Remain In Light by Talking Heads

"My first encounter with Talking Heads was probably aged about 10 or so when I saw the video for "Once In A Lifetime". Very strange, I loved the music but couldn't work it out, and for some reason I thought David Byrne was Japanese. It was a cursory moment on Top of the Pops and unfortunately at that age I soon lost track of them. But on re-discovering the song some time later I sought out the album. The cover was as indecipherable to me as the video had been. Why the halloween faces, and what were those planes about ? Kamikaze ? I took the plunge and dived in.

Talking Heads have been a favorite band ever since and of all the bands I've listened to I'm grateful to them more than any. They made me curious of all music far beyond the pigeon holes I was used to. On More Songs About Buildings and Food is the song "The Big County" which is one of my favorites. It was is probably the first time I appreciated the slide guitar which as it fades away has an almost ethereal quality. And the reverse cover seems the image of the song, a hovering luminescent snapshot of America."

Words by Pete Finbow, who kindly suggested this album. It turns out to be a back cover about which a substantial amount has been written.

Talking Heads used the working title Melody Attack throughout the initial sessions for the album (after watching a Japanese game show of the same name). This is said to have been the inspiration behind the warplanes motif, which was originally intended to grace the front cover. After the working title was dropped in favour of Remain In Light, the warplanes were relegated to the back and the computer-defaced band member images used for the front instead.

Not for the first time (see Loaded), the credits on the reverse side of Remain In Light also caused interband tension, with no individual band members other than David Byrne listed. The only other indivudal credit went to the producer, Brian Eno (who had also wanted to be featured alongside the band on the front).

The above draws on This Must Be the Place: The Adventures of Talking Heads in the Twentieth Century by David Bowman.