If female rock acts are a novelty nowadays, in the 70s and 80s they were a rarity of extreme proportion. During this time, Tina Weymouth wasn’t only the bass player of art-rock group Talking Heads, she was also a talented artist in her own right.
Weymouth rarely got the kind of attention or visibility her talent merited. With a lead singer like David Byrne out front, any band member would struggle to make an impact. Watch any video of a Talking Heads performance and you will see Byrne stealing the limelight with a cool yet often more reticent Weymouth to his side or in the background. However, this is superficial. Tina Weymouth’s legacy is deeper than that. Her contribution to Talking Heads music was in many ways unequalled. Here I give a run-down of the 10 Talking Heads songs where this is most obvious. Unsurprisingly, it’s also a list of some of their most cutting-edge tracks.
10) Stay Hungry (More Songs About Buildings And Food: 1978)
With echoes of the sing-song melody that so instilled the songs of their debut, ‘Stay Hungry’ is Talking Heads not at their best but on route to it. Weymouth’s bass is the essence of this song. At the middle eight Weymouth comes into her own, competing easily with the funky guitar to usher us into a build-up of transcending electro-funk. It’s a rarely noticed track but what Weymouth’s bass does best is that it doesn’t hog the music.
9) Wild Wild Life (True Stories: 1986)
This album confirmed Talking Heads decline and this track is somewhat contentious amongst the purist fans. Whilst ‘Wild Wild Life’ was one of their best-selling singles, critically speaking True Stories was proof the band was moving past its peak. That being said, ‘Wild Wild Life’ is a single unlike anything the band produced before with an almost rockabilly sheen that still equals many of their top tracks.
The grinding guitars are saved from feeling too fuzzy by Weymouth’s indomitable yet often gently subtle bass in this song. It’s not their best work but it is a testament to Weymouth’s ongoing ability to save the band’s music from verging too far into the excesses of pop.
8) Warning Sign (More Songs About Buildings And Food: 1978)
I feel like this track doesn’t get enough credit – like several others on this list. On an album which is often dismissed as the worst of the three produced by Brian Eno+ (the other two being Fear of Music and Remain in Light) ‘Warning Sign’ is a supreme trip into Byrne’s mind at its most neurotic. Without Weymouth’s bass though, it’s a trip that wouldn’t get off the ground. The guitars of Byrne and Harrison yield well to Weymouth’s steady yet funky bass lines throughout ‘Warning Sign’, always perfectly balanced but unerring in the sonic dominance of her instrument.
7) Electricity (Drugs) (The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads: 1982)
Yep, live albums too! Compared to whichever narcotic that inspired the original ‘Drugs’ on Fear of Music, the substance offered in this live-recording is obviously of a more mellow variety. When the distorted bass does give way to the power-chords of the chorus it only emphasis how well Weymouth uses it to calm us in our stupor.
6) Take Me to the River (More Songs About Buildings And Food: 1978)
A cover! ‘Take Me to the River’ stands out as a crisp and wide-screen sound on an album that is often full of must faster and, true to Talking Heads form, anxious melodies. Here we see a tentative yet deft use of better production technology that gives us Weymouth’s bass at its most powerful. It’s a move away from punk rock which provides tracks equally danceable and Byrne-style zany.
‘Take Me to the River’ gently pounds and grooves into a rhythm that is so much more mature than any of their previous singles. Undeniably, it’s a song where Weymouth’s base is fully released as an instrument perfectly capable of competing with the guitar of Byrne or Jerry Harrison (lead guitarist). The song is also a fitting homage to Al Green and the influence funk, soul and the music of African American artists had on Talking Heads ever-growing palette of sonic inspiration.
5) The Overload (Remain in Light: 1980)
A slower and more mysterious change of pace for Talking Heads saw this song bring a memorable and fitting end to Remain in Light. ‘The Overload’ was yet another confirmation that this album would change everything in electronic music.
Stemming from the polyrhythmic palette of sounds Remain in Light employed to such heights of perfection, Weymouth’s bass in this 6-minute slow-burn is rich and stable, holding at bay the more saturated and distorted loops and rhythms which ebb and flow through the songs droning timbre. This is Talking Heads at their absolute height, their most experimental, and their most serious.
4) Psycho Killer (Talking Heads:77: 1977)
Well, I could hardly leave this one out. ‘Psycho Killer’s’ bassline is probably one of the most iconic and instantly recognisable riffs in the history of popular music. Deployed in this song, Talking Heads first hit single, it perfectly encapsulates the tension in Byrne’s strained and neurotic vocals. Written in part by Weymouth too, the consistent and creeping rhythm of the bass also vindicates the sheer spookiness of the song, transforming it from a litany of murder to one of hipper stripped-back funk. Little else needs to be said, I’m sure you’ve heard it before.
3) Slippery People – live (Stop Making Sense: 1984)
It’s testament to Talking Heads ability both as a live act but also as visual artists that the modified versions of their songs from the bands two live albums count amongst their best. These live versions also allow Weymouth to shine brightest. Bass can often fade into the background and with so much more competition from other sound-sections in latter albums as Talking Heads expanded their sound, the surface mastery of Weymouth is seen less and less.
With a sound firmly in the 1980s zeitgeist – before said zeitgeist was even realised – 1983’s Speaking in Tongues sonically dulled down the band’s funky edges in pursuit of a more technologically and synth-saturated sound. Compared to its studio-sibling, ‘Slippery People – live’ is upbeat, deliciously funky and oozing the kind of bass beats that make ones body pulsate involuntarily.
2) Crosseyed and Painless (Remain in Light: 1980)
This is one of several Talking Heads songs which exists in the roots of the Hip-Hop family tree. Prior to recording Remain In Light Chris Frantz collaborated with early-Hip Hop singer Kurtis Blow in his song ‘The Breaks’, producing a beat which is emulated with even more funk thanks to Weymouth on ‘Crosseyed and Painless’.
Weymouth’s bass isn’t necessarily the most immediately prominent element of this song, but it is the most consistent – an aspect of bass lines which is where their real magic can be found. Here it is swift, repetitive, and robust in holding together the beat. If you fancy an even hotter version though… dare I say it exists. Featuring as the closer to 1984’s Stop Making Sense, the live version of ‘Crosseyed and Painless’ hits a mark that perhaps no other Talking Heads song can.
1) Sugar On My Tongue (Talking Heads:77: 1977)
For a song not originally included in the album but only available on the Deluxe Version, I have no doubt many would be surprised at this choice. Give it a play though and I’m sure you’ll understand. Moving from a sexy taut strain to rolling bopping funk, this is an undeniably bass-heavy song, and it is glorious in its under 3-minute moment. The bass makes this song what it is, providing just the right tantalizing zing to Byrne’s yearning lyrics.
At its most potent in this song, Weymouth’s bass is at once both the foil for the light fly-away guitar chords and a reminder that Talking Heads can provide a lot more of a kick than what some of their more saccharine songs would suggest. Why it wasn’t included on the original release will always be a mystery to me although it’s the kind of hidden gem that any fan or newcomer to the band can relish.
Words by Niall Hawkins
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