Described as "one of the most critically acclaimed groups of the '80s," Talking Heads helped to pioneer new wave music by combining elements of punk , art rock , funk , and world music with "an anxious yet clean-cut image"; [ 3 ] they have been called "a properly postmodernist band.
Their debut album, Talking Heads: 77 , was released in to positive reviews. Talking Heads reached their commercial peak in with the U. They produced a soundtrack album for Byrne's film True Stories , and released their final album, the worldbeat -influenced Naked , before disbanding in The Artistics dissolved the following year, and the three moved to New York City, eventually sharing a communal loft. Frantz encouraged Weymouth to learn to play bass by listening to Suzi Quatro albums.
It fit. However, they drew a following and signed to Sire Records in November In March , they added Jerry Harrison , formerly of Jonathan Richman 's band the Modern Lovers , on keyboards, guitar, and backing vocals. The first Talking Heads album, Talking Heads: 77 , received acclaim and produced their first charting single, " Psycho Killer ". Eno's unusual style meshed with the group's artistic sensibilities, and they began to explore an increasingly diverse range of musical directions—from psychedelic funk to African music , influenced prominently by Fela Kuti and Parliament-Funkadelic.
The collaboration continued with Fear of Music , which mixed the darker stylings of post-punk rock with white funkadelia and subliminal references to the geopolitical instability of the late s.
Remain in Light was heavily influenced by the Afrobeat of Nigerian bandleader Fela Kuti , whose music had been introduced to the band by Eno. It explored West African polyrhythms , weaving these together with Arabic music from North Africa, disco funk, and "found" voices. During this period, Weymouth and Frantz formed a commercially successful splinter group, Tom Tom Club , influenced by the foundational elements of hip hop , [ 35 ] and Harrison released his first solo album, The Red and the Black.
