Members of the New York post-punk band Talking Heads will meet on September 11 at the Toronto International Film Festival to attend an event honoring the 40th anniversary of their film, “Stop Making Sense.”
The film, which has been regarded as the one of the best concert films in history, will be screened at the Global IMAX theater and broadcast live at certain IMAX theaters globally. Following the screening, band members David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth will participate in a Q&A event, which will be moderated by American film director Spike Lee.
After the event, “Stop Making Sense” will be released theatrically on September 22. This was made possible by production company A24, who restored the film and rereleased it in 4K resolution.
To accompany the film’s rerelease, a new deluxe edition soundtrack was released on August 18. It includes the film’s full setlist, new liner notes from the band and two previously unreleased songs.
The screening will be the first time the band has gotten together since 2002 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During the induction ceremony, they played a few of their hit songs, including “Psycho Killer” and “Burning Down the House.”
However, the band has not played an actual concert together since 1984, when they were on tour for their album “Speaking in Tongues.”
The band had officially split in December 1991, when lead singer David Byrne told the Los Angeles Times that “you could say (we’ve) broken up, or call it whatever you like.” This had come as a shock to the other members, who had found out the breakup was official through the news.
This lack of communication was not the beginning of the tension, as there had been turmoil in the band for many decades. Over the years the members had not been shy, with the latest being Frantz who had discussed the issues that the members had experienced with each other.
Frantz released his memoir, “Remain in Love,” in 2020 where he had mainly focused on his long-term marriage to his wife and bandmate, Weymouth.
However, in his memoir, he also wrote about his experience with Byrne as a bandmate.
Frantz called Byrne “insecure” and “transactional,” claiming that Byrne’s “brain is wired in such a way that he doesn’t know where he ends and other people begin. He can’t imagine that anyone else would be important.”
This especially became an issue in 1996 when Byrne sued Weymouth, Frantz and Harrison who had started a new band called “Shrunken Heads.” In an interview with Rolling Stone, Byrne had called the newly formed band “a pretty obvious attempt to cash in on the Talking Heads name” and that “it’s not the Talking Heads, they would say it is just without the singer.”
Byrne eventually dropped the lawsuit a few months later and gave the band permission to use the name “Heads.” However, his permission required concessions. In exchange, Byrne was given the power to oversee all reissues and anthologies of the Talking Heads.
In 2019, Byrne staged the Broadway show “American Utopia”, which featured many of the Talking Heads’ biggest hits. The following year the show was also adapted into a movie directed by Spike Lee.
With the upcoming screening of “Stop Making Sense,” the question of a possible Talking Heads reunion also arises. Although the other members seem open to the idea, Byrne seems quite against the idea. In his memoir, Frantz mentioned a 2003 encounter with Byrne, where he had brought up the possibility of a reunion. Byrne had only one thing to say.
“I will never reunite with the Talking Heads. Please don’t bring this up again.” Bryne said.
Gov • Sep 6, 2023 at 4:49 am
Divorce is divorce and not time apart. We just need to move and remember all the joy we had fondly….
Elleanor • Sep 5, 2023 at 11:45 pm
Life is too short.Get over your differences and think of your fan’s who love you
David • Sep 5, 2023 at 11:19 pm
Never say never! Just do it David! Was at your last tour and will never forget how amazing you all sounded. Such a fun time, never stopped dancing. Bring us back 1 more time!
ratzorizzo • Sep 5, 2023 at 3:57 pm
As long as David Byrne understands that the sum total of the parts that made up the Talking Heads is in fact “his best work to date”, David is more than welcome to claim that he’s moved on from the Talking Heads, long ago.