Stop Making Sense (album)

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Stop Making Sense
Soundtrack by Talking Heads
Released	October 15, 1984 (1984-10-15)
Recorded	December 1983 (1983-12)
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	39:37 (original) 46:27 (cassette and CD) 74:27 (1999 "Special New Edition")
Label	Sire
Producer	Gary Goetzman
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link All Music Guide link (Special Edition re-release) Robert Christgau (B+) link Rolling Stone link
Talking Heads chronology
Speaking in Tongues (1983) Stop Making Sense (1984) Little Creatures (1985)
Singles from Stop Making Sense
"Once in a Lifetime" Released: February 1984 (1984-02) "Slippery People" Released: October 1984 (1984-10) "Girlfriend Is Better" Released: December 1984 (1984-12)
1999 Re-release cover
"Special New Edition"

The soundtrack album to the motion picture Stop Making Sense was released in 1984 which featured only nine of the songs from the movie, many of them heavily edited. The album spent over two years (118 weeks) on the Billboard 200 chart.

Byrne's intention was not to make a traditional soundtrack album, but to have it be a separate experience. The most noticeable difference is that all of Chris Frantz's acoustic drumming is replaced with synthesized drum sounds, most likely triggered samples. Limited pressings of the original LP version featured a full color picture book wrapped around the album jacket. Regular versions had many of the pictures and captions on the album's inner sleeve. In 1999, to correspond with the theatrical re-release of the movie, the album was extended and remastered, restoring all of the songs from the movie with only very minor edits. The newly included tracks feature Frantz's original drumming from the concert recordings. In 2003, the album was ranked number 345 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Film/Special New Edition Soundtrack 2 Personnel 2.1 Additional personnel 2.2 Charts 2.3 Certifications

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth except as noted. ^[1]

1. "Psycho Killer" (Byrne, Frantz, Weymouth) – 4:28
2. "Swamp" – 3:50 (LP) 4:28 (cassette, CD)
3. "Slippery People" – 3:35 (LP) 4:13 (different mix; cassette, CD)
4. "Burning Down the House" – 4:14
5. "Girlfriend Is Better" – 3:32 (LP) 5:07 (cassette, CD)
6. "Once in a Lifetime" (Byrne, Brian Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth) – 4:34 (LP) 5:34 (cassette, CD)
7. "What a Day That Was" (Byrne) – 5:08 (LP) 6:30 (cassette, CD)
8. "Life During Wartime" – 4:52 (LP) 5:52 (cassette, CD)
9. "Take Me to the River" (Al Green, Teenie Hodges) – 5:59

Track listing note: On the original LP and cassette releases, side one was comprised of tracks 1-5; side two of tracks 6-9. ^[1]

[edit] Film/Special New Edition Soundtrack

Bonus live tracks "Heaven" and "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" were available as B-sides on various US 7" and UK 12" singles during the album's original release. These versions were released on the Special Edition soundtrack.

1. "Psycho Killer" (Byrne, Frantz, Weymouth) – 4:24
2. "Heaven" (Byrne, Harrison) – 3:41
3. "Thank You for Sending Me an Angel" (Byrne) – 2:09
4. "Found a Job" (Byrne) – 3:15
5. "Slippery People" – 4:00
6. "Burning Down the House" – 4:06
7. "Life During Wartime" – 5:51
8. "Making Flippy Floppy" – 4:40
9. "Swamp" – 4:30
10. "What a Day That Was" (Byrne) – 6:00
11. "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" – 4:57
12. "Once in a Lifetime" (Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth) – 5:25
13. "Genius of Love" (Weymouth, Frantz, Adrian Belew, Steven Stanley) (performed by Tom Tom Club) – 4:30
14. "Girlfriend Is Better" – 5:06
15. "Take Me to the River" (Green, Hodges) – 5:32
16. "Crosseyed and Painless" (Byrne, Eno, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth) – 6:11

[edit] Personnel

• David Byrne – guitar, vocals
• Chris Frantz – drums, vocals
• Jerry Harrison – guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Tina Weymouth – bass, keyboards, vocals

[edit] Additional personnel

• Bernie Worrell – keyboards
• Alex Weir – guitar, vocals
• Steve Scales – percussion
• Ednah Holt – backing vocals
• Lynn Mabry – backing vocals

[edit] Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1984	The Billboard 200	41/53
1984	UK albums	37/24

[edit] Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – U.S.	Gold	March 1, 1985
BPI – UK	Gold	November 26, 1985
RIAA – U.S.	Platinum	July 2, 1986
RIAA – U.S.	Double Platinum	August 17, 1994

v • d • e Talking Heads David Byrne | Jerry Harrison | Tina Weymouth | Chris Frantz Studio Albums Talking Heads: 77 (1977) | More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978) | Fear of Music (1979) | Remain in Light (1980) | Speaking in Tongues (1983) | Little Creatures (1985) | True Stories (1986) | Naked (1988) The Heads Albums No Talking, Just Head (1996) Live Albums The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982) | Stop Making Sense (1984) Compilations Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites (1992) | Once in a Lifetime (2003) | The Best of Talking Heads (2004) | Brick (2005) | Bonus Rarities and Outtakes (2006) Filmography Stop Making Sense (1984) | True Stories (1986) | Storytelling Giant (1988)