Speaking in Tongues

Formed in the mid 70s by art school chums David Byrne, Chris Franz, and Tina Weymouth and ex-Modern Lover Jerry Harrison, Talking Heads rose out of the CBGB punk crucible and proved themselves one of the most artistically adventurous and influential bands of all time. Their visionary, polyrhythmic sound fused elements including rock, funk, and punk with diverse world beats, avant-garde minimalism, and pure pop genius. 

From their 1977 debut to their Brian Eno and self-produced classics and on through to their swan song (1988’s Steve Lillywhite-produced Naked), the Talking Heads consistently broke creative boundaries while also producing a series of timeless hits such as “Burning Down The House,” “Wild Wild Life,” and “Once In A Lifetime.”  

“Burning Down The House,” was the Talking Head's first and only Top 10 hit in the U.S. featured on their 1983 Sire release Speaking In Tongues, the band's fifth studio effort and commercial breakthrough. Speaking In Tongues also includes the track "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)," regarded as the Talking Heads' first love song and the tour for the album yielded the famous Jonathan Demme film Stop Making Sense. 

"Speaking in Tongues, Talking Heads' first studio release in three years, is the album that finally obliterates the thin line separating arty white pop music and deep black funk. Picking up where their 1980 Afro-punk fusion Remain in Light left off, this LP consummates the Heads' marriage of art-school intellect and dance-floor soul. Imbued with an adventurous spirit that's as close to Television's Marquee Moon as it is to Michael Jackson's Thriller, Grand Master Flash's "The Message" and Nigerian high-life music, Speaking in Tongues gives new meaning to the word crossover." - David Fricke, Rolling Stone

1. Burning Down The House

2. Making Flippy Floppy

3. Girlfriend Is Better

4. Slipper People

5. I Get Wild / Wild Gravity

6. Swamp

7. Moon Rocks

8. Pull Up the Roots

9. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)