Remain in Love: Talking Heads * Tom Tom Club * Tina by Chris Frantz

Chris Frantz is the drummer and co-founding member of Talking Heads; one of my favorite bands of all-time. He's also the husband of my favorite member of the band, Tina Weymouth. From reading this book, I also have learned that he's either an amazing storyteller or someone who incredibly happened to have amazing timing being involved in the formation of so many important bands and creation of pieces of music during the late 1970s through the early 1990s.

Frantz gives a nearly day by day account of how he met and wooed Tina during the early days of Talking Heads. Every stop on the band's inaugural tour of Europe opening for the Ramones is covered in depth. Chris's Kentucky wedding to Tina practically covers the entire guest list. And the married couple's origination of the Caribbean/pop/dancehall project, Tom Tom Club, due more to financial necessity than the ultimate achievement of a lifelong dream, goes through more twists and turns than a week's of soap opera. But when it comes to the demise of the band, Chris Frantz barely spends more than a dozen pages on the topic.

In 1984, while performing in New Zealand, frontman David Byrne stormed off stage and had to be prompted back to finish off the set by Frantz. That event which basically signalled the end of Talking Heads in concert as well as the beginning of the end of the band, isn't even mentioned in this book. One might argue that Byrne is the villain of the book. But I feel that despite as contrarian David Byrne was, not to mention devious and backstabbing he allegedly was, Frantz does a heck of a job giving the self-diagnosed autistic musician a heaping benefit of the doubt. 

One reason the end of the band isn't covered as in-depth as their origins is because how Frantz tries so very hard to focus on the happy times. The name of the book is 'Remain in Love'. However, it could also have something to do with the author's raging cocaine habit that developed right along with the end of Talking Heads. Maybe it's that period of time is too hard for Chris Frantz to document. Maybe his binges were so destructive, Chris just doesn't have very much memory of those times. 

I've gained an enormous amount of respect for Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth thanks to this book; though my level was already high before. I've also grown to appreciate the forgotten Head, Jerry Harrison, a lot more. I'm also listening to more Tom Tom Club than just 'Genius of Love'. An account of the career of the Ramones is definitely on my to-read list thanks to this biography. Though I doubt it's anywhere as rosy a read as this book was. But above all, I want to read David Byrne's side of the story. I think he deserves that chance before I finalize my opinion of him.

Oh... And before I forget! David, Chris, Jerry and Tina: can we please get 1 final tour before I die, please!!!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

They Made A Christmas Album?- Advent 2018: Day 13

Today's featured artist is another favorite of mine. Yet while I love the band that sings the song, I kinda hate the song they do. 

The band in question is The Ramones. The father's of punk! Since 1976, fans like myself have wanted to be sedated, take a trip to Rockaway Beach or get an education at Rock n' Roll High School. 

The original line-up of Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy Ramone weren't related. They got their name from a supposed alias used by Paul McCartney. Sadly, all of the original members had passed on but their music lives on forever.

Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) is really one of the band's least poppy songs. I love the Ramones for being fun even when the subject matter is kinda morbid; like a getting a lobotomy or sniffing glue. This holiday tune however, was really grim. But I think that was because the subject matter was too close to the band. None of them could ever really get along and it's no wonder that some of original members came and went as often as they did.

The song is from the band's 1989 release Brain Drain.  It's been long overshadowed by such hits as Pet Sematary (which was written for the Stephen King film of the same name) and their take on 1962's bubble-gum hit Palisades Park. Merry Christmas the only holiday song on the record. I'm not even sure why it was included seeing as the album was released in March of that year. (The record was recorded in December of '88- maybe that's something.)

So, without any further to-do, here's today's featured song. If it takes you out of the holiday mood, forgive me. I promise tomorrow should be cheerier or at least more fun...

Try to enjoy!

Archie Meets Ramones #1

 

  In perhaps the most unusual team-up ever, the Archies of Riverdale High Meet legendary punk group, the Ramones. Considering that all of the original line-up is sadly deceased, you might be asking just how in the heck is this possible. It’s what I asked myself when I saw this at my favorite LCS, Books Do Furnish a Room.

    The book starts in the modern day, where the Archies are struggling as a band. They can’t stay on key. They bicker and fight amongst themselves. And poppy tunes like Sugar, Sugar are just too outdated for today’s youth. Now a really bad set has the group in danger of losing the Battle of the Bands unless they can pull things together in Round 2.

  To boost morale, Riverdale schoolmate Sabrina presents Archie with a copy of the Ramones debut album as a sort of good luck charm. But when the ginger-haired teen plays the record it transports the Archies to New York City 1977! In the Big Apple, the teens meet the pioneering punk rockers who teach the time-warped teens how to dress, act, and play rock n’ roll! (Lesson #1: Play Loud!)

    This was actually pretty funny. Joey and Dee Dee Ramone have some great lines and I loved the nostalgia of it all. I was born in 1977 and I just adore about anything from that year. Punk rock, especially that of the Ramones, is part of that adoration of mine. (Be on the lookout for a great cameo from another pioneering band from that era as well as a very young and grungy looking Mr. Weatherbee!)

    It’s been a while since I read something published in this year that was just plain fun. I had a blast reading this- so much that I re-read many of my favorite parts over and over. And the variant covers- I had trouble choosing which one to get as many pay tribute to classic Ramones albums such as Rock n’ Rock High School. But I finally went with Dan Parent’s homage to the group’s debut album, Ramones.

    Archie Meets Ramones dropped yesterday and until I saw it at my comics shop, I didn’t know anything about it. Though Archie, Jughead, and the gang are presented in that rebooted Archie style of Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, this one-shot captured the fun of the classic Archie books quite well. If you are looking for a totally strange read that relives some of the good things of the 70s, then this is the book for you.

 

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

RIP: a fond farewell.

   Today, the last remaining original member of the punk rock band, the Ramones died today. Tommy Ramone was 62.

    Their heyday started right around 1977, the year I was born. So, naturally, I was a big fan of these guys. "I Wanna Be Sedated" was probably my favorite song, but I was also very keen to one of their more obscure songs- "The KKK Took My Baby Away." Interestingly enough, the song isn't in support of the Klan. In fact, it's a song about how a girl's racism caused the boyfriend to dump her. Who said punk music didn't have a message?

  Anyway, I just wanted to post a small tribute to not only Tommy, but to the band. Members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as Grammy winners, and stars of the off-the-wall but surprisingly tame Roger Corman classic, Rock n' Roll High School- Joey, Tommy, Dee Dee, and Johnny not only rocked our socks off (and make us wanna be sedated) but they inspired the next generation of rock musicians.

Their influence was limitless even if their time on earth was.