TALKING HEADS - "BORN UNDER PUNCHES" (reaction)

[@timpindar]

Great song. Great band. Great reaction. In 1980 this blew our minds, even those of us who loved their previous album Fear Of Music. It was unlike anything we’d ever heard, really, and it opened our minds.

[@SightAfterDark]

We bet!

[@An_Cat_Dubh]

From the Wikipedia posting on the "Remain in Light" album: "...The recording sessions only built up pace after the recruitment of guitarist Adrian Belew at the request of Byrne, Harrison and Eno [who was producing]. He was advised to add guitar solos to the Compass Point tracks, making use of a Roland guitar synthesiser. Byrne recorded all the tracks, as they were after Belew had performed on them, to a cassette and looked to Africa to break his writer's block. He realised that, when African musicians forget words, they often improvise and make new ones up. He used a portable tape recorder and tried to create onomatopoeic rhymes in the style of Eno, who believed that lyrics were never the center of a song's meaning. Byrne continuously listened to his recorded scatting until convinced that he was no longer "hearing nonsense". After he was satisfied, Harrison invited Nona Hendryx to Sigma Sound to record backing vocals for the album. She was advised extensively on her vocal delivery by Byrne, Frantz, and Weymouth, and often sang in a trio with Byrne and Eno. The voice sessions were followed by the overdubbing process. Brass player Jon Hassell, who had been working on parts of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, was hired to perform trumpet and horn sections." Note that TH keyboardist Jerry Harrison produced an album for soul singer Nona Hendryx.

[@SightAfterDark]

Adrian is a legend

[@johnnylikes]

I describe this song as an instant 10/10. First time you hear it is perfection and so is every time afterwords. Pretty rare in the musical kingdom.

[@-R.Gray-]

The second disc of the double live album "The Name of This Band is Talking Heads" released in 1982 has live versions of many songs on this album, but also features many guitar solos by Adrian Belew. Remember him from that live Zappa video?. David Bowie recruited him from Frank's band, and while recording on Bowie albums he met producer Brian Eno, who also worked with the Talking Heads. For a great article on how all of this happened Google The Music Aficionado article "Adrian Belew part 1 : 1976 - 1980 (Zappa,Bowie,Talking Heads)". All of this lead to Robert Fripp asking him to join King Crimson.

[@timcardona9962]

This album is a work of art - a real sonic experience that is unlike anything else out there.

[@SightAfterDark]

We’ve heard it’s great! We know a few songs but haven’t heard the whole thing

[@danamaguire4285]

You have to check out the singer Angelique Kidjo’s reimagining and re Africanization of the entire Remain in Light album. Magnificent!

[@StraightGamesta]

The live versions from ‘The name of this band is Talking Heads’ with Adrian belew playing guitar is hot fire

[@SightAfterDark]

Hell yeah! Thanks!

[@hot_ratz4258]

Anything Brian Eno involved with turns to gold.. no coincidence.. always loved his adding vocals on this one..

[@SightAfterDark]

It came out great!

[@kathyedleman633]

Also "Crossed Eyed and Painless" from this album is another funky song with a heavy groove :)

[@SightAfterDark]

Hell yeah! We’ve seen the live version!

[@markdearlove8634]

So good. Bought back a whole bunch of my yesterdays

[@FelizJesusbirth]

Thanks for the reaction guys, loved it! :) This was the first Talking Heads song I ever heard and I fell in love - there is no denser funk!! Oh and the other member you were trying to think of is Jerry Harrison. But the lead guitar on this song (the part that sounds like an Atari 2600 launching into space) was performed by the great Adrian Belew.

[@SightAfterDark]

Awesome! It sounds great!

[@kbstabs5982]

Really enjoyed your reactions to one of the great songs of all time. Your comments are right on.

[@SightAfterDark]

Thanks for watching!

[@cahillgreg]

'Gorgeous, dope ... makes me wanna ...' Bless

[@damonhines8187]

The expanded band I saw and heard at Heatwave, northern of Toronto in 1980 was like a neurotic Sly and the Family Stone or something...starting with four, adding players, including Belew, and nine Heads was crazy awesome

[@SightAfterDark]

Sounds awesome!

