How Talking Heads reinvented the concert film (with Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz)

Oct 17, 2023

Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, members of the Talking Heads, discuss the iconic concert film Stop Making Sense. They explore the impact of concert films and discuss Madonna's Truth or Dare, Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains the Same, and Beyonce's Homecoming. The hosts also talk about the challenges of live performances and the importance of behind-the-scenes footage in concert films. They delve into creating a concert film and the value of fan-created films. Finally, they explore the themes of Beyonce's Renaissance concert film.

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ANECDOTE

Stop Making Sense Rerelease

Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense, a concert film, has been rereleased in 4k.
Producer Reanna Cruz interviewed band members Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz.

ADVICE

Importance of a Good Director

To create a great concert film, secure a skilled director.
Jonathan Demme's cinematic approach added a narrative arc to Stop Making Sense.

INSIGHT

Transforming Music for Concerts

Concert films can elevate familiar songs by reimagining them for a live setting.
Talking Heads added new energy to songs like "This Must Be The Place" with live instrumentation.

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Talking Head's concert film Stop Making Sense first came out forty years ago, and it’s just been rereleased in theaters in a 4k remaster by A24. The film finds the band — Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, David Byrne and Jerry Harrison — at the height of their powers over three successive nights at the the Hollywood Pantages Theater. As Chris and Tina remembered it when they spoke to producer Reanna Cruz, "We'd reached a state in our career and our lives when we felt, 'we've gotten pretty good at this now. We can show the world.'"

Director Jonathan Demme spliced the band's performances into an eighty-eight minute odyssey beginning with Byrne solo on the stage and gradually bringing in the rest of the band and a cast of stellar guest musicians: vocalists Lynn Mabry and Ednah Holt, keyboardist Bernie Worrell, percussionist Steve Scales, and guitarist Alex Weir. The film introduced landmark moments like Byrne’s big suit, Demme’s cinematic approach to concert cinematography, Chris's and Tina’s Tom Tom Club performing the perennial sample flip "Genius of Love," and a theater-rocking version of "Burning Down the House." Stop Making Sense broke the mold of concert films and created a new paradigm for artists to follow ever since.

Nate, Charlie, and Reanna take insights from Reanna's conversation with Tina and Chris on the legacy of Stop Making Sense as a guide to think through our own favorite concert movies — the Band's The Last Waltz, Madonna's Truth or Dare, and Beyonce's Homecoming — to identify the musical and visual choices that make them so indelible.

Songs Discussed

Talking Heads - This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) - Live

Talking Heads - Burning Down the House - Live

Beyoncé - Diva - Homecoming Live

Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - Homecoming Live

Madonna - Express Yourself

Madonna - Live to Tell

The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - Live

The Band - I Shall Be Released (Finale) - Live

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