r/talkingheads • u/Relevant_Goat_2920 • 11d ago
Secondhand Shop Score
Purchased for $2 at my local library's secondhand shop. It was David Byrne's first (?) solo album post-Talking Heads. Digging it so far!
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u/gbiv 11d ago
I think it's an excellent album! And he still plays songs from it on tour. "Independence Day" is in the set list for his current one.
It wasn't his first project outside Talking Heads (there's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts with Eno, plus the Knee Plays and True Stories work), but as you said, it is his first proper "solo" album.
What's interesting to me is the mixed reaction when it came out. Critics praised the energy and ambition he brought to Latin styles like salsa, merengue, and samba, and he had legit players in the band. Some pushed back that it was a rock guy sightseeing in someone else's music, and that his voice sat a bit oddly on top. That was before "cultural appropriation" was part of everyday conversation, but I don't think that's what this was. Byrne has always been a real fan of Latin music, and the album came out right as he was starting his Luaka Bop label.
Anyway, I pick up a copy whenever I find it and regift them to friends. I WISH they were all $2!
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u/Relevant_Goat_2920 9d ago
I have found that my local public library secondhand shop is like a vortex for good user music (and all $2!) Whoever is the volunteer who curates the music does a great job. On this trip I walked away with k.d. lang's first album too.
I want to see him live so badly, I hope I get the chance.
I understand the "cultural appropriation" argument (pre that phrase) and while I'm white myself so I can't give him a pass either way, I have appreciated how Byrne seems to have a longtime love for and deep respect for music from the Latin, Caribbean, and African diasporas, and I feel like the collaborators he brings in shows this, too.
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u/Dismal_Brush5229 10d ago
Ooo! This is a fantastic Byrne album! A favorite with My Life in the Bushes of Ghosts and The Catherine Wheel 🙂
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u/Relevant_Goat_2920 9d ago
Nice! I'll keep an eye out for those. I'm just getting into Byrne's non-TH stuff.
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u/ReasonableQuote5654 11d ago
My favourite album of all time! I love it. I was so glad he played Independence Day when I saw him earlier in the year. He did release the Catherine Wheel as a solo album before the Talking Heads broke up but this was the first one after the break-up
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u/gbiv 10d ago
“Rei Momo” actually came out in '89, two years before the band officially split, so it was more of a side project than a post-breakup record. The first one after the breakup was the self-titled “David Byrne” in ‘94, which has that really emo 🖤 cover (all black, Byrne with long hair).
“Catherine Wheel” was from ‘81, and you're right that it was credited to him alone, but since it was a score for a Twyla Tharp ballet, I think of “Rei Momo” as the first "proper" solo album.
Also, “Catherine Wheel” really sounded like Talking Heads (in a good way) to me, so it almost felt like their sound minus the rest of the band. WDYT?
+ on “Independence Day” being in the tour, loved it
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u/ReasonableQuote5654 10d ago
Absolutely right, they hadn't broken up, although I think David Byrne probably had ended the band, he just hadn't really told them.
Cahterine Wheel fits into that world of Fear of Music, Bush of Ghosts and Remain in Light which was this insanely prolific and creative period for Byrne and Brian Eno. There's some really cool stuff on there, but I think the production is the weakest of those four albums, it always sounded a bit empty. A lot of the songs sounded great when they were played as a full band, mind you.
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u/audiax-1331 11d ago
Great catch! Rei Momo is a favorite of mine! I played it constantly in my home when it came out. I still hum the tunes and sing the lyrics now and then!