Stop Making Sense

David Byrne has taken the stage. Then Tina Weymouth (my favorite) and then her husband Chris Frantz arrive. Finally, it's the one everybody forgets about, utility man Jerry Harrison. The Talking Heads are back live. At least in film. 

I love the Talking Heads. Their first album was in 1977. Being born in 1977, I am obsessed with any and everything that happened during my birth year. The band hasn't gotten back together to perform since 1991 when they officially disbanded. There's the one-off of when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame which I don't count as I'd never be able to have gotten tickets for that. At least once a month, I get onto social media requesting the band reform for a concert tour, just so I can see them in person before I die or any of them do. Whichever comes first. This 40th anniversary re-release might be the closest I ever get to seeing them perform live.

Stop Making Sense was released in 1984. Filmed by Jonatham Demme, several years away from making his Best Picture Oscar winning Silence of the Lambs, the movie has been considered the 'greatest concert film of all-time.' The film was a combination of sets over 4 nights in December of 1983. I had seen bits and pieces of it whenever it would appear on HBO or whatever premium movie channel was on at my grandparents. But never in its entirety. 

I had read a couple of months ago that Stop Making Sense was going to be shown in a limited market run. As much as I wanted to see it, I thought that the odds of getting to see it were very slim. I had sorta put the movie out of my mind until I saw a trailer for it a couple of weeks ago. Enthralled by the cinematography as well as the music, I started checking local theaters to see if any in my area were going to be showing it. I got lucky with the Chelsea Theater in Chapel Hill, NC; a cute little independent cinema that seems to worship film history. 

Stop Making Sense is only 90 minutes long. But it feels longer. There are a total of 16 songs and yet with very little to no pause between any of them, it's a rapid fire of Talking Heads early standards, David Bryne solos and a Tom Tom Club classic. My wife commented that it's no wonder David Bryne was so thin considering the workout he puts in through quick costume changes, gyrations and the running of laps!

I found myself having a new-found respect for Jerry Harrison. As I mentioned earlier, he's often the forgotten fourth member of the band. Yet, he does everything from lead guitar to synthesizers and keyboards. Plus, along with Chris Frantz, he always looks like he's having a ton of fun. Speaking of Frantz, he looks like a typical 1980s dad. Wearing a polo shirt and khakis while playing the drums, he could have been my dad goofing around with a garage band instead of a rock star.. For a drummer with such an explosive sound, Frantz' kit is really stripped down. And then there's Tina Weymouth. 

Most everyone says that David Byrne is their favorite Talking Head. I say that if you are a really Heads fan, Tina Weymouth is your favorite member. What she does with 4 bass strings is unlike any artist of the last 50 years. Tina's bass-lines are what give each song their energy. I just wish Psycho Killer, which opens the film, was done like the original recording and not acoustic. With only Byrne, a standard non-electric guitar and a hidden drum machine, that magic beat of a stalking murdering maniac is missing. It's just not something that I could dance to with my goat. 

Stop Making Sense was also released in IMAX. The closest IMAX from my home town is like an hour or more away. I didn't feel like I was missing anything by going to a smaller screen as I don't need to know how many nose hairs David Byrne has. However, I've heard that  Rhino Records is re-issuing the film's soundtrack. Now that is something I will need to find!

And yes, I do dance to Psycho Killer with my adopted goat. Doesn't everyone?

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 23

 

Roots is the main topic of this January 27th copy of Jet.

Yesterday I promised that I'd be covering a big cultural touchstone today. It fact, it's pretty massive. 40 years ago today, the epic miniseries Roots debuted on ABC. Based on Alex Haley's 1976 novel of the same, it was a massive hit featuring a slew of stars. Over the course of 8-nights, Root was literally the only thing anyone watched.

First Edition Cover of the novel.

     Roots was the number one program watched on all 8 nights it aired. Forty years later, every episode still ranks in the top 100 viewed American TV shows of all-time. In 1977 in an America which still had a long way to go in the ways of Civil Rights and race relations, this program attracted viewers of all races and ages. In fact, there's been documented proof that some viewers even changes their views on race (for the better) thanks to Roots. I think one reason Roots appealed to everyone was it's huge all-star cast!

     Beloved actors like Ed Asner (Lou Grant) and Robert Reed (The Brady Bunch) shocked views as sadistic slave traders and owners. Louis Gossett Jr. (Enemy Mine), Ben Vereen (Pippin), John Amos (Good Times), and Cicely Tyson wowed in their performances as slaves forced to work in a world that was not their own, and really didn't want them either. Big names such as Sandy Duncan, Yvonne DeCarlo, Burl Ives, and Lorne Greene also played bit roles throughout the course of this epic program. But the actor who literally stole the show was newcomer LeVar Burton.

Author Alex Haley, circa 1986.

     Burton played the younger version of Kunta Kinte, a young African male who Alex Haley credits as his first descendant into the New World. I later feel in love with LeVar Burton thanks to his tireless work as on Reading Rainbow and as Star Trek: The Next Generation's  Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge. 

Publicity still of LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte.

      The aftermath of Roots was mixed. As I mentioned, lives changed for the better and the miniseries racked up over a dozen Emmy and Golden Globes. But Roots also resulted in 2 lawsuits. Haley was sued by two authors for plagiarism and the author actually settled with one of them, confessing that he took some parts from a 1967 book called The African.

     Despite the scandal behind Roots, it's legacy has been long and positive. Two sequels and a spin-off  were produced. One of which was a 1988 Christmas themed film, that saw Burton returning to the role that made him a star, Kunta Kinte. In 2016, a remake aired on the History Channel but it didn't garner nowhere near as many viewers as the original ever did.

Online advertisement for the 2016 History Channel remake.

    I have to admit that I've only seen about half of Roots. At 9 hours, it's long. Add commercials and for a child or teen, it can be darn right infinite. But I remember watching some of it during a holiday break of some sort. I wish I could just remember when I saw what I did.

    Honestly, I also lost interest after LeVar Burton's role in the film was done. Don't get mad- there's nothing wrong with that. Shows lose actors all the time and when they go, so do viewers. Oddly enough, when Roots first aired, the ratings for the later episodes improved! 

      Speaking of odd, I can't find a listing of Roots airing in some sort of celebratory fashion on TV. So many other great shows get anniversary specials. So why not this one? Yes, Roots has gotten lots of due respect and love on many other retrospective programs. But really, TV Land or BET or even ABC dropped the ball on this one by not airing the program or even an anniversary special about it. 

     Maybe you can Netflix it...