Still, Talking Heads liked to experiment in the studio, and some songs would therefore change quite a bit from the demo.” Eric ThorngrenĪ native New Yorker who began singing and playing guitar in his mid-teens, Thorngren founded a band named Bulldog with two former members of blue‑eyed soul group the Rascals - guitar player Gene Cornish and David Byrne, New York, 1985.drummer Dino Danelli - in 1972, and it was the recording of a couple of albums with this outfit that sparked his interest in engineering. "They rehearsed a lot,” Thorngren says. "Chris and Tina had a loft in Long Island City, Queens, and all of them routined the material there so that, once they got to Sigma, they pretty much knew the arrangements. Sitting behind the MCI console in Studio 4 was engineer Eric 'ET' Thorngren, who had just mixed a Talking Heads live album and who, on Little Creatures, also assisted the group members in their combined efforts as producers. But Little Creatures saw Byrne resume his position as band leader and chief composer, on an even more radio‑friendly pop record that utilised other musicians only to embellish the core foursome.Īfter starting life with the working title of Wild Infancy when rehearsals commenced in February 1985, the album's name had transformed into In Defence Of Television by the time Talking Heads were ready to start recording at New York City's Sigma Sound Studios later that same month. The group's previous album, Speaking In Tongues (1983), had consisted of joint compositions arising largely out of jam sessions by the quartet of singer/guitarist David Byrne, drummer Chris Frantz, bassist Tina Weymouth and keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison, recorded in tandem with no less than 10 backing singers and musicians.
#COVER OR ALBUM TALKING HEADS ROAD TO NOWHERE CRACK#
The closing track on the Little Creatures album that also spawned the hit single 'And She Was', 'Road to Nowhere' actually peaked at number six on the British chart, and although it didn't crack the Top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100, it represented the mainstream apotheosis of an erstwhile art school band whose often‑experimental output comprised an eclectic mixture of punk, pop, funk, world music and the avant‑garde. Yet Talking Heads managed it with 'Road To Nowhere', a UK Top 10 hit that gleefully condemned the prevailing yuppiedom and rampant consumerism of the mid‑1980s. There aren't many artists who can convincingly dress up a depressing topic with a catchy, upbeat, eminently danceable musical arrangement. The track commences with an a cappella vocal ensemble backed by an angelic chorus before segueing into a jaunty, accordion‑embellished melody that belies the bleak lyrics about our aimless, meaningless lives:
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images From left to right: Jerry Harrison, David Byrne, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. Engineer Eric Thorngren tells the story of its recording. As the first issue of SOS hit the shops in October 1985, Talking Heads were already climbing towards their highest UK chart position.
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