Cult film company A24’s tie-in merch to the seminal documentary Stop Making Sense sounds either like karaoke or is wildly disconnected from the source material
April 2024
Ranked
Paranoia and polyrhythms: Talking Heads’ greatest songs – ranked!
As an all-star version of 1984’s Stop Making Sense is released, we run down the band’s best tracks, from the beautiful Dream Operator to the existential crisis of Once in a Lifetime
February 2024
Honest playlist
‘I used to roundly mock Bryan Adams’: Bill Bailey’s honest playlist
The comedian has come full circle on the Canadian soft rocker, but which sweary song did he miss out on playing at Reading?
November 2023
‘Mick Jagger was surprisingly hard-working’: the all-star life of synth whiz Wally Badarou
His reputation for futurist pop got him work with everyone from Grace Jones and Talking Heads to Foreigner – now the French keyboardist is reissuing a soundtrack for a yoga DVD that became a Balearic classic
October 2023
Ranked
The 20 greatest concert films – ranked!
As Taylor Swift’s Eras tour reaches cinemas, with Beyoncé’s Renaissance following soon, we pick the films that best converted the live experience to the screen
September 2023
Stop Making Sense review – Demme’s Talking Heads doc still burning down the house
The energy of Jonathan Demme’s 1984 film defies categorisation, and David Byrne in the ‘Big Suit’ is the Chuck Berry of new wave art-rock
April 2023
Seymour Stein obituary
Seymour Stein, music mogul who discovered Madonna, Talking Heads and more, dies aged 80
February 2023
The perfect song
David Bridie: Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads is the most perfect song of all time
Flashback
Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz look back: ‘When I first asked her to join my band, she refused’
October 2022
Ranked
The 100 greatest BBC music performances – ranked!
As the Beeb celebrates its centenary, we take a look at its most memorable pop moments, from the birth of grime to the first sightings of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, plus TOTP goes Madchester and countless classic Peel sessions
August 2022
Mo Ostin, US record exec who signed Jimi Hendrix and the Kinks, dies aged 95
Headhunted by Frank Sinatra, the head of Warner/Reprise oversaw classic releases by the likes of Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac and Prince
March 2022
Talking Heads musicians survive serious collision with drunk driver
Tina Weymouth in ‘a lot of pain’ after she fractures sternum and three ribs in car crash, says husband Chris Frantz
October 2021
Ranked
The greatest songs about the climate crisis – ranked!
As Cop26 opens in Glasgow, we provide the soundtrack, ranging from Gojira’s metal fury to gorgeous environmental paeans by Childish Gambino, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell
June 2021
Jon Hassell: radical musician who studied with Stockhausen and worked with Eno
Alexis Petridis
‘Africa has so much talent – we can’t even grasp it’: Angélique Kidjo on pop, politics and power
December 2020
American Utopia review – David Byrne and Spike Lee burn down the house
Observer New Review Q&A
David Byrne: 'Spike Lee and I have a lot in common'
October 2020
David Byrne's lockdown despair: 'I'd wake up and ask – What am I doing today and why?'
The Talking Heads frontman has taken up drawing to get him through the pandemic – and face down his fears. He talks us through his favourites, from Nature Man to Balanced Life
September 2020
David Byrne apologizes for donning blackface in 1984 video
Talking Heads frontman sorry for ‘a lack of real understanding’ over video from the Stop Making Sense concert film
