Remain in Light: Difference between revisions

From Talking Heads Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Added background about African influence on the record)
No edit summary
Line 56: Line 56:


=== African Influence ===
=== African Influence ===
''Remain in Light'' was heavily influenced by African dance music, most notably the [[High Life]] and [[Afrobeat]] music of [[Fela Kuti]]. Some articles following the release of the album, and continuing to today, often credit [[Brian Eno]] with alerting the group of this genre of music. In multiple interviews since then, all four core band members have discussed being interested in African music long before the recording of the album. In a 2024 interview, Harrison stated "''We were all in love with Fela Kuti. But I don’t know if Brian is the one who introduced us to it. Everyone in the band loved African music, like [[Manu Dibango]] and [[King Sunny Adé]]. I’d say if there was one single African artist I fell in love with it would be Fela.''"<ref>Malkin, John. “Love of Music | Good Times.” ''Good Times'', 14 Aug. 2024, www.goodtimes.sc/interview-harrison-belew-remain-in-light-tour/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.</ref>
''Remain in Light'' was heavily influenced by African dance music, most notably the [[High Life]] and [[Afrobeat]] music of [[Fela Kuti]]. Some articles following the release of the album, and continuing to today, often credit [[Brian Eno]] with alerting the group of this genre of music. In multiple interviews since then, all four core band members have discussed being interested in African music long before the recording of the album. In a 2024 interview, Harrison stated "''We were all in love with Fela Kuti. But I don’t know if Brian is the one who introduced us to it. Everyone in the band loved African music, like [[Manu Dibango]] and [[King Sunny Adé]]. I’d say if there was one single African artist I fell in love with it would be Fela.''"<ref name=":0">Malkin, John. “Love of Music | Good Times.” ''Good Times'', 14 Aug. 2024, www.goodtimes.sc/interview-harrison-belew-remain-in-light-tour/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.</ref>
 
This African influence had begun on the band's previous album ''[[Fear of Music]],'' most notably on the track "[[I Zimbra]]." Harrison has stated that "we all realized we were really excited about that track and that we wanted to do more of that."<ref name=":0" />


==Recording==
==Recording==

Revision as of 23:32, 20 August 2024

Remain in Light
Album cover containing four portraits covered by red blocks of colour, captioned "TALKING HEADS" (with inverted "A"s) at the top and (much smaller) "REMAIN IN LIGHT" at the bottom.
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 8, 1980 (1980-10-08)
RecordedJuly–August 1980
Studio
Genre
Length40:10
LabelSire
ProducerBrian Eno
Talking Heads chronology
Fear of Music
(1979)
Remain in Light
(1980)
The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
(1982)
Singles from Remain in Light
  1. Once in a Lifetime
    Released: January 1981
  2. Houses in Motion
    Released: May 1981
  3. Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
    Released: August 1981 (Japan)
  4. Crosseyed and Painless
    Released: November 1981 (Germany)
Back cover
Album cover containing a drawing of a mountain range and four mostly red warplanes flying in formation. There is green text on the left hand side and a barcode in the top right corner.
Artwork originally created as front cover

Remain in Light is the fourth studio album by Talking Heads, released on October 8, 1980, by Sire Records. Produced by Brian Eno, his third album with the band, the audio was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia during July and August 1980.

After the release of Fear of Music in 1979, Talking Heads and Eno sought to dispel notions of the band as a mere vehicle for frontman and songwriter David Byrne. Drawing influence from Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, they blended African polyrhythms and funk with electronics, recording instrumental tracks as a series of loopin grooves. The sessions incorporated a variety of side musicians, including guitarist Adrian Belew, singer Nona Hendryx, and trumpet player Jon Hassell.

Byrne struggled with writer's block, but adopted a scattered, stream-of-consciousness lyrical style inspired by early rap and academic literature on Africa. The artwork was conceived by bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz, and crafted with the help of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's computers and design company M&Co. The band hired additional members for a promotional tour, and following its completion, they went on a year-long hiatus to pursue side projects.

Remain in Light was acclaimed by critics, who praised its sonic experimentation, rhythmic innovations, and cohesive merging of disparate genres. The album peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard 200 and number 21 on the UK Albums Chart, and spawned the single Once in a Lifetime and Houses in Motion. It has been featured in several publications' lists of the best albums of the 1980s and of all time, and is often considered Talking Heads' magnum opus. In 2017, the Library of Congress deemed the album "culturally, historically, or artistically significant", and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

Background

African Influence

Remain in Light was heavily influenced by African dance music, most notably the High Life and Afrobeat music of Fela Kuti. Some articles following the release of the album, and continuing to today, often credit Brian Eno with alerting the group of this genre of music. In multiple interviews since then, all four core band members have discussed being interested in African music long before the recording of the album. In a 2024 interview, Harrison stated "We were all in love with Fela Kuti. But I don’t know if Brian is the one who introduced us to it. Everyone in the band loved African music, like Manu Dibango and King Sunny Adé. I’d say if there was one single African artist I fell in love with it would be Fela."[1]

This African influence had begun on the band's previous album Fear of Music, most notably on the track "I Zimbra." Harrison has stated that "we all realized we were really excited about that track and that we wanted to do more of that."[1]

Recording

Release

Remain in Light released on October 8, 1980.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by David Byrne, except Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) and Crosseyed and Painless, written by David Byrne and Brian Eno; all music is composed by Byrne, Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)"5:49
2."Crosseyed and Painless"4:48
3."The Great Curve"6:28
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Once in a Lifetime"4:19
2."Houses in Motion"4:33
3."Seen and Not Seen"3:25
4."Listening Wind"4:43
5."The Overload"6:25

Personnel

Those involved in the making of Remain in Light were:Template:Sfn

Talking Heads

  • David Byrne – lead vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass, percussion, vocal arrangements
  • Jerry Harrison – keyboards, guitars, percussion, backing vocals
  • Tina Weymouth – keyboards, bass, percussion, backing vocals
  • Chris Frantz – keyboards, drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

Production

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 Malkin, John. “Love of Music | Good Times.” Good Times, 14 Aug. 2024, www.goodtimes.sc/interview-harrison-belew-remain-in-light-tour/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.