Tusk and Talking Heads

[trackaghost]

Well, I was listening to Tusk again today and it struck me how many of Lindsey's songs have that Talking Heads-esque vibe to them. The way he phrases things, the tribal drum beats, the stark guitar sounds, the madness of it all, it reminds me very much of Fear Of Music, although perhaps not that leftfield.

I know Lindsey spoke of being influenced by New Wave and Punk Rock in the late 70s and how it inspired him to experiment on Tusk. I remember him mentioning The Clash and Talking Heads, but I don't hear The Clash in there very much, but definitely TH.

So did Lindsey ever go and see Talking Heads and did he ever meet David Byrne? Considering DB's sound these days, it would be interesting to see him collaborate with Lindsey.

What do you guys think?

And was Lindsey a fan of Brian Eno?

[shackin'up]

I remember reading in the rolling stone article in 1980 ( eeh..read it yesterdayevening ) That lindsey was discussing Fear of music:

Funny quote:

"In a private plane that's passing through a storm somewhere over the Rocky Mountains, Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut and I are discussing Talking Heads' Fear of Music, an album they both like a lot. Across the table, John McVie cringes when he hears the words New Wave. "Is that punk rock?" he asks, feigning horror, then slumps over and pretends to sleep. Buckingham and Dashut have never seen Talking Heads perform, so I am trying to describe what the band is like. The lead singer has spasms onstage, I explain, and the bass player and the drummer are married to each other. McVie wakes up. "Did you say married to each other? You mean, this band has a man and wife, a couple in it?" There is a long, irony-charged silence. In the back of the cabin, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie are wrapped in blankets, asleep. The plane engines drone. McVie takes a sip of his drink and mumbles something. "Oh. We ought to mail these people a Fleetwood Mac biography. Labeled BEWARE!" -end of quote

i really don't know if lindsey ever had contact with David Byrne, but i wish he'd cooperate with jerry harrison, adding some more raw egdes to Lindseys production/sound-style.

I agree that there's a lot of TH-atmosphere on Tusk, but I also hear alot of clash: in the Ledge, That's Enough For Me, and I Know I'm Not Wrong for example.

I wish I'd knew more about this: intersting topic!

[face of glass]

Originally posted by trackaghost
The way he phrases things, the tribal drum beats, the stark guitar sounds, the madness of it all, it reminds me very much of Fear Of Music, although perhaps not that leftfield.

Fear Of Music came out at the end of 1979 whereas Tusk was released early in the year. It is true that the Heads started to go into even more unusual direction with More Songs About Buildings And Food (where Eno worked with them for the first time), but a lot of what you’re talking about appeared later in the Heads work. “I Zimbra” from FOM was their first true world beat experiment that would later flourish on Remain In Light, which was when the guitars truly started to sound odd on the Heads’ albums; thanks to Eno and especially Adrian Belew.

It’s odd but I’ve never thought of the drumming on Tusk as tribal (except maybe on the title track); it sounds more like a madman banging on cardboard boxes. Which is probably what it is.

I believe Lindsey was more interested in the ideology of punk/new wave; he didn’t want to create an exact replica. There’s very little of the anger that the Clash had on their first album and his brand of alienation is dissimilar to the intellectual variant that the Heads had. David Byrne wouldn’t have the nerve to pull off the “so-dumb-it’s-genious” macho strutting of “Not That Funny” and Lindsey would sound out of place doing the unemotional distance of “Heaven”. I can imagine Byrne doing something like “Time Bomb Town” late in the Heads’ career though. And of course, people have suggested that “Twist Of Fate” quotes “Life During Wartime” in the “I ain’t got time for that now” line.

Originally posted by trackaghost
And was Lindsey a fan of Brian Eno?

Most probably not, I’ve never seen him mention the man. I can’t imagine Lindsey doing something like No Pussyfooting, not even on Go Insane. But Eno was a big influence on new wave, not just through his production, also through his solo albums. He could have done “Red Rover” on his Before And After Science and I can imagine Lindsey covering “King’s Lead Hat”, if only because of the thinly veiled hint in the title.

Originally posted by shackin'up
Funny quote:

Yep. Was that you in the plane discussing with them or who wrote the thing?

