick with that as my– oh, like, ‘This is working. Let’s do more like this.’ I’m glad that I decided, ‘No. Now you have to do things that are a little more original musically.'”
Despite Byrne’s guilt over Talking Heads’ breakup, he shot down any potential rumours of a reunion, saying, “I realised after awhile that I was very happy doing the kind of wide variety of things that I was doing and the different kinds of music that I was doing. And I thought, ‘Why should I trade in my happiness for some cash?’”.
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