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| 1996 - Three Heads Keep on Rocking |
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From: Globe staff, 10/04/1996 Rock 'n' roll divorces can be as sad and acrimonious as maritalsplits. Or not. But just as the marital kind often leaves mutual friends in a queasy limbo, the rock 'n' roll kind leaves many more people - legions of fans - wondering where their alle giance should go. Or whether they should be paying attention at all. Now consider ... the Heads. Formerly, Talking Heads. They were a pioneering art-rock/new wave band that crashed CBGB's scene in the mid-1970s. They were one of the most progressive bands to cross over to the mainstream. Their leader, David Byrne, made the cover of Time. They've not been heard from since 1988. The Heads have an album out Tuesday called ``No Talking - Just Head'' on MCA. ``Triple entendres,'' says bassist Tina Weymouth, with a laugh. ``We wanted something that would tickle the mind intellectually and it will also tickle, you know. It's both amusing and darkly disturbing at the same time and this is a way to overcome all sorts of ridiculous hang-ups and just move on.'' The title song itself, sung by former Blondie singer Deborah Harry with words by Weymouth, is a vicious, funky little slasher. Questions bubble up: What does a band's name mean to you? To the band? What does it mean after one or more of the key players have left? Is it the sign of a dependable product? Does it signal a continuity? Or is it just brand-name positioning? A last-gasp attempt to hold on to an audience? The name of the band was almost neither Talking Heads nor Heads. That's because Byrne-, the ex-head of Talking Heads-, filed suit earlier this year against the remaining members of the band - Weymouth, drummer Chris Frantz and keyboardist Jerry Harrison - charging that using ``Heads'' would be ``wrongful use'' and ``dilution of a protectable trademark.'' The foursome ceased working together eight years ago. The three others learned Byrne chose not to work with them in a Los Angeles Times article. They let it linger for some time, but then decided they wanted to proceed. Byrne said no. Or, rather, his lawyers said no. Weymouth, Frantz and Harrison say they had no contact with Byrne. ``I'm talking about never being able to play what comes naturally to us,'' says Weymouth, from the Connecticut home she shares with her husband, Frantz, and their two boys. ``It was something forced on us. ... We begged David from 1988 on to do something with us. We tried all the time. You know, friendly persuasions. We would call and people would say he wasn't in town. Sometimes, we would even hear him - his laughter - in the background.'' It became clear in the spring of 1994 that Byrne and the remaining Heads would never work together again. The lawyers told the Heads to think of it as a divorce, says Weymouth. This isn't her favorite part of rock 'n' roll, discussing Byrne or what she sees as his paranoia, isolation, bullying and cowardice. But in telling the Heads' story, Weymouth knows she has to retrace steps. Some of the charges are astounding: Weymouth says Byrne - who was off to pursue his world-music interests - signed a lucrative solo deal and demanded Warner Bros. scuttle the Heads from its roster. ``He doesn't get it,'' says Weymouth. ``We tried very hard to reach him, but he's surrounded by greedy people who will do everything in their power to keep him away from us.. '' Suffice to say that Weymouth, Frantz and Harrison felt they were three-quarters Talking Heads and, even giving Byrne his due as the singer-guitarist-main songwriter, they felt they had the right to the name. He clearly didn't want to use it. He just wanted to prevent its use. Harrison, who has had substantial success as a producer, initially told Weymouth-Frantz they were crazy; a year later he threw in his lot with them. Byrne was the main guy. How much so? ``We were always a team,'' Weymouth. says. ``We always wrote. David was our frontman. He was very important. But we always wrote everything together, even when David put his name on it.'' The remaining Heads began to regroup in the fall of 1994, after Byrne formally severed ties. His suit was just recently dropped. The Heads get to be the Heads, and Byrne's lawyer told Billboard ``all four members own the name jointly'' and the three can use the name as long as certain conditions - which were not made public - are agreed upon. Byrne, who declined through a spokeswoman to be interviewed for this story, recently told the Associated Press, ``I'm pleased we reached a decision amicably with both sides negotiating fairly. ... I haven't heard it [the album] but I wish them all the best.'' So, what about the music? It's not the Tom Tom Club. That project (on hiatus) was Weymouth and Frantz's light dance-rap-pop outfit that scored with ``Wordy Rappinhood'' and ``Genius of Love.'' The melody of the latter song was plucked by Mariah Carey's people for her hit ``Fantasy.'' The royalties helped finance the Heads' recording sessions. The new Heads material - snaking, funky, brooding - is ``serious, angsty stuff,'' says Weymouth. Without a primary singer, the Heads put word out to their friends and peers and rounded up Harry, Richard Hell, Shaun Ryder (Black Grape), Ed Kowalcyzk (Live), Gordon Gano (Violent Femmes), Michael Hutchence (INXS), Andy Partridge (XTC) and Gavin Friday, among others. With the exception of Harry's ``No Talking - Just Head,'' the singers wrote their own lyrics. Johnette Napolitano - formerly of Concrete Blonde and Pretty &Twisted- is the touring lead singer. She sings ``Damage I've Done'' on the. disc. The so-called emphasis track, released last week, was the second most frequently added song on alternative radio across the country. Though the guest-singer lineup is unusual, Weymouth says, ``The Duke Ellington Band remained basically the same, but one time they would have Ella Fitzgerald and another time Louis Armstrong. Why not?'' There were polyrhythms and a sense of joyous release within Talking Heads' music, but also an undercurrent of darkness or danger. That remains. ``We've suffered,'' says Weymouth. ``We suffered all the pangs of blaming, forgiving, wishing revenge, all those things. Praying. Becoming sick. Depressed to the point where Chris and I did not play for eight months. I would wander. It was our 40 days in the desert.'' The Heads are slated to play the Paradise Nov. 8. (Tickets are not yet on sale.) They'll play most of the album, some Heads obscurities and some hits. Expect ``Life During Wartime,'' ``Psycho Killer,'' ``Once in a Lifetime'' and other old faves. How does Napolitano handle the male vocals? ``She's from Los Angeles. She's Italian,'' answers Weymouth. ``She's got all the passion and can run the whole range of emotions, from hot to cold.'' As to the older material, Weymouth says the challenge is to ``give them fresh. renewal. I hope it's not going to be nostalgia. Let's call it nowstalgia.'' / Rocking in their 40s has no negative aspect, says Weymouth. Older folks sometimes still expect you to put rock aside and move on to more ``serious'' music. Responds Weymouth: ``As if rock is pab lum. When are they going to move on from milk? Too many Americans drink milk.'' They may get a backlash - well, Rolling Stone's already ripped 'em - but Weymouth says, ``We couldn't care less about any sort of critical nonsense. We love David, but David has moved into his own little world and it doesn't include the rest of us.'' ``The old scars have healed now,'' says Weymouth, semi-sweetly. ``They're smooth now. I can run my fingers over them and it's not like putting your hands in the holes anymore.''
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