[trackaghost]

Originally posted by face of glass

It’s odd but I’ve never thought of the drumming on Tusk as tribal (except maybe on the title track); it sounds more like a madman banging on cardboard boxes. Which is probably what it is.

Not on all the tracks, but on some definitely. I always though the drumming on Sara, for instance, was quite tribal sounding and such an interesting contrast to the dreamy quality to that song. Hmm, I wonder if Lindsey was a krautrock fan...

Thanks for posting that snippet from that article shackin'up, I don't know why but I feel reassured that Lindsey was a fan of Fear Of Music. I wasn't sure of the time frame between FOM and Tusk, but I'm sure Lindsey could have still been influenced by Talking Heads. I can imagine him listening to their debut album or More Songs About Building And Food. To me there is definitely a Talking Heads feel to Tusk. It seems Tusk was an uphill struggle for Lindsey when all the band was against him and the "new" sound, in a way.

I agree that Lindsey was never totally commited to being a punk rocker, and to a hardcore new wave or punk fan, Tusk probably sounds pretty lightweight, but I'm certain that we, at least, can admire what he was trying to do, which to my ears anyway, was a marriage of the commercial pop sound with something more modern and a little edgier.

I DO however think there is quite a lot of anger on Tusk, although it's probably not as obvious as The Clash. I often think it's a very dark album, whereas Rumours, which is just as emotional, seemed hopeful, Tusk just seems bitter. Even Christine's and Stevie's songs are like that, I mean has Christine ever recorded another song as depressing sounding as Never Make Me Cry? It's quite sparse too. And Stevie's got a few songs to slit your wrists to on Tusk as well.

But back on track, I'd love to know if Lindsey saw Talking Heads or The Clash live. Lindsey's stage persona changed very much on the Tusk tour too. Not just the clothes, but the attitude and the general showmanship, and I wondered if that was influenced by any of those acts he was into at the time.

It would be cool to know what David Byrne thinks of Lindsey too. I'm sure The Clash wouldn't have been fans, but David is a different kettle of fish.

[ryan8472]

Just wanted to add a correction...

Talking Head's "Fear Of Music" was released in August of 1979, while Tusk was released in October of 79'. So it was really the other way around, and Lindsey could have possibly been influenced a bit by FOM, even though Tusk was most likely already being finished when FOM was released.

[DownOnRodeo]

I wonder if that quote is from a RS interview by Cameron Crowe. It seems to have his sense of humour, and it smacks of Almost Famous. Funyn quote. John is a classic

[face of glass]

Originally posted by ryan8472
Talking Head's "Fear Of Music" was released in August of 1979, while Tusk was released in October of 79'.

And here you see how deep a fan I am.

Originally posted by trackaghost
I always though the drumming on Sara, for instance, was quite tribal sounding and such an interesting contrast to the dreamy quality to that song.

Mick smoking the same stuff as Lindsey? Nah. It ain’t tribal to me at least. And the only krautrock drummer who had a sense of the tribal rhythms was Jaki Liebezeit of Can.

Originally posted by trackaghost
I mean has Christine ever recorded another song as depressing sounding as Never Make Me Cry?

I don’t think it’s any more depressing than “Songbird”. However, it sounds like it has lots of empty space in it; it’s like the humming in my head when I wake up after a drunken night and go to look at the mirror through my blank eyes.
Besides, “Sooner Or Later” is her darkest. Just go and give it a try.

[shackin'up]

Originally posted by DownOnRodeo
I wonder if that quote is from a RS interview by Cameron Crowe. It seems to have his sense of humour, and it smacks of Almost Famous. Funyn quote. John is a classic

It's from:
Rolling Stone
1980 - Issue 310
By Daisann McLane

[trackaghost]

Originally posted by face of glass

Mick smoking the same stuff as Lindsey? Nah. It ain’t tribal to me at least. And the only krautrock drummer who had a sense of the tribal rhythms was Jaki Liebezeit of Can.

I don’t think it’s any more depressing than “Songbird”.

It's all subjective I guess, but I've always felt Mick's drumming has a tribal feel at times. I guess we hear it in different ways.
I also think Never Make Me Cry is a much more depressing song than Songbird - which to my ears is heartbreaking yet beautiful. JMO of course.