Film/Music -- Stop Making Sense

I wasn't sure what today's hot take was going to be about, and then I saw that Stop Making Sense was trending on Twitter, I clicked on it, learned it had been acquired by A24 and is going to be released in theaters, and thought, and said to more than one person, "ohh shitt!"

And, I mean, oh shit is right. The first time I saw it, just the first few songs, I was in my cramped Village law school housing apartment with a couple visiting college friends, we were all in a state primed for musical appreciation, and one of them broke out the DVD and said, "dude, you gotta check this out." I somehow had not gotten into Talking Heads at all, so this was basically my introduction to them, period, and I was immediately grabbed (I had heard "Psycho Killer" before, but I wasn't super familiar). The only thing that stopped us from sticking with it was the laptop speakers and our desire for food.

I think the second time was on my friend's desktop, with respectable computer speakers, and I remember bouncing around in my chair and tapping my feet for probably 90% of the performance. The grooves were just so infectious and compelling. Everything was money—the melodies, the chord progressions, the guitar patterns, the sick basslines (only much later did I learn that Tina Weymouth initially joined the band because she was dating Chris Frantz, didn't know how to play an instrument, and proceeded to teach herself the bass), the singing (David Byrne sounds less thin and twitchy, more dynamic and rich, than on the albums, and the backup singers/dancers add some awesome depth and harmonies), the multiple percussionists, the funky keyboards, and of course the fantastic songwriting.

Briefly, some favorite moments:

• Byrne rolling up with a boombox and saying, "Hi, I've got a tape I want to play"
• The way the backup singer in "Heaven" is not shown and it seems her voice is coming from on high
• The way band members keep being added throughout the first several songs
• The righteous groove of "Slippery People"
• The intensity and energy of "Burning Down the House" and "Life During Wartime"
• The physicality and weirdness of "Swamp"
• The best version of "This Must Be the Place"
• The incredibly catchy Tom Tom Club interlude "Genius of Love"