More Songs About Buildings and Food
| More Songs About Buildings and Food | ||||
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| File:TalkingHeadsMoreSongsAboutBuildingsandFood.jpg | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 14, 1978 | |||
| Recorded | March–April 1978 | |||
| Studio | Compass Point Studios | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 41:32 | |||
| Label | Sire | |||
| Producer |
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| Talking Heads chronology | ||||
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| Singles from More Songs About Buildings and Food | ||||
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More Songs About Buildings and Food is the second studio album by Talking Heads, released on July 14, 1978, by Sire Records. It was the first of three albums produced by collaborator Brian Eno, and saw the band move toward an increasingly danceable style, crossing singer David Byrne's unusual delivery with new emphasis on the rhythm section composed of bassist Tina Weymouth and her husband, drummer Chris Frantz.
More Songs established Talking Heads as a critical success, reaching number 29 on the US Billboard Pop Albums chart and number 21 on the UK Albums Chart. The album featured the band's first top-thirty single, a cover of Al Green's Take Me to the River.
Artwork and title
The front cover of the album, conceived by Byrne and executed by artist Jimmy De Sana, is a photomosaic of the band comprising 529 close-up Polaroid photographs. The album's rear cover shows "Portrait U.S.A.", the first satellite color analog photomosaic of the United States from space, created by NASA and GE for National Geographic, published in July 1976. In his 2020 memoir, Remain in Love, Frantz recalled that Byrne and Weymouth took the Polaroid photographs for the front cover on the roof of the loft building in Long Island City that Frantz and Weymouth lived in. Frantz wrote that he "later realized [the cover art] was 'heavily influenced' by Andrea Kovacs' work. We should have given her credit for that."
Of the album title, Weymouth told Creem in a 1979 interview:
When we were making this album I remembered this stupid discussion we had about titles for the last album. At that time I said, 'What are we gonna call an album that's just about buildings and food?' And Chris said, 'You call it more songs about buildings and food.'
XTC frontman Andy Partridge later claimed that he gave the title to Byrne.
Release
More Songs About Buildings and Food was released on July 14, 1978. It peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The album's sole single, a cover of the Al Green hit "Take Me to the River", peaked at number 26 on the pop singles chart in 1979. The single pushed the album to gold record status.
Track listing
All tracks are written by David Byrne, except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" | 2:11 | |
| 2. | "With Our Love" | 3:30 | |
| 3. | "The Good Thing" | 3:03 | |
| 4. | "Warning Sign" | Byrne, Chris Frantz | 3:55 |
| 5. | "The Girls Want to Be with the Girls" | 2:37 | |
| 6. | "Found a Job" (*) | 5:00 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Artists Only" | Byrne, Wayne Zieve | 3:34 |
| 2. | "I'm Not in Love" | 4:33 | |
| 3. | "Stay Hungry" | Byrne, Frantz | 2:39 |
| 4. | "Take Me to the River" | Al Green, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges | 5:00 |
| 5. | "The Big Country" | 5:30 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Stay Hungry" (1977 version) | Byrne, Frantz | 3:45 |
| 13. | "I'm Not in Love" (alternate version) | 5:15 | |
| 14. | "The Big Country" (alternate version) | 5:01 | |
| 15. | "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" ("Country Angel" version) | 2:12 |
- Note
(*)Mixed at Mediasound Studios by Brian Eno and Ed Stasium
Personnel
Talking Heads
- David Byrne – lead vocals, guitars, synthesized percussion
- Chris Frantz – drums, percussion
- Jerry Harrison – piano, organ, synthesizer, guitar, backing vocals
- Tina Weymouth – bass guitar
Additional musicians
- Brian Eno – synthesizers, piano, guitar, percussion, backing vocals
- "Tina and the Typing Pool" (Tina Weymouth plus women who worked in the studio offices) – backing vocals on "The Good Thing"
Production
- Benji Armbrister – assistant engineer
- Rhett Davies – engineer, mixing
- Joe Gastwirt – mastering
- Ed Stasium – mixing on "Found a Job"
- Michael "Wayne" Zieve – Composer, Lyricist on "Artists Only"