Talking Heads — (Nothing But) Flowers

Talking Heads -- (Nothing But) Flowers

• Artist: Talking Heads
• Title: (Nothing But) Flowers
• Year: 1988
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy ?
• Acquired: Not sure, maybe as promo at our store…

I like Talking Heads and I like the song “(Nothing But) Flowers”, but there’s not much to say about this record. It’s in a plain Sire Records promo sleeve, with the LP version of the song on one side and a “radio edit” version on the other. Uh… we don’t need to keep this one.

A little sumpin’ sumpin’ about “(Nothing But) Flowers” the song and video at Wikipedia.

Talking Heads — True Stories

Talking Heads -- True Stories

• Artist: Talking Heads
• Title: True Stories
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Mary?
• Acquired: 1986 – I probably got it for her when I worked at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA.

“True Stories” by Talking Heads is one happy-sounding album. I don’t care if I ever hear the hit “Wild Wild Life” again, but I really like “Puzzlin’ Evidence.” I’m a sucker for anything with a gospel choir in it. Another song on this record is “Radio Head” and where the band Radiohead got their name.

The front and back of the cover are shown correctly oriented. The third pic is a handsome photo of the band on one side of the liner. There is an article about “True Stories” at Wikipedia.

Talking Heads — Speaking in Tongues

Talking Heads -- Speaking in Tongues

• Artist: Talking Heads
• Title: Speaking in Tongues
• Year: 1983
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: Not sure

Oooo! I forgot how good this album is. I also forgot how many legitimate hits were on “Speaking in Tongues.” I remember hearing at least three songs on the radio, “Burning Down The House”, “Girlfriend Is Better”, and “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody).” I’m probably forgetting another one or two. My favorite is the mid-tempo funky grinder “Swamp.”

I was in highschool when this record came out, and my entire family went to see the Talking Heads on this tour. And as if that isn’t cool enough, we didn’t all go together. I went with my friends, my brother with his, and my mom with a guy some people know as “Mr. Cool”, others call him “Big”, but I call him “Dad.” Of course, I had to have a concert shirt, but the only one available was a sleeveless yellow number with the art from the album cover. Yeah, I bought it. I had the shirt, but it was just too “new wave” looking, even then, even for me, and I don’t think I ever wore it.

Talking Heads — Remain in Light

Talking Heads -- Remain in Light

• Artist: Talking Heads
• Title: Remain in Light
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1980 – Probably some department store, or maybe as a gift.
• Keeper: Yes

Genius. All eight songs on “Remain in Light” are excellent, and decades later I’ve still haven’t heard anything as original and interesting. Of course, Adrian Belew and Brian Eno also played major parts in the making of this record.

This is one of the first records to be added to my collection. “Remain in Light” was also the first CD I bought. One tragic note here is that I liked the artwork on the album liner so much that I decided to make a book cover out of it. I know, I know. It was stupid, but I had the coolest book cover in my junior high for the week or two before it fell apart. Another unfortunate thing, my older friends had the earlier records and since I got to hear them all the time I never picked them up.

Making a list–Find the cost of opportunity
Doing it right–Facts are useless in emergencies

More about “Remain in Light”
More about Talking Heads