112 - Stop Making Sense
The lads interrupt their incessant flippy-floppy making with slippery people as they get a job trying to make sense of Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads’ landmark concert film: Stop Making Sense. Topics include the contentious history of Talking Heads, the empathetic filmmaking of Jonathan Demme, and the enduring power of this once in a lifetime Gen X party that ain’t no party and sure as hell ain’t no disco.
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Media Referenced in this Episode:
Stop Making Sense. Dir. Jonathan Demme. 1984.
Burning down the house by David Bowman. Salon, December 3rd, 2003.
TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com
Commercial: “Building a Lifeline (To My Ancient Spider God)”
Comments (14)
Topo Gigio is a little kid's puppet from Latin American TV that eventually made it to a few spots in Ed Sullivan, random info fyi, childhood memories, had to share
I just wanna point out that I happened to pause around the 1.5 hour mark, came back the next day and started playing right in the middle of the sample clip. My immediate gut reaction was "this seems super late for one of AJs interstitials"
What are A.J.'s interstitials but Talking Heads persevering?
Since the topic of RISD came up, I recommend checking out their school mascot, I feel you guys might get a lot out of it.
yeah i love T.A.M.I. (Teen Age Mutant Injaturtles)
I for one had never heard of this Dazid Burn dude. I have however, heard of the smart and funny Josh Boerman of ... New Mexico?
he's from michigan. fake fan!!!
While I do kinda get the appeal of this band and their music, thereˋs the tiny little detail of their lead singer just not being ... you know ... good at singing. Iˋd go so far as to say that heˋs bad at it. Which is probably why theres so much talking in their songs. .
Hi, I’ve got a tape I want to play
Stop Making Sense is how my dad became a huge fan of Talking Heads cause he didn't really hear most of their songs on the radio until this came out
This is something I thought first listening to the Assassins episode, but incredibly big props to Brian (I think?); I'm honestly impressed with the editing of these music-heavy episodes. I listen to a few podcasts that regularly discuss music and in most cases the transitions between talk segments and music segments are jarring with mismatched audio levels and music cutting off people speaking or vice versa. Here, I was able to listen to both these episodes while on a train without having to adjust anything and with no problems making out whatever is being presented. Great work!
Was never expecting to hear a discussion about Talking Heads that includes the phrase "Just like DC Talk with *Jesus Freak*.
The Talking Heads may have made some pretty cool songs but I bet they've never made a skin kaleidoscope!
Brian, that "well, full speed ahead" was the most understated and effective gay voice I have heard. Bravo