Maps of Music

Remain in Light (1980)

Where the lyrics of Remain in Light take you, and where it was really made.

The album was first worked on under the title Melody Attack, but the design process led the band to rename it Remain in Light.

Key places

Compass Point Studios, Nassau (1980)

Recording site Compass Point Studios — The album was recorded here in July and August 1980, with the band's instrumental grooves built in this Bahamas studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Sigma Sound Studios, New York City (1980)

Recording site Sigma Sound Studios — After returning to New York, the band recorded vocals and overdubs at this studio, which Harrison had booked mainly for R&B work. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Eldorado Studios, Burbank (1980)

Recording site Eldorado Recording Studios — In August 1980 Byrne and Dave Jerden mixed the second half of the album at this Burbank studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Remain in Light: fourth studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads
• Released October 8, 1980 by Sire Records
• Third and final album produced by Brian Eno
• Recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and Sigma Sound Studios in New York, July and August 1980
• Reached No. 19 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and No. 21 on the UK Albums Chart
• Singles: Once in a Lifetime, Houses in Motion
• Often considered Talking Heads' magnum opus

Background

• Recorded after Talking Heads and Eno made More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978) and Fear of Music (1979)
• The band wanted to dispel the idea that it was only a vehicle for David Byrne
• Drew on Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, blending African polyrhythms and funk with electronics
• Instrumental tracks were recorded as looping grooves rather than traditional song structures
• Frantz and Weymouth considered leaving the band before a Caribbean trip, after which they bought an apartment above Compass Point Studios

Recording

• Sessions began at Compass Point Studios in July 1980
• Sections were recorded one at a time, with loops playing a key part
• Byrne wrote the lyrics after the band returned to the U.S., in New York and California
• Harrison booked the band into Sigma Sound, which focused mainly on R&B
• Guitarist Adrian Belew was recruited to add guitar solos to the Bahamas tracks
• Jon Hassell added trumpet and horn overdubs; Nona Hendryx sang backing vocals
• In August 1980, half the album was mixed in New York by Eno, Harrison and John Potoker, and the other half by Byrne and Dave Jerden at Eldorado Studios in Burbank

Cover

• Cover art was conceived by Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz with help from MIT researcher Walter Bender and his team
• Front cover uses doctored band portraits; the back cover shows red warplanes over the Himalayas
• Remaining artwork and liner notes were done by Tibor Kalman and his company M & Co.
• The cover is often cited as one of the first record jackets designed with computers

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Artist

Formation

• Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1975.
• Byrne, Frantz, and Weymouth met at the Rhode Island School of Design, where they formed the Artistics in 1973.
• After moving to New York, they took the name Talking Heads, joined the New York punk scene, and recruited Jerry Harrison in January 1977.
• They signed to Sire Records in November 1976 and released their debut album Talking Heads: 77 in 1977.

Members

• David Byrne: lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion (1975–1991, 2002).
• Chris Frantz: drums, percussion, backing vocals (1975–1991, 2002).
• Tina Weymouth: bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1975–1991, 2002).
• Jerry Harrison: keyboards, guitar, backing vocals (1977–1991, 2002).
• Additional musicians including Adrian Belew, Bernie Worrell, and Nona Hendryx joined the band's shows and sessions in the 1980s.

Career

• The band collaborated with producer Brian Eno on More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978), Fear of Music (1979), and Remain in Light (1980).
• Their cover of Al Green's "Take Me to the River" was their first Billboard Top 30 hit.
• Speaking in Tongues (1983) brought mainstream commercial success, including the Top 10 hit "Burning Down the House".
• Stop Making Sense (1984), directed by Jonathan Demme, is often regarded as the greatest concert film of all time.
• Little Creatures (1985) was their best-selling studio album.
• Byrne left in 1991 and the band disbanded; they reunited briefly in 2002 for their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
• Four Talking Heads albums appeared on Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone (Ken Tucker): called it a brave and absorbing attempt to find common ground among the era's divergent and often hostile musical genres
• The Village Voice (Robert Christgau): described Byrne conquering his fear of music in a visionary Afrofunk synthesis
• Billboard: wrote that nearly every LP Talking Heads had released in the previous four years had landed on critics' best-of lists
• Sounds (Sandy Robertson): praised the record's innovation
• The New York Times (John Rockwell): suggested it confirmed the band's position as America's most venturesome rock band

Reappraisal

• AllMusic (William Ruhlmann): the musical transition first seen on Fear of Music came to full fruition here
• Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995): Jeff Salamon praised Eno for reining in excessive appropriations of African music
• Slant Magazine (Barry Walsh, 2004): labeled the results simply magical
• Vibe (Sean Fennessey, 2008): concluded the band took African polyrhythms to NYC and returned with elegant, alien post-punk
• Paste (2016): named it the fourth-best post-punk album

Records

• U.S. Billboard 200 peak: No. 19
• UK Albums Chart peak: No. 21
• Canada: certified gold in February 1981 after shipping 50,000 copies
• United States: certified gold in September 1985 after shipping 500,000
• Over one million copies sold worldwide
• Named the best album of 1980 by Sounds and Melody Maker; sixth-best by NME
• Third-best in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll for 1980
• Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums: No. 126
• Library of Congress selected it for the National Recording Registry in 2017

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The working title during studio sessions was Melody Attack, taken from a Japanese game show of the same name.
• Design work led the band to decide the title was too flippant for the music, so they adopted Remain in Light instead.
• For the tours the band expanded to nine musicians, with Bernie Worrell and Adrian Belew among the additions.
• Eno advised the band that the music was too dense for a quartet to perform live.
• Radiohead credited the album as an influence on their fourth album, Kid A (2000).
• Byrne likened the looping recording method to modern sampling, saying the band were human samplers.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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