[@monabonejakon2797]

My favorite Talking Heads album. It's technically wonderful.

[@SightAfterDark]

It sounds amazing!

[@dangabbert3944]

What a great song, makes me want to dance! David Byrne is amazing (the entire band is amazing), he is still making powerful music.

[@davetothebeard]

Best era for the band. Nothing later is nearly as cool.

[@byHexted]

I’d say a lot of it is still worth checking out, it’s hard to match your best work when you set the bar that high

[@trevorsanders5303]

The best album they ever recorded

[@byHexted]

One of the best vocal performances ever

[@IshwaraYogaNET]

Loved that you are covering this, my soundtrack to a year as a student Liverpool 1980, fab album, love you guys

[@SightAfterDark]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@danl.909]

Such a brilliant album! You could not go to a party in those days without hearing it.

[@jrsinsf]

This is a Great album... dig deeper and enjoy it!

[@SightAfterDark]

We will!

[@stevedotwood]

I saw them live at a festival in 1979, on the same bill as Rory Gallagher and Dire Straits. Remain In Light hadn't been released yet. Wish I knew them better at that time. I bought the LP in 1981 to compensate for my altered state in '79.

[@SightAfterDark]

Amazing!

[@semchen9]

Tina, try to find Footage of the Dance Troupe, Pilobulus, performing all of Talking Head's Album, Remain in Light. I saw it performed at Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall in either 83' or 84'. The Performance was Surreal given to what Pilobulus did. If unaware to their Medium of Dance, please KZbin them. Cheers and Bon Voyage !

[@reidwhitton6248]

Very cool record! I hope you find time to listen to the whole album. This one features former Zappa guitarist, Adrian Belew.

[@ronrobbins2737]

Wow amazing how great music like this holds up so well over time.

[@robertjewell9727]

David on rhythm guitar, Adrian Below doing the guitar quirky sounds., but Jerry is the other band member you're thinking of although this track has a few other instrumentalists including Brian Eno and background vocalists as well. Played this for a dubious friend once who said, "There's nothing going on! It just keeps repeating itself!" I gave him one of those long NOOOO'S then said "If this is nothing then I'm all about nothing." It's really got a tribal kind of trance vibe.

[@SightAfterDark]

Shout out to Jerry!

[@briangray00]

41 years young: It's children and grandchildren and great grandchildren still sound great. I'd love you to do more (all) of this classic LP.

[@SightAfterDark]

Let’s hope it wins the next poll on the Patreon!

[@MindFeather]

the way they got Eno and Belew on this blows my mind. funk is right. right out of Africa, really, those high clean guitar notes arcing out, and Tina just killing it.

[@SightAfterDark]

The best!

[@stuarthastie6374]

This has a lot of the flavour of "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts".By Brian Eno and David Byrne, but without the sampling.

[@charlesmarcoe9621]

That look of "that's the sound we've been going for but realize it's 30 years too late and there's no fucking way I can replicate that in 100 years"

[@SightAfterDark]

😆kind of

[@blitztim6416]

Jerry Harrison plays guitar and keys in the band. He has also been a producer. I'd like to see you emulate the rhythm guitar on this track. David plays a mean rhythm guitar. It could be him. Maybe both him and Jerry.

[@Stacy55ish]

Best New Wave band.

[@kbstabs5982]

Just watched again. I lie, it was the 4th time. Just love your enthusiastic and wacky comments

[@SightAfterDark]

☺️thanks for your support kb stabs!

[@chrisformby3039]

I always imagine David as an old time preacher addressing his flock in this track, nice work.👍

[@SightAfterDark]

Many thanks!

[@maxout7306]

As some fans will know, Weymouth and Frantz along with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed the cover for this 1980 album. By all accounts a tortuous process owing to the mainframe computer lacking power which alone took up a position of several rooms. The final rear cover depicting the four U.S. Navy Grumman Avengers was originally designed for the album front.

[@SightAfterDark]

Cool history!

[@DevastatorJr]

Watch the live version, it'll knock your socks off!

[@markdrechsler5660]

That weird solo in the middle is guitar. Adrian Belew. He’s a genius guitar player with an extensive and fun solo career. Got his big break with Zappa, got poached from Zappa’s band by David Bowie, twenty years in King Crimson, etc. The rhythm guitar on this is likely Byrne.

[@SightAfterDark]

Shoutout to Adrian!

[@drheadjog6333]

Great Band, Great Album,Great track, and for me, track 3 'The Great Curve' personifies musical perfection. WARNING:-Listening to track 3 using 'Anatomy of Music ' (KZbin) might pickle your brain and prove me right! P.S.When you understand the direct connection between track 3 and Zappa maybe it gonna fry yo pickle 🤗

[@robertgrubbs5116]

Check out the live performance in Rome from 1980 - IMO it is even better than the studio recording. Same groove but just sooo sweet.

[@SightAfterDark]

Thanks for the tip Robert!

[@jamieperdue8663]

Houses in motion is a great track off this album.

[@ronrobins3513]

I remember walking into Discount Records on Ellison Place (Nashville, TN) when this record first came out. Stores would play a whole side of a record for customers on the store system, so I asked the clerk to play this record I found in the import section. As soon as he dropped the needle on Talking Heads Remain in Light my life has never been the same. I was looking at the cover as “Born Under Punches” played and it blew my head off...I didn’t understand quite what I was hearing. Wait...this is a WHITE BAND!!!! but the music was FUNKY. And not like regular funk but it was tribal almost African. I felt like I had been dropped into another dimension, The rhythm the harmonies the background vocals, and that groove. Needless to say I’ve been a fan ever since.

[@SightAfterDark]

Love it!

[@frankpentangeli7945]

In my view Remain In Light is their best album, so you guys should definitely do a full album review of it. Cheers!

[@SightAfterDark]

Let’s see who wins the next vote on Patreon! Our full album reviews are decided there!

[@teresacaetano5536]

Que bom gosto musical jovens ☺

[@teresacaetano5536]

A música eleva tudo , e estes dois tesourinhos sabem no bem 👌

[@jefffinne9942]

As great as this is, there is a live in Rome, Italy 1980 version you MUST watch and listen too. Stop Making Sense was a one of a kind movie. But the 1980 band still has Adrian Belew on guitar. As on this album. The set is perhaps not as visual. But I think the 1980 band was even better. As others have said, Adrian also played for Zappa, Bowie, King Crimson, and others. Also had Bernie Worrell on keys, from Parliment/Funkidelic, and Buster Jones playing a second bass with Tina. The entire 1980 show is on youtube. But Born Under Punches is the peak.

[@SightAfterDark]

Shout out to Adrian Belew! Thanks For watching Jeff!

[@romeosyne]

Yo Adrian (Belew)!

[@glynnborders762]

Try "No One To Depend On" by Santana. Studio version. I wanna see you heads explode.

[@SightAfterDark]

😆

[@drheadjog6333]

My bad, 'Anatomy of a Track'(KZbin)

[@malingor7042]

This song makes much more sense in the context of the ( almost conceptual) album. Having said that, any of the live versions are FAR superior ( check out the one on Stop Making Sense again, even just the CD version, but any live one is great). It's much more organic and poly-rhythmic, and MUCH more focused on the bass and rhythm guitar rather than the ''bleepy'' sounds on here.

[@timcardona9962]

I disagree. The live version is cvertainly great but better is a real stretch. They didnt really pull off the layering of the vocals, which is an important aspect of this record. The rhythm guitar parts are also not quite as effective as the record

[@nomisnestral6956]

4 + 1 = 3 letters that read O N E backwards. I'm terrible at math.

[@ajs41]

They'd probably be accused of "cultural appropriation" these days because this is obviously heavily influenced by Nigerian and other West African musical styles.

[@SightAfterDark]

Wow 😆you are too right and that’s a shame!

[@terjerendalsvik5461]

maybe set your self inside the text?

[@SightAfterDark]

Huh?

[@terjerendalsvik5461]

The hands of a goverment man....