The life-changing moment Anthony Kiedis heard Talking Heads
We’ve all had bands maraud their way into our lives, changing our course with nothing else being the same thereafter. For Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis, Talking Heads were the group responsible for permanently altering his mindset and kaleidoscopically changing his creative desire.
Talking Heads were the first band to shape Kiedis into the person he is today and provided him with a sense of belonging. In conversation with Rick Rubin for the Broken Record podcast, the frontman revealed how they helped for his identity: “I was like a little, I dunno, at very best, like a little New Wave kid in high school, listening to the Talking Heads and David Bowie and a few other things. But when Flea and I started wandering up to the Starwood, and getting us a true taste of the Los Angeles punk rock scene, I started feeling semi-connected and then it just became a lifestyle.”
Although his tastes developed as he got a flavour of the punk scene, without Talking Heads, Kiedis likely doesn’t even make that discovery. They were his first portal into this exciting, new universe and helped give him a reason to live.
Writing in his autobiography, Scar Tissue, Kiedis explains his traumatic childhood, which was saved by his love of music. The singer was first introduced to Class A substances after moving to Hollywood with his father at 12, and at 14, he first tried heroin after mistaking it for cocaine. He saw things that no child should witness, and understandably, it sent him down a dark path.
Fortunately, by 2002, he was clean and able to be in a position to pay tribute to the band that gave his teenage years a ray of sunshine, Talking Heads. The Chili’s frontman was awarded the honour of inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he spoke for millions with his rousing speech. “I remember the exact moment where I was when I heard the Talking Heads for the first time,” Kiedis told the star-studded crowd. “That’s an incredible indication of the beautiful influence they’ve had on my life because there’s not so many things I can say that about.”
“I was in the living room of Dondy Bastone’s house. I was 15, it was 1977, and the song that he put on was ‘Psycho Killer’, and I absolutely freaked out,” Kiedis continued. “I made him play that song over and over and over again because it sounded like nothing else I’d ever heard and made me feel like nothing else I’d ever felt.”
“Some very strange things happened to me when I heard Talking Heads. For one thing, I felt smart. I’m serious, I listened to the Talking Heads, it made me feel smart, and that was a pretty good feeling,” Kiedis earnestly added. “Talking Heads also made me want to dance like a maniac, which also changed my life. To me, there’s nothing more meaningful than music and dancing. It’s as important to me as my mother and best friends,” he passionately said.
Watch the entire speech below for a full idea of how vastly Anthony Kiedis loves Talking Heads.
