Burning down the house Talking Heads and the New York scene that transformed rock

Gould (Otis Redding, 2017) begins at the moment in June 1975, when Talking Heads made their professional debut on the stage of CBGB, a seedy nightclub on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Their look was ordinary ("unremarkable haircuts" and "casual clothes"), and their performance that night not particularly memorable. What did stand out was odd singer-guitarist David Byrne and the disquieting songs that reflected his unusual demeanor ("his upper body jerking and jiggling like a shadow puppet"). From the start, the band knew what they wanted and didn't want: no drama, no fancy stage clothes, no rock star poses. When Talking Heads emerged on the New York underground scene, the city was in dire financial straits and undergoing deep urban decay, while, ironically, arts like music, poetry, and theater were thriving. This is a finely detailed history of the musical evolution of a band that defined an era. Gould not only critiques Talking Heads albums but discusses solo works and film documentaries, including the blockbuster concert film, Stop Making Sense (his description of Byrne's Big Suit captures the joy, creativity, and absurdity of the image). Gould also finds fascinating parallels between Byrne and John Lennon, both outsiders unique in pop music. A masterful achievement.

Music historian Gould (Otis Redding) scrupulously traces the rise and fall of rock band Talking Heads against the backdrop of the volatile 1970s and '80s New York City art world. Lead singer David Byrne, bassist Tina Weymouth, and drummer Chris Frantz connected in 1973 at the Rhode Island School of Design over a shared love of blues, jazz, and funk music. After moving to New York in 1975 and embarking on a two-year residency at the legendary downtown punk-rock venue CBGB (and adding guitarist Jerry Harrison to the lineup in 1977), they signed with Sire Records, finding their musical footing with a sound shaped by punk, Afro-Cuban, and jazz influences. In 1977, the band released its debut album, Talking Heads: 77, and followed it up with multiple successful albums and solo projects. By the late 1980s, however, the group had begun to collapse under the weight of Byrne's artistic restlessness, which--abetted by communication issues and disputes over song credits--led to their 1991 breakup. Gould delivers a colorful and expansive genealogy of the band and the scruffy downtown music scene they helped form, though his efforts to show how the band influenced New York City culture at large can lead him down distracting tangents, such as an account of Philippe Petit's tightwire walk between the Twin Towers (and the many copycat acts he inspired). Still, devoted Talking Heads fans will want to pick this up. (June)

A warts-and-all biography of the New Wave legends. Gould (Can't Buy Me Love, 2007) begins his biography of art-rock legends Talking Heads with an account of the band's first show at legendary New York club CBGB, writing that the performance didn't call "attention to their musical virtuosity, for the simple reason that they had none." Maybe not, but a few pages later, he allows that the band's "combination of talent, originality, discipline, self-awareness, and steely artistic ambition would form the basis of a major musical career." Gould writes about their formation, when drummer Chris Frantz asked singer David Byrne if he wanted to start a band. "I guess so," was Byrne's halfhearted answer. He chronicles the band's early successes, which started with their debut album,Talking Heads: 77, and first hit song, "Psycho Killer," and continued through seven more studio albums. The portrait of the band that emerges is one marked by acrimony, with Frantz, bassist Tina Weymouth, and keyboardist Jerry Harrison never quite sure what Byrne was going to do; Gould partially attributes Byrne's caprice and lacking communication skills to his apparent Asperger's syndrome. (Weymouth, at one point, attributed it to Byrne being "a bully and a coward.") That the band would break up in 1991, after 16 years, does not come as a surprise; Gould writes about the band's dissolution with a sense of inevitable sadness that isn't leavened by their awkward, occasional reunions. The book is necessarily hampered by the fact that none of the Heads was willing to talk to Gould, which might be why he indulges in a series of odd tangents, writing about New York's political history and, bizarrely, a series of stunts involving the city's skyscrapers. Nonetheless, it's well written and informative--not the last word on the Talking Heads, but a respectable try. Fans of the band will find much to appreciate here. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.