Remain in Light

TALKING HEADS

By 1980, Talking Heads had made three excellent avant-New Wave records, and they were ready for another huge leap. “We were interested in creating sounds that would take us deeper and far beyond what people had come to expect from us,” recalled drummer Chris Frantz.

The band checked in to Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas. As AC/DC plugged away on Back in Black one room over, the four members of Talking Heads, under the stewardship of Brian Eno, created funky, danceable tracks like “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)” and “Crosseyed and Painless.” “We deconstructed everything,” said David Byrne. “Our process led us to something with some affinity to Afro-funk, but we got there the long way ’round, and of course our version sounded slightly off. . . . But in missing, we ended up with something new.”

Midway through the sessions, they stumbled onto the groove that led to “Once in a Lifetime,” the song that introduced them to a generation of MTV viewers. “I’m not sure the lyrics made that much of a difference,” Byrne said. “[But] they did seem to speak to somewhat universal feelings and concerns.”

When the Compass Point sessions ended, they headed to New York for overdubs with King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew and singer Nona Hendryx. The band initially agreed to credit everyone equally on the LP, but when Frantz, bassist Tina Weymouth, and guitarist Jerry Harrison got advance copies, they were shocked to read “All Songs by David Byrne, Brian Eno, and Talking Heads.” As Frantz said later, “That was especially hurtful because without our persistence, love, and musicianship, Remain in Light would’ve never been made.”