The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads

The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads is a double live album by the American new wave band Talking Heads, released in 1982 by Sire Records. The first LP features the original quartet in concert and radio recordings in 1977 and 1979, and the second LP features the expanded ten-piece lineup that toured in 1980 and 1981.

The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
2004 2-CD reissue cover
Live album by Talking Heads
Released	March 24, 1982[1]
Recorded	November 17, 1977 – February 27, 1981
Genre	New wave funk art punk
Length	81:37 (original album) 156:30 (expanded CD release)
Label	Sire, Rhino (reissue)
Producer	Talking Heads
Talking Heads chronology
Remain in Light (1980) The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982) Speaking in Tongues (1983)
Singles from The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
"Life During Wartime" Released: 1982 "Love → Building on Fire / I Zimbra" Released: 1982 (France) "Take Me to the River / Air" Released: 1982 (Netherlands)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Blender	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	A[4]
Mojo	[5]
Pitchfork	9.2/10[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	8/10[9]
Uncut	[10]
The Village Voice	A−[11]

Though a decent commercial and critical success upon release, The Name of This Band was somewhat overshadowed by Talking Heads' subsequent live album and concert film Stop Making Sense. However, it went on to attract greater retrospective acclaim, with critics remarking on its importance in documenting the band's artistic growth.^[2][6]

Reissues

An expanded version of the record was released on CD in 2004 by Sire/Warner Bros./Rhino, marking the album's first ever CD release in the United States. It duplicated the pattern of the original album, with the first disc featuring the quartet alone and the second disc the ten-member band. Eight additional performances from 1978 and 1979 were added to the first disc, and seven additional tracks from the 1980–81 tour were added to the second disc, with the latter disc featuring a reconfigured running order reflecting the tour's set list from the larger band. However, the introduction to the song "Crosseyed and Painless" was edited out on this CD version.

In 2013, Rhino reissued the vinyl version of the album (on the original Sire label), again without bonus tracks, but with the longer version of "Crosseyed and Painless". The original design of the packaging was also replicated, but the LPs were packaged in plastic sleeves. The album also utilized the original analog mastering for the LP from 1982^{[citation needed]}.

Track listing

Original LP (1982)

Information sourced from original 1982 LP liner notes^[12] and 2004 CD reissue liner notes.^[1]

All tracks are written by David Byrne, unless otherwise noted.

Side one (1977)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording info	Length
1.	"New Feeling"		WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977	3:10
2.	"A Clean Break (Let's Work)"		WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977	4:57
3.	"Don't Worry About the Government"		WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977	3:08
4.	"Pulled Up"		WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977	4:08
5.	"Psycho Killer"	Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth	WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977	5:34
Total length:				20:57

Side two (1979)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording info	Length
1.	"Artists Only"	Byrne, Wayne Zieve	Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17th, 1979	3:48
2.	"Stay Hungry"	Byrne, Frantz	Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17th, 1979	4:00
3.	"Air"		Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17th, 1979	4:09
4.	"Love → Building on Fire"		Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17th, 1979	3:36
5.	"Memories (Can't Wait)"	Byrne, Jerry Harrison	Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17th, 1979	3:58
Total length:				19:31 (40:28)

Side three (1980)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording info	Length
1.	"I Zimbra"	Byrne, Brian Eno, Hugo Ball	Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; November 8–9, 1980	3:33
2.	"Drugs"	Byrne	Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; November 8–9, 1980	4:47
3.	"Houses in Motion"	Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth	Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; November 8–9, 1980	7:00
4.	"Life During Wartime"	Byrne	Central Park, New York City, New York; August 27, 1980	5:03
Total length:				20:23

Side four (1980)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording info	Length
1.	"The Great Curve"	Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth	Central Park, New York City, New York; August 27, 1980	6:58
2.	"Crosseyed and Painless"	Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth	Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; November 8–9, 1980	7:05
3.	"Take Me to the River"	Al Green, Mason Hodges	Central Park, New York City, New York; August 27, 1980	6:43
Total length:				20:46 (41:09) (81:37)

CD reissue (2004)

All tracks are written by David Byrne, unless otherwise noted.

