Talking Heads were an otherworldly live act in addition to all of the highly influential albums the band released before parting ways in 1991. Unfortunately, there aren’t many full-show Talking Heads live videos that circulate. Thankfully, a pristine transfer featuring the group’s set at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982 recently surfaced on YouTube and can be viewed below as this week’s Full Show Friday selection.
While Talking Heads officially disbanded in 1991, the band’s final live performances came in 1984 outside a reunion to celebrate their Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction in 2002. Both 1982 and 1983 were fairly active years with the former featuring stops around the world and the latter including shows in the U.S. and Canada that saw David Byrne sport his “big suit” as chronicled in the legendary Stop Making Sense concert film.
On July 9, 1982 Talking Heads brought their The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads Tour to Switzerland for an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The set was filmed by Swiss TV-SSR with audio broadcast on FM radio.
Talking Heads co-founders David Byrne (guitar, vocals); Tina Weymouth (bass, vocals); Chris Frantz (drums) and Jerry Harrison (keyboards, guitar, vocals) were joined by their touring band consisting of Alex Weir (guitar, vocals); Raymond Jones (keyboards); Steve Scales (percussion) and Dolette McDonald (vocals, percussion). Additionally, keyboardist Tyrone Downey and Tina’s sisters, vocalists Lani and Laura Weymouth contributed to the “Take Me To The River” encore. Tina, Lani, Laura, Chris, Steve, Alex and Tyrone opened with a Tom Tom Club set. YouTuber Oh No Compassion, who shared the new Montreux Talking Heads transfer, promised the Tom Tom Club set will be uploaded soon.
“Psycho Killer” kicked off the set and issues with the mix are resolved within a minute of the video starting. Talking Heads then powers through “Cities” before Byrne’s “Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open)” is followed by Remain In Light hit “Once In A Lifetime.” The expanded band continued on with “Mind,” “My Big Hands (Fall Through The Cracks),” “Big Business” and a percussion-fueled “I Zimbra.” Next came an early version of “Swamp” played nearly a year before a studio version arrived on 1983’s Speaking In Tongues LP.
Jerry Harrison’s “Slink” saw action following “Swamp” and then Talking Heads returned to Remain In Light for “Houses In Motion.” From there the iconic band served up Byrne’s “What A Day That Was.” The ensuing “Life During Wartime” that closed the set is a highlight of the night. The aforementioned “Take Me To The River” ends the video. Oh No Compassion had to use a low quality recording for “Take Me To The River” as the encore was missing from the rest of the footage.
See Talking Heads’ July 9, 1982 concert in Montreux, Switzerland:
Setlist
Set: Psycho Killer, Cities, Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open), Once in a Lifetime, Mind, My Big Hands (Fall Through the Cracks), Big Business, I Zimbra, Swamp, Slink, Houses in Motion, What a Day That Was, Life During Wartime, Take Me To The River
