The Talking Heads came out of the same seminal New York punk scene that spawned Patti Smith, Television, Blondie, the Ramones and a bunch of other great bands in the mid seventies. They were among the first bands from that scene to score some commercial success, in 1977, with their cover of Al Green's "Take Me To The River." They'd have a couple more hits over the next decade. One of their biggest was 1983's "Burning Down The House."This vid is everything a vid should be-- vaguely thematic, anarchic and damned funny. I especially love the scene in which the band member's alteregos vie to control their instruments. And the song has got one of my favorite-ever lines in a song: "Watch out-- you might get what you're after" I've always taken the song to be them unabashedly celebrating their success-- refreshing, in a world where rock stars are always whining about "the cost" of their success.
Click on the link below to see the vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNnAvTTaJjM
6 comments:
Still love that song
Plus, they worked with Eno, which is awesome.
Ah, that takes me back.
When I was first year in college, in 1983, we had not only the scheduled fire drills but fairly frequent fire alarms caused by pranksters pulling the alarm for fun. Two to three times a month, we'd be standing outside the dorm at 2:00 a.m. or so, waiting to be allowed back in. After we'd go back in, everyone would blare "Burning Down the House" on their stereos. Good times...
That came out my first year in college. I couldn't go to a bar or a dorm party without hearing that and "Safety Dance".
Groovy! That was a cool movie, too. In concert, I remember they flashed images on screens, seemingly at random like cutups. Real hepcats.
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