Disc one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording info	Length
1.	"New Feeling"		WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977	3:09
2.	"A Clean Break (Let's Work)"		WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977	5:05
3.	"Don't Worry About the Government"		WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977	3:03
4.	"Pulled Up"		WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977	4:04
5.	"Psycho Killer"	Byrne, Weymouth, Frantz	WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977	5:31
6.	"Who Is It?"		WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977; bonus track, previously unissued	1:44
7.	"The Book I Read"		WCOZ broadcast, Northern Studio, Maynard, Massachusetts; November 17, 1977; bonus track, previously unissued	4:22
8.	"The Big Country"		WXRT broadcast, the Park West, Chicago, Illinois; August 23, 1978; bonus track, previously unissued	5:09
9.	"I'm Not in Love"		KSAN broadcast, the Boarding House, San Francisco, California; September 16, 1978; bonus track, previously unissued	4:57
10.	"The Girls Want to Be With the Girls"		The Agora, Cleveland, Ohio; December 18, 1978; bonus track, previously issued on Live on Tour: The Warner Bros. Music Show (1979)	3:44
11.	"Electricity (Drugs)"		The Agora, Cleveland, Ohio; December 18, 1978; bonus track, previously issued on Live on Tour: The Warner Bros. Music Show (1979)	3:28
12.	"Found a Job"		The Agora, Cleveland, Ohio; December 18, 1978; bonus track, previously issued on Live on Tour: The Warner Bros. Music Show (1979)	5:35
13.	"Mind"		WBCN broadcast, Berklee Performance Center, Boston, Massachusetts; August 24, 1979; bonus track, previously unissued	4:55
14.	"Artists Only"	Byrne, Zieve	Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17, 1979	3:49
15.	"Stay Hungry"	Byrne, Frantz	Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17, 1979	4:05
16.	"Air"		Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17, 1979	4:01
17.	"Love → Building on Fire"		Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17, 1979	3:47
18.	"Memories (Can't Wait)"	Byrne, Harrison	Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17, 1979	3:44
19.	"Heaven"	Byrne, Harrison	Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey; November 17, 1979; bonus track, previously unissued	4:31
Total length:				78:43

Disc two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording info	Length
1.	"Psycho Killer"	Byrne, Weymouth, Frantz	Sun Plaza Concert Hall, Tokyo, Japan; February 27, 1981; bonus track, previously unissued	5:33
2.	"Warning Sign"	Byrne, Frantz	Sun Plaza Concert Hall, Tokyo, Japan; February 27, 1981; bonus track, previously unissued	5:40
3.	"Stay Hungry"	Byrne, Frantz	Sun Plaza Concert Hall, Tokyo, Japan; February 27, 1981; bonus track, previously unissued	3:56
4.	"Cities"		Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; November 8–9, 1980	5:00
5.	"I Zimbra"	Byrne, Eno, Ball	Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; November 8–9, 1980	3:30
6.	"Drugs (Electricity)"	Byrne	Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; November 8–9, 1980	4:41
7.	"Once in a Lifetime"	Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth	Sun Plaza Concert Hall, Tokyo, Japan; February 27, 1981; bonus track, previously unissued	5:57
8.	"Animals"		Sun Plaza Concert Hall, Tokyo, Japan; February 27, 1981; bonus track, previously unissued	4:05
9.	"Houses in Motion"	Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth	Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; November 8–9, 1980	6:54
10.	"Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)"	Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth	Sun Plaza Concert Hall, Tokyo, Japan; February 27, 1981; bonus track, previously unissued	8:24
11.	"Crosseyed and Painless"	Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth	Emerald City, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, November 8–9, 1980; truncated version from original release	5:58
12.	"Life During Wartime"	Byrne, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth	Central Park, New York City, New York; August 27, 1980	4:54
13.	"Take Me to the River"	Green, Hodges	Central Park, New York City, New York; August 27, 1980	6:33
14.	"The Great Curve"	Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth	Central Park, New York City, New York; August 27, 1980	6:42
Total length:				77:47 (156:30)

Personnel

Talking Heads

• David Byrne – guitar, vocals
• Chris Frantz – drums
• Tina Weymouth – bass guitar, synthesizer, percussion, backing vocals
• Jerry Harrison – guitar, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Adrian Belew – guitar, backing vocals
• Nona Hendryx – backing vocals on "Life During Wartime", "Take Me to the River", and "The Great Curve"
• Busta "Cherry" Jones – additional bass guitar
• Dolette McDonald – percussion, backing vocals
• Steve Scales – congas, percussion
• Bernie Worrell – keyboards, backing vocals

Technical

• Talking Heads – producer, mixing assistant
• David Hewett – audio engineer
• Kooster McAllister – engineer
• Rod O'Brien – engineer
• Katshuiko Sato – engineer
• Brian Eno – assistant engineer
• Ed Stasium – mixing engineer
• Butch Jones – mixing assistant
• Clive Brinkwood – mastering engineer
• Greg Calbi – mastering engineer
• Jeff Shaw – mastering engineer

Reissue personnel

• Gary Stewart – producer
• Andy Zax – producer
• Dave Artale – mixing engineer
• Ken Rasek – mixing engineer
• Bob Ludwig – remastering engineer

Charts

Chart (1982)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[13]	41
Billboard Pop Albums[14]	31

Chart (2013)	Peak position
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[15